Seòmar agus comataidhean

:I know that it is still early days, as the group has only met once. I will open that question up to the other witnesses, because, as you said, Professor Jay, data collection is really important. How can we tackle a problem if we do not know the extent of it?

:I do not know whether I am having connection problems—my apologies.

The second part of my question is about monitoring and reports on the high-level action plan. You talked about monitoring, but I am asking about the reporting back. The key thing for me is that the actions go across a number of portfolios, so the question is how they are reported. We will get reports back, but how do you intend to look at actions to ensure that they are taken across all portfolios and not just this one? The high-level action plan obviously impacts on other portfolios, as well. Could I have your thoughts on that, if that is okay?

:I have a few key questions, which come back to the shared protocol. During various sessions, we have heard about equity of access across private healthcare and the national health service, as well as across different parts of Scotland. My first question is, what can we do to ensure that we have equality of access across Scotland? That is fundamental. What can be done with the shared care protocol?

Secondly, I will move on from diagnosis to the question of who provides support. In my constituency, there is a situation in which a local authority is not letting speech and language therapists operate. Some children have had sessions for a number of years with speech and language therapists who are now not allowed access into schools. The local authority is saying that the support should already be there, but the support that is provided is not enough for those kids. My question is about equity of access across the country and how we ensure that private speech therapists who have been working with kids over a long number of years and who are now not allowed access into a local authority school can provide support. I will have a few other questions after that, but could you start with that, minister?

It is great to hear about the progress of the discussions as we look towards the next parliamentary session. The committee made some recommendations on civil legal assistance and you have also talked about that in the chamber, minister. Does anything else need to be done in what we have left of the current parliamentary session? What do you see as the medium and longer-term objectives when the Parliament comes back in the new session?

:I have a supplementary question. The minister will remember that I have asked this in the chamber as well. It is about accessibility in more remote areas. Will you touch on that? You gave me an answer in the chamber, but it would be useful for the committee if you could say a little more about equality of accessibility for those in remote areas.

:Yes.

:The shared care work that you mentioned will be fundamental and I look forward to receiving an update on that.

I will move on to a slightly different question. You mentioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists. I have met with the college and the committee had an evidence session with representatives from the RCP, who talked about national guidelines for working conditions and reasonable adjustments for schools, higher education institutions and employers. What are your thoughts on that? They pushed the idea of a cross-sectoral approach.

Another key question comes from the evidence that we heard last week about neurodivergence training for teachers, which can vary within individual schools, never mind within local authorities. That issue was picked up by one group that we heard from last week. A lot depends on whether teachers have had training. How can we increase the level of training on and recognition of neurodivergence and how can schools look at the issue of reasonable adjustments?

:Thank you.

:Apologies for my technical issues this morning. Minister, I do not know whether you answered this when I was offline, but a key issue that was raised in the recommendations related to tackling the institutionalisation of people with learning disabilities. There are many areas within that. Will you say a bit more about that?

You mentioned the high-level action plan and how we monitor it. My second question is about how we monitor and report back on it. Will you say a bit more about how you see this committee holding the Government to account on that?

I am the member for East Lothian and Lorraine Davidson mentioned Compass, which I have visited a few times. I will come to that in a second. Belhaven Hill school is also in my hometown of Dunbar, and I think that you mentioned that about 5 per cent of children travel into Edinburgh every day to attend schools.

I have a couple of things to ask. You mentioned the short implementation date. That was the biggest concern for Compass. As with any business, it needs to be able to plan around its cash flow into the future. The decision came on top of the employer national insurance contributions, which also put real pressure on the school. Can you say a wee bit more about the cumulative impact of the decision on VAT, as well as the impact of employer national insurance contributions on the sector as a whole? I have a few other questions, but if you could answer that first. Compass has real concerns about its long-term sustainability.