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How are short-term and long-term needs being balanced? We heard a lot about both in evidence, especially in relation to preventative spend.

In the programme for government, there was a pledge to set £12 per hour as a minimum rate of pay for all social care and support staff. How will that be implemented effectively?

Good morning. My questions are probably for Richard McCallum, but if anybody else wants to come in, please do. Are the financial pressures evenly spread? Might areas that are geographically remote or more deprived experience those issues more acutely? If so, how can that be mitigated?

Thank you.

Thank you for your helpful presentation, Karen. It is obvious that there is a lot of commercial interest in the area, and you mentioned that, if the group is approved, you may cover politically sensitive policy areas. How will you ensure that the CPG is not co-opted by commercial interests?

It was good to hear Karen Adam talk about the breadth of the groups that would be involved. I am still a bit concerned that those with commercial interests might try to dominate, as they sometimes do on CPGs, but I think that she is aware of that. She talked about the politics of the issue, so I am content.

Good morning, panel, and thank you for your contributions so far. A number of respondents to the committee’s call for views said that there was a need for public engagement in relation to health and social care spending and the choices that need to be made. In general, is that a good idea? How can it be done well in order to ensure that we do not increase people’s expectations in the wrong way? I put that question to anyone who would like to come in.

The comments that you have made are very good, and I agree that these conversations are sometimes difficult, because the public think about things in a different way. The communications that I saw going out from the Scottish Government about, say, social prescribing and multidisciplinary teams, made people start to have a conversation with each other about how to do things better, so we have to do it, even if it is difficult.

I will come back on some of those points. Generally, it is felt to be a good idea to have an open and transparent conversation with the public about health and social care and how we move forward with it. However, going on your comments, it will maybe not be that easy, and it will have to be very well thought out.

The Scottish Government has avoided strikes in the national health service by negotiating pay deals for NHS staff and for trainee doctors and dentists. Scotland is the only country in the UK to have avoided strikes thus far, which is good news. How will that help the Scottish NHS and the Scottish people?