Seòmar agus comataidhean

Can I come back in, convener?

Thank you.

Thank you. I am proud and honoured that my constituency is home to Langlands Moss, which is one of the biggest peatland mosses in Scotland. The volunteers there have done remarkable work, but a lot of biodiversity is at risk if we do not take action. That includes indigenous species, particularly some newt species. Can you drill down into those issues and tell us what action is being taken? It is a beautiful nature reserve on the outskirts of East Kilbride.

I thank Mr Page for his detailed response. Minister, do you think that there needs to be a clearer definition of what form a request for a new exclusion under the internal market act should take? How should that look?

Thank you, convener. Mark Ruskell has touched on this already. Does the minister consider that the resources and waste common framework and the process for agreeing new exclusions from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 are fit for purpose, based on the lessons learned to date in relation to the DRS and single-use plastics, including how the provisional common framework might need to be amended to reflect much more recent developments that we have heard about today?

Good morning, and welcome back, Ian. You touched on your progress with recruitment in your opening comments, and it is heartening to hear that you have managed to take on another member of staff. Will you address the progress that you have made with staffing and recruitment and the plans that you have in place to manage the existing capacity concerns? I know that that was highlighted by the external auditors as well.

Okay. Thanks. Another recommendation from the external auditor was that the investigations manual be published. Has any progress been made on finalising the manual? When will the final version be made public?

That is great. Thanks very much. I have no further questions, convener.

That is excellent. It is great that you have made progress on that.

What progress have you made on meeting the three strategic objectives that are set out in the ESC’s revised strategic plan for 2021-24?

Turning to you, Sam, I note from the evidence from the interviewees in the sample interviews that there was a lack of support or signposting for people who were trying to report an incident to police, and there was an issue around being taken seriously. Will you say more about that?