Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, cabinet secretary. We move to questions. Our questions will be directed to you, but you are, of course, welcome to invite an official to respond, should you wish to do so.

A very good morning, and welcome to the 32nd meeting in 2023 of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. We have no apologies.

Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take agenda item 5 in private. Are we agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Our next agenda item is an evidence session on the Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council Bill, or the SEIAC bill for short. It is a member’s bill that was introduced by Mark Griffin MSP on 8 June 2023 and which is currently at stage 1. We have already heard from four panels of witnesses and from the Scottish Government on the bill.

I welcome Mark Griffin MSP; Neil Stewart, senior clerk with the Scottish Parliament non-Government bills unit; and Ailidh Callander, senior solicitor with the Scottish Parliament legal services office. Thank you for joining us.

Mark, I believe that you would like to make a short opening statement.

I invite John Mason to ask his questions.

I invite Bob Doris to ask the final set of questions.

Thank you for confirming that.

Thank you very much, Bob. I invite Paul O’Kane to come in.

That concludes the evidence session. I thank all our witnesses for attending. The committee’s next step will be to report to the Scottish Parliament on the bill in the coming weeks.

I briefly suspend the meeting to allow us to set up for the next agenda item.

The next item of business is consideration of a Scottish statutory instrument. The instrument is laid under the affirmative procedure, which means that Parliament must approve it before it can come into force. I welcome Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, and her officials from the Scottish Government, who are Camilo Arredondo, solicitor, and Kelly Donohoe, cross-cutting benefits policy official. Thank you for joining us.

Following this evidence session, the committee will be invited under the next agenda item to consider a motion on approval of the instrument. I remind everyone that the Scottish Government officials can speak under this item but not in the debate that follows.

I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement.

Does anyone else want to comment?