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I will bring in Marie McNair, who joins us remotely.

We will move on. I invite James Dornan, who has joined us remotely, to ask questions. Again, I say that we are really tight for time, so please be as concise as possible.

Our next item is an evidence session on draft regulations. The carer support payment will replace the carers allowance in Scotland. Next week, we will hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice on the regulations. I refer members to papers 1 and 2.

I welcome to the meeting Fiona Collie, the head of policy and public affairs, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Carers Scotland, who is joining us in the room. I also welcome Maggie Chiwanza, chief executive of the Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project; Judith Paterson, the interim co-chair of the Scottish Commission on Social Security; and Paul Traynor, the head of the Scottish young carers services alliance, Carers Trust Scotland. They are all joining us remotely. Good morning, and thank you all for accepting our invitation.

Before we proceed with our questions, there are a few things to point out about the format of the meeting. Please wait until I say your name, or the member asking the question does, before speaking. Do not feel that you have to answer every question, and if you have nothing new to add to what is said by others, that is perfectly okay. Members and witnesses online, please allow our broadcasting colleagues a few seconds to turn on your microphone before you start to speak. You can indicate with an R in the chat box on Zoom that you wish to come in on a question. I ask everyone to keep questions and answers as concise as possible.

I now invite members to ask questions in turn.

Thanks very much. That was helpful.

Maggie Chiwanza and Paul Traynor want to come in.

Before you move on, I think that Maggie Chiwanza wants to come in.

Good morning, and welcome to the 21st meeting in 2023 of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. We have no apologies for today’s meeting. Our first item of business is a decision on whether to take agenda items 4, 5 and 6 in private. Do we agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.

I believe that Bill Scott wants to comment. We will then move on, because I am conscious of the time.

Okay. Thank you, Dr Hosie. I will quickly bring in Bill Scott.

I will bring in Paul Traynor, but I remind everyone, because of time constraints, to keep their answers as concise as possible. Thank you.