Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thanks, Cara. I have spoken to several of my constituents who used to donate to food banks and who are now using them. That is the stark reality of the situation, so thank you for sharing that information.

Thank you, Laura. I really appreciate that.

I wish a very good morning to everyone, and I welcome you to the 11th meeting of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee in 2023. We have received no apologies.

Our first item of business a decision on whether to take items 4 and 5 in private. Do members agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.

I have been alerted to the fact that there are two members in the room who want to ask questions on this subject. I will quickly bring in Paul O’Kane and then the deputy convener, Gordon MacDonald. I ask you both to be as quick as possible, please.

Thanks for sharing that story of a family living in a remote community. It sounds like they were completely isolated by their lack of awareness of what benefits were available to them.

I will bring in Cara Hilton.

Yes.

I will bring in Laura Millar, who is joining us online, and then I will bring in James Dunbar.

Thank you very much. We have another three or four people who want to come in. I am conscious of the time, so again I must ask you to be as concise and succinct as possible.

Thank you. That has given us food for thought.

I will bring in Fiona King and then Martin Canavan.

Item 2 is an evidence session on the cost of living crisis and its impact on lone parents. The session is in round-table format and follows on from last week’s session, when we heard from organisations that represent disabled people and unpaid carers.

I welcome everyone. In the room, we have Martin Canavan, who is head of policy and participation at Aberlour Child Care Trust; James Dunbar, who is chief executive of New Start Highland; Cara Hilton, who is policy and public affairs manager for Scotland at the Trussell Trust; Kirsty McKechnie who is early warning system project manager at the Child Poverty Action Group Scotland; Satwat Rehman, who is chief executive officer at One Parent Families Scotland; and Fiona King, who is senior policy and public affairs manager at Save the Children.

Joining us remotely are Morag Hannah, who is chief executive officer at Skye & Lochalsh Citizens Advice Bureau, and Laura Millar, who is strategic manager at Fife Gingerbread.

I thank you all for joining us today.

We have chosen the round-table format again this week in order to facilitate a free-flowing conversation, so the committee is very much in listening mode. Please feel free to indicate to me when you want to come in. If you are attending online, please pop a wee R in the chat box and I will bring you in.

We have three themes today. I will kick off on the first theme, then invite Miles Briggs to introduce the second theme and Katy Clark to introduce the third. We have approximately 30 minutes for each discussion.

Theme 1 focuses on how the increase in the cost of living has affected lone parents. We are interested to hear more about how things have changed for lone parents in the past year and what particular issues have had greater impacts on lone-parent families. In addition, it would be useful if you could pick up on where there are gaps in the committee’s knowledge, or tell us whether you are aware of any research that is being undertaken on the issue. We will have an open discussion—we are all ears.

Perhaps Satwat Rehman can start.