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So, you would acknowledge that price is an issue for children and young people, as we have heard from many parents?

A range of trans organisations and people have said that the report’s recommendations and the narrative surrounding it give the impression that transition would be the worst outcome for a young person. How would you respond to people who get that impression from the report?

Good morning, Dr Cass. Do you believe, and does your research show, that puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones could be the right intervention for some children or young people?

I think that Emma has covered most of what I was going to ask. Given the sort of issues that we have just covered around nutrients and reducing recommended amounts of meat by 20g or other amounts, and that a lot of evidence is coming out about how diet could change with climate recommendations and so on, how does Food Standards Scotland approach communication around some of that? There is the “Eatwell Guide”, but there is no guarantee that some of the evidence that comes out over the next period will not impact some of its recommendations.

The matter is quite nuanced. It might be for higher consumers, rather than for everybody, to reduce. There are potential knock-on impacts for groups that could be more affected by some of those changes than others, such as those in the lower ranges of meat consumption—there is a lot in that question, too. How do we approach that information environment as a whole? How do we ensure that we take in some of those underrepresented and potentially vulnerable groups in doing all of that?

Thank you. I have a final question. You have mentioned research in your other answers. What, in your view, does good research look like in this area, and do you think that it is important that trans and non-binary people are involved in all stages in co-producing it?

The committee has recently heard about the impact of MUP from people with lived and living experience. For me, that has added, to the evaluation, a real-world context such as we have welcomed in many other areas of the committee’s work. Those voices need to be amplified and to continue to be involved. I am pleased that the minister has indicated her willingness to continue to put that at the heart of policy development, as we move forward.

We need to ensure that there is an appropriate mix of support and treatment for people who require them, and that we tackle barriers for groups who currently have difficulty in accessing treatment. I accept and trust the minister’s assertion that minimum unit pricing is not a silver bullet. One of the most important actions that we need to take is to tackle the alcohol environment that we have in Scotland. For me, that should include our examining how advertising affects children and young people and at-risk adult drinkers, as well as our implementing a public health levy. I am pleased that provision for such a levy was included in the budget as a result of discussions between the Government and my party. Tackling alcohol harm must take a multipronged approach and must address all the barriers to services that people face.

I will be pleased to support both instruments.

Good morning, minister. This is the first time that we have uprated MUP. Due to the length of time between its being introduced and now, some people feel that it is quite a jump. Has the Government considered whether we require legislation for the automatic uprating, or something similar, of minimum unit pricing?

I appreciate that that work is at an early stage, but have the minister and the Government considered how that approach would work in practice? Would it be linked to an inflationary index or some other index? Would there be an implementation period, as there is this year, between the uprating being announced and the change on the shelves, to reflect the call from industry and businesses that they need that time in order to make the changes?

Recently, inflation has been much higher than it has been at other times. The impact of the uprating of minimum unit pricing will depend on the economic outlook. I am also quite interested in how we put lived and living experience, which has been so important the whole way through, at the heart of any analysis of uprating. Obviously, we are speaking in hypotheticals, but, if there is ever a case for making that uprating higher, for good reason, that experience, which has been so integral and useful so far, must be put at the heart of what we do.

There will need to be parliamentary oversight. I will be happy to speak to members between stage 1 and stage 2 on what that might look like. During the consultation for the bill it emerged that people who access such services want us to be able to move quickly in relation to potential incidents. There is a balance to be struck between having parliamentary oversight and dealing with potential situations outside settings.