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During the previous evidence session, the minister outlined the need for consultation, and the timelines for that, when new services come online and when zones, potentially, need to be changed. In my consultation, we heard from people who support the bill that urgency is needed when those zones need to be changed, because, generally, they will change because something has happened—a behaviour has developed that has infringed the zone or has made it difficult for it to operate, and there is a need for an extension. I absolutely appreciate that some who support the bill also feel that there needs to be a level of parliamentary oversight to that. Again, I am more than happy to speak to members about that between stage 1 and stage 2, but there needs to be a balance between having the flexibility and ease to move quickly enough and having the appropriate oversight.

Yes.

That is similar to the question that Ross Greer asked about a minister going to a hospital to visit a parishioner and someone phoning the police just because he is there. That would not be enforced under the bill. Using the example that you gave, I would say that hospital chaplains have every right to be there. They are staff on the site, just as many others are.

That does not necessarily mean that people will not call the police in that situation, although I hope that they will not. Again, we might need to do a piece of awareness raising on that as part of the work on the bill. Even if we wrote such an exemption into the bill, that would not prevent someone from potentially misunderstanding and calling the police in the first place. That might open up a loophole that is not there currently, because those matters are not covered by the bill.

As we are coming to the end of this session, I will just say that I am more than happy to have a further in-depth conversation with Mr Sweeney if that would help allay any concerns. We can have those conversations between stage 1 and stage 2, if there is any further context that Mr Sweeney wishes to go over.

I do not know that any clinician who was striking would say, “Don’t go to your appointment.” I do not think that I have ever heard that from a trade union. Pickets are about working terms and conditions. Clinicians would never want their patients not to have access to the services that they are entitled to, because that would probably be against their job in the first place.

As I am sure that you are aware, that letter came in quite late yesterday, so I have not yet had a chance to have a chat about any of the potential ramifications of putting those principles into the bill, but I am certainly happy to have conversations between stages 1 and 2 about whether that would be appropriate.

We should be clear that silent prayer, as a behaviour, is not written into the bill itself—there are no proscribed behaviours within the bill. In its written submission, Police Scotland said that it currently engages with protesters and polices protests through dialogue, which is slightly at odds with the evidence that the committee was given a couple of weeks ago.

I am sure that we are all aware from having taken part in protests as part of our work or our activism that the police regularly engage with protesters to facilitate matters or to solve any issues, and I do not think that that desire for dialogue would change simply because of the setting for a protest. The committee might want to clarify with Police Scotland whether what it said in its written submission or what it said in its oral evidence to the committee is correct.

There is a mixed view on signage across health boards. Some facilities have experienced no or very little activity and may not want to draw attention to themselves, particularly those in rural areas. Under the bill, ministers have a duty to maintain maps of the zones, so there will be an ability to communicate with the public about how the zones are set out and any changes to them.

We may have to continue to speak to health boards about whether they feel that signage is more or less useful at particular places, depending on individual circumstances and the frequency of any protests outside hospitals.

There could also be the flexibility to leave it to individual health boards to make decisions about signage in particular, but there is a requirement for ministers to maintain a list and maps of the sites as they are designated and to update those if there are any changes under the bill.

Particularly in relation to the extension power, what we heard when I consulted was that people who were in favour of the bill and who gave evidence as part of the consultation wanted us, if something such as a change in behaviour or a particular incident happened at a particular zone, to be able to amend zones in a sufficiently quick manner to prevent any further harm from—

Committees already undertake post-legislative scrutiny, and there might be a mechanism in some of the legislation that has already been passed in this building that we could be influenced by. I am very willing to have a conversation between stages 2 and 3 to make sure that whatever mechanism we come to is appropriate and that we use it to keep an eye on the bill and ensure that it is having the effect that we want it to have.