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I thank the minister for that. She has made an important point about pay in the sector being a big challenge.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Prince & Princess of Wales hospice in Glasgow. It has a 16-bed facility. A third of that cannot be used because of staff shortages, particularly of specialist nurses. It seems perverse to me that, when we have delayed discharges in hospitals and people are dying in rather unpleasant clinical conditions, people cannot be offered that appropriate setting because of those staffing issues. A lot of that is driven by inadequate pay and retention in the sector.

Does the minister accept that we really must move beyond the £12 an hour by 2026 target to get things moving in the sector and to retain that capacity? From a health economics perspective, it is a bit absurd to look at that simply in isolation, given that more than a billion pounds has been spent on delayed discharges in acute hospitals in the past decade.

One of the big concerns that has been raised, particularly by stakeholders, trade unions and COSLA, is the balance of power between ministers and health and social care partnerships, which have traditionally been the leading bodies in social care. Will the minister revise the initial proposals on the centralisation of control and ensure that the role of health and social care partnerships or equivalent local municipal commissioning is preserved?

You have made an important point about detail. The devil is always in the detail. People might think that ministerial control could mean the loss of managerial authority or of the ability to design local services, but it might simply mean setting national standards. That could all be set out in the bill.

In our previous evidence sessions, there were concerns about the lack of detail in the framework bill. Does the minister accept that that was a deficiency and that the pause could offer an opportunity to get into the detail of how the balance will work—for example, by looking at the structures, the lines of authority between health and social care partnerships, ministers and Parliament, and ratifying the charter for the national care service? Are those things that we could improve?

A major point of concern was around TUPE—Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981—transfer of local government employees. Is that still something that is planned or will that be removed from the revised bill? It was clearly a sticking point.

Thank you for joining us today, minister.

Although I accept the need to undertake appropriate scrutiny during the development of the proposed legislation, does the minister accept that there is currently a severe and acute crisis in the social care sector? Recently, I dealt with a case concerning Balmanno House care home in Glasgow, which cited food costs, utility costs and recruitment challenges as the reason for its going into administration. Surely it is not acceptable for us to lose that capacity of 40-odd beds in Glasgow.

What immediate measures is the minister considering to improve resilience, particularly where assets are owned by social enterprises or charities, which are the focus of community wealth building in local areas rather than profit-extracting models? How can we take immediate steps to retain that capability in the sector?

On the point that you mentioned earlier about resilience, care home closures happen from time to time. Closure can mean a loss of significant capacity within an area and the local authority might not have the ability to intervene. However, we know from what happened with the railway, for example, that when a franchise fails an operator of last resort comes in and takes over the asset so that it is protected. Could a similar model be developed within the national care service, so that a care home that went into administration could be purchased by the Government in order to protect the asset?

What impact has the recent inflationary pressure had on your cost base and capital investments? In the several evidence sessions that we have had so far with NHS boards, we have noted particular issues with repair backlogs. There are issues with operational flow, maintaining efficiencies and the three-year financial envelope, but what impact has the increase in inflation had on your ability to plan for a break-even point?

Is that replacement project still on track? Are you facing any challenges with procurement as a result of the increase in construction inflation?

You made a major point about one in 10 people on your payroll not being affordable. You also said that the financial efficiencies that you are hoping to achieve will come nowhere near addressing the backlog, even with a three-year planning window. What is needed to make you not have sleepless nights?

I invite Tess White to lead on the escalation framework and mental health theme. If it is okay, I would appreciate brevity, as we are up against time.