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Therefore, access will be maintained, not improved.

I again declare an interest as a practising NHS GP.

I want to take this opportunity to tell the committee and the public that I have received a lot of emails and correspondence from members of the Health and Care Professions Council who are opposed to the increase in fees, given the global cost of living crisis and their feeling that the increase is not justified. A lot of people are unhappy about this but, in the council’s defence, I understand that this is the first increase in fees in years and that the council feels that, if it does not increase them, it might well go bust. It is, I think, a very difficult decision that is being taken.

You said that, if packages of care are transferred when people move, we could get some standardisation. Do we need co-design and a process like this in order to achieve that? Is it not something that we should be doing right now?

Thank you. In previous evidence sessions, we have been told that it is very difficult to track how money is being spent and where it is going. I asked the question because it is important that we are able to define transparently and clearly where taxpayers’ money is going. Given your answer, do you feel that you can track all the money that is being spent and exactly where it is going?

My question is similar to Carol Mochan’s. Do you feel that we have enough transparency in the way that taxpayers’ money is spent, and do we have the ability to really track it so that we know where all the money is going?

What is that number, minister?

Let me get this straight. The Government created a bill. You said to me, minister, that despite the significant opposition to the bill that the Conservatives brought up and discussed many times, the Government said that it was just going to press ahead, but that, because of that continued opposition to the bill, you stopped to reconsider. However, you do not consider that to be treading water, and you do not have figures to tell me what the cost was.

If I say that the figure is £15.4 million, would that be accurate?

Okay. Thank you, minister.

Richard McCallum mentioned minimum unit pricing. Can you tell me exactly what benefit we have seen from that, please?

Thank you for that. I am a bit confused, because what you have just quoted for hospitalisations is not a significant figure—it is an insignificant number, so that cannot be right. You talked about the reduction in deaths, but that, too, is not an accurate figure, is it? Actually, it is a potential reduction in an increase in rate compared to England. It has also been shown that dependent drinkers are continuing to drink. Could you explain how you have got to that figure and said that on the record?