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Thank you for that response. As nobody else wants to comment, I will go on to my supplementary question.

Transcripts of court cases can be very costly. The Scottish Government has launched a pilot to make transcripts free for survivors of rape or sexual assault. That idea was brought forward by rape survivor Ellie Wilson, who I worked closely with and who was forced to pay large sums of money to access court transcripts. Do you believe that scrapping transcript fees should be extended to other types of cases, including environmental cases?

Good morning. Minister, can you indicate whether the legal aid reform will take place before the next Scottish Parliament election? If so, will that reform be targeted at certain areas of law, such as environmental law or reforms for survivors of sexual assault or rape?

Witnesses in the previous session this morning said that they would be surprised if there was any reform in the next 18 months, as they had heard only vague promises and nothing concrete. It would be good to get some clarity on that.

Thank you for that response, minister. We heard last week that when people are made homeless, a female may act differently from a male. Females may have relatives and friends to go to, and they may not sleep rough like a male would. That evidence came from witnesses. I want to ask about the cultural side of the issue. What if a BAME female becomes homeless? I know for certain that it would be completely different. Do you consider the cultural aspect of the issue? That is not captured in the characteristics, so how do you consider that? External agencies probably feed in on that.

Good morning, minister and officials. Last week, witnesses stressed the importance of collecting intersectional data. Will you please expand on how the Scottish Government uses qualitative data and data that is not collected directly by the Government to understand intersectional inequalities? For example, how does the Government use such data when it comes to inequalities related to gender and black, Asian and minority ethnic status?

Minister, how was the decision made to analyse data on the basis of gender as opposed to sex? Will you outline how the terms “sex” and “gender” should be defined when making policy and budgetary decisions?

Good morning, committee. It is great to be back. I have no relevant interests to declare or any declaration to make.

Thank you.

I do not know whether Dr Hosie wants to say anything.

I have a supplementary question. The Scottish Women’s Budget Group has suggested that a gender budgeting approach should consider the lifetime impact of policy and spending decisions. To what extent does current data availability support that aspiration?

Good morning, and thank you for the information so far. Zero Tolerance and Engender have both suggested slight changes to the wording of the Scottish Government’s proposed new national outcomes. Zero Tolerance has suggested changing the equality and human rights outcome so that it includes “living free from violence”. Engender has suggested incorporating the current national performance framework’s aim of reducing inequalities into the new NPF’s purpose. Will you please expand on those proposals? Are any other witnesses in agreement with those suggestions? I will speak to Lewis Ryder-Jones afterwards, but it would be great if I could get views from both Catherines first.