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I want to probe you on your response about recording gender when people are made homeless. Catherine Murphy talked about how people in minority groups would behave. I have done quite a lot of work in that area. I know that a female probably would behave differently if she was homeless. I totally understand that they may go to relatives or friends and might not sleep on the streets. However, people from an ethnic minority might behave completely differently because of cultural aspects. Could any of the three witnesses shed some light on that? Should more data be collected on that, or should we even just have alignment of data sets?

It does. Catherine Robertson and Lewis Ryder-Jones may want to add something. I can talk about the cultural aspect of a woman from an ethnic minority going to get a job. That may not be the same as when somebody from western society goes for that job, because there can be cultural differences in what people can and cannot do. Does Lewis Ryder-Jones or Catherine Robertson want to add anything on that?

You mentioned that there is evidence from other places on that.

I want to ask you something that I asked the previous witnesses—I do not know whether you heard the question at the end of the earlier session. You spoke about poverty at different times in women’s lives. What about the cultural aspect and ethnic minority groups? How are they affected? Is there anything that you want to say about work in that area that needs to be enhanced? We heard that the poverty rate is around 51 per cent for ethnic minority groups. Is there any work that we should strengthen in that area? Do you have any advice for us?

Has Sara Cowan had that opportunity, too?

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for all the evidence that they have provided so far. My question leads on from the previous questions. Have the witnesses been given the opportunity to work with the Scottish Government on the improvements that the committee heard would strengthen the equality and fairer Scotland statement?

I have another question. I think that you have answered some of it, but you might want to add to it. Gender inequality is an issue that I take very seriously. Engender and Zero Tolerance have both expressed a need for a specific gender inequality outcome as part of the Scottish Government’s national outcomes. Can witnesses expand on where the current proposals fall short of supporting gender equality? I know that you have touched on some of that in previous answers but is there anything that you would like to add about where the outcomes fall short?

The Verity house agreement states that

“the default position will be no ring-fencing or direction of funding”.

As we heard from the previous panel, ring fencing has put a strain on council budgets. It was also made clear by the earlier witnesses from COSLA and local authorities that decisions should be made locally by local government and not by the Scottish Government. What progress has been made on that approach since last year’s budget? Should we expect there to be less direct spending in this year’s budget?

On the previous panel, one of the witnesses from a local authority mentioned that some of the ring-fenced funding is not sufficient for councils to deliver on some of their priorities. Are you aware of that?

I have one more question. It has recently become public that the new UK Government has paused the £70 million rural growth deal for Argyll and Bute, leaving it as the only part of Scotland without such a deal in place. Last week, witnesses told the committee that the decision was “outrageous”. This week, witnesses have expressed their disappointment, and I know that the local community in Argyll and Bute feels the same. What impact do you expect that decision to have on the area? What steps is the Scottish Government taking to mitigate that?