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We have got a lot of work to do, and a lot of culture change to get on with. Thank you, convener; I will leave it there.

Good morning, Pauline and Jenny, and thank you very much for joining us and for your opening remarks. The statements and testimonies that you have given us are very powerful.

Jenny, I will come to you first. I am interested in exploring some of the physical and mental consequences of the pandemic for people’s wellbeing. You talked about deterioration in physical and mental wellbeing. Can you say a bit more about the health impacts that you saw in the carers whom you support?

Thank you for that information. To build on Michelle Thomson’s questions, I too, in reading your annual report, picked up on the phrase

“updating legacy IT systems and evolving our IT estate onto a long-term sustainable basis.”

You talked about the two sets of contractors that you currently have: those who are working on the new systems that you are developing, who will not be needed in the long term; and the “keeping the show on the road” folk, whom you want to bring in-house as ROS employees. I understand that, and I take on board your comments to Michelle Thomson.

I am interested in the updating process. From what you have said, and from what I have read in the documentation, that has been going on for a while. How are you managing that process alongside the aspects that Claire Baker asked about—the actual work of ROS and managing the arrears? How do you see the balance of risk and resource allocation between those two aspects?

Thinking about the longer term, I note that you talked about bringing down the cost of contractors in the future. In mapping, certain things can change very quickly. Are you certain that you will have resources available when you need them? I am thinking about the skills and expertise that you may not want to keep in-house, but for which you will need contractors in the future. How is that playing out in your mapping for future financing and resourcing?

Thank you for your opening remarks. I have a couple of questions about safeguards.

You talked about, and listed quite clearly, the safeguards to prevent unlawful sharing of data. Given what has been in the media recently about the Post Office scandal and the incorrect data and software malfunction that led to many convictions, what safeguards are in place to ensure that the data that is stored and shared is correct in the first place? As an extension of the safeguards, what opportunities will there be for debtors to know who has that data, when that data is shared, how long it is kept and whether they can challenge that?

Thank you very much.

Convener, I have finished my questions, but I know that Farah Farzana, Trishna Singh and Joy Lewis want to come in. Is it okay if I bring Farah in?

Thank you very much for that, Farah. Trishna, you wanted to come in on this.

Thank you, Trishna, and thanks for that link. One of my colleagues will probably want to come in on that later. Joy Lewis, did you want to come in?

Thank you very much, Mariam. That was helpful and interesting. I am especially struck by your point about undocumented workers, all the added complexities of that situation and the cracks that they fall through anyway. When the pandemic is added to that, the difficulties are magnified and exacerbated.

Sara Medel Jiménez, you talked about women being seen as a soft touch. To what extent was that magnified during the pandemic? I see in the chat that a couple of other people want to come in, but I invite Sara to go first. Do you want to say a bit more about that, partly in answer to my original question but also on the soft target element that you spoke about in your opening comments?

Farah, would you like to respond?

Good morning. Thank you for being with us—I appreciate that juggling various things is not easy. I appreciate the time that you have taken to give evidence to the committee.

I have a couple of questions about the disproportionate impact of Covid on women, and BAME women in particular, which has been reported in the media and which many of you have mentioned. I am interested in understanding the complexities of the issue, including how BAME women have experienced disproportionate susceptibility to Covid and disproportionate financial burdens.

I think that it was Mariam Ahmed who talked about digital poverty, a lack of digital connectivity and the knock-on consequences, so I will come to her first. Could you say a bit more about the personal experiences of some of the women you support whom Amina has worked with? What were those women’s experiences of the lockdown and the restrictions that were placed on society as a whole from the point of view of their ability to maintain any kind of work-life balance and, importantly, the impact on their mental health?

I have another question, which I will ask after we have heard from Mariam.