Seòmar agus comataidhean

I agree with Mr Stewart. The training programme is not mandatory, but it should be—the issue affects half of our population.

As has been said, any death results in a sad time for the family. Do families have an opt-out option? For example, in some faith communities, people want the burial to take place as soon as possible. As the witnesses said in answer to the convener’s questions, there is a shortage of professionals, so people might have to wait a very long time. What value is given to those families? How much information is given to them when organs are removed from the body?

It does, but the situation is never clear, because every case is different, as you have said. Most of the time, the family feel that they are not getting the information that they should be getting. There should also be an opt-out option. It is not clear whether the family is allowed to say that they do not want to go through all that difficulty.

There is nothing relevant to the committee.

No. I have had quite a lot of cases of motorcycle theft. Can we ask how many of those who have committed that crime are waiting to go to court and how long the waiting time is? A lot of the time, the same person comes back and carries out the same act.

I agree that the petitioner makes a lot of valid points, but I also agree with Alexander Stewart and Fergus Ewing that the petitioner needs to come up with some proposals on how she wants to see us proceed.

I do not have any.

I apologise for coming in late. I was stuck in the car park.

Good morning.

I will ask a question on what you have just said, but I also have another question. Are we using the spaces that we have in schools? You have mentioned the Filmhouse’s difficulties and that you always find it difficult to attract people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Are they adequately informed? Do they know where they can perform or participate?

I do not have any interests to declare.