Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank the committee for giving me this opportunity to come and speak to you all.

I am disappointed that it has taken a year to come back to this petition. Within that year, as you have probably heard, many accidents have happened and quite a lot of deaths linked to swimming-related issues have taken place. That is probably one reason that quite a lot of constituents have come to us to say that they want us to make sure that learning to swim is in the curriculum and that school students are taught that skill.

You have mentioned the minister’s comments. I wonder whether the committee could invite the minister and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to say why they feel that learning to swim should not be in the school curriculum. I would request the committee to leave the petition open for further consideration.

I have said the majority of the relevant stuff previously—nothing has changed since my previous presentation, and I am in your hands. We have been speaking to schools and schools also feel that, if it is in the curriculum, students will learn to swim.

Good morning, minister, colleagues and the team. Last week, the committee was given evidence of fuel poverty rates across Scotland. Will the move to break the link with the weather not further disadvantage some already fuel-poor areas such as in the Highlands and Islands, for example?

Yes. I am good with that—thank you. When I join the meeting online, I sometimes miss a few things.

When discussing theme 1, the minister talked about uprating the £50 payment. Is there any planned framework for that or—[Inaudible.]—winter heating payments? The minister talked about that when Mr Balfour asked his question. Is there any plan to uprate that payment?

I will wait for the budget report.

The committee has heard all too often that a variety of organisations do not collect data on ethnicity. That often makes it much harder to find areas in which outcomes are significant for minorities. Is there a way that data on client ethnicity can be collected sensitively by VoiceAbility for future annual reports?

Jonathan Senker.

Thank you very much.

Good morning, minister. People from a minority ethnic background are often hit harder by cultural or community stigma and might find it harder to seek help when they need to. What can be done to address that?

Thanks for the answer, minister. I will be happy to get involved in future.