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I cannot give an exact number, but all practising solicitors who hold a practising certificate are routinely notaries public. If the member checks how many solicitors there are in Scotland, he will find that, invariably, all solicitors are notaries public.

Across Scots law, for an act that has serious legal consequences, such as the signing off of an affidavit, it is standard practice to require the oversight of a notary public. However, the bill, which deals with the very serious matter of ending a human life, demands far less. That is a profound inconsistency and it presents an unacceptable risk. Amendment 149 would therefore ensure that the highest legal standard is applied to the most serious of decisions. When a declaration is made under the bill, it must be signed by the individual himself or herself, or when that is physically impossible, by a notary public acting as proxy. That notary would be required to verify the person’s identity, confirm the person’s understanding, affix their official seal and ensure that their involvement was recorded in the individual’s medical records.

These safeguards are not bureaucratic obstacles: they are protections against coercion, conviction and abuse, and they uphold the principle that, when the state authorises the ending of a life, the process must meet the highest conceivable standard of legal integrity.

I am grateful to Mr McArthur for setting out his arguments. I reiterate that my amendments apply only in the event of an individual appointing a proxy. There is a need for an additional safeguard in that circumstance but not when somebody is declaring on their own behalf.

On that basis, I press amendment 149.

I have two amendments in this group—amendment 148 and amendment 208, which is consequential to amendment 148.

Amendment 148 seeks to establish a new statutory designated agency, which would be responsible for administering and overseeing the entire assisted dying process under the legislation. The agency’s duties would include managing declarations, co-ordinating medical assessments, authorising practitioners, arranging assistance, maintaining records and reporting. The designated agency would operate independently of the NHS, with its powers, governance and procedures further defined by Scottish ministers through regulations. Functions performed by medical practitioners in the process would generally be under the agency’s authority or delegation.

Amendment 148 would address one of the deepest contradictions in the bill—the expectation that assisted suicide will be carried out within the framework of our national health service. The NHS was founded, in the aftermath of the second world war, with a singular moral purpose, which was to preserve and protect life—without distinction. It was a national affirmation that every life, regardless of age, ability or circumstance, was worth saving. To ask that same institution now to facilitate the deliberate ending of life would be to abandon that founding principle. Doing so would blur the moral and professional boundaries on which public trust in the NHS depends. Patients turn to doctors and nurses in the belief that their sole purpose is to heal, comfort and preserve life. If the state asked them also to provide the means to end life, that trust would be fundamentally—and perhaps irreparably—weakened.

Yes—that is correct. That is the purpose of amendment 148.

Amendment 148 would create a new stand-alone body, regulated by Scottish ministers, that would have the responsibility for conducting assisted death.

I believe that, in creating an independent agency, we would create a clear moral distinction between the NHS and a new body that was established with a different purpose, which would be to end life. I do not believe that the NHS should be asked to bear the burden of bringing in assisted dying.

I urge members to support amendment 148 in order to protect the integrity of our health service and the trust on which it rests.

I move amendment 148.

My amendments in this group seek to replace previous provisions on proxy signing and limit the signing of declarations under the bill to the declarant or, where the declarant is physically unable to sign, to a notary public acting as a proxy.

The notary public must verify identity, ensure comprehension and voluntariness, affix their notarial seal and record their involvement in the person’s medical records. Those safeguards aim to ensure the integrity, authenticity and legality of the declaration process.

I should declare a partial interest in that I am a member of the Law Society of Scotland. I used to be a notary public but, because I do not have a practising certificate, I no longer hold that office. I can therefore reassure members that this is not a job creation scheme for notaries public.

The amendment intends to address a fundamental weakness in the bill, which is the dangerously low threshold that it sets for proxy signing. Under the bill as it stands, a declaration to end one’s life can be signed on an individual’s behalf without the involvement of a notary public or any equivalent legal safeguard. That might be acceptable in routine matters of administration, but not in a matter of life and death.

Thank you.

I would like to ask about two specific consumer issues that are covered either in the work that you have done or potentially in your future work programme.

The first is the question of migration to digital land lines. I noticed that there is an impact assessment review of the work that you have done previously. To contextualise this, it is a huge issue in rural areas, including areas that I represent in Mid Scotland and Fife. I had a horrific case, just a few weeks ago, during storm Amy. An elderly lady fell in her house during a power cut caused by the storm. She did not have phone contact with the outside world, because she lives in an area with no mobile phone connectivity. She was, fortunately, called on by a neighbour, but the neighbour could not make contact with the Ambulance Service and had to drive her car 2 miles down the road to get a mobile signal. She then had to go back and wait completely in the dark, with no contact with the outside world, for the ambulance to turn up some hours later. That shows that the migration is a serious issue.

I am interested in understanding the impact of the work that you did in this area and the practical improvements that there have been, because issues are still arising.

Okay. Thank you.

Good morning. I want to follow up on Gordon MacDonald’s line of questioning about your public reach. My colleague was just getting to highlighting the concern, which many of us share, that Consumer Scotland’s profile with the wider public is not great.

I have been looking at the numbers on your social media reach. On X, Consumer Scotland is followed by 408 people. Your post from yesterday, on consumer protections in the used car market, has had 43 views since it went up. To put that into context, another consumer organisation with which people might be familiar is Which? UK, which has 123,600 followers on X. I know that X is not the beginning and end of the world, but that difference in numbers suggests that you are not really reaching people in the way that other consumer organisations are able to.