Seòmar agus comataidhean

I give a huge thanks to Reem Alsalem—

—for taking time out to speak to us. I apologise for—

I now end the meeting.

—keeping you waiting a little bit and for overrunning the session. You have been of great help.

Thanks very much, everyone, and—

I invite the committee to agree to delegate to me the publication of a short, factual report on our deliberations on the affirmative instrument that we have just considered. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Under the next agenda item, we will hear from members of the independent expert advisory group on ending conversion practices. I welcome to the meeting our panel of witnesses: Nick Bland, the chair of the group; Dr Rebecca Crowther; Dr Paul Behrens; and Richy Edwards. Thank you for taking the time to speak to us today.

I refer members to papers 2 and 3, and invite each of our witnesses to make a short opening statement.

Thank you very much. Can we now hear from Rebecca Crowther, please?

Thank you, Richy. We will now hear from Paul.

That ends our questions. I thank the witnesses hugely for their evidence.

It is now up to the committee to decide what to do with the petition. Given that the Government is committed to introducing legislation relatively quickly, I suggest that we close it. Do members agree?

Members indicated agreement.

The committee has agreed under rule 15.7 of standing orders to close the petition on the basis that the Scottish Government has committed to introducing legislation on the matter.

I give a huge thank you to all our witnesses for what has been an informative session. We look forward to continuing to work with the Government as the proposed bill moves forward at pace.

I suspend the meeting for about 15 minutes.