Seòmar agus comataidhean

I would like to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders on the basis that the Scottish Government has confirmed that the remit of a fair fares review includes consideration of concessionary travel schemes for disabled people and their companions travelling by rail. In closing the petition, I remind the petitioner that, if the fares review does not meet what they are trying to do, they could bring the petition back in 12 months.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Stroke Association and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland to seek their views on the action that the petition calls for. The committee could also write to the Scottish Government to seek clarification on what consideration has been given to using the BE FAST model to help to raise awareness of the symptoms of strokes.

Sharon Wiener-Ogilvie mentioned growing your own workforce. What impact is depopulation in remote and rural areas having on the ability to get that workforce?

Good morning to the panel members. Some of you touched on these issues earlier, but can you expand on what infrastructure improvements would encourage people to apply for posts in remote and rural areas?

Good morning. You touched on this in one of your answers: how important a role should community engagement and co-production play in the development of rural health services? What are the benefits?

How can we strengthen the examples that are in place, and what good examples are there that we could share across the rest of Scotland?

We could keep the petition open and write to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to seek clarity on whether the Barnett consequentials resulting from the UK Government’s announcement of additional funding for pothole repairs will be made available for pothole repair in Scotland as part of the 2024-25 budget allocation for motorways and trunk roads and the local government settlement.

We could also write to the Minister for Transport to seek information on what action is being taken to ensure that the budget for motorways and trunk roads is not further reduced as part of the 2024-25 budget.

I have a whole list that I would like to go through, if we have time.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask what consideration it has given to the introduction of mandatory Braille labelling on food products across the UK, and to seek clarification on whether the UK Government will carry out a full review of general food labelling requirements.

I also wonder whether the committee would consider seeking an update from Food Standards Scotland on its work to build an evidence base in the area and on the recommendation that it launches a public consultation to gather views on Braille labelling on food.

Mr Ewing mentioned car parks that have no facilities, but we just need to look at Loch Morlich—he will know the area well. There are lots of car parks there, but they are seriously overused by the public. It is a really good tourist destination, and the wear and tear in those areas is incredible. Forestry and Land Scotland has to repair that, so it needs to get revenue from somewhere.