Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, panel. With regard to staff shortages in the NHS and the social care sector, what impact has Brexit had on your ability to recruit internationally?

Physical activity and access to exercise are really important in tackling obesity, poor mental health, loneliness and medical conditions. There are many key stakeholders. How is the Scottish Government engaging with sporting bodies, whose experience could help you to deliver the plan?

I would like to keep the petition open and write to the relevant stakeholders—the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Healthcare Improvement Scotland—to seek their views on what the petitioner asks.

I think that we should write to the Scottish Government for an update on the recent consultation on the act to see where it stands.

I have every sympathy with the petition. We should write to the Scottish Government to seek its views, but I do not think that either the Scottish Government or the United Kingdom Government could give guarantees, as it will depend on how the pandemic develops in the future. However, let us see what the Scottish Government has to say on the views of the petitioner. I am quite happy to do that.

We should write to stakeholders, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the hogwatch Scotland project and the Mammal Society, to seek their views on what the petitioner is asking for. Once we get the relevant information back, we can take the petition from there.

As someone who has met local travel agents and has asked the First Minister a question on the subject, I think that we should write to the Scottish Government to ask for an update on how its correspondence and dialogue with the UK Government on the matter are going.

The petition is very relevant in relation to COP26 and our carbon footprint. As somebody who is in their third session of being on the committee that deals with petitions, it is incredible to see somebody who is seven years of age petition us to try and achieve something across the whole of Scotland. Callum is so young but has taken so much time to lodge a petition, so we should give him the opportunity to come and give evidence before us.

I would also like to write to all the key stakeholders—COSLA, Zero Waste Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Sustainable Scotland Network.

Yes.

The vaccination programme is based on advice from the medical profession and is being offered across the whole UK, so I am happy to close the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that the Scottish Government has stated that it has taken advice and guidance on its approach from several sources and that the approach is consistent across the UK.