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Good morning, panel. What you are describing is a guddle, basically—a guddle of the UK’s own making.

I will turn to your report and some of your conclusions. You say:

“Brexit has had a negative impact on UK-EU goods trade.”

I would say that that is probably an understatement. You then go into more depth and say:

“Costs and administration have increased, goods trade is down and there are concerns”

about newly negotiated FTAs. You say:

“If left unresolved, UK goods trade will continue to suffer, with wider impacts on livelihoods, economic growth and job creation, in already difficult”

times. You have also stated this morning that it looks unlikely that EU partners are willing to open up agreements again, and Peter Holmes said that we need to ask what the UK can offer.

How do we get out of this situation, gentlemen? In my opinion, we should never have left the EU in the first place, but how do we get back in there to a degree to protect industry and jobs here in Scotland and elsewhere in these islands?

Piecemeal and, some would say, chaotic.

I wonder if we could move to Mr Holmes on some of those questions. I am interested in what Mr Buckley said about new ministers possibly going to Brussels and other places in Europe, and perhaps getting the UK back in sight; however, I would suggest that the UK will still not be relevant.

Good morning. I will try not to miss anyone out.

We have heard a lot from young folk, and not just those from The Usual Place, whom we had in the other week. Just last night, I had a conversation with someone about what their autistic daughter wants and needs.

The young folk themselves had very strong opinions about certain things—they were all very articulate. Anne-Marie Sturrock, I am afraid to say that I am going to be harsh, as the young folk from The Usual Place thought that college was a tick-box exercise and that nobody listened to them. They had strong views about schooling, too, and what did and did not work, and they had some views about parents impeding them from reaching their full potential and aspiring to what they wanted to do. My question, basically, is this: do we listen to the voices of lived experience enough in the shaping of policy and services?

If we could start with Tracey Francis, that would be grand.

Let me focus on the specifics that you talked about earlier. You said that when you were working in the college sector a multidisciplinary team was set up, with a transitions officer and all of the rest of it. That probably was not the norm at that time, but might be becoming more so now. Did that set-up and the people who were involved change the culture overall in other parts of the organisation?

Grand. Thank you.

From my perspective, the folks whom we have talked to have been very realistic and some of them have been pretty ambitious, which is not a bad thing. On the role-model aspect, one of the young folk whom we talked to wants to be an actor, but I think that probably a lot of folk have tried to stymie that. Positive role models of learning disabled folks, including an Irish actor who was recently nominated for an Oscar—or, at least, the film that he was in was nominated—have made a difference. You are saying that positive role models need to be brought to the fore.

On that positive note, I am finished. Thank you.

Does anybody else want to pick up on the cultural aspect?

The young folk had positive things to say about certain aspects of their journey. For example, Project Search has had a major tick from almost everyone I have heard from, not only during the course of this inquiry but from my own experiences in Aberdeen. Young folk definitely felt listened to in some aspects of their journey. What do we need to do to change cultures, given that a lot of this involves other people, too? How can we change the culture to ensure that young folk with autism and learning disabilities are listened to more and are taken seriously and that the points that they make are followed up on?

You came in this morning, Mr MacLennan, and said that you wanted to give us the “pitch”. I am quite a cynical person, as you have probably gathered. How would you pitch to not only me but the general public out there to explain why we should not think that you are just another bit of bureaucracy that is not really required?

Or by enforcement of existing legislation.