Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, convener.

George Davidson and others have mentioned Spain’s ability to carry out clinical trials more efficiently. If my memory of the pandemic serves me well, Spain also had a very high vaccine take-up rate. Have Covid and some of the conspiracy theories about it—and some of the conspiracy theories that there were before—caused difficulties in certain places in recruiting people for clinical trials? Is Spain at an advantage because there seems to be trust in the Government and the infrastructure with regard to managing those clinical trials?

We can all be a bit negative when we discuss these issues, but the report talks about Scottish Enterprise and the role that it has played in start-ups in Scotland since 2016 and 2020. That role is not insubstantial, nor is the investment by Opportunity North East in building infrastructure. Should there be more co-operation between all of the players to get that right and to open up discussions about matters such as my proposal for an evergreen fund, which I think could make the odds here, as it has done in other areas?

How do we do that?

I have no relevant interests to declare, thank you, convener.

The witnesses seem to agree that the balance in the bill is about right. Mr Menzies, you talked about the necessity for a fundamental review. Often, politicians in this and other places are keen to have everything in the bill—that is, in primary legislation. Would it be better, during the course of that fundamental review, to consider what should be in primary legislation and what should be in regulations? After all, regulations provide a much easier way of changing things in order to take account of, say, the cost of living crisis that we are going through. Given that, should we, in the course of that fundamental review, look at more flexibilities instead of setting things in stone in primary legislation? I turn to Mr Menzies first—the others might like to comment, too.

I will come back to Colin Smyth’s point as well, because ICAS and the Law Society of Scotland have said that limiting access to the mental health moratorium to people in crisis treatment might be unduly narrow. Mr Smyth mentioned non-statutory crisis treatment. I will ask the panellists from ICAS and the Law Society this question, but we may also wish to pose it to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport. How do Dr MacPherson and Mr Menzies define non-statutory crisis treatment? Could you do so? Would you attempt to do so?

I am not surprised by those answers, which is even more reason why we should go to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport to see whether she could come up with a definition for a non-statutory mental health crisis.

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to discuss the addition of the new national smart ticketing advisory board—NSTAB—to the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. The NSTAB is a product of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 and will advise Scottish ministers on topics including smart ticketing arrangements, a national technological standard for smart ticketing and the strategic development of smart ticketing in Scotland. Adding the NSTAB to the 2018 act is intended to address the historical and persistent underrepresentation of women in public life and in the transport sector. The 2018 act sets a gender representation objective for listed public authorities, which is that 50 per cent of non-executive members are women. The act imposes on listed public authorities and those who are making appointments a duty that is related to the achievement of the gender representation objective.

Regarding gender balance in the transport sector, the 2011 Scottish census found that women accounted for only 24 per cent of all people who are employed in the transport and communications industry. Similarly, in 2020-21, the annual population survey found that women accounted for only 19.8 per cent of people who were employed in the transport and storage industry in Scotland. As such, Women in Transport, Sustrans and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe have all called for greater representation of women in transport planning and delivery. As a new public body formed by the Scottish Government, the NSTAB should lead the way in improving gender representation in the transport industry, helping to make policy more inclusive and representative of Scotland’s population. The NSTAB should be a role model for the industry, encouraging more women to be part of the future of transport.

Regarding the gender balance of public appointments in Scotland, data from the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland showed that, between 2005 and 2021, the percentage of women on public boards in Scotland increased from 35 per cent to around 51 per cent. Although that shows that significant improvements have been made, the momentum needs to be maintained. That can be supported by adding the NSTAB to the 2018 act.

The financial impact of adding the NSTAB to the 2018 act is expected to be minimal, primarily relating to outreach work to encourage women to apply for positions.

I thank the committee for its time and look forward to hearing members’ questions.

We will look at all of that. In my previous ministerial roles, we have looked to see what we can do to help people who have caring responsibilities, whether that is women or men. It is important that we are as inclusive as possible in attracting the right folk to fill roles. The same applies to this board as to all the others that I have dealt with.

That is not unusual. As Mr Kerr points out, regulation 5 sets out how the Government will look to deal with that, which includes that

“Scottish Ministers may pay members of the Board such remuneration as the Scottish Ministers may determine appropriate.”

As the convener has pointed out, regulation 5(3) says that ministers

“must pay or reimburse members of the Board any expenses which have been reasonably incurred by them in connection with the Board’s functions.”

As I have said, we will look to ensure that that includes people who have caring responsibilities. That is not unusual for such instruments.