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Does Murray Bain have anything to add to that point?

Okay. Russell, this is your opportunity to add something.

Good morning. You have all suggested, in different ways, that the vessels that are procured by CMAL are inefficient and overspecified. You have been quite critical of the idea of unique designs. Will you say a little more about that? Is there any reason that is particular to Scotland—to do with, for example, the sea conditions here—that would mean that a unique design is appropriate for Scotland?

I will move on. The committee has heard that some routes might be better served by two or maybe more smaller vessels rather than one large boat. I am thinking of the Loch Seaforth on the Ullapool to Stornoway route, where I know that the local community would have preferred to have had two smaller boats rather than one large vessel. I can see that having more boats would probably increase resilience; that seems obvious. It might provide a boost to the local community and so on, but are there downsides to that? We have talked about increased staffing. Would that increase operational costs? What do you think?

Thank you for that. Do other members of the panel have anything to say about overspecification?

That answer is helpful. Are you able to share that next-level-down detail with the committee so that we are able to look at it?

Good morning. Given that the Scottish Government has set out its intention to grow renewable electricity production, do you agree that it would be useful to improve the infrastructure? I am thinking in particular about the north and the north-east of the country, where the infrastructure is obviously unable to support the transition that we are talking about. A number of roads require to be upgraded, potentially for that purpose, but also to address safety concerns.

The budget line for motorways and trunk roads stands at £801 million, which represents a reduction from the previous two years’ allocations, and the line for roads improvements also shows a reduction. We have had a conversation about the financial context, which I understand, but will you set out for the committee what has been prioritised—obviously, I acknowledge the reduction in the budget—and what has been deprioritised?

Thank you.

Good morning, convener. I have no relevant interests to declare.

As Martin Brown has said and as the committee will know, there are a number of initiatives in this area. We are all clear that better communication is beneficial, and I am sure that the Crown Office and the SCTS will look at that issue in the work that they are taking forward.