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The next item on our agenda is consideration of two negative instruments. The first instrument is SSI 2023/161, the purpose of which is to list offences in relation to which compliance notices, as set out in the Food (Scotland) Act 2015, may be used as an alternative to criminal proceedings. The relevant offences relate to food information, food composition standards, novel foods, foods for specific groups and food contact materials.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 13 June 2023 and has drawn the Parliament’s attention to a cross-referencing error: paragraph 33 of the schedule should refer to regulation 4 of the Novel Foods (Scotland) Regulations 2017 instead of regulation 6(2). The committee noted that the Scottish Government intends to correct that error at the earliest opportunity. No motion to annul has been lodged in relation to the instrument. Do members have any?comments to make?

The purpose of the second instrument, SSI 2023/173, is to ensure that overseas visitors from certain British overseas territories will not be charged for certain treatment provided by health boards in Scotland, in accordance with healthcare agreements. The instrument inserts a further five territories—Ascension Island, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, and Tristan da Cunha—into schedule 2 of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Scotland) Regulations 1989.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 13 June 2023 and made no recommendations on it. No motion to annul has been lodged. Do members have any comments?

Members indicated disagreement.

Thank you very much. Our next meeting will be a session with the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care based on the evidence that we have gathered as part of our recent scrutiny of front-line NHS boards.

That concludes the public part of today’s meeting.

Under our second agenda item, we will continue our scrutiny of front-line national health service boards. I welcome to the meeting Jim Miller, who is the chief executive of NHS 24.

We will move straight to questions. What efficiencies do you envisage will provide the £2.9 million of savings that are required by the board?

That is helpful. How will you monitor your invest-to-save proposals? You have touched on them a little bit, and what you submitted to the committee in advance of today’s meeting included some detail in that regard. You described them as “digital and workforce improvements”. How will you ensure that they deliver the expected savings, and over what timeframe do you expect to see a return on that investment?

We will move on to our final theme with some questions from Evelyn Tweed.

I declare an interest as a registered mental health nurse with current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration.

Having visited the NHS 24 mental health hub and seen the figures that you have presented to us on people accessing the service and the improvements to telephone access, I have a brief question about breathing space. Are there plans to expand access to that service outwith the core hours that it has now?

We continue our scrutiny of front-line NHS boards. I welcome to the committee Pauline Howie, who is the chief executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service. We move straight to questions. Will you detail exactly how the board plans to achieve the 3 per cent efficiency savings that are needed to achieve financial balance over the next three financial years?

I declare an interest as a registered mental health nurse with a current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration. Has there been any assessment of the impact of the mental health assessment units that have been established across the country on ambulance waiting times at A and E?

Thank you. I would be grateful if you could provide that information.