Chamber and committees

I thank the witnesses for their candid testimony. I was young at the time of the miners strike—I was a nine-year-old girl from the north-east—but if you were to ask me about some of the most defining newsworthy moments of my childhood, the miners strike would certainly be in the top three, so it has been important to hear the witnesses’ lived experience.

I also thank Jim Phillips for keeping a record of that experience through the work that he does. It is extremely important that it is documented for history.

My question is about the pardon itself. Is there an alternative to it? Do the witnesses feel that it is the right and proper means to go about what we are trying to do?

Thanks, convener. What version of the SI are we looking at, convener?

It is the final draft.

Okay—thank you.

Everything that you have all been talking to us about is overwhelming. It is very clear that many inequalities that have been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic existed before it. They are issues that women have been championing intersectionally and on which they have been trying to get the message across for generations.

It is fantastic that we are hearing from you and discussing this today, but what can we really do to make a massive shift happen? We have heard about patriarchal structures; for example, evidence that although 80 per cent of people with autoimmune diseases are women, women are less likely to take time off to go to the doctor or for childcare because of perceptions. Is there a deeper underlying cause that we need to address, on top of making the practical and policy changes that we need to make? I suppose that that is a higher-level question, but I am very interested to hear your feedback on it. The question is open to any witness who would like to come in.

Good morning, everyone. I will ask about the labour market. The pandemic affected a different set of industries than usual recessions would have done. It was significantly gender specific. Women and men tend to cluster in different occupations, which shaped the gender implications of the pandemic. Female jobs are more at risk than male ones simply because women are disproportionately represented in sectors that have been negatively affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

The witnesses are all involved in addressing that dilemma with their intersectional lenses. What are the biggest obstacles to ending that disparity? Where can we do more for people who are affected? I put that question first of all to One Parent Families Scotland.

I thank Sir Dieter Helm for his comprehensive answers. I have found it absolutely fascinating, and my question has shifted every time he has given an answer. I will come in to mop up or sweep up, so to speak.

Although I have many questions, throughout it all, I have sensed a very top-down approach. We talk about the private sector and the public sector, and we also talk about the people managing the land. We are in a sensitive time for the environment. We talk a lot about the green economy and—to take you out to sea for a bit, as I have a coastal community constituency—the blue economy. We also have a wellbeing economy and a good food nation and all that combined to be thinking of.

You spoke about politicians making the decisions. Before I became an MSP, I was a councillor, and I saw a lot of good localised community action, particularly when there was storm damage such as we had recently and during Covid-19. We have spoken about public ownership for public good, but what about local ownership for local good? Farmers and fishermen see the changes in our environment before anybody else, and they might know the best way to manage those things. What are your views on taking a very localised view and on local ownership?

My question is for Ian Dickie and is about the characterisation report and the main opportunities for investment that it identified. Was the issue looked at in a holistic way? Particularly during Covid, quite a lot of farms diversified into agritourism, for example. We are talking about natural capital but, from a local point of view, who were the stakeholders that were involved? This is not about natural capital, but I have a coach company in my constituency—do not worry, convener, I am not advertising, so I will not give the name—that is trying hard to encourage people out of their cars and on to coaches to access what we would call our natural capital. We could probably call that company a facilitator. Was it included as a stakeholder? Were the main opportunities for investment seen in a holistic sense?

I was going to ask questions about mental health, but I think that the witnesses have answered some of those, so I would like to shift the focus a bit.

We have heard about women often going without food and clothing to prioritise others’ needs. Women’s health is often deprioritised. Women tend to have more physical disruptions—for want of a better word—such as menstrual-related health issues, pregnancy and birth, postpartum care, and menopause, which has multiple layers of health issues. All of those can impact day-to-day living without appropriate care. For example, heart disease in women is a silent killer, as it is often overlooked or dismissed.

Job access equality and working out of the home often depend on being physically able. Where does women’s physical health come into that? Was that also deprioritised or overlooked? Did you see within your remits any effects of women’s health inequalities that perhaps became more apparent at the height of the pandemic? Is that a noted factor in gender-based inequality?

I had a few questions, but many of them have been answered. As a result, I want to raise a bit of a topical issue. Something that is front and centre in my mind and which is really affecting my constituency is storm Arwen. We have talked quite a bit about collaborative working, but many issues affecting Scotland, and my constituency in particular, are due to climate change. We have had issues with migrating cod, for example, and urban gulls; now this devastating storm has happened, and we are hearing such extreme weather will happen much more often.

As I was driving down to Edinburgh, I kept seeing bare trees, many of which were lying on the roads. It was actually quite perilous. Aside from the devastating consequences for residents, I also wonder what is going to happen to all the birds. We have heard about collaborative working, but what role do you see yourselves playing in resilience preparation and support with regard to third sector organisations and private businesses? What might that look like?