Chamber and committees

I know that we have run a bit over time but, if I may, I will ask a few more quick questions.

How is international research on long Covid being disseminated in Scotland? Dr Scott, you mentioned that issue.

Euan Dick, what level of research funding for long Covid is needed in the short to medium term?

I welcome this important debate on the importance of the safety of women and girls on public transport. I commend the minister for her commitment to undertake a consultation on women’s safety across our public transport network.

It is so disheartening that, in 2023, we are still trying to tackle issues such as sexism and misogyny. I want to highlight the continuing challenges that women face daily.

Just over two years ago, Sarah Everard was murdered in the most horrific way possible while she was walking home at night. She was only walking home from a friend’s house, but she never made it back. She never made it because the unfortunate truth is that the safety of women and girls is still not guaranteed across society in the 21st century. Many of my colleagues in the Parliament and I attended a very moving vigil outside Holyrood last year, on the anniversary of the sad death of Sarah Everard. Many of the moving tributes made me reflect on how many times I have, when walking home, changed my route or behaviour if I felt at risk.

A recent incident was when, on my way home, I was walking down a dark close, as I have done hundreds of times before. A man was walking towards me with his hood up and a face mask on, and he did one thing that automatically put me on edge: when he saw me, he looked behind him. It could have been totally innocent, but that slight movement made me question why, as we were approaching each other, he was looking to see who was around.

I automatically assessed the situation. I saw a hotel about 20 yards away, so I started to walk quickly towards it and went into the lobby. The man walked on and I left the reception and continued my journey home. I could have been completely safe—I might have misread the situation—but whatever made me feel ill at ease made me walk into that local hotel without giving it a second thought. Normally, I would just continue on my journey and never think about the incident again. The sad thing is that I have probably done that hundreds of times in my life but never really thought too much about it. Now, it is just a habit for me, as I walk home, to ring my husband until I get through the door.

Today’s debate is specifically about the safety of women and girls on public transport. Every woman and girl has the right to feel safe wherever they go, including when travelling, however they choose to do so. I am sure that we are all familiar with constituents getting in touch about their experience and concerns regarding intimidating behaviour on public transport.

Public transport needs to better serve the needs of women as unpaid carers, workers, volunteers and survivors of gender-based violence. It needs to serve young women, older women, LGBT women, disabled women and ethnic minority women. As Graham Simpson said, it needs to serve everyone, because every person in Scotland should be able to jump on a train or a bus without fear that they will face violence.

Last week, I met in the Parliament representatives from the British Transport Police to hear more about their work in keeping law and order on Scotland’s railways. The British Transport Police has responsibility for safety on Scotland’s trains, and it launched a campaign earlier this year that focuses on women’s safety. As well as the Railway Guardian app, the campaign focuses on the use of the 61016 number and the role of the public in reporting incidents on public transport. I take this opportunity to ask anyone who is listening to save that number—61016—on their phone, just in case they ever need to report an incident, and to download the Railway Guardian app today.

People should, please, ensure that they report incidents. Historically, there has been a data gap in relation to such incidents, because women are far more likely not to report sexual harassment when it happens and, if they do, it is likely to be after the event.

I welcome that the transport minister has instructed her officials to take forward a programme of analysis that will allow for better data collection in Scotland.

I also welcome the findings from Transport Scotland’s report, “Women’s and girls’ views and experiences of personal safety when using public transport”. The authors found:

“Unanimously, women felt safer travelling in the day rather than at night or in the dark. Travel during the week was also seen as being less hazardous than travel at the weekend, largely due to perceptions that public transport attracted large crowds of often intoxicated passengers at weekends.”

They went on to say:

“The risk of delays and cancellations, specifically to buses and trains, explicitly put some women off using public transport at night as the risk of waiting alone in the dark was considered too great”,

and they highlighted concerns about poor lighting and lack of staff.

I welcome the recommendation in the report that we

“raise awareness of the technology that is currently available to assist women and girls and explore means of making this more accessible to all, including raising awareness of the immediate and intermediate support that is available to those who feel vulnerable at any point before, during or after public transport journeys.”

I also welcome the recommendation to

“strengthen existing rules around non-consumption of alcohol on public transport and at points of interchange”,

with

“Increased penalties for non-compliance and better enforcement of legislation”.

I note the recommendation to

“explore the feasibility of increasing staff presence at both points of boarding, alighting and interchange, as well as the possibility of increasing on board staff presence at the times that women and girls feel most vulnerable (including evenings and weekends, in particular).”

That would reassure women and girls about their safety on journeys.

Any form of violence against women and girls is abhorrent and, in 2023, has no place in our vision for a safe, strong, successful Scotland. As we approach international women’s day, I welcome the valuable work that has been carried out during the consultation and through the report, as well as the recommendations and commitment to on-going work, which is vital to ensure that everyone has the right to feel safe and supported on Scotland’s public transport system.

We are continuing our inquiry into long Covid. I welcome Claire Jones, advanced clinical practitioner and long Covid therapy lead, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, who is joining us remotely from Wales. I hope my pronunciation is correct. I also welcome Dr Melissa Heightman, who is clinical lead in the post-Covid service at University College London Hospitals and the north central London respiratory network. Dr Heightman is also a national specialty adviser for the long Covid programme at NHS England. Dr David Strain, who is a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter medical school, is the lead on long Covid at the British Medical Association and a member of the NHS long Covid task force and joins us online.

I thank all the witnesses for giving us their time. We estimate that the meeting will run until approximately 10.40 and that each committee member will have approximately 10 minutes for questions. Witnesses who are attending remotely and would like to respond to any issue that is being discussed should put an R in the chat box so that we can bring them in. I am keen to give everyone an opportunity to speak and apologise in advance for having to interrupt members or witnesses in the interests of brevity if time runs away from us.

I invite all the witnesses to briefly introduce themselves.

I call Alex Rowley.

Is that approach consistent in each county in England?

I am conscious of time and we have two members to go. Brian Whittle, would you like to come in?

I will begin the questions. The committee is very keen to see what work is being done on long Covid in the rest of the UK and what support has been put in place. Dr Heightman, how are long Covid services organised in England?

Are those who present with this form of Covid referred initially by their local general practitioner?

I am conscious of time, and John Mason wants to come in. In fairness, we can go up to 11 o’clock.