Chamber and committees

Good morning, commissioner. We have touched quite a lot on the issue of the cultural change that is required. It lies at the heart of why we are in the situation that we are in.

The committee’s stage 1 report on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill, which created the office of Patient Safety Commissioner, highlighted that, rather than being a result of gaps in policy, the systemic failures that we have seen have arisen because of deep-seated cultural and behavioural patterns in the healthcare system. You have already mentioned some of those, such as not listening to what patients say, the lack of accountability and the closing of ranks. Is the very hierarchical structure of our health boards a factor when it comes to tackling cultural barriers to change?

Supporters of the proposal to extend the voting rights, including you, minister, talk about the proposal being inclusive and helping to embed participatory governance. Could you share with us what outcomes you expect from the move? Do you think that it will bring about earlier co-design? Is it expected to ensure that there are prevention-focused decisions? What are the outcomes that the Scottish Government wants to see?

Good morning. I want to spend a bit of time exploring how lived-experience influence could be supported and amplified, especially now that we are in an age of participatory governance reform. Given the difficult decisions that locally elected councillors are taking, we have made moves to try to mainstream participatory budgeting, to power share in that difficult decision making and to give parity of esteem. If voting is not the preferred route for COSLA, what alternative would most effectively strengthen lived-experience influence?

That influence exists at the moment, as has been outlined. However, although votes might not be taken very often, when they are taken, it is a critical marker of parity of esteem if certain individuals can vote and some cannot. I want to explore parity of esteem and how we can increase influence if we do not extend voting rights.

But how are you going to measure and monitor that cultural change? As we know, and as you have said this morning, the lack of data is a big difficulty. How will you and your office monitor that?

One of my big worries is about ensuring that the victim/survivor is in the driving seat as much as possible. I worked previously with social landlords in this policy area, and I would caution against their taking the driver’s seat—they must ensure that what is done is done in conjunction with the victim/survivor, as opposed to something being done to them, if that makes sense.

Thank you.

Thanks for that.

My last question is about expectations with regard to the differential between the caseloads of ADP and PIP. We have already discussed how that has narrowed a little bit, as the figures show. In a recent evidence session, we questioned David Wallace about the authorisation rate, and he said that it was not a policy decision or something that they were looking at proactively, but they were trying to understand what had happened there, too.

That said, I take your point, Professor Roy, that you do not expect that to remain in that space, and that it might start to change again. Again, the changing nature of the forecasting makes things difficult for us to understand. Can you say anything about that?

Good morning. As a former Scottish Women’s Aid worker, I am delighted that we are having this discussion, and I hope that the regulations will be approved.

My questions follow on from Claire Baker’s questions. We know that, when women who are experiencing domestic abuse leave, that is the most dangerous time for them. I worry that, as Marsha Scott has set out, the circumstances that we are talking about would present an equally dangerous period for such women, so the guidance will be critical in that respect. How can we ensure that support organisations and social landlords are aware of the complexity surrounding the issue? I have a bit of a concern about their seeking to raise an action when the person experiencing domestic abuse is not quite comfortable with that. I want to ensure that that issue is being considered and that we think through all the possibilities of what could happen during such a difficult time.

A few of my questions have already been answered or touched on, which is just the nature of how our questioning goes.

I want to press a bit more on case loads, which are rising right across the UK. In February, the office of the chief social policy adviser in Scotland is due to publish a report that will look back over the past decade—actually, more than a decade; back to 2010—to unpick and understand what the trends are. It is difficult to separate out speculation from the hard causal linkages that we are looking for, but will you speak a little bit about that? We know about the ageing population and the issues in regard to mental health, as you said. When things look uncertain, that makes it really difficult for this committee, the Parliament and the Government to set policy and strategy for the future. You also touched on the differences in the authorisation rates, which might have had an influence on the position between ADP and PIP. Again, that makes it a bit difficult for us to unpick everything behind it. Those are my questions; you have already touched on them a little bit, but anything else that you can offer would be helpful.

Before you bring in Michael Davidson, can you tell us whether, in terms of the increase in the child disability payment numbers and the flow through, perhaps, to those individuals getting the adult disability payment, you have any understanding as to whether the increase is related to mental health or neurodevelopmental issues rather than any physical health issues? That might not be a question for you to answer, but it just came to mind as you were talking about the issue.