Chamber and committees

I did not get to the subject of bill committees versus select committees in the UK Parliament, but in some instances there may be a case for specialised bill committees where a particularly complex bill with many facets does not fit neatly into a silo.

I thank my friend for his intervention. I could not agree more. Despite all the immense work that hospices and our national health service do, too many people are simply stripped of dignity at the end of their lives. Too many people are robbed of the ability to die at home, rather than in a horrible clinical setting in a hospital.

That does not have to be the world that we live in. Marie Curie made a number of recommendations in its report that would help us to alleviate poverty and dying and to take the burdens off those in their end-of-life journey. One way would be for the Scottish Government and local authorities to work together to exempt terminally ill people from paying council tax, similar to the Manchester discretionary council tax support scheme. That would lift the financial burden for those close to death and would be a small step in creating a state that cares actively for those who are dying and recognises the struggles that they are going through by minimising the stress of what is an already impossible situation to come to terms with.

I realise that I have only touched on the initial findings of this fine report. I am sure that colleagues from across the chamber will highlight its other important findings during the debate.

It is important to stress that we in the chamber have the power to end the scourge of end-of-life poverty. It could happen to a family member or a friend of ours, or it could be us—who knows? We can build a social security system that is once again a truly cradle-to-grave system of protection. If we do not do that, the consequence will be that large numbers of our fellow Scots will continue to suffer the humiliation and indignity of suffering at the end of life.

I thank Marie Curie and Loughborough University for releasing the preliminary findings ahead of the publication of the full report, “Dying in Poverty in Scotland 2025”, to enable us to have the debate this evening. I look forward to hearing contributions from across the chamber that show a united resolve to end end-of-life poverty in Scotland once and for all.

I thank Mr Doris for referencing the “Dying in the Margins” study. It is really important, because the dead cannot advocate. The power of that study and exhibition, which diarised people at the end of their lives and told their stories—which might otherwise have been completely lost—was incredible. People who are coming to terms with the grief of losing a relative are not necessarily going to turn around and advocate for them. That was a powerful point to make.

As someone who was bereft of overseas visits as part of the committee’s work, I regret that change in committee role.

The member made an important point not only about the practicality of institutional memory but about the culture that we have a loyalty to our committee and a sense of purpose in serving on it. If that is upended at any moment, surely that means that the culture of the committee is fundamentally undermined.

I have noted Mr Kerr’s point about convenership. Perhaps it comes back to his point about the need to seek election, build a mandate across the chamber and command the confidence of everyone. That would be a self-regulatory check on overly partisan behaviour.

I thank my friend for giving way. We met earlier with my constituents, the Keegan family, who lost their baby, Mason, to sepsis at just three days old. That was entirely avoidable. The significant adverse event review in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recommended measures that needed to be implemented, but the family does not have confidence that they have been. We do not need to wait for a task force to tell us what we already know. It is the minister’s job to ensure that the implementation is done. Does Carol Mochan agree that the minister should get on and do that now?

Will the member give way?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app did not work, but I would have voted yes.

Insurance giant Maiden Life has suddenly announced that it is withdrawing the family protection plan that thousands of credit union members in Glasgow region have been paying into since it started in 1999. That immoral and callous withdrawal of the plan is causing widespread distress to my constituents in Glasgow and across the country. Does the First Minister share my condemnation of Maiden Life’s decision? Will he make a direct representation to the Financial Conduct Authority, along with the credit union working group, to demand immediate redress for the thousands of elderly Scots who will now be left unable to cover the cost of their funeral plans?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will engage with Transport Scotland, ScotRail, First Glasgow, McGill’s Buses and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport regarding the possible introduction of free public transport across Glasgow for those attending the 2026 Commonwealth games. (S6O-05087)