Chamber and committees

Thank you, minister, for that reply. We have had a few very productive sessions in our joint committee meetings. My recollection of yesterday’s session with Mr Malthouse might be a little different from that of others, because I felt that it was quite collegiate and that he was always seeking to work collaboratively with you.

However, from some of today’s questions, and from the focus in particular of the Scottish National Party and Green Government members, I am concerned that the argument and positioning around consumption rooms are now there just in order to stoke a grievance, and that they have created something that can be used to prevent us from tackling the issue and from adopting new policies and tactics that we can use now to stop people from dying. Will you comment on that, minister?

Since the introduction of the recorded police warning scheme, which effectively decriminalised class B and C drugs, the number of cannabis users admitted to psychiatric hospitals has increased by 74 per cent. In light of that, do you still support the policy and, indeed, its extension, which has effectively decriminalised class A drugs?

The attainment gap has been widening quite significantly in the 15 years for which the Scottish National Party has been in power—it has been happening since long before the pandemic. Has your Government identified where its previous approaches were failing, and have you devised new interventions so that real progress can now be made as we exit the pandemic?

Just out of curiosity and interest, given that anyone who is a donor will want to make sure that every organ that they donate on their death can be used, is there anything in the provisional common framework that will inhibit that?

We have heard a lot of evidence today and a lot of commentary from both of you—and it has been great to hear it—about the prevention and early intervention agenda in terms of your approach to the health and wellbeing of children and young adults. We have heard a little bit about how cycling will save the world—it is a shame that the bikes that were promised for our young people have not yet materialised.

With real-life waiting times for CAMHS being so wide of the mark, are we not in a position where the prevention and early intervention agenda has to take a back seat and is just fantasy at this stage, because we have to tackle the crisis and the waiting lists that are facing us right now?

I, too, am passionate about sport and physical activity, and particularly team sports, because I believe that they help people out of socially deprived situations and give them a great springboard to go forward. What is the Scottish Government’s assessment of the impact of the pandemic on physical activity levels among children and their ability to access sport and other activities?

Before we get going, I will set the record straight on the position of my leader, Douglas Ross, on drug consumption rooms. He does not oppose a trial of drug consumption rooms and, like the chief constable, Iain Livingstone, he thinks that there needs to be much stronger evidence than exists at present before he can publicly support that policy.

Mr Malthouse, thank you for coming along. From discussions that I have had, it seems that the SNP Government has refused to sign up to the UK-wide scheme to tackle drug dealing through project ADDER. Are discussions on-going on the scheme or is the SNP Government still refusing to co-operate? What reasons has it given for refusing to participate in the project? In your opinion, and in the opinion of the UK Government, does that refusal stand up to scrutiny? If we had been taking part in that project, what resources might we have had in Scotland?

I will dip in and out.

Graham, you have perhaps portrayed me as some anti-sustainable transport guru and I am not. I am very much a believer in making public transport accessible to all. That is where my challenge comes from.

In relation to the active travel agenda, I am passionate about eco-ableism and have grave concerns that many active travel policies discriminate against disabled people and people with mobility issues. As you will know if you watched my committee contributions on Tuesday, I also have concerns about sweeping statements about going from walking to wheeling. There is a lot in the range of mobility from walking to wheeling.

Are you involving groups in the CPG that will help the voices of people with mobility issues to be heard? Will people who are disabled, are blind or have hearing and mobility impairments be represented on the CPG? Without their voices, it does not matter what reports are presented, you will create more inequalities in society.

I am concerned that the voice of cycling will be overrepresented and I want to ensure that there is balance. I have had, and continue to have, that challenge in Edinburgh, where 40km of cycle lanes have created 40km of road space that people with disabled badges can no longer access. I will be gravely concerned if the CPG’s membership does not reflect a more balanced view and include people with mobility issues.