Chamber and committees

The good news is that we have already demonstrated in Scotland the affordability of free bus travel for the under-22s and others, and there is a wider campaign to extend that. The minister’s point about making sure that public transport is joined up and integrated is important.

My final question is on the fair fares review. What is the timescale for that, and how can the public engage with it?

I thank the committee for having me back. I am grateful for the work that has been done and the submissions that have been made to the committee, and I welcome much of what the cabinet secretary has said. I had a brief chat with Karen McKeown this morning—we are in regular contact—and she is really grateful for the attention that the committee is paying to the petition. She knows that you will understand the issues because of your local experience in helping constituents.

I was struck by some of the comments in the SAMH response. One that stands out is:

“recovering and renewing the previous system will not be good enough.”

That is absolutely correct. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also made some important points. It talks about needing a “radical refresh” of the current mental health strategy and, importantly, about the experience of the workforce, who are already stretched and exhausted. We know that burn-out is a real issue for clinicians and people on the front line in healthcare roles.

I hope that the petition will be kept open and that we will do everything possible to ensure that people do not fall through the gaps. The Government clearly has good intentions, but there are legitimate questions about the additional resource and how it will be used. I go back to the point, which SAMH makes eloquently, that we have to do more than just recover and renew the system. We know that it was far from perfect and, sadly, too many people have fallen into crisis, or deeper into crisis, For many, that has resulted in them losing their lives. We know that suicide can be prevented.

I am here to again offer my support to my very courageous constituent Karen McKeown. Karen has been a real rock to many other people who have found themselves in a similar dark place. Nothing will ever make up for her loss. Karen will not mind me saying that, following Luke’s death, it has been an on-going battle for her and her young children to get support. Karen’s son has autism and her daughter has required on-going support. I want to be honest with the committee, because I represent people who rely on NHS Lanarkshire, that the support is not always there—the waiting times are excruciating. As members know, that is not unique to Lanarkshire.

We have to keep everything on the table. We have to let people right across Scotland know that there is no complacency on the issue. People’s lives are worth more than any amount of money. The points that Karen has made about ensuring that the money and resources get to the right places are important, and we must continue to listen to lived experience, including that of many of the workforce, who have their own mental health issues.

I know that the committee gets a lot of petitions, so I am grateful to you for the time that you have given to this one, which is relevant to everyone in Scotland. I know that, no matter what happens next, Karen will continue to fight to ensure that the system improves so that no one falls through the gaps. The convener read out the statistics. Karen is beavering away with her own freedom-of-information requests, but we know that, when people present at A and E and do not get the help that they need, it is an appalling missed opportunity. There is space to provide more specialist support in order to try to ensure that we have a trauma-informed support response across the board. Thank you for listening.

That was really helpful. Do you have anything to add, Michael?

Robert and Mick, do you have anything to add?

The last word goes to you, Mick.

For transparency, I declare an interest as a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers parliamentary group and of Unite the union.

Good morning, panel. My first question is probably best aimed at Mick Hogg. I was pleased to hear him say that early discussions between the RMT and the new Minister for Transport have been positive—that is encouraging. I am aware that the current ScotRail franchise has a no compulsory redundancy commitment, which is for all ScotRail staff. However, I understand that the Scottish Government has so far not agreed to continue that commitment under a publicly owned ScotRail. Will you give an update on that and set out the importance of a no compulsory redundancy policy?

Thank you for that, Mick. I think that we all want to see improving industrial relations.

The deputy convener has talked about the importance of looking to the future. I am not sure whether Mick Hogg can still hear us, because his screen has frozen. I will keep going unless I am told otherwise.

That is good. Thinking about the deputy convener’s important point about the future, I know that Scotland’s four rail unions—the RMT, Unite, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association—have published the report, “A Vision for Scotland’s Railways”. I am interested in hearing what the other panel members think of that report, but first of all, will Mick Hogg clarify whether trade union representatives will sit on the new publicly owned ScotRail? Has that been confirmed?

Does Robert Samson or Michael Clark have any views on the vision for Scotland’s railways? After all, there are a lot of recommendations in the document.

Thank you, Michael, and thank you for acknowledging that today is international women’s day. I have a very brief question on that. Robert Samson has already touched on the point about women’s safety. We heard from Mick Hogg about how many stations are unstaffed and that there are concerns about the safety of the workforce. This is a bit of a hot topic at the moment and the Government wants to have a national conversation about it, so are there any lessons that we can learn from international best practice? I would be interested to hear whether you have any knowledge on that. I will go to Michael Clark and then Robert Samson.