Chamber and committees

I may have changed my mind, but we will see what happens. My initial question is about procurement. Will each of you tell us how your organisations go about specifying and procuring new vessels, and how that differs from the approach of CMAL, which, as we know, procures vessels for Scottish Government-supported ferry services?

Is it as simple as that?

Is it correct to say that you also have to think about the interests of shareholders? I think that the company makes a decent profit.

Yes, but in terms of viability and profitability, going back to 2011-12, Western Ferries has made more than £17 million in profit after tax and has paid out more than £5 million in dividends to shareholders. Is that correct?

Thank you for raising that. Our theme is the sustainability of services, so we must think about funding and what the situation will look like not just in the short term but in the longer term.

That is helpful. You have both mentioned safety. Helen Inkster, I do not want to get into this too much, but it is probably fair to say that, last summer, there was a bit of a safety scandal. You mentioned procurement and getting to know the vessel and understanding it, so could you explain what happened with the Pentalina and what lessons have been learned? I think that the issue relates back to an attempt to sell that vessel on to CMAL. I do not want to get that wrong, so I would like to hear your understanding.

Okay.

I declare that I am a member of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers parliamentary group and I am proud to be a trade unionist. I understand that the safety deficiencies were detected as a result of information that the RMT brought to the attention of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. What is your company’s culture and attitude towards trade unions? We talked about procurement, and the fair work agenda is clearly important in Scotland. What is your relationship with the RMT?

I will briefly clarify that. I asked the question because we are talking about safety and the future provision of ferry services, so issues around engagement with trade unions, the workforce and the wider community are important. However, I think that Ms Inkster has given her answer.

I agree with the deputy convener. We do not know the answers to some questions, some of which might be technical in nature in relation to design, so we should definitely ask those questions.

I pay tribute to Daryl Cooper for lodging the petition in Parliament. It was really good that the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee—I hope that I have the title correct now—reached out to our MSP colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy, who is a wheelchair user. She was able to share her lived experience in relation to the front-facing issue and the limit of only one wheelchair user being able to use any given service. She gave the example of her and her husband not being able to travel together, which got me thinking about people with caring responsibilities and people with children not being able to travel together.

We could write to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to understand how local authorities intend to use the powers that are available to them under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. There are therefore things that we could pursue.

This is a voluntary interest of mine, but I should say that I am patron of Disability Equality Scotland. The committee can therefore understand why I am keen for us to do what we can to get some answers and, I hope, some progress for people.

It really has been an enjoyable debate. Some difficult topics have been covered, but everyone who has spoken has brought a lot of insight and lived experience, and a bit of humour as well. I have given notice that I have to leave before the end of the debate and thank you, Presiding Officer, for allowing that. I apologise that I cannot stay for the minister’s closing remarks, which it would be good to hear.

We have made a good start with the women’s health plan—the first in the UK. There is a lot in there that is positive, as we heard recently at the cross-party group on women’s health, which I chair. We need to keep going on that, and I know that there is commitment to that across the chamber. That is why it is so important to know when we will have a women’s health champion. I am sure that there are plenty of able people who could fill that role.

I congratulate Siobhian Brown on securing the debate. It is important that we do not just let these awareness months and days pass us by. We are having much more open conversations about the menopause and, indeed, the perimenopause. However, just having that talk is not enough.

We know that there is a lot to do, and we have heard about the importance of good-quality time with GPs and in primary care. When I get the chance to speak to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, we talk about medical misogyny. He really gets that phrase now and I think that we all have to work on that. Menopause is a bit like mental health, in that, when we ask people to come forward to get help early, we have to make sure that the resource is there to meet that expectation. That is about supporting the workforce, as well.

As we have heard today, menopause is a workplace issue. We have heard that from a number of colleagues including Carol Mochan, and Mercedes Villalba with her intervention. It is timely that we meet today, because I know that the minister has been at the STUC women’s committee conference, which is important. We are so blessed in Scotland in having fantastic trade union women who are champions in the workplace and who bring us the information so that we can speak in these debates and in our CPGs and committees.

I also give a nod to the all-party parliamentary group on menopause in Westminster. It undertook an inquiry and produced a very good report. It is quite long, so I will not go into it too much, but it makes an important point that I know that colleagues here will agree with, which is that the way in which menopause can affect minority groups including people in the LGBTQ+ community is important. We might have our political differences, but Pam Gosal is an important role model on these issues, by sharing her experience, because we know that many people will be afraid of the menopause. Some people have an easy experience and some do not, and it is important that we break down those barriers.

I thank all colleagues who have shared their experience and, of course, I wish Stephanie Callaghan a good recovery. I think that we have to remind our sisters to take a day off. Life will carry on, so, again, when we talk about good menopause policy in the workplace, it is also about us showing that, actually, it is okay not to be at your work.

Colleagues have been really inclusive in the debate, but in the few seconds that remain I just want to talk about early menopause for those women and people who menstruate whose periods stop before the age of 45. That can also be for reasons that relate to other health conditions. It could be cancer, linked to treatment, or endometriosis. Let’s face it: people are diagnosed with endometriosis far too late on average. That is an issue that I know the minister probably has sleepless nights about, but there is an important commitment to bring that time down from eight and a half years to 12 months by the end of this session of Parliament. That is another issue that we all need to work together on.

I thank Siobhian Brown again for the debate, and I thank all colleagues for their humour and insight.