Why not?

If you are looking to influence and to be a role model, do you see a problem with how the current system works?

Mr Whittle, we need to move on.

We will come on to the Commonwealth games later.

I bring in Paul Sweeney.

The final question comes from Brian Whittle.

The purpose of the second instrument, which is the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2025, is to increase the value of savings credit disregard from £8.15 to £8.50 for a single person and from £12.10 to £12.60 for a couple, in line with the increase in average earnings, which is currently forecast at 4.1 per cent.

The regulations also increase the lower capital limit from £21,500 to £22,000 and the upper capital limit from £35,000 to £35,500, in line with the increase in the consumer prices index, which is forecast at 1.7 per cent. In addition, the regulations disregard various payments to individuals living in residential care, ensuring that those payments are not taken into consideration by local authorities when carrying out a financial assessment for charges for those living in residential care.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 25 February and made no recommendations. No motion to annul the instrument has been lodged.

As members do not have any comments, does the committee agree not to make any recommendations in relation to the instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

The purpose of the third instrument, which is the National Health Service (Common Staffing Method) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025, is to amend the National Health Service (Common Staffing Method) (Scotland) Regulations 2024, which specify the staffing level and professional judgment tools that must be used as part of the common staffing method for specified healthcare provision.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 4 March and made no recommendations. No motion to annul the instrument has been lodged.

I believe that Sandesh Gulhane has a comment to make.

As convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, I am pleased to have the opportunity to open today’s important debate on the people’s panel report on reducing drug harm and deaths in Scotland.

First, I offer my sincere thanks to the people’s panel for producing such a comprehensive report on the topic. I also thank all the parliamentary staff and members of the stewarding board who helped ensure that the process ran smoothly. In addition, I place on record my thanks to the various stakeholders who took the time to give evidence.

The collaborative efforts of all those who have been involved in producing the report have been invaluable. For three years, members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee have worked jointly with members of the Criminal Justice Committee and members of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee to examine how drug deaths and drug harm could be tackled in Scotland. Throughout that time, we have taken an holistic approach in looking at issues related to drug harm, and I am pleased that the panel’s report has captured how complex and nuanced a subject drug harm is.

The report covers a wide range of issues and highlights multiple areas for the Government to consider, in the immediate term and for the future. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care for his letter of 10 February to the conveners of the joint committee, in which he outlined the Government’s support for the report’s recommendations.

Although I will be unable to cover all the points that are made in the report in the time allotted, I will highlight areas that are most pertinent to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s remit.

However, before I do so, I believe that it would be remiss of me not to briefly highlight the extensive work of the people’s panel. As is explained in the executive summary of the report, people’s panels help to empower citizens to actively contribute and deliberate on key issues. The provision by individuals of innovative and informed input enhances Parliament’s scrutiny and strengthens inclusive democratic participation.

The people’s panel that we are discussing today consisted of 23 randomly selected individuals aged 16 to 75 from across Scotland. Those who were selected participated in two residential weekends at the Scottish Parliament and two online sessions, in October and November 2024. That work culminated in a collective statement and 19 recommendations. Only recommendations that secured the support of 87 per cent or more participants were included in the final report.

I believe that that approach highlights the benefit of people’s panels, particularly when scrutinising a topic that covers a number of remits. The recommendations reflect a broad consensus, and I again thank the panel for providing a strong foundation for future policy discussion and scrutiny.

I will now focus on specific points made in the report that are most pertinent to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s remit. The panel heard that many people are unwilling to access support, either because of fears of discrimination or criminalisation or because of a general unwillingness to burden services that may not be equipped to respond.

In order to address that, the report recommends the introduction of a well-publicised single point of access for specialised advice and support, or an alternative that would be provided by a third sector organisation. That would allow for service users, as well as families and friends, to have access to immediate support and advice, while simultaneously alleviating the strain on other services.

Similarly, in order to streamline support for people in need, the Scottish Government must act to ensure that all public and third sector services are enabled to share information, with all bodies having a general data protection regulation-compliant information sharing agreement in place that involved service user consent. That would allow for easy sharing of relevant information, which would avoid duplication and remove the need for service users to repeat their stories, which can often be traumatic and affect the consistency of recovery pathways.

It is also important to note that, to further improve consistency across services, the report recommends that medication assisted treatment standards should be extended to cover all drugs that cause harm, to ensure that people have access to the same standards and levels of care.

I also want to take the opportunity to highlight issues around funding and, in particular, the impact that short-term funding is having on access to care and support and its detrimental impact on the workforce. Indeed, the impact of short-term funding was highlighted throughout the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s budget scrutiny, in which we called for multiyear packages to be implemented to allow organisations to better plan the provision of services.

Those calls have been echoed in the panel’s report, which states that there needs to be a guaranteed and protected five-year minimum period of funding for community and third sector services. I welcome the launch of the drugs mission fund and the fairer funding pilot, which I hope will provide much-needed assurances to front-line services.

In conclusion, although the recommendations that I have briefly touched on fall mainly within the health remit, it is clear from the panel’s comprehensive report that a multipronged approach to policy making is required if we are to be effective in reducing drug harms in Scotland. Just as the people’s panel embraced the need for collaborative working, so must we in this chamber. Cross-party and cross-remit working will be essential if we are effectively to tackle drug harms in Scotland and ensure that services meet a standard that addresses the needs of those who require them.

On behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, I look forward to continuing the work with my joint committee colleagues and with members from across the chamber to effectively scrutinise and help to tailor forthcoming policies to reduce, and ultimately to end, drug harms to people in Scotland.

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which says that I hold a bank nursing contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

I remind members that I hold a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

New figures show that child and adolescent mental health services targets were met in the final quarter of 2024, with 90.6 per cent of patients being seen within 18 weeks of referral. Although there is still more to be done to build on that progress, can the First Minister advise how his Government’s investment in mental health services in the 2025-26 budget will ensure that that target is consistently met in the future, to deliver the best possible outcomes for young people who rely on those services?