Chamber and committees

The word “sufficient” is used in the bill—it mentions “sufficient breaks”. We need to consider how looking after a parent, grandparent or sibling interferes with the education of a young person. I am interested to hear your thoughts on what we need to do in order to take a relationship-centred approach to determining what “sufficient” is. There has to be an agreement with the person who is providing the care about what works for them. Henry Simmons said that people dinnae want a lot; they just want what is sufficient for them. Is more guidance on or a definition of “sufficient” needed in order to make the provisions in the bill work for unpaid carers?

I have no problems with minor technical amendments to the units and the forms of nutrients in various pieces of legislation. I just want to highlight the issue of pesticide residues. Any time that that kind of language is flagged, it reminds me of work that I did previously, when I was a member of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, on food safety, food standards, imports, trade, trade deals and things like that.

Without going into detail about the US Food and Drug Administration’s “Food Defect Levels Handbook” on approved defects, I basically just want to state that I am happy with proceeding with the instrument, because the information that we have on pesticide residues refers to widening the definition, or

“expanding on the potential sources, to include veterinary and biocides.”

On further reading of the information, I am satisfied that it is okay to proceed with the instrument.

How will the recently introduced legislation to remove the local-connection test help to ensure that people find a settled home and access to support as quickly as possible in an area that they choose?

Effective recruitment for an effective workforce is vital to delivering sustainable specialist services in Tayside and across Scotland. Will the cabinet secretary outline how the Scottish Government and the health boards, including NHS Tayside, are supporting recruitment to breast cancer services?

The minister talked about amplifying the voices of carers. Next week, I will chair a meeting of the cross-party group on health inequalities, at which Richard Meade from Carers Scotland will give a presentation on how such inequalities affect people. Does the minister agree that cross-party groups are a useful way of elevating people’s voices so that we can identify problems and solutions?

So that bit of language might be too prescriptive.

What is sufficient for one person might not be sufficient for another, so it is all very person centred, to use that phrase. I suppose that a break might be a break with the person whom you are caring for. Does that language need to be in the bill? How do we define that? Can that be worked on? The bill is about sufficiency and language that is not about eligibility. Once we have the overarching framework, we can clarify what “sufficient” is and build on that through an approach that takes the carer’s view on board. Would that be part of the co-production?

I heard this morning from two young people in receipt of self-directed support, but that was not the language that they used to describe it. In fact, they did not know that that was what they were receiving. Is it important for people to understand what is being delivered as long as the necessary care is delivered? Does the language matter?

This might not be a matter for the primary legislation, but I note that, when we were in Dumfries, a care home owner told us that people in care homes did not get self-directed support, even though they were in their own home. Given that other folk get it in their homes, why do care home residents not get such support, too? That might be a question for down the line, but is it relevant to what should be in the primary legislation in order to pin down what such support is all about?

Good afternoon, everybody, including the folk online. I have been interested in the issue of self-directed support since the previous session of Parliament. We have heard evidence that it is not being delivered well in some places but that it is absolutely fantastic in other places. Self-directed support seems to offer people choice about the kind of care that they want.

Should there be more on self-directed support in the bill and, if so, what should the bill say? On pages 20 and 21, the bill refers to modifying the self-directed support legislation. What are your thoughts on self-directed support, and should there be more on that in the bill?

Therefore, a digital care record that is accessible, secure and safe is absolutely what we need to think about in the bill. You are right about choice, traceability and the ability to know who has accessed records. I come from a nursing background and, from that point of view, when we are operating on somebody, we want to know what has happened in the past, including about previous surgeries, and it is really handy to have a record to check for safety reasons.

The third sector does not have access to records. Would you support that access? When we consider who is looking after the person—someone might have self-directed support, for example—is it necessary that the right people have access to the record?