The present situation needs to be urgently resolved for residents, staff and prisoners as we enter the 11th month of the disturbances. Residents’ children are unable to play in their gardens. Residents are subjected to swearing and abusive behaviour and language and they are suffering from sleep deprivation and stress, which results in residents having no option but to move, at a financial loss. What further pressure can we put on the Scottish Prison Service to end that misery and suffering and resolve the situation by relocating the prisoners to other parts of the prison estate?

I note that the cabinet secretary said that the Men’s Sheds Association has received £795,000 directly from the Scottish Government. We know that that has been the case for a number of years. However, not all that money has been direct funding; it has been an accumulation of several different funds. We are talking about core funding in the here and now. What will the Scottish Government do to ensure that the life-saving movement is protected and properly funded in the long term? It is the long term that matters.

We also discussed the media coverage and the perceptions and the realities out there in the marketplace. Is it a problem if the media choose to put something out there that might give an impression—either good or bad—about the situation?

Ms Foster, you represent the Federation of Small Businesses, and we believe that small businesses have had the biggest hit, as you said. It would be good to get a flavour of what you think is the way forward.

Good morning. You have talked about access, which is vitally important. We have already heard about the barriers and the bureaucracy, which are creating some friction. It would be good to talk about the networks that you are using to try to break down some of those barriers. We have heard in the past about the technology that might support you in doing that. We have also talked about business mobility and what might be required to tackle some of the mobility issues and where technology, databases and infrastructure can come in to support that.

It would be good to get a flavour of whether you see that as a way forward or whether, once again, it is a barrier or a problem for your organisations, because that all comes at a cost. We have heard today about costs and marketing, and managing costs is vitally important in ensuring that your businesses can survive and thrive in the difficult economic situation in which you find yourselves.

That is fantastic.

Good morning. In your answers to the opening question, you have all talked about the challenges and about how business has had to adapt. Business has adapted—we have visited some sectors, individually and as a committee. However, we have found that, for some businesses, the step has been too far for them to continue trading with the EU, so they have chosen to rely on the UK market and tried to find new business within that context to fill the gap. I think that you are saying something similar. Some businesses have just stopped trading with the EU, because it has become far too complicated, bureaucratic and costly. I think that that is the flavour that we are getting from most of you about the difficulties.

It is interesting that Catherine McWilliam mentioned the media, and the realities of what is happening in business sectors versus the world that the media portray. That media perception has had an impact on all business confidence, as well as on the trading.

When it comes to skills and finding the people within the business sectors that you all represent, you have identified that there are difficulties in ensuring that you get the right people and that they are able to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Each of you has indicated that the extra costs and the extra burden that come into all of that have had a real impact on the bottom line for your organisations.

Some organisations have adapted and survived, and some have gone to the wall because they have not managed to adapt and change. Would it be the case for all of you that your organisations and the individuals whom you look after and represent have changed their style and format to ensure that they can be competitive and survive? Without that, there is little hope of the whole situation changing and going forward.

Therefore, I have a question for all of you. You have given the convener a flavour of what your wishes and wants are to try to change the situation. Is there anything from that wish-and-want list that you believe would be the pinnacle for your organisations and companies to take on board, so that they could change and adapt to ensure that they can and will have a prosperous future? Is it the case that they have had to change and can no longer go back to the markets and the structure that they had, because that is no longer feasible, viable or economically supportive?

I do not know who wants to answer first.

That is probably easier. I invite Mr Bain from the British Chambers of Commerce to respond first.

Last week, the Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee heard from a panel of witnesses on suicide prevention, including representatives of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association. The association is seen as possibly the most effective suicide prevention and life-affirming movement, and it has been inspirational in improving men’s health. However, it will be expected to pursue alternative funding arrangements outwith the Scottish Government in future. Why has the Scottish Government once again decided that funding for such an initiative is not a priority when it is saving lives?

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that Scotland has the highest suicide rate in the United Kingdom, with young men being three times more likely to die than women. (S6F-03103)