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Investment in perinatal mental health is exactly that—an investment—and it is estimated that failing to make it costs public services five times more downstream. That is nothing, however, compared with the human cost and suffering.
If you are looking to improve efficiency, the civil service does seem relatively top heavy compared with other organisations. It must happen across the board.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
On 16 June 2025, Members of the Committee visited another organisation that sits under the Committee's remit - the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh .
A note of the meeting is available here:
Visit to Airdrie, Note of discussion, 28 November 2022
Report
The Committee published its report on 7 February 2023.
It is not expected that any such circuses will be appearing in Scotland when the substantive provisions are brought into force, as none have visited for several yearsiThe Financial Memorandum for the Bill states that according to respondents to the 2014 Scottish Government consultation on travelling circuses, only 2 travelling circuses with wild animals had visited Scotland in the last 5 years, and none in the last 12 months..
We also repeated our request that the Scottish Government adopts a similar approach to that of the UK Government and the SFC in comparing new plans for spending with estimates or outturns from the previous year.
I put on record our thanks to the clerks and the organisations that organised that visit. We have a further two such visits coming up soon, in Galashiels and Clydebank.
However, if they go to somebody who has skin in the game and has to report to me on where we will be, they will get a different answer. Both answers have to be compared in order to know where we actually lie.