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Could we also record that it is unfortunate that the Government has been unable to give us a date for introduction? On a number of occasions, I have offered to introduce a member’s bill, if that would make it easier for Government business.
I expect that it will be reviewed annually, at a minimum, to ensure that we are keeping up to date with the changes in the process and encouraging more changes.
If you are not seeing patients because of the restrictions that they are under and the restrictions on your services, I suppose that the difficulty is how to get up-to-date clinical knowledge to make those prioritisation choices in a different way from before.
As of last week, eight of 15 authorities in Scotland had confirmed their data test date. We are in the process of working with another six authorities to confirm their dates, which should be confirmed in the next few days.
I will highlight one other point, of which I am sure the committee is well aware. A lot of the dates can be quite confusing, because everything is, in effect, happening two years after the event.
I assume that the ombudsman will have that bank of expertise to draw from. I understand your concern, but I think that five days may be a challenge for someone with additional support needs who may need intensive advocacy input to take a complaint forward.
The report on the sector that the Bank of Scotland published in August said that food and drink producers forecast average turnover growth of 19 per cent and—this is an important point—that 63 per cent of producers said that provenance was “an important factor for export markets”.
We are not alone in that; the member will be aware that Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority and the representative of the Palestinian people on the west bank, does not call for a boycott of Israel.
We know from a few moments ago that the First Minister is happy to rely on the Bank of England to be the lender of last resort, but is he content to have what would be the special forces of another country as Scotland’s defence of last resort, too?