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There might be concerns about the financial cost of providing interpreters, as well as that space, for jurors. However, although providing interpreters comes with some costs, those costs were found to be manageable in England and Wales. The number of cases that require such support is expected to be small and the costs can be calculated to ensure sustainability. More important, investing in accessibility and inclusion absolutely brings long-term benefits by ensuring that our system is fair for all, regardless of disability.

Amendment 233 matters because everyone, regardless of disability, should have the right to serve on a jury. The amendment seeks to ensure that deaf jurors and others with communication impairments are not excluded from fulfilling that vital civic responsibility, and reflects our commitments to an equal justice system, where everyone can participate fully in legal processes without discrimination. The amendment is a step forward in ensuring that Scotland’s justice system is inclusive and accessible to all, by empowering jurors with disabilities to serve effectively and reaffirming our commitment to equality and fairness.

On a personal note, I am a child of a deaf adult—I am a CODA. For almost 50 years, my father has often relied on me or others to interpret for him, as he is a BSL user. Throughout my life, I have seen him and other members of the deaf community being excluded from various aspects of society, the access to which we, as hearing people, take for granted—we do not note it in our everyday lives.

That exclusion is regardless of their intellect or their good character. It is a shame that that happens. My amendment is not just about deaf people being included in society. Our justice system will benefit by including deaf people, and it will give us more access to a broader demographic within our society. I urge members of the committee to support this important amendment, because it will make our legal system more just and inclusive for all.

I move amendment 233.

The Scottish Seafood Association, known for its quality and sustainability, has set out the growing need to increase sales and demand in the UK and across global markets and aligning that with the promotion of brand Scotland. However, with on-going challenges ranging from market access for small and medium-sized enterprises to logistics and skills shortages, it is critical that we not only strengthen our domestic seafood presence but bolster our position on the international stage and collectively work towards increasing the visibility of Scottish seafood as a premium sustainable product. What role can the Scottish Government play in facilitating the growth that the sector so badly needs?

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate and longer-term actions it can take to support and promote the Scottish seafood processing sector, ensuring that it can compete effectively in a United Kingdom and global market. (S6O-04482)

I join my colleagues in welcoming Scotland’s renewed status as a fair trade nation. It is not merely a badge of honour; it is a reaffirmation of who we are and the values that we choose to stand for—fairness, dignity, solidarity and justice.

I pay tribute to the fair trade campaigners, businesses and community groups across our country whose dedication has made that status possible. Among them are the inspiring members of the Peterhead and Buchan fair trade group in my Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency. That collective, which is made up of volunteers from Peterhead and from Mintlaw and New Deer in my colleague Gillian Martin’s constituency, has worked tirelessly since achieving Fairtrade status in 2012—a status that it has proudly renewed again this year.

The group’s work reaches across our communities and into the hearts of our schools. It has held fundraising stalls at school fairs, presented to assemblies and even introduced Fairtrade cotton uniforms as an option in local schools, planting the seeds of global citizenship in the minds of our young people. It shows us that fair trade is not a distant ideal but something that is woven into our everyday lives—our choices, our shops and our classrooms.

The Peterhead and Buchan fair trade group has also worked with local businesses, organising permanent fair trade displays in hardware stores and running seasonal sales and raffles to raise awareness. It has partnered with the Co-op, collaborated with Aberdeen fair trade group, presented to local organisations such as the Mintlaw women’s institute and the central Buchan rotary, and participated in national and international forums such as “Meet the Producer” and “Campaigning Together.” Its current campaign deserves special mention: collecting and sending donated tools such as drills, grinders and sewing machines to a rice co-operative in Malawi. That initiative speaks to not only the creativity of local campaigners but the deep solidarity at the heart of the fair trade movement.

Scotland has been a fair trade nation since 2013. The retention of that status in 2025 reaffirms our on-going commitment to fairness, social justice and global solidarity. It is a reminder that our small nation can make a big difference on the world stage, especially when we stand shoulder to shoulder with producers and workers in the global south.

We live in a world that is wracked by enormous challenges, such as climate change, conflict, inequality, and global health crises. Those crises disproportionately affect the very communities that fair trade seeks to support. Scotland’s response has been clear: we choose to stand in solidarity, we choose partnership over exploitation, and we choose justice over indifference.

The fair trade model is about more than just trade. It recognises the rights, dignity, and livelihoods of people throughout the supply chain, empowering farmers, workers and producers to build better lives for themselves and their communities.

That is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s international strategy. Through initiatives such as the climate justice fund, which was launched in 2012—making Scotland the first country to commit funds explicitly to climate justice—and through our partnerships with countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan, we continue to promote inclusive development and ethical global relationships. Scotland’s international development fund will increase to £12.8 million in 2025–26. That includes support for humanitarian emergencies and vital investment in areas such as global health and education—especially for marginalised women and girls.

At a time when global need is rising, the Scottish Government’s commitment is both morally right and strategically wise. In stark contrast, unfortunately, the UK Labour Government has chosen to slash international aid to just 0.3 per cent of gross national income—breaking a manifesto promise and turning its back on some of the world’s poorest communities. Scotland chooses another path. We choose to lead.

I believe—deeply—that, given the full powers of independence, we could go even further, by committing to the UN’s target of 0.7 per cent GNI for official development assistance and enshrining that promise in law. However, until that day comes, we must make every devolved lever count. Through our vision for trade, we apply the principles of inclusive growth, wellbeing, sustainability, net zero and good governance to every decision that we make, placing fairness and the planet at the heart of our economy.

Through grass-roots efforts such as those of the Peterhead and Buchan fair trade group, fair trade lives and breathes in our communities. Such groups remind us that global solidarity starts at home—that a stall in a school hall, a cotton uniform and a donated sewing machine are all acts of hope.

Scotland’s status as a fair trade nation is not a static accolade but a living and evolving commitment. It asks something of each of us: to advocate, to educate, to choose differently and to build a system that serves not just the fortunate but the forgotten.

We must continue to uphold that commitment. We must honour the campaigners, the producers and the promise that Scotland can be a beacon of fairness in a world that desperately needs that.

Are members content that they have asked all the questions that they wish to ask?

Members indicated agreement.

Good morning and welcome to the eighth meeting in 2025 in session 6 of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. We have no apologies today. Marie McNair will be joining us online.

Our first agenda item is our final evidence sessions on the operation of the public sector equality duty in Scotland. The PSED is a legal requirement for public authorities in Scotland, which, under the duty, must consider equality when carrying out their functions. The Scottish Government is making reforms to the duty and this inquiry will be an opportunity to explore those reforms and consider how they might improve the delivery of the duty.

We will hear from two panels this morning, and I welcome our first panel. Representing the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland, we have John Wilkes, head of Scotland; Jennifer Laughland, head of Scotland legal; and Bill Stevenson, Scotland compliance manager. You are all very welcome; thank you for attending this morning.

I refer members to papers 1 and 2. Before beginning the session, I remind all members that rule 7.5.1 of the Parliament’s standing orders prevents members from referring to any matter in relation to which legal proceedings are active, except to the extent permitted by the Presiding Officer. I advise members that Sandie Peggie’s employment tribunal case against NHS Fife is considered active for the purposes of the sub judice rule and contempt of court. I have sought and received permission from the Presiding Officer about the extent to which we can explore matters related to the case today and throughout the course of our PSED inquiry. On the basis of that permission, questions about issues connected to the case will be admissible today, but questions about the specifics of the case will not.

Before we move to questions, I invite John Wilkes to make a short opening statement.

Thank you very much. We will now move to questions, and I will start us off.

Over the period of our inquiry, we have noted that public authorities generally think that they have a good understanding of the terms and aims of the PSED in Scotland. However, equality organisations have suggested that, although public authorities might understand the aims, they focus too much on the process and do not make positive changes to people’s lives. What you—that is, the EHRC—have said is that there are issues with

“the quality and consistency of compliance”,

which were reflected in the Scottish Government’s consultation in 2021. Why do you think there is such inconsistency in complying with the PSED in Scotland?

Thank you very much. We will move on to questions from Tess White.

We now have questions from Evelyn Tweed.

We now move on to questions from Maggie Chapman.