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That is fine. Important points have been made about poverty and its impacts.

I think that we can all agree that unpaid carers such as family, friends and neighbours are the backbone of looking after people. There has already been talk about the ethos and the culture and how they have to change. It is time that we started valuing caring roles much more.

You spoke about the pressure on unpaid carers and how they cannot wait, and I agree strongly with that. You also talked about how professionals in the front line are shattered and tired. Carers are also in that position because they had to pick up when services closed. That is not a criticism—we had to prevent the spread of the infection and save lives—but that burden fell on carers, and it was a physical burden as well as a mental one. What practical, hands-on support is there for carers, bearing in mind that they cannot wait? What can they expect to see on the ground right now and over the next few weeks? Some of them are reaching the point at which they cannot cope and they will not be able to continue in their caring role if they do not get that support.

I have a couple of wee questions. Thank you for being here this morning, minister. I want to ask you a little bit more about prevention. Earlier, you mentioned school counsellors and mental health link workers in general practices. We have heard quite a lot of evidence on various topics about how it can be quite difficult for professionals to focus on prevention. What measures are you looking to put in place to ensure that prevention is prioritised on the ground, and that it has an impact?

I remind members that I am a councillor on South Lanarkshire Council. Just as Sandesh Gulhane has done, I will mention NHS Lanarkshire. I was at the health board briefing last Friday, where we were told that there was a 30 per cent to 35 per cent increase in demand for supported discharge from hospital. So, despite a 30 per cent improvement in discharges from hospital, the situation there is standing still.

The third sector is critical to that situation. What further support could be offered to it?

Thanks for being here, Professor Stobart. You mentioned that you are a late developer. I did not expect to be in politics, so we are on an equal basis there.

You touched on engagement with students. Obviously, students should be able to influence and help to shape the assessment system, and we should provide opportunities to recognise the full range of young people’s skills and experience and their achievements at school. What can we learn from other countries about engaging with students?

You have made a really good point about the engagement process. That is why I am asking these questions. In the evidence that we received from students, they talked about having that breadth and being given opportunities to demonstrate their skills and achievements at school. There seems to be a huge amount of trust in the teachers, which is really positive.

Do you have any comments with regard to young people with additional support needs? An issue that came through quite strongly in that respect was the need for flexibility in the system to allow them to demonstrate their skills and experience. I know that Professor Louise Hayward will be leading the expert group, which will also include people from the curriculum and assessment board. However, does that representation reflect the current situation, given that around 30 per cent of our students have additional support needs? How do you think they can be included or helped to demonstrate their skills in a new system?

Professor Stobart, you made the point about the fact that there can be corruption as far as assessment—[Inaudible.]—so I just wanted to check that you are satisfied that Scotland’s approach—[Inaudible.]—fair and robust in that standards were checked across teachers’ approaches in schools and departments, across local authorities and nationally. I want to check that that is a good indicator and that, if we are going in that direction, you have confidence that—

We talk about engaging and including students in the process of shaping and influencing the new assessment system, but I am concerned that it is easy for student voices to get lost when there are experts and teachers speaking in public and political debates about that. Is there anything from other countries or just more generally that we could do to ensure that those voices have parity and are listened to?

That is absolutely fine. Professor Stobart has spoken about the fact that there has been corruption with teacher assessment. In the light of the way in which Scotland has dealt with assessments during Covid—in other words, teachers in schools checking one another’s standards and the checking of standards across local authority areas and nationally—I want to check whether he feels confident that it would be fair and robust to use teacher assessment in the future.

It is great to hear that you have such a high opinion of our teachers’ professionalism and honesty.