Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning, minister. I am really happy to see you with us this morning. Welcome to our committee.

Thank you for opening your remarks by talking about the Gypsy and Roma Traveller communities. Last week’s session was a really important part of the committee’s work. Several concerns were expressed by witnesses last week about the long-term sustainability of Gypsy Traveller communities. Some of those concerns are not new. Davie Donaldson, in particular, said that, five years ago, people were talking about stagnation on work on the action plan and other support.

One thing came out quite strongly. At the start of Covid, there was clear co-ordination across services, but that has now fallen away. Can you comment on how, collectively, we can ensure that the partnership working and the overarching, holistic approach that are needed are not piecemeal but reach into the different areas of policy and support in an effective way that secures the long-term sustainability of Gypsy communities?

Thanks—that is really clear.

Convener, I will be guided by you. I know that Suzanne Munday wants to come back in briefly, but I am conscious that I have maybe hogged the questions, so we should move on.

Thank you—that is helpful.

Davie, you challenged us to move away from gesture politics. I have heard you and others speak about that before. One of the obvious questions is—[Inaudible.]—and what do we need to do differently? Do we need to do something different in our direct engagement with Gypsy Travelling communities? You spoke about the sustainability and continuity of funding being key. There is obviously a gap, disconnect or hole, intentional or otherwise. What are your thoughts on some of the ways through that for us?

Good morning to our witnesses and thank you for giving up your time to join the committee. Thank you for your opening remarks. There is a lot of challenge in what you have already said and there are many areas for the committee and, as Davie Donaldson said in his final comments, for the Government and the country more generally to work on.

Many of the witnesses have talked about the work that local authorities do and the services that they provide, whether that is individually or through COSLA. The action plan mentions the need for close partnership working. There are different levels of responsibility between local government and the Scottish Government, but third sector organisations also play a crucial role.

What are we getting right with partnership working and, more importantly, what are we getting wrong, and what do we need to fix? I will ask each of you in turn. A couple of you have already talked about monitoring and evaluation needing to be comparable across the country, for example. I am interested in specific examples, if you have them and are prepared to talk about them. I will go to Suzanne Munday first.

Thanks—that is really helpful.

Lynne has just spoken about top-down directives and the mismatch or disconnect with the local level. Maureen, you spoke in your opening remarks about the curriculum not necessarily being relevant to a Traveller community’s lives and their experience. Can you give us other examples or explain a little more how we have not got that right?

Getting that right will be a significant challenge for education across the board.

Leslie, you, too, have talked about education and continuity of services. How could we use partnership working better to build continuity and embed it in the design of our services and functions? How does that sort of thing play out, and how does it support the young people with whom you work?

Thanks—that is really helpful.

Lynne, can I have your comments on that too, please?

I see the care economy as being about more than just giving people the care that they need so that they can go out to work, but I take your point that it is part of a much wider situation and connects to other things.

It is good to see renewable energy, heat in buildings and decarbonising transport being highlighted as opportunities in the strategy, but how will constrained public funding be structured to enable action in those plans and the delivery that you have spoken about?

That answer is really helpful, and it highlights why I linked those two points. I was thinking about the ability to see the connections between negative or detrimental consequences and supporting those who can mitigate such consequences, thinking about the circular economy in a way that we have not seen previously with this type of strategic investment. I look forward to your update next year.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. Thank you for your opening remarks. I will follow on from Jamie Halcro Johnston’s question on measurement. I am interested in exploring two areas, one of which is around the indicators of progress, and measurement feeds into that. Obviously, the inclusive development index is welcome, but how can we take it further to measure intrinsic environmental wellbeing and, importantly, to include the benefits of a care economy? That is implicit in the document, but it does not come out as a significant single thing by itself.