Seòmar agus comataidhean

The next application that we will consider is for a proposed CPG on Bangladesh. I welcome Foysol Choudhury, who is the convener of the proposed group. He joins us online. I invite him to make an opening statement about the proposed CPG.

Thank you, Foysol. It was a great pleasure to welcome the Bangladeshi Prime Minister to the Parliament during COP26.

You mentioned connections with the APPG at Westminster. However, the CPG will be distinct and separate from that and will concentrate on the Bangladeshi community in Scotland. Rather than being a subset of the APPG, it will be a self-standing CPG that will operate on its own. Is that correct?

Thank you very much. Do committee members have any questions about the proposed CPG?

Thank you very much. Do members have any questions?

We move to the next item. The committee is to consider whether to accord recognition to the proposed cross-party groups on Bangladesh; changing places toilets; migration; and older people, age and ageing. I can see that no members wish to ask questions or make a comment, so I will put the question. Are members agreed to accord recognition to the proposed cross-party groups on Bangladesh; changing places toilets; migration; and older people, age and ageing?

Members indicated agreement.

There will be a short suspension while we change witnesses.

I call Bob Doris, who joins us remotely today. Over to you, Bob.

Thank you very much, convener, and good morning to you and the committee. A very educational morning it has been too, listening to your debates.

I thank Wendy Swain for lodging the petition. She has shared family circumstances that are incredibly trying. This Friday is of course world cancer awareness day, so it is perhaps apt, if only coincidental, that this petition should come before your committee this week.

We are at the moment of transition from PIP, which ia Westminster-controlled benefit, to ADP here in Scotland, where one of the great promises of devolution is the ability to do things differently. I welcome the additional submissions that the petitioner has made, which very eloquently express the circumstances of her family. I thank the Scottish Parliament information centre and your clerks for the accompanying notes.

I understand why the substantive part of the Government’s response of 1 December relates to the changes for this benefit in respect of terminal illness, but not all cancers are terminal, thankfully. Nevertheless, cancers affect every individual and their family when they receive that diagnosis. The petitioner’s intention was to raise awareness of the circumstances where cancer is not identified as terminal early on in the diagnosis but the effects are still enormous and substantial. I can do no more than highlight the original background information that the petitioner gave, which was that she lodged the petition to

“ensure that the principles of being treated with dignity, fairness and respect are applied to people and that they are able to access ADP during their treatment when they most need support.”

That treatment needs to begin very swiftly and it is at that point that the financial impact of cancer hits families—and hits them very hard.

I know that the Government has said that it does not want to prioritise how it deals with applications by condition but merely wants to base it on the terminality of the condition. It has said—I think that we are all in agreement with this—that it hopes that the voyage of any claimant is far better under ADP than ever it was under PIP. That is both applauded and welcome.

However, the petition talks about the effect of a cancer diagnosis and how that was exacerbated by the experience that the petitioner had with a family member trying to obtain PIP and the stress and almost mental harassment that occurred because of events that were outwith the individual’s control. We need to have a fast-tracked system for people with cancer. It is certainly one of the few conditions where the mere name of it sends a shudder of fear through people who have not experienced it. People who receive a cancer diagnosis are often in difficult circumstances and to then have the financial barriers that loom so quickly afterwards is enormously challenging.

Because of the week that we are in but also because we are currently designing what this benefit will look like in Scotland, there is an opportunity to understand through the charity and third sector organisations that deal with cancer how widespread this problem is and why dealing with it quickly is of huge benefit to those who are going through the system. Thank you, convener.

One of your first submissions was about bringing together two former CPGs to create a full and wide voice. I will now presume rather than assume that the list of organisations is not finite and that other groups, organisations and voices that need to be heard will find favour and be listened to when the CPG produces a report.

There are a number of questions from the committee, you will be glad to know, Graham.

Thank you. Collette Stevenson is joining the committee to replace Elena Whitham. I thank Elena for her work with the committee and seek the committee’s approval to write to her to thank her for the time that she spent with us. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.