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All the time? They get out for a little bit of exercise, toileting and so on and that is it?

Do you liaise with the Irish equivalents of the SSPCA and RSPCA on the issue?

Thank you very much. I will plug my proposed welfare of dogs bill, which I will introduce in June. It would help to prevent some of that.

However, given that that is the case, should we perhaps ask Mr Brignal to invite the Scottish SPCA to come out?

How do the dogs get here? Is there an organisation that does that, or do individuals just get in touch with somebody to purchase them?

He seems to be quite open to that.

I noticed that you said that the Scottish SPCA as an enforcement agency can only go off its own bat following a complaint. However, Mr Brignal tried to give us the impression—that wording is perhaps unkind. Mr Brignal said that the welfare of the animals at his track was much better than perhaps the welfare of those at GBGB ones, because those were amateurs racing well-looked-after animals—they were like family pets and so on. However, at the licensed tracks in England, where a lot of money is involved, the dogs are more like commodities than pets.

Mr Brignal gave us his opinion that, in fact, the animals that race at his track are well kept at home. I challenged him and said that he did not really know whether that is the case.

You said that you had to go to a home address. What did you find, given that you mentioned that the bare-minimum standards had been met?

They are kennelled all the time.

Can I register my concern regarding juryless trials, let alone a pilot in rape cases? For example, in the right to appeal, let alone the appeal itself, a judge-only conviction, compared to conviction by a jury, raises serious issues of parity of right to justice.

I want to focus on the experience of older people: the over-60s through to the over-90s. It is tough enough getting older, but the impact of inflation on what is, for many, a fixed income—the state pension, occasionally assisted by an occupational pension—has, for many pensioners, meant staying in to save the pennies for food and heating. Yes, the bus pass is an asset for helping with mobility, social contact and general wellbeing, but it cannot make up for poverty-level living, exacerbated by inflation. Many—some 40 per cent—who are entitled to UK pension credit do not claim it, and that money is kept by the Treasury.

The results of an online opinion poll by YouGov for the British Red Cross, which were released in December 2022, showed that 81 per cent of Scottish people agreed that the increased cost of living will make more people lonely, and 43 per cent said that they would restrict how much they socialise because the cost of living is going up.

There are also the after-effects of the Covid pandemic, during which many—including me, as I was over 75—were confined indoors, with only short spells of exercise. That was tough. The experience during the years of Covid got me and many others into a way of life that disconnected us from mixing with folk, and for many of my peers, that way of life has continued. I am unusual, and privileged, to be in an occupation that allows me to work long beyond pension age, but even that does not mean that I do not feel lonely at times.

Previous speakers have referred to the World Health Organization’s research on the health impacts of isolation and loneliness on older people, so I will not repeat them. I would add, however, that with age, one is more likely to attend funerals than weddings, which can increase feelings of loneliness and isolation.

I welcome the £3.8 million social isolation and loneliness fund. I understand that the initial applications period has closed and allocations will be made in the summer. However, we do not know which groups have applied in the first instance, and my concern is that small local groups may not have applied or might not fit the criteria for that particular fund.

I am thinking, for example, of the vital role that the men’s shed network plays in communities in my constituency, and how hard those groups have to fight for funding. Their membership is usually retired men. The Peebles and District men’s shed community, which is located at School Brae in Peebles, has totally refurbished its rooms with work benches and brand-new machinery including lathes, a band saw, pillar drills and so on. Two of the benches have been built at a height suitable for use by wheelchair users, and the shed is also open to women. However, the community is always struggling for funding.

Galashiels men’s shed has community-run workshops with a social area. There, people pursue their hobbies, share skills and have a cuppa and a chat. They get out of the house for a while and get practical help with their projects. Interestingly, the Facebook page talks, appropriately, about offering help with isolation and loneliness. There are others—Penicuik and District men’s shed, for example, does much the same stuff, and it gives men who are quite often shy, and will not admit that they are lonely and looking for companionship, a place to meet.

We therefore welcome the £75,000 for the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association that was announced in January. Would that it were more.

OPAL—older people, active lives—Borders aims to maintain and improve people’s social connections, independence and wellbeing. Group members can decide on the activities that they would like to take part in, such as singing and entertainment, talks from speakers, quizzes, walking and so on.

There is also Borders Buddies, which is not only for the elderly. It supports people to return to doing the things that they once enjoyed, but which, due to the pandemic, ill health or other factors, they have stopped doing. That enables them to reconnect with other people in the community, reducing isolation and building individual and community resilience. During the pandemic, Borders Buddies supported local people in Tweeddale to find a buddy to help them rebuild their confidence about getting out and about again. A lot of it is about confidence. Although things have moved on, Borders Buddies still hears from people who have become socially isolated for all sorts of reasons, and it works with people of all ages over 16.

There is a community centre slap bang in the middle of Ladywood, which is owned by the community and provides a huge range of activities for young and old people. I had a go at pensioners table tennis, and believe you me, it is serious, even brutal, stuff—perhaps because people had the chance to tackle a politician. It is great for physical and mental exercise and for companionship.

Those are all grass-roots examples, and everyone in the chamber could give more. I turn back to my question, which at some point I may have an answer to, although perhaps not today. How do those local groups, and others like them, who do so much to combat social isolation and loneliness at the grassroots level, access that £3.8 million of Scottish Government funding, or indeed other funding sources?

Those local groups work, and they deliver. Big organisations have no difficulty in accessing funding. Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, Age Concern and such organisations can access funding, but it is those local groups that matter and deliver.

You have to be asking yourself why people are in food poverty. It has nothing to do with the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliament; it is because of the cost of living crisis, low wages and everything else that we have no control over. You should be a bit shame faced about the manner in which you are speaking.