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Before I let the witnesses answer, I should say that the Scottish Government has said that it has a commitment to

“work with businesses across Scotland to understand the cumulative impacts of tax on competitiveness.”

Someone who moves from London can buy a castle here for the price of a bog-standard house there.

Thank you for that helpful opening statement. This is an emotive issue, and I know that colleagues around the table spent a lot of time deliberating over the submissions that they received and the financial memorandum. I have no doubt that they are already digesting aspects of the statement that you just gave. I have written down 29 questions to ask you but, following your opening statement, I will probably ask only 28 before opening out the session to colleagues around the table.

You have touched on a number of the issues that I and colleagues will ask about, so let us get straight into it. We are here to deliberate not on the pros and cons of the policy but on its financial aspects, so let us look at that. Cerebral Palsy Scotland said:

“we are concerned that continued pressure on NHS resources could lead to individuals and clinicians making decisions not in the person’s best interests, but according to NHS and social care budgets.”

I appreciate that you have said that that is—obviously—not the aim of the bill. Care Not Killing said that The Journal of Clinical Ethics published a highly controversial paper in 2020 that reported that a Dr Shaw, who is based in Glasgow. described the potential savings of allowing assisted dying as the “elephant in the room”. Care Not Killing said:

“Mr McArthur should acknowledge this point about the danger of cost savings becoming a motivation for people seeking assisted suicides”.

You will be aware that there are a number of additional quotes along similar lines in the submissions. Given what the Canadians have said about the savings that they believe will be made, how do you respond to that and persuade people that saving money will not enter into how the bill is implemented, if it is passed by Parliament?

Having flexibility in the system is important. I remember a similar circumstance a decade or more ago when I was trying to get a dialysis machine for Arran from NHS Ayrshire and Arran, which I was able to do.

You touched on numbers in your opening statement and again just now. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland has said that, according to the financial memorandum,

“the cost of each dose provided to a terminally ill adult to end their own life would be £80. We think this is likely to be a huge underestimate of the actual cost for each dose, once all the costs of procurement, storage, facilitation, disposal etc. are considered.”

It goes on to say:

“Furthermore, in Queensland, where voluntary assisted dying legislation is in place, circa 300 people had an assisted death in the first 6 months. This is for a population which is very similar in size to Scotland.”

You have touched on the fact that the legislation in different areas, whether Victoria, Oregon, Canada or Queensland, is different, but a common theme in the evidence that we have received is that there is an underestimate of the number of people who would wish to progress with assisted dying, if the legislation were passed.

Children’s Hospices Across Scotland has raised similar concerns.

The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care also said that

“the Bill makes no provision for the inspection and scrutiny of services providing AD, and there is consequently no cost identified in the FM”.

There might be a shift if, indeed, there is not

“a duty on NHS boards to provide AD”.

We could have a situation, one imagines, where one or two boards could decide that the medics in their area are not keen to take that process forward and one could end up with a postcode lottery. That is what the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care is suggesting in its submission. It also says:

“The Bill is very largely silent on the organisational arrangements by which AD will be delivered. It would make AD a legal activity for registered practitioners, but places no duties on organisations to provide such a service.”

Andy Witty, the college sector is fundamental. You say in your submission that

“Key Scottish Government initiatives, including the country’s ability to meet the upskilling demands of the green economy and the NHS, depend on college graduates to contribute to economic productivity”,

and other submissions have also touched on that point. You obviously have concerns about the budget in terms of the college sector.

I will ask Sandy Begbie to answer that. Sandy, you are the only one who has not given us a written submission, so I will pick on you.

Alastair McInroy, your submission is a positive one. You say:

“Scotland is home to a Supercluster in Critical Technologies, a constellation of overlapping and mutually supporting technology sub sectors—photonics, quantum, semiconductors, and wireless and sensing technologies.”

You rightly say that that is

“largely invisible to the general public”

but that it

“generates £4.2bn in revenues for Scotland, with over 150 companies supporting nearly 11,000 jobs”.

You say that

“A recent initiative, developed in partnership between Technology Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde, sets out an ambition to grow the supercluster beyond £10bn in revenues by 2035, adding a further 6,600 jobs”

but go on to say that

“There is also a reported shortage of modern buildings suitable for advanced manufacturing in Critical technologies.”

and that

“Start-ups and SMEs find it difficult to secure investment”.

We have a fantastic industry that is moving forward, but you have made a number of points about where the Scottish Government could assist you further in growing that successful industry for Scotland. Can you talk about that for a minute or two?

That is a lot of untapped talent, straight away.