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We understand that. We are very familiar with the fact that there was a pandemic from ministerial replies to questions about every other deficiency in public life and that it was responsible for a number of things, not least of which was its tragic consequences in the first instance.

Mr Ewing will come in with questions first, to be followed by Mr Choudhury.

I will go to Mr Fraser before Mr Mountain, if I may, because Mr Choudhury’s question touched on a point that Mr Fraser raised with our previous witnesses and he would like to pursue it again just now.

Does that mean then that something was going to be announced but it has now been deferred so that the new transport minister can be given the opportunity to reflect on its content?

Item 2 is the consideration of new petitions. As always, for those who might be tuning in, because we are considering a petition for the first time, we invite the Parliament’s independent research body, the Scottish Parliament information centre—SPICe—to offer its reflections on the petition, and we also invite the Scottish Government to give its initial thoughts on the petition. That does not in any way determine the outcome of the petition, but it does mean that we proceed on an informed basis.

The first new petition is PE2016, which was lodged by Gordon McPherson. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to raise awareness of the risk factors, signs and symptoms of thrombosis. Jackie Baillie has stayed with us for this petition as well, having an interest in it.

According to NHS Inform, deep vein thrombosis—DVT, as I think that many now know it—is

“a blood clot that develops within a deep vein in the body, usually in the leg. Blood clots that develop in a vein are also known as venous thrombosis. DVT usually occurs in a deep leg vein, a larger vein that runs through the muscles of the calf and the thigh. It can also occur in the pelvis or abdomen. It can cause pain and swelling in the leg and may lead to complications such as pulmonary embolism.”

The Scottish Government’s response to the petition explains that it carefully prioritises the issues to which funding and staff resource are allocated, with the close input of clinicians. Given that it has already provided updated material to clinicians and revised the guidance available to the general public on NHS Inform on thrombosis, the Scottish Government does not consider that this is the right time for a major public awareness campaign. It does, however, commit to running a “package of activity” on the Scottish Government’s health social media account on thrombosis awareness later this year.

The petitioner’s further submission responds to the Scottish Government’s cited statistics on thrombosis, highlighting that the higher numbers provided in his petition were taken from a ministerial answer to a question lodged by Jackie Baillie MSP. Therefore, before I ask members whether they wish to come in, especially in the light of the Scottish Government’s quite clear direction, is there anything that Jackie Baillie would like to say to the committee?

That brings us to the end of the public part of this morning’s meeting.

Just to be clear, I referred to 1993, because that was when the rest of the country moved away from using that form of contract.

Oh, I feel that that would be a terrible wasted opportunity, Mr Torrance. Given that a working group has been set up, might we not want to know what it has done?

Are there any alternative suggestions?

PE1962, which seeks to stop motorhomes being parked overnight outside formal campsites, caravan parks and aires, was lodged by Lynn and Darren Redfern. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to improve licensing enforcement on motorhomes to ensure they are only parking in designated and regulated locations. We previously discussed the petition on 23 November 2022, when, members will recall, we were keen to explore the promotion of aires as an alternative solution to the challenges presented by the petitioners.

The Scottish Government has stated that a camper van and motorhome working group was set up and has explored the unique challenges created by motorhome and camper van users in Scotland, with facilities being part of its consideration. [Laughter.] I do apologise. The group will report its recommendations to the visitor management steering group at some point this year.

The petitioners’ recent submission states that new facilities will not be effective in addressing the issues that were raised in the petition and that strict restrictions must be enforced against unregulated camper van parking, wherever that might take place. They highlight an incident where a camper van renter was displeased because the rental company had promoted the vehicle as fully self-contained, incorrectly implying that campsite facilities would not be necessary. The petitioners state that that is the mentality that they wish to stem. Financial challenges are also highlighted by the petitioners, because they are ineligible for the support that not-for-profit establishments might get.

I will try to contain my obvious associated hysteria. Do members have any comments that we might wish to consider?

Thank you. Your evidence was helpful and compelling. Do colleagues have any suggestions?