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I will go back to some of the points that were made at the beginning about the 21st century and the changing risk profile. You also talked about societal and climate issues. Do you have further comments about the geographic aspect? What strikes me about the challenge of providing 24-hours-a-day coverage across the country is that the population is shifting, as well. That cuts across all statutory services.

More broadly, there is our collective challenge in Scotland in the public sector, because of the projected 85 per cent population growth in the Lothians and depopulation in the west and north of the country. How do you factor those population shifts into your planning?

The other point that I mentioned was 24-hours-a-day coverage. From memory of the statistics, although they showed that around 20 per cent of calls are at night, that is within a period of eight hours, which is a third of the day. To me, that emphasises the challenge and need to make sure that you have adequate resource ready for deployment at such points in the day. There might be fewer calls, but the need will be just as acute.

As the MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, where Breadalbane Street is, I want to express my gratitude to and admiration for everyone who responded on that night. Edinburgh Northern and Leith is the most densely populated part of Scotland. There are important points to take from that whole scenario about making sure that there is adequate coverage in urban Scotland. My understanding is that the reason why action on Breadalbane Street was taken so swiftly was because the team at McDonald Road, which is not far away, was in McDonald Road that evening, and that included the height appliance and the secondary vehicle.

To expand on some of the things that were said earlier this year and last year, do you want to say a bit more about the importance of height appliances and secondary vehicles being on scene as soon as possible? Although we want our crews to do more and we want to expand their roles day to day, and although the number of fires has decreased because of smoke alarms and other safety features in homes, it strikes me that the most important consideration is to make sure that there is capacity for the times when the risk goes up. We need to ensure that the geographical spread of height appliances and secondary vehicles is not constrained in a way that increases the risk in a manner that means that crews could not get to a situation such as that in Breadalbane Street quickly enough.

For example, I have heard that, when the Ayr station hotel was being attended to, the crew from McDonald Road in my constituency was in Glasgow. I am concerned about what would have happened if the Breadalbane Street fire had happened that night. It is a hard balance, but is there more that you want to say about that?

I want briefly to make sure that I was absolutely clear in that first question. I appreciate that there is a need to maintain and, in certain circumstances, to improve coverage in more rural and remote areas and in areas where there are population-decrease challenges. However, the east of the country, where the population is growing significantly and, as I said, 85 per cent of Scotland’s projected population growth will be in the Lothians, will require an increase in capacity in certain areas.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. You have touched on the engagement that you and your officials have had with UK officials and UK ministers, and it seems as though that has all been very positive and there have been good intergovernmental relations on the bill. Has there been any further discussion on possible wider reform of the British rail industry? The Scottish Government is a leader in the renationalisation of our railways. Is there anything that the UK Government is learning from Scotland?

On the points that have just been made, we will also need to keep an eye on what the European Union does in this space, because when that huge market begins to regulate, it could have a significant impact in terms of market change. Perhaps there will be good lessons learned from Scotland and elsewhere that can help in that process.

I will make some brief comments in the same spirit as those that other colleagues have made. It is important to get the regulations right and, if the timescale needs to flex because of other Governments’ situations, that is absolutely the right thing to do.

I am reassured by the cabinet secretary’s comments on her proactive communications in order to seek that clarity. I am sure that the Scottish Government will keep the committee and Parliament updated on the communications with the UK Government and the other devolved nations. If the timeframe needs to change to make sure that a four-nations approach can be taken, that seems like the sensible thing to do.

It is okay. Much of what I was going to ask about has been covered by Douglas Lumsden’s questions on engagement with business. Unless the cabinet secretary and her officials have anything more to say about that, I am happy to move on.

That engagement will be important to stakeholder organisations as well, so I welcome that reassurance.

Over the summer, when I was out and about in my constituency, I talked to a lot of small businesses about a variety of issues. The convener said that he had heard about a business that was perhaps not acting responsibly. However, most grocers’ shops, or other shops, that do not specialise in these products but sell them as part of the range of products in their store, will be thinking about what the ban will mean for them. Can you give them any reassurance in that regard?

Trade bodies have raised concerns about the impact of the ban on the viability of small retailers. What engagement has there been to help to mitigate any negative impacts that the ban may have on small businesses? For example, is it helpful that we are considering the regulations now, in order to ensure that there is around six months’ notice to enable those businesses to clear their shelves—so to speak—of products that, in the spring, will no longer be legal?