Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have no indication from committee members that they wish to contribute to the debate. Mr McArthur, do you wish to put anything further on record?

Good morning, and welcome to the third meeting of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee in 2026. I have received apologies from Elena Whitham and Paul Sweeney. Jackie Dunbar will be joining us as a substitute member of the committee.

Agenda item 1 is for the committee to decide whether to take items 5 and 7 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 2 is to take oral evidence from a second panel of witnesses on the draft climate change plan and its implications for public health in Scotland. I welcome Jane Miller, programme manager at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, and Dr Joanna Teuton, health improvement manager for population health and climate change at Public Health Scotland.

We will move straight to questions.

Our third agenda item is consideration of one affirmative instrument: the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026. This draft statutory instrument requires approval by resolution of the Parliament before it can become law. In this case, the instrument also requires approval by both houses of the United Kingdom Parliament before it can become law.

The purpose of the order is to provide for a limited exception to the list of reserved matters in schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998, in respect of the identification and regulation of substances and devices for use in assisted dying. The order has been laid in the context of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. I welcome Liam McArthur, the member in charge of the bill, to our meeting.

The order will enable the Scottish Parliament, subject to certain limitations, to confer a power on the Scottish ministers by way of subordinate legislation made with the agreement of the secretary of state to identify substances and devices for use in assisting a terminally ill adult to voluntarily end their own life, and to confer a power on the secretary of state to regulate such substances and devices by way of subordinate legislation.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the order at its meeting of 13 January 2026 and made no recommendations. However, it agreed to write to this committee and to the Scottish Government with further questions about the order.

We will now have an evidence session on the order with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and supporting officials. Once we have had any questions answered, we will proceed to a formal debate on the motion.

I welcome to the committee Neil Gray, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, and, from the Scottish Government, Gerald Byrne, head of constitutional policy; Nicki Crossan, assisted dying shadow bill team leader; and Ailsa Garland, principal legal officer. I invite the cabinet secretary to make a brief opening statement.

Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. I will bring in Sandesh Gulhane.

I thank the cabinet secretary for his evidence.

We now move to agenda item 4, which is the formal debate on the instrument on which we have just taken evidence. I remind the committee that officials may not speak in the debate.

Cabinet secretary, I ask you to move and speak to motion S6M-20226.

Motion moved,

That the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommends that the Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026 be approved.—[Neil Gray]

That concludes consideration of the instrument.

At our next meeting, we will take evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on the Scottish budget for 2026-27. That concludes the public part of today’s meeting.

10:23

Meeting continued in private until 10:52.

Thank you for declaring your interest.

I thank both of you for your attendance today. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, both Professor Doherty and Dr Sudmant were unable to participate in the committee’s inquiry this morning, but I am assured that they have been watching the questions and that they will write to the committee with evidence on their areas of expertise where they feel that they can add value to our inquiry.

At our next meeting, we will continue to take evidence on the draft climate change plan, hearing from a second panel of witnesses on implications of the plan for the NHS in Scotland.

That concludes the public part of our meeting.

10:32

Meeting continued in private until 11:31.

Good morning, and welcome to the second meeting in 2026 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from Elena Whitham MSP for today’s meeting.

Agenda item 1 is for the committee to agree on whether to take items 3, 4 and 6 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

We will need to move on, Ms Harper, as there is a request for a brief supplementary.