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I concur with my colleagues that more information is required. We have already discussed data collection. Police Scotland talks about “operational” procedure, but it would be interesting to get more clarity and to seek further information from Police Scotland on the process of updating and recording the policy, including whether there has been a wider consultation on the policy change and how such work is progressing. I acknowledge that the police see it as one thing, but I think that we and the petitioners see it as something else. Clarification is required, and we need to ensure that we get the full information, so I add that to what my colleagues have recommended.

Once again, I think that the petition has probably gone as far as we can take it in the process. It would be appropriate to close it under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that the Scottish Recovery Network is continuing to develop a peer support training resource, Peer2Peer, about which we have had information from the Scottish Government and others, and it can be adapted to support the needs of different organisations. Given that, I propose that we close the petition.

I agree with that. In the past, Audit Scotland published its “Maintaining Scotland’s roads” report. It would be useful to follow up on any recommendations in the report and to get an indication as to what action is planned in future to try to tackle the issue.

I agree, convener. There is definitely a gap in the bursary provision. Trying to encourage someone to go into that sector is, in reality, tough enough, but putting extra obstacles in front of individuals will make it much more challenging for them to fulfil the course. As Carol Mochan suggested, it would be useful to get some of that information so that we can identify much more clearly what happens with bursaries for placements in the third and fourth year of social work practice. The petition requires more information to be captured. The minister may have captured that, but we need to capture some information as well to make sure that we are fulfilling our role and getting the full information that is required.

There is no doubt that there is an opportunity to deal with the petition and seek some clarity as to what is taking place. You touched on the consultation that is anticipated. It would be useful for the committee to write to Food Standards Scotland to ask it to update us on its plans for the consultation that is to take place with reference to the labelling of food products that are sold in Scotland having mandatory Braille labelling, and the timescale for that consultation to be carried out.

We should also write to the Food and Drink Federation Scotland to seek its views on the issues that the petitioners have raised, and specifically on the anticipated additional costs of adding Braille to labelling on food products. That will also give us an indication as to where this is going. In addition, it would be useful to find out from the Scottish Government what its views and feelings are on the process, because it has a role to play as well.

Some work has been done on that already. We note that Police Scotland has had support. Universities have done a lot of work themselves to support any student in that situation. I note from the report that the Scottish Government has had round-table discussions. Those are all good. It would, however, be useful to get a summary from SPICe about what happened at the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s evidence session on drink and needle spiking, because it has done a lot of work on that already. We could capture some of that information and use it to our benefit, because what Carol Mochan and Fergus Ewing have said is very valid, but we could maybe—I am going to use the word again—capture some more clarity.

You have indicated that many of the complaints that you receive are inadmissible, so there is a need to promote understanding so that individuals know what areas they can complain about and what capacity you have to deal with a complaint of that nature. How do you manage to get that information out so that people understand that you can investigate only certain aspects in relation to the code of conduct? It would be good to know what your ambition is for that, as that may help you to manage the number of complaints that you receive.

Good morning. It is very obvious from the discussion already that things are moving forward. You have made some very positive remarks about confidence, ability and ambition, and those are all good to have in the process. It would be useful to unpick more of where we are with the complaints backlog.

You have touched on the backlog and where we found ourselves. There was a massive increase in complaints in 2021-22 in comparison to the previous year. Where are we now with the backlog? How many complaints are you managing at this time, and how well are you reducing that backlog? We have touched on staffing and staff training, and I think it is vitally important to make sure that those things are lined up, so that you can perform and progress. It would be good to get an idea of where we are sitting with that situation now, so that we can compare and contrast with where we were.

You have identified that there is a sea of information coming towards you in the form of a number of complaint capacities. In the past, your organisation has struggled to recruit and retain staff, and funding has been crucial for what you have required. I know that additional funding has been granted by the SPCB. It would be good to get a flavour of whether that is enough to enable you to manage the situation or whether you feel that other pressures will come forward that are financially orientated.

We acknowledge your ambitions, but, if you do not have the capacity and resources behind those, you will not be able to achieve what you want to. We all want to see the process progress to the level where we do not have to wait for nine, eight or seven months for a situation to progress. You should have a much more effective and efficient role. You are going to have these new people and you have had some extra funding, but is that enough to enable you to manage the situation and the crisis that you find yourselves in today?

You touched on performance, and I know that performance indicators have been introduced into the complaint-handling process. It might be useful to tease out how that is progressing, as assessing performance using those indicators will inevitably support you not only to get rid of the backlog but to manage the complaints that come through on a regular basis.