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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.

As you identify, managing that communication is vitally important so that there is no misunderstanding of the complexity—it might not be black or white; there are still grey areas in all of this. As members, we acknowledge that and think about how we fit into the process, but we and others must have confidence that your organisation will not only manage and support but investigate and be able to show, at the end, that you have gone through the process fairly and without favour. That is what we need to see in order to have confidence in the organisation. There might have been a slight lack of confidence in the past, but we all want to get to that place—I have no doubt that you do, and your report itemises that very clearly. We need to be sure that the steps that you are taking are making progress and that we are seeing that resolution for the future.

At the previous meeting, I asked for some of that information, which we have now received. In the circumstances that we now find ourselves in, I propose that we close the petition under rule 15.7 of the standing orders on the basis that the JCVI has no plans to review the need for or value of an HPV vaccination catch-up programme for boys due to the indirect protection offered through herd immunity. We have collated and brought forward information, but I do not believe that it will change the direction of where we are.

I concur with Mr Torrance’s comments. It is vital that we find out where the defibrillators are and their background. I am aware that charitable organisations also do a lot of work on this; they fundraise for local areas and provide defibrillators. It might be useful to find out whether they are doing anything. I know, for example, that the Order of St John is doing a national campaign across Scotland to introduce defibrillators to churches, golf clubs and other appropriate locations. It would be useful to find out whether anything that they are doing could complement or supplement what will happen through Mr Torrance’s suggestions.