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The commission’s report shows that people with disabilities or long-term health conditions were slightly more dissatisfied and found it a bit more challenging to identify chosen candidates or parties on the regional ballot paper, for example. Those ballot papers were extensive—that is the best way to describe them—and were much more challenging for individuals in such categories. How were they supported to manage that? How are you reflecting on what can be done in the future? I do not see things changing dramatically at the next election or beyond, so a mechanism is needed to identify individuals with disabilities or long-term illnesses for support.

I have a comment on that last question. We all understand that being able to observe a count is very important. There was some criticism in the report about how administrators, candidates and agents felt that there was a barrier to doing that, because of the restrictions. I spoke to people at my count and they felt that there were difficulties in observing the count.

If restrictions are still in place when we hold the council elections in a few months’ time, what will be done to address that issue?

That is excellent. I ask Andy O’Neill to cover the barriers and how accessible voting was.

It would appear that one of the biggest barriers was the size and length of the ballot paper. Can that be looked at in the future?

I echo the comments of the convener and others about being impressed by the dedication of those who ensured that the elections took place—it would be hard not to be impressed. I commend and congratulate all who supported that.

This year was the first time that a Scottish Parliament election allowed qualifying foreign nationals and prisoners serving 12 months or less to vote. I will ask about qualifying foreign nationals first. How many were registered to vote? You have talked about barriers to accessibility and trying to remove those barriers. What are your reflections on how foreign nationals participated in the election and what lessons, if any, have you learned?

Cabinet secretary, you talked about the staggering increase in levels of domestic abuse during lockdown in many communities. The police and other organisations and sectors had to be much more robust in tackling it because, as you identified, home was not a safe place for many individuals. The funding that you talked about will go to support that action but, as we saw, there needs to be more of a crossover between agencies and organisations to capture some of what different groups were identifying using different ways and means. Was information about that collated and transmitted to other support mechanisms to ensure that lessons were being learned about how vulnerable some of these people were and the conditions they were living in?

You have pointed out the progress that has been made and have touched on potential new ways of working. Technology, for example, has developed quite rapidly over the past 18 months of the pandemic to tackle loneliness and social isolation. I also believe that some work has been done on intergenerational wellbeing. It would be good to hear your thoughts on those two areas, as they will continue to develop over the next few years and during this parliamentary session. We might have to change direction slightly as we tackle such issues, enforce measures and change how things have been done in the past to ensure that we capture as many individuals as we can who fall into the older age group.

Barriers to technology are also a problem for some people, as they might not have full knowledge and understanding of all the technology that is available to support them. How do we enhance that knowledge and ensure that they are exposed to some of that technology and receive the support and training that they need in that respect?

It is important that people feel comfortable. We have already touched on culture, religion and other aspects, including disability, all of which add to the complexity that an individual might feel they have to break through and the weight of what they want to express. They need to know that whomever they are speaking to will give them support and advice and, as Dr Crowther said, will not open a Pandora’s box that creates a more difficult situation for them in the future. Each of your organisations has an ability to balance that support. LGBT Youth Scotland does it through the youth work sector and others look at a wider area in trying to manage these issues. The challenge is in co-ordinating it.

I thank our witnesses for attending this morning. The discussion has been enlightening.

In her opening statement, Megan Snedden talked about the loneliness, the suffering, the damage and the risks that individuals who identify in certain ways face. I would like to tease out something about the further measures that might be in place to support people. We have heard suggestions that a legislative ban might not be enough to end conversion therapy, and we have taken some evidence from organisations and individuals who have stressed that there needs to be a range of supportive measures in place across many sectors. Those measures might be practical mental health support, education and awareness work, support for survivors, and a range of developments across regulatory standards for professionals in many sectors who might be involved in such support. It is important that we understand that. What further support measures might need to be in place to ensure that a ban is successful in ending conversion therapy?

There is a role for the third sector and social enterprises in all that. What discussions are you having with those sectors to capture their projects and proposals and marry them with your work in Government?