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The list of organisations to which the proposed CPG has reached out and that want to be involved is testament to the importance of the Bangladeshi community in Scotland and the widespread understanding of that in civic Scotland.

As there are no further questions, I thank you for attending. The decision on the application will be made under the next agenda item and the clerks will be in touch after the meeting.

Thank you very much, convener, and good morning to you and the committee. A very educational morning it has been too, listening to your debates.

I thank Wendy Swain for lodging the petition. She has shared family circumstances that are incredibly trying. This Friday is of course world cancer awareness day, so it is perhaps apt, if only coincidental, that this petition should come before your committee this week.

We are at the moment of transition from PIP, which ia Westminster-controlled benefit, to ADP here in Scotland, where one of the great promises of devolution is the ability to do things differently. I welcome the additional submissions that the petitioner has made, which very eloquently express the circumstances of her family. I thank the Scottish Parliament information centre and your clerks for the accompanying notes.

I understand why the substantive part of the Government’s response of 1 December relates to the changes for this benefit in respect of terminal illness, but not all cancers are terminal, thankfully. Nevertheless, cancers affect every individual and their family when they receive that diagnosis. The petitioner’s intention was to raise awareness of the circumstances where cancer is not identified as terminal early on in the diagnosis but the effects are still enormous and substantial. I can do no more than highlight the original background information that the petitioner gave, which was that she lodged the petition to

“ensure that the principles of being treated with dignity, fairness and respect are applied to people and that they are able to access ADP during their treatment when they most need support.”

That treatment needs to begin very swiftly and it is at that point that the financial impact of cancer hits families—and hits them very hard.

I know that the Government has said that it does not want to prioritise how it deals with applications by condition but merely wants to base it on the terminality of the condition. It has said—I think that we are all in agreement with this—that it hopes that the voyage of any claimant is far better under ADP than ever it was under PIP. That is both applauded and welcome.

However, the petition talks about the effect of a cancer diagnosis and how that was exacerbated by the experience that the petitioner had with a family member trying to obtain PIP and the stress and almost mental harassment that occurred because of events that were outwith the individual’s control. We need to have a fast-tracked system for people with cancer. It is certainly one of the few conditions where the mere name of it sends a shudder of fear through people who have not experienced it. People who receive a cancer diagnosis are often in difficult circumstances and to then have the financial barriers that loom so quickly afterwards is enormously challenging.

Because of the week that we are in but also because we are currently designing what this benefit will look like in Scotland, there is an opportunity to understand through the charity and third sector organisations that deal with cancer how widespread this problem is and why dealing with it quickly is of huge benefit to those who are going through the system. Thank you, convener.

Our first agenda item is a decision on whether to take in private item 4, which is consideration of the committee’s approach to its inquiry into future parliamentary procedures and practices.

Do members agree to take that item in private?

Members indicated agreement.

I can confirm that Scottish Land & Estates is providing the secretariat to cover the CPG. Indeed, Edward Mountain, who is a member of the committee, is one of the group’s deputy conveners, but he cannot be with us today.

I will mention one other point for the record. This is in no way a criticism, but the “Code of Conduct for Members of The Scottish Parliament” requires all cross-party groups to provide 10 calendar days’ notice of all meetings. That has to be notified to the standards clerks. However, I know that you, as a former member of the committee, are aware of that.

I thank you for attending. As you are aware, the committee will consider whether to approve the application for recognition under agenda item 3. The clerks will inform you of the committee’s decision thereafter.

I have a question about the organisations that are listed in your application, which came in before Christmas. A substantial number of interested bodies are listed, but the application states that, at that time, none was formally intending to affiliate with the proposed CPG. Has that position changed, or are you still waiting to hear? I know that a lot of bodies have been invited to do so.

The next group that we will consider is the proposed CPG on sustainable transport. I welcome Graham Simpson, the proposed convener, to the meeting. You are here in person, so we will not face the information technology problems that we had last time. Will you explain the intentions of the group again?

I will pass over to Collette Stevenson.

A number of potential CPGs have been trying to poach members this morning.

I believe that Tess White has a question.

Good morning. I welcome everyone to the third meeting in 2022 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.

Before we move to our first agenda item, I welcome our newest member, Collette Stevenson, and invite her to declare any relevant interests.

I thank Mr Doris and Mr Simpson for that. If the cross-party nature of the committee could be reflected in the cross-party group that you seek to form, Mr Simpson, it would be very beneficial.

Thank you for attending this morning. The committee will consider approval of the application at agenda item 3, and the clerks will be in touch with you after that.

There will now be a short suspension as we change over witnesses.