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The 5 per cent figure is helpful. I have learned from this exchange that there is not an assumption but that it is predicted that fares could go up by as much as 5 per cent and that that modelling work is taken into account for the statutory instrument for which you seek approval today. What would happen if fares went up beyond 5 per cent? How would that impact on the model? I apologise for going into this level of detail, but I am keen to know that.

Mairi, I thank you for reflecting on some of the aspects of the report that I am going to draw to your attention. My question relates to drug education. The report talks about ensuring that education is embedded in the mainstream curriculum from primary 5 onwards and that it is co-produced with strong engagement, including with parents, on what age-appropriate education looks like. All those points are really well made. There is also stuff in there about ensuring that there is proper

“financial support ... for external organisations”

to deliver some of that, and about the need for wider community outreach to be part of education.

I am trying to summarise for the committee, as quickly as I can, some of the recommendations that you and your fellow panel members have made. Do you have any reflections on why those specific things are important? I am conscious that we have heard that you did not want the process to be a “tick-box exercise”. The Scottish Government’s response says that Education Scotland is already looking at some of this stuff and there are reviews on-going, and that the whole family wellbeing fund will deal with some of it.

Do you think that the production of the recommendations is where your participation in the story should end? Alternatively, should there be on-going engagement so that panel members can say, “Well actually, we want to know how our views are being reflected in that Education Scotland review, and in the reprofiling of the whole family support fund”?

Perhaps you can reflect not only on the importance of your recommendations but on how you can follow those through to delivery, so that the process is not simply a tick-box exercise.

Convener, I hope that, on the matter of fairer funding, you will not mind me mentioning that you are convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, on which I also sit, and that some of the movement in Government is based on recommendations from that committee. I think that we should acknowledge that committee’s work in that regard.

It would be helpful if you could write to the convener with that information so that we all have it. In the previous evidence session, one of the witnesses from the people’s panel, who is a GP, mentioned that they had not even got basic information about whether there was a treatment plan in place for one of their patients when they were released from prison. Basic stuff is not happening that I think that we would all expect should be happening.

You can respond to that point now if you want to, cabinet secretary. I just thought that it was important to emphasise that while you are before the committee.

That is helpful.

Recommendation 5 from the people’s panel says that

“All services should be able to refer to each other”,

be they in the health or social care environments or in the third sector. A number of services are involved in a constituency case that I am dealing with. They include addiction services; environmental services, which are sometimes based in the council; landlord registration and private landlord services; and Police Scotland. In that case—I will not say where it is—there is a close that cannot be used for housing. The private landlords have given up in despair because it has, in effect, become a place for vulnerable adults to gather and consume drugs. I visited it relatively recently and there was drugs paraphernalia strewn everywhere. It was quite a sight. The back court is an environmental hazard.

The private landlords are keen to do the right thing, which is why they reached out to me. I am leveraging in—I hope—addiction services, environmental services and Police Scotland, because the landlords hope to secure that place and bring those properties back into use. However, I am conscious that there are very challenging but very vulnerable adults using that location. The private landlords reached out to me and I fed stuff in.

In such cases, should we expect implicit co-operation, without the MSP being involved, between local authority environmental services, landlord registration services, Police Scotland and others, in order to join those dots? At the moment, I will join the dots, and I see that as an opportunity. The cabinet secretary spoke about taking every opportunity to engage with those who are vulnerable, to do the right thing and to support them. In my example, they are very challenging. There is a blight on the community—it is not the vulnerable people, but the impact of their addiction—and we all want to do the right thing to fix it. Are you confident that, based on recommendation 5 of the people’s panel, services implicitly co-operate with one other to do the right thing?

Thank you.

I welcome the fact that the Scottish Affairs Committee is turning its attention to this really important topic. Paul Sweeney’s comments about the swirl of misinformation around the facility has reminded me that, although the efficacy of the approach is not in its infancy, the facility is still in its infancy. Is there a slight nervousness about it being quite early on to assess the outcomes from the facility, and is there a feeling that the evidence and lived experience need to be gathered over a period in order to properly analyse what the outcomes are and what lessons can be learned? Is that a caveat in relation to any inquiry at this time?

Thank you.

You mentioned the “Just say no” campaign. I was hoping that you were younger than me. I remember that campaign and I was hoping that you would not remember it.

Can you say a bit about the importance of external organisations in delivering some of that education? I will name check Public Health Scotland, which is also involved in some of this work. The reason I mention that is that I want bodies such as Public Health Scotland to listen to this evidence session so that they continue to engage with the panel and other agencies, as set out in the Scottish Government’s response to your recommendations. Can you say a little bit more about the importance of external organisations as part of drug education both within schools and in communities?

Audrey Nicoll mentioned the importance of data sharing between the public sector and the third sector. There was supposed to be a single shared assessment between the NHS and third sector organisations. That was to be prioritised, but it has never been implemented. Can you give us any update on that, cabinet secretary? In your written response, you mention that the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill could be a vehicle to finally realise what we want to see happen in that area.