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I want to take you back to the point about GPs. I am at a bit of a loss to understand why the issue is so problematic. Are GPs saying, “We’re so busy getting on with it that we don’t have time to record these things”? Are health boards asking them to do that? Are GPs saying, “We are independent organisations and we make our own determinations about what our priorities are”? Is the issue at the health board level? Why is there such a long-standing problem in finding out that information?

Given that, at the moment, GPs are defending their position and are often under attack because people feel that they are not getting access to them, it seems to me that, if GPs were able to demonstrate with evidence the extent to which they are meeting patient demand, that would serve their cause better, rather than there being a complete absence of data.

Good morning and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2022 of the Public Audit Committee. Before we begin, I remind members, witnesses and staff who are present that social distancing rules apply in the Parliament, and that they should wear face coverings when entering, leaving or moving around the committee room.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on taking business in private. Do members agree to take items 4, 5 and 6 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you very much, particularly for that very helpful clarification. Indeed, Willie Coffey will be asking questions on that particular subject later in the meeting.

Sharon Dowey, who, as I said earlier, is joining us via videolink, has a couple of questions to start us off.

Agenda item 3 is a discussion of the Audit Scotland report “NHS in Scotland 2021”. I am delighted to say that we are joined in the room by the Auditor General for Scotland, Stephen Boyle—welcome, Auditor General. Alongside him, we have Leigh Johnston, senior manager and Derek Hoy, audit manager, Audit Scotland. Eva Thomas-Tudo had hoped to be with us, but unfortunately she is not able to attend.

I invite the Auditor General to make an opening statement, after which we will ask what is quite a wide range of questions.

I read in the report that a short-life working group is being established. Again, is that sufficient to properly monitor the impact of the measures?

Again, I think that we will come back to that issue.

You said earlier that one of the central recommendations of your report relates to the very unequal impact that Covid-19 has had. At paragraph 58, you reflect on your “NHS in Scotland 2020” report from last year. You note that you relied on data that was provided by National Records of Scotland and the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory, and you conclude—fairly starkly, I thought—that

“Those from the most deprived”

backgrounds

“and from some ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to die from Covid-19.”

You go on to state that

“Further data has shown that disabled people were more likely to have died from Covid-19”,

and that

“Adults with learning disabilities were also at a greater risk of being hospitalised or dying from Covid-19.”

That is quite harrowing, is it not? To be frank, it is something of an indictment of our society that that is a feature of the pandemic.

You go on to say, a couple of paragraphs later, that you reviewed the situation again this year and found that there was a

“disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on certain groups”.

You say that that has led the Scottish Government to address that situation in some measure by focusing on tackling health inequalities. However, you go on to state:

“but there is no overarching strategy.”

Do you want to say a bit more about that?

I will move on now, as we want to ask questions about the “NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026”. I ask Willie Coffey to come in.

On that note, I draw the evidence session to a close. Thanks very much, Auditor General, for the evidence that you have led, and thanks to Leigh Johnston and Derek Hoy, who have also contributed this morning. It is greatly appreciated.

I close the public part of the meeting.

I am conscious of the fact that Roy Brannen is on the panel and that the Scottish Government’s role was mentioned in that question. Do you want to come in?

Agenda item 2 is consideration of “The 2020/21 audit of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency”. I am pleased to welcome our witnesses this morning, all of whom join us online, as does our deputy convener, Sharon Dowey. I welcome from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency: Jo Green, acting chief executive; Stuart McGregor, chief finance officer; and David Pirie, executive director, evidence and flooding. From the Scottish Government I welcome: Roy Brannen, interim director general, net zero; Helen Nisbet, director, defence, security and cyber resilience; and Kevin Quinlan, director, environment and forestry.

As we are quite tight for time this morning, I would appreciate succinct questions from committee members and succinct answers. On 31 March, the committee will take evidence on major information and communications technology projects in general, at which point we will look at some of the wider read-across from the cyberattack that SEPA sustained and the lessons that we need to learn. I encourage people to be as disciplined as possible, but I hope that our line of questioning will take that into account, too.

Jo Green and Roy Brannen should feel free to bring their colleagues in, if it will be helpful. If those who join us online want to come in at any point to give evidence in the conversation that we are having, they should type R in the chat function, and we will pick them up at the appropriate time.

I invite Jo Green, who had hoped to attend the meeting in person this morning, but is joining us virtually, to make a short opening statement.