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Thank you.

Community larders were touched on earlier with regard to the availability of venison to go into the food supply chain. What would be the main reason for removing the requirement for a licence to deal in venison? How will that change make venison more accessible to consumers while ensuring that it meets food safety standards?

When the committee held a round-table evidence session, we talked about making venison more available and more appealing, and about changing the perception that it is just for people who have deep pockets and big wallets. How will the provisions in the bill support widening access for schools, hospitals and other places?

I have one more wee question. You said that the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill is separate from the current consultation. Does that mean that the current consultation is based on the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000? Will there be an overlap? Is the bill going to impede the process?

I am also a member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, and we just did an inquiry into healthcare in remote and rural areas. The big issues that came out of that inquiry included access to housing and recruitment and retention. However, a lot of people were not very happy about the use of the term “remote and rural”, because they felt that it made them seem like the “other” who is seen as being “somewhere over there” rather than being part of everything. That committee even heard from proponents of an agency being created to advocate for people in remote and rural areas, not just in healthcare. I know that the Scottish Government has created a national centre for remote and rural health and care, which was launched in 2022. Do people know that that centre of excellence exists and that it has been created in order to support healthcare?

It has also come to my attention that people do not really talk about the Scottish graduate entry medicine—ScotGEM—programme, which is tailored specifically in order to get rural general practitioners in the Highlands and in the south-west of Scotland. I am interested in hearing a bit of feedback on those healthcare aspects among the people who were interviewed—for instance, whether they were aware of the national centre for remote and rural health and care, or of ScotGEM.

I have a quick question, Professor O’Hagan. You said that you are coming to the south of Scotland. How will you let people know that you are coming, so that they can engage with the next part of your engagement?

Good morning to youse both. It has been interesting to hear what you have said so far. I am interested in your methodology and how the information was obtained. The committee’s papers say that 146 individuals were interviewed across multiple locations. I think that there were about 20 locations across the Highlands and Islands, which would mean that, on average, about 7.3 folk showed up at each session. I know that it was a mixed methodology, because there was desk-based work and interviews, and there were probably phone calls and so on.

I would be interested to hear about participation in the process. The people who went to the sessions self-selected, and, as ���˿���, we know that people come to us and to our caseworkers when there is a problem—they do not come to us when everything is going okay—so I am interested in hearing about the methodology and about how the information was gathered.

As a healthcare professional who works in acute care as well as out in the community and has taught nurses in the past, I know that there have been challenges—we have heard that in the evidence that the committee has recently taken regarding digital access and access to case notes—but would it not be better to employ a digital strategy separately, because we are talking here about primary care, secondary care and care in the community? With the evolution of artificial intelligence, would it not be better to look at that separately, rather than inserting it into the bill?

Brian Whittle: No, because all healthcare should be connected. The connection between healthcare professionals, and how we move care from part of the NHS into primary and secondary care and even, in some cases, the third sector, should be seamless.

As I have said many times, this country is way behind the rest of the United Kingdom, which is way behind much of the rest of Europe. The longer we leave the issue, the harder the solution is going to be. It is incumbent on the Parliament to send a message to the Government and set a target. I know that the cabinet secretary agrees with me on that.

We need a general platform that allows there to be autonomy across the whole sector for the deployment of different kinds of software. It is incredibly important, especially in an acute setting, that a person is able to access pharmacology or whatever has come out of primary and secondary care. If somebody has come out of hospital, it is important that everybody understands their role in delivering their care and understands what other care has been given. I find it very frustrating when I listen to the cabinet secretary, because there are many mixed messages coming out of the Government, and we are not making any progress.

I urge the committee to pass amendments 116 and 117, because, if anything is to come out of the bill, it is fundamentally important that the digital platform is put in place.

As a healthcare professional who works in acute care as well as out in the community and has taught nurses in the past, I know that there have been challenges—we have heard that in the evidence that the committee has recently taken regarding digital access and access to case notes—but would it not be better to employ a digital strategy separately, because we are talking here about primary care, secondary care and care in the community? With the evolution of artificial intelligence, would it not be better to look at that separately, rather than inserting it into the bill?

Brian Whittle: No, because all healthcare should be connected. The connection between healthcare professionals, and how we move care from part of the NHS into primary and secondary care and even, in some cases, the third sector, should be seamless.

As I have said many times, this country is way behind the rest of the United Kingdom, which is way behind much of the rest of Europe. The longer we leave the issue, the harder the solution is going to be. It is incumbent on the Parliament to send a message to the Government and set a target. I know that the cabinet secretary agrees with me on that.

We need a general platform that allows there to be autonomy across the whole sector for the deployment of different kinds of software. It is incredibly important, especially in an acute setting, that a person is able to access pharmacology or whatever has come out of primary and secondary care. If somebody has come out of hospital, it is important that everybody understands their role in delivering their care and understands what other care has been given. I find it very frustrating when I listen to the cabinet secretary, because there are many mixed messages coming out of the Government, and we are not making any progress.

I urge the committee to pass amendments 116 and 117, because, if anything is to come out of the bill, it is fundamentally important that the digital platform is put in place.

Good morning. I am thinking about the language that has been used and, in particular, the word “messy”. I think that the situation is complicated rather than messy.

The rural payments and services section of the Scottish Government’s website includes the whole-farm plan guidance that was published in October 2024. There are different steps that farmers can go through. There is a link to one page that lists the milestones that need to be reached by 15 May 2025. The guidance is about helping farmers—whether they are involved in small farms, crofts, dairy farming, beef production, sheep farming or whatever—to transition in such a way that there are no cliff edges. That is what we talked about when we considered the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill.

The fundamental reform that you have talked about relates to how we support food production and food security. You mentioned the war in Ukraine. I do not think that the Government is sitting around not doing anything. People need to hear such assurances. All the work that is going on in the background with ARIOB and so on is part of the process of helping to support food production and food security in Scotland and beyond.