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Thank you. Is Teresa Medhurst not with us?

I have alluded to the fact that I was an independent prison monitor, and I inspected the national health service and the health of prisoners. When I visited the healthcare suite in Shotts prison, most prisoners were allocated their prescription drugs on a Friday. That was quite concerning, because it led to a lot of them sharing those drugs when they were locked up over the weekend with very little in the way of purposeful activity, as no educational facilities were available over the weekend. Those drugs became a currency, with them being swapped and whatnot. People who were suffering, to a varying degree, with mental health issues were also at risk of overdose. Angela Constance, the Minister for Drugs Policy, talked about slow-release injections that could be given by the NHS.

Has that situation changed? Is the NHS still dispensing drugs on a Friday afternoon? If so, could that be changed? Could slow-release injections be used so that there is no risk of overdose to the prison population? What can be done to address the challenges with drugs in prisons, such as their being used as currency?

I wanted to touch on electronic mail, because you can now email prisoners rather than sending hard copies. I suppose that depends on the volume that is sent. I am conscious of the time, so I could write to panel members about that.

That is good. I think that the deposit return scheme will be warmly welcomed in the school estate in my constituency, given the number of plastic bottles that are used. I look forward to that scheme, which I think will come in legislatively at some point next year. Is that correct?

It is great to hear that we are investing in our young people, which is key in relation to climate change.

My next question is about young people and finance. The just transition paper that has come out touches on that, and you have touched on it, too. Will you outline what we are doing on green participatory budgeting with our young people? Have we started to roll that out? Are we doing it at a local authority level? What are the plans for taking it forward so that we leave a legacy and—I am sorry if I am not making myself clear—we include our young people in participatory budgeting and what happens in their communities?

Good morning. Before I ask my question, I note that it was heartening to hear about the crossover work with regard to the prison estate. I sit on the Criminal Justice Committee and we are going to speak to the Scottish Prison Service tomorrow, so I will feed back that information about Barlinnie and so on. It is good to know that that is moving along nicely.

In just over a month’s time, the eyes of the world will be on us, which is exciting. How is the Scottish Government liaising with the UK Government to ensure that COP26 delivers a world-changing agreement and a lasting legacy that we can all be proud of?

Teresa, you touched on the impact of staff shortages. Has that situation improved at all?

First, I want to thank each of the public agencies, for all the work that they have done, and all the staff, who have stepped up to the mark in these unprecedented times. The range of work that you have done to keep Scotland’s communities safe is commendable.

My questions are focused on the prison service. I want to ask Teresa Medhurst and Tom Fox about the purposeful activity in rehabilitation programmes that, as your submissions outline, was suspended during Covid. Will you outline the plans for rolling out work in key areas of that purposeful activity? Have any lessons been learned in how we go forward? Do you have any transformational ideas about how we can do things differently to ensure that, as is key, and in accordance with human rights, the prison service is delivering purposeful activity in education, as well as delivering programmes for rehabilitation?

We can also talk about the principles, which are central to the forthcoming negotiations in Glasgow. Should we and the UK be ensuring that the principles feature in the agreement and the negotiations for the future? I suppose that the focus is on the UK because we have left the European Union, and our role in delivering a just transition has taken on a different aspect now that we are outwith the EU. Sorry—I am going all round the question here.

My other question is controversial. Should there be more of a four-nations approach, rather than a UK-led approach, when we come to that platform?

I will focus my questions on the forthcoming COP26. Professor Skea touched on the just transition. Internationally, everyone is looking at Scotland in relation to transition, so I would like to tap into that and ask whether you can go into more detail. You talked about the just transition principles and how the international climate change negotiations have played out to date. Are the principles properly understood? Have they been accepted internationally or is there an expectation gap?