Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
I am very sympathetic to Mr Mountain’s point. I can understand that a reasonable deposit might be required, but it feels unreasonable to require an excessive deposit. In circumstances in which a loved one has died, a delay in repayment is unacceptable.
There are a couple of ways in which we can approach the issue, the first of which relates to the work of the Care Inspectorate. If Mr Mountain has any particular examples of such cases, I would be grateful if he furnished me with them, and I will ask the Care Inspectorate—or rather, I will pass them on to the Care Inspectorate. I had better observe and not exceed my statutory responsibilities in that regard.
The second way in which we can approach the issue relates to the work of Consumer Scotland, which I think could help in that respect. If Mr Mountain would care to write to me about the issue, I would be happy to pursue it.
I am conscious that this might be the last occasion on which I have the opportunity to engage with Mr Mountain, unless he sneaks in a question next week. If that is the case, I express my warmest wishes to him as he steps down from Parliament, for all that he has achieved here. [Applause.]