Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Forestry and Land Scotland to protect the Kilpatrick hills. (S6O-05294)

I recently met Forestry and Land Scotland and other stakeholders to discuss antisocial behaviour in the Kilpatrick hills, such as the illegal use of e-bikes and motorbikes on the trails. Litter, including remnants from campfires, also poses a risk. I am aware that campfire bans have been implemented in the Cairngorms national park during the summer months. Can the cabinet secretary advise whether Forestry and Land Scotland could consider that approach for the Kilpatrick hills? Will she join me in calling out the antisocial behaviour in the area that is causing damage to our precious environment?

I thank the First Minister for that answer. Thousands of children are in poverty under Labour because it has kept Tory austerity. It bungled the scrapping of the two-child policy by keeping the benefit cap. Many families with more than two children may still be capped. The child poverty strategy was an opportunity for the UK Government to deliver real change, but it has fallen short of the bold action that is needed. In fact, the United Kingdom House of Commons library found that, if Labour matched key Scottish National Party Government policies, it could lift an additional 1.1 million children out of poverty across the UK.

While Starmer struggles to get a grip on the ever-growing poverty levels across the UK, what assurances can the First Minister provide to the people of Scotland that the SNP Scottish Government will do everything that it can to reduce child poverty here even further?

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential implications for its work to eradicate child poverty in Scotland of the UK Government’s child poverty strategy. (S6F-04525)

I speak in today’s debate as a member of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. I thank the clerks for their assistance in the production of the report and all those who submitted their views on the subject. I welcome our guests in the public gallery.

Ten years on from the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015, the committee decided to hold a short inquiry to consider the actions that have been taken by the Scottish Government and the public authorities that are listed in the act to tackle the barriers that BSL users face. We focused on two things in particular: first, whether the act, the current BSL plan and listed authority plans are improving the lives of BSL users; and, secondly, what changes could be made in the short and long terms to improve the lives of BSL users.

The 2015 act was a landmark piece of legislation for this country. By enshrining British Sign Language in primary legislation, it acknowledged deaf citizens as a distinct language community. The committee welcomed the positive feedback that was received on the impact that the act has had in improving the daily lives of BSL users. I am pleased that it was noted that it has helped to increase the language’s visibility and to empower deaf BSL users to access services and participate in society using their preferred language.

However, there are some challenges, and a number of key themes emerged during the evidence sessions. For the sake of time, I will touch on only two of those.

Justice was a key policy area to arise in the discussions, particularly for deaf people with experience of domestic abuse. As we approach the end of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, it is important to touch on that part of the report in particular. I express my sincere thanks to Lucy, a deaf domestic abuse survivor, who provided important testimony on the barriers that BSL users can face when engaging with the police and courts.

Progress was noted under the access to justice actions in the national plan, but, in her evidence, Professor Napier, chair of intercultural communication and associate principal of research culture at Heriot-Watt University, said that several issues that would improve access for BSL users in the legal system had not been addressed. Professor Napier noted that research in the USA estimated that deaf women are two to three times more likely to experience domestic abuse than hearing women. The cause of that is

“potential perpetrators using their hearing status as part of the power dynamic”.—[Official Report, Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, 3 June 2025; c 58.]

The committee agrees with our witnesses that deaf women in particular should have better access to education and information about their rights and the law and that deaf-specific service providers would help to achieve that. Therefore, the committee invited the Scottish Government to consider what further steps could be taken in that regard. I welcome the fact that, in her response, the Deputy First Minister noted that the Scottish Government continues

“to engage with Deaf Links and the Sign Loud team at Heriot Watt University and University of Edinburgh, a project focused on experiences of domestic abuse and communication barriers, to consider deliverables that will make a difference to Deaf women within the new Equally Safe Delivery Plan.”

The committee agrees that consideration should be given to how emergency services should be alerted to the fact that a person is deaf before attending an emergency call to enable interpretation to be provided, even if that is initially done online. I welcome the fact that the Deputy First Minister’s response notes:

“The Scottish Ambulance Service ... are currently working with BDA Scotland to look at what facilities they currently have in place for BSL patients and service users and how they can improve and develop in this area”.

On healthcare, particularly mental health services, some further concerns were raised that warranted further discussion. For example, the committee invited the Scottish Government to respond to concerns that were raised by BDA Scotland and the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland—the ALLIANCE—about the need for a robust approach to ensuring that older deaf BSL users have access to appropriate services and care packages. It also invited a response on the ALLIANCE’s comments about the likelihood of the number of deafblind people increasing and its calls for an increase in the number of social workers for the deaf.

I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government published an equalities impact assessment alongside the mental health and wellbeing workforce action plan to help to identify and form actions that are needed to address inequalities in the mental health and wellbeing workforce. That specifically included action on promoting BSL resources.

I am pleased that the Scottish Government’s “British Sign Language (BSL): national plan 2023 to 2029” represents its continuing commitment to making Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, visit and learn. I am also pleased that, overall, the Scottish Government has accepted in full the vast majority of our recommendations. It is clear that the BSL community should be at the heart of our decision-making process to ensure that we get things right. It is vital that we work together with the community to tackle the barriers, improve their lives and deliver the 2015 act’s objectives.

It is a really vulnerable time for anyone when they are accessing emergency services and, obviously, communication is key, so it is good to hear that. Thank you.

Absolutely.

Have the emergency services been alerted to the need to ensure that there is support in place for deaf callers? That question follows on quite nicely.

Good morning, Deputy First Minister. During one of our evidence sessions, we heard about the challenges that deaf people experience while trying to access mental health services. I am aware of the BSL resource through the NHS 24 mental health hub; you might want to expand on that in your response. What more is being done to improve access to mental health services for deaf people, and are you aware of any good examples of joint work that is being done with third sector partners?

Good morning. Welcome back to the committee.

You mentioned in your opening contribution that next year the commission will focus on poverty and human rights. I am interested to hear a bit more detail about the proposed work on those important issues.

Yes.