Chamber and committees

Before we move to questions from George Adam, I have a question for the cabinet secretary. Is the Scottish Government still planning to publish a plan on workforce and recruitment planning to help support delivery of the Promise?

We will go to questions from Katherine Sangster.

As members do not have any comments or questions, I invite the minister to move motion S7M-01123.

Motion moved,

That the Education and Gaelic Committee recommends that the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2026 [draft] be approved.—[Siobhian Brown].

Motion agreed to.

The clerks will produce a short report setting out the committee’s decision. Are members content for that to be published?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you for your time today. We move into private session.

10:50

Meeting continued in private until 11:27.

That brings our second agenda item to a close. I thank the cabinet secretary, the minister, and their officials for joining us.

I suspend the meeting for a comfort break for five minutes, before we move on to our third agenda item.

10:38

Meeting suspended.

10:36

On resuming—

Good morning, and welcome to the sixth meeting in 2026 of the Education and Gaelic Committee.

Our first item today is a decision on taking business in private. Does the committee agree to take the draft report on our pre-budget scrutiny 2027-28, and any other draft reports, in private at future meetings?

Members indicated agreement.

Reorganisation would be beneficial; we need to change the structure. Having spoken to my constituents on the doorstep, I know that they are really fed up and they do not see that the current structures serve them. We have a duty to listen to calls from our constituents and to see where we can work together to provide for them and serve them.

This is a chance to help to make local government feel local by putting valuable resources closer to targeted needs. It is a chance to let the communities of Scotland, such as mine in Banffshire and Buchan Coast, see as well as feel the difference. I, for one, am excited about the possibilities and I have hope that we will put humanity at the heart of it all.

I thank Clare Adamson for bringing this debate to the chamber. Breast cancer is one of those things that most of us only think that we understand the importance of until, suddenly, it feels very close. I am over 50 now and, in the middle of July, I went for my first routine breast screening as part of the over-50s programme. I have Christina McKelvie’s activism to thank for that.

The big mobile unit was parked outside my doctor’s surgery, so I went along and had the mammogram. I did not think too much more about it until, at the beginning of August, I was called to the hospital to follow up with another mammogram. Within 10 minutes, I was taken through for an ultrasound. The doctor saw something that he felt that he should investigate and asked whether I would be comfortable having a biopsy there and then. Of course, although a bit flustered, I said yes. I have to say that the care that I received was absolutely incredible. Within a very short space of time, I had been seen, scanned, examined and had the biopsy taken.

Then came the waiting. I was told to come back in two weeks—not very long—for the results, and to bring somebody with me to celebrate if it was good news or to be there to support me if it was not. I am a chronic overthinker at the best of times, so, during those two weeks, I considered just about every possible outcome. I thought about my children. I thought about treatment. I thought about my job. I thought about what I would need to organise if the news was bad.

Then, in the middle of August, on the morning that I was getting ready to go to the hospital for my appointment, I got a phone call. There was no need to come in: everything was clear. There was enormous relief, of course, but there was something else, too. My stomach flipped, playing out the worst-case scenario, knowing that, on that same morning, another woman would be getting ready and walking into the hospital to hear the news that I had spent two weeks fearing and that her world would be turned upside down.

That experience really struck me. It is one of the reasons why I wanted to speak today. If there is one thing that I would say to women listening, it is this: please go and get your mammogram; please check your breasts and get to know what is normal for you; if something changes, get it checked; and do not put it off because you are frightened of what might be found. I understand that fear now, but screening saves lives and early diagnosis matters.

That is why the work of Breast Cancer Now really matters. As has been said, since 2002 the wear It pink campaign has raised more than £45 million for research and support, while also raising awareness of secondary breast cancer, for which there is still no cure.

Today, we also remember our dear friend and colleague, Christina McKelvie. The first time I met Christina in person, she gave me the biggest hug before we even introduced ourselves properly. She brought warmth, compassion and humanity to this Parliament, and her commitment to raising awareness continues to matter today and always. The wear it pink day raises money, but it also makes people talk. It makes someone check themselves, it may make them book an appointment that they have been putting off, and it can make someone feel a little less alone.

I was lucky—I know that—and I will never forget the relief that I felt when that phone call came. I am also incredibly grateful that I went for that mammogram in the first place. So, yes, let us wear it pink, but more than that, let us use the day to remind the women we love and ourselves to check, to go when the letter arrives and not to ignore something because we are frightened, because being checked really can save your life.

18:07

I think that most people will judge changes to local government in a very simple way. They are going to ask, “Will this make things better where I live?” When somebody contacts my office about a pothole, a library that they are worried will close, a day service that their disabled family member relies on, or sheltered housing closures affecting someone that they love, they are not thinking about types or structures of government—they just want it sorted, and they want their service delivered.

We have to be honest about how disillusioned people are and how far that has impacted our local communities. I have heard that on the doorsteps when I have been out campaigning. I was previously a councillor but, as an MSP, a lot of my casework is still council focused. As MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, I see that local knowledge matters but that we also need a wider strategic view.

Nine data zones in Aberdeenshire are included in the most deprived 20 per cent in Scotland, and every one of them is in Fraserburgh or Peterhead. The Banff and Buchan area accounts for about 48 per cent of children and young people living in poverty across Aberdeenshire. Aberdeenshire also has 149 data zones in Scotland’s most deprived 20 per cent for access to services. When we cross into Moray, we see that Buckie central east is one of only two local outcome improvement priority areas.

We should consider those figures alongside what communities have had to fight for. There have been changes to sheltered housing. Day opportunities for people with learning disabilities have been affected. Communities have been fighting for their libraries. Street lighting columns have been removed or chopped in half just to make savings, with local councillors warning that some areas could be left in complete darkness. For a woman walking home at night, or for an older person or somebody who is vulnerable, that is not just a saving on a spreadsheet; it changes how safe their community feels to them.

I have been critical of both Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils when I think that my constituents are being let down. However, we now have a chance to ask a bigger question: where is the structure poor, and where could we do something radically better? The Government has made it clear that the local government reform proposals are a starting point and that today’s debate is part of a wider national conversation. I welcome that, because some decisions need a wider strategic view while others should sit closer to the people who are affected by them.

Our school communities are worth looking at. Our academies and their cluster primaries already connect families across towns, villages and rural areas. People know those communities and they grow around children, parents and relationships that already exist. I am not saying that every boundary should follow a school cluster, but if we are asking what a real community looks like, why would we not start with places that people already know and belong to?

Whatever shape we end up with, I do not want my communities to be empowered in name only. I want them to have a meaningful voice and a fair share of the resources that are needed to deliver change. When resourcing more localised Government structures, I ask that we look at needs, not just at the population on a map. We need to look at deprivation, public transport and access to services. Areas with greater needs should not have to fight harder for less.

For me, it is clear that power should sit with those who live in the area. I do not just mean local government; I support Scottish independence for the same reason. I want Scotland to have the full powers of an independent country because prevention is better than cure. I am glad that the Government wants public services to focus more on outcomes and vital prevention work. That is exactly the lens that I would hope to be using. We have to stop waiting until people reach crisis point and then we end up spending more to try to put things back together. Our councils should be part of preventing that crisis by working with schools, health services, the third sector and communities. This cannot just be another mapping exercise or another corporate structure that people feel distant from.