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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 4 July 2025
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Displaying 498 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament

Northern Corridor Community Forum Evidence-based Report

Meeting date: 26 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

I congratulate Fulton MacGregor on securing this important debate and bringing it to the chamber. I also congratulate the northern corridor community forum, which undertook a lot of work in compiling its report, with the aim of making changes for the better in its community.

All members can support this issue and get around it. Our constituents’ voices matter, whether or not they are in community forum groups such as the NCCF, many of which have put together concerning statistics on lack of infrastructure and other issues that I will come to shortly.

The NCCF’s report shows that people are passionate about the areas in which they live—they care deeply about them. Fulton MacGregor is passionate about the area that he represents, and he has raised local issues in the chamber time and time again. We can share that approach across the parties. I would love to have seen a copy of the forum’s report before this evening’s debate, but I was not able to find it online. I have had direct conversations with Fulton MacGregor, but I am keen to have further discussions offline, to see whether there is a cross-party way forward in which we could examine and address the issue collectively, as MSPs who represent the same area.

In preparing for the debate, I reflected on my time as a councillor in North Lanarkshire. I fondly remember discussing the northern corridor at that time, when a range of unique problems affected communities in the area. Fulton MacGregor hit the nail on the head: many such problems are down to population growth. The number of people coming into the area through new housing development undoubtedly places pressures on infrastructure, healthcare and education, and affects people’s ability simply to get down to local shops, for example. We must ensure that we have the right infrastructure in place for each area.

I was struck by the transport issues that Fulton MacGregor raised, regarding accessibility to train stations and the lack of bus services in the area. Such issues are not unique to the northern corridor or to North Lanarkshire. However, the Scottish Government must refocus its efforts. Local people must be able to get into and out of the areas in which they live or work, but we must also be aware of the impact of the journey to net zero and achieving an affordable just transition, on which I am sure all members are focused.

I was pleased to hear that the forum is not against housing development, but that it wants a sensible and pragmatic approach to how such development comes into the area. It must come with the right infrastructure, otherwise it will not work. Roughly 14,000 people are on social housing waiting lists across North Lanarkshire. It is acknowledged that we have a housing issue in the area, and we must do something to address that collectively—not only local MSPs but North Lanarkshire councillors.

One way of doing so would be to explore using brownfield sites instead of encroaching on villages that have a lot of green belt. North Lanarkshire Council’s area is rich in brownfield sites—I think that it has roughly half of the available brownfield sites in Scotland. We should pursue that to take pressure off villages that cannot cope with the substantial housing developments that come to their area.

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Business Motions

Meeting date: 25 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. There was an issue with my app; I would have voted yes.

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Skye House (Care of Children)

Meeting date: 25 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement.

The minister states that she is unable to comment on the details of individual cases of care and treatment. However, in this instance, individual cases are critical to shining a light on the lack of action taken by those at Skye house and those in the NHS and the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government did not find out about the problem through the BBC documentary—it has known for years. I have emails from my constituent that outline when she contacted ministers for help. On 23 June 2023, my constituent contacted Scottish Government officials on behalf of her daughter, Harmony. On 12 August 2024, she contacted the First Minister; the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray; and the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don-Innes. The email subject line read:

“Urgent concerns regarding the care and treatment of our child”.

On 25 November 2024, she again contacted the minister, Natalie Don-Innes, after being ignored by the minister who has delivered the statement today.

I have no idea how the minister can stand here today and pretend to be shocked, because she has known about this for years. The minister says that she finally feels the need to make a statement on the abuse that young women endured while they were detained at Skye house—two years late. Is she now acting only because the issue has been made public?

Why did none of the Scottish Government ministers treat my constituent’s letter with the utmost seriousness? Why did multiple ministers ignore a parent who was trying to raise institutional failures at Skye house?

If the minister is going to take suggestions from members today, will she conduct an urgent investigation into the matter to find out why nobody contacted my constituent to give them the help and support that they deserved?

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 19 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

Over the past few months, I have been working with a family regarding their daughter, Harmony. The family told me that their daughter was illegally sectioned and brought to Skye house on 17 October 2022.

Harmony was given the wrong dosage of medication. She was restrained, taken from her family—who were managing her mental health concerns—and put into Skye house, where she was subjected to abuse and neglectful care. The abuse and cruelty that were shown in the documentary lay bare the institutional crisis at Skye house. Those young women were children—children who needed our care and support.

Harmony’s parents have not stopped fighting for their daughter, acting to correct her medical records and challenging those who have failed to care for her. They attempted several times to contact the Scottish Government—including the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, and the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Maree Todd—to make it aware of what was happening at Skye house.

Why has the Government—I am looking at both the cabinet secretary and the minister—ignored the family? Will the cabinet secretary respond to the letter that I sent requesting a meeting with the family? Will the Scottish Government step in to ensure that such abuse and neglect will never happen again at such an establishment?

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 19 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent programme, “Disclosure: Kids on the Psychiatric Ward”, which features Skye house in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. (S6O-04322)

Meeting of the Parliament

Urgent Question

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

Three years ago, the Scottish National Party was embroiled in scandal over the shameful school sex survey. The questionnaire was sent to 130,000 children, some as young as 14 years old, and they were asked highly intrusive and inappropriate questions, including to detail their sexual experiences.

Most parents were not even aware of what their children were being asked. The letter sent out to parents, informing them of the survey, did not explain about the detailed questions on sexual history, mental health and other sensitive topics. As the SNP adopted an opt-out model for parents and pupils, many children were exposed to that inappropriate questionnaire without the active consent of their parents.

Cabinet secretary, do you think that it is ever okay to ask a 14-year-old questions about their sexual history without the consent of their parents?

Meeting of the Parliament

Urgent Question

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

The cabinet secretary does not get it. Parents are furious about this. They are furious about the way that the Scottish Government has acted—[Interruption.]

Meeting of the Parliament

Urgent Question

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

—in putting out the school sex survey to local government without parental consent and without parents knowing. It has been revealed that that sensitive data, which the Scottish National Party promised would be kept confidential, is being advertised to third-party researchers. That is a blatant betrayal of trust and raises concerns about the protection of our children’s privacy. Will the cabinet secretary please explain why that data has been shared and provide assurances that the shameful decision to share it will be reversed and never repeated?

Meeting of the Parliament

Urgent Question

Meeting date: 5 February 2025

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any data showing the number of children or parents who were aware that results from the health and wellbeing census could be accessed by third-party researchers.

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 23 January 2025

Meghan Gallacher

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address concerns regarding waiting times in A and E departments, following reports of a mother having to wait 50 hours for medical care at University hospital Wishaw. (S6F-03736)