Chamber and committees

September marks fetal alcohol spectrum disorder awareness month, and I am grateful to my friend Rona Mackay for securing this important debate. Since 1999, 9 September has been international FASD day. The ninth day of the ninth month signifies that abstaining from alcohol for the nine months of pregnancy can help to ensure that babies will not be born with FASD.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not the only outcome of drinking alcohol in pregnancy—doing so also increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome. The figures from the Scottish FASD strategy group show that, on average, of pregnancies in which the baby is exposed to alcohol in Scotland, 15 per cent involve high and frequent consumption. The figures show that the United Kingdom experiences the fourth-highest prenatal alcohol exposure of anywhere in the world. In Scotland, around 3 to 5 per cent of the population is estimated to have FASD, in contrast to an estimated 0.8 per cent globally. That underscores the scale of the work that needs to be done.

We have heard from members across the chamber about the impact of FASD on individuals. That has been covered well, so I will not repeat the remarks that have been made. However, earlier in the session, I had the pleasure, as I am sure many colleagues had, of speaking to people who have been diagnosed with FASD, when they held an exhibition in the Parliament. Many spoke of the stigma that they felt as a result of a health condition that was not of their own making. Some spoke passionately about how they used their experience to educate other people about the challenges that they face when it comes to their health and the challenges and barriers that affect them in relation to other services.

One issue that was highlighted was that people with FASD are often diagnosed with other neurodevelopmental conditions and therefore receive the wrong treatment and support. It is therefore important, as Rona Mackay said, that clinicians get the right training to appropriately diagnose those who present looking for help.

I take the opportunity to highlight some of the incredible work that is being done in my region to support those with FASD. The North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership provides face-to-face training for professionals and parents and carers, peer support so that people can share experience, and family events and meet-ups to support families and those who are diagnosed with FASD.

In Falkirk and across the Forth Valley NHS Board area, Scottish Families Affected by Drugs and Alcohol offers remarkable support to those who are affected by FASD conditions. The Forth Valley family support team schedules sessions that last around an hour. It travels across Forth Valley and frequently uses rooms in libraries, community centres and treatment services to meet family members, thereby taking support to those who need it. That is in addition to the work of an incredible array of third sector organisations and charities that work around the clock to deliver support in both health board areas that span the Central Scotland region and, indeed, more broadly across Scotland.

We must continue our efforts to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and to treat addiction issues with the urgency that they require. That is why we cannot forget that FASD often exacerbates existing forms of poverty and deprivation. As a result, we must work in tandem to continue to raise awareness of the risks of drinking during pregnancy, redouble our efforts to reduce the overall population’s consumption of alcohol and ensure that people who are affected by FASD are identified and supported appropriately and adequately in a timely manner. That can happen only if we are able to ensure that the national neurodevelopmental assessment pathway is adequately resourced to allow early identification of and appropriate support for people with FASD.

I also believe that we must consider the lived experience of pregnant women and enhance pathways for them to obtain support. Many challenges exist in our most deprived areas, which, along with a lack of awareness and understanding of FASD, are particularly problematic. We must ensure that our most vulnerable people receive an extensive range of support and assessment.

Will the minister give way?

I am intervening partly to give the minister a minute to take a wee sip of water, but in the light of some of the other discussion that we have had during the debate, does the minister support greater education for clinicians and those working with young people to help identify FASD at the earliest possible opportunity and to raise awareness of some of the symptoms, so that we can see an end to those diagnosed with the wrong neurodevelopmental condition?

It answers my question to a certain extent. What I am looking for is similar to what John Mason was asking about earlier with regard to how we drive cultural change. Some of that is structural—who is on the board and so on—but it is also about the approach to engaging with learners and teachers.

I accept that there is provision for a learner interest committee, but that will be quite small compared with the spread of learners across Scotland. How can the board and other bodies within qualifications Scotland be made more accessible and welcoming to learners and teachers to ensure that on-going feedback can be taken forward?

Thanks, convener—the confusion that comes with two Gillians.

This question is for Fiona Robertson. The current SQA board comprises 11 members, none of whom, as far as I am aware, is a registered teacher, and none of whom has any experience of undertaking a current SQA qualification. I welcome the bill’s provisions to add teachers and learners to the board, although I think that they should be expanded to ensure that the board has a majority of registered teachers. How should the new board enact those provisions to ensure that the new body, qualifications Scotland, is more engaged with those groups than the SQA?

I have a very quick question. A lot of reform is going on, and the bill is only one part of it. Arguably, most of the reform that the Government wants to take forward is outwith the legislative space. Are we doing things in the right order, with legislation being introduced and then non-legislative reform work being done, or would you have liked to have seen something different?

A huge amount of reform work is being done, and the bill is only part of that. It could be argued that most of the reform that the Government is considering sits outside legislation. Do you believe that we are undertaking the reform work in the right order? Should we start with the bill and then move on to other non-legislative reform work, or would you have preferred us to take a different approach?

I will come to Anne Keenan first, because she has touched on all the other reform work that is under way.

I will come back to you, Graham, on the point about those jigsaw pieces. What are the dangers of potentially having to take a hammer to those jigsaw pieces to make them fit in that context of reform, rather than the whole-scale review to make sure that everything sits together neatly, as the Hayward approach might have achieved?

Thanks for having me. I have no relevant interests to declare.

It answers my question to a certain extent. What I am looking for is similar to what John Mason was asking about earlier with regard to how we drive cultural change. Some of that is structural—who is on the board and so on—but it is also about the approach to engaging with learners and teachers.

I accept that there is provision for a learner interest committee, but that will be quite small compared with the spread of learners across Scotland. How can the board and other bodies within qualifications Scotland be made more accessible and welcoming to learners and teachers to ensure that on-going feedback can be taken forward?