Chamber and committees

That was quite an overview. Do you recognise the evidence that we have taken from other witnesses—particularly those from local authorities and other parts of the public sector—that the challenge is one of resourcing? I appreciate what you said about practical support and resources, although this piece of work is more about developing and standardising guidance and trying to “fill the gaps”, as Nick Bland said.

Do you recognise that there is an overall resource challenge for local authorities regarding making things available in easy-read format and ensuring that that happens as a matter of course, rather than happening reactively? Do you recognise a lot of the things that those witnesses said? What is the Government’s intention with regard to providing that resource support?

The point that the duty is anticipatory, rather than reactive to a request, is a good one. It is perhaps about the sector being more prepared. There are services that are offered in the public sector that should have such materials available as par for the course—for example, the Electoral Commission did good work on access to voting, because we know that that happens on a cycle. Is it your view that public bodies should, as a first step, consider where the very common interactions are, and then consider the more reactive stuff when it concerns a relationship with the person using the service?

Okay. I heard your offer to come back to the committee on the detail of that, which I think would be useful to colleagues, and then we can perhaps review the implementation.

I think that colleagues around the table recognise the challenge of bank branches on the high street disappearing. The Bank of Scotland branch will be the last bank branch to leave Barrhead, in the region that I represent, and the neighbouring community in Neilston has lost its post office service. There is a perfect storm of reductions in post office services and high street bank branches.

I will make two points. First, the Link Scheme assessment that is done on whether a bank branch should remain in a community often does not take account of the views and experiences of the elderly population. Secondly, as the deputy convener was keen to talk about practical solutions that we can advocate, it would be good to get your reflections on the banking hub model that has been developed in some communities. How does that work? Should we push the UK Government to support us to do more of that?

I will come to Kyle Scott first, because he touched on that in his previous answer.

Louise Coupland, do you recognise the synergies in relation to what you said about having access to a human being to talk to and get information and support from?

That is very helpful.

I am very pleased to bring this motion to allow the Parliament to recognise young carers action day 2025 and to pay tribute to the many thousands of young unpaid carers across Scotland. I am delighted, as I am sure everyone across the chamber is, that we are joined in the gallery by so many young carers from across Scotland. [Applause.] Our Thursday sessions are always long because of First Minister’s question time, so I appreciate that some folk might have popped out for a comfort break and will join us again, but it is great to see the gallery so full.

I also offer huge thanks to all those at Carers Trust Scotland for co-ordinating this young carers action day and getting all the young people here today, and for all the work that they do year round to support young carers. I know that many young carers have often said that they feel invisible; they feel that they are not seen, heard or talked to, particularly by politicians. That is why it is important that so many young carers are here today, in their Parliament, to hear their representatives fronting up to the challenges that they face, listening to their views and saying what we can do about it.

The Scottish Government estimates that, across Scotland, there are at least 30,000 carers under the age of 18. That is probably a significant underestimate, as other studies have suggested that there could be as many as 100,000 young carers in Scotland. In today’s debate, there will be a number of asks for the minister to respond to, and I know that she will be listening acutely to the many views that will be expressed by colleagues across the chamber and by the young people themselves.

I will kick off by asking how confident the Scottish Government is in its estimates, what the barriers are to getting an accurate understanding of the number of young carers in Scotland and what has been done to address the challenges that exist in the data. The first step in providing all the support that young carers need and deserve is to have an accurate picture of who they are and where they are, so it is critical that we get identification data correct.

Young carers who provide support for their family, friends and other members of their extended network due to illness, disability, mental health problems, addiction or any other number of challenges have to deal with so much additional responsibility over and above the education, training or work that they might be in. They also need time to simply enjoy being a young person and doing all the things that young people should do. Often, they take on burdens that no young person should have to take on at their age, with consequences for their own health, both mental and physical, and for their ability to get the most out of the opportunities that are afforded to young people, most notably education and training.

That is why the theme of this year’s young carers action day is “geezabreak”. Young carers have so much responsibility on their shoulders that they often have little time for themselves and are at serious risk of burnout. They need a break, and we know that young carers are significantly more likely to report severe psychological distress than their peers without a caring role. The need for time out from their caring responsibilities to rest, recharge and focus on themselves, be it through a hobby or just spending time with friends or other people their own age, is so important.

The “give me a break” theme also speaks to young carers’ need for education professionals and employers to recognise their caring responsibilities and to give them a break in life. That could be by offering young carers more support at school, in recognition of the fact they often feel overwhelmed from having to juggle their caring responsibilities at home with coursework, exams or just being present on school days. In that vein, just yesterday, I was contacted by a constituent in my village of Neilston, who asked about the support available to young carers in schools. I think that that constituent is in the gallery today, so I am glad to be able to raise the issue.

The evidence from young carers on their struggles at school is clear and compelling. Forty-seven per cent of student carers said that attending classes was challenging; 49 per cent said that they are never, or not often, getting help at school, college or university to balance caring with their education; and 87 per cent said that concentration on assignments and work at home was challenging. Support in education is vital not just for lightening the load of caring duties in that moment, but also for the young person’s longer-term future and ensuring that life opportunities are not permanently stunted during a critical phase of any young person’s life.

In closing, the minister could perhaps say something about support in schools and putting in place training for teachers to be able to properly identify and deal with young carers in a safe and comforting way. She might also mention what guidance is available to schools and teachers on how to engage with young carers to ensure that they are not inadvertently adding to the weight on their shoulders. I know that the minister is answering today, but I appreciate, too, that it will take a cross-Government response. Indeed, I am keen to see such engagement across Government, because it is vital that everyone takes responsibility for supporting young carers.

Beyond education, young carers in general need respite, as I have said. Again, the evidence on the pressure that they are under is clear from the 2023 Carers Trust survey. Fifty-two per cent always or usually feel stressed because of being a young carer or a young adult carer; 25 per cent either never or do not often feel that they are getting enough sleep; 43 per cent of young carers or young adult carers have said that caring always or usually affects how much time they spend with their friends; and more than half of young carers or young adult carers always or usually feel worried about their future. It is very clear from those stark statistics on the views of young carers that they need a break. They need time to enjoy hobbies; they need to spend time with friends and take time for themselves for their own health and wellbeing.

I want to sum up by recognising the work done by Carers Trust and the myriad other organisations in Scotland to provide opportunities for young people for that break. The young carers festival in Scotland, for example, has been so beneficial to so many carers over the past 18 years. I know that many colleagues in the chamber will have attended it, engaged with young people there and seen all the fun activities that go on.

As I have said, there are examples of organisations and projects across all our regions and constituencies that are providing support to young carers so that they can have that break. It could be as simple as having a protected evening for young people to come together, to share time with other young carers or friends to talk about their similar experiences, or even to switch off. In East Renfrewshire, having a pizza, being able to watch a film with friends or just hanging out is very valuable. It might seem very simple to all of us, but it is all about the added thought process that must go into that sort of thing when someone is a young carer.

I thank all the young carers in the gallery today and the young carers across Scotland for all the effort that they put into supporting family members, friends and those whom they care for, and for playing a vital role in ensuring that we have more resilient and stronger communities. We must all resolve to do all that we can, across the chamber and across party political lines, to support young carers. I hope that that is what we will hear in this debate.

On behalf of the Scottish Labour Party, I rise to sum up the debate. I will begin, as my colleague Claire Baker did, by stating that it has been important to focus on facts—on what we know to be the case—and the legal position. That has been outlined in many speeches this afternoon, including the opening speech by my colleague Jackie Baillie, which set in context the legal position that we recognise today.

We have also heard much, from across the chamber, about acknowledgement of the need to balance the rights and protections that exist in the Equality Act 2010.

We heard about the importance of acknowledging the validity of perspectives that have been raised by women and girls who are concerned about their safety, and the range of issues that sit within that, which have been covered in many speeches this afternoon.

We also heard about the importance of affording dignity and respect to trans people and to everyone who uses and relies on our public services in Scotland daily, for a variety of needs. I have always tried to say that we must have respect in our debates, and that applying general pejorative terms to whole groups of people is wrong and does a disservice to many of our debates—the one this afternoon and others over a longer period. This afternoon, important contributions were made recognising some of the polarising language that we often hear and the challenges therein. We heard about that from the cabinet secretary.

From contributions on this side of the chamber and elsewhere, we have heard about the importance of following the law that is currently in place and about practice perhaps moving ahead of the law. Alex Cole-Hamilton spoke about trying to find four-nations consensus on gender recognition reform. That is important.

Audrey Nicoll, the convener of the Criminal Justice Committee, spoke about broader work on violence against women and girls. That was supported by Pauline McNeill. There have been a number of important contributions this afternoon.

I will turn to the practical actions that our amendment seeks to develop. Mixed-sex wards were raised in Jackie Baillie’s contribution and in speeches from others on this side of the chamber. There are significant challenges with the policy. Scottish Labour’s 2021 manifesto committed to taking further action to end the common use of mixed-sex wards across the NHS. That is a long-held position. When the Scottish National Party was in Opposition, it made that case, and it has been raised on several occasions in the Parliament over the years. It is concerning that we are still relying on mixed-sex wards in some healthcare settings. It has been put on record that Dumfries and Galloway is now the only board to have only single-sex wards. There are issues about dignity and respect for everyone who uses the NHS and about ensuring the broader need for dignity, privacy and safety.

This afternoon’s debate has allowed us to examine some very serious issues and concerns that have been raised regarding hospitals and healthcare settings. The reason for making the point about the reports and FOI requests about serious sexual assault and rape in our hospitals is that we must ensure that we have a debate about how we get more data and information on the horrendous crimes that are being perpetrated in our hospitals. Everyone who has used a hospital would acknowledge that people are often at their most vulnerable there, and that they are in the care of others very directly. If anyone is being subjected to those horrendous crimes, we need to know exactly what is happening, who is perpetrating the crimes, how they are being perpetrated and what reporting to police has been carried out. That is all vital, as was highlighted in the speeches by Claire Baker and others. It should be of concern to us all that we do not know enough about what is happening in our hospitals. We need to build a picture and to understand what better protections might be required.

Our amendment also speaks about provision of toilets in schools and other public spaces. We have heard quite a lot about school settings this afternoon. I note the speeches that were made by Pam Gosal, Roz McCall and others about the challenges in schools. Pam Gosal described some examples of horrendous acts that have been carried out by boys and young men. I recognise the need for separate facilities alongside wider access to provision in our schools, on which our amendment reflects.

A lot of the concerns that we have heard this afternoon about girls, and which have been raised by staff and parents, mean that we need better provision and better guidance to tackle violence in schools, and we need far better education of boys and young men so that they recognise that it is often our behaviours and attitudes that are the problem. There is a range of issues of which the Government needs to take cognisance.

This afternoon, we have heard a call for better guidance from the Scottish Government on the public sector and single-sex provisions. We need guidance that is clear and which means that public authorities know that they can be supported in the decisions that they take, and are able to justify their decisions and ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect and that their rights are protected. The guidance and leadership are important.

That is what has come through in the debate this afternoon. We will continue to have such debates in a grown-up and measured way that ensures that we can balance the rights and protections of everyone who lives in Scotland.

Good morning. I am particularly interested in how we report and record in situations where ethnicity and disability cross over. I have had the opportunity to ask questions, particularly on the recording of data belonging to people who are applying for social security and on understanding their rights.

I appreciate that there is a proposal to extend gender pay gap reporting to look more specifically at ethnicity and disability. I know that CEMVO said that there are risks associated with reporting on that—in particular because low numbers could impact on the results. We have seen that issue in social security more broadly, which I have referred to. Could witnesses make some general comments on that?

That was helpful. Thanks.