Chamber and committees

This extremely important subject is more pressing than many of the things that we debate in Parliament, and I thank Pam Gosal for bringing it to the chamber.

We know that schools, and the teachers and pupils in them, face a range of challenges, which we also know are not exclusive to Scotland. Across the UK and beyond, authorities are really struggling to deal with the growing influence and impact of social media and the toxicity that accompanies mobile phones. We cannot control everything, but we can control what is allowed in classrooms. Every teacher I have spoken to agrees that phones must be banned from the classroom. Most parents agree, and many children are actually on board so long as the policy is fair and absolute, with no exceptions.

As a parent, I instinctively know that the concerns relating to smart phones are completely legitimate. Anyone with eyes and ears can see the harm and distractions that those devices cause for young people, and there is also hard evidence. The organisation One Collective Power, which campaigns for the welfare and wellbeing of schoolchildren across the country, has presented some extremely powerful statistics, including that the average teenager spends five and a half hours on their device each day, that phones and social media increase the likelihood of depression, especially in girls, and that kids at smartphone-free schools have higher levels of attainment. The position should be obvious to us all: phones in schools fuel distraction and conflict, pose nightmare scenarios for teachers and inflict harm in almost every area of the school, from classrooms and corridors to the playground.

That is not the children’s fault, nor is it exclusive to them. We adults also struggle to put our phones down when we know we should. We have all kept watching videos and clips and kept scrolling for far longer than is healthy. Even during long debates in this chamber, we can see members checking their devices rather than engaging with the content at hand—we are all at it. There is a role for grown-ups in setting an example rather than pretending that the issue affects only children.

The solution is in front of us. There should be an outright ban, across the whole country, on phones in schools, with no exceptions, exemptions or compromise. The Scottish Government has said that headteachers have the power to impose a ban in any case, but we must go further and give them our full support. MSPs, MPs, local councillors and people of influence must all get behind a ban, because that will make it easier for teachers to enforce and will send a clear signal to pupils and parents that the rules are clear and unambiguous.

We would soon see the benefits. Teachers have already told me that when children do not have their phones, their engagement improves. They learn better and take part in more activities. Remarkably, they even start speaking to one another. They improve their communication skills. They make new friendships and cement existing ones. They go back to having a life that is not lived on the tiny screen in front of them.

From the minute a pupil walks into a school, there should be no mobile phones in sight. That is what the teachers want and what the children need. That is why I am delighted to give this motion my full and unequivocal support.

Since I have finished within my four minutes of time, I would like to say good luck to Audrey Nicoll, who I have had the pleasure of working with on the Criminal Justice Committee for the past session. To you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and to everyone else who is leaving, I wish good luck in the future.

13:25

Ayr diving club has been in existence since 1964 and uses one of only four diving facilities in the whole of Scotland. It is the only one on the west coast, with the other three being on the east coast. There is a risk of closure of the diving facility, as it needs a substantial amount of money to repair mechanical and structural issues in order to address safety concerns and ensure environmental sustainability. That is money that the council simply does not have. If the diving facility in Ayr can no longer operate, the nearest facility is 85 miles away, in Edinburgh.

What can the Scottish Government do to support the diving facility and ensure that divers on the west coast have equitable access to diving facilities compared with those in the east?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments by the Fire Brigades Union that years of real-terms budget reductions have left the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service “creaking”, and that proposed workforce reductions would increase the risk to community safety, particularly following the recent fire in Glasgow. (S6T-02973)

I note the minister’s response, but it will be of little reassurance to firefighters on the ground who are being asked to do more with less. Firefighters have been clear that there are fewer firefighters, fewer appliances and longer response times, and none of those things logically results in safer communities. In response to an article that the minister wrote in her local press, the FBU said:

“The Minister’s call for improved fire safety at a time when she is overseeing a service being systematically stripped of jobs and fire fighting capacity shows she is in complete denial about what is going on in the service she is responsible for.”

Is the minister in complete denial about the effects of her Scottish National Party Government’s cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service?

The devastating fire on Union Street in Glasgow once again demonstrated the extraordinary professionalism and bravery of Scotland’s firefighters. However, we have heard deeply concerning warnings from the FBU that years of real-term budget cuts have left the fire service “creaking”. There have been 1,250 firefighter posts cut since the creation of the national fire service. Ten high-lift appliances have been cut. The service has an ageing fleet, with only one new fire engine coming into service in the past two years. Fire stations have closed, 18 stations are without running water, and the list goes on.

It is noticeable that the fire service review has been kicked into the long grass until after the May elections. Given all those cuts, how can the public have confidence that community safety will not be compromised?

The number of businesses in critical distress in Scotland is rising faster than anywhere else in the United Kingdom—it has gone up more than 80 per cent in a year. The Fraser of Allander Institute reports that each of its headline business confidence indicators has been negative for five consecutive quarters, and 15,000 fewer people are on Scottish business payrolls than was the case a year ago. When the minister stands to defend frozen rates thresholds that have barely moved in half a decade, does he not see that as part of a wider picture—a Scottish National Party Government that has squeezed businesses from every direction and is now watching them close?

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on business confidence and investment of non-domestic rates thresholds having limited movement since 2020-21. (S6O-05648)

I am still looking for an answer. The information that was given to you was obtained by officials in meetings. You have taken it as fact. Despite having the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Police Scotland, the British Transport Police, economists and Government officials look at the matter, you have presented the committee with incorrect information, and you want us to change the legislation. When we come to committee, we expect the information that we are given to be factually accurate. Will an investigation be carried out into how we were given incorrect information to present to Parliament?

On the basis that they had not been used for two years.

Not that we are aware of. I hope that there will be no more similar instances.

On 18 February, we were told that Police Scotland did not want the offence of being drunk in charge of a child to be removed from the ASB FPN regime. Why did you proceed with the process of taking it out of that regime?