Chamber and committees

Kaukab Stewart has some supplementary questions.

Thank you very much. Do you have any other questions, Stephanie?

Yes, we can.

Luckily, Amy Monks had an answer, too. Heather, do you want to come in on Stephanie Callaghan’s question?

Scotland has the lowest level of breakfast provision of all four UK nations and the lowest number of pupils per school on average accessing breakfast provision each school day. Can you explain why that has been allowed to unfold under the SNP Government?

I thank Gillian Martin for her comments. That session was empowering and a lot of good practice came forward; however, that session also laid bare some of the concerns that we have.

More needs to be done to raise awareness among care-experienced children of the support that is available to them. The committee has called on the Scottish Government to set out what measures it is taking to do that. We regularly hear that waiting times in CAMHS are because of workforce pressures and a lack of planning and resources. Time and time again, we have asked for specifics and details on how that workforce crisis is being tackled. Little information, rather than big numbers—and certainly no details—has been forthcoming from the minister. Thankfully, in a briefing last week from NHS Lothian, I heard about some of the targeted and innovative plans that are being rolled out in its mental health service to address health staffing—those plans have more to do with adult services, but they are transferable.

For example, NHS Lothian is working with the Open University to expand the route to a registered nurse qualification using a modern apprentice pathway. Staff will be recruited as band 2 apprentices and then progress through band 3 after 16 months. At the end of four years, they will qualify as registered nurses. Importantly, throughout that time, they will be paid to train. NHS Lothian has plans with the corporate nursing education team to introduce a development programme to encourage the retention of experienced staff, which is really important. Those experienced staff will stay at the front line of delivery of clinical services. The board has also spoken about recruiting art and music therapists into additional roles. If those initiatives are successful, NHS Lothian is hoping that other specialties, and indeed, other health boards, may benefit from a similar approach.

As Carol Mochan stated, we should be doing all we can now to help our young people. Devolved benefits that could improve the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland are being rolled out too slowly. The young carer grant is being rolled out at snail’s pace; Social Security Scotland is failing to properly roll out the Scottish child payment; and the Scottish child disability payment is being processed more slowly than ever.

I thank the minister for her intervention—actually, I am not sure that I will thank her, as £41 billion has been delivered to the Scottish Government to allow it to make its own decisions about how it spends its money, and that—

Somehow, it has decided to mitigate decisions that the UK Government has made: it is nonsensical. It merely reveals to everyone in the chamber that the grievance culture that is at the very heart of the SNP drives everything and motivates every decision that it takes. [Interruption.]

I could continue to list the SNP’s failures, but I am very aware of the time.

I will highlight some of the proactive measures that the Scottish Conservatives are taking. Dr Gulhane has reminded us that Scottish Conservative councillors across the country are working to introduce trained mental health leads in every school to help to improve children’s wellbeing. In our 2021 manifesto, we pledged to introduce free school breakfasts and lunches. We have proposed legislation in Parliament that would ensure that every child gets at least one week of residential outdoor education through my colleague Liz Smith’s proposed outdoor education bill. The Scottish Conservatives will continue to work on delivering for our children and young people.

As a previous member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and, now, a member of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, I am delighted to close the debate for the Conservatives. However, it is hard not to suggest that, under the SNP, the health and wellbeing of our children and young people have fallen by the wayside. The number of children being referred for mental health care in Scotland has risen by 22 per cent since last year, but only 73.2 per cent of children and young people were seen within 18 weeks of referral. The Scottish Government said that it was committed to its 18-week target for 90 per cent of patients beginning treatment, but that target has never been met.

Those figures should remain a source of grave concern for our SNP ministers. The mental health crisis among our young people long pre-dates the pandemic, but there is still not enough action from SNP ministers. The Covid crisis has only aggravated the issues. There must be an urgent plan that will deliver the necessary support; otherwise, the mental health crisis among young people in Scotland will only continue to grow. As we heard from Alex Cole-Hamilton, we have not yet got it right, and have not done so for a long time.

One of my constituents—a young boy—has been on the waiting list for the ADHD clinic since April 2021. His family say that, as a result, it has been left to them and his school to attempt to hold everything together until he can receive treatment. For them, the idea that they will be seen within 18 weeks of referral has been a pipe dream. Every piece of support that he has received has been sourced by his parents or his school. He needs sleep medication, but the NHS cannot help until it has diagnosed him rather than him being diagnosed privately.

I highly doubt that he is the only one who is caught between a private diagnosis and an inability to access medication.

Paul Sweeney spoke about the CAMHS crisis and the extraordinary number of children and young people who are on waiting lists, and the difficulties that are entrenched for those young people by the time they access the service.

Those are real people with real problems, and they are suffering because of the failure to ensure that children and young people can access vital mental health services as quickly as possible. One of the most distressing evidence sessions that we had in committee clearly indicated that we are letting young people in care down.

Like my colleague Meghan Gallacher, I would like to reinforce the Promise, which includes a commitment that every child who is in care in Scotland will have access to intensive support that ensures that their educational and health needs are fully met.