Chamber and committees

That involves providing the necessary challenge to ensure that, from the public-interest point of view, policing approaches are commensurate with having exhausted every avenue for efficiency and effectiveness.

This will use up my slot, convener, because it is on exactly the same territory.

I do not want, in any way, to give off any non-encouraging tones here, but I am interested in why this has not happened before. I really welcome what is going on here, so please do not take anything discouraging from what I say. However, the COPFS submission, on page 19 of our briefing, states:

“This has been achieved without any additional funding or the need for legislation.”

Mr McQueen said that, in the pilot, there is now proper case management by sheriffs.

When I think about all that the criminal justice system wrestles with—the backlogs, the frustration around witness citations and the time that it takes for cases to be handled—it begs the question why this has not been done before and what else could be going on.

It did not sound like it, but it was meant to be.

I will follow up on that point. I assume that you have seen the submission that the committee received from the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents. The fourth paragraph on page 3 says that

“The Scottish Government do have clear Strategic Objectives, but the public services are not sufficiently linked in at the tactical and operational levels.”

I am interested in that point, because it throws up the challenges that police officers experience because of the wider social questions that they face. I appreciate and have seen at first hand some of those challenges, having spent time with your officers in my constituency. However, when I saw the point that was made by the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, it struck me that it is an area that is in need of further development. What is Police Scotland doing to drive the degree of connection that will be essential in ensuring that vulnerable members of the public can be supported through integrated services that stretch beyond what Police Scotland can do? How is Police Scotland enabling that?

Okay. Thank you.

I congratulate my colleague Rona Mackay on securing this debate, which provides Parliament with the opportunity to reflect on the significant moment that has been reached with the establishment of the first bairns’ hoose in Scotland. Rona Mackay’s personal, undiluted enthusiasm for that has been demonstrated powerfully in the debate, and that point has been reflected in the contributions of colleagues across the parliamentary chamber.

This is a moment that has been reached due to the tenacity of many campaigners who have been determined to ensure that, when children face the most difficult of times, which they should never, ever have had to face, they can be supported effectively in being able to address that suffering.

The bairns’ hoose is being taken forward by a partnership that is led by Children 1st and which involves Victim Support Scotland, the University of Edinburgh and Children England. Crucial funding of £1.5 million has been provided by the People’s Postcode Lottery. In welcoming the participation of each partner, I hope that others will forgive me if I single out the exceptional contribution of Children 1st in ensuring that the milestone has been reached. From my ministerial experience, I vividly recall the energy and commitment given by Children 1st to generate interest in, and support for, the concept of a bairns’ hoose.

Modelled on the European barnahus model, the bairns’ hoose means that children and young people who experience abuse and violence will be able to get all the protection, care, justice and recovery support that they will need under one roof. The proposal will support children and young people in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire.

Children 1st has been so tenacious in taking forward the idea for the simple reason that the proposal puts the child right at the heart of the approach. The model aims to avoid the current situation in which children often have to recount their experiences on a number of occasions, when it has been bad enough that they have had to experience the circumstances once. The aim of the model is to ensure that all the support that a child needs can be based around the child. It puts the child right at the centre of the process, and assures that the support is brought to the child rather than children having to join the dots of a compartmentalised, adult-designed justice system. How many constituents in that particular position have we all supported?

The way in which the project has developed sets out an important lesson for us about how reforms can and should take place in our society. Although the Scottish Government has been a very supportive party in this endeavour—I am delighted that it has been so supportive—the initiative has rested with the third sector, principally through the work of Children 1st. The need for reform has been identified and championed by the third sector. I hope that the Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities will recognise the absolute necessity of being open to this type of initiative, of creating the space to enable such ventures to thrive and, crucially—I say this quite bluntly—of not getting in the way of such reforms into the bargain. Space must be left for the third sector to use its initiative to find a route through some of the obstacles and barriers that inevitably crop up in engaging with the public sector. The bairns’ hoose is a spectacular example of that in practice, and I congratulate everyone who has played a part in making it happen.

Will Mr Marra take an intervention?

That should not be the case. I point out to Pam Duncan-Glancy that there is formidably more investment in, and provision of, early learning and childcare than there was when any Labour Government was in power in Scotland at any stage in the past.

That change is a shining example of a policy development that improves outcomes across a range of policy areas by creating the best start for children in Scotland, by boosting economic growth and by tackling poverty. First, it provides us with the opportunity to ensure that every child in our country is getting the best start in life through access to play-based activity, which develops essential skills; through access to nutritious food, which develops the foundations of healthy living; and through access to support to address, at the earliest possible stage, issues that a child faces in their development.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the programme for government. The announcements in it that have been made by the First Minister, particularly those in relation to early learning and childcare, are especially welcome and significant, so I would like to address the importance of those proposals in the efforts of the Scottish Government to grow the Scottish economy.

The provisions build on the transformation that has taken place in early learning since this Government came to power in 2007. Back then, three and four-years-olds were entitled to 475 hours a year of early learning and childcare. The provision was increased to 600 hours in 2014, which was, itself, a significant transformation. After the reforms in 2021, the figure now stands at 1,140 hours for three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. That is a seismic change in provision of early learning and childcare, and is one of the most significant public service reforms that have been undertaken by any Government in Scotland.

Will the member accept an intervention?