Chamber and committees

I thank my friend and colleague Pam Gosal for securing the debate and for the work that she has carried out on domestic abuse during the five years that she has served in this session of Parliament, which she should be proud of. I certainly would not like to be a voter in East Dunbartonshire if her team knocked on my door and I told them that I was not voting for Pam. I look forward to her being returned to Parliament.

I also pay tribute to Audrey Nicoll for an excellent speech and for her distinguished time as convener of the Criminal Justice Committee. I know how much members from across the Parliament have enjoyed being part of that committee, and her stewardship of it has been central to that.

As Audrey Nicoll touched on, we all need to understand the toxic environment that our young people are growing up in, because of the devices that they have in their hands.

Yesterday, I attended the launch of Change Mental Health’s manifesto, “Put Kids First”, which is on standing up for Scotland’s next generation. Interestingly, the two key asks of that manifesto are for a ban on mobile phones during the school day and a ban on social media for under-16s.

We are all, on a cross-party basis, acutely aware of the negative impact that phones have on our young people. I attended a round table last month to hear the views of parents and carers about the impact that phones are having on their young people. We know of cases in which young people have taken their own lives because of bullying and harassment on their mobile phones, but we also know about the negative impact that phones are having on a wider part of our young people’s development.

Statistics now show that young people spend as much time on their devices as they do sleeping. An average 10-year-old will spend more time on their device than on any aspect of their personal development. We need to understand our young people and the time that they are growing up in. I support a ban on mobile phones in schools and believe that we need to implement it urgently.

I welcome the work that Scottish Conservative councillors in the City of Edinburgh Council have done to drive the two pilots that have taken place in Portobello and in South Queensferry, which the cabinet secretary has visited. They are delivering great results for the whole school community and, most importantly, young people say that they welcome the fact that they have finally woken up to the wasted time and the negativity that social media brings to their lives. We are also seeing that pilot rolled out across primary schools.

However, a ban is not an easy solution. I know that the cabinet secretary will talk about the Education Act 1980 in her closing speech, and we need to understand that if we, as a Parliament, want to send that message about mobile phones, we will have to take the next step. It is therefore important that during the next session of Parliament, we create a bill that clearly defines the understanding that we want a national ban on mobile phones in our classrooms. There should be no more excuses on that.

We also need to send out a wider message to parents and carers. Based on a number of meetings that I have had, I know that it is not easy to ask young people to put down their phones or to implement a ban, but it is quite clear that Scotland can be world leading on that, as Australia has become.

If we understand the negative impact that phone use is having on our young people, we as a Parliament, and councils, need to take action. I hope that there will be cross-party action early in the next session of Parliament. I think that our manifestos will demand that. If we do not do that, the negative impact—as Alex Cole-Hamilton touched on—of this growing public health emergency is absolutely clear.

I hope that this debate has started the action that is needed to deliver a ban and that members in the next session of Parliament will do just that.

13:10

I, too, pay tribute to Daniel Johnson, who underestimates his role in this matter. Those of us who have attempted to take through or have taken through a private member’s bill in Parliament know the amount of work that that involves. I pay tribute to him and his office for their work on the bill, which is why we are at this point today. I also thank the non-Government bills unit—I see that the team is sitting at the back of the chamber today. They must be counting down the hours to our passes being deactivated, to be quite honest. They have done a power of work on many pieces of legislation that have, or have not, gone through in this session of Parliament.

It is without doubt that it is only thanks to organisations such as the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and individuals such as Beth Morrison and Kate Sanger that we will see this bill become law.

Beth began her campaign back in 2010. Work then began on a petition to the Scottish Parliament, which was lodged in 2015. I know that Beth and many of the campaigners have also acted as central contacts for many families who have faced similar traumatic situations. That is what has driven most of the work that they have undertaken in order to bring an end to restraint and seclusion. I am aware that Beth and other campaigners have undertaken huge amounts of investigation to try to understand the true scale of the problem and to demand action, which their Parliament is delivering today.

Many of us are wearing a little crown badge, which I am sure that people will be wondering about. All Beth’s work earned her the nickname “Queen Bee”, and the crown comes from that. I am very grateful for being sent one ahead of today’s debate.

The cabinet secretary touched on guidance. What will be really important is how it is received and that it will be implemented in the true spirit of the bill. I have written to the cabinet secretary about the concerns of unions and those of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland about potential unintended consequences. I hope that, as soon as the guidance is published, it can be shared with all those who are involved. It is important that we and the teaching profession have confidence that common sense will always be looked at. However, it is clear that there are some concerns out there. Although this bill, which I welcome, will pass tonight, those concerns have not all been answered, and I hope that the cabinet secretary will make sure that a response to those concerns is forthcoming.

This is the final education debate of this session of Parliament, so I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who have worked on the education portfolios during their time in this Parliament, particularly Pam Duncan-Glancy, who has announced that she is not seeking re-election, and my colleague Roz McCall, who has worked on the education bills alongside me. There has been a lot of education legislation over the past year.

We can look back and be proud of some of the opportunities that this Parliament took forward last week in relation to the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill and delivering the Promise.

I also want to thank and pay tribute to my colleague Douglas Ross, who will be making his final speech in the Parliament. He has done a triple now: he has served as a councillor, an MP and an MSP. He was also our party leader—I am not sure whether that was something that he also enjoyed. I know that he has always put his community in Moray first.

Many of us on the Conservative benches have been friends with Douglas and worked alongside him for many years. He might not thank me for saying this, but many people in the other parties probably do not see the true Douglas. He is an incredibly thoughtful and caring individual, who, I always find, remembers things about us and our families that we do not always remember ourselves. He is always checking in. That is one side of Douglas’s character that other colleagues probably have not had the opportunity to see in the rough and tumble of politics. I do not think that today will see Douglas blowing the whistle on his political career. I look forward to seeing him return to serve his community in Moray in the future in the Westminster Parliament.

To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer—you have been generous in allowing me additional time—I will say that the Scottish Conservatives will be supporting the Restraint and Seclusion in Schools (Scotland) Bill at decision time.

15:15

I, too, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the minister. It is a strange fact that it seems to be only at the end of the parliamentary session that any of us is able to express our respect or friendship for one other.

I thought that the First Minister was about to make an intervention there.

I pay tribute to Natalie Don-Innes, who, as has been mentioned, did a great job as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. She should also be proud of the work that she has done as a minister and the example that she has set. We often talk in the chamber about lived experience, and it is sometimes thrown around as evidential proof of what we are trying to achieve. I know that the minister has brought that to her role. It is especially important for kinship care, which is one of the aspects of the bill that many of us feel is not where it should be. However, I know that the minister has set in course actions and work that will make sure that that is taken forward.

Other members have already touched on the fact that this is not the complete Promise. This is not us being able to stand up and say that we have collectively kept the Promise. We need to dedicate ourselves to doing that in the next parliamentary session. All the young people who are watching or listening to the debate should know that they are the ones who have driven the change and made every politician from every political party that is represented in the Parliament commit to keeping the Promise and making it a reality.

I have been inspired by every single young person I have met during my time working on the bill. There was the young man who told me that he was studying law and then joked that Scotland needs more lawyers, who has seen how the Promise has made a difference in enabling him to go on to study. Then there were the two sisters whom Paul McLennan and I met at an event in Parliament with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, who demonstrated that we are seeing welcome progress on keeping siblings together, which is something that Parliament demanded.

There is a lot more that we should and must do to make sure that the bill achieves what it has to achieve. As I said, kinship care is an area that I think is important. I met some kinship care families this morning, and I am still concerned about what we are seeing and about the postcode lottery that we all want to be addressed. It is unacceptable that we still see huge variation between local authority areas in what is being delivered for care-experienced young people, from support stopping at 16 or 18 to councils not making sure that support continues up to 21, as is the case in foster care.

We can and must have a far better vision for kinship carers, especially families. At the committee, the minister and I sat in a round-table meeting with kinship care families. It is a story that I repeat, and it sticks with me as one of the main things that has made me think that we, who are doing this job, can always do better. A grandparent told us that, at 3 in the morning, the police arrived at her door with her half-naked grandchild, handed her over and that was it. She had to put together a package, leave her job, rally round and get the support that she needed. She fought for absolutely everything. It should not be like that.

I hope that the opportunities that the minister has outlined—the kinship care vision, the awareness and the visibility of support, and some of the changes that the Government intends to make, especially around providing clearer local support offers, proactively supplying information and improving consistency and transparency—will make the difference. However, if they do not, I intend to make sure that the next bill does more for kinship care families. It is the only way that we can make sure that they will be supported. We can pass legislation, but we need to make sure that attitudes change, and the Promise can build on what the legislation has done.

In the past few years, I have chaired and been involved in many meetings with people who work in social work and across our public sector, who talk about the Promise and their ambitions to meet it. It comes down to resources, and it always will. However, those people are collectively committed to keeping the Promise, and we cannot put to one side the concern, which has been expressed by COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and others, that delivering the Promise on the ground will be the major challenge of the next parliamentary session.

Tonight, I hope that Parliament can and will reaffirm our support for delivering the Promise. I hope that every care-experienced young person who is watching or listening to the debate will see that their Parliament continues to work to progress towards delivering the Promise by 2030. I know that there is frustration at the lack of progress in many areas of delivery on the ground and on reforms. However, we are all committed to this, and I hope that we can send a clear message to care-experienced young people that we care about them and that we will make sure that, by 2030, the Promise is delivered.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make an announcement regarding the development of the Sheriffhall junction before the end of the parliamentary session. (S6O-05675)

This is my fifth attempt to get a decision on that before we hit the election period. From speaking to drivers across my Lothian region, who are spending hours of their time caught up in traffic every month, I know that there is growing frustration that we have not seen work begin on that upgrade. I welcome the answer that the cabinet secretary outlined to Parliament. That work must be made a priority for the next Government and Parliament, and I hope that the next Government will be able to give the green light to what will be a vital upgrade. Is the cabinet secretary aware of when in the next parliamentary session that decision will be made?

I, too, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the minister. It is a strange fact that it seems to be only at the end of the parliamentary session that any of us is able to express our respect or friendship for one other.

I thought that the First Minister was about to make an intervention there.

I pay tribute to Natalie Don-Innes, who, as has been mentioned, did a great job as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. She should also be proud of the work that she has done as a minister and the example that she has set. We often talk in the chamber about lived experience, and it is sometimes thrown around as evidential proof of what we are trying to achieve. I know that the minister has brought that to her role. It is especially important for kinship care, which is one of the aspects of the bill that many of us feel is not where it should be. However, I know that the minister has set in course actions and work that will make sure that that is taken forward.

Other members have already touched on the fact that this is not the complete Promise. This is not us being able to stand up and say that we have collectively kept the Promise. We need to dedicate ourselves to doing that in the next parliamentary session. All the young people who are watching or listening to the debate should know that they are the ones who have driven the change and made every politician from every political party that is represented in the Parliament commit to keeping the Promise and making it a reality.

I have been inspired by every single young person I have met during my time working on the bill. There was the young man who told me that he was studying law and then joked that Scotland needs more lawyers, who has seen how the Promise has made a difference in enabling him to go on to study. Then there were the two sisters whom Paul McLennan and I met at an event in Parliament with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, who demonstrated that we are seeing welcome progress on keeping siblings together, which is something that Parliament demanded.

There is a lot more that we should and must do to make sure that the bill achieves what it has to achieve. As I said, kinship care is an area that I think is important. I met some kinship care families this morning, and I am still concerned about what we are seeing and about the postcode lottery that we all want to be addressed. It is unacceptable that we still see huge variation between local authority areas in what is being delivered for care-experienced young people, from support stopping at 16 or 18 to councils not making sure that support continues up to 21, as is the case in foster care.

We can and must have a far better vision for kinship carers, especially families. At the committee, the minister and I sat in a round-table meeting with kinship care families. It is a story that I repeat, and it sticks with me as one of the main things that has made me think that we, who are doing this job, can always do better. A grandparent told us that, at 3 in the morning, the police arrived at her door with her half-naked grandchild, handed her over and that was it. She had to put together a package, leave her job, rally round and get the support that she needed. She fought for absolutely everything. It should not be like that.

I hope that the opportunities that the minister has outlined—the kinship care vision, the awareness and the visibility of support, and some of the changes that the Government intends to make, especially around providing clearer local support offers, proactively supplying information and improving consistency and transparency—will make the difference. However, if they do not, I intend to make sure that the next bill does more for kinship care families. It is the only way that we can make sure that they will be supported. We can pass legislation, but we need to make sure that attitudes change, and the Promise can build on what the legislation has done.

In the past few years, I have chaired and been involved in many meetings with people who work in social work and across our public sector, who talk about the Promise and their ambitions to meet it. It comes down to resources, and it always will. However, those people are collectively committed to keeping the Promise, and we cannot put to one side the concern, which has been expressed by COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and others, that delivering the Promise on the ground will be the major challenge of the next parliamentary session.

Tonight, I hope that Parliament can and will reaffirm our support for delivering the Promise. I hope that every care-experienced young person who is watching or listening to the debate will see that their Parliament continues to work to progress towards delivering the Promise by 2030. I know that there is frustration at the lack of progress in many areas of delivery on the ground and on reforms. However, we are all committed to this, and I hope that we can send a clear message to care-experienced young people that we care about them and that we will make sure that, by 2030, the Promise is delivered.

I, too, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the minister. It is a strange fact that it seems to be only at the end of the parliamentary session that any of us is able to express our respect or friendship for one other.

I thought that the First Minister was about to make an intervention there.

I pay tribute to Natalie Don-Innes, who, as has been mentioned, did a great job as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. She should also be proud of the work that she has done as a minister and the example that she has set. We often talk in the chamber about lived experience, and it is sometimes thrown around as evidential proof of what we are trying to achieve. I know that the minister has brought that to her role. It is especially important for kinship care, which is one of the aspects of the bill that many of us feel is not where it should be. However, I know that the minister has set in course actions and work that will make sure that that is taken forward.

Other members have already touched on the fact that this is not the complete Promise. This is not us being able to stand up and say that we have collectively kept the Promise. We need to dedicate ourselves to doing that in the next parliamentary session. All the young people who are watching or listening to the debate should know that they are the ones who have driven the change and made every politician from every political party that is represented in the Parliament commit to keeping the Promise and making it a reality.

I have been inspired by every single young person I have met during my time working on the bill. There was the young man who told me that he was studying law and then joked that Scotland needs more lawyers, who has seen how the Promise has made a difference in enabling him to go on to study. Then there were the two sisters whom Paul McLennan and I met at an event in Parliament with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, who demonstrated that we are seeing welcome progress on keeping siblings together, which is something that Parliament demanded.

There is a lot more that we should and must do to make sure that the bill achieves what it has to achieve. As I said, kinship care is an area that I think is important. I met some kinship care families this morning, and I am still concerned about what we are seeing and about the postcode lottery that we all want to be addressed. It is unacceptable that we still see huge variation between local authority areas in what is being delivered for care-experienced young people, from support stopping at 16 or 18 to councils not making sure that support continues up to 21, as is the case in foster care.

We can and must have a far better vision for kinship carers, especially families. At the committee, the minister and I sat in a round-table meeting with kinship care families. It is a story that I repeat, and it sticks with me as one of the main things that has made me think that we, who are doing this job, can always do better. A grandparent told us that, at 3 in the morning, the police arrived at her door with her half-naked grandchild, handed her over and that was it. She had to put together a package, leave her job, rally round and get the support that she needed. She fought for absolutely everything. It should not be like that.

I hope that the opportunities that the minister has outlined—the kinship care vision, the awareness and the visibility of support, and some of the changes that the Government intends to make, especially around providing clearer local support offers, proactively supplying information and improving consistency and transparency—will make the difference. However, if they do not, I intend to make sure that the next bill does more for kinship care families. It is the only way that we can make sure that they will be supported. We can pass legislation, but we need to make sure that attitudes change, and the Promise can build on what the legislation has done.

In the past few years, I have chaired and been involved in many meetings with people who work in social work and across our public sector, who talk about the Promise and their ambitions to meet it. It comes down to resources, and it always will. However, those people are collectively committed to keeping the Promise, and we cannot put to one side the concern, which has been expressed by COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and others, that delivering the Promise on the ground will be the major challenge of the next parliamentary session.

Tonight, I hope that Parliament can and will reaffirm our support for delivering the Promise. I hope that every care-experienced young person who is watching or listening to the debate will see that their Parliament continues to work to progress towards delivering the Promise by 2030. I know that there is frustration at the lack of progress in many areas of delivery on the ground and on reforms. However, we are all committed to this, and I hope that we can send a clear message to care-experienced young people that we care about them and that we will make sure that, by 2030, the Promise is delivered.

I, too, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the minister. It is a strange fact that it seems to be only at the end of the parliamentary session that any of us is able to express our respect or friendship for one other.

I thought that the First Minister was about to make an intervention there.

I pay tribute to Natalie Don-Innes, who, as has been mentioned, did a great job as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. She should also be proud of the work that she has done as a minister and the example that she has set. We often talk in the chamber about lived experience, and it is sometimes thrown around as evidential proof of what we are trying to achieve. I know that the minister has brought that to her role. It is especially important for kinship care, which is one of the aspects of the bill that many of us feel is not where it should be. However, I know that the minister has set in course actions and work that will make sure that that is taken forward.

Other members have already touched on the fact that this is not the complete Promise. This is not us being able to stand up and say that we have collectively kept the Promise. We need to dedicate ourselves to doing that in the next parliamentary session. All the young people who are watching or listening to the debate should know that they are the ones who have driven the change and made every politician from every political party that is represented in the Parliament commit to keeping the Promise and making it a reality.

I have been inspired by every single young person I have met during my time working on the bill. There was the young man who told me that he was studying law and then joked that Scotland needs more lawyers, who has seen how the Promise has made a difference in enabling him to go on to study. Then there were the two sisters whom Paul McLennan and I met at an event in Parliament with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, who demonstrated that we are seeing welcome progress on keeping siblings together, which is something that Parliament demanded.

There is a lot more that we should and must do to make sure that the bill achieves what it has to achieve. As I said, kinship care is an area that I think is important. I met some kinship care families this morning, and I am still concerned about what we are seeing and about the postcode lottery that we all want to be addressed. It is unacceptable that we still see huge variation between local authority areas in what is being delivered for care-experienced young people, from support stopping at 16 or 18 to councils not making sure that support continues up to 21, as is the case in foster care.

We can and must have a far better vision for kinship carers, especially families. At the committee, the minister and I sat in a round-table meeting with kinship care families. It is a story that I repeat, and it sticks with me as one of the main things that has made me think that we, who are doing this job, can always do better. A grandparent told us that, at 3 in the morning, the police arrived at her door with her half-naked grandchild, handed her over and that was it. She had to put together a package, leave her job, rally round and get the support that she needed. She fought for absolutely everything. It should not be like that.

I hope that the opportunities that the minister has outlined—the kinship care vision, the awareness and the visibility of support, and some of the changes that the Government intends to make, especially around providing clearer local support offers, proactively supplying information and improving consistency and transparency—will make the difference. However, if they do not, I intend to make sure that the next bill does more for kinship care families. It is the only way that we can make sure that they will be supported. We can pass legislation, but we need to make sure that attitudes change, and the Promise can build on what the legislation has done.

In the past few years, I have chaired and been involved in many meetings with people who work in social work and across our public sector, who talk about the Promise and their ambitions to meet it. It comes down to resources, and it always will. However, those people are collectively committed to keeping the Promise, and we cannot put to one side the concern, which has been expressed by COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and others, that delivering the Promise on the ground will be the major challenge of the next parliamentary session.

Tonight, I hope that Parliament can and will reaffirm our support for delivering the Promise. I hope that every care-experienced young person who is watching or listening to the debate will see that their Parliament continues to work to progress towards delivering the Promise by 2030. I know that there is frustration at the lack of progress in many areas of delivery on the ground and on reforms. However, we are all committed to this, and I hope that we can send a clear message to care-experienced young people that we care about them and that we will make sure that, by 2030, the Promise is delivered.

I, too, take the opportunity to pay tribute to the minister. It is a strange fact that it seems to be only at the end of the parliamentary session that any of us is able to express our respect or friendship for one other.

I thought that the First Minister was about to make an intervention there.

I pay tribute to Natalie Don-Innes, who, as has been mentioned, did a great job as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. She should also be proud of the work that she has done as a minister and the example that she has set. We often talk in the chamber about lived experience, and it is sometimes thrown around as evidential proof of what we are trying to achieve. I know that the minister has brought that to her role. It is especially important for kinship care, which is one of the aspects of the bill that many of us feel is not where it should be. However, I know that the minister has set in course actions and work that will make sure that that is taken forward.

Other members have already touched on the fact that this is not the complete Promise. This is not us being able to stand up and say that we have collectively kept the Promise. We need to dedicate ourselves to doing that in the next parliamentary session. All the young people who are watching or listening to the debate should know that they are the ones who have driven the change and made every politician from every political party that is represented in the Parliament commit to keeping the Promise and making it a reality.

I have been inspired by every single young person I have met during my time working on the bill. There was the young man who told me that he was studying law and then joked that Scotland needs more lawyers, who has seen how the Promise has made a difference in enabling him to go on to study. Then there were the two sisters whom Paul McLennan and I met at an event in Parliament with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, who demonstrated that we are seeing welcome progress on keeping siblings together, which is something that Parliament demanded.

There is a lot more that we should and must do to make sure that the bill achieves what it has to achieve. As I said, kinship care is an area that I think is important. I met some kinship care families this morning, and I am still concerned about what we are seeing and about the postcode lottery that we all want to be addressed. It is unacceptable that we still see huge variation between local authority areas in what is being delivered for care-experienced young people, from support stopping at 16 or 18 to councils not making sure that support continues up to 21, as is the case in foster care.

We can and must have a far better vision for kinship carers, especially families. At the committee, the minister and I sat in a round-table meeting with kinship care families. It is a story that I repeat, and it sticks with me as one of the main things that has made me think that we, who are doing this job, can always do better. A grandparent told us that, at 3 in the morning, the police arrived at her door with her half-naked grandchild, handed her over and that was it. She had to put together a package, leave her job, rally round and get the support that she needed. She fought for absolutely everything. It should not be like that.

I hope that the opportunities that the minister has outlined—the kinship care vision, the awareness and the visibility of support, and some of the changes that the Government intends to make, especially around providing clearer local support offers, proactively supplying information and improving consistency and transparency—will make the difference. However, if they do not, I intend to make sure that the next bill does more for kinship care families. It is the only way that we can make sure that they will be supported. We can pass legislation, but we need to make sure that attitudes change, and the Promise can build on what the legislation has done.

In the past few years, I have chaired and been involved in many meetings with people who work in social work and across our public sector, who talk about the Promise and their ambitions to meet it. It comes down to resources, and it always will. However, those people are collectively committed to keeping the Promise, and we cannot put to one side the concern, which has been expressed by COSLA, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and others, that delivering the Promise on the ground will be the major challenge of the next parliamentary session.

Tonight, I hope that Parliament can and will reaffirm our support for delivering the Promise. I hope that every care-experienced young person who is watching or listening to the debate will see that their Parliament continues to work to progress towards delivering the Promise by 2030. I know that there is frustration at the lack of progress in many areas of delivery on the ground and on reforms. However, we are all committed to this, and I hope that we can send a clear message to care-experienced young people that we care about them and that we will make sure that, by 2030, the Promise is delivered.

I am pleased to speak to amendment 79 and the other amendments in my name in this group, which relates to family group decision making. As the minister and Willie Rennie have pointed out, family group decision making is a well-established approach that has been used by some local authorities in Scotland—including my own here in Edinburgh—over a number of years to bring families together to make plans for children where there are serious concerns about their wellbeing.

My amendments in this group focus on strengthening transparency and accountability in how family group decision making is used, and on ensuring that we all tie in to the same definition of the service. My amendment 84 would require the Scottish ministers to publish and lay before Parliament information on the use of FGDM nationally within three years of royal assent. That would help Parliament and the public to better understand how this important service is being provided across Scotland and where it could be strengthened. My amendments would also make technical changes to reflect the definition of family group decision-making services that the minister’s amendment 10 will add to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Importantly, my amendments form part of a cross-party package of proposals in the group, and I believe that the overall package of measures now strikes the right balance. It will improve visibility and understanding of family group decision making while continuing to respect the professional judgment of those who work with our children and families.

I welcome the constructive discussions that have taken place across the parties, and I especially thank the minister for moving the agenda forward. I also put on record my thanks to organisations that support children and families, particularly Children First, which has long advocated for the wider use of family group decision making. I look forward to supporting the wider package in the group.

Amendment 10 agreed to.

Amendments 94 and 95 moved—[Willie Rennie]—and agreed to.

Section A1—Kinship care needs assessment