Chamber and committees

Ms Allison, you have outlined the workforce challenge. I would point out that the concept of a national social work agency sat within the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, as it was originally called, and is being progressed only now, at the end of this session of the Parliament and at the midway point of delivering the Promise.

Having spoken to social workers, I worry that there does not seem to be much space for additional work to come their way. What do you think could be a better model for delivering outcomes? The young people to whom I spoke last night suggested having teams in services—be it health, housing or education—that would have some understanding and would be a point of contact. The university sector is probably in a better place in that respect. How will we meet that workforce challenge? In the time that I have been in the Parliament, social work has not been in a good space, and we are about to add more to its workload.

I wanted to ask about the register of foster carers. I know that Maree Allison mentioned it earlier, but I note that, in its response to the committee, Social Work Scotland has said that the register has the potential to create additional tasks for agencies and local authorities, while the Care Inspectorate and others have highlighted the need to ensure that the register does not exacerbate the decline in the numbers of foster carers, which is a point that John Trainer has touched on, too.

What assurances would you seek on how such a register would work in practice? The young people whom we spoke to last night made quite interesting points about what they saw it doing, such as tracking people moving across local authorities and ensuring that training was documented. In fact, all of the young people whom I spoke to said that it would provide an opportunity to highlight good practice and to celebrate foster carers themselves. What are your views on that and how the Government might improve the proposals? Perhaps Maree Allison can answer that first.

That is just in one local authority, though.

Good morning. I want to ask a number of questions about aftercare. In its submission to the committee following our call for views, SOLACE cautioned against

“creating a system that incentivises formal care measures”

as a requirement for accessing support, and it suggested that assessment of need would be more appropriate. How could the bill be amended to reflect that? How can the system ensure that the needs around aftercare are met?

I will bring in Mr Savege first.

You will be aware of the case in Aberdeenshire—it was in the Sunday Post—involving Callie Thomson, who had been in formal secure care since the age of 14. When she was discharged from the Rossie institution in Montrose, Aberdeenshire Council declared her homeless and she was placed in homelessness services without a care package. How is the Promise delivering the change that is needed for Callie?

Good morning. I want to ask a few questions about aftercare. We had a good session last night with some care-experienced young people, and I want to ask about the principle of care-experienced young people accessing support. Social Work Scotland’s response to the committee’s call for views expressed significant concerns about the proposal in the bill around assessment, given that the group concerned would be huge and it would be difficult to resource the necessary work, especially as we have no good relevant data or numbers. Therefore, I am interested in what the witnesses would like to see in the bill, especially around eligibility for aftercare assessments and support.

I will put on record that, last night, a few young people said that they had been trying to progress moves towards the establishment of an opt-out system, which has not been taken forward in the bill. I would like to hear people’s comments on that, too.

That is a two-part question. John Trainer, could you respond first?

Jackie Dunbar touched on this when we were seeking views from Who Cares? Scotland members last night: do you think that it is appropriate that the young people leaving the care system are directed towards homelessness services? That question is for all the witnesses.

COSLA and Social Work Scotland state in their responses to the committee that the figures that were used for the costs of aftercare assessments are out of date. What work is being done to update the cost estimates and the resources needed? What planning around that would be beneficial ahead of the bill?

I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement.

The Scottish Conservatives have consistently warned ministers that the situation on the ground in our secure accommodation sector was not sustainable. The minister’s statement demonstrates that the Scottish Government has failed to competently implement its policy to date, despite those warnings.

At the weekend, a story was reported in the Sunday Post regarding a vulnerable Aberdeenshire teenager, Callie Thomson, who has been inappropriately placed in all four of Scotland’s secure units since the age of 14. Callie, who has just turned 17, has now been discharged from the Rossie secure unit without a care package in place. She has been directed to homelessness services—a 17-year-old is being placed in homeless accommodation with people who have recently been released from prison and people with substance abuse issues. Callie said:

“I feel like I have been utterly abandoned, and nobody seems to care if I live or die.”

The destination on discharge from secure placements was not mentioned in today’s statement, but I am deeply concerned at the picture that is emerging. I believe that this will be the next big scandal to face the Scottish Government and shows its failure to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our society. In 2024, 19 per cent of children were discharged with “other” recorded as their destination.

What is clear from today’s statement is that secure accommodation capacity across our country remains completely unstable. I ask the minister two questions. First, will she personally intervene and investigate the failings in Callie Thomson’s case? Secondly, given the continuing pressure facing wider children and young people’s services, will the minister undertake a review of the inappropriate placement of young people in adult homelessness services and adult mental health services?

Not a week goes by without me having a meeting with an organisation or speaking to a business in my Lothian region in which the issue of the skills shortages in our economy is raised. I am sure that the same will be true for every MSP. How we redirect the focus of our education system to deliver on the challenge that we face in our college sector will require not only a national effort but difficult decisions to realign future demand in key industries and sectors and meet the demographic changes that our country faces.

As many briefings for the debate state, there is significant unmet demand for places, apprenticeships and courses. That should focus all our minds on how we build a system that can deliver for people. In June, the principals of Ayrshire College and Glasgow Kelvin College gave evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee. Angela Cox from Ayrshire College noted that the college was unable to award a place to 764 students who had passed interviews, and Joanna Campbell from Glasgow Kelvin College noted that the college is accepting only one out of every three applicants. We know that the current system is not delivering to meet demand. The Scottish Government funded 25,507 modern apprenticeship places in 2024-25, but demand exceeded those funded places for learning.

I think that there is a cross-party consensus that we need a new approach, but the Scottish Government’s Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill will not deliver the better system or the vision for apprenticeships that we all want. As Murdo Fraser stated, the SNP’s response to this mess is simply to mess around with quangos and transfer responsibility for the national apprenticeship programme from Skills Development Scotland to the Scottish Funding Council. I do not believe that that is the right move at present. I agree with the concerns that are being expressed by CBI Scotland and Scottish Chambers of Commerce, namely that the bill presents the potential to dismantle what already works and leaves employers in the dark in relation to the future of apprenticeship schemes and our wider workforce system.

As others have touched on, it is important that there is transparency on the spending of the apprenticeship levy here in Scotland. In recent weeks, the Scottish Government has been accused of raiding £171 million from that scheme, and SNP ministers have spent only £704 million of the £875 million that has been raised. Businesses are rightly asking where the rest of the money from the levy has gone and why we have not seen vital training opportunities delivered in Scotland. Michelle Ferguson, the director of CBI Scotland, has stated:

“Businesses are paying in, but they are not seeing the return.”

She added that

“We need full transparency on how levy reserves raised in Scotland”

are spent in Scotland.

The SNP’s record on colleges is shameful. We need to admit that today, and I hope that the Government understands that. There has been a 20 per cent cut in real-terms funding, and the loss of more than 100,000 places. Waiting lists are at record levels, and the credits system is in crisis. When councils try to deliver flexibility, they are not being given the opportunity to take on more students. The new net zero opportunities at North East Scotland College, which we have been told about at committee, will not see any more credit.

The Government needs to look at how we can achieve more and how our college sector can deliver. Above all, we need a skills revolution in Scotland. That is why Scottish Conservatives are leading the debate for change. We want a significant increase of 10,000 in the number of modern apprenticeship places to boost economic growth, create jobs and allow businesses to expand. Working with our college sector and businesses, we can meet our young people’s aspirations and deliver to tackle the shortages that our workforce and our economy face. I support Murdo Fraser’s motion.