Chamber and committees

You probably know what I am going to ask you now. Is there something in the bill that needs to change in order for us to get that balance right?

Seonaidh Charity, you spoke about the need for GME from three to 18 and rightly pointed out that that is not available everywhere. Do you think that the focus should be on having that provision from the early years right through to secondary level, perhaps in fewer locations? What would your members’ view be?

I was very grateful yesterday to have the opportunity to question Dr Cass at the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. The landmark Cass review into gender identity services in England is a serious and substantial piece of work that should be considered carefully by everyone with an interest in or responsibility for children’s health.

Understanding that the review did not examine services in Scotland, there are a number of principles that Scotland can learn from. For me, the key thing is that the report calls for services for children and young people with gender dysphoria to

“operate to the same standards as other services seeing children and young people with complex presentations and/or additional risk factors.”

I hope that everyone can get behind that principle.

The review report states that children and young people who are referred to NHS gender services must receive

“a holistic assessment of their needs to inform an individualised care plan. This should include screening for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, and a mental health assessment.”

It also states:

“Standard evidence based psychological and psychopharmacological treatment approaches should be used to support the management of the associated distress”

from gender incongruence and co-occurring conditions, which

“should include support for parents/carers and siblings as appropriate.”

Everything that we know about children and young people points to better outcomes with parental, carer and guardian support. I know that many parents will be reassured by the fact that they are mentioned and included in much of the report.

The report talks about how services should establish a separate pathway for the families of pre-pubertal children, ensuring that they are prioritised for early discussion about how parents can best support their child in a balanced and non-judgmental way. It also states:

“When families/carers are making decisions about social transition of pre-pubertal children, services should ensure that they can be seen as early as possible by a clinical professional with relevant experience.”

I note concerns about the implications of private healthcare on any future requests to the NHS for treatment.

Back in 2022, I hosted a meeting for colleagues that gave them the chance to hear directly from people who had detransitioned, and I take this opportunity to thank Sinéad Watson and Ritchie Herron. They spoke candidly and, at times, emotionally about their experiences, and colleagues from across the chamber who attended valued their courage and generosity in doing so. I am pleased that the review report states that there is a need for

“provision for people considering detransition, recognising that they may not wish to re-engage with the services they were previously under.”

I have thought a lot about Sinéad Watson and Ritchie Herron during the past few years. I hope that improvements to services can help to prevent other people from going through the pain and distress that they have gone through.

In the report, and in committee, there was some discussion about conversion therapy. No formal science-based training in psychotherapy, psychology or psychiatry teaches or advocates conversion therapy. It is important that, if we legislate in the Parliament, we do not restrict the ability of therapists to go about their jobs and explore with people the issues that they are having.

As I said, it is a serious and substantial scientific report, and it needs serious consideration. I will support the Government’s amendment and Labour’s amendment on that.

Colleges are institutions that deliver on multiple critical fronts, providing opportunities that allow our people to develop skills and to live more independently, and that allow others to take their first steps back into formal education, which helps some who are furthest away from the job market. They are places of lifelong learning and development, providing a platform where people can improve their skills or develop new interests at any point in their life. In delivering high-quality, highly respected advanced vocational qualifications and professional training, colleges, with their strong links to industry, play a pivotal role in upskilling the workforce in new technologies for new industries, making them absolutely critical to the growth of our economy. Even with all the challenges that the education sector is facing, we have to be proud that our colleges and universities are among the best in the world and we must acknowledge the achievement of their learners.

I recognise, as does the Scottish Government, the range of financial challenges that colleges and universities are managing. Although the 2024-25 budget has tried to minimise the impact on allocations, teaching and student support, fiscal constraints felt by the UK Government’s real-terms cuts have left Scotland facing catastrophic underinvestment for our public sector. Barnett consequentials have fallen in real terms. Those cuts are not insignificant—taking into account the gross domestic product inflator, they equate to an 8.4 per cent reduction over a two-year period. I therefore welcome the £2 billion investment by the Scottish Government in Scotland’s colleges and universities. I also welcome the commitment to protect the right to free tuition and the continuation of widening access for all in a challenging financial climate.

The reckless Tory Brexit has also taken a toll on our education sector—[Interruption.] Conservative members are groaning. We are groaning about Brexit most of the time. The UK is no longer able to take part in the Erasmus exchange programme. Scottish colleges have long-established relationships across the European Union and many, such as City of Glasgow College and West College Scotland, have taken part in Erasmus-funded projects or have been awarded the Erasmus charter for higher education.

Professor Sarah Prescott from the Royal Society of Edinburgh concluded that the impact of Brexit on the student experience was multifaceted, from the

“withdrawal of Erasmus funding to the concurrent decline in student mobility, equal opportunity and recruitment of students from the European Union.”

I think that we are operating in really difficult times.

By contrast, colleges and universities secured 56 per cent less funding from the Turing scheme than they received through Erasmus, which is equivalent to a cut of more than £7 million. It is clear to see which Government is creating the challenges for colleges and universities.

The Scottish Funding Council reported that, during the academic year 2021-22, while negotiating the cost of living crisis and public health measures during the pandemic, 86 per cent of college leavers found positive destinations within six months of graduating.

Colleges are vital to Scotland’s economic success. We have to prioritise opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, values and attributes that enable Scotland’s students to fulfil their potential.

Thank you—that was helpful.

Good morning, Dr Cass. Thank you for being with us this morning. Your review is obviously a detailed piece of work that needs careful consideration. We all appreciate that it is based on services in England, but it will have implications for how children are treated in Scotland, too. There is learning for all of us in it. Can you start off by talking about the key conclusions in your work that you would want us in Scotland to draw from to do the best for children in distress?

Dr Cass, I wonder if I could go back a little. You spoke about professionals’ fearfulness of discussing this area. In answer to my colleague Carol Mochan’s questions on conversion and on professionals having space to explore options with children and young people, you said that research, guidance, training and supervision were the answers. Do you want to add anything further? I know that you will have had personal experience of the heat and noise that surround this topic.

Good morning, everyone. Following on from Willie Rennie’s questioning, I have a quick supplementary. Could the raised expectations of speaker communities who live in the areas in question about being able to access services in their own language and about seeing more of their own language be met? In practical terms, is that the sort of thing that we are talking about?

I would like to ask about Gaelic education. The bill makes changes to the statutory definition of “school education”. What is the current position on local authorities’ obligations to provide Gaelic-medium education? What will be different if and when the bill becomes an act?