Chamber and committees

Forgive me for going back a little to sportswear and uniforms. Does the member agree that the clothes that sportswomen are asked to wear are another element of telling young girls that women are there to be looked at, not to compete, and that, therefore, sorting that situation out has a deeper purpose?

I am grateful to Pam Duncan-Glancy for bringing the bill to our Parliament and keeping us focused on the important issue of the poor experience of transitions for many disabled young people. I make it clear to colleagues and the Government that there is a need to act promptly on the issues and to improve the experiences of transitions that disabled children and young people have. Pam Duncan-Glancy is absolutely right that inaction is not an option. If we do not get this right, we are not only impeding individuals; the country is also losing out on a host of talent.

Witnesses told the Education, Children and Young People Committee that professionals do not always listen to young people and their families, that there is a disconnect between children’s services and adult services, that there is poor communication across agencies and with young people and their families, and that there is often no clear person to take the lead on transitions, which leads to parents and young people having to advocate for themselves. We also heard of pockets of good practice. I acknowledge and thank the swathes of committed individuals who are maintaining kind, thoughtful and effective practice in a system that is under huge strain.

Despite those pockets of good practice, the current situation is affecting far too many children and young people and their families. That is not good enough. On Monday, I was at an event on tackling poverty and inequality in the early years, where someone used an interesting phrase. They said that, if the only tool that someone has is a hammer, they can end up thinking that everything is a nail.

Many witnesses described the current legislative landscape as complex, cluttered and difficult to navigate for young people and their families and, in some instances, for the professionals who work to support them. In Scotland, we have some world-leading legislation and gold-standard policy—we really do. We have consensus that a human rights-based approach should be taken to policy making, but that is meaningful only when it makes a material difference to the lives of the citizens we represent and when they can not only access their rights but seek redress when public bodies are not delivering on their duty.

The committee heard that there was an implementation gap for existing laws and policy. There are issues relating to resources, inconsistent practice, access to services across Scotland and organisational cultures—particularly the differences between children’s services and adult services—and there is difficulty with information sharing. The answer to that implementation gap is not more legislation.

That general principle aside, there are a number of reasons why the committee could not support the bill. The bill differs from the existing legislative framework, which refers to additional support needs rather than disability. It was unclear exactly who the bill would cover and how they would be identified. Using the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability would be likely to entitle a larger cohort of young people to a transitions plan than the number who social services currently support.

The committee heard that many disabled children and young people and their families cannot receive much-needed support from social services because of pressures on resources and staffing. That has implications for how the bill could work in practice, as it states that transitions plans should be managed by an officer of the local authority.

As colleagues have mentioned, the Education, Children and Young People Committee was concerned about the need for a diagnosis in order for young people to access support. We know from evidence that many young people and children face a long waiting time for diagnosis, and some young people do not wish to pursue a diagnosis or to view themselves as disabled or having a disability. Requiring a diagnosis to access the provisions of the bill would present an additional barrier to receiving support for a number of young people at a crucial stage of their lives.

I acknowledge that amendments could be made at stage 2. In general terms, however, the bill is just not fit yet, and the amount of amendment that would be needed is just not practical. There are also issues with the financial memorandum, as we have heard. Without clarity on who exactly would be entitled to a transitions plan under the bill, it is impossible to get accurate estimates of cost and resource implications, and that poses problems for implementation.

Concerns were also expressed about the capacity of teachers to manage much of the initial planning process as part of their existing responsibilities, as envisaged in the bill. For young people with more complex needs and transitions spanning health, social care, education, housing, the third sector and a number of different agencies, there is a question of how appropriate it would be for a teacher to take on such a role.

I see that I am running out of time, but there is a lot to discuss on the bill. I will set out what I wish to ask of the Government and of the minister in closing the debate. It is a bit dismaying that the strategy will be implemented only by the end of next year. I wonder whether there are things that the minister could do to press for change as we are going along towards the launch of that strategy. It does not feel right to wait that long. Children and young people having their rights not realised is not acceptable—it is an injustice to the individuals concerned and our country is missing out on all that talent.

Thank you. That is helpful.

I will come back to you, Louise, but first I wonder whether other panel members have any reflections. The financial and resource restraints are obvious, but what are the cultural barriers that are preventing our children’s rights from being enabled in terms of being with their siblings?

Good morning, panel. One of the areas that was identified for priority focus was early deaths of care-experienced children and young people. I would like to hear from you on that.

I was quite surprised to read that information about the circumstances of early deaths is not collected. I understand that there is now a national hub for reviewing and learning from early deaths of our children and young people in care.

Perhaps we could hear about that work from Kevin Mitchell initially.

Thank you for that answer. That is exactly the point, is it not? The system has to understand individuals’ lives.

I do not know whether Mike Burns has anything further to add.

Thank you. I will move on.

Physical restraint was another focus of the oversight board’s first report. The report states that, although there is a commitment to culture change across the residential sector, progress is mixed. What assessment has been made of the impact of the new reporting procedures in relation to restraint?

I wish to ask about siblings. It is not unique to this area that we have some pretty strong legislation and policy, but there is a gap in what people experience, or an implementation gap. We heard this morning about practical and cultural issues that might be preventing siblings from being placed together, so I would be interested to hear the reflections of panel members on that, with a view to understanding what needs to change to ensure that we can keep siblings together. Earlier this morning, a figure of 25 per cent was quoted for the number of siblings being separated, which will be quite shocking to committee members.

I would like to hear from Louise Hunter specifically about engagement with the minister. What discussions have you had following the brothers and sisters project work? I would be interested in hearing how the Government has responded to that.

That was a jumble of questions, but if you are happy to go with that, it would be helpful to hear your responses.

Just then, you spoke about producing a leaflet to describe to a child or a young person what their rights are. I cannot imagine many situations where that is enough, but I am thinking in particular of when a young person is going through a time of crisis in the children’s hearings system. Most adults would be hard-pressed to pick up a leaflet.