Skip to main content
Loading…

Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Filter your results Hide all filters

Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 26 August 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 989 contributions

|

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 3 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

You rightly highlighted in your statement the intensive support that accompanies MRCs. Can you give assurances that there will be intensive support whenever an MRC is imposed? Can you also talk a little about the additional resources that will be required to do that?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 3 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

For clarity, the specific concern was around an MRC being decoupled from secure care such that the support package would not go with it. Are you being absolutely clear that there will be a package of support for a child who has an MRC?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 3 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

Yes.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 3 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

You say that the bill builds on what is already there. I find it interesting that you have said that you feel that there is no change when, clearly, the bill widens the criteria. I am not necessarily disagreeing, but I think that it is important to be very clear about any potential risks or benefits of broadening those criteria. It is not more of the same; it is different.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 3 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

That is helpful, thank you.

My final question is about the effectiveness of MRCs. The policy memorandum says that no evaluation of the effectiveness of MRCs has been carried out. How will their effectiveness be evaluated going forward?

Meeting of the Parliament

Social Isolation and Loneliness

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Ruth Maguire

Social isolation and loneliness can affect anyone at any time in their lives. I strongly agree with the minister that this is a public health issue and that we have a collective responsibility as a society to address it.

I last contributed to a debate on social isolation and loneliness in January 2019. During that debate, I reflected that Scotland was leading the way as one of the first countries to publish a national strategy on tackling social isolation and loneliness. I also spoke to Age UK’s call for policy makers to be clear about the difference between loneliness and social isolation.

Loneliness is not the same as social isolation. People can be isolated yet not feel lonely, and people can be surrounded by other people yet still feel lonely. The distinction between the two concepts is often overlooked, which makes it difficult to understand what can help people to reduce their feelings of loneliness.

Loneliness is a subjective feeling that is about the gap between a person’s desired level of social contact and their actual level of social contact. It refers to the perceived quality of a person’s relationships. Loneliness is never desired, and lessening those feelings can take a long time.

As the minister mentioned, social isolation is an objective measure of the number of contacts that people have. It is about the quantity and not the quality of relationships. People may choose to have a small number of contacts, and if people feel socially isolated, that can be overcome relatively quickly by increasing the number of people whom they are in touch with.

Loneliness and social isolation are different but related concepts. Social isolation can lead to loneliness, and loneliness can lead to social isolation. They are different, but they can be experienced at the same time. People may feel different levels of social isolation and loneliness over their lifetimes, moving in and out of such states as their personal circumstances change. Loneliness and social isolation also share factors that increase the likelihood of people experiencing them, such as deteriorating health and sensory and mobility impairments.

Quality matters, because bringing people together to increase the number of their social contacts is not an end in itself. Good-quality, rewarding relationships are needed to combat loneliness.

A lot has happened since January 2019. As the Government motion acknowledges, the Covid-19 pandemic meant that more people across society suffered as a result of social isolation and loneliness. As is always the case, the suffering was not spread evenly. Those who, arguably, already had the greatest challenges felt the greatest impact.

The biggest increase in loneliness during the pandemic was seen in older adults—those aged over 60. I am sorry that they are not mentioned in the Government’s motion. Their experiences and the impact on their health and quality of life were perhaps most visible to me during the pandemic.

There was no greater illustration of how harmful social isolation and loneliness are than for those who saw the change in their loved ones in care homes who did not receive visitors. Constituents described to me in heart-breaking terms how they felt that their loved one was fading away without the good-quality visits from friends and loved ones that I spoke about earlier. That had a profound impact on me during the pandemic, and I will never forget it.

I know that lessons have been learned from our experiences in that public health emergency. Although “older people” is no longer specifically in the job title, I am sure that the Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees will wish to champion the rights of our older citizens with determination and vigour.

Just as the pandemic impacted disproportionately on some, the Tory cost of living crisis means that the poorest and most vulnerable in our society are more likely to experience poorer mental and physical wellbeing, lower life satisfaction, and feelings of loneliness. Without a doubt, that will have an impact on people’s ability to make and maintain connections, to take up opportunities to interact with one another and to stay physically and mentally healthy.

Last week, I had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting the Poverty Alliance, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and some of the women who had contributed to “It’s hard work being poor”, an important report on the cost of living crisis. All the women reported making significant changes to their daily lives to try to manage rising costs, including taking on additional hours of work and reducing social activities—reducing that social contact. Many women reported having run out of ways in which they could adjust their daily life, and having concerns about managing rising costs.

Stella is a contributor to the report. She is a black lone-parent mother, aged between 35 and 44. She lives with her children and has a long-term illness and disability. She accesses universal credit and is seeking employment due to the cost of living crisis, despite experiencing chronic pain and fatigue. To quote her:

“This cost-of-living crisis has brought untold pain and suffering on women especially single parents and children because of the way it impacts our lives on a daily basis. Not being able to afford the essentials of life can be very stressful and robs women of their dignity and self-worth.”

The report contains actions, for all spheres of government, which deserve serious consideration by those who have power and responsibility over policy and resources.

Social isolation and loneliness are public health issues and are closely intertwined with issues of poverty and inequality, which have been exacerbated because of the pandemic and will continue to be affected by the on-going Tory cost crisis. As a society, we have a collective responsibility to address that. I welcome the work that the Scottish Government is doing so far and encourage it to go further but, goodness, how much better Scotland could do if we were free from the need to invest in mitigating Tory harms and if we had all the levers of a normal independent country.

15:13  

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 April 2023

Ruth Maguire

I would like some clarification from Stephen Bermingham. You said that we could not tell a victim details of a compulsory supervision order, which I absolutely appreciate. You will all have real-life examples of where harm has been done and there is a victim. In terms of the victim’s safety planning, you said that there could be informal ways that children and their families might be able to understand—I will just say it bluntly—that they would be safe and they would not encounter the person who had harmed them in certain areas. Is that the sort of thing that you mean, whereby their victims could be partially informed without getting the details of the individuals? Does that make sense?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 April 2023

Ruth Maguire

I hear what you are saying and I am sure that, in extreme circumstances, they would have to do so. I suppose that I am thinking of examples—I will not start talking about specific ones—whereby harm can be caused that is not reaching that level, which we could be preventing.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 April 2023

Ruth Maguire

I am grateful that you raised that, because another of our concerns is the subjectivity of that change. In its submission, SWS also mentioned some concerns in that area. Is there anything that you would like to share in that regard?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 26 April 2023

Ruth Maguire

Is that element of the safety of the victim covered in existing guidance for practitioners and professionals?