Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that homeless women are not safe in hostels. (S6O-03608)

The most recent figures, which go up to 2022, show that 67 women in Scotland had died in homeless accommodation over a three-year period. The fact that the situation is getting steadily worse as a result of systemic failure is acknowledged by the Scottish Housing Regulator.

Sinead Watson, a 33-year-old woman who spent 40 weeks in homeless accommodation, spoke of her experience. She said:

“Over the past months, I have stayed in three separate hostels. I have been threatened, assaulted and robbed. I have had no sense of security or safety, and women with addiction are bribed into sex. I saw it in all three hostels that I stayed in. The women in these hostels are fair game.”

We urgently need to provide safe and secure same-sex emergency housing to stop more women dying. That would be a simple first step in ensuring that these vulnerable women in crisis are not put at further risk of rape, sexual assault and trauma.

Recent analysis from the House of Commons library paints a very concerning picture, and suggests that Scotland’s block grant will consist of just 3.5 per cent of the United Kingdom’s Government spending in 2023-24 and 2024-25, according to autumn statement plans. Does the Government agree that that underscores the need for a detailed explanation of how the fiscal framework affects Scotland’s block grant and the overall fiscal autonomy of our country? Is it not time for a thorough review of the fiscal framework and the reprioritising of delivering independence to ensure that future Scottish Governments have all the fiscal levers of a normal country?

I note that the First Minister has stated that his number 1 priority is eradicating child poverty. I welcomed the announcement that the Government made in February on school meal debt, which the First Minister spoke about again today, but it is just a temporary reprieve. We know that the attainment, behaviour and attention of children in schools is much improved when they are not going hungry. When will the Government fulfil its promise on free school meals?

Can the cabinet secretary confirm what substantive steps the Government will take to rebuild public trust by ensuring full transparency and good governance across all organisations that are receiving Government funding, or will the Government just risk waiting for the media to uncover further scandals?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the impact of the updated fiscal framework. (S6O-03460)

The minister has just set out that the CMO will seek to provide a written statement to the Parliament on the progress that is being made, but I ask the Government to consider that it might be advisable for the CMO to appear in Parliament to aid that scrutiny.

I thank the Conservatives for securing the debate and Dr Hilary Cass for giving evidence to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee yesterday. However, one hour is not enough to fully engage with Dr Cass’s recommendations. Drastic change is urgently needed to safeguard Scottish children from what I believe is a medical scandal.

The Government must urgently understand the striking difference in patients who are presenting for gender identity services. It has changed from a few young boys to a large and rapidly increasing number of teenage girls, with complex presentation. Often, they are young lesbians or autistic girls, many of whom have serious mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders, and who may be self-harming. Those issues are often caused by abuse or neglect. We must investigate the reason for the change in patient profile. Increasingly, girls are opting out of womanhood, and we cannot just shrug that off. We need to look at the issue and address it.

The treatment protocol for gender identity with affirmation and being funnelled towards a medical pathway overshadows the other problems that I have highlighted and neglects, to those girls’ detriment, alternative psychological treatment options. Clinicians tried to raise the alarm from the inside that those girls were being harmed by an approach that was developed for boys. From whistleblowers such as Dr David Bell and safeguarding lead Sonia Appleby, we know what happened to clinicians—they were ignored at best and silenced at worst. In the end, many of them left.

In Cass’s words,

“puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and even surgery may be a suitable treatment for some. We just do not know which ones.”

Given the severe health risks of the treatment, we need a service model that considers the child’s right to an open future and offers appropriate therapeutic care to each patient.

Detransitioners say that many do not understand the risks of testosterone, such as fertility loss, vaginal atrophy, clitoral growth and pain affecting sexual function. Cass recommends that gender services should learn from and understand detransitioners. That is difficult to do when, understandably, many refuse to return to the service that has failed them.

We must ensure that legislation, education and health services are Cass compliant. The school guidance is inappropriate and should be withdrawn. Are we sending the message that homophobia is unacceptable and that loving acceptance of our body is important? The evidence would suggest otherwise.

The Cass report is a watershed moment. Vulnerable children are at its heart. The Government’s amendment shows that it does not understand the severity of the problem or the urgency that is required to fix it. What does the Government imagine that the outcome of a thorough examination of the most comprehensive, recent and meticulous review of the global body of research will be?

The Scottish Government can prevaricate to placate lobby groups, or it can remove its ideological blinkers and focus on the urgent clinical need to improve how we provide care to support distressed children. There is no excuse for any further delay. Maya Angelou famously said:

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Having raised the need for urgent action, I welcome the news that Petroineos has invested in and restarted the hydrocracker and that the site is turning a profit. The save Grangemouth campaign, which is headed by my Westminster colleague Kenny MacAskill, aligns itself with the results of a recent survey by Unite the union, which strongly indicates that there has been a collective failure by both Governments to support Grangemouth. What substantive commitment will the Government now make to ensure a long-term sustainable future for this core asset for Scotland’s energy industry, so that there is no cliff edge for both workers and Scotland’s energy security?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to deliver the shared policy programme contained within the Bute house agreement, in light of reports that many of its policies have been discarded. (S6O-03371)