Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people who are going through family court proceedings. (S6O-04105)

That is a challenge. As we have discussed, I know about Stranraer and maternity issues, but we need to focus on safety. That is a primary concern for me when we think about the best place for care to be delivered.

I am aware that there have been challenges in other parts of Scotland. I highlighted the successes in my area, south of the central belt, which I am more familiar with. I am interested in the success of the ScotGEM programme, which is why I am asking the cabinet secretary to give us some figures for that.

We have just heard that expectant mothers who live in Stranraer and Wigtownshire are required to make a 150-mile round trip to deliver their babies in Dumfries. We have heard horror stories of mothers birthing at the side of the A75. The situation causes a huge amount of stress and anxiety for mothers and their families. This is not dissimilar to what is happening in other areas of Scotland, and I am sure that we will hear about that from Douglas Ross in a wee minute. The report also highlighted the issue.

I thank the minister Jenni Minto and Maree Todd, in her previous ministerial role, for their engagement with me on these matters. That continued engagement includes our meeting just last week. Again, it is about highlighting what we are hearing on the ground and what could be done differently. As a registered nurse and as someone who used to teach midwives about safety, assessment and all the associated matters, I am acutely aware of this issue. I reiterate that I would like to see the situation addressed so that people who live in rural Scotland can deliver their babies as close to home as is clinically safe and possible.

Sandesh Gulhane and I are members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and worked together on the inquiry. I hear what he says about the challenges in rural areas. Does he agree that the Scottish graduate entry medicine programme, which is unique to Scotland, is one way in which people with primary healthcare degrees have been supported to get a medical degree and to focus on remote and rural healthcare? That programme has been really successful in Dumfries and Galloway.

Yes.

It is welcome to hear the update that the cabinet secretary is working really well with the A77 action group. Will she clarify that, although overnight closures of the roads are extremely frustrating, they are necessary to ensure the maintenance of critical infrastructure routes such as the A77? Will she highlight how the A77 has been improved in recent years as a result of action taken by the Scottish National Party?

I have been working with a family in Wigtownshire who are in the same position as many others, in that a contact order was given by a sheriff for a father to have contact with his son months ago, but that order is still not being complied with. The minister will know that I have corresponded with her on the issue, but will she agree to meet me to explore whether a change could be made to the law that would compel a party to comply with a court order in a Scottish family court as in criminal cases?

I engaged with the Scots language community when we discussed amendments to propose. There has been no direct discussion with ADES and teachers, but I have engaged with members of the Scots language community, who I believe are experts in Scots.

I encourage members to support amendments 69, 71 and 74.

Amendment 69 agreed to.

There is nothing to add. I recognise that Scots is spoken in a variety of ways and in different dialects in different parts of Scotland. I urge colleagues to support the amendments in the group.

Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here, and I thank you for the opportunity to move these important amendments.

I thank the many Scots organisations and individuals who have been so helpful to me and who support our Scots language cross-party group, which I co-convene. The organisations include the Scots Language Centre, Oor Vyce, the Scots Language Society and the Open University in Scotland. Many individuals are associated with those organisations, and I must include Bruce Eunson, Dr Sylvia Warnecke and Dr Michael Dempster. All have made invaluable contributions to promoting Scots, both at the CPG and in providing input for me on the bill.

At stage 1, there was discussion about whether the term “Scots” includes the different dialects of the Scots language that are used in the different parts of Scotland—for instance, the north-east dialect, which is also called the Doric—so I am keen to introduce my amendments in this group.

My amendments seek to reassure the Scots language community on that point—not by changing the definition of “Scots” in an exhaustive way that could, inadvertently, exclude something, but by focusing on the substantive sections of part 2 of the bill. Amendment 69 makes it clear that the Scottish ministers’ objectives for the promotion of Scots in the Scots language strategy are to include the different dialects of Scots that are used in the different parts of Scotland.

Amendment 71 clarifies that, likewise, the Scottish ministers’ power to give guidance to public authorities on the promotion of Scots includes the different dialects of Scots.

Section 31 of the bill places an education authority under a duty to

“promote, facilitate and support Scots language education”.

Amendment 74 makes it clear that the education authority

“may discharge its functions relating to Scots language education through teaching and learning in the dialect of the Scots language most relevant to its area.”

For instance, in the north-east of Scotland, Doric would be the most relevant.

I hope that that provides some reassurance for all stakeholders, and I ask the committee to support my amendments in this group.

I move amendment 69.