Gail Macgregor touched on data. I ask Clare Wharmby whether some of the data is in the processes. How accessible is that? How realistic is it?

You talk about SMEs. We have heard how upskilling in the workforce is particularly difficult in rural Scotland. Does the climate change plan do enough to encourage and to support employers, especially those in rural areas?

Social Security Scotland is operating on a larger scale than when VoiceAbility started in January 2022, so contending with demand will be one of the major issues. How will you anticipate the large demand? How will you manage it, and what support will you provide?

You might well be anticipating that there will be high initial demand because people will want to ask for or require some support from you. That might have an impact on what you can and cannot do and how you manage that. As you have also indicated, there might be geographical differences in what rural and urban communities and the individuals within them require from you. You already have a plan and you have the capacity to adapt it depending on the demand that comes through.

How will you work with Social Security Scotland and other partners to get referrals for the service and provide the support that individuals require?

Yes, it has a knock-on effect within the family unit, and it is vitally important that individuals are given the opportunity. If that opportunity does not exist, there will be a lack of communication and a lack of cohesion in the family unit, and it can sometimes cause disturbance and distraction.

Another issue relates to teachers of the deaf being qualified to BSL level 3. It is vital that we have those qualified teachers working in the classroom.

It is important that the Scottish Government addresses those issues by establishing a pipeline of qualified interpreters, BSL teachers and classroom support services.

However, many of the issues begin long before a child enters formal education. As we have heard, there are also numerous problems when deaf children are progressing through early years education. Deaf children have limited opportunities to learn BSL in their early years, and witnesses highlighted to the committee that some children are beginning nursery without any meaningful language skills. It is tragic that some individuals are going into that environment without those skills and finding themselves at a disadvantage.

Deaf support workers, including specialist support workers for supported living, play a key part in addressing that challenge. Those workers carry out important work in engaging with deaf children from a very early age, giving them a positive attitude and supporting them on their path.

If the SNP fails to address those challenges in early years education, it will only create further challenges for young deaf people in their experience of education further down the road. As the committee highlighted, we cannot have a situation in which some deaf children are starting nursery or school with next to no knowledge of their native language.

The committee’s report also highlights that deaf people face particular challenges in rural settings; we have heard about that today from some members who represent rural communities, where BSL services are harder to access. Rural councils often lack deaf clubs and specialist opportunities, and they may not have the resources to identify and support deaf individuals. The Scottish Government must listen to the committee’s recommendations on that issue in order to close the opportunity gap between deaf people in rural communities and those living in the central belt.

While the Scottish Government appears to have accepted the need for positive change, we have to ensure that it remains focused on the recommendations to ensure that there is a shift towards delivering what is required. For example, with regard to the shortage of interpreters, we still have no clear timescales and no workforce strategy that reflects the seriousness of the challenges. As I said, in order to support individuals, we must address isolation and lack of access in rural areas by ensuring access to deaf clubs and improving digital provision.

All those things play a part, and it is vitally important that we look across all the recommendations. We heard from public bodies about how they can be supported to promote BSL effectively. There may be good intentions from the Government, but we need to ensure that what follows is about more than just good will.

In dealing with this issue, one goal should be to ensure that the deaf generation of today does not have to struggle as past deaf generations did. Deaf individuals speak about feeling like second-class citizens, struggling to find meaningful employment and feeling that they are unable to fulfil their true potential. We also heard today about difficulties faced in health services and how deaf people can be affected as a result.

In conclusion, the SNP Government should take the committee’s report as an important reminder of those issues and ensure that the 2015 act can finally live up to its full potential so that individuals are given the respect and the opportunities that they need. They want to see from us a recognition of what they have achieved so far, and of what we should be achieving on their behalf.

I am pleased to contribute to this afternoon’s debate.

Ten years ago, the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 became an important step towards promoting British Sign Language in Scotland and improving the lives of all who depend on BSL. I therefore welcome the inquiry into the 2015 act by the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. I know that BSL users face challenges across many different aspects of society, and it is important that the British Sign Language national plan delivers on the proposals that came from the 2015 act.

The testimony that was received during the committee’s inquiry makes it clear that progress has indeed been made on the issue, and that is to be commended. However, that testimony also made it clear that individuals still face many barriers, for example in relation to access to education, health or employment.

It is unsurprising that education was one of the biggest policy areas that the inquiry looked at, as deaf children still face challenges at every stage of our education system. The committee heard evidence that, although the number of BSL interpreters has increased, they cannot be a replacement for teachers who are native BSL users.

Deaf Links highlighted that there has been

“a dearth of appropriately trained Deaf BSL tutors in Scotland”

for the past 30 years. That is having an impact on the development of BSL users. As the ALLIANCE has stated and as many members have highlighted in the debate, that can have a lifelong impact on individuals.

We will speak about that light-touch approach and we can discuss the number of people who, as part of the benefits process, have been receiving funds in error or due to fraud.

As I said, it is expected that, by 2029-30, ADP will cost £770 million more than the equivalent UK benefit would have done. The ADP’s light-touch review system might be one of the biggest drivers of this increase in cost compared with the personal independence payment system in the UK. The current review system allows claimants to self-declare that their circumstances have not changed. All they need to do is tick a box on a form, so it is hardly surprising that the Auditor General concluded that

“Social Security Scotland does not have a reliable figure for the amount lost to fraud and error”.

A recent freedom of information request revealed that Social Security Scotland had reported only 29 cases of fraud since 2023-24. That is compared with the thousands of cases that are likely to have happened. If the SNP is at all serious about addressing spiralling benefit costs, it must look at its naive approach to fraud and error.

Our motion also speaks about the UK Government’s decision to remove the two-child limit. In the coming years, that decision will cost UK taxpayers at least £2 billion extra, which will put a strain on our public services. In the current climate, that is not the right priority for the UK or Scottish Governments, and we cannot support the decision.

The SNP had already set aside £155 million, which could have been spent elsewhere, to remove the cap in Scotland. How long has it been since we have seen that across the UK? I hope that £155 million will be used to support hard-working families and taxpayers.

However, the First Minister has already confirmed that the extra money will be added straight back on to Scotland’s benefits bill.

We need to have a discussion about universality in benefits. We have already spoken about the SNP’s light touch when it comes to keeping records on benefits, and that is a vitally important matter. We want to see the economy grow and we want to get people off benefits and into the job market, so that they can prosper and move forward.

The amount spent on adult disability payment is the largest of all the devolved benefits and is the biggest contributor to the SNP’s overspend in that area. By 2029-30, ADP alone will cost Scottish taxpayers £770 million more than the equivalent UK benefit would have.

Audit Scotland has warned that councils are under severe financial pressure this year, with community facilities and local services already being cut back. Community groups tell us that they simply do not have the capacity to take on more. Does the cabinet secretary therefore accept that relying on community-led initiatives is not a substitute for properly funded local government?