Thank you. I know that time is tight, convener, so I will let other members come in.

Professor Basiri, have you anything to add?

Good morning. Scotland has some significant pioneering universities, as well as trade and industry and financial and commercial sectors. The Scottish Government has an aspiration and an ambition, which it has set out in its strategy, for Scotland to become one of the leading developers of AI technology. We have discussed some of the overlap on data protection for acquisitions and financial regulations. How realistic is it for Scotland to achieve its ambition to become one of the leaders in development of AI?

As well as mobility, is there a need for significant flexibility in the regulatory framework? Having the flexibility that is required to ensure that you can have an input into the process might mean that there needs to be some flexibility in the regulatory framework—that might have to be addressed. Is that an opportunity, or will it be a stumbling block for us, going forward?

Thank you.

My question is for Kirsteen Davidson Kelly. The national youth orchestras are under your auspices. Normally, they have a European tour of some kind on their calendar. How has that changed for your organisation, and are there still opportunities for young people to go on tour? If so, what are you concerned about and what do you think is problematic? Can you tell us about any areas that you will continue to progress?

I agree with members. We have touched on the difficulties that communities face and the necessity of the services that the petition highlights. We discuss funding annually and the petition noted the broader funding cycle. The petition was lodged in 2021, and I am sure that local authorities will have given information to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee when it considered the petition.

It might be useful for us to clarify the status of the petition with local authorities and get more detail on where they are with the process. If we close the petition and agree to consider the broader issues in our future work, we could consider what might be achieved. There is no doubt that there is a necessity for local authorities to find adequate funding and additional revenue. That concern is still very alive, even though the petition was lodged in 2021. I would be inclined to look at the wider issues, if the committee has the opportunity to do so.

I agree. During stage 1 of the bill, the committee heard from local authorities about the fit and proper person checks that are already being carried out as part of the whole registration process, which gives us an indication of how things have progressed.

I am pleased to be able to bring this important issue to the chamber, and I thank those members who supported my motion.

When it comes to Scotland’s education system, many of the Scottish National Party’s failures are well known. Those include a decline in international rankings, a widening attainment gap and falling teacher numbers, all of which have been discussed in the chamber many times.

However, the Government’s failure on the issue of additional support needs deserves far more parliamentary time. My motion lays bare the crisis that is developing in Scottish schools for children and young people who have ASN. Last month’s report from Audit Scotland, entitled “Additional support for learning”, painted a truly grim picture. The number of young people who are recorded as receiving additional support for learning is now higher than 284,000. Why is that? It is because we have much better diagnosis, but diagnosis requires support and assistance. That figure not only represents 40 per cent of all pupils in Scotland; it is an eightfold increase from where we were when the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was passed. The number of those who are being supported is already high, but councils expect it to rise even further, and that means that funding is needed.

The Audit Scotland report highlights the poor situation with data, which means that the scale of the problem is not fully understood. We should also acknowledge that the issue is complex, as ASN pupils can include those who have motor or sensory impairments or learning difficulties and issues such as dyslexia, as well as those who experience emotional or social difficulties. The fact remains, however, that every one of those ASN pupils is a young person who needs extra help to reach their full potential, and the Government is failing catastrophically on that.

Audit Scotland’s report highlights that young people who are receiving ASL are at a disadvantage. Their rate of attendance at school is lower than average, and individuals with ASN are

“five times more likely to be excluded from school”.

Their performance in literacy and numeracy is much lower, and they have less of an opportunity to reach those positive destinations that we hear so much about from the Scottish Government. Without that opportunity, they cannot get to a positive destination.

The report is a truly damning assessment, but the Scottish Government should have known about those issues for many years, because this is not the first time that we have heard about the situation. Back in 2020, the report of the Morgan review of additional support for learning, “Support for Learning: All our Children and All their Potential”, highlighted that the issue was simply not a priority for the Scottish Government’s education system. It also highlighted the problems with the 2004 ASN act and its implementation, which it described as “fragmented” and “inconsistent”.

The review also spoke about a failure of cultures, whereby people saw

“Additional Support for Learning... as ‘Somebody else’s problem’ and ‘not their responsibility’.”

The review spoke about the countless parents and carers who feel so badly let down on the issue. Many of these individuals felt that their concerns about their young people were “ignored or dismissed”, and they felt hurt as a result. Teachers and support assistants said that they felt “under siege” and undervalued.

Back in 2020, more than 30 per cent of children needed support. ASN was a big issue five years ago, but it is an even bigger issue today. Audit Scotland points out that the Government has made very little progress against several of the recommendations from the 2020 report. In December’s budget, the Government finally committed to funding a £29 million ASN plan. However, across 32 local authorities—

The complete budget, including other aspects, was not good for Scotland. In any case, how can £29 million support 32 local authorities? It is a drop in the ocean when it comes to support for those individuals.