Former Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Southside
Amendments in this group relate to sections 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D of the bill, and, as Martin Whitfield has said, those sections reflect amendments in my name that were agreed to at stage 2. I am very grateful to the minister for accepting those amendments at stage 2—despite, I know, some reservations—and for not seeking to reverse them at stage 3. I am also very grateful to The Promise...
All the stage 3 amendments in my name, which are in this group and in groups 8 and 17, have been lodged in consultation with Who Cares? Scotland. Before I turn to my amendments 113, 114 and 29A in this group, I want to take a quick moment to pay tribute to Who Cares? Scotland. Bluntly, without its campaigning passion, skill and perseverance, we would not be here debating the bill today. It...
I have sympathy with the points that Willie Rennie has raised, and I have great respect for the work done by organisations such as Barnardo’s. It is important that we establish in the bill a clear principle that conflicts of interest are an issue. They have been raised with me as an issue several times over the years by care-experienced young people in residential care homes and in secure...
My amendments in this group relate to sections 5 and 6 and the duty on ministers to issue guidance to public authorities about care-experienced people and their lived realities, and the duty on public authorities to have “due regard to” such guidance. The amendments will replace references to “guidance” with “regulations” throughout the sections. Let me be candid: I...
Martin Whitfield puts it perfectly. That sums up the reasons for my amendments. Regulations are binding in a way that guidance—even guidance with a due regard provision in legislation—is simply not. One of the important objectives in the delivery of the Promise is to ensure that it is delivered consistently right across Scotland. Only if that happens will the process have the confidence...
I have great respect for Willie Rennie on these issues. Does he recognise that there was a considerable degree of disappointment in the care-experienced community that a definition of “care experienced” did not appear in the bill? For some care-experienced people, regulations are themselves a compromise, but they are better than guidance. I say from experience in Government that there is...
I recognise Willie Rennie’s concerns, but they are not insurmountable, particularly those around consistency. The minister is absolutely right: it will be incumbent on the Government and the Parliament to ensure that inconsistencies do not occur. Through the introduction of regulations, the duties will be given a power and import that guidance does not have, which will go some way to allay...
