Meeting of the Parliament 06 November 2024
I am pleased to speak in the debate. Hard as it may be for folks in the chamber to recognise, I was first elected to Aberdeen City Council in May 1999—some 25 years ago. I know that I look much younger, Presiding Officer.
In the first few weeks after I was elected, a very senior social worker asked me how many children I was responsible for. I said to the social worker that I had no kids, so I was responsible for none. I learned very quickly from that woman that I was responsible for a great number of children. The words “corporate parenting” were not used in those days, but it came as a bit of a shocker to me that I had responsibility for so many young people. I took that responsibility very seriously indeed—so much so that some folk said that, for a while, I never shut up about the situation.
I quickly came across practical issues, such as inadequate provision. In particular, in Aberdeen City Council at that time, there was too much use of care homes, and many of them were not of a great standard. A number of years later, I had the great pleasure of closing the Netherhills children’s home and replacing it with a facility that was fit for purpose and could be called a home. All of us, whether in this chamber or in council chambers across the country, must realise our responsibilities and realise that we should do the very best for the children and young people for whom we are responsible.
I have a confession—I was unable, for good reason, to attend a seminar on the Promise that was held in Aberdeen recently. I made the effort afterwards to speak to the organiser, Georgette Cobban of Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations, and to listen to organisations that were involved in the day. The conversations were very interesting, and I hope that the minister will address in her summing-up some of the suggestions that I will highlight.
One of the organisations that I talked to was Home-Start Aberdeen, which is an immense organisation. Many members will have experience of Home-Start in their constituencies. One of the things that Home-Start Aberdeen said—I thought that it was a bit unusual at the time but, the more I thought about it, the more I saw that it was right—relates to Roz McCall’s point about pay gaps. Home-Start Aberdeen said that the seminar had been good and worth while, but there was disappointment that no private organisations were there. We need to pull in private organisations to help us to deliver the Promise. I have already spoken to the minister and written to Fraser McKinlay about that, because we should pick up on it.
On a visit to Befriend a Child, the differences between the treatment of kinship carers in Aberdeen city and their treatment in Aberdeenshire were highlighted to me. As in Mr Rennie’s experience, there was a comment that, far too often, social workers are changed suddenly, which can cause real difficulties for families in building trust. It was highlighted to me that getting support for kinship carers is easier in Aberdeenshire than it is in Aberdeen. We must ensure that support and knowledge are provided to kinship carers, no matter where they are in the country.
I was also told that some kinship carers—particularly older kinship carers—are scared to ask for help for particular things, in case that leads to them losing their children. We must take cognisance of that and ensure that people know that asking for help is the right thing to do and that they should not feel threatened if they have to do so.
A key point that comes up in all such debates is that we must all listen. By listening, we can make real changes to people’s lives. I will give members an example. A number of years back, I talked to and—more important—listened to a young woman with lived experience. One of the difficulties that she had experienced was in paying council tax—council tax came as a surprise to her. I fed the issue through the system, because it was obviously a problem, and I was pleased when the then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that care-experienced young folk would be exempt from paying council tax.
Through listening, every single one of us can make that change—sometimes a very small change; sometimes a life-changing change. I hope that we will all continue to listen and to be good corporate parents.
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