Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2025
I will speak on behalf of Scottish Labour to various elements of the LCM. I compliment both committees that were involved in this matter—I appreciate the challenge in being able to scrutinise legislative consent memorandums.
Without repeating what I said, I refer to my earlier comments about how LCMs are dealt with in the Parliament and the obligations on Governments in dealing with and facilitating the matter between them. I suggest that the Parliament could help with that, most probably in the next session.
What fundamentally underpins the bill to which the legislative consent memorandum relates—the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill—is an attempt to break the link between a young person’s background and their future success, which is a goal that we share in Scotland and in Wales, Northern Ireland and England. There are two processes here—one relates to employment and the other, which I would like to spend a few moments discussing, relates to secure care.
I echo what Roz McCall said about the current state of secure accommodation in Scotland. As of today, there is one vacant bed. No doubt we will, sadly, return to that issue after the recess. Will the minister intervene in relation to the question that has been raised by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland about ensuring that cross-border placements are only ever used for a young person in appropriate and exceptional circumstances?