Hansard

I, too, thank the committee for the difficult work that it undertook in its inquiry. As the convener, Dave Stewart, and Angus MacDonald said, if one child is helped because of the inquiry, we have surely done something. As almost every member who has spoken has said, the subject is a difficult one. John Wilson talked about how challenging the inquiry was for the committee. To see that, members need only look at the case studies in annex A of the report and read about the young people who were involved. That is not just print on paper—we can see that they are real young people whose real lives and real issues are happening in the world. It is harrowing, horrific and difficult reading for us all but, as the convener rightly said—this might be paraphrasing—we need to know these things and investigate the issues, because the exploitation cannot be allowed to continue.

Jamie Hepburn said that, as a father, it is difficult to comprehend the situation. I agree, because child sexual exploitation repulses us all when we hear about it. That is why the work that the committee undertook was so difficult. Jamie Hepburn also mentioned that parents have a responsibility. We must ensure that we know what our role is with our children and how we can help. Although the education system plays an important part, we all have a responsibility on that.

The minister said that we all felt

“a mixture of horror, anger and sadness”

at the news from Rotherham and Rochdale and at the on-going Jimmy Savile stories. It is extremely difficult for us to comprehend, especially in the high-profile Jimmy Savile case, how people can be such vile individuals.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s ministerial working group on child sexual exploitation, which involves experts and those in local authorities, the Crown Office, the police and key children’s organisations who work closely with victims of exploitation. The group is the best way to share best practice—as Angus MacDonald said, there is quite a bit of good practice out there—and ensure that organisations work together.

David Torrance mentioned data collection, which is an important part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill. We have received evidence on the difficulty of being able to get information backwards and forwards. One of the key points of the bill is that we will get that opportunity to share information through the named person.

David Torrance also mentioned the vulnerable young people operational group in Renfrewshire. It has representatives from the police, social work, education, health and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration on a case-by-case basis, meets regularly and gives people the opportunity to get information about CSE. It is an example of best practice and is mentioned on page 13 of the report.

The working group is correct to say that child sexual exploitation is not a stand-alone issue. We need to ensure that we all know what is going on and that we do all that we can to work together. We need to ensure that we have the strongest approach on child protection.

One thing that I need not mention, because it has been mentioned on numerous occasions, is that the central pillar of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill is the getting it right for every child approach. That is one of the main reasons why the bill is going through the parliamentary process.

The policy of giving young people access to a named person until they are 18 will make a difference, help with some of the cases mentioned in the report and highlight issues. We cannot legislate for bad people, as I have said before, but when child sexual exploitation cases happen, we can try to ensure that everyone gets all the information that they possibly can to give the young people help and support and, potentially, to identify the problem. The child’s plan and access to it will also make a difference and help.

Schools play a vital role in identifying and preventing child sexual exploitation by ensuring that, as the minister stated, children and young people are educated about topics such as appropriate relationships, protection from abuse and keeping themselves safe from harm from early on in their education right until they leave school.

The Government already invests in some programmes. The respectme service and ChildLine are Government funded and are working hard with others to help people to tackle bullying in all forms and to give advice to schools on how to encourage safe, responsible use of personal mobile technology in school and beyond. One of the main issues that came up in the report is the fact that we have an issue with cyber-bullying and bullying in general among young people.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensure that fast, effective protection is in place for children who are at risk of abuse and neglect. It has already set up the ministerial working group on child sexual exploitation. The group has reported back and I wait to hear what the Government says on that report and what further it will do in light of the committee’s report.

One of the messages that has been highlighted is that child protection is everyone’s responsibility. I mentioned that earlier. We all have to take responsibility and ensure that we talk about the matter openly. Many of us will have had difficulty when we saw the subject of the debate but, if we do not talk about it, who will talk about it and how can we ensure that horror stories like those in the report do not happen?

We must remember that the case studies in the report are not just part of the report to be filed away and forgotten about; they are the lives of young people. We must ensure that what we do in the Parliament makes a difference in their lives.