Meeting of the Parliament 02 December 2015
I am proud that this Parliament took the groundbreaking Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill through the Parliament last year. The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 act was a huge milestone for the Parliament. For the first time, we gave comprehensive legislative substance to our ambition of giving Scotland’s children the best start in life.
I am proud of that because I know that at the heart of the 2014 act is a commitment to improve the wellbeing of all our nation’s children and young people. Every child has only one shot at childhood, so it is incumbent on us all—parents, practitioners and policy makers—to do our best to realise that commitment.
It is the Parliament’s right and duty to scrutinise our legislation, influence change and improve policy and laws. I uphold that right and have always sought to engage constructively with members of the Scottish Parliament, regardless of their party-political beliefs, because the wellbeing of our children and young people transcends party politics.
Indeed, that philosophy, which is shared across this Parliament, led members to unite behind the GIRFEC principles under the previous Administration and over the years that followed, up to the passage of the 2014 act.
We should reflect on how we got to where we are. The named person approach was developed on the ground through the GIRFEC Highland pathfinder, which has interested and inspired this Parliament for many years. Parliamentarians were impressed by the project. Six years ago, almost to the day, an MSP said:
“a key success of the Highland pathfinder project has been the reduction in bureaucracy, which has ... freed up more time for direct work with children. Another outcome is better information sharing ... That has also reduced the burden on staff.”
He went on to say:
“I very much welcome the minister‘s commitment to implement the GIRFEC programme throughout Scotland on the back of the successful pilot in the Highlands.”
I find Murdo Fraser’s words reassuring. He also said:
“That contact with families in the home enables those health professionals to identify, at an early stage, likely problem areas and potentially vulnerable groups.”
Mary Scanlon is another Conservative MSP who has acknowledged the policy’s benefits. During the same debate, she said:
“for too long children and others have suffered as agencies work in their silos, refusing to share information that would lead to a holistic approach to addressing a child’s needs. I commend the work done in Highland to address that issue”.—[Official Report, 3 December 2009; c 21924-5 and 21910.]