Hansard

I am participating remotely, so I cannot see which minister is responding to the debate. However, I look forward to hearing the Government’s response.

I thank my colleague Alexander Burnett for introducing such an important debate. It has been a busy news day, but raising awareness of such issues, whether we participate remotely or otherwise, is our bread and butter. I, too, receive a lot of casework on the matter, which I will delve into in my contribution.

I will start by reflecting on a wider point, which is the greater impact of the events of the past year, specifically on people with autism and learning difficulties, based on my experiences of helping people through my remote case work. Just last week, I was contacted by a mother in Ayrshire whose son is a young adult who suffers from developmental disabilities. Previously, he attended his local college, and she told me that he loved it. He has been out of college for the best part of a year, and has been told not to expect to return until after the summer. That is causing them both great concern. She understands why the college is staggering the return in phases, but she is frustrated at the lack of any apparent plan to get special needs students back into classrooms and colleges.

Another family got in touch just before Christmas. They messaged my office about the deteriorating mental health of their autistic son, who was in a learning disability care home and was not allowed any visits from his parents, for obvious reasons. He was not allowed to come home for Christmas, and, despite plans having been made to get university students back home for Christmas, no such plans were made for him.

Before Christmas, we flagged the issue to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, and it was disappointing to learn afterwards that no plans were put in place. My constituent is still not sure when her son will receive his vaccine, although we are all pleased with the changes to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendations in that regard. Anyone who listens to BBC Radio 2 will know about that, as it has been developing the story.

Over the past few months, I have heard many examples of similar situations. I have heard about people engaging in self-harm and about an increase in depression and anxiety because many people have simply been unable to understand the restrictions that they and their families have been asked to follow. Their norms are topsy-turvy due to the need to wear face masks, observe physical or social distancing and, not least, changes to their everyday routine and a lack of social interaction. Such things are difficult enough for us as individuals, but they must have a profound effect on those with learning disabilities or severe autism. It has been an anxious time, and we can only imagine how amplified such frustration and anxiety will have been for those individuals.

I commend the National Autistic Society for its good work in researching this. We know that nine out of 10 autistic people worried about their mental health during lockdown and that 85 per cent of respondents to the society’s survey said that their anxiety levels had worsened. There have been some instances of people taking their own lives during lockdown because they were unable to cope or to see a way forward. Those are unbearably tragic situations.

There are still too many gaps in the system of support for this group. The Education and Skills Committee took evidence on the Morgan review into additional support needs provision in Scotland. That review said that support was “fragmented and inconsistent” and that it is

“not ensuring that all children and young people who need additional support are being supported to flourish and fulfil their potential.”

That is the vital point. Those young people must be able to flourish and to fulfil their potential. It is estimated that almost a third of school pupils have some form of additional support need. There is no simple fix for that: tweaking the system is not a solution. Systemic assistance must be delivered in our schools.

The number of additional support needs teachers has fallen by more than 1,000 in the past 10 years. Recruitment is heading in the wrong direction. That is a perfect storm, and I have spoken about it many times in the Parliament.

I pay tribute to Angela Morgan’s report and encourage the minister to read it and its recommendations. It sets out a number of things that the Government—indeed, the next Government—could do immediately to provide better for ASN pupils.

The debate is short and it is hard to keep track of time without a clock on my screen, but we must think about our approach to ASN provision. The pandemic has highlighted a number of challenges that we already knew about and has shed light on many others. Physically disabled young people and those with additional support needs or autism deserve the same high standards of education, health and life as those that any other young person in Scotland is entitled to. We should not accept anything less.