Meeting of the Parliament 23 November 2023
I agree. We have found many times that the people who are having an impact and making positive changes to disabled people as they transition into adulthood are the individuals who take leadership roles in their communities.
I thank the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee—I bet that it does not get many thanks—and the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their work in scrutinising the bill and for sharing their conclusions and recommendations.
Given the complexities involved in the bill, we took the unusual step of writing to both the Government and the member in charge with our findings, seeking a response before finalising our report. I thank the Government and Pam Duncan-Glancy for their helpful and extensive responses.
I would like to say at the outset that the members of the committee were not convinced that the general principles of the bill should be agreed to, with the exception of Martin Whitfield, who attended as committee substitute for the member in charge. Today, I intend to set out briefly some of the reasons why the committee came to that conclusion. I want to be clear, though—and I cannot reinforce this position enough—that we argued that doing nothing in relation to improving outcomes for disabled children and young people in their transition to adulthood was not an option. We were extremely concerned when we heard evidence of the poor experiences of transitions for many disabled young people. We agreed that things must change, and they must change quickly.
The bill requires the Scottish Government to introduce and implement a national transitions strategy for improving transitions to adulthood for disabled children and young people. It also says that there should be a transitions plan for every disabled child or young person. Going from what we heard, the committee agreed that a national transitions strategy was needed. Importantly, we were aware that the Government was already working on it, so we pressed the Government for a committed timeline and further information on its development.
We were deeply concerned to hear that young people and their families were not always being listened to by professionals. Some young people told us that their transition was often built around what people thought was right for them, rather than what they wanted to do. That is not acceptable.
The committee recommended that the experiences of those who have been through transitions should be at the heart of the design of any national strategy. That should help to ensure that negative outcomes are avoided and that a person-centred approach is built on.
The Government has now published its statement of intent, which summarises its research and engagement on the strategy and sets out what the Scottish Government should focus on now.