Hansard

Thank you for the opportunity to make this statement. I extend my thanks to members from across the chamber for raising the important topic of transitions to adulthood for young disabled people. It remains clear that there is cross-party consensus that we should do everything that we can to improve the experience of transition to adulthood for young disabled people, and we will do so. I am heartened that so many members in the chamber share the Government’s ambition to improve their experiences and outcomes during an important period of their lives.

Based on our work to develop the national transitions to adulthood strategy and the evidence that the Education, Children and Young People Committee heard on Pam Duncan-Glancy’s member’s bill, I know that there are excellent examples of local authorities, education, health and social care services and others working to improve the experiences of disabled children and young people across Scotland who are transitioning to adulthood.

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the young people and families who benefit from NHS Lothian and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland’s transition clinic, which the Scottish Government helped to support. I heard at first hand about the positive impact of multi-agency collaboration and co-operation that places young people and their families at the heart of the transition process.

Improving transitions for young disabled people remains of critical importance to the Scottish Government. The Minister for Equalities and I continue to work across Government to ensure continued focus and urgency on that agenda. The debate provides an opportunity to update the Parliament on our continued efforts to improve young disabled people’s experiences of transitions. I will also provide further details regarding our commitment to introducing Scotland’s first national transitions to adulthood strategy.

I give the Parliament a commitment that I will engage constructively with Opposition parties on those matters, and I confirm that the Government remains open to strengthening the framework that is required to improve the experiences of young disabled people at points of transition, which is the goal that we all seek to achieve.

First, I want to be clear that the Government is taking action now to improve young disabled people’s experiences of transitions; we are not waiting until we publish the strategy. Given what was said during the stage 1 debate on the Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill, I know that members from across the chamber want to ensure that we are driving urgent action, so I want to reassure them, disabled children and young people and those who support them that we are doing so.

As members will remember, there was agreement across the parties that, although the ambitions of Ms Duncan-Glancy’s bill to improve the experiences and outcomes for young disabled people were wholly welcome, it remained unclear how the bill would work in practice to resolve the issues being experienced.

As we heard in the chamber last year, the Education, Children and Young People Committee was thorough in its evidence gathering and its discussions with stakeholders, including young disabled people and organisations such as the Association for Real Change Scotland. Many stakeholders expressed doubt that the bill could deliver on its laudable aim of resolving the issues that are experienced by young disabled people as they transition to young adult life. However, I am fully aware that those stakeholders rightly expect the Scottish Government to uphold the commitment that it has made to support young disabled people, and they also expect all of us in the chamber to look beyond party politics and focus on the people at the heart of the issue, who have asked us to work together with them to get this right.

Today, I will set out some of the actions that the Scottish Government is already taking and our next steps as we prepare the strategy.

As well as the work by NHS Lothian and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland, there are other examples of excellent practice across Scotland. For example, there is the work of ARC Scotland. Between 2020 and 2023, the Scottish Government funded ARC’s principles into practice trials in 10 local authority areas to improve the lived experiences of young people who need additional support to make the transition to young adult life. Building on the success of those trials, we continue to provide grant funding to ARC Scotland through the children, young people, families and adult learning third sector fund. The funding will enable ARC to continue to run the Scottish Transitions Forum and to support the wider implementation of the principles into practice and compass programmes across Scotland.

We have invested more than £20 million in the Independent Living Fund Scotland’s transition fund, since it opened at the end of 2017, to support young disabled people to make a smoother transition from childhood to adulthood by promoting independence, community participation, social inclusion and confidence.

In 2024-25, we have continued to provide funding to support Enable Scotland’s stepping up transitions programme, which connects young disabled people to fair work, education and productive activities that are designed to support a successful transition into adult life and work.

We are ensuring that all young people in Scotland, including young disabled people, have access to quality careers advice through the national careers service, which is led by Skills Development Scotland. Developing the Young Workforce school co-ordinators also continue to link young people with employers.

We have recently incorporated the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law, ensuring that we are a country that respects, protects and fulfils the rights of all children, including disabled children. As part of our work to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, the Scottish Government has funded NHS Education for Scotland to support health boards and the Improvement Service in implementing a children’s human rights approach in their practice.

We are supporting other public bodies, such as the Independent Living Fund and others that have a role in supporting young people with their transition to adult life, to ensure that they take a children’s human rights approach. Our work with NES includes supporting health boards to consider children’s rights during transitions to adulthood.

In 2023, we published the getting it right for every child child’s plan practice statement, which includes new guidance for transitions and makes it clear that particular consideration should be given to disabled children and young people. The guidance complements the existing suite of GIRFEC policy and practice guidance that we published in September 2022.

Building on GIRFEC best practice, the Scottish Government is co-designing getting it right for everyone with place-based pathfinders in areas such as Fife, North Lanarkshire and the city of Aberdeen, with those pathfinders considering young people transitioning from children’s services to adult services.

We are developing the GIRFE team around the person toolkit and testing it with pathfinders and partners. The toolkit will help to support positive, early conversations about transitions for young people, with a focus on early planning, accessible information and the co-ordination of professionals around the person. The toolkit is due to be published soon.

Those are just some of the examples of the actions that are being taken across the Scottish Government to improve young disabled people’s experiences of transitions to adulthood. Despite those fantastic efforts, however, I understand that experiences differ and that some young disabled people are not getting the support that they need at the right time. I am clear that all those who have responsibility for transitions must do more to improve the experiences of disabled children and young people, and that doing nothing is not an option.

That is why, in addition to the range of work that I have already set out and more, the Scottish Government remains committed to introducing the national transitions to adulthood strategy. That will help to ensure that there is a joined-up approach, so that all young disabled people in Scotland can experience a supported and positive transition to young adult life.

I would like to take the opportunity that is before the Parliament today to state that the Scottish Government’s recent decision to extend the planned timeline for publishing the strategy has not been taken lightly. However, it was considered necessary if we were to give the fullest consideration to the extensive and invaluable contributions that were made by stakeholders who attended our recent engagement sessions between May and August 2024. The revision was also necessary to ensure that appropriate actions and priorities are considered and discussed across the Government, and we are working on that now. There must also be sufficient time to ensure that the strategy can be published in a range of accessible formats so that it meets the needs of those whom it aims to support.

The decision to extend the timeline was made in collaboration with the external strategic working group, which was set up to support the development of the strategy and which includes key stakeholder representatives of young disabled people, their parent carers, disabled people’s organisations and others who support them.

I hope that members from across the chamber are reassured that the Scottish Government continues to take urgent action and maintain focus on work that supports improved experiences of transitions to adulthood for young disabled people in Scotland. The Government remains committed to delivering progress towards that goal, and we will continue to work collaboratively with young disabled people and their families, with those who provide the high-quality support and planned transitions that we know every young disabled person should have, and with colleagues from across the chamber to ensure that all young disabled people who are making the transition to adulthood in Scotland are empowered to achieve their full potential.

I take the opportunity to again extend an invitation to all parties to work with us to ensure that we get this right. As a Parliament, we owe it to the young people of Scotland to put aside political differences and work together to deliver a strategy that supports young disabled people as they navigate one of the most important periods of their life. I made it clear to Ms Duncan-Glancy during the consideration of her bill that I would be willing to work closely on the transition strategy, and my position is the same today. I urge any member who has feedback on the development of the draft strategy to get in touch with me so that we can ensure that it is delivered as soon as possible. We all have a duty to work together to get this right.