Hansard

I am pleased to open this important debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. The report on additional support for learning that Audit Scotland published earlier this year was damning, and it highlighted the Scottish National Party Government’s failure to plan and resource accordingly to tackle the issue. Teachers and school staff face unprecedented pressures, and our most vulnerable pupils are being let down.

More than 40 per cent of Scottish pupils receive additional support for learning. In Edinburgh, in my region, the number of pupils with additional support needs has grown by more than 165 per cent over the past 10 years. ASN pupils now represent 39 per cent and 52 per cent of Edinburgh’s primary and secondary school population, respectively.

The Audit Scotland report rightly calls on the Scottish Government and councils to

“fundamentally rethink how they plan, fund and staff additional support for learning as part of core school education in Scotland.”

Stephen Boyle, the Auditor General for Scotland, said:

“The Scottish Government has failed to plan effectively for its inclusive approach to additional support for learning. Current gaps in data mean it is unclear whether all children’s right to have an education that fully develops their personality, talents and abilities is being met.

The Scottish Government and councils urgently need better quality data to understand pupils’ additional support needs and the resources required to provide support to enable all pupils to reach their full potential.”

Ruth MacLeod, a member of the Accounts Commission, said:

“Councils and the Scottish Government must fundamentally rethink how additional support for learning is planned and provided”.

I agree, and that is why we have brought this debate to Parliament.

Fundamentally, we need to urgently understand the levels of additional support for learning in our schools and realistically look at what the Scottish Government and our councils can do to meet that demand and prioritise resources. Teachers tell us again and again that we need leadership to understand how we are going to provide that additional support and what that will look like on the ground. I am deeply concerned that the message from teachers and parents is that they cannot cope unless urgent and significant investment is made to enable schools to effectively deliver the support that we need. It is also important that we understand how the implementation of mainstreaming has impacted on teachers and the wider school community, and the additional pressures that that has brought.

In recent weeks, I have raised two issues at First Minister’s question time. I raised the issue of children and young people who are seeking attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism diagnosis pathways being removed from child and adolescent mental health services waiting lists without suitable alternatives being made available and without their being told about or signposted to third sector support.

The Scottish Government’s press release celebrated its meeting the target for referral to CAMHS, which it set almost a decade ago, for the first time. However, I know from speaking to parents whom I represent here in Lothian that that was a slap in the face for parents who have been waiting and waiting, many of whom have now decided that they will seek private diagnosis, with no clear pathway for the delivery of shared care with GP surgeries for their children.

The truth is that the only reason why ministers have been able to say that the target was met is that children and young people who are seeking an ADHD or autism diagnosis have been removed from those figures. One parent said to me that it feels like those waiting times have been gerrymandered, and I agree. That is why we are calling for a review, and I hope that Parliament will back that.

I am also deeply concerned that, in recent months, three of our major health boards—my board in Lothian, the minister’s board in Highland and the board in Tayside—have been escalated to level 3 of the Government’s support and intervention framework as a result of their mental health performance, specifically on CAMHS. Given that the figures will have changed, how will they be judged on improvement now that many children are being taken off that waiting list?

It is not only me who is asking that question. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland has said that the number of children who are on separate waiting lists to be assessed for neurodevelopmental conditions is now not routinely being published by the Scottish Government. It says that the Scottish Government needs to be more transparent, and I agree with that call.

Dr Laura Sutherland, who is the vice-chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland’s child and adolescent faculty, said that children who are at the most risk are prioritised, which can result in people with a neurodevelopmental condition waiting even longer. She said:

“Often there is not an immediate risk which is why some of these young people can wait for longer but I think overall the impact is longer term ... It means young people can’t get into education or be supported adequately and ultimately some of these young people will go on to develop mental health conditions on the back of neurodiverse conditions.”

Those two issues are critical—we need action, and ministers need to take that forward.

I turn to the amendments. I have no problem with the Government amendment, but that is because it simply states that Parliament

“agrees that all children and young people should receive the help that they need to thrive”.

The Scottish Conservatives agree, but we need to ask why, after 18 years, the Scottish Government is not delivering that.

I welcome what is contained in the Labour amendment. I very much agree that, 10 years on from the Morgan review, we have not seen the progress that we should have seen.

The Green Party amendment was not selected for debate, but it points out—importantly—a

“concern that only 1,215 children in Scotland have a coordinated support plan ... which represents just 0.4% of all children with a recognised additional support need”.

At that rate, ministers will continue to fail. We need a rethink, which is why the Scottish Conservatives are calling for action.

I believe that there are solutions out there to support what we want to see. Last week, I visited the Yard, which is a wonderful charity that is based in Edinburgh. I apologise to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, as I may have inadvertently signed her up for a visit to see its facility and the fantastic resources that it has developed to provide models of support to teachers and the school community more widely. We need those models to be embraced and rolled out nationally.

I hope that today’s debate will act as a wake-up call for ministers, the Scottish Government and councils to recognise that they are not delivering the support that our children and young people need. I hope that, if Parliament supports my motion at decision time, we will get clear timelines from the Scottish Government on when the key reviews will take place. We urgently need that action.

Teachers and parents are growing more and more concerned at the failure to provide and resource the planning of additional support for learning in our schools across Scotland. That must change, and that is why the Scottish Conservatives continue to stand up for pupils, parents and teachers and demand that SNP ministers deliver the support that our children and young people need to thrive.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the Audit Scotland report calling for a fundamental review of planning and resourcing of additional support for learning in Scotland; recognises concerns over declining numbers of additional support workers and classroom assistants; highlights the need to understand the rise in pupils with additional support needs to better target resources and training; calls on the Scottish Government and local authorities to deliver a new model of support alongside the NHS Education for Scotland trauma-informed practice training on neurodivergence and autism; expresses concern over changes to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism diagnosis pathways removing children from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) support without suitable alternatives, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to undertake a national review into the implementation of mainstreaming policy and the availability of specialist additional school places across local authorities.