Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2026 [Draft]
I recognise what Mr McArthur said about how the bill was amended at stage 2. However, that does not get away from the fact that the social work representative bodies are still making the point that they cannot support the bill at this stage because they are concerned that it does not do enough with regard to the automatic triggers for someone who is particularly vulnerable, who might already be subject to adult protection processes, and concerned about what it would mean to have a further layer of multidisciplinary investigation around them.
Having had those conversations with the social work representative bodies, I know that there remains a clear concern that those aspects have not been addressed in the bill. That could call into question long-standing professional procedures for social workers and also their professional integrity.
The danger of saying to GPs that they can request such input and advice is that it could lead to a role for independent social workers. Many people in the social work profession want to avoid going down that road and instead want to keep the role within existing systems, as Ms Nicoll raised in her intervention.
I appreciate that there will be further speeches on these issues and that there are amendments in the name of Fulton MacGregor that would deal with much of what we are discussing. However, it is important to put these points on the record as we begin the stage 3 debate on the amendments this evening. It is also important to ensure that, if we cannot answer the questions that have been posed to us by professionals in social work—