Hansard

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

25 Mar 2026

Portfolio Question Time · Adult Disability Payment (Mental and Behavioural Disorders)

Does the cabinet secretary agree that ADP helps people to get into and stay in employment? If ADP is cut, more people in Scotland will have to claim other benefits because they are not able to work. I remind members that I am in receipt of higher-rate ADP.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

24 Mar 2026

Adoption Support for Families

I, too, thank Fulton MacGregor not only for only bringing the debate to the chamber but for all the work that he has done as the convener of the cross-party group on social work. I have had the pleasure of being part of that group, which has been very much driven by him. I am ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

19 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill

I thank the former First Minister for her words. I am not sure that there are lots of things that we agree on politically, but I think that her advice to her younger self is excellent. I had the privilege of being a lobbyist in this Parliament 26 years ago, and I can see the d...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

19 Mar 2026

General Question Time · Pupil Support Assistants (Additional Support for Learning)

The number of pupils who are identified as having additional support needs has risen by about 97 per cent since 2013, with about 43 per cent of pupils now recorded as having an ASN. However, support provision has not kept pace. Although the £29 million funding increase from 20...

5. Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

19 Mar 2026

General Question Time · Pupil Support Assistants (Additional Support for Learning)

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether the current levels of pupil support assistant staffing in schools to support pupils with additional support for learning are adequate, including steps required where shortages exist. (S6O-05668)

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will not hold members back. I do not agree with the minister’s comments. Trauma training is vital, but I do not see it as part of what we have, so, with your permission, Deputy Presiding Officer, I will press amendment 74.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I accept the reassurances that have been given in regard to amendments 189 and 192 and I will not move those amendments. I am again thankful to the minister for her help on amendment 201.I will go back to amendments 74 and 77. I am still slightly concerned, to be honest, with ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I accept that that is unusual, but we have done it in other pieces of legislation. Why was it okay to do it when lawyers had to appear in regard to sexual offences but it is not right to protect vulnerable children in that way?

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

The good news for the chamber is that these are the last amendments that I will be speaking to tonight and, hopefully, in this session.Amendment 74, in my name, and amendment 75, in the name of Roz McCall, look to do similar things and I hope that the Government might be willi...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

My amendments 54 and 55 deal with pre-hearing meetings with the principal reporter. Pre-hearing meetings between the principal reporter, the cared-for child and their family do not currently take place in the children’s hearings system but will be a new procedure as set out in...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I agree with Martin Whitfield—I think that I raised my concern about giving too much power and authority to the chairs at stage 2. Chairs will often get it right, but we are all human and we all make mistakes.Consulting on the functions of the role of the chair will also ensur...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I thank Martin Whitfield for lodging his amendments and for going through the various amendments in the group. We have a choice tonight, and it is important that we agree to at least one of the amendments so that such provision, ultimately, appears in the act.I will speak to m...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I thank Fulton MacGregor for lodging these amendments. I will be interested to hear what the Scottish Government has to say about them, particularly on amendment 158, which concerns the collection of data on adoption breakdown.As I have said previously in the chamber, my wife ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Advocacy plays a vital role in enabling people to express their views and make informed decisions. It supports children and young people, and adults, to navigate complex systems and have their voices heard.At stage 2, I lodged an amendment to ensure that care-experienced peopl...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I thank the member for taking an intervention, and I apologise if he is about to come on to his point, but his amendment uses the words “reasonably practical”. What does that mean? He will remember from his legal days that the definitions will be looked at by lawyers and court...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I have nothing to add. I press amendment 11.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

18 Mar 2026

Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I, too, thank the minister for her proactive engagement. Although we will not agree on everything this afternoon and evening, I appreciate the way in which she and her officials have reached out. I also thank all the charities and organisations that have helped to shape my thi...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

It has been said many times during this stage 3 debate that we are dealing with the most important decision that we, as parliamentarians, have taken, and I want to thank Liam McArthur and all his team for the way in which we have taken the bill through Parliament.The decision ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I welcome Brian Whittle’s amendment 7 and I hope that members will support it. I thank the minister for picking up the concerns that she mentioned in relation to amendment 35. However, I still think that there is real concern among those who are operating such businesses at th...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 34 is a small drafting amendment that intends to improve the clarity of section 20. As the section is currently written, subsection (1) could potentially be read on its own without clear reference to subsection (3), even though the two provisions are meant to work to...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Having just heard the minister, I am now very confused as to the Scottish Government’s position. In one breath, the minister says that the Scottish Government cannot accept the amendments in this group because there must always be a medical practitioner present; in the next se...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I confess that when I saw this bill come before Parliament, I did not expect to engage directly with it. However, over the past few months, like Alex Cole-Hamilton, Ash Regan and others, I have been approached by numerous sole traders and businesses about the effect that the b...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

17 Mar 2026

Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

You have said how many businesses there are. How many individuals will lose their jobs because of the legislation? Have you done an equality impact assessment with regard to how it will affect females more than males?

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app would not connect. I would have voted yes.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

13 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Does Mr Kerr agree that we can already see that in our own jurisdiction? For example, last month, Jersey changed the law to allow assisted suicide and, this week, it is already starting to debate whether the law needs to be changed and made easier.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Before I turn to my amendment—members will be glad to hear that I intend to be very brief—it would be helpful if the cabinet secretary could give us some indication of the financial cost of this. I have been in the Parliament for 10 years and have never been in a position wher...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am sympathetic to what Mr MacGregor says but I wonder what the service that he proposes would cost. Perhaps I will ask the same question to other members with amendments in the group. Does Mr MacGregor have any idea of a costing for it and has he had any discussions with the...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

One of the really helpful things in the past three days has been that we are actually debating and listening to one other. I have heard a number of members express concerns about amendment 243, and it may save some time if I say now that I will not move it.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will try to conclude.Amendment 243 sets out what should happen if a person under 18 raised the subject. It sets out that they must be referred to“appropriate safeguarding and mental health services”,that the interaction must be recorded and that the parents or guardians must...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

The BMA will have to respond to the law that is brought forward. We are here to make the law, and the BMA will respond to that. I trust that it will do so appropriately.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 244 seeks to complement the proposed protections by removing“under the age of 18”from section 20B. Safeguarding professional accountability should not be age limited.Young adults face vulnerabilities that are similar to those that are faced by minors. It is ethically...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will come back to Mr Allan after I have made a wee bit of progress.I want to cover the situation of younger people as well. My amendment 245 would provide that, under section 20B, a doctor or health professional may face disciplinary action ranging from a warning or censure ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will leave it to the cabinet secretary to answer Ms Forbes’s second question.Brian Whittle and the Deputy First Minister have raised interesting issues. When I went to hospital appointments—which I did on numerous occasions—as a young child, and even when I was a teenager, m...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I want to make some progress, but I will take a final intervention from the Deputy First Minister.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

We could spend the next however many hours discussing “Do not resuscitate” orders. During Covid, many constituents contacted me about the matter and I was deeply worried by the stories that I heard about the absolute desire of doctors to put people on such orders without any d...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

If the member will let me progress a wee bit further, I will cover that. However, I will take Mr Briggs’s intervention first.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I will just finish my sentence and I will then give way to both gentlemen.Amendments 245 and 246 focus on professional accountability in relation to child safeguarding and end-of-life care.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

That is the key point. It is about who initiates the conversation. Amendment 235 would provide clarity for medical practitioners on compliance and accountability, and it would align with the concerns that the royal colleges and other professional bodies have raised in correspo...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am not against patients getting information. The point that I am trying to make is about who starts the conversation about getting the information. That is the subtle difference.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I rise to speak along similar lines to those taken by my colleagues. We are debating an important group of amendments. We must ensure that there are strong and secure safeguards, that there is professional accountability and, most importantly, as Mr Whittle said, that there is...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I thank the cabinet secretary for his helpful remarks.I am not concerned only about solicitors and proxies opting out. Is the cabinet secretary able to give an indication of other areas in which the UK Government may be willing to grant an opt-out? We had a long debate about t...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

That is a fair point, but I am seeking to introduce a safeguard. Several decades ago, when I was a trainee solicitor, I would be passed a file and told to go and do something by a partner or another senior member. I do not want there to be a situation in which a junior member ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

12 Mar 2026

Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 190 relates to section 12 and concerns the responsibilities and potential criminal liability of proxies who are involved in the assisted dying process. My amendment addresses a matter that goes to the integrity and safety of the system that would be established under...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

Last but not least, I put that question to Frank McKillop.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

It is okay—so has Craig.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

Craig Smith, the magic wand goes over to you.10:30

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

What would you go to? A bit like you, Keith, I am old enough—sorry to be rude—to remember the 100m rule. I remember that the test used to be whether someone could walk the length of a football pitch. Would you go back to that, or would you not put a figure on it?

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

Let me finish with a positive question. It is 8 May, and we have a new Government in place. The new cabinet secretary for social security comes to you and says, “Here is my magic wand. You can have one of the things that is in the report, and I will grant it to you today.”I kn...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

Good morning. I put on record that I am in receipt of the higher rate of ADP.I thank the four witnesses for coming. That is not only for today—you represent the third sector, and we have had people from that sector giving evidence to the committee for the past five years. As a...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Committee

12 Mar 2026

Adult Disability Payment

I am happy for Alexander Stewart to carry on; I will mop up at the end.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I have two questions that I would like the minister to address. The first follows on from Nicola Sturgeon’s remark about the Thursday of the final week still being available to us.Secondly—I say this with respect to all members of the bureau, because I understand that they hav...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

Will the minister take an intervention?

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

Again, I do not want to labour this point—well, I am labouring it—but can Keith Brown not see that it is different when someone wants to do their job but is excluded from doing so? I appreciate that it puts difficulties on diaries when people need to travel and have meetings, ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

Will the member take an intervention?

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I say to Mr Stewart that, yes, we have a job to do, but the trouble is that, if we decide tonight to deal with that business on Friday, we will prevent people from being able to do their jobs, and that is a really dangerous position for us to be in.21:32

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I do not want to labour the point at half past 9, but I will respond to Mr Stewart by saying that there is a difference between someone having to travel a distance and someone being physically unable to get here because of their caring responsibilities. That is a fundamental d...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I cannot comment on what the attendance will or will not be. All I know is that there will be people who want to be here but cannot be here, because they either have a caring responsibility or need a carer to help them, and they will be excluded. That does not seem to me to be...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I absolutely agree with Ross Greer. If we were to move stage 3 proceedings to Monday, we have the Tuesday the week after, when we are due to finish at 5 o’clock. That would give us seven days to consider the bill in its final form, and would allow those have caring responsibil...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I will finish this point, and then I will give way.People need notice, because many people cannot change their arrangements at the drop of a hat. I am not sure that those who do not have those responsibilities fully understand where we are on that.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

11 Mar 2026

Business Motions

I appreciate that we have to meet, but notice is the key factor. Moving business to Monday would have given people more time to get the appropriate care in place. To expect people who have caring responsibilities or those who care for them—