Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2026 [Draft]
I will make just a brief contribution on this group. At stage 2, I lodged a series of amendments to include estranged young people in various provisions of the bill, including, to some extent, in relation to aftercare. I raise the issue now because, at that point, the minister kindly agreed to take those proposals away and consider how, either through the bill or by other means in the provisions relating to the bill and some of the powers that will be afforded to the Government as a result of it, the experience of estranged young people can be better taken into account.
I ask the minister to address that in her closing speech on this group. I am acutely aware—as, I think, we all should be—that care-experienced young people have built an incredibly powerful political movement in this country over the past 10 to 15 years. That is why we have got to this point with the bill, and they should be incredibly proud of that.
The estranged community in Scotland no longer has a single representative organisation. There was one charity that stood up for its interests, but it folded a few years ago. It is my view that it is the Parliament’s responsibility to ensure that estranged young people are not forgotten in the conversation. Some, but not all, estranged young people are care experienced. For the proposals in group 1 that relate to aftercare, I would be keen to hear from the minister how she intends to ensure that estranged young people are not forgotten as we take the provisions forward.