Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
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 difference since then. Some of the changes have been very positive, but I absolutely agree with Nicola Sturgeon that the way that we conduct ourselves in this chamber is not the way that the Scottish people would want us to. I also want to acknowledge that we have this bill before us today only because of the work that Nicola Sturgeon has done, and, on behalf of the many young people whom I have engaged with on the bill, I thank her for getting us here.
I also thank the charities and groups that have contacted me, spoken to me and helped me with the amendments that I moved last night.
I think that we are still in a good place with cross-party support. I hope that, no matter who forms the next Government and which parties are represented in the next Parliament, that will continue and hold together.
There are some really good things in the bill. I am particularly pleased about the movement on kinship care, and I thank the minister for the work that she has done on that.
In the speaking time that I have left, I will ask three simple questions about where we are and about the bill.
The first is on the issue of UNCRC compliance, on which I agree absolutely with Ross Greer—again, that does not happen often. I hope that the bill is compliant. We have had warnings from the Law Society of Scotland and a number of charities questioning compliance, even given the amendments that we agreed to yesterday. I fear that there will be a legal challenge to the bill from somebody. Clearly, it will take better legal minds than mine to decide on that, but I hope that, whatever challenge comes, we can build on the bill and that, whatever challenges the court brings back to the next Parliament, they can be dealt with quickly.
My second question is on whether the bill can be delivered in practice. I welcomed the comments about that from the minister in her opening speech and from other members. We have to listen carefully to those who have given us briefing papers and warnings on the issue, whether that is social workers, COSLA or others. They have said that the bill will not work unless we fund local services better. This Parliament and this Government cannot do that; it will be a challenge for the next Government and Parliament. If we are truly going to have children’s hearings that work, if we are truly going to have the right interventions at the right time, and if we are truly going to support grandparents, uncles, aunties and others to provide kinship care, it all needs to be funded, and I hope that that will happen.
Finally, what comes next? I join colleagues in thanking the minister for her work at stages 2 and 3. If I am honest, the reason why she is such a good minister is that we gave her a hard time as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee when she first arrived in the Parliament. She has grown in her role as a leader, and she has taken the bill through in a way that many others could learn lessons from.
With both the minister and the former First Minister leaving, and with who knows who being elected in May, my worry is this: who will pick up the challenge after the election? I hope that, in the same way as the present First Minister, Mr Rennie and Mr Greer have done, the two leaders from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party will give a commitment that, whoever forms the next Government, we will see the Promise delivered by 2030. The bill will not be worth the paper that it is written on unless we—not just this Parliament but civic society as a whole—do that.
I hope that the bill will be delivered. It is the first step, and I look forward to seeing what bill is introduced in the next session of Parliament. I am sure that we will all get behind whoever leads it, so that it will be delivered and, most importantly, so that some of the most vulnerable children in our society get a better chance than they have today.