Hansard

Before Parliament votes tonight, I want to reflect on what this moment represents for Parliament, and for care-experienced young people in Scotland. Throughout the debate, we have spoken about systems and reform, but, at its heart, the bill is about people. It is about the children and young people whose lives have been shaped by the care system, and our responsibility to do better for them. The Promise asks Scotland to look honestly at the experiences of those who have grown up in care. It asks us to listen to their stories, not just of resilience and courage but of systems that, too often, failed to provide the love, stability and support that every child deserves and needs in their life.

On Tuesday, with the minister, I met a number of care-experienced people whom I first met 10 years ago. One of those present told me that when someone cannot rely on their parents to care, they need their nation to care. That is a challenge that rests on all of us. Those young people also told me about tangible change that we have seen over the years since the Promise was made. They told me that, in their opinion, our nation cares more than it has in the past. That is welcome, but the challenge that we must always strive to live up to is to improve the experience of children who experience care.

The Promise asked us to change. Members across the chamber accepted that challenge. Today, we take another seismic step in honouring that commitment. Roz McCall is absolutely correct to say that the keeping the Promise bill is not a single bill. It is a generational commitment to transform how Scotland supports children and families. The world is watching the progress that Scotland is making, but, more importantly, our children and young people are watching this Parliament and the steps that it is taking. Moments such as this matter. They show that Scotland is prepared to listen, to learn and to change—that it is prepared to face up to uncomfortable elements of our country’s identity and make things better for those for whom we need to make our country better. They show that the voices of people with lived experience can shape the laws of this country. That is what is happening tonight. Moments such as this remind us why the work that we do in this chamber matters in improving the lives of individuals in our country.

I believe that the bill represents real progress and a clear statement of the direction that Scotland has chosen to take, but it would not have reached this point in the shape that it is in without the leadership of Natalie Don-Innes in steering the bill through Parliament. Since her election to Parliament, Natalie Don-Innes has spoken openly about her own experiences of growing up, which drove her commitment to this legislation. That is clear in everything that she says and does as one of my ministers. She can be proud of the progress that she has delivered in government, and I am immensely proud of how she has gone about doing that and improving the lives of others as a consequence. She has listened, engaged and reflected. That approach has made this Government better and it has made this legislation stronger. I associate myself with what Mr Whitfield said about the learning that hands that are, perhaps, more experienced can take from more junior hands on matters such as this.

I also express my thanks to members of all parties for their commitment to enhancing the bill, as a consequence of their engagement with the minister. That has been the foundation of making the bill as strong as it is, because the minister has led a process of engagement with all parties to ensure that the bill is as strong as it can be.

I know that Natalie Don-Innes’s role as a minister has demanded her personal engagement, investment and activity. Those qualities are rooted in her entire being. I do not often disclose to Parliament the private conversations that I have with my ministers, but I want to make it clear to Parliament tonight that Natalie Don-Innes’s decision to stand down from Parliament is one that I deeply regret and worked hard to try to ensure that she did not take.

Tonight, in the most public way that I can, I express my admiration for Natalie Don-Innes for all that she has contributed to the work of my Government and the Parliament. She stands down from the Parliament with my warmest wishes and my admiration for all that she has achieved. [Applause.]

I also pay tribute to my friend and colleague Nicola Sturgeon, who made her final contribution to debate in the Scottish Parliament this evening—although there will be a First Minister’s question time next Wednesday, at which she may decide to hold someone to account. There is always fear in every week of the parliamentary session. [Laughter.]

Nicola Sturgeon and I have travelled far together since our earliest days in the Scottish National Party. We became members of the Scottish Parliament on the same day and we entered Government on the same day. I was proud and honoured to serve for every minute of my time as her Deputy First Minister. The decisions that she took as First Minister have transformed the lives of people in Scotland—in particular, our children and young people. She led from the front with her bold decision to introduce the Scottish child payment. As First Minister, she expanded free early learning and childcare, extended free school meals and introduced the baby box, but I know that the policy that she feels most proud of and most passionate about is the Promise.

When Nicola Sturgeon and I started on the journey of engaging with the issues of care when I was her education secretary, we started by listening carefully to the voices that were at the heart of the independent care review, which called for a system that is focused on love, safety and respect. I took part in a number of meetings, but Nicola Sturgeon gave a commitment to speak to 1,000 care-experienced young people in Scotland, and she spoke to 1,000 care-experienced young people—and likely more than that.

As she is the First Minister who made the Promise, I know that Nicola Sturgeon feels a particular responsibility to see that it is fully honoured, and that is a responsibility that she has discharged in the way that she has engaged with the bill. I know that the responsibility that she feels to care-experienced children—to ensure that everyone grows up feeling loved, safe and respected—will not end when she leaves this Parliament. In looking forward to her continuing contribution to this effort, I want to express, as First Minister, on behalf of the people of Scotland, my warmest thanks to Nicola Sturgeon for the immense public service that she has given to Scotland as a member of the Scottish Parliament, as the Deputy First Minister, and as the longest-serving and first female First Minister of Scotland. She has much to be proud of and she steps down from the Parliament with my heartfelt thanks for all that she has done for Scotland and with my warmest wishes for all that lies ahead. [Applause.]

Presiding Officer, you have been very generous in your allocation of time to me. I will not speak for much longer, but there is one more important thing that I need to say to the Parliament. As we all are, I am about to embark on an election campaign. Although it will not be a universally popular concept around the Parliament, I intend to work very hard to try to be a First Minister that returns to the Parliament after the election on 7 May. I say openly to the Parliament, to the country, to care-experienced young people in Scotland, and to Nicola Sturgeon, who did so much to pave the way to enhance the lives of care-experienced young people, that if I am fortunate enough to be elected as the First Minister of Scotland and have the privilege of continuing that work, I will do my all to deliver the Promise. We entered into this commitment to improve the lives of care-experienced young people in Scotland and to keep the Promise, which is what I pledge to do if I am elected as First Minister.

I also pledge to work in the way that Nicola Sturgeon did, which is also, if I may say so, what Liz Smith referred to in her speech to the Parliament the other day, when she spoke about our collective endeavour. Presiding Officer, your leadership of the bill that we have wrestled with over the past week has been, as Nicola Sturgeon said, a demonstration that it is possible for us to have courteous and respectful debate as we wrestle with big questions. There can be no bigger question than that of making sure that the future of young people in our country is the best that it possibly can be. If I am fortunate enough to lead a Government, I will work with others to make sure that we fulfil that promise. [Applause.]