Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I am absolutely certain that the minister’s future will be massively successful.
It is a pleasure to speak in the debate. I thank Fulton MacGregor not just for bringing the motion to the chamber but for all his work throughout this parliamentary session on a crucial matter. Stage 3 of the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill last week shone a light on some of the most incredible people in our communities. Tonight’s debate allows us to shine a very specific light on a much smaller but very important group that sits within that community.
I agree with much of what the motion calls for, and much of what we have heard from David Torrance and Roz McCall. There is a call for data collection and to look at national adoption practices, with the understanding that adoption is not just a snapshot in a person’s life. When a child is put up for adoption, which often happens at a very early age, their experience is carried throughout their life. Just as parents continue to feel responsibility for birth children, communities should feel responsibility for all their members. Adoption goes on, although it changes and develops. With young people who have been adopted, some challenges that were not apparent early on often become more apparent at a later stage.
I whole-heartedly agree with the point in the cross-party group’s report about seeking a clear definition of adoption breakdown. Again, it is crucially important, both for those who adopt and for adoptees, to understand what we mean by adoption breakdown and how it can be anticipated, as issues becomes more apparent, to try to prevent breakdowns before things go too far.
In my short contribution, I want to concentrate on the report’s call for a review of adoption allowances to enable applications to be made throughout the course of adoption as family circumstances change and as children’s needs change and emerge. In that very small area, I have had a significant amount of casework relating to the challenge that our system throws up—it is almost a postcode lottery. We need an understanding in local authorities of what the expectation is and what the guidance suggests should happen.
Last year’s fostering and adoption statistics show that children who are going through the adoption system face significant delays, with some waiting for six months or longer. That goes back to matters that I raised when talking about the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill last week about permanency and decision taking. We cannot overstate the challenge that our young people feel if they do not have a settled environment in which to live.
Teachers and parents have knowledge of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Sitting right at the bottom of that is the need for a home, a family and security. Without those, children are unable to develop the skills that others do not even know that they are developing, because they are in a sort of flight or fight mode for far too long. We have an opportunity to build on the excellent work that the minister and the Government have done with regard to the bill. The Government that will come after the election needs to build on that.
I reiterate the point that I made last week that far more experienced politicians could learn from the minister’s approach of reaching out. Drift and delay in the development of young people are massively important issues. However, the report speaks to the fact that, if we listen to the voices of adoptive families, to the children and to the practitioners, we can ensure that this often forgotten group of children are given the tailored support that they need and deserve.