Chamber
Plenary, 15 Jan 2003
15 Jan 2003 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I add my thanks to the clerks, to NEBU, to my parliamentary colleagues on the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and, in particular, to Irene McGugan. Such cross-party working shows the Parliament at its best.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote:
"It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date."
He was undoubtedly feeling his age. However, it is true—dare I say it—that us wrinklies need constantly to be kept up to date. We need to pay particular attention to the way in which our children's world is changing. Today, children have a host of new opportunities available to them and it is essential that they are helped to make the most of them. At the same time, children are exposed to new dangers via the internet and through drugs and crime. As vulnerable members of our society, they deserve our protection.
Bernard Shaw was also right that, from time to time, we are shocked; but we are shocked not so much by the way in which children behave as by the fact that, in a country such as Scotland, children can still be abused through prostitution or bullied to the point that they want to harm themselves. That beggars belief.
Time and again, in discussions of children's rights, references are made to the need for communication and a joined-up approach to children's services. However, as yet there is no one individual or office dedicated exclusively to children and to promoting their interests and constantly working to seek improvement. The creation of a commissioner for children and young people in Scotland will fill that gap.
The commissioner will be more akin to a guide dog than a watchdog. Through the commissioner's significant powers of investigation, he or she may, indeed, snap at the heels of underperformers in children's services, but the role provides for a much broader and much more proactive remit than that. The commissioner will have the duty to guide service providers towards best practice.
The commissioner will also have the job of acting as our eyes and ears in relation to concerns and the welfare of children up and down the country. I particularly welcome that aspect, because it is hard to focus on so many of the different needs of children simultaneously, yet those needs must not, and cannot, be neglected. An independent and permanent office of the children's commissioner will ensure that the welfare of our young is never marginalised by political considerations and that children's voices are not lost in the clamour for the Parliament's attention.
When the Education, Culture and Sport Committee set up the inquiry into the need for a children's commissioner, we did what some would have considered unthinkable: we consulted young people. We consulted not just a few young people, but hundreds. One 14-year-old girl who participated in a seminar said:
"Adults don't listen to children but they would listen to a Commissioner for children."
She has a point. I ask the chamber to support the principles of the bill.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote:
"It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date."
He was undoubtedly feeling his age. However, it is true—dare I say it—that us wrinklies need constantly to be kept up to date. We need to pay particular attention to the way in which our children's world is changing. Today, children have a host of new opportunities available to them and it is essential that they are helped to make the most of them. At the same time, children are exposed to new dangers via the internet and through drugs and crime. As vulnerable members of our society, they deserve our protection.
Bernard Shaw was also right that, from time to time, we are shocked; but we are shocked not so much by the way in which children behave as by the fact that, in a country such as Scotland, children can still be abused through prostitution or bullied to the point that they want to harm themselves. That beggars belief.
Time and again, in discussions of children's rights, references are made to the need for communication and a joined-up approach to children's services. However, as yet there is no one individual or office dedicated exclusively to children and to promoting their interests and constantly working to seek improvement. The creation of a commissioner for children and young people in Scotland will fill that gap.
The commissioner will be more akin to a guide dog than a watchdog. Through the commissioner's significant powers of investigation, he or she may, indeed, snap at the heels of underperformers in children's services, but the role provides for a much broader and much more proactive remit than that. The commissioner will have the duty to guide service providers towards best practice.
The commissioner will also have the job of acting as our eyes and ears in relation to concerns and the welfare of children up and down the country. I particularly welcome that aspect, because it is hard to focus on so many of the different needs of children simultaneously, yet those needs must not, and cannot, be neglected. An independent and permanent office of the children's commissioner will ensure that the welfare of our young is never marginalised by political considerations and that children's voices are not lost in the clamour for the Parliament's attention.
When the Education, Culture and Sport Committee set up the inquiry into the need for a children's commissioner, we did what some would have considered unthinkable: we consulted young people. We consulted not just a few young people, but hundreds. One 14-year-old girl who participated in a seminar said:
"Adults don't listen to children but they would listen to a Commissioner for children."
She has a point. I ask the chamber to support the principles of the bill.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel):
NPA
The first of our debates today is a debate on motion S1M-3689, in the name of Karen Gillon, on stage 1 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Sco...
Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab):
Lab
Members are sometimes surprised by how relevant the topic at time for reflection is to the debate that follows. Today's time for reflection was certainly rel...
The Minister for Education and Young People (Cathy Jamieson):
Lab
Like Karen Gillon, I welcome in particular the young people who have come to the public gallery to listen to the debate. The debate centres around the best i...
Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I begin by conveying apologies from Michael Russell, who is, unfortunately, unwell this afternoon. On a happier note, I congratulate Karen Gillon on her comp...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I offer the apologies of my colleague Brian Monteith, who is not able to be with us for the whole of this afternoon's debate. Unfortunately he is attending a...
Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
There is a sense of déjà vu about this debate, because it is not long since committee members talked about the report that established the case for the appoi...
The Presiding Officer:
NPA
In the open debate, we have time for two short speeches of three minutes each.
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab):
Lab
I add my thanks to the clerks, to NEBU, to my parliamentary colleagues on the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and, in particular, to Irene McGugan. Su...
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
Speaking as a genuine wrinkly—unlike the young ladies on the Labour benches—I have been actively involved in discussing and promoting this subject over the p...
The Presiding Officer:
NPA
We now move to closing speeches, which should be of three minutes.
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
I congratulate Karen Gillon and the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on introducing the bill. In years gone by, I was a member of the committee, but I ...
Ian Jenkins:
LD
I take it that Mr Stone is speaking as a smoothie, rather than as a wrinkly.
Mr Stone:
LD
As they said in "Beyond the Fringe", Esau was a hairy man, but I am a smooth man.Sorry, Ian Jenkins has thrown me, completely and utterly.Like all the other ...
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I thank the Presiding Officer for allowing me to arrive late for the debate following my attendance at a family funeral. I am pleased to be able to make a co...
Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I begin by congratulating the committee on the work that it has done. The Parliament should also thank the committee for the work that it has done on the bil...
Karen Gillon:
Lab
Does Fiona McLeod accept that we have created a new public services ombudsman and that the Parliament should say to the ombudsman from the outset that they m...
Fiona McLeod:
SNP
I am not looking for the commissioner to be the last court of appeal, but having talked about exhausting the process, I hope that there will always be someon...
Cathy Jamieson:
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to say a few words in closing for the Executive. The debate has been short but useful. All members have given a clear commitment to...
Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab):
Lab
I thank all the members who participated in the debate. The response has been positive, even from the wrinklies and the smoothie—wherever he is.The bill prov...