Hansard

I will deal with the points that Donald Gorrie has just raised before commenting on the rest of the debate.

I am aware that YouthLink Scotland has circulated information to MSPs highlighting some of the concerns of the voluntary sector. Indeed, many organisations highlighted those concerns during the course of our debates on the bill. I have given an assurance today that we will continue to work with the voluntary sector, and particularly with the youth organisations that have expressed concern, to get more information about the kind of support, training, advice and guidance that they will need.

However, I want to keep the matter in perspective, and Ian Jenkins outlined the situation clearly. I do not want a situation in which voluntary and youth organisations begin to see their core business as dealing with bureaucracy rather than providing services for young people. If there is a way of making the process simpler, by providing support, we want to do that. I am also concerned to ensure that smaller organisations have access to advice on issues that they are concerned about, on when they need to make decisions on whether to make a referral and on appropriate employment and disciplinary procedures. That is important. We need to have a clearer indication of exactly what the responsibilities will be in such organisations, and we must get a clearer fix on any financial implications. We want to make progress on that during the implementation stage.

It is perhaps worth reflecting on some of the comments that have been made by members in the debate. Mike Russell commented on the fact that, throughout our debates, a difficult central issue has been balancing children's right to protection and the rights of adults. Anybody who has ever been involved in child protection work will be acutely aware that that is constantly the difficult central issue. Of course, there was a time when child abuse, or the possibility that children would be abused, either by people in their own families or by people in the wider community, simply was not talked about. It was not allowed to be talked about. People pretended that it did not happen, kept it behind closed doors, swept it under the carpet or simply would not face up to it.

Thankfully, things have changed to the extent that young people now are much more able to talk about such issues and to come forward and report difficulties. Legislation and the support that is provided to children and young people have also moved on. The bill takes another step forward in closing loopholes that have been around for quite a long time. The Cullen report on the Dunblane tragedy crystallised people's concerns. People who have worked with children over many years will know that previous reports highlighted the same issues and went some way towards addressing the issues, but did not plug all the gaps.

Brian Monteith referred to the fact that it has taken only a relatively short time to draft the bill. That is of interest to me, given my professional background. A relatively short period in parliamentary time can seem like a lifetime for children and young people who are at risk. We must ensure that such young people do not feel vulnerable or at risk of abuse. They must have confidence that people will act on their concerns. Inquiries such as the Edinburgh child abuse inquiry and the Kent report highlighted circumstances that could perhaps have been avoided if this kind of legislation had been in place years ago.

Members have commented on whether we have got the balance right, and I will make a couple of points about the suggestion that was made at stage 2 that there should be a tribunal system rather than ministers' having responsibility. Last week, I laid out clearly in a letter to Karen Gillon, the convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, why we continue to believe that the situation that we have developed is the right one, whereby delegated powers will be given to a senior member of the civil service, someone from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education and someone from the social work services inspectorate to consider all the evidence and, if necessary, to seek the back-up of legal opinion on employment practices. I hope and trust that that deals with that issue. It is important that people have the opportunity to make appeals to the court, and we have taken account of the comments that committee members made at various stages.

Several members referred to the fact that we do not want our children's lives to be so over-regulated that their innocence is lost or that they cannot have the experiences that we want them to have. I agree with those sentiments. As a parent, I know—and many others will share this view—that one of the worst fears that a parent can have is that something will happen to their child. When people put their children in the care of professionals, whether for a short period during the day or for an extended period, such as when young people have to be looked after by the state, they must be confident that those people genuinely care about children and young people and will not abuse the trust that has been placed in them. That is why the bill is so important.

Karen Gillon and Jackie Baillie referred to the fact that the soft information that has been held on individuals has perhaps gone around the system without anyone being able to collate it or take action. Jackie Baillie said that real life demands real action. The bill gives us an opportunity to take real action and to ensure that young people are protected in real-life difficult situations.

Karen Gillon also highlighted the important fact that the bill is not an excuse for bad employment practices. I state that fact clearly for the record. I expect organisations to take the bill seriously. If there are concerns or suspicions about people, organisations should investigate them thoroughly and properly. It is not the case that rumour or malicious comment will allow people to be listed. The processes will be scrutinised thoroughly, and the whole reason for bringing such cases before ministers will be to ensure that the investigation has been done properly.

I could continue to speak for a considerable length of time, but I will resist the temptation to do so. I record my thanks to everyone who has been involved in the bill at all stages, including the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and officials. The Parliament has a good record of trying to improve the lives of vulnerable children. The bill is another example of the Executive and the committee recognising the action that needed to be taken to deal with the real situations that young people out there in the real world face and putting in place legislation that will make a difference to their lives.

I put on record again my thanks to everybody who was involved in the process. I trust that we will be able to pass the bill without opposition and to send a clear message to the children and young people of Scotland that we are on their side.