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Chamber

Plenary, 26 Mar 2003

26 Mar 2003 · S1 · Plenary

Item of business

Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill

Jenkins, Ian LD Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale Watch on SPTV

I intend to be kind to the younger people, as every other member of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee is younger than I am.

I am grateful to the minister for his kind remarks and endorse the comments that all my colleagues have made. I do not intend to keep the chamber long. Over recent months, we have rehearsed fully the arguments in favour of the appointment of a commissioner for children and young people. I am sure that today we will move to put the bill firmly on the statute book.

I add to the tributes that have been paid to our clerking team, our advisers and the many witnesses—including the children—who contributed to our thinking on this matter. I pick out for special mention Karen Gillon's leadership of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The comprehensive and powerful speech that she made today brought that to a head and showed the invaluable work that she has done. I also commend the invaluable work that Irene McGugan and Jackie Baillie did with the non-Executive bills unit and the work of the ad hoc committee that brought the bill to its final stage.

I will not discuss all the principles of the appointment, but I take this opportunity to remind the chamber that the idea of a children's commissioner was suggested in the House of Commons in 1995 by Jim Wallace, during consideration of the Children (Scotland) Bill. It is, therefore, a particular pleasure to be here when the commissioner's post, which is a Liberal Democrat policy, will be established. I believe that this Parliament—including Nicol Stephen, ministers who are not here and past ministers, together with the Education, Culture and Sport Committee—has a good record in considering the interests of children in our legislative programme. I believe that the establishment of a commissioner is a fitting conclusion to our work in this first session of the Scottish Parliament.

As we were reminded in the title of a recent policy document, it is everyone's job to see that our children are well looked after. Behind the bill lies a principle, which is the parliamentary equivalent of the biblical evocation:

"Suffer the little children to come unto me."

We mean all the children of Scotland, because we owe it to them and to ourselves to cater for the poor, the disadvantaged, the weak and the vulnerable and to ensure that their rights are protected and maintained.

In an earlier debate, I was reluctant to say, although it was true, that the establishment of the commissioner would be a monument to our work in the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The word "monument" seemed too lifeless and static. I was also reluctant to say, although it was true, that he or she would be a figurehead, because that too might have suggested a lack of mobility and positive action. However, I believe that the creation of the commissioner's post can rightly be regarded as a symbol of the Parliament's commitment to children and to providing justice and opportunity for all our children. I am convinced that that symbolism is important.

Nevertheless, the commissioner himself or herself and the young people with whom he or she will interact will provide the driving force to give the proposals the strength and the comprehensive status that we and others have envisaged in the creation of the post and, as Karen Gillon reminded me, the moral authority that we intend the post to have. For that reason, I sincerely hope that the Parliament will go on in the new session to appoint a strong commissioner who establishes a positive rapport with the Parliament and with all the agencies that have responsibility for looking after children in Scotland.

The independence of the commissioner is vital, and I have every confidence that he or she will value and cherish that independence. I hope that we as politicians will also cherish it and will not seek to influence the commissioner's agenda for any purpose other than the better protection and welfare of children in Scotland.

As I come to the end of my service on the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, I feel privileged and proud to have played a part in the work of the committee and the Parliament. At the risk of offending and upsetting some of my party colleagues and others around the chamber, I wish all members of the committee good fortune in order that they and other colleagues can continue in the next session the good work that we have started in this one. Let us go ahead and pass the bill to produce a champion for children and young people in Scotland.