Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Official Report 1104KB pdf

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Child Safety Week 2024

The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-13063, in the name of Clare Adamson, on child safety week 2024.

The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I invite members who wish to participate in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament marks Child Safety Week, the flagship annual campaign run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), which takes place between 3 and 9 June 2024; understands that the 2024 theme, Safety Sorted!, encourages families to feel confident that, with one small change, they can stop a serious accident and be clear what they need to do to keep children safe; considers that Child Safety Week acts as a catalyst for thousands of safety conversations and activities across Scotland, helping families to build confidence and skills in managing the real risks to children’s safety; believes that child safety is a social justice issue and understands that children living in Scotland’s most deprived communities are more likely to experience preventable accidents than those from the least deprived areas; applauds Child Safety Week’s online resources and activities, which are available free to families and agencies; commends CAPT and other safety organisations for their ongoing efforts to promote the safety and wellbeing of children, and wishes all the organisers and volunteers the best for Child Safety Week 2024.

18:15  

It is a privilege to open the debate to mark child safety week, the flagship annual campaign that is led by the Child Accident Prevention Trust. This year, child safety week runs from 3 to 9 June, and the theme for 2024 is “Safety. Sorted!”

I thank all the safety campaigners who work to ensure that accident prevention is pushed up our political agenda to where it should be. As we heard in the previous debate, preventative spend is always the smart spend. I make special mention of the cross-party group on accident prevention and safety awareness and the dedication of all its members, including those from charities, those who volunteer and those who work in our emergency services. I also thank my MSP colleagues for signing the motion, as well as those who will speak in the debate tonight.

The 2024 theme of “Safety. Sorted!” encourages families to feel confident that, with a small change, they can prevent a serious accident and be clear on what they need to do to help keep children safe. That reflects the message from safety campaigners that accidents, otherwise known as unintentional injury, are not inevitable, and that small changes can dramatically reduce unintentional injury.

Since we last held a debate on child safety week, the biggest legislative change has, arguably, been the domestic implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Embedding those core children’s rights in Scots law marks a significant milestone for the Parliament. We know that children from more deprived areas are disproportionately impacted by accidents and unintentional injury: child safety is a poverty and social justice-related issue.

That basic social inequity underlies the need for rights-based legislation to be at the heart of Scottish policy. I am keen to remind members that article 24 of the UNCRC states as one of its aims:

“To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge”

in a number of areas, including

“the prevention of accidents”.

Since our previous child safety week debate, there have been new developments that have implications for child safety. I did not envisage that vaping would be an extant child safety concern. Vaping companies are transparently targeting younger people with flashy marketing, colours and flavours, and the Child Accident Prevention Trust has previously warned that hospitals are seeing a growing number of children accidentally swallowing liquid nicotine from e-cigarette refills.

To anyone who questions the need for regulation, I contend that vapes are being used to save the tobacco industry from a societal shift in consumer attitudes to smoking. The smoking cessation argument falters when one considers that a huge proportion of new vape users have never smoked. We cannot allow the next generation to bear the brunt of the health, social, environmental and economic costs. I am heartened that the Scottish Government is consulting on a ban on single-use vapes, and I reiterate the calls for a tougher regulatory framework to assist organisations such as Trading Standards Scotland in dealing with the problem of underage sales.

I turn to some of the common dangers for children, which are highlighted in child safety week. We all—parents, especially—know that bumps, scrapes and bruises are a part of growing up; that is how children interact with their world. However, we learn the consequences of our actions. We become more alert to the dangers, we grow and we become—it is hoped—more cautious and more risk averse. Thousands of injuries each year are avoidable. They are a huge economic cost to our health service, with potentially life-changing impacts on children and their families.

Child safety week is, first and foremost, about raising awareness. Parents and carers can look through the resources that have been produced this week by organisations such as CAPT and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Scotland, which have a host of free information and advice. There are tips on dangers in the home, from scalds and burns, falls, poisoning and choking hazards to road safety, safety for children around animals and drowning prevention.

There are simple proactive measures that can be taken to ensure that parents and their children avoid injury. We have heard recurring themes in the chamber, but I reiterate that button batteries are a notorious danger—they are hazardous for toddlers, and they are easily swallowed. We know all too well that that can lead to tragedy, as they contain chemicals that burn through tissue very quickly. The Scottish Government has been working with our cross-party group to ensure that information is available for parents on the dangers of button batteries. That information is now included in the baby box, which is an important step.

There is a pervasive problem with safety regulations in online marketplaces. We have an ever-increasing number of gadgets in our homes, but substandard and fake goods are readily available online, and that extends to children’s products. People are, understandably, looking to make savings amid financial pressures, but I urge them to stick to trusted traders and transparent safety standards.

There is a consumer assumption that a product that is designed for children will have gone through safety testing. Research from CAPT, however, shows that

“more than half of parents ... mistakenly believe that sellers ... online”

adhere to standards such as the CE mark, and that almost three quarters of parents

“wrongly believe that any product aimed at children under 5 has to be fully tested and certified ... before it can be sold online”.

As members will know, the issue of road safety is dear to my heart. In my Motherwell and Wishaw constituency, parents and carers have expressed serious concerns about proposals to increase the minimum distance between school and home for which school transport is provided. On Friday, I walked with several parents and pupils from Cathedral primary to their homes in North Lodge, and I saw the impact that that would have on primary pupils. We have to consider that when we are making changes to policy. We had to walk alongside very fast roads, with people speeding, and when we crossed at a pelican crossing, we had to traverse around a car that had stopped in the middle of the crossing. That is not a safe route for young people and children to be following.

As you know, Presiding Officer, I could go on ad infinitum about safety issues in all the various areas. I am sure that some of my colleagues will pick up on areas that I have not been able to touch on, such as water safety. I thank everyone in advance for their contributions.

18:22  

I thank Clare Adamson for bringing the debate to the chamber. That was an interesting opening contribution, which highlighted the concerns around vapes for young people—an issue that is prevalent.

I am always happy to speak in the chamber on the wellbeing of Scotland’s children, including all aspects of keeping children safe. I commend the Child Accident Prevention Trust for its continuing work in that regard, in particular during this year’s child safety week, for which the theme—as has been stated—is “Safety. Sorted!”

In the words of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, child safety week is an

“annual community education campaign, acting as a catalyst for thousands of safety conversations and activities UK-wide.”

That conversation, and the recognition of all the little issues in and around our homes and communities, is so important.

When I was young, television was not broadcast all day. We had three channels, and a test card picture was the most viewed item on the screen. Our choice was limited—there was no breakfast television and no 24-hour children’s TV. We had a closedown of broadcasting after the lunchtime news, and programming restarted most afternoons at around 4 o’clock.

The reason that I mention that is because, at the start of the afternoon session, before “Play School” adorned the screen, a public information film was shown. That meant that, pretty much all over the country, children who were just in from school were watching a repetitive short cartoon highlighting the dangers of various households items, crossing the road or playing near water. I spent many an afternoon watching Charley, an animated cut-out cat, protect his owner from the perils of talking to strangers or standing too close to hot things in the kitchen, or even playing with matches. I will never forget the “Charley says...” phrase that ended every film.

Those films must have worked, because the information in them has stayed with me all my life. However, we cannot continue to do that, as we will never again have the ability to ensure that a simple 60-second message is replayed and relayed to parents and children daily. That is why action from groups such as the Child Accident Prevention Trust is so vital.

This year’s campaign, “Safety. Sorted!”, is focused on helping families feel confident that, by making one small change, they can prevent a serious accident from ever happening, and by making clear what they need to do to keep their children safe.

The parents’ pack is excellent, covering all the points that anyone could think of and what to do if something happens. That includes how to prevent a child from choking and what to do if the unthinkable happens; how to prevent poisoning from laundry products, cleaning products and medicines by storing them out of reach of nimble little fingers and understanding that children learn more about texture, feel and taste by putting items in their mouth than by simply holding them in their hands; and how to change the way that we view hot items and the little things that we can all do to make a difference and to keep children away from them, such as turning round the handle of a pan of boiling water, making sure that any cup of tea is pushed a bit further back when putting it on a side table, and putting cold water in the bath first before topping it up with hot water, to make sure that the bath is not too hot for little bodies. We should all be aware of that excellent booklet of safety tips.

I applaud the work that has been done. I am proud to take the opportunity to highlight this worthwhile campaign to keep all of our children safe. The conversation must be had to raise awareness. I am delighted to have added, in some small way, my voice to that today, so that we can get safety sorted.

18:26  

I congratulate my good friend Clare Adamson on securing this members’ business debate on child safety week 2024. As I looked back at the text of the motion last night, I was reminded that Clare Adamson has lodged motions about child safety week previously—in fact, she has done it every year for the past 10 years. I totally understand why. She has bravely spoken previously of her family’s loss and experience, and about the importance of road safety. I applaud her for her continued consistent and passionate advocacy of child safety week, and for using her platform as an MSP to promote safety for children and young people.

As Clare Adamson has already outlined, the theme of this year’s child safety week is “Safety. Sorted!” The campaign aims to make families feel confident that, by making one small change, they can prevent a serious accident and be clear about what they need to do to keep their children safe.

Some of the posters for the campaign do not need words—they simply show a wide range of small changes that can be made to protect children. Those include: making sure that hot drinks are not placed near edges; tying up blind cords; putting cleaning products out of reach; and making sure that battery covers are properly secured.

The materials provide lots of information and numerous additional tips, some of which are well known but are well worth repeating, and some of which—I have to admit—I had not even thought of. Those include the dangers of button batteries, how to keep them away from small children and what to do if one is swallowed—or, as the leaflet puts it: look, check, store, dispose and act.

Information is provided on the risks that are posed by water beads, which can swell up to the size of a golf ball; on the importance of keeping nappy sacks well away from babies, because they will grab on to just about anything and bring it to their mouths, and nappy sacks can cling; and on the risks that are posed by magnets, especially powerful ones.

The information also highlights times when children should be taught to leave dogs alone. The trigger times are when dogs are sleeping, eating, getting a treat or playing with certain toys that they might not want to share. There is also advice on how to cut foods—not just grapes, but other foods, including sausages. They should all be cut in half long ways, then cut in half long ways again.

The information highlights that 30 children go to hospital with hot-drink burns every day. It also sets out how to cross a road safely—“Think; Stop; Look and listen; Wait; Look and listen again”—and how to secure blind cords safely.

The Child Accident Prevention Trust website has a wealth of helpful information across a range of areas. It is not just on the aspects that I have mentioned; there is also information on fire safety, falls, beach safety and so on. All the information will help to save lives if it is seen more widely.

This is the point of this year’s child safety week, and of this members’ business debate: it is to raise awareness of the small steps that we can take to reduce the chance of an accident happening.

Again, I thank Clare Adamson for securing the debate, which means that we are able to stand in the chamber of Scotland’s Parliament to share this advice and highlight where it can be found. I hope that that will make a difference and help to protect children from accidents.

18:30  

I, too, congratulate Clare Adamson on securing the debate. It is a pleasure to follow Jackie Dunbar, and I echo her tribute to Clare Adamson for securing the debate and for the facts that she has shared, over a long period of time, as a result of her interest in the topic.

It is very powerful for young people to hear adults talking about young people’s safety, holding the matter up and asking members to consider it. As stated, child safety week this year falls between 3 and 9 June, and is oriented towards the theme of “Safety. Sorted!” It promotes the ideas that we educate ourselves and spread awareness, and that we engage with children, who are such an important part of this. It means that we organise in our own communities, and undertake home safety checks.

Child passenger safety has been discussed, as have safe routes to school. We also, this year, have to talk about online safety for our young people, which is so important.

One Scottish child each month dies from an accident, and one in seven emergency admissions is due to an accident.

The work of the Child Accident Prevention Trust is vital in supporting parents and families to understand and navigate the risks of modern family life. Child safety week is a welcome opportunity to highlight the work that the trust and many other organisations are doing, and to highlight—as colleagues have done—the resources that are available online and in leaflets. Those organisations have created the resources to make it much easier for parents and families to access the information.

Public Health Scotland data shows that, in 2022-33, children aged under 15 who were living in our most deprived areas were more likely than children in the least deprived areas to have an emergency admission to hospital for an unintentional injury. The standardised discharge ratio was 19 per cent higher in the most deprived areas than the Scottish average, and in the least deprived areas the discharge ratio was 19 per cent lower.

Clare Adamson rightly mentioned incorporation of the UNCRC, which is the most important step that has been taken. I draw the attention of people who are watching the debate to articles 6 and 19, which sit within the jigsaw of rights. Article 6 states that,

“every child has the inherent right to life”,

and that

“States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.”

Article 19 requires

“appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation”.

That is important, because from next month, the UNCRC must sit at the heart of legislation that is passed in this Parliament.

There is good news. For example, I take the opportunity to mention the Risk Factory in Edinburgh, which opened its doors in 2007 for primary 7 pupils from Edinburgh and the Lothians to attend. It has welcomed more than 100,000 pupils. I know about it because I had a group of P7s go to the Risk Factory in that first year. That first time was, I think, as frightening an experience for me as it was for the children. The staff who work in the building allow young people to discover risk in a safe and supportive environment—they allow them to ask questions and to make fools of themselves sometimes. It enables young people to take away important messages, which—like the message from Charley the cat, who leaves the bones of a fish at the door—they will remember for their whole lives.

It is important that organisations and groups exist in our communities to support the development of our young people and children. As has been said, it is most important that we take every opportunity to highlight all the good work, give the warnings that are necessary, and point to the resources that are out there.

18:34  

I had not intended to speak in the debate but, having listened to Clare Adamson’s opening speech, I was struck by how much work she has done in the area over many years, and I thought that the least I could do was stick around and make a contribution.

I thank Clare Adamson not only for her motion on child safety week 2024, but for her work in a variety of areas—not just child safety, but accident prevention more generally, electrical safety, water safety; the list goes on. We all owe her a debt of gratitude for her sterling work in those areas. If ever we want a colleague in our Parliament to risk assess our home or workplace, Clare Adamson might be the very person to do it. However, Clare’s campaign is about asking us all to risk assess what we do as individuals with our children and families on a day-to-day basis, and to make the most reasonable adjustments.

In this brief contribution, I will touch on an area of child safety that I will also talk about in my members’ business debate in a few weeks’ time: the use and misuse of off-road vehicles. That debate will not focus on children and young people in particular, but, as I listened to Clare Adamson speak, I realised that there is a clear link.

I should point out that most people who use off-road vehicles do so responsibly, but they do not always do so legally. They are, unwittingly, unsafe as they do that. That can be the case even when it is just kids on scooters or bicycles—there is an increasing proliferation of battery-powered propelled scooters, which are illegal on the roads, and Deliveroo powered bikes. Those can do up to 30 to 40 miles an hour. Kids can also get hold of some of those things, and be at risk. For the kids, it is just fun and adventure, but it is also deeply dangerous.

My debate in a few weeks’ time will look at the wider issues around that, including the potential for the UK to register such off-road vehicles, and the effective policing and licensing of misdemeanours in relation to them.

Today, however, I was thinking about education and positive messages and about children and families being aware of the dangers, whether involving a scooter, a bicycle, a dirt bike or an off-road vehicle. You see wee kiddies on quad bikes in the streets—which I have a bit of concern about more generally—without even a helmet on. As I was listening to Clare Adamson give her fantastic opening speech, I thought that we should be making common cause on these things across the Parliament, and between Parliaments, given some of the reserved aspects.

I thank Clare Adamson for all her work in this area, and I am also trying to twist her arm to speak in my debate in a few weeks’ time. I am happy to support her motion this evening.

That was an ingenious trailer for a future members’ business debate.

18:38  

I thank Ms Adamson for highlighting the important issue of the child safety week campaign, which runs from 3 to 9 June this year. I echo the words and sentiments of Jackie Dunbar, Bob Doris and Martin Whitfield in relation to Ms Adamson’s commitment and dedication.

Keeping children and young people safe from accidental harm at home or in their communities is, and will remain, an important issue for the Scottish Government. I know that keeping our children safe from harm is a huge worry for parents and carers. We have a shifting landscape, and perhaps less obvious dangers than previously. Members have noted some of the key dangers, including road safety and safety in the home, but we also have newer concerns such as vapes, online safety and off-road vehicle usage, as members have noted.

I see the Scottish Government’s focus as imperative and I truly value the hard work of groups and organisations to raise awareness around certain safety issues, many of which—as I said—we have heard about in today’s debate. We recognise the important role that independent charities such as the Child Accident Prevention Trust play in raising awareness of child safety issues.

Accidents can happen at home, but there are lots of things that we can do to lower the risk of them happening. We have used the Scottish Government’s parent information platform, Parent Club, to provide up-to-date advice on the topic to parents. The team that developed it have also been working with our partners the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and CAPT to produce advice to help parents and practitioners keep children safe.

I am particularly grateful to CAPT and RoSPA for supporting our action to strengthen the safety messaging for parents in Scotland’s baby box on the dangers of button batteries. Since October 2022, every baby box supplied to parents includes a leaflet highlighting the dangers of button batteries, as well as practical safety advice to keep children safe.

We have also taken action to ensure that no loose button batteries are provided in Scotland’s baby box. With our baby box managing agent, we introduced a measure to ensure that all button batteries are fitted before inclusion in the baby box, to remove any possible risk of a child being able to access a button battery in the packaging.

CAPT also contributed to the building safer communities strategy that ran from 2016 to 2022. During that period, CAPT helped raise awareness of important issues such as the dangers of button battery ingestion, choking and falls. It aimed to provide parents with helpful resources to manage those risks.

Alongside promoting the topic as part of the annual child safety week, CAPT has, in previous years, run community-based activities with partners. That included delivery of child safety talks to local baby massage groups, home and car seat safety groups for new mothers and supporting the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to distribute child safety information at local breakfast clubs in Glasgow.

Although CAPT plays an important role by campaigning to raise awareness during child safety week, the business of keeping children and young people safe from harm needs to be at the forefront of parents’ and practitioners’ minds all year round. The building safer communities strategy initiative was completed in 2022. Since then, the Scottish Government strategy for supporting parents has evolved, and child safety is now embedded in a range of core strategies.

Similarly, how parents access information about child safety has changed over time. As a result, partners in health and early years work closely with the Scottish Government to maintain and promote content via the Parent Club website and NHS Inform. Those platforms and associated social media ensure that parents and practitioners have access to the most current safety information and guidance all year round, and I have heard at first hand what a hugely valued resource that is for many parents. From my experience, I know that little ones have little hands that like to get in everywhere—they treat the house as a soft play. When I let go of my two-year-old’s hand now, when I turn around, he is off, so I definitely have a runner; therefore, any advice on keeping children safe is very welcome.

Supporting parents of young children to understand how to prevent accidents in the home is an important message. Some families might require additional support to make changes. Health visitors, family nurses and other services that are provided in the home are vital routes to get those key messages shared and acted on. Those contacts provide opportunities to discuss a whole range of topics, including home safety. Optimising home environments is part of our ambition to improve early child development, alongside supporting parents to act on other known prevention activity, such as car safety.

As has been noted today by some members, according to the most recent Public Health Scotland statistics, unintentional injuries continue to decrease over time, but children and the elderly are most vulnerable to accidents, and there is a strong deprivation gradient for them in children. In 2022-23, children aged under 15 living in the most deprived areas were more likely than children in the least deprived areas to have an emergency admission to hospital for an unintentional injury.

I believe therefore that we still have work to do in this regard, but I am positive that actions that we are taking through our focus on prevention and child poverty and through our early child development transformational change programme are and will be instrumental in shaping policies and interventions to give all children the best start in life.

Ms Adamson and Mr Whitfield were right to bring up UNCRC legislation and the positive impacts that it could have.

I once again thank Ms Adamson for raising the profile of child safety week and I thank CAPT for its work on the building safer communities strategy. The time and energy that all partners put into raising awareness of potential risks and the practical steps that parents can take to avoid child injury or hospital admissions are invaluable.

The Scottish Government will continue to support child safety week and help amplify key messages and resources, and we remain committed to child safety and supporting parents, carers and practitioners on a year-round basis. Going forward, we will continue to work with parents and practitioners on the issues that matter most and on the creation of accessible information on the Parent Club platform. I encourage all members to share that information, because we all have influential and wide-reaching connections in our constituencies.

At a policy level, we will continue to learn and ensure that we are staying abreast of emerging issues, for the benefit of our children, our young people and our families.

Thank you, minister. That concludes the debate.

Meeting closed at 18:45.