Chamber and committees

I, too, have a question for Dr Stark, who is getting quite a few questions at the moment.

You mentioned that there are good examples of successful transition plans. Will you tell us a bit more about some of those successes and how the balance worked between practical needs and individual aspirations?

Are we getting the things that are in the plan right? Should it be an individual training plan in which the young person, the things that matter to them and the direction that they are looking to go in—their aspirations—are front and centre?

It was good to hear what was said about employers. A local employer in my constituency provides pretty much wraparound care, and it gets loyalty and a huge amount of commitment from the young people. It would be fantastic if Rebecca Scarlett could send the committee more information on what she said about employment.

All the witnesses have mentioned that there are gaps in services and that the opportunities for disabled young people when they leave school are limited. Are there key gaps in provision that we should focus on?

I will pick up on something that Andy Miller and Jenny Miller said about relationships being incredibly important and at the centre of the matter.

I will pick up on that before I move on to anyone else. I am happy for others to come in on that. We have certainly heard from a lot of families and young people that individuals step up and make a difference in their lives.

In the earlier evidence session, we heard about mandated dedicated transition workers who work with young people. Do you feel that it would make a difference to have someone who could be that person? We have also spoken about named individuals. Who are the individuals who will take ownership and have accountability?

I certainly do not disagree with that, but I want to go back to something that you said earlier. You said that individuals should be able to carry their own documents and have ownership of their story. You also spoke about having the flexibility to change.

Do you see a transition plan as being part of a longer-term shared health and social care plan? Would it fit into and be part of that, rather than being something separate? I would be interested to know how the other witnesses feel about that, too.

I do not know whether anyone else wants to comment on that.

I will come back to the gender aspect. My daughter was very ill when she was small: one bit of advice that I would give to female parents is that they make sure that they take a male with them, because they tend to be listened to more.

Is there scope for the commissioner to make the fact that women do not seem to be listened to an overarching issue that they look for in all the evidence that they consider across all the issues that they cover?

It was good to hear Simon Whale talk about reducing the risk of harm and, possibly, reducing litigation costs. However, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has expressed some concern that the resources that are set out in the financial memorandum fall short of the ambition for the post. What are the witnesses’ comments on that?

That is interesting and helpful; thank you.