Chamber and committees

Yes. The recommendations in the 2019 fair work convention report went way beyond pay and conditions. Can you provide us with examples of, or information about, plans for how social care workers will be involved in the design, development and delivery of the service?

That is really good to hear.

More than 30 per cent of our children and young people have additional support needs, including those who are neurodiverse or care experienced, and anxiety, relationships and social skills have always been issues for that particular group. It almost sounds as though they are drawing a little bit closer together with that cultural shift, with children being looked at more individually. I remember Angela Morgan saying that if we addressed all kids’ needs in the way that we address additional support needs, it would benefit all children.

Is specific work being done around improving outcomes for young people who have additional support needs or who are care experienced, and are we measuring that to see whether the outcomes specifically for that group are improving?

It is clear that, nowadays, many more of our children struggle with anxiety, social skills and relationships. How much focus is there on asking our children and young people, and their parents, about their health and wellbeing and what outcomes they want to progress towards?

I will let you guys choose who answers.

That is really interesting as far as schools are concerned, but I am really interested in hearing about what individual children—and parents—are saying about where they are at, where they want to be and what changes they want to see.

That is great. I have quite a short question on that, convener, if there is time. Will the £2 million funding for the RICs be ring fenced, to match up with the Scottish attainment challenge? Will you be able to do that, or is it going to be much more about a combination of funding?

I think that everybody here would agree that improving population health will be a key issue. That involves improving life expectancy—healthy life expectancy, in particular—and physical and mental health and wellbeing. Covid has shown us the importance of that. However, we are still recovering from the pandemic.

As the health and social care sector recovers, how can you ensure that policy making remains focused on prevention and early intervention?

Progress on life expectancy specifically has stalled over the past period. Are there any specific plans to revitalise that progress, and to monitor and evaluate it?

I appreciate the fact that a great deal of work is being done around 20-minute neighbourhoods and having services based in the community, where people are. However, an issue that we have come up against when we have talked to people from the NHS is the fact that they often tend to be driven by activity on which they have targets, and that it can be much more difficult for them to prioritise preventative work. What can be done to empower them to ensure that such work is a top priority? Is monitoring and evaluation carried out that we could look at?

I should probably mention that I am currently a councillor in South Lanarkshire Council, although this is my last day as such.