Chamber and committees

That is really helpful; thank you very much, Lucy.

Good morning. It is good to see the witnesses here this morning. It was good to hear Shelley Buckley and Joanne Smith talking about neurodiversity and the long wait for help with quite basic things such as issues around sleep, positive parenting and communications with schools. Joanne Smith talked about long gaps and the disillusionment when young people are told that they do not meet the criteria for support. That certainly chimes with me. I should say that I am a parent to neurodiverse children and that I am a councillor in South Lanarkshire Council.

In South Lanarkshire, we have the autism resources co-ordination hub, or ARCH, which does amazing and quite groundbreaking work on holistic support and integrating the council, the third sector, the health service and parents and carers. One of the top things that parents ask for is advocacy support. Should that be a top priority for the Scottish Government? I direct that question to Mairi Stark first.

Given that almost a quarter of girls in care get pregnant and that care leavers are at much higher risk of having their babies removed, what steps can we take to tackle stigma and to help care-experience young people to plan for the future and make confident decisions?

I was thinking of either Lucy or Jackie Brock.

I realise that you are probably talking about carers and families getting the support that they need from health and social care workers to do that well. On a wider and more general level, what training needs exist in the health and social care workforce in relation to sexual and reproductive health?

Yes.

That is great. It is really helpful.

On the idea of having a wider focus, are you going to be looking at the need for qualitative data in education?

I have a couple of different questions. One is on free school meals and another is on qualitative data.

On free school meals, I am delighted with the £72 million investment and the £22 million for school holiday clubs, although it is a bit concerning to hear that there is expected to be a 5.2 per cent real-terms reduction next year. I trust that those things will now be prioritised.

On the school holiday money, we know that part of the thinking behind having free school meals for primary children is the fact that it increases uptake among the most vulnerable children and it reduces the stigma.

This is a point for clarification. North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council have approached this differently. North Lanarkshire Council is running its holiday lunch time clubs only for those children who currently get free school meals, whereas South Lanarkshire Council’s clubs are open to everyone. I would like some clarity on the funding for the school holidays. Is it expected to cover all children, or is it specifically for vulnerable children?

My question follows on from Fergus Ewing mentioning children and young people with additional support needs, including those with neurodiversity. The Morgan review and other evidence that we have heard suggested that the focus often ends up being on children and young people who present with challenging behaviour, and that that is sometimes at the expense of other children in the class, who might also have additional support needs but do not present such behaviours. Can you provide any reassurance that that will be addressed?