Chamber and committees

It is more challenging when we are online.

You spoke earlier about the threshold for services being higher, the lack of services and the challenges around the options. We have also heard about inconsistency in support across the country. Can the witnesses say what they think causes that inconsistency?

Colleagues will want to drill further into some of the points that you have brought up, but, with the rest of the panel, I will stay on those first questions about the key barriers and the inconsistency for our children and young people. I ask Jenny Miller to respond next.

I appreciate that you have covered quite a lot of this already, but you might wish to add something.

Thank you. That is helpful.

In your evidence, you state that your members report that multidisciplinary teams that work well provide the best outcomes for children. You spoke about variations across the country, culture and working well together. What needs to happen to change the culture where things are not working so well between teams?

Good morning, panel. I have some questions about transitions into adult services. The committee heard from young people and parents last week and this week. We have heard about issues with consistency and the different experiences that children and young people can have. What are the key barriers to supporting better outcomes for disabled children and young people as they move into adult services, whether that transition is from school to college or in terms of health services? That question is for Lee-Anne McAulay first.

When things work well, do your members report back to you about what makes them work well? You gave the example of members working well with education.

No. Thank you—that was helpful.

Good morning. I would like to ask about early learning and childcare. The provision of 1,140 hours of free childcare is really important for the economy as well as for children. In evidence, the committee heard about the differential in rates of pay between the public sector and the private, voluntary and independent sector, and that was highlighted to ministers. The public sector generally offers better pay and conditions to the skilled workforce.

When we raised the issue with ministers, we recommended that a mapping exercise be carried out to see whether there was any movement between the two types of employer. Is there any update on that? I appreciate that we were due to get that in the spring. It is certainly not spring at the moment, so it is perhaps too early, but I would appreciate hearing the cabinet secretary’s reflections on that issue.

My connection broke up a bit, so I will check something. Are we on track to have the result of the scoping exercise by the spring? Do you have an indication of when that information will be available?

The minister has talked about implementation gaps. We know that we have good policy and law, but the fact is that the experience of our citizens sometimes does not reflect the good intentions. We cannot ignore the resource aspects of the implementation gaps, so how will the national care service help in that respect?