Chamber and committees

I want to follow up a question with Carolyn Fox McKay. As males, we have to hold our hands up and say, “This is our issue; it is not a women’s issue.” As a father of two girls who are girl guides, I find what is happening in schools and in other settings to young girls growing up very disturbing.

I talked to colleagues around the table before the meeting and found that experiences of education and teaching on sexual harassment seem to be different depending on where you are in Scotland. Would you like to see a more uniform approach across the 32 local authorities, so that girls in Ayrshire, Inverness or Edinburgh get the same type of information and empowerment? Is that best done through schools, or are there other ways to do it?

Thank you. If there are any other comments that people would like to make or any other thoughts that they have, I ask them to put them in writing to us, because I am conscious that the clock is ticking.

At what stage should that happen—should it happen in primary schools or even earlier? Should it happen more than once? Should it happen every year in school? Is it one of those things that should be built into the curriculum, so that some teaching and guidance is given every year, and not just to girls but to boys, too?

Good morning. Thank you all very much for giving of your time. I have a couple of questions, which are for any of you, and anybody else who wants to can follow up.

Something that I found shocking in the submissions was the figure that 90 per cent of women with learning disabilities have been subject to sexual abuse or some other form of abuse, which is a horrendous figure. What can we do to strengthen the rights of women who are disabled who have been abused? Are we in any way able to give them extra support or to identify them more quickly? How do we tackle that issue?

Perhaps we could start with Eilidh Dickson. If you do not have any information, maybe you could pass the question on to one of your colleagues.

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for giving their time to come and answer our questions. As the deputy convener said, if you watched our first evidence session this morning, you will know roughly where we will be going in the next few minutes. I will start with the general question that I asked earlier, and I ask Gill Westwood and Alison Gillies to respond first. Is it a problem in financial terms to have different definitions? Would it be easier to start with one definition? What do you see as a solution?

I want to pursue with Alison Gillies her role in getting people the benefits that they are entitled to. Are there passported benefits that people get if they fall under one definition of kinship care but not another? Is the situation the same across the United Kingdom? That might go beyond your experience; if it does, stop me. However, is the situation in Scotland the same as that in England and Wales?

Obviously, Social Security Scotland has just got up and running and is still fairly new. From your early experience of the new agency, is it following the same approach to definitions, or does it see kinship carers as one group?

That is helpful. If no other witness wants to add anything, I will move on. My next questions are, first, for COSLA.

The independent care review, which refers to the Promise, was commissioned back in 2017 and reported in 2020. What progress has been made on the reforms that were outlined? What are the major things that we need to pick up on and take forward more quickly?

I am referring to kinship care.

What further support would make the biggest impact for kinship carers throughout Scotland? If there was one thing that you could do tomorrow, what would it be?

That has been helpful. If you want to tell the committee anything else about that, please do so in writing, as the deputy convener said. In particular, if you have any comments on passported benefits that people might or might not get depending on the definition, perhaps you could reflect that in a written statement. However, that has been very helpful, so thanks very much.