Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, Deputy First Minister.

Do members have any questions or comments on the draft regulations?

We look forward to you coming back at that time to discuss those issues, which are probably at the forefront of the minds of the survivors of these historical cases.

As colleagues have no more questions, I thank the Deputy First Minister for his responses to the issues raised by the committee.

We move to agenda item 3. I invite the Deputy First Minister to move motion S6M-01889.

Motion moved,

That the Education, Children and Young People Committee recommends that the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Payments Materially Affected by Error) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 be approved.—[John Swinney]

The committee must now produce a report on the draft instrument. Are members content to delegate responsibility to the deputy convener and me to agree that report on behalf of the committee?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank the Deputy First Minister and his officials for their attendance, and I suspend the meeting briefly to allow them to leave the meeting.

Are you saying that early intervention had gone out of fashion or favour?

I call Oliver Mundell. There he is.

I will give you a break, but I will come back to you in a moment. Mike Corbett wants to come in.

You are really talking about resource allocation and focusing on priorities.

On page 36 of your evidence, you say:

“Despite the above restrictions, many carers noted that for some children removal of the pressures of managing school resulted in a reducing in stress and anxiety and an increase in engagement with learning via remote routes.”

That is very interesting observation. What lessons should we take from that experience for some children?

Are you asking anyone in particular?

When classes were online, teachers were getting an eye into the homes of children, almost. The digital divide became apparent during the first lockdown, and I know that there were efforts to remedy that as we went into the second, longer lockdown. I am confused about why teachers could not see clearly what was going on in some homes—you can tell. These are professional people: I have the highest respect for our teachers, who understand something about children. Were they not able to detect from the digital interface that there might have been issues that they should have been referring?