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Yes.

Yes, I can.

It is important to acknowledge that there was wide consultation when the legislation was proposed and was going through Parliament. In my opening remarks, I mentioned the support that has been given by Who Cares? Scotland. There were other supporting voices, including Recruit With Conviction. We had a joint response from the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice and the improving life chances implementation group, who also expressed their support for increasing the age threshold to the highest age that was offered. There is widespread support from stakeholders for the change in regulation.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults are safeguarded. As I said in my opening remarks, the process of barring someone is robust and the process that someone would have to go through to have that barring lifted will be just as robust.

We want to ensure that we protect children, young people and vulnerable people. The changes in the regulations for people who were placed on the barred list when they were under the age of 25 is about recognising that young people move on from lifestyle choices and behaviours that have been harmful in the past. Denise McKay or Lynne McMinn might want to comment on the legalities around the process.

The proposed threshold is consistent with that in the rest of the UK, where the ability for individuals to ask for such a change applies up to the age of 25. It is also in line with corporate parenting responsibilities as they apply under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, because we in Scotland acknowledge that parenting does not stop at the age of 18. That is why the age of 25 was chosen.

I have listened carefully to the debate and am grateful to have had the opportunity to explain the Scottish Government’s position on the SSI.

On James Dornan’s point, I am absolutely clear that the regulations do not automatically lead to individuals being removed from the barred list. They simply amend the circumstances in which an application for removal is competent in that they change the timescales.

As I said in my opening statement, I invite Ms Gallagher not to press Mr Mundell’s motion. However, if it is pressed to a vote, I will ask members to vote in favour of the regulations.

Yes, I can confirm that.

No, convener, but I think that it gives some context.

It just gives us some context for the changes and shows that we are not just doing something—

We recognise the need for victims of crime to be respected and to feel that they have received appropriate support, regardless of how the person who perpetrated the crime is punished.

It is worth recognising that the change in regulation will affect young people and that there is a robust process to look at whether they should be removed from the barred list. Lynne McMinn has explained the process that people would go through. We can be assured that anyone who is removed from the barred list is suitable to work with groups that they had previously been barred from working with. None of us would want to remove from the lists anyone whom we felt was not suitable for work with children and young people or with vulnerable adults.