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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 14 November 2024
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Displaying 1054 contributions

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Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls

Meeting date: 3 March 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women and Girls

Meeting date: 3 March 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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.

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

I am referring to kinship care.

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

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.

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

Good morning. I thank all the witnesses for attending the meeting. I have a couple of questions that are aimed at CELCIS to start us off. I was interested to read in your submission and in other submissions that there seems to be some confusion around the words “formal” and “informal” with regard to kinship care; the categories do not seem to be neatly defined. Can you help me out by saying whether that is simply the way that it will always be, or is there work that we can do to develop better definitions? Does that confusion make a difference in practice?

Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Kinship Care

Meeting date: 24 February 2022

Jeremy Balfour

Does anyone else wish to comment?