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Is it not correct that the motion that the Parliament agreed to also requested a timeline for getting at the great delay in support that our young people are facing? In addition, the motion sought the publication of documents. Neither of those issues can be affected by the purdah rules, because they sit with the Scottish Government.

Is it not right that, with young people’s involvement, particularly at the real level on farms, which involves seeing how they work, all the really difficult lessons about seasonality, years and the passage of time become much easier to understand, and they better understand their place in the environment?

I am very grateful for that intervention, which speaks to the heart of what I am going to talk about. The way to look at this is to look at the young people themselves—from babies and young children—all the way through.

Intellectually, we can identify that initial movement of a baby just thrashing around on a mat as unoccupied play. Then there is the sort of solitary play in which a child does not want to be with anyone else, except perhaps their mother or father. Then there is spectator play, in which they observe other children playing. Then there is parallel play, in which they sit down—often in a sandpit, with their hands in—and play by themselves but next to others. Then there is associative play, in which they want to start involving others. Finally, there is co-operative play, which is very much at the foundation of play pedagogy and what organisations talk about. The ability not to argue with the child next to them because they have taken a piece of Lego, the ability to solve a problem because they want something on the other side of the table that they cannot reach, and the ability to be helped up by one of their young comrades when they fall over a root in the forest are all the very soft but essential skills that are required.

That sits at the heart of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in articles 31 and 29. I will spend the short time that I have on that in particular. Article 29 talks about education being

“directed to ... The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential”.

How we support that approach—how we scaffold that and provide the environment to achieve it—is not fixed by adults’ decisions that “at this age, you do this, and at that age you do that.” It is about understanding the flexible needs.

Mention has been made of existing schools in which play, particularly in P1 and P2, is such an important element. However, it has taken many years to move what is at the heart of the curriculum for excellence about the use of play into the classrooms—if I can use that phrase. I visit schools and watch P1s in the most wonderful outdoor play areas. I talked about fixed assets and mention has been made of training. We have wonderful early years workers, but of course they need support and training. It is also about the facilities and experiences that our young people and children have the opportunity to be in. It is right to mention Charlotte Bowes and #Play4P1, because the network of support that is there for practitioners is phenomenal.

I am conscious of time, Deputy Presiding Officer. To open the discussion is very important, but just to sit with a formulaic idea of replacing the start of school at four or five with something else is to miss the opportunity to have a transitional experience for young people so that they learn through play not just up to eight but into adulthood, and are ready to take the next steps, supported by the communities around them.

What is the First Minister’s response to the GMB union’s call for the Scottish Government to end its opposition to nuclear energy? The union has warned of a risk of this nation

“returning to the days of power cuts and candles”,

with

“hundreds of skilled Scots ... already leaving to go abroad”

because of this decline.

It is a pleasure to take part in what is perhaps one of the more fascinating members’ business debates. Along with others, I thank Fulton MacGregor for bringing it to the chamber.

There is an interesting discussion over a pedagogy, a fixed asset—our current schooling system—and the needs of our individual children. A lot of parents will echo Bob Doris’s comment that his child was ready to start school. Similarly, there are parents who recognise that their child is not ready to start school, and there is the option to extend that nursery year, as we have discussed.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance, because as the vote was going on, the timer on the app leapt from saying that there were 15 seconds left to saying that the vote was closed. I just wonder whether my vote was recorded.

For those children who are entitled to free school meals under the scheme, that acts as a passport benefit that gives many other additional cost-saving measures to their families. It is within the Scottish Government’s gift to push the scheme and to actively seek out families who are entitled to free school meals, notwithstanding the Government’s policy to roll it out across primary schools.

I was contacted this week by Prestonpans Group Practice, the GP surgery in Prestonpans, East Lothian, which has concerns about funding, staffing and patient care. It faces a withdrawal of funding of 10 per cent from cuts to the East Lothian health and social care partnership, as well as increased estate fees. That will have an impact on patients.

Will the Deputy First Minister, or the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, meet me to discuss the concerns that were raised by that group and the Lothian Local Medical Committee and, indeed, how we can improve the situation across the south of Scotland?

I thank the cabinet secretary for confirmation of the welfare issue that arises from that lack of data. How does she intend to comply with article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child next month, when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 becomes active law in this country?

I am grateful to Paul O’Kane for giving way, and I apologise for the way that I phrase this. In amendment 3, which was lodged by the minister, I welcome what is, in essence, an example of post-legislative scrutiny, whereby, after five years, there will be a review that will provide the opportunity to look at the matter again. That is very positive. Is Paul O’Kane aware when the first regulations are likely to be laid, so that those outside the Scottish Parliament understand when the five years will run to?