Seòmar agus comataidhean

I thank Claire Baker for securing this important debate and I thank all colleagues for their contributions—in particular, Tess White and Michelle Thomson, who have worked on a cross-party basis to combat violence against women and girls, a subject that is close to my own heart and which I know is important to all of us.

In today’s debate, I add my voice in support of the calls for the creation of a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation. We cannot ignore the growing trend of sexual strangulation that is being normalised to a large extent by pornography and harmful so-called influencers, who are taking us backwards in society in so many respects. We cannot ignore that, because there is a link between intimate partner homicides and non-fatal strangulation. We need action to reduce such violence, to prevent harm and, as we have heard powerfully today from so many colleagues, to save lives.

We stand here today with more research and knowledge than ever before. I am grateful that the research that other members have touched on covers multiple international jurisdictions, so we are not looking at just a Scottish or UK context.

Like my colleagues, I pay tribute to Fiona Drouet—who is courageously with us today in the gallery—and to EmilyTest for the organisation’s fantastic work across the spectrum of gender-based violence, which we must tackle. I say that not just as a politician but as a mother who can now sleep a little better at night knowing that my daughter is studying in an institution that is fully signed up to the EmilyTest charter. Fiona and I met to discuss the work of EmilyTest at South Lanarkshire College, which is another institution in my parliamentary region. Knowing that that discussion is happening in our colleges and universities gives us extra peace of mind.

However, we need to do much more. I think that we would all recognise that this issue is not down to one minister, one department or one agency. Just as we are showing cross-party working in the Parliament today, there needs to be a partnership approach.

I will not talk about the worrying statistics, because those have already been covered. However, I was alarmed to read in the report from the Institute for Addressing Strangulation that the most common age at which respondents report first starting to strangle others or being strangled is 18 to 20.

In preparing for the debate, I noticed that, just in December 2025, there was a big conference in Lancashire that brought together key stakeholders to shine a spotlight on non-fatal strangulation. Ministers may know about that conference, but if the cabinet secretary does not, it may be something to look into. It would be good to see something like that happen in Scotland, if nothing is already planned.

What public health messages can we get out there? EmilyTest’s mission is to ensure that no other student ends up in Emily’s shoes. That mission sits in my heart today as we bring our debate to a close and before we hear from the cabinet secretary. We can look at the data and the legal arguments, but we know that it is the human stories that have an impact and change behaviours.

I put on the record my support for the petition that went to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee and the motion that we are debating today. I hope that we can all work together to work with the Scottish Government to get the change that we all want to see.

We still do not know when the Scottish National Party will deliver the additional 3,500 teachers promised in the 2021 manifesto—or the 4,310 additional teachers, if we include the overall deficit in teachers since that promise was made. None of that will reassure my 13-year-old constituent Adam, who has barely been in school since August. He is not thriving and no longer wants to attend school, because his additional needs are not being met. Will the First Minister apologise to Adam and his family, who are now investigating home schooling because they are desperate? Will he agree to meet them in the new year and take steps not only to support Adam but to reassure the thousands of children and young people across Scotland who are being failed by this total system failure?

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent Educational Institute of Scotland findings that young people with additional support needs are being let down, and teachers are experiencing stress due to inadequate resourcing, in light of the reported reduction of nearly 20 per cent in specialist ASN staff since 2010, despite a rise of over 710 per cent in the number of pupils requiring such support since 2007. (S6F-04540)

I thank Sue Webber for securing the debate and raising the important issues that her motion highlights. It is good to hear cross-party agreement from Clare Adamson and Liam Kerr, who I know both campaign on issues of community and public safety.

I want to speak in the debate because the issue of e-scooters has been coming up a lot in my local communities. It has been raised by local constituents—last week, it was raised by some local postal workers, who were almost victims of e-scooters at the hands of very young children. They described a situation where it was quite dark and the postie was nearly knocked off his feet. For me, it is a matter of community safety and public health.

We have very recently had some stark warnings from Police Scotland and from medics at the Royal hospital for children in Glasgow. I was concerned to read that, between May and October this year, more than 30 children required emergency care at the Royal hospital for children—that is an increase from four cases in the same period last year.

Mark Lilley, who is the major trauma co-ordinator at the hospital, said:

“We know eScooters are popular and may feature on many Christmas wish lists, but the risks are significant.”

Some of the injuries that have been sustained by children aged between seven and 14 include

“major head trauma, broken femurs, chest injuries, and severe lacerations.”

Those are really serious matters.

In the conversations that I have had locally, people describe near misses. I am not asserting that those incidents are actually recorded anywhere, but one man told me that his wife was almost knocked over by an e-scooter on the street, and he has a very young grandchild. They are very concerned about the issue.

There is a wider point about policing. I think that people want more visibility from the police, and they want to know who is in their community policing team. With regard to resources for police officers, we need to ensure that our police are safely equipped to deal with these matters. I understand that if there is an incident involving an e-scooter or an e-bike, the police need to respond to that in a safe manner.

I hear what Liam Kerr says about his party’s response on these matters, but Anas Sarwar has very recently made it clear that the issue has to be a higher priority, and Scottish Labour has set out our plans on resourcing our police and making sure that we have clarity about community policing in every ward. I think that that is what the public wish to hear.

I am always looking for bedtime reading, particularly when I am struggling to get to sleep at night. [Laughter.] Liam Kerr knows how to get the paper to me.

Those serious points are well made. We all understand that, with regard to young people and children, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 14 to ride an e-bike in Scotland, and privately owned e-scooters cannot be used legally on public roads, pavements, cycle lanes or other public spaces. We want our pavements, streets and communities to be safe for everyone. In the wrong hands, used in the wrong place, these e-scooters and e-bikes can be dangerous weapons.

I am not trying to ruin the spirit of Christmas, but I know that parents are under real pressure to buy these e-scooters for their children. I was recently upgrading my mobile phone in a local electrical store in Hamilton that sells household goods as well, and the minute you walk in the door, there is an array of e-scooters in front of you, and parents feel real pressure. We need everyone, including retailers, to be responsible. However, I would like to hear from the minister today on the point about policing, because I feel that the big issue is a lack of enforcement. I will leave that point with the minister.

I join colleagues in thanking Patrick Harvie for securing the debate. I also put on record my thanks to Paul McLennan for his recent motion marking trans awareness week and trans day of remembrance. I know that both motions mean a lot to trans and non-binary Scots, their families and their friends.

The fact that we are having this debate tonight reminds people that they are not alone. I should not be shocked, but when I consider the data in this area and listen to colleagues discuss the waiting times, I find the situation truly shocking. If the issue that we were debating involved people waiting 80 years for cancer treatment or an appointment for diabetes, heart disease or any other medical issue, it would be on the front page of every paper. There would be an emergency piece of legislation and something would be done. We are here collectively to appeal to the Scottish Government to do something. In my view, the actions that people and organisations, including the Equality Network, are calling for are within the gift of the Scottish Government. We need to look to every health board in Scotland and ask them to step up. There needs to be some accountability.

From the statistics in front of me, I can see that around one in five referrals to the Sandyford clinic involves a person from Lanarkshire—my community. What is NHS Lanarkshire doing? I know that the Scottish Government made additional funding available, but that did not lead to any new services and it did not change the outlook. I share colleagues’ fear that, when people are told that the best estimate of the wait for their first appointment is 80 years—an entire lifetime—they will lose hope and there will be an impact on their mental health.

It is important that we remember the human stories behind the statistics. I will not name constituents or people who have been in touch with me, in order to respect their privacy and dignity. However, when we hear people say that they feel that they are being tortured, that they cannot cope with the menstruation that they experience every month, that there is no support and that they have to access the internet and the dark web to get hormones and medication without medical supervision, that is not okay. We need to think about the safety of people right across Scotland.

We also need to support the workforce, who are often at the sharp end of the situation, which has an impact on their mental health as well. I would be interested to hear from the minister tonight what work is being done on workforce planning.

I will reinforce some points that have been made in the debate. It is clear to me that we need an urgent plan from the Government to address and reduce waiting times. We need investment in distributed service models, so that care is not concentrated only at the Sandyford clinic—as Mercedes Villalba said, people need to access healthcare in their own communities. We must address staffing shortages and training gaps.

On the current strategy, there have been multiple health secretaries and many different health ministers, and we cannot keep passing the issue on to the next person. I hope that the minister will hear tonight that, across the Parliament, there are MSPs who are willing to help her with that work and who will raise the issue with her and colleagues to ensure that it is a priority. We need to leave the chamber tonight knowing that the Government has a plan and that people will be able to find some reasons to be hopeful.

I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for that welcome update. Organisations across the energy, manufacturing and housing sectors are expected to deliver the clean heat ambitions that are set out in the draft climate change plan, but many are saying that they cannot plan properly for the scale of the challenge, especially now that the heat in buildings bill has been kicked down the road until after the election.

I recognise the wider engagement that the cabinet secretary has carried out, and I welcome her offer today. What can she say to stakeholders who think that there is a lack of certainty and who want that effective engagement to continue?

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in discussing Scotland’s draft climate change plan 2026 to 2040 with stakeholders and MSPs. (S6O-05186)

I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to Clare Haughey’s expertise.

I think that the Wishaw NICU is award winning because of the excellent care by the staff and their close bond with families who have to keep going back there for on-going care.

Does she recognise that that is why the planned changes are so frightening for families, including those who have put the lives of their babies in the hands of that hospital and would not have their babies without it? Does she understand why the calls to pause the review are growing louder and louder, and that we need to do what we can to save that unit?

[Made a request to intervene.]