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It is vital to consider the numerous factors at play when implementing a flood protection scheme, not only for the local community’s well-being but for the environment, too. Can the cabinet secretary set out what assessment has been undertaken to ensure that the scheme does not have an adverse impact on the environment?

I welcome this debate on a very important issue for my constituents and for people across the country. There is no doubt that the number of ASN cases is rising, and that is very much reflected in my own case load. People are coming to my surgeries regularly now to seek advice and assistance, particularly when placing requests for specialist provision are being denied.

There has been a rapid increase in the number of such cases that my office and I have been dealing with this year, which far exceeds that of the years before the pandemic. Parents and children are being left frustrated and worried, and many are turning to the First-tier Tribunal once all avenues with the council have been explored.

I visit schools in my constituency every Monday, and I can testify to the fantastic work that our dedicated teaching staff and talented pupils are involved in. However, in almost all schools, I hear that the number of young people who need additional support is rising, and that is putting extra pressure on the schools.

There is no doubt that local authorities—it is North Lanarkshire Council in this instance—are under pressure in that regard. Of course, it does not help that they have often taken decisions to cut key resources, such as classroom assistants, as has been done in my local authority area.

However, I know that the council is also trying to find other solutions. For example, on Monday, I visited Shawhead primary school in Coatbridge, where I was informed that, from next term, the school would be used as a new enhanced mainstream provision with capacity for 10 children who have been denied ASN placements. That will involve additional staff and resources at the school. I very much welcome that step, and I am keen to find out how that exciting policy develops.

There is no doubt that the Scottish Government has supported local authorities to deliver in this area, with more than £1 billion spent on additional support for learning in 2023-24. However, we need to think more radically. We have a solution right in front of us that can help to tackle the rising incidence of additional needs, as well as behavioural difficulties, and to close the attainment gap. The cabinet secretary will know what I am going to say—it will be of no surprise to her. I believe that the introduction of a play-based kindergarten stage could be that very solution.

For several years, I have advocated the introduction of a kindergarten stage for Scotland. Almost a year ago, I brought a members’ business debate to the chamber on fostering a discussion on a kindergarten stage. The debate was engaging, with positive feedback on the idea from members across the parties. As I said in that debate, the UK is a complete outlier when we look at when our children start school, with our primary pupils starting between two and three years earlier than many of their European counterparts.

Kindergarten would give us the opportunity to allow children to flourish physically, mentally and socially. I understand that the introduction of a kindergarten stage will not necessarily solve all the factors behind pupils’ requirements for additional support needs. However, I firmly believe that taking that step will benefit pupils immensely and might address some developmental issues that can occur with our children. We currently have a system whereby children are expected to make a jarring transition from a nursery environment to a school environment while they are still between critical developmental milestones.

I could say so much more on the issue and talk about how the evidence points to a kindergarten stage reducing the attainment gap and behavioural difficulties. However, time is very tight in this debate, so I will end by urging the cabinet secretary to please explore the issue further, especially ahead of developing manifestos for 2026. A kindergarten phase will not solve all the issues in our education system overnight, and work must be done to help children who are struggling right now. However, the introduction of a well-designed kindergarten phase to at least the age of six, and possibly to the age of seven, will reap huge benefits in five to 10 years’ time. It could be truly game changing.

It is time for the Government and the Parliament to be bold and to come together and deliver the system that lets children be children, continues to support parents and carers and finally puts an end to the current Victorian-based model of children starting formal school at the age of four or five. If we are committed to such a positive change, in only five to 10 years’ time, debates such as this could be a thing of the past.

I place on record my thanks to my colleague, Gordon MacDonald, who has brought this important issue to the chamber. Given the debate that we have just had, I give him much credit for getting up and beginning this debate in the manner that he has.

The motion that we are discussing raises serious concerns about the future of the construction sector in Scotland. The statistics that have been provided by the Construction Industry Training Board highlight an outflow of workers from the industry as a result of several factors, and the CITB has suggested that numbers will need to increase by more than 26,000 in the coming years if we are to close the skills gap in the sector.

Some of the factors that have contributed to the gap include an ageing workforce, a high-labour but low-productivity business model, and a history of boom and bust, with fluctuating workloads creating difficulty for planning over the long term. As well as those factors, recruitment drives must do more to make the sector more accessible for women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities—cohorts of people who are all underrepresented in the construction industry, and whose absence is certainly being felt, given the projected labour shortages.

Gordon MacDonald, who brought the debate to the chamber, has touched on those challenges, as has the other speaker so far—and the minister will, in closing the debate, no doubt underline what the Scottish Government can do to support the industry. I will talk briefly about a couple of experiences in my constituency that have shown me the great potential that there is in Scotland for young people of all backgrounds to get into the sector.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I visited Coatbridge high school to view and take part in the build your future event, which sought to highlight the diversity of roles in the construction industry. Students could learn about and engage with roles in areas such as roofing, electronics, digital mapping and drones. The rise of technology in recent decades has greatly expanded the potential for people with hugely varying interests to consider a future in construction. I spoke to students who were genuinely keen to see what the sector could offer them and their families.

One of the most encouraging aspects of my visit to Coatbridge high was seeing that attitudes towards what might once have been thought of as a male-dominated industry have now changed significantly, with plenty of boys and girls registering their interest in getting involved. I was really struck by the fact that so many girls wanted to be involved.

In addition, earlier this year, in March, pupils from both St Ambrose high school and Coatbridge high were introduced to the constructing futures programme. The programme gave them an opportunity to experience a working construction site for 10 weeks, giving them practical experience and industry-recognised qualifications.

As we know, programmes such as the ones that I have highlighted boost skills, knowledge, connections and confidence for those who might be considering a career in construction. For the first time in the history of the constructing futures programme, the students who joined the programme were not exclusively male, which backs up my previous point and once again shows that there may be a shift happening in that respect in the industry and in society more generally.

Although I accept the concerns—which we have heard about tonight—from bodies such as the Construction Industry Training Board, and we need to do more, what I have been seeing in my constituency of Coatbridge and Chryston has been encouraging. I am sure that some of my colleagues in the chamber, including those in other parties, will have had similar experiences across their constituencies and regions.

I thank Gordon MacDonald again for bringing the issue to the chamber and for giving me an opportunity to talk about all the great work that I have seen from the students at two schools in my constituency, St Ambrose high school and Coatbridge high. I should point out that those are two of the schools that will be attending Gordon MacDonald’s event on Thursday. Although I will not be there in person, I have met a lot of the students who are going to be involved, and I wish them well at that event.

The motion specifically cited the fact that there is interest among Scotland’s young people in the construction sector. There is also an acknowledgement among them that a career in construction is a good one. There will be challenges in the sector, especially concerning recruitment, but, from what I have seen, the interest among our young people is definitely there. We must try to harness that interest so that we can make it work for Scotland in the years to come.

I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government is taking, which the cabinet secretary has outlined. With evidence suggesting that poverty is increasingly affecting working families, can the cabinet secretary provide details of how the Government is working with local employers and job support services in Coatbridge and Chryston and across Lanarkshire to tackle in-work poverty, especially for parents who are juggling low-paid jobs with caring responsibilities?

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce child poverty and ensure that targeted support reaches local families most in need in Coatbridge and Chryston and other deprived areas. (S6O-04633)

Initially, I had not intended to speak in the debate, Presiding Officer, so I thank you for allowing me to come in. I might not use up my whole time.

Like others, I thank Marie McNair for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I thought that, as a man, I would rise to say that I agree with what has been said. Testicular cancer is not an issue that is often talked about. When men are socialising with other male friends, it is probably not a health area that we would particularly mention. That is why it is important that campaigns such as the one that we have heard about today continue to go ahead across the world.

I chose to speak because I want to pay tribute to the Cahonas Scotland campaign that is mentioned in the motion and has been highlighted by everyone who has spoken today. We are all used to interacting every year with the “Check yer bawballs” campaign, which has been extremely effective.

One of the reasons that it has been so effective is that it has pushed the boundaries. I recall that the first time that I got involved in the campaign, I was getting my partner to take pictures of me by the Christmas tree. At one point, although she was not fully questioning what we were doing, she said, “Are you sure you’ll be all right to do this? You won’t get into any trouble?” I said that I would definitely be fine, because others had done it. However, the fact that she and others asked that question shows that the campaign was pushing the boundaries. It is an effective campaign, with vast amounts of celebrity endorsements every year, and it became a common theme on Twitter—people might remember that, at one point, before the past couple of years, Twitter was good, and it was common to see celebrities popping up on our feeds to support the campaign.

In the first year that I took part in the campaign—I think that it might have been the first year of the campaign—I was retweeted by none other than William Shatner himself. It is my claim to fame. He retweeted me to say, “This looks like a really good idea.” I think that he was giving me the credit for the idea, but he would quickly have learned that it was indeed the idea of Cahonas Scotland. However, as a verified Trekkie—although I was more of a “Next Generation” fan—it was good to receive kudos the following day from colleagues who had seen that I had been retweeted by William Shatner. That demonstrates the people who were becoming involved in the campaign—I think that, after that, William Shatner went on to take his own photograph as part of the campaign.

I have to say that, last Christmas, I did not take a photograph for the campaign. That is because I did a search using the hashtag and I did not get a lot of results. That is not to say that there definitely were not many photographs—the activity might have moved forum or whatever—but I did not really see a lot this year. I know that representatives of Cahonas Scotland are in the public gallery, and I say to them that I wonder whether it is possible to either bring the campaign back or, if it was brought back last Christmas, to do a bit more to make it more noticeable next year. It is a very effective campaign, although I can see the arguments for why taking a year’s break or giving it a lower profile for a while is a good idea—we want the campaign to have an impact, rather than people feeling that they are just taking the same photo every 12 months.

Overall, I do not want my words to be seen as a criticism. I pressed my button to speak today because I think that the work that Cahonas Scotland does is absolutely fantastic and I wanted to add my voice to that. I want to say to the people involved in it that they should keep it up, and, like all the other speakers have done, I want to say to men—including Edward Mountain, Paul Sweeney and myself—that we should check ourselves regularly and not be too shy to go to the GP if we find something.

This week, I will be present at two culturally significant events that are being held at Summerlee. On Friday, I will attend the annual international workers memorial day event and, on Saturday, I will speak at the opening of the “Ship Ahoy!” Scottish maritime heritage exhibition, along with Paul Sweeney MSP. Does the cabinet secretary agree that such events highlight the essential role that local museums play in preserving Scotland’s industrial and maritime heritage, and that increased funding is needed to support and sustain them in our communities?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to increase funding for local museums and heritage centres, including the Summerlee museum of Scottish industrial life in Coatbridge. (S6O-04545)

I, too, accept and respect the court ruling.

As the cabinet secretary has said, Lord Hodge stated that the ruling should not be viewed

“as a triumph of one or more groups ... at the expense of another”,

and he stressed the legal protections currently afforded to trans people.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that any implications of the ruling, which forms part of a complex area of law, must be discussed sensitively and carefully, with the right advice in respect to all groups affected?

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for people with the condition, Turnpenny-Fry syndrome. (S6O-04525)