Jenny Gilruth
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“I thank Pam Gosal for bringing this debate to Parliament and for sponsoring the recent round-table discussion on the topic, which I was pleased to attend, along with colleagues from across the Parliament. There is now a growing consensus on the issue.”
“Back in 2024, the Government published updated national guidance in which I was clear that any headteacher would have my full backing as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills should they see fit to implement a ban, but that decision was ultimately left to headteachers’ discretion.”
“As a result of Parliament’s close scrutiny, I believe that we have produced a stronger bill that is consistent with the initial intentions behind it.”
“I thank Daniel Johnson for his commitment in bringing forward the legislation on restraint and seclusion that is before us today. I applaud his approach to working with the Government and I encourage more such good behaviour in the coming parliamentary session.”
“The Education, Children and Young People Committee’s stage 1 report and members’ speeches in the stage 1 debate highlighted clear support for the bill’s general principles.”
“That principle, which underpinned the national guidance that was issued in 2024, remains central today. The Scottish Government’s original intention was to conclude the review of our 2024 guidance before determining whether legislation was required.”
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“Today, I will provide the Parliament with an update on the work that the Government has been leading, including in relation to the “Additional Support for Learning Action Plan” and the previously agreed review of ASN, which was a direct ask of Opposition parties last year. Funding matters. Local authority spending on ASN reached more than £1 billion in 2023-24 compared with around £700 million back in 2019- 20, when the Morgan review was published. In addition, the pupil equity fund is being used in innovative ways by Scotland’s headteachers to respond to increasing demands related to additional support needs. For example, last year, I visited Fair Isle primary school in Kirkcaldy, where the headteacher was using her pupil equity funding to employ an extra member of staff.”
“We should never lose sight of the fact that, in Scotland, we acknowledge and give rights to a much wider group of children than other parts of the United Kingdom do. Every looked-after child is deemed to have a support need. Young carers have rights to have their support needs assessed. Every child at school has the right to support, whether for a short-term or a long-term need, and they should receive that support in a consistent, effective and inclusive way. However, those rights are meaningless if the support is not provided, schools cannot cope, teachers are overwhelmed and other pupils’ learning is routinely disrupted.”
“National statistics that were published in December show that there has been another increase in the number of children in Scotland with an identified support need and that the support needs identified are becoming more complex. At the same time, attainment for pupils with an identified additional support need is improving. The proportion of pupils in primary school with additional support needs who achieve the expected level in literacy increased from 41 per cent in 2016-17 to 54 per cent in 2024-25. Similarly, the proportion of primary pupils with ASN who achieve the expected level in numeracy increased from 52 per cent in 2016-17 to 63 per cent in 2024-25. Literacy and numeracy rates for secondary 3 ASN pupils are now both above 80 per cent.”
“In a Parliament of minorities, members on the SNP benches might have expected that Scottish Labour was in a prime position to force the hand of this Government. Instead, just like last year, it opts out. That is a dereliction of duty from the Scottish Labour Party. It is happy to opine over FOIs and press comment, but when it comes down to it, it cannot even bring itself to push the button to secure more investment for Scotland’s schools.”
“Paul O’Kane: As a former teacher, does the cabinet secretary think that it is acceptable to spend less than £1 per child per week on classroom supplies? How has that happened on her watch when she promised Covid recovery? Jenny Gilruth: Like Mr O’Kane, I agree that Governments should protect and enhance education spending. That is why, in last year’s Scottish Government budget, this SNP Government did exactly that, with a resource increase of more than 3 per cent. We provided extra money to councils for more teachers and additional support needs and we provided a record settlement to local government. Scottish Labour’s response to that record increase for the education portfolio was to sit on its hands. This year, we hear from Mr O’Kane’s boss, Anas Sarwar, that Scottish Labour is “not in a strong negotiating position” over the budget.”
“This Government promised to close the poverty- related attainment gap a decade ago, but it has failed to deliver. It already presides over massive disparities in attendance rates, which are still well below pre-Covid levels, and it has allowed violence and bad behaviour in our classrooms to rise. The Scottish National Party Government promised a Parliament of Covid recovery in education, yet five years later, we have, in the cabinet secretary’s words, only just turned a corner. Scotland’s once-excellent schooling system has been undermined by the SNP over the past two decades, and the latest reporting is just the latest evidence for it. [Interruption.] I hear the First Minister groaning. He had quite a lot to do with it, from memory— The Presiding Officer: Ask a question, please, Mr O’Kane.”
“On the substantive point that Mr O’Kane makes, it is important that we have an understanding at central Government level of how the additionality is being used in relation to school supplies. That is why I have asked officials and education analysts to give me a fuller update in that regard, because those measurements differ by local authority. However, it is the case that there has been an increase to the education budget, which Mr O’Kane and his colleagues were unable to support in last year’s budget. Paul O’Kane: I find it extraordinary that, in the final months of the current session of Parliament, we are just getting round to analysing exactly what is happening with that spend in schools. I find that shocking, and I think that our teachers and parents across Scotland will find it shocking as well.”
“He is absolutely correct to say that pupil equity funding should be additional in relation to school budgets, and that is the way that it has been protected by this Government through budgetary processes. I observe that the Scottish Labour Party was unable to support the previous budget. On the FOI data, as I understand it, we do not have such data on the issue from all local authorities. It is also important to say that the article that Mr O’Kane cited notes that the data can be recorded differently from council to council, and that most of the figures, as we understand it, relate to the financial year 2024-25. Of course, those figures were obtained by a tabloid newspaper.”
“Is it not clear that year upon year of reductions and cuts to council budgets have led councils to have to make such decisions and that the money, which is meant to be additional—it is meant to add to our anti-poverty strategies and work to close the attainment gap—is not getting to where it needs to go? I note that the cabinet secretary mentioned John Wilson, but does she recognise her own responsibility in this area? What confidence does she have that the funds that are given by her Government to tackle inequality are being used effectively? What analysis has she done of that? Jenny Gilruth: There were a number of different points in Mr O’Kane’s question. I am mindful of time, but I will try to respond to them all.”
“Paul O’Kane: The analysis of freedom of information data from local authorities that was reported at the weekend shows that six of the eight lowest-spending councils rank among the areas with the most deprived neighbourhoods, with some schools spending less than £1 per child per week on classroom supplies. In response to those findings, a Scottish Government spokesperson—we heard the cabinet secretary echo a lot of this in her answer—pointed in particular to funding that is provided through the Scottish attainment challenge, including pupil equity funding, which is supposed to go directly to schools in the most deprived communities to support children who are affected by poverty.”
“This Government has increased funding for education. In 2025-26, the education and skills resource budget rose by £165 million to more than £3.2 billion, and local government received a record £15 billion, with an increase of more than £1 billion to support education and other local services. Scotland has the highest spend per pupil in the United Kingdom, at £10,100 per pupil, which is approximately 20 per cent higher than spending per pupil in other parts of the United Kingdom. It is essential that the funding that is protected by this Government centrally gets to the chalk face in our classrooms, where it will make the biggest difference. That is why I recently appointed John Wilson, a respected former headteacher, to lead work nationally that will interrogate issues pertaining to governance and school funding.”
“I am sure that Mr Stewart would agree with that position, and I am sure that his council colleagues will be thinking very seriously about whether they can continue to support Fife Labour in cutting teacher numbers while it has had additionality from this Government. I have set out the extra funding that has come from the Government. Of course, budget negotiations are on-going, and I am sure that the Conservatives will be looking carefully at the extra funding for teacher numbers, to protect those numbers, and welcoming the fact that, for the first time since 2022, teacher numbers have increased. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I am conscious that ministerial responses have been on the long side. I want to protect the opportunity for back benchers to ask questions, but they will have to be brief, as will the responses.”
“Jenny Gilruth: I thank Mr Stewart for his interest in teacher numbers, but I have to observe that, in Fife, which is part of his region, teacher numbers fell by 49. As the member may recall, Fife Council is led by the Labour Party—despite the Scottish National Party being the largest party, we are locked out of power—and it depends very much on the votes of Conservative councillors. I recall listening to a colleague of Alexander Stewart’s at an Educational Institute of Scotland hustings not long ago giving an assurance to parents and carers that she would not have voted for Fife Council’s budget had she thought that it would lead to a cut in teacher numbers, but that is exactly what has happened. Fife Council has taken the money and has cut teacher numbers. I do not think that that is particularly credible.”
“Since 2014, teacher numbers have increased by more than 2,700, as a result of investment from the Scottish Government. We provided additional funding of £41 million in this year’s budget, which uplifted the ring-fenced funding to protect teacher numbers to £186.5 million. As a result of that increased funding, the census data that was published in December shows an overall increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2022. Alexander Stewart: Ministers will point to a slight increase, but the reality is that teacher numbers fell in half of Scotland’s local authorities last year, despite repeated promises to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels. With the threat of industrial action looming, what measures can be put in place to restore confidence and teacher numbers as a matter of urgency across all local authorities?”
“If Mr Gulhane would like to engage with the wider work that Professor Alexis Jay and Police Scotland are leading on, I suggest that, if he is able to attend the meeting next week, he would benefit from the update that will be shared then. He raised important issues, and I agree with him on them.”
“I am aware that Opposition party leaders and spokespeople have been invited to next week’s round-table meeting with Police Scotland and Professor Alexis Jay. I do not think that Mr Gulhane has been invited yet, but I extend an invitation to him today, because responses to the issues that he raises would be better provided by an update from Police Scotland and Professor Alexis Jay in relation to their work. There is a broader issue in relation to the evidence base, which might lead to further inquiries at the end of the parliamentary session, as I have alluded to previously. However, it is important that the evidence base is substantiated by the wider work of the review that I committed to earlier in December.”
“Recent Scottish Conservative freedom of information requests show that the Scottish Government does not hold a national picture on where high-risk, group-based sexual offenders are being supervised. Those predators work together to target children. In the same way that we know where offenders of serious organised crimes are located, we should know where networked grooming gang members are and what they are doing. Will the cabinet secretary commit to tracking those offenders in the same way that serious organised crime members are tracked? Will she facilitate a meeting to allow us to discuss that with the serious organised crime task force? Jenny Gilruth: Mr Gulhane raises a very important matter.”
“We are committed to ensuring that robust protection measures are in place to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation. We published revised national child protection guidance back in 2023, and we are rolling out national training of interagency referral discussions to support local services and professionals. Those vital discussions bring together partners to share information, assess risk and agree a safety plan following a reported concern about a child. I also announced additional funding to third sector organisations and Police Scotland on 17 December 2025 to support the protection of children from sexual exploitation. Sandesh Gulhane: Grooming gangs are organised, co-ordinated and calculated in their exploitation, abuse and rape of vulnerable children.”
“We know that incredibly complex factors underpin that, which can relate to factors such as anxiety and additional support needs, and that is why we have tasked Education Scotland with providing that tailored support. The new chief inspector will also have a key role to play in relation to the improvement that Meghan Gallacher called for, but it is being delivered at the current time, as our national statistics show. Grooming Gangs and Sexual Exploitation 5.”
“In relation to persistent absence—the Government introduced that new measurement two years ago, I think, because we did not previously have that data set and we thought that it was important that we gathered it—we have seen decreases of 3.7 per cent in Falkirk, 2.3 per cent in North Lanarkshire and 3 per cent in South Lanarkshire. That is welcome. We are on a trajectory of improvement. However, I accept the member’s challenge on the overall issues that have been experienced in relation to attendance. I set out some of the work that Education Scotland is taking forward, which includes tailored, intensive support for local authorities where there are issues. A small percentage of pupils—I think that the figure was 2.4 per cent in 2024-25—have very low attendance.”
“Meghan Gallacher: Data shows that, since 2019-20, more than 73,000 pupils have missed at least half of their schooling, with more than 6,000 not attending school at all. Persistent absence not only impacts on children’s educational experience; it risks long-term harm to their education and wellbeing. Will the cabinet secretary accept that urgent national action is required and that the Scottish National Party Government has failed to act with urgency on the issue? Jenny Gilruth: I very much share the sentiment behind what Meghan Gallacher has set out in the chamber today. However, I draw the Parliament’s attention to the most recent statistics, which, in the member’s Central Scotland region, show improvements in attendance in Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.”
“The Scottish Government is committed to improving school attendance and we have intensified our support for schools and local authorities. Education Scotland is providing bespoke support in areas where attendance remains a challenge. Its improving attendance quality improvement programme offers tailored support, with 16 councils being engaged and a third cohort starting this month. In October, we ran a national campaign with Parent Club to help families to address underlying issues that affect attendance and ensure that pupils return to, engage with and benefit from their learning. I am greatly encouraged that we have now seen improvements in attendance and reductions in persistent absence for two consecutive years. We will update our national attendance guidance in spring 2026 to further support improvements in attendance.”
“For example, it considers issues such as ventilation and school site size, all of which should be considered in the mix of how we ensure that school design, in particular, is fit for purpose in delivering education. College Sector Pay 3.”
“How will she ensure that trans pupils are safe, supported and included in schools throughout the consultation process? Jenny Gilruth: As the member alluded to, at the end of last year, and in light of the Supreme Court ruling, the Government provided updated guidance on the issues that she has raised today. The consultation is separate to that, although the member has raised wider issues in relation to how we can support trans pupils in our schools. We are seeing rising levels of anxiety across the board at the current time. As cabinet secretary, I am mindful of that and have sought to engage with trade unions and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on those matters. The consultation is broader than the issues that Maggie Chapman has raised today.”
“That input will help to ensure that the updated regulations reflect the needs and aspirations of Scotland’s children and young people. Maggie Chapman: It is so important that those who are directly affected by decisions and changes are included in discussions. At the end of September 2025, the Scottish Government changed its “Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools” guidance. The previous version said that trans pupils should be able to use toilets that align with their gender identity. The new guidance says that there must be separate single- sex toilets for boys and girls, with additional gender-neutral provision. Can the cabinet secretary outline how the segregation of young trans people ensures inclusion, safety and support for them?”
“The Scottish Government places the highest importance on listening to the voices of children and young people. We are committed to ensuring that they have the opportunity to engage fully with the consultation on proposals to update the school premises regulations. The matter of the consultation was raised during my meeting with the Children’s Parliament last month. In advance of the consultation’s launch, my officials also met members of the Children’s Parliament to seek their views and have offered further engagement to support them in submitting a response to the consultation. In addition, my officials have written to the Scottish Youth Parliament to highlight that the consultation is now live and to encourage its participation.”
“We are committed to improving relationships and behaviour in our schools. I have set out to members a range of measures that the Government has taken in that respect since 2023, not least in our approach to increasing and improving the number of teachers in our school, increasing funding for additional support needs measures and introducing the national action plan on behaviour and relationships. The member raises an important point, and I will ask my officials to engage directly with Aberdeen City Council on the substantive point that he makes.”
“That mirrors the almost £8 million that is spent by councils across Scotland and points to a wider breakdown in behaviour and discipline. Does the cabinet secretary accept that her Government’s failure to support schools on behaviour and discipline is leaving councils to pick up a growing bill? Jenny Gilruth: Mr Lumsden’s question has been informed by freedom of information data that has been gleaned by the Scottish Conservatives. If they are able to share that information with my office, I would like to interrogate it further with Aberdeen City Council because it is an important matter. I also understand that we are not able to extrapolate from the data alone whether the vandalism was caused by young people. It is important that we do not demonise them by presuming that all vandalism has been carried out by young people themselves.”
“Local authorities are responsible for the management of their school estate, including managing damage and repair. Although it is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to maintain their school estate, the Scottish Government continues to provide significant investment through the £2 billion learning estate investment programme. The 2025 school estate statistics show that the proportion of school buildings in good or satisfactory condition has increased to 92 per cent, compared with 62.7 per cent in 2007 when this Government first came into office. Douglas Lumsden: In the past five years, Aberdeen City Council has spent more than £1.2 million on repairing vandalism in schools, with annual costs more than doubling during that period.”
“The Government’s investments are improving outcomes for Scotland’s young people. What a pity that, even at Christmas time, the Scottish Labour Party cannot bring itself to celebrate that progress. Marionville Fire Station (Proposed Closure) 7.”
“Teacher numbers have increased for the first time since 2022, thanks to direct—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Let us hear the cabinet secretary. Jenny Gilruth: Teacher numbers have increased for the first time since 2022, thanks to direct investment from this Government. As a result of the budget—which, I remember, Scottish Labour members were unable to bring themselves to vote for—[Interruption.] The Presiding Officer: Thank you, members. Jenny Gilruth: —the attainment gap for primary pupils in literacy and numeracy has reduced to its lowest level on record. Class sizes have reduced in our primary schools. Attendance rates are improving. Nearly all three and four-year-olds are in receipt of 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare, which is saving families up to £6,000 per year.”
“The Scottish Government has been clear that teacher numbers not only support the profession but lead to improved outcomes for pupils. Since 2014, the number of teachers has increased by more than 2,500 as a result of investment from the Scottish Government. In last year’s budget, we provided extra funding, with an uplift in ring-fenced funding for teacher numbers to £186.5 million. This year’s census data shows that, as a result of the increased funding to protect teacher numbers, there was an overall increase in the number of teachers for the first time since 2022. Scotland’s pupil to teacher ratio also improved to 13.2 and remains by far the lowest in the United Kingdom. Martin Whitfield: I am grateful for that response. So, the commitment will not be kept? Jenny Gilruth: There is an awful lot of good news in Scottish education in 2025.”
“The Deputy Presiding Officer: The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for those. I encourage members who wish to ask questions to press their request-to-speak buttons.”
“I have provided further detail on our approach to the national review; I have set out how we will involve survivors to ensure that their voices are heard; I have announced additional funding to help professionals better protect children and prevent harm; and I have indicated our support for the development of mandatory reporting options for Scotland. However, this work must be a shared endeavour. All MSPs, from all political parties, have a role to play in protecting Scotland’s children and young people from harm. I therefore invite MSPs from across the chamber to support the work that is under way and, crucially, to offer their input and ideas by engaging meaningfully. Our children and young people deserve nothing less.”
“I want to be clear with Parliament that the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse is supported in principle by Scottish ministers, and a task and finish group is being established, under the guidance of the national strategic group, to consider potential models for that. This Government is determined to take action to establish the potential extent and scale of child sexual exploitation. That includes conducting an independent national review to assess the prevalence of this type of abuse and the effectiveness of local systems, and identify any risks or evidence that require early action.”
“I pay tribute to the determination and drive of its recent co-chair, Iona Colvin, Scotland’s chief social work adviser, who is retiring this week, following a career that was dedicated to protecting Scotland’s children and young people from harm, abuse and neglect. To build on the work of the strategic group, I want us to go further. The mandatory reporting of child abuse has been the subject of recent discussions in the chamber. Many professionals in Scotland already have a duty to report child abuse; I know that from my time in schools. However, the national strategic group has been actively considering the case for a broader statutory requirement for mandatory reporting.”
“That guidance makes clear what everyone working with children must do to protect children from harm, including reporting to social work and the police when a child is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or exploitation. We are also rolling out national training for local services and professionals on interagency referral discussions. These discussions are fundamental to our system of child protection in Scotland. They bring together the police, social work, health services and wider partners to share information, assess risk and agree a safety plan. In recognition of the increasing complexity of child sexual abuse, we established the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group last year. From January 2026, the group will be chaired independently by Professor Alexis Jay.”
“That funding to Police Scotland will, importantly, build upon the existing capabilities of the national child abuse investigation unit, which provides a specialist approach to tackling child abuse and exploitation. It is focused on complex cases that involve multiple victims or perpetrators, and on organised networks. It conducts around 700 investigations per year. Just as we must investigate and address what has happened in the recent past, so must we ensure that we are doing all that we can in the here and now. We must work to protect children and young people from harm and, importantly, to identify required improvements to current approaches. In 2021, we published revised national child protection guidance to support the development of evidence-based responses.”
“That will enable the United Kingdom Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to undertake pilots in two Scottish local authorities in 2026-27. These pilots will provide access to experts and resources to help build the skills and confidence of front-line practitioners in identifying and responding to child sexual abuse cases. The funding will help support the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to strengthen its work in Scotland with young people and families who are impacted by online sexual offending. It will also support free access to online harm training from the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. Additional funding will be provided to enhance Police Scotland’s digital forensics capability and ability to act on online harm.”
“It is shocking and sickening that children and young people in our society continue to be sexually abused, often by members of their own family, as well as, increasingly, through online exploitation. Therefore, we must also invest in initiatives that address such harm and help children and young people to recover. To date, the Government has provided £20 million for the bairns’ hoose programme to enhance holistic, child-centred support for children who have been harmed. That is in addition to funding for third sector organisations that are working to prevent—and protect children from— sexual abuse and exploitation. Today, I announce a further £220,000 of funding to be deployed immediately during this financial year.”
“I want to reassure survivors about an issue of significant concern to them, which is the retention of records and information that relate to their experience and are pertinent to this work. I know that this matter has caused—and continues to cause—significant distress. Therefore, the director general for education and justice has today written to key agencies and organisations, asking them to review their document retention policies in order to ensure the retention of all documents that may be relevant to the national review. That is in addition to the instruction that the Scottish child abuse inquiry issued, when it began its work, on keeping records and information that it would wish to review and consider.”
“I commend the courage of those who have already spoken out, whether publicly or privately with the Government. I say to them: be in no doubt—your voices matter. Today, along with the justice secretary, I wrote to the cross-party group on adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse to request that we attend a meeting in the new year to hear directly from the wide range of survivors that the CPG represents. This approach of engagement with the CPG mirrors the approach that has been taken by the national strategic group, which, at its next meeting, in January, will further consider more strategic approaches to engagement with victims. It is vital that the views and experiences of survivors inform the work that we are taking forward.”
“The national review, Police Scotland’s on-going work and the advice of the national strategic group, which is chaired by Professor Jay, will gather evidence, help us to take action now where it is needed and inform advice to ministers on whether a national inquiry on group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation is required. Ministers expect to be able to update the Parliament more fully on that work by the end of February. We must also ensure that survivors’ experience is at the heart of our considerations; their voices must be heard and listened to. It is critical that we take the right approach and involve survivors in a trauma-informed way and with appropriate safeguards in place. I do not underestimate how distressing it is for survivors to share their experiences of abuse.”
“I know that, like me, members will have welcomed the news last week that the Scottish child abuse inquiry confirmed that, as part of its phase 10 hearings, it will be able to hear and act on evidence that relates to grooming and group- based child sexual abuse, where that falls within the inquiry’s terms of reference. I want to be clear with Parliament today that any person who considers that they might have been groomed, and sexually exploited as a result, while in residential care before 17 December 2014 has a right to contact the inquiry.”
“In the first part, the inspectorates will scrutinise data and evidence from all local authorities about the risk and threat of group-based abuse and exploitation. That rigorous work will be detailed, ensuring that all responses from local authorities are scrutinised. I assure members that, if any harm or risk is identified during the review, it will immediately be escalated through the appropriate channels, including to Police Scotland as required. Action will be taken, and it will not need to wait for the review to conclude or for an inquiry.”
“That approach will be underpinned by Professor Alexis Jay’s expert advice on its design and, at key stages of the process, will draw on her unrivalled experience in this area. Of course, that work will also operate within Scotland’s established constitutional arrangements, including the independent role of the Lord Advocate in directing the system of criminal investigation and prosecution. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and I are clear that that work must be undertaken at pace, with ministers, the national strategic group and the Parliament receiving regular and appropriate updates. The review will be conducted in three parts, with reports provided iteratively to ministers.”
“When language runs ahead of evidence, the consequences are borne not by commentators, but by survivors—through misrepresentation, loss of trust, and further harm.” The national review has been established in part to scrutinise the effectiveness of local responses. It will be led by four statutory inspectorates that are, importantly, independent of Government and the organisations that they scrutinise. Crucially, those agencies have powers to compel public authorities to provide information that they request. Those powers will be critical to the success of the review. Public agencies will not be able to refuse to co-operate, and the inspectorates will help obtain the evidence that is needed to inform future decisions and investigations.”
“The experts on the national strategic group have been clear, however, that there is limited evidence at the current time on the nature and extent of the issue in Scotland. It is, therefore, imperative that that evidence base is established at pace, to clarify next steps and lessen prolonged suffering for the victims of these crimes. That evidence base matters to survivors. Last week, one of them told me: “the current narrative is moving faster than the evidence base, and that policy, commentary, and public positioning must remain anchored in verified evidence rather than momentum or rhetoric.”
“Protecting children from harm is of the utmost importance to this Government. Those who have suffered as victims of child sexual abuse have been let down by a system that should have protected them. Discussion of these topics—whether in the national press or in this chamber—should be sensitive to that trauma. All parties should, rightly, treat this matter with the appropriate care and seriousness that it demands. I welcome that Opposition leaders and spokespeople will have the opportunity to meet Professor Alexis Jay and Police Scotland on 14 January for a full briefing on their work. As I previously set out to Parliament, the Scottish Government has not ruled out the establishment of an inquiry into group-based child abuse and exploitation.”
“The Presiding Officer: The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business. I would be grateful if all members who wish to put a question could press their request-to-speak buttons now.”