 Rwy'n rhoi i gael i fy modd o fod yn ei tuwi, byddwn i nid o gyhoeddwyr ac yn cwiatle ac yn bydd anodol. Os y bydd gwestiadol y bynnig ym mwyfawr 1476 wedi ei wneud yn ddifeniad Cleir Baker yn gyfafodd yr ymgynghorfall, mae'n ddymaewch chi gyda'u cael ei gwyfodd i gweithio ymgynghoraf. I invite members who wish to participate to press the request and speak buttons now, and I invite Clare Baker to open the debate for around seven minutes, Ms Baker. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to the members who signed this motion and to those who are going to take part in the debate this evening. I know that some of you also had the chance to meet Eilish and her family outside Parliament last week. I would also like to welcome families to the gallery, and I hope that they are encouraged by the support that will be expressed in the chamber. I brought forward this motion after the financial pressures being faced by the yard was highlighted to me by the family of Eilish Claren who lives in my region. I am grateful to them for sharing Eilish's story with me and for the work that they have already done in their campaign to improve funding for services for disabled children in Mid Scotland and Fife and across Scotland. The yard opened in Edinburgh in 1986, and it is a charity that supports disabled children and young people through adventure play, offering creative and inclusive play experiences alongside wraparound support for the whole family. It also supports families to build support networks. It provides a varied programme that includes drop-in sessions, respite specialist sessions with schools, disability training and family play sessions. In 2015, it opened a further site in Dundee and then Inker Coddy in 2016. I will read a couple of quotes from those who benefited from its services. It really is an amazing place and we always feel so welcome and included. The staff are fantastic, and it is the only place where I ever see my little boy relaxed and able to be himself without judgement. From another parent, it is incredibly valuable to have a space where autistic and disabled children can play with other children like themselves in an environment that is built for them. The yard do fantastic work, and there is nothing else like it in Scotland. Ailesh Cavan was born with a rare genetic condition, which means that she struggles to walk, to see like you or I, and she has a learning disability. Those who met Ailesh last week outside Parliament can agree that she is also delightful, engaging, and she knows how to pose for a great photo. For Ailesh and her family, the yard is a place of pure joy, somewhere she can be who she is and not be defined by her disability. In 2016, the yard was delivering support for 550 children, receiving funding of £90,000 a year from the Scottish Government. Now, seven years on, it has grown to deliver family support, respite, school and play services to over 2,300 children in the east of Scotland. However, the funding from the Scottish Government has not increased in line with its growth and support, and nor has there been any opportunity to discuss the need for increased funding to support the growth and demand for the yard. In 2016, that funding was equivalent to £163 for each of the family supported. In 2023, that funding has reduced in real terms to just £39 per family. The decision to roll forward grants from the Children and Young People Early Intervention Fund at 2016 levels makes it very difficult for front-line third sector organisations to meet demand, and consequently, some disabled children and their families are missing out on vital support. Members will be aware that this is challenge poverty week, focusing minds on need for action to tackle poverty throughout Scotland. We know that households with a disabled person have increased levels of child material deprivation, compared with households with no disabled people. A third of Scottish families have extra disability and care-related costs of upwards of £300 per month. I thank Claire Baker for giving way and for the tribute that she is paying to the work of the yard. I have received representation from constituents on Dundee regarding holiday-time play and respite programmes that are partly funded by the council. However, their challenges about those programmes only being confirmed a matter of days before the start of holidays is predictable funding for those kind of respite breaks and play functions, not absolutely critical to allow families to plan, many of whom are in poverty and cannot plan alternatives. I think that the member makes a fair point. I hope that it is one that the minister listens to. We know that families need the more notice they have and the more support they have around them, it does reduce stress and help them to plan their lives. We also know that, amid the cost of living crisis, there needs to be more done to support the families as best that we can. The yard is just one of the organisations impacted by the decisions around funding in this area. Back in April, SCVO and a third sector interface network wrote to the minister raising their concerns about the administration of the children, young people, families and adult learning third sector funds and its predecessor funds. Their letter followed earlier correspondence on the impact of delays on decision making and how they had impacted on voluntary organisations. The letter highlighted the number of changes, delays and challenges around the administration of funding, alongside concerns over how decisions on funding had been made and communicated, stating that its administration was one of the worst that the voluntary sector has experienced, impacting on children and families as well as the organisations that support them. Although the 2016 decision to delay and then cancel successor funds means that funding has effectively continued, there has been no assessment of whether those projects funded in 2016 are still meeting the needs of their communities seven years on or whether the funding levels is now adequate. The rollover affects organisations like the yard by failing to take into account the increased demand for their provision or increased costs of running their services, and so the spend per child has dropped significantly. We know that third sector organisations have a key role in supporting our children, families and communities, even more so in times of crisis, but they work within very limited resources to do so. Many of those organisations have faced huge uncertainty waiting for funding decisions and facing numerous delays in the process. Organisations like the yard are making a vital contribution to the lives of disabled young people and their families. Every £1 that is invested in the yard yields a social return on investment of £23, but the current funding approach means that the amount of money going in is not being adjusted to reflect the increasing demand. While they have received some additional resource to support delivery of the promise, by rolling forward their core funding without adjustment, the yard is affected by being penalised for growing demand. I know that the minister does not want to see organisations like the yard have to fight for support like this, and I am urging her to find a solution. I am asking the Scottish Government to consider a review of the funding model and to ensure that organisations that can demonstrate their impact on supporting children and young people with disabilities and tackling poverty are able to access improved support. I will close with another parent's quote this time from Laurence, who is Ailish's dad. His plea is that our kids will not wait any longer. The First Minister says that his priorities are tackling poverty and improving childcare. Charities like the yard are essential services that deliver both those priorities for some of the most vulnerable children in Scotland. We need to see a fairer funding approach, and I very much agree with that. We move to the open debate. I call for Ben Macpherson to be followed by Martin Whitfield for around four minutes. I also thank Claire Baker for bringing this important debate to the chamber. For most people, when they hear the phrase Scotland yard, they think of the Metropolitan Police. But if you were a young person growing up on the northern side of Edinburgh, it is a park that resides between Rodney Street, which is the boundary of my constituency, Iron Place and Royal Crescent. As a young boy when I went to Scotland yard, it was a part of the park that I was not quite sure what was there, but it sounded really fun. It sounded like it made a difference. It was not until I became a member of a Scottish Parliament that I fully understood when I was invited by Celine Sinclair to visit the yard. I found out just what a difference it made, not just for my constituents, not just for young people and families around Edinburgh, but that it had grown into the organisation that it is now, providing support in Fife and also in Dundee. It was a real privilege following that visit to be asked to sponsor the 30th anniversary and celebration of the yard's contribution to the common good here in this Parliament. Since that time, we have experienced the pandemic. Claire Baker rightly talked about the wraparound support as well as the adventure play services that I experienced on my visit and saw first hand what a difference they make. However, the wraparound support during the pandemic I know makes a tremendous difference. I heard about that from constituents during the period of the pandemic and I heard about that in recent days and weeks, as constituents have written to me in support of the motion and in support of the ask in the organisation. It is important to recognise that, since I was elected as an MSP in 2016, the contribution that the Scottish Government has been able to make to the yard has not been increased. That is, of course, what we are considering today. That is an organisation that is extremely effectively run and extremely effective at private fundraising. It is an organisation that not only makes an impactful difference that is well documented and not only has a strong financial position generally, but has a delivery capacity where every pound invested in the yard generates the social return on investment of £23. We are in very challenging financial circumstances in terms of the public finances, and I am, of course, very aware of that. However, in a period in which we are trying to provide support to families who need the support that the yard provides in different ways, whether that is through child disability payment, which I had the privilege of being responsible for as a minister for some time, or the various other initiatives that I am sure the minister will talk about in her summing up and that others are aware of. In that environment, it seems to me a very worthwhile consideration to meet that ask from the yard, to provide that additional support, to provide that necessary up rating that has not been given since 2016. I know that the First Minister will also be visiting the yard in the next weeks, and I am sure that he will be as inspired as I was by what he does and impressed by what he does. I hope that the Scottish Government can, particularly during this challenge poverty week, consider what fairer funding it can provide to this remarkable organisation. I am very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer, that it is always a pleasure to follow Ben Macpherson, particularly this evening, on this member's debate. Can I compliment Claire Baker on achieving the slot to talk about our Kids Won't Wait campaign? Before thanking anyone else, I really have to thank Eilish Cowan for perhaps without doubt some of the most entertaining photographs outside of this Parliament, not just because of her enthusiasm, not just because of her ability to capture the attention of those around her, but also for those that surrounded that, and to watch the pleasure of messy play going on. I wanted to take the short time that I have this evening to talk about the power of play, because I think that within the heart of this campaign, within the heart of our disabled children and those family, friends and communities that support them, we can discover the true excellence of play and the fact that it is fun, to watch people cover their trousers in chalk, to watch people push water around, to watch people forget about some of the most difficult periods of their lives, because they are lost playing next to or with someone and just making a mess is incredibly powerful. While I watched this happening while trying to be photographed with someone far, far more photogenic than myself, I made the suggestion that they bring messy play, because I do feel those that sit within the chamber and those that are MSPs in the wider context in this Parliament could certainly take great advantage of an hour and a half's messy play somewhere, just to try and put aside perhaps some of the tensions, perhaps some of the conflicts, perhaps some of the contradictions that seem to fill us so much in our daily lives here, because actually to sit next to someone and mess around with spaghetti in water, to mess around with playdough and as I say to mess around with chalk and even get it on your clothes sometimes brings people together, because when young people, particularly when young disabled people are doing that, to re-quote Claire Baker from one of the parents, they were relaxed and they are able to be themselves without judgement. And I think to achieve that is so important for our young people as they grow up. It can be encompassed in the word fun. I think all of our young people should have a time to have fun, should be able to forget the pressures that perhaps their parents are under, the pressures that places like the yard are under from a financial point of view, and I know the adults that surround these young people do their very most to stop those pressures being reflected in the experience young people have. But to be able to invest a pound and to get a social return of £23 is a phenomenal investment. To do so when you have a giggling child, perhaps two or three giggling and laughing children together, allowing them to forget their disability, allowing them to understand that they are first and foremost human beings, and that the empathy of the community that surrounds them should actually treasure that, because our disabled people bring so much more than what they do apparently at first instance appear to. They bring a humanity that we should measure ourselves against. They bring a kindness that we should try and emulate. And most of all, they actually remind us about what being human is. And in the short period of time that I spent outside with Ailish, you could see that in abundance. In the discussions that followed, you could see from the adults who support and surround the yard, but also the families the real power that if we open our understanding to our young people, to our disabled young people, we can fight the statistics that 33% of Scottish families have extra disability that leads to costs of £300 per month. We can fight the fact that disabled people have higher levels of child material deprivation, 20% compared to other households which is as low as 8%. In our fight against poverty, in our fight to make Scotland the best place for young people to grow up, we must never ever forget, because we will be measured by the experience that our disabled young people have in growing up. I'm grateful deep here. Thank you, Mr Whithfield. Any evidence of chalk, paint or wet spaghetti to be found in the chamber will know who to come to. I call Miles Briggs to be followed by Richard Leonard. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to also speak in this evening's members' debate and to give my support to the campaign that recognises the importance of funding for disabled children in Scotland. I'd like others to thank Claire Baker for bringing forward this motion this evening and welcome the families to public gallery as well. I also want to, as others have, pay tribute to the Yard for the wonderful work that they do to support children with disabilities and their families. As a lot of the briefing said, it has always been a place of pure joy for anyone who's ever visited. It has been my pleasure to visit the Yard on several occasions since my election. I think the first time I visited, within minutes, I was dressed as a wizard and being pushed round in a tricycle or some race car, and it was a fantastic visit, but you really got the sense of what value that brought, not just to children but their whole family and support network. I think that's really important to recognise that in the debate today. Anyone who has ever used the Yard will know that it's a very special place, as many families have told me, but it is also that lifeline with a varied programme, as Claire Baker has mentioned, of drop-ins, respite, transition youth clubs, early years, specialist sessions with schools, family play sessions and inclusive play and disability training, but also that opportunity just to have conversations with other parents about the daily struggles in life that they are facing. I think that that's really important for any family to be able to have that space to have those conversations. An improving support for disabled children across Scotland and providing support for families is important. I think that ministers and cross-party, we all recognise that. Investing in charities like the Yard can help families and children to actually look towards reducing some of the financial burden already, which sometimes disadvantaged these families. In 2022, the Scottish Government decided to roll forward to children, young people and families early intervention fund grant, which had major implications for charities like the Yard, which were struggling to meet the demand. As Claire Baker has already outlined, in the seven years since funding was delivered, Scottish Government's contribution to each family has reduced in real terms by 76 per cent. It's a remarkable statistic that from £163 per family in 2016 to just £39 per family this year. I think that for all of us, we'd recognise the need to do that. On a cross-party basis, I think that that's important. Ministers are aware of that. It is an astonishing fall in funding and something that clearly is going to present challenges going forward. We know what the Yard wants to do. It wants to expand into the west of Scotland, and I think that we all would want to support that work. With that additional funding, those real ambitions can be realised, and I think that that really will present more value for all of us if we can help that to happen. As Ben Macpherson said, charities such as the Yard are absolutely invaluable, but they do not come free and we cannot take them for granted or the facilities and services that they provide. Most of us in the chamber will have a friend or family member with a disabled child, and I think that it's important that we recognise the need for those services to be bespokely funded in Scotland. I'd like to conclude, as others have, by thanking Ailish for her campaigning, the whole family and the wider families who use the Yard for their tremendous campaign to date. I hope that today's members' debate genuinely presents an opportunity for ministers to think again and look towards providing a better deal. The Yard has received just £90,000 since 2016, and that's been enough to support 550 children. However, seven years on, the charity's reach has grown fourfold, delivering family support to more than 2,300 children in the east of Scotland in its three centres. Demand for a wide range of services is growing, and the Scottish Government needs to recognise that, and I hope to rethink that. It means that we're not going to see the Yard able to continue to meet demand if it doesn't receive that additional funding. I sincerely hope that the minister has heard the case this evening to provide a better funding deal for the Yard, and we'll undertake a review urgently to improve that funding model and make sure that we can carry on seeing the Yard go from strength to strength. Thanks very much. Thank you, Mr Briggs, and I call Richard Leonard again around four minutes, Mr Leonard. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank Claire Baker for bringing this urgent question to Parliament tonight? Can I join with her in welcoming to the public gallery families and workers from the Yard who so warmly welcomed me when I first visited them four years ago. Their latest struggle for a fair funding settlement is a campaign which is driven not only by persuasive argument but by moral force. They have waged it both outside and inside this Parliament, and although there will be no vote tonight, I hope that everyone is clear that we are not merely a debating society, we are a Parliament with powers, and we must be prepared to use those powers, including those budgetary powers that we possess, to speak a language of priorities to address this injustice and to build a more equal civilised and caring society as well, because this evening we will not be judged by our votes but make no mistake, we will be judged by our values. What is happening here is a crime, it is daylight robbery, and it has happened not only because of bureaucratic inertia, delay and cancellation, it has happened because of the deafening silence of political indifference as well. It is simple. The Government's funding for the Yard and other early intervention organisations has been cut. Seven years ago, the Yard secured £90,000 from the Scottish Government's Children and Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund. It then provided services for 550 children with disabilities that worked out at £163 per family. Today, its grant is still stuck at £90,000 but it is now working with 2,300 children with disabilities across three sites. That works out by my calculation at £39 a family, and that is not £39 a week, that is £39 a year. It works out at £75 a week. It is not by accident but design that the Scottish Government called it an early intervention fund because all the evidence tells us the earlier the intervention the better, but it is no good ministers making speeches to party conferences or to this Parliament about being committed, I quote, to getting it right for every child, to, I quote, same outcomes, same opportunities, to, I quote, the best start in life if all you have are words and frameworks but no action and no funding to back it up. The children who were here lobby in Parliament from the yard just last week were 3, 4 and 12 years old. They will not be 3, 4 and 12 years old again, so that is why we have to get this right and it's why we have to get it right now and the money can be found because I tell you that the working people who produce the wealth of this country, the people I represent, would much rather their hard-earned money was spent on these kids in need than on the asset managers and the wealthy bankers who are hoovering up public funds to buy up our land, our peatlands and our forestry. The money is there, it's just that it is in the wrong hands. So we are here tonight to stake a claim for equality, for the flowering of the human spirit, in short to stake a claim for a social revolution. That's why this debate tonight isn't the end, it's just the beginning. We are only just starting to set out the changes that we need to bring about the good society that we all must build to secure a better future for all of those children and their families here with us in Parliament tonight and to all of those watching on across Scotland, all of those who can wait no more. Thank you very much Mr Leonard. I now call Matt Learon to respond to the debate minister around seven minutes. To all members for taking part in this debate, it's been really really nice to hear members' own experiences and understanding of the impact that the Yard has had. Equally, I very much welcome the opportunity to highlight the vital role of organisations like the Yard and to reaffirm the Government's commitment to supporting disabled children and their families. I'd also like to pay particular tribute to Elish, her dad, Laurence and the rest of her family for all their hard work in raising awareness of this important issue. As has already been mentioned, I know that the First Minister is visiting the Yard in a couple of weeks time and is very much looking forward to meeting Elish and her friends, and of course I'd be really delighted to visit myself to see first hand some of the amazing work going on. The Scottish Government highly values our third sector and the contribution that it makes to children, young people and families across Scotland. Our Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund, which I'm just going to refer to for the rest of this speech, is SIPFE, otherwise I think it will take up most of my time, has been providing core funding to 115 organisations, including the Yard, since 2016, helping thousands of children, young people and families. As members have noted, those are incredibly challenging times and we recognise the strain on third sector bodies. In recognition of this, in March of this year, we sustained our £94,500 annual funding via SIPFE for the Yard until March 2025. Funding contribution to the Yard is in recognition of the excellent work that they are doing and the support that they are providing. It was our aim that the continued provision of SIPFE funding would ensure the sustainability of organisations and continued delivery of support to thousands of children, young people and families across Scotland. However, I am aware that the Yard has made calls for an increase in funding to allow them to deliver even more of the valuable services that they already provide, and I have heard loud and clear the calls from the chamber today. Members are all aware of the continued pressure on public finances, but let me assure the chamber and organisations like the Yard that we are determined to do everything that we possibly can to support our disabled children, their families and the people and organisations that support them. I want to reassure Clare Baker and other members that we are in the process of reviewing our approach to third sector funding. Just in response to Ben Macpherson, the review will keep in mind our commitment to feeder funding. I am committed to equality and to improving outcomes for disabled children and young people in Scotland and to ensuring that all children can participate and achieve their potential. We know that families with a disabled person are more likely to be in poverty and that they can be disproportionately affected by the current cost crisis. We are providing funding to Family Fund, who deliver support and direct grants to families on low incomes, who are raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people. Through the Family Fund grant scheme, each family has choice and control over what items they request based on what they need to improve their quality of life. In 2022-23, we provided £2.974 million of funding, which supported over 6,000 families. Our national carers strategy, which was published in December 2022, sets out our cross-government approach to carers financial inclusion. We are currently implementing the strategy to drive forward long-term changes to improve the lives of unpaid carers across Scotland. People who care for a family member with a disability make a vital contribution to Scotland. That is why we have improved support for unpaid carers, including investing more than £80 million in local carers support through local authority carers act funding and legislating to establish a right to breaks from caring through the national care service bill to support people to protect their wellbeing and sustain caring relationships. Despite our fixed budgets and limited powers of devolution, we have also transformed social security provision in Scotland, delivering a system based on our principles of dignity, fairness and respect. The launch of carers support payment, which will replace carers allowance in Scotland, is the next important milestone in our on-going work to improve support for carers. We have worked extensively with carers and support organisations to design an improved service and a benefit that will work for them. Carers support payment will provide an improved service and information to carers to help them find out about and access wider support for themselves and their families. Carers will also continue to benefit from carers allowance supplement, which will, by the end of this year, have paid carers up to £3,300 on top of carers allowance since its launch in 2018. Looking at the child disability payment, since launch, almost £300 million has been paid to the families of disabled children and young people through the child disability payment. We have heard from families about the important difference that this payment can make by helping with extra costs of caring for a disabled child. Over 80 per cent of people's surveys in the child disability payment survey 22 told us that child disability payment had helped to make a difference to their life. To look at other examples, for example, school-age childcare, childcare and activities around the school day are highly important. Children can benefit from improved outcomes through opportunities for play and learning, and access to childcare can support parents and carers to work, train, study or provide them with respite. That is why we are committed to designing and building a new system of school-age childcare that provides care before and after school all year round to those families who need it most. I am grateful for the minister for taking his intervention. I understand the range of policies that she has outlined. One of the key things is often the carers centres that councils are struggling to fund or places such as the yard for that holistic support. I wonder whether ministers considered what that needs to make sure that it is sustainable in the future and where additional funding can be found for that. That is important when people are looking for support or looking to access some of the new benefits that the minister has outlined. Those conversations need to take place often in carers centres or in places such as the yard. I thank Miles Biggs for the contribution. As I have said, we are in the process of reviewing our approach to third sector funding and can certainly look into various aspects in relation to that. This year, we have invested £15 million to design and test new models of school-age childcare that meet the diverse needs of Scotland's families. We are taking a people-centred place-based approach to that, meaning that we will co-design services with people who use them. Through that process, we will utilise existing research and experience from specialist services so that we deliver a school-age childcare offer for children, whatever their needs, reducing barriers for families and supporting positive outcomes. Organisations such as the yard have played the heart of what they do, giving everyone who attends their centres an opportunity to be themselves and, importantly, have fun. I wholeheartedly agree with Martin Whitfield's comments on the importance of play. In fact, I was an outdoor nursery setting today. I have had mud all over my skirt because I was running about with them in the forest, and it was just such a brilliant start to my day and really just reaffirms the importance of that. We in organisations such as the yard understand how important play is for children and young people's growth, development and wellbeing, and because of that, we are committed to ensuring play in law as a fundamental children's right through UNCRC incorporation. I would like to conclude by reaffirming our commitment that the Scottish Government wants to ensure that every child has the nurturing care that they need to get the best start in life. We want to protect parents from stigma and give them the resources and help that they need, where and when they need it, to ensure that children have the responsive care-giving that is required for healthy development. Organisations such as the yard are doing just that, and I am delighted that we are able to continue to support the yard through our SIPFI fund, and I look forward to continuing to work with them. The health and wellbeing of children and young people is a key priority, not just for the Scottish Government, but for our whole society. We know that parents are the strongest influence on a child's life, and by helping parents, carers, families and communities to build better lives for themselves and their children, we can help to ensure that every child has the best start in life. I would just like to thank the member again for bringing this debate to the chamber. Thank you very much, minister. That concludes the debate, which I am delighted to hear Ailish appear to enjoy up in the gallery, and I close this meeting of Parliament.