 The final item of business today is a member's business debate on motion number 70, in the name of Claire Adamson, on child safety week 2016. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Would those members who wish to speak in the debate please press the request-to-speak buttons now? I call on Claire Adamson to open the debate. Ms Adamson, you have seven minutes. I am delighted to be leading this debate this evening, and I want to thank my colleagues across the chamber, many of whom are new faces, for their support to allow this debate to go ahead on child safety week, as promoted by the child accident prevention trust. I would like to welcome members of the trust and also other members of the cross-party group on accident prevention and safety awareness to the gallery this evening. We have many new faces in the chamber, we have new faces in the Presiding Officer's seat and a new minister to respond to our debate today, and I congratulate both Ms Fabiani and Ms Ewing on their appointments. What is not new is that Claire Adamson MSP is on her feet talking about safety issues in the Parliament, but I do make no apology for that minister, and I hope with your forbearance for the frequent and many responses that will be demanded of you over the next term of the Parliament. So why such persistence on my part? For me, safety, especially child safety, is a social justice issue. Unintentional injury is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity throughout life, and for children it means the leading cause of death. Recent ISD Scotland statistics show that children and adults in the most deprived areas are most likely to have an emergency admission, which is 90 per cent more likely for children and 40 per cent more likely for adults. Their most recent statistics show that one in 12 deaths from children is caused by unintentional injury and accidents. That is why I welcome the child accident prevention trust once again for the air efforts in promoting safety awareness on this week of child safety. I hope that members will take an opportunity to stop by the CAPT exhibition in the Parliament this week, and if they are very brave to take the Bittrex challenge. But there is a wealth of information there about how to support and promote child safety. The theme this year is to turn off the technology, and it highlights the dangers when parents, carers and young people are distracted by mobile technology, music and earphones. A recent survey by the child accident prevention trust shows that one in four parents admit their child that they have a near miss of a serious accident while being distracted by using a mobile phone. Two thirds, 69 per cent of parents surveyed said that they were distracted by their mobile phones, and more than three quarters confessed that they check texts and posts as soon as they come in through mobile notification systems. This is a startling statistic, and we know that this behaviour is also rubbing off on children themselves. One in six young people or children suffer an accident or a near miss like stepping out into the road without looking whilst on their mobile phones. It rises to almost one in four children and young people in the London area. That is why this week we will equip families with knowledge about the serious accident risks to children and the simple setups that they can take to prevent them. I know that the child accident prevention trust has been undertaking a number of events across Scotland, such as differing types, to visit nurseries, young people and families, to share their message through their toolkit for child accident prevention week, which is available on their website. There are many comments about why this is such an important area. Dr Clarissa Quinnell, a junior doctor from the University of Hospital Southampton, said, Accidents often happen when we are distracted and mobile phones are increasingly to blame, whether it is a teenager stepping out into traffic, while instant messaging or a baby grabbing a hot drink or biting into a liquid tab where their parents are replying to text. We have covered many of those issues on the cross-party group of accident prevention and safety awareness, and many of the professionals know only too well the devastating and life-limiting and life consequences that young people can have from burns, from things like straighteners, especially where the grab instinct of a young toddler could lead to having restriction in the use of their hand for the rest of their lives. I come to this from an experience myself in this area, and the doctor specifically said about people stepping out into traffic. In 2006, my 15-year-old niece, Mari, stepped out into traffic around the barrier at a crossing and was killed. I do not know whether she was listening to her music, I do not know whether she had her mobile phone in her hand, but I do know that all the research tells us that teenagers have immature brains, that their risk-taking development is not that of an adult and that they are vulnerable in these situations. That is why, tonight, and on every occasion that I can, I will stand here and urge parents, urge carers to heed the safety messages that we have from the likes of Cat from Rosba, who is also present here this evening, and from the great work done by the Government in the road safety messages, in the messages about home safety, in heeding, trading standards, the electrical safety council, all the people who are so expert in this area and seek to protect our young people, our children, our families from the devastating effects of unintentional injury. Thank you, Ms Adamson. I now move to the open debate speeches of four minutes, please. I call Jeremy Balfour. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a great honour, Deputy Presiding Officer, to stand and give my first speech to this chamber. With your forbearance, I would maybe like to return and say a few more words about the Lovians next time I'm called, because I do not want to take away from the importance of this debate and the short time that we have. I would like to congratulate Claire Adamson for securing a debate this evening for her motion on the child accident prevention trust, child safety week 2016, and also welcome people from across party groups and others here this evening. I know from reading previous reports and talking to colleagues that she has a long-standing interest in this and has a good record of raising this in the Parliament. As the motion notes, the theme of this year's safety week is turn-off technology. This theme is particularly current, given the widespread use of smartphones, iPhones and other technologies. These new technologies, as we are all aware, can be useful, enjoyable and make our lives easier. However, it is right to highlight sometimes that they can be distracting and even dangerous. This has been recognised with regard to the banning of use of phones whilst driving, and many workplaces now have guidance regarding the use of mobile phones during the working day. The campaign is useful because it draws attention to the risk of becoming distracted by technology while adults are looking after young children or young folks and focus on how avoidable accidents can be prevented. I understand that the trust published results of a survey that found that two thirds of people in Scotland said that they were distracted by their phone and that 40 per cent of young parents omitting their child was experiencing an accident on near-mids while they were using their phone. The survey also discovered that around one in eight people have suffered an accident on near-mids themselves by using their phone, such as stepping on to a road while not looking. The survey demonstrates the importance of the trust choosing to focus on technology. With regard to the findings on young people also being distracted from their safety when using phones, it confirms the importance of road safety campaigns that are aimed at them. It is welcome that the trust says that the safety week is about helping families to make informed decisions rather than wrapping up children in cotton wool. It seems that sometimes families are bombarded with hundreds of messages on how to best parent their children, whereas many of those are undoubtedly useful. It can sometimes become overwhelming and, in fact, the message gets lost in awe of the noise. Working alongside families and community groups might help to ensure that the message reaches parents and offers practical solutions. I think that we need to look at how we do car seat checking for children, how we provide first aid training for parents, how we give smart tips on how families can be empowered to look after their children. Those are important issues, sometimes difficult issues, but we need to get that message out. I thank, once again, Clare Adamson for bringing this to the chamber and congratulating the child accident prevent trust on their hard work in organising this week and wish them well today and in the future. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Clare Adamson on securing an early members' debate in this new session on a subject that is close to her heart. The vast majority of parents love their children unconditionally, and they would do anything in their power to try and protect them from harm. Indeed, nobody prepares you for the love you are going to feel for your child, but neither do they prepare you for the fear that comes with it. I would say, Presiding Officer, quite easily that the best day in my life was 20 years ago when my son Van was born, and I can still remember that as if it was yesterday, and when he moved up my stomach to latch on and breastfeed it was quite simply magical. Then the worry started. Was he putting on enough weight? Would I crush him in bed during the night feeding him? Would a wasp get in his pram when we went for a walk? Then he was toddling, and even with stair gates and electrical socket covers and constant watching, that's still a worry, and actually one of the worst days of my life was when he tumbled downstairs at my mum's but was thankfully unharmed. Then the school years, of course, she'd be allowed to walk on his own, she'd be allowed to cycle, go away to call Bowie outdoor centre for a whole week. Actually, that was a life-changing experience. Van came back when Chris Confident and he seemed to have grown up in a week. There were dangers there, of course, but they were minimised by staff and supervision. During those primary years, there's all sorts of dangers, you know, not least being possibility being bitten by a snake or a tarantula during Animal Man Manizou birthday party. I have to say that didn't happen and it's actually a very safe, fun and informative thing for people to do. But one big problem for me actually was trying to ensure that my son was watching age-appropriate movies and playing age-appropriate video games because too many of his parents seemed to think that, for example, Grand Theft Auto was appropriate for 12-year-olds. And then we come to the teen years, swimming, rugby, football, with all the accompanying injuries. I spent quite a few hours over the years at the A&E at Monklin's hospital with various breaks and sprains. So all sorts of dangers could arise and you have to hope that your child, whilst pushing the boundaries and trying to gain new experiences, will be careful and will keep safe. But unfortunately, that doesn't happen in all cases. Last Friday, I was awarded prizes at the Wayside of Trampelia RFC mid-eight and minisection dinner and we spent a minute applauding for the memory of a young player who lost his life due to drowning. So I think we can't overestimate the importance of the dangers of water being taught to children from a young age. Sadly, children living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are at greater risk of death and injury from preventable accidents. The Child Action Prevention Trust website points out that the growing up in Scotland study advises that family adversity is significantly associated with children experiencing three or more accidents requiring medical attention during the first five years of life. They also report that the professionals are keen on the fun elements of child safety week, as it really helps them to get the safety messages across effectively particularly to vulnerable families. Further, it helps to build resistance by reminding parents what they can do. Of course, as Clare Adamson pointed out, this year's theme is turn-off technology. I think that that can cover a range of dangers to be aware of in technology. For example, online threats like bullying as well, unsuitable games that I mentioned, but of course crossing roads whilst listening to music on mobile phones. I really hope that raising awareness by debates like this can help with the turn-off technology theme but also encourage projects and groups that work in deprived areas like many across central regions to sign up to child safety week and help to narrow the inequalities gap in child safety. No matter how much we want to care for and protect our children, accidents happen, but by being aware of dangers we can help to keep our kids safe and minimise the risk. Of course, as parents will always worry, my son is away just now on his first trip alone to visit his friend who is at uni in the United States and even the lowest 20. I am still as anxious as I was when he was two and I hope that he is not crossing roads with his mobile on. However, we can only hope that we have made our kids aware of obvious dangers and we can try to anticipate the threats to their health and safety. Child safety week helps parents to do that by raising awareness of serious childhood accidents and how to prevent them. I will close by once again congratulating Clare Adamson on this debate and believing that the debate can only help in that aim. Once again, congratulations to her. David Torrance I thank Clare Adamson for securing this debate in the Parliament today. There can be no keen revelation of society's soul when the way it treats its children. The quote is by Nelson Mandela that encapsulates the importance of child safety in our society. In Scotland, the small number of children do not live past their first birthday. Some of those deaths, unfortunately, are through accidents, accidents that are often preventable. Those accidents generally happen when we are disengaged, preoccupied and inattentive. We are all members of a community and we play our role whether as parents, teachers or police officers or many others to ensure that our children within our communities are safe. As community members, we hold this position of trust. To the day, I welcome the opportunity to speak about this year's theme, turn-off technology. I would first like to thank the child accident prevention trust for inviting the public to sign up for the free child safety week toolkit and providing the practical resources and country-wide events to inspire families to participate in safer practices. Accidental injury accounts for one in 12 of all childhood deaths and one in eight of all emergency hospital admissions for children. That is especially high in areas of deprivation. The toolkit is a way of encouraging communication between parents and children on the use of safer technologies. It provides both picture books on how to use technologies safely that will appeal to younger children, as well as in formal pack targeted towards adults on what to do with your child and a technologically related accident. This is especially important for children under six who are most likely at risk of accidents swallowing small subjects. By putting away our smartphones, computer tablets and keeping electrical appliances out of reach when we are around children, we can devote our full attention to our younger children to ensure our safety. Regardless of where they live, every child needs and deserves the same level of safety. I am proud of the many services related to child safety in my constituency. The Fife Child Protection Committee aims to provide a safe environment for every child. Abuse of children can take many forms, including physical neglect as a result of technology. Technology is an integral part of both parenting and child's life, whether at home, school or work. The CPC provides information on the risks that its technologies can pose to children, as well as the resources available to minimise those risks. Barnadows child and family support services are strong presence in Fife, providing eight different services ranging from a provisional family care to children's rights and mental and physical wellbeing. The Cardi area works with a range of organisations such as the Playfield Institute, Victim Support Fife, the Scottish Commissioner for Children and the Young People, the Internet Watch Foundation and NHS Fife. In the homes where children are under five are vulnerable adults. Five care services provide safety advisers to visit home, identify the areas of danger, giving advice on how to make a home more child-friendly through safer use of technology. A theme for 2016 is turn-off technology. In 2015, more people have died globally by taking selfies than by shark attacks. By simply turning off notifications, sound on smartphones when returning home from work, setting aside a limited time for computer use or ensuring electrical appliances are out of reach, parents can create a safer environment for children. That does not allow parents to develop more attention to their child, but it also teaches their children that they focus on attention and encourage family quality time in the home. Parents also set an example for young people to avoid texting and driving and using phones and cars. Most importantly, that existence of technology is destroying the art of compensation may hold some truth. Children look to us for guidance on their role models, therefore it is up to us and our communities to provide them with the images of safety. Child Safety Week is a truly educational campaign targeting both adults and children. Last year, child safety week events and activities reached over 9,000 children, young people, parents and carers across Scotland. With a greater enthusiasm this week, we can keep more children safe from accidents. In conclusion, I once again would like to thank Clare Adamson for bringing this motion before Parliament today on such an important issue. I wish this child safety week every success for its continued future, as every child deserves to live in the safest environment possible. Deputy Presiding Officer, I also add my thanks to Clare Adamson and put on record the fact that it is her dedicated and attentive service to this issue that encouraged me to join the associated cross-party group. I must say that I was shocked when I read the statistic that one in 20 of all childhood deaths in Scotland are preventable. New technology in modern society has brought with it new challenges. Whilst back in the early noughties, I only, as goofy as it sounds, had my Sonny Walkman and S Club 7 tape to contend with as a distraction. Young people now have the world at the swipe of their fingertips and Spotify holds the entire back collection of almost every hit. That is why I welcome the excellent work that the child action prevention trust has done in addressing this very modern issue through its focus on turning off technology during their designated child safety week. Being distracted by our phones is something we are all guilty of, adult or child. I am particularly now with change of rules here in this chamber. In all seriousness, I find myself often behind the wheel of my car, wondering if the pedestrian with a large cup of coffee in one hand and a phone in the other is going to look up before crossing out in front of me. Of course, as a careful driver, my foot hovers on the brake and nine times out of 10, there is no need for any action, but you do see how many people, particularly younger people, take a driver's full concentration for granted and it is a worry. That is an issue that needs to be addressed primarily through education and we cannot wait for the worst to happen to shock our young people. Although not in my constituency, I do recall quite vividly an incident of a teenager in East Ayrshire who sadly passed away in 2009 when it was thought that he became distracted by either his mobile phone or a music player. Through the excellent work of voluntary organisations, we can try and prevent instances such as those from happening to other people. Of course, child safety week is not limited just to technology and organisations such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents have over the years done much to promote child safety measures. Through its campaigns to stop drink driving, its instrumental role in bringing about a ban on the use of handheld mobile phone devices and its introduction of a cycling proficiency test, practical solutions have gone a long way in ensuring that Scotland's young people are championed. As a former junior road safety officer at Moffat academy, I was very pleased to see the efforts of Thornhill's Wallace Hall primary school in my Dumfrieshire constituency who have recently appointed junior road safety officers from within its pupils. Those four pupils have made great efforts to keep parents and carers parking in the right places and to raise money for equipment that will encourage safe driving in and around the school premises. I would also like to highlight the efforts of a local initiative that has seen the establishment of an annual child safety event. It is called Operation Safety and it is attended by children and young people from across Dumfrieshire and Galloway. The event is run in parallel with the police, the fire and rescue service and the ambulance services. It gives pupils the opportunities to experience real-life situations in a relaxed but educating way. It is efforts such as those that have the real power to change young people's lives forever and it is exactly the sort of thing that I hope the new minister will take forward and encourage across Scotland in her role. I would like to thank again Clare Adamson for securing this debate and the many organisations who have worked very hard on this issue all year round. I now call Annabelle Ewing to wind up this debate. Minister, seven minutes please are thereabouts. Thank you Presiding Officer and I think this is the first time I've had the opportunity to speak in the chamber since your elevation and I congratulate you warmly and I hope that that gives me some brownie points going forward in the next five years. But I'd like to sincerely thank Clare Adamson for bringing this important debate to the chamber this afternoon. Clare Adamson has indeed been a strong, persistent and determined campaigner on issues concerning accident prevention and in fact it was further to her initiative that indeed the CPG on accident prevention and safety awareness was set up in 2013. I had the pleasure to attend the CPG briefly at this lunchtime at its inaugural meeting for the new parliamentary term and I was very encouraged to hear that I believe, unless I picked this up wrongly, that there were some 160 members which is really fantastic and I think it shows the importance of the work that the CPG will be dealing with. As we have heard, this week from June 6 to June 12 is the child accident prevention trust child safety week across Scotland and the rest of the UK and child safety week is a flagship community education event in Scotland each year, raising awareness of serious childhood unintentional injuries and how to prevent them. I am pleased to acknowledge that the child accident prevention trust did indeed respond to concerns raised in Scotland as to the timing of the child safety week and agreed indeed to move it from the end of June to the beginning of June to ensure that it did not clash with what tends to be a very busy end of term programme in schools here in Scotland. We have heard that child safety week does indeed generate very positive media coverage, which is useful in delivering the practical child safety messages that are intended through the campaigns. It also acts as a catalyst for hundreds of community safety events and activities, reaching literally tens of thousands of children and families across Scotland. Repeating last year's earlier timing also enables our schools and children to be more active participants in the various activities, which I think is very much to be welcomed. We have heard that this year's child safety week theme, turn off technology, offers an opportunity to raise awareness with families across the board. Today, indeed, the use of technology, especially smartphones, is universal. I think that we just have to accept that and work with it. Therefore, we know how easy it is to become distracted and particularly for children to become distracted when they are engrossed, and the focus therefore tends to diminish as far as safety issues are concerned. That was a very well-made point by Geoffrey Balfour in his first speech to the chamber. It is a very fine and consider speech, if I may say so. Unintentional injuries happen all too often when we are distracted. Indeed, in those circumstances, they can also happen very, very quickly, taking us by surprise. The child safety week initiative puts accident prevention into a context that families can relate to, and it makes starting conversations a bit easier. It helps to avoid any kind of top-down perception. Of course, it also gets the children involved in the debate, which is really important. It gets the message across, I believe, in an engaging way, in a fun way. It indicates how you can try to build basic safety into what very busy lives are. As Elaine Smith rightly said, parents will do anything to keep their children safe. Indeed, it is parents that carry out constant risk assessments—I do not know how many per day, but I am sure that it is quite a lot. They are ready for this message, and it is perhaps encouraging them to work with organisations like the child accident prevention trust to see what small changes can perhaps be made in how they go about their daily activities to protect their most precious asset, their children. As well as being a good way to engage with parents, child safety week also helps to forge long-term partnerships for unintentional injury prevention between a wide range of sectors, including early years in childcare, health, road safety, police, education, fire and rescue services, statutory services and local community organisations. A point alluded to by Oliver Mundell, who I am pleased to hear, has the experience to bring to the CPG in terms of his role as a junior traffic officer, if I have the title right. The term unintentional injuries is, I believe, the preferred term nowadays, instead of the term accidents as the latter, could perhaps be deemed to imply that events are somehow inevitable and unavoidable, and indeed, to the contrary, a high proportion of those incidents are now regarded indeed as being entirely preventable. While unintentional injuries can occur in any age group, it is, of course, the case that, among others, children are particularly vulnerable. In fact, this morning, I had the pleasure of visiting the Bright Sparks nursery in Edinburgh, where I took part in the child safety week activities. Those included the reading of one of the picture books to which David Torrance referred. It was an excellent book, Presiding Officer. It was called Stop and Go, and I had the privilege of reading that to the wee people who were there, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Indeed, one young boy pointed out to me that you should not use your phone when you cross the road, as you will not be able to see the cars. I think that that really summed up with total clarity the message that we are trying to get across. I also took the challenge, the bitrix taste test. For those of you who do not know, that is a chemical by-product that is, apparently, harmless to humans. It can be used to quote industrial household products that could present a risk to young children. For example, Claire Adamson referred to liquid tabs, which are washing machine capsules, frequently nice bright colours, which are attractive to young children. The idea is that this product is coated in bitrix, a product produced in Scotland, a chemical developed in Scotland. When they do so, the bitrix taste is so bitter that it automatically spits out the poisonous liquid. I can assure you that, having taken the test today, it is very bitter indeed. I needed some five hero chocolates afterwards to try to recover. I still have a bit of the taste, but I am pleased to hear that the trust are here all week, so I would strongly encourage all members to just get on with it and take the bitrix test. It is sending an important message, and it is a really important example of how we can adapt various products and other developments to further protect our children. I would say that the messages that are being promoted in relation to child safety week are very important ones indeed. We all have a role to play, and I, as Minister for Community Safety, am always keen to work with all members. My door is always open. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas, and I look forward to working with the members of the CPG on accident prevention and safety awareness. I thank Clare Adamson once again for bringing this important debate to the chamber in these early days. I look forward to working alongside all members to see what we can do to further improve child safety and awareness in Scotland.