 The Find Light of a Business is a member's business debate on motion S5M-1586, in the name of Colin Beattie, on celebrating the reach of adult learning. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Can I ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speakings now? I call Colin Beattie to open the debate. Mr Beattie, please. I am very pleased to introduce the first-ever debate on the reach of adult learning into Scotland's disadvantaged communities. I would like to congratulate, firstly, Midlothian Council's lifelong learning and employability service and Melville housing for their joint adult learning project. Of course, I am particularly pleased to highlight this project, because not only is it running in my constituency, but I think that it illustrates just how educational interventions like this can change people's lives. I know from colleagues in the Parliament that there are many great examples of adult learning across the country. I think that it is timely now to discuss this in what can be seen as a year of celebration for adult learning in Scotland as well as in the Scottish Parliament. Significantly, this year we will mark the centenary of a revolutionary milestone in the history of adult education in the UK and, indeed, internationally. That is the publication of the final report of the adult education committee of the Ministry of Reconstruction, better known as the 1919 report. The report represents a hugely important statement of the value of adult education and its role in creating and sustaining successful democratic societies, which is animated by shared civic, social and economic goals. It not only recognises the wide impact that adult education can have on society, notably in responding to the massive social, economic and political challenges of the time, but also accorded national and local government a direct responsibility for ensuring its adequate supply. Adult education, the 1919 report argued, is not a luxury but is, in fact, indispensable to national recovery and to sustainable effective democracy. It also emphasised the social purpose of adult education in supporting enlightened and responsible citizenship and in creating a well-ordered welfare state organised around the common good. The goal of all education in 1919 included the advancement of citizenship. It promoted an understanding that access to adult learning was a right and that each individual had responsibilities as a skilled member of the community to help meet local needs and reduce disadvantage. The report also argued that the main political, social and economic challenges faced by the country could only be tackled with the help of a greatly expanded, publicly funded system of adult education. In 1919, it was decided that adult education must not be regarded as a luxury for a few exceptional persons, nor is the thing that is concerned only a short span of early man or womanhood. Rather, it is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship and therefore should be both universal and lifelong. The report stated that the opportunity for adult education should be spread uniformly and systematically over the whole community as a primary obligation on that community in its own interests and as a chief part of its duty to its individual members. Every encouragement and assistance was to be given to voluntary organisations so that their work may be developed and find its proper place in the national education system. That report laid the foundation of what became a publicly funded adult education sector, where local education authorities were encouraged to see non-vocational adult education as an integral part of the activities. The report recognised that all men and women had the capacity to participate in a humane, liberal education and to contribute to the democratic life of the country. It also saw that different approaches to teaching and organisation were required for adults, emphasising both the realities of their lives and the breadth of their interests along with their need for the fullest self-determination in their lending. 100 years later, the Scottish Government has been laying the foundation for a strong culture of community learning that helps to build individual and social capacity. The strategic guidance to community planning partnerships, the Scotland's CLD regulations and the Community Empowerment Scotland Act are the keystones that support community-based learning and see the power for change rooted in and flowing from Scotland's residents. In 1919 and 1945, each education authority was responsible for ensuring the delivery of adult learning and worked closely with the voluntary sector and universities for support. It was until 1975, with the publication of adult education, the challenge of change and the reorganisation of local government, that we saw the emergence of discrete community education services where adult education, youth work and community work were brought together in order to target those disadvantaged groups. Those three strands of work now form the three national priorities for all community learning and development providers in Scotland. For much of the next 25 years, a shifted focus to community-based adult learning enabled individuals and groups in local communities to participate in the widest possible range of education and or training opportunities. The report, Communities Changed through Learning, was published in 1998 and focused on the development of a national strategy for community-based adult education, youth work and educational support for community development. Those developments have focused on social inclusion and lifelong learning. The acceptance of the report's recommendations resulted in the Scottish Office's guidance of April 1999, providing direction to local authorities on the provision of community education. It also detailed the requirement to produce community learning strategies with its partners. With the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and the partnership for Scotland and agreement for the first Scottish Parliament, which set out Government priorities for Scotland, including the development of an enterprise economy through investing in jobs and skills, adult learning was seen as key to achieving those goals, and it began to add a focus on literacy, numeracy and employability in its programme. The Scottish Government is working with others, including the National Strategic Forum for Adult Learning, to develop a strategy for that in Scotland. Initial consultations with adult learning providers and learners have taken place. Hearing directly from learners helps us to empower communities and remember that education has a purpose outside of solely promoting skills growth. Our predecessors in 1919 recognised that education had relevance to people's livelihoods, success and to the nation's prosperity. Further, they were just as concerned with values, citizenship, the nature of a good society and the intrinsic benefits of learning. The infrastructure of adult education has increasingly been challenged, and all at a time when the challenges posed by changes in technology, climate, demography and politics would seem to demand much more adult education, not less. The Centenary of the 1919 Adult Education Report provides a much-needed moment for introspection and reflection on what we think adult education is for and why we value it. It is an opportunity to put adult education once again in the spotlight to recognise the importance of thoughtful civic engagement through citizenship and to show how adult education can help us to renew our democracy and become a kinder, smarter and more cohesively open and prosperous society. In conclusion, the Scottish Government has made a good start introducing guidance and legislation to promote community engagement and empowerment. I look forward to hearing from the minister how we can now go forward by resourcing community learning to give districts across Scotland the ability to deliver an education that meets the aspirations and needs of communities, of geography or of interests, especially those where a reduction in disadvantage can be delivered most effectively by those who understand how to challenge it best. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Let me just start by apologising to you, the people in the public gallery and colleagues here, as the rural committee has a meeting in Gala Shields tonight. After I have spoken, I will depart to catch a train to get me there on time. I am sure that it will be an entertaining and interesting debate. Let me also thank Colin Beattie for giving us the opportunity to discuss this very important topic. Indeed, my intern Bella Ewing, who has done the research and written my speaking notes for me, is always a challenge for somebody when they come to the Parliament to be invited to look at a policy area that they have never looked at and to come up with something. It is always quite revealing how quickly they can find that we are doing quite a lot. The important point is that we all say that Scotland aspires to be a welcoming and inclusive country for all. Part of that is ensuring that adults in Scotland have a good social network and support, but there are many who continue to experience severe social exclusion. In particular, the emphasis in the motion that is before us on the developing social networks is a very welcome thing. The NHS report on social isolation and loneliness talks about those who are particularly at risk as being children and adults in socially economically disadvantaged. Those who are experiencing physical and mental health are below the norm. Of course, there is a whole set of stigmas associated with isolation, with low income and with people with disabilities. Any initiatives that we can take that help people to develop a better sense of themselves, which they should properly have, because we value everyone in our society, but also equipping them to develop relationships that will be lifelong and beneficial to them. It is interesting, too, when you look at the Scottish household survey. 8 per cent of responders disagreed that they could turn to friends and relatives in the neighbourhood for advice or support. That gives us some measure of the problem, perhaps bigger than we might have imagined. 18 per cent of people reported that they had limited regular social contact in their neighbourhood. That leads, according to other research, to health issues, sometimes readily measurable ones such as high blood pressure, poor sleep, depression but more fundamentally about mental health, which can be more insidious. Particularly at low levels where it is subclinical and help is not sought, the need to seek help is not necessarily recognised. We need to reach out to the category of individuals in particular and make sure that there is a wide range of opportunities for them to participate in the whole range of things that most of society takes for granted. Through that participation, of course, we need to improve their social contact with others and allow others to see opportunities in supporting such people in the long term. Technology is adding to the problem rather than being a solution to the problem in many instances. If you do not have the skills, an incentive and indeed the equipment to engage in the modern digital world, you are further isolated. The focus on ensuring that people have the ability to develop online and digital communication skills is equally important. Our libraries, our public spaces, are often a very good place in which we can do that. I am sure that, in my constituency, the community, learning and development team is hosting small group sessions to address that issue. That is part of a wider national picture of activity that I very much welcome. Big opportunities, a lot to do, but we are making good progress. Thank you very much, Mr Stevenson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would also like to begin by thanking Colin Beattie for raising awareness about the digital kitchen workshop in Midlothian in his motion in this debate. It is a timely initiative that appears to suit the twin needs that we now have as a technology-driven society, but one that also has problems with food. We are, of course, surrounded by technology in everything that we do, as has already been said. Whether we are looking to find out basic information such as shop opening times or applying for a job through an online portal, technology is there. And not having the access or the skills required to use that technology self-evidently puts people at a basic disadvantage. A Citizens Advice survey last year in Scotland of 1,200 of its clients found that 18 per cent never used the internet. That is almost one-fifth of people, particularly adults, left behind as younger generations take the technology that they use for granted as they grow up with it all around them. That one-fifth figure is significant also for other reasons. In 2016, only one-fifth of adults in Scotland consumed the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables on the previous day. I have to confess that I do not think that I have eaten my proper amount of portions today myself, but that was a significant decrease from 23 per cent in 2009. As a result of that, we are facing a worsening obesity and diabetes crisis. For those who have the skills, cooking may feel like a rather simple exercise, something that allows them to use healthy food in interesting and tasty ways. But others who do not find it that way will have to resort to more unhealthy options or feel that they do, which are often more expensive even if they are easier to buy and more conveniently available. Bringing adults together in a surrounding where they can develop digital skills and learn how to cook healthy and affordable meals is therefore an excellent use of finite time and resources and a model to be used elsewhere. The workshop reminds me of a similar housing association initiative that I visited towards the beginning of my time as an MSP. The clovey community garden in Clovenstone runs jointly between prospect community housing and edible estates. It brings people in the community together to grow an impressive variety of fruits and vegetables in the heart of Edinburgh, a produce that is then used in a series of cooking classes that are organised to make tasty and cheap meals. I can say firsthand that the potatoes that I was treated to were extremely good from the garden patch there. What pleased me, however, most was the way in which the garden and the workshops clearly brought the community together and taught them some valuable life skills. Those are, as Colin Beattie has pointed out, especially important in areas of disadvantage. Deputy Presiding Officer, I note that the Midlothian learning and development three-year plan for 2018-21 highlights that an area for improvement is in community empowerment relating to food growing. Perhaps the next step for the digital kitchen workshop could be to replicate the clovey community garden and grow the food too. While I am sure that other parts of the country can learn from the good work that is being done in Midlothian, let me end by thanking everyone who gives up their time in community-based adult learning. I hope that today's debate helps to show how much this work is appreciated and how important it is. Thank you very much, Mr Lindhurst. I call Mary Fee, and then I will go to the minister. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I, too, begin by thanking Colin Beattie for securing this member's debate and wish the partnership between Midlothian Council's lifelong learning and employability service and Melville housing every success. The opportunity for lifelong learning must be universal and fundamental to improving the lives of people across Scotland. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. Investment in lifelong learning for adults must be seen as preventative spend, particularly in areas involving adult literacy and numeracy, tackling digital access and in social isolation. Unfortunately, in this age of austerity, cuts to education affect the opportunity to learning for people of all ages. The financial settlements for local authorities will deliver real-terms cuts to budgets, as they have done in recent years. If we want to be proactive in supporting adults to learn, particularly those with the poorest literacy or numeracy skills or those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds in communities, we need to recognise that local authority budget cuts will limit how proactive we can be. Reaching out and engaging with adults who could benefit from programmes such as that in Midlothian is a difficult task. Cross-agency partnerships are a key to overcoming that barrier. Community learning and development has a key role in helping people from disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to access learning and prepare for study and employment. Engaging with adults in their communities limits the barriers or the fears that some may face when thinking about education. Many of those that we talk about have no qualifications and no post-school education, so creating a safe place to learn is crucial to that engagement. Although the aim for adult learning is rightly focused on some of our most disadvantaged people, ensuring that some of our smaller groups are often the most marginalised groups such as asylum seekers and refugees that can access adult learning programmes is crucial. I was pleased to see the community learning and development given a focus in the Scottish Government's new Scots refugee integration strategy 2018 to 2022. In speaking about adult learning, it would be remis of me not to mention adults in prison given my interest in that area. Statistics show that poor literacy and poor numeracy is high in the prison population. There are education and learning programmes in the prison system, however, we must ensure that CLD is available to those being released. Again, that is about the engagement and preventative spend. Community learning and development is necessary to tackle the problems that are associated with numeracy, literacy, digital access and isolation, but it must be properly resourced. We need an adult learning national strategy that reflects the importance that community learning and development has and the critical role that those working in the sector can play. Deputy Presiding Officer, I first begin by congratulating Colin Beattie on securing a discussion on the important subject in Parliament today. As he said himself in his speaking, it is the first ever such debate, so it is highly significant. It is also the centenary since the seminal report that recognised the importance of adult education that Colin Beattie brought to the attention of the chamber, taking us back in a journey through the history of the issue back to 1919, so it is very appropriate again that we are discussing this issue in 2019. I am particularly pleased that we have had the opportunity to debate the contribution that community-based adult learning makes to Scotland and to hear about the specific impact being made by the partnership between Midlodian Council and Melville Housing that Colin Beattie has brought to our attention. I also want to thank other members for their insight and their contributions. Gordon Lindhurst, Stewart Stevenson and just Mary Few have just heard from all discussed, for instance, very topical issues such as digital exclusion, which can lead to social isolation and also lead to people being disadvantaged in their communities if they do not have digital skills in this day and age. That was a very important dimension that I thought was brought to the debate. In closing, however, I wanted to particularly acknowledge the huge effort that goes into the partnership undertaken by Melville Housing. As a minister with responsibility for community learning and development, I have already, over the past few months since taking on this role, seen the difference that community-based learning is making by working in partnerships across Scotland. From what I have seen across the country and from what I have heard again tonight, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that Scotland absolutely must recognise the role that community learning development can play alongside early years, schools and colleges, so that we can support each other and every one of our children, adults, families and communities to make sure that they succeed. As our society and economy changes, as many members have referred to, we have to ensure that as many adults as possible are engaged in their communities to improve their life chances and to make a contribution that our communities and our economy needs. In 2014, the Government quite rightly prioritised young people at a time when Scotland and the rest of Europe were experiencing unprecedented high levels of youth unemployment. In response, at that time, the Scottish Government launched the development young workforce programme and we now see youth unemployment at a record low such that we have achieved our target three years ahead of schedule. Although we are rightly proud of that achievement, we know that austerity has also impacted on the delivery of adult learning at a local level, and Mary Fee was referring to that in her speech just a few moments ago. We now want to respond to that and ensure that our approach is fit for purpose moving forward. Scotland's workforce challenges evolve, and as the focus moves increasingly to the upskilling of an ageing population in and out of work, we are committed to supporting adult learning and the role it can play in delivering Scotland's ambitions for inclusive economic growth in this country. It was also in 2014 that the Scottish Government set out its commitment to adult learners through the statement of ambition for adult learning, recognising it as a central element of personal and community empowerment. Since that time, the Scottish Government is very grateful to the members of the National Strategic Forum for Adult Learning for all their efforts in safeguarding Scotland's work in adult learning. Their work on the learner voice has ensured that adult learning has been learner-centred and learner-driven. Their commitment has been matched by resources from the Scottish Government, and many members mentioned resources, which has seen over £1 million per year invested since 2014 in adult learning organisations through our adult learning and empowering communities funding. I am pleased by the work that those funds have facilitated across our breadth of adult learning organisations. For example, the Scottish Learning Partnership, Leeds Scotland, the Workers Education Association and the Coal Fields Regeneration Trust, all of which impact directly in places such as Midlothian, which is represented by Colin Beattie. We want adults to be able to participate in a range of learning opportunities and, in that regard, we are also grateful for the work of other institutions in Scotland organisations such as New Battle Abbey College, which coincidentally is also situated in Midlothian, but which is also working internationally to build Scotland's adult learning reputation through their support for the development of adult achievement awards. As we addressed the question of parity of learning pathways, it really is vital that we have a framework to recognise achievement and that this gives us currency for those learners who wish to have their learning recognised by others. Looking ahead, I am mindful that the strong foundations created by the statement of ambition for adult learning should now be built upon to create a national strategy to guide this work. As partners work together to develop that strategy, I am clear and must recognise the ways in which adult learning is central to not only personal development, but also to community empowerment, which we have mentioned already. I will also want to boast that our sector ensures that it is well placed to address the challenges of today and the times ahead. That is why I want to ensure that the forum is supported to lead this work, and that it is in best shape to engage learners to work together with officials to evaluate progress made and begin the process of identifying our future priorities. We are lucky in Scotland to have a successful adult learners week, which will occur in May 2019, supported by Scotland's learning partnership, which is widely recognised across the world at being the forefront of learning developments. It will be important through this year's events and others that we maximise the learners voices in informing our current activity and our future strategy. In the spirit of adult learners week, in one of its themes that we are never too old to learn new tricks, I am committed to the Scottish Government doing new things in support of adult learning, and particularly supporting its greater alignment across other ministerial priorities, particularly within my area of further higher education and science. I also want to, throughout that, keep on stressing the importance of partnership as we deal with the fallout and complexity of Brexit. It is an increasingly difficult environment in which we are all operating. Those are very challenging times, so we can only combat the challenges by working very closely together. Collaboration will have to be at the heart of the approach that is moving forward. Like the example that was set by Midlothian Council and Melville Housing, which clearly demonstrates how, through providing a learning opportunity based on one shared with interests—in this case, cooking—we can easily lead to wide positive outcomes in a whole number of areas. Gordon Lindhurst of course mentioned the importance of cooking skills, which is a variety of benefits from health to affordability in tackling poverty and so on. By capitalising all those opportunities that just one skill can offer such as cooking, partners have shown that adult learning brings life-wide impacts for learners. There is a lot to do in closing. Collaboration and partnership will not be easy, given many of the challenges that we face, but we have to focus on that moving forward. Overcoming and trench inequalities while managing the impact of decisions that are made elsewhere often, especially the consequences of Brexit, will continue to be challenging for years and years to come. The Scottish Government is committed to doing what it can to reduce the negative impact of all those decisions and will not let them curtail our ambitions or halt Scotland's progress. I recognise the challenges that many people have mentioned tonight. I am pleased with the progress that has been made, and we must take great pride in leading the agenda on behalf of the Scottish Government. I recommend motion to Parliament, as we all continue to support adult learning in Scotland. As others have said, I congratulate and thank all those who contribute towards adult learning in our communities.