Maen nhw, mae'r next item of business this afternoon is a statement by Mark Macdonald on the child protection improvement programme. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement so that there should be no interventions or interruptions. The then cabinet secretary for education set out this Government's intention to implement a child protection improvement programme. In doing so, she acknowledged the strengths inherent in the current system, but acknowledged the weaknesses that required addressing to ensure that we are doing all we can to protect Scotland's children. In the last year, we have been working closely with partners across the children's services sector to honestly scrutinise child protection in Scotland and determine the changes that are required. Today, I am publishing the child protection improvement programme report and the report of Catherine Dyer's systems review, protecting Scotland's children and young people. It is still everyone's job. I can advise that I accept and full all of the recommendations and actions in each report. The effective and efficient implementation of this suite of recommendations and actions will strengthen all aspects of the system to better protect our children. Before I outline the key findings and indicate the steps to be taken to ensure implementation, I want to thank everyone who has worked closely with us on the improvement programme. Their time, effort, knowledge and expertise has helped us to develop meaningful and substantial recommendations. I am grateful to Catherine Dyer for leading the independent systems review and the members of the review group and their broader advisory groups for their thoughtful contributions. Every child in Scotland who has been harmed or abused or who is at risk of harm or abuse should receive the best possible support and protection, no matter their circumstances or where they live. The risks that children face and our understanding of those risks continue to evolve and our system needs to continuously adapt to address them. According to the most recent figures, we have 2,751 children on the child protection register. While that represents a 4 per cent decrease on the previous year, the number has increased by 34 per cent since 2000, and while more children left the register due to an improved home situation, more were also on the register for over a year. Generally, the systems review concluded that when children or young people are identified as being at risk of significant harm or have been harmed, the system works well to protect them. The need for improvement must be set within that context, but we cannot and must not shy away from the challenge before us. One of the most profound impacts on the welfare of our children is neglect. Neglect is the primary maltreatment issue that children in Scotland currently face. 39 per cent of children placed on the child protection register had been emotionally abused and 37 per cent had suffered from neglect. In addition, lack of parental care is the most common reason for referral to the children's supporter, with 5,606 referrals in 2015-16. Over the past 10 years, we have undertaken significant investment to support parenting, to better prevent neglect and to address the issues that give rise to neglect, such as the early years change fund, public social partnerships, the Lloyd's TSB partnership drugs initiative, the expansion of free childcare and the family nurse partnerships. We have continued the investment with a programme of action on neglect that is working with local agencies in three local authority areas to look at how practice change can be affected to work with families more effectively based on the best available local, national and international evidence. An evaluation of the early work on this programme will report to me at the end of this month, and I will consider carefully the outcomes of this work. Much has been done over the years to update legislation to strengthen the rights and wellbeing of our children. However, one area where the law is out of date is section 12, cruelty to persons under 16, of the Children and Young Persons Scotland Act 1937. This provision targets physical neglect and harm of children and young people, but does not take account of our modern-day understanding of neglect. We now know that emotional and psychological neglect can be just as devastating for children and young people as physical harm, yet section 12 is still the criminal legislation in operation today. The archaic language of section 12 also means that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal have difficulty in prosecuting some offences due to its limitations. I can therefore confirm, Presiding Officer, that new legislation will be brought before this session of Parliament introducing a new definition and criminal offence of abuse and neglect of children. Given that it has taken 80 years as a society to make this change, it is vital that we get it right. We will therefore consult this year to determine the scope and nature of the legislation. Through the improvement programme, we have also published an updated action plan to tackle child sexual exploitation, which includes a revised definition and supporting document to guide practitioners, and we have run a national campaign to raise awareness of what constitutes sexual exploitation, particularly among parents. We have consulted on a draft human trafficking strategy that includes a focus specifically on children, and we are working with stakeholders, particularly children and young people, to develop a revised child internet safety action plan, which will be published shortly. We are working with the children's hearings improvement partnership to help to identify action to strengthen consistency and effectiveness across the children's hearings system. I am sure that this improvement programme must not be seen in isolation. The Scottish child abuse inquiry will consider whether further changes in practice policy or legislation are necessary in order to protect children in care in Scotland from such abuse in future. Should recommendations for change result from the inquiry, it is essential that we honour the integrity and spirit of the inquiry and make changes to do all we can to avoid the abuses of the past. We must also ensure that we allow the independent Root and Branch review of the care system to shape child protection in the future. This review will look at the underpinning legislation, practices, culture and ethos of the care system in Scotland, and provide care experience young people with the opportunity to speak directly to Government. The child protection improvement programme has augmented and reinforced our understanding of the factors that can diminish the capacity of parents to meet their children's needs and keep them safe. Multi-agency planning for and delivery of child protection in local areas is increasingly practised. That should be replicated in national policy planning and delivery 2. A national child protection policy will therefore be published, identifying all the responsibilities and actions across Government that are aimed at supporting families and protecting children. As part of the national child protection policy, we will develop a plan to better prevent the emotional, physical and sexual abuse of Scotland's children. That will build on the work that I have outlined and will be designed to respond to emerging threats and challenges, as well as incorporate evidence of practice, activities and interventions that work. The aim is to provide agencies and practitioners with an evolving resource that supports their skills, knowledge and expertise. We all need to feel confident that the process is in place to protect children are working effectively. The system review recommends that we consider how to create a national child protection register. While work with partners will begin to explore how best to establish a national register and how it might work, in the short term we will work with Police Scotland to develop a flagging system on the national vulnerable person's database to identify all children placed on local child protection registers. We must also ensure that the processes for learning in the child protection system are rigorous, timely and effective. Where a child has died or suffered significant harm through abuse or neglect, we must always consider what might have been done differently to have prevented that tragedy or what could be done differently to minimise the risk of a similar tragedy occurring. That is why we expect child protection committees to undertake significant case reviews and to share them with the care inspectorate so that it can analyse reviews and report nationally on key areas of learning. The review concluded that we could learn more if the care inspectorate also received copies of all initial case reviews, and I agree. The care inspectorate will now take on this expanded role and explore how best to share findings to influence practice. I am also writing to all child protection committees to make clear my expectation that they all follow the guidance and will now share all case review findings with the care inspectorate. National standards will also be provided for those who carry out reviews to make sure that they have the right skills to ensure that reviews are conducted timously and consistently. Analysis by the care inspectorate of recent significant case reviews found that the time taken varied from five months to 37 months, with criminal proceedings often complicating matters. The protocol between the Crown Office, Police Scotland and Child Protection Committee on Significant Case Reviews and Criminal Proceedings is being reviewed and will be further publicised in order to reduce delays in concluding SCRs. Inspections are also key to the effectiveness of the child protection system. I have asked the care inspectorate to host a short-life working group to look at how joint inspections can better focus on the experiences of and outcomes for children at the greatest risk of harm. The group will consider all relevant recommendations emerging from the child protection improvement programme and draft a new inspection framework ready to replace the current programme of inspections, which will end in December 2017. While it is important to have the right processes in place and to effectively evaluate them, it is people who keep children safe. Our front-line practitioners undertaking this most difficult and often harrowing work need to know that they are supported through effective leadership. They need to know that they are supported by effective governance, responsible scrutiny and appropriate management information. Leadership was identified as a key focus for the improvement programme, not least because too many joint inspections have identified variable and weak leadership. For this reason, in June last year, the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and I held a summit for the leaders of services with a role to play in child protection in the public and third sectors, to emphasise the importance of collective responsibility and hear experiences. The systems review also considered the importance of leadership and governance, and as a result of its findings, I can announce today that I will chair a new national child protection leadership group to support, strengthen and improve activity on child protection. The group will seek to embed consistency and reduce duplication in local areas. It will also support the implementation of the recommendations and actions in both reports and it will expect agencies to work collaboratively to deliver improvements and achieve sustained, meaningful change. The national leadership group will also identify how best to evaluate improvement and measure progress. Catherine Dyer's systems review group was tasked with considering whether a statutory underpinning was required for key aspects of the child protection system. The group concluded that legislation by itself would not deliver improvement. It recommended a range of other actions before moving to legislate. I have carefully considered this conclusion before accepting it, however I am clear that we must see real progress in implementing the improvements recommended by both reports, particularly to address consistency of approach. If, in a year's time, there is little evidence of real and substantial progress in delivering improvements, the Government will bring forward legislation to provide an appropriate underpinning for child protection committees, the use of child protection register and the conduct and application of initial and significant case reviews. In particular, it is vital that I see evidence of consistent good practice within child protection committees, effective leadership in community planning partnerships and engagement by all relevant agencies, adherence to child protection guidance and that initial and significant case reviews are being undertaken when necessary, shared with the care and spectrate and that agencies can demonstrate practices changing as a result of relevant findings. We now have in place a child protection improvement programme that can and must move rapidly from reflection to implementation. We must move from pockets of good practice to a culture of good practice across the whole child protection system. The Government is determined to ensure that more of Scotland's children get the best possible start in life. For the most vulnerable in our communities at its most fundamental level, that means protecting them from harm and abuse. We must continue to embed a gerffic approach in children's services. We must also continue to invest in activity that supports families and intervenes early to prevent difficulties arising and escalating. However, we also need to ensure that we have a system in place that empowers practitioners to intervene to protect children when support is not working. That system must value its workforce and it should be accountable and committed to a process of continuous improvement to address emerging risks and challenges and which is focused on adapting and improving practice based on what works. The recommendations and actions that are contained in the child protection improvement programme report and that of the system's review set out a clear pathway to achieve our vision and ambition for Scotland's most vulnerable children. I encourage all members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to-speak buttons now. I call on Liz Smith. I thank the Scottish Government for prior sight but also for their constructive engagement on what is a very serious issue and one that I am sure will bring cross-party support. Clearly, we have had some issues in recent weeks about the protection of vulnerable groups scheme and the minister is quite right on page 3 to cite the fact that this does not happen in isolation. There are other areas and one of the things about the protection of vulnerable groups that has been a considerable worry is that, while the legislation is in the right place and while the guidance is in the right place, some of the groups that have been using protection of vulnerable groups have not managed to have a satisfactory way of documenting that, particularly when it comes to sports clubs, etc. I think that there has been a very worrying gap in some of that. Will the minister be able to tell us about how that aspect of child protection will be pursued? I am grateful to Liz Smith for her constructive and consensual approach towards the steps that I have outlined. In relation to the PVG scheme, she will be aware of the evidence that I and Aileen Campbell gave to the Health and Sport Committee last week. I can announce that I have published the terms of reference for the review of the PVG scheme and, indeed, I wrote to the conveners of the Education and Health and Sport Committee to advise them of those terms of reference. I am more than happy to write to Liz Smith and other spokespeople to share those terms of reference with them following the conclusion of this debate. That is going to essentially look at the practice and operation of the scheme and some of the issues that Liz Smith has identified. That review is now under way in relation to the PVG scheme. Some of the questions that she has raised will absolutely form part of the thinking in relation to that, because she is correct to identify that there is no one single aspect of the system that guarantees that children are kept safe. Those all form part of a wider jigsaw, which ensures the safety of children. It is important that we get that right. I will share the information in relation to the PVG scheme review with her. Iain Gray is followed by Fulton MacGregor, Iain Gray. My thanks to the minister for early sight of his statement. We certainly welcome any progress towards protecting our children, and the two reports published today seem on a first glance—we have not had them for very long—but they seem to be exactly that. It is good, then, that the minister has accepted all of their recommendations. Our remaining concerns are around the speed of what has been quite a lengthy process. It was in 2014 that the Brock report was published with the author's sound and alarm bells after 18 months, when, as she put it, little had happened. It was a year ago that the then cabinet secretary came to this chamber to respond and launch the two reports that we see today. Welcome, though their recommendations are, many are, for further reviews, consultations, evaluations, research or drafting of plans. What assurances can the minister give us today with regard to the urgency with which he believes that he can see the work that is elaborated here delivered? Iain Gray for his comments in relation to the Government's approach to the recommendations. In relation to the 2014 Brock report and the subsequent statement, if he looks at page 49 of the systems review group, he will say that Jackie Brock was one of the members of the systems review group whose recommendations I am accepting. Jackie Brock has been involved in the formulation of those recommendations. He will also know from the statement that I just made that, while I am not taking steps to put elements of the child protection system on to a statutory footing based on the recommendations of the review group, I have expectations around the pace of improvement that I expect to see. If I am not satisfied by that, then I will bring forward legislative measures in relation to that. We are also today committing to developing a national child protection register, a national child protection policy and also to legislating the relation to neglect. I would say to Iain Gray that, although there are areas of that that require further review and thinking, there should be no underestimating the fact that there are a number of actions following from this, which this Government will be taking forward and which I look forward to Iain Gray and his colleagues playing a constructive part in. As a formal social worker, I am glad to see that children and families are at the heart of the Scottish Government's child protection improvement programme. Could the minister explain how the Children's Heating Improvement Partnership will support the child protection improvement programme? Thank you for his question. The Children's Heating Improvement Partnership was asked to scrutinise the impact of recent legislative and practice changes to the children's hearing system and to identify action to strengthen consistency and effectiveness across the system. CHIP specifically considered the impact of increased legal representation hearings. They are taking forward work to ensure that practice and decision making within the children's hearing system is consistent, positive and purposeful across Scotland. In addition, the systems review group has made specific recommendations that the Scottish Government should review both measures that are available to protect 16 and 17-year-olds and whether the children's hearings act should be amended to allow any young person aged 16 and 17 years old to be referred to the principal reporter, so we will take that work forward. I would simply echo the point that I made in relation to Liz Smith, that alongside the PVG scheme, the Children's Heating Partnership forms part of that bigger picture of child protection across Scotland, and we look forward to taking those recommendations forward and working closely with the children's hearing system. I was interested in the response that the minister gave to Liz Smith about the PVG scheme and, first, I would ask her to clarify the timescale for that review. Given our exchange at the health committee last week, when I asked the minister if he felt that the PVG scheme could be made or should be made compulsory, can I ask him if he has given this any further consideration in the light of his statement today? As Doncam will know, I said at the health and sport committee that the review we expect, if legislation is required off the back of it, that we would have legislation passed by 2019, so I would anticipate, based on that, that the review will conclude its work within this calendar year. However, I will give it back to him and give him the firm timescales in relation to that. On his follow-up question, I will repeat what I said to him at the health and sport committee. I do not think that it would be sensible for me, as a minister, to stand up in the chamber and pre-empt the work of the reviewer and whether or not the PVG scheme should be mandatory. That is rightly work that the review should undertake and should consider a body of evidence in relation to that. It is one of the questions that ministers will be giving active consideration to, but I do not think that it would be a helpful step for me to say in this chamber either yes or no to it being mandatory before we have undertaken the work of the PVG scheme review. I welcome the setting up of a working group to consider how joint inspections might better focus on outcomes for children. Can the minister outline his views on how a new approach to inspection could ensure that agencies, especially education, health and children's services, could work together more effectively to deliver better outcomes for children and young people? I want to ensure that joint inspections of services for children and young people are underpinned by prevention, early intervention and partnership working. They recognise that child protection is a collective responsibility, that it is transparent in learning, and that it uses evidence to effect practice and improvement to enable practitioners to make the right decisions at the right time to protect children and support the workforce. Rona Mackay gets to the nub of the issue here when she mentions the various different agencies that need to be working together in order to ensure that children are protected. We have to ensure that it is viewed as everybody's responsibility and that we are not seeing people working with silo mentalities. That will form very much part of the work around joint inspections but also in terms of leadership. In his statement, the minister said that we must also continue to invest in activity, which supports families and intervenes early to prevent difficulties arising and escalating. We can all agree that early intervention to prevent harm from occurring in the first place is absolutely crucial. What assurances can the minister give today that social workers and all other practitioners involved in the protection of children at that crucial early intervention stage will be able to access the resources that they need to do their jobs? I would point to headcount in relation to the Scottish Social Service workforce, particularly in relation to children's services. Data collected for us by the Scottish Social Service Council shows that from 2012 to 2015, the number of social workers working in children's services has increased from 5,550 to 5,960. I would also highlight to Monica Lennon as well, as I have done in previous debates in the chamber, either to herself or to her colleagues, the work that Audit Scotland did that showed that there had been real-terms increases in terms of spending in relation to social work within Scotland. Those pieces of evidence put together would demonstrate that there is a collective focus and a collective will towards ensuring that those services are not just available but are also well resourced. Beyond that, I highlighted a number of other areas where this Government is taking forward work in relation to early intervention. I would also highlight to Monica Lennon the Children and Young People Early Intervention Fund, which the Government took forward, and which, obviously, a large part of that fund I announced in the debate in relation to the care review is being targeted specifically to look at how we work with children in care or on the edge of care. Those are all areas of work that the Government is taking forward so that we can intervene early to protect children, prevent them from coming to harm and prevent them from having to come into contact with the system in the first place. I will, of course, be aware that the Education and Skills Committee has begun its own exercise to take stock of the reforms to the children's hearing system. We will, of course, share our findings and make any recommendations that arise from that to inform the wider child protection improvement programme. Will the minister advise how he will reciprocate and involve and include the committee in that vital work, and, in particular, when he might be able to advise who will be on the leadership group that he is setting up? I welcome the committee's interest and input into the child protection improvement programme and, of course, I am more than happy to engage with the committee and provide regular updates in relation to progress in those areas. I am currently giving careful consideration to membership of the national leadership group, but I am clear that the group must consist of individuals who have demonstrated a track record of strong leadership. I will provide an update to the committee once the membership of the group has been agreed, which I would expect to be next month. I thank the minister for the early sight of the report and commend the good work that is in it, which will clearly enhance children's rights. The minister will be aware of a member's will—I am hoping to progress—to remove the defence of justifiable assault, which will similarly enhance children's rights. I look forward to the review of section 12 on the subsequent legislation. Recommendation 11 talks about understanding children's experiences. The Government has a very good track record of engaging with looked-after children and people in formal settings. More challenging would be to understand the experience of children—the vast majority of those involved—who live at home or in domestic settings. Has that been considered how their views could be taken on board, please? John Finnie, I think that he mentioned section 11. It is section 12 of the 1937 act, so I just want to make sure that that is correctly understood. He also mentioned his member's bill, which I have committed to discussing further with him, but this Government will obviously wait until publication of that member's bill before we take a position in relation to its content. He mentions children who are looked after at home, and he is absolutely right to say that that is a group that we need to ensure that we have consideration towards. Actually, just this morning, I was in Perth meeting with organisations who are going to be delivering mentoring to children who are looked after at home. The Government is giving careful consideration to how best we can capture the views and experiences of children who are looked after at home, because he is quite right when we look at the outcomes for those children and they are not what we would want them to be. I will give careful consideration to how best we can capture their views as part of our wider commitment to listening to the voices of those children and young people who have care experience. Liam McArthur, to be followed by Christina McKelvie. I thank the minister for early sight of the statement and welcome his willingness to accept the recommendations put on record by thanks to Catherine Dyer and others involved in this thoroughgoing work. As well as inviting the minister to clarify some of the funding implications of what he has set out, I focus on the issue of leadership, which he rightly highlighted. The predecessor committee to the one, James Dornan, now chairs, looked at the issues at the heart of his statement. One of the problems that we had identified was the loss of experience from front-line social work into management roles or, indeed, out of the sector at all. Is there anything that he can offer the chamber while we have a reassurance that that expertise in assessing risks can be retained at the front line? In terms of the leadership group that he is establishing, is there a reason why he chose to not accept the recommendation from the group that this reports to the minister but that he himself is proposing to chair that group? In terms of funding implications, if Liam McArthur wishes to write to me with any specific questions in relation to funding implications as a result of actions that the Government is taking forward, I will be more than happy to respond to him with specifics. In terms of experience around assessing risk, I think that it is important that we ensure that this is not just the responsibility of those at the front line, although I take on board the point that he makes. We have to ensure that good leadership is about ensuring that all staff feel empowered and capable to assess risk and to analyse it and to respond to that. In terms of his point about the leadership group, I had a discussion with Catherine Dyer in relation to this, where I indicated my position that I thought it would be better that I chaired it. If I am going to be placing an incumbency upon leadership in other areas, I think that it is important that I demonstrate leadership from my angle, and that involves me chairing that group and bringing together those individuals with strong track records to ensure that we can look carefully at how best to improve the system. Christina McKelvie, to be followed by Jeremy Balfour. Minister, violence against women and girls has significant consequences for the lives of children and young people. I see from your statement today that the Scottish Government will consult on changes to section 12 of the Children and Young Persons Scotland Act 1937. Can the minister offer any further information on that and outline what impact this update will have in terms of protecting children who live in households where domestic abuse is present? The cabinet secretary for justice and I met with groups representing children and victims of domestic abuse last month to discuss how the law can be reformed to reflect the impact of domestic abuse on children. At that meeting, we agreed that we would continue to work with them on that issue. As Christina McKelvie will be aware, the cabinet secretary for justice will introduce a bill in this parliamentary year to provide for a specific criminal offence of domestic abuse between partners and ex-partners. The Scottish Government has been working with stakeholders to consider what can be done in that bill to reflect the harm done to children through domestic abuse. Separately, the consultation on the form of the offence of child cruelty or neglect at section 12 of the 1937 act will enable us to reflect our understanding of the long-term effects of the experience of emotional and non-physical neglect, along with how the damage wrought by this experience can be just as devastating for the victim as other physical forms of neglect and abuse. It will also provide a clear opportunity to consider what further law reforms are required to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse, whether through a reformed and modernised version of that offence, or by creating a separate provision to deal specifically with domestic abuse of a child. We will work closely with stakeholders in the children's sector in development of that consultation, and we will obviously keep Parliament informed as part of that process. Jeremy Balfour, to be followed by Daniel Johnson. I thank the minister for his statement. I also remind the chamber that I am a local councillor here at the Edinburgh City Council. A lot of the leadership that the minister has talked about today will come from local authorities, both councillors and council officers. I ask the minister what work and consultation he has had with COSLA, and what road does he see local authorities playing in delivering this, particularly at the strategic level? Jeremy Balfour is quite correct that there are elements of the strategic leadership in terms of the officers at a local authority, but there is also the political leadership and the direction that is given to those officers by local authority councillors. I will give some careful consideration to how best we can ensure that that leadership mentality is embedded at an elected member level as well. Obviously, the upcoming local elections and the potential for there to be changes in terms of administrations across Scotland perhaps provide us with an opportunity to look again at how we address that and perhaps take that forward with some of the new administrations, but also with some of those councillors returning to post, some of whom are individuals who have strong interests and track records in relation to that. I will give that some careful consideration and I will perhaps reply to Jeremy Balfour later once we have given that some further thought. There are a number of recommendations that place additional responsibilities on the care inspectorate. Indeed, the minister speaks of an expanded role for the care inspectorate. Liam McArthur asked about budgetary considerations, so with that in mind, given the recent budget sort of cut in funding for the care inspectorate, what resources will be made available to ensure that the inspectorate has the staff and capacity in order to meet those new challenges? I have had discussions with the care inspectorate before bringing forward those recommendations. I am confident that the care inspectorate is in a position to be able to accommodate the role that I am asking them to take on. I would not be seeking to ask them to take on that role if I did not feel confident in their ability to manage that function. I am happy to reply to Daniel Johnson further with some more detail, but I would say to him that my clear focus on all of this is ensuring that we have a system that is about continuous improvement and learning from experiences. The care inspectorate has a fundamental role to play in that, and I am confident that it will be able to play that role. The minister has explored today the range of areas in which the programme focuses on. I have, however, a question on a particular area. Could the minister outline what action the Government is taking to protect children from being exploited on social media, including by those who are their parents or close relatives of those children? I want all children and young people to be able to benefit from the opportunities that the internet has to offer, but we also have to ensure that they are safe and protected from the risks that can be posed in relation to that. Richard Lyle may be aware of Operation Latice, which Police Scotland ran last year, which identified more than 500 children aged between three and 18 years, who were either victims or potential victims of online predators, as well as recovering 30 million images of abuse. That operation has highlighted that online abuse is a national threat and it is happening to children of all ages. As part of our programme for Scotland, we committed to publishing a refreshed action plan on internet safety for children and young people to ensure that appropriate training, support and information is in place. We will be publishing that in the very near future. In developing the plan, we have worked across Government and in partnership with Police Scotland, a number of third sector organisations and Education Scotland. We have also consulted with children and young people. As part of the work, we are in conversation with some of the key social media providers, including Facebook and Twitter, and we will continue to engage with them in an effort to ensure that children who use their sites are appropriately protected. We also continue to be represented on the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. In addition to that, the Scottish Government continues to engage with the UK Government as it develops the digital economy bill. I hope that that has given Richard Lyle some assurance that there is a range of approaches being taken forward by this Government to ensure that children are as safe as they possibly can be online, and I am sure that he will want to take an active interest in relation to the internet safety action plan when it is published. Miles Braggs, to be followed by Julian Martin. Figures published by the Scottish guardianship service highlighted that 40 per cent of the 262 unaccompanied children that it has registered since 2011 were brought to Scotland by traffickers. Nine children were trafficked in 2011. That rose to 32 in 2015. There is clearly a worrying trend emerging, and, although we welcome today's statement, what specific measures will be included in the draft human trafficking strategy regarding children in light of those figures? In terms of the approaches being taken, we will ensure that we raise awareness among public and professionals about how services are available in relation to children who have been victims of trafficking. They will continue to be supported through standard child protection processes, and, of course, we, as a Government, are taking forward a zero tolerance policy in relation to issues around trafficking. In terms of the specific point that he raises, what it highlights is the importance of ensuring that the appropriate care and support is available for those unaccompanied children. I am sure that he would share my discomfort at the approach that appears to be being taken by the Government down south in relation to those unaccompanied children, which seems to suggest that they have pulled back completely from the Dubs amendment, which is about ensuring that there is appropriate support and protection given to unaccompanied children. I am sure that he would join with this Government in asking the UK Government to think again in relation to that. Given that thousands of neglected children in Scotland are not visible, can the minister expand a bit further on the action that the Scottish Government will take specifically to address the issue of neglect? As I highlighted in my statement, there are, I think, some areas of promising practice in dealing with neglect throughout Scotland, but the Care Inspectorate triennial review and the Brock report highlighted weaknesses in assessing and responding to instances of unmet need and exposure to risk. We have developed a programme of action on neglect that is now working in three local authority areas to identify and implement the best approaches to tackling neglect and building practitioner capacity. In addition, as I highlighted in my answer to Monica Lennon, there is £3.3 million being invested this year through the Children and Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund to charity supporting looked after children and working with vulnerable families to help prevent children from becoming looked after. Among those is in tandem who I was speaking to this morning, who are delivering mentoring for young people looked after at home. There is a range of work being done to address the impact of neglect, to identify children who are either at risk of neglect or have experienced neglect and to then support them to ensure that they achieve positive outcomes rather than some of the more negative outcomes that have been experienced in the past. That concludes our ministerial statement on child improvement. We'll just take a moment for members to change seats before we move on to the next item of business.


Hey everyone, Nathaniel Ruffle Jance here from Nintendo Prime and I've always been a big proponent that the Nintendo Switch doesn't necessarily need new hardware.  And I have because that's what the rumors and reports were saying. And I'm a bit of a tech enthusiast. I like having the latest and greatest tech. I mean, I have the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra right here, the latest from Samsung though, not only the latest, the biggest and best device from Samsung. I got the ROGECaster Pro 2 for audio. You can't really see it. It's just off camera. That's a brand new device that came out not that long ago. That's utterly amazing. These microphones here, they're not necessarily the best of the best. Well, okay, yes, they are. They've just been around since the 60s. See, here's the thing. I like using the best technology. I like having the best stuff. And it's because I'm just really interested in tech. I know it's really expensive to always want the best of the best. And I definitely don't know the best of everything. My main computer that I'm editing this on has a 6700 XT, not a 6950 X30 series graphics card or a 40 series graphics card. And it's got a 5900 X CPU, not the 5950 X or now the 7950 X is out there or the 13900 K. So I obviously have to stay within a budget on certain things that I can't always go and I want this camera as an example, we want to replace it with a camera that's going to cost twice what this camera costs. But reality is budgets aren't necessarily there to make that happen. So when I look at the next switch, and I talk about it, it's not that I'm not wanting new hardware. It's that I didn't really know that we needed it because, look, games are everything. Bayonetta 3 reviews are out 89 on Metacritic, just like Xenobite Chronicles 3. And look, as long as we keep getting amazing games, that's what really matters. Tears of the Kingdom. I'm going to be buying Tears of the Kingdom, whether there's a new Switch out or not, right? I'm all about the games. But something's happening in the market that I think Chintura Furukawa is paying attention to. And I think is a sign to him that new hardware needs to be coming out next year, not this holiday, but next spring, next fall, next winter, whenever, at some point in 2023, I think new hardware needs to come out. And I think the market is telling Nintendo this, and I hope they're paying attention. Now, I don't know if this new hardware is going to be a pro, going to be a switch to that's an entirely different debate. But I do think new hardware has to come that's more powerful, not just because Bayonetta 3 as much as it is awesome and has an 89 on Metacritic has frame rate and resolution issues.  That is literally an exclusive game having those issues. I don't find that to be excusable, but that is the reality of Bayonetta 3. What actually makes me think that it's time for a new hardware is where Nintendo's position in the market is. And to be clear, Switch is the market leader. Whether you consider it part of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series generation or not, in terms of currently sold platforms, it has more out there than anybody else. Its game sales are selling more than anybody and that is an obvious statement that this is the market leader. But the problem is that the tides are changing. For two straight NPD months, Nintendo Switch fell to number two in terms of overall unit sales. And for the first time in the NPD, it fell to number three in revenue behind the Xbox Series, which while there are more expensive Xbox Series systems, we had the S, but then there's also the X. It does suggest the Xbox isn't that far behind from passing the Nintendo Switch, making it the number three best-selling platform in the US. And this is happening as we get into the holiday season. It's also been dropping down the sales charts behind PlayStation and Xbox in territories like the UK, Australia, Germany, Spain. This has actually been slowly happening over the last handful of months. And now we've hit this tipping point where while Switch is going to sell well this holiday season, I don't doubt that it's going to sell out on Black Friday. It's going to have an incredible sales period in Japan at the end of December. Pokemon is going to sell really well. Bayonetta 3 might end up being the best-selling bayonetta ever. I guess we'll find out on that front. And so much more, this isn't about the here and now. This is about recognizing a sales trend that is going to continue once we get out of the holiday period and show a rapid decline for Nintendo Switch. We've seen this. When we took a downturn like this, it went fast. Wii U never really got to any heights. And obviously, it sales tanked fast. 3DS tanked fast. DS tanked fast. Once you get to market saturation and other platforms are starting to push your system down those sales charts and you've been out for five, six, almost seven years, it is time to consider something new. And as a March 3rd of 2023, this platform, not the OLED model in particular, but the Switch itself will have been on the market for six years. That is already a year longer than Nintendo's typical console cycle of five. Now, I mentioned it could be a pro, which means the Switch cycle is continuing. It could also be a Switch 2. But reality is, the market has turned and Nintendo needs to do something about it before it nose dives. In the passion, Turo Furukawa has talked about not falling off a cliff. Nintendo has always, when they've had big successes, fallen off the cliff, which essentially means their sales nose dive in the following platform doesn't do as well. And the reason this happens is because Nintendo waits too long to get the new platform out the door, right? They milk and milk and milk until there's nothing left to milk, and then they try to rebuild from ground zero instead of actually continuing the momentum previously established. And to be clear, I still think Nintendo Switch is going to hit its 20 million projected sales for the fiscal year ending March of 2023. But the year after, it's probably going to quickly sink down to 12 to 15. The year after that, below 10. Because Switch has hit market saturation. It is to the point that everyone who's really, really, really wanted to Switch probably already has one. And most of the sales of Switch you're seeing now are people buying secondary systems or extra systems for their children, rather than people looking at Switch as a brand new platform for them. I know they exist. So don't come at me and be like, well, I just wanted to switch last week. It's my first ever one. I'm really excited. I get it. But you bought in late in the game. So you can't really be upset when there's already 100 million plus other people waiting for what's next. So it is seemingly time for Nintendo to release their next system next year. They want to maintain any of the momentum Switch built up. If they wait two to three more years and Switch sales are next to nothing, by the time they bring out their next platform, guess what? The interest in Nintendo themselves will have sunk. And that next platform, even if it's a Switch two, will be starting from ground zero. PlayStation learned this a long time ago. PlayStation one, PlayStation two, PlayStation three, four and five. They always release their new platforms while their current one is still selling really well, still doing 15 to 20 million in sales per year. This isn't because they couldn't milk PlayStation for another year. Couldn't have had PS3 last another year or PS2, which lasted even well past when PS3 came out. It isn't that they couldn't have done that. Instead, it didn't make business sense. When your brand is still really popular, but the sales of the current device are dwindling, that's when it's time to reinvigorate that market. And while Switch OLED, I know this OLED, right? It just came out last year.  Guys, it's the same platform. They gave us a prettier screen, and that's cool. They fixed the kickstand a little bit more storage, but at the end of the day, it's the same Switch that we got back in 2017. Nintendo, please recognize this. Shintaro Furukawa, you talked about not wanting to hit that cliff and fall off. While I'm telling you, the cliff is coming. If you don't release a new platform, at least by spring of 2024, you're going to hit the cliff. If you wait for holiday 2024, the cliff will have already happened. And I don't know that that next device will be able to carry the momentum. If you want momentum to continue from platform to platform to platform to platform, especially if your next Switch is a Switch Pro or a Switch 2, if your next device is like this, but better, then you need to get it out while this device is still the hot thing on the market. And honestly, it's starting to become the not-hot thing, and when that happens, it sinks fast. So, Nintendo, I know you might be tempted to melt this thing until it's the best-selling platform of all time, beat out PS2, but that's irrelevant. Maintaining 20 million system sales per year, now that is something that is achievable and can be done if you get a new platform out next year. Anyways, you guys let me know what you think about this down in the comments below. I'm Nathan DeRobo Jantz from Nintendo Prime, I'm just one man giving one opinion. I want to know what you guys think about this, and I'll catch you in the next video.