To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reported calls to widen access to Scotland’s redress scheme to allow survivors of abuse at Fornethy house to seek redress. (S6F-03553)

I am profoundly sorry to hear what the survivors of abuse at Fornethy house endured and the impact that abuse has had on their lives. I again praise the courage of the survivors in sharing their experiences.

Scotland’s redress scheme was designed primarily for vulnerable children who were in long-term care, often isolated, with limited or no contact with their families. Children who were resident on a short-term basis were not in that position. The eligibility criteria for the redress scheme were extensively debated during the passage of the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021, and the eligibility criteria were included in the purpose of the scheme.

That does not diminish the heartbreaking abuse that the Fornethy survivors faced. The Deputy First Minister met the survivors to explain the decision to them directly and will continue to engage with them.

First Minister, words are not enough. In January 2023, the First Minister told the Education, Children and Young People Committee that it was

“possible for Fornethy survivors to be successful in applying under the scheme.”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 12 January 2023; c 14.]

Now, his Government is saying that they will not be successful because it was so-called “short-term care” under arrangements that involved parents.

Is it not the reality that the length of time of any abuse is irrelevant? Abuse is abuse. Those wee girls were sent to Fornethy as a result of clear direction from the state. They were cut off from their parents and subjected to unimaginable physical, mental and, in some cases, sexual abuse by staff who were employed by the state. However, the state has utterly failed to take responsibility.

First Minister, will your Government now take responsibility? Will it do the right thing and widen access to the redress scheme for those brave survivors?

I recognise the significance and seriousness of the issue. As the person who took the bill through Parliament, I did all that I could during the parliamentary passage of the bill to ensure that the scheme that we brought forward was as extensive and comprehensive as it could be.

I made the comments to which Mr Smyth referred during an evidence session with the Education, Children and Young People Committee when public authorities were still researching the bases on which and circumstances in which children were placed in Fornethy house. Those factors would have a bearing on eligibility for the redress scheme that Parliament approved.

The independent research that was undertaken as part of the commitments that were made to the Fornethy survivors reported that, according to such records as exist, children were primarily placed in Fornethy house for short-term care with the agreement of their parents. That is fundamentally different from the circumstances that the Parliament legislated for in the scheme.

Fornethy house will be a case study in the next phase of the Scottish child abuse inquiry, and there will be an opportunity for further exploration of the issues and the circumstances involved in those cases.

We move to general and Constituency supplementary questions.