Supporting Families

Speech by Ross Finnie on Thu 5th Nov 2009

Supporting Families

The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S3M-5112, in the name of Elizabeth Smith, on supporting families.

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): In the short time that has been allotted to the debate, we have raised a number of pressing problems in many aspects of society. It is unfortunate that we have so little time in which to debate them.

Elizabeth Smith was right to point to the vast range of instruments that we need to address. However, I want to follow up a point that was made by my colleague, Margaret Smith. Although we in the Liberal Democrats acknowledge that the family is a unit in which support, love and care can be given to children, we have as a society to be careful that we do not continue to deal with people simply as cohorts. At the heart of the family are individuals, so our solutions must be aimed at those individuals-whether that individual is the parent who has suffered unemployment or the parent who has problems with substance abuse. Whether poverty plagues one individual in a family or the whole family, we must move away from trying to deal with people as cohorts. The Liberal Democrats firmly believe that if we concentrate the solution on the individual, we are more likely to find a solution for the family unit as a whole.

Much as been made of the role of the tax system in aiding people who are in poverty and disadvantage. That is correct, and it is why the Liberal Democrats, as a party at Westminster, are keen to simplify the issue by raising the threshold to the point at which those who are on the minimum wage are not-as Margaret Smith said-caught in a tax trap. I very much wish that Elizabeth Smith's tax proposals would be beneficial to families. However, as I understand it, they would benefit only those families in which one member works, but would not benefit the families who are in most need.

The issue of kinship carers was addressed earlier. While I am pleased to hear from Labour members that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is addressing the unfortunate mismatch between the benefits system and local authority allowances, I am also rather disappointed that that came as news to the minister. Perhaps the minister and the Westminster Government could work together on that.

The issue of kinship carers is linked to that of volunteers. From 2010-11, the fairer Scotland fund will be rolled into local government. I am concerned that there appears to be no read-across between the assistance that is to be given to kinship carers and volunteer organisations, and the concordats. That is regrettable, and makes it difficult for those who operate in the voluntary sector and those who provide kinship care to have certainty about where they will go in the current troubled times.

Jackson Carlaw raised a key point about health visitors. In addressing such issues, the Liberal Democrats are clear that we should consider fundamentally those who are most at risk and most vulnerable. I share the view that was expressed by Richard Simpson: it is regrettable that we can identify as early as age three those who will have severe difficulties as a result of their families.

I think all members recognise that we all have choices to make as we enter more straitened financial times. If we are going to give the right support to families and deal with deprivation, we have to address the small number of individuals who most need our support-that is where we should concentrate our resources. That is the basis of the Liberal Democrat amendment, and it is why I support that amendment.