Plenary, 06 Sep 2007

Meeting date: Thursday, September 6, 2007

Official Report 698KB pdf

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Question Time

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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General Questions

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Parental Substance Misuse (Child Protection)

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that all children living in families where there is parental drug or alcohol misuse are properly assessed and protected. (S3O-506)

The Scottish Government is determined to tackle the problem of parental substance misuse and to make real and lasting improvements to the lives of children being brought up in such households.

We will adopt a twin-track approach. Prevention and early intervention will be given significant emphasis to stop the development of abuse and neglect. Our aim will be to build the capacity of families to deal with their problems directly, avoiding the need for future crisis intervention.

At the same time, we need to improve support for children who are already affected by parental substance misuse. For that to happen, we need to ensure effective multi-agency working with integrated assessment and care planning at its core. The Government is committed to the "getting it right for every child" agenda.

My question is precisely about that. In 2005, the previous Administration issued the first consultation "getting it right for every child" and in December 2006 to March 2007 it issued for consultation the draft Children's Services (Scotland) Bill, to implement "getting it right for every child". That built on the "Hidden Harm" report and the "Getting Our Priorities Right" guidelines.

In other words, there was a pattern of work that should have resulted in the Children's Services (Scotland) Bill being in the programme for government yesterday. The bill would revolutionise the provision of services for children, including, as the minister has just said, a multi-agency, integrated assessment, recording and planning framework. Why has the Government not included that bill in its programme for this year?

The member knows from his own experience that this is a complex and challenging area of work for us all—policy makers as well as front-line staff who deliver services.

Try answering the question rather than reading the prepared—

Order.

It is important to acknowledge that a lot of good work is going on in the field. Many local authorities and other agencies are making significant progress, particularly with integrated assessment and care plans. There has been a marked improvement in multi-agency training, and the three-year child protection reform programme has been successful in those terms. However, as the letters of assurance exercise showed, we still have some considerable way to go, not least in developing front-line capacity to identify, assess and support every child at risk. We do not need legislation for that.

As I have said already, where this Government differs from the previous Administration is a question of emphasis—less on crisis intervention and enforcement, and more on early intervention and family support.

I will take a supplementary question from Jim Hume.

Sorry, that is for later.

In which case, I will take a supplementary question from Rhoda Grant.

There are groups who seek to support young people who care for parents and family members who have drug and alcohol problems, as well as those who care for family members with ill health and disabilities. One such group is Skye and Lochalsh young carers project, which was successful this week in obtaining Big Lottery funding to develop services that were identified as needs by the children themselves—but the core funding for the group is not guaranteed, and neither is it guaranteed for similar groups throughout Scotland.

Will the minister ensure that all young people in such a terrible situation have access to support from a local group in their area? Will he also ensure that they are provided with a statutory obligation for provision and dedicated funding?

I am happy to give the member an undertaking to look seriously at those matters. Indeed, I offer to have a meeting with her to discuss the issue.

One of the less complex issues that the minister outlined in his long response to the question is the requirement for a child's plan to be in place for December 2007. That plan would streamline the process when there are children for protection going into hearings. So far, the Government has not mentioned the child's plan requirement for December 2007. Is there still a requirement for such plans to be delivered?

I am happy to confirm that the December 2007 target still requires to be met. I visited the Highland pathfinder project the other week. The issue in question was high on the agenda.

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Voluntary Sector (Support for Vulnerable and Older People)

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to develop the role of voluntary organisations in supporting vulnerable and older people in their communities. (S3O-484)

The Scottish Government greatly appreciates the voluntary sector's valuable contribution towards supporting vulnerable and older people in their communities. Consequently, we look forward to continuing to work with it on a range of important issues.

In East Lothian in recent weeks, the Scottish National Party-led council has rescinded grants to lunch clubs and day centres throughout the county. It has—I am glad to say—properly reinstated those grants, but the fear is that when ministers try to persuade councils to freeze council tax levels, some will see voluntary sector grants as a soft target for savings. Will the minister give an assurance that, in the fruitful discussions between ministers and councils that we heard much about yesterday, it will be made clear to councils that they must continue to fund the vital work of voluntary organisations in supporting the elderly and vulnerable?

I thank the member for that augmented supplementary question.

We must remember that grants of £660 million or thereabouts have been made available from executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and health boards. We are looking to do something that is very much in line with what the member wants us to do. We want to bring together the voluntary sector, councils and other stakeholders to optimise the situation. We have taken a similar approach with the private sector and believe that that approach will work effectively so that there is a spirit of openness and we adopt a common goal, identify constraints and work to achieve better outcomes. We can and hope to achieve greater optimisation and use money better in the longer term.

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Probationary Teachers (Employment)

To ask the Scottish Executive how many probationary teachers who completed their probationary year in June 2007 have been unable to find full-time employment. (S3O-466)

I thank Ms Alexander for her question. From now on, it is likely that her questions will be to the First Minister only, so I will take the opportunity to congratulate her on her position-elect and to wish her a long and happy time leading the Labour Party in Scotland—in opposition.

The precise number of probationary teachers who completed their probationary year in June 2007 but have been unable to find full-time employment will be known once the annual teacher census has been conducted on 19 September and once the General Teaching Council for Scotland's probationer survey has been conducted in October.

I thank the minister for at least some of her sentiments.

The minister has said that more than 3,500 probationary teachers were in training in Scotland last year. It would be a tragedy if those probationary teachers were lost to the profession because they could not find employment. Yesterday, the First Minister gave a commitment on class sizes. I look forward to a commitment from the Executive to make an undertaking to train and allow employment for those who have been trained and who risk not having careers in the teaching profession in Scotland.

I reassure Ms Alexander that the situation for newly qualified teachers this year is no different from that in previous years. Indeed, the situation is better as a result of our injection of 300 extra teaching posts into the system. With respect to the 3,350 newly qualified teachers, local authorities have told us that 3,000 posts have been advertised since Easter.

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Art and Culture

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support Scottish art and culture. (S3O-517)

Presiding Officer—

I call Linda Fabiani.

I am sorry, Presiding Officer. I was anxious to answer the question.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a wide variety of actions to support the arts and culture in Scotland. In the coming months, I plan to make further announcements that will make clear our commitment to supporting excellence in, and widening access to, the arts and culture. Our future cultural policy framework will affirm the place of culture in Scotland and acknowledge the important role that the varied cultural and creative practitioners play.

How will the minister ensure that the creative industries are properly considered?

The creative industries are a real success story in Scotland and a significant and growing part of our economy. The Scottish Government is determined to play its role in creating the conditions for the sector to continue to flourish.

Members may be interested to know that, earlier this week in the Parliament, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts held a joint meeting with the Parliament's futures forum. There are powerful lessons to be learned from the delegates and the summing up of what happened at the conference. In particular, I want to consider the need for the different arms of government to work closely together and for funding mechanisms to be capable of responding much more quickly and flexibly to the creative industries' needs.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. The convention is that members ask the question that is on the oral questions paper. Christina McKelvie did not do that; she referred to the Scottish Government rather than the Scottish Executive.

We will move swiftly on.

As the minister will be aware, there is an extensive network of arts organisations in the Highlands and Islands that provides services throughout the region. What do ministers plan to do to ensure that there is an enduring legacy from the 2007 year of Highland culture and to ensure that that legacy is spread throughout the Highlands and Islands and adds to the existing support that is given to, for example, theatres such as the Eden Court Theatre?

I have been impressed by what I have seen of the work that all the agencies that have been involved have put into the year of Highland of culture. From what Highland Council and those who have been closely involved with all the events that have taken place—some of which ministers have been fortunate enough to attend—have said, there will be a lot of discussion about how we can capitalise on a very good year for culture in the Highlands.

Scottish culture certainly needs support, but does Linda Fabiani believe that it was appropriate for the First Minister to stipulate that the £2 million extra funding that the Government granted to the Edinburgh festival this year should have been earmarked to promote exclusively Scottish work? We are talking about the world's pre-eminent arts festival, which generates £185 million a year for the Scottish economy. Are we in danger of making ourselves an international laughing stock for parochialism by insisting that only Scottish work should qualify for extra funding?

Many wonderful Scottish artists of all descriptions would be disturbed to learn that the Conservative party's arts and culture spokesperson thinks that their work is parochial.

The minister is aware that the Scottish Mining Museum in Newtongrange is in my constituency, but is she aware that Lady Victoria colliery, which is the finest surviving example of a Victorian colliery in Britain—indeed, it is the last remaining such colliery in Scotland—is facing a £2.5 million bill to conserve its grade A listed buildings? Will she commit the SNP Government to conserving the colliery and funding those urgent repairs?

I am aware of the many issues that smaller museums throughout the country face and know that the Scottish Museums Council is active in dealing with them. I would be happy to meet Rhona Brankin to discuss specific issues relating to the mining museum in her constituency, just as I have met members with a particular interest in Scotland's Museum of Lead Mining in Wanlockhead.

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Community Regeneration

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is currently available to local authorities for community regeneration. (S3O-528)

All of the Government's support for local authorities has a role to play in regenerating communities. The most specific support for community regeneration is through the community regeneration fund. That support is provided to community planning partnerships and not just the local authority.

As the minister will know, the City of Edinburgh Council's previous Labour administration dismally failed to win support for stock transfer, and the release of capital that that would entail. Given the serious financial difficulties that the council has inherited after 20 years of mismanagement by a Labour administration, will the minister commit to support the council as it tries to improve large areas of the city, including Gilmerton in my constituency?

Far be it from me to intervene between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party. Clearly, the end of their honeymoon has come sooner than ours. I have already met members of City of Edinburgh Council to discuss a number of matters in relation to housing and regeneration. I am more than happy to commit to work with the City of Edinburgh Council to ensure that our capital city benefits from future investment and development. There are areas of priority need within Edinburgh that we must ensure are on the radar for redevelopment and regeneration. This Government is committed to regeneration, and we will ensure that Edinburgh does not lose out in regeneration funding over the next few years.

Is the minister aware of the island of Kerrera in Argyll and Bute, which lies within half a mile of Oban town centre? Despite that proximity to urban life, the long-suffering community has no community hall, no road links between the north and south communities, substandard roads, no school, and no ferry link to Oban after 5 pm. Will the minister look into that sorry state of affairs and do something, so that Kerrera and its people can achieve parity with other Hebridean islands, which is something that the local authority has so far failed to achieve?

It certainly sounds like the result of more than 20 years of mismanagement by successive Labour and Tory Governments. I am more than happy to look into the matter and I will discuss it with ministerial colleagues, perhaps in rural affairs, who may also have a part to play in that area.

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Community Regeneration (Village and Community Halls)

To ask the Scottish Executive what it will do to ensure a sustainable future for Scottish village and community halls. (S3O-526)

The Scottish Government aims to help rural communities thrive and to enhance rural development. The Scotland rural development programme will inject £1.6 billion into rural areas over the next seven years. It contains specific measures worth £32 million to help provide leisure, recreation, sporting, catering and other rural community services and facilities, including village and community halls.

Bearing in mind the vital role that those halls play, particularly in rural and remote locations, as highlighted by the halls for all campaign, will the minister confirm what steps his department will take to ensure that access to funding will be made easier? Will he further confirm that water charge exemption will remain in place beyond 2010? Finally, is the minister in a position to confirm whether funding will be available to village and community halls through the rural development programme, and when it will be available?

I am sure that every MSP who represents rural communities wishes to pay tribute to everyone who helps to maintain and run their local village halls and community facilities. I assure the member that not only do we have the £32 million in the programme that I referred to, there is an additional £40 million under the LEADER programme, all of which should be available to our rural communities, including those who run rural halls.

In July, I had a productive meeting with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations to discuss support for village halls. We will discuss a number of issues in the weeks and months ahead, including many of the issues the member has raised.

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NHS 24

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the performance of NHS 24. (S3O-458)

The performance of NHS 24 is and will continue to be the subject of close and continuous review by the Scottish Government. As part of that process, I met the chairman and key members of the NHS 24 board when I chaired the board's annual review early last month.

The minister will be aware of the serious criticisms of out-of-hours services that are expressed in the recent Audit Scotland report.

On 23 July 2006, Shona Robison, who is now the Minister for Public Health, told the Sunday Herald:

"We believe there needs to be a fundamental restructuring of the service, with it devolved to health boards to provide the out-of-hours service including the element of NHS 24."

Is that still the position of the SNP now that it is in government? If so, when will we see that necessary review of the working practices of NHS 24?

If the member had been paying attention to the annual review of the NHS 24 board last month, he would know that I discussed with it how it can continue to expand the network of local call centres that I consider to be important to ensure that our out-of-hours access is satisfactory and locally based. The board has made good progress with that already and I made it clear that I want that progress to continue. I think that that will continue to increase patients' satisfaction with out-of-hours services.