Severe Weather
Good morning. Our first item of business is a statement by John Swinney on the impact of severe weather on Scotland. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interruptions or interventions.
Scotland is experiencing some of the coldest weather and the worst snow and ice that we have seen for many years. December 2009 was the third coldest since records for this purpose began in 1914—the coldest, so far, being December 1981. In the new year, conditions have become more severe.
Snow is an inevitable part of the Scottish winter, and some parts of Scotland are accustomed to the significant volumes of snow that we have experienced over the past few weeks. However, what is unusual is the unprecedented duration of this freezing weather—temperatures have been extremely low for three weeks now. We have already seen the temperature drop as low as -18°, and the forecast is for -20° in some parts by this weekend. More cold weather is forecast for the next few days, and the Met Office is not yet predicting any end to the cold weather, which will remain in Scotland and across the United Kingdom for at least another week, and possibly longer.
The Scottish Government is working with its partners to overcome some acute difficulties that arise from the conditions in discharging our obligations to help and protect the public. What I want to do today is provide Parliament with information about what is already being done for Scotland. The Scottish Government resilience room—SGoRR—was activated on 22 December to help to co-ordinate the response. Each day, throughout the Christmas and new year period—including on Christmas day—Scottish Government officials worked to gather information and deliver the support and help that is needed by Scotland's local authorities and communities.
I will deal first with the support to ensure that transport networks are able to function effectively. The Scottish Government's resilience team—involving the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities; the local authority chief executives group, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers; and the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland—is monitoring details of salt stocks and supplies each day in every local authority and trunk road operating company area. The challenge is to ensure that the salt gets to where it is needed most. That is what the Government and its partners are focused on achieving.
Yesterday, there was more salt in Scotland—45,000 tonnes—than there was on the previous day. The stocks need to be replenished on a regular basis to enable local authorities and trunk road operating companies to meet demand. There have been pinch points in the past few days when supplies were low in some areas. The SGoRR process of managing salt supplies has already resulted in supply difficulties being resolved in Fife, Dumfries and Galloway and the City of Edinburgh Council areas since the weekend.
We will continue to work collaboratively with all councils to assist with any difficulties that they have. The strategic co-ordinating groups that operate in eight localities in Scotland bring together in formal partnerships the organisations that are involved in dealing with these situations. They have been encouraged to make decisions about mutual aid within their areas, and there have already been a number of transfers of salt across local authority boundaries within those localities, which is the sensible and responsible course of action.
In some cases, imaginative and innovative solutions will have to be developed as a useful complement to ensuring the sharing of resources. For example, in order to stretch our salt supplies, it makes sense to mix sand with salt and grit to ensure that it goes further or to fill community grit bins with sand only. The Government encourages all public agencies to continue to develop innovative approaches.
Across the UK, the Scottish Government and the UK Department for Transport have been in contact to ensure a joined-up response. We continue a regular dialogue with the salt suppliers, who have worked hard over the past few weeks to ensure that supplies can be replenished. We will continue to maintain this communication as such dialogue is vital to provide assurances on future supplies.
Hundreds of local authority and trunk road operating company staff are working around the clock to treat key roads throughout Scotland. In particular, I would like to record our thanks to the staff who are involved in operations and who have been working continuously throughout and since the festive season. [Applause.]
In the course of this work, priorities have had to be established and, clearly, there has been inconvenience to members of the public. This has restricted the ability of individuals to move around, particularly due to the condition of roads and pavements in residential areas. We are working with the local authorities to ensure that this disruption can be minimised if at all possible. Air, rail, ferry and road links have all been disrupted to some degree, but the operators have continued to move people and goods both internally within Scotland and in order to maintain connections with the rest of the world.
Transport Scotland has worked closely with the trunk road operating companies, the police and other key agencies to ensure that Scotland's strategic road network continues to function effectively. The trunk road operating companies and local authorities have been working around the clock, deploying snowploughs and laying salt across the road network to keep Scotland moving. Since the severe weather started, more than 35,000 tonnes of salt have been distributed across the national network alone. More than 100 gritters have been in operation, additional machinery such as snow ploughs have been made available, and 300 members of staff have been working to keep the roads clear. The work that the local authorities have undertaken is over and above that.
Despite the significant challenge that is caused by particularly severe and sudden snowfall and very low temperatures, disruption on sections of Scotland's 3,500km trunk road network has been kept to a minimum, with the vast majority of roads remaining open and operational. Where trunk routes have been closed, they have been reopened in a quick and effective way. Importantly for road safety, it is crucial that people observe the guidance that the authorities issue on the advisability of undertaking journeys.
The Scottish police service has clear structures and procedures in place to deal with the severe weather that we are experiencing. Forces up and down the country are working hard to ensure that our roads, and those who travel on them, are safe. The Scottish Government and our partners are doing everything that we can to support communities.
Local authorities have emergency plans for dealing with disruption to services, including disruptions that arise from severe weather. Of course, those plans cover community care services in which the key question is the maintenance of services to vulnerable people. The action that is required to maintain those services will depend very much on the weather conditions in each area and whether the area is rural or urban—there is no standard solution. That is why responsibility rests with individual local authorities, working with their partners through the strategic co-ordinating groups, to bring to bear all appropriate resources in a prioritised way. Dialogue has taken place at local level with the third sector and other service providers to ensure as much continuity of service as possible.
The Scottish Government has worked with national health service boards throughout the year to ensure that robust plans are in place for managing winter pressures. NHS boards across Scotland are continuing to deliver safe and effective services. However, some routine services are being cancelled in the areas that are hardest hit in order to minimise the risk to staff and patients of travelling in severe weather. Decisions to cancel services are being made locally, based on clinical advice and local circumstances.
NHS Borders has been particularly badly affected by the severe weather and has activated its winter plans, cancelling routine out-patient appointments at Borders general hospital, community hospitals and health centres and those for day-hospital patients. The situation is under constant review, and NHS Borders is providing regular updates to the public. Priority services continue to be delivered to ensure that urgent patients are treated, and NHS Borders will make arrangements to agree suitable new out-patient appointments for affected patients. NHS boards will accommodate patients who have difficulties in travelling and who therefore cannot make routine appointments.
Throughout Scotland, there have been higher than average attendances at accident and emergency due to falls and fractures, which have had a knock-on effect on orthopaedic and trauma emergency admissions. Despite that, NHS boards are reporting that they are maintaining good performance against key waiting time standards. It is clear that NHS staff are making exceptional efforts to maintain high-quality services for patients.
The Scottish Ambulance Service has introduced a number of measures to manage the situation and mitigate the impact on ambulance services. They include ensuring that all-terrain vehicles are available for use in response to emergency calls and providing for patient transport service personnel to be deployed in supporting paramedics in accident and emergency units.
Some of those measures mean that patient transport service staff are being pulled away from their normal patient transport service duties of taking patients to and from hospital for out-patient appointments and non-urgent treatments and therapies. The service is continuing to provide patient transport for the patients whose needs are greatest. In some cases, it is getting fantastic support from unsung heroes in the community who are doing their bit to transport patients. However, some lower priority patients will be advised that the patient transport support that they would normally receive will not be available at this time.
This week, schools in all but three local authority areas were due to reopen after the Christmas break. Today, around 2,000—or 83 per cent—of the 2,400 schools that should be open are expected to be fully open. That is an improvement on yesterday's 75 per cent and Tuesday's 64 per cent. In the current situation, that is a real achievement.
The majority of school closures have been in significantly affected areas such as Aberdeenshire, the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. The safety of staff and pupils must always be the paramount consideration in decisions by local authorities and headteachers about whether to open schools. The Scottish Government is in frequent contact with all education authorities in support of their endeavours to ensure that schools are able to open as effectively as possible.
Our rural communities are used to dealing with severe weather. Through our work with stakeholders on preparing for and responding to pandemic flu, we have confidence that, in these difficult weather conditions, resilience plans exist in the supply chain to ensure that food continues to be available to the Scottish public. Our on-going contact with stakeholders has identified that, although there may be some localised issues, the farming industry is coping with the real and practical difficulties. However, we are mindful of the fact that a sustained period of severe weather could have real implications—including for the welfare of livestock on higher ground—and will continue to work with stakeholders to monitor the situation. There will be a challenge in supporting people in rural locations, so we welcome the initiatives of the National Farmers Union Scotland to encourage mutual assistance in rural areas.
There are further actions that can be taken to assist the situation. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has made it clear that people on community service orders have been out clearing streets and helping the elderly and other vulnerable people in local communities. The Government recognises the support that members from other parties have given to that initiative, and I am pleased that the Government's approach has been endorsed in that way.
Later today, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice will visit a sheltered housing complex in Fife where offenders on community service schemes have been clearing snow and ice from the pavements thanks to an initiative by Fife Council, which moved quickly at the start of the cold weather to switch the offenders' usual community clean-up work to the more immediate need of helping the vulnerable in their communities. In both North and South Ayrshire, community service offenders have been out gritting or shovelling snow on roads and pavements in areas where there are vulnerable members of the public, around residential homes and sheltered housing complexes. In addition to gritting, in Falkirk offenders will assist community care providers to deliver essential services to the elderly and vulnerable. In the Scottish Borders, community service offenders will be out this weekend to clear paths.
There is much that individuals can do to be more resilient and to help in their community. I appeal to Scotland's strong sense of community resilience and encourage everyone to play their part by helping to clear paths and checking on elderly and vulnerable neighbours and relatives.
There are other ways in which people can seek help. NHS 24 is staffed round the clock for those with medical problems. Local authorities also have helplines that people in each area can call if they experience difficulties. Those local authority numbers should already be well known locally but, to ensure that no one is in doubt about their local number, we have agreed to publicise them centrally through the "Weather Wise" section of the Government's website, which contains valuable information for members of the public on action to take and help that is available in these conditions. The Scottish Government website will shortly contain the numbers for each local authority area.
We are in touch with the local radio stations about what they can do to help. Not everyone has access to a website, but almost all of us have a radio. In past similar situations, local radio stations have broadcast programmes aimed at tackling difficulties that are experienced by people who do not want to bother the emergency services. They have also enabled other members of the public who can help to get in touch to provide that help. We have had an enthusiastic response from the radio stations and look forward to the positive impact that that can make in supporting vulnerable individuals.
Scotland's key utilities providers are working extremely hard to ensure that vital utilities of energy, water and telecoms are provided and maintained as normal. I underline the point that there is no imminent threat to gas supplies and that there is sufficient in reserve to see us through the rest of the winter. In addition, as part of the cross-Government approach, Scottish and Southern Energy have sent engineers to help their counterparts in the south of England to restore power supplies.
In due course, the freeze will give way to a thaw. At the moment, there is no sign of the kind of rapid thaw that could lead to flooding. However, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has reassured us that, in co-operation with the Met Office, it is considering the potential flood risk and preparing accordingly. The Scottish Government and COSLA have discussed the need to prepare for any flooding that may occur as a result of a future thaw.
We are in a situation of weather on a prolonged timescale the like of which we have not seen in recent years. Although the burden of responsibility to keep Scotland moving falls on local government, the trunk road operators and other agencies, I encourage individuals and communities to consider what responsibility they can take on, even on a small scale, to help the situation locally. With determination and partnership, we can get the country through these significant weather conditions.
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that are raised in his statement. We have around 30 minutes for such questions, after which we must move to the next item of business. An almost unprecedented number of members wish to ask questions, so there is a strong need for brevity.
I thank the Scottish Government for agreeing to Labour's demand for a statement on what is a national emergency, demanding a national co-ordinated response. Labour adds its gratitude to all those at local level, whether in a voluntary capacity, in local authorities or in health, who are doing what they can to address that emergency.
In the face of what most of our constituents have recognised as a national emergency, so far the Scottish Government's response has been complacent and defensive and, critically, has displayed a lack of leadership. That is captured in a statement—perhaps an understatement—that talks of there being
"inconvenience to members of the public."
The Government's response has been short on action taken and full of hope for the future. There has been little concrete evidence to give us hope that action is being taken.
Even more troubling, in the face of the largely hidden and as yet unmeasured impact of this emergency on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, has been the absolute silence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing—no statement, nothing on the Scottish Government website and no central point of contact. Local numbers will be made available "shortly". What meetings has the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth had with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing to ensure that the central concern about the impact on vulnerable people shapes the Scottish Government's response and priorities?
What meetings has the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing had with COSLA, health boards and voluntary sector organisations to discuss how local community networks, general practitioners, voluntary groups, housing associations and carers centres can be best co-ordinated to identify vulnerable people and to get help to them? What meetings has she had with community care providers and those delivering caring services to identify not Mr Swinney's pinch points but the real pain that is being suffered across Scotland? What will she and Mr Swinney do to ensure that the work of voluntary organisations is properly recognised and recompensed, so that their instinct to act now does not come at the expense of budgets that are already committed to the important work of supporting older and vulnerable people throughout the year?
I do not think that there has been a more miserable contribution to a parliamentary debate than the utterly miserable one that the member has just made. I set out in significant detail the fact that the Scottish Government's emergency team has been in place since before Christmas—before the period of acute winter weather took effect—to ensure that there is co-ordination of all activity in every circumstance.
In her usual cheery, charitable style, Johann Lamont is muttering the word "ministers". If she will calm herself for a second, I will explain ministers' role. Throughout the Christmas and new year period, ministers have been constantly involved in dialogue with the Scottish Government's resilience room team. Our officials have led that process in an operational sense; ministers have directed it with political authority. Ministers have been involved in a number of meetings over the Christmas and new year period. Johann Lamont asked several questions about the involvement of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. I assure her that the cabinet secretary has been absorbed in the discussions in which we have been involved.
Since, I think, just before Christmas—if not, since immediately after Christmas—we have published on the Government's website a daily update on the actions that the resilience team has taken. That update has been issued to the media daily, with comment from ministers on the actions that are being taken.
We are in touch with health boards about the situation several times a day. Dialogue with NHS Borders about the acute difficulties that have recently been experienced in that area has been intense on the part of the Government, and we will continue with that.
As for the voluntary sector, Johann Lamont will acknowledge in her charitable moments—she has commented publicly on this—this Government's appreciation, and certainly this cabinet secretary's appreciation, for the role of voluntary organisations, which have made a significant contribution. I am aware and have seen examples around the country of where voluntary sector organisations are changing their working practices to reach people who cannot be transported to them. That is the type of pragmatic approach that we are all looking for, and I warmly commend voluntary sector organisations on their efforts.
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement and for the efforts that he has put in during the holiday period to keep in contact with party spokesmen and keep them up to date with what has been going on.
I welcome the cabinet secretary's acknowledgement of the support by David McLetchie for the idea of getting people on community service orders out to work. It was taken as a joke at the time, but I am glad that it has delivered real benefits in many parts of the country.
My questions relate to three areas. First, let us remember that in these conditions people, and older people in particular, can find themselves seriously isolated, even in the centres of our cities. What effort has been made to monitor the required supplies for such individuals? I draw the cabinet secretary's attention to people who use off-grid gas, oil and other fuel supplies, who, after three weeks of bad weather—and a holiday period, we must remember—might be running very low on supplies. With roads in a very poor condition in many areas, it might be difficult to get supplies to them, and we must be up to speed on that.
Secondly, although the statement is on "severe weather in Scotland", much of Scotland's industry and economy depends on cross-border links and main roads south of the border. What efforts are being made by the Government to interpret or assess the impact of severe weather in England on Scottish economic performance? What changes might need to be made in future in that regard?
Very quickly now, please.
I must mention issues concerning local authorities. I have been concerned that there might be a lower level of preparedness, given that we have had a series of very mild winters. Is any work being done to assess whether local authorities' preparedness this winter has been appropriate?
Finally—
Hurry up, please, Mr Johnstone.
Is there any provision in the 2009-10 budget for a contingency fund that local authorities, health boards and other public bodies may draw on in order to offset the cost of this event?
Mr Johnstone makes a fair point about people in isolated areas. There is a range of ways to identify isolated individuals. He gave the example of off-grid fuel supplies, and we can have dialogue with the suppliers, who perhaps cannot reach individuals in need, to find other ways to assist them. Individuals have access to local networks through local authority contact points, which are well advertised locally, but we will encourage awareness to be raised further about where to go for help.
As I know Mr Johnstone will appreciate given his background in the agricultural sector, it is important in rural communities—and this is as valid in urban communities—to look out for individuals who need assistance at this time.
Secondly, on the main routes south, we have endeavoured to keep the trunk routes open at all times. Yesterday was the first major occasion when a number of the trunk routes to the south were blocked, although most of them are now reopened and efforts are under way to complete the process.
The winter weather has had more effect in Scotland than in England, and the prolonged period of winter weather started earlier in Scotland, but there will be a period of disruption to the economy south of the border due to the adverse weather there. We will work closely with the Department for Transport regarding transport connections and the supplies of salt and grit. There will undoubtedly be pressure on those supplies, because of conditions in England and Wales, as we ensure that the Scottish interest is protected.
On the third point, about local authority preparedness, local authorities are independent statutory bodies that have to make their own preparations. They have their own local winter maintenance plans. This has been a very challenging period for them. I would not underestimate or understate for a moment the inconvenience and difficulty that this weather has caused to members of the public, but local authorities are working very hard to minimise disruption where possible.
Finally, the member asked about contingency funds in the 2009-10 budget. As he will appreciate, the budget does not have contingency provision. We will be involved in a dialogue on the financial implications of what has clearly been a period of significant strain on public services.
Local authorities and trunk road contractors are doing a good job, against the odds, to keep main routes open. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the front-line workers in depots, on snow ploughs and in gritting lorries, who are out in the worst of weathers, at all hours. We owe them a great deal.
If main routes are prioritised, it must be acknowledged that that is at the expense of minor roads in towns and villages, rural routes and—truth be told—footpaths everywhere. Although that is okay over a short spell, when there is a sustained period of bad weather such as the present one it begins to impact severely on the elderly and disabled, in particular in rural communities. One fifth of Scotland's population lives in rural communities, and I am concerned that those communities are beginning to find themselves cut off from vital services and supplies. That includes home carers, the delivery of prescription drugs and heating fuel such as liquefied petroleum gas and oil for those who are off the gas grid, as has already been mentioned.
On the arrangements to ensure that heating fuel can get through, what consideration has the cabinet secretary given to better working between local road winter maintenance and trunk road winter maintenance? When those two were disaggregated, it resulted in some unproductive double running. Perhaps, in these exceptional times, there should be some joint working to tackle the issue. Could the cabinet secretary tell me about that, please?
I acknowledge Alison McInnes's point that priorities have been established. We must carefully steward our salt supplies. As I said in response to Mr Johnstone, there will be significant strain on salt supplies across the United Kingdom given the adverse weather in England, and, as I said in some detail in my statement, we are carefully managing and developing a dialogue about the management of supplies. I readily concede that, as a consequence, pavements and minor routes have been accorded less priority than the major routes.
The fact that so many routes have been maintained and kept open—I am talking not just about trunk routes but about other main routes through our cities, rural communities and towns—is a tribute to the way in which resources have been deployed. There is good co-operation between the trunk route operating companies and local authorities. They sometimes share depots, and in some cases they are sharing supplies of salt, which is how we are overcoming some of the local difficulties. There is also good co-operation among local authorities.
I assure the member that every effort is being made to ensure that, in any areas that are not getting the appropriate gritting operations where that is necessary to allow services to be accessed by vulnerable people, local authorities are attending to the challenge.
As I said earlier in response to Johann Lamont, community care providers—some of which are in the public sector, some of which are in the private sector and some of which are in the third sector—are going to extraordinary lengths to reach vulnerable individuals. I have looked at some examples of that from around the country, and I pay warm tribute to the individuals concerned for the extra effort that they are putting in to reach vulnerable citizens.
If I am to fit in every member who wishes to ask a question, I have exactly one minute for each question and answer, so there should be no unnecessary preamble, please. I ask for one simple question and one simple answer.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his intervention earlier this week to ensure that emergency supplies were delivered to Fife Council.
Just a question, please.
I am just coming to it—
Now, please.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that, when the current emergency is over, a review across Scotland will need to take place to ensure that the lessons learned can be implemented by next winter?
That would be sensible. At all times, winter maintenance plans are reassessed and reconsidered by public authorities, and it is essential that we continue that effort year on year. As I said, this is an exceptional period of weather, but it is important that we learn lessons as we go forward.
Given that the unprecedented weather is set to continue, and given the increased attendance at casualty units throughout the country, will the cabinet secretary provide us with exact details of the additional capacity, over and above existing planning for winter pressures, that is being provided by the Scottish Government and the NHS to cope with the increased demand?
As I said, the health service, through work between the Government, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and health boards, has put a great focus on maintaining robust winter plans. If winter plans are to be robust, they must be able to deal with circumstances during the winter. That is exactly what the plans are focused on delivering and it is what the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing will expect from health boards. The matter will be the subject of dialogue between the Government and health boards.
I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement. He will be aware of the embarrassing situation in which Fife Council found itself earlier this week when its supplies of road treatment materials ran out. Will he assure the Parliament that a complete explanation will be provided as to why Fife Council apparently experienced the most severe problems of low salt and grit stocks of any Scottish council? Will he specifically seek answers to the question whether the blame lay with contractors who failed to live up to delivery obligations or with a local authority that allowed stocks to fall too low without having made alternative arrangements?
I do not think that Mr Brocklebank will be surprised to hear what I have concentrated on. When I became aware on Sunday morning that there was a shortage of supply in Fife Council, I took steps to divert into the council stocks that the trunk road operating companies held, to address the situation. I repeated that on Monday, and I was extremely grateful for assistance from neighbouring local authorities, which provided supplies into the bargain. The issue was resolved.
Who said what to whom is—frankly—a matter for Fife Council. My priority is to ensure that such problems are addressed, and that is what I focused on.
Given that we have specific emergency plans for bird flu, pig flu and flooding, how will the cabinet secretary ensure that locally and nationally we have specific emergency plans for snow that effectively prioritise the needs of elderly, disabled and other vulnerable people who are stranded at home?
I give the example of Dumfries and Galloway Council, which this morning activated its winter emergency plan. The plan involves a far more formal approach to joint planning among the different public bodies. On the radio this morning I heard the chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary explain the impact that the approach will have on the provision of services. Such plans exist in strategic co-ordinating groups in all localities around the country. The Government encourages the process, and plans are taken forward by the relevant public agencies in each locality.
I press the cabinet secretary on a point that I put to him when he telephoned me earlier this week. The unusual longevity of the current emergency has meant that hard-working road workers have had to continue to concentrate their efforts on main roads. In previous, shorter spells of bad weather—
Question, please.
In a shorter spell of bad weather, we would have turned our attention by now to side roads and minor roads, and—this is crucial—to pavements. Given the social consequences for vulnerable people of these exceptional circumstances, and given the cost impact on the health service, it would be cost effective as well as beneficial—
Question, please, Mr Gordon.
It would be cost effective and beneficial to the hard-pressed public to give emergency funds to councils to mobilise additional labour to clear pavements. Will the cabinet secretary do that now?
We must be clear that there are statutory responsibilities that local authorities take forward, which extend to winter maintenance in localities—Mr Gordon will be familiar with that from his long experience in local government. It is therefore for individual authorities to take the matter forward. Of course, I have on-going dialogue with local authorities about financial arrangements, and I am sure that there will be discussion on that question, but local authorities have the statutory duty to make plans in respect of winter maintenance and I know that they are concentrating on doing that.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that there is great benefit in using contractors, for example through co-operative machinery rings, to clear roads, especially B roads, C roads, unclassified roads and all the cul-de-sacs in the country? Will he and his colleagues assist local authorities in tapping that usually unused resource?
Given the nature of my constituency, I am familiar with the concept of machinery rings, which are effective in relation to the work of the agriculture sector and the wider contracting sector in rural areas. There is clearly an opportunity. In our dialogue with local authorities we are focusing on how we can take as comprehensive action as possible to address the situation in every locality. I will certainly raise with local authorities the opportunity that Mr Hume has identified.
Will the cabinet secretary work with Network Rail and the ScotRail franchisee to ensure that normal services are restored as soon as possible on the railways, especially on the Highland main line, which is blocked, and on lines where points need to be unblocked? The serial offenders need to be tackled right away, so that people can avoid alternative, treacherous road travel.
Mr Gibson makes an important point about the Highland main line. The derailment of a freight train at Carrbridge has caused significant disruption to the line. There have also been blockages on occasions as a consequence of heavy snowfall, particularly on the northern lines and the Aberdeen to Inverness line.
Work is under way to understand as quickly as possible the causes of the freight train derailment at Carrbridge. A train derailment is a significant issue that requires great consideration. Steps are being taken to resolve the issue, restore the site and ensure that the train network functions as effectively as possible.
We have had disruption on the rail network, which is being attended to as speedily as possible. I assure the member that the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change has been in touch with First ScotRail and Network Rail to ensure that we maximise the effectiveness of the rail network at this time.
Will the cabinet secretary admit that the real reason why councils are struggling hard to clear roads and pavements is the cuts that have been imposed on them by the concordat, which he, on behalf of the Scottish National Party Government, forced them to sign up to?
Given that the statement covered health, community care, schools, farming and offenders, all of which matters are outwith the cabinet secretary's responsibility, why did the First Minister not make the statement, in what Johann Lamont rightly described as a national emergency, which is being seriously underestimated by the Government?
The First Minister is with me in the chamber—I do not know whether Lord Foulkes did not see him, but he is right here. He chaired the emergency meeting yesterday and—
Why did he not make the statement, then?
I made the statement because during the past few days I have been leading, on behalf of the Government, in addressing the acute pressure point, which has been in connection with—[Interruption.]
Order.
The acute pressure points have been the road and transport networks and relationships with local authorities in the context of maximising supply.
Lord Foulkes asked about cuts. What a barefaced cheek! Not only did Johann Lamont spectacularly miss the tone of the moment, but Lord Foulkes has traipsed into the problem in his usual chaotic, shambolic fashion. Has he forgotten—if I have not reminded him enough of this, I know that my good friend the First Minister will remind him—that cuts of £500 million have come down the road from the Labour Government in London? Perhaps he should have thought about that before he asked his silly question.
That was all fun, wasn't it? Alongside the important transport issues and the other issues that have been mentioned, is it not equally—[Interruption.]
Order. Could we hear the question, please?
I appreciate that.
Is it not equally important that people can afford to keep warm in their homes at this difficult time? Why was there not one mention of fuel poverty in the statement?
Part of what the Government's information campaigns do is encourage people to participate in initiatives such as the energy assistance package—a first-class initiative that exists to assist individuals who are addressing fuel cost issues.
Patrick Harvie raises a significant issue. Tackling it is part of the Government's continuing priorities and it will remain in our focus.
Will the cabinet secretary agree to share with local authorities the details of salt stocks that Scottish Government agencies such as Transport Scotland hold? Will he consider putting in place strategic contingency supply arrangements for the future, given that all salt supplies now come from outwith Scotland?
We are actively managing with local government the arrangements on salt supplies, and where there are difficulties in salt availability we work to resolve them. In a number of cases, that has involved using stocks that are held by the trunk road operating companies, which must be used to keep trunk roads operational.
Karen Gillon suggests a strategic contingency supply. There is some merit in that point and, in light of the issues that Tricia Marwick raised, the Government will consider it as part of future developments. Throughout the country, trunk road operating companies and local authorities hold stocks in advance. Our challenge now is to manage those stocks responsibly, because we expect a prolonged period of winter weather and we must be assured that we can replenish the supplies as effectively as possible.
I was gratified to hear the specific examples that the cabinet secretary gave in his statement of persons on community service orders doing work in our communities at present. To put this in overall perspective—
Just ask a question, please.
Will the cabinet secretary tell us how many persons who are presently subject to community service orders have been involved in clearing snow and ice from our roads and pavements over the past fortnight?
I am glad that Mr McLetchie welcomes the fact that I have already given the Parliament some details on all those issues. I am also pleased to hear that he is now a great supporter of community service. I was not aware of that given his contributions to discussions in the past, but I am glad that we have found common ground in tackling the winter difficulties in our communities.
In the cabinet secretary's discussions with COSLA, will special regard be given to the Scottish Borders in preparation for the inevitable thaw, given the heavy snowfall that has already been referred to and the region's existing vulnerability to flooding?
Christine Grahame makes an important point. As I said in my statement, we have opened up discussions with SEPA, which is the lead organisation on flood management. There is a clearly articulated system of alerts on the rivers throughout Scotland in relation to flood management. We will continue to monitor that information. A key contributor to that will be the long-term weather forecast, which will give us a sense of how rapid we can expect any thaw to be.
Is the cabinet secretary aware that part of the problem that Dumfries and Galloway Council faced was that salt supplies that were originally destined for the region were diverted to other councils south of the border? He stated that the Scottish Government was working closely with the UK Department for Transport, so will he advise the Parliament what actions he is taking to ensure that vital supplies that hard-pressed Scottish local authorities require are not diverted elsewhere?
I agree entirely with Elaine Murray on that. Yesterday was the first occasion on which the Department for Transport activated the so-called salt cell, which is a mechanism that was set up after the difficulties with salt supply last February in the rest of the United Kingdom—it was not a Scottish problem, but a problem in England and Wales. That mechanism is designed to ensure that salt supplies reach the parts of the country that require them when there is acute pressure.
As I said, the winter weather has gone on for a more prolonged period in Scotland, so we certainly have an acute requirement and demand for supplies in Scotland and we are actively participating in the salt cell discussions with the Department for Transport. We are also in touch with the salt suppliers; my officials had discussions with them yesterday on the issues that Elaine Murray raises and we will continue to press the matter regularly to protect the Scottish interest.
This week, the Borders was the only region to be cut off from the rest of the country. Indeed, many people outside the region, such as myself, could not get home on the main trunk roads or the local authority routes yesterday. Does the cabinet secretary have any estimate of when the supplies of grit that are expected for the Borders will be at maximum? Currently, the delivery is less than half of what is expected.
It was welcome to hear in his statement that the Government recognises the acute pressures on the health service. Given those pressures, will special consideration be given to NHS Borders and the community health partnership over and above the inevitable need to consider compensation?
I point out to Mr Purvis that, in the period since new year, yesterday was the day of the most acute difficulties on the Borders routes. The road clearing staff have worked exceptionally hard to try to clear some very difficult conditions in the south of Scotland and continue to do so.
We are actively managing the salt supply for Scottish Borders Council in dialogue with the council and the salt suppliers. I will not suggest for a moment to the Parliament that every local authority has all the salt supplies that it would ideally want to have at this time of year, because the work that has gone on over the past few weeks has depleted supplies severely. We are managing the situation to ensure that the supply is adequate to keep principal routes and major thoroughfares clear in all localities and will continue to do that in partnership with Scottish Borders Council.
We will assess the financial impact of the difficulties in due course. The priority is to concentrate on activating public services to address the scale of the challenge that we face.
I am sure that the cabinet secretary shares my concern about the circumstances in Fife at the weekend. Fife Council issued a press release on Sunday afternoon indicating that it would run out of salt, so could the cabinet secretary clarify when the Scottish Government became aware of the council's situation and what action it took?
The Scottish Government became aware on Sunday of the situation in Fife. We had been asking for information about the situation for some time. We obviously knew that there were strains on supplies—we knew that about every locality in the country—but the fact that there was an acute shortage and that there was a prospect of Fife Council being unable to undertake any gritting became clear to us for the first time on Sunday and I acted to resolve the situation as members would expect me to do.
We are already taking time out of the next debate, but if the remaining two members who wish to ask a question are brief we will fit them in.
Will the cabinet secretary assure me that he and other ministers will press the power companies in Scotland to treat their customers with due care and attention at this particularly difficult time?
Mr Maxwell will understand some of the comments that the power companies have made about acknowledging their responsibilities in this period. I assure him that ministers will make the point clearly to the power companies in Scotland.
The cabinet secretary rightly made the point at the end of his statement that individuals and communities could take on more individual responsibility. However, they have difficulty doing that because of the absence of grit in grit bins in streets and communities. I ask him for an assurance that any review of what has happened this winter will include the fact that authorities throughout Scotland appear to have failed, either deliberately or by omission, to fill grit bins to enable local individuals to take action on their own streets to secure the pavements for those who are more vulnerable.
It is essential that there is grit in the bins to allow individuals to take such action. We have encouraged local authorities to stock the grit bins on streets around the country with alternatives to salt because of the pressures on salt supplies. The concentration has been on replacing salt with sand, which is not a perfect replacement, but it is an equivalent. That has been taken forward today by the City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council. We welcome that and we encourage the uptake of that initiative in other parts of the country.