Prisons (Drug Use)
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce drug use in prisons, in light of recent statistics suggesting that the number of recorded drug finds is set to rise this year. (S4O-01416)
I have asked Colin McConnell, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, for his comments in regard to this. He has indicated that a number of factors have impacted on the number of drug finds, including the use of additional drug dogs, additional intelligence-led searching and the opening of HMP Low Moss. Additional drug finds are also indicative of the success of those targeted measures.
The Scottish Prison Service has a substance misuse strategy in place that reflects the aims of the national drug strategy in “The Road to Recovery: A New Approach to Tackling Scotland’s Drug Problem”. The strategy focuses on robust security systems to divert, disrupt, detect and deter the supply of illicit substances and it supports the provision of treatment services to encourage prisoners to reject the illegal drug culture.
Following legislative change in 2011, national health service boards are now responsible for the delivery of health and addiction services to prisoners, based on assessed needs.
I thank the minister for her answer. In a response to a written question from John Lamont it was revealed that there are almost five drug discoveries in Scottish prisons every day and that that figure is set to rise from the 2011 figure.
The nearest prison to my constituency is HMP Kilmarnock, which has the second-worst rate of drug finds of any Scottish prison—it is estimated that there will be 213 finds by the end of 2012. My constituents are horrified by the news that so many drugs can get into what is supposed to be a secure environment. What will the Scottish Government do to address that problem and will it consider the introduction of mandatory drug testing in prisons, which the Scottish Conservatives have been calling for for some time?
As I indicated in my original answer, a number of things are already being done that have resulted in an increasing number of drug finds. It is important for people to take it on board that sometimes the figures are evidence of the success of the work that is being done.
Another initiative that is being rolled out is called prison watch, which has proved very successful in HMP Edinburgh and which we hope can be rolled out to many other institutions. It has reduced the presence of illicit substances and products in prisons by a significant factor. It is not yet available in the surrounds of HMP Kilmarnock, but I will advise the member when that is the case.
An addiction testing policy is already in place in prisons. A sample of prisoners are tested for a range of illegal substances—annually, on reception into and on liberation from prison, as well as during their time in prison—to assess drug use. Testing is not currently done across the entire prison population. If that is what the member is suggesting, resource issues would have to be closely looked at. Testing the entire prison population on a regular basis would be resource intensive indeed. I would want to discuss with the member the precise details of how he imagines that that would work.
Do the minister and her colleagues feel the need to review the use of drugs in Scotland in a wider sense, rather than pick on particular initiatives as they pop up?
I am not entirely clear what the member intends with that question. The recovery strategy that the Government put in place in 2008 has delivered enormous changes to the way in which things are managed in Scotland and has resulted in great advances. However, it is on-going and is constantly the subject of internal review. Indeed, as part of that, we are looking quite closely at the issue of opiate replacement therapy. In that sense, review of the drug strategy in Scotland is constant.
Higher Education (Computer Science and Software Engineering)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to encourage more undergraduates to study computer science and software engineering. (S4O-01417)
Education in science, technologies such as computing, engineering and maths is a priority for the Scottish Government as those areas are key drivers of Scotland’s future economic prosperity. The Government is keen to encourage more school pupils to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and we are doing various things to incentivise that.
We provide about £2.5 million to support the four science centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, which together reach about 600,000 people every year. We also spend £220,000 supporting 18 science festivals in towns, cities, islands and regions across Scotland. Through the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, we will fund a further 1,200 STEM places at Scotland’s universities over the next three years.
The minister will be aware of the new opportunities that are opening up for software developers with the arrival of 4G mobile services, and of Scotland’s already strong position in the creative industries, which is exemplified by the fantastic achievements of Gordon Cameron and his work with Pixar on the movie “Brave”, and the masters course on gaming that is offered by the University of Abertay.
Does the minister see an opportunity to further promote software engineering to Scotland’s young undergraduates and thereby to capitalise on the exciting future for the industry in Scotland?
I certainly agree that the examples that the member gave—4G and the film “Brave”—provide great opportunities not only to showcase the talent that exists in our computing and software engineers in Scotland but to make a wider audience aware of the careers that exist within the profession.
Portobello High School
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had discussions with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the future of Portobello high school. (S4O-01418)
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth and I have offered to meet council representatives to discuss possible options, work through next steps and consider what appropriate support the Scottish Government can provide to assist the City of Edinburgh Council to fulfil its responsibilities.
Will the minister clarify whether he is looking at the power to advance wellbeing in those discussions? Can he assure my constituents, who have a deep sense of anger and disappointment that the school has yet again been delayed, that the Government will do everything that it can to see the new Portobello high school built on the park as soon as possible?
I thank the member for the constructive tone in which she asked the question. The SNP Government is outcome focused. We will work to try to deliver the aspirations of the City of Edinburgh Council, and its preferred site is indeed the park. The problem has come about because of a legal determination. We will work through the options.
The exploratory consultation on the community empowerment and renewal bill covers the issue of common good land, but it might not be timeous enough to give rise to a solution to this particular issue.
I guarantee that the Government will be proactive and take a constructive approach to the meeting with the City of Edinburgh Council. I am informed that it has been scheduled for 13 November. I will be happy to update the member on the outcome of those discussions.
Schools (Science)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage the take-up of science subjects in secondary schools. (S4O-01419)
We want to maintain our record of high uptake and achievement of science qualifications. As part of that, our recent response to the science and engineering education advisory group report highlights our priorities of building the expertise of teachers, ensuring that pupils experience science learning that is inspiring and relevant, and developing young people’s awareness of pathways into science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.
We are also promoting broader science engagement for young people through the science centre network and the talking science grants scheme.
The work of SEEAG is indeed welcome, as is the formation of its successor body, the science, technology, engineering and maths education committee, to ensure that its work continues. However, is the minister aware that it could be undermined by an unintended consequence of curriculum for excellence? CFE allows S3 pupils to choose between five and eight subjects to study, and where education authorities have chosen the lower end of that curricular range, parents and teachers have reported to me concerns that it becomes impossible for students to pursue two sciences and very possible for them to choose none at all at an early stage in their school careers. If that happens extensively, serious consequences for Scottish science lie ahead.
Will the minister investigate those concerns and either intervene or provide evidence that they are not, in fact, the case?
I am always happy to speak to school communities and parents who want to know how the curriculum for excellence and the new qualification system will develop. However, I have to say that the picture across Scotland is definitely one of increasing rather than decreasing the choices available to pupils and of strengthening the experience of a broad general education, including a broad science education in the first three years of secondary school.
There is no evidence that science subjects are being squeezed out. For instance, recently the idea was raised with me that fewer pupils might be able to study three sciences at the end of their fourth year, when they do exams. Less than 2 per cent of pupils did that under the old system and there is no evidence to suggest that pupils’ choices are being restricted in that way. However, if the member knows of any concerns that parents have about courses, I am more than happy for them to be raised with me.
In the Scottish Government’s draft budget for 2012-13, spending on science is to be cut from £6 million to £3.6 million. How does that cut fit with the minister’s warm words and his commitment to science?
I would take the criticism more seriously—
Why does he not answer the question?
I would take the criticism more seriously were it not coming from a party that has just cut the capital budget for Scotland by a third. If he wants that in decimal terms, it is 33.3-something per cent.
Edinburgh to Tweedbank Railway Project
To ask the Scottish Government when an agreement will be in place appointing Network Rail as the authorised undertaker of the Edinburgh to Tweedbank railway project. (S4O-01420)
We expect an agreement to be concluded with Network Rail shortly.
“Shortly”, yes. Today, just as on Tuesday, the cabinet secretary has refused to tell us when an agreement with Network Rail—without which main works cannot start—will finally be reached. After a botched tendering process and five and a half years of Scottish National Party governance, the people of the Borders and Midlothian are no closer to seeing trains in their communities. Will the cabinet secretary today reaffirm the First Minister’s pledge to me last September that the Borders rail project will be delivered by the end of 2014 and on budget?
The agreement with Network Rail will be concluded shortly and the Minister for Transport and Veterans will make the appropriate announcement in due course. The target date that Jim Hume referred to remains the Scottish Government’s target date, and the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to the Borders rail project, which will be to the benefit of people across the Borders.
I find it astonishing that a member of a party that was in government in this Parliament for such a long time and failed to deliver the Borders rail project finds it acceptable to stand up and criticise the Government that is getting on with the work of delivering that project for the benefit of the people that it will serve.
It is a pity that Mr Hume was not here for topical questions this week.
Is the minister aware that many people in my constituency believe, like me, that even if it takes a little longer and a little extra money, to build in three years—as Nicola Sturgeon said—what the Liberal Democrats failed to deliver over decades will be a remarkable achievement for the Scottish Government?
Yes, I am. This Government will deliver the Borders rail project and we will do that with the competence that this Government has demonstrated on transport projects previously in our term in office. When the railway project is complete, people who enjoy the use of it will reflect on the fact that previous Administrations failed utterly to deliver in the way that this Government will have done.
National Health Service Estate (Energy Efficiency)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the energy efficiency of the national health service estate. (S4O-01421)
We are in an on-going dialogue with NHS boards through the NHS health facilities Scotland advisory groups, which provide advice and support to NHS Scotland on energy efficiency matters.
We have in place a number of initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of the NHS estate such as the HEAT—health improvement, efficiency and governance, access and treatment—target for carbon emissions reduction and continuing energy efficiencies; funding for eco-hospitals, which comprises an investment of £24 million over the next three years to make NHS hospitals and facilities more energy efficient; and the central energy efficiency fund, which is a revolving fund that was launched in 2005 with an initial capital budget of £4 million.
I note with optimism the announcement of the NHS Scotland carbon reduction programme, which will release £4 million a year for investment in patient care in Scotland. Indeed, in that respect, I also highlight the announcement of the new Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary. Does the cabinet secretary agree that as this will be Scotland’s newest hospital we have a very real opportunity to make it the nation’s most carbon neutral?
Through the project approval process, we will seek to ensure that the design for the new Dumfries and Galloway royal infirmary is taken forward utilising appropriate technologies and materials to deliver a sustainable, low-carbon hospital facility.
Further Education (Community Business Set-up and Management)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will discuss with the further education sector the feasibility of establishing short courses on the setting up and management of community businesses and credit unions. (S4O-01422)
We expect colleges to keep their provision under continual review and ensure a very sharp focus on meeting the needs of the employers, learners and communities that they serve.
With regard to direct support for the development of social enterprise, we are providing the Scottish Social Enterprise Academy with £300,000 in each of the next three years to deliver a learning and development programme for the third sector. That funding includes £80,000, again in each of the next three years, for social enterprise in education to reflect one of the academy’s key objectives under this theme, which is to increase awareness of social enterprise in the further education sector.
I thank the minister for her reply, most of which pleased me mightily. However, I am not absolutely sure whether I will be able to tell people that they will have local access to courses. After all, the important point is to encourage people to learn in order to enable them to come back and set up organisations in their own communities. Is provision likely to be local and to be spread right across the colleges?
Ms MacDonald’s very good point is based on the premise of the value of credit unions and, in particular, local credit unions. I know that Ms MacDonald is very familiar with the West Lothian Credit Union, the strength of which is its local base, and I hope, therefore, that she will find what I am about to say pleasing.
Under the learning and development programme for the third sector that I mentioned in my previous answer, 70 college staff will attend two understanding social enterprise programmes in 2012-13 with a wider roll-out in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. Understanding social enterprise programmes for young people in need of additional support will also be piloted at Edinburgh College and other student events will also be held. I am happy to provide further detail in correspondence.
Sewerage Network (Persistent Flooding)
To ask the Scottish Government what obligations Scottish Water has to deal with persistent flooding from its sewerage network. (S4O-01423)
First, I express my sadness at the sudden death this week of Scottish Water’s chief executive, Richard Ackroyd. Richard led Scottish Water with skill and distinction and my thoughts and those of my predecessor, Alex Neil, and indeed the whole Scottish Government are with his family, friends and colleagues at this extremely sad time.
As a responsible authority under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, Scottish Water is, in particular, responsible for assessing the risk of flooding from sewerage systems resulting from higher than usual rainfall and then working with local authorities and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to look for opportunities to reduce those risks.
I, too, pass on my condolences to Richard Ackroyd’s family and those at Scottish Water.
Scottish Water has offered no short-term solution to a persistent issue that is having a major effect on businesses in Aberdeen’s merchant quarter. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that is not good enough and that Scottish Water must act to resolve the situation?
I am aware of the particular issues in Aberdeen’s merchant quarter. Scottish Water has undertaken some investigations to understand the reasons for the flooding, particularly in light of recent storms, and I understand that it has offered to meet Kevin Stewart to provide him with the result of its investigation. I encourage the member to take up that offer; indeed, if it would help, I would be happy to meet the member after that meeting. I agree with him that it is important to residents and businesses in the area for matters to be resolved as quickly as possible.
Before we come to First Minister’s question time, members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery the Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana, the Hon Raphael Trotman MP. [Applause.]