General Questions
Question 1 has been withdrawn by John Wilson for understandable reasons.
Diabetes Action Plan
The action plan progress report that was provided to the Scottish diabetes group on 24 November shows that good progress has been made across a wide range of actions in the plan. For example, we have appointed a national diabetes education co-ordinator, funded a national symposium and taken forward measures to improve foot care provision for people with diabetes. However, a number of areas require further attention, including extending access to insulin pump therapy. That is why we also plan to increase insulin pump provision by making pumps available to 25 per cent of young people with type 1 diabetes by 2013.
Further to the recent statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, in which she committed NHS Scotland to increase insulin pump provision to a total of 2,000 pumps by 2014, with 25 per cent of them being made available to under-18s with type 1 diabetes within two years, can the minister tell the Parliament the number of new pumps that will be required? How many of them will be for adults and how many for under-18s? Will he also explain how he will ensure that health boards meet the Government’s commitment?
Officials are carrying out the necessary work to ensure that our health boards are in a position to deliver on the commitment to increase the provision of insulin pumps. We recognise the value of insulin pumps to those with type 1 diabetes in helping them to manage their condition and also the preventive provision that can come from helping to reduce the chance that people will develop complications associated with their condition in later life.
The minister will be aware that insulin pump therapy is provided to 40 per cent of type 1 diabetes sufferers in the United States and about 15 per cent of sufferers in the European Union. In Scotland, distribution is uneven at best, with NHS Ayrshire and Arran being the least well provided for, with less than 1 per cent of sufferers being provided with IPT. How does the minister plan to ensure that guidance on providing more insulin pumps is not only implemented for the people of all ages who stand to benefit, as Nanette Milne said, but is applied consistently throughout Scotland and in Ayrshire and Arran in particular?
As I mentioned in my earlier answer, we expect all boards to look at how they can make greater provision of insulin pumps available in their area, and that includes NHS Ayrshire and Arran. We plan to provide further information on how boards will take that forward at a local level.
Single Outcome Agreements (Satisfaction Surveys)
The purpose of single outcome agreements is for community planning partnerships to set out how they will contribute to the achievement of national outcomes by improving local outcomes in their areas in a way that reflects local circumstances and priorities. The Scottish Government therefore expects CPPs to engage with their communities, to find out what local residents see as their needs and priorities, and to tell them how the CPPs are performing in delivering better outcomes.
The minister may be aware of the recent positive response that SNP-led East Lothian Council received to its latest independent residents survey. The survey indicated that, since 2005, when Labour last controlled the council, there has been a 17 per cent increase in the perception of value for money, a 29 per cent increase in residents agreeing that the council does the best with its resources and a 24 per cent reduction in the number of people who feel threatened by crime. Will the minister join me in congratulating East Lothian Council on its performance, and does she agree that such surveys reinforce good and effective local government?
I am grateful to Paul Wheelhouse for highlighting the results of East Lothian Council’s local survey, which shows that the people of East Lothian trust and have confidence in their council. Where we have a good example such as that, we should highlight it. I look forward to discussing the results of the survey with East Lothian Council when I visit it in the near future. I agree that local authorities should find out how people feel about the services that they receive, as that can inform the design and delivery of better local services.
Allotments
Through our national food and drink policy, we are committed to ensuring that allotments and grow-your-own projects are developed and supported. For example, we continue to support the work of the grow-your-own working group, whose action plan explores many diverse ways of encouraging the development of allotments and community growing spaces.
I agree that there is growing evidence of the many benefits that result from having allotments, which include making Scotland healthier, reducing food miles, improving biodiversity, aiding physical and mental health, carbon capture and the clear reward and satisfaction that people get from growing their own food. In recognition of those benefits, does the Government consider that allotments could become an integral part of planning applications for modern housing developments in both rural and urban areas?
The member has laid out many of the benefits of grow-your-own spaces. She also raises the interesting issue of how we can make such spaces the norm as Scotland moves forward. I am willing to bring the issue to the attention of the grow-your-own working group.
Childbirth (Kielland Forceps)
The Scottish Government does not issue guidance on such clinical issues. Professionals follow the guidelines on such procedures that are produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which were updated in February 2011.
I am sure that the minister is aware of a constituent of mine who is seeking a fatal accident inquiry following an instance of the inappropriate use of Kielland forceps in childbirth. Will he undertake to have civil servants look at the robust debate that has gone on in learned journals about the use of Kielland forceps, which is tending towards the view that practitioners require an additional level of experience, and to review the operation of Kielland forceps in Scotland’s national health service in the light of the very strong recommendation that, although they are useful, they should be used only by the most experienced practitioners?
I am aware of the case to which Mr Biagi refers. The matter is currently being investigated by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, so I am limited in what I can say on it. I understand the concerns around the use of the forceps. NHS Lothian commissioned an independent review of their use, which has now reported, and some minor alterations have been made to the procedures according to which it operates use of the forceps. However, I would be more than happy to meet the member to discuss the matter further if that would be helpful, to explore whether we could consider further measures in the area.
Any death of a baby in childbirth is a tragedy. Sir Harry Burns, our chief medical officer, reminds us that Scotland has a substantially higher rate of stillbirth and neonatal deaths, which he believes could be a target for early intervention policies. Will the minister agree to examine the differences in midwife numbers in different health boards, which currently vary by a factor of more than two from the least well provided to the best provided? Will he, along with his colleagues, rethink the 40 per cent cut in student midwife numbers, as part of addressing the chief medical officer’s priority—
I am sorry, but that is wide of the question.
Golf and Golf Tourism (Fife)
Accurate figures are currently not available to show what contribution golf and golf tourism make to Fife’s economy, but we expect that the impact will be significant as, overall, it is estimated that golf tourism is worth around £220 million per annum to Scotland’s economy and supports more than 4,000 jobs.
The minister will be aware that last week Fife won the golf destination of the year in Europe award at the International Association of Golf Tour Operators awards in Turkey, where Fairmont St Andrews was also named European golf resort of the year. Only a week earlier, Fife won six out of 11 titles in the annual Golf Tourism Scotland gold standard awards. What measures is the Scottish Government putting in place to further promote golf and golf tourism in Fife, and in Scotland as a whole, in order to capitalise on such encouraging developments?
It comes as no surprise to any of us that awards are literally being heaped on Fife on the golfing front, as I discovered when I visited St Andrews in the summer. I look forward to visiting the Fairmont hotel and entertaining a visiting party of Germans next spring.
Feed-in Tariffs (Solar Panels)
I wrote to Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on 24 October and 3 November to express my dismay at the proposals and to ask what action the UK Government is planning to take to address the impact on businesses, householders and social housing projects.
Does the minister agree that the proposals to cut the feed-in tariff by more than 50 per cent in one year are disappointing when contrasted with the Scottish Government’s ambitious programme for renewable energy production? Will he continue to press the UK Government for a reversal of the decision?
I agree that the UK Government’s proposals are disappointing. Particular difficulty has been caused by the imposition of the 12 December deadline. I know that from representations that I have received from businesses throughout the country, which indicate that the substantial investment that they have made may prove to be wasted because it is simply not possible to deal with the installations by 12 December. I hope that the UK Government will listen to this interchange and seriously consider taking action to deal with that unfairness.
Is there any action that the Scottish Government can take to assist local authorities and housing associations in installing solar panels in their houses, thus saving money for tenants and giving small businesses, such as Skyline Installations in my constituency, opportunities to grow and diversify?
Elaine Smith properly indicates an area where the Government is already active and where there is certainly scope for improvement. Plainly, we would wish bodies in the public arena to avail themselves of every opportunity to fit, and retrofit where necessary, green energy equipment. All of us, across the chamber, are united on that front, and I look forward to working with Elaine Smith and other colleagues to achieve that objective.
Is the minister aware that, despite the cuts in feed-in tariffs, installation costs have fallen by around 30 per cent from previous levels? Combined with electricity price rises, that should mean that solar panels will still be viable in a lot of cases.
Jamie McGrigor makes a reasonable point. The capital cost of the equipment has been reducing, and all the parties have recognised that that requires some adjustment to the FIT. However, I say to him and his colleagues in the governing parties in the London Parliament that the imposition of the deadline of 12 December came as a bolt from the blue. To judge from my postbag, it has caused real concern, possible redundancies and wasted investment. That is why, in the very near future, I will meet and bring together a large number of the businesses that have been affected to learn directly of their experiences and to determine what more we can do to urge our colleagues in Westminster to think again.
Family-nurse Partnerships
Over the next two years, five national health service boards will be asked to select sites where the family-nurse partnership programme can make the most difference. That will treble the number of families on the programme. At the same time, we will assess the readiness of all NHS boards to participate in the programme in preparation for the next phase of the roll-out.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the evidence that the Social Research Unit presented to the Finance Committee last week shows demonstrably that investment in family-nurse partnerships throughout Scotland would produce greatly improved outcomes for children and mothers while delivering a considerable saving for the public purse?
I agree strongly with that. I have just come from speaking at the family-nurse partnership national conference, where there was a focus on the evidence from elsewhere about the programme’s success and on the evidence and learning that are now emerging in Scotland.
NHS Staffing (Nurses and Midwives)
In total, there were 58,428.4 whole-time equivalent nursing and midwifery staff in post in September 2009 and 56,309.4 in September 2011—a change of 2,119.
The minister may be aware of the Scottish National Party campaign slogan, “More nats, less cuts.” However, the reality is more nats, fewer nurses.
The recycled slogans must be the best. I heard that one first from Iain Gray, then from Jackie Baillie and now from Neil Bibby. Each one has said it as if they were the first to think of it.
Before we come to First Minister’s question time, I invite members to join me in welcoming to the gallery the three vice-presidents of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia: Svetlana Jakimovska, Suzana Saliu and Jani Makraduli. You are all most welcome to the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]
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