General Questions
Multiple Sclerosis Specialist Nurses
It is for national health service boards to determine their workforce requirements, including for specialist nurses, based on the clinical needs of the population and service developments in their area. Specialist nurses must also be seen in the context of the multiprofessional team that includes medical and allied health professionals in caring for those with specific conditions, including MS. NHS Western Isles is in the early stages of establishing a managed clinical network for neurological disorders, which will be an important and significant component of the delivery of appropriate care to those who have MS in the Western Isles.
The Scottish Government currently pays centrally for patient travel. If NHS Western Isles appointed a specialist MS nurse, there would be savings to that centrally held budget. Will the minister consider making some of those savings available to the NHS board to enable it to employ a specialist MS nurse so that the public purse saves overall?
If Rhoda Grant would like to write to me with more information about that, I would be happy to look at it. At the end of the day, however, it is for each NHS board to make its own provision. We very much value specialist nurses and I certainly look forward to seeing the Western Isles proceed with its development in that area. I am happy to look into the issue that Rhoda Grant raised.
Broadband (Speed Target)
As I informed Mr Kerr earlier today, the Minister for Culture and External Affairs and I met Ed Vaizey, the UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, this morning to discuss our respective Governments’ broadband strategies. I am pleased to say that the UK Government’s universal service commitment was on the agenda for discussion. The meeting was part of the wider work that the Scottish Government is undertaking with the UK Government to ensure that action that is taken in Scotland under our forthcoming digital strategy, which will be published in the next few weeks, builds on and adds value to the work that is taking place at the UK level. Our new target for broadband coverage is availability of next generation broadband for all by 2020, with significant progress to be made by 2015.
I am pleased that my question prompted such a meeting to take place this morning and I appreciate what the minister has done. When countries around the world are aspiring to higher broadband speed, I hope that it is within the gift of the Government and the industry, which is a key partner, to deliver the minimum speed of 2 megabits per second. It is therefore disappointing to look around our constituencies—and my constituency is no different—and see broadband slow spots, such as those in Lindsayfield and Stewartfield in East Kilbride. What more can the Government do with the outcome of this morning’s meeting to ensure that people have access to reliable broadband at the speeds that match their needs?
We are continuing to press on all fronts. The message that we got from Ed Vaizey today was very much that the UK Government is looking to ensure that we have improved infrastructure as part of the move to a speed of 2 megabits per second. The member makes a telling point about broadband coverage across Scotland. We also made sure that the point was well understood that we do not want to pay twice for our broadband, and that the 95, 96 or 98 per cent coverage of the UK should also be of the component parts of the UK.
Road Maintenance (Liquid De-icer)
The cost of the purchase and storage of the new liquid de-icer is estimated at around £40,000.
Will the Scottish Government encourage local authorities to use the de-icer in their winter maintenance operations? If so, will the Scottish Government help to meet any additional costs arising therefrom?
Let me say first that the use of the de-icer this year is on an experimental basis. There have been preliminary trials, which will continue. We have placed the de-icer at strategic locations around the motorway network and, if temperatures fall below -7°C, it is likely that we will use it.
Questions 4 and 5 have been withdrawn.
M8
The M8 project, along with the M74 and M80 projects that will be completed this year, fulfils our commitment to complete the last remaining gaps in the central Scotland motorway network. It is expected to bring significant benefits, including strengthening the links between Edinburgh and Glasgow and providing better access to businesses and communities; creating more than 8,000 jobs over the next 20 years and delivering £1.1 billion in economic benefits; cutting journey times by up to 20 minutes for the 100,000 vehicles that use that stretch of the A8 on a daily basis; and enhancing cycling and walking facilities.
Will the minister explain how the use of the non-profit-distributing finance model that has been adopted by the Scottish Government will protect the economic benefits to communities in Lanarkshire that he describes?
It is worth saying that the NPD model has been developed as a means of capping the returns earned by investors in public sector procurement at a level that produces a fair but not excessive profit that is aligned with the corresponding risk transfer. We have seen excessive profits being made in the past. We are determined that the economic benefits of the scheme should not be put towards excessive profits for private developers but instead should be shared among those who will enjoy the benefits of the scheme outlined in my previous answer.
On the subject of the non-profit-distributing model, will the minister first agree that it is a form of public-private partnership? Secondly, can he provide any academic or other evidence to suggest that the cost to the public sector is less than under other models of public-private partnership? There is no evidence to support that claim. Will he also acknowledge that the non-profit-distributing model was brought in by the previous Government?
Let me say first that we will not be in the business of building one motorway for the price of two, as has been done with hospitals in the past. There will not be the same excessive profits that have been produced in the past so, to that extent, the model is obviously not the same as PPP. Had the previous Administration been willing to look at alternative models, such as the trust model proposed by my council for new schools, we would perhaps not have seen the excessive profits that Andy Kerr was so keen on in the previous Administration.
The minister has set out the benefits of the M8 completion, but he will be aware that, although benefits accrue through the completion of motorway upgrades such as the M8, M74 and A80/M80 projects, such upgrades cause disruption to residents and businesses along their route. Will he outline what steps the Scottish Government takes to ensure suitable consultation, mitigation and, when appropriate, compensation for those affected by motorway works, perhaps with specific reference to the projects that I mentioned?
Transport Scotland has consulted widely throughout the development of the scheme to ensure that the impact of construction is kept to an absolute minimum for those who could be affected. The environmental statement sets out where mitigation measures are required during construction.
Rural Abattoirs
The Food Standards Agency’s proposals on the reform of meat hygiene charging were recently consulted on. In Scotland, all meat plants, including rural abattoirs, were contacted to seek their views. The FSA is analysing the responses to the consultation before its board makes recommendations to ministers. The Scottish ministers will then look closely at the potential impact on rural abattoirs and the wider meat and agricultural sectors. Parliament will of course be aware that the Scottish Government expressed concerns in recent years about the impact on such sectors of full cost recovery of meat inspection charges under the previous proposals.
The cabinet secretary may be aware that I have recently written to him on the issue because I had been advised that the only abattoir that slaughters cattle in Dumfries and Galloway has been told that, under the proposals, its charges for meat hygiene inspection would increase more than fourfold. Does he share my concern that such increases could result in the closure of rural abattoirs and animals being transported long distances for slaughter? I appreciate that the decision is made by the FSA at United Kingdom level, but can he advise whether there are any sources of financial support that could assist rural abattoirs to remain viable?
The key to ensuring that rural abattoirs remain viable in this context is to ensure that the final proposals that are adopted by the FSA are appropriate for rural abattoirs and the wider meat and agricultural sectors. That will certainly be the aim of the Scottish Government. The member will also be aware that, in its proposals, the FSA takes into account the needs of rural and smaller businesses where there is a lower throughput of livestock. Indeed, it is obliged to do so by European Union regulations.
Does the minister agree that in rural Scotland, as part of our promotion of Scottish produce, we should seek to have more abattoirs not fewer, that any measure that might be suitable for urban centres elsewhere should be resisted in Scotland, and that we should be moving in the opposite direction so that we have a structure that encourages more rural abattoirs?
I would certainly be in favour of there being more abattoirs in rural Scotland, but we must recognise that they have to stack up commercially to be viable. There have been examples of new rural abattoirs in Scotland in recent years, and the Scottish Government offers support for their establishment where it can. Clearly, each case must be treated on its merits, but the abattoirs have to be commercially viable.
The minister will be aware of the view of the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders Associations that an excessive and disproportionate burden is being placed on its members by the current charging regime for meat inspection. Given the reduced and reducing need for such a regime of inspection charges to be in place following the reduced incidence of BSE, what cost-saving measures can he envisage being made in future? Has he considered outsourcing such inspection work, perhaps in a Scottish context?
I am always willing to look at solutions in a Scottish context, and I will continue to do so in relation to meat hygiene inspection charges. The member highlights again the need to ensure that the FSA proposals are appropriate. He will be aware that, in those proposals, the FSA has given a commitment to reduce its own cost base before it passes on any higher charges to the meat sector in Scotland. I repeat that we will look closely at the impact of the proposals on the viability of Scotland’s meat sector.
Cowal Hospice
Both ministers and officials remain in close contact with all national health service boards. Although I understand that NHS Highland and its planning partners are considering the best way to plan and provide palliative care and end-of-life services in the future, it is important to be clear that no decisions have been taken about the future of the Cowal hospice.
I am delighted to hear the news that NHS Highland has postponed taking the decision, but is the minister aware of the strength of feeling on the issue in Dunoon and Cowal? Local general practitioners and many thousands of local residents are united in seeking to retain an in-patient hospice facility at Dunoon hospital. Does the minister agree that local accessibility to hospice facilities is of key importance for patients and their families and friends alike, and that that should be a major consideration for NHS Highland?
Yes, I generally agree with that proposition. I assure Jamie McGrigor that I fully understand the strength of local feeling in support of the Cowal hospice. However, it is important to stress that no decisions have been made. It is right that the NHS, together with its planning partners, keeps local services under review to ensure that they remain of the highest quality. I understand from NHS Highland that those considerations are at a very early stage, and I have been assured that all local stakeholders and the local public will be fully engaged in and involved with the work as it moves forward. As in any other situation of this kind, I expect the health board to engage fully with the population concerned.
I, too, have had many constituents contact me on the issue. There is a lot of concern in the Dunoon area. Some of them have pointed out to me that the community was involved in setting up the hospice in the first place. Can the cabinet secretary give the health board some guidance on how to deal with situations in which a community has set up a service that the health board subsequently wants to take over and change?
A wealth of guidance is available to health boards on how to deal with proposals for service change. Since the Government took office, health boards have been under no illusion as to what is expected of them in terms of consulting and engaging with the public. I expect that to happen in the case of the proposals for the Cowal hospice as in the case of any other proposals for service change. The considerations are at an early stage and no decisions have been made. I encourage the members who have asked questions on the subject today to get involved with the health board and its partners and seek to influence those decisions, as is right and proper.
A80
There have been no discussions between the Government and Transport Scotland. As an agency of the Scottish Government, Transport Scotland deals with all compensation matters on behalf of Scottish ministers.
In the light of the minister’s answer to a previous question, I suggest that he needs to have discussions with Transport Scotland as a matter of urgency, as a number of issues have been raised by the upgrading of the A80. In his previous answer, he indicated that a public contact number would be made readily available to people seeking information. If I had not intervened with his predecessor, a public contact number would not have been made available for the people who live along the A80 corridor.
Can we just have a question please, Mrs Craigie?
Yes. They were offered £4,000 in compensation by Transport Scotland. Unfortunately, one of them died and the offer has been reduced to £2,000. Will the minister intervene to ensure that my constituent is given the amount of money that he is due as a result of the impact of the upgrading?
There is a good reason why ministers do not get involved in the statutory processes that have led to the compensation claim and award that Cathie Craigie mentions. I am happy to discuss that case with her more privately in another forum.
Does the minister regard the quite extraordinary illuminated sculpture on the A80 as a blight or a compensation?
As someone who represents Clackmannanshire, which has four or five examples of the same type of structure by the same architect, I could not say otherwise than that it is a very attractive illumination.
That concludes general question time. Before we move to the next item of business, I invite members to join me in welcoming to the gallery the Canadian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Mr James Wright. [Applause.]