General Questions
Probationary Tenancies
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered introducing probationary tenancies for use by housing associations. (S3O-9754)
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 already enables social landlords to give tenants a short Scottish secure tenancy agreement in certain circumstances, including as a probationary tenancy for those with a history of antisocial behaviour. That probationary tenancy enables tenants to be given a second chance to sustain a successful tenancy. The tenancy will be for at least six months and can be for up to 12 months. If the tenant or member of their household continues to act in an antisocial manner, the landlord can seek to end the tenancy.
I have a number of constituents who are suffering from antisocial neighbours. It seems that, despite the involvement of community wardens, the police and other public service bodies, little can be done to deal successfully with antisocial tenants. I am mindful of what the minister said a few moments ago, but registered social landlords and housing associations in particular have expressed concern to me that the process of dealing with or removing antisocial tenants is extremely complicated. Will the Scottish Government consider amending existing regulations for RSLs and housing associations to allow them to deal with antisocial tenants in a more effective manner?
I thank the member for highlighting those issues. A number of local authorities already use existing provisions effectively, but if local authorities find any problems, barriers or unnecessary bureaucratic problems with the procedure, I am happy to listen to any proposals for reform.
I am glad that the minister is prepared to look at the issue, which I have raised with housing associations. The point that they have made to me is that they are not always aware of tenants’ history of antisocial behaviour. If somebody leaves a property before action is taken against them, the behaviour is not recorded anywhere. Will the minister talk to the housing associations about how often they experience the problem, because it has been identified as a major problem by more than one housing association in Edinburgh?
I thank the member for raising that issue, which I will put on the agenda of my next meeting with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to try to identify whether it is a serious, widespread problem and whether any Government action is needed to deal with it.
Severe Weather (Vulnerable People)
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect vulnerable people in the event of cold or severe weather. (S3O-9712)
The energy assistance package is delivering heating systems, insulation, energy savings advice, increased incomes, and lower fuel costs to many thousands of fuel-poor households. Anyone who is having problems meeting their fuel bills should phone 0800 512 012 today.
Just last week, I wrote to Helen Goodman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, asking for wind chill to be taken into account when calculating the trigger for cold weather payments. I am sure that the chamber will support me in continuing to press Westminster to take proper account of the severe climate that is experienced in Scotland.
What I will not support is the removal of many pensioners from the free central heating scheme, as the Scottish Government plans to do. Many pensioners in need no longer have access to that scheme because of the new conditions that the Government has introduced.
The Weatherwise website, which has been mentioned previously in the chamber, was designed to allow access to local authority emergency telephone numbers but, as we all know, it was not set up until 6 January. Given that it is a website, what account has been taken of the 70 per cent of people over 60 who have never used the internet?
I correct Andy Kerr: it is not true to say that not all pensioners have access to the energy assistance package. That package consists of four different stages, including assistance with income and benefit maximisation. I think that he was referring to stage 4 of the package, in which we are deliberately targeting our resources at those who are fuel poor, based on the recommendations of the Scottish fuel poverty forum and proposals that were supported by the Labour Party.
What discussions has the Government had with charitable and voluntary organisations such as WRVS about the contribution that the third sector can make to helping vulnerable people through a harsh winter such as we are experiencing this year?
All ministers have on-going dialogue with the third sector, which includes discussion of how it can assist with such programmes. The officials who are involved in the Energy Saving Trust, which delivers the energy assistance package with Scottish Gas, and those who are involved in delivering the home insulation scheme are regularly in touch with third sector organisations to try to reach those whom we are trying to help the most.
As Nanette Milne knows, I have responded to the concerns of Macmillan Cancer Support nurses about cancer patients’ eligibility for the energy assistance package and other measures. The fuel poverty forum is considering whether there is any way in which we can effectively help people who are long-term sick and who live in fuel poverty.
Energy Assistance Package
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total central heating installations that have taken place in this financial year were under the Energy Assistance Package commencing in April 2009 rather than the previous central heating programme. (S3O-9702)
Of the heating system measures that were delivered up to the end of January, 70 per cent were undertaken as part of our commitment to honour applications under the previous central heating programme. By the end of this financial year, most installations will have been generated by the energy assistance package.
As well as heating measures, we deliver insulation, energy saving advice, increased incomes and lower fuel costs. By the end of January, that had benefited more than 40,000 households throughout Scotland.
How many inquirers about the energy assistance package were ineligible for the installation of enhanced measures under stage 4 on the ground that their central heating system works intermittently and has not completely broken down? I ask for the figures to be broken down by local authority area. I have written to the minister numerous times about Mrs Moore of North Queensferry, who is ineligible for that reason, although she is 93 years old and has a heart condition. The minister’s officials have told her that she must sit with electric heating should her boiler break down.
I have dealt with several of my constituents who were not initially approved because their system was working when the inspector visited. I have issued the clear instruction to the Energy Saving Trust and Scottish Gas that, when a system is not working properly or providing the necessary heating—particularly for older people—they must take a sympathetic and flexible approach. If they are in doubt, they should approve a central heating system for people in such a situation.
New Campus Glasgow
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has met representatives of the Scottish Funding Council to discuss the New Campus Glasgow complex and proposed merger. (S3O-9722)
I, my colleagues and Government officials meet the Scottish funding council regularly to discuss a wide range of issues, which include the progress that is being made in developing the New Campus Glasgow project and the proposed merger of the colleges involved.
I was looking for a specific answer that gave the number of times that the minister has met funding council representatives. Two press reports have suggested that the merger has happened. Will he confirm that whether to sign off the merger of the Glasgow colleges is a ministerial decision and not one for the Scottish funding council? What conditions will he set to ensure that the merger benefits students? I want assurances that no reduction will be made in student numbers and that the existing courses, which are good, will continue.
Pauline McNeill knows that such matters are dealt with through the funding council—that arrangement was inherited from the previous Administration. The funding council’s role is first to receive the business case that the colleges are preparing, which should go to the funding council shortly.
If one implication is that the new college requires a grant of more than £50 million—that is extremely likely—ministers will have to sign that off. However, the business case will be discussed first with the funding council, which will consider the future provision of courses throughout Glasgow. A lot of work is being done on that, but it is right for the process to involve dialogue between the colleges and the funding council. Ministers will become involved subsequently.
The minister knows of the concerns that unions and others have expressed about the merger. At the beginning, Stow College supported co-location, but it now has grave concerns. Has he met or does he plan to meet the board of that college?
The Stow College matters to which Sandra White refers have been substantially discussed with the funding council. At this stage, it is right for discussions to take place between the college and the funding council. If Stow College changed its stance about the proposed merger, that would involve ministers further down the line.
Issues including the future provision of courses at Stow College are being considered. The funding council is undertaking a consultation, to which responses are being made, and I understand that trade unions are involved. I am happy to look at the issue and to give Sandra White further information about exactly how the funding council is proceeding.
Affordable Warmth
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote affordable warmth in Scotland. (S3O-9732)
As well as providing energy saving advice, our energy assistance package helps fuel-poor households in important ways that attack the three causes of fuel poverty. It helps them to increase their incomes by providing benefit checks that deliver, on average, more than £1,300 a year. It helps them to reduce the price that they pay for fuel by accessing social tariffs or cheaper payment methods from the energy companies. It helps them to reduce their use of energy through insulation and draught-proofing to stop their homes losing heat and through efficient heating systems.
We are reducing the cost of heating for many other households, with insulation that is delivered through the home insulation scheme and with energy saving Scotland home loans to replace old and inefficient boilers.
Fewer than 1,000 Scottish households have benefited from the installation of central heating since the Scottish Government changed the eligibility criteria for stage 4 measures under the energy assistance package. That leaves many elderly and vulnerable Scots, such as my 83-year-old constituent in Shotts, living in a cold home. If she lived in Sheffield, she could already have benefited from the boiler scrappage scheme. When will the minister’s Government finally announce the eligibility criteria for that scheme and when will the first payments be made?
Not for the first time, Karen Whitefield is behind the times. The energy assistance package has a boiler scrappage scheme. Where appropriate, we offer replacement boilers for nothing. Any pensioner who is fuel poor in Shotts or anywhere else and who receives benefits is entitled to stage 4 of the package. It is ridiculous for members to try to mislead constituents about their eligibility for the scheme.
How will the boiler scrappage scheme benefit my constituents in Glasgow? Does the minister agree that it is a bit rich for the Labour Party on its website to criticise the Scottish National Party for what it describes as “finally” agreeing to the scheme and to congratulate itself on forcing us into the scheme when every SNP MSP voted for it in the budget and every Labour MSP voted against it, despite what Karen Whitefield says?
So that I do not hold up the First Minister too long, I shall give a short answer. I agree with every word that Anne McLaughlin said.
Litter
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce littering in public places. (S3O-9746)
The Scottish Government funds Keep Scotland Beautiful’s annual national spring clean, which will take place again throughout April. As of today—with almost a month still to go—volunteer numbers are already at 36,140, so we are heading for record participation levels. I urge all members to become involved in their local spring clean tidy-up.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that littering blights many communities. A recent survey that I conducted among my constituents in the Greenfaulds area of Cumbernauld showed that 98 per cent of the respondents felt that littering was a problem. Many people suggested that the ready availability of fast food in the vicinity of the local high school was a major contributor to the problem. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is important for local authorities to work with local businesses, schools and other community organisations to promote a sense of civic awareness and pride that encourages local residents to keep their areas clean?
I agree. I also urge the local businesses that the member mentions to sponsor their local spring clean and the local organisations that are participating in it. Many schoolchildren across Scotland will be participating in this year’s national spring clean.
I support the member’s message that all such businesses should be socially responsible and should work with their local authorities, local schools and others to keep our streets clean.
Getting it Right for Every Child
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the getting it right for every child programme. (S3O-9720)
Real progress is being made in implementing the GIRFEC approach. GIRFEC is the delivery mechanism for the early years framework, for example, and there is no more important work than improving outcomes for children in their earliest years. Highland Council has already rolled out the GIRFEC programme. North Lanarkshire Council, South Lanarkshire Council and the City of Edinburgh Council are committed to implementing the approach next year, and Angus Council is working to have full implementation shortly thereafter.
Is the minister aware of the concerns of the Scottish young carers services alliance, which is highlighting the fact that Midlothian Council and Highland Council are reducing their services and the fact that the Moray young carers project is facing significant funding issues? That is just one example of what is being put at risk due to local authority funding cuts.
With young carers already facing poorer outcomes in health, due to additional stress in their lives and the fact that they have to balance care responsibilities with going to school, how can the minister be confident that he is getting it right for every child when young carers projects are being placed in the difficult situation that I have described?
I am always concerned about cuts that are made to local services, and young carers are certainly deserving of support. In this Parliament, we all have to understand where those cuts are coming from and who is responsible for them. However, the getting it right for every child programme has already demonstrated tangible benefits to children. For example, in the Highlands, earlier and more appropriate intervention has meant that the rate of children being placed on the child protection register has fallen by half and there has been a decrease in non-offence referrals to the children’s reporter of 70 per cent, which means that services are meeting the needs of children in a timely fashion, which is what GIRFEC is all about.
In light of what the minister has just said, can he reconsider how GIRFEC will approach the issue of looked-after children and those within the state’s care? It remains the case that only about 1 per cent of looked-after children will ever have an opportunity to go to university and study, yet there remains a lack of specific and targeted resources in this area. Indeed, the area appears to be a gap in the single outcome agreements and the Government’s concordat with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Will the Government consider having more targeted support for this group of young people whom we are, collectively, letting down?
I can give that undertaking to Mr Purvis. Just yesterday, I took part in a meeting of the health inequality task force that focused on the needs of looked-after children and care leavers. Scotland’s record of provision for those young people is shameful. Our ambition is that the outcomes for those children should be no different from those of any other children in Scotland.
Question 8 has been withdrawn.
NHS Highland (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of NHS Highland and what issues were discussed. (S3O-9708)
I meet all national health service board chairs regularly. I last met the chair of NHS Highland on 22 February at one of those regular meetings, and we discussed a wide range of issues.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of the norovirus outbreak at Raigmore hospital. She might also be aware that there was a delay of five days in making information about the outbreak available to the public. What guidance is available to NHS boards on how they should publicise such outbreaks in order that staff, patients and visitors can take steps to protect themselves and others?
Rhoda Grant will be aware that NHS Highland has been under considerable pressure because of the recent challenging weather conditions and because of the incidence of norovirus. The board has assured me that its winter plans remain robust and that it has robust contingency measures in place to safeguard front-line services. I pay tribute to everybody who has been working hard in NHS Highland to ensure that those challenges have not impacted on front-line patient care.
On Rhoda Grant’s specific question about guidance, she will recall from recent discussions that, following the Clostridium difficile outbreak at Ninewells hospital, I asked the health care associated infection task force to review the guidance on the circumstances in which health boards should notify the public of outbreaks. I am more than happy to write to Rhoda Grant to make that information and the deliberations of the HAI task force available.
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