SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
National Health Service (Missed Appointments)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to reduce the number of missed NHS appointments. (S1O-3866)
Action to reduce the number of patients who fail to attend their national health service appointments is primarily a matter for local NHS management. Reductions can best be achieved through improved communication and by redesigning services around the needs of patients: both are key priorities in "Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change", the Scottish health plan.
The minister will be aware that missed appointments at out-patient clinics and general practitioners' surgeries are a drain on the valuable resources of the NHS and cost society tens of millions of pounds. Will the minister give an undertaking to commission a public information campaign, involving television and newspaper adverts, to urge the public to play their part in helping the NHS to use its resources more productively?
I share Richard Lochhead's concerns regarding the number of missed appointments or DNAs—did not attends—both at out-patient clinics in hospitals and at GP surgeries. I welcome the fact that he has raised awareness of that issue in the chamber today.
Does the minister agree that part of the cure for missed NHS appointments would be effective deployment of new technology to ensure that the NHS is more responsive to patients—for example, by enabling them to make out-patient appointments from GP surgeries? Will she give an assurance that the importance of using information and communications technology effectively has been recognised in the NHS and that its use is being progressed with speed?
I am grateful to Elaine Thomson for raising the important issue of information and communications technology in the NHS in relation to the appointments system. More generally, many aspects of practice in the NHS do not yet harness fully the available technology. I am pleased that that situation is changing. Major projects of which some members will be aware include the electronic clinical communication initiative and the Scottish care initiative, which are multimillion pound developments in the NHS in Scotland that have widespread backing from a range of health professionals. Many of the changes that are taking place, including those that relate to appointments systems, will kick in over the next year or two and I am confident that they will transform the patient experience.
Teachers (Recruitment)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in recruiting extra teachers. (S1O-3872)
This year, the teacher education institutions report that all Scottish Higher Education Funding Council targets for intake, including intake to national and local priority subjects, have been met. This week, I launched the second phase of the first national teacher recruitment advertising campaign, which is aimed at increasing the number of Scotland's most talented people who enter the profession. That builds on the earlier campaign to raise the profile and standing of the teaching profession in Scotland.
Does the minister accept the fact that in constituencies such as mine, where it is impossible for many mature students to travel to Glasgow or Edinburgh because they cannot uproot their families and move from their communities, distance learning would be a useful tool in recruiting some of the valuable and experienced members of our work force to the teaching profession? What consideration has been given to the introduction of distance learning for initial teacher training?
I specifically raised distance learning at a recent meeting with the teacher education institutions. I made it clear to them that I would welcome initiatives on that front. Both they and the Open University, which does not currently provide such facilities in Scotland, should examine the issue as a matter of urgency, particularly in relation to Gaelic-medium education but also in relation to other subjects. It should not be outwith the bounds of possibility that our teacher education institutions should provide such facilities.
I am sure that the minister is aware that the number of qualified applicants to train as primary teachers far exceeds the number of places. Is the minister considering increasing the number of places as fast as possible to allow entry into the profession of qualified people who want to teach? At the moment, the entry requirements to the colleges are set extremely high because there is an over-supply of well-qualified young people.
We are dramatically increasing the number of primary teachers who will be in the system in the next few years. That increase will require an increase in the number of students who train to become primary teachers. It is important that we match supply to demand because the worst thing that could happen to those young people would be for them to discover that there are no jobs for them once they have gone through the course and qualified as teachers.
Is the minister aware that a large number of newly qualified teachers this year are failing to find jobs? What will be done to ensure that those graduates—young and mature—stay within the Scottish education system?
Part of the problem has been that the subjects in which people have been training have not necessarily been those in which there is a demand for teachers. That is why we are currently involved in pilot projects with a number of local authorities to ensure that supply and demand can be better matched. We also want local authorities and the teacher education institutions to work in partnership to deliver better training for the trainee teachers and permanent places for those who have qualified.
Although I welcome some of the minister's comments about a review of entry requirements for teacher training, does the minister accept that he must consult the General Teaching Council for Scotland on this important matter and that it would be a retrograde step to dispense with degree-level qualifications?
Members will welcome my making it absolutely clear that the review that was announced on Monday is not designed to make the qualification requirements harder or easier but to make them better. I do not want people who have a degree in a subject relating to information technology, who have worked at the top of their profession for 20 years and who want to make a career change into education to be hampered because the name of their degree does not match the entry requirements that are expected. I want to ensure that the entry requirements in this century match the needs of this century and are not tied to the way in which universities were organised in the previous century.
Improvement and Repair Grants
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to restore the overall level of improvement and repair grants to what it was in 1996-97. (S1O-3864)
That is an important question and I appreciate Kenny Gibson's increasing concern with the quality and supply of Scotland's housing stock, which will obviously be needed to match the growing population, if Mr Gibson's efforts are successful. I apologise for making such an obvious joke.
I thank the minister for her amusing, if rather predictable, reply. Does the minister accept that by slashing grants to the private sector from £71 million to £41 million since new Labour came to power, her party has shown contempt for people in private housing, particularly people in pre-war housing, which is desperately in need of refurbishment?
That is quite wrong. I am sure that Kenny Gibson is aware of the fact that, with regard to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, we stated categorically that although responsibility for necessary work rests in the first instance with the owner, we are committed to providing assistance for people on low incomes. That is why provisions for the reform of the grant system were included in the act. Those provisions include assistance for people on low incomes at rates of up to 100 per cent.
Will the minister reflect on the highly successful repairs and improvement schemes that the Tory Government initiated back in the 1980s? Will she consider realigning her repairs and investment programmes with the schemes of the 1980s?
I, like many Scots, have reflected on the work of the Tory Government, which is precisely why the Tories sit where they do.
In her earlier response, the minister mentioned the housing improvement task force. I would welcome details of when the Executive is likely to report to Parliament on the work of that task force and when the new improved scheme of repairs and improvement grants, as contained in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, will be implemented.
As members know, the work of the housing improvement task force is on the Executive website. The task force is currently working in sub-groups from which we hope to hear as soon as possible.
Questions 4, 5 and 6 have been withdrawn.
Education (Inspections)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether inspections carried out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education on the education functions of local authorities will improve standards of education delivered in schools. (S1O-3908)
The new inspections of local education authorities contribute to the improvement of education standards in schools. They provide a rigorous and independent evaluation of the quality of support and challenge that is provided by education services in their work with schools. As a result, local authorities are able to see clearly what they do well, but they are also provided with a number of main points for improvement.
Is the minister aware of the excellent HMIE inspection of Inverclyde Council that was published on 25 September and which found that, of the 11 performance measures, Inverclyde Council was very good in seven and good on the remaining four? Does he agree with me that—given that Inverclyde Council continues to face the challenges of poverty and deprivation—the director of education, Bernard McLeary, and his staff deserve our special congratulations on the achievement?
Yes, and I understand that Mr McLeary is here today. I take the opportunity to congratulate him and his department on their hard work. I visited schools in the Inverclyde Council area and saw their efforts, sometimes in buildings that are in urgent need of modernisation and renewal. The work of staff and pupils in the Inverclyde Council area is first class. The department deserves much credit for its efforts to support that.
I am glad that the minister acknowledges the link between inspection and education standards. Is the minister aware of inspections in three schools in Wigtonshire earlier this year—Drochduil Primary School, Lochans Primary School and Castle Kennedy Primary School—that produced absolutely glowing reports? As a reward, the local council proposes to close them. Will the minister speculate on how that will improve the standards of education?
As Alasdair Morgan is well aware, it would be wrong of me to speculate on the outcome of the consultation in Dumfries and Galloway on future provision of schools. However, I would be very surprised if that local authority—or any other—made decisions on future school provision in its area that were designed to harm, rather than to improve, educational standards. I am sure that improving standards is Dumfries and Galloway Council's intention.
Will the minister tell us about the timetable for HMIE's visit to the Borders and what he hopes to gain from that visit.
As I have outlined in answers to written parliamentary questions, it would not be appropriate for HMIE to inspect the Scottish Borders Council education department while the Accounts Commission for Scotland investigation is under way. When that investigation is completed and is being acted upon, the time will be right for HMIE to examine education management in that authority. I assure Ian Jenkins that the inspectorate will inspect Scottish Borders Council.
I welcome the inspectorate's constructive report on problems in secondary schools in East Lothian. Will the minister acknowledge the major efforts that teachers, pupils, parents and East Lothian Council have made to address those problems? Will he be prepared to visit schools in East Lothian to discuss the HMIE recommendations?
Yes. Let me also say that East Lothian Council's response shows the best that can come from the new local authority inspections. The council has taken the report on board and has dealt with it constructively and positively. It is now acting on the outcome in the same way that East Dunbartonshire Council did earlier this year, following a similar report that demanded improvements. I think that I have an invitation outstanding for the end of this month to visit Haddington Primary School, which recently won a national award for its school ethos. I am considering whether I can rearrange my diary to accommodate that.
Shetland Islands Council (Housing Debt)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on writing off the housing debt of Shetland Islands Council. (S1O-3879)
The Executive remains committed to providing funding to tackle Shetland Islands Council's housing debt if it transfers its housing into community ownership. Discussions with the council will take place soon.
I thank the minister for finding time yesterday to meet a delegation from Shetland Islands Council. Does she accept that there is considerable uncertainty among tenants and that there is a clear need to sort out the housing debt details as quickly as possible? Bearing it in mind that the council will meet next on 24 October, will she ensure that those details will be sorted out as well as can be managed by that time?
I am aware of Shetland's tenants organisations, because I had constructive discussions with them when I visited the islands in the summer. That constructive dialogue has continued between the relevant partners. I am confident that those matters will be brought to an early resolution that is to the satisfaction of all those who are involved.
Education (Appeals)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the appeals procedure used by Scottish Borders Council under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to refer the case of Victoria Nichol from Peebles, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to HM Inspectorate of Education. (S1O-3880)
Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, a local authority education appeal committee has the legal right to make a reference to Scottish ministers, if it considers that a determination on the terms of the record of needs is required before it can reach a decision on a school nomination. As the case to which Christine Grahame referred is now the subject of a reference to Scottish ministers and supporting papers are awaited, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on it specifically.
I hope that the minister has received the full letter and file of papers that I gave. I dispute the competence and legality of the referral and I ask the minister to consider the matter urgently. Many children in the Borders are suffering because of the cuts. I hope that he will be able to give me an undertaking that, in line with the Parliament's policy on mainstreaming, Victoria Nichol and others like her will be included in their local schools, which they attend with their friends and which, in Victoria Nichol's case, she attended with her sister.
As I said, it would be wrong for me to comment on the details of that particular case. However, I received the documentation from Christine Grahame, which I will study as part of the normal process. The normal process also includes a proper look at the competency of the referral. That will be followed through and, if it is so deemed, the final appeal will also be looked at.
Tourism (Marketing)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail its plans for the marketing of Scotland in other countries as a tourist destination following the recent terrorist attacks in the United States of America. (S1O-3910)
The most immediate task is to find out the scale and nature of the problem that we face. We also need to take action to make the most of our important markets within the United Kingdom and Europe. We have asked visitscotland to consider urgently whether it can switch some of its anticipated spend in the United States to those markets.
I welcome the proposals for the redirection of marketing effort. The UK market is a major market, from which more than half of the industry's income comes. What specific proposals has the Executive made to visitscotland to develop the UK market further? What additional resources are being diverted from within the £20 billion budget to sustain and improve Scotland's largest industry during its hour of need?
David Davidson rightly highlights the importance of the English market. It is right that visitscotland reprioritise its marketing to exploit the potential of the English and European markets. It is not for ministers to direct visitscotland on operational matters, but I met Peter Lederer and Philip Riddle this morning and we discussed informally the arrangements that they are putting in place. It goes without saying that flexibility in marketing will have to be the name of the game.
Does the minister agree that this time of crisis is a time for us to be marketing more aggressively than we had planned previously? Is the planned cut to the Scottish Enterprise budget sensible? Surely we should be boosting resources to business and tourism at this time, rather than reining them in.
Andrew Wilson will no doubt reflect on the fact that we have almost doubled the budget of visitscotland in the past 18 months. That money will be well spent by visitscotland, which now has some £35.5 million to get on with marketing and other initiatives. It will work closely with its counterpart, the British Tourist Authority, in carrying out the kind of work that I expect Andrew Wilson would welcome and endorse.
Does the minister agree that the Parliament has an opportunity to continue to raise not only its own profile, but the profile of Scotland as a whole? In that connection, will the minister join me in welcoming the legislators from Nebraska, Minnesota and Kansas who are in the VIP gallery? [Applause.]
I am happy to associate myself with the welcome extended by Patricia Ferguson.
Does the minister agree that a strong local area network is crucial to effective marketing and the effective delivery of services to visitors? Will he tell us the current position on what the chairman of visitscotland has described as informal discussions on the network and its structure, funding and boundaries?
Obviously, it is an important time for the tourism industry and we work closely with visitscotland. We all appreciate the importance of a network. We expect visitscotland to do most of the international marketing and, as I said in response to Andrew Wilson, visitscotland is working closely with the British Tourist Authority on that.
Farming (Quality Assurance Costs)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to limit the costs associated with quality assurance so that Scottish farmers are not placed at any competitive disadvantage with their English counterparts. (S1O-3893)
I am not aware of any circumstances that would place Scottish farmers at a competitive disadvantage with their counterparts south of the border in relation to such schemes. Indeed, as we are pioneers of farm assurance schemes in Europe, it is arguable that our farming industry is better placed to exploit the commercial opportunities that the schemes provide.
Is the minister aware that, in England, the remit of the farm-assured British beef and lamb scheme has been widened from being livestock-only, so that it is now able to verify arable farms to assured combinable crops scheme standards? The introduction of competition will result ultimately in a reduction in assurance costs. As a result, there will be a disadvantage here that will ultimately impact on the Scottish industry.
Mr Johnstone makes two assumptions. The first is that the schemes are equal. I put it to him that the quality assurance schemes in Scotland are incredibly more rigorous than those that exist in England. They are also inspected more frequently—at least annually, as opposed to every 18 months in England. His second assumption is that standards are constantly upgraded, which is not the case in England and Wales.
European Convention on Human Rights (Costs)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct an audit on the effect on the resources of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of incorporating the European convention on human rights into Scots law. (S1O-3870)
No. Convention rights do not form a separate stream in our law but rather soak through and permeate it. To isolate their effects for audit purposes would be exceptionally difficult and unlikely to provide useful information. I have announced a major review of the management and planning resources of the Scottish Executive justice department. The effects of the incorporation of the ECHR will be taken into account in that review. Those effects will also be considered in the wider inquiry that the Justice 2 Committee is conducting.
I am obliged to the Lord Advocate for that answer, but is he aware of reports—all of which cannot be apocryphal—of lengthy delays and, indeed, adjournments in both the solemn and summary courts because of debates on devolution matters? Those delays must have resource implications. In the circumstances, will the Lord Advocate arrange for those to be quantified?
There are delays in both summary and solemn business, which is a matter of concern. However, to suggest that those delays are wholly or even principally the result of ECHR issues would be wrong.
We come to question 13. I am glad to see Mary Scanlon back in the chamber. [Applause.]
National Health Service (Waiting Lists)
Thank you for your good wishes, Sir David. I appreciate the good wishes that have been sent by members from all sides of chamber.
I, too, welcome Mary Scanlon back.
That figure is about 13,000 higher than it was when the Parliament began. I understand that some of the NHS underspend came from resources that were allocated to alleviate bedblocking. With patients unable to leave hospital and other patients unable to get into hospital for surgery, how will the minister ensure that councils give patients the care that they need and allow hospitals to do the job that they want to do?
Let me make it clear that every penny that was carried forward from last year's health budget to this year's health budget is being put to work for the benefit of the health of the Scottish people and the NHS. Indeed, as part of the package that Angus MacKay announced recently, further resources from across the budget have been identified to address the issues that Mary Scanlon raises, including delayed discharge.
Given the continuing and intransigent problem of delayed discharges—which contributes to the waiting problem—what steps is the minister taking with her colleague the Minister for Finance and Local Government to ensure that local authorities that are not spending up to their grant-aided expenditure allocation for community care are encouraged to do so and that those that are already spending up to or beyond their GAE allocation are rewarded? Will the Executive publish as soon as possible—and, thereafter, annually—the budget and expenditure for community care for GAE and resource transfer from the health boards?
I can assure Richard Simpson that my colleague Angus MacKay and I regularly discuss issues of common concern, including how the NHS and local authorities work together to improve and develop community care. Several significant changes are taking place. I point to the outcome agreements that are currently being developed between local authorities and the NHS, which focus not only on how money is being spent, but on ensuring that that money delivers results and improvements.
The minister referred to the collection of relevant data. This afternoon I attended with other members an excellent presentation by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. The society explained the requirement for all-Scotland data to be collected so that the interface between local authority care services and physiotherapy care services can be made more effective and efficient. Will the minister comment on that?
First, I recognise the key role that physiotherapists play in a wide range of services, in particular in older people services and community care services. Other staff groups, such as occupational therapists, also have a key role to play. Sadly, in our discussions we often forget that. The big package of work that is going on, which follows on from the work of the joint future group a year ago, recognises the need to ensure that those staff groups and individual staff members are able to use their skills to best effect, irrespective of who employs them. We will continue to work with professional groups to ensure that we move forward with them so that that is achieved.
Energy Efficiency
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in improving energy efficiency in buildings. (S1O-3873)
New regulations were laid in Parliament on 24 September. They will considerably improve the thermal insulation standards for new buildings and require more efficient heating and lighting systems.
I welcome that announcement. How do those standards compare with those in the rest of Europe? We often hear about standards in Europe and how we compare with them and I hope that the announcement will improve our standing with regard to our European colleagues.
I can confirm that implementing the new technical standards will improve Scotland's position on building insulation in absolute terms and relative to the rest of Europe. On the latest figures that are available, and if we make the necessary technical adjustments for external temperatures, our position in the European insulation league will move from mid-table to the top three. In fact, with the adjustments, only Denmark and Sweden will have tougher standards for energy efficiency in buildings.
Does the minister agree that local housing regeneration programmes, such as the one in Petersburn in my constituency, provide an excellent opportunity substantially to improve the energy efficiency ratings of many of Scotland's homes? Will he join me in congratulating Link Housing Association and the builder D Campbell and Co on delivering warm and energy efficient homes in my constituency and ensure that other housing associations follow their lead?
Yes. That is a good example of what can be done with regeneration to advance energy efficiency standards throughout our housing stock. That has needed to be done for some time and it is now being achieved.
Will the minister consider bringing together funds from various budgets for a rolling programme to increase insulation and energy conservation in existing buildings? Because that sort of work is semi-skilled, will take many years and will provide real jobs that we can offer to people, will he consider using training funds, especially as that would be better value for money than using some training schemes, which are of dubious value?
I agree with the principle that we need to co-ordinate the work that is being done. Indeed, a number of initiatives are under way to address standards in existing buildings, including the central heating programme, the warm deal and the duty that the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 places on local authorities to take a lead and bring together policies in a number of areas. From my experience in my constituency, I can confirm that the energy efficiency agency there provides a high standard of training and has given many of the young people who trained with it skills that they have successfully taken into the wider work place.
Construction (Recruitment and Training)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to recruit and train in Glasgow the additional skilled workers needed for the construction of the M74 extension, the Glasgow harbour development, the schools building programme and the housing repairs programme following any housing stock transfer. (S1O-3911)
There was a 15 per cent increase in the number of construction modern apprenticeships last year in Scotland. We have commissioned a report, which is due later this month, on how to realise training programmes to meet construction skills gaps.
Does the minister agree that the initiatives from Glasgow City Council and the Executive are signs of Scotland's continuing economic progress? Will he also consider the need to move urgently to ensure that, when the time comes, this country is equipped to take advantage of the new job opportunities that will be created? Will he assure me that he will involve the relevant colleges, industries and trade unions in working up a plan?
I happily endorse what Pauline McNeill suggested in her first question. Next week is national construction week. It will focus on attracting young people into the industry and will comprise a series of events targeted at 14 to 19-year-olds. We have abolished the upper age limit on modern apprenticeships, which will allow people of all ages to be matched to the jobs that are available.
We cannot impress enough on the minister the extreme shortage of skilled workers in Scotland. Only the other day, a development firm told me that all their plasterers are over the age of 65 and that there is no one to replace them. All had been imported from the south of England. If the minister thinks about Glasgow's unemployment problem—
Order.
—will he please in particular pay attention to the Glasgow College of Building and Printing, which has said that we are extremely short of gas plumbers?
Miss Elder, you have made your point. We must have a question.
In view of the Executive's warm deal, will the minister ensure that we have enough gas plumbers?
I suggest that, if Dorothy-Grace Elder is looking for a plumber, she should refer to the "Yellow Pages".
Schools Option Appraisal Process (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds it will make available to Dumfries and Galloway Council to implement the outcome of its schools option appraisal process. (S1O-3907)
I recently announced that bids for the next round of public-private partnerships to improve Scotland's school buildings should be submitted by 14 December 2001. Allocations of funding will be decided and announced by April 2002.
Does the minister accept that it is difficult for parents and communities to respond to the Dumfries and Galloway Council schools option appraisal document, not just because the format is incomprehensible, but because they do not understand what the Scottish Executive's financial contribution to the outcome will be? Will the minister clearly set that out so that parents and communities can respond to the current appraisal?
If Dumfries and Galloway Council agrees to submit a proposal and that proposal is acceptable and correct in its technical detail, our role will be to provide revenue support for it. We are hoping to do that at about the level of the previous round, which was about 80 per cent of the annual costs.
I appreciate that the minister cannot write a blank cheque for Dumfries and Galloway but will he assure me and others from the area that, when considering any application from Dumfries and Galloway Council for gap funding, he will take into account the fact that school rationalisation is significantly more difficult in rural areas than in urban areas? Will he assure us that he will consider the issues that are particular to rural communities?
Absolutely. Having grown up on an island where it would have been impossible to rationalise the one school that existed, never mind close it, I fully understand the difficulties of discussing rationalisation in a rural context. However, I must stress again that those matters are initially for the local authority. We are happy to look at providing financial support for changes and for new buildings that are required, but the local authority and the local people have to get involved in the discussion at this stage. Our role will come later.
Proposed Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill
To ask the Scottish Executive how shared equity within sheltered and retirement housing will be dealt with in its proposed title conditions (Scotland) bill. (S1O-3909)
The position of shared equity within sheltered and retirement housing is being considered in the light of responses to the Executive's consultation paper on the proposed title conditions (Scotland) bill. Suitable amendments will be made to the draft bill before introduction, if those are thought to be necessary in the light of that consultation.
I thank the minister for that reply and for his letter to me about shared equity. However, the Sheltered and Retirement Housing Owners Confederation—SHOC, for short—is still concerned that if the owners, which in the case that I am talking about are the resident and the developer, are not in agreement, their vote will not count. Will the minister assure me that that issue is being addressed? Can more direct dialogue be established with the confederation to discuss the many constructive points that it would like to make?
I am aware of the representations that SHOC has been making. We accept that there is an issue with shared ownership. Only a relatively low number of the 5,000 to 6,000 sheltered houses in Scotland are in shared ownership. Nevertheless, for those involved, the issue is important. The point was not fully considered in the Scottish Law Commission's work on the draft bill. We are seeking further advice on such points as there are different legal interpretations of who would have a vote in any scheme decisions.
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