Living Wage (Public Contracts)
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on the payment of the living wage in public contracts. (S4O-03781)
Our recently announced programme for government sets out our clear commitment to a range of measures to expand the living wage in Scotland, including through public contracts. We have increased the funding to the Poverty Alliance to promote take-up of the living wage accreditation scheme and we will work with it to explore models to boost public sector and third sector uptake of the living wage. We will host a living wage accreditation summit with business leaders, and the fair work convention will prioritise the role of the living wage in its work to develop a fair work framework for Scotland.
In addition to paying the living wage to those covered by our public sector pay policy, including those in the national health service, we will ensure that the staff of contractors working in our buildings get the living wage, as demonstrated through our catering and cleaning contracts. We will publish statutory guidance for public bodies on how workforce-related matters, including the living wage, should be taken into account in public contracts. We will also implement provisions in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 to require public bodies’ procurement strategies to make a statement of their general policy on payment of a living wage.
Presiding Officer, I take this opportunity to congratulate the Scottish Parliament on the recent announcement that the living wage is being extended to contractors in the Parliament building. [Applause.]
I, too, congratulate the Scottish Parliament on the payment of the living wage to all workers and contractors.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the First Minister recently announced that agreement had been reached with Mitie to ensure that all cleaners at Scottish Government locations would be paid the living wage. Mitie has a contract with Anniesland college in Glasgow. Did the First Minister’s announcement cover all cleaners in relation to payments made through the Scottish Government, including those in the education sector and specifically at Anniesland college?
James Kelly is asking about contracts that are not within the Scottish Government’s direct purview. We encourage all those contracts also to specify the living wage but, at the moment, the deal with Mitie relates to those who work directly for and within the confines of the Scottish Government.
The member refers to specific contracts. I am aware that Mitie has contracts in the higher and further education sectors, and probably some attention will be paid to that and a job of work done on that, but the recent announcement relates to those who are directly paid through the cleaning contract with the Scottish Government.
Construction Industry (Rogue Traders)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to improve customer awareness of the dangers of rogue traders in the construction industry. (S4O-03782)
There are a great many reputable traders in the construction industry and there is a range of support to help people to find and use them. The Scottish Government encourages home owners to use traders who are members of trade associations.
TrustMark is a Government-backed initiative to help consumers to find reliable and trustworthy local tradesmen to carry out repairs inside and outside the home. In addition, Which? and local authority trusted trader schemes, the Federation of Master Builders find a builder service and the Construction Licensing Executive’s reference service are all to be commended for helping home owners to find reputable traders. Advice is also available directly from local authority private sector housing teams and trading standards officers.
Although consumer education is a devolved matter, consumer protection is reserved to Westminster. Will the cabinet secretary pursue with his counterpart at Westminster the devolution of consumer protection so that in Scotland, newly qualified, registered and appropriately named tradespeople, such as electricians, plumbers and roofers, can carry out designated work and so avoid heartache for households that are penalised by misrepresentation by those who purport to be so qualified?
Further devolution of consumer protection powers will enable the Scottish Government to create an effective, efficient and fair consumer protection regime that focuses on the needs of Scottish consumers and businesses. We welcome the new powers of advocacy and advice recommended by the Smith commission, but it is unclear whether power over redress is to be devolved. We will seek clarification from the United Kingdom Government on that.
The UK and Scottish Governments should start preparing in good faith for the transfer of the powers identified in Lord Smith’s report. For our part, the Scottish Government will use whatever new powers are delivered to the Scottish Parliament to take forward our work to create a fairer and more prosperous country for everyone who lives here.
Local Authorities (Care Home Provision)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to support local authorities in meeting demand for care home provision. (S4O-03783)
Last year, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport commissioned the residential care task force to look at how we commission and deliver services for our most vulnerable people living in care homes. The task force’s report was published earlier this year and contains a number of recommendations, not least those on improving the commissioning and provision of those services.
The Scottish Government accepts in principle the recommendations. We are working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Scottish Care and other partners to take forward the task force’s recommendations for the long-term transformation of residential care.
Bed days lost to delayed discharge in NHS Lothian account for more than one in five in Scotland, with older patients particularly affected. In Edinburgh, £8 million is being invested in a new 60-bed care home at Royston, which will increase capacity to about 600 residential spaces, and the City of Edinburgh Council is increasing funding for reablement. However, expenditure on health and social care is 25 per cent of total service expenditure and the council must find savings of £142 million over the next three years. To balance the books for this year’s budget, it is looking at increasing care charges and reducing the use of agency staff. Can the Scottish Government take action to address the underfunding of our local authorities, to allow them to deliver the greater capacity that we need in social care services?
Let me be clear to Ms Boyack and the chamber: the Scottish Government is already taking action to tackle the issues around delayed discharge. In August, we made £5 million of targeted funding available to seven national health service boards to help to alleviate immediate pressures in the system because of delayed discharges. In November, we allocated to all partnerships an additional £5 million, which is leveraging in other funding from health boards and local authorities, and, of course, jointly with COSLA we established the discharge task force to oversee and agree priority actions to improve discharge from hospital.
The Lothian partnership received £712,000 from the pot of funding that I mentioned. The City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian plan to use some of that funding to reopen Pentland Hills care home, to provide intermediate step-up, step-down care that will enable people to return home following hospital admission and, where possible, to provide an alternative to admission to hospital.
Action is happening. We need more of that kind of service to be delivered and I am aware that many other areas are doing just that.
NHS Fife (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Fife and what issues were discussed. (S4O-03784)
Yesterday, I met the chair and the chief executive of NHS Fife, along with the leader and the chief executive of Fife Council, to discuss how to tackle delayed discharge in Fife.
Following yesterday’s meeting, I am sure that the cabinet secretary will be well aware of the pressures that are affecting NHS Fife and Fife Council. We have seen a doubling of locum costs, a reduction in the number of beds, and nursing shortages. Last week, it was revealed that bed blocking has led to more than 11,000 bed days being lost in Fife. Almost three quarters of those cases involved people aged over 75 who were waiting for care arrangements to be made.
I appreciate that the cabinet secretary will go into detail about the steps that she will take to address the issue, but funding remains at its heart. It has been reported in The Courier today—
Can I get a question, Ms Baker?
—that NHS Fife and Fife Council have identified a £3 million funding gap that they are working together to address. How can the Scottish Government help to address that?
Yesterday’s meeting was positive and constructive. We discussed a clear and agreed plan between the council and the health board, which they are implementing to tackle the issue. The plan includes the discharge of up to 60 patients before Christmas and the joint funding of the council and the health board to continue that plan for the rest of this financial year. We also agreed with NHS Fife and Fife Council that they would continue to work with the Scottish Government on service and funding transition, to ensure that they take maximum benefit from their plans for integration, which will take place from April.
The member will be aware that an additional £836,000 has been allocated since August to NHS Fife to address the issues that relate to delayed discharge. As I said yesterday, my top priority is to make progress on resolving the issue. We are putting in place short-term measures but, without a doubt, restructuring and shifting the balance of care are what will lead to a sustainable change in how we deliver services in the future.
Disabled People (Access to Rail Services)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve access to rail services for disabled people. (S4O-03785)
The Scottish Government continues to support substantial improvements to railway stations, trains and the provision of dedicated assistance for disabled passengers provided by ScotRail. For example, the Scottish ministers have prioritised 22 station upgrades through the £41 million access for all fund, which included the creation of step-free access at several stations in Glasgow.
Disabled access at Gilshochill station in the Cadder area is notoriously poor—in fact, it is virtually impossible. I have met and corresponded with ScotRail a number of times about the issue, and it says that the station does not qualify under the access for all criteria.
Will the minister and his officials specifically consider the barriers in relation to Gilshochill station to identify other funding streams that might be available? Alternatively, would the minister consider extending the access for all criteria? Right now, my disabled constituents and mothers with prams cannot access rail facilities in Cadder.
The Department for Transport sets the criteria that guide how we give priority to Scottish stations for inclusion in access to all, which is the fund that is dedicated to addressing access issues at railway stations. Gilshochill station does not meet the criteria, as Mr Doris mentioned.
I am happy to provide further information on additional support that can be given for access to train stations and on my future meetings in relation to disability access and equality on transport services. I am also happy to reconsider how we might be able to support Gilshochill station but, in essence, the criteria for the fund that is dedicated to the issue are set by the Department for Transport.
As far back as 2009, Transport Scotland indicated to me that Gilshochill station would not be considered because of its relatively—I use that word advisedly—low passenger usage. At that time, it was number 199 out of 343 stations.
If that is the only criterion that can be used, the Scottish Government would be well advised to consider taking up with the Department for Transport the question whether the criteria can be adjusted. Otherwise, stations such as Gilshochill will never be able to qualify for such assistance.
Mr Doris is right that Gilshochill is a difficult station for people to negotiate. Moreover, mothers with buggies do not have access to the assisted passenger reservation service that, fortunately, is available to people with a disability.
Is the minister interested in taking up those discussions?
I am happy to pursue the issue. We have every sympathy with those who seek the most local access to a train station. There is an equality issue in there as well.
The latest information that I have is that, with 98,900 passenger journeys recorded in 2013, Gilshochill station is the 214th busiest of the 351 stations in Scotland. I highlight the fact that ScotRail provides any disabled passenger who cannot use the station due to lack of access with alternative transport to the nearest accessible station free of charge.
I am happy to engage with the Department for Transport on the criteria that it uses to guide us in relation to funds that are available.
Listed Buildings (Changes)
To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions there are on developers that make significant changes to the inside or outside of listed buildings without applying for listed building consent. (S4O-03786)
It is an offence to make internal or external changes that affect the character of a listed building without listed building consent. Planning authorities can refer cases to the procurator fiscal with a view to prosecution. As an alternative, or in addition to seeking prosecution, they can issue listed building enforcement notices that require rectification of the damage done.
The Scottish ministers’ view is that prosecution for unauthorised works is best confined to cases in which the works done are so radical that rectification is not feasible. A range of possible actions is available. In many cases, the issue may be resolved through the submission of a retrospective application for listed building consent but, in some cases, the best way to achieve practical improvement to the building’s condition is for the planning authority to issue an enforcement notice.
I thank the cabinet secretary for her comprehensive reply. Can she elaborate in any way on the action that local authorities and, more important, neighbouring residents who are affected by such works can take to ensure that affected buildings, such as Kelvin court in my constituency, are returned to their original state, as far as that is possible?
The planning authority, Glasgow City Council, has the key responsibility. However, any neighbouring residents or anyone else who is concerned about alterations that are being made to a listed building without appropriate consents can take action by reporting their concerns to the local planning authority, which in the case to which Mr Kidd refers is Glasgow City Council. A range of actions is available, but rectification without prosecution is the best possible outcome, and I encourage anyone who has concerns to raise them with Glasgow City Council.
Temporary Accommodation (Minimum Standards)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is developing statutory guidance for minimum standards in temporary accommodation and, if so, when it will be published. (S4O-03787)
The Scottish Government currently has no plans to develop more statutory guidance on temporary accommodation. We recently strengthened the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order in relation to households with children and pregnant women in temporary accommodation.
I am sorry, but that is quite a disappointing response. In her response to the question that I asked last week about temporary accommodation, the minister stated:
“the vast majority of temporary accommodation is good-quality, well-managed local authority accommodation.”—[Official Report, 26 November 2014; c 14.]
However, a significant number of people are in poor-quality and unsuitable temporary accommodation for long periods of time. For example, on 30 June this year, 73 households with dependent children were living in bed-and-breakfast and hotel accommodation.
Will the minister take up my invitation to visit some homes in which people are living in poor accommodation, including one in which five members of a family are sharing a bedroom, to give her an idea of the extent to which people are suffering? I believe that she has not only a responsibility but a moral duty to do so.
It is important to restate that the vast majority of children who live in temporary accommodation will be in good-quality, well-managed social housing, not unsuitable bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and that they will be waiting to be moved into settled accommodation.
Of course none of us wants to see anyone living in accommodation that does not meet their needs and is not suitable for their needs. If there are issues with any particular accommodation, we certainly want to know about them. Such issues can be raised with the Scottish Housing Regulator, who will inspect the temporary accommodation that people are living in.
The homelessness prevention and strategy group has considered and will continue to consider any evidence in that regard to see whether any additional action is required. We are clear about the importance of ensuring that good standards are met. Scottish local authorities have been surveyed to identify a reasonable standard and cost for temporary accommodation, and that has informed their approach.
I am more than willing to speak to the member about the issues that he has raised. If necessary, I will not shy away from visiting accommodation that is not suitable. I am not shying away from that; I am saying that the regulator has to know about such issues before we can resolve them.
RAF Leuchars
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the United Kingdom Government to discuss the future of RAF Leuchars. (S4O-03788)
The Scottish Government maintained direct contact with the United Kingdom Government on its plans for RAF Leuchars throughout the period of the military basing review. Following the announcement in 2013 that the UK Government was to withdraw the Royal Air Force from Leuchars and convert the base into an Army barracks, the Scottish Government receives updates on the implementation of those plans through the firm base arrangements, which involve regular meetings with the Ministry of Defence and military contacts.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Department for Transport recently closed its consultation on a UK spaceport, in which Leuchars was identified as a potential feasible location. Have any discussions taken place with the UK Government on that matter or on the potential that exists for a feasibility study to be carried out into whether the base could host a civilian airport?
I am able to confirm that Scottish Government officials received a briefing from the UK Government on its spaceport consultation prior to its announcement in July. The Scottish Government wants the spaceport to be located in Scotland and, at this stage, we remain neutral as regards the six potential Scottish locations.
The Scottish Government and its agencies have offered to provide advice and support to any of the Scottish airfields that want to pursue the spaceport opportunity, but it is for the owner of each airfield to determine whether they wish to do so. In the case of RAF Leuchars, that is the Ministry of Defence.