Food and Drink Sector
I regularly take the opportunity while attending Council of Ministers meetings in Brussels to promote to the Commission and, indeed, others Scotland’s fantastic food and drink industry and the growth that it has enjoyed over the past few years.
Would the cabinet secretary care to give an opinion on the package of measures that was recently adopted by the EC to strengthen the regulations surrounding food consumption in the European economic community?
I of course warmly welcome the Commission’s proposals to strengthen the regulatory controls in country-of-origin labelling, which is what the member is referring to. That will enable our food and drink sector to ensure that everyone is aware of the provenance and quality credentials of our food and drink, which more and more consumers are looking for in this country and throughout Europe.
What support is available for small-scale food and drink producers in Scotland who wish to begin exporting to the European Union and elsewhere?
That is a very good question, because there are many small food and drink producers who are already successful and beginning to export or who are new producers who wish to do that. We are working closely with Scottish Development International and other bodies such as Scotland Food and Drink to ensure that relevant support is made available. I had a meeting recently with small producers in Arran, and it was very exciting to hear about their ambitious projects to work together, which is certainly one way to do it. If small producers work together, they can perhaps bring together the kind of resources that a bigger producer might have and can have an overseas presence to get into new markets. We also want to support that.
Public Transport (Access)
The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the Department for Transport to improve access to Scotland’s rail network for everyone. That includes the £41 million access for all fund that is supporting the upgrading of 19 stations in Scotland to bring them up to the modern accessible standards that we expect.
I have been contacted by a number of constituents regarding the lack of wheelchair-accessible taxis in the Highlands and access to buses. The lack of taxis means that people who use wheelchairs cannot easily socialise together. In addition, buses can take only one wheelchair, but if the space is being used by parents with prams or pushchairs, a wheelchair user cannot get on the bus. The space can be used by only one wheelchair user or parent user at a time.
Can we have a question, please?
One of the issues that has been brought to me is the cost of changing to accessible taxis. What incentives can the Scottish Government give to taxi drivers to improve their vehicles to allow them to be accessible for wheelchair users?
Much of the regulation in relation to taxis is devolved to local government through the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and subsequent amendments to that act. It is true to say that disability legislation with regard to buses and coaches is reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. However, the member can write to me with the detail of her concerns. If there is any possibility of further assistance being offered, I am more than happy to look at that.
Does the minister agree that although the theory is often excellent, the practice can be a very different thing? Certainly as far as buses are concerned, I am finding in my constituency that people with disabilities sometimes have issues with getting on buses. The problem may be with how helpful the drivers wish to be, for example, or sometimes it is about other passengers not being willing to fold pushchairs. Would it be a good idea to ask operators and providers to run an awareness campaign for their staff and the general public about the needs of people with disabilities and their rights in relation to buses and trains?
I would be happy to incorporate that in the regular dialogue that we have with bus operators. However, it might be worth clarifying that we are going through a staged process. Since 31 December 2000, all new buses have had to be accessible. All single-decker buses must be accessible by 1 January 2016, all double-decker buses by 1 January 2017, and all coaches by 1 January 2020. The timetable was set out by Westminster, but if there are particular issues, especially in relation to the co-operation of drivers, I would be happy to incorporate them in the dialogue that we have with operators.
I hope that the minister is aware of the help us be spontaneous or HUBS campaign, which was launched by young members of Enable Scotland. They lodged a petition with Parliament about reducing the notice period for disabled passengers who wish to travel by train. What more can the minister do to make freedom of travel a reality, and assist disabled people to live independent lives?
Enable Scotland will meet Transport Scotland to discuss in further detail the issues that have been raised. However, it is worth acknowledging the fact that the Scottish Government, along with ScotRail, has already worked to ensure that we do not have the same notice period of 24 hours, which is the norm across the rest of the United Kingdom. That has now been reduced to four hours, but that can still be an issue for some people. The new franchise allows us to encourage bidders to come forward and say whether they can improve that even further. We are aware of the campaign; it is a very good campaign, and we will engage with those who are behind it.
Trunk Roads (Dualling)
A range of factors including traffic flows, safety, environmental and economic impacts are considered when deciding infrastructure priorities; that includes the dualling of stretches of trunk road.
Accidents are three times more likely to occur on the single-carriageway sections of the A1 than they are on the dual-carriageway sections. I recently attended the inaugural meeting of the Scottish A1 action group and discussed the compelling business and safety case for the dualling of the A1 from the English border to Dunbar. Will the minister today join the growing consensus, which includes Scottish Borders Council and East Lothian Council and local businesses, and mirror the United Kingdom Government by commissioning a feasibility study into dualling the A1 on our side of the border?
If it is so important, why did the previous Administration not look at the issue during all the time that it had to do so? We have looked at the issue, and I repeat the response that I have previously given to the member: we have no plans for dualling the A1. He requested an update of our plans in view of a report that the UK Government was set to approve an upgrade of the A1. That is not the case, as the member has rightly said. All that the UK Government has said is that it will conduct a feasibility study.
South Lanarkshire College (Meetings)
My officials met the principal of South Lanarkshire College earlier this week to discuss our recently published consultation paper about the implementation of the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013. Among the issues addressed by the consultation are the future regional arrangements for all the Lanarkshire colleges.
There seems to be a problem with the cabinet secretary’s microphone; I heard barely a word of what he said. I will assume that he was very positive about my local college.
Let us try again, cabinet secretary.
It is uncommon for me not to be heard, Presiding Officer, as you know.
Homecoming 2014
Planning for homecoming is progressing well and the year-long programme of events planned across the country will celebrate the very best of Scotland’s food and drink, our assets as a country of natural beauty and our rich creativity and cultural and ancestral heritage.
The minister will have noted that recently Scotland was named one of the best places to visit next year by the Lonely Planet guide. I am currently working with local organisations to see what we can do to highlight all that the south side of Glasgow has to offer tourists and residents in the run-up to the Commonwealth games and beyond.
Yes, I do. I was delighted that Lonely Planet judged Scotland to be one of the top three places in the world to visit, along with Brazil and Antarctica—a mixed bag there, Presiding Officer.
High-speed Broadband Services (Orkney)
No recent representations have been received by the Scottish Government regarding the roll-out of next-generation broadband services in Orkney. The Scottish Government and its partners are investing more than £280 million in our step change programme, which, alongside commercial deployment, will deliver next-generation broadband access to 95 per cent of premises in Scotland by 2017-18.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his helpful response. Following last month’s announcement of the roll-out in the inner Moray Firth area, can he advise when we will see similar announcements about sites in Orkney benefiting from the broadband investment provided by the United Kingdom Government, the Scottish Government and their partners? Can he also confirm that he expects Highlands and Islands Enterprise and BT to engage with community groups about how remaining gaps might be filled, possibly drawing on some of the funding available? Finally, will he agree to make representations to SSE, to ensure that any cable laying that it undertakes, including in Orkney, includes fibre as a matter of course, unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise?
There is a compelling argument for the point that Liam McArthur makes: that when cabling activity is being undertaken by one of the utilities providers, there is a practical opportunity to roll out fibre connections. I will undertake to take forward that point.
Help to Buy (Scotland) Scheme
The Scottish Government is taking action to stimulate the housing market through the £220 million help to buy (Scotland) scheme, which can help more people, including first and second-time home buyers, to meet their home ownership aspirations by supporting them to access the market. The scheme is intended to support demand, stimulate further construction by the industry and support employment and, in a survey carried out in April 2013, Homes for Scotland forecast that it would stimulate a net increase in total housing output by 10 per cent over a three-year period, which is equivalent to approximately 3,000 additional homes.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but with the help to buy scheme in England pushing up house prices and given the housing crisis in Scotland does he agree that the help to buy scheme in Scotland could make things harder for first-time buyers over the medium to long term?
I do not agree with Mary Fee’s concluding point. A range of different measures, including the help to buy scheme here and the land and buildings transaction tax that the Government proposed and which the Parliament has endorsed to provide greater support to first-time buyers in entering the market, are all designed to assist people in owning their homes for the first time.
Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill
European Union law precludes making payment of a living wage a requirement of a procurement process. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill will allow ministers to issue statutory guidance on how workforce-related matters, such as a company’s approach to recruitment and terms of engagement, should be considered when assessing the suitability of a company to bid for public contracts.
As the cabinet secretary will be aware, this is living wage week and today campaigners are outside, lobbying the Parliament. In addition to asking for amendments to the bill, the campaigners are asking whether the Scottish Government will set up a Scottish living wage unit, convene a living wage summit with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and issue with the bill guidance to public bodies that outlines steps that can be taken to deliver the living wage through procurement. I have signed up to those pledges; will the cabinet secretary indicate whether he, too, supports them?
I am very sympathetic to the points that Mr Bibby has raised. Indeed, as the finance minister in a Government that applied the living wage to the public sector pay policy over which it presides, I am very proud of that commitment.
Pyrolysis Incinerators (Environmental Impacts)
The European waste incineration directive imposes stringent emission standards and controls on pyrolysis and other thermal treatment facilities. Before any new plant can begin operations, it must obtain a pollution prevention and control permit from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and, to obtain that, an operator is required to undertake a detailed environmental risk assessment to demonstrate that there will be no negative impact on the environment. Moreover, SEPA has a range of regulatory enforcement tools for dealing with each application.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that we need consistency with regard to applications for pyrolysis incinerators? A series of these plants are being located in communities across Scotland; indeed, the cabinet secretary’s colleagues have been campaigning in Perth against the pollutant-belching monstrosities proposed for their area while the same pyrolysis incinerators have been agreed in Carnbroe and Dovesdale in Lanarkshire. Is there not an inconsistency in the planning process that has to be addressed?
I recognise the concerns that have been expressed by communities, but a robust planning regime is in place as well as an environmental regime. Each application must be treated on its merits and, as the member’s question illustrates, there are examples of applications being refused by the authorities. The system is robust and the circumstances of each application must be taken into account.
Before we come to the next item of business, members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, the Hon Linda Reid MLA, and the ambassador of Belarus, His Excellency Mr Sergei Aleinik. [Applause.]