SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Roads (A8000)
To ask the Scottish Executive what the most up-to-date plans are for the A8000 upgrading and what the time scale is for its completion. (S1O-1876)
That is a matter for City of Edinburgh Council, which is responsible for that road.
In view of the massive congestion of the A8000, especially during rush hours in the early morning and evening, will Sarah Boyack give that matter high priority in her spending plans and will she trunk the road immediately after it is upgraded?
What I can say to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton is that all the relevant local authorities in that area are working through the Forth Transport Infrastructure Partnership group of authorities to focus on congestion. We need the powers that have been identified in the Transport (Scotland) Bill, to enable us to take the matter forward in a speedy manner.
Many of us believe that the A8000 is the missing link in the trunk road network in Scotland. What benefits does the minister think the Transport (Scotland) Bill might bring to the Queensferry and Edinburgh areas, especially with regard to the upgrading of the A8000?
It is clearly for this Parliament to decide on the final content of that bill. The draft bill, as proposed, suggests that surplus income from the Forth road bridge could be used to assist transport improvements in the area. The local authorities that constitute the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board and are involved in discussions in Forth TRIP are focusing on how to progress the A8000. It is currently a matter for City of Edinburgh Council to progress the road, but discussions are on-going.
Roads (A77)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made to date on securing funding for the upgrading of the A77 to motorway standard. (S1O-1885)
The costs of preliminary work, land acquisition and detailed scheme preparation have been provided for in the motorway and trunk road programme, which I announced on 31 March.
Has the Executive taken on board the sceptical view expressed by this Parliament's Audit Committee as regards the financial benefits of private finance initiative projects in relation to the building of the M74? Would not it be more prudent to access the substantial Government funding being promised for UK transport projects by John Prescott, or is the minister committed to writing a blank cheque to private companies to complete vital road projects such as the M77 link, and saddling future generations of taxpayers with the tab?
It is our view that we should get the best value for money for our roads investment and that that should could come out of our resources. Our approach draws from the experience of the M74, as members will note from the response of Scottish Executive development department officials. We will pursue a scheme that gives us best value for money and enables us to go ahead with the M77 scheme as we have timetabled and as I have announced to Parliament.
I know from one of my constituents that the Scottish Executive has purchased his land for the upgrade of the A77. Can the minister tell me what statutory procedures have yet to be completed in respect of that upgrading?
The main statutory procedures for the M77 have been completed. The design is currently being audited, and any changes that would need to be incorporated into the scheme could be the subject of supplementary orders and compulsory purchase orders.
Scottish Economy
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the Scottish economy benefits in the long term from the depletion of oil and gas reserves. (S1O-1905)
We are about to publish the framework for economic development in Scotland, which will set out our long-term perspective of Scotland's economic development needs, covering all sectors of the economy.
Is the minister aware that Norway and Scotland discovered oil at the same time, when the gross domestic product per head of both countries was identical? Today, a quarter of a century on, Norway's GDP per head is 40 per cent ahead of that of Scotland. Does that mean that Norway is doing something well that we are not?
Briefly, Andrew.
—the sum in excess of £25 billion that will be taken from the North sea in the coming four years?
I certainly do not accept the proposition upon which the final question was based. Suffice it to say that we still have very ambitious plans in the United Kingdom for the oil and gas industry. The aim of the PILOT initiative is to sustain a strong, vibrant UK oil and gas industry.
Rather than dwell on the faded aspirations of the separatists on SNP benches, I would rather ask the minister this: what plans does he have further to develop the north-east of Scotland as a world centre of excellence in oil and gas technology, which would lead to massive exports of technology and knowledge all over the world?
I am happy to reinforce that positive expectation for the north-east of Scotland. I concur with Mr Davidson's first comment about the ragbag of economic policy issues raised by the official Opposition.
Schools (Repairs)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a contingency fund available for emergency repairs to schools. (S1O-1886)
The answer is no. Local authorities are responsible for the repair and maintenance of their school buildings and should have their own arrangements for dealing with emergency repairs.
Is the minister aware of a report regarding Airdrie Academy? It states that
I am aware of the situation, because the local MSP, Karen Whitefield, has brought me up to date. North Lanarkshire Council is dealing with the matter successfully. I have every confidence in the council's ability to resolve the matter satisfactorily, no doubt helped by the additional cash that the Executive is giving to education.
Is the minister aware that the parents of children at Larbert Village Primary School are disappointed about the decision not to go ahead with the proposed extension and about the minister's refusal to arrange an inspection of the school building? Will the minister ensure that adequate funds are made available for essential improvements to the existing building until the go-ahead for the new extension is given?
I am sorry if primary pupils are disappointed in any respect. However, the Executive makes available funds to local authorities on a formula basis, taking account as much as possible of the needs of those authorities, which must make priority decisions in their own programmes. I have every confidence that the problem will be overcome in due course.
Over the years, local authorities have had great difficulty in setting priorities between managing repairs and maintenance of school properties and providing books and so on for schools. Is the minister discussing with education authorities ways of improving the fabric of our school buildings?
We are doing several things. Annually, local authorities spend about £150 million of their own capital resources. We are putting £115 million of additional resources into the system as a whole through the new deal for schools. More than £500 million-worth of additional expenditure is going into school fabric in Scotland as a result of the public-private partnership programme. Only recently, in our consultation paper on national priorities in education, we highlighted the need to put school fabric and buildings much further up the political agenda, to overcome the problems which, we recognise, exist.
Volunteers Week
To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers participated in volunteers week activities and what it learned from the week that might affect its policies on the voluntary sector. (S1O-1872)
Thirteen Executive ministers have given a firm commitment to Volunteer Development Scotland to give at least one hour of their time, to participate in volunteers week. In addition, it is intended that a group of ministers will take part in a joint volunteering opportunity in the summer, which will help to inform the development of the active communities strategy.
I thank the minister for that positive answer. Does she agree that 18 volunteers working with one part-time leader, funded by Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to assist in the rehabilitation of stroke victims, provides excellent value for money for the health trust? Does she further agree that volunteers working on such projects within the health service provide excellent back-up to the health service and that money spent in support of such volunteering activity is money extremely well spent?
For the first time in my life, I agree with Phil Gallie. [Members: "Oh."] It is all right—I will not make a habit of it. Phil Gallie has provided me with an opportunity to place on record the thanks of the Executive and the Parliament to the many volunteers who contribute to communities across Scotland daily, whether in the health service, in child care or in environmental work—the list is endless.
Will the minister also congratulate the hundreds of workers in the fire, police and health services and in the private sector who volunteer regularly, not just in volunteers week?
Absolutely. There are currently about 600,000 people in Scotland who volunteer regularly, not just during volunteers week, but throughout the year. There are an equal number who want to volunteer and are just waiting for the chance.
Road Safety (Children)
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to help children get to school more safely. (S1O-1883)
In December last year, the Executive issued guidance to all schools and local authorities in Scotland on how to run safer routes to school. On 25 May, I announced additional capital consents, totalling £5.2 million, which will enable local authorities to take forward a wide range of projects, building on the guidance.
Will the minister indicate on what sort of measures the money will be available to be spent at local level?
All sorts of measures are urgently needed in the vicinity of our schools—safer routes to schools, pedestrian access, cycle routes and advice to schoolchildren on how to use the safety guidance that we have provided. I point out to Mr McNulty that in his area, the effects of the boost that I announced last week are £114,000 for East Dunbartonshire, and £98,000 for West Dunbartonshire. That is practical help for parents, children and teachers who want the improvements to be made in order to cut child accident rates and to tackle traffic congestion.
Is the minister aware of the incident that was reported in The Herald on Tuesday of a 20-month-old child being left to leave Flowerbank nursery in Kilmarnock and who was later found on a busy road? Is she further aware that that was the latest of three such incidents in East Ayrshire? Will she and her colleagues institute an immediate inquiry into the operation of nursery and primary school education in East Ayrshire, to ensure that standards are put in place to avoid any repetition of such incidents?
That is precisely the sort of issue on which we need a joined-up approach. As Minister for Transport and the Environment, I am concerned with the broader issues of safer routes to school. However, Alex Neil's specific question might more appropriately be asked of the Minister for Children and Education.
Genetically Modified Organisms
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can confirm with certainty that seed contaminated with genetically modified seed was not planted and harvested in 1999. (S1O-1879)
On the contrary, Advanta Seeds UK made it clear when it notified the UK Government on 17 April that the affected seed was produced in 1998 and was sold and sown in both 1999 and 2000. The 1999 crop will have already been harvested.
That is absolutely shocking—even more shocking than what we learned last week. We now know that in 1999 almost double the number of hectares were planted with GM contaminated seeds and harvested. That material is now in the food chain for animals as well as humans, because rape seed husks are used as animal feed.
Please ask a question.
We know how badly the minister and the Parliament were treated, but what will Mr Finnie do about the incompetence of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food? We all remember the ministry's secrecy and almost criminal incompetence over BSE.
Order. That is enough.
Will the minister ask for an ordering of checks on the fields and for the production of—
Order. I remind members that, according to standing orders, questions must be brief.
I am sure that no one in the chamber would want to underestimate the very serious nature of the failure of Advanta Seeds UK to notify anybody. However, I suspect that in 1998, even Advanta Seeds UK did not know that the crop was contaminated.
Can the minister tell the chamber when he expects to be in a position to offer definitive advice to farmers on the disposal of the crop that is currently in the ground?
That depends on when we receive the text from Brussels. It is being discussed in Brussels today. I hope that it will be only a matter of days before we receive the final text, which will confirm beyond doubt that even applying force majeure, and even if there are leaks, farmers will be able to recover their arable area payments compensation this year.
Given that last year's and this year's plantings qualify as a gigantic farm-scale trial, is it the intention of the Scottish Executive to monitor or partially audit the affected fields and their environs for the effects of possible gene flow, seed drop and pollen spread?
I intend to do two things. First, we are in discussions with the National Farmers Union to try to put in place a system so that once we have the advice that Mr Johnstone referred to, indicating to farmers what they should do, we will in the first instance, as part of trying to assure the public that these particular crops have been removed, have a process of inspection. Secondly, we are in discussions with the regulatory authorities about how they should monitor the fields that have been used, because clearly there is, as I think Robin Harper is alluding to, the prospect that volunteers will emerge. That will form part of the advice that will have to be given to farmers.
Health Services
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect local health care co-operatives have had on the development of health services in local areas. (S1O-1894)
As the member will be aware, local health care co-operatives have recently completed their first year of operation as part of the new partnership-based structure of the national health service in Scotland. In that time, LHCCs have begun to demonstrate how much can be achieved when different health care and other professionals come together at a local level for the benefit of patients and communities. We have recently completed a series of regional LHCC seminars and are now evaluating the feedback from the seminars, which will act as the basis for further improvement and development in the future.
Does the minister agree that social care agencies and particularly local authority social work departments seem to be the missing link in the development of LHCCs? Will she consider bringing them into proper partnership with health agencies under the umbrella of the local health care co-operatives?
Scott Barrie raises a very important point that we have touched on many times, about the link between the NHS and social care agencies. In order to get effective link-working between the NHS and other agencies, it is important to get effective link-working within the NHS itself, and the partnership-based approach that is being developed locally is the first step down that road.
Is the minister aware that, at the recent Scottish conference of local medical committees, no fewer than six of the 15 area committees submitted motions critical of the function and structure of local health care co-ops? Their criticisms were directed at inadequate funding and the complete failure of the joint investment fund, or JIF, and were put succinctly in the motion from the Glasgow area, which simply said:
I am very familiar with the conference to which Mrs Ullrich referred, and it is unfortunate that her account of the conference is a misrepresentation of its conclusions. Many positive outcomes were identified and many positive resolutions were agreed, about the direction of travel of the NHS in Scotland.
I am pleased that the minister recognises that there should be a co-ordinated approach to health care, which is provided by LHCCs. My experience in my constituency is that they work particularly well and provide a great opportunity for professionals to come together. Is the Executive undertaking any work, perhaps across departments, to find out what can be done to establish LHCCs within social inclusion partnership areas, where health statistics are usually much worse than in other parts of our communities?
I want to address two points in that question, the first of which is the crucial issue of health inequalities and the fact that ill health is more prevalent in the poorest areas of society. As such, it is important that, particularly through our community-based health initiatives, we examine how we can address the particular needs of our poorest communities.
The convener of the Health and Community Care Committee is signalling to me that she has a brief question.
What direction has the department given to health boards regarding the role of LHCCs in the service planning process, particularly in the production of health improvement plans and trust improvement plans? Would the Executive welcome the development of local improvement plans generated by LHCCs?
As I indicated in my first answer, this has been the first year of operation of the new structure in the NHS. We have been keen to build on the principles on which the partnership-based system was established and to ensure that we develop it as effectively as possible. One of the recurrent themes in discussions with health boards and trusts has been how to build on the LHCC model and to integrate it into the planning process. We want to emphasise not just what happens in secondary and acute care but what goes on in our communities. That is a major part of our investment programme and will form a major part of the local health improvement plans and trust improvement plans, and the national planning documents that we are developing.
Anorexia
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for the provision of services for anorexia sufferers in Scotland. (S1O-1865)
The care and treatment of individuals with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia is covered by the framework for mental health services in Scotland that was published in 1997. Health boards and NHS trusts are expected to develop specialist services for the treatment of those and other psychological disorders, based on an assessment of local need.
Given that a recent survey showed that there are specialist centres in Aberdeen, Perth and Edinburgh, that more than half of Scotland has no specialist service and that one in every hundred people develops anorexia, with the condition proving fatal to more than 13 per cent, what plans does the minister have for implementing the recommendations of the British Medical Association's report, "Eating Disorders, Body Image and the Media"?
The important thing is that an integrated care package will be available to sufferers. It will include a range of measures from health education to psychological and psychiatric therapies and in-patient facilities. The key to getting that right is to get local agreement. The mechanism for that is the mental health framework. The mental health and well-being support group is beginning a series of visits around health boards, to help with the implementation of that framework. Any gaps in the service will be identified in that process and, as the framework rolls out, sufferers of anorexia will benefit.
Voluntary Sector
To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies it has to establish secure funding for voluntary sector organisations. (S1O-1910)
The Scottish compact sets out the principles that underpin the relationship between the Government and the voluntary sector. As part of its implementation, good practice guidance on funding will be published next week. The Executive is committed to creating a more stable funding environment for the sector, including the provision of three-year funding packages where appropriate.
In volunteers week, it is important that we recognise the massive contribution that voluntary organisations make to our society. The use of partnerships is important, but does the minister recognise that many voluntary organisations depend on three-year funding from lottery sources, among others, and that those organisations can be left high and dry when that funding runs out? I recognise that some aspects of this matter are reserved, but I ask the minister to use whatever influence she has to promote continuation funding, which should be made more readily available, either by encouraging direct extension funding for another two or three years or by having a tapering-down system, so that effective organisations are not forced to lose momentum or fold because of inflexible project funding regulations.
I am happy to give consideration to the principles that Ian Jenkins has outlined. We want to encourage the voluntary sector to identify a diversity of funding sources rather than to rely on one source. Those sources should also be sustainable, which is why the Executive is not only moving towards stability of funding for three years, but considering alternative funding sources such as the new community investment fund.
Does the minister accept that one aspect of secure funding is allowing voluntary organisations to conserve the funding that they receive? Does she realise that adding unreasonable charges to those organisations may be prejudicial to funding? Can she give any interim assurance to voluntary organisations that Scottish Criminal Record Office charges will not represent an unreasonable burden?
As Annabel Goldie will know, we have set up a review group to consider the charging structure and the efficiency of the mechanisms that will operate in the voluntary sector as part of the Scottish Criminal Record Office checks. That review group is working hard, and includes representatives of Volunteer Development Scotland, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Youth Link Scotland. At this stage, it is too early to report back on our findings to the Parliament, but we will do so in due course.
Does the minister recognise that voluntary organisations such as the Caithness Voluntary Group face problems due to sparsity and distances? Will she undertake to examine those special problems when she reviews the funding arrangements?
Yes. I give Jamie Stone an assurance that I shall do that. We had a useful meeting with councils for voluntary services from rural areas, and recognise that they have a key role in building the capacity of the local voluntary sector, especially in rural areas. That will be a feature of the CVS Scotland review.
Fuel Excise Duty
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the impact of the rate of fuel excise in rural areas of Scotland. (S1O-1884)
With the co-operation of the Scotland Office, the Executive continues to make the case for rural Scotland on fuel duty and other reserved matters.
The minister will be aware that the Finance Act 1995 allows rebated fuel to—among others—tractors, mobile cranes, mowing machines, road rollers, gritters and snow ploughs, but not to police, fire or ambulance services, nor to school buses or road hauliers. From her discussions with the chancellor and the Scotland Office, can she tell us the logic of that? What representations has she made about the issue, and what does she propose to do about it?
Let us get behind the bluster of that question. It was the SNP that stood for election to this Parliament on a policy to make full use of the fuel duty escalator until 2003-04. It was Gordon Brown, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, who did not raise fuel tax this year, who has tackled the issue of vehicle excise duty on fuel and who has enabled £45 million less to be collected from hauliers, which will benefit hauliers in Scotland and in the rest of the UK.
I have never seen the minister so animated. [Interruption.]
Order. We want to hear the question.
At the risk of appearing "too clever by half"—[Interruption.]
Order. The chamber must settle down. I cannot hear, nor can the minister.
Has the Scottish Executive raised with the Chancellor of the Exchequer the possibility that fuel duty might be rebated in sparsely populated areas of the United Kingdom and Scotland, as a means of bringing rural fuel prices in line with those in urban Scotland?
We have been involved in discussions with the Treasury and the Scotland Office, in considering a range of options that would deliver benefits in rural parts of Scotland on the issue of fuel. I draw to Mr Tosh's attention the recent decision by one of the major oil companies not to continue to discriminate in rural areas. We are seeking a series of initiatives in this matter, and continue to discuss with our colleagues in the UK Parliament precisely the matters that Mr Tosh has raised.
St Andrew's Day
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to make St Andrew's day a public holiday in Scotland. (S1O-1906)
The Executive has no such plans.
I welcome Tom McCabe to his post as minister for holidays; it must be a lot more fun than being a Government business manager.
I am glad to welcome those fraternal sentiments from a member of our coalition Executive. I understand the rationale behind Mr Gorrie's question. As he will know, bank holidays in Scotland are fairly consistent, although some differences exist in specific local areas. However, there is a long-standing tradition of local holidays, and that tradition varies widely across Scotland. From his experience in local government, Mr Gorrie will know how difficult it has been to rationalise school holidays, even within relatively small geographical areas. Although I can see from an organisational point of view that the rationale behind Mr Gorrie's question may be desirable, the evidence suggests that it may be difficult to achieve.
Previous
Business Motion