General Questions
Midlothian Community Hospital
Although an opening date for the Midlothian community hospital has not yet been agreed, it is anticipated that the pre-commissioning handover will be on 9 August 2010 and that all services will be operating before mid-September. That is earlier than the originally anticipated fully operational date of 4 October 2010.
Will it have an out-patient department that includes X-ray services, child health and physiotherapy, with four treatment rooms? Will it include provision for out-of-hours services? Will the cabinet secretary confirm that those services will be part of the new hospital? What assurance can she give that the planned services at the hospital will be unaffected by the cutting of 333 nursing and midwifery posts in Lothian?
I would have thought that Rhona Brankin might welcome the fact that a major new community hospital will be opening in her constituency earlier than anticipated. I think that that is really good news, but as usual we get the glass-half-empty approach from Labour.
Newly Qualified Teachers
The Scottish Government has taken a number of actions to help to support post-probation teachers into work. We made the difficult decision to reduce the intake of student teachers, which will free up more posts for newly qualified teachers, and we created a scheme to allow local authorities to borrow up to £10 million to cover the up-front costs of early retirement, and so free up jobs for newly qualified teachers. It is disappointing that only two councils have applied to participate in the scheme. However, we know that some councils—including Fife Council and North Ayrshire Council—are encouraging teachers to retire early and are choosing to manage that through their existing resources.
I thank the minister for his warm words, but I tell him that the real worries are for this year’s probationary teachers, who look at the statistics and know that only 30 per cent of the 2008-09 cohort obtained a permanent contract. That is down from more than 50 per cent a couple of years ago. Of that group, nearly 14 per cent have still not found jobs—double the rate of two years ago. The minister talks about work with local authorities, but given that there were only 20 vacancies in Edinburgh’s primary and secondary schools in February, what reassurance can he give new teachers who trained in Scotland that they will get jobs here rather than having to leave the teaching profession or look for jobs further afield?
I am closely engaged in the issue. I entirely accept Sarah Boyack’s concern; nobody wants newly qualified teachers to be unable to find full-time, permanent employment. A strong discussion is going on to see how we can help at every single part of an individual’s professional progression through training into education. However, the sharp point is that local authorities are having to make differences to their expenditure and there are problems in employment.
Cardiovascular Disease and Oral Hygiene
We acknowledge Professor Watt’s finding of an association between oral health and the risk of cardiovascular disease, and we await further research in the area. However, the best way of preventing gum disease is to have a regular effective toothbrushing habit from an early age. The childsmile programme will ensure that all children who attend nursery are offered daily toothbrushing, which paves the way to establishing long-term good oral health throughout adulthood. Only this week, a report on the national dental inspection programme showed that the Scottish Government has successfully met the target of 60 per cent of primary 7s having no obvious signs of tooth decay.
I am disappointed that the minister will await further research before she takes any action. How does she propose to address the concerns that are raised in Professor Watt’s report, given that Scotland has unacceptably high levels of heart disease? In particular, will she focus her actions and attention on middle-aged and older people who have particular issues in that regard?
I thought that Helen Eadie might have brought herself to welcome the announcement that the target of 60 per cent of primary 7s having no obvious signs of tooth decay has been met. I am pleased to say that, in Fife, 67.2 per cent of primary 7 children are free of dental decay. That should lead Helen Eadie to believe that what we are doing with the childsmile programme is working and delivering, and will help to avoid some of the risks of cardiovascular disease that Professor Watt’s findings show. I hope that Helen Eadie can for once welcome some good news.
Does the minister agree that having access to a national health service dentist is the best way to improve oral hygiene? Is she aware that, in 2006, not a single dentist in Glenrothes took new NHS patients and that thousands of people were deregistered, and that, since 2007, two new NHS practices have been opened in Glenrothes and a new dental centre is planned for Glenrothes and Methil? Is she aware that 50,000 more people in Fife are registered with an NHS dentist than were registered under Labour in 2006?
Tricia Marwick has shown the Government’s determination to deliver improved dental health for the people of Fife. To add to what she has said about the success of new premises, Fife was allocated £6.11 million from the primary and community care premises modernisation programme, and the number of dentists who provide general dental services increased from 177 in 2007 to 198 in 2009. I know that Labour does not like to welcome good news, but perhaps for once it can get behind our dentists, who are doing a very good job in Fife and elsewhere.
Agenda for Change (School Nurses)
The primary responsibility for taking forward all aspects of agenda for change implementation lies with national health service boards in conjunction with local staff side partners. The Government continues to monitor the process closely and has put in place measures to support boards where they are required. Those measures include the blocked matching protocol, which can be employed where there is a failure to agree on outcomes locally. The protocol is being applied in respect of school nurses in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board area.
Does the cabinet secretary think that it is acceptable that school nurses throughout Scotland have been graded in band 6, whereas those in Glasgow have been asked to accept band 5? Is she aware that those school nurses have not had a pay rise for the past five years because of that initial banding? Rather than let the matter drag on for another summer, is there a date by which the cabinet secretary will intervene and take action rather than just monitor the situation?
I am sure that Ken Macintosh appreciates and understands that, as we have in place a process involving review panels that has been agreed locally with unions, it would be wrong of me to express an opinion on which band somebody should be matched to. I have explained to him and others before that, under the agenda for change system, just because people in different parts of the country have the same job title, that does not mean that they have exactly the same job responsibilities or that they will be matched to the same band.
Affordable Warmth
The Government is proud of its work to improve affordable warmth. Through our acclaimed energy assistance package, we have helped more than 67,000 households. Some 13,000 homes will have been improved under the 2009-10 budget, of which at least 11,500 will have heating system measures. We are also reducing the cost of heating for many other households with the delivery of insulation through the home insulation scheme and the boiler scrappage scheme, under which old, inefficient boilers will be replaced. Social landlords are continuing to work towards achieving energy efficiency aspects of the Scottish housing quality standard for social landlords.
The boiler scrappage scheme, which the minister mentioned, was launched on Monday 24 May. In Scotland, only 5,000 vouchers were available compared with 125,000 vouchers in England, and they were fully allocated within 36 hours. That left many people disappointed, including one of my constituents, who discovered when he called on launch day that, in order to have had any chance of getting a voucher, he would have needed all the paperwork and quotes ready there and then. How many boiler scrappage scheme applicants were left disappointed due to a lack of Government funding for the scheme? What plans does the minister have to assist them?
Some 4,600 people have received assistance through the boiler scrappage scheme, which is very popular. If our budget had not been cut by £500 million this year, we would have been able to do much more. We would have liked to have done much more but, unfortunately, the Labour Government cut our budget.
The minister will be aware, as I have raised the issue in the chamber before, that when elderly and less well-off people shop around for the best deal for oil and gas heating, they are faced with a take-it-or-leave-it minimum quantity that they must purchase, and that minimum quantity is often larger and far more costly than they can possibly afford. Will the minister agree to consider that problem while we still have time before the onset of the winter?
I am happy to consider that problem, although it is primarily an issue for the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets. I am happy to make representations to it on the issue, as it affects quite a number of people throughout Scotland.
Question 6 was not lodged.
Bannockburn Heritage Centre
Yes. Historic Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland and the centre for digital design and visualisation have been working together successfully to progress the preliminary stages of the battle of Bannockburn project. The first draft of the business plan is in production. The project will form one of the centrepiece developments for homecoming 2014, planning for which has already started.
I thank the minister for that welcome news. As we know, the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn, which is during the 2014 year of homecoming, is coming up. I am sure that the minister agrees that the Bannockburn visitor centre is now looking very tired and in need of refurbishment. Will she consider the model that the National Trust developed at Culloden battlefield, for example, as one that could be followed to develop a fitting visitor centre at Bannockburn that will attract visitors to the Stirling area and, indeed, to Scotland?
I assure the member that the plans for Bannockburn are extremely ambitious and exciting. We are nearing the end of a European tendering exercise. Submissions are about to be made by an appointed architect-led design team.
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (Meetings)
I last met representatives of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation at the fisheries expo in Glasgow on 21 May. The most recent meeting with officials took place last week.
Has the cabinet secretary had an opportunity to discuss with the federation the concerns that appear to be growing about the conservation credits scheme and the operation of the conservation credits scheme steering group? The retrospective application of the reduction in the base rate of days at sea, the manner in which monkfish quota transferability has been handled by his Government and the threatened loss of the deepwater edge along the so-called French line are all causing concern and division in the industry. The conservation credits scheme was set up to provide credits for developing and complying with initiatives, in partnership, so that the industry would have a more secure future. Will the cabinet secretary give urgent attention to the growing concerns about the group and the way in which the scheme is operating?
I assure the member that I am giving urgent attention to a number of the concerns that face the white-fish sector, in particular, at the current time. The conservation credits scheme is one of a number of innovative steps forward that we have taken by working closely with the fishing industry against the challenging backdrop of the damage that the common fisheries policy is causing to Scotland.
General Practitioner Practices (Premium-rate Numbers)
As at 3 June this year, there were 44 GP practices using 084 telephone numbers, which represents just over 4 per cent of the total number of practices in Scotland.
I am sure that the cabinet secretary will recall the representations that I have been making on behalf of many of my constituents, who are having to bear the increased costs associated with the use of such telephone numbers by GP practices. Does she agree that it is wholly unacceptable for patients to bear those increases in their phone bills, which, for the many who need to make regular and repeated calls to their doctor’s surgery, have been significant?
I can understand that view and the frustration on the part of patients. I am sure that Angela Constance will appreciate that only a small number of GP practices in Scotland use 084 telephone numbers, but the practice can lead to increased costs for the patients who use such services. That is why it is important that we work with the general practitioners committee to encourage GP practices that use such numbers to offer local telephone rates instead, if possible. I will be more than happy to keep Angela Constance updated on the progress of those discussions.
Crofting Communities (Rabbits)
There are no plans to provide additional assistance to crofting communities for the control of rabbit populations, but there are wide-ranging consents that enable land managers to control rabbits. In addition, measures are available under the rural priorities element of the Scotland rural development programme to control rabbit populations, where those are directly linked to a management option.
Mr Allan, I must ask you to be brief.
I will be. I thank the minister for her reply, but she will be aware that many communities, such as Ness in my constituency, have seen the rabbit population grow to a ridiculous extent and would be grateful for any clarification of the legal options for dealing with the problem.
Please be as brief as possible, minister.
Shooting, trapping, snaring, ferreting, long netting, gassing and the use of electric or other rabbit-proof fencing are all legal methods of rabbit control.
Thank you for the brevity of that answer. That concludes general questions.