Official Report 198KB pdf
14:06
The next item of business is general question time.
Flood Forecasting
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in conjunction with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency following the severe flooding caused by storm Boelo to address any issues identified with flood forecasting during severe weather. (S7O-00461)
Flood forecasting is a complex process that is made more difficult by the increased frequency and intensity of storms due to climate change. However, the Scottish Government acknowledges SEPA’s critical forecasting role during events such as storm Boelo in warning communities, businesses and responders about flood risk and informing them of the actions that they should take.
After such events, all responders should review their actions and learn any lessons. As such, SEPA is reviewing the forecasting information provided, and I welcome the commitment from Renfrewshire Council to review its decision making on the operation of barriers. We will continue to engage with responders.
In the town of Renfrew in my constituency, 13 businesses and a number of residents were affected by the flooding during storm Boelo. I have done my best to get around as many of them as possible. What financial and practical support is available to those affected, and what steps is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that communities impacted by severe flooding receive timely assistance and support with recovery?
Through the flood recovery framework, eligible households can apply for grants of up to £500 and eligible businesses can apply for grants of up to £2,500 to help with recovery. Officials are working with North Ayrshire Council, Renfrewshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council, which are responsible for administering grants.
Alongside the immediate recovery support, the programme for government commits to an additional £15 million over the next three years to improve Scotland’s flood resilience. That includes a £5 million community flood resilience fund, investment in nature-based and green solutions, support for flood protection assets, innovative coastal resilience projects and a new flood advisory service.
Many communities across Argyll and Bute are regularly being impacted by flooding following the extreme weather events referred to by the minister. What work is the Scottish Government undertaking with SEPA to improve flood prevention measures in rural and coastal communities?
SEPA is responsible for flood forecasting and warning, and it continues to deliver regular service announcements and post-event reviews, which will help to ensure that warnings remain accurate, timely and useful for communities at risk. The Scottish Government continues to support that work through its funding of SEPA, regular engagement with the flood warning service, funding for the development of a national flood asset database and assessment of infrastructure that is critical to flood warning services.
In addition, we have funded investment of almost £1 million to deploy new near-shore wave buoys. Once fully operational, they will be transformative in SEPA’s coastal flood warning service, helping to inform better flood risk management decisions and coastal change adaptation.
For 30 years, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has played a pivotal role in supporting the country when environmental disasters strike, yet its staff now face uncertainty about their future, since the First Minister announced that it would be brought under a single overarching environment body. What analysis has taken place to ensure that SEPA’s critical institutional capability and its hard-working staff are not already being disrupted by the proposed reorganisation?
What Paul Sweeney talks about is the ongoing wider public service reform agenda, the whole purpose of which is to make the best use of public money across all sectors. SEPA is part of that discussion at the moment.
General Practitioner Walk-in Service (Elgin)
I voluntarily remind members of an interest: my wife is a GP partner.
To ask the Scottish Government what evidence informed its view that a four-hour walk-in general practitioner centre operating on Friday afternoons in Elgin will be sufficient to meet local healthcare in Moray. (S7O-00462)
NHS Grampian is responsible for the design, delivery and planning of its walk-in services, including in Elgin. The board is focused on ensuring that safe and sustainable services can be stood up for Moray as soon as possible, and it has agreed to this initial phased opening to provide access for local people while a fuller service is established. My officials remain in close contact with the board while that work continues, and we remain clear that services must roll out to provide a seven-day operation as soon as possible.
This is a bit of a mess. The site is a palliative care centre on the outskirts of Elgin. It has no direct bus service, it is open for only four hours on a Friday afternoon, there are very serious concerns about infection control and it will likely rely on local GPs, who are already stretched across the area. Major professional bodies have highlighted serious concerns, so why will the Government not scrap the plans and, instead, invest in local GP practices that are much closer to all patients?
It is not an either/or. We are doing both: we are investing in general practice and in primary care. Neil Gray, my predecessor, delivered a historic additional resource investment for GP practices of £531 million over three years.
The walk-in centres are about complementing GP practices, not competing with them. More than 21,000 cases have been seen via walk-in services thus far, which demonstrates that there is clear public demand for that model of care.
It is welcome that, across the country, we have seen more than 21,000 cases treated in GP walk-in centres since they started to open in February. That demonstrates the reach that those services have in local communities, which I want to see people in Moray benefit from. Will the cabinet secretary join me in calling on NHS Grampian, which operates the service and is looking to move it to an alternative location in Moray, to extend the GP walk-in centre’s opening hours to seven days a week as soon as possible?
Yes, I will do that. For the avoidance of doubt, I repeat what I said earlier: I am crystal clear that I expect services in Elgin and, indeed, in Inverurie to be further rolled out to a seven-day-a-week programme. However, it is important that that is done in a safe and sustainable way. The initial phase in Elgin is intended to be a starting point, not an end point. This is about mobilising new services while always ensuring patient safety. As I said earlier, it is a matter for NHS Grampian to lead on, but I remain in close contact with it.
Proposed Local Government Reform (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any further discussions it has had with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities regarding its proposals for local government reform. (S7O-00463)
On 4 November, the First Minister and I met the COSLA presidential team alongside other members of the Cabinet and the ministerial team, as part of our ongoing engagement on local government reform. Our discussion highlighted the significant common ground between the Scottish Government and local government on the need to improve outcomes for people, to strengthen local democracy and to ensure that public services remain sustainable in the face of increasing demand and financial pressures. We agreed that reform must be developed in partnership with local government, communities, the workforce and trade unions, and our ongoing programme of engagement is focused on building a shared vision for the future, on which we will continue to engage with COSLA in the weeks ahead.
Last week, I met representatives of COSLA, who repeated their dissatisfaction with the consultation process and the lack of any meaningful detail. Councillors across Scotland report that the Government round-table meetings started a month after the proposals were announced and have varied in length from 15 minutes to an hour. Those meetings are being carried out by a variety of ministers, with no clear agenda and no consistent approach.
Will the Scottish National Party now admit that there is no substance to or support for these reforms? Will the cabinet secretary also admit that the real problem facing councils is the chronic underfunding from her Government, and will she instead focus her attention on next year’s £529 million funding gap, which COSLA has identified?
The clear agenda for ministers throughout the process is to go out and listen to local government. We are not going in with a prepared agenda directing local government as to our final vision for local governance reform; we are there to listen to councils and engage with them.
On Friday just last week, I had a really helpful discussion with Fife Council, which spoke to some of the issues that it faces—yes, there are challenges, but there are real opportunities for reform, too.
The meeting that we had with COSLA only last Wednesday was really productive in respect of the common ground that we were able to establish on a number of different fronts. As a result of that meeting, we have agreed to further joint working on the future distribution of powers. I would welcome Mr Burnett’s contribution to that process, because this is a Parliament of minorities and we will need to engage ahead of the budget. If he has any suggestions for me ahead of the budget, I am all ears.
I declare an interest as a sitting councillor.
I have spoken with many council chief executives so far, and with COSLA, and they have told me that the rushed and minimal nature of current consultations has been wholly inadequate, given the possible scale of change that we expect to see. Given that the Scottish Government is legally obligated to hold meaningful consultations before approving major changes in local government, will the cabinet secretary confirm whether an extended period of consultation will occur after this series of meetings has ended?
I thank Julie MacDougall for her question. I have to say that I am somewhat surprised by it, given that I met the chief executive of Fife Council only on Friday—as I intimated in my previous response—and I did not hear such a suggestion from her. I appreciate that she may have engaged with others.
Of course we will continue to engage in the dialogue, but we have quite deliberately set a truncated period for that engagement to take place, because there is a necessity here, which goes back to Mr Burnett’s point about financial sustainability. For a number of councils, the status quo is not working and we need to move on reform—the financial reality of where we currently are necessitates that we do so. However, we also need to improve services. I very much hope that, at the end of the three-month period, we will have reached a consensual position with COSLA and will be able to move forward. I look forward to the further meetings that are to take place between now and the end of the consultation period.
I welcome the fact that discussions are progressing on the Scottish Government’s proposals for local government reform. Does the cabinet secretary agree that reform, such as continuing to develop shared services to deliver savings that can then be reinvested in front-line provision, is vital to ensure that the service best supports the needs of our communities?
Yes, I very much agree. Public services are facing unprecedented pressures and, without reform, demand is going to outpace resources, and the sustainability of our public services will be put at risk. Every £1 that is spent on bureaucracy or duplication is £1 that is taken away from front-line services, so reform is therefore not a choice but a necessity, and it is going to help us refocus our resources where they matter most.
Colleges (Investment in Infrastructure)
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund the £2.5 billion of infrastructure investment needs identified by the Scottish Funding Council for colleges over the next decade. (S7O-00464)
I am grateful to Iris Duane for the question and for her long-standing interest in the sector. Like her, I welcome the publication of the Scottish Funding Council’s “College Infrastructure Investment Plan 2027-28 to 2036-37” report, which is important evidence that, if nothing changes, £2.5 billion will be necessary over the next 10 years to ensure that the college estate is up to scratch. That is why change is needed, and we are already working with Colleges Scotland and the SFC on the college sector of the future workstream, which looks to pave the way to a more equitable, future-proofed, empowering and financially sustainable college sector for generations to come. The plan will inform that work, and I am grateful to the Scottish Funding Council for that data, but it underlines the need for change.
I thank the minister for his conducive response and appreciate that he is working on change. However, as he will know, colleges are facing those issues now. It has been suggested that more than £150 million of capital funding will be required for 2027-28 to begin addressing the maintenance backlog that they currently face. Does the Government recognise that investing in the infrastructure right now will prevent greater costs in future? Will the upcoming budget fully utilise the fiscal powers of devolution to address those long-term infrastructure needs?
I am grateful, again, to Iris Duane for her interest. We have discussed this at length. Will we use the full fiscal powers available to us? Yes, we will. However, as she is well aware, we are in a financial straitjacket in relation to the devolution settlement. If a college is not undertaking basic maintenance, it is storing up problems for the longer term. The answer to everything cannot simply be more money. We need to think about purpose, then incentives, then structure. That is the work that I am taking forward, and I am very glad of her support on it.
That all sounds great. However, the situation at Dundee and Angus College is increasingly urgent. The affected buildings at Kingsway have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and asbestos, which means that they could be unusable by November 2028, which is just two years away. They need an answer about the first phase of their transformation programme now. When will they get that answer in order to make sure that they do not have to decant out of the Kingsway to another temporary building?
I am aware that that is an issue that is with the Scottish Funding Council at the moment. By chance, I will be in Dundee next week, so perhaps we can liaise on that in due course.
Palliative and End-of-Life Care (Glasgow)
To ask the Scottish Government how it works with Glasgow city health and social care partnership to help reduce unscheduled presentations to acute services among people requiring palliative and end-of-life care. (S7O-00465)
Senior officials meet regularly with chief officers of health and social care partnerships, including Glasgow city HSCP, to discuss a range of topics of strategic and immediate importance. Last year, we published our palliative care strategy for 2025 to 2030, which was developed through engagement with key stakeholders, including health and social care partnerships. It outlines an aim that people of all ages with life-shortening conditions receive palliative care and care around dying and that their families and their carers receive bereavement support, based on what matters to them.
Following the strategy’s publication, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been working together with local health and social care partnerships to develop its strategy for palliative care and care around dying. That strategy was discussed and approved by the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board on 29 October. I also note that the Scottish Ambulance Service has in place, and is developing, pathways around improving palliative care.
Marie Curie’s fast-track service, which provides urgent specialist palliative nursing care at home and keeps people out of hospital, looks set to end if Glasgow city HSCP ratifies its plans, with district nursing teams having to try and pick up unmet demand. Around £500,000 will be withdrawn from the service, with roughly half of that being Marie Curie’s own funds that it brings to the table. Does the minister share my concern that those reforms appear to have been developed without the participation of Marie Curie, and that they may increase pressure on scheduled care and result in a poorer quality of care overall? Will the minister join me in asking Glasgow city health and social care partnership to meet Marie Curie to discuss how they can work together to ensure that a rapid response service continues?
I absolutely appreciate the valued work that Marie Curie staff do; indeed, I went to visit them in Glasgow in July. Decisions on how best to deliver services for local communities are, ultimately, for those integration authorities to make, in consultation with the people that use those services, and in full awareness of the impact on them. If Glasgow city health and social care partnership has not already met Marie Curie to discuss the implications of those decisions, I would certainly hope that it will do so.
Learning for Sustainability
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its head count reduction programme on the delivery of the learning for sustainability action plan and the target 2030 commitments (S7O-00466)
Ministers are firmly committed to delivering the learning for sustainability action plan and making progress towards the target 2030 commitment. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland met the cross-agency learning for sustainability leadership group on 4 November, where they discussed key topics, including curriculum reform. We are also working closely with partners to progress the implementation of the new Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026, which is an important part of learning for sustainability.
Internal ministerial papers that were released following a freedom of information request linked changes to learning for sustainability staffing directly to the Scottish Government’s headcount reduction target. They also acknowledged that key areas of work would be paused as a result, such as engagement with young people and local authorities. Does the cabinet secretary believe that reducing capacity in the area is compatible with the Government’s stated ambitions on climate education? Did she know about the staffing reduction when answering my written question on learning for sustainability this summer? When does she expect those paused workstreams to resume?
The Scottish Government regularly reviews staffing structures across all business areas. That is part of our responsible management of the delivery of work in our areas. Each area retains flexibility in deploying resources, in line with ministerial priorities and business needs.
I mentioned in my initial answer that a great deal of work was going on to implement the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026, which is a core part of delivering learning for sustainability. To give Ms Moodie further reassurance, I point her to the technical framework for Scotland’s reformed curriculum, the first full draft of which was published last week. I was pleased to see Learning for Sustainability Scotland commenting on social media that it sees the programme as a
“non-negotiable, cross-curricular policy commitment”
in that updated curriculum. That should give her some confidence.
Centre for Contemporary Arts Building (Actions of Creative Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns regarding Creative Scotland’s handling of the future of the former Centre for Contemporary Arts building in Glasgow. (S7O-00467)
The Government’s position is that the former CCA building should reopen and that it should do so as a cultural venue with a viable and sustainable future in Glasgow and Scotland’s cultural sector. On asking, Creative Scotland assured me that it is pursuing that outcome.
Following the 30 October deadline, Creative Scotland is assessing detailed proposals that it has received to operate the building. Its board is due to consider the assessment of those bids on 26 November. Although I regularly meet Creative Scotland’s leadership, I will make sure to do so in advance of that 26 November meeting to discuss its preferred options.
Ever since the CCA closed, there has been a concern that the long-term trajectory would be towards selling off what has been a publicly owned public asset for more than half a century. The cabinet secretary will be aware that, recently, one of the bidders—an artist-led theatre company—pulled out of the process, writing that it struggled
“to see how any organisation with the intention of keeping the building alive … can afford to buy it.”
Does the cabinet secretary accept that the preferred bidder must be rooted in public ownership of the building and that privatisation of this public asset would be an unacceptable outcome?
First, I put on the record the importance that I and the Government place on the CCA and on the Third Eye Centre, which preceded it. It has been a critical part of Glasgow and West of Scotland’s artistic scene for many years. My objective is to have it reopened and serving that purpose for many years to come.
The building is currently closed. If we want it to be reopened and serving that purpose, we have to invite expressions of interest. That is exactly what Creative Scotland has done; as I said, I will meet it to discuss the bids this month.
Nicotine Addiction (Under-18s)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce levels of nicotine addiction among under-18s. (S7O-00468)
The Scottish Government is taking decisive action to reduce nicotine addiction among under-18s. From 1 January 2027, it will be illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. On 29 October 2026, age-of-sale restrictions were introduced for nicotine products: you must be over 18 to buy those products. We have also introduced a ban on free distribution.
The results of the consultation on the display of vaping and nicotine products are being analysed and will inform our proposals to restrict the display of those products—for example, by putting them behind screens, just like we do for tobacco.
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and should not be used by young people. Our next tobacco and vapes implementation plan will set out further actions.
I am relieved that the Scottish Government took action last month to outlaw the sale of nicotine pouches to under-18s. Those pouches were too easily accessible to young people and they do considerable harm.
Young people are contending with an ever-changing nicotine landscape and I am concerned about the scale of addiction among young people. What support to identify the signs of nicotine addiction is the Scottish Government giving to those who work directly with young people? How can we encourage appropriate treatment to ensure that young people do not enter adult life suffering from nicotine addiction?
I share Heather Anderson’s concerns. Earlier this year, we published guidance to help schools to take a preventative approach to substance use, including the use of vapes and other nicotine products. The guidance supports schools to develop policies and respond to substance use among young people in schools, and there is signposting to sources of specialised support, if appropriate.
Our schools provide substance use education through the curriculum for excellence. Young people learn about a variety of substances, including alcohol, medicines, drugs, tobacco and solvents, and they explore the impact that risk-taking behaviour has on life choices and health.
That concludes general question time. I apologise to the many members with supplementary questions whom I was unable to call due to time constraints.
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