Good morning. We come first to general question time.
Planning (Countryside Housing)
To ask the Scottish Government whether planning regulations can be adapted to allow more housing in the countryside. (S4O-04924)
Scottish planning policy requires that development plans make provision for rural housing in accordance with the spatial strategy for the area. Policies can be adapted to suit local needs and circumstances.
The stage 1 report on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill shows that social rural housing is needed across Scotland. Planners have been allowed to group houses in village envelopes to make utilities easier to supply. However, the real need is for houses for tenant farmers and crofters, to allow agriculturalists to retire on the spot, in the places where they live and work. Will the Scottish Government ensure that planning meets real needs, not those of planning theories that are unsuited to much of Scotland?
I have a great deal of sympathy with the member’s point. Our view is absolutely that planning authorities should accommodate people’s needs, as he said. I hope that the independent planning review that is being undertaken will address in its report, which is due early in the new year, the matter that he raised.
It is true that we need more housing, but to make that happen we need to ensure that planning regulations are not overzealous. What analysis has the Scottish Government done of planning systems elsewhere that take less time to make decisions?
We always look for best practice through our own offices as well as through the professional bodies that represent the planning industry in Scotland. One aspect of the independent planning review’s work will be to receive evidence on where things work better elsewhere and what we can learn from other regimes. We have never taken the view that we get everything absolutely right in Scotland; we can always learn from other people. That applies to planning as much as it does to other aspects of policy.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran (Out-of-hours Services)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Ayrshire and Arran to discuss primary care out-of-hours services. (S4O-04925)
The report of the findings and recommendations of the national review of primary care out-of-hours services was published on Monday 30 November. The purpose of the review was to ensure that out-of-hours services were patient centred, safe and sustainable, as part of our wider reforms of primary care. NHS Ayrshire and Arran representatives contributed to the review, and the review chair and review team from the Scottish Government visited NHS Ayrshire and Arran on 26 June this year as part of the review’s national engagement programme. Officials will continue to be in contact with NHS Ayrshire and Arran as we move into implementation of the review’s recommendations, and I recently met the board’s chair and chief executive.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that a significant number of general practitioners in Ayrshire are approaching retirement age. She will also be aware of the difficulty in recruiting young doctors to become GPs in Ayrshire, particularly in rural areas. It was recently suggested that there is university bias against such a career path, which is not helping the situation. Given the likely lack of GP availability for those and other reasons, how does the cabinet secretary see a doctor-led, out-of hours-service being delivered in Ayrshire in the future?
Of course the member will be aware that Sir Lewis Ritchie dealt with all those pertinent matters in his very good report. He pointed the way to what is essentially a multidisciplinary team solution in not just Ayrshire and Arran but across Scotland, with a focus on urgent care resource hubs, where urgent care is co-ordinated from one place. That is for the out-of-hours context, but it has an in-hours application as well.
I am sure that the member will also be aware of the nurse-led pilot in Ayrshire. I can tell him that 2,500 patients were referred to the Ayrshire out-of-hours service, half of whom were referred to advanced nurse practitioners. The role of the GP within the multidisciplinary teams will be as the supporting clinical expert. The feedback from the Ayrshire pilot is very positive indeed, and I think that it leads the way in showing how a multidisciplinary team can work to bolster and improve out-of-hours services.
The pilot is excellent and we all commend the work that is being done, but demand and pressures on the health service are increasing all the time. Can the cabinet secretary tell the Parliament how many more patients are being treated annually by primary care out-of-hours services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran compared with when the SNP came to office in 2007?
The number of patients being treated across the whole of the NHS has continued to increase, and out-of-hours services are no exception to that. I will write to the member with the patient numbers for Ayrshire and Arran.
We need to ensure the sustainability of out-of-hours services going forward. The report from Sir Lewis Ritchie is therefore very timely and pertinent because it shows that, with the right workforce model and multidisciplinary team, we can provide robust out-of-hours services to what will be a growing number of patients. Also, if we get that right, we can avoid patients going to other parts of the health system, which is something that we want to do.
I call Richard Simpson. I point out that the question is about NHS Ayrshire and Arran and primary care.
I welcome the cabinet secretary’s responses and Sir Lewis Ritchie’s report, which is critical to care in Ayrshire and Arran and elsewhere. However, in the meantime, while we are setting up new pilots on the Sir Lewis Ritchie model, one of which will be in Ayrshire and Arran, I ask her to take a look at the problems that are occurring in Ayrshire and Arran and in other areas, such as Lanarkshire and Tayside, in relation to the transport of patients to the more limited number of out-of-hours centres.
We will have a debate on primary care next week and we will be able to explore the issues in more detail then. While the roll-out of the report’s recommendations is happening and as we move towards a different model of delivery of out-of-hours services, we will require boards to maintain a robust and sustainable set of out-of-hours arrangements. I am happy to ensure that Richard Simpson gets an update on the transport issue in advance of the debate next week.
Road Haulage (Driver Shortages)
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the road haulage industry regarding reported driver shortages. (S4O-04926)
The Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training met the Scottish road haulage group to discuss the matter in March, and that was followed by a meeting with officials in June. My officials have met Lantra and the Road Haulage Association in the past two months.
Skills Development Scotland has been working with road freight industry partners on the development of an invitation to quote for research that is aimed at gathering evidence on the scale of the shortage in Scotland. The invitation to quote for that work, which is expected to issue shortly, will inform the development of a skills investment plan for the industry.
I encourage employers to consider the potential to recruit into the haulage industry former members of the armed forces, many of whom will have received industry-relevant training and experience that could give them a head start on securing the civilian qualifications that they need.
I welcome the action that Skills Development Scotland has taken to date. Is the minister willing to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training the possibility of working in partnership with haulage firms to share the costs of training new drivers, not just in the general haulage sector but in the specialised livestock haulage sector, where there is a specific shortage?
Yes. I am happy to initiate those discussions and report back to Mr MacDonald.
Questions 4 and 5 have not been lodged. In both cases, the members have provided an explanation.
Preventative Care (Self-help)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote self-help as a form of preventative care. (S4O-04929)
The 2020 vision for health and social care focuses on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management. We need to ensure that people can live and die well with whatever health conditions they have, and we are working with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, which developed our self-management strategy, “Gaun Yersel!”, and administers the £2 million per annum self-management fund.
Our world-leading health literacy action plan, “Making it Easy”, which supports people to be in the driving seat of their care by building their skills and confidence to use health information, sits at the heart of our commitment to deliver a safe, effective and person-centred healthcare system.
The one-stop shop in Inverness offers a range of services to adults with autistic spectrum disorder. Because of the delay to the budget this year, it is very concerned about the future of the service in Inverness. Can the one-stop shop and its clients continue to count on the Scottish Government’s support? When will it be told that its funding will continue?
The one-stop shop in Inverness is a matter for the health board, as health boards fund all one-stop shops for people with autistic spectrum disorder. One-stop shops deliver an excellent service. I have visited the one in Aberdeen, which does a marvellous job. I hope that health boards continue to fund them.
Hepatitis C Treatment
To ask the Scottish Government whether the savings arising from the renegotiation of the price for new hepatitis C medicines will be used to increase the number of people receiving treatment. (S4O-04930)
Our sexual health and blood borne virus framework, which we published this September, committed us to increasing the annual hepatitis C treatment target to 1,500. However, we were clear that we will keep that target under review as the price of therapies changes and as more treatments come to market. The treatment and therapies group, which we established to provide us with expert advice on such matters, will meet later this month to discuss recent developments. It includes members from national health service boards, procurement services and patient organisations. We will consider carefully any advice that the group provides.
The Scottish Government recently committed to eliminating hepatitis C as a public health concern. That is welcome but, to do that, we must increase even further the number of people who are diagnosed and treated. Will the minister consider establishing a working group under the new framework to investigate what steps we need to take to eliminate the virus, given the importance of realising that commitment?
The member is correct that we want to eliminate hep C in Scotland. The number that we are treating has been welcomed by all those involved. As I said, we have the treatment and therapies group, on whose advice we rely, and we look forward to its next report.
Farmers (Assistance)
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to assist farmers. (S4O-04931)
The Scottish Government supports farmers in a range of ways. We provide around £500 million per annum of direct support through the new common agricultural policy, which for the first time will have access for new entrants and coupled support schemes for both beef and sheep producers.
The Scottish rural development programme supports around 11,000 farmers and crofters through the less favoured area support scheme and the new multimillion-pound beef efficiency scheme that we are introducing. The schemes seek to help Scotland’s agriculture sector to have a profitable and sustainable future.
At a recent meeting in Thainstone, in my constituency, I met farmers and suppliers, who expressed concerns that the banks are not issuing overdrafts or bridging loans to suppliers. In particular, banks are not meeting suppliers to discuss overdraft facilities. I know that the cabinet secretary has met farmers and the banks to look at the issue. What can he do to allay the fears and concerns regarding overdraft facilities?
We share Dennis Robertson’s concerns over the cash-flow issues that many Scottish farmers and crofters face. For that reason, I recently met RBS, Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Scotland and HSBC to discuss their relationship with our farmers. They all assured me that they are standing by the sector.
If any farmers have any particular problems, they should alert their local bank as soon as possible. If Dennis Robertson can make available any examples of issues that he has spoken to his constituents about, I ask him please to let me have them, and I will discuss them directly with the banks.
I call Jim Eadie. [Interruption.] You pressed your button, Mr Eadie. I take it that you do not want to ask about farmers.
Not today.
There are not many in your constituency, then. [Laughter.]
Planning (Equalities Guidance)
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is available to planning authorities to ensure that equalities are central to the decision-making process. (S4O-04932)
Equality is integrated throughout Scottish planning legislation and guidance. A core value of the planning service is that it should be inclusive and engage all interests as early and as effectively as possible.
I highlight to the cabinet secretary the petition that was submitted to the Parliament on 3 December by the East Dunbartonshire Visually Impaired People’s Forum. It relates to shared-space schemes, which include the Catherine Street junction in my constituency, and the petitioners refer to the lack of consideration by East Dunbartonshire Council of the proposal’s impact on the visually impaired and the mobility impaired. Can the cabinet secretary give the group any advice?
I am aware of the petition and can confirm that officials have listened to the concerns of representatives from local disability groups. In general, shared-space schemes can be appropriate in some settings to put people and place before the movement of motor vehicles, but the decision is very much one for local decision making and local authorities on a case-by-case basis. It is clear that the forum’s members and people like them should be given every opportunity to ensure that the space allocation in their community is absolutely adequate to their needs.
What new efforts has the Scottish Government made to work with planning authorities to avoid the all-too-common scenario of local decisions being appealed and then overturned centrally?
I am not sure that that is entirely relevant.
Does the cabinet secretary share my concern, which Guide Dogs Scotland has also expressed, that people with significant visual impairments, dementia and mobility problems cannot orientate themselves through shared spaces because there are no significant landmarks?
I am very aware of the problem. Indeed, this morning, I launched the new official place standard tool, which will help local authorities and others to address some of these issues. The point that Dennis Robertson has raised is valid, and every planning authority—indeed, every department of every authority, including central Government—should take full account of it.
Common Agricultural Policy (Greening Measures)
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to adjust the common agricultural policy greening measures so that they can be implemented in the clearest way for farmers without jeopardising the environmental benefits. (S4O-04933)
Next week, I will meet representatives from the European Commission to explain why its greening requirements, and particularly the three-crop rule, are not compatible with Scottish agriculture and why common sense must prevail to enable our farmers to choose alternative measures through what are known as the equivalence rules.
At the Forth and Clyde regional meeting of NFU Scotland, various concerns were highlighted to me. I am concerned about a range of issues and particularly about the issue of grazing on ecological focus area buffer zones. The decision not to implement the grazing rule means that farmers are confused about the places where grazing cannot take place, and they are also confused about the buffers for watercourses and about whether an ecological focus area has to be added to that or can be part of the same buffer.
There are three elements to the European rules on greening the new common agricultural policy, and 30 per cent of the payments depend on farmers meeting those conditions. Where we have had some influence to ensure flexibility in implementing such things in Scotland, we have worked closely with the sector, but if any specific concern has been expressed to Claudia Beamish, I ask her to contact my office. The issue sounds quite technical, but I am happy to meet her, learn more about it and see what we can do.