Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, November 11, 2010

Official Report 1085KB pdf

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Scottish Executive Question Time

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General Questions

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Minister for Tourism and Heritage (Meetings)

1. To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with the United Kingdom Minister for Tourism and Heritage. (S3O-11858)

I met the UK Minister for Tourism and Heritage on 3 November 2010 in Edinburgh, as did my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism.

As the minister knows, the UK tourism minister is on record as saying that moving the clocks forward permanently by one hour would give a boost to leisure industries. Although that might be the case, can the minister confirm that, when she next speaks to her UK counterpart, she will emphasise the concerns about the proposal that I believe are shared in all parts of the Parliament and across Scotland? Does she agree that Scottish children walking to school in darkness is not an acceptable price to pay for an extra hour of sunlight in Sussex?

I agree with the member’s statements. Richard Lochhead and I have written to the UK Government on the issue. I can share with the Parliament comments that have been received from Caroline Spelman on the UK Government’s position. She said:

“May I reassure you that while the Government will always continue to listen to arguments for and against change, there are no plans to review the current arrangements for British Summer Time at this time.”

I say to the member politely, as I have said to other Conservative members, that the reason why we have the difficulty and are having to address the issue is that one of his Conservative colleagues, a certain Rebecca Harris MP, has introduced a private member’s bill called the Daylight Saving Bill. It is that Conservative member who is causing the difficulties. I politely ask John Scott to sort out policy on the issue within the Conservative party. However, we support the points that he makes in his argument.

On the issue of heritage, the minister is aware of concerns regarding the John Buchan museum near Broughton in Peeblesshire, which is currently operated by a family trust. Given the worldwide significance of John Buchan, who of course was the author of “The Thirty-Nine Steps” and a hundred other books and who was governor general of Canada, it is crucial to protect the vast collection of letters and other memorabilia in the museum. What opportunity is there for the trust to access the Heritage Lottery Fund or any other funds, if it has not already done so?

I thank the member for bringing the issue to our attention. I have great admiration for the centre and believe that it houses an important collection. John Buchan had a distinguished career as a writer and I am sure that many people want to visit that part of the world to see the collection. I urge the member to relay to the centre that we appreciate that it has concerns over the lease.

The member is right to identify the Heritage Lottery Fund as a possible avenue for application. I understand that the Heritage Lottery Fund would be more than happy to discuss a potential funding application with the centre.

Those who are charged with the promotion of tourism and heritage are apt to rather forget about the far north or to get the facts wrong. For instance, one leaflet promoting surfing described Thurso as an island. Will the minister encourage her UK counterparts and all whom she works with to please get the facts right about the far north of Scotland, because we have a great tourism product that we want to sell, but that is not helped by misinformation?

I am more than happy to do so, but I should not be a postbag for comments on the deficiencies of the UK Government on some issues. The member will no doubt be able to make representations to his UK Liberal Democrat colleagues who are now in government.

The opportunities for Caithness are huge. I hope that Jamie Stone will join me in celebrating the Royal National Mod’s achievements in Caithness, where the town of Thurso almost doubled its population as a result of the number of visitors who were there for the Mod. I urge him to encourage his Liberal Democrat councillors to celebrate the contribution that the Mod made, not only to Gaelic, but to tourism in Caithness.

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Economic Development (North Ayrshire)

2. To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to assist economic development in North Ayrshire. (S3O-11913)

The Scottish Government is involved in a wide range of activities to support North Ayrshire’s economic development, including providing over £12.5 million of regional selective assistance since 2007. That assistance has created 321 jobs and safeguarded a further 808 jobs in North Ayrshire.

Scottish Government officials recently met North Ayrshire Council to discuss economic development in the area. The council is reviewing its economic development strategy and more detailed discussion will take place when that is complete.

In addition, I participated in a positive pan-Ayrshire summit earlier this year that drew together a broad range of stakeholders to promote economic recovery and growth in the area, in the mutual realisation that all sections of the pubic and private sectors and the wider community with a contribution to make need to work collaboratively to achieve that outcome.

The minister will recall that he came to North Ayrshire three years ago to undertake with stakeholders a mind-mapping exercise. Is he aware that, over those three years, the claimant count has risen to almost twice the Scottish and United Kingdom average; passenger transport at Prestwick airport is set to decrease by about 45 per cent over the winter months, impacting on the local economy; and North Ayrshire has appeared 342nd out of 356 UK areas least likely to recover from the cuts? Does the minister recognise the frustration of local business and local people? What further direct action can he take to assist?

Other things are happening, such as the town centre regeneration fund and European funding, but we are dealing with fundamental matters here. We face the worst recession in 80 years, created very much at the hands of the previous Labour Government, which failed to manage the economy effectively and, with the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, failed to avoid the asset and debt bubbles and the moral hazard that we are all paying for now. That is the serious lesson. We continue to work assiduously with the council and I will be back in Ayrshire in January to try to take forward the situation in every way that I possibly can.

Does the minister agree that North Ayrshire is in a unique position to benefit from regeneration? It can secure resources, such as joint European support for sustainable investment in city areas—or JESSICA—funding channelled through the Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority money and, at Hunterston, its share of the £70 million announced last week to progress development of our renewables industry. This morning I met the Minister for Housing and Communities and Scottish Enterprise to discuss those issues.

Does the minister agree that co-ordination of the agencies involved in regeneration is fundamental to maximise public and private investment in North Ayrshire’s regeneration?

I very much agree with that analysis. I applaud that action and the bringing together of the multiple players who can help the process. I agreed today that I would go down there in January to help facilitate those actions and to ensure that we get some concrete plans and clear actions.

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Hydropower Resources

3. To ask the Scottish Government what information is available on the number of watercourses, weirs and dams used in the past for mills and power generation, whose potential might be explored for water supply, drainage and microgeneration initiatives. (S3O-11933)

Most watercourses are already an integral part of Scotland’s land drainage system. The potential for existing watercourses, weirs and dams to be used for hydro generation was explored in the Scottish Government’s hydropower resource study. The study included analysis of a data set of almost 2,000 existing weirs across Scotland. The study also found that it is now possible to install hydro turbines within the potable water system so that the existence of a potable water reservoir should not detract from hydropower potential.

In recent years, many of our European neighbours have reactivated water mills and early hydro schemes as modern microgeneration, hydro and pump storage projects owned by individuals, local authorities or local companies who earn money through the feed-in tariff. Will the minister consider such initiatives as part of meeting the Scottish Government’s low-carbon targets by 2020?

Yes. Where environmental impacts are acceptable, the use of old mills and weirs will have an important part to play in maximising hydropower generation. Currently, the feed-in tariff, which is a key support mechanism in allowing that to happen, applies only to new installations. However, following strong lobbying of the UK Government on the issue, a commitment has been given that hydro turbines of less than 50kW that were generating before 31 March 1990 can be remanufactured as new. That delivers an as-new warranty and eligibility for the feed-in tariff when installed by microgeneration certification scheme installers on the same site and therefore makes the redevelopment of old sites a stronger possibility.

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Grade-separated Junctions (Prioritisation)

4. To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its priorities for the establishment of grade-separated junctions following the publication of figures showing that, between 1999 and 2009, there were no fatalities at the Broxden, Inveralmond and Keir roundabouts compared with four fatalities on the A90 at Laurencekirk. (S3O-11877)

The grade separation of the Broxden, Inveralmond and Keir roundabouts is primarily about improvements related to relieving congestion and reducing journey times on the A9. Those improvements also form part of a strategy for upgrading the A9 between Stirling and Perth where, tragically, 27 fatalities have occurred between 1999 and 2009.

Regarding Laurencekirk, following the upgrade of the main A90 junction in 2005, we have made further safety improvements this year and will continue to keep the situation under close review.

Presiding Officer, you might wish to know that Mr Graham, father of Jamie Graham, one of those who tragically died at Laurencekirk, is in the public gallery.

In 2008, the minister told the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee that the need for a flyover on the A90 at Laurencekirk was

“on the radar, but ... we have to target our safety interventions where the need is greatest.”—[Official Report, Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee, 16 December 2008; c 1196.]

Does the minister genuinely believe that the need for safety improvements at those three locations where there have been no fatalities is greater than that at Laurencekirk where we have had four fatalities and many serious accidents, including that of Jamie Graham, whose life was lost?

The member is correct to quote me from 2008. We have, of course, made further investments in the three junctions at Laurencekirk with the precise aim of improving safety in that area. From 2005, there were four years without a fatality, showing that the previous improvements had made a difference. We believe that the improvements that we have made, on which we will conduct further safety investigations in the next few weeks, will make a similar difference.

Any fatality on our road network is a fatality too many. I extend my sympathy to Mr Graham, who is in the public gallery, and to all people who have lost their loved ones on Scotland’s road network.

Does the minister accept that although there have been no fatalities at the junction of the A90 and A937 since the junction improvements were instigated, the improvements were only ever likely to be temporary and the risk is still there? Further, has he considered my proposal for the inclusion of those junction improvements in the contracts for the Aberdeen western peripheral route?

I acknowledge that driving on Scotland’s roads is not entirely risk free. That is why we focus on areas of particular concern and why we have taken the actions that we have with regard to the three junctions at Laurencekirk.

We will understand our financial situation next week when the cabinet secretary introduces budget proposals. I remind the chamber that our top priority in the strategic transport projects review for investment in our surface transport network was to act on safety concerns above economic and any other concerns. That will continue to be our priority after the budget.

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Public Works Loan Board (Interest Rate)

5. To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers will be the impact on local authorities of the increase in the interest rate of the Public Works Loan Board. (S3O-11928)

The United Kingdom Government is directly cutting Scotland’s resources by £1.3 billion next year. We are working with our local government partners to reach the best possible budget settlement to support economic recovery and promote front-line services. However, the UK Government’s decision to increase the interest rates on loans offered to councils by the Public Works Loan Board is an additional handicap. By putting even more pressure on local authority budgets, it reduces their capacity to invest in a wide range of infrastructure projects, including on schools, roads, housing and flood prevention schemes.

I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I know that alarm bells are ringing across Scotland regarding the uplift in the interest rates of the Public Works Loan Board, which amounts to a 500 per cent increase. In Dundee alone, that will cost £400,000 next year. I have written to Glasgow City Council in the area that I represent to see what the burden will be on it and what the further constraints will be going forward.

Will the cabinet secretary make joint representations along with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to the UK Government to ask it to think again? My reading of the situation is that making public spending more expensive pushes councils to the more expensive private financiers. We saw how that ended—it was called the private finance initiative.

I am certainly very happy to make joint representations to the United Kingdom Government with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. We have co-operated on a number of representations to the UK Government in the past on issues that affect the ability of the Scottish Government and local authorities to undertake their respective functions.

As I said in my original answer to Mr Doris, the increase in the PWLB’s interest rate is an inhibitor to further development. If that had not taken place, investment in public infrastructure would have been easier for local authorities.

In his discussions with COSLA on budget setting, has the cabinet secretary taken into account the full consequences of the UK comprehensive spending review, which will cost Inverclyde Council £1 million a year?

Certainly we are having extensive discussions with local authorities on the question of the budget settlement. The local authorities of Scotland are as aware as the Scottish Government of the difficulties and challenges of the financial position, which have arisen out of the decisions of the previous Labour Government and the current Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition. We are working together to address those challenges.

Question 6 was not lodged.

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Dental Services (Fife)

7. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve dental services in Fife. (S3O-11936)

Responsibility for the overall provision of national health service dental services in the area rests with NHS Fife. The board is undertaking a range of measures to improve access to NHS dental services in Fife.

Is the minister aware that yesterday planning permission was granted for the new dental centre at Glenwood in Glenrothes? The centre, along with a similar one in Methil—which is also in my constituency—is a result of the £6.11 million investment by this Scottish National Party Government. Does the minister agree that that investment, along with the new practices in Glenrothes, will go a long way to improve the appalling situation inherited from the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat Government, which resulted in thousands of people in my constituency having no access to an NHS dentist?

I very much agree with what the member said. Of course, the primary and community care premises modernisation programme, in which we gave priority to the development of dental services and NHS dental provision, has led to the really important developments that Tricia Marwick has mentioned. Those developments will help to sustain the momentum whereby we have seen huge increases in the number of people who are able to be registered with an NHS dentist. I am sure that everyone in the chamber will welcome that.

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National Waiting Times Centre (Budget)

8. To ask the Scottish Executive when the individual board settlement for the national waiting times centre will be published. (S3O-11910)

The draft budget for the Scottish Government is due to be published next week and it will give an indicative baseline budget for the national waiting times centre and all other national health service health boards. Their budgets will then be finalised when the Scottish Government’s budget is approved, which is likely to be early next year.

As the cabinet secretary knows, the Golden Jubilee national hospital is unique in that patients attend for planned procedures. What number of planned procedures were agreed in advance for the current financial year; has that number been revised in the course of the year; and what number of planned procedures are intended to be carried out next year?

As the member knows, the national waiting times centre, of which the Golden Jubilee national hospital is part, is not only unique in Scotland but is also a real success story.

In 2009-10, the number of procedures was 26,500—19 per cent above the target that was set. In 2010-11, NHS boards requested 25 per cent more than the hospital’s current orthopaedic capacity. To address that, the hospital is increasing its activity for joint replacement operations. It will continue to ensure that it has the capacity in place to respond to the demands that are placed on it by other NHS boards.

I place on record my thanks to those at the Golden Jubilee national hospital, who have played an important role over the past number of years in reducing waiting times in Scotland to their current historic low.

I am afraid that that must conclude general questions.