Plenary, 13 Mar 2008

Meeting date: Thursday, March 13, 2008

Official Report 777KB pdf

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Question Time

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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General Questions

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Mayfield Community Regeneration Project (Funding)

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the withdrawal of housing estates renewal funding from the Mayfield community regeneration project in Arbroath will be used to offset local and national reductions in housing association grant, reported to be 25 per cent in Tayside in 2008-09. (S3O-2563)

No. The housing estate regeneration fund is not being withdrawn. The fund was introduced for a three-year period ending on 31 March 2008 and was only ever intended as a short-term programme. HERF monies are part of the 2007-08 budget and therefore cannot be used against spending plans for the financial year 2008-09.

Is there therefore an alternative that will allow money that was not able to be spent on phase 4 of the regeneration project at Mayfield, which is not yet completed, to be carried over, or is there alternative funding that councils can apply for to replace funding that was not used within the original allocation period?

In the situation that the member raises, the local council, partly through its own behaviour and partly through that of others, has not used the money available to it in the period up to 31 March 2008. It was made clear to the council on a number of occasions that the money would not be available after 31 March 2008 and that it could not be carried forward or rolled over into next year without the effect being a cut in the affordable housing budget.

There is no roll forward for the money in question. The money was reallocated to this year's priorities once the council made it clear that it would not spend it in the financial year up to 31 March 2008.

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Young People (Disabilities)

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to implement the findings of the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland's report on the moving and handling of young people with disabilities. (S3O-2612)

The Scottish Government welcomes the "Handle with Care" report from Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People and in particular its emphasis on consultation, dignity and positivity.

As with all issues and challenges faced by children and young people with disabilities, a coherent approach is required to moving and handling. We will develop an approach that covers practice in health, education, social work and other relevant sectors and that takes stock of the recommendations in "Handle with Care" as well as the views and feelings of children and young people and their families.

It is apparent from the report that a risk-averse culture has developed throughout Scotland, which is severely hampering the life chances and rights of children and young people, and it is clear that new and robust national guidance is needed. Will the minister agree to establish a stakeholder working group to develop that guidance, involving professionals, parents and children and young people, to ensure that the guidance brought into place is appropriate to their needs and takes into account their wishes and aspirations so that they can enjoy the fullest possible life?

I am certainly strongly supportive of the commissioner's recommendation that blanket no-lifting policies should be abandoned by local authorities. That poor practice is about penny-pinching on training and certainly not about improving accessibility.

Engaging with children and young people is obviously important, as is involving them in solving their accessibility problems. As the member will know, appropriate legislation is in place, including the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, with its requirement for all education authorities to publish a disability equality scheme.

Guidance is also available, including "Helping Hands: Guidelines for Staff who provide Intimate Care for Children and Young People with Disabilities", which was published in 1999. We will revise that guidance in the light of the commissioner's report and follow up on other reports, such as the Audit Scotland report "Adapting to the future: Management of community equipment and adaptations" and "Equipped for Inclusion: Report of the Strategy Forum: Equipment and Adaptations". We will involve parents and children in the revision process.

Will the minister consider establishing a central register of the number and distribution of children and young people who require moving and handling assistance, to enhance planning for resource allocation?

We can consider that when we review the recommendations in the commissioner's report and revise the guidance, as I have said we will. I will take on board that interesting suggestion.

My colleague Karen Gillon mentioned the safety of the children who are involved, but workers who participated in the consultation said that they felt restricted from lifting and handling and from offering the service that they would like to offer. How will the minister address that while ensuring the safety of children and of workers?

As I intimated, I am particularly interested in following up the commissioner's recommendations on local authority lifting policies. The guidance will focus on that.

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Underage Drinking

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address and highlight the dangers of underage drinking. (S3O-2607)

We have rolled out test purchasing of alcohol to crack down on retailers that sell alcohol to young people who are under 18. By the end of March, all police forces will have live test purchasing operations. However, we must get better at diverting young people from misusing alcohol in the first place. The curriculum for excellence will ensure that all young people are aware of the implications of the use and abuse of alcohol and become confident individuals who can make the right choices.

I ask the minister to continue to provide support and financial assistance to help educate young people about the danger to their health and the havoc that young folk who go about in crowds can cause in communities.

What more can the Scottish Executive do to deal with irresponsible adults who buy alcohol to sell or pass on to young people? We really should address that.

As the member is probably aware, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 creates wider offences, including those of selling alcohol to a child anywhere and of purchasing alcohol on a child's behalf, and, for a child, the offence of buying or attempting to buy alcohol anywhere. In line with the seriousness of selling alcohol to children, penalties have been raised from a £1,000 fine to a £5,000 fine, a three-month jail sentence or both. The act will come into force in September next year.

The issue is serious. Far too many adults are too willing to buy alcohol for those who are underage. If they are caught, they will feel the full force of the law. We need to get better at using intelligence to catch such individuals and we will examine additional measures to achieve that.

Does the Scottish Government have proposals to deal with the problem of underage and young drinkers who drive cars or ride motorcycles?

That issue is important. First, we need to get across the message that such behaviour is dangerous. We have only to look at the statistics to see how many fatal road accidents are linked to alcohol and drug misuse. Communication and education among young people are needed. We will take that forward in the review of substance misuse education in our schools. We have established a steering group to consider how we can improve young people's education on substance misuse, so that they are aware of the dangers, including the danger of using a vehicle when under the influence. We must also ensure that when any young person is caught acting in that manner, they are dealt with swiftly and severely.

The minister will be aware that Fife Constabulary is cracking down on adults who supply alcohol to young people and that, only this week, a second adult has been charged with supplying alcohol to two 12-year-old girls. However, tracing such adults is difficult and the police must rely on reports from the public. Does the minister agree that the Government should introduce a mandatory national ultraviolet marking scheme that would link alcohol products to the people who bought them? That would go a long way towards helping the police to do their job of identifying adults who break the law in that way.

We are willing to consider any ideas that could help us to identify such people. Of course, intelligence gathering is part of the solution and we need to examine how we can assist the police in that. For example, the use of closed-circuit television has helped with capturing the image of someone who has purchased alcohol and handed it over to young people. However, I am willing, as I am sure the Cabinet Secretary for Justice is, to examine any measures that may help us to support our police forces.

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Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route

To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale is in place for the public local inquiry into the Aberdeen western peripheral route. (S3O-2646)

We are making arrangements for the public local inquiry. I hope to announce shortly a date for the pre-inquiry meeting, which will set the inquiry's timescale.

Does the minister agree that time is of the essence? The AWPR is crucial to the north-east's economic wellbeing. Will he not only assure me that he will announce the inquiry in the immediate future, but guarantee that when the reporter makes her or his recommendation, the Government will reach a conclusion promptly?

I agree that the project is essential for the north-east. It has one of the highest rates of return among transport projects—that sits at 5, whereas the figures for other projects are dramatically lower. In line with our objective of supporting economic progress, we will seek to make the fastest possible decision that is consistent with fairness to all parties.

Does the minister agree that the AWPR's northern leg is less contentious than other parts? Could the public local inquiry, on which I hope he will announce details in the near future, be structured to proceed in segments that would allow faster progress to be made on delivering the AWPR?

We acknowledge that different parts of the route are subject to different challenges from objectors. People have been on the ground to undertake preliminary work on the northern leg of the route. I am confident that, overall, we will make the necessary progress and be able to proceed with the whole plan. We will see what the objectors have to say to the inquiry and what conclusions the reporter reaches. There will be several ways to deal with the outcome when we know it.

How does the minister intend to fund the western peripheral route when final decisions on it have been taken? Will those details be made public before the public local inquiry?

The route will be funded with money. The issues that the public local inquiry will cover relate to objectors' interests. Funding is unlikely to be relevant to the inquiry.

The First Minister has given a commitment to abide by the public local inquiry's recommendations, whatever they are. Will the minister confirm that that is still the Government's position?

It is unusual to reject the inquiry's findings, but the decision must be made by ministers, and of course ministers will make that decision. Parliament will be party to that. I am sure that we will make a decision that reflects the view of the 90-plus per cent of people in the north-east who want the road to be delivered as early as possible.

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Community Planning Partnerships <br />(Housing and Regeneration)

To ask the Scottish Executive how housing and regeneration issues will be developed by community planning partnerships. (S3O-2621)

Responsibility for the implementation of community planning sits with the partnerships themselves, and it is up to individual partnerships to decide how they develop housing and regeneration issues locally, within the overall context of Scottish Government priorities. To enable partnerships to regenerate communities, tackle poverty and remove barriers to work, they have each been awarded money from the fairer Scotland fund, which they can use as a catalyst to drive wider mainstream investment and improve services to people and communities.

The minister will be aware that, with the abolition of Communities Scotland, its officials are now resigning from local community planning partnerships. I am sure that the minister acknowledges that physical regeneration and community regeneration are central to effective work by community planning partnerships. Is he aware that, like housing associations, housing providers are not able to sit on community planning partnerships? What action is he taking to ensure that the critical work of the partnerships is sustained? Who will replace the Communities Scotland staff in the partnerships?

From 1 April 2008, Communities Scotland will cease to be a formal member of local community planning partnerships. It is our view that its role in the partnerships will not be taken by the Government's new housing and regeneration directorate—the successor body for many of Community Scotland's functions.

Responsibility rests with local authorities and other members of community planning partnerships. It is not for Government to micromanage and intervene in the local flexibility and freedom that community planning partnerships must have to exercise their functions and to make decisions that are best for their communities. What we have done is a step forward. The previous Administration was too keen to micromanage every single decision that local authorities and community planning partnerships took.

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Rape and Sexual Assault

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the historically low detection and conviction rate for rape and sexual assault. (S3O-2591)

We are committed to improving the way the justice system responds to rape and other sexual offences in Scotland—through law, through practice and through challenging public attitudes.

We will introduce legislation to reform the law in light of the Scottish Law Commission's report. We have asked the Scottish Law Commission to examine the law of evidence and in particular the Moorov doctrine. By 2009, the Crown Office will have implemented the 50 recommendations in the report on the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences.

Last week I announced funding for Rape Crisis Scotland to undertake a publicity campaign to challenge attitudes and preconceptions regarding rape.

The cabinet secretary will be aware of comments made by solicitor Iain Smith, who serves as a temporary sheriff and who described the 15-year-old victim of a rape as being "not very vulnerable". The cabinet secretary will also be aware of recent comments by Donald Findlay QC on a related subject. Can the cabinet secretary assure us that the Government does not agree with the stance taken by those lawyers? Will he act speedily to introduce legislation after the consultation on the Law Commission's report closes tomorrow?

Rape is the only crime in which the character of the victim is used in defence of the actions of the accused. Will the cabinet secretary assure us that he will act to bring that strange anomaly to an end, and will he assure us that the Government agrees with Roseanna Cunningham's motion that clothing is not an invitation to rape?

The Government will move as expeditiously as possible with regard to legislation; that was the commitment that we gave at the outset. We accept that inappropriate comments have been unhelpful. There are laws to ensure that victims giving evidence are protected from questions. Clearly, language used in the courts and elsewhere can be inappropriate.

We need to change the law. Changes have already been made, and we pay credit to past Administrations and to the Lord Advocate for her role in ensuring that changes have been made when necessary. We will not hesitate to make further changes when necessary.

However, individuals in Scotland—particularly males—have to challenge their own attitudes, consider their own language and accept some responsibility. Legislative change there must be; but cultural and attitudinal change there must also be.

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Tourism (Scottish Borders)

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting tourism in the Scottish Borders. (S3O-2650)

VisitScotland supports the Scottish Borders in a great many ways, including through the VisitScotland website www.visitscottishborders.com and through various brochures and guides. The area also features in a range of VisitScotland national marketing campaigns and in adverts in key publications.

Will the minister join me in paying tribute to the staff in the Selkirk office of VisitScotland Borders in my constituency? They have a very good record of promoting the area and are dedicated to the development of tourism in the Borders. Does the minister not understand the confusion as to why the provision is now being removed and replaced by a general south of Scotland provision? Does he not understand the anger felt by many people? At the very time when benefits are starting to accrue, the Government is removing a specific, dedicated, local office in the Borders and replacing it with a generic south of Scotland office.

I will join the member in making that commendation. However, I will also say that this is an operational matter for VisitScotland, which is aligning resources with demand in order to meet the purpose of developing tourism in the Borders. Mr Purvis must understand that, in other parts of Scotland, we are seeing greater collaboration and I am determined to ensure that that happens in the Borders. I want to create a situation in which we take full advantage of the small business bonus that now exists as well as the changes to visitscotland.com, which have aligned the service with the needs of Borderers such as Alan Keith.

I am delighted to say that His Excellency Rasoul Movahedian-Attar, the Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, has joined us today for First Minister's questions. Ambassador, on behalf of the Scottish Parliament, I welcome you.