SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Argyll and Bute Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it next plans to meet Argyll and Bute Council and what issues will be discussed. (S1O-2712)
The Executive has no immediate plans for a formal meeting with Argyll and Bute Council.
If the Executive ever gets round to meeting Argyll and Bute Council, I suggest that one issue for discussion might be the recent settlement on local government funding. I remind Peter Peacock of Angus MacKay's comments. He who said that the special islands needs allowance had been reviewed and that
The SINA grants a major boost to Argyll and Bute and its allocation follows a long campaign by the council for that addition to its expenditure. It adds something like £4.1 million to Argyll and Bute's spending over the next three years—spending that it would not otherwise have had. That implements in full the consultants' recommendations on proposals for Argyll and Bute. It adds to the £38 million more that Argyll and Bute will be able to spend over the next three years. It is extremely good news for Argyll and Bute—I am surprised that the Scottish National Party does not welcome it.
Will the minister clarify what the increase in the capital allocation is for Argyll and Bute? What extra help has been given to satisfy the request for help with the new waste disposal system that it is about to be set up at Lingerton?
As with the revenue settlement, Argyll and Bute will receive a major increase in its capital allocations of 20 per cent, leading to a total settlement of £12.3 million. In addition, we are in discussion with Argyll and Bute Council concerning the matter that George Lyon raised last week about the council's waste management proposals. We will look as sympathetically as possible at how to help in that situation.
Is the Executive aware that the proposed waste disposal site at Lingerton appears to be in contravention of the Executive's guidelines on proximity of waste and the transport of waste by road?
That is a planning matter, which, in the first instance, would be a matter for the local council. The Executive might have a role later. I will alert my colleague, Sam Galbraith, to that possibility.
Question 2 has been withdrawn.
Rural Deprivation
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sufficient statistical information to identify the exact extent of rural deprivation. (S1O-2686)
No, we do not. I have already acknowledged that our understanding of rural poverty and deprivation is not as developed as our understanding of urban deprivation. That is why we have established the rural poverty and inclusion working group, one of whose aims is to seek to improve understanding of rural social exclusion in Scotland, including identification of key indicators and ensuring that those are appropriately developed for and measurable in rural areas. I look forward to receiving the group's report in February 2001.
I thank the minister for that helpful reply. I am sure that he recognises that low pay is a pervasive problem in rural areas, which—with the lack of public transport and the high cost of using a car—means that there is a disproportionate impact on those who are poorly paid, especially in my area, which is the rural north-east. I am delighted to hear that the working group will report in 2001. Will he confirm that the purpose of its report will be to ensure that urban and rural deprivation are recognised equally?
I think I got the question.
I welcome the minister's assurance that he will look in greater detail at the amount and nature of information on rural deprivation. Can he assure me that his study will also include areas in the south of Scotland, such as Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, which have not traditionally been thought of as rural communities, but which suffer from many of the same problems as other more remote rural areas?
Yes.
The level of rural deprivation clearly relates to the extent to which people can afford to live in our rural communities. Can the minister tell the chamber whether the cost of living in rural Scotland has increased or decreased in real terms since he took office?
I am unable to provide that information off the top of my head. That is precisely the difficulty that we have in assessing rural deprivation. The dispersed nature of deprivation in rural areas means that it has not been picked up adequately by all sorts of measures, because the way in which those measures were constructed and the indices that were available all assumed that there would be close clusters of information. That is the purpose of tackling the issue properly for the first time and of developing indices that are appropriate to rural problems.
Children's Rights
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government about the removal of the 1991 reservation on immigration and nationality from the United Nations convention on the rights of the child and any implications for its policies on the welfare and rights of all children in Scotland including refugees. (S1O-2723)
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues. Immigration and asylum is a reserved matter, as is agreement to international conventions.
Is the minister content that, simply because of their status, refugee children are denied the same rights and protection as all other children in Scotland? Is he comfortable with the fact that they are actively discriminated against because of it is a reserved matter? Is not he ashamed to be implementing child welfare policies that exclude refugee children? Does not he believe that children who seek asylum are children first, and that all children in Scotland should be treated equally?
As I indicated, specific agreement to international conventions is a matter for the Westminster Government. However, the Scottish Parliament has a responsibility for a wide range of issues to ensure that the children of asylum seekers and refugees are treated in exactly the same way as any other children. We have many things to do to promote that. As I indicated last week, we must send out positive messages. More specifically, through our actions and through the Scottish asylum seekers consortium—of which the Executive is a member—we must ensure that all refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to health services and education and that they have access to the same protection by the police and the criminal justice system as others have.
Will the minister agree to meet representatives of asylum seekers? Like other members, I have received representations from asylum seekers about the inadequate arrangements that are made for their accommodation in Scotland. It is important that the minister deals with the practical points that affect the children and adults who are asylum seekers.
I gave such an undertaking in response to Shona Robison's question last week. She referred specifically to the children of asylum seekers, but I am happy to meet representatives of any asylum seekers. Indeed, as I said last week, I visited asylum seekers in Glasgow during the summer—I would certainly like to continue in the same vein.
The minister will probably be aware that Her Majesty's Government's Home Office is currently undertaking a review of the stigmatising voucher scheme, the deadline for which is next Friday. Can the minister confirm whether he will submit evidence to that review about the operation of the voucher scheme in Scotland?
The decision of the United Kingdom Government to have a review of the voucher system will be widely welcomed. However, the specific matter of vouchers is a reserved area. In answer to Irene McGugan's question, I referred to a range of issues that are the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament—it is a very large range of issues. We must stick to the issues for which we have responsibility, just as the Westminster Government must stick to the areas for which it has responsibility.
Secretary of State for Health (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Secretary of State for Health and what matters were discussed. (S1O-2714)
I met the Secretary of State for Health, along with representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland, on 28 November 2000. Susan Deacon has had frequent meetings with the secretary of state and other ministerial colleagues in the past year.
I thank Mr Chisholm for that very comprehensive report on the meetings that have taken place with the Secretary of State for Health. In the light of the recent report on autism in the greater Glasgow area by the National Autistic Society, will the Executive implement some joined-up thinking and utilise communication links to establish a centralised information service? That would mean creating formal links between health services, social work departments and the education authorities, which would enable us to assess more effectively the full range of service provision that is available for carers of sufferers and sufferers of autistic spectrum disorders.
I noted the publication of the report this week, but I have not yet read it. Clearly, I will want to give it serious consideration. The report said that not everybody who suffers from such a disorder has been diagnosed as such. That problem needs to be addressed, along with the issue of service provision. However, to a considerable extent we have dealt with that through our learning disability review.
Will the minister take the opportunity to discuss with the Secretary of State for Health what is referred to on page 19 of today's health plan as
There are several routes for the disbursal of the £100 million. Some of it will be disbursed centrally, some will be channelled through health boards, and about £30 million of it will be disbursed through local authorities. Historically there have sometimes been problems of local authorities not using money for the purposes for which it is allocated. The Executive is addressing that issue. It is doing so with the new community care money, through agreed outputs. We want to adopt the same approach with the money for the drugs programme. The drug action teams will also have an important role in dealing with that money. That will ensure that there is complete transparency in how the money is spent.
At his previous meeting with the Secretary of State for Health, did the minister discuss the meeting of European Union health ministers that is taking place in Brussels today? At that meeting, issues such as tobacco control, programmes to improve public health throughout Europe and the availability of paediatric medicines will be discussed. Given that all those issues are within the devolved competence of the Parliament, can the minister advise us which minister is representing Scotland's interests at that meeting?
Action against smoking is one of the Executive's central priorities and legislation on tobacco advertising will be introduced shortly. Action against smoking is a major feature of the health improvement fund. Nicola Sturgeon is trying to shift us away from the substantive issues of smoking and tobacco on to a constitutional dispute about who is representing Scotland in Europe. Scotland is stronger in Europe because it is part of the United Kingdom.
North Lanarkshire Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met North Lanarkshire Council and what matters were discussed. (S1O-2715)
The Executive last met North Lanarkshire Council formally on 22 November 1999. The follow-up to the McIntosh report was discussed at the meeting.
I am surprised that the council did not take the opportunity to raise the issue of Airdrie Academy, which I consider to be in crisis. The main block has been evacuated and the pupils will be bussed around the town, which will, no doubt, disrupt their education. There are also health issues at stake. When will the Executive pluck up the courage to put in place the investment that will allow us to build a replacement school before the existing one falls down?
I am aware of the situation at Airdrie Academy. I examined the issue when I was responsible for education matters. Karen Whitefield, who is the directly elected member for that area, has also kept me closely informed. It is a matter for the council and it prioritises its own capital spending. However, the Executive is helping the council. We gave it a supplementary capital allocation in 1998 of £450,000 and a further supplementary allocation this year of £500,000.
Does the minister agree that the Scottish Executive is well aware of the problems at Airdrie Academy? Evidence of that came with the granting of £500,000 to allow removal of asbestos from and re-roofing of the building. Does the minister also agree that the only way in which the matter will be taken forward is by approval of a PPP, which will allow a new school to be built on the site of Airdrie Academy?
The Executive is well aware of the situation at Airdrie Academy, not least because of the diligence of Karen Whitefield in bringing it to our attention.
Renewable Energy
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it offers or plans to offer to local planning authorities regarding development proposals for renewable energy. (S1O-2703)
We published the revised national planning policy guideline 6 "Renewable Energy Developments" on 30 November.
I thank the minister.
Maureen Macmillan is right about the difficulties that there were with planning permission for not only wave energy, but for all the other forms of renewable energy. That was the basis on which we produced the national planning policy guideline 6.
What plans does the Scottish Executive have to link up producers of renewable energy with the national grid, as is the case in Denmark, which is the leader in renewable energy in Europe?
Renewable energy will be linked to the national grid in the normal way. Access methods and charges will follow the usual procedure. There is a problem in the west of Scotland, where much of the renewable energy will be generated, because the grid is not adequate to take large amounts of it in future. A preliminary study has examined that. We are conducting a more detailed study before we make final plans to establish a grid on the west coast that will take all forms of renewable energy.
Has the minister been advised about the anomalies that relate to funding and planning guidelines for biomass?
We never publish the advice that we receive, but I am aware of the problems with biomass. It is probably less important than wind in Scotland, but biomass—especially forestry biomass, of which there is much in Scotland—does have a role. The matter is out for consultation, but I hope that it will be included in Scotland's renewable obligations.
Ethnic Minorities
To ask the Scottish Executive what role the voluntary sector has in the provision of services for ethnic minorities. (S1O-2701)
Voluntary organisations in Scotland provide a wide range of services for the black and minority ethnic communities. A review of Executive support for the black and minority ethnic voluntary sector is under way and I expect to receive the consultants' report on 29 January 2001.
Does the minister agree that leaving a non-English speaking Chinese family late at night with instructions for tending a sick child that they could not understand—as happened recently in Aberdeen—is unacceptable? Furthermore, does she agree that all NHS services—whether acute or primary care—should ensure that they have access to suitable interpretation services, which could be provided by the voluntary sector?
The example that Elaine Thomson has highlighted is unacceptable and I recognise the difficult issues that she flags up. The Executive is committed to ensuring high standards of translation, interpreting and communication across the public services in Scotland. In fact, we have convened a group to assist in the development of national standards in that area. I hope that the group will report by summer 2001.
Will the minister define broadly the make-up of ethnic minority groupings? Will she offer some idea of the proportion of those groupings in our overall population? Finally, how much public funding goes to the voluntary sector to support those groups?
According to recent figures, that proportion is 1.6 per cent of the population. We are undertaking a review of strategic funding to the voluntary sector, which will include the funding of black and ethnic minority organisations.
Is the minister aware that asylum seekers and refugees who wish to volunteer their services as interpreters and helpers for the Scottish Refugee Council and for other asylum seekers are prevented from doing so because they are not allowed access to bus fares that would take them to the middle of town? They are not even allowed money for lunch, which means that they are prevented from helping out. Does the minister agree that that situation is detrimental to asylum seekers and refugees and to the voluntary sector? Furthermore, will she give me an assurance—
Enough, I think.
I do not understand the question.
Can you reply?
I do not know.
Can I finish the question?
Please make it a quick question, then.
I will make it quick. Will the minister make representations in order to remove that anomaly, which is happening in Glasgow in particular?
I refer the member to Malcolm Chisholm's earlier reply. The Executive is committed to ensuring that there are proper services for asylum seekers within our communities. Having listened to Malcolm Chisholm's commitment on this issue, I have great confidence that he will deal with all the details and any anomalies.
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and what issues were discussed. (S1O-2691)
I last met representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on Monday this week. We discussed 21st century government issues.
I assume that COSLA took the opportunity to question the deputy minister on the recent budget settlement. Councils in Glasgow, Perth, South Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, Fife, Aberdeenshire and Stirling have said that they will still have to make cuts, despite last week's budget allocation. Does the deputy minister agree with the comments of the Minister for Finance and Local Government in last week's debate that councils should now adjust to a system of investing instead of making cuts?
This year we have repealed some of the measures that the Tories introduced to control local spending. For example, as the Executive has abolished the local guidelines that pushed the controlled spending of councils, it will not make any enforced cuts on councils.
Will the minister share my surprise at the Tories' tactics in supporting local authorities, when Conservative Administrations could only promise the return of the stone of destiny; propose council tax rises of 20 per cent in Glasgow; destroy local communities—
Order, order. We must have a question.
Paul Martin is absolutely right to illustrate the contrast between this Executive and previous Conservative Administrations. This Executive is putting right the wrongs that were perpetrated in local government over 20 years.
In the context of the minister's discussions with representatives of COSLA on 21st century government, has he taken a slightly narrower focus and considered the possible settlement of the McCrone talks? Has he given a cast-iron guarantee to local authorities concerning the funding of the McCrone settlement, if a settlement is reached? Worries about that are emerging in local authorities, most recently in Dumfries and Galloway Council, representatives of which I met on Monday.
Serious, detailed negotiations are under way. The Executive has been careful not to intervene in those negotiations to avoid pre-empting any decision. How much of the settlement the Executive will be able to fund depends on the outcome of the negotiations. None the less, the Executive is prepared to consider such funding in the context of the outcome of those negotiations. We do not intend to leave local authorities short.
Is Santa Claus aware that the president of COSLA and the rest of my constituents in East Lothian did not have their bins emptied for four weeks because of the dispute between Unison and COSLA? Does he share the relief of people throughout my constituency that local discussions have restored that important service? More importantly, can he confirm that the recent three-year financial settlement will make it possible for councils to negotiate a longer-term agreement to recognise the value of manual workers who provide essential public services for our communities?
Like John Home Robertson and many others, I am relieved that measures have been taken in East Lothian and Midlothian to clear up the refuse that was left as a result of that dispute. John Home Robertson is right to draw attention to the fact that the three-year stability package and the grant figures that are being given for the first time create a climate of some certainty, in which local authorities can plan with their employees how best to structure their wage packages over the coming years. That ability to plan creates much more stable industrial relations.
I hope that the minister is aware that Glasgow is the poverty capital of Scotland. Council tax there is 25 per cent higher than it is in the rest of Scotland and incomes are 18 per cent lower on average. The new Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, Charles Gordon, says that
We recognise—through the work of the enterprise companies and the social inclusion partnerships—the challenges that face Glasgow, not only in local government, but in health and employment. The Executive is providing more resources right across the board, which is why Glasgow City Council receives the highest amount of grant per head of population of any council in Scotland—22 per cent above the Scottish average and 40 per cent above that of City of Edinburgh Council. That is part of the process of targeting extra resources at cities such as Glasgow, to try to resolve their problems.
New Deal
To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have entered full-time education because of the new deal. (S1O-2709)
I thank the minister for her answer and comments. As the MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, I take pleasure in the success of the new deal in my constituency. Does the minister agree that the success of the new deal is testimony to the hard work and commitment of the young people of Scotland? Furthermore, will she outline what other steps the Executive is taking to ensure that young people in Scotland acquire the necessary skills to prepare them for employment?
I commend the work that is done by Linda McTavish, the principal of Anniesland College, who is a member of the new deal task force. In stark contrast to the arrangements under the Tories, she is ensuring that young people who participate in the new deal are not just put on poor job schemes, but have the opportunity to enter full-time education and training. Anniesland College is leading the way in that respect, and we intend to achieve more.
Environment
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer by Mr Sam Galbraith on 24 November 2000 to question S1W-11158, who represented it as part of the UK delegation at November's United Nations climate change summit in The Hague. (S1O-2694)
Scotland and the rest of the UK were represented at The Hague by Mr John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and by Mr Michael Meacher.
I will not ask a question about the contribution of two Jaguars to climate change. That is a separate issue.
The answer to virtually all of those questions is no. We choose when it is appropriate for us to go to such conferences and our officials always attend. Our philosophy is that we are stronger when we are a part of the UK, and weaker when we are apart from the UK.
Drug-related Deaths
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to bring together all agencies working to reduce drug-related deaths. (S1O-2685)
At a local level, drug action teams bring together all the relevant agencies that are tackling drug misuse, including health boards, local authorities, the police, the Prison Service and the voluntary sector. Reducing drug-related deaths will depend on the work of all those agencies. The Executive monitors the work of drug action teams. Reducing the number of drug-related deaths is one of a number of national targets that I announced recently.
I welcome the target set by the minister. I am sure that he agrees that one drug-related death is one too many. What action does the minister expect the agencies to take to reduce the number of such deaths?
I can only agree with Trish Godman that one drug-related death is one too many. However, the hard fact is that drug-related deaths increased to 340 in 1999, which is the last year for which we have figures. The target that we have set to reverse that trend is challenging, but we are determined to achieve it. The detail of how we will do that and of the areas in which we will invest to ensure that we do will come when we reveal the detail of the £100 million investment over three years that has already been announced. That will lead to increased treatment options including more shared care, more needle exchanges and, importantly, better through care for those leaving prisons' treatment programmes.
As a large number of recent drug deaths have involved people who have recently left prison, does the minister agree that we need the investment that he has outlined in treatment and through care to be delivered on the Simpson House model and through a network of halfway houses for problematic drug misusers in prison and leaving prison?
I think that I answered Mr Raffan's question in my previous answer. I agree that, in dealing with drug-related deaths, there is an important moment when people leave prison and return to the community. The details of our investment in through care will come in time.
Health Service
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the criteria used in the Arbuthnott formula for health expenditure in Scotland. (S1O-2696)
We have no plans to carry out a formal review of the Arbuthnott formula, although we will continue to examine carefully the effects of implementing it.
Does the minister agree that Grampian health services are net losers with the Arbuthnott formula, even though they have the worst record in Scotland on the Government's criteria for health need, such as waiting lists? Is not it true that the effects of the Arbuthnott formula will make the situation worse?
No health board in Scotland will have any resources taken away. In fact, every health board will get a minimum increase next year of 5.5 per cent. A lot of work went into the Arbuthnott formula and I pay tribute to the Arbuthnott committee. I also pay tribute to the Health and Community Care Committee for all the work that it did, as the formula was considered again after the committee had commented on it.
Given the lack of recognition in the first formula for the unique needs of the 26 inhabited islands in Argyll and Bute, does the minister share my concern about the comments of John Aldridge? He said:
I remember the discussions and the technical arguments surrounding the matter. I do not think that the introduction of ferry kilometres would have made an enormous difference. The reality is that the island health boards, like all the others, will benefit by a minimum of 5.5 per cent. Some of the island health boards come way beyond the Scottish average as regards what they will get per head.
Teachers (Stress)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to measure stress-related absence among teachers. (S1O-2697)
No, because the management of teacher absence, for whatever reason, is the responsibility of local authorities, as teachers' employers. However, the national management information system that is being developed will be capable of collecting the information necessary for us to discuss the issue with our partners in the local authorities if there is a need to do so.
Aberdeenshire Council recently informed me that 11 per cent of primary school teachers in that area are off work through illness. The teachers tell me that that illness is stress related. Should not the minister investigate stress-related absence among teachers throughout Scotland, to find out the impact that his policies are having in our schools so that he can change his policies to give teachers less misery?
I remind Richard Lochhead of the substantial increase in the levels of staffing in schools, which is helping to deal with stress among teachers and the associated challenges. I also commend the teaching profession for the fact that, despite the absence levels in schools and the fact that stress is a factor in that absence, the absences in the teaching profession are lower than for any other local authority employee group because of the level of teachers' commitment to working in the classrooms of Scotland.
Is the minister aware that the anti-workplace-bullying network has said that one of the major causes of stress among teachers is the adult bullying of teachers and that bullying extends inside from the playground into the staff room, in particular with regard to managers of the jackboot tendency in local authorities?
Dorothy-Grace Elder's original question was about schools. I can confirm to her that any instance of violence, bullying, intimidation or indiscipline in Scotland's classrooms or elsewhere at Scotland's schools, whether it is the responsibility of an adult or of a child, is entirely unacceptable. I am currently discussing with my officials how to improve the current situation, and I intend to make announcements on the matter soon.
Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2565 given by Sarah Boyack on 23 November 2000, what progress has been made in on-going negotiations with Her Majesty's Treasury regarding the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes. (S1O-2717)
While there is no legal entitlement for STG pension scheme members to share in the surplus, ministers are continuing to work closely with HM Treasury on the issue. As I said in this chamber on 25 October,
Does the minister recall telling me in July that the Executive hoped
It is very much our intention to bring this matter to a speedy resolution. The assiduous way in which Dennis Canavan has pursued this issue has ensured that it is at the top of our agenda. I give him the assurance that we will continue to work to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion.
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