SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
General Questions
Wanlockhead Museum of Lead Mining
To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact on tourism and the local economy will be if the Wanlockhead Museum of Lead Mining does not open for its annual season at Easter. (S2O-11414)
The Wanlockhead Museum of Lead Mining houses an important collection of mining artefacts. An estimated 15,000 visitors come to the museum each year and it is a major employer in the area, so its future is clearly important for the local tourism industry and for the economy of the area more generally. Because of that importance, we are working urgently with the Scottish Museums Council to examine the museum's financial position and to try to find ways of helping to keep it open.
Does not the minister agree that it is a farce that, although the Executive is prepared to offer Wanlockhead museum cash to employ a consultant to prepare an application for acceptance under the Scottish Museums Council's significance scheme and is prepared to offer it cash to advertise for a manager who might be asked to manage a museum, it is not prepared to give it assistance to open at Easter?
A lot more is happening than Mr Morgan has outlined. One of the things that we must do is ascertain why the Wanlockhead Museum Trust is in its current financial situation despite the fact that it already has considerable support from the public sector, not least from Dumfries and Galloway Council, which has promised funding into the next year, too. We must also gauge what other financial support or support in kind might be available to the museum from other organisations and we want to discuss with the museum the way forward, which might include commissioning a business plan.
I thank the minister for meeting me on several occasions to discuss this truly worrying matter. Following Alasdair Morgan's members' business debate on Wanlockhead Museum Trust and Museum of Lead Mining in the summer, the minister hinted strongly to him and me that the significance scheme would be the most likely provider of the certainty and sustainability that the museum needs. Does she agree that achieving recognition under the scheme is likely to take a worryingly lengthy time? Will she assure us that she will not oversee the museum's closure because of a short-term funding gap between now and its hoped-for acceptance to the scheme? Will she advise us on how an application to the scheme can be furthered if the museum is faced with closure, given that it will lose the staff who would make the application?
The museum has already lost its manager and the Executive has offered funding to assist the museum to advertise for a new manager to ensure that everything about which Alex Fergusson asks is in place, so he can see our commitment to the museum. I cannot pre-empt the decision on whether it would receive funding from the significance scheme, but it must be in the best possible position to apply for that funding. Obviously, if it is closed, it will not be able to do that. However, I do not think that there is any reason why the museum should close. It has already received significant funding for next year from Dumfries and Galloway Council and, given the level at which it has operated in the past, I am sure that that funding will be sufficient to allow it to continue to operate until such time as its significance is judged and rewarded, if that is the case.
The minister will be aware that the museum also has a significant impact in the neighbouring villages of Leadhills and Crawfordjohn in my constituency. Will she indicate what lessons can be learned from the situation about the support that the Scottish Museums Council gives to small museums such as Wanlockhead and how it can be developed in the coming months to ensure that such museums do not find themselves in the same position as Wanlockhead year on year?
It is fair to recognise the significance of the museum to the south of Scotland more generally. However, I must say that it was disappointing that, at the time of the announcement of the closure by the trustees in October, neither the Executive nor the Scottish Museums Council was aware that that was their intention, nor were we told that such a measure was being considered.
Blood Donors
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is planned to address the decline in the number of blood donors. (S2O-11446)
Last week, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service launched a campaign to highlight to the public that blood stocks are low and that new donors are urgently needed.
I pay tribute to the great work done by the blood transfusion service staff and Scotland's donors. Will the minister agree to look again at some of the restrictions on those who can donate blood? I am not only thinking about the restrictions on gay men as a group rather than as individuals, but, having been restricted for many years after having a blood transfusion when I gave birth, I know that a number of other restrictions are also in place. Will he agree to reconsider all the restrictions to see whether any could be removed or amended in a bid to increase much-needed donations?
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, along with the other United Kingdom blood services, bases its donation selection criteria on the best scientific evidence available. That is how the decisions are taken, and we have a standing advisory committee for the care and selection of blood donors.
Will the minister look into the possibility of the blood transfusion service visiting the Parliament so that members and others employed in the building can donate blood at a suitable location within the building instead of having to go outside to a trailer in the car park at Holyrood park? Does not he agree that such an arrangement might also help to publicise the good work that the blood transfusion service does?
I must be honest—I am not sure that I agree with the member. We ask everyone else in Scotland to cross the car park at work or in the town centre to get to the donation van, and I see no reason why we should do it differently here. However, he is right to recognise the valuable work done by the blood donation service, and we want to ensure that we attract more people to the service.
Central Heating Programme
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to introducing a priority medical list for the central heating programme. (S2O-11471)
The central heating programme currently gives priority to applicants who are over 75, disabled or living alone. Given that the majority of those people are likely to have a medical condition or some degree of social vulnerability, it is difficult to see how a medical priority system could operate without undue bureaucracy and inflexibility.
I am somewhat disappointed by the minister's response. Like many members, I have a constituent who, from 5 October, required a new central heating system. I make no apologies for deliberately pestering Scottish Gas to ensure that Mrs Charnock of Kilmaurs received appropriate heating and the facility for bathing that would assist her current medical condition. I am pleased to say that Scottish Gas rose to the challenge, and a new system was installed this week. I urge the minister to reconsider his decision so that older people are accommodated and their health and well-being are not further endangered.
Almost by definition, all people in the queue are vulnerable to a greater or lesser degree, and this is not just a medical issue. However, let me assure Margaret Jamieson that officials are currently in discussion with Scottish Gas representatives to look at how the existing arrangements for dealing with the most urgent cases can be improved.
The minister might be aware that there is some concern about how the transition from the Eaga Partnership to Scottish Gas is taking place. Some of the service providers suggest to me that there is an imbalance in terms of not just medical need but geography. Will he assure me that he will produce the data showing where the current service provision is happening? As I understand it, it might not be happening uniformly throughout Scotland. Will he review the criteria on which the service is made available, so that it is available to all who need it throughout Scotland and not just in some parts?
The intention is certainly to ensure that all parts of Scotland have access to the service. Scottish Gas has been signing up installers at a steady rate, and we hope to have full coverage across Scotland. We are making significant progress with that, but if Brian Adam wants to draw to my attention any particular area where he thinks that there is a shortcoming, I will be happy to respond to him.
Like Margaret Jamieson, I was slightly disappointed by the minister's opening response. May I point him to the fact that individuals who are under 75 but who still qualify for the scheme can be in great need? I am aware of one gentleman who has had a heart attack and suffers from Alzheimer's. He lives alone, and his heating system has collapsed, so he has had no heating or—perhaps more importantly—hot water since October. I suggest that there should be some means by which priority can be given in such a case.
As I said to Margaret Jamieson, we are looking at how we can establish a mechanism for dealing with the most urgent cases. I was simply making the point that, given that so many of the people who apply have medical conditions or some associated vulnerability, a medical priority system would create a potentially huge bureaucracy and inflexibility that might defeat the purpose that Phil Gallie is trying to point us towards. It is difficult to establish an effective priority mechanism based purely on medical grounds. What we need to do is recognise that the vast majority of people who apply have a degree of priority, identify the most urgent cases and then tackle them more quickly.
I again put on record my constituents' appreciation of the central heating programme, a scheme that has transformed the lives and living conditions of senior citizens in my constituency and right across Scotland.
We have made some significant progress. The initial waiting list of some 10,000 has been whittled down to about 4,500 people who are eligible. Scottish Gas is giving us clear indications that it expects to be able to install 6,000 central heating systems by March 2007, which is in line with the target given. Ministers will certainly do everything that they can following the transition, which has now happened, to ensure that the new contractor is up to speed in getting the systems in place as effectively as possible.
Will the minister consider extending eligibility to households with voluntary carers in which those who are cared for are not currently covered by the criteria?
There are proposals in hand to extend eligibility to people who receive pension credit. If Mr Robson writes to me with details of his particular concern, I will be quite happy to respond to him in writing.
Free Personal Care (Refunds)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated the total cost to local authorities of refunding charges for assisting with meal preparation that were incorrectly made by them following the introduction of free personal care. (S2O-11432)
No. It is for local authorities to estimate and meet their own spending commitments from the record resources that have been made available to them in recent years.
Is the minister aware that the cost of making refunds has been estimated at as much as £20 million? Moreover, will he confirm that, if the consensus of legal opinion that councils have sought concludes that such charges have been wrongly made as a result of the Executive's confusing, contradictory and downright erroneous guidance to councils, the Scottish Executive will fund such repayments through a supplementary allocation to councils to ensure that the current provision of personal care services is not adversely affected?
Mr McLetchie must have been overenthused by the consensus during this morning's stage 3 debate on the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill. Judgments on the application of laws are not usually arrived at through achieving a consensus of legal opinion, far less achieving a consensus among those who have been commissioned by local authorities—or, indeed, by anyone else—to provide such an opinion. In the position that he has described, Mr McLetchie fails to recognise that in on-going work that the Executive has commissioned, we are working closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to establish the degree of implementation of the service and the degree of consensus in its delivery. That is the key issue not only for us but for those who receive the service.
Pre-budget Report
To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's pre-budget report will be on Scotland's essential services, particularly in respect of education. (S2O-11430)
As education and opportunity for young people are central to Scotland's future, the Scottish Executive has invested substantially and purposefully in renovating the school infrastructure; in recognising, rewarding and recruiting additional teachers and other educational staff; and in refocusing the work of our schools, not least through support for educational leadership, initial and continuing teacher training and curriculum reform. We also recognise the need for schools to work in partnership with other services to support young people.
I am astonished that, in his response, the minister did not give a stronger commitment to education. Is he aware that the former Minister for Education and Young People stated very clearly that he did not know how many teachers in mainstream schools possessed qualifications at any level in either special educational needs or specific learning difficulties and that later, under pressure, he produced figures that equated to only 1 per cent or so of teachers? In view of the huge sums that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has allocated to education in England, will the minister give top priority to making it certain that far more teachers are qualified in additional support needs education and specific learning difficulties? The present numbers simply do not meet the nation's needs.
The Scottish Executive takes a more holistic view of those matters than the member seems to suggest. Given that health services impact on people's ability to learn and education services impact on health matters, such an approach is only proper.