SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
General Questions
Question 1 has been withdrawn.
Fire Sprinklers (Regulations)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the regulations for the installation of fire sprinklers. (S3O-1229)
Building regulations on fire safety are being reviewed by a building standards advisory committee working group. The installation of fire sprinklers is included in the review.
I draw the minister's attention to the concerns expressed by the Fire Brigades Union, Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service and the Scotland Patients Association about NHS Forth Valley's reluctance to consider installing a fire sprinkler system in the new Larbert acute hospital. Does the minister agree that modern fire sprinklers are the best way to protect people and property from fire? Will he consider extending the existing regulations for the mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in new hospitals and schools, particularly given the vulnerable nature of the individuals who occupy such buildings and the disruption that would be caused should they experience a fire?
The member will recall a visit that we both made some years ago to a demonstration of fire sprinklers—I think that it was in Hamilton. I was impressed by the efficacy of such provision and it is a subject in which I am taking a close personal interest as a minister.
Water and Sewerage Services (Charges)
To ask the Scottish Government when it intends to publish its consultation on the wider principles of charging for water and sewage services for 2010 to 2014. (S3O-1199)
The consultation will be published shortly.
I thank the minister for that helpful answer. As he knows, many smaller charitable and voluntary organisations and churches benefit from water and sewerage charge exemptions, but they are due to end in 2010. Although a commitment on the part of ministers to extend the existing exemption would be welcome, even more welcome would be a commitment to look favourably on the granting of mandatory 80 per cent relief to all charities and voluntary organisations, which has been recommended by the Scottish Charity Law Review Commission and supported by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Will the minister undertake to consider the proposal, which would clearly be of enormous benefit to Scotland's voluntary and charitable sectors?
Like other members, I have received a number of approaches on the subject. It is a matter of concern throughout Scotland. The member can be assured that the proposal is a key part of what we will consider when we look at what will happen after 2010. The approach to reviewing charges is, of course, based on ensuring that the customers who place the least burden on the water system pay the least. The member may care to consider his question in the light of that part of my answer.
Is the minister aware that there has been a constant volume of complaints about noxious smells emanating from the Dalmuir sewage works, which are spreading over a wide area of Clydebank? Is he prepared to kick up a stink of his own and intervene to bring some positive action and respite to the residents of Clydebank and, I fear, beyond?
Gil Paterson will forgive me for not having experienced the noxious smells in Clydebank personally—I had always had the highest regard for the environment there. I take note of his comments and will ensure that I discuss the subject with Scottish Water when I next meet its representatives.
Tourist Information Centres
To ask the Scottish Executive what future it envisages for local tourist information centres. (S3O-1192)
The Government is committed to working with Scottish tourism businesses to achieve our widely shared ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50 per cent by 2015. VisitScotland's network of tourist information centres is an important and valuable part of the visitor experience, but more and more visitors now use the internet to find information and book their holidays, so the role of the TIC network has to change in response to the changing pattern of visitor needs. How that should evolve and happen is an operational matter for VisitScotland.
The minister may be aware of the real concern in Perth and Kinross—an area where tourism is a primary industry—about the future of the TIC network and the potential for several centres to have their opening hours cut or even to be closed altogether. I listened with interest to what the minister said, but does he accept that the process is largely driven by budgetary pressures on VisitScotland? Will he give an assurance that the Scottish Government will provide the necessary finance to VisitScotland to ensure that any changes or closures come about not because of budgetary pressures, but for the operational reasons he outlined?
VisitScotland's budget is being increased, so I assure the member that the proposals are not a function of budgetary considerations. We ran an event for the tourism sector on 27 August, at which the issue did not arise. We are running another event on Monday 19 November—I would welcome it if Murdo Fraser or representatives of the tourist information centres in his area took part. I assure the member that the considerations will be about effectiveness and maintaining the TIC network tradition of being fluid to meet evolving demand and to maximise Scottish tourism's potential.
Will the minister consider locating local tourist information centres in many of our rural post offices? As I learned from my consultation on post offices earlier this year, it is already a fact of life that they are used for that purpose. Not everyone is on the internet, and many a traveller turns up at Innerleithen post office to find out what local places tourists should visit. Will he consider that suggestion as a route through which the Parliament can protect our sub-post office network, which apparently is to be axed? [Interruption.]
I remind members that many other areas are available for casual conversations. They should not take place in the chamber.
I respectfully suggest to Christine Grahame that we must leave the matter as an operational one for VisitScotland, whose job it is to optimise future tourism options. However, her suggestion seems to have merit and could tie in with an increased level of destination management, to allow us to drill down deeper and deeper into Scotland. An interesting phenomenon during the consultation on 27 August was the industry's desire to create a mosaic of more and more destinations, so that Scotland becomes a richer tapestry that enthrals visitors and encourages many of them to create a to-do list so that they come back for further visits.
The minister should be aware of the serious concerns in my constituency about the proposals' impact on the local tourism industry in the islands. He talked about the consultation that occurred earlier and the one that will happen later this month, but why was there no prior consultation on the proposals with VisitOrkney or Orkney Islands Council? The new and more centralised structure, in which VisitScotland's area office network division has been removed, asserts that current island offices will be retained. Will the minister guarantee not only that the office in Orkney will be retained, but that it will not be downgraded at all as a result of the proposals? Can he assure my constituents, many of whom work in and rely on a vibrant tourism sector, that there will be no reduction in VisitOrkney's funding or autonomy?
The messages that the member has just given will be taken into account as we have further debate with VisitScotland and other stakeholders on Monday. I believe that those concerns will be addressed by the agency, which is now looking forward to being a key part in developing Scotland's economy and ensuring that Scotland and its constituent parts become all that they can be in developing Scotland's tourism economy.
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the future of all tourist information centres. (S3O-1188)
In essence, what I just said to Murdo Fraser is the message that I pass on to Elizabeth Smith. The network of tourist information centres has an important role in the growth of tourism in Scotland, but the details are an operational matter for VisitScotland and must remain so.
I thank the minister for that answer and for his comments to Murdo Fraser. Does he accept that much of the concern among the public about the future of tourist information centres throughout Scotland arises because of the absence of a Government commitment to put in place a coherent national strategy for the promotion of the tourism industry, which is one of the most important industries in Scotland's economy?
I regret that the member has not been connected with what has been happening in Scotland of late. We have restructured the enterprise networks and included tourism interests in the strategic forum—which meets next week for the first time—where they will be at the hub of developing our tourism and wider economic goals. I assure the member that the fabric of the proposals will allow us to optimise what we can achieve. If a strong case can be made for a local tourist information centre, I believe that it will survive. However, we must put out the message that we expect all of Scotland, all tourism providers and all tourist information centres to pack together to attain a new level of effectiveness. The year of homecoming, which is coming up in 2009, presents a real opportunity—we can be slightly duplicitous by making it the year of homecoming in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The centres that are doing well and making a big impact will undoubtedly survive, in my view.
I listened carefully to the minister, but I have a slight concern. When communities the size of Crieff in my constituency discover that their tourist information centres are under threat, that raises many questions about the future of tourist information centres as a whole and is a matter of great concern. Crieff is not a small place and its tourist information centre is not small. Will the minister reconsider just a little his hands-off approach to tourist information centre closures, because they are a big problem for many rural constituencies?
I reassure the member that the Government is holding VisitScotland and other elements of Scotland's economic development more closely to account than has ever been the case before. The elements of the tourism fabric that are effective and doing well will, I believe, continue. I was in Crieff last week for a session at Crieff Hydro, at which the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions was represented. As a result of the enthusiasm that we have put into that association, the volumes that can be attracted to Scotland will increase materially, which will play a part in the long term. However, it is not the Government's role to second-guess and micromanage VisitScotland—we trust the professionals.
Tourist centres throughout Scotland report an increasing interest from Scotland's diaspora in genealogical tourism. With 2009 the planned year of homecoming, what plans does the minister have to involve tourist centres in that year of events and in genealogical tourism more widely, not least in the islands, which played such a disproportionate role in Scotland's story of emigration?
That presents a real opportunity and we are looking to widen it. There is potential for tourist information centres to link locally with families, churches, schools and local councils and to be part of a message to people in the wider world to come home to Scotland. Local families can be encouraged to look at their family archives, remember who was married in 1974 or 1985 and is now living in Auckland or Toronto, and get the message out. We can match what happened last year, when Congressman Mike McIntyre came back and re-took his wedding vows in the church where his great-great-grandfather was married, in Lismore. I suspect that, in the Western Isles, there is lots of scope to bring back many congressmen and many others.
Economic Development (Fife)
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to support economic development in Fife. (S3O-1207)
We place great importance on supporting and increasing economic development opportunities throughout Scotland, including in the kingdom of Fife. The Government's economic strategy sets out how the Government will focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all Scotland to flourish through increasing sustainable economic growth. The strategy sets out an approach to growth that is both shared and sustainable, with a strategic target focused on ensuring that growth is cohesive across Scotland's regions.
As the cabinet secretary will be aware, much of Fife's economic development depends on the use of the Forth rail bridge. I am concerned about the capacity issues with the bridge in supporting that economic development. Is he aware that much of the bridge's current capacity relates to the rail freight of English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd, which transports coal to Longannet power station via Dunfermline in my constituency? EWS may now—
A question, please, Mr Tolson.
Sorry, Presiding Officer.
Mr Tolson makes a fair point about the significance of removing coal traffic from the Forth rail bridge to the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link, which the Government expects to be open for business next year. Discussions on the issue are underway with Transport Scotland. I assure Mr Tolson that the Government will do everything in its power to ensure that the matter is resolved.
Education
To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to improve the education of young people. (S3O-1247)
As we informed Parliament yesterday, the Scottish Government is making long-term investments in our country's future to create a smarter Scotland. Our key priorities for young people are the important early years of children's lives, early intervention for vulnerable children, young people and families and further developing lifelong learning to achieve a competitive and economically sustainable Scotland. To help deliver that, we are fostering a new, productive relationship with local government that will provide better value and a better deal for Scotland's children, young people and families.
I congratulate the Executive on managing to unite teachers, students and university principals, albeit in criticism, on yesterday's budget. The Scottish National Party's manifesto talked about every child achieving its full potential and ambition, but that is made much harder to attain by yesterday's education funding squeeze. Labour pledged to increase the number of modern apprenticeships to 50,000 per year—
A question, please.
Will the minister confirm that yesterday's budget does not fund one extra apprenticeship place? Is this not another example of the SNP failing the young people of Scotland?
It is time for Rhona Brankin to throw away her broken record on education. She should be aware that, under this Government, ambition is replacing mediocrity.
We can have a very brief supplementary question from Christopher Harvie. Alternatively, as he is not here, before we move on to First Minister's question time, I am sure that members will wish to join me in welcoming our visitors in the Presiding Officer's gallery: His Excellency Carlos Miranda, Count of Casa Miranda, who is the Spanish ambassador to the United Kingdom; and Mr Jaime Crombet Hernández-Baquero, who is vice-president of the National Assembly of Cuba. [Applause.]
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