Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, March 17, 2011

Official Report 1148KB pdf

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Scottish Executive Question Time

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Health and Wellbeing

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Housing Associations and Co-operatives (Meetings)

1. To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Housing and Communities last met representatives of housing associations and co-operatives and what issues were discussed. (S3O-13348)

I met a range of housing stakeholders, including the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, at the housing policy advisory group on 10 March to discuss the Scottish Government’s recent policy document, “Homes Fit for the 21st Century: The Scottish Government's Strategy and Action Plan for Housing in the Next Decade: 2011-2020”.

I understand that the minister has announced that in his innovation fund, housing association grant will be cut drastically to £40,000 a unit. What consultation has he had with housing associations and co-operatives on that? How will he take into account their concerns about the impact of that decision on the capacity of housing associations and co-operatives to do what they do best, which is building affordable homes and maintaining them long term in sustainable communities? Does the minister recognise that that short-term decision goes against his Government’s stated policy of preventive spending?

If it had been left up to Johann Lamont, housing associations would have been getting nothing per house, because she and her party voted against the budget.

It is not true to say that there is a maximum of £40,000 per unit: it is a benchmark, and we will build more than 6,000 houses every year for each of the next three years. That is substantially more than the number that were built during the period in which Johann Lamont was the housing minister. During her time in office, we had the worst housing record in 12 years of the Parliament.

Pentland Housing Association, which is based in Thurso, acquired a site some years ago in Pennyland Drive in Thurso. It has spent some £200,000 on developing the site, but for the past almost four years it has been unable to progress the project for affordable housing—which we badly need in Thurso—owing to the current climate and the rules that exist. Is the minister willing to undertake to have his officials speak with Pentland Housing Association so that we can identify a way to take forward that much-needed project?

I think that we are in regular touch with Pentland Housing Association anyway, but I certainly give an undertaking that we are happy to talk to it to explore every avenue, because I recognise the importance of rural areas and the particular housing problems that prevail in some remoter rural areas in the north of Scotland.

The minister will be aware that the SFHA has given a figure of £249 million for front-funded housing projects. Does the minister agree with that figure? Can he confirm that the money will need to be repaid in this year’s budget for 2011-12?

We are in detailed discussions with the SFHA, particularly on the transitional arrangements over the next few months. When those discussions are finalised, we will be in a position to give detailed replies on the exact number of houses and the exact figure for transitional funding.

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NHS Forth Valley (Meetings)

2. To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing last met representatives of NHS Forth Valley. (S3O-13361)

Ministers and officials meet representatives of all national health service boards, including those from NHS Forth Valley, on a regular basis. I last met the chair of NHS Forth Valley on 28 February.

The cabinet secretary will be aware that I am very proud of the new Forth Valley royal hospital for which I, my constituents and wider Falkirk campaigned. I am equally proud that Malcolm Chisholm agreed with us and gave the go-ahead to build the hospital.

Forth Valley NHS Board carried out a very good consultation process. In my constituency, one of the major issues that came up was public transport. Although the health board listened and associated with the council to put on a bus, that bus does not serve my constituents. The villages in Falkirk East are left behind, and there is no public transport.

A question, Ms Peattie, please.

Can the minister ask Forth Valley NHS Board to review the service to ensure that my constituents who live in villages have a bus service?

I agree with the member’s comments about the new hospital and, more important, those who work in it. I also agree that good transport links to and from the hospital are, as with any hospital, important. She is right to raise such issues on behalf of her constituents.

As the member will be aware, Forth Valley NHS Board produced a travel plan as part of the planning permission that was granted by Falkirk Council for the Forth Valley royal hospital and the associated section 75 agreement. As part of that plan, the health board has invested in a range of new bus services that provide links from a wide area. It would have to discuss any changes to the plan with the councils involved. Without their agreement, the health board could find itself in breach of the section 75 agreement. Should an agreement to reroute services be reached, the health board would have to look at cost and so on, but I am sure that it would be willing to discuss the matter with the member, and I will be happy to pass on her concerns to it.

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Change Fund

3. To ask the Scottish Executive what progress there has been in implementing the change fund. (S3O-13362)

Local change plans have been considered by the ministerial strategic group, and partnerships will be notified about their allocations in due course. The joint improvement team is supporting partnerships in implementing change plans.

Tonight, more than 700 mainly elderly and mostly vulnerable patients will be declared fit for discharge by health professionals, but will face the prospect of an average wait of 26 days for the community package that will herald their release from hospital. That figure does not include what are defined as delayed discharges, for which the wait must be for more than six weeks. More patients will be readmitted while they wait for that package and some will die waiting for it. Does the minister now have the data on that? What outcomes on tackling the issue has the minister established for looking at and approving projects under the change fund? Will she publish the outcome data against which those projects must be held accountable?

The member has raised a number of points. Those data will be collected from 1 April, so we will be able to track the issue very closely from that date.

Richard Simpson should acknowledge that the six-week measurement has been in place for quite some time. Delayed discharge has always been an issue, particularly under the previous Administration, when the numbers were significant. Delayed discharge is a concern, but this Government has reached a figure of zero delayed discharges on the six-week measurement for three years in a row. That was never achieved when the member’s party was in government.

As I have said time and again, more progress needs to be made. The change fund is designed to do just that because it is about changing fundamentally the patient journey in order to avoid people turning up at the front door of a hospital in the first place and ensuring that when they do, they are in for the minimum time, and it is about allowing us to tackle delayed discharges once and for all. I hope that Richard Simpson will support us in that work.

The change fund is extremely welcome and will help us to develop our health and care provision. I know that the minister is well aware of the importance of carers and small-scale carer organisations to the provision of many of our care services, but when it comes to ensuring that feedback is gathered for design of the change plans, many carers will not have the time or even the confidence to feed into the bureaucracy of the design process. How will the Government ensure that carers and carer groups are involved and valued in the design and implementation of change plans, particularly in my constituency of Glasgow?

Anne McLaughlin has made a very important point. From the start, we have made it clear that third sector interests and carers’ interests, in particular, should be represented in the development and signing off of the change plans. That process has been difficult because of the time constraints on the development of the present set of change plans, but it has taken place, probably to a greater degree in some partnership areas than in others. We expect partnerships across Scotland to build on that over the next 12 months so that the next set of change plans have far greater input from the third sector right from the start, and we will certainly push partnerships to ensure that that happens.

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NHS Lanarkshire (Meetings)

4. To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of NHS Lanarkshire. (S3O-13338)

I meet all health board chairs regularly. The most recent meeting with NHS Lanarkshire representatives was on 28 February.

At a public meeting in Kilsyth 10 days ago, I met representatives of NHS Lanarkshire, who were there because of the serious concerns that people have about lack of provision and withdrawal of local services. At the meeting, we were advised that NHS Lanarkshire has not had from the Government confirmation of its budget for the coming year. Has the Government advised the board what that allocation will be?

I am sure that the member will be aware that health board allocations were advised in response to a parliamentary question a couple of week ago. That information is publicly available.

In any of her recent meetings with NHS Lanarkshire, has the cabinet secretary been able to discuss the U-turn on the future of Monklands accident and emergency unit by the Labour Party? If so, was it met with as much incredulity by NHS Lanarkshire as it was by us? Is it not the case that the future of Monklands A and E is safe only with the Scottish National Party?

I have to confess to Jamie Hepburn that it is an interesting election strategy for Labour to make a point of reminding the voters of perhaps its most unpopular policy position in the previous election. I am thankful that I do not speak for the Labour Party. Most people will draw their own conclusions on whether Labour is to be trusted with the future of Monklands hospital or, indeed, of any hospital. We have demonstrated over the past few years that Monklands A and E, just like Ayr hospital A and E and local services throughout the country, is certainly safe with the SNP.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sure that you would not want to preside over a meeting at which people were giving wrong information to this Parliament. Is it in order for a political party to confirm its position when a minister of this Government is spreading lies about an issue?

I am sorry, Ms Craigie, but I am not happy with your accusing the minister of telling lies. In the first instance, I ask you to withdraw that particular comment.

I apologise, Presiding Officer and I withdraw the word “lies”. I will rephrase my point of order. Is it in order for a minister of this Government to mislead local people and put out information that is clearly wrong?

The minister is responsible for what she says to Parliament; I am not responsible for that. You can take the matter up with the minister later.

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Hospital Consultants Pay Structure

5. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in reforming the pay structure of national health service hospital consultants. (S3O-13319)

The new consultant contract was introduced in 2004. The pay structure contained within the contract has not been significantly reformed since that time. The Doctors and Dentists Review Body makes annual recommendations on the pay uplift for consultants. This year, 2010-2011, the DDRB accepted that it was difficult to justify pay increases for highly paid individuals in the current economic circumstances and recommended that there be no increase to the national salary scales. Next year, as with all public sector workers earning above £21,000 a year, there will be no uplift in their salary. Ian McKee will also be aware of my proposal to freeze the value of distinction awards and discretionary points in 2011-12, on which I shall make a final decision shortly.

I know that the cabinet secretary is aware of the general public disquiet at the principle and scale of distinction awards for NHS hospital consultants. Is she prepared to comment on the fact that, over the past five years, a retiring Lothians, Grampian or Glasgow consultant was up to five times more likely than a colleague retiring in Lanarkshire and seven times more likely than one from NHS Forth Valley to be in receipt of such an award? Does she agree that although, doubtless, some of that difference can be accounted for by the presence or absence of a teaching hospital in the health board area, the overall disparity is a potential cause of resentment and needs to be addressed urgently, whatever the results of the DDRB inquiry?

Given that this will be the last health question time to which Ian McKee contributes, I thank him for his interest and the significant contribution that he has made to furthering health policy in this Parliament. [Applause.]

I want first to put on record the high value and appreciation that I have for the work of all consultants in Scotland, but it is a matter of public record that I believe that the time has come to review the system of distinction awards. There are many reasons for that—Ian McKee has cited some today.

I gave evidence to the DDRB earlier this week as part of its review, and I look forward to receiving its recommendations later this year. It is not fair to pre-empt those recommendations, but I look forward to our having in place a fair system that recognises that many different groups of staff in the health service do excellent work.

I echo the cabinet secretary’s remarks about Dr Ian McKee, as he approaches retirement.

The cabinet secretary will know that distinction awards for consultants contribute not just to their salaries but to the pensions that they draw, which are paid on a final salary basis. Following publication of the Hutton review, does the cabinet secretary have a view on how pensions for top earners in the public sector, such as consultants, might be reformed?

First, I hear the views of members across the chamber about distinction awards and I point out for the record that I am, I think, the first health secretary to say publicly that it is time to reform distinction awards. We have taken action already in this financial year to freeze the budget and, as I said, proposals are currently being consulted on for the next financial year.

On pensions for consultants and the relationship between pensions and distinction awards, one of the expressed elements of our submission to the DDRB has been on the fact that distinction awards are consolidated and pensionable. That is one of the most difficult to justify elements of the current scheme. Again, I will wait to see what the DDRB has to say on that. I look forward to hearing its views in due course.

It is not often that I agree with the cabinet secretary, but let me do so in relation to her comments on Dr Ian McKee, who has made a considerable contribution to the Parliament. We will miss him.

The cabinet secretary is right to point out that final salary pensions including distinction awards are inappropriate in the current financial climate. However, the previous Administration initiated a review that she signed off a couple of years ago, and we now have another review. What does she intend to do to take the issue forward beyond asking the UK coalition Government, which is busy dismantling the national health service as we know it, to do so?

Not for the first time, Jackie Baillie takes people’s breath away in expecting them to forget history. Apart from initiate a review in 2006 that tinkered at the edges and did not question the fundamental underlying basis of distinction awards, the previous Labour Administrations here did nothing to reform distinction awards; in fact, the budget increased by just under 50 per cent, even when we factor in inflation.

We have taken action to freeze the budget, and we are proposing further action. I certainly look forward to hearing the views of the DDRB and continuing in the position of the past couple of years in which the SNP Government is at the forefront of pressing for change to the system.

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Stroke Patients (NHS Fife)

6. To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving NHS Fife to meet its target of putting stroke patients into a designated stroke ward within one day of being admitted to Victoria hospital. (S3O-13349)

There is strong evidence of the benefits to people who have had a stroke of their being admitted to a stroke unit within a day of the event. We monitor, on an annual basis, NHS boards’ performance against that element of the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland clinical standards for stroke.

To deliver further improvements consistently across the country, we are introducing a new health improvement, efficiency, access and treatment—HEAT—target from April. By March 2013, boards should ensure that 90 per cent of all patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of stroke get into a stroke unit on the day of admission or the following day. We have been working directly with all boards, including NHS Fife, to support them in developing that aspect of their local delivery plans.

On a recent visit to the Victoria hospital stroke unit, I was very impressed by and cannot praise highly enough the dedicated and highly trained nursing staff, who make such a difference to the recovery and quality of life of stroke victims in Fife. However, I was informed during my visit that, of the 23 beds in the unit, six were occupied by patients who no longer required an acute bed. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to support the NHS in ensuring that those who require such specialist care are not being denied access because of delayed discharges?

Patients in my constituency and throughout Fife deserve the best treatment that is available in an environment that is fit for purpose, and that gives stroke sufferers the best chance of recovery and allows the nursing staff to do their jobs.

I agree with Marilyn Livingstone that it is important that we avoid beds being taken up by people who are ready for discharge. That is why we have taken a strong national position on delayed discharge and why we have established the £70 million change fund to make the necessary fundamental changes. It is also why, in the past six weeks, I have twice met the leader of Fife Council and the chair of the health board to ensure that progress is made in Fife. They have been meeting weekly to monitor the improvements that have brought the number down to single figures.

I acknowledge Marilyn Livingstone’s interest in the subject. She came to a meeting with me to hear more about the work that needed to be done and I am happy to keep her informed of the progress that is being made in Fife. It is important that people have access to the beds that they need.

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New Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Edinburgh)

7. To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to funding the new Royal hospital for sick children in Edinburgh proposed by NHS Lothian and, if so, when it expects building work to commence. (S3O-13295)

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to the delivery of the Royal hospital for sick children as quickly as possible. As I indicated to Malcolm Chisholm on 13 January 2011, details of the funding support that is available for revenue-financed projects are currently being finalised. Since 13 January, positive work has been undertaken to develop a procurement strategy for the project, which also seeks to maximise clinical benefits through the incorporation of the department of clinical neurosciences as part of the procurement. Both Scottish Government officials and the Scottish Futures Trust continue to support NHS Lothian in taking forward this extremely important development.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is regrettable that we have not progressed further with the project? Does she accept that that is due, in part, to the Government’s failure to approve a proposal for a joint Royal hospital for sick children and neurosciences project that was presented to it by NHS Lothian back in December 2009 and the Government’s subsequent decision, in November 2010, to involve the Scottish Futures Trust in a different funding model? Are we not nearly two years behind where we should have been with the project?

No, I do not agree with that. I find it deeply regrettable that, as the country seeks to recover from the recession, the United Kingdom Government, of which David McLetchie is a keen supporter, is slashing the Scottish Government’s capital budget by more than a quarter next year. That is deeply regrettable, as it is having an impact on capital projects. The Scottish Government is determined to see vital projects, such as the sick kids hospital in Edinburgh, proceed, which is why we have taken the action that we have. I do not think that I could have been clearer than I have been today about our support for the project and our determination to see it proceed. I hope that David McLetchie will welcome that.

I share the concerns about the delay in the project. Given that the Scottish Government is continuing to give £850 million in capital to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for the Southern general hospital, will the cabinet secretary give an assurance that, if the SNP is in power after May, the Government will provide NHS Lothian with the £25 million in revenue that it will require for the new sick kids hospital and the department of clinical neurosciences? What tangible benefits does the involvement of the SFT bring to the project?

Just as David McLetchie should direct his concerns about capital funding to his Tory colleagues in London, Margaret Smith should direct her concerns to her Liberal colleagues in London. It is the Tory and Liberal coalition Government that has slashed our capital budgets. We are determined to see the project proceed. If Margaret Smith had listened to my original answer—as, I am sure, she did—she would have heard me say that the financial support that is available for revenue-financed projects is currently being finalised. Equally, she will have heard me give a strong indication of our support for the project to proceed. I hope that all members, in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland, will welcome the Government’s support for a project that is extremely important to the future of the NHS in Scotland.

I ask the question again: what tangible benefit is being brought to the project by the Scottish Futures Trust? My colleague George Foulkes made a freedom of information inquiry to find out what advice was being given to NHS Lothian and the entire answer was redacted—not one piece of information was given out.

None of us can find out what is happening with the project. Will the minister give us a guarantee that she will be able to sign off the project before the end of this parliamentary session? Everyone across the Lothians is worried about the impact of the delays to the project. We are told that the combination of the sick kids and the neuroscience unit has delayed the project and that the Scottish Futures Trust has sent the project into a labyrinthine process.

The Scottish Futures Trust is providing vital support to NHS Lothian to develop the procurement strategy that will deliver the project. I hope that members will welcome that.

I find astonishing the position of not only the Tory and Liberal Democrat members, but Labour members, as the capital cuts that I have just laid at the door of the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition were, of course, 100 per cent planned by the former Labour Government. The hard reality, which the Opposition parties might not like, is that if it were not for the work of the Scottish Government, assisted by the Scottish Futures Trust, this project would not be happening at all. That is the implication of the budgetary decisions that were proposed by Labour and implemented by the Tories and the Liberal Democrats.

This Government is determined that this project should proceed. Even if others cannot find it within themselves to welcome that, I am sure that people in the Lothians will.

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Scottish Housing Regulator

8. To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Housing Regulator assesses common housing registration as part of the inspection process for registered social landlords. (S3O-13302)

I asked Michael Cameron, the acting chief executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator to respond. His response is as follows:

“The Scottish Housing Regulator expects all social landlords to maximise and simplify routes into housing. Common housing registers are a way of helping landlords to achieve this. The Regulator collects information from registered social landlords on an annual basis around the use of common housing registers, and may include further scrutiny in an RSL’s Regulation Plan.”

As the minister is aware, people are finding it more difficult to assess a house under current allocation policies and due to the current economic climate and subsequent lack of mortgage finance availability. Housing lists are becoming more and more overcrowded. In some cases, people who are presenting as homeless to a local authority are being denied the right to register as homeless and be put on the housing waiting list. Is the situation being adequately monitored? Are there any proposals to review the monitoring regime process?

I will shortly announce the appointment of the new regulatory board, which will be independent of Government. However, I am absolutely confident that there is a robust process in place. If John Wilson or any other member has examples of situations in which a homeless person is not being properly registered as homeless, they should bring that to the attention of the regulator as, clearly, that is not an acceptable situation.

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Tobacco Products Display Ban

9. To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to implement a ban on the display of tobacco products by retailers. (S3O-13324)

I confirm that the Scottish Government remains committed to the introduction of the display ban. Subject to the satisfactory conclusion of the on-going legal challenge, we will be working towards implementation of the display ban from April 2012 for large retailers and from April 2015 for small retailers. The change to the original implementation dates will also give retailers more time to prepare for the changes.

Does the minister recall that, 400 years ago, James VI wrote of people being enslaved bit by bit by tobacco? Does she share my utter contempt for a company that kills thousands of people every year and which is delaying the implementation of the ban? Does she agree that it is important that no new addicts are signed up and that young people are protected from the evils of tobacco?

I agree with the member. That is why the recent legislation is focused on reducing the attractiveness and availability of tobacco products and preventing access to them by young people. That is also why increasing the penalties for breaching that legislation is so important. I remain hopeful that we can continue to build on Scotland’s journey towards becoming smoke free. We have come a long way from where we were on the acceptability of smoking in Scotland even 20 to 30 years ago, never mind hundreds of years ago, and we should all welcome that.

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Olympic Pool (Aberdeen)

10. To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects Aberdeen’s 10-lane Olympic-sized pool to be completed. (S3O-13378)

I am delighted to be able to inform members that, at sportscotland’s recent board meeting, an award of £5 million to Aberdeen Sports Village Ltd for that project was approved. It is now for the council and its partners to take the necessary steps to ensure that the pool is delivered for the people of Aberdeen and the north-east. Work on the site is scheduled to begin in late summer and its completion is due in autumn 2013.

I thank the minister for her positive answer.

Does the minister agree that all the indications are that the tenders for the pool were very competitive, that the costs of the two additional lanes are substantially lower than was originally estimated and that, with the positive support of sportscotland and the Scottish Government, as well as that of Aberdeen City Council, the University of Aberdeen and some major private donors, a full 10-lane, Olympic-sized 50m pool for Aberdeen now looks to be both affordable and deliverable? For me, given that these are likely to be my final words in the chamber, there could not be more positive news on which to end my time in the Parliament.

I wish Nicol Stephen all the best. It was fitting for him to ask that question, as he has pursued the issue with rigour. It is my pleasure to be able to give him positive news about the confirmation of the money, and I am sure that he will want to join many of us in 2013 to see the magnificent facility open.

I echo the minister’s warm words. Can she confirm that the funding package that she has described is now wholly in place to allow the work to commence on schedule?

Yes, I can. As I said in my original answer, £5 million was awarded to Aberdeen Sports Village Ltd at sportscotland’s recent board meeting. As Nicol Stephen said, that came about because of the positive support from all partners and from private donations. The role of the University of Aberdeen has been very important, of course. I am sure that it is felt on a cross-party basis that what has happened is a cause for celebration.

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St Margaret of Scotland Hospice

11. To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding future funding and co-operation with the St Margaret of Scotland Hospice. (S3O-13357)

The chair of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to meet the chair of St Margaret of Scotland Hospice tomorrow. I have asked the board to provide me with a report immediately following that meeting and I hope for a positive outcome.

Has the cabinet secretary given any indications to the chair of Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board about what she would like to come out of tomorrow’s meeting? We have waited a long time to get that meeting up and running. Does she want to give a sense to the chair of that board of the sort of outcome that she is looking for on how the board should conduct itself and take the discussions forward?

It would not be right or appropriate for me to pre-empt a two-way discussion between the health board and the hospice board tomorrow but, as I said when I last spoke about the issue in the chamber, the situation has changed fundamentally. The developments—or the lack of developments—at Blawarthill open the way for a very open discussion between the parties. The health board must do what is right for the people whom it serves and what is right to give certainty about the situation to patients, older people, their families, staff and the providers of care. I hope that we will get a positive outcome from tomorrow’s meeting. As I said, I have asked for a report on it tomorrow and I look forward to receiving that.

Question 12 was not lodged.

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Dementia Strategy

13. To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the dementia strategy. (S3O-13371)

Implementation of the strategy is progressing well. For example, care standards and a national skills and competencies framework for health and social care staff are on track to be published this year. A formal report on year 1 of the strategy’s implementation will be published in June, as per the commitment in the strategy.

I thank the minister for her positive response. Like my colleague Nicol Stephen, this is probably the last time that I will speak in the Parliament, but I think and hope that many of the people on the front benches will return to carry on the good work that is going on. I will be delighted if the dementia strategy is foremost in their thoughts as the Scottish Government implements new policies.

I thank John Farquhar Munro for his kind and supportive words and I wish him well in the future. I know of his interest in the dementia strategy. The issue has been important to the Government and to me, because it has the potential to touch so many people’s lives, so it is appropriate that John Farquhar Munro has ended his parliamentary career with a question on the issue. I wish him all the best.

I draw the minister’s attention to the most recent meeting of the cross-party group on Alzheimer’s, at which we heard from research experts in the field. Is she aware that the Scottish dementia clinical research network’s funding is guaranteed only until March 2012? Does she agree that if we are to achieve the world-class status to which the dementia strategy refers, a commitment to long-term, secure funding is vital, to enable the network to undertake much-needed long-term planning?

I acknowledge the member’s long-term interest in the issue and the good work of the cross-party group, which was very much involved in the development of the dementia strategy. The research network’s funding is secure until March 2012, as she said. Funding for research into dementia is important and I am sure that that will help to inform discussions on future funding of the network.

Question 14 was not lodged. Question 15 was withdrawn.

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Affordable Housing

16. To ask the Scottish Executive what progress there has been in providing affordable housing in 2010-11. (S3O-13358)

Published statistics from 1 April 2010 to 31 December 2010 show that excellent progress has been made in providing affordable housing in 2010-11. Up to 31 December, 4,663 homes had been completed and a further 4,772 homes approved, which included 1,872 new council house approvals.

Among the statistics that have been released recently are figures that show that the number of houses that have been built for sale through the shared equity programme fell from 1,979 in 2009-10 to 657 in the nine months from April to December. Why does it appear that there will be a 50 per cent decrease in supply and what does the minister intend to do about that?

We have to look at the overall figure, which is extremely encouraging. In preparing my reply to the question I have been looking back at the total figures for the affordable housing investment programme, which show that in the first three years of this Administration we gave approval to 7,500 new units per year on average, compared with fewer than 6,000 new units per year under the Labour Party’s Administration.

It ill behoves Mary Mulligan to complain about any of that, given that she voted against the budget, including the money for housing, and given that at no time during the budget negotiations did the Labour Party put forward proposals for additional spending on housing. The only party other than the Scottish National Party to do that was the Conservative party.

Elizabeth Smith is not here for question 17.

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Health Care Acquired Infections

18. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in reducing the level of health care acquired infections in hospitals in NHS Ayrshire and Arran. (S3O-13305)

NHS Ayrshire and Arran has made significant progress in reducing health care associated infections over the past two years. The number of Clostridium difficile infections for the quarter October to December 2010 fell by 24 per cent compared with the previous quarter and is at its lowest quarterly rate since surveillance began. We have seen similar falls in other infections.

Will the cabinet secretary join me in congratulating the staff of NHS Ayrshire and Arran on achieving historically low rates of infection for Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile? Does she agree that Labour’s failure to protect the national health service budget threatens to undermine the progress that has been made under this Government?

I will certainly take great pleasure in congratulating staff in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and, indeed, staff across the health service in Scotland. I am proud of many things that have been achieved in the health service over the past few years, but there is probably nothing that I am prouder of than the considerable drop that we have seen in hospital-acquired infections. That would not have been possible without the hard work of the staff. The commitment of this Government to protect the health budget over the lifetime of the next parliamentary session will certainly enable us to continue that magnificent progress.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. As you would not let me in to ask a supplementary question, I am forced to raise this point of order.

A number of retiring members have been mentioned in the chamber today. I pay tribute to the Presiding Officer, as this is the last time that she will preside over themed questions. She has made a significant difference to her constituents and to this Parliament. [Applause.]

She always was a sook. [Laughter.]