Good morning. The first item of business is general questions.
Council Tax Bands (Inverclyde)
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in Inverclyde would be affected by the proposed reforms to the top four council tax bands. (S4O-05676)
Of over 37,000 chargeable dwellings in Inverclyde, as at September 2015, only 6,900 are in the top four council tax bands E to H. Of those, 3,400 are in band E. The proposed reforms would result in a maximum increase of £110 per year, which is £9 per month or £2 per week.
As at March 2015, 200 bands E to H households in Inverclyde were in receipt of council tax reduction. Those households would be unaffected by the multiplier changes. In addition, bands E to H households with a below-net-median income—up to a limit of £25,000 per year—would be able to apply through the CTR scheme for protection from the multiplier changes.
Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the proposals will result in a net financial income for Inverclyde Council, while protecting people who live in properties in the lower four bands?
The investment will be targeted according to the number of eligible children, not where the money was raised. It will deliver additional education provision over and above what would otherwise have been available. Further details will be confirmed following discussions with local government on how best to implement the programme, but it will apply to children in primary school and secondary 1 to S3. The funding will primarily be calculated based on the number of children who are eligible for free school meals. The funding will go direct to headteachers.
The 75 per cent of Scottish households that live in bands A to D will be unaffected by the reforms to the council tax band system, and a further 54,000 households in bands E to H on low incomes—more than one third of which are pensioner households—will be entitled to an exemption from the changes through the council tax reduction scheme.
Living Wage (Care Workers in Glasgow)
To ask the Scottish Government how it is helping to support delivery of the living wage to care workers in Glasgow. (S4O-05677)
As part of the 2016-17 budget we have taken action to protect and grow our social care services and deliver our shared priorities by investing a further £250 million in health and social care partnerships. Part of that investment is to enable local authorities to pay a living wage to care workers who support vulnerable adults—including in the independent and third sectors. We have allocated £33.28 million to Glasgow. Given that significant enhancement in resource, we expect the local authority to utilise resources from its allocation to enable it to commission adult social care services on the basis that a living wage is being paid.
Given that the care sector is female dominated, does the cabinet secretary agree that paying the living wage to care staff is also a gender equality issue, and that paying it will raise the status of that very important sector? How will the Scottish Government ensure that the commitment that is being funded by the Scottish Government will be delivered by Glasgow City Council?
I agree with Bob Doris. The Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland a fairer place for all. The allocation of the further investment in social care will enable local authorities to ensure that our care workers—the vast majority of whom are women, as Bob Doris said—receive the living wage. We estimate that, in the city of Glasgow, about 6,000 care workers, and across Scotland, about 40,000 care workers, will benefit. Many of those workers are women.
We are working closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, local government leaders and third sector and independent sector organisations to ensure that the detail of the delivery is in place for 1 October, when it is due to be implemented.
Fracking (Central Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact fracking would have on Central Scotland. (S4O-05678)
No fracking is permitted in Scotland as we have a moratorium on unconventional oil and gas developments.
The Scottish Government will take no risks with Scotland’s environment while unanswered questions remain about the potential impacts of unconventional oil and gas. One of the world’s most comprehensive programmes of research into the technology is now under way, and we will also hold an extensive public consultation to let the people of Scotland have their say. That is the only approach that clearly and consistently promises to engage with the evidence and the public on the issue.
Even with the moratorium in place, people across Central Scotland are concerned about the impact of fracking and want to know that their leaders will fight against it, but Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos has reportedly received assurances that the Scottish National Party Government is not against fracking at all. He says that the Government
“are being quite clear. What they’ve said to us is they’re not against fracking.”
For clarity, has anyone acting on behalf of the Scottish Government ever given such an assurance?
Absolutely not. The position is as I have stated this week, last week and the week before—it remains the same. Unlike the Conservatives—who have now arrived in the chamber—and the Labour Party, we take a sensible approach: we look for the evidence.
I will run through some of the areas in which I think it is absolutely correct that we are looking at the evidence. They include: understanding and mitigating community-level impacts from transportation, including in Central Scotland; decommissioning site restoration and aftercare; understanding and monitoring of undue seismic activity; climate change impacts; economic impacts; and scenario development. For all those areas and more, it is essential that we provide the evidence to stakeholders and the public. What could conceivably be wrong with that approach?
A9 Dualling (Progress)
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the dualling of the A9. (S4O-05679)
Construction of the A9 dualling began between Kincraig to Dalraddy in September 2015. The first section is expected to be completed by the summer of next year.
The remaining dualling is on course to meet the Scottish Government’s target of being completed by 2025. The design of remaining projects is progressing well, with one quarter of the preferred routes announced last week and the rest anticipated during 2016 and into early 2017. Exhibitions are currently taking place at which the route options are being displayed to the public for comment.
Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that as well as creating and retaining jobs during the construction phases, the dualling of the A9 will provide a long-term stimulus to the economy of the Highlands and Islands and improve safety for motorists?
Mike MacKenzie is absolutely right that the construction will have benefits for employment and that dualling will have longer-term benefits in relation to increased productivity and a more efficient transport system. The A9 plays a vital role in supporting the economy not just of the Highlands and Islands but of Scotland, with an estimated £19 billion-worth of goods being transported annually on it.
The journey time and reliability benefits that are associated with the dualling programme will reduce transport costs for businesses. Dualling will also improve connectivity between the Highlands and the central belt, and provide opportunities for the key business sectors, including tourism.
The upgrading of the road itself will also reduce driver stress and frustration and lead to improved safety for the 12 million vehicles per year that travel between Perth and Inverness. I am pleased that the current Scottish Government made the first commitment to dual the A9 and the A96, which will mean that for the first time, all Scotland’s cities are connected by at least a dual carriageway or a motorway.
Steel Industry (Support)
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the steel industry. (S4O-05680)
I chair the multi-agency Scottish steel task force, which was convened immediately after Tata Steel’s announcement that it planned to mothball its Scottish steel plants. The task force brings together the company, trade unions, local authorities, Government agencies and local elected representatives. The task force is doing everything within the power of the Scottish Government and its partners to support the continuation of Scotland’s steel industry and a viable future for the steel plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge. We have made significant progress in five key areas—business rates, energy costs, support for staff, environmental matters and procurement—which are all aimed at supporting our ambition to see an alternative operator on those sites.
The minister will be aware that I attended a European Commission conference on fuel-intensive industries and heard the concerns of the industry across Europe in the current economic climate of steel dumping and high fuel costs. Does he share my concern that the United Kingdom Government and the European Commission are taking too long to address the concerns of the industry, and that it is about time they took positive action and provided support such as has been demonstrated by the Scottish Government?
I share Clare Adamson’s concerns. There is a need for urgent action by both the UK Government and the European Union, and we continue to press the UK Government on that. Clare Adamson has pressed all the issues at the meetings of the task force, every one of which she has attended.
Although that is appreciated, the key question is not what the Scottish Government has done but where it is going. It is now more than five months since Tata Steel made its announcement. For the workers, all that has happened is a phased decline with mothballing, and support to help them into other jobs. That was not supposed to be the objective.
When will the Scottish Government look at a plan B to fulfil its guarantee of a future for Scottish steel by whatever means necessary?
John Pentland also sits on the task force, which is a non-political body, and we have all been working together. I am not sure that I accept his characterisation of the position—for example, several of the key workers who are necessary to restart the plant are currently undertaking a skills course, and their skills are being preserved precisely because there are not many people who know how to operate a steel plate mill. If we had not instituted that pioneering scheme to preserve the key skills that are required to operate a plate mill, it would simply not be practical to reopen the plant. That has been done at the Scottish Government’s behest and at the taxpayers’ expense.
Secondly, our objective remains absolutely resolute: to find an alternative operator to take over the plant and resume steel operations in Scotland. As the First Minister undertook to do, we have left no stone unturned. We continue to do that work, and I am sure that I will engage further next Wednesday with Mr Pentland at the last meeting of the task force prior to purdah.
Speech and Language Therapy
To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to protect the provision of speech and language therapy services. (S4O-05681)
The provision of speech and language therapy services is managed by national health service boards, and it is for individual boards to decide how best to deliver those services to meet the needs of the population.
We have appointed an allied health professional national lead for children and young people who is working with NHS boards across Scotland to support the creation of a network of speech and language therapy leads to enable a joined-up approach to service design and delivery. We have recently published the “Ready to Act” document, which is the first children and young people’s services plan in Scotland, in order to focus on the support that is provided by AHPs, including speech and language therapists.
Scottish Government research has shown that people with unmet communication support needs are more likely to have negative interactions with the law. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists has suggested that a speech and language therapy pilot programme could be launched in Scotland’s criminal justice system. Although the Government has made no formal commitments, are there any plans to make that programme a reality?
Richard Lyle raises some important issues. The “Ready to Act” plan recognises that communication difficulties can impact on vulnerable young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system, and in particular highlights the importance of early intervention and prevention in seeking to identify and address behavioural issues that are caused by communication difficulties before they escalate.
We will work collaboratively with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and with education and social care colleagues, on the implementation of “Ready to Act”, and we will consider with them how best to address that issue.
Small Businesses (Jobs)
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported 12 per cent increase in small business jobs in five years, what it is doing to ensure that this growth continues. (S4O-05682)
The Scottish Government provides a supportive business environment offering a range of assistance, including the small business bonus scheme, which alone reduces or removes business rates for almost 100,000 premises and delivers an estimated £174 million of savings in 2015-16. Ministers of the Scottish Government have committed to continue the scheme for the duration of the next parliamentary session, if we are re-elected.
In the past three years, 77 small or medium-sized enterprises in my Cathcart constituency have increased their workforce. Will the minister give me a bit more detail and tell me what role he considers the aforementioned small business bonus scheme has had in achieving those results not only in Cathcart but across Glasgow?
Yes, I will. The small business bonus scheme, whereby small businesses—and I used to run one—pay no or low business rates, makes an enormous contribution to the economy and the growth of small businesses in Scotland. Official statistics show that more than 9,000 business properties in Glasgow benefit from the scheme. That is why we, if re-elected, will keep it for the whole five years of the parliamentary session. I hope that Opposition parties will join us in that pledge, so that it goes beyond politics and becomes something that is guaranteed for every small business in Scotland. That would be a truly great thing.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what issues were discussed. (S4O-05683)
Ministers and Government officials regularly meet representatives of all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss matters of importance to local people.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of the leaked report by health board officials that shows proposals for major service changes at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley.
One local mum, Karen Meikle, has described how important the RAH children’s ward is to her son, who has a severe form of cerebral palsy. She said:
“Every second counts when it comes to getting him treatment.”
Will the cabinet secretary give a cast-iron commitment to worried parents such as Karen that, if her Government is re-elected, the RAH children’s ward will be protected from closure or any downgrading whatsoever?
We recognise that the paediatric service provided from ward 15 at the RAH is a highly valued local service. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chair, John Brown, confirmed that
“None of the contents”—
of the paper to which Mary Fee referred—
“have been approved by the Board or referred to the Scottish Government for consideration.”
As Mary Fee knows, any proposal for major service change would be subject to formal public consultation and ultimately require our approval, and we have received no such request.
Royal Alexandra Hospital (Children’s Ward)
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport last discussed the future of the children’s ward at the Royal Alexandra hospital with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. (S4O-05684)
I have not discussed the future of the children’s ward at the Royal Alexandra hospital because, as the chair of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde made clear in his statement on 15 January, there are no formal proposals to change the services delivered from the ward.
That is a very interesting answer. The cabinet secretary has not discussed this important issue with the health board.
Thousands of people in Paisley, such as Karen Meikle, have made it clear that they do not want the RAH children’s ward to be closed or downgraded. I am also clear that Scotland’s largest town should have its children’s ward protected and that it should not be subject to closure or downgrading. The question remains unanswered. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me? Yes or no.
Perhaps Neil Bibby should have listened to the answer that I gave to Mary Fee: we recognise that the paediatric service that is provided from ward 15 at the RAH is a highly valued local service. [Interruption.]
Order.
As I said to Mary Fee, the chair of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, John Brown, said:
“None of the contents”—
of that paper—
“have been approved by the Board or referred to the Scottish Government for consideration.”
If the contents have not been referred to me for consideration, we will not have considered them. We have had no request to do that. I hope that that is simple enough for Neil Bibby to understand.
Before we move on to the next item of business, members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana, and Her Excellency Mrs Lordina Mahama, the first lady of the Republic of Ghana. [Applause.]