Rail Services (Reston and East Linton)
The Scottish Government supports the restoration of train services to the Reston and East Linton stations. The invitation to tender for the next ScotRail franchise requires bidders to provide proposals to increase services between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed and Newcastle, serving potential new stations at Reston and East Linton.
An additional study has been produced that sets out the improved business case that the minister sought for Reston and East Linton and, as the minister has said, Transport Scotland has stated that any companies bidding for the new ScotRail franchise will need to consider new stations at those locations. However, given the lack of a categorical statement from the Scottish National Party Government that it will provide additional funding to support these projects, will the minister say whether the Scottish Government gives its full support for them both in words and in money?
I am very surprised by the tone of John Lamont’s question. We have made our support very clear. We have helped with the study and have put the priced options into the tender, which also shows our intent. It might cost £2 million a year to provide these services. We have also pointed out that the relevant parties can bid into the Scottish stations investment fund.
Scottish Welfare Fund
Official statistics on the Scottish welfare fund that were published on 11 February show that local authorities paid out £9.2 million in awards from the fund in its first six months of operation from April to September 2013, helping more than 35,000 households. The same publication contains information on informal monitoring of the fund, which shows that around £18.5 million was spent by the end of December 2013.
I am sure that the minister will agree that expenditure of less than a third of the fund in its first six months of operation is hardly desirable and even the nine-month figures, informal though they might be, indicate a substantial underspend with only three months to go. Does the minister share my concern that money that is so desperately needed by some of our communities’ poorest people is not making it out the door into their pockets and does she agree that it might be useful for the Government to consider evaluating the fund’s efficacy?
As the member will be aware, this is a new fund that was introduced in April. We are projecting to spend most of it by March, but we recognise that there will be some underspend and have been working hard with local authorities to ensure that the money is getting out there.
The Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative administration in East Dunbartonshire is on course to have a large underspend in its Scottish welfare fund budget allocation, apparently because grants are being refused unless people turn up with receipts for everything down to their messages. Perhaps that is an explanation of why Labour councils are refusing to help local people in need.
Although, as I have indicated, spend from the Scottish welfare fund is increasing overall, I am aware that spend varies from local authority to local authority. The Scottish welfare fund is administered by local authorities, based on guidance from Scottish ministers. We are working very closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, local authorities and others to ensure that there is awareness of the scheme and consistency.
People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Last summer we consulted widely on a new sensory impairment strategy, which we will be publishing shortly. The strategy, which will apply to people with a hearing impairment, visual impairment or dual sensory impairment, aims to deliver the seamless provision of assessment, care and support to people with a sensory impairment and the same access to education, employment, healthcare, social care and leisure as everyone else. Funding is being made available to local partnerships to support implementation of the strategy, and close partnership working between statutory and third sector agencies will be crucial to its success.
The cabinet secretary is probably aware that under the disability reduction scheme, people with disabilities are, rightly, able to apply for a council tax reduction so that they do not have to pay more council tax as a result of adaptations to their home. One of my constituents has alerted me to a lack of consistency among local authorities over whether deaf people are eligible for a reduction in council tax under the scheme. Can the cabinet secretary clarify whether deaf people are able to apply for a council tax reduction and under which circumstances they should do so?
Statutory responsibility for the implementation and administration of council tax, including eligibility for reductions or exemptions, lies with the relevant local authority. Ministers have no power to intervene in individual cases or comment on potential entitlement in specific circumstances, although obviously I would wish, as the cabinet secretary with responsibility for health and social care, that local authorities would be empathetic and sympathetic to any such applications.
Pumped Storage
Pumped storage plays an important role in Scotland’s energy mix through its ability to respond quickly to cope with periods of peak demand. As the quantity of renewable generation increases, pumped storage allows for that energy to be stored at times of oversupply and released during periods of high demand. Increasing pumped-storage capacity will strengthen Scotland’s balanced energy mix and, in doing so, enhance security of supply across Britain.
As Scotland’s potential for hydro and pumped storage has a low priority in Westminster energy support, how will the Scottish Government optimise its development to balance the supply of clean power from diverse renewable sources?
Pumped storage and hydro are very important for Scotland. We have two pumped storage sites: one at Cruachan and the other at Foyers, both of which were developed in 1967—a good year in many ways. We very much hope that the United Kingdom Government will support hydro and pumped storage as well. The UK Government says that pumped storage may be eligible for its capacity incentivisation system, the details of which have not yet been announced. However, the detail will be vital. We have urged Westminster to prioritise pumped storage as we move forward.
Helicopter Accidents (Fatal Accident Inquiries)
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service independently investigates all sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths, and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to seek to influence that investigation. Following full and thorough investigations into the circumstances, the Crown will determine whether to take criminal proceedings before any decision is taken on whether to hold a fatal accident inquiry.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his full answer, but does he accept that, even including the time that is required for investigations by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Civil Aviation Authority, it should not take five years for a fatal accident inquiry into a helicopter accident to be held and that such a delay should not be faced by the families who lost loved ones last year? Given that the Lord Advocate has given a welcome indication that he does not want families to face such a prolonged wait, what action will ministers take to ensure that that is the case, bearing in mind that my colleague Patricia Ferguson has lodged a proposal for a member’s bill to address the issue?
Everyone—including the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Government—wants to deal with such matters as expeditiously as possible, but there are specific reasons why, on some occasions, there will always be delays. Clearly, those should be limited. There has to be a hierarchy. The primary investigation must be carried out by the AAIB. After it has done the initial investigation, matters require to be considered by the Crown, as I indicated in my first answer. First, it must consider whether there should be a criminal prosecution. Only then can it decide whether an FAI is necessary.
Flooding (South of England)
First, I take the opportunity to express the Scottish Government’s sincere sympathy for the distress and trauma suffered by people who have been affected by the floods in England.
The minister will be aware that parts of Scotland—although they have not been as severely affected as parts of the south of England—have suffered from the prolonged rain. Is the minister really confident that the expertise and best practice of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities are robust enough to allow action to be taken swiftly if Scotland faces a similar situation to the one that has been faced in England?
In Scotland, fewer properties are at risk from flooding—125,000 properties are at risk from flooding here, whereas more than 5 million properties are at risk in England. SEPA has advised me that, because of our geography, land use and demography, the impact of such heavy and prolonged rainfall would have been different in Scotland.
Transport Scotland (Meetings)
Transport Scotland is part of the Scottish Government, and meetings with ministers occur regularly in the normal course of business. Indeed, I met the chief executive and his team of directors this morning.
The minister will be aware of the tragic fatalities that have recently occurred on the A92, in my region. During my time in the Parliament, I, along with other MSPs from across the Parliament, have raised concerns over the A92 many times, but the fatality rate has only increased. Can the minister confirm that he will be meeting concerned MSPs and campaigners? Does he agree with me that Transport Scotland must now prioritise a serious investigation into the safety of the road?
Our sympathies rest with those families who have been affected by the tragedy to which the member refers.
Independent Scotland (Welfare Reform)
The white paper, “Scotland’s Future”, sets out the principles that we would want to underpin the welfare system of an independent Scotland. It also highlights some of the immediate steps that an independent Scotland could take to reform welfare, such as abolishing the bedroom tax and halting the roll-out of universal credit. In taking on responsibility for our social protection system, we will be building on strong financial foundations, with spending on social protection currently more affordable in Scotland than in the United Kingdom as a whole.
In recent months, the number of constituents coming into my office with regard to their benefit claims has increased dramatically—specifically, the number of people who are having jobseekers allowance sanctioned. Can the cabinet secretary assure me that our welfare system would be a fair system that is aimed at assisting claimants instead of looking to sanction people in order to take forward Westminster dogma?
I very much share George Adam’s concern. Like many other MSPs, I, too, have an increasing number of people coming to my surgeries and into my office with concerns about the benefits system. These are people who are in real hardship as a result of changes to the benefits system. Although any benefits system needs a sensible system of sanctions, there is no doubt that a number of people are right now being subjected to sanctions. These are people who are seriously vulnerable and who often find themselves being sanctioned when they do not know why.
Given that Scotland receives £200 million more in pensions and pensions credit than a standard UK distribution of payment by populations would allow, has the Scottish Government asked the UK Government whether it can remain part of the UK pensions system in the event of independence? If the answer is no, will the Scottish Government say that it is bullying bluster that is not to be believed?
Malcolm Chisholm sometimes beggars belief—I know that he is somebody who actually cares about these issues. We could trade statistics. [Interruption.]
Order.
I could point to housing benefit, for example, which is proportionally lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, because we have a higher proportion of social rented housing and rents are not as high—yet we are still being penalised by the bedroom tax. It makes perfect sense for the Parliament that has control and responsibility over our health service also to have control and responsibility over how we deal with the most vulnerable people in society, through our welfare system.