SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Because this is the first time that question time is on a Wednesday, I would like to make it clear to members that First Minister's questions will begin at 3.15 pm and not at 3.10 pm.
Fuel Poverty
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will raise the issue of fuel poverty at the next meeting of the joint ministerial committee on poverty. (S1O-2283)
I am delighted to inform the member that we will raise the issue of fuel poverty in the joint ministerial team. I will highlight the fact that this week we have announced the biggest ever programme to tackle fuel poverty in Scotland. Around 70,000 pensioners and 71,000 other council and housing association tenants will benefit from this radical programme, which will eat into the major problem of fuel poverty in Scotland.
Does the minister agree that the current sense of national crisis over fuel would be better directed towards trying to alleviate the plight of the fuel poor? As the Scottish Executive is doing everything that it can to tackle fuel poverty, will the minister stress to the Westminster ministers on the joint committee the absolute necessity that they act to bring the cost of fuel down to within the price range of the fuel poor? Will he stress that they must outlaw—and I mean outlaw—the obscene practice whereby profit-bloated, privatised power companies force power cards on to some of the poorest people in our country, forcing them to pay more for their fuel than anyone else and ultimately forcing them to disconnect themselves from the fuel supply? That is unacceptable in the 21st century.
We will identify ways in which we can continue to address fuel poverty. The issue that Mr McAllion has raised should be addressed. We will discuss with our colleagues at Westminster the winter fuel allowance, which is now at its highest ever level in Scotland. We want to ensure that we still have the resources to continue the warm deal programme. By working in partnership, we can address the issues that John McAllion has raised. Fuel poverty will be addressed.
Does the minister agree that it would be possible—using the powers of the Parliament and the Executive—to develop a voluntary code for the power generating and delivering companies, which would call upon them to exempt all our pensioners from standing charges?
If Mr Quinan writes to me, I will be happy to take that issue forward.
In these days when a car is a necessity in many rural areas in Scotland, does the minister acknowledge that the definition of fuel poverty needs to be extended to cover those who are unable to afford the fuel to run their cars?
That is a little wide of the question. We will move on.
Student Funding
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the funding arrangements for students of dance, drama or stage management to facilitate them studying at Scottish institutions. (S1O-2259)
Funding through discretionary bursaries is a matter for local authorities and the Executive has no plans to change the current system.
I thank the minister for her rather disappointing response. Is the minister aware that Ballet West, based at Taynuilt, attracts more than 100 applications a year, from all over the United Kingdom and abroad, for its three-year diploma in dancing and teaching studies, and that it injects significant resources into the local community? Is she also aware that Ballet West has outperformed all other ballet companies in competition, including the Royal Ballet, yet cannot gain access to tuition fee grants, as can its more expensive, less talented competitors from south of the border?
As Mr Gibson will know, no accredited dance and drama schools in Scotland currently qualify for awards from the Department for Education and Employment. Scottish students can compete on equal terms with students from the rest of the UK and Europe for places at accredited centres of dance and drama. That is the situation, and that will remain the position until we have an accredited centre for dance and drama.
The minister has mentioned that the maintenance of students at drama, dance and music colleges is funded by local authorities through the discretionary bursary system. Is she aware that more than half of Scotland's councils have now taken policy decisions to withdraw the funding of discretionary bursaries? Does that cause the Executive concern, in so far as students from some areas are unable to access funding whereas students from other areas are?
, In the context of the implementation of the national cultural strategy I am happy to take up that issue in discussions with local authorities.
Organ Removal (Guidance)
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance will be given to hospitals in relation to consent being obtained before the removal of human organs for research purposes. (S1O-2248)
Hospitals are already aware that they need informed consent from the next of kin before removing organs for research or any other purpose. Revised guidelines on this matter were issued to the national health service in Scotland in April this year. I am considering what further action is needed in relation to the practice of the retention of organs post mortem.
Can the minister give a clear assurance to relatives that such distress to them will not arise in future?
I certainly want to take whatever action is necessary to ensure that, in future, the highest possible standards of practice are adhered to throughout the NHS in Scotland. That must include a practice of informed consent for parents. To that end, I have had a series of meetings with a range of parents' groups and I will make a statement on the matter shortly. I am pleased to give an assurance that I will do all in my power to ensure that distress for relatives is avoided in future—as it must be.
I am aware that the minister has met parents whose children's organs were removed without consent. Can she tell the chamber whether she will accede to the overwhelming request from those parents for a public inquiry to determine the details of the practice and to give them the assurance that they seek: that that will never happen again?
I intend to make a full statement on this difficult and sensitive issue. I have listened carefully to a range of views from a variety of parents' organisations. The national committee for organ retention holds a very strong view, as Nicola Sturgeon has indicated, that a full, official public inquiry ought to be held into the matter.
I must press the minister. We have shared much correspondence on the matter, and she knows that a number of the parents who have been pressing for a public inquiry have asked her to reveal the range of other organisations that are opposed to a public inquiry. She has not yet done that. I think that the case for a public inquiry is overwhelming, so I ask the minister: will she please accede to a public inquiry?
I addressed some of Tommy Sheridan's points in my previous answer. I repeat that my absolute, primary concern is to do what is in the best possible interest of all the parents concerned. The national committee for organ retention has involved about 40 parents. I have also spoken to the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, the Association for Children with Heart Disorders and the Scottish Cot Death Trust. I have also spoken informally to people involved in providing counselling to bereaved parents at Yorkhill and other hospitals.
National Health Service (Zyban)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional resources will be made available to the NHS for the prescription of Zyban. (S1O-2278)
No, there are sufficient funds in the unified budgets of health boards.
Does the minister expect extra provision to be made for smoking cessation clinics? I am sure that he is aware that the effectiveness of Zyban also depends on the availability of a comprehensive package of smoking cessation clinics and counselling for smokers.
A number of health boards' drug evaluation panels have agreed that Zyban's effectiveness depends very much on additional support such as counselling. I understand that Lothian Health is currently developing a programme of cessation counselling that will take account of this new weapon in the armoury against smoking.
Is the minister satisfied that adequate screening is being done to identify those committed to quitting smoking before they are given Zyban and is he satisfied that adequate counselling and support are given to those who are now taking Zyban?
Zyban is a new drug and information about and experience of its use are growing slowly. I agree with Mary Scanlon that doctors must make a clinical judgment before prescribing the drug, and must be convinced that there is a genuine desire to give up smoking and to attend support counselling.
National Health Service
To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations the NHS is making for the forthcoming winter. (S1O-2269)
A range of preparations is in place at local and national levels, backed by record investment in the NHS in general and by targeted investment in winter plans in particular. A winter planning group comprising a wide range of experts and staff and patient interests has produced a detailed report, which is now being implemented throughout Scotland.
I welcome all the actions that have been taken, which have been helped by the abolition of the internal market and which the British Medical Association has described as the best ever preparations for the winter. However, there are continuing concerns because of the seemingly relentless rise in the number of emergency admissions and the need to develop community capacity. Can the minister explain the continuing rise in the number of emergency admissions, particularly in relation to respiratory diseases? Without pre-empting the Minister for Finance's statement, can she hold out any hope that priority will be given to the development of community services?
I echo Malcolm Chisholm's view that the fact that we now have a national health service based on collaboration rather than on competition greatly enhances the service's capacity not only to prepare for winter but to provide effective services throughout the year. I endorse the BMA's comments and thank it and other professional groups and staff interests for the contribution that they have made to formulating our policies and plans for the coming winter.
Does the minister believe that we will have adequate supplies of flu vaccine to vaccinate the extended groups who are to be immunised, including front-line NHS and social work staff?
Margaret Smith is correct in saying that a far larger number of people than ever before will be offered flu immunisation this year. In fact, the decision to reduce the lower age limit of at-risk groups to 65, as opposed to 75, will result in more than a quarter of a million more elderly people in Scotland being offered flu immunisation this year than last. As was indicated in the question, staff in key services will also be offered the vaccination. I can give an assurance that, as part of our planning process, large stocks of the vaccine have been arranged through the chief pharmaceutical officer and the NHS in Scotland to ensure that all those needs can be met.
I listened carefully to what the minister had to say. Will she please explain the information supplied by Fife Health Board at the briefing it held for MSPs in Fife last Friday? The board said that even given its early buying strategy for flu vaccine, if all of the Government's target group requested a flu jab, it would have enough supply to cover only 25 per cent of that group. How does the minister explain that?
I am glad to hear that Bruce Crawford listened carefully to my answer. It is a courtesy that is not always afforded to ministers by members of the SNP.
Cumbernauld Housing Stock Transfer
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to offer financial support to owner-occupiers affected by the proposed stock transfer in Cumbernauld. (S1O-2258)
We have provided £0.5 million to support an examination of the options. There are on-going discussions between North Lanarkshire Council, Scottish Homes, the Cumbernauld housing partnership and the owner-occupiers, whom I have had the opportunity of meeting through the good offices of Mrs Cathie Craigie, the local member. Their input is influencing the redesign of the improvement grant scheme through the forthcoming housing bill, which we are due to introduce later this winter.
The minister will understand that the home owners must have concerns, as they have approached me to address them. Will she provide assurances that she will assist with central funding of support to home owners and that that funding will not be limited to the 40 per cent suggested for the improvement grant in her white paper? Does she recognise the special circumstances of joint tenure occupation and the large number of senior citizens who are affected, who are very worried indeed about the grave financial implications of the transfer should it not be accompanied by substantial funding support—up to 100 per cent—for owner-occupiers?
I have indicated that, thanks to the earlier intervention of the constituency member, we have moved to redesign the improvement grant scheme along the lines that the member requested. It is important to recognise that the issue in Cumbernauld has not been the willingness of the public sector to put up money, but the fact that for the first time, we had a situation where there were a large number of owner occupiers and lenders were not prepared to lend. I am therefore pleased to report that the transfer is likely to conclude at the end of this month, because the credit committees of Nationwide and Abbey National have agreed to lend and to approve the new landlord's funding package.
I thank the minister for the recognition that she has given to the owners and tenants working in Cumbernauld to address the unique position there regarding the former development corporation housing. Tenants and residents are working together in partnership to deal with the problems. I welcome the housing bill and the proposals therein for home improvement grants, but can she assure me that the proposals will be implemented as soon as possible?
I have tried to give an assurance that we expect the transfer to be concluded at the end of the month and the reform of improvement grants to be through as part of the housing bill later this year. The work that has been done in Cumbernauld has been an exemplary demonstration of good partnership between the council and Scottish Homes. That will create a model for the rest of Scotland, where we will be encouraging private lenders to support situations where there is a large number of owner occupiers.
Scottish Qualifications Authority
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Qualifications Authority has been able to complete its full programme of moderation of the internal assessment of all educational units for which it has responsibility. (S1O-2276)
The independent inquiry will cover whether normal quality assurance procedures were applied to qualifications leading to exams in 2000. The inquiry report will of course be published.
When are the moderation procedures likely to be completed and how many candidates are affected? To what extent have students who have completed the higher national certificate and higher national diploma courses not been given their final qualifications because the SQA has not validated their courses?
A number of questions have been posed. Once again I stress that the answers will come from the public inquiry that we have set up and we should await its results before jumping to any conclusions.
National Health Service
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to measure success in its programme of modernisation of the NHS. (S1O-2286)
Our aims in modernising the health service are to ensure that the NHS is patient-centred, so that patients have a positive experience in all their contacts with the NHS; that the NHS is able to demonstrate that it is efficient, effective and responsive; and that the NHS satisfies the demands of public accountability.
The minister has told us that the process will be patient-centred. How does she square that with the membership of the NHS modernisation board? Is she aware that of the 15 members, 11 are either professionals or managers, two are academics, one is a trade unionist and only one is in any way a patient representative? Does she really think that that is putting patients at the heart of modernisation and what will she do about it?
I am glad that Duncan Hamilton shares my commitment to putting patients at the heart of the NHS and I hope that in his contributions to debate, in this chamber and in the Health and Community Care Committee, he will join me in taking that forward. I am pleased to see his research into the composition of the NHS modernisation board; it shows the very wide range of perspectives that is reflected on that board, just as a wide range of perspectives is represented on the NHS modernisation forum that met for the first time last week.
Does the minister agree that the length of hospital waiting lists is a measure of the success of the modernisation programme? Is she aware that waiting lists in Ayrshire are still very long, following the previous winter's debacle? Will she ensure that they will not get even longer as this winter approaches?
Waiting lists must be a top priority in NHS modernisation. I am very disappointed by the length of waiting lists in some parts of the country—indeed, in the most recently published figures, 67 per cent of the increase in waiting lists was attributed to four NHS trusts and action is being taken in those areas. I am pleased that more people than ever before are being treated on the NHS, that they are being treated more quickly and that progress and performance on waiting times in Scotland is the best in the UK. I am by no means complacent, however, and will ensure that by investment and reform we continue to make improvements.
I thank the minister for her comments on the NHS modernisation board. I understand that the people mentioned are on it not as representatives but as individuals, and that they are all potential patients. Is the NHS modernisation forum now working well and is she satisfied with it? Is the voluntary sector adequately represented on it? Will she publish the full structure, remits and membership of the sub-committees of the board?
A great deal of the information that Richard Simpson asks for is already in the public domain; I am happy to put any further information on the matter into the public domain. I will shortly be writing to a range of additional organisations and to the Health and Community Care Committee to ensure that over the next couple of months, as we work on the development of the health plan for Scotland, a wide range of inputs is drawn in. As I said in response to an earlier question, what matters is not the process but the outcome. We must ensure that, in our priorities, in our investment and in our policy, we deliver results for patients. That is my primary concern.
Fuel
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the effects of high road fuel prices on the Scottish economy. (S1O-2256)
The Scottish Executive is concerned about the impact of high fuel prices on the Scottish economy and routinely monitors fuel prices. It has consequently introduced a series of measures especially to mitigate their impact in rural areas.
Does the minister accept that the negative economic effects of high fuel taxes led to last week's protest, which even Jack Straw described as a genuine protest requiring a serious response? Was it not therefore foolish of Donald Dewar to dismiss the protesters as an ill-defined, unrepresentative network, as opinion polls revealed that the vast majority of the people of this country feel that ministers are not listening to legitimate demands for a reduction in road fuel tax? Is it any wonder that new Labour is now even more unpopular than the Tory party?
Donald Dewar, among many senior politicians in the country, is listening. It ill behoves Dennis Canavan to take a piece of news coverage and distort it to attack the First Minister.
A whole lot of members now want to ask questions, but I am not going to allow a rerun of last week's debate. The question is about the impact of the high road fuel prices on the Scottish economy.
Considering that world crude oil prices are at a 10-year high and are causing the high road fuel prices that have been referred to, has there been an assessment of the likely inflationary impact of that on the Scottish economy?
The Government's inflation targets at a UK level—and I ask members to forgive me for talking about reserved matters—are being met. Key issues such as oil prices are factored into that equation.
Will the minister condemn the orchestrated use of trade union members to spy on the ordinary, individual, hard-working protesters, to inform the Government—[Interruption.]
Order. I said that I would not allow questions that go beyond the subject of the main question, which in this case is about the effect of road fuel prices on the Scottish economy. We are not having a rerun of last week's arguments.
Education (Higher Still)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers were advised by Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools of any difficulties concerning the implementation of higher still within the required time scale. (S1O-2263)
In the light of the advice available to them, ministers introduced a one-year rephasing of new highers in 1998. In the light of concerns expressed by teachers, I announced in June a further rephasing of the new English and communication higher.
I find that reply extraordinary. Given that HMI led the development unit to brief schools on higher still and that 85 per cent of the Educational Institute of Scotland—the teachers whom the minister has complimented—voted against implementation, why did he press on with it in any event?
The question is not about pressing on with higher still. It was introduced in 1994 and it took six years for it to be implemented. The question is not why was it pushed forward; it is how come it took so long to introduce it.
The minister will recall that it took 11 years to introduce standard grade, so there is an argument that higher still was rushed.
As I have said before, we will do everything to co-operate with committees. What we will not release is internal advice given to ministers, as that would not be appropriate.
Family Planning and Sexual Health Services
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to support family planning and sexual health services for young people. (S1O-2268)
The development of a sexual health strategy for Scotland, the health demonstration project healthy respect and investment by the Executive directly, and through the Health Education Board for Scotland, to improve and expand information on services have the shared goal of improving the sexual health of young people in Scotland.
I thank the minister for her reply and also for her announcement in April that the Scottish Executive would fund four new Brook advisory centres in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Tayside and Forth Valley. Will she indicate the progress of those four centres?
My understanding is that a range of discussions and work has taken place at a local level between the Brook and local health boards to ensure that the investment made available by the Executive is put to good use and that services are provided across the country.
Is the minister aware of yesterday's report in the Edinburgh Evening News, which outlined the commercial sale by family planning agencies of sexual aids? Is that commercial activity a core activity? Does it suggest that there might be privatisation of the family planning agency in the future?
I am ashamed to admit, as an MSP who represents an Edinburgh constituency, that—unusually—I did not read last night's Edinburgh Evening News. I therefore cannot comment on the report in question.
I welcome the healthy respect demonstration project, which will benefit both Susan Deacon's constituency and mine. I also welcome the superb Sandyford initiative, which Glasgow colleagues and I visited during the summer recess.
We should note the importance of ensuring that best practice is developed across Scotland. I remind members of the scale of the task that we face: there were something in the region of 9,000 teenage pregnancies in Scotland last year, almost half of which resulted in termination, and there is a rising incidence of sexually transmitted infection. The measures to which I referred in my initial answer are key examples of how we intend to spread out best practice across the country.
Retired People
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it intends to take to assist retired people. (S1O-2270)
Scotland's older people will benefit from a package over the next three years that will include an extensive programme of measures to provide better care services and concessionary fares. Also, as the Minister for Communities has announced, 70,000 pensioners will receive free central heating and insulation. Those are three of the most important issues for retired people.
Does the minister share the view that was expressed by Age Concern in a news release today that transport has risen to the top of the political agenda, and that for some of the most vulnerable people in our constituencies—our elderly, disabled and young people—the policies and funding that we shape in the Parliament are vital? Does the minister agree that community transport of the sort that is based in Lochore in the constituency of Dunfermline East has an increasing role to play in supporting folks who are affected by transport issues? Will he visit Trans-Fife community transport? Furthermore, does he foresee fare concessions playing an important part in addressing those issues?
I agree that in the many meetings that I and colleagues such as Jackie Baillie and Sarah Boyack have had with older people over the past 18 months, transport is one of the first issues that they raise with us. That is why we intend to respond on that issue.
Does the minister agree that the best service that he and the Executive could do for retired people is to implement the terms of the Sutherland report? At the moment, the Executive party is the only party in the chamber that does not approve the implementation of that report.
As recently as last week I pointed out that the timetable for our response to the Sutherland report had been set out in December. I have held rigorously to the position that we would respond in the context of the spending review and in the days following that. Bill Aitken's question is a last-ditch attempt to get me to break that timetable, but I am not willing to do so.
Safer Routes to School
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the safer routes to school scheme. (S1O-2253)
In December last year, the Scottish Executive issued guidance on how to run a safer routes to school scheme. In May, I announced additional resources of £5.2 million for local authorities to enable them to implement schemes and, a fortnight ago, I addressed the safer routes to school conference in Glasgow, where practical ideas for implementation were presented and discussed.
I thank the minister for that very positive response. However, does she not agree that more and longer-term investment is needed for this excellent initiative, as it seems that local authorities such as Aberdeenshire Council are experiencing great difficulty in providing safer routes to school? In fact, unless their parents are able to pay the recently imposed bus fares, some of the children attending Banff Academy have to walk three miles to school, either along busy roads, which are often used by heavy agricultural vehicles and have almost no pavements or street-lighting, or on a coastal path, which is unlit and prone to erosion, and in the dreadful weather conditions that sometimes afflict the north-east. Is that a good example of safer routes to school?
I agree that we need a long-term approach to this matter. That is why we have a 10-year target of reducing child fatalities on our roads by 50 per cent.
The minister will be aware that in many parts of the United States there is a blanket 15 mph speed limit around schools. Would she lend her support to such a measure being put in place in Scotland?
Having 20 mph speed zones around our schools would be seen by many communities as a major step forward. I want to ensure that we establish that priority. It is about safer driving, responsible driving, and giving children alternatives that are safer, but crucially it is also about working with parents, local schools and the police to make sure that any local response is properly worked out and meets local circumstances.
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