Plenary, 21 Feb 2008

Meeting date: Thursday, February 21, 2008

Official Report 730KB pdf

---

Question Time

---

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

---

Health and Well-being

---

General Practices (Opening Hours)

To ask the Scottish Government what further progress has been made in discussions with representative bodies on extending the opening hours of general practices. (S3O-2273)

We continue to have a constructive dialogue with representatives from the Scottish general practitioner committee of the British Medical Association.

The Scottish Government's offer promotes flexible access for patients while also offering a substantial increase in investment through the GP contract. If the offer is accepted, the average practice in Scotland that extends its opening hours by two and a half hours a week will receive new money worth £19,000 a year. As we have consistently said, we believe that the offer is fair, and we hope that GPs will vote in favour of it. We look forward to receiving the result of the GP poll in due course.

I advise the cabinet secretary that, like many members, I have been in discussion with a number of GPs in my constituency—in Dollar, in Tillicoultry, in Alloa and, on Monday, in Clackmannan—who have all said that they are concerned about what they perceive to be the heavy-handed approach that is taken down south. They feel that the Scottish Government is being more constructive, however, and if new money is allocated to cover the additional expenses of extended opening hours they will be happy to accept the deal—at least, that is my impression. Can I have the cabinet secretary's assurance that the £9 million that has been announced in the media as earmarked for that is genuinely new money, rather than money that is being drawn down from existing national health service budgets?

Our discussions with the SGPC have been and continue to be constructive. It is our intention to continue the constructive dialogue around the implementation of the offer that has been made to GPs even after they accept it—as I hope that they will. It has been made clear that the Scottish arrangements will be less prescriptive than those that exist south of the border, taking account of the very different demographic and geographic considerations in Scotland, and I look forward to those discussions continuing.

Keith Brown is correct to say—and I am happy to assure him—that the £9.5 million of new money is indeed new money. In addition, £6.5 million will be recycled from the existing 48-hour access directed enhanced service to fund the extended opening hours proposal. That service will be discontinued and replaced with new arrangements that link patient experience to payments to practices for 48-hour access and advance booking.

Therefore, within the deal there is £9.5 million of new money and, because we have made a commitment to 1.5 per cent guaranteed additional investment across the GP contract envelope, there will be, over and above that, an additional £9 million of new money.

It is a fair deal for GPs. Rewarding two and a half hours of additional clinical time for the average GP practice with £19,000 a year per practice is a good deal. It is in the interests of patients, and I look forward to receiving the verdict of GPs on it in due course.

I commend the cabinet secretary for continuing the Labour policy of seeking a different settlement for general practitioners in Scotland such as we already had on access. I ask her to talk about the alternative proposals that she is putting to the general medical services committee of the BMA. Those do not seem to include any new money, yet they seem to take a rational approach in amending the quality and outcomes framework guidelines. I also ask her to confirm that the three elements in the primary proposal are: the £9.5 million of new money; the £6.5 million of recycled money; and the remainder of the £19 million, which is to do with the review body and a guarantee that she has offered.

I wish to correct Richard Simpson slightly. He is right to say that there are three elements to the extended hours proposal: the first is the £9.5 million of new money; the second is the £6.5 million recycled from the existing 48-hour access DES; and the third is the money that will be part of the QOF for the existing 48-hour access DES, which will link patient experience with 48-hour access and advance booking and is worth an additional £7.5 million. Over and above that, the 1.5 per cent minimum investment guarantee will deliver an additional £9 million of new money. I appreciate that this is all a bit complex, but the total amount of new money in the package is £19 million. I think that that is a considerable investment.

As for the alternative proposals that Richard Simpson referred to, I hope that they never come into the equation, because my hope is that GPs will vote to accept what I think is a very fair deal not only for them but for the patients that they and I serve.

I should acknowledge that many GPs already provide extended opening, and we are grateful to them for doing so. However, at the moment, they are not rewarded for that activity, and this offer will enable that to happen. Our legal obligations require us to have an amended contract in place by 1 April so that we can introduce alternative proposals if GPs reject the offer. However, as I have made very clear to the SGPC, that is a bottom-line position on which we can have further negotiations. In fact, that is reflected in the BMA's newsletter.

---

General Medical Services Contract

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with general practitioners about the impact of any changes to the GMS contract on the number of doctors willing to participate in out-of-hours services. (S3O-2254)

We continue to have discussions with representatives of the GP profession about how any change to the GMS contract can best be implemented for GP contractors, the national health service and patients. Those discussions include our proposals for extended hours and any possible impact on out-of-hours services.

I support flexibility in opening hours to allow local health centres to respond to particular needs in their communities, and I feel that, on this issue, we must resist any one-size-fits-all solution. However, I am concerned about the real risk of a knock-on effect on out-of-hours services. Indeed, doctors in my region have advised me that they are much less likely to be able to take on a share of out-of-hours cover. That will be particularly damaging in rural areas where it is more difficult and expensive to recruit locum doctors to cover out-of-hours services. Will the cabinet secretary undertake to meet representatives of rural practices in my area to explore that issue thoroughly before she presses ahead and finalises her plans for extended hours?

I am always delighted to meet GPs in any part of the country. I regularly visit GP practices and meet GP representatives, and find those discussions very fruitful.

I very much agree with Alison McInnes about flexibility, and assure her that flexibility has been built into our proposals in two key ways. First, the offer to GPs involves an extra half-hour of clinical time per 1,000 patients on a GP's list, which clearly takes account of the fact that some GP practices have fewer patients than others and ensures that the eventual outcome will be tailored to the size of practice.

Secondly, as I said in my answer to the previous question, if, as I hope, the offer is accepted, we intend to implement it in a less prescriptive way than appears to have been the case south of the border. The implementation of the arrangements will very much be a matter of negotiation between GP practices and local NHS boards, and those discussions will take account not only of rurality and other factors but of any impact of extended opening on out-of-hours services. That is the right way to proceed and I hope that GPs will welcome the move. I am sure that many patients throughout the country will.

Previous changes to the GP contract are alleged to have altered the nature of the demand for out-of-hours services. What impact have those changes had on increasing the demand for such services and, in particular, on increasing the burden of work on accident and emergency departments? Will the cabinet secretary's new proposals help to alleviate the situation?

Dr McKee raises an important point about the increase in the past couple of years in total attendances at A and E departments; indeed, over the past two years, total attendances have increased by just under 4 per cent. I suspect that a range of factors will have contributed to the increase. Changes to the GP contract may be one of those factors, but they are not the only factor.

At the national level, we are responding to the issue through a demand review steering group, which has been set up to explore further the reasons for changes in patient demand for unscheduled care services. That includes demand for accident and emergency services as well as services provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24 and minor injuries centres.

The issue is important and we will keep it under review. We will ensure that we respond appropriately.

---

National Health Service Boards (Deficits)

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is anticipated that any NHS boards will have a financial deficit in the next financial year. (S3O-2354)

NHS Western Isles is the only health board currently expected to have a financial deficit in 2008-09. The board has a cumulative deficit of £3.364 million, brought forward from 2006-07. In the current financial year, the board is cautiously optimistic of delivering in-year financial break-even. If that happens, the board will carry forward the cumulative deficit of £3.364 million into 2008-09.

Highland MSPs recently received a briefing from NHS Highland, at which we were told that NHS Highland would have to find more than £17 million of savings in order to break even in 2008-09. With smaller budget increases planned for the next few years; with ever more stringent targets to meet; with the spectre of a new funding formula that would work against rural health boards; and with the additional cost on rural boards of providing services such as out-of-hours care to remote communities, will the cabinet secretary assure us that the Government is not embarked on a path that will lead to deficits or cuts in services in future years?

I can certainly assure Mary Scanlon that that is not the Government's intention. We want to continue what has been a period of financial stability in the NHS, and we want to deal with any particular issues that arise, such as the situation in NHS Western Isles.

I will make two additional points. All NHS boards received an increase of at least 3.15 per cent for the next financial year. In what was a tight overall financial settlement, I think that that was a very good increase. Some boards that are below their Arbuthnott and NHS Scotland national resource allocation committee target shares received greater increases. NHS Lothian was one such board, and all the boards have welcomed the increases warmly.

I think that the NRAC was at the heart of Mary Scanlon's questions. She will know that the NRAC was a committee of independent experts that was set up by my predecessor. The NRAC reported to us and I asked the Health and Sport Committee to make observations and comments on the report. NHS boards have also commented on it. I will shortly take a decision on whether or not we will implement the NRAC recommendations. However—as I have said before and as I want to repeat now—if we implement the recommendations in the report, we will do so on a phased basis. No health board will receive less funding, as a result of such implementation, than it does at the moment. It is important to stress that point yet again in the chamber, for the benefit of all NHS boards.

Is the minister aware of financial pressures that certain health boards and services are facing? Does she acknowledge that certain services are now under pressures that they have not experienced to date?

I recently visited Albyn house in Aberdeen. I am sure that the minister will agree—because Kenny MacAskill is on record as doing so—that Albyn house provides a very important service in tackling alcohol abuse. It provides safety for people who would otherwise be in accident and emergency or police custody, and it gives advice and support on alcohol services. Does the minister share my concern that the project now faces financial cuts? She is on record as placing significant emphasis on alcohol issues, so will she put her money where her mouth is and ensure that the project is properly funded?

Perhaps everyone in Scotland—those who use NHS services and those who do not—would be better served if Margaret Curran and her colleagues were to cease scaremongering without any foundation, both within and outwith this chamber.

I am sure that my predecessor—I see that he is gracing us with his presence—would agree that all NHS boards always face financial pressures, because that is in the nature of the work that they do and the services that they provide. In the context of a very tight financial settlement this year, we have ensured above-inflation increases for the NHS. Those increases have been welcomed. They will enable the NHS to continue to provide the excellent service that it provides.

On the particular case that Margaret Curran raised, I will, of course, look into it, as I will do with any cases that are raised with me. I am happy to write to her once I have done so.

I suggest that Margaret Curran read the budget—perhaps people who abstain on the budget do not need to read it in advance. If she does so, she will see that the Government is committed to investing, over the next three years, an additional £85 million in initiatives to tackle alcohol misuse. When I appeared before the Health and Sport Committee to talk about the budget, Margaret Curran's deputy spokesperson, Richard Simpson, welcomed that investment. Perhaps she should do so as well.

Will the cabinet secretary join me in welcoming the news that NHS Western Isles is making progress towards breaking even in future years? What lessons does the Government hope to draw from the Auditor General's recent report into the corporate and financial governance of NHS Western Isles?

The Parliament's Audit Committee is currently looking into that issue and I look forward to reading its report.

As I have said, NHS Western Isles is cautiously optimistic that it will reach a financial break-even position this year. If it does so, that will be extremely good news for the people of the Western Isles and will enable the board to move forward with more stability than it has known in recent years.

We are always looking to learn lessons that previous Administrations perhaps failed to learn. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the management team in NHS Western Isles, the acting chief executive and the chairman of the board. They are doing a good job of ensuring that the problems of the health board that have been present for the past few years are tackled while the board continues to provide first-class services for the people of the islands.

---

Lothian NHS Board (Meetings)

To ask the Scottish Executive when it next plans to meet NHS Lothian and what topics will be discussed. (S3O-2299)

I meet monthly with all national health service board chairs and chaired the NHS Lothian annual review on 12 November last year. I have also met front-line staff and national health service managers during visits to health care facilities in the Lothians, most recently when I visited the Edinburgh cancer centre at the Western general infirmary on 12 February.

Scottish Government officials also regularly meet NHS Lothian to discuss a wide range of issues.

I note the cabinet secretary's picture in today's Evening News. Would she like to go further than she did in the rather brief quotation that she gave to the newspaper today and reveal her current thinking about children's cancer services? Will she give a commitment that such services will stay in the Lothians? Can people take assurance from the appearance of her picture in the newspaper that she is committed to retaining those services?

I hope that members will not mind if I begin by paying tribute to the extraordinary young man who yesterday presented me with the petition that the newspaper story was about. He has been through a great deal in his life, yet he is a great example of a young person who is extremely concerned about the world around him. He is a credit to his generation and I thank him for taking the time to meet me yesterday.

At this time, I will not expand on the comments that I made to young Ross when I met him. However, I will say that the group that was set up by my predecessor—I seem to be mentioning him a lot today—to review specialist children's services has been doing important work. I have received its report and will take time to consider it before putting it out to public consultation, which has been the commitment all along.

As I have said on a number of occasions in the chamber and publicly, this Government is committed to all the children's hospitals in Scotland and to retaining services as locally as possible. I look forward to making further announcements in that regard soon.

---

Aberdeen Dental School

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on establishing the Aberdeen dental school. (S3O-2276)

I visited the Aberdeen dental institute on Tuesday and received a full briefing from NHS Grampian and other key stakeholders on the new Aberdeen dental school development. Excellent progress is being made that will enable this challenging task to be achieved. On completion, the dental institute, including the dental school, will represent a unique and high-quality facility that will provide comprehensive oral and dental services and put Grampian in an excellent position to train, recruit and retain dental professionals.

The minister is well aware that the shortage of national health service dentists is nowhere more acute than in the north-east of Scotland. Will the Government consider incentives to encourage graduates of the Aberdeen dental school to practice in the north-east?

I am well aware of the pressures in the north-east, which have existed for quite some time and which we are determined to resolve. I remind the member that the dental bursary scheme—which is the lever for NHS commitment of up to five years—will be available to Aberdeen students. In the other dental schools, 70 per cent of students have taken up that bursary, which is encouraging. Other financial incentives are in place, including the vocational training allowance of up to £6,000 and a golden hello payment of up to £20,000 over two years if graduates join the dental list within three months of completing their vocational training.

The establishment of the core facilities for the new dental school in Aberdeen will be followed by the creation of an educational network across the north of Scotland to provide outreach experience for dental students. Outreach for the Aberdeen dental students will, in the first instance, be within Grampian, with proposed centres in Elgin and Peterhead. Outreach will develop further as the dental school matures, to engage more widely with facilities across the Highlands and Islands health boards in the north of Scotland. The benefit of such facilities and of other capital dental projects should encourage students who will study in Aberdeen to remain in the north-east after qualification.

Professor Logan, the senior vice-principal of the University of Aberdeen, confirmed in a meeting with me last week that the much smaller postgraduate programme is all that the Scottish Government has funded the university to run. He also confirmed that funding for a full undergraduate dental school, if it was forthcoming, would be warmly welcomed by the university. Will the minister consider expanding what is proposed at the University of Aberdeen and fund the full undergraduate dental school that she promised members in the chamber and the people of Scotland?

I can see that Mike Rumbles is still sooking his sour grapes, which comes as little surprise, given that we are delivering something that he singularly failed to deliver when he was in government. I will make it clear—the Aberdeen dental school will be a full dental school and a centre of excellence for the north-east of Scotland.

Professor Mike Greaves and his team at the University of Aberdeen are doing a wonderful and powerful job in getting the Aberdeen dental school up and running for the next academic session of 2008. It is disappointing that we are hearing negative comments from Mike Rumbles and some of his colleagues that undermine the reputation of the Aberdeen dental school before it is even open. Such comments are received very badly by those at Aberdeen University, particularly when they are trying to recruit the best staff for the Aberdeen dental school—

I met them last week.

Mr Rumbles, you have had your question.

I suggest to Mr Rumbles that, rather than carping from the sidelines—

But it is a personal attack.

Mr Rumbles, that is out of order.

I suggest that Mr Rumbles actually gets behind the Aberdeen dental school, as the rest of the population is doing.

---

Housing (Glasgow)

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address housing need in Glasgow. (S3O-2317)

"Firm Foundations: The Future of Housing in Scotland" sets out the Scottish Government's radical and ambitious housing proposals for the whole of Scotland. It focuses on our proposals for creating a housing system that can meet the housing needs of all our communities, including Glasgow. Ministers have met the city council and a range of stakeholders in Glasgow to discuss the document and will reflect on the responses in order to achieve the best outcomes for tenants and residents in the city.

I am sure that, like me, the minister recognises the key role and proud record of community-controlled housing organisations in meeting housing needs in Glasgow. Critically, that is about regeneration, which is almost absent from "Firm Foundations".

The minister will be aware of the belated response by Glasgow Housing Association to the Communities Scotland inspection report. I ask the minister to comment on two issues that emerged from that report. First, the GHA has indicated that it

"remains committed to transacting those SST proposals which are currently being progressed".

Separately, it appears to make a case for being the lead developer itself, as identified in "Firm Foundations". Those are clearly directly opposed positions. Does the minister still support the cross-party view in the Parliament that the GHA is a transitional body and that community ownership is part of its core business, which does not appear to come out of its response to the inspection report?

Secondly, when will the minister report in detail to the Parliament—as he committed to do in the debate on the matter—on progress in tackling the critical issues in the inspection report as regards meeting housing need in Glasgow?

I thank Johann Lamont for all those questions. On the GHA and second-stage transfer, I point out to her yet again that, over many years, the previous Administration failed to deliver one single step towards SST, yet we, in a short eight months, have 16 transfers moving forward and another 17 under discussion, which is a huge, significant step towards SST. The first SST ballots will be issued within the year. We are moving the situation forward where the previous Administration failed to do so.

We did indeed include competition in "Firm Foundations". It is quite right that we ensure that we extract the maximum value for the public purse for housing supply in Glasgow and throughout the country.

As we have said a number of times, we view the GHA as a transitional body. As far as the report into the GHA is concerned, the GHA has now provided information in response to the regulator and will proceed with implementing the proposals. I am sure that many members will welcome the changes that will be made as a result of the report.

---

Tooth Decay

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress to its—I am sorry, I will start again.

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to address tooth decay. (S3O-2345)

A number of measures, introduced as part of the dental action plan, are aimed at improving oral health. In addition, I launched a school-based service for children on 3 December.

As Dr Richard Simpson will confirm—he diagnosed it—I am suffering from tooth decay, which is perhaps why my initial question was somewhat confused.

The minister will be aware that there is a particularly acute problem in Glasgow in respect of tooth decay and bad teeth in general, which is not helped by the shortage in national health service dentist provision. What plans does she have to improve the alarming and concerning situation?

The issue in Glasgow is not so much the distribution of NHS dentists as deprivation and people not accessing the dentists who are available often enough in the way that they require to. That is why we have an on-going programme—which will be extended—that includes childsmile practice, which is operating in a number of community health partnership areas. The programme will be rolled out to the remaining CHP areas in due course.

Childsmile and childsmile school will commence in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area in 2009-10. They are concerned with early intervention and ensuring that, by giving the oral health of the next generation as good a start as possible, we prevent some of the dental decay of which there is unfortunately too much among the adult population. A lot is happening, and I am happy to write to the member with more detail on the plans.

I was pleased to welcome the minister to Methilhill primary school in my constituency for the national launch of the childsmile school programme, to which the minister has just referred. Given the success of that programme and the access that it gives young children to NHS dentists and to early treatment for the prevention of tooth decay, can the minister indicate how quickly it will be rolled out to the rest of Scotland, so that others can benefit like my constituency?

It was a pleasure to visit Methilhill primary school. The staff there are working hard with dental nurses to roll out the project. Childsmile school carries on the good work of childsmile nursery and childsmile practice. It includes fluoride varnish and, later on in school, fissure sealants, which is good preventive work.

The boards that have got childsmile school early are in NHS Borders, NHS Fife and NHS Tayside. In addition, the programme will be rolled out to a number of other boards in 2008-09, and then to the rest of the boards in 2009-10. I guarantee that childsmile school will be available over time to all children within the deprived areas that the programme targets.

Question 8 was not lodged.

---

General Practitioner-prescribed Exercise

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to instigate a programme of GP-prescribed exercise. (S3O-2269)

A national working group has been established to develop a long-term strategic framework for the promotion of physical activity in primary care, which will include exercise on referral. The working group is taking forward its work in three phases. The first phase, which is almost complete, is the preparation of guidance to raise awareness of physical activity with health professionals working in primary care. The further phases will concern the development of measurement and screening tools and the identification of effective interventions. The group will draw on evaluations of other primary care initiatives in which exercise on referral has been practised—for example, the keep well and have a heart Paisley projects—as well as other pilot programmes.

I thank the minister for her answer, but I repeat my question: when? I appreciate that the budget has come and gone, but more money could be found within the health budget to instigate a programme of GP-prescribed exercise before the working group is likely to report, which would lead to savings. We know the benefits of exercise. We do not need to wait for any more reports.

Margo MacDonald is aware that we have doubled the budget for physical activity, which will be £4 million a year for the next spending review period, so the money is in the budget. In addition, we will publish the joint obesity action plan in the spring, which will outline how we intend to spend the £56 million that we have made available to pull together the food and health, physical activity and other strategies to maintain a healthy weight. However, we need to consider the mechanics of prescribing exercise—it is not that we do not want to do it or that the money is not available. I am happy to write to Margo MacDonald with more detail on the timescale.

---

Blood Donors (Admissibility Criteria)

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the admissibility criteria for blood donors. (S3O-2260)

The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs advises health ministers throughout the United Kingdom on the blood donation eligibility criteria, which are under constant review.

I do not doubt that they are under constant review, but that does not encourage me in any way that the current palpable discrimination against gay men in the system will be ended. Does the minister agree with me that that discrimination is indefensible, in light of the evidence? More important, will she consider changing our testing system? She will be aware that we use serological testing, although it is not the highest standard of testing that is currently deployed throughout mainland Europe. If we adopted a higher standard, it might greatly assist risk assessment and therefore greatly assist in removing the unfortunate discrimination against gay men.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, along with other UK blood services, bases its blood donor selection criteria on the best scientific and clinical advice available. I suggest to Mr Finnie that it is crucial that we follow that advice. If the advice changes, we will listen. However, we must follow the best scientific and clinical advice that is available to us, which is exactly what we are doing.

---

Health Equality

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has had with voluntary organisations to discuss their role in achieving health equality. (S3O-2334)

I met representatives of the Scottish healthy living centre alliance on 10 January to discuss the work that healthy living centres do in addressing health inequalities in some of our most deprived communities. Following that meeting, I agreed to establish a healthy living centre transition fund of £2.5 million to provide support for those centres that are facing difficulty following the ending of Big Lottery Fund funding. I have also met representatives of many voluntary and community-led health initiatives on my visits to projects around the country. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to those projects and to the many people who work in them—staff and volunteers—for their dedication and commitment to serving their communities.

I join the cabinet secretary in commending the work that is done by our voluntary organisations. I also thank her for responding to Labour's call for funding for healthy living centres. However, £2.5 million for one year, far from being the "funding lifeline" that her press release describes, is more like a shoogly peg. She has provided only half the funding for half the time that we called for. Four centres are already beyond the cabinet secretary's lifeline because they have closed.

Does the cabinet secretary understand that the funding may not be enough for the 2,000 deaf or blind clients in my constituency who might lose the services of Fife healthy living and sensory awareness project, which has already announced that it will close on 31 March due to lack of money? When the healthy living centre alliance wrote to the cabinet secretary about the situation in October, it called for £10 million over two years, but she made her announcement only this week. Will she take this opportunity to apologise to those 2,000 deaf or blind clients in Fife? Will she apologise to the many centre workers who have already been made redundant and to those who have been made fearful by the redundancy notices that have been issued?

Dr Simpson, you must be brief.

Will she apologise to the management boards, whose voluntary efforts have been undermined by her inability to make decisions on time? Will she return to Parliament with a longer-term—[Interruption.]

Order.

I am halfway through my last sentence.

Please finish quickly.

Will the cabinet secretary return to Parliament before the summer recess to make an announcement about year 2 of transition funding for the healthy living centres, so that we do not go through this whole sorry mess next year?

The specific project to which Richard Simpson refers will be able to apply to the transition fund. I hope that it will do so, but I am more than happy to look into the issue. The decisive action that I took this week is good news for health living centres and was welcomed by the healthy living centre alliance.

I must correct Richard Simpson: six, not four, healthy living centres have closed. Let me tell him which those were and when they closed: the Shetlands healthy living centre closed in December 2005; the new ways healthy living centre project in Fife closed in March 2006; Inverkeithing healthy living centre closed in March 2006; Moray healthy living centre closed in March 2006; Wester Hailes healthy living centre closed in March 2006; the our health matters healthy living centre closed in March 2006. Those healthy living centres closed because the Labour-Liberal Government sat back and did absolutely nothing to save them. I will take no lectures from Richard Simpson or other Labour members, who have shown such rank hypocrisy.

This Government will act to ensure that such projects and the people who work in them for the benefit of our communities are supported. If only Labour had acted as quickly and decisively, six more healthy living centres would be operating in Scotland today.

---

War Veterans (Housing)

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve housing for veterans in Dundee. (S3O-2278)

I recently met Veterans Scotland representatives and Ministry of Defence ministers to discuss the support that is provided to people who leave the forces to live in Dundee or elsewhere in Scotland. We will continue to work together on that issue.

The Government's housing policy is aimed at meeting housing need. Guidance to social landlords—circular DD 1/2005—makes it clear that they should treat housing applications from ex-service personnel sympathetically. When such persons return to the locality in which they lived before joining the forces, they should be treated equally alongside any other applicant with a local connection. Homelessness legislation also requires that those who are considered vulnerable as a result of having been discharged from the armed forces are assessed as having a priority need for accommodation.

For some time now I have been working to get appropriate housing for my constituent Sandy Gibson, who was left medically disabled when he was badly injured on a live firing exercise while serving with the Scots Guards. Because his health has deteriorated, he is now, in effect, trapped in his home. Dundee City Council has been unable to find appropriate housing for Mr Gibson since he first applied in October 2004. I ask the minister to look into the case and consider whether the Scottish Government can do anything to help Mr Gibson and other veterans in similar circumstances.

The Scottish Government believes that it is important that the courage, valour and sacrifice of Scottish servicemen and servicewomen, not just in the world wars but in all the conflicts in which they have fought around the world, is appropriately and properly recognised and commemorated. We are aware of the issues that face those who leave today's armed forces. We liaise closely with veterans organisations in Scotland to examine how best they can work together to address the needs and aspirations of Scotland's veterans community.

Although I cannot comment on the individual case that Mr FitzPatrick raises, I am more than happy to meet him to discuss it to see what help I can perhaps give him and his constituent. I am aware, however, that Mr Gibson's case was raised with the First Minister in December and the First Minister wrote to Dundee City Council asking for further information. I hope that Sandy Gibson gets the housing that he requires in the very near future.

It is clear that our veterans are owed a debt of gratitude by all of us, and I am sure that we can all join together in hoping that all our veterans, not just Mr Gibson, get the treatment that they deserve given the service that they provided for us.