Europe (Rescue of Migrants)
To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received to its letter to the United Kingdom Government regarding the rescue of migrants attempting to enter Europe across the Mediterranean. (S4T-00996)
The tragic deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean is, sadly, not just a recent experience. I have persistently raised the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean since 2013. I raised the issue at the joint ministerial committee on Europe on 31 October 2014, and my letters of 3 November to the Minister of State for Europe, David Lidington, and of 20 January to the Minister of State for Security and Immigration, James Brokenshire, both highlighted that abandoning search and rescue is wrong in humanitarian and practical terms and that the current policy has clearly failed. An immediate rethink in strategic terms is essential.
The United Kingdom Government’s response to my letter of 3 November 2014 focuses on the traffickers, not the victims, as did the Home Secretary’s statement on Monday. The agreed 10-point plan from the European foreign ministers is more hopeful, and the agreed summit to be held on Thursday is a positive development.
Humanitarian issues are cross-border and pan-European ones. Together, the European Union must prevent the Mediterranean from becoming a watery grave for so many fleeing conflict, fear and hate.
I welcome the cabinet secretary’s strong stance on the issue. Poisonous and damaging rhetoric on immigration has allowed Governments to create a policy in which thousands of people drown at sea. The UK Government believes that a search and rescue operation is a pull factor, ignoring the push factor—the persecution, conflict and war that cause many people to leave home and family behind to embark on truly terrifying journeys without any guarantee of safe arrival, let alone a warm welcome. Does the Scottish Government unequivocally reject the concept that drowning people will stop others making the crossing?
I very much agree with that last sentiment. The argument was continually used that that would somehow avert people from travelling. It is quite clear that that policy has failed.
There is an important point about where we are now and how to go forward. Not only does the EU have to take collective responsibility, which it is starting to do, instead of leaving the Italians to deal with the issue on their own; one of the concerns is that, because the UK is not a member of Frontex, as it is not part of the Schengen area, it does not have direct involvement in the exercise, so all that it has provided at the request of operation Triton is two debriefing officers in 2014 and this coming year. Therefore, the rethink has to be not just about the approach to immigration but about the value of human life in a dangerous context in which adults and children are drowning in the Mediterranean. It is not just in recent years that they have been drowning. An estimated 10,000 people have died in the Mediterranean in recent decades.
We want strategic thinking, but the most important point and the argument that we should put forward to David Cameron and the other EU leaders is that, as well as dealing with the strategic issues that we all need to address, they must take a humanitarian approach first and foremost.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that merchant ships are preventing an even worse crisis. They rescued approximately 40,000 people in 2014 alone, and everyone expects that number to increase. Does the Government support the calls of Amnesty International and others for more safe and legal routes to Europe for people who are fleeing persecution and conflict? As the minister noted, Frontex is beyond the control of the European Parliament. Does the Government support more parliamentary accountability for that agency?
I would encourage parliamentary scrutiny of the issue not just at the European level but at the domestic level.
There is a concern that so much of the emphasis in and the focus of the Home Secretary’s statement and the 10-point plan are on the traffickers and the smugglers. However, when we look at migrants’ experiences, we see that most of them have paid for transportation and then go on to claim asylum in Europe. The general approach must be scrutinised further.
Alison Johnstone’s point about better management of merchant shipping and legal routes across the Mediterranean must be addressed. However, the key issue is where the people are fleeing from. Many are from Syria and many are from Libya. The overall response of Europe and, from our perspective, the UK to Syria must be addressed. The problem will not be easily resolved but, in the meantime, we must renew the humanitarian efforts.
Presiding Officer, 1,400 souls have perished since the beginning of the year. We are 101 days into 2015 and we have lost 1,400 men, women and children. Those are not just migrants or trafficked people—they are human beings. The EU and the UK have abdicated their responsibility and committed a dereliction of duty to those people. Will the cabinet secretary provide an assurance to us all that she will lobby the next UK Government to reverse the coalition’s refusal to support the planned search and rescue of those souls who have perished?
I appreciate Christina McKelvie’s point. As the convener of the European and External Affairs Committee, she was at the committee session when the Italian ambassador set out the Italian concerns and their pleas for more co-operation across Europe. I agree with her about the need to treat people as individuals and to stress the humanity aspect of the situation. However critical I have been of the previous UK Government’s approach, let us take the opportunity that Thursday’s summit provides to think and act differently. With the encouragement of all parties, I am sure that we can ensure that any incoming UK Government will approach the issue differently. If it took a different approach, I am sure that it would get support from across the chamber.
I am sure that everyone was horrified to see the reports over the weekend on the tragedies in the Mediterranean. Those lost were mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. They were attempting to find a better future for themselves and escape the terrors and dangers of their home country.
As both Alison Johnstone and the cabinet secretary rightly highlight, the tactic of cancelling the search and rescue operations last year has failed, with horrendous consequences. As the cabinet secretary said, the problems are complex, which will require not just the EU but the international community to work together. That includes the need for humanitarian assistance. What contribution is the Scottish Government making in that area?
In my correspondence to the UK Government last November and in January 2015, we indicated that the Scottish Government stands ready to help. We have also said to the UK Government that we can play our part in whatever co-operation is required on Syrian refugees. We will continue to make those offers.
The UK is in a different position from the rest of the EU, but it should not be allowed to abdicate responsibility. Its non-membership of Frontex should not prevent it from providing assistance. We stand ready to provide our support under the powers that this Parliament has.
When the Italian ambassador gave evidence to the European and External Affairs Committee in October last year, he called for work with countries of origin for example, to co-ordinate aid better and to create economic opportunities and jobs in those countries to discourage people from leaving their homes to look for a better future. What will the Scottish Government do to assist that approach?
I referred to the Italian ambassador’s committee evidence in which he addressed the complex wider issues. It needs a multi-pronged response. I must stress again that a humanitarian response in the Mediterranean seas outwith the borders of operation Triton must be part and parcel of that approach.
As part of our strategic efforts, we must look at the displacement of millions of people and provide support for the rehabilitation and compassionate treatment of refugees at their countries of origin, which is what the Italians suggested initially.
The Italians have stood on their own. Operation mare nostrum finished in November 2014. It was replaced by an operation that has clearly failed. However, we must stand by our Italian friends and colleagues. They should not bear the burden by themselves. I would encourage EU leaders to look at the Italian ambassador’s proposals.
National Health Service Staff (Stress)
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS staff to deal with stress. (S4T-00997)
Our staff are at the heart of our NHS and the Government takes their health and wellbeing very seriously. The staff governance standard for NHS Scotland commits all boards to providing a continuously improving and safe working environment that promotes the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community. Standards are subject to a framework of local and national monitoring to ensure that measures are in place to achieve and maintain those objectives.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of concerns about staff using drugs and alcohol. The use of drugs and alcohol has always been a problem but may be increasing. I know from experience as a clinician that people can resort inappropriately to drugs and alcohol as a result of stress.
Is the cabinet secretary aware of the figures in the latest staff survey that showed that a quarter of nurses agreed that they had enough time to do their jobs? In other words, 75 per cent did not feel that they had enough time. Fifty per cent felt that they were too busy to provide an appropriate level of care and 64 per cent felt that they were under too much pressure. What individual support is offered to nurses to manage the stress that they will inevitably face, whatever resources are provided?
I say to Richard Simpson that I am aware of the issues that he raises. The staff survey shows a mixed picture, with some areas improving and others showing that there is more to do. Drugs and alcohol are an issue for many people in Scotland who work in many professions. We have to ensure that, when the issue is identified in the workplace, the right support is there for staff, whatever their job.
On the general issue of support, I am sure that Richard Simpson is aware that the partnership information network guideline on managing health at work is one of a range of human resources policies that are agreed nationally in partnership between NHS employers, trade unions and the Scottish Government. It covers the full range of occupational health matters, including work-related stress and staff wellbeing.
We expect boards locally to set out how they will meet or exceed that national PIN policy. That includes ensuring that nurses and other professionals in the NHS are supported in whatever issues they are dealing with. I am happy to write to Richard Simpson with more detail on that, and particularly on the drugs and alcohol issue, if he would find that helpful.
I agree with almost everything that the cabinet secretary said. My one concern—I wonder whether she agrees—is that we need to think more proactively about how we advise individual nurses. Once they get to occupational health services, their stress has been recognised. They might have been off sick with that stress. Can Healthcare Improvement Scotland examine the issue in more detail and look at how we can support individuals before they get to the point at which the stress requires them to go to occupational health?
I agree with Richard Simpson about early intervention and prevention. There has been a lot of work—not just in the NHS but in other workplaces—on putting in place a range of prevention measures to ensure that we have good mental health in the workplace.
Richard Simpson is right that we should ensure that interventions and support are there at the earliest stage, when issues are raised and identified, rather than waiting until something becomes an occupational health matter. I am happy to look at his suggestion that some organisations in the NHS could consider more early intervention support. I am happy to take that away and get back to him about that.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of the recent news that Brimmond medical group practice in Bucksburn, Aberdeen, will close at the end of September because a number of general practitioners are retiring or leaving and replacements have been unable to be recruited. Does she agree that that example is symptomatic of the crisis in GP recruitment and retention, as an ever-increasing workload, combined with reduced resources and the stresses affecting GPs’ working lives, has led many GPs to retire early or to work abroad? Will she continue to work closely with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association to find an urgent resolution to the problem, which could well come to affect patients in many parts of Scotland?
I am well sighted on the local issue that Nanette Milne raises. We have been working with GPs, the BMA and the Scottish general practitioners committee on the redesign of the contract, to sustain and support general practice for the future. We have negotiated changes to the current contract to reduce the GP workload associated with bureaucracy, and the redesigned contract will continue to go in that direction.
On the general point, the number of GPs has increased by almost 7 per cent. Scotland has more GPs per head of population than England has, and we have invested almost £70 million in GP services. However, there is more to be done.
I am keen to look at the opportunities for the new Scotland-only contract that will be introduced in 2017, and we want to begin those discussions soon. I have already had productive discussions with the BMA, the royal college and others about what we can do to make general practice more attractive. There are issues with young doctors not choosing general practice for a variety of reasons, and we need to overcome that trend and change the situation to get more young doctors to choose general practice. I am keen to do that and would be happy to discuss—on, I hope, a cross-party basis—with Nanette Milne and others how we can do that.
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