Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (Private Finance Initiative Contract)
To ask the Scottish Government what updates it receives from NHS Lothian regarding the operation of the key terms of the Royal infirmary of Edinburgh’s private finance initiative contract. (S4O-03256)
The management and monitoring of the Royal infirmary of Edinburgh PFI contract are NHS Lothian’s responsibility. Scottish Government officials regularly meet NHS Lothian representatives to discuss capital planning, property and asset management issues, and any significant issues relating to the contract are raised through that route.
The performance review committee established under the PFI contract with Consort Healthcare is responsible for the oversight of the assessment of key performance indicators and service delivery. Given the catalogue of serious performance errors at the hospital that have been highlighted by the Edinburgh Evening News and which include repeated power cuts and serious breaches of hygiene standards, how can the people of Edinburgh and Lothian have any confidence in the performance review committee’s ability to hold Consort Healthcare to account?
The management and monitoring of the Edinburgh Royal infirmary contract is the responsibility of NHS Lothian, and I am sure that the board plays a very active role in managing it. It has employed its own management team complete with auditors who carry out random checks on the facilities, with approximately 80 audits carried out every month. It has also instigated two further forums to discuss performance and to ensure that the providers meet the specification, and those meetings are facilitated at a senior level board to board and through scorecard review.
The Scottish Government is making every effort to improve contract management of existing PFI contracts. An NHS Scotland group that includes all boards with PFI contracts, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Futures Trust has been working to improve management and deliver savings on the contracts, and a new national team will be established to support NHS boards in finding other improvements. The work has already achieved £1.3 million of annual savings, which will save £20 million over the remaining life of the contracts. By the end of 2014-15, savings over the remaining life of the contracts will rise to £26 million, and those savings will be reinvested in services provided by the national health service.
Question 2 in the name of Tavish Scott has not been lodged. The member has provided an explanation.
Electricity Grid Failure (Wind Turbines)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any further investigation into whether an overreliance on wind turbines as a source of electricity played a role in the grid failure on 16 April 2014. (S4O-03258)
On 22 April, I set out the reasons for the power outage of 16 April and submitted to the Scottish Parliament information centre a comprehensive note outlining the contributing factors.
On 22 April, the cabinet secretary told me that Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution had identified a faulty electronic relay as the cause of the problem. However, engineering opinion that in many cases has been volunteered to me has suggested that, far from failing, the relay did exactly what it was supposed to do and that the cause of the trip has yet to be identified. Will the cabinet secretary undertake to make SSE’s engineering incident report available to allow independent opinion to be sought?
On 22 April, I relayed to the Parliament the information supplied to me by SSE that a fault in the electronic relay at the Knocknagael substation near Inverness was the root cause of the outage. In addition, SSE has advised me that it is engaging closely with technical experts at Siemens, which is the manufacturer of the relay, to ensure that that fault will not occur on SSE’s network in the future.
SSE’s position that the reason for the power outage was the reason that I gave to Parliament back in April could not be clearer. I hope that that gives Mr Johnstone the reassurance that he is looking for that the examination by those who are responsible for operating the grid identified that as the particular problem that led to the circumstances in April this year.
Inward Investment (Jobs)
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been created in Scotland in the last 10 years as a result of inward investment. (S4O-03259)
Between April 2003 and March 2013, Scottish Development International recorded 39,527 planned new jobs as a direct result of inward investment. In addition to those new jobs, we have been able to safeguard 24,639 jobs for Scotland through Scottish Development International’s efforts.
The 2013 Ernst & Young international attractiveness survey shows that, outside London, Scotland is the most attractive place in the United Kingdom for inward investment. That reflects the strength of the Scottish economic proposition in terms of the quality of our people, the excellence of our built and natural assets, and our world-class universities and research base.
I thank the cabinet secretary for his comprehensive answer. Is it not the case that many of those jobs would be threatened if the anti-European Union parties, such as the UK Independence Party, got their way and took us out of the EU single market?
Undoubtedly being a participant in the European Union assists in the economic proposition that we put forward on Scotland’s behalf, and it is clear that the Scottish Government takes a number of other measures to ensure that we have skills, investment and capability in the economy and an economic development network that is focused on boosting the Scottish economy and working at all times on Scotland’s behalf. If parties such as UKIP were to get their way and we were to be withdrawn from the European Union, that would undoubtedly have negative economic consequences for Scotland. The Scottish Government is determined to sustain Scotland’s active membership of the European Union.
Given the revelation that Amazon paid only £4.2 million-worth of tax on a £4.3 billion turnover last year and the Scottish Government’s welcome decision not to recognise for procurement purposes in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill companies that do not recognise trade unions, will the cabinet secretary revisit the Government’s decision to give grants to that supposed inward investor?
The Government takes a series of decisions that are based on a range of factors, one of which is the identification of economic opportunities that can lead to increased employment in Scotland. Those judgments are made carefully from looking at the investment proposals that particular companies offer. Obviously, we secure from those particular commitments—this is an essential part of regional selective assistance—commitments to levels of employment in the Scottish economy. The Government will continue to apply those approaches and implement those rules in an effective and comprehensive fashion to encourage employment in Scotland.
Care of Older Patients (Lothian)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the care of older patients in the Lothian region. (S4O-03260)
I am aware of the recent media coverage about the care of older people in NHS Lothian, and I welcome its commitment to address the issues that the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland raised in relation to care at the Royal Edinburgh hospital. It is recognised that the Royal Edinburgh hospital would benefit from development, and the Scottish Government has approved the business case for a £48.9 million upgrade to the facility.
We will also work with health boards, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and service providers to develop a strategy for the long-term transformation of residential care, supported housing and intermediate care across Scotland to help to ensure that people are cared for at home or in a homely setting for as long as possible.
Patients’ families have raised concerns about the resources that are available to deliver dementia care in the Royal Edinburgh hospital. They had to submit a freedom of information request in relation to an inspection report from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. The report detailed concerns over delays in discharging patients because of the severe lack of nursing home places in Edinburgh and a related lack of activities for patients who end up in hospital for a prolonged period.
I do not want to criticise staff—clearly, there are issues around the lack of staff.
Can we get a question, Ms Johnstone?
Yes.
There are reports of excellent care, too. Clearly we will have to wait for the upgrade, so I would appreciate information on what will happen in the meantime. Can the minister also explain why families have to use FOI legislation to obtain the reports? Will he make them readily available? What steps will he take to ensure that recommendations are implemented?
We are monitoring the situation very closely, and we will make absolutely sure that the recommendations of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland are implemented in that particular hospital, because clearly the findings were totally unacceptable.
NHS Lothian is currently consulting on its 2014 to 2024 strategic plan for future care, called “Our Health, Our Care, Our Future”, which describes what NHS Lothian proposes to do over the coming decade to address the challenges and to provide a high-quality and sustainable healthcare system for the people of Lothian.
NHS Lothian also has an Alzheimer Scotland nurse consultant and 38 trained dementia champions across its acute hospitals. I would hope that we will see short-term improvements while the long-term strategy is being developed.
Flooding (Support for Householders and Businesses)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to support householders and businesses whose properties were damaged by flooding in January 2014. (S4O-03261)
In response to the December and January floods, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth triggered the Bellwin scheme on 31 December. As a result, Scottish Borders, Orkney Islands and South Lanarkshire councils all notified the Scottish Government of potential claims for revenue funding under the scheme. Having considered the additional costs resulting from the flooding incident, all three councils confirmed that their costs did not breach their Bellwin threshold, which otherwise would have allowed them to submit a claim.
However, Dumfries and Galloway Council requested additional financial support outwith the Bellwin scheme to make repairs to river banks, sea walls and coastal paths damaged as a direct result of the severe flooding. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth reviewed the request and, reflecting the exceptional circumstances, agreed to make available an offer of match funding of £500,000 of capital grant to allow the council to carry out the necessary repairs.
I thank the minister for that response, and he is indeed correct that the Scottish Government has made funding available to the council. However, the fact that the council had to appeal to the Scottish Government for help underlines the fact that it has no available finance to help local businesses and householders repair the very extensive damage that they have suffered.
Will the minister encourage the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth to meet NFU Scotland representatives to discuss what can be done to help meet the crippling cost of coastal defence repairs, particularly on the west bank of the Nith, as was requested in a recent letter from NFUS into which the minister was copied? Will he undertake to attend any such meetings to explore what his Government can do to help mitigate the worst effects of what was a truly extreme weather event?
I have already met NFUS to discuss the impacts on Dumfries and Galloway—the region which Mr Fergusson represents—and to look at what assistance we can provide. That meeting was attended by the Scottish Government sponsor team and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. We gave some practical advice about what action could be taken to repair the damage to the defences in the region.
I am sure that the cabinet secretary has heard Mr Fergusson’s points, which I will discuss with him later. Mr Fergusson can be assured that we are serious about trying to help farmers, businesses and householders who have been affected. We invest significant amounts of money annually—£42 million a year through the general capital grant—to support environmental protection of communities across Scotland. However, I take the points that Mr Fergusson has made, and I will look at what else we can do.
Independence (Overseas Students)
To ask the Scottish Government how it would attract overseas students to study in an independent Scotland. (S4O-03262)
Scotland is already a highly attractive destination for students, with international students accounting for 22 per cent of enrolments at Scottish higher education institutions in 2012-13 but just 18 per cent at HEIs in the United Kingdom as a whole. The numbers have grown significantly in recent years, with international student enrolments in Scotland increasing by 107 per cent in the past decade.
Students come to Scotland because of the reputation of our world-class institutions—their research, breadth of learning and focus on graduate employability—and the overall learning experience for international students, which is better than that of the rest of the UK and, indeed, the rest of the world.
Independence will provide us with the levers that we need to further enhance Scotland’s attractiveness to international students and allow us to move away from the negative rhetoric of the UK Government and its restrictive immigration policies. We will ensure that the immigration policies that we introduce, including the post-study work visa, will allow Scotland to attract and retain world-class talent, contributing to our education system and the Scottish economy.
Professor Anton Muscatelli has said of Scottish higher education that the UK Government is
“trying its best to destroy a global brand”
by reducing net migration, and Professor Robert Wright has described the way that the UK treats international students as a “disaster”. That contrasts with the recent ChinaGirlsAbroad survey, which concludes that independence will make Scotland less attractive to Chinese students. Can the cabinet secretary comment on those potentially contrasting views?
The evidence that comes from the principal and the vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow is particularly telling and was strongly expressed in the Sunday Post this weekend.
According to Robert Wright, if the continuing immigration policy of the UK Government were to bear down even more on students coming to Scottish universities, it would be a disaster. As a result, the global brand of Scottish higher education, which is already well respected worldwide, could only be enhanced by independence. In these circumstances, it is extremely important to listen to the academics who are saying that.
Motorway Network (Central Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on improvements to the motorway network in Central Scotland. (S4O-03263)
The non-profit-distributing contract for the M8, M73 and M74 motorway improvements was awarded in February 2014, and construction work is already well under way.
Together with the M74 and M80 improvements that have been successfully delivered in the last three years, those improvements, when completed in spring 2017, will close the last remaining gaps in central Scotland’s motorway network.
Transport Scotland has also confirmed that it will reopen the junction on the M80 at Castlecary, in my constituency. Residents of Castlecary have long had concerns about traffic through their village. Does the minister join me in welcoming not only the reopening of the junction but the fact that Transport Scotland has committed to a range of traffic-calming measures through Castlecary?
I confirm to the member that officials from Transport Scotland have had a number of successful public consultation events to discuss the reopening of the northbound Castlecary slip road. We are now taking forward the publication of the orders to allow the reopening of the slip road to all traffic. The publication of those orders will enable the public to make any comment or representations prior to implementation. As the member says, as part of that work, we are discussing traffic management measures in Castlecary village with North Lanarkshire Council.
Creative Scotland Funding (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley)
To ask the Scottish Government what funding support Creative Scotland has provided to organisations in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley in the last year. (S4O-03264)
Creative Scotland, the public body that supports Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries, provided more than £215,000 to organisations in Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley in 2013-14.
That supported young people to engage in music in schools through the Scottish Government’s youth music initiative and to engage at the Dick Institute with the generation 2014 project, which is a landmark series of exhibitions that traces the development of contemporary art in Scotland over the last 25 years and is part of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme. It also provided support for a debut album from a band of young local musicians and for an e-book in the Scots language for young people, which is published by Giglets, a digital publishing company.
I thank the cabinet secretary for the level of detail in the answer. However, despite that answer, there appears to be a dearth of successful applications coming from the constituency, especially when we consider that the total amount of grant in aid that is disbursed by the agency comes to £46 million. Will the cabinet secretary agree to meet me to discuss the matter further and to see how best we can help more local organisations to improve their chances of making successful applications to the agency?
I do not think that it would be appropriate for me to meet to discuss individual applications, but it would be appropriate for Creative Scotland to meet the member to discuss the wealth of talent that exists in Kilmarnock, which, of course, won the creative place award for 2013.
I have been impressed with a number of activities in the area, particularly those of Centrestage Music Theatre, and I know that Creative Scotland has already engaged with that company with regard to one of its unsuccessful applications, to see what it can do for the young people of Scotland. I will encourage Creative Scotland to engage with the member.
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