Widening Access to Further and Higher Education
To ask the Scottish Government what steps the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council is taking to implement section 15 of the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013. (S4O-02827)
The Scottish funding council has developed an action plan to respond to commencement of provisions in the 2013 act. The action plan includes preparation of a specific work plan related to implementation of sections 3, 15 and 16, which are the parts of the act related to widening access. In the meantime, the funding council has been monitoring and agreeing annual outcome agreements with each of the higher education institutions. As the chamber will know, those agreements include activity to widen access.
Section 15 is very close to my heart, as I am the member whose amendments led to its inclusion. Does the cabinet secretary share my hope that it will also be close to the heart of the soon-to-be-appointed new chief executive of the SFC, whoever he or she may be, and will he raise section 15 with them shortly after their appointment?
I pay tribute to Marco Biagi for his work on this subject, which was extremely successful and very influential. When they are appointed, the new chief executive of the Scottish funding council will be focused on supporting delivery of our post-16 reforms, which aim to boost jobs and growth, improve life chances—especially those of young learners—and ensure that institutions are sustainable for a long time.
The SFC supports the Scottish Government’s strategic objective of widening access and I am sure that the new chief executive will support that. I will be closely involved in discussing that with them, as I am with the interim chief executive and the new chair, who has been very supportive of the objective.
East Ayrshire Council (Learning and Teaching)
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to East Ayrshire Council to enhance learning and teaching. (S4O-02828)
The Scottish Government is providing a wide range of support and funding to help education authorities, including East Ayrshire Council, to enhance learning and teaching. As Scotland’s improvement agency for education, Education Scotland has a key role in supporting practitioners and authorities, such as East Ayrshire Council, to improve learning and teaching across all areas of their work.
I thank the minister for that answer and his recent visit to Kilmarnock’s Grange academy campus, where he saw at first hand the great work that is being done on science, Scottish studies and languages, particularly Gaelic and Mandarin.
Does the minister agree that the planned development of a single, three to 18-year-old campus for James Hamilton academy and Kilmarnock academy, which will incorporate primary schools and early learning provision, represents a substantial commitment by the Scottish Government to the quality of educational provision in the north of Kilmarnock?
It is certainly a substantial commitment. The schools for the future programme is committing £80 million to the project that Willie Coffey describes and it is fair to say that Grange academy is doing great and innovative things with Scottish studies, which looks set to become a very valuable addition to the array of qualifications with which people will come out of Scottish schools in the future.
Defibrillators
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of public access defibrillators across the country. (S4O-02829)
A substantial investment in heart disease services has reduced Scotland’s premature deaths from coronary heart disease by more than 60 per cent in the past 15 years. In 2011, the Scottish Government committed £7.5 million of funding to the Scottish Ambulance Service for state-of-the-art defibrillators. However, more can be done and we recognise the important role that public access defibrillators can play.
Local councils, community groups and organisations, as well as businesses, can have assistance to look at the provision of public access defibrillators in their premises, with free support and advice from the Scottish Ambulance Service, which includes guidance and information about how they can apply for funding for such equipment.
I thank the minister for that response, the work that has been done and the recognition that more must be done. Only a fifth of local authority leisure centres and community-use secondary schools that I surveyed have a defibrillator on their premises, despite the greater risk of cardiac arrest during and immediately after exercise. Does the minister agree that it is time for other local authorities and leisure trusts to follow the lead of Argyll and Bute Council and Angus Council, whose leisure facilities all have a defibrillator, and North Lanarkshire Council, whose secondary schools all have a defibrillator? Will he support a statutory requirement that any facility in which exercise routinely takes place must have a defibrillator on its premises as a condition of its licence?
I encourage local authorities and other leisure trusts to follow the good practice of those authorities and trusts that have installed defibrillators in their facilities. However, we have to be careful about putting the issue on a statutory footing because, as I am sure the member will recognise, some venues can be used for a variety of purposes, not just sporting purposes, and might operate at times at which it might not be appropriate for them to have a defibrillator.
That said, another aspect that I should highlight is our work with the British Heart Foundation in Scotland. We have provided £100,000 to roll out to school pupils cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, which I have witnessed myself, to give them the confidence and knowledge to decide when to offer CPR to someone who has had a heart attack. We can take the issue forward in a number of ways and, as I have said, I encourage our local authorities to follow the good practice of those authorities that have provided defibrillators.
Is the minister aware of the work of Wilma Gunn, a former constituent of mine who established Scottish Heart at Risk Testing following her son Cameron’s tragic death from cardiomyopathy and who has campaigned with some success to secure defibrillators in public places? Furthermore, does he agree that her recent award of an MBE is very well deserved?
I, too, congratulate Mrs Gunn on being awarded her MBE and, indeed, take this opportunity to thank her for the tremendous amount of work that she has undertaken over a number of years in pursuing this agenda through Scottish HART.
We have learned important lessons from the cardiac assessment of young athletes and the chief medical officer has asked Dr Brian Walker, the head of medicine at the sportscotland institute of sport, to consider what further lessons can be learned from that work. Indeed, I believe that Dr Walker’s group is meeting today to explore the matter further and see what lessons sporting bodies and our national health service can learn from that initiative.
Traffic Wardens
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking—I am sorry; that is the wrong question. I was reading Mr Hume’s question by mistake. [Laughter.]
I will start again. To ask the Scottish Government what action local authorities are taking in light of Police Scotland’s decision to withdraw traffic wardens. (S4O-02830)
I am happy to answer the question.
Local policing is at the heart of police reform and Police Scotland is engaged with local authorities and local partnerships on a range of matters. That will continue to be the case in relation to parking matters that are identified as an issue and agreed as a local priority.
The Police Scotland review of the traffic warden service was part of its approach to ensuring that resources are being utilised in the most efficient and effective manner, and I have been assured by Police Scotland that it will continue to address dangerous or obstructive parking. Indeed, police officers regularly carry out those duties.
The Scottish Government is engaging with local authorities to discuss the issues and possible solutions arising from Police Scotland’s decision to withdraw the service. However, the action that local authorities take is a matter for them and will take into account their local circumstances and priorities.
As the cabinet secretary made clear in his response, Police Scotland’s removal of traffic wardens is putting an additional burden on local councils that have not decriminalised parking offences. In Stirling, for example, six traffic wardens are employed, and it will cost the council £180,000 a year to replace them. What will the cabinet secretary do about a situation in which a centralised public body’s cost cutting is being carried out at the expense of a cash-strapped local council?
That is just not the case. At least 12 local authorities are operating decriminalised parking enforcement; that had been the case for several years with regard to the Strathclyde legacy force and, indeed, Mr Fraser’s own region of Fife operates it. In such circumstances, it seems to me that Police Scotland is helping to provide a more uniform basis across Scotland and to ensure that police officers are available to deal with the kind of dangerous and obstructive parking that they should deal with as well as assist with individual local priorities. However, there is also a recognition that other such matters are better dealt with by local authorities, and it might be appropriate for Stirling to engage with Fife to work out how these arrangements appear to be working relatively and reasonably well there, never mind in the city of Edinburgh, which Mr Fraser clearly knows well.
I echo the concerns that were expressed by Murdo Fraser and advise the cabinet secretary that a similar situation arises in my constituency. Is he aware that the role of the traffic wardens in Orkney extends far beyond the simple issuing of parking fines to helping with the logistics of events, notably Stromness shopping week and agricultural shows? Those policing responsibilities will fall to police officers who are already struggling with the additional burden of back-office functions.
I think that we will find that it is Police Scotland that already deals with those major matters. Mr McArthur can correct me if I am wrong, but I think that we would speak of the traffic warden—not wardens—in the Orkney Islands. Discussions are on-going between Police Scotland and Orkney Islands Council on that circumstance.
What assessment was done of the operational and financial implications for local authorities before Police Scotland announced its decision?
Discussions took place between Police Scotland and the local authorities. As I indicated, 12 local authorities have been operating decriminalised parking enforcement, including, of course, the City of Edinburgh Council, which has done so for some considerable time. I am not aware of Ms Boyack seeking to change that circumstance, which would be a matter for the local authority.
Scottish Welfare Fund
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the statistics for the Scottish welfare fund for the final quarter of 2013. (S4O-02831)
The chief statistician has announced that statistics on the Scottish welfare fund, covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2013, will be published at 9.30 am on 15 April 2014.
Dates for all Scottish welfare fund statistical publications that are due for release in 2014 are available on the Scottish Government website. Annual statistics on the fund, covering 2013-14, are due for publication on 15 July 2014.
I thank the minister for that response, but it leaves me quite puzzled. When initial statistics that were published around September last year indicated that there had been a problem with the take-up of the Scottish welfare fund, I asked the First Minister, when he came before the Conveners Group, whether the statistics could be produced, because of the importance of the information. He gave a firm assurance that those statistics would be available in November, and he was also confident that there would be an increase in the uptake. We were then advised that the figures would not be produced until February, and now the minister appears to be indicating that they will be delayed further. Can she assure us that those statistics will be produced? Any problems that exist in the Scottish welfare fund really must be addressed, because that money has to get to the people in most need, who require the support of that fund.
As previously indicated, the statistics up to September will be produced on 11 February. The member asked about the statistics to the end of the year.
We have been conducting informal monitoring of the Scottish welfare fund. As the member will be aware, in October we changed the guidance to make it easier for people to access the fund. Since that change, we have seen a noticeable increase in spending in the Scottish welfare fund. The figures are showing about £19 million up to the end of December. The Deputy First Minister will share that information with the Welfare Reform Committee, and I understand that she will be writing to the committee today.
Chemical Restraints (Care Homes)
To ask the Scottish Government when it considers it appropriate to administer medicines as a form of restraint for residents in care homes. (S4O-02832)
We expect the highest standards of care to be provided to all adults in all care settings. Our national care standards set out the responsibilities of care providers and their duty to ensure that residents are treated with dignity and respect.
Care homes must have a written policy and procedures on when restraint can be used, and we expect staff to be fully trained and supported in the use of restraint. Any use of restraint must be recorded in the care user’s personal plan, which is reviewed every six months.
The use of medication as a form of restraint is permissible only in very limited circumstances and within certain parameters, for example to safeguard the health of an adult who is unable to consent to the treatment in question, and where other alternatives have been explored and none is practicable.
Around a third of care home residents suffering from dementia in Scotland are prescribed antipsychotic medication, and mental health campaigners are deeply concerned that, too often, antipsychotics are being used as a first resort for the symptomatic treatment of restless or agitated behaviour, as the national care standards allow, and not once every other form of intervention has been exhausted. The Department of Health has identified that the extensive use of such drugs has substantial clinical risk attached and contributes to thousands of extra deaths and strokes. Does the minister agree that further consideration needs to be given to how we can safeguard the human rights, choice and dignity of those care home residents? Will Scotland follow the example of England and Wales by making it a priority to reduce the use of antipsychotics for people with dementia?
I fully understand Alison McInnes’s concerns and I am happy to raise the matter again with the Care Inspectorate and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, which are jointly responsible for that area of policy. As the member will know, every care home in Scotland is subject to an unannounced inspection once a year, and the Care Inspectorate is conscious of the need to ensure during inspections that there is no abuse of the system. I call on anyone, including Alison McInnes, to bring the matter to the attention of both the Care Inspectorate and the Mental Welfare Commission if they have any evidence of abuse. I am absolutely sure that both those bodies will investigate thoroughly where there is any prima facie evidence of abuse.
South Scotland Bus Routes
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to protect bus routes in South Scotland. (S4O-02833)
The Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting bus services in Scotland is clearly demonstrated by the £250 million or so that is expended every year in bus service operators grant and concessionary travel reimbursement as well as the Scottish green bus fund, the bus investment fund and, more recently, the community transport vehicle fund.
I thank the minister for that answer about the financial aspects. I have a particular concern about rural bus routes in my region. During the Christmas recess, Stuarts of Carluke pulled a bus service between Law and Wishaw, leaving a rural community with very poor transport links for constituents who need to get to work and to health appointments and leaving many people socially isolated. I am sorry to say that that appears to be a continuing pattern. In view of that, what plans does the minister have to support Iain Gray’s proposed bus bill, which would bring real sustainable protection to Law and many other communities throughout South Scotland?
I hope that the member has taken up the issue about the particular route that she mentioned with the relevant authority, which I think is the Strathclyde partnership for transport. Regional transport partnerships and local authorities have the power to intervene to protect particular bus routes. We provide the financial support that I have mentioned, but it is they who have the ability to safeguard routes. I hope that the member has taken that option, given that that is the way in which to address the issue.
We have still to see the proposals for Iain Gray’s bill. We look forward to seeing them and have said that we will look at them with an open mind. However, we have had various other demands in relation to transport—whether to spend an extra £350 million on the Edinburgh to Glasgow rail improvement programme, or to give more money to local authorities or community transport providers—and I hope that, during the budget process, there will be a proposal from Labour of how much it intends to put towards those proposals and how it would fund them. In that way, we would know that the proposals are serious; otherwise, it would seem to me to be playing politics. Even if we were able to spend all that extra money on funding all those other things—we cannot do that, as we are limited in what we can spend—we would end up in the same position as the last Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who, when he was hounded out of office, had to say that there was no money left.
Help to Buy (Scotland) Scheme (Islands)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of the help to buy (Scotland) scheme for residents of island areas that do not have participating builders. (S4O-02834)
The £220 million help to buy (Scotland) scheme is available across Scotland to assist people who are looking to buy a new-build home. Participation in the scheme is voluntary and house builders, whether large or small, may register and offer houses for sale under the scheme. We currently have more than 100 house builders participating in the scheme, including house builders in two island authorities, and we would encourage all builders to participate.
Will the minister undertake to look into the situation in Shetland, where participating builders are not coming forward? Will she look at the flexibility of the scheme to allow housing associations or Shetland Islands Council, as a social landlord, to take on that role for the scheme, which could assist people?
Briefly, minister.
We recognise the difficulties with some of the house-building schemes in the islands and we are looking at ways in which the Scottish Government can assist further in rural and island communities.