Cancer Treatment (Waiting Times)
One in three cancer patients in Scotland do not begin to receive treatment within the Government’s target time. I will repeat that for the First Minister’s benefit: one in three cancer patients are not receiving treatment when they need it. In one health board, NHS Borders, fewer than half begin treatment within the 62-day target, and in NHS Grampian it is almost as bad.
Behind those new and bleak statistics are real people. For them and their families, the Scottish National Party’s culture of failure can be the difference between life and death.
Does John Swinney accept that that is unacceptable? What will he do to meet cancer treatment time targets?
Presiding Officer, before I answer Mr Findlay’s question, I acknowledge the announcement that you made at the weekend of your intention not to seek re-election to Parliament at the next election. I express my appreciation of your leadership in Parliament as Presiding Officer. [Applause.]
On cancer treatment waiting times, Mr Findlay raises a serious and important issue. I begin by expressing my regret that the cancer treatment waiting times are, in all circumstances, not being achieved around the country. The target for 95 per cent of patients to start treatment within 31 days of an assessment having been made that treatment is required is very close to being met—it is at 94.1 per cent—but performance against the 62-day target is not acceptable.
The Government is focusing on improving the activities and the investment that is made in individual boards to ensure that the performance can be improved. We are able to demonstrate, as the data shows, that, in parts of the country, the target is being met. It is being met in Lanarkshire; the model of care in Lanarkshire, which is achieving both the 62-day target and the 31-day target, is meeting the standard. We are ensuring that learning from NHS Lanarkshire is being applied in other boards around the country to ensure that improved performance is achieved. That is the approach that the Government is taking to ensure that the needs of patients are met and that we can move at the earliest possible opportunity to address any concerns about cancer in the population.
Presiding Officer, I echo the First Minister’s sentiments and thank you for your service.
The First Minister seems content that the target is being met in one in 14 health boards—that is simply not good enough. The SNP Government’s flagship national health service recovery plan 2021-2026 is failing patients, just as we warned that it would. Promises to reduce cancer treatment times keep being broken, yet John Swinney will never criticise Humza Yousaf’s and Nicola Sturgeon’s plan.
At least his public health minister has come clean about the price of SNP failure. When asked whether lives are being lost because of late cancer diagnosis, she said:
“Yes, they may well be.”
She said that in the same week that it was reported that the SNP is sitting on a £550 million underspend from last year. That is more than half a billion pounds unspent. Will John Swinney increase cancer spending and use some of that unspent money to launch an emergency cancer fund?
On the statistics, two important observations have to be made in addition to what I have already said to Mr Findlay. First, we are treating more patients with cancer on time compared with the same quarter six years ago—pre-pandemic—on both the 31-day standard and the 62-day standard. Our services are treating and interacting with more people than they were pre-Covid, which demonstrates the increases in capacity that we have put in place.
The second point is that, in relation to the 31-day target, the median wait—the mid-point at which people are being treated—is three days. Last year, it was four days, so we are finding that there have been improvements in the time in which treatment is being delivered. I hope that that gives Mr Findlay some confidence that the focus on improving capacity in the national health service to deal with cancer is at the heart of the Government’s plans.
Mr Findlay referred to the underspend in the budget, which has been applied to the financial provisions for this financial year. I reassure members of the public that all the underspend from the previous financial year will be able to be deployed to support public services. Of course, that will assist us in supporting the budget that we have in place, which has already increased funding for cancer services as part of the national health service budget, which is the highest budget that has ever been deployed in the history of the NHS. The Government attached the priority to that important investment in putting forward its budget, which has provided a record financial settlement for the national health service.
John Swinney seems to be patting himself on the back, which will be absolutely no consolation to all the people who are waiting for treatment. Since John Swinney became First Minister, more than 3,000 cancer patients have been waiting longer for treatment than his Government promised. Every passing day puts more lives at risk, but the Government is complacent. There is no sense of urgency.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, who is not in the Parliament today, was not even in Scotland to respond to the latest shocking figures; he was on his second trip to Japan. I have no idea why he is not here today; it is absolutely ridiculous. The SNP press release said that his visit to Japan was to talk up Scotland’s health technology sector. I am all for promoting Scottish technical innovation, but this analogue SNP Government cannot even deliver a basic app for Scottish NHS patients. Can John Swinney tell worried cancer patients and their families how they will be helped by a health secretary who is collecting more air miles?
The health secretary is in Japan, at the Osaka expo, in partnership between the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government. On three occasions this year, Scotland will have the opportunity to highlight some of the strengths in the Scottish economy. One of those strengths, which the health secretary is promoting, is the life sciences sector, which is a huge asset for Scotland. The health secretary is in Japan at my request and with my approval to ensure that Scotland’s life sciences sector is able to be promoted to an international audience, given its significance to our university and research community.
I make it clear to Mr Findlay that the Government has put in place the investment provided for in the budget, which Mr Findlay did not support, to ensure that we are able to support the delivery of healthcare services in Scotland with record funding available. Mr Findlay asked me what steps could be taken to reassure patients. I say to patients that the learning that has been developed in NHS Lanarkshire about the improvements in the delivery of cancer services is being shared around the country. Rapid cancer diagnostic services, which are also in place in a variety of other health boards in the country, have led to significant reductions in waiting times. All those measures will be deployed to ensure that cancer care is delivered where people need it.
It is perhaps unsurprising that Neil Gray is out of the country, talking tech, because the previous SNP health secretary quit because of his overseas tech difficulties. Where is Neil Gray’s focus? There is a cancer care crisis, but he took taxpayer-funded limos to the pub and the football, and then he decided to go to Japan. It says everything that John Swinney is happy to admit that he sent him there.
This has been more than a couple of bad calls. It is a fundamental issue of his focus and professional judgment. [Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Findlay.
If Neil Gray really thinks that his time is better spent in Japan than in Scotland during an NHS crisis, he should not be the health secretary. What has the health secretary done to give John Swinney any confidence that he can bring down cancer waiting times?
Mr Findlay started his questions by raising very serious issues about the delivery of cancer care. I am determined to engage on those issues, because I recognise them to be of genuine concern to members of the public. I assure the Parliament that the focus of the First Minister, the health secretary and the Government is on improving waiting times. That is what we were elected to deliver, and we are taking steps to ensure that that is the case. That is why we put in place the investment, which Mr Findlay did not support. That is why we have focused discussions with health boards about improving performance and learning lessons from areas of the country that are performing well—so that we can improve standards in other parts of the country. This Government is absolutely focused on reducing waiting times for treating cancer and other conditions, and that will remain the focus of my Government.
National Health Service
Presiding Officer, I join others in thanking you for your service and wishing you all the best for whatever comes next, although I fully expect that, over the next 10 months, you will continue to hold us to behaving with proper decorum in the Parliament and to tell us off from time to time.
Just this week, we have seen that house building has fallen to its lowest level since 2012; rates of sexual violence and domestic abuse are rising; delayed discharge is at a record high; almost one in three Scots is forced to go private to get healthcare; and cancer waiting times are the worst on record. Has the guy who claimed to be steadying the ship become the captain of the Titanic?
Mr Sarwar raises a number of important issues. On housing, the Government has put in place a budget provision for this year that provides a significant increase in housing investment and that will assist us with the affordable housing plans. That builds on the fact that, in Scotland, we have built 47 per cent more affordable houses per head of population than have been built in England and 73 per cent more than have been built in Labour-run Wales. Of course, that money was in a budget that Mr Sarwar never voted for. On delayed discharge, 97 per cent of patients are discharged from hospital without any delay whatsoever, and the level of delayed discharge is falling. Recorded crime is broadly stable. The increase in the reporting of sexual crime is due to the fact that more people are prepared to come forward because this Government is prepared to pursue sexual crime and bring offenders to account. On cancer treatment, as I explained to Mr Findlay, the Government is focused on improving and reducing waiting times.
This Government is absolutely focused on the priorities of the people of Scotland. The leadership that I deliver ensures that that is the case.
The fact of the matter is that John Swinney and the SNP are not working, and Scots can see that. Our NHS is fighting for survival under John Swinney, and Scots are paying the price for his incompetence. Just this week, we heard about the case of Gerard McBride, who has waited 76 weeks for hip and knee surgery, despite crippling osteoarthritis. We heard from Alison, a mum, who told the BBC that she had to pay £4,500 for private cataract surgery. She said:
“I would have gone blind before the NHS would have seen me”.
We also heard from Elizabeth, who had to spend £18,000 of her own savings on a hip operation due to long waits in the NHS.
That is the price that Scots are paying for SNP failure. The situation is so bad that Dr Iain Kennedy of the British Medical Association has said that the NHS is “dying before our eyes”. Is that not a damning indictment of John Swinney and the SNP, who are destroying our NHS?
The Government is taking steps to make sure that the NHS has the capacity and resources to deliver on people’s expectations and needs.
I will give two examples of that. The first is that we have put in place a record financial settlement for the national health service, which the Labour Party could not bring itself to vote for in the recent budget.
Secondly, in April 2024, we promised to put in place an additional 64,000 appointments and procedures by the end of March 2025, and we exceeded that target by delivering 105,500 additional procedures in the first year of my term in office as First Minister.
This Government will focus on meeting the needs of the people of Scotland, and we will put the money in place to do so. We will not duck the responsibilities, as Mr Sarwar has done, and we will make sure that people get the treatment that they require.
This is a failing First Minister in a failing SNP Government. John Swinney took personal responsibility for tackling the crisis in Scotland’s NHS, and now things are getting worse. Waiting lists are up, thousands more Scots are forced to go private and cancer waiting times are the worst that they have ever been. As the crisis in our NHS deepens, where was the health secretary this week? He was in Japan, lecturing on digital healthcare, yet he cannot even sort an NHS app at home.
While the health secretary was away, we got a rare moment of candour from the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto. When asked about the worst cancer waiting times on record, she said to STV:
“Are people losing their lives as a result of later diagnosis? Yes, they may well be.”
An SNP minister has admitted that SNP failure is costing lives. What does John Swinney say to the families who have lost a loved one too soon and are left to pick up the pieces?
I say to families that the Government is doing all that it can to make sure that we have in place services that meet the needs of individuals. I reassure them that, when individuals are identified as requiring treatment, the median waiting time for people getting that treatment is three days. That means that the majority of patients are getting an urgent intervention within a matter of three days after their assessment. That is what the Scottish Government is doing.
I accept that, around the country, performance against the 62-day target is not what we require. However, we know from individual parts of the country that those services can be delivered. The health secretary and I are focused on making sure that, in every part of the country, people can rely on the national health service to be there when they require it. That is the commitment that I give to Parliament, and that is what we are focused on delivering.
Cancer Treatment (Waiting Times)
Presiding Officer, on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I thank you for your service to the Parliament as an MSP and, in particular, for your commitment to the integrity and values of this chamber. We wish you well.
I listened to what the First Minister had to say about cancer and to his digging into the statistics of one health board, but this comes down to the fact that, when cancer is coming for someone, they deserve to know that they have the best possible chance of survival. Under this SNP Government, that is not happening. Even if we have not had cancer, we will know somebody who has, and treatment times for patients who are referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer are worse than at any point on record. When this potentially lethal disease turns someone’s world upside down, the last thing that they need is a long wait for life-saving care. Does the First Minister not think that those people deserve better?
As I hope that I have demonstrated in my handling of the questions today, I take the issue and the delivery of cancer care incredibly seriously, so I do not in any way dispute the points that Mr Cole-Hamilton puts to me.
Mr Cole-Hamilton posed his question to me in a particular way, by saying that people who have a cancer diagnosis need to know that they will get an urgent intervention. I reassure him—I know that it is a statistic, but it matters—that the median wait, once a diagnosis is given, is three days. A three-day intervention for the majority of patients could hardly be any more immediate.
I accept that the 62-day target is not being met sufficiently well around the country, and we are focused on strengthening capacity to make sure that it is met. However, we are treating more patients with cancer on time and within both standards compared with the same quarter prior to the pandemic. The pandemic has disrupted healthcare, but, on cancer care, we are treating more patients with cancer on time and within both standards. I hope that that gives some reassurance to Mr Cole-Hamilton about the steps that the Government is taking.
We are talking about the delay in diagnosis. The First Minister’s reassurance will come as cold comfort to everyone who is waiting for the post this morning in want of an appointment for diagnosis. His regret will not save lives.
In Scotland, more people die of lung cancer than of any other form of the disease. It kills 4,000 Scots every year. If someone comes from a poorer background, their chances are far worse. Three years ago, the United Kingdom National Screening Committee recommended that the whole of the UK introduce lung cancer screening to help to prevent the disease or to catch it early. Screening would be targeted at those who are at the highest risk—people aged between 55 and 74 who smoke or who used to smoke. Experts have called the recommendation a “game changer”.
Survival rates for lung cancer in Scotland are not much better than they were in the 1970s. That intervention could save hundreds of lives every year. The cancer screening programme is being rolled out across the whole of England, but not here. Why not? Why are we years behind? Why are we so slow? Why are Scots missing out on that life-saving detection service?
I will look with care at the points that Mr Cole-Hamilton has put to me. In Scotland, we have a track record of having screening programmes that are formidable and significant in their effects. The bowel screening programme is one example of the provision that we have in place.
As I set out in my speech on health service issues in January and again in my speech on public service reform just last week, the Government is shifting the focus ever more to early detection and prevention to ensure that we identify conditions at an earlier stage in order to deliver better outcomes. That will be the focus of the Government’s policy approach on this issue.
“Unique Among Cancers”
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the Sarcoma UK report “Unique Among Cancers”. (S6F-04237)
As I have said, I fully recognise the challenges that we continue to face in cancer care. However, the report highlights that specialist cancer care in Scotland is of a high standard. I am committed to ensuring that everyone who is affected by cancer, including those with rarer forms such as sarcoma, receives timely, equitable and compassionate care.
We will publish our refreshed Scottish referral guidelines for suspected cancer, including for sarcoma and bone cancer, this summer, to ensure that patients are on the right pathways at the right time.
The Scottish Government will continue to work to identify where improvements can and must be made.
I am sure that the First Minister agrees that, although sarcoma is a rare form of cancer, every person who is affected deserves timely diagnosis, access to specialist care and the best possible treatment and support. Will the First Minister provide an update on the work that the Scottish Government is undertaking to ensure that that can happen? Will he ensure that his Government engages with Sarcoma UK on the 16 recommendations in its report?
I certainly give that commitment to engage in relation to the recommendations in the report.
As I indicated in my answer to Mr Cole-Hamilton, early diagnosis is a critical factor in the matter. The detect cancer earlier programme has led to the delivery of rapid cancer diagnostic services, which are a key tool in taking forward that work. Our sixth diagnostic service opened in NHS Forth Valley in May this year, and we have invested more than £40 million over the past five years to support cancer services and improve waiting times. The budget that Mr FitzPatrick supported earlier this year will assist us in that endeavour.
Cancer is Scotland’s biggest killer, whether it is a rare sarcoma or a more common cancer, yet waiting times for cancer treatment in the first quarter of this year were the worst on record. Quoting median waits is no comfort for those who are waiting longer. This is a matter of life or death, and the First Minister’s own minister accepted that people have been dying as a result of those delays.
This very week, the chair of the British Medical Association Scotland said that the NHS was “dying before our eyes”. How much longer do we need to tolerate the Scottish National Party Government, which is not delivering improvements and which continues to let down staff and patients, with devastating results?
I reassure members of the public that this issue has the focus and attention of the Government, the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. [Interruption.] I have set out already—
Let us hear one another.
Forgive me, Presiding Officer, but I will repeat some of what I have said already: we are treating more patients with cancer on time, within both standards, compared to the same quarter six years ago. We have expanded capacity. We recognise that there are challenges in waiting times, but the Government has put the investment in place to enable that expansion of capacity.
We can see where the best practices are operating in the country, and the health secretary and I are working to ensure that they are deployed in all parts of Scotland.
We have extremely high interest in questions today. If we can be concise, that will enable more members an opportunity to speak.
Visitor Levy (Reported Delays)
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that several local authorities are delaying the introduction of a visitor levy. (S6F-04224)
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 gives councils the discretionary power to apply a local visitor levy if they think that it is right for their area. If, after it has consulted local businesses, communities and tourism organisations, a local authority does not consider that timing or circumstances are right to introduce a levy, it is entirely appropriate for it to make that decision.
That is what the councils in the Highlands and Islands and the Western Isles have done. They have assessed the appropriateness of introducing such a measure and have decided not to proceed currently, while the City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City councils are proceeding with their proposals. That is local democracy in action.
There is no political disaster like a Scottish National Party disaster. Not content with an islands act that does not work and ferries that can barely get out the docks, the visitor levy is causing a crisis among already vulnerable rural businesses. [Interruption.] Members can mutter away, but it is true.
Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles councils have all delayed the introduction of a visitor levy, with the latter saying—[Interruption.]
Let us hear one another.
They do not want to hear it. [Interruption.]
The latter council is saying that the levy could risk its visitor economy, thereby destroying tourism in Scotland. Meanwhile, South Ayrshire Council has abandoned its plans altogether. Over 750 small businesses in my region signed an open letter to the Deputy First Minister calling for changes to make the levy fairer.
Has the First Minister reflected on the concerns from businesses, and will he at least agree today to the industry’s ask to move to a flat-rate charge?
I have heard from the Conservative Party over many years the need to ensure that there is local decision-making capability in different parts of the country. That is exactly what the Government and Parliament have legislated for—to enable local authorities to take a decision, after consultation, on whether they judge the introduction of a levy to be right. The Conservatives have to decide what they believe in. Do they believe in local democracy or not? They spend most of their time accusing us of centralisation. When we give local authorities the decision-making power, they complain about that as well. The Conservatives do not have a clue about what they are arguing for in this Parliament.
The Government’s recent consultation on a cruise ship levy included the option of a port-of-entry model, which has been welcomed by the tourist sector in the islands. Can the First Minister confirm that the Government will give consideration to the views that the sector expressed about that as a potential model for island areas?
We have consulted widely on a proposed cruise ship levy, as we promised that we would. The responses are being analysed and all views will be considered as we make decisions on next steps in relation to that policy area.
Office for National Statistics (Inflation Statistics)
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the latest Office for National Statistics inflation statistics and any implications for its work to support low-income households. (S6F-04230)
The latest official figures show that annual inflation according to the consumer prices index was 3.4 per cent in May. That is above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target, but official forecasters expect inflation to fall later this year and return close to target in 2026.
We are acutely aware of pressure on household budgets across Scotland. That is why, in 2025-26, we have continued to allocate more than £3 billion a year to policies that tackle poverty and the cost of living, including mitigation of the impact of the harshest Westminster policies, such as the bedroom tax and the benefit cap.
With the main rate of inflation at its highest for more than a year, food prices growing for a third month, increased national insurance contributions and planned welfare cuts, the cost of living crisis—fuelled by Labour’s obsession with austerity—is unfortunately still hurting families. Does the First Minister agree that, given the current Labour welfare policy fiasco, it is increasingly clear that only the Scottish National Party Scottish Government is serious about tackling poverty and giving vital and compassionate support to families with children and disabled people in Scotland?
The Scottish Government has taken a number of measures to address the cost of living challenges that members of the public face, whether that is about our investment in early learning and childcare, which saves families thousands of pounds in childcare costs; the investment in the Scottish child payment, which boosts household income for those in poverty; or the steps that we, in the Scottish Government, are taking to lift the two-child limit—a cap that should have been lifted as one of the first acts of the United Kingdom Labour Government.
We will always take actions to support families who are facing financial hardship and difficulty, but we face a new threat, which is the benefit cuts agenda of the UK Labour Government. At a time when many Labour MPs are saying that the cuts are unacceptable, is it not telling that Anas Sarwar is supporting the Prime Minister in implementing the benefit cuts? It demonstrates that Anas Sarwar will not be standing up for Scotland any time soon.
Healthcare Services (Highlands)
Highlanders have now lost yet another medical specialty from our area. Our last vascular surgeon has been forced to leave, as the service has been so downgraded that it is no longer functional or safe. His loss can be added to the loss of our only interventional radiologist in the region and of maternity services in Caithness. Those are critical losses—more critical to the Highlands than the inevitable loss to the Scottish National Party of the Inverness and Nairn seat in 2026.
The First Minister’s Government is condoning a situation in which Highlanders are forced to get into cars and travel hundreds of miles for treatment when they are seriously ill. When will he put a stop to the destruction of local healthcare in the Highlands, as it appears that his Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is incapable of doing so?
There are a number of issues in Mr Mountain’s question that I need to address, because there are a number of different factors at play. The issues in relation to maternity services in Caithness have been addressed in that way because of clinical assessments about the most appropriate way in which services should be delivered. I think that the Parliament would take a dim view of ministers who ignored clinical assessments of the safety and efficacy of maternity services. We would not be doing anyone a service if we ignored that clinical opinion.
On other questions, such as the point about vascular surgery, I note that we face challenges in different parts of the country—indeed, this lies at the heart of some of the cancer care issues that I have addressed already—in our ability to recruit clinical leadership to deliver services. I have absolutely no desire for us not to be able to provide services of the type that Mr Mountain has raised but, if we struggle to recruit individuals to deliver those services, the Government has to address the practical realities of that.
Finally, the Government has invested in establishing a national treatment centre in Inverness, which is delivering thousands of procedures for Highlanders and people from other parts of the country, because of the focus on delivering high-quality healthcare in that environment. That is an indication of the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Highlands, which is one of many other commitments that the Government will continue to deliver.
Radio Teleswitch Service Switch-off
The First Minister will be aware of the recent announcement that the RTS switch-off is to be phased out and has been delayed. That is welcome, as the experience of many of my constituents has been far from positive, with some making appointments, only to have the engineers not turn up or to have the appointments cancelled at short notice. Will the First Minister join me in calling on anyone who has an RTS meter to contact their energy supplier as soon as possible and, if they have any issues, to contact their MSP or an advice service such as Advice Direct Scotland or Age Scotland for support?
I agree with Mr McMillan that it has taken far too long to resolve the issue. I echo his calls for individuals who are affected to make the appropriate contact with their supplier urgently and to alert advice services and Ofgem if they have any remaining issues to address. I am glad that we have some respite, but it has taken far too long to get here.
Sexual Violence
The 15 per cent rise in recorded rape and attempted rape in the past year is highly alarming. That coalesces with the increasing normalisation of violence in sexual activity, with non-fatal strangulation becoming more prevalent and mainstream. I have been calling for Government action to challenge that culture, to be clear on the health and criminal consequences, and to invest much more heavily in prevention work with young people. Will the First Minister commit to taking forward that action?
I am happy to associate myself with Claire Baker’s comments. In the figures for recorded crime, total recorded crime shows very little change. It is down by less than 1 per cent compared with the previous year, but the level of recorded crime in Scotland is now down 40 per cent since 2006-07.
However, within those figures, there is a significant rise in the reporting of sexual offences. That is indicative of a greater willingness of victims to come forward, and I welcome and encourage that. There is more historical reporting of individual cases, and I also welcome that those issues can be pursued. However, as Claire Baker rightly points out, there is also a culture that is more prevalent that normalises sexual violence against women. I deprecate that, I condemn it and I commit the Government and my leadership to ensuring that the behaviour of men is properly and fully confronted to address the legitimate concerns that Claire Baker puts to Parliament today.
Free School Meals
Given the rising cost of living, free school meals have an important role to play in reducing pressure on families while improving the lives of young people across Scotland. That is more important than ever in the face of the continued austerity from Westminster. Can the First Minister advise how the Scottish Government’s recent work in extending free school meals to pupils in secondary 1 to 3 in eight council areas, including in my constituency of Kirkcaldy, will support its work to ensure that every child has the best start in life, regardless of their background?
I very much associate myself with the comments of Mr Torrance on the challenges of the cost of living. On Monday, I set out the approach that the Government is taking to the delivery of a pilot exercise in eight local authority areas. On Monday, I visited Springburn academy in the city of Glasgow and saw at first hand the benefits of the offer of a healthy and nutritious free school meal to young people in S1 to S3. The families of those young people are in receipt of the Scottish child payment.
The Government will take forward that proposal and it will be rolled out in about 60 schools across eight local authority areas during the next school year. That could benefit more than 6,000 young people and contribute to tackling the cost of living while giving young people a healthy and nutritious school meal as part of their day.
Transvaginal Mesh (Reports)
It is almost a year to the day that we learned of the untimely loss to cancer of Professor Alison Britton, an outstanding public servant, the timing of whose death meant that her contribution to public life in Scotland was not properly recognised by the Parliament. Not least of that contribution was her two groundbreaking landmark reports on transvaginal mesh that were commissioned by the Scottish Government. Her loss is keenly felt by me, by all her colleagues and by those who worked for her, but particularly by the thousands of women who suffered the injustice of mesh and who saw in her championship leadership.
Will the First Minister undertake to revisit the two reports and the many recommendations that the Government accepted in full, which I do not believe have yet been fully implemented, and update Parliament on the progress with that? Will he also ask the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to work with the Labour Government at Westminster to revisit the recommendations of the Hughes report into compensation for the women who suffered the mesh injustice and who have waited far too long?
I am very happy to take forward those points. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the distinguished public service and clinical leadership of Professor Alison Britton. Perhaps the best way to take things forward would be for me to meet Mr Carlaw to discuss those issues over the summer, so that I can properly and fully take stock of the progress that has been made and what requires to be undertaken. We can then report to the Parliament at the start of the parliamentary session in September. I will ask the health secretary to engage with the United Kingdom Government on the Hughes report. I will make arrangements to meet Mr Carlaw to discuss those issues.
Amey (Redundancies)
The First Minister might be aware that Amey plans to make up to 100 road maintenance workers in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway redundant. Those workers are funded by a Scottish Government contract. The A77 is one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland and causes constant disruption to the economy of the south-west due to its poor state of repair. My constituents have frequent lengthy waits at road works and often face miles of diversions. Will the First Minister travel that road with me and explain to my constituents why 100 workers who should be helping to maintain that important road are losing their jobs?
I understand that those issues are the subject of consultation between Amey and the relevant trade unions. I want to make sure that that consultation is done properly and in accordance with the Government’s fair work principles. I understand the importance of Carol Mochan’s point, but there is a process to go through on those issues, and the outcome that will be achieved through that might not be the one that Carol Mochan fears. I will ask the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to consider the issues that have been raised and to reply to Carol Mochan about how those points can be properly and fully addressed.
Rural Nurseries
On 24 April, I asked the First Minister about the guidance on mothballing rural nurseries. I was told that the guidance was under review. We are at the end of the school and nursery year. Is that review concluded? If so, when will it be published?
I understand that there is to be dialogue on the guidance with stakeholders over the summer. That is part of the necessary process of dialogue that the Government has to go through when it is reviewing such material. In preparing for the new academic year, local authorities should follow the existing guidance when considering those questions. The guidance is clear on the need for local decisions to be based on effective engagement with the community, reflecting the needs of local families. That issue will matter significantly to Christine Grahame, given her local engagement on all those issues, which she has raised with me previously and which I know are at the heart of her concerns.
The Usual Place (Funding)
On Monday, for the third time in as many months, I visited The Usual Place in Dumfries. As the First Minister will know from his recent visit, Craig McEwen and his team operate a life-changing hospitality-based project that equips young people with disabilities and additional support needs with the experience, confidence and skills to enter the workplace. However, last weekend, it was confirmed that The Usual Place was unsuccessful in its application to the Scottish Government’s learning disability support fund. Craig McEwen fears that, if no further Scottish Government funding is confirmed soon, The Usual Place might have to shut its doors for good in December. We cannot let that happen.
Will Mr Swinney engage with his officials and Inspiring Scotland to turn the warm words that he spoke during his recent visit into urgently needed financial support?
I value The Usual Place enormously. It is a venue that I know well, and I have engaged with it on several occasions over my ministerial life. I visited The Usual Place a few weeks ago to see the good work that is in place. The funding round that Mr Hoy referred to is a competitive funding round. The decisions that were made are taken at arm’s length from Governments and involve assessment of individual applications. Mr Hoy is correct that The Usual Place was unsuccessful. However, interim funding is in place through other Government funding channels, which have been put in place by South of Scotland Enterprise and, if my memory serves me correctly, by one of the health-based funds, which is supporting the work of The Usual Place. I am committed to trying to find a solution in that respect.
I do not really think that it is fair of Mr Hoy to say that Government funding has not been put into that or that there has been no effort to find funding, because what I have just put on the record refutes what Mr Hoy says. I am completely committed to doing all that we can to support The Usual Place, which does outstanding work in transforming the lives of young people in our country.
Private Jets (Charge)
This morning, Oxfam published a report showing a huge increase in private jet travel in and out of Scotland. Private jets are a disaster for the climate and are 20 to 30 times more polluting than regular commercial air travel. Two of the three airports that have seen significant increases are owned by the Scottish Government. Air departure tax has not been devolved, but could the First Minister commit to introducing a charge at Scottish Government-owned airports to ensure that super rich elites pay for the amount of pollution that they are throwing into our atmosphere?
I have already stated that I am interested in the suggestion of having higher tax rates on private jet flights. We continue to explore all options for implementing air departure tax, but that must be done in a way that protects the connectivity of the Highlands and Islands and the lifeline services that those communities rely on. I understand and sympathise with the points that Mr Greer raises and we will consider those as part of any steps that we take on air departure tax. However, as Mr Greer will know, those issues are incredibly complex, and we must ensure that we have a sustainable response that does not in any way undermine the approach that we take in the Highlands and Islands.
That concludes First Minister’s question time. There will be a short suspension before the next item of business to allow those who are leaving the chamber and the public gallery to do so.
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