Contents
- Scottish Parliament Thursday 27 January 2005
- Energy Policy
- First Minister's Question Time
- Question Time
- Sexual Health Strategy
- Budget (Scotland) (No 2) Bill: Stage 1
- National Lottery Bill
- Business Motion
- Parliamentary Bureau Motions
- Decision Time
- Infertility Services
Question Time
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Education and Young People, Tourism, Culture and Sport
Sports Grounds (Racism and Bigotry)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to eradicate instances of racism and bigotry in Scottish sports grounds. (S2O-5138)
The Executive is committed to tackling all forms of racist or bigoted behaviour wherever it manifests itself. We seek to work with a range of sports organisations, and our support for the Show Racism the Red Card campaign is a good example of our work to eradicate racist behaviour in football.
Does the minister agree that to combat instances of racism and bigotry in football, continued support for initiatives such as the Show Racism the Red Card campaign is vital, particularly in the light of the successful education event at Aberdeen Football Club in December? That event was run by Show Racism the Red Card, hosted by Aberdeen Football Club and attended by 100 young people. How will the Executive ensure that racism is countered not only in football grounds, but in every sporting arena?
Richard Baker makes a valid point when he talks about other sporting activities and not only football. We need to keep our momentum going in that area and to observe carefully what is happening. He is also right to highlight the initiative in his local area, as such initiatives will help to make racism in sport a thing of the past. The Executive has supported the work of Show Racism the Red Card and has demonstrated that support by contributing some £75,000 over three years to help the organisation to develop its campaign and promote its work in Scotland.
Is the minister aware that I have been in correspondence with the First Minister about correspondence that I have had with Premier League club managers on an awards scheme that is based on the Investors in People model? Awards would be made to clubs that take a lead in removing racism and sectarianism from the terraces. I know that a summit is coming up, but will the minister look favourably on the suggestion, as I have received favourable responses from Premier League managers?
I am aware that Christine Grahame has been in correspondence with the First Minister about her idea of an awards scheme. We must consider any opportunity to promote the issue in all sports in Scotland, which Richard Baker rightly mentioned. I am certainly happy to consider the idea and, if appropriate, to discuss it with any footballing or other organisation in the sporting world that has an interest in the matter.
Does the minister agree that one of the main causes of aggravation in football stadia is the sale of sectarian flags, tee-shirts and other mementos, and that more tactful control could and should be exercised over the sale of such products?
Jamie McGrigor is right to identify such items as part of the problem, but I would not by any means say that they are the whole problem. Obviously, we want to try to change the attitudes of those who display those items, many of which are sold at a distance from grounds—as a result, it can be difficult for the authorities to do very much about things. However, they are part of what must be addressed.
Tourism Funding (Edinburgh)
To ask the Scottish Executive what dedicated funding is available to market Edinburgh as a tourist destination. (S2O-5143)
The share of VisitScotland's budget for marketing Edinburgh this year is around £2.6 million, which includes £668,000 for business tourism marketing. Edinburgh will also benefit from VisitScotland's new city/rural campaign, which will equate to a further £2 million of marketing spend on Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
I am grateful for the minister's answer and am aware of the written answer that she has previously given that confirms those figures.
Perhaps the minister will clarify why the principal organisation that is responsible for marketing Edinburgh—Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board—disclosed only £367,000 received from VisitScotland in grant in aid. Given the proposed abolition of that organisation, will she assure me and other city of Edinburgh representatives that the missing millions will be found so that the city, which is a major draw and gateway, is fully marketed?
I would not for a moment want to underestimate the effect and impact that Edinburgh has as a gateway to the rest of Scotland, and we are keen to ensure that account is taken of the area. However, funding goes to the particular organisation that Mr MacAskill highlighted from a variety of sources. Tourism is not just about what VisitScotland does; it is about what a number of other partners and, indeed, all of us do to welcome people to our country. The money that I am talking about is that which VisitScotland is using to market Edinburgh. I think that that was the information that Mr MacAskill asked for.
Will the minister kindly give an assurance to the Parliament that the network of local tourist information centres in Edinburgh and the Lothians will be maintained and enhanced following the reorganisation of VisitScotland in April?
We are working hard with all the partner organisations to make sure that the moneys available are maintained at their present level. So far, the indications that we have are very good. A number of local authorities have indicated that they plan to increase the amount of their contribution to the partnerships that will evolve. I am heartened by that and I hope that other local authorities will work in a similar manner.
Has the Scottish Executive received any recommendations from the so-called welcome tsar, Councillor Eric Milligan, about the promotion of Edinburgh as a tourist destination? Will the minister tell us how much that initiative cost and when the report will be published?
The initiative to which Mr Swinney refers is not within my remit entirely; it is shared across a number of portfolios, as Mr Swinney will be aware from previous questions and answers. I am not aware of whether that particular report has been submitted yet. I understand that Mr Milligan will not look at Edinburgh alone, but that he will look at how Scotland is perceived on first impression. I reiterate that it is not just Mr Milligan's responsibility to be aware of that; the responsibility rests with all of us.
Question 3 has been withdrawn.
Rural Schools (Sports Co-ordinators)
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support sports co-ordinators serving rural schools. (S2O-5115)
I apologise for the delay in answering; I feel slightly schizophrenic jumping from one part of my portfolio to another.
Sportscotland, on behalf of the Executive, is working with local authorities throughout Scotland to develop, support and monitor the active schools staffing network across Scotland.
I understand that schoolchildren in Aberdeenshire and other rural areas of Scotland are losing out because of the cost implications of delivering that service in rural areas. As the minister will appreciate, there are two extra factors to consider in rural areas. First, the cost of transporting children is higher. Secondly, the sports co-ordinators have to spend extra time travelling between schools because they serve a cluster of schools at one time. Will the minister tell the chamber whether those factors have been taken into account? If not, I would be grateful if she would do so, because schoolchildren in rural areas are losing out.
We have taken the issues into account. The way in which allocations were calculated for each local authority was not based on school population alone, but on the geography of the local authority area. That has meant that rural local authorities, such as Aberdeenshire, which the member mentioned, have received a proportionately bigger allocation than they would have done if school population alone were taken into account. In addition, every co-ordinator has a budget that can be used to assist with transport facilities and I hope that it will be used in that way in those particular areas.
Question 5 is from Wendy Alexander. Members are aware that I am required to call the question if the member is not here.
Scottish Opera
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure the sustainability of the Scottish Opera chorus. (S2O-5128)
The employment of performers, including future contractual arrangements for chorus members, is a matter for the management of the company.
The minister will be aware that Scottish Opera's headquarters are in my constituency and that a number of my constituents are employed in the chorus. She will also be aware that there is an agreement to sustain 20 chorus jobs until June 2005. Given that Scottish Opera has had excellent reviews this season, will she assure me that she understands the importance of retaining a full-time chorus? I hope that she is willing to work with the company to ensure that all options to retain the full-time chorus, including lifting the redundancy option in June 2005, will be considered.
I am sorry, Presiding Officer—I missed the very end of Ms McNeill's supplementary. However, I will say that, over the past year, I have attended several of the performances that she referred to and she is absolutely right to mention their quality. Indeed, not only were the performances of the greatest quality but the audiences found them greatly enjoyable.
I understand that, to date, Scottish Opera has achieved approximately 50 per cent of its planned staffing reductions and that a number of posts have been identified for redundancy in 2005. However, the first stage of the redundancy process, which has been agreed by the company and Equity, is now complete. At the end of the day, this is a matter for the company itself.
If Scottish Opera were able to find commercial, charitable or other funding that would allow it to put on shows at a time when it is making such great cuts, would the minister be able to co-operate and provide some funds to supplement that? That could help the company to keep going more actively and to find more work for the chorus and other interested people.
I repeat that Scottish Opera's operation and management are matters for the company's team of managers. The current situation is of Scottish Opera's own design; after all, it has agreed that way forward after discussions with the Scottish Arts Council. That said, the SAC has established a monitoring group that will examine the progress that has been made over this period and which will obviously take all relevant matters into account.
Does the minister recall that the Edinburgh International Festival was initially based on opera? Indeed, does she acknowledge that Scottish Opera has been an icon of excellence for Scotland for a long time? Furthermore, is she aware that it languishes at the bottom of western league tables as far as funding for opera is concerned? Will she free up some of the money that has been ring fenced for arts in Scotland to ensure that it receives more funding in the way that the Jonas report identified?
I am not sure that the Jonas report said that. In any case, if Mr McGrigor is suggesting that money should be taken away from other areas of arts and culture in Scotland, I do not think that such a proposal would meet with much interest or applause in other parts of the artistic world.
It is possible that Scottish Opera could come out of its current situation in better form than it went into it. I think that it is an absolutely valuable part of Scotland's artistic life; I certainly take a very keen interest in it and will continue to do so. However, at the moment, I do not intend to interfere in the company's management.
Olympic Games 2012
To ask the Scottish Executive what independent assessment has been made of the costs and benefits to Scotland of holding the 2012 Olympics in London. (S2O-5049)
The Scottish Executive has not commissioned an independent assessment of the likely costs and benefits to Scotland of a London games. However, we are committed to working with the United Kingdom Government and others to maximise the potential benefits in areas such as sport, tourism and business.
I draw the minister's attention to the document "Scotland backs the bid", which has been published by the Scottish Executive and its agencies and focuses on the advantages to Scotland of a London games. However, if no assessment has been made of the likely costs or advantages, is the Scottish Executive literally ignorant of what those benefits and costs to Scotland would be? Is the document's premise totally false?
I find Mr Neil's inconsistency on this matter particularly interesting. Indeed, on Wednesday, he assured me and the members of his own Enterprise and Culture Committee that he personally very much backed London's bid for a UK Olympic games.
But not at any cost.
I am sorry, but Mr Neil did not qualify his comment at the time. I am more than happy to pass on Mr Neil's endorsement to Lord Coe and the bid committee in London; I am sure that they would be happy to use his endorsement in future. Perhaps if we produce a refresh of the document that Mr Neil referred to, we could have a quote from him to explain his views exactly.
I draw Mr Neil's attention to the fact that, when Sydney hosted the Olympic games, the training camp used by the British team was some 500 miles from Sydney. That is the kind of opportunity that we should not forget. I also draw his attention to the fact that a very small company, also based some hundreds of miles from Sydney, gained a very important engineering contract. Four years later, when Athens was carrying out a similar exercise, it also took advantage of that company's strengths.
In the document that Mr Neil refers to, there is a quote from Iain McMillan, the director of the Confederation of British Industry Scotland, who says:
"I wholeheartedly support London's Olympic bid. Bringing the biggest sporting event in the world to the UK will benefit the whole of the UK—including Scotland."
If Mr Neil has read the document, he will know that that could be said not only for business but for arts and culture, for education and, of course, for sport. Not least—given my portfolio interest—it could be said for tourism. We should all be working to take those opportunities. That is what the Executive is doing.
Education (Science and Mathematics)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that sufficient numbers of pupils are taking science and mathematics courses in senior 4 to senior 6. (S2O-5105)
As Mr Morgan will know, the school curriculum is non-statutory. It is therefore for schools and students themselves to decide on the courses studied from S4 to S6. One priority area of school science education identified in the Executive's science strategy is to promote science as a career option.
The minister may be aware of a recent report by the Save British Science Society, which highlighted the cancellation of a worrying number of practical lessons in Scottish schools because of poor resources. It also highlighted the fact that a large number of teachers of science subjects are saying that their budgets for laboratory equipment are inadequate.
Will the minister concede that, if we are to attract sufficient pupils into science subjects, we certainly do not want to be downgrading the practical side of science lessons? What action will he take in that regard?
I am well aware of that survey and its results. Since January 2002, the Scottish Executive has provided education authorities with £16 million to enable primary and secondary schools to buy science equipment and to allow teachers to update their skills. A further £2 million will be provided in 2005-06. That money, I think, will be ring fenced. We have made it clear to education authorities that the funding is to help schools to achieve the aims of the science strategy.
Under the McCrone agreement, opportunities exist for continuing professional development for science teachers. Opportunities also exist in the announcements that we have made in "Better Behaviour—Better Learning"; in the money that was recently made available to local authorities for school assistants; and in the recent announcements on school discipline. That will allow us to address the specific issue of practical lessons being cancelled, as mentioned in the survey.
In addition, we are investing substantially in the school estate. Recent school fund announcements—additional to that investment—will enable, for example, specific attention to be given to connectivity for broadband and to science laboratories and other similar facilities, if local authorities so require.
Sport (National Governing Bodies)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the funding of sports' national governing bodies. (S2O-5052)
Executive funding for sports' governing bodies is routed through sportscotland, the national agency for the development of sport in Scotland. Funding is awarded against a development plan for each sport and its ability to deliver across the three aims of sport 21: widening opportunities; developing potential; and achieving excellence.
Will the minister explain why, since 1999, a major national governing body such as the Scottish Rugby Union has experienced a real-terms reduction of some 25 per cent in the development grant aid that it receives from sportscotland, while equestrian sport has experienced a real-terms increase of some 71 per cent over the same timescale? Will she also explain why it is that when members ask written questions on the issue, she refuses to answer them and instead refers them to sportscotland, but when sportscotland has an announcement to make on a spending initiative, she is more than happy to make it?
If sportscotland wished me to be involved in an announcement that it wished to make, it would be churlish of me to turn down such an invitation. Similarly, it is entirely appropriate—as I am sure that the Parliament's guidelines indicate—for members' attention to be drawn to the existence of bodies such as sportscotland when they ask questions.
I point out to Mr Matheson that, since 1997, the Scottish Rugby Union has received directly almost £5 million in development grant aid and that, under the current four-year agreement, which ends on 31 March, future funding will be set against that sport's plan for taking the game forward. In addition, Scottish rugby has benefited directly by almost £1.5 million through a number of other programmes run by sportscotland.
Finance and Public Services and Communities
Small Businesses (Payment of Bills)
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure the timeous payment of bills to small businesses. (S2O-5093)
The Scottish Executive seeks to pay all invoices promptly. We are constantly improving our procedures to speed up our invoice processing. Our e-procurement Scotland system and our use of the Government procurement card offer particular benefits to small and medium-sized businesses.
I am sure that the minister is aware that small businesses suffer greatly from the curse of the late payment of invoices. Indeed, there are reports that some of them have even gone out of business because of that problem. He will also be aware that local authorities and the Executive are regular offenders and that the percentage of invoices that are paid on time varies from 64 per cent to 95 per cent. What action will he take to ensure that the Executive improves its current rate, whereby 77.5 per cent of invoices are paid on time? What plans does he have to ensure that all local authorities live up to their responsibilities to small business and that authorities such as Inverclyde Council are no longer allowed to get away with paying only 64 per cent of their invoices on time?
I accept that the figure that Mr Maxwell gave for our performance on payment in 2003-04 was unacceptable. The Executive has taken steps to make a substantial improvement in performance. Overall, we are now paying more than 90 per cent of invoices on time. That contrasts with the figure of 77 per cent, which Mr Maxwell was right to mention. I expect the performance of the Executive and its agencies to get even better by the end of the current financial year. We want ministers to be clear about the need to ensure that, in future, timeous payment rates get back to the level at which they were before the change in the system that took place some years ago. We also expect local authorities to achieve the targets that we achieve.
I welcome the minister's comments on the public sector, but I wonder whether there is anything that he could do to ensure that the partner companies that are involved with the public sector in private finance initiatives meet their invoice commitments and pay their smaller contractors. Does he feel that he could have an influence on that? In particular, I am thinking of the situation that arose in relation to East Lothian's schools, when many small businesses went bankrupt because of a failure to pay.
I accept that late payment is a serious issue in the private sector as well as in the public sector. If Mr Gallie wants to raise a specific example, we would be more than happy to consider it on his behalf. It is certainly our intention that, in all the areas in which we have influence with regard to the payment of invoices, we will seek to achieve the standard that we achieve internally across all our responsibilities.
Community Planning (Allotments)
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage local authorities to include the provision of allotments in their community planning strategies. (S2O-5066)
The provision of allotments is a matter for individual local authorities rather than the Executive. Those authorities are best placed to deal with the specific needs of their communities and the development of allotment policy and management. Powers already exist for local authorities to provide allotments where there is a proven need for them.
Will the minister talk to some of his colleagues and explore what scope exists for encouraging councils to develop a good policy on allotments as part of the community planning process? Allotments help to develop community life. They are tended by individuals, but those individuals work alongside other individuals in the community to provide something of general benefit. Allotments improve health through exercise, improve diet through fresh fruit and provide fresh flowers. They have a lot things going for them but, for some historical reason, some areas in the country do not have allotments. They are especially good in areas with lots of housing and little ground. Will he encourage councils to use their powers to encourage allotments?
When the previous session's Local Government Committee examined that issue some time ago, it recommended the creation of good practice guidance. The Executive has been liaising with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on the development of that guidance, although I understand that the City of Edinburgh Council has developed its own internal guidance. I also understand that the council's guidance has been warmly received by other authorities and there is a possibility that other authorities throughout Scotland could pick it up.
I will make a brief comment on community planning. Community plans are not submitted to the Scottish Executive. The aim of community planning is to promote and engender local decision making, and the system, by its nature, would not be working properly if the Executive tried to exert undue influence on it.
Petition PE280, on allotments, was lodged in October 2000 but, although the protection of allotments has been batted about for the past four and a half years, we still have no result—not even a set of guidelines worked out between the Executive and COSLA. I am aware of what the City of Edinburgh Council has done, and I am happy about that. Does the minister accept that, considering that the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892 would allow allotment holders to set up pigsties and to farm pigs on their allotments, the legislation on allotments is in need of review and should contain some protection for allotments?
I do not have any principled objection to the farming of pigs on allotments, and I am extremely surprised that Mr Harper would have. I stress that decisions about allotments are properly to be taken locally. Since the advent of our new constitutional arrangements, there has been a worry that the Executive would involve itself in matters that are properly the domain of local government, and we in the Executive are conscious that we should not unnecessarily disrupt arrangements that have stood the test of time and are still in place today.
Housing Stock Transfer
To ask the Scottish Executive how stock transfer has benefited the communities where it has been implemented. (S2O-5117)
Community ownership of the housing stock is bringing a huge range of benefits in those areas where it is being implemented. Not only is it leading to an unparalleled level of investment in new and better-quality housing, but crucially, it is putting tenants at the centre of the decision-making process. We are delighted that those benefits are being recognised by a number of other local authorities that have successfully joined the Executive's community ownership programme.
Will the minister outline the advantages that she believes there will be for tenants in the Highland Council area if they agree to a stock transfer going ahead? Will she also assure me that the Executive will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the pressured area provisions and the social housing exemption from the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003 to determine whether those measures give sufficient long-term protection to community housing that is under severe pressure from the second-home market?
There would, of course, be significant benefits to the Highlands if the community ownership programme was agreed to, and we welcome Highland Council's decision in that regard. Community ownership would offer the opportunity for significant investment to modernise houses, provide tenants with guarantees about future rent increases and, crucially, involve tenants in decisions about their homes, which makes it far more likely that investment will stick in the longer term and create the benefit that we want. However, I emphasise that community ownership is not the only thing that we are doing on housing in the Highlands and elsewhere. There is £79.2 million in the development programme for rural housing investment, £24.2 million of which is available to the Highlands and Islands.
The point that Maureen Macmillan makes about sustaining the social rented sector is important, and I assure her that we will monitor closely whatever levers exist. Local authorities already have opportunities through the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to take action in cases where they feel that social rented housing is vulnerable. We are investing in a range of opportunities in rural housing—and in non-rural housing in parts of the Highlands, of course—and the community ownership programme is a significant part of that.
Will the minister consider how communities that have rejected stock transfer might also gain the benefits of the writing off of capital debt, as happens where stock transfer has taken place?
People must make an informed decision and a judgment. They know that one of the benefits of transfer to community ownership is the writing off of debt. Will they opt for a transfer, with the benefits and the opportunity for increased investment that that brings, or will they opt for an alternative, with retention, the use of the prudential borrowing scheme or a combination of partial transfer and some retention? People have to make that decision on an informed basis. Because of its other benefits—not just those associated with the writing off of debt—including tenant involvement at the centre of the process, the community ownership option is a serious one, which a number of authorities have already taken.
Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill
To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial impact of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill will be on the funding of non-departmental public bodies. (S2O-5062)
The financial memorandum accompanying the bill included an estimate of £10 million a year as the potential cost, excluding donations, to those non-departmental public bodies that currently hold charity status, were they to lose it. The five cultural national collections NDPBs estimate that some £10 million per annum of projected funding for special projects is dependent on charitable funding over the next 10 years. The total average financial impact is now estimated to be some £20 million a year.
I thank the minister for clarifying that if those bodies lose their charitable status as a result of the legislation, many millions of pounds of charitable donations will be lost—they will either go elsewhere or they will no longer be subject to tax relief. That loss would be disastrous and unacceptable. Does he think that a formula will be found to allow those bodies to retain their charitable status? That has apparently been the case with the bodies' sister organisations south of the border.
Johann Lamont and I are considering the issue seriously and in detail. I have met representatives of the national collections NDPBs within the past two weeks to discuss the matter and I have also been discussing it with Patricia Ferguson. The issue is complex. There was a recommendation in the McFadden commission's review about the independence of charities, which raised questions about NDPBs. I of course recognise the serious issues at stake and assure the member that we want to find a way out of the present difficulty. Johann Lamont will be giving details of our plans when she goes before the Communities Committee on Wednesday.
Is the minister aware that that issue has exercised the Communities Committee in particular? Is he also aware that the concerns of the national collections bodies relate not solely to philanthropic donations, but to the possibility of losing Government indemnity in hosting exhibitions comprising artwork brought from outside the United Kingdom? We might lose out on pieces of artwork or on contributions that would be of merit to Scotland, which would be not only a financial loss, but a cultural loss.
I thank Karen Whitefield for drawing that to the attention of the Parliament. The national collections bodies described some of those matters to me in detail when I met some of their representatives recently. We are determined to take action to address the problem. We have one or two options before us and Johann Lamont will give details of our plans when she appears before the Communities Committee next week.
National Health Service (Pensions)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to protect the pension rights of national health service workers. (S2O-5076)
In line with United Kingdom Government policy—pension policy is reserved—the NHS pension scheme in Scotland is currently under review. The review is being conducted by the Scottish pensions review group, which is a partnership between NHS employers and trade unions. A public consultation on options for the scheme was launched on Monday of this week. The consultation period ends on 25 April 2005.
Given the link between low pensions and early death, will the Executive acknowledge that increasing the retiral age is a cynical exploitation of people who are most at risk of dying younger? Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison and a member of the Labour Party said:
"To suggest that NHS workers should be forced to work until they are 65 is living in cloud cuckoo land. 73% of paramedics are forced to retire through ill-health before they reach the age of 60, let alone carry on until they are 65. Forcing staff to work longer will simply raise the level of ill-health retirements and end up costing the NHS more."
Does the minister agree? Will the Executive use its powers and state now that NHS workers in Scotland will not have to work until they are 65 or until they drop, whichever comes soonest?
Close, please.
That would be the most effective way of putting pressure on Labour MPs—who have very pretty pensions, thank you very much—to protect the pension rights of NHS workers in England and Wales, too.
I am pleased that the trade unions in Scotland will be part of the review and the consultation. They will have a considerable opportunity, as will other interested parties and individuals, to make representations as part of that consultation. Overall pension policy is reserved. Ministers are strongly of the view that there is a logic to maintaining reasonable continuity in pension arrangements throughout the United Kingdom. That remains the position, but the consultation will clearly raise issues on that matter.
Eco-friendly and Self-build Housing
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to the provision of eco-friendly and self-build housing. (S2O-5088)
Our investment in affordable housing is underpinned by Communities Scotland's sustainable development policy and its "Sustainable Housing Design Guide for Scotland", which provides advice on design, materials and the use of energy and physical resources. In this financial year, Communities Scotland investment of £2.6 million in rural home ownership grants is expected to support 90 houses, mainly through self-build.
The minister will be aware of the imperative as a result of climate change for a step change in the way in which we construct houses in this country. That was instanced in the Western Isles with the problems during the recent storm, but it is writ large throughout the country. Does she agree that, on a large scale and on an individual basis, encouraging a greater percentage of eco-friendly houses will be a necessity and that the sooner instructions and guidelines are produced to help with that, the better?
I do not think that anything that Rob Gibson said conflicts with the general thrust of Scottish Executive policy. Since 2002, all houses funded by Communities Scotland have required to achieve an energy efficiency standard that is higher than that required by building regulations. Ninety-seven per cent of new-build houses funded by Communities Scotland in the past financial year achieved its energy efficiency target. In 2003-04, average CO2 emissions in new-build properties funded by housing association grants were down from 2.9 tonnes to 1.7 tonnes.
All the key identifiers in the Communities Scotland programme—the use of brownfield sites, energy efficiency and average energy costs—tend in the right direction in achieving our policy aims. There is a lesson to be learned from that. It is important that we continue dialogue with those who have an interest in the different things that we can do to achieve those aims. Because its funding from the Scottish Executive is so significant, Communities Scotland has an important role to play in securing the energy efficient and eco-friendly buildings that Rob Gibson mentions.
Borders Railway (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform has had with the Minister for Transport regarding the funding for the Borders railway, when those discussions took place, and whether they have been concluded. (S2O-5081)
Finance ministers discussed the funding for the Borders railway as part of the spending review 2004 and have regular discussions with the Minister for Transport about all the Executive's major transport capital projects. A final decision on that particular project will be made in the next few weeks.
The minister will appreciate people's concerns, because it has been requested that the business case be reviewed not to take account of the number of people travelling and travel times, but to examine the revenue from the line. Will he assure me that that is not a negative step in relation to funding the line, as the Borders rail forum is greatly concerned that it is?
I confirm that it is not a negative issue whatsoever.
General Questions
Fife Council (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met Fife Council to discuss rail and road infrastructure in the Dunfermline travel-to-work area. (S2O-5097)
My officials and I meet representatives of Fife Council on a regular basis to discuss various subjects, including road and rail projects. The most recent meetings were in the later part of 2004.
The minister might be aware of the forthcoming major road works on the A985 Torryburn bypass at the bridge over the Bluther burn, which will result in the total closure of the road for a fortnight and a further 30 weeks of traffic-signalled single-lane traffic. The road is the main route in and out of Dunfermline via the Kincardine bridge. Does he agree that the road works will be a major disruption for local people? Does he also agree that the road and rail infrastructure in south Fife must be improved if those in the Dunfermline travel-to-work area are to be able to maximise their employment opportunities?
I certainly understand that there will be disruption. The work is due to start on 31 January. No traffic management measures are proposed; in other words, the road will be used in its current form until 14 February. After that, the central section of the bridge is due to be jacked up so that work can proceed. In order to let traffic use the route, the contractor will erect a temporary bridge. There will be four overnight closures between 10 pm and 5 am when the bridge is erected and four overnight closures to remove the bridge. The contract period is 26 weeks. When the temporary bridge is in place, traffic will be reduced to a single lane controlled by traffic signals. We will do everything that we can to minimise the disruption, but the work is clearly necessary.
I would like to ask the minister about disabled access at train stations—not for the first time in this chamber—with particular regard to stations at Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Cardenden. The constituency that I have the privilege to represent has the highest level of disability shown in the health profiles that the Scottish Executive produced. Despite my numerous requests to the minister, Fife Council, the train operators and Network Rail, we are not making any progress on the issue. Will the minister either tell me when he thinks progress will be made on the issue or agree to meet me to discuss it as a matter of urgency?
There will be investment in our rail stations as a result of the ScotRail franchise. We are investing in improvements at Waverley station now that the phase 1 project is going ahead. We will introduce more lifts there and there will be improved disabled access. There will also be improvements at Haymarket.
The primary responsibility for disability access and all disability issues remains with the United Kingdom Government, which is responsible for disability legislation. It also remains responsible for safety issues and disability access issues in relation to the UK rail network, even after the settlement that was agreed yesterday.
First ScotRail (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet First ScotRail. (S2O-5043)
Officials are due to meet the managing director of First ScotRail next week.
Will the minister ask his officials when they meet First ScotRail to raise two issues of concern to my constituents in North East Fife and to people in other parts of Fife? One is the relatively poor performance of First ScotRail in relation to overcrowding and punctuality since it took over the franchise in the Fife rail network. The second is on the information that is available to passengers about what services are or are not running during periods of severe weather. During the recent severe weather, there was a terrible lack of updated information, even on the websites, about which trains were running, where they were running to and which stations were open. That caused great concern and confusion to passengers. I hope that the minister will ask his officials to take up those matters with First ScotRail as a matter of urgency.
I refer first to the second issue. There were serious problems throughout Scotland's transport network as a result of the recent severe weather and I have asked for a meeting with officials from all the relevant sections of the Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Department—not only those dealing with rail, but those dealing with our road network, our ferry network and our air network—to ensure that we are addressing the points that Iain Smith raised. If we are going to have severe weather in Scotland more often, we have to get geared up to tackling such problems and to responding with good-quality information to passengers.
On the first part of the question, there have been difficulties for rail passengers over the past few months. Some of those problems have been caused by the severe weather. Not all of them have been caused by First ScotRail; there have been continuing issues involving Network Rail. However, First ScotRail accepts its share of the responsibility for some of the difficulties in Fife. That is one of the reasons why we intend to have regular meetings with First ScotRail, particularly during the early stage of the franchise. It is vital that service levels improve.
Since 1999, all the Fife MSPs have repeatedly raised the issue of the appalling service that rail passengers in Fife get. I agree with Iain Smith that the service has not improved one whit since First ScotRail took over the franchise—in fact, it has got worse. Can the minister knock heads together in First ScotRail to ensure that the passengers in Fife, who are paying an absolute fortune to travel by public transport, get the kind of deal that they deserve?
The first thing to emphasise is that it is in nobody's interest to have poor-quality rail services. If the services are poor, the franchisee faces significant penalties under the contract. Poor services are bad news for passengers and for the reputation of the rail industry at a time when we are trying to expand rail. We are extending platforms and introducing new trains with higher capacity for the Fife circle services. The improvements at Waverley will have an impact, as services across the Forth rail bridge will increase. The work that is being done to introduce the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine line will also bring benefits. I give the improvement of rail services in Scotland a high priority and will meet regularly First ScotRail, Network Rail and everyone else who is involved in rail provision in Scotland to ensure that standards improve.
I thank the minister for meeting me, my colleague Euan Robson and the Waverley rail partnership to discuss the progress of the Borders rail link project. When he meets First ScotRail next week, will he impress on it the importance of the Borders rail link as an integral part of the ScotRail franchise and the fact that, once the proposals receive parliamentary approval and the project is constructed, the line will benefit the Borders area by connecting it to the rest of the UK rail network?
I compliment my colleague for getting in a reference to the Borders rail link on the back of this question. Officials from my department will meet First ScotRail next week; I will not have that opportunity. However, as Mr Purvis well knows, my colleagues in the Finance and Central Services Department and I are paying close attention to the Borders rail link business case and we expect to be able to reach a decision on it in the next few weeks.
Roads (Maintenance)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider spending levels in respect of the maintenance of roads, in light of the view of the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland that a 10-year programme costing £3.87 billion is required to bring them up to a reasonable standard. (S2O-5040)
We have already announced that grant-aided expenditure provision to local authorities for roads maintenance will increase by £60 million a year in 2006-07 and 2007-08. That represents an increase of 23 per cent on the current allocation.
Although that increase is welcome, the minister will be aware that SCOTS also said that the
"additional £60 million … falls well short of the funding needed to redress the current backlog"
over a 10-year period. Can he continue to earn the high opinion that I hold of him as an intelligent individual by agreeing with me that, unless the work is done this year to maintain our road network, this year's pothole will become next year's crater and the cost of dealing with it will escalate? Does he agree that priorities should be reassessed and higher priority should be given to the state of our roads, which are in a state of decay and disrepair that borders on decrepitude?
Follow that.
I urge all local authorities to spend the extra £60 million that they will receive each year from 2006 on road repairs and maintenance. It is vital that that additional investment is made. Road investment should not be seen as a Cinderella service; it is crucial to business, to the economy throughout Scotland and to local communities.
Each of the 32 local authority areas is expressing to me huge interest in the quality of our roads, but I cannot make the investment decisions for local authorities. This is a vital time of year for setting budgets and making allocations. As Fergus Ewing well knows, because of the area that he comes from, a significant number of local authorities underspend their GAE allocation. Without centrally directing those resources, we can do little. However, we are allocating significant extra expenditure for local authorities to invest in roads maintenance and repair.
Recent surveys of local authority spend on roads have shown West Lothian Council to be responsible and high performing. The minister may be aware that, this morning, a jackknifed lorry on the A801, which is known locally as the Avon gorge road, caused great chaos and blocked what is not only a local road, but a road that has major strategic resonance between the M8 and the M9. Will he agree to continue discussions with West Lothian Council, Falkirk Council, Cathy Peattie and me to ensure that the necessary works on that road are undertaken as quickly as possible?
Yes. I am aware of the incident this morning and the disruption that it caused. The Avon gorge scheme is one to which high priority should be given. It is one scheme that regional transport partnerships will be able to focus on and invest in. We will give those partnerships £35 million a year from April 2006, when they will be established in a statutory form. I want a higher priority to be given to such projects, which we must deliver in the next few years.
Electricity Generation (Greenhouse Gases)
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of emissions of greenhouse gases from the electricity generating stations at Hunterston and Torness. (S2O-5061)
It will come as no surprise to participants in this morning's energy debate that nuclear power generation produces no significant greenhouse gas emissions.
That means that Torness and Hunterston generate more than 40 per cent of Scotland's electricity and export energy to other parts of the United Kingdom without emitting significant quantities of CO2. Will the minister join me in congratulating his constituents and mine on that remarkable contribution to the Kyoto agenda to save the planet from global warming? Can he think of words to describe a political party that claims to be concerned about global warming but also calls for the early closure of Torness and Hunterston? Incidentally, how soon can we start work on Torness B and Hunterston C?
I pay tribute to electricity generator workers wherever they are in the United Kingdom whose work contributes to low greenhouse gas emissions. As well as affecting greenhouse gas emissions, any policy of early closure would jeopardise the security of the power supply to our two great cities—Glasgow and Edinburgh—and therefore their significant contribution to jobs and prosperity in the east and west of Scotland. In that context, "imbecilic" is the word that springs to mind.
Haymarket Station (Disabled Access)
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in providing disabled access at Haymarket station. (S2O-5119)
The Scottish Executive has recently announced funding of £750,000 for the City of Edinburgh Council to examine options for upgrading Haymarket. Those will include proposals for better disabled access.
I very much welcome the minister's commitment to help that work to proceed. He may be aware that last week the First Minister kindly offered me a meeting with him to discuss the detailed timescale for the work. Can he announce today a timescale, to avoid the problems that occurred last year when Waverley station was shut for essential works and people were diverted miles from Haymarket? We have waited more than 20 years for lifts at Haymarket. I am glad that the money is coming, but will the minister give us a much firmer timescale, so that we can get the work done?
I agree with Sarah Boyack that it is important that we get moving with projects of that scale and importance. That is why the go-ahead for phase 1 of the Waverley redevelopment is so important. It will be the first project of its scale to be delivered in Scotland for some significant time. The Haymarket project is also ambitious and considers that station as a future interchange for rail, bus, cars and trams. The project is big and the feasibility study will take around two years to complete. If we can fast-track any of the issues during that period, I would like that to be done—issues such as disability access are high on my priority list. One of the key reasons for the feasibility study is the need to look at the issues around the timetable for the completion and the phasing of the work. Throughout my time as Minister for Transport, I will ensure that projects of that scale and importance are progressed as quickly as possible.
Dumfries and Galloway (Radioactivity)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns in respect of levels of radioactivity in the environment in Dumfries and Galloway. (S2O-5164)
The Executive takes a close interest in the work that is undertaken by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Food Standards Agency on monitoring and reporting the levels of radioactivity in the environment. Results in SEPA's and the FSA's latest report, "Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2003", show that the levels of radioactivity are well below currently acceptable levels.
Indeed, at 0.37mSv. However, is the minister aware that the Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters has reported "uncertainties" about the risks, meaning that, in some cases, we might be exposed to 10 times the risk that was previously thought to exist? A minority report has suggested that the true figure is 100 times the risk. Given that the level of reprocessing at Sellafield is currently being stepped up, will he ask SEPA to report on pathways for plutonium entering the bodies of people who live around the Solway coast?
I can only repeat to Chris Ballance that we take the matter very seriously. That is why SEPA and the FSA undertake a regular series of tests to enable them to monitor and report on the levels of radioactivity in that area. Chris Ballance refers to a minority report. Both those agencies are aware of the work that goes on. I do not think that we should necessarily found our concerns on a minority report; although we cannot entirely dismiss it, that is not the basis on which we would call for additional work to be done. SEPA and the FSA continue to monitor the situation and we continue to examine the results closely.
Will the minister concede that the major contributor to enhanced radioactivity in marine life on the Solway is nuclear emissions from the Sellafield plant? Is he surprised that that aspect of the nuclear power industry was not mentioned in Mr Home Robertson's earlier question?
That is a matter that Mr Morgan and Mr Home Robertson can discuss more beneficially than I can.
Air Quality
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that local authorities meet the targets on air quality. (S2O-5166)
Local authorities have a duty under the Environment Act 1995 regularly to review and assess air quality in their areas against the objectives that are contained in the air quality strategy. When an objective is unlikely to be met by the required date, the authority concerned must declare an air quality management area and draw up an action plan outlining how it intends to work towards achieving that objective.
The minister might like to agree with me that Glasgow City Council's air quality action plan is somewhat curiously named, as it does not propose any actions to improve air quality and to reduce pollution to below the safe target levels. What action can the Executive take to ensure that city councils have a continuing programme of improvement that will bring air quality within the targets?
Glasgow City Council has prepared an air quality management area for part of the city centre. The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency have engaged closely with the council on that plan and we are confident that what the council proposes will allow it to take action and make progress towards reducing nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants during the next few years.
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