Plenary, 29 Mar 2007

Meeting date: Thursday, March 29, 2007

Official Report 416KB pdf

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Question Time

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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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General Questions

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Road and Rail Transport (Highlands)

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that, over this session of the Parliament, a fair share of funding has been allocated to road and rail projects connecting the Highlands to the central belt that have been delivered, or are planned to be delivered by 2012, and which projects have been or are planned to be delivered. (S2O-12491)

In our current roads programme to 2012, we are delivering improvements of £50 million on the A9, more than £30 million on the A96, £16 million on the A82 and £19 million on the A830. Those figures do not take into account the significant levels of annual repair and maintenance works on the trunk road network throughout the Highlands. In addition to the current investment of more than £115 million, work is now proceeding on the A9 from Perth to Blair Atholl, on the A82 from Tarbet to Fort William and on the dualling of the A96 from Inverness to Inverness airport.

We are delivering an extensive and comprehensive multimillion pound package to provide the strategic investment in road and rail that is required to meet the needs of communities and businesses in the Highlands. We have set out in "Scotland's Railways" our aspirations for faster hourly train services between Perth and Inverness. Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that all our rural communities receive investment based on geographical diversity and a fair and rational analysis of need.

Does the minister consider that it has been a great disappointment to people in the Highlands that, over the past eight years, there has been no single major improvement to the A82, the A96, the A9 or rail links; that Inverness, alone among Scotland's major cities, lacks dual-carriageway links to the rest of Scotland; and that it has only single-track rail links? Does not he feel that the Scottish Executive really must, in the next session, do a great deal better for the people of the Highlands?

I do not agree with Mr Ewing's analysis. I do not think that the £115 million that we are investing in our road network is to be blithely ignored, as he thinks. Mr Ewing would have some shred of credibility if he did not spend his time in this chamber saying that he would cancel projects in order to invest in the immediate dualling of roads in the Highlands while also saying that they might not be dualled tomorrow, but some time in the future. To be credible, one has to have a policy—Mr Ewing does not have a policy. The Scottish National Party's sums do not add up. I will point that out every day of the coming campaign.

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Education

To ask the Scottish Executive how children and young people have benefited from investment in the education system. (S2O-12530)

In 2005-06 we invested our highest amount ever in the Scottish school education system, with revenue expenditure of £4.4 billion. Expenditure on education has increased at an average rate of more than 5 per cent per annum in real terms since 1999. Under current expenditure plans, that amount will rise to £5.26 billion by 2007-08. We believe that that sustained and significant investment in staff and classrooms is making a difference. Throughout Scotland, pupils have more books and equipment and they are taught in modern schools by growing numbers of well-motivated teachers and support staff. Throughout the country, pupils, parents and teachers are now seeing the real results that the extra cash brings.

The minister is absolutely correct to highlight the Executive's record investment in refurbishing existing schools, in building new schools, in reducing class sizes, in increasing the number of teachers and in driving up standards. Does the minister agree with me that the excellent report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education into Tulliallan primary school, which was published last week, as well as other reports on schools throughout Scotland, show how our young people are benefiting from that investment and that they show that our young people are truly getting the best start in life?

Scott Barrie has spoken to me about the excellent work that is being done at Tulliallan primary school. I congratulate not just the head teacher and teachers there, but all the school staff who have made that possible. Such work can be achieved only with the support of parents, which is increasingly significant throughout Scotland, through a real partnership to improve the life chances of our children. Excellent work is being done at Tulliallan primary school, and excellent work is being done in primary schools throughout the country. I congratulate Tulliallan primary in particular, and I ask Scott Barrie to convey my best wishes to all the staff and pupils there.

I add my congratulations to Tulliallan primary school. Will the minister explain why the number of secondary teachers in Fife has reduced since 1997? Can he also explain to the people of Fife why, despite the investment that he claims has been put into schools, there are schools in Glenrothes that are raising funds through open days and fairs? The money that is raised is not going on extras for the children, but is being used to buy books and equipment.

Tricia Marwick will need to take that matter up with Fife Council. The reality is that when Peter Peacock was the Minister for Education and Young People, he allocated money directly to every education authority throughout the country specifically to employ additional teachers. When I became the Minister for Education and Young People, I allocated money to authorities to be provided directly to schools to allow them to make decisions about where it should be spent. More money is going into Scottish education. How the money is allocated and spent locally is a matter for the local authority, but the record is clear. The investment has been made.

One thing I know from the considerable record of new builds and refurbished schools in Fife since 2003 is that the promises that have been made by the SNP to build new schools cannot be delivered, because its proposed system of funding is not only unproven but cannot work because there cannot be borrowing. The SNP is still failing to answer the questions about how its programme would be funded. Pupils, teachers and parents throughout Scotland should rightly be worried about what will be done to Scottish education by the SNP's futile argument.

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Mountain Weather Information Service

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide funding to the Mountain Weather Information Service. (S2O-12490)

The Scottish Executive considers mountain safety to be of paramount importance. My officials are in discussion with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, which is the lead body for walking, climbing and mountaineering, about the options available to ensure that a comprehensive mountain weather forecasting service is available to the users of Scotland's mountains.

The minister will be aware that the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, to which she referred, believes that the Mountain Weather Information Service should be the recommended weather information service for people who use the hills. Does she agree that although that excellent service—which is accessed by about 5,000 people a day in bad weather—saves lives, it cannot continue without a very modest contribution from the Scottish Executive? The discussions to which she refers have been going on for some time. When will the Executive commit to making that modest contribution?

The service to which the member refers is a very good one—I have taken the opportunity to look at it myself. I am also aware that the Met Office currently provides a service, albeit that it is a service that some people do not regard as being equivalent to the one to which Mr Morgan refers. That is why I have asked my officials to look into the matter and to take forward discussions with the parties involved. I certainly hope that those discussions can be concluded prior to the start of the mountain season.

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School Building and Refurbishment Programme

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises the need to continue to invest in school infrastructure so that schools such as Barrhead high and Eastwood high can benefit from the school building and refurbishment programme. (S2O-12546)

Current plans will see schools continuing to be built and refurbished to the end of the decade, and substantial funding is in place to support that. We recognise that there is still more to be done, although decisions on further financial support for work on the school estate are matters for the next spending review.

Is the minister aware of the quality of some of the new school buildings in East Renfrewshire? Can he contrast that with the Opposition's plans to cancel any new school builds on the basis of its ideological opposition to public-private partnership? Does the minister agree that it is wrong to put ideological opposition to the finance plan ahead of the future education of our children?

Ken Macintosh is right to point out the quality of building that is going on throughout Scotland, including in East Renfrewshire.

I visited Carlibar primary school and I really and truly have to say that it is one of the best new build primary schools that I have seen. The design—which is stunning—was influenced by teachers, parents and members of the community contributing at the design stage. I hope that we can learn from and continue that process. As Ken Macintosh will know, I cannot make specific commitments for individual schools such as Barrhead high and Eastwood high, but we have a building programme in place up to the end of the decade.

However, one thing is sure: if the SNP wins the election and cancels PPP, as it has promised to do, the schools that are planned in the programme cannot be built. The SNP's Scottish futures trust cannot and will not work. The SNP cannot borrow in the way it says it can.

Why do you have to keep saying it?

We keep saying it because people need to know that the Scottish futures trust can work only through the break-up of the United Kingdom. That is an SNP promise that would devastate communities across Scotland.

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Long-term Conditions Strategy

To ask the Scottish Executive how its planned long-term conditions strategy will address the distinct needs of children and young people living with long-term conditions, and the needs of their parents. (S2O-12566)

Our national strategy will benefit everyone living with a long-term condition, including children, young people and their parents. In line with the principles laid out in "Delivering for Health", they will be able to benefit from services that are built around their individual needs, embedded in local communities and delivered to them in an integrated way between the different agencies involved in their care.

I thank the minister for that answer.

Can he explain how the strategy will reflect the full range of young people's needs, particularly by ensuring that it encompasses services beyond the national health service—for example, social work, education, eventual employment, psychological support and the transition from children's to adult's services?

There were a number of questions there, which I will try to address. The "Delivering for Health" strategy has a clear framework for action and we have already delivered on some of the commitments. For example, we have established the Long-Term Conditions Alliance Scotland, which is working extremely well. The toolkit for community health partnerships is assessing and developing packages around individuals and we have launched Scottish patients at risk of readmission and admission—SPARRA—a predictive tool that is designed to help those who are most in need and ensure that services coalesce around individuals. The work of the chief medical officer for Scotland is also at the heart of our strategy. He is bringing together our national health service in partnership with other agencies.

In the joint futures agenda with local government, we are trying to ensure that we take services to individuals and shape them round their individual requirements. That applies equally in education because recent legislation allows it to happen.

As the Scottish Government, we are bringing together different aspects of public services and the voluntary sector to ensure that we focus on the individual, assess risk, develop care packages and work with individuals, their parents and families.

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Antisocial Behaviour

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the next steps in its efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour. (S2O-12528)

We have given tackling antisocial behaviour a very high priority because it is one of the main problems facing communities across Scotland. We have made significant progress by bringing in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004, setting up community warden services and providing support for victims and witnesses, all of which are vital for delivering better quality of life for those in our hardest-pressed communities.

We recognise, however, that more still needs to be done. We are now rolling out police fixed-penalty notices, considering the wider use of community wardens and determining how best to maintain the pressure on local agencies to implement the 2004 act by, for example, using parenting orders and antisocial behaviour orders for under-16s. We will ensure that community safety partnerships act decisively in tackling not just antisocial behaviour but the wider range of community safety issues, including knife crime.

I thank the minister for her answer.

It is perhaps an appropriate day on which to pay tribute to her personal role, first as a back bencher, then as a committee convener and subsequently as a minister, in driving forward the agenda of tackling antisocial behaviour.

In that context, can she comment on the need to put tackling underage drinking at the heart of the agenda to create safer communities, and on the need to develop a stronger sense of self-respect among young people and for communities as a whole to take more responsibility for tackling underage drinking and excessive alcohol consumption among our young people, with all the risks and dangers that it brings?

I thank Wendy Alexander for her kind words. On antisocial behaviour, we should acknowledge the members of our communities who imposed their will on Parliament and who insisted that we act on their behalf to address such problems.

I hear what the member says about alcohol. We are rolling out test purchasing and are working closely with the police on the enforcement of appropriate behaviour by licensed premises. Alongside that, there is the education programme in our schools and our efforts to challenge parents on how they work with young people to address alcohol abuse and how they ensure that young people do more purposeful things with their lives than getting involved in underage drinking, which has an impact on communities.

Given that, to date, no parenting orders have been issued, will the minister outline how she intends to encourage use of that provision, which will undoubtedly make parents take responsibility for supervision of their children and which will, crucially, ensure that vulnerable children at not at risk?

We are disappointed by the lack of use of parenting orders, which are a support for, rather than a threat to, parents. Crucially, they are also a support for children in vulnerable households. It would be most disturbing if there were any suggestion that there is a blanket refusal to use the powers in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004. We want to challenge our young people and our families, to work with them and to get the best out of them, rather than to tolerate behaviour that is unacceptable to communities and deeply damaging to the children concerned. I hope that agencies will reflect on that and use the powers when to do so is deemed to be appropriate.

Does the minister agree that prevention is always better than cure and that politicians of all parties should take heed of the words of the head of Scotland's violence reduction unit, who said that early years investment in health visitors, social workers and teachers is every bit as important as—and sometimes more important than—investment in more police on our streets? Does she also agree that, as well as taking the action that is necessary to address short-term problems, it is vital that we continue to invest in the next generation to achieve change in the long term?

I pay tribute to Susan Deacon's crucial contribution to Parliament's creation and to making it the successful institution that it has become. [Applause.]

I fully acknowledge her point about the importance of prevention and of working with families at an early stage to ensure that issues are dealt with before they become serious problems. That has underpinned our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour. We understand that if matters are not addressed at an early stage, communities and lives end up being destroyed and people end up having no future.

We are talking about two parts of the same important picture. To realise the potential of our young people and to give us safe communities, not only must we challenge—rather than tolerate—problem behaviour, we must also work with the families in the most difficult circumstances. We should not write anyone off, nor should we shrug our shoulders and say that nothing can be done. Underpinning our strategy on antisocial behaviour is a commitment to, and an understanding of, the potential of all our young people and of all our communities to be safe and thriving places for people to live.

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Cardiac Specialist Nurses (Grampian)

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cardiac specialist nurses there are in the NHS Grampian area. (S2O-12513)

As of September 2006, NHS Grampian had 2.8 whole-time equivalent cardiac specialist nurses.

I do not know whether the minister is aware that the Grampian heart failure service has been disbanded as a result of a lack of funding, which means that the NHS Grampian area is the only one in Scotland that does not have a dedicated heart failure service or heart failure specialist nurses. What is the Executive doing to help to re-establish that service for Grampian, in the light of the British Heart Foundation's suggestion that NHS Grampian requires a minimum of 5.5 full-time equivalent specialist nurses to ensure adequate provision of specialist heart failure care in that region?

The question is premised on an assumption that is incorrect. The issue is not to do with a lack of funding—it is about decisions that boards make locally about how they think services can best be delivered. Of course our boards make those decisions—I do not determine the workforce of every NHS board in Scotland.

NHS Grampian has indicated to us that its plans include consideration of how it will take the service in question from the acute setting to the primary care setting in local communities, and of how it will provide the service in a different way, which will involve training more nurses so that they have the skills to intervene appropriately.

Far from making suggestions about resources, I suggest, with due respect to Mrs Milne, that NHS Grampian is doing things in a different way, but it is nonetheless responsible for providing the service to people in the community. I also remind her that we have attracted not 12,000, but 15,000 new nurses to our health service, that the number of nurses increased by 2.3 per cent last year, and that a record number of people are training to be nurses in our system. We are continuing to invest in our health service and allowing services to be rolled out in different ways while ensuring that they are provided as locally as possible and that the necessary specialisation exists.