SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
General Questions
Community Dental Services
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to take further steps to provide community dental services in areas where dentists are not treating patients under the national health service. (S2O-9477)
Yes. I recently announced £30 million in funding to NHS boards for new or substantially improved dental premises, most of which will support the community and salaried dental service. At the same time, we have put in place millions of pounds of new funding to encourage independent high-street dentists to remain with or to return to the NHS.
Regardless of what we might think of dentists who have turned away their NHS patients, will the minister redouble his efforts to restore access to NHS dental care where that has happened? In particular, will he pay tribute to the family dental care practice in Prestonpans that has taken on 1,000 extra NHS patients in the past six months and is operating with overstretched staff in seriously congested premises? The chairman of Lothian NHS Board will visit that practice on 24 April. Will the Executive assure us that it intends to invest in facilities and staff to support dentists who remain loyal to the NHS and committed to NHS patients?
Yes. I am delighted to be able to say that under the dental action plan, we will, for example, reimburse the annual rental value of premises of high-street dentists who remain with or return to the NHS. I pay tribute to those dentists—including those at the practice that was mentioned by Mr Home Robertson—who have renewed their commitment to delivering services to people as NHS patients on NHS terms. I hope that other dentists will follow that example in the near future; it points us in the direction of providing the kind of access and service that patients want.
Come 1 April, how will the Executive guarantee that people who are not registered with an NHS dentist will be able to get the free dental check to which they are entitled?
I am delighted to be able to say that on 1 April, NHS dentists will no longer charge patients for dental checks. That is the fulfilment of a partnership agreement commitment that will be very widely welcomed indeed. The key to giving all patients across Scotland equal access to that opportunity lies with dentists who chose to deregister NHS patients making the decision to come back into the NHS and to begin again to deliver services to patients on an NHS basis. I hope that many dentists will make that decision. Should they do so, the concerns that Shona Robison has raised will be resolved.
Given that only 50 per cent of the population are registered with an NHS dentist, and given the severe shortage of dentists in Grampian and other rural parts of Scotland, does the minister not realise that imported foreign dentists and a few salaried dentists will not achieve the Executive's ambition?
Since the announcement of the dental action plan, we have been very clear that the way to address access issues for NHS dentistry is to improve and strengthen the salaried service, and to incentivise high-street dentists to stay with or come back to the NHS, as I mentioned in my previous answers. That is critical, but an individual dentist who owns his premises and runs his own practice has a business decision to make. In recent months, we have sought to influence that business decision so that dentists find it easier to decide to deliver services to patients on the NHS. That is what we all want to happen.
Scottish Water (Privatisation)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a clear assurance that it will resist calls for the privatisation of Scottish Water. (S2O-9435)
I am happy to confirm that the Executive will resist all calls for Scottish Water to be privatised.
Will the minister address the situation that fosters this concern, first by allowing Scottish Water's revenue to grow more slowly, thus diminishing its massive surpluses; secondly, by borrowing more prudently to spread costs over time; thirdly, by reducing public exasperation with development constraints; and fourthly, by removing the United Kingdom Treasury's perception that privatising Scottish Water is a valid option?
I repeat that there have been no discussions at any level between the Executive and the Treasury about privatising Scottish Water. In any case, it would be up to the Scottish Parliament to make such changes. There are no intentions to privatise the organisation and we will resist all calls to do so.
Neurosurgery Services<br />(Aberdeen Royal Infirmary)
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to downgrade neurosurgery services at Aberdeen royal infirmary as a result of the programme for action outlined in its publication, "Delivering for Health", at page 62, where it states: "Scotland should move from its current configuration of four neurosurgical centres towards a single centre for neurological intervention for adults and children". (S2O-9505)
We plan to establish a managed clinical network for neurosurgery, and thereby to develop a single service for the whole of Scotland. The Aberdeen neurosurgery unit will play a very significant part in that network.
The minister did not answer my simple question. Is he planning to downgrade the service in Aberdeen? Yes or no?
No proposition has been put forward to downgrade the service in Aberdeen. Instead, the clear proposition is to establish a managed clinical network for the whole of Scotland. I fully expect that all the existing neurosurgery units in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh will have a part to play in that single service.
The minister's response was similar to the one that his boss has given on several occasions. Perhaps he will answer my simple question. After the review is completed, will Aberdeen-based neurosurgeons perform neurosurgical procedures in Aberdeen? A yes or no answer to that would be very helpful.
As I said in response to the previous question, I fully expect that to be the case. The process for making such judgments will be the responsibility of an implementation group that will be established shortly and which will consider all the options for establishing a single managed clinical network. I must re-emphasise that no decision has been made on the location of any particular service within the range of neurological services or on the boundary between the most specialised level of service and general neurosurgery. The implementation group will consider all those matters and, as "Delivering for Health" makes clear, decisions will be made in 2008.
Urban Regeneration Companies
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in rolling out urban regeneration companies. (S2O-9478)
There are currently five pathfinder urban regeneration companies in Scotland. After the Executive's consultation on URCs, Raploch, Craigmillar and Clydebank were designated in June 2004 and all are making good progress against the outcomes and objectives that are set out in their business plans. Two new pathfinder URCs were announced in north Ayrshire and Inverclyde as part of the launch of the Executive's regeneration policy statement entitled "People and Place".
Following the very successful launch by the Minister for Communities, Malcolm Chisholm, of Raploch Urban Regeneration Company Ltd, with its unique holistic approach to regeneration, will the Deputy Minister for Communities outline how that approach might be extended to other important regeneration activities such as those that are taking place in Cultenhove and Cornton in the constituency of Stirling?
The key features of urban regeneration companies are their willingness to focus on geographical areas; to work with the public and private sectors and communities to identify challenges; and to work together towards solutions. That approach is relevant to any service. Of course, very significant funding follows the creation of an urban regeneration company, which ensures that all the money that goes into a community is used rationally with the community's commitment and involvement and to its benefit.
Vulnerable Children and Young People
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in respect of vulnerable children and young people since the publication of the Executive's 2003 reports, "Young Runaways" and "Sexual Exploitation through Prostitution". (S2O-9476)
As part of the three-year child protection reform programme that was launched in 2003, we have introduced a number of measures to protect vulnerable children and young people, including those who have run away or are sexually exploited. Those measures include publishing the children's charter, introducing the framework for standards for all agencies, strengthening local child protection committees and introducing joint inspections of child protection services. Furthermore, the "Vulnerable Children and Young People" guidance pack was published in July 2003 to guide agencies on this issue.
Has the Executive commissioned any research to gather statistical information on children and young people who are at risk or who are involved in sexual exploitation? How many local authorities have followed the guidelines in the reports and have adopted protocols for supporting those young people?
Marlyn Glen has raised a number of important issues. The protocols to which she referred task local child protection committees with developing and monitoring local protocols on young runaways and children who have been sexually exploited through prostitution. I am not sure that we have information on the number of local authorities that are following the guidelines, but I will write to the member on that matter.
Question 6 is withdrawn.
National Health Service (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis decisions were made in respect of the 2006-07 distribution of funding to national health service boards and what impact such distribution is designed to have on the overall performance of the NHS in respect of national targets and priorities. (S2O-9474)
Funding for 2006-07 will be distributed according to the Arbuthnott formula, which assesses each NHS board's relative funding need on the basis of population size and characteristics that influence the need for health care. It is for NHS boards to decide how best to utilise available funds to meet the health care needs of their resident populations, taking account of local and national priorities.
Does the minister agree that Carolyn Leckie of the Scottish Socialist Party was wrong to infer in a members' business debate that the solution to a financial problem in one part of Scotland was to shift resources from another NHS area, such as Fife? Such a solution would be singularly inapt, given that Fife is set to have the highest proportion of residents aged over 65 in Scotland. Resources should be distributed in a fair and just way.
I agree that resources should be distributed in a fair and just way and that it would make no sense whatever to make sudden adjustments to health board funding in a way that would interrupt or disrupt the delivery of health services. That process of ensuring fair and equitable distribution takes account of the health care needs to which Helen Eadie has referred and existing health care provision, and there must be a process of getting from one place to another as far as distribution is concerned. Carolyn Leckie would have some explaining to do if funds were taken away from boards in areas such as Fife and, particularly, greater Glasgow to address the issues that she raised in the debate.
Tobacco (Minimum Purchase Age)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the expert group, led by Dr Laurence Gruer OBE, to report its findings on the case for raising the minimum age at which tobacco can be purchased. (S2O-9488)
I expect Dr Gruer to present the smoking prevention working group's findings to the ministerial working group on tobacco control at its next meeting in May 2006.
I thank the minister for that update. Does he agree that, if we are serious about reducing the number of smokers in Scotland, we cannot have the ludicrous anomaly whereby it is illegal for adults to smoke in the local pub, but it remains perfectly okay for 16-year-old children to have a cigarette while waiting for the school bus? How soon after receiving the expert group's report will the minister make a final decision?
We will want to consider the report quickly and address the issues. However, I do not want to anticipate the report's content, which will cover several aspects. Duncan McNeil is right that, in the week in which the ban on smoking in public places has been introduced and has received a great deal of public support, we must pay attention to the health needs of younger people as well as those of the general population.
Kenneth Macintosh is not present to ask question 9, so we move to question 10.
Glasgow Housing Association
To ask the Scottish Executive whether investment in housing improvements by Glasgow Housing Association is following the timetable set out in its business plan. (S2O-9485)
The timetable for housing improvement was set out in the stage 2 Glasgow housing transfer document, "Your Home Your Choice—Your Guide to Glasgow's Housing Transfer Proposal", which made the following investment commitments: for homes with a long-term life, central heating would be provided within four years of the transfer, external fabric improvements would be made within six years, and internal improvements would be made within 10.5 years. GHA is on track to deliver those investment commitments throughout its core stock and, in addition, has brought forward by five years the delivery of almost 16,000 kitchen and bathroom improvements as a direct response to tenants' wishes.
I welcome that response. I accept that progress has been made through the investment for tenants in Glasgow, which was denied them for years because of housing debt. However, my concern is about progress in the move to the second stage of the transfer. How much progress has been made behind the scenes to ensure that the commitments will be delivered? The experience of community-based organisations in my constituency is one of remarkable success in the past 25 years. I believe that those practices should be spread throughout the rest of Glasgow as quickly and as meaningfully as possible.
I welcome Frank McAveety's comments on GHA's positive role in transforming Glasgow's housing. It is worth mentioning in passing that, although some people suggest that Glasgow's housing faces more than just a challenge, the proposed spend on housing in Glasgow for this year is £152 million. Money is available and GHA has the energy to ensure delivery. Glasgow has an important and proud record of community ownership and GHA understands how powerful a weapon it is to work with communities and tenants to control and determine the shape of their housing.
As all questions have been taken, I suspend the meeting for two minutes, until 12 noon.
Meeting suspended.
On resuming—
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