SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Affordable Housing
To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address any lack of affordable private housing for first-time buyers, particularly in rural areas. (S1O-5790)
The Scottish Executive, through Communities Scotland's housing investment programme, provides assistance for a number of low-cost home ownership schemes. In the former crofting communities, the crofting building grants and loan scheme, funded by the Scottish Executive, provides grants and loans to build and improve croft houses.
I appreciate that the minister understands the situation in relation to the difficulties that are created by the high cost of housing in rural areas. Will the minister encourage local authorities to procure land banks where suitable sites could be provided for first-time buyers and offered, as an incentive, at a discounted price?
I am pleased that John Farquhar Munro recognises my interest in rural housing and my awareness of the need to provide a range of housing options for rural communities. I have visited a number of those communities while I have been the minister with responsibility for housing and I think that Communities Scotland is engaged in an imaginative programme.
Is the minister aware of the problems that are faced by local people who have to compete with people who are buying second homes? Will the minister consider a review of the council tax relief scheme for second homes as one of the tools by which the problem might be addressed?
As Rhoda Grant might be aware, the Executive is committed to consulting on this issue because it recognises that the purchasing of second homes might provide an impediment to the supply of affordable housing, particularly in rural areas. I assure members that the Executive is committed to a programme of investment and reform throughout all of our housing policies and we will do all that we can to ensure that there is choice and quality for all Scottish tenants.
How will the minister address the problem of homelessness and lack of housing in Edinburgh? Although the situation is quite different from that in the crofting counties, the minister will agree that the average price of a house in Edinburgh is £130,000. The problem is so bad that the police are suggesting that there needs to be a weighting system to allow policemen to live in the city. The minister needs to address this problem.
I have just returned from a constructive meeting with the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council and housing officials. The council told me that it was the best meeting that it has had with the Scottish Executive. We are fundamentally addressing the issues of housing in Edinburgh. I guarantee that we will continue to do so and I look forward to a productive experience in relation to housing issues in Edinburgh.
Youth Crime Action Plan
To ask the Scottish Executive how the initiatives it announced on 18 October 2002 will assist with the implementation of the youth crime action plan. (S1O-5804)
The Scottish Executive is determined to reduce youth crime. The initiatives will put in place programmes to reduce persistent offending, improve our youth justice services and make communities safer.
I welcome the three initiatives that were announced on 18 October, because they show that the Executive recognises the importance of tackling persistent youth offenders in communities across Scotland, including my constituency.
Our priorities are correct. The £5 million youth crime prevention fund will enable national voluntary organisations to widen the range of crime prevention projects for young offenders. The youth justice teams fund will ensure that multi-agency youth justice teams are able to put in place local action plans. The intensive support fund will enable local authorities and voluntary organisations to increase the level of community-based supervision of young people. Those are the priorities that our communities want and the priorities on which the Executive wants to deliver.
The minister no doubt agrees that the number of secure-unit places available in Scotland is integral to any programme on tackling youth crime. On 18 September, she announced 25 extra secure accommodation places, which, as we already know from the Executive's own admission, will be taken up immediately. However, on 8 October, she replied to a written parliamentary question from me, saying that she knew neither where nor when those places would become available. Can the minister give us any further details today, or can we expect a repeat announcement, coincidentally just before the election?
That is not the case. If Roseanna Cunningham had followed the debate—some of her colleagues have written to me on those matters and I have answered questions—she would know that we have a team in place in the Executive that has met the potential providers of those places and that we will make an announcement in due course.
Is the minister aware that, on 3 October, when the First Minister was asked whether he would support a policy of reducing crime by increasing the number of police officers, he replied "Yes"? Will the minister support the First Minister's statement?
I am always delighted to support the First Minister. I am sure that that will come as no surprise to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. I am also delighted to be able to support the recently launched safer Scotland campaign, which seeks to involve young people actively in promoting better life chances for other young people in their communities.
Fluoridation (Research)
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on recent research that suggests a link between fluoridation of water and bone disease in children. (S1O-5771)
The University of York's "A Systematic Review of Public Water Fluoridation" took account of 254 relevant studies on fluoridation. No conclusive evidence was produced linking water fluoridation and bone disease. If there had been conclusive evidence, the Executive would not have included fluoridation as an option in its consultation document "Towards Better Oral Health in Children: A Consultation Document on Children's Oral Health in Scotland".
The minister is no doubt aware that, last month, a Medical Research Council working group on fluoride recommended further research into the health effects of water fluoridation. The group is concerned about the fact that research from Mexico has shown that fluoride can cause bone disease in children, but we do not know whether adding fluoride to our water will cause similar bone disease. Does the minister agree that, given that unknown, it is vital that proposals to fluoridate water should not go ahead until research into the health effects of fluoride has at least been completed, and will she guarantee that?
In Mexico, the example that Mr Harper uses, fluoride is found naturally. In those instances, there have been examples of fluoride causing health problems because of the high concentration. However, when fluoride is added to water supplies, it is added at much lower levels. None of those levels has shown instances of health problems. However, the Executive is willing, as ever, to listen to the relevant information that is provided and to consider the research. We will continue to do that.
The current consultation document on fluoridation of the water supply states that the Executive is impartial on the issue. How does the minister square that statement with a contribution of £26,000 to the British Fluoridation Society—a society that exists solely to promote fluoridation of the water supply?
The Executive has said consistently that it remains open minded on fluoridation of the water supply. The consultation document on children's oral health includes a number of aspects, and Mary Scanlon should ensure that the debate on children's oral health is not only on fluoridation, but covers all the other measures that would be needed to improve a poor record of oral health throughout Scotland.
Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Education and Young People will next meet the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. (S1O-5767)
I have no immediate plans to meet the new secretary of state.
That is such a disappointment. The minister may like to know that, in a speech given yesterday in Oxford, Charles Clarke said:
The short answer to that, which will come as no surprise to Mr Monteith, is no. In Scotland, we will continue to make reforms in education that will best meet the needs of our young people and close the opportunity gap for those who have, in the past, not succeeded.
The minister will be aware of the academic research that was done recently by Professor Lindsay Paterson of the University of Edinburgh, which showed that pupil attainment levels in comprehensive schools are the same as those in private schools. Does the minister agree that that is a significant and independent endorsement of comprehensive education in Scotland?
Of course I looked with interest at the comments made by Lindsay Paterson. I was pleased to note that the research showed that the comprehensive system could produce very good results indeed. There were some lessons for us, too. As I mentioned to Mr Monteith, those are about closing the opportunity gap, which we take very seriously indeed.
When the minister meets the new Secretary of State for Education and Skills, will she ask him whether he has made any assessment of the impact of raising the starting age for primary education from five to six and lowering the leaving age for secondary education from 16 to 14, and whether he thinks that implementing such a policy at this time, when there is so much else happening in education, would be a sane and sensible thing to do?
I suspect that I do not need to ask the new secretary of state what his views on that are. Although he, like me, wants to drive forward reforms, I do not want a situation in which young people end up leaving school earlier, without the necessary qualifications and skills to go on and get decent jobs and get into higher education.
Can the minister give the chamber any insight into the recent report about the lack of skills available to the construction industry? I think that the same concerns could be echoed by other industries. Will she indicate what steps the Executive might take to encourage more young people to take up appropriate skills training regimes and to interest them in such employment?
It is vital that we can encourage young people to take up the opportunities that are available. There are already 5,000 modern apprenticeships, but I want there to be closer links between schools and industry. I am sure that, when the report that my colleague Nicol Stephen is in the process of completing, which deals with enterprise education, comes out with its recommendations, we will be able to make further moves in that regard.
Will the minister tell Charles Clarke that the system of student finance that was introduced by the Scottish Parliament, although it is not perfect, is more generous than that introduced by Westminster, which abolished student grants and imposed tuition fees? Will the Scottish Executive reject any suggestion of top-up tuition fees of up to £15,000 per year, whether that suggestion has come from the principal of the University of St Andrews or from U-turning politicians such as Tony Blair, who once gave a firm commitment not to introduce top-up fees, or indeed such as Brian Monteith, who used to be—or claimed to be—against tuition fees, but who is now in favour of top-up fees?
I am sure that, when I meet the new secretary of state, I will seek to ensure that we continue to maximise the uptake of university and further education places among our young people. That will be the focus of my attention during discussions with him.
Seagulls
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to develop best practice for local authorities and others in dealing with nuisance caused by seagulls in towns and cities. (S1O-5784)
As I have made clear in reply to previous questions on the issue, local authorities already have full discretionary powers to control seagulls through their environmental and public health responsibilities. But, and this is an important but, colleagues—[Laughter.]—the Scottish Executive will now be considering the possibility of issuing best practice guidance on problems caused by seagulls.
I welcome the initiative that the minister is taking. If members had a seagull on their roof, they would not find that funny. This is a serious issue. I hope that the minister will use next week's members' business debate to allow us to review the options that are available to local authorities to tackle a serious problem for members of the public who are affected by it.
Joking aside, I agree that this is a serious issue. Representations have been made to me by David Mundell, Dr Murray and other members whose constituents have experienced problems with dive-bombing seagulls that prevent them from leaving their homes and prevent children from playing outside. That is why I am considering issuing new guidance to complement the massive planned investment in waste management, which will have a major impact on scavenging seagulls. I look forward to debating the issue next week.
Will the minister undertake to study the nuisance that is caused by politicians who harass seagulls, which at least perform the democratic function of splattering the statues of dead politicians? Does the minister accept that seagulls are being discussed here only because they are an unreserved issue? We should be discussing war, but are prevented from doing so because it is a reserved issue.
I am speechless. [Laughter.]
Question 6 has been withdrawn.
Veterinary Teaching and Research (Funding)
I declare that I am a member of the court of the University of Strathclyde.
Decisions have not yet been made on the use of the new funding announced for veterinary teaching and research in the UK Government's comprehensive spending review. The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Scottish Executive are members of the Great Britain-wide group that is considering the optimum use of those funds.
The minister's answer is redolent with complacency that is quite breathtaking. Scotland has two legendary veterinary schools, at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. Because of a lack of adequate funding that may be made available to the rest of the United Kingdom, those two schools face a very grave risk. The minister will be aware that the schools have a high proportion of undergraduates, staff and research staff. Will the minister explain why he is prepared to preside over the diminution of two legendary Scottish faculties?
Miss Goldie's supplementary question demonstrated that she did not listen to my answer to her previous question. I fully expect that our two vet schools will receive their fair share of funds. Indeed, I suspect that they will receive a disproportionate share, because they contribute disproportionately to veterinary teaching and research in the UK. Their funding must be seen in the context of a budget settlement under which funding for higher education generally will rise to more than £800 million a year by 2005-06. Those funds will be available to SHEFC for higher education, including the vet schools. SHEFC has clearly demonstrated that it recognises the importance of veterinary science by increasing by 29 per cent in 2002-03 the veterinary science part of the block grant for research. I do not recognise the situation that Miss Goldie describes.
Question 8 has been withdrawn.
South-west Scotland (Jobs)
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to disperse jobs to south-west Scotland. (S1O-5782)
We have located or are planning to relocate 650 jobs outwith Edinburgh. A further seven reviews are planned, with decisions expected later this year in five of those reviews.
The minister is probably aware of the run-down by the Ministry of Defence of the base at West Freugh, which will result in the loss of 150 jobs in Wigtownshire. In an area of high unemployment that is remote from other centres, that is equivalent proportionally to a much higher number of redundancies elsewhere in Scotland.
The contribution that the Executive is making with regard to the public-private partnership proposals for that part of the country would add significantly to the job opportunities in the area, but the member is opposed to those proposals. There are strong claims with regard to the south-west of Scotland, which is why on Monday the First Minister announced a change to our policy to include the opportunity for smaller autonomous units in the Executive to be relocated within our communities, which so desire such relocations of jobs.
Does the minister agree that situations such as the one at West Freugh, which Alasdair Morgan described, and the closure of Chapelcross power station near Dumfries, which might lead to the loss of 600 jobs, have particularly devastating effects in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway, which have a particularly low-wage economy? Will he undertake to give such areas an especially high priority status when it comes to the redistribution of public sector jobs?
Many parts of Scotland could make similar arguments. I agree with the point on the impact of recent job losses. I want to ensure that our partners in local government and the enterprise agencies are encouraged to suggest available sites and options for relocation. I am pleased to back what the First Minister said on Monday with resources that will allow us to work in partnership. If a local authority wants to relocate some of its jobs outwith its traditional core area into more rural and remote parts of the community, I would be interested in providing resources for the initial capital costs that might not, in terms of the usual cost-benefit analysis, fit the traditional model. If the pump priming that I can provide to allow such one-off interventions to be made would allow local authorities or local enterprise companies to make those decisions, I would be happy to hear from them.
Scottish Fishermen's Federation (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and what matters were discussed. (S1O-5794)
Elaine Thomson.
Right—
I do beg your pardon. I meant to call Ross Finnie. It is my fault; Elaine Thomson's supplementary will follow.
I met representatives of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation on Friday 25 October to discuss the latest scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
I am grateful to the minister for that answer. I thought for a moment that Sir David had the power to reallocate ministerial responsibilities.
I do not think that I could have made clearer yesterday and this morning the fact that my position on the potential threatened closure of our fisheries is that it is politically unacceptable and could be financially ruinous—there is no dubiety about that.
Now we will have Elaine Thomson's question.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Although discussions with fishermen about fish stocks are vital, the minister will be aware of the number of onshore jobs that the fish processing industry supports in areas such as my constituency. Will the minister assure the fish processing industry and me that discussions will also take place with that industry, which will be severely affected by the proposed European measures? I am sure that the processors wish the minister every success in Europe.
I am happy to confirm what I stated yesterday and confirmed in this morning's debate. When I refer to "the industry", I am using shorthand for the catching sector, the processing sector and all the groups that are actively engaged in the industry. We will meet representatives of all groups within the industry as part of our discussions.
In relation to the discussions that the minister intends to hold in the next few weeks, can he indicate whether he plans to have bilateral talks with other fisheries ministers—particularly those in the northern part of the EU—to build appropriate alliances to drive forward the Scottish agenda?
As long as two weeks ago, when we were in Luxembourg, I discussed that matter with the Scottish Fishermen's Federation. I indicated that such talks would be imperative. We cannot depend on those in the southern states to be too concerned about the outcome in the North sea. I have made it clear that such talks are vital.
Fireworks Task Group
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to respond to the report produced by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' fireworks task group. (S1O-5787)
I welcome the wide-ranging report that COSLA has produced. I am currently looking at what can be done within our powers to address the increasing problem of fireworks in our communities. All possible options, including the licensing proposal that is mentioned in the report, are being actively considered.
It is good news that COSLA has come out in support of a licensing scheme. There has been an overwhelming public response to my consultation on my proposed bill on a licensing scheme for fireworks retailers. I am happy to share the results of that response with the minister. The First Minister has also signalled his support for such a scheme. Will the minister outline when he will introduce clear proposals and when a licensing scheme is likely to be operational?
My colleague Lewis Macdonald spoke about the issue on 12 June, some time before the member brought it to my attention. In his speech in the chamber, he stated that our position would rely on measures that were taken throughout the United Kingdom and that we would act in partnership with the Department for Trade and Industry and our colleagues in local government. I will take cognisance of the worthwhile review that the DTI in London has carried out and of COSLA's worthwhile report on the measures that we can take.
As the minister has said, there needs to be a close working relationship between the Scottish Executive and the relevant Westminster ministers. Will he reassure us that that will happen as soon as possible?
I give a categoric assurance that that will happen. We will inform the Parliament about the results of that work in due course. We can work with local authorities to ensure that they have the powers to reduce the scourge of fireworks in our communities. I believe strongly that, in their abuse of the current voluntary code of practice, irresponsible vendors are drinking in the last-chance saloon. Fireworks have been going off not for the past three weeks, but for the past couple of months. That has caused many problems to pets, to the elderly community and to young people.
Is the minister aware that, within the past 72 hours, some seven tonnes of containerised fireworks have been found by trading standards officers in the Glasgow docklands area? However, I understand that no trading standards department had apprehended any shopkeepers for the illicit sale of fireworks in the previous 12 months. As the minister himself said, for the last few months—certainly since mid-September—all over Scotland fireworks have been going off, including the iniquitous black cat firework, which has the velocity of a mortar shell and should not be detonated within 80 feet of any structure.
I agree with the points made. We need to work at the relevant local and national levels. Of course, fireworks sales are becoming much more sophisticated these days, when many things can be bought over the internet, including fireworks from other countries of origin, which may not be up to our British standards. That is why we want to ensure that we address the issue at a local level through local authority licensing powers and controls and through an enforcement regime that supports that licensing facility, for which adequate resources must be provided. At the national level, we need to ensure that there are controls over the import of illegal fireworks that are not up to British standards.
Cancer Strategy
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with its cancer strategy. (S1O-5796)
The first "Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change—Annual Report 2002" was launched on 24 October. The report sets out the action and achievements to date. Copies have been placed in the Scottish Parliament information centre. The report is also available from the Scottish Executive website and from the Scotland's health on the web—or SHOW—website.
As a former breast cancer sufferer, I welcome the progress that has taken place, as I am sure we all do. Will the minister join me in welcoming the recent opening of Glasgow's Maggie's centre, which provides care and support for sufferers of breast and other cancers and for their families? That care and support is provided in centres that are not only caring and welcoming, but beautifully designed.
I strongly support the approach to holistic care that is embodied by Maggie's centre. Last week, I visited the Maggie's centre at Edinburgh's Western general hospital, where I was pleased to hear about the developments in services for breast cancer patients, for whom extra theatre sessions and extra specialist breast cancer clinics will be provided as a result of the latest round of cancer investment.
I was pleased to join the minister at the Western general hospital last week and I echo the points that have been made about the on-going success of Maggie's centre.
Like Margaret Smith, I was pleased to hear about the new MRI scanner, which will reduce waiting times.
Rail Industry (Report)
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the Transport and the Environment Committee's report on the rail industry in Scotland. (S1O-5806)
The Scottish Executive is currently studying the report and will be writing to the convener of the Transport and the Environment Committee with its response and comments shortly.
I thank the minister for his answer and look forward to studying his response.
It is clear that relations with the SRA are important and I have discussed that in the past with the Transport and the Environment Committee. I think it would be quite wrong for me to respond to the specific point that is made in the report until I respond to the report as a whole.
I would be grateful if the minister were a bit more supportive of the report than his London colleague, who was haughtily dismissive. His colleague in London indicated that Network Rail was a private company and that he could not tell it what to do, and that the Strategic Rail Authority was perfectly capable of looking after the whole of the country from one office. Presumably that office will be in Victoria station in London rather than in Victoria Quay in Edinburgh. Does the minister accept that those comments are entirely unacceptable? Will he support the report of an elected cross-party Scottish Parliament committee rather than kow-tow to the references and orders of his London Labour colleagues?
That Network Rail is a private company that cannot be directed by ministers is a simple statement of fact and we have to accept that. On responding to the report and the support or otherwise that I give to the recommendations of the report, I have made it clear that I have to take time to respond in the appropriate fashion to the convener of the Transport and the Environment Committee.
Is the minister aware that, at a rail briefing in the Parliament earlier this week, one of the speakers remarked that the train operating companies are in the business of running train services for profit and not in the business of delivering a better or safer railway? Given the startling honesty of that remark, does it not deserve an equally honest response in that the time has now come to bring those train operating companies and the rest of the privatised, ramshackle industry back into public ownership, where it should have stayed from the beginning?
It is important to say that the way in which train operators operate those rail services that begin and end in Scotland is bound up in the franchise that is currently held by ScotRail. If Mr McAllion looks at the directions and guidance that we have provided to determine the re-let of that franchise, he will see that better and safer railways are central. If a train operator tenders for that franchise on the basis that Mr McAllion has just described, rather than on the basis of providing better, safer and more reliable train services for the people of Scotland, they will be wasting their time.
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