Chamber and committees

The convener mentioned the £2.8 billion that has been added to consumer bills, on top of the increase in wholesale costs. Do you think that that is the best way to recover the costs? Were any other options considered? Do you think that other options should have been considered?

We have the strategic emissions reduction goals. Will what is being put in place affect whether they are met?

Earlier, Neil Lawrence said that consumers choose to self-disconnect, but I am afraid that I have to disagree—there is no choice when they get to that stage.

Households with pre-payment meters, which are normally our most vulnerable, pay more than households with direct debits. They pay a premium for their energy. We have touched on that in other committee evidence sessions. There is little to protect our most vulnerable in households with pre-payment meters. Are there any protection methods in the system? What more should be done to protect our most vulnerable? They are paying the highest tariffs.

I congratulate my friend and colleague Audrey Nicoll on securing this evening’s debate and I thank her for advocating on behalf of the global midwife community and for highlighting the significant progress that has been made over the past 100 years in the fields of neonatal and maternal health. The debate gives us all the opportunity to recognise the crucial contribution that midwives make. We can all agree that our midwives are highly educated and skilled in ensuring that women and babies have safe and effective maternity care, and that babies receive the best possible start in life.

Although many people accurately picture midwives as supporting women in childbirth, they contribute far more, including antenatal and postnatal care, family planning services and breast and cervical cancer screenings. With counselling and information, they can also help to prevent female genital mutilation, support gender-based violence survivors and provide reproductive health services to adolescents.

It is not unusual for midwives to play the role of surrogate mother or partner for those who do not have close family nearby. That role has been particularly valuable throughout the on-going pandemic, during which expecting and new mums have faced the additional challenge of going through pregnancy without the usual support network that would ideally be available to all.

In my view, midwives, maternity support workers and student midwives have been the unsung heroes of the pandemic, putting their health at risk to provide excellent care to women and their families. Their impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of new and expecting mothers is impossible to quantify but, to say the least, we would be hard pressed to find a mother who is not thankful for the presence of their midwife, especially in the past two years.

When I had my daughter 32 years ago, the trainee midwife who looked after me at the time urged me to convince her supervisors to allow her to stay on after her shift had ended, just so that she could see the birth of my daughter through to the end. She was with me the whole time, and I was truly grateful for the kindness and support. That is just my personal experience but, even after all these years, that one act of kindness has always stayed with me. She could have just gone home after her shift finished, but instead she stayed. I know from countless other stories from parents that that is indeed business as usual, with midwives regularly going above and beyond their call of duty out of the goodness of their hearts.

Sadly, as recent headlines suggest, misogyny remains an ever-present issue that plagues our society. Thankfully, issues that specifically affect women are increasingly being given the attention that they deserve, but historically they have been denied. Globally, over the past 100 years, midwives have been on the front lines against misogyny, faced with the challenge of caring for and supporting mothers in societies that have often undervalued both midwives and women in general.

Fortunately, the midwifery profession is beginning to receive the praise and support that it deserves, partly because of the increased recognition of national health service staff as a result of the pandemic and just maybe through television shows such as “Call the Midwife”. Perhaps that has contributed to the 4.2 per cent annual increase in the number of midwives in Scotland.

However, with over 6,500 midwifery and nursing vacancies left to fill, which is a record high in Scotland, it is important that we all fully support international day of the midwife on 5 May, to show all potential and current midwives that they are valued, respected and needed. The absolute minimum that those in the midwifery community deserve is a day to recognise their contributions to Scotland and the rest of the world. Therefore, to all midwives out there, I say, “Happy international midwife day—you have more than earned it.”

Good morning. Thank you for coming along today.

My first question relates to something that you have all touched on already, but it would be grand if we could dig a bit deeper. What role do you think local authorities should play in delivering the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, not only for members of the public but for commercial and public transport? In Aberdeen, it seems as though we are going down the hydrogen route for buses. I would like to hear what you think the role of a local authority should be in delivering that infrastructure.

Thank you. As I am still a serving councillor on Aberdeen City Council—for another two days—I know about the good work that has gone in across that local authority, but it has been good to get an overall view.

Steve Gooding and Ewan Wallace are probably best placed to answer my next question, regarding the on-street electric vehicle charging infrastructure. How do you think that it can be delivered without create obstacles for folk with mobility issues or sight loss, for example? There is an extremely large, wide pavement outside my house. There is no way, right now, that I could get an electric charging point outside my place. I do not have a street column beside my house either. How do you guys see that being delivered?

I have one more question. Are there any powers or freedoms to act that local authorities should have to assist in delivering a net zero transport system? That is a quick, if-I-ruled-the-world question. Ewan Wallace, I will ask you, because you kind of brightened up when I asked the question.

Thank you. There were some points in your answer that I had not even thought of.

How many people have started their census returns online but not yet completed them?

I thank colleagues across the chamber for their cross-party support, and I thank in advance the folk who are taking part in the debate. I also thank Kate Samuels from Generations Working Together for the help that she has provided to me.

Intergenerational week first took place in 2020 as a local campaign by St Monica Trust. Following its success, it grew into a national campaign in 2021 before it became the global campaign that it has become this year.

The campaign is led by Generations Working Together, which is an intergenerational charity that is based in Scotland. It has gone truly global, with eight countries, including America, Spain, Australia and Sweden, joining in. They have worked alongside partners from every nation in the United Kingdom—Linking Generations Northern Ireland, the Beth Johnson Foundation in England, and the bridging the generations project in Wales. It is understood that each country will lead on a programme of events, with intergenerational interactions and social media co-ordination throughout the week. That will show the activities of each country that is participating in global intergenerational week across the globe. I hope that that will help to inspire other countries to become involved in future years.

To date, more than 150 organisations have registered their support for global intergenerational week. In looking through the list of organisations, I was delighted to see that my local authority—Aberdeen City Council, whose area Aberdeen Donside lies within—has registered its support, but I was surprised to see that, out of all our local authorities, Aberdeen City Council and Perth and Kinross Council are the only ones to have registered their support. I say to the local authorities: “Come on—you can do better.”

It is through intergenerational practice that younger and older generations are able to come together and learn from each other. One example of intergenerational practice could be the older generation in local communities helping to teach younger generations how to cook. We, as adults, sometimes take that skill for granted. Teaching young folk how to cook is often learned from the older generations in families and passed down. I know that my grunny’s baking was second to none and that how to do things was passed down to her children and then to her grandchildren. I swear that I can still taste her apple crumble when I put my mind to it.

However, not everyone has family nearby to pass on such skills. It does not have to be just cooking skills. Sharing skills can help both generations—the young and the not-so-young.

Intergenerational practice is one way in which we can help to fight an increase in loneliness in our communities. It is estimated that around 500,000 older people go five or even sometimes six days a week without speaking to or seeing anyone at all. The number of people over the age of 50 experiencing loneliness is set to reach 2 million by 2025-26, which is a 49 per cent increase on the figures in 2016-17. I am sure that we are all agreed that that needs to change.

I note from the Scottish Government’s 2018 strategy “A Connected Scotland: our strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness and building stronger social connections” that

“the role of the Scottish Government in reducing social isolation and loneliness is to foster the right environment and create the conditions for people and communities to design and deliver the solutions that best meet their needs.”

That shows that it is vital that, if Scotland as a country is to continue to aspire to be inclusive in all areas of life, we need to ensure that all generations in our society communicate with one another and that no one is isolated or feels left out of the communities in which they live. I am pleased that the Government is committed to tackling loneliness and isolation across all generations in Scotland. We must not leave anybody behind.

The vision of Generations Working Together is for a Scotland where different generations are more connected and everyone can build relationships that help to create a fairer society. Generations Working Together promotes intergenerational projects, because the charity is dedicated to promoting intergenerational work. It trains, supports and links projects.

Generations Working Together is a national charity and a centre of excellence in intergenerational training that delivers training to communities, charities and individuals, in person and online. It is working in partnership with Linking Generations Northern Ireland, the Beth Johnson Foundation in England and the bridging the generations scheme in Wales to deliver global intergenerational week across each of the devolved nations and should be applauded for the work that it is doing to help raise awareness of intergenerational practice and share good practice.

It is crucial that no one in any community in Scotland feels isolated or lonely. The fantastic work that Generations Working Together is doing across Scotland will help to ensure that Scotland becomes a nation where the generations seamlessly work in collaboration. The incredible work that the charity does will help to ensure that folk who feel isolated or lonely are aware of the opportunities available to them in their local communities and can access such opportunities.

I strongly encourage all members to encourage intergenerational practice across their constituencies and regions and to raise further awareness of global intergenerational week in the areas of Scotland that they represent. It is important that we have a Scotland where individuals and communities are more connected and that everyone has the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships regardless of age, status, circumstances or identity.