Chamber and committees

I welcome the role that is envisaged for the private sector, but how do we ensure that its involvement does not distort the market and that we do not end up with a network that is driven by commercial considerations and leaves rural and deprived communities behind?

Thank you, convener, and good morning, panel. I am aware that we are running over time, so I will just ask one question.

We are all saying that net zero will be achieved only if we work together; businesses and local authorities need to work together. As you know, I am still a serving councillor for Aberdeen City Council. In my role as an MSP and in my role as a councillor, I am hearing from some businesses that sometimes there is little engagement from local authorities and that it is sometimes difficult to have an open and transparent conversation with them.

I am interested to hear how the panel thinks that we can achieve true joint partnerships between local authorities and small businesses so that it is an equal partnership and things are being done with each other rather than done to, if that makes sense.

Thank you. Back to you, convener. I just had the one, quick question, as I said.

I am very proud to bring this members’ business debate to the chamber tonight. I thank everyone for the cross-party support that has ensured that the debate can take place.

In Scotland, around 368,000 people are being treated for asthma, including more than 72,000 children. That is not the total amount of folk who suffer from asthma. A lot of folk have the condition but are not diagnosed, because it is not an easy diagnosis to make. I went to the doctor about nine or 10 years ago and was diagnosed as having borderline asthma and borderline chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. At the time, the doctor was unable to tell me which condition it was, and I was given three different inhalers: two to be taken once a day—one for asthma symptoms and one for COPD symptoms—and the blue inhaler that most people associate with asthma, for as and when needed.

I am not alone in that kind of diagnosis. Many times, it is about trying to see what works for the individual. I am not proud to say that I was a smoker. However, I quit more than two years ago, and I am very pleased to report that my lung capacity increased and, as a result, my medication strength was decreased, That is not something that happens if someone has COPD, so I take it that I am just borderline asthmatic now.

Respiratory conditions, including asthma, account for more than a third of all acute hospital admissions and are among the most commonly presented conditions within primary care. I was pleased by the Scottish Government’s launch last year of the respiratory care action plan, which focuses on ensuring a consistent approach across Scotland to the management of respiratory conditions in the five key priority areas: prevention, diagnosis, management, care, and supporting self-management.

In 2020, there were 113 asthma-related deaths in Scotland, 90 per cent of which could have been prevented. In the north-east, the work of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation has been transformational in increasing the awareness of people who live with and care for those with asthma. My motion lays out all the fantastic work that it has achieved so far.

All members who are here will know someone who has asthma.? However, would they know how to support someone who was having an asthma attack? I did not. In 2020-21, 49 people out of every 100,000 were hospitalised for asthma at least once. In comparison with the rest of the world, Scotland—like other United Kingdom countries—has a high prevalence of asthma.

An asthma attack is caused by the inflammation of the breathing tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs. Asthma makes those tubes highly sensitive, so that they narrow temporarily. The condition affects the airways, and can affect people of all ages. Although it often starts in childhood, it can also develop for the first time in adults. The main symptoms of asthma can be wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing; however, that can change from person to person. Asthma is currently incurable but, as I have said, symptoms can be managed through medicines such as inhalers and steroids.

The my breath is my life project was launched in 2018 and has worked across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to provide asthma awareness and education in schools. With support from national lottery funding, the project has delivered workshops to staff, students, parents and carers, to raise awareness of the condition and to help people become confident and capable of managing the illness within a school setting and not only to recognise the signs of an asthma attack but to know how to deal with it.

Recently, I was delighted to meet the founders of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation and to hear about its most recent national lottery funding, which will allow it to expand its workshops into the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area—again delivering workshops for children and young people, but also exploring the transition into adult services and ways in which young people can manage their condition in a range of different environments. I was advised that, on average, there are two children with asthma in every classroom. I repeat: two children, in every classroom, in every school. That is a lot. That is why it is important that teachers and staff in every classroom are comfortable and confident in managing asthma in schools, and that they have the knowledge of what to do if someone has an asthma attack.

For example, before meeting the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, I was unaware that someone who is having an attack should never be put into the recovery position, as doing so constricts their airways further and they may stop breathing. I learned a valuable lesson from our hour-long meeting, and I am positive that the foundation’s expansion work will help to inform and educate many more people throughout Scotland.?

As many members know, I donate my councillor’s salary to charities and good causes in my constituency of Aberdeen Donside, and I was delighted to be able to donate my December salary to the foundation, to help pay for further training for its staff and volunteers.

I thank everyone who has supported the motion, and thank in advance the members who will be speaking.

Last but not least, I will try to be helpful by explaining what someone should do if they or someone near them has an asthma attack. First, the person suffering the attack should sit up straight and try to keep calm—I know that that is easier said than done. Secondly, they should take one puff of their reliever inhaler—usually the blue one—every 30 to 60 seconds, for up to 10 puffs. Thirdly, if they feel worse at any point or do not feel better after 10 puffs, they should immediately call 999 for an ambulance.

As was previously mentioned, the standards for those interlinked alarms were set nearly 15 years ago for new builds and nearly a decade ago for the private sector. I agree that all houses should have the same standards. Why did the regulations take longer to introduce?

I thank Alexander Stewart for lodging his motion for today’s members’ business debate.

I am pleased to be able to recognise the Asda Foundation’s continued commitment to make the communities around its stores better places in which to live and work for its staff, customers and the wider community. As we have heard, the Asda Foundation has been able to give back to the communities that it serves through the bringing communities back together project, which gives grants to local groups and organisations. Those grants have helped to reunite communities, celebrate togetherness and support groups as they resume their activities in person.

In my Aberdeen Donside constituency, a few groups have benefited from funding through the project, such as Northstar 2010s and Dyce Boys Club 2006 whites, as have organisations such as North East Sensory Services, which supports individuals across my constituency as well as the wider north-east region.

Further to the bringing communities back together project, the Asda Foundation is able to give back to communities through the green token giving scheme. I am sure that anyone who shops in Asda will be familiar with that scheme. It creates a form of local democracy and empowers customers and their community to decide which small, local, grass-roots organisations they believe should get funding.

I am aware that, Scotland-wide, Asda has donated around £319,000, with Aberdeen stores benefiting from £14,400. Two stores in my constituency have donated around £1,800 each to their local communities.

Unfortunately, the in-store green token giving scheme was suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic. That led to the introduction of online voting in 2021, which has enabled Asda customers and the wider public to vote for the projects that matter most to them.

In my Aberdeen Donside constituency, a number of local projects and organisations have been fortunate enough to have received funding through Asda’s green token giving scheme. The Bridge of Don and Danestone First Responder Service has put the money that it has received through the green token giving scheme to the running of its service and the installation and upkeep of vital public access defibrillators.

It is also important to note that each Asda store across Scotland has a community champion. The community champions listen to the needs of the communities around each store and work with local people to ensure that Asda provides support to those who need it most.

I have recently been made aware of some of the outstanding work that community champions Fiona Cumming, who works at Asda Dyce, and Jan Craig, who works at Asda Middleton Park, do with their respective communities, and I applaud them.

I am happy to spread the word about the fantastic work that Asda and its community champions are doing in Aberdeen Donside and throughout Scotland, and I look forward to working with them in the future to further that work.

I am interested in planning obligations and land value capture. Should land value capture be directed and used proactively to achieve net zero? What would a robust and successful system for land value capture look like in practice? I am in your hands as to who is best to answer.

I totally understand you not being an expert, because I am absolutely no expert, which is why I find these questions interesting. I would be delighted if you got back to us in writing.

I am happy to have a written response to my next question, too, if that is more appropriate. Should section 75 agreements and land value capture work together to deliver infrastructure that is future proofed and adapted to the climate emergency? I am happy to have a written response if you feel that that would be better.

I am still a serving councillor on Aberdeen City Council and I was there when the case that you referred to happened. That is all that I have got, convener.

The evidence session has been very informative. Will the minister explain the timeframe of the immediate next steps for the balance sheet?