Chamber and committees

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My apologies: I was so excited that we had cross-party support at Aberdeen City Council that I forgot to refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am still a serving councillor at Aberdeen City Council.

I thank Jenni Minto for bringing the motion for debate and congratulate her on her personal and powerful speech. I know how close the subject is to her, as I first met her at a British Heart Foundation round-table event during the election campaign. That day, I saw someone who is as passionate as I am about doing all that we can to ensure access to defibrillators.

Defibrillators can mean the difference between life and death for someone who suffers cardiac arrest. That highlights the important role that they play in our communities. It is therefore important that they are widely available, that they are accessible and that folk know how to use them to save someone’s life.

Defibrillators are used to administer an electric shock to a person who is having a cardiac arrest and are designed to be used by an average person with no medical training to save a life. They can and should be available in public places for use by the public when they are required. They are designed to be used by members of the public who have not received any training but we need people to be confident and not scared of using one in a life-or-death scenario, so the devices provide audible instructions and, sometimes, visual prompts on a screen to help people through the process, which makes them easy and safer to use.

It is important that people know what to expect when using a defibrillator. My understanding is that, when a person puts the pads on someone’s chest, the device will analyse the heart’s electrical rhythm and, if it detects an abnormal rhythm that is likely to respond to a shock, it will charge itself. That takes away huge responsibility from the person who is going to use it.

Some devices deliver the shock automatically without needing any further action by the operator. Others instruct the operator to press a button to deliver the shock before instructing them to carry out CPR for a period. It might require more than one shock to save someone’s life, but the machine will talk the operator through every step, so people should not be scared to use one. One of the key things for people to know is that a defibrillator will not allow a shock to be given unless it is needed. That means that it is extremely unlikely that it will do any harm to the person who has collapsed.

I was extremely pleased that Aberdeen City Council recently agreed to have officers consider the feasibility of providing defibrillators in all schools and sheltered accommodation. That received cross-party support, which is probably rare nowadays in Aberdeen City Council. It was brilliant to see councillors coming together to agree that.

As I have said repeatedly, it is important that defibrillators be put in accessible locations and that people in the communities know where they are. A key point to their success is knowing where to find one and their being accessible and close to where they are needed. Unfortunately, I could not find a central bank of locations to which people can log on to find their nearest defibrillator. A quick internet search puts the nearest one to my home at Northfield community centre but I know that there are closer ones and I encourage everyone with a defibrillator to register it on the Circuit website to ensure that everyone can quickly find the nearest one in an emergency.

Once again, I thank Jenni Minto for bringing this important topic to the chamber.

Does the member think that the pedestrianisation of Union Street, which his administration has pushed through, will help local shops on that street?

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across Government will support families on low incomes to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00496)

I welcome the Scottish Government’s announcement that the game-changing Scottish child payment will be doubled to £20 a week in the coming budget. What impact will the policy have on tackling child poverty as we recover from the pandemic?

You spoke about the implementation of the DRS. Will you expand a bit more with regard to oxo-degradable plastics and wet wipes? What should be the priorities for those?

What are the economic and social opportunities around the shift away from single-use items? How can Scottish businesses and communities capitalise on those opportunities? Is any extra support needed? That is maybe a wish question.

The question was on oxo-degradable plastics and wet wipes.

I am sorry. I do not have time.

There can be no just transition without our taking the north-east along with us. We are being left behind by the UK Government.

The transition away from oil and gas is required in order for us to meet our climate change targets. We have a responsibility to play our part in tackling the climate emergency. Inaction is simply not an option: on that, we can all agree.

I have focused mainly on the jobs aspect of the need to transition, but climate change presents a massive opportunity to strive for high-quality zero-carbon housing, and to tackle inequality. Social justice can also be at the heart of our just transition.

In addition to funding the building of thousands of new homes, the Scottish Government is—rightly—increasing investment in home energy efficiency measures. The majority of buildings in Scotland will continue to be used in the future, so we must retrofit what we have, if we are serious about getting our buildings to net zero. On that note, I am pleased that £1.8 billion will be invested over this parliamentary session to allow us to accelerate energy efficiency upgrades and renewable heating deployment. That will create new jobs and supply chain opportunities across Scotland.

The transition must be just and it must protect the jobs of those who are in the existing industry. The just transition commission will be key to ensuring that no one is left behind. It will engage with people who are likely to be impacted by the transition and it will support and scrutinise the Scottish Government’s plans for the transition.

I am pleased that the Scottish Government has committed £500 million over 10 years to support people’s jobs and livelihoods in the north-east and to accelerate the plans for a just transition in the region. The energy transition fund will also provide £62 million to support our vital energy sector and promote sustainable and inclusive growth, as we move towards net zero by 2045.

I understand and sympathise with people in north-east Scotland who might fear the transition and might not be able to imagine an Aberdeen without oil and gas. I welcome the establishment of the just transition commission, which will work to ensure that nobody is left behind. We have a good first step to work towards. We must continue to work together to achieve net zero.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to the motion. The issue is so important not just to me, but to my constituents in Aberdeen Donside and to the wider north-east economy. It is no surprise that the north-east has relied on the oil and gas industry for many years to provide vital jobs and investment in the region. As a result, it has flourished.

Everyone in my constituency is involved in or knows someone who is in the industry, whether they are directly employed by an oil and gas firm or are involved in the supply chain. A hard shutdown with no alternative jobs or investment is not an option. If that were to happen, an entire region would collapse, as happened with closure of the mines in the 1980s. We cannot go down that road; we must put jobs in place to support the 100,000 people who work in the industry. That must be done in a fair and just way that leaves no one behind and which provides sustainable and well-paid jobs for years to come.

The UK Government has deserted the north-east on carbon capture. The opportunities that could come with carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the Acorn project could have been transformational for the region. Conservative members have highlighted that the site is on the reserve list for funding if another project falls through, but that provides little assurance for my constituents and people more widely in the north-east. They do not need empty promises and reserve status; they require solid opportunities and funding to achieve a just transition to net zero.