Chamber and committees

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.

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

That is all I have, convener, so I will pass back to you.

I thank the witnesses for coming to the meeting. I could not agree more with you when you speak about communities being best placed to tell us what they need with regard to the problems that we face as we move forward. Of course, different communities will have different problems and different solutions.

My question is on transport—specifically, active travel and public transport. Those areas are key in trying to reduce private car use, although some communities might feel that they will be able to reduce their private car use much more than other communities might. How can communities work with public bodies and local businesses to encourage the use of more sustainable forms of travel, whatever those may be? Perhaps Philip Revell can start.

I could not agree more. I will go to Ailsa Raeburn and then to Mark McRitchie. I am sorry—I should have said that before.

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.

I am pleased to participate in this members’ business debate on the work of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and I thank Fulton MacGregor for bringing this important matter to the chamber.

Blood plays an absolutely crucial role in saving the lives of those patients in our NHS who require it. To be blunt, I would say that, without the SNBTS and its donors, we would not have the NHS that we are so proud of today, and I commend and thank all the staff at the service and indeed all NHS staff across Scotland for their continued efforts throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

The motion highlights an incredibly concerning reality. The number of people giving blood has dropped dramatically over the past year, and we need to do all that we can to encourage people to give blood when and where they are able to do so. In that respect, I am delighted to hear your pledge, Presiding Officer. I have given blood on a number of occasions in Aberdeen—indeed, I think that I have donated more than 46 pints of blood. As I have continued to do so over the pandemic, I can assure everyone who might be listening that all precautions have been put in place. I therefore ask anyone who can to go and give blood.

It is interesting to find out what happens to blood after it leaves our arms and where it goes on its journey to saving someone’s life. After blood leaves an arm and goes into the bag, it is taken to a nearby processing and testing laboratory, where it is separated into three components: red blood cells, platelets and plasma. It is then tested for viruses, and if it passes all those tests, it is labelled and sent to one of the country’s 39 blood banks. Not one drop is wasted. Even when a session has had to be stopped because of slow-running blood and a full pint has not been obtained, that blood is not wasted and is used for testing instead. That has happened to me on a number of occasions, and over the years I have learned the tricks of the trade to get my donation flowing freely such as drinking lots of water, crossing and uncrossing legs and wiggling toes and fingers.

I have been very privileged to be able to take part in SNBTS’s awards ceremonies, which normally take place every year in the Beach ballroom in Aberdeen. The service is very aware of and thankful for their donors’ contributions, and donors with 50-plus donations are invited along to those evenings to receive a small gift and to give the service the chance to thank them once again. As a former depute provost and councillor, I was proud to be able to present some of those awards. The donors do not think that it is a big deal to give up their precious time and blood. They do not see it as doing anything special, but we all know differently. I therefore take this opportunity to once again thank all the donors.

I say to anyone who is able, please give blood. If I can do it, anyone can. I am a feartie when it comes to needles, and it disnae help that I have only one vein that I can manage to gie blood fae. The SNBTS folk in Aberdeen are brilliant: they find that vein every time. People truly are in safe hands with all the teams at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. I say to everyone: you can save a life today—please give blood if you can.

There has been much speculation that the UK Government will unilaterally end the free provision of lateral flow tests. Given the fact that our recovery from Covid requires us to keep the virus under control, does the Deputy First Minister agree that decisions on the continued need for LFTs must be made on a four-nation basis and not by the UK Government in isolation?