Chamber and committees

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate and thank Elena Whitham for bringing it to the chamber.

This is a complex issue that does not have one simple answer—indeed, there are many different views and opinions on how to address the matter of prostitution in our society. We need to be clear that criminalising the people who sell sex has not worked and will not work in the future. We need to undertake a review of the laws surrounding the issue, not only to protect vulnerable women but to prevent further violence against them. Those who sell sex should be able to seek help and support to exit prostitution without fear, and without the risk of facing criminal proceedings against them. No one should face the consequences of the law for trying to get out of the sex industry, and we must ensure that the legislation that the Parliament brings forward provides safe passage for anyone who wants to exit.

Prostitution, whether by force or by circumstance, can be overcome only by having a more equal society. Access to adequate income and living standards, and an ability to provide for oneself and one’s family, is fundamental to ensuring that there are other options aside from prostitution. No one should ever need to sell their body in order to feed their children or heat their home. We must also challenge the attitude of men with regard to the purchase of sex. Internationally, there are countries that have different systems, and which are seeking to educate men while not criminalising the sex workers. We should seek to work with those countries to find a system that works for the people of Scotland.

We should be working with those who have direct, lived experience of prostitution to ensure that Scotland has a system that works for them and with them, to protect them from harm. The public consultation, which reported back in July, was an important first step on the journey to improve the legislation on sex work.

Women are being exposed to extreme risk every day in the sex industry, while male buyers remain unchallenged and their actions go without consequence. We need a Scottish system that seeks to recognise the outstanding gender inequalities in our society, to provide everyone with an adequate income to live on and to support those who wish to exit the sex industry.

I urge Parliament to think outside the box. Let us find the solutions that benefit and protect, so that in the future no one is forced, for any reason, to be part of the sex industry.

As the flu vaccine is being delivered along with the third dose of the vaccine, what guidance is available for GP services to support them to direct patients who received both doses of their vaccine abroad and therefore are not necessarily on the register for the flu vaccine roll-out?

With regard to the Covid vaccination certification scheme, should local authorities be ensuring that businesses across Scotland are scanning the QR codes on the individual apps, or is a visual check acceptable?

Scottish business leaders, including Sir Ian Wood, wrote to the Prime Minister to argue that the Scottish cluster offers the potential to

“create, safeguard and continue to support tens of thousands of high skill jobs directly and in”

the supply chain

“of the existing energy industry in the northeast as well as throughout Scotland.”

Does the cabinet secretary agree that the UK Government should listen to those voices and not just ignore them?

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this members’ business debate and to highlight the excellent work of food policy organisations such as Food Train and all the volunteers in organising a very successful UK malnutrition awareness week. I thank Clare Adamson for lodging the motion.

Malnutrition impacts most on the poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Good-quality meals do not have to be expensive, but people need to have access to such food and the ability to put things together to make a nutritious meal. Access, ability and education are absolutely key.

No one in Scotland should have to worry about access to affordable food but, sadly, that is not the case. Often, those in our most deprived communities have less access to fresh produce and, in turn, to healthy meals. Their options are restricted by the shops that are available in their local areas.

Driving to a large supermarket a few miles away is simply not an option for many elderly people who have had to give up driving for various reasons. Getting to a large supermarket in which the offering is greater and, in many instances, significantly cheaper is sometimes a non-starter for a person who no longer has the ability to drive, as supermarkets are not always on a convenient bus route. For example, getting to my nearest large supermarket by bus would entail my having to take two long bus journeys, which would take well over an hour all in. By car, the journey takes me less than five minutes.

The situation was made worse when travel was discouraged and lift sharing was not permitted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Constituents have told me that they were reliant on their small local shops as opposed to having access to the bigger supermarkets, in which access to fruit and vegetables is significantly cheaper and easier.

In my Aberdeen Donside constituency, food bank use has increased significantly over the past five years, and many elderly people, families and individuals have become dependent on emergency food parcels. I pay tribute to the brilliant efforts of a local charity in my constituency. In order to help the most vulnerable to access food in a more dignified way, Community Food Initiatives North East, in partnership with Fersands and Fountain Community Project and FareShare UK, and funded by the Scottish Government, has established the Woodside pantry in the Woodside community centre in Aberdeen. The pantry scheme provides food for its members at a token price and allows those who are on a low income to pick the produce themselves in a shop-like environment. The items in the pantry are weighted by value, and it is ensured that all members equally receive meat or fish, fruit and vegetables, and ambient food every week.

Malnutrition harms the most vulnerable in our communities, whether they be the elderly who simply cannot travel to access affordable food or young families who cannot afford nutritious food to feed the whole family. Obesity and starvation are two sides of the same malnourished coin. We must strike for better education, better access to food and better lives for those vulnerable individuals and families in the areas that we represent.

My question is for any member of the panel who would like to answer it. What are the key opportunities not only to increase the natural infrastructure but to integrate better planning of, investment in and delivery of such infrastructure into the other forms of infrastructure planning?

Would anybody like to answer that question?

You mentioned NPF4. Will you dig down a bit deeper into what the key opportunity would be for green and blue natural infrastructure in the framework?

I want to change the subject again and ask about the issue of hydrogen, which we have not really touched on. What role does Ofgem have in the hydrogen market and the hydrogen economy? What work is it doing to prepare for and regulate that market?

My first question goes back to the issue of supporting consumers, which Monica Lennon raised. It made me think about prepaid meters and the fact that customers who use them tend to get quite a raw deal. What is being done to protect folk who have prepaid meters? Is there anything that Ofgem can do about the cost of getting them removed? If someone moves into a property and a prepaid meter is already there, it is expensive to get it changed. I would welcome your comments on that.

Thank you. That was my final question.