Chamber and committees

I welcome the investment in the north-east. As that region continues to recover from storm Arwen—and now storm Barra, as well—many people are not able to schedule or attend for their Covid vaccination booster. With the omicron variant spreading throughout Scotland, what advice can the Deputy First Minister give to my constituents who have delayed getting booster jags because of the storm disruption?

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across Government will support the north-east’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00497)

I was going to ask questions about mental health, but I think that the witnesses have answered some of those, so I would like to shift the focus a bit.

We have heard about women often going without food and clothing to prioritise others’ needs. Women’s health is often deprioritised. Women tend to have more physical disruptions—for want of a better word—such as menstrual-related health issues, pregnancy and birth, postpartum care, and menopause, which has multiple layers of health issues. All of those can impact day-to-day living without appropriate care. For example, heart disease in women is a silent killer, as it is often overlooked or dismissed.

Job access equality and working out of the home often depend on being physically able. Where does women’s physical health come into that? Was that also deprioritised or overlooked? Did you see within your remits any effects of women’s health inequalities that perhaps became more apparent at the height of the pandemic? Is that a noted factor in gender-based inequality?

I thank the cabinet secretary for his statement on this comprehensive report. I also thank the people with lived experience who came forward and shared their experiences, which must have been distressing for them, in order to push for action. I am glad to hear that there will be on-going conversations with them.

My question relates to the issues that Carol Mochan raised. Will the cabinet secretary outline the action that the Scottish Government is taking to increase the number of appropriately trained clinical staff? He has already answered the question in part, but will the action include other rural healthcare centres?

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the advances that the Scottish Government has made in relation to the British Sign Language national plan. (S6F-00525)

Tomorrow is the international day of persons with disabilities. There have been tremendous strides taken in improving deaf and BSL visibility since the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act was passed in 2015. I have even had feedback from the British Deaf Association saying that many people across the United Kingdom were tuning into the Scottish Government’s Covid briefings because the UK Government did not provide an interpreter service.

I am sure that we were all moved by the recent powerful performance on “Strictly Come Dancing”, when Rose Ayling-Ellis was dancing and the music stopped. It was an incredibly poignant moment, but we still have more to do to open the doors to the deaf community. Can the First Minister give an indication of what work is being done on the BSL national plan to ensure that the very welcome increase in demand for BSL training and education is met?

I recently met representatives of the charity Age Scotland, who stressed that the elderly are heading into a crisis, with pensions in the United Kingdom being significantly lower than those of our European neighbours. Our older people are often on fixed incomes, and they cannot afford sky-rocketing food and energy bills. Some are facing the unthinkable choice between either turning on the heating or feeding themselves. Does the cabinet secretary agree that pensioners have been betrayed by the UK Tory Government scrapping the triple lock?

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to older people who may face financial hardship over the winter months due to the rising cost of living. (S6O-00480)

I had a few questions, but many of them have been answered. As a result, I want to raise a bit of a topical issue. Something that is front and centre in my mind and which is really affecting my constituency is storm Arwen. We have talked quite a bit about collaborative working, but many issues affecting Scotland, and my constituency in particular, are due to climate change. We have had issues with migrating cod, for example, and urban gulls; now this devastating storm has happened, and we are hearing such extreme weather will happen much more often.

As I was driving down to Edinburgh, I kept seeing bare trees, many of which were lying on the roads. It was actually quite perilous. Aside from the devastating consequences for residents, I also wonder what is going to happen to all the birds. We have heard about collaborative working, but what role do you see yourselves playing in resilience preparation and support with regard to third sector organisations and private businesses? What might that look like?

In the light of their experience, how do the panellists think that we can improve the way in which we bring together private, public and third sector organisations from across the globe in order to increase our knowledge of blue carbon and to identify how we move from research to action? Are there any barriers to research and development that we should be aware of?