Chamber and committees

I thank the minister for her statement, which had business, hope and ambition for all of Scotland—especially rural and island areas such as Argyll and Bute—at its heart.

I note the minister’s comments on the Faroe Islands. I am sure that she will agree that, given the challenging Scottish budget settlement and the economic circumstances, there is a clear case for Scotland to have additional fiscal flexibilities to better manage our budget. Does she agree that Scotland would be far better placed to manage the public finances if it had the full powers of independence?

I congratulate Maggie Chapman on securing this members’ business debate on such an important area of Scottish life: our universities and, more broadly, our higher education sector. Her final words were very powerful—I thank her for them—and I note that, in my constituency, there have been some issues around redundancies at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

I was interested in the way in which Maggie Chapman started her speech, because it was the way in which my thought process has gone, too. If I may, I will take us back to the roots of the word “university”. It comes from the medieval Latin word “universitas”—I never did Latin, so apologies for my pronunciation—meaning a number of persons associated into one body. Historically, the term referred not to a physical place of learning but to the people who made it, and that came through powerfully in Maggie Chapman’s speech.

The origins of “university” made me wonder whether we have forgotten why we have universities and what their value is to our wider communities. I have two vital higher education establishments in my constituency: the University of the Highlands and Islands and the Scottish Association for Marine Science. SAMS’s strategy for 2025 to 2030 sets out a plan for

“World-leading science for a healthy ocean and thriving people”

and, perhaps, blue-sea thinking. For the reader, the words that jump out from the strategy are “together”, “discovery”, “educate”, “innovate”, “action” and, importantly, “people”.

UHI is in 48 locations, seven of which are in my constituency, and it provides flexible learning opportunities. It is also embedded in our secondary schools. For example, Oban high school students developed their own fish farm sites for their end-of-year projects as part of the into aquaculture course that was designed by Scottish Sea Farms in conjunction with UHI Argyll.

I am pleased to see that there is collaboration between SAMS and UHI in a range of academic opportunities, from a BSc in marine science to PhDs in high-impact marine science fields. Those give opportunities to students who do not wish to move from the area to further their education, and they bring students from around the world to stem the brain drain and depopulation that Argyll and Bute faces.

Industries such as finfish aquaculture, seaweed farming, fishing and offshore renewables increasingly rely on research data to innovate and inform sustainable development and best practice in their respective sectors. Scotland’s future growth depends on activity in those areas, and the research and available data must keep pace with industrial and commercial development. As well as ensuring that development is as environmentally sensitive as possible, it allows policy makers to make informed decisions.

SAMS won the collaboration category at the UK Aquaculture Awards, having worked alongside the salmon farming industry and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. SAMS scientists are examining the life cycle and behaviours of sea lice to help to tackle one of the main issues in finfish aquaculture, using underwater robotic vehicles to identify entanglement risks to marine mammals. There is so much going on, with great examples of further education and research tailoring their offerings to what their community needs, both locally and globally.

I do not know whether anybody noticed the article in The Guardian today about the Biodiversity Heritage Library, an online archive of historical texts on species living and lost. The withdrawal of funding from that area of work will impact on our knowledge around biodiversity. As Maggie Chapman noted, this is not just a Scottish crisis; it is a worldwide one. We must ensure that we continue that education.

SAMS hosts a rare algae library—leabharlann feamainn. The 100-year-old Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa supplies and supports science around the world.

Be it local or global, Scotland’s vital higher education sector must remain at the heart of world learning, and I support Maggie Chapman’s calls for connection and collaboration with everybody involved in our universities. We have far too much to lose if we do not do that.

16:25

I, too, associate myself with the cabinet secretary’s comments with respect to the staff who work in maternity services, especially those in Argyll and Bute.

This is a follow-on question from Donald MacKinnon’s. To ensure that the current 24-hour midwife-led community service is maintained in places such as Argyll and Bute, staffing levels cannot be reduced. What discussions is the Scottish Government having with health boards and health and social care partnerships to ensure that there is appropriate staff funding to improve maternity services across Scotland, especially in rural constituencies such as Argyll and Bute? How are the very important rural and island voices being included in the maternity review?

I would like to continue the theme that Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher started, which Alyn Smith followed up on, by suggesting that, in Ivan McKee, we have Ivan the Great.

Prior to moving to Argyll and Bute, I lived in Glasgow and worked for BBC Scotland, where I had the pleasure of using my skills as an accountant to empower people to make programmes as creatively and efficiently as possible and give best value to the audience. I have never made a television or radio programme in my life, but I know that, when I had to provide business plans or budgets, the best people to give me the right information to crunch the numbers were the programme makers themselves.

I believe that I created an atmosphere of collaboration, not competition, between different programme makers, and I believe that I gained their trust. Therefore, I believe that learning from those on the front line can drive change and enable progress to be made.

Islay has been my home for the past 15 years. What struck me when I first moved there was the importance of the role that the public sector plays in rural and island communities. People in such communities are closer to the public sector. We see the consequences of public sector decision making. We know the refuse collectors, the teachers live up the road from us and we bump into the doctor in the Co-op. The public sector, which provides the services that we all need, is the beating heart of small communities, and I thank it for its work. I would argue that it is the people who provide those services who know where efficiencies can be achieved, and I agree with the cabinet secretary’s point that organisations need to be structured in a way that allows such dialogue to take place.

When I served in government, I visited NHS Ayrshire and Arran with the women’s health champion, Professor Anna Glasier, and we saw two amazing examples of small teams working together to find ways of integrating disciplines and using new technologies to improve women’s health and change the culture. They knew that they had no more budget. However, they also knew that, by utilising that budget differently, they could invest in prevention and improve women’s health, which is exactly what Joe Long was talking about. I also highlight that the hospital at home service is very successful in my community.

I support the new thinking around subnational planning in our NHS to spread good practice but, having listened to constituents, I have the following observations. When it comes to specialisms such as hip and knee replacements, a national service is the way forward. However, kidney dialysis services should, in my view, be local. I have seen the difference that the dialysis service on the Isle of Bute has made there and how different that is to the experience of my constituents in Lorn and the isles, who have to travel to Fort William for dialysis. I hope that distinction will be recognised by the Government and acted on by cabinet secretaries.

I attended many hustings during the election campaign and the question of ferries always came up. It was clear from the questions we were asked that the triangle of CalMac Ferries, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and Transport Scotland does not work. I am pleased that our manifesto includes a commitment to look at that. One suggestion—the Norwegian operating model—was considered and I hope that both Mr McKee and Mr Flynn will take that on board, so to speak.

I strongly believe that the fantastic third sector will help to provide the answers to many of our questions, as others have said. Those in that sector understand the people whom they support, are willing to find innovative ways of working, and are trusted by communities, as Dawn Black mentioned.

In March, I attended a fashion show in Oban, where four local third sector organisations came together to collaborate—not compete—to raise funds for the amazing work that they do across the Oban area. It was fun, colourful and had a clear message: look what we can do if we are empowered to pool our scarce resources. I would advocate for a memorandum of understanding between statutory bodies and the third sector to enable such collaboration, and I absolutely recognise what David Green said about Highland Hospice.

In the time that I have left, I will drop some pebbles into the pool and hope that the ripples that they create will shift public service reform in the right direction. Dawn Black was absolutely correct to talk about Mairi Gougeon and her work on the good food nation, which could really empower local procurement and community wealth building. I heard a suggestion from Argyll and Bute Council about childminders looking after children outwith their homes. I also think, as others have said, that we should move away from yearly budget allocations and, as I mentioned yesterday, I think that we need simpler forms. We should listen directly to communities that find solutions to situations. For example, Tiree has a community vet, a solar array and a community interest company for local carers. Those are all things that local people are doing to try to change the way in which their community operates.

As you know, Presiding Officer, I am trying to bring Gaelic into the chamber. There is a proverb that I hope the cabinet secretary and others will take note of, and which recognises the importance of Scotland’s public service teams. That proverb is, “An rud a nithear gu math, chithear a bhuil,” or, “What is well done will be shown by results.”

I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to fair work and fully support its underlying principles. However, smaller organisations, third sector bodies and social enterprises do not have the dedicated compliance or bid-writing teams to cover the administrative burden of different funding streams. Will the cabinet secretary therefore meet me and the Mull and Iona Community Trust to discuss what immediate, low-cost improvements could be made to the process, in line with the Scottish Government’s stated aims of efficiency, fairness and accessibility of grant funding?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to adopt a tell-us-once approach to grant schemes, such as fair work first, across its departments to reduce the burden on individuals, organisations and businesses, as part of its planned public sector reform. (S7O-00045)

Meal do naidheachd—congratulations—to my colleague Alyn Smith on securing this members’ business debate on the importance of the screen industry in Scotland.

As members will know, I believe that my constituency is Scotland’s most beautiful, because of its land and seascape and its people. Collectively, those elements make Argyll and Bute—and Scotland—a perfect location for the film industry.

I will set the scene in land and seascape. A plethora of films have used the rugged, rolling scenery of Argyll. Mull and the Corryvreckan were the location of the 1945 classic, “I Know Where I’m Going”. Walt Disney’s film “The Three Lives of Thomasina” was set in the picture-perfect town of Inveraray. The brutalist, concrete structure of the Cruachan dam, which resembles Darth Vader’s mask, played a starring role in the Disney+ Star Wars prequel series “Andor”.

However, as others have said, film is nothing without its cast, whether in front of the camera—the man of the small and silver screen, Sylvester McCoy, was born in Dunoon, and Ashley-Anne Lilley of Rothesay made her film debut in “Mamma Mia!”—or in the crew, production team and writers. Screen Argyll on Tiree provides opportunities for communities to connect through film. The Sea Change film festival is Scotland’s only annual film festival that is dedicated to empowering women in film and celebrating women behind the camera, with funding from Sgrin Alba—Screen Scotland.

Sgrin Alba also had a vision to embed film and screen education and qualifications in Scotland’s schools. I had a fabulous visit to the Rothesay joint campus with you, Presiding Officer, in the previous session of the Parliament. Having worked at BBC Scotland—very much behind the camera—and having a husband who works in the industry, I am excited that that education is now at the heart of Scotland’s curriculum. As Outlander actor Sam Heughan has said,

“Film and Screen storytelling is at the centre of developing a child’s imagination, a way for communities to represent their identity and individuals to connect with others.”

That is certainly what Q Manivannan contributed.

Sam Heughan is not from Argyll and Bute, but Grace Wallace is. This is what she told me about her learning experience at Rothesay academy:

“The Film and Screen course made me certain of my future. It gave me the opportunity to learn and experiment in all areas of the film industry: from pre to post production, both in front of and behind the camera, and working with people already in the sector. I have been given the skill set and confidence to seek further opportunities in this area, which as a young woman from a small island originally seemed impossible.”

That is definitely a five-star review.

We also need places to watch films, as Liam Kerr, Michael Marra and Lloyd Melville have all noted in the debate. Later this summer, Screen Machine 3 will return to its west coast venues, with £1.49 million raised, £500,000 of which was from the Scottish Government. Ten years ago, the wee picture house in Campbeltown was lovingly restored with thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and played a starring role in “Cinema Gadelica”—a BBC Alba production that showcased films that were shot in iconic Scottish locations. Studio Cinema Dunoon opened in 1976 and is part of West Coast Cinemas. The Isle of Bute Winter Garden cinema is a community-owned single-screen cinema. As others have said, cinemas such as those are full of laughter, crying, horror, and excitement. They are at the centre of communities and bring people together through cinema. As Liam Kerr highlighted, they need investment.

The Scottish film industry is booming. We should build on that success and be even more ambitious for the sector. We have skilled and talented people who are building the foundations of an independent Scotland’s film industry. I will finish with more of Grace Wallace’s words:

“I believe that this sector needs to grow and thrive, to allow young people, like myself, to pursue their dreams, no matter where they come from, and open doors for demonstrating their talents and expressing their creativity.”

18:31

The learning estate investment programme has improved the school estate and learning journey for young people across Scotland. As the First Minister knows, Argyll and Bute Council has had an application to LEIP for a joint campus in Mull approved. However, will the First Minister commit to a review of the criteria and funding structures to ensure that they reflect the needs of education and the wider community in islands such as Mull?

I appreciate that these are independent decisions to be made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, but I am interested to know whether the Scottish Government is looking at the cumulative impact of those changes on, for example, other rescue services such as the coastguard, for which I understand there were proposals to move to a purely voluntary service. Given the significant impact that that could have on constituencies that have so many coastal communities, such as Argyll and Bute, is the cabinet secretary willing to meet me to discuss the matter further?

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome you and your colleagues to your posts. I also congratulate my colleagues Siobhian Brown and Maree Todd on their re-elections, and I welcome Maree Todd back to her sports portfolio—I know how much she loves it.

Ms Todd and I have a common goal, which is to increase the amount of Gaelic that is spoken in the Parliament. I am on my sixth year of Duolingo and, on Friday, this phrase popped up on my screen:

“Is lugha orm poilitigs … is fheàrr leam iomain”.

That means, “I dislike politics … I prefer shinty”. That is not entirely true. However, those two subjects are linked not only in Duolingo, but in my life. Shinty could be described as the beating heart of sport in Argyll and Bute. It was only after being elected that I experienced the excitement of a shinty match—from the joy of seeing the young players tournament at the Dalmally show to attending the Macaulay cup final in Oban last year—and I look forward to the Camanachd cup and the Macaulay cup in Oban this September. The passion, the camaraderie, the rivalry, the pride of winning, the pain of losing and the togetherness are all part of life’s skills, whether one is playing or spectating.

I am so pleased to hear the minister's fantastic announcement about the joint working between the Camanachd Association and Scottish Golf. My constituent Bob MacIntyre is a great example of shifting from one discipline to the other, having played with Oban Camanachd and now playing on the greens of golf courses across the world.

As I have just said, togetherness and life skills are what we see on a shinty field. That is one of the many reasons why the summer of sport is so important and why I believe that ensuring that there are opportunities for participation in sport, regardless of where you live, is absolutely key. Sport teaches not only life skills, but a healthy way to thrive. The Atlantis Leisure centre in Oban and Lorn and Oban Healthy Options promote exactly that, through their fitness, prehab and rehab sessions. I have heard from young and old about the difference that a focus on swimming, exercise and sport has made to their health and recovery, and it is inspirational. The Happy Wee Health Club in Oban also finds colourful ways to engage young people in sport and fitness.

As the minister said, the summer of sport links clearly with the population health framework. As the minister and Gillian Mackay have noted, physical activity provides opportunities to connect and come together in activities that inspire and motivate.

Sport in Argyll and Bute is inextricably linked to its landscape and seascape. I disagree with what Donald MacKinnon said in his opening speech—my apologies—but Argyll and Bute is Scotland’s most beautiful constituency, not just because of the landscape and the seascape but because of the people. I thank them for returning me as their MSP. To serve the people of Argyll and Bute is the biggest privilege of my life.

Two weeks ago, I attended a Surfers Against Sewage event, or, as the schoolkids in Tighnabruaich say, a jobbie-free sea event. I spoke to many people who emphasised how much they valued having the wonderful sea resource on their doorstep, especially as it gives them the ability to exercise and enjoy sport. We have to ensure that we keep our seas as clean as they can be, so that people can take part in paddling at Tighnabruaich, wild swimming in Seil, surfing in Tiree, stone skimming in Easdale, yachting around the nooks and crannies of the coastline of Argyll and its isles, or the international clipper race that is sailing into Oban in July. Those are all fantastic opportunities for us to showcase Scotland, and Argyll and Bute, on the international stage, as well as for us to keep active. We need to continue to invest to ensure that our coastline and waterways are at the highest standard.

I welcome, too, the investment that has been provided for every primary school child to learn to swim. That policy will make a real difference, not only in supporting swimming facilities in our communities but in building skills that will undoubtedly save lives.

For the length and breadth of Argyll and Bute, communities continue to work together to ensure that sport and exercise are accessible. The fabulous Adventure Oban is a community-led outdoor activity charity that supports equal access for all to Oban’s natural playground. This weekend, its big bike weekend is returning with lots of fun for all the family. Tayinloan has just confirmed that it will be building a biking pump track—a fantastic example of a village community working together, thinking big and using sport and exercise as the focus of their community cohesion and so invigorating their community.

I will briefly touch on ferries. The ferry timetable can be a barrier to participation in sport for island children. That was raised with me by a group of parents on the fantastic new Isle of Islay ferry. I met Caledonian MacBrayne this morning and pressed home to it that I hope that it, along with Transport Scotland, will ensure that the community voice is heard in future timetable discussions.

I am drawing to a close, Presiding Officer. I started with a Gaelic phrase and I will end with one. It is the final line of the poem “Iomain”, written by our Gaelic makar, Peter Mackay, which he penned for the opening of the Shinty museum in Inverness. I think that it rings true for all sports, and especially for the summer of sport.

“Seo e a-nis: nach tig sibh a dh’iomain?”

Okay, then, won’t you come and join me in shinty?