Chamber and committees

I will bring in Russell Findlay, then I will pull everything together.

That concludes the public part of our meeting, and we will now move into private session.

Our next item of business is consideration of correspondence from Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Federation on the potential impact of new pension arrangements on police numbers. The correspondence was received following a request from the committee to the chief constable for an update on the matter after consideration of a Scottish statutory instrument.

I refer members to paper 1 and invite them to make any comments that they have.

Does anyone else want to come in on Jamie’s suggestion? I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I understand where you are coming from. On the other hand, I am quite keen that we do not conflate matters. The federation has written to us in very clear terms. I do not think that members have any doubt as to what its concerns are. If members are happy to write to the federation for some clarity, I am agreeable to that, but I am keen that we keep our consideration quite focused in the meantime. The other relevant option would be to write to the Scottish Police Authority to ask what it is doing about monitoring what is happening in the immediate term.

Good morning, and welcome to the 21st meeting in 2022 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received apologies from Collette Stevenson. I welcome Jackie Dunbar to the meeting as a committee substitute.

I invite members to decide whether to take in private item 3 and any future consideration of progress made on implementing the committee’s recommendations in its report on the priorities for the criminal justice sector in Scotland. Are we agreed to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

As the cabinet secretary and other members have said, it goes without saying that one life lost in custody is one life too many. Therefore, I ask the cabinet secretary to reaffirm that it is the Scottish Government’s intention to treat this serious issue with all the sensitivity and priority that it deserves.

Will the member give way one final time?

It is welcome that the Scottish Government introduced drug driving limits and roadside testing in October 2019. However, we have heard that the demand for forensic testing has exceeded supply. Despite the budget constraints that the cabinet secretary alluded to earlier, what funding has the Scottish Government provided to the Scottish Police Authority to build testing and analysis capacity since the introduction of the new offence in 2019?

As the minister will know, an energy from waste facility is being constructed in my Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency, and will become a neighbour both to the Torry community and local businesses—some of which have significant energy costs associated with their nature and operation. The facility potentially offers an opportunity to provide cheaper heating to businesses, as well as to residents, via a grid network.

Can I ask the minister for her support in ensuring that that kind of opportunity is fully utilised by project stakeholders, given the impact that energy price hikes have had on businesses and Scotland’s hardest-hit families, including many of my constituents—

I thank Christine Grahame for lodging an important motion, which eloquently describes the commitment behind creating the “Men Don’t Talk” one-act play. The storyline development, the issues that the play explores and the funding support have all helped to create an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health and the vital role of men’s sheds in many of Scotland’s communities. What struck me about the motion is the really creative and positive relationship between the Peebles men’s shed, the playwright Clare Prenton, the Inspiring Life—Evie Douglas Memorial Fund, and the Eastgate theatre in Peebles, which clearly brought significant positive benefits to everyone involved in the project.

Age Scotland has described a men’s shed as

“a safe social space for all men with time on their hands, to come together to socialise”

and undertake

“purposeful activities ... for themselves or for their ... community.”

It continued:

“sheds aim to provide positive views of aging and later life, tackle loneliness and isolation and help older”

men

“to be as well as they can be.”

I am sure that most—if not all—MSPs who have supported Christine Grahame’s motion will have a special relationship with men’s sheds in their constituencies and regions. My Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency hosts three sheds, which I will drop into over the summer.

Earlier this year, I spoke about the Portlethen and District men’s shed in a speech about veterans and mental health and wellbeing. Cliff and John, who are both shedders and veterans, are testimony to the role that the shed plays in helping men to access their social network of friends.

Recently, my colleague Jackie Dunbar lodged a motion to celebrate global intergenerational week. In that debate, I spoke about the work of one shedder who has created doodle boards for a local primary school, putting his practical skills to very good use, recycling materials such as wood and supporting children to learn while developing their sensory practice.

However, the reach of that particular shed is much wider, as evidenced by the dementia-friendly garden that they maintain, the planters that they have made for their local railway station and the benches that they are currently making—out of mahogany, no less—to be placed outside the local chemist for older people to sit on when they are waiting for their prescriptions. Those are all activities that enable men to come together with their peers, neighbours and even strangers, and talk.

Of course, the context of today’s debate addresses the scenario not so much of “Men don’t talk” as maybe also “Men don’t want to talk or don’t feel able to talk.”

A recent American study on the role of men’s sheds in health promotion for older men highlighted the importance of an informal, male-friendly and safe shed environment that helps them to open up and talk about health issues in a comfortable and secure way.

By sharing their individual health and illness experiences with their peer group, men gain social support, which helps them to deal with their health issues, and in particular their mental health issues. I have it on good authority that my friends at the Portlethen men’s shed are more than happy to talk quite frequently about their waterworks, including the number of times they go to the loo in the evening and which treatment works best—wonderful stuff.

The study also suggests that a successful men’s shed must be supported by the availability of good shed facilities and, as Christine Grahame highlighted, sufficient funding and a management arrangement driven by shedders that enables them to make their own decisions—for example, which projects they want to work on.

I thank Christine Grahame for lodging the motion and I look forward to visiting Portlethen men’s shed, Cove and Altens men’s shed and Culter and District men’s shed during recess for a bit of summer talk.