Chamber and committees

Yesterday, the First Minister finally admitted that our NHS is in crisis, but only after growing pressure from NHS boards, healthcare professionals, unions and MSPs, who warned the Government that if it did not act, it would push our NHS beyond breaking point.

The Scottish Conservatives repeatedly warned the Government that our NHS was at breaking point long before the First Minister’s admission. A and E waiting times, ambulance waiting times, the cervical cancer screening scandal, waiting lists for vital diagnostic tests and waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services are just some of the issues that have been raised in the chamber. It is clear that, after 13 years in government, the SNP does not have the willingness or the ability to fix the problems that it has created.

It is also clear that the crisis was entirely preventable, but because of the length of time that it took the SNP to act, those long-standing pre-Covid issues have now been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic.

Further to yesterday’s announcement by the cabinet secretary, more than 100 military personnel will be drafted in to provide much-needed assistance to our hard-working NHS staff. This morning, we heard that taxi drivers will be recruited to help to transport patients to hospital for appointments. Those are the same taxi drivers who were hung out to dry during lockdown by the SNP Government.

In my region, NHS Lanarkshire will benefit from the services that will be provided by the staff who are deployed by the British Army, the fire brigade and taxi services. That assistance will provide welcome relief to my constituents and NHS Lanarkshire’s front-line staff. However, we should never have ended up in this position in the first place.

Over the past few weeks, we have heard devastating news of people dying as a result of the length of time that they had to wait to receive urgent care. We have heard of elderly people who lay on the floor in agony, hoping that someone would come and help them. People have waited for hours on end at A and E, while others have turned up at hospitals because they could not see their GP face to face, as GPs are so overworked and overwhelmed. All those situations arose on the cabinet secretary’s watch, and it can never be allowed to happen again.

The Scottish Government had every opportunity to intervene to fix those issues but, instead, the health secretary told people to think twice before calling an ambulance. Will he finally apologise for that, or will he continue to dismiss the notion that what he said was reckless and irresponsible?

The SNP’s amendment does not even begin to address the immense issues that our heroic NHS staff have had to endure. Frankly, the SNP should be ashamed. The Scottish Conservatives will vote against the SNP’s amendment. Instead, we will vote for a position that will force the SNP Government to declare major incident status in our Ambulance Service, halt its planned efficiency savings, maintain the four-hour A and E treatment target and publish ambulance response time data on a weekly basis so that progress can be measured in every region.

I agree with the points that are raised in the Labour motion, especially the recognition that is given to the wonderful Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics, technicians, call handlers and other front-line workers who have been failed by the Government. It is only right that we continue to support our NHS heroes who are always on hand to respond to an emergency. I urge Labour to vote for our amendment to its motion, to recognise our hard-working NHS staff but also to ensure that the Scottish Government is held to account for the NHS crisis that it has created.

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in meeting its target of planting 30 million trees by the end of 2021, and whether it achieved the 22 million target last year. (S6O-00177)

Good morning. As the convener said, we are moving on to budgets and funding, which you have already touched on slightly. Has the real-terms reduction in local government budgets impacted on councils’ abilities to deliver services and meet the needs of their communities over the past eight years?

Would having variations in the councillor-to-voter ratio impact on effective and convenient local government? We have touched on the size and scale of wards, but my question is about the benefits to communities of having a similar councillor-to-voter ratio across all wards.

Like Elena, I am a councillor—in North Lanarkshire Council.

No. Ailsa Henderson has covered my follow-up question.

Currently, there is not a streamlined approach to adoption support for Scottish families, despite the SNP’s pledge to implement its promise on that. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the grants for care-experienced 16 to 26-year-olds?

Does the member agree, however, with BMA Scotland’s comments in relation to not having enough GPs before the pandemic? Does she agree with that statement?

Good morning, everyone. I refer to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire.

In a Local Government and Communities Committee meeting in 2016, the Electoral Reform Society stated:

“making electoral parity a priority is outdated.”—[Official Report, Local Government and Communities Committee, 26 October 2016; c 2.]

Do you agree with that statement? Are you aware of such parity ratios being used to determine representations in other countries—for example, in the United Kingdom or in Europe?

Good morning, Margaret, Derek and Douglas. My question relates to parity, which has been raised a few times this morning, and the Electoral Reform Society. During a Local Government and Communities Committee meeting in 2016, the ERS stated:

“making electoral parity a priority is outdated.”—[Official Report, Local Government and Communities Committee, 26 October 2016; c 2.]

Do you agree with that statement?