Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how many systemic reaction specialists there are who can support people who have had an allergic reaction to their first Covid-19 vaccine. (S6O-00202)

I start by thanking Fulton MacGregor for bringing the important topic of school uniforms to the chamber. Cool school uniforms, which is based in Coatbridge, is one of many organisations that go above and beyond to help families obtain warm, clean and comfortable school uniforms.

Mr MacGregor spoke highly of the work that the group does. I share his admiration for the group’s dedication to helping families who may struggle to afford uniforms for their children. There is more that we in the Parliament can do to support such organisations and make uniforms more easily available to all families, so that no young person feels awkward or segregated from their peers. I intend to explore some proposals during my speech.

At present, a large majority of Scottish publicly funded schools require pupils to wear a uniform, which can put financial strain on families each school term. In 2020, the Children’s Society found that families across the UK pay on average £337 per year for school uniforms for each secondary school child. The same study found that those costs were more than three times what parents think is a reasonable cost for secondary school uniforms.

Support is in place for some families, who are entitled to a uniform grant. Although it is welcome that the Scottish Government has increased the grant for primary and secondary school pupils, it was forced into that decision. Eligible primary school pupils will receive a minimum of £120 and eligible secondary school pupils will receive a minimum of £150. The grant is in line with the views of parents and families, who should not have to pay through the nose to ensure that their children have the appropriate school uniform.

It is relevant to recognise the importance of a school uniform. It removes the stigma that is caused when some families are unable to afford the latest designer clothes. A uniform is visible and should give pupils a sense of pride in their school.

However, one fifth of secondary schools specify an exclusive supplier for their uniforms. It is understandable that, as the end of the school holidays draws near, families have to make tough decisions because they cannot choose a supplier within their budget. Although the SNP-Green coalition has said that it intends to crack down on schools using exclusive uniform suppliers, that promise has not yet been fulfilled. Both parties included the idea in their manifestos, but we need action now. As the motion says,

“steps to alleviate poverty associated with the purchase of school uniforms should be brought forward as soon as practically possible.”

The Scottish Government must also implement the £20 increase to the Scottish child payment without delay.

Until those actions are taken, organisations such as cool school uniforms will experience increasing demand from families who need donated clothing. I will continue seeking confirmation from the Scottish Government that clothing grants will not be delayed, as they were last year. That delay caused upset and panic to parents who were entitled to the grant but did not know if they would receive that financial support in time. It is imperative that councils receive that funding so that they can administer it to families in time, before the school term begins, and so that families and children can be organised and ready for the return to school.

Mr MacGregor made an interesting point about the reuse of clothing. I share his interest in sustainable clothing, which could involve our young people in the fight to tackle climate change.

The Scottish Government must set out its plans to stop schools using named school uniform suppliers, and it must review the school uniform grant, which Scottish Conservatives support. We must also ensure that grants are provided to families at the appropriate time, to reduce the pressures on the organisations that go above and beyond to support their communities. I thank Mr MacGregor for bringing the issue to the chamber and I look forward to hearing the other speeches.

My constituent, Craig, contacted me after experiencing a severe systemic allergic reaction to his first vaccination. He was referred to a specialist, but was advised that he was going to be put on an 18-month waiting list.

That is not an isolated case and the situation is causing concern for people who are eager to see a specialist, especially as Covid vaccination passports will come into force this Friday. I have checked the Scottish Government website this afternoon, and the guidance is still not clear for people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. How will the Scottish Government tackle that backlog? How can the cabinet secretary reassure my constituent that he will not be excluded from any venue, such as a nightclub or football stadium, because he cannot produce a vaccination passport?

I refer to my entry in the register of member’s interests, as I am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire. I also have a sore throat this morning, so I will try to get through this without losing my voice.

I want to focus on 20-minute neighbourhoods. What are the panel’s views on the practicality of 20-minute neighbourhoods, especially in more rural communities? Craig McLaren, could you start please?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance. Yesterday, during the debate on ambulances, Fulton MacGregor stated the following:

“the local authority in North Lanarkshire is made up of a Labour and Conservative coalition.”—[Official Report, 22 September 2021; c 72.]

I am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire. There is no coalition, unlike here, where there is a formal agreement between the Scottish National Party and the Green Party. The Conservatives in North Lanarkshire Council will work with any party for the benefit of the people in North Lanarkshire. Mr MacGregor knows well all that I have just said. He must be aware that he is guilty of misrepresenting the facts.

Members of the public expect elected members to be factual when making their contributions inside and outside the chamber. I would therefore be grateful for your guidance on how the Official Report can be corrected at the earliest opportunity.

I commend Siobhian Brown for bringing this important issue to the chamber.

As we have heard, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders can cause children to have a range of issues as a direct result of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. We must continue to raise awareness of the condition to ensure that mothers understand the dangers of drinking while pregnant and the impact that it can have on their unborn child.

I was not aware of FASD until my mid 20s and, as far as I am concerned, education is one of the best ways for people to learn about having a happy, healthy pregnancy. Given that three in every 100 babies in the United Kingdom are affected by FASD and that roughly 45 per cent of pregnancies are unplanned, educating young people might be one way of reducing the number of children born with this condition.

I know that we do not have enough time to discuss the subject in more depth today, but another way of approaching this is to continue to tackle the binge-drinking issue that we have in Scotland. As we know, binge drinking has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, causing real concern for health boards, experts and organisations that offer advice on FASD.

Although FASD is completely preventable, Alcohol Focus Scotland and other organisations have suggested that it is a cause for concern, because no amount of alcohol is safe for pregnant women or women who are planning a pregnancy.

I agree with Siobhian Brown and other members that we must do more to support children and adults with FASD. Although there is a wide range of benefits and support networks to help families with the condition, because FASD goes undetected for quite some time, many try to cope without talking to organisations that could assist them. Again, turning to my earlier point about education, if teachers and childcare professionals were trained to spot symptoms of FASD, families might be helped to understand what support is available to them.

During Ms Brown’s opening contribution, she spoke passionately about the area that she represents, the excellent work that is being carried out by the Ayr-based Oshay’s FASD organisation, and told the wonderful story about Taylor and Oshay the octopus, which gave us an insight into people who live with FASD. That is why it is so important that we continue to talk about the condition.

I will continue the narrative by talking about the work that NHS Lanarkshire carried out in the run-up to FASD awareness day, which took place on 9 September. As part of its campaign, NHS Lanarkshire released figures from Alcohol Focus Scotland, which revealed that around 29 per cent of adults were drinking more than before Covid-19 restrictions were introduced. In addition, younger adults were more likely to report an increase in the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed.

NHS Lanarkshire took to social media to raise awareness, but also to target those who were more likely to become pregnant or who were trying to conceive, and provided details of who to contact for support. Although that campaign was positively received, more work needs to be done to make the neurodevelopmental condition better known.

Various groups, including Alcohol Focus Scotland, have called on the Scottish Government to introduce mandatory alcohol labelling, to increase awareness of the risks that are associated with drinking. Most of the warning labels on bottles are not satisfactory at present, with many having only a small picture with no information or explanation of why people should not drink while pregnant.

Alcohol Focus Scotland argues that providing helpful messaging on labels will provide information and advice at the point of purchase, which will help women make a choice that is healthy for their unborn child.

Once again, I thank Siobhian Brown for bringing the issue to the chamber and I hope that, by raising awareness, more can be done to support pregnant women, and families who live with FASD.

The SNP-Green coalition deal was struck after the decision to honour the Green manifesto pledge to double the number of wind farms in Scotland by 2030. Statistics released by Forestry and Land Scotland in February last year showed that, since 2000, 13.9 million trees have been axed to make way for 21 wind farm projects. That not only disturbs the natural habitats of many endangered animals but could impact climate change targets. How many mature trees will be lost because of that manifesto pledge?

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?