Chamber and committees

Along with what happened at Grangemouth, the situation with Alexander Dennis represents a double blow to the people of Falkirk, and my thoughts are with them.

Following the loss of 400 jobs in Grangemouth, up to 1,600 jobs are now on the line as a result of Alexander Dennis being forced to relocate to Scarborough. When will the Scottish Government publish an economic impact assessment for the area?

Anything that can be done to try to increase the uptake is more than welcome, and I am sure that it would receive cross-party support. It is about protecting young women and girls from being diagnosed with cervical cancer later in life. No one wants that.

We heard from Alex Cole-Hamilton about transvaginal mesh issues, which have been raised many a time in the Parliament. Many MSPs in the chamber feel passionately about that issue and have driven it forward to get results. However, we have to keep driving it. We cannot stop now, because we need to ensure that anyone who has been impacted by the issue receives the support that they deserve because of what has happened to them.

Moving on to childcare-related issues—

On a point of consensus with Pam Duncan-Glancy, I am sure that my team also wishes that I did not have access to my social media accounts, because I see the abuse that I receive daily, and I have also seen the abuse that many other female MSPs receive daily. However, what we probably need to start doing is collectively calling it out, as that might make the Parliament a far better place than it is now.

I welcome the publication of the first annual statement on gender policy coherence in response to the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. Members have spoken about healthcare, justice, childcare and the equality strategy. I want to dip into each of those topics in the time that I have.

I will start with healthcare, because there are a lot of areas of consensus, particularly in relation to plans around endometriosis and menopause. Any woman who has concerns regarding those issues should be able to be seen—and straight away. It is important that women have access to healthcare for those conditions as soon as possible.

Pam Duncan-Glancy raised an important issue about smear tests for disabled women. Too many of us take for granted being able to go for a smear test. As awkward as that is, disabled women have to add how they might feel about having to check with a GP to see whether they have the accessibility for them to come in and get their smear. That is on top of the worry and stress that naturally come with getting a smear test, which we have all felt at some point in our lives. If the Scottish Government can address that through conversations with GPs, that would be the right way forward to allow more women who have disabilities to access a smear test whenever they are called to receive one.

On the exchange that I had with Alex Cole-Hamilton about cervical cancer, that issue needs to be picked up by the Scottish Government. Children from the poorest areas are less likely to get an anti-cancer jab than those from affluent communities. Public Health Scotland has warned about the uptake in Scotland’s most deprived communities, which is 20 per cent lower than in more affluent areas. The Government needs to address that in the women’s health plan to ensure that, as well as addressing concerns for older women, we address concerns for younger women, get them on the right pathway and ensure that they are vaccinated.

Earlier, I said “PVG vaccine” instead of “HPV vaccine”, so I apologise for that.

On the point of childcare, there are councils across the country that are not allowing eligible two and three-year-olds to access the 1,140 hours of free funded childcare until the beginning of the term after they have turned two or three years old. Does the cabinet secretary realise that that is a problem and that we need to fix it if we are going to encourage women back into work, alongside the childcare policy?

Alex Cole-Hamilton is talking about issues in relation to women’s health, but what about young women’s health? We know that young women, particularly those from poorer areas, are less likely to take up the PVG vaccine for cervical cancer. What does Alex Cole-Hamilton think that we can do to encourage take-up of the vaccine by young women, which is a huge issue right now, because it is life saving?

I have time, so I will.

I have been really generous with interventions during my contribution. However, I recommend that Alex Cole-Hamilton meets the EHRC, because that point might be made clearer for him.

I will get on with what I was going to say, because I am well over time and have taken a lot of interventions on the issue.

It is important for the Government to clarify why we are still stalling. It is clear that we can get on with matters now. With that, Presiding Officer, I close my remarks.

I am not entirely sure whether I have time.

I had a members’ business debate on that exact issue. Wishaw is in my region and I believe passionately that women should have access to neonatal services as close to home as possible. I will always stand up for Lanarkshire mums who want to go to Wishaw to receive that service if they and their babies need it.

I will move on to childcare. I have already gone off on a tangent, as per my usual approach. Childcare was mentioned by a number of MSPs. We have 30 hours of free or funded childcare. The cabinet secretary said that that was the most generous offering in the United Kingdom, but the Scottish Government also promised to roll that out for children who are nine months and older, yet we have not seen any progress on that. It is incumbent on the Government to update Parliament on whether that is still its ambition or whether it is no longer its ambition to have free or funded childcare from nine months onwards. We are talking about getting our economy moving and getting women back into work if they want to do so, so that would be widely welcomed and, I am sure, supported by parties across the chamber.

Justice issues have been raised throughout the debate, but I will not have time to go through all of them. I will move to the equality strategy, about which members raised a lot of issues. We have issues in relation to widening pay gaps, and the misogyny bill has been dropped, which is yet another Scottish Government promise that has not been maintained in this parliamentary session. Some people will feel desperately let down that that bill is not coming to the Scottish Parliament in this session. Sharon Dowey was right that there is a lot of talk but not so much action on inequality issues. That is where improvements need to be made.

Paul O’Kane, Ben Macpherson and others talked about the attitudes of boys and young men and how we can improve outcomes for women by tackling issues such as violence against women and girls.

I will finish on a point that Tess White raised about sex and gender, which is important because we are talking about women and girls and sex-based rights. My point relates to the Supreme Court ruling on single-sex spaces. Last night, the Scottish Government issued a response, which said:

“The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment.”

It went on to say:

“The Scottish Government’s approach is aligned with that of the UK Government and Welsh Government in awaiting the EHRC’s revised statutory code of practice.”

I must say that that is a rather peculiar statement. In a meeting this morning, which my colleague Tess White mentioned, the EHRC was crystal clear that the Scottish Government can get on with it and that it should comply with the law now. We need to find out today why the Government is, in my view, unnecessarily delaying the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling.