Chamber and committees

It is sometimes difficult to achieve a shift to preventative spend when there is acute need in the system. I am pleased that a consultation on a public health supplement, which my party has long backed, has been proposed through the budget. Do you believe that such a measure could help to drive preventative spend?

Good morning, cabinet secretary. Preventative spend is often difficult to track and quantify, particularly once it goes into health board budgets, and the health benefits often take a long time to show up in population health data. How does the Scottish Government track and evaluate preventative spend? Do you believe that the data needs to be improved if we are to further target preventative spend?

The cabinet secretary and I have had many conversations about vaping and its impact on health. Given how quickly novel products can affect health, what impact are they having on preventative spend budgets? Is the way in which we allocate those budgets flexible enough to adapt if those products are having an in-year impact on health?

I thank Collette Stevenson for securing this debate on the relocation of the FCDO office out of East Kilbride. The decision, which was made abruptly by the UK Government, will have far-reaching consequences for FCDO workers, their families and, as we have already heard, the wider community in East Kilbride.

Abercrombie house employs upwards of 1,000 staff members and is estimated to generate £30 million for the local economy. I do not think that we can overstate its contribution to the social and economic fabric of the town. The decision, which was made with no prior consultation, is deeply concerning, and the dedicated workers at Abercrombie house have been instrumental to the constituency. The relocation will not only impact the hard-working staff but create a massive shortfall for local services and stores in the business community, triggering a chain reaction that will adversely affect East Kilbride as a whole.

East Kilbride was once touted as an example of where there had been UK Government investment outside large cities. The decision starkly contradicts the commitments that were made by the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as recently as 2021.

The reasoning that has been provided for the move is weak and ill founded. Mr Simpson said that there would be no job losses in the FCDO. However, that misses the key point, which is that jobs are being lost in East Kilbride. The decision is not about a mere bureaucratic shift for those who work at Abercrombie house. People’s livelihoods are neither expendable nor easily transferable. The relocation of the office will force workers to deal with the choice between working further from home, changing their job or, in the most extreme circumstances, potentially having to give up their job. Not all workers have access to a car, and workers moving to and from where they live by car or train represents another cost to them during a cost of living crisis. There can potentially be extra childcare costs and longer travel, and therefore longer working days.

Those who work flexibly due to caring responsibilities, disability or other personal circumstances now have a real dilemma. Shifting the jobs outside East Kilbride unfairly burdens workers, and it is disrespectful to assume that those dedicated workers can seamlessly transition to an office in Glasgow. A worker who wishes to remain anonymous has been quoted as saying:

“It’s going to take 40 minutes each way into town and back which adds to your working day—there will be childcare costs involved in that, there will be train and bus fares. Although FCDO say they will cover them for three years that’s not good enough, nobody wants to move.”

Levelling up has been touted as a pivotal element of the UK Government’s pledge to reduce regional disparities and promote local economies. The closure of the FCDO office in East Kilbride directly contradicts those commitments. It sends an alarming message about the UK Government’s dedication to regional development, and it calls into question the promises that it has made to Scotland until very recently. The same UK Government that claimed to be investing more than £2.4 billion in Scotland to empower local communities, drive innovation and enhance economic opportunities is now undermining its own commitment to addressing geographic inequalities. Moving valuable jobs away from communities, particularly at the expense of the people of East Kilbride, contradicts the very principles that the UK Government says that it supports. It raises questions about the sincerity of its efforts to promote opportunities in all regions.

As recently as 2021, the UK Government made a commitment to send an additional 500 workers to the facility. Now we have another decision instead. We should join together to strongly advocate the preservation of the jobs and expertise of, and the valuable contributions made by, the workers at Abercrombie house.

I reiterate my disappointment about and frustration with the UK Government’s abrupt decision to relocate the FCDO office out of East Kilbride. The repercussions are keenly felt in the community, and they cast doubts on the UK Government’s commitments to levelling up. I urge the UK Government to reconsider and reverse that ill-advised decision, and I emphasise the need for a renewed commitment to the workers of Abercrombie house and East Kilbride.

Who makes the decision on where those clubs come into that structure?

Good morning. What benefits could be realised in remote and rural areas from having improved sharing of information technology systems such as electronic prescribing, single patient records and more joined-up access to patient information?

Do colleagues online have any thoughts?

I put the same question to Julie Mosgrove.

Project Brave was implemented around six years ago, refreshing a previous strategy. Does the SFA plan to undertake an evaluation of the successes, failures and perceptions of project brave?

Given the amount that supporters spend on tickets and on going to matches and so on, should their wants and their convenience in relation to scheduling of matches not be given priority over broadcaster demands? People have had issues with getting to and from matches because of matches being changed due to broadcaster demands.