Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to the Forth Bike scheme and its partners, in the light of the scheme ceasing to operate. (S6O-02349)

I had not planned to speak in the debate, but I would like to offer some brief reflections on some of the issues that Mark Ruskell raised in his speech, and off the back of what Jeremy Balfour has just said about accessibility.

Buses themselves absolutely have to be accessible to wheelchair users and those with limited mobility, as well as to people with buggies and prams. Crucially, those two sets of users must not be put in competition with each other, as is often the case at the moment. Buses must also be accessible to people with a wider range of impairments.

I am the convener of the cross-party group on stroke, where we have heard regularly about people with aphasia often being challenged when sitting in accessible seats on buses. Much of this is about changing public attitudes to hidden disabilities, but practical things could also be done to provide support.

People with aphasia and other verbal communication issues often have an issue with communicating to a bus driver where they want to go and then trying to get the correct fare, and often it is even more difficult when there is a queue of people behind who are impatient to get on. Audio and visual stop announcements make it easier for everyone to know where they are going, and I am always struck by the difference between operators in my Central Scotland region and those here in Lothian. For refugees and others coming to Scotland, such adaptations are useful in allowing them to access their areas.

Being able to get to the bus is, as Jeremy Balfour has just said, a real issue, too. Since the closure of the bus station in Falkirk, many buses terminate in the town centre. Although the street that the buses are on is accessible, relatively flat and well maintained, the surrounding streets are quite steep. As Graham Simpson said earlier, if we cannot get to the bus, we cannot use it.

Expanding the bus network is not just a transport issue; we need to look at it on a cross-portfolio basis. It is a local planning issue, too, because we continue to build estates where there is no connectivity and a reliance on cars. If people have to walk to the edge of the estate in which they live and then further for the bus, and then have to sit on the bus while it goes all around the houses, they are not going to be enticed out of their cars.

That is just local travel. It would take hours and probably require a transit via Glasgow city centre to get from the side of the region where I live to where Graham Simpson lives. We also need better links with other forms of public transport.

Absolutely—and that is in a region called Central Scotland. Out in the South of Scotland or more rural parts, as Christine Grahame has said, the problem gets even more magnified, with only single services available to get places. The same is certainly true across many bits of Central Scotland, too.

I raise those examples because they are in relatively urban areas. Linking with other forms of public transport and active travel is really important, too. For example, going from Grangemouth in my region to Polmont train station is either a 10-minute drive on a bad day or a mile-and-a-half walk. However, those who want to travel on a bus have to get one from Grangemouth into central Falkirk, then have to go back out via Redding in order to get back to nearer Polmont train station—all for a mile of difference. Small changes to such links can lead to big changes to public behaviour patterns and we need that level of detail if we are to see buses as a real alternative.

I thank my colleague Mark Russell again for bringing this debate to the chamber and I look forward to working with members across the chamber more on the issue.

Good morning. In last week’s evidence session, we heard from the State Hospitals Board for Scotland about its use of induction and peer support in recruitment. Its representatives said that there has been a focus on development of a peer support network throughout the organisation, that a number of its staff are now trained as peer-support workers, and that that has proved to be successful. I am interested to know whether similar schemes are being developed in your boards. If so, how successful have they been and, if not, are you planning to bring in something similar? Carol Potter is nodding, so I go to her first.

That is great.

Absolutely. As someone who, like yourself, found rugby because it is easier to stop things than it is to run quickly, I am interested in how we include people with hidden disabilities who might not end up qualifying for the disability sport side of things and instead end up in more mainstream sporting activities. Speaking as someone who has misjudged how quickly an opponent was coming at me and missed several tackles due to my hidden disability, I think that this is about how we make those environments welcoming and change some of that culture.

You have mentioned PE, and we also need to tackle the issue of children with hidden disabilities being ridiculed, say, for how many times they miss catching a ball. What work is the Government undertaking to improve the visibility of disabled people in sport, including those with hidden disabilities?

Caroline Hiscox has pre-empted my next question, which is about an assessment of sickness rates across the workforce. I wonder whether the other two boards can comment on their sickness rates.

Also, what action is being taken to support people to return to work? There is a lot of focus on reducing vacancy rates and I am concerned about the pressure that that puts on staff who feel that they have to come back. There is always a willingness among staff across the NHS to come back so that they do not feel that they are passing pressure on to other colleagues, knowing what they have been through in the past few years. You have all mentioned counselling and mental health support. Often in organisations the counselling that is offered is quite short term. Is it limited in your boards, or do you have a longer-term approach?

How do we ensure that an intersectional approach is taken to improving participation in sport and physical activity, including the participation of people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community and other marginalised and underrepresented groups?

I will come back on that briefly, convener—

That is great, thank you.