Chamber and committees

Will the cabinet secretary update the Parliament on progress on extending concessionary travel to people seeking asylum?

I place on record my condolences to the family and friends of Peter Krykant, who passed away in June. He was a pioneer in starting the first overdose prevention pilot in this country. [Applause.]

I am deeply concerned that, although the minister acknowledges the increased prevalence of new highly potent synthetic substances such as nitazenes, the only action that is proposed in her statement is further discussion between the Scottish Government partners around communications and advice on measures such as take-home naloxone. The drug deaths statistics released on Tuesday noted that the number of deaths from synthetic opioids had tripled, and the chief executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum, Kirsten Horsburgh, has warned that the worst is yet to come. This is an alarming situation that needs urgent and comprehensive action now. Will the minister set out more precisely what she will do to counter the emerging crisis of synthetic opioids in the drug supply chain?

Mr Doris has extolled the benefits of the Maryhill line, which is a fantastic piece of infrastructure that was, of course, extended under the previous Labour Government. However, does he agree that it is badly in need of further upgrading, including electrification and an increase in frequency, so that we have turn-up-and-go frequencies and do not need to rely on timetables?

I am sure that the minister will welcome the fantastic news on Sunday that Scotland—by which I mean Glasgow—has won the biggest shipbuilding export order in this country’s history, with five type 26 frigates going to Norway. However, the frustration is that, as it currently stands, no Scottish steel plate will be able to be supplied to that programme unless we can get Dalzell back up and running. Will the minister give an assurance that he will do all that he can to get it back up and running, so that we can get steel plate from Scotland into those fantastic Scottish frigates?

Is the minister open to the offer that was made by the UK Government to work in collaboration to strengthen public procurement rules, guidance and legislation to ensure that local authorities and the Scottish Government can drive greater value from procurement into local supply chains and that we get better value in the Scottish economy as a result?

Does the member recognise that the polarisation that was driven by the current Prime Minister of Israel was a key element in the collapse of the Oslo accords?

I thank my friend Mr Rowley, a member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region, for presenting this important motion on the terrible state of NHS dentistry in Fife, which I was pleased to sign.

We have heard a series of passionate speeches from across the chamber about patients—our constituents—who have been forced to go private for their care or who cannot access dentistry at all and are left to languish. We know that, increasingly, many of Scotland’s citizens are having to rely on our underresourced public dental service for routine care that, just a few years ago, they would have been able to get routinely from an NHS-registered practice. We see that situation playing out across Scotland, especially in places such as Fife.

NHS dentistry is quickly becoming a thing of the past. The well-off go private while the less well-off fall through the gaps and are left behind. That is against everything that the NHS was set up to achieve.

In Scotland, oral health has too often been treated as a nice thing to have rather than an essential part of preventative healthcare. We choose to celebrate genuine successes in public health such as Childsmile—a programme that was set up under the previous Labour Government in Scotland and has continued under the current Government—while ignoring the fact that more and more of those who call Scotland their home are missing out on essential dental care.

Oral health care is not just about addressing pain when it is experienced or keeping plaque at bay; it is about early detection of many conditions that are critical to whole-body health, such as diabetes. It is also about protecting a person’s ability to consume and enjoy food and retaining jaw structure so that, throughout a person’s life, they can recognise themselves in a mirror—that is actually a public health matter, as it helps to maintain good mental health. Good healthcare is a vital part of a holistic approach to medicine, and it must be available for everyone in regard to dental treatment.

We have heard about a number of rather shocking cases. Mr Rowley described a shocking case concerning his constituent, and it is disgraceful that, when trying to register, she was left in such a situation.

Although the Government has taken measures such as reforming the pay system, which may have had a marginal effect, we are still seeing a clear trajectory towards an exit from NHS dentistry. When dentists leave, there is very little incentive for them to return to NHS dental practice—the business model simply does not make sense, and they are certainly getting plenty of customers, because those who can afford to pay will push their way to the front. It is the people who are left behind who we really need to concern ourselves with.

Members have referred to a number of potential solutions. I do not think that anyone here has a desire to simply comment on failure; we are all eager to find solutions, because we all have a stake in this. Solutions that have been suggested by the profession and members include the mobile dental facilities that Ms Harper proposed for South Scotland—I know that NHS Tayside operates one such facility, and perhaps there is more to be done in that regard.

It might also be worth considering the gap in relation to emergency treatment. We know that NHS remuneration for an emergency item is just £20.80, but the private fee for the same treatment is approximately £130. Bridging the gap in the remuneration for emergency treatment could assist in bringing about a change in behaviour.

Additional preventative measures, such as building on water fluoridation and considering issuing enhanced fluoridated toothpaste to over-50s, could represent an opportunity to improve general public dental health.

We should look at the training pipeline. There are about 150 training posts for dentists every year, but the number that is available for dental therapists is restricted—there are only 40 a year. In concert with our activity in relation to dentists, could we expand the role of dental therapists to increase overall capacity when it comes to routine check-up activity and, potentially, baseline dental treatment, such as fillings? Those are all practical measures that could be delivered.

We must concern ourselves with the glut in the number of available training posts. About 6,000 overseas dentists are waiting for General Dental Council registration; they cannot sit the exam, and some have been waiting for up to four years. The chief dental officer in Scotland was exploring with the royal colleges the idea of setting up a separate route for dental training registration in Scotland, but I do not know whether that has been progressed.

We must act urgently on all those measures because, ultimately, our constituents are suffering as a consequence of the present situation. Let us get on with finding practical solutions to stem the flow.

I welcome the cabinet secretary to her new role. As she observed, Glasgow has a long and proud history of welcoming those in need, including thousands of people who have sought asylum through the Home Office’s dispersal programme since it started in 1999. However, in 2022, the Government removed the local connection rule for homelessness applications, including those that are made by refugees. That measure was taken in good faith to allow homeless people greater autonomy to control their lives, but, however well intentioned, it has inadvertently increased pressure on Glasgow’s homelessness services.

Last year, more than one in 10 homelessness applications came from asylum seekers who had been granted refugee status outside Scotland and who then moved to Glasgow, as a local connection is not required. Glasgow City Council estimates that, this year, almost half of all homelessness cases in the city will involve people who have been granted asylum in other dispersal cities, such as London, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, which will create an overspend of £66 million by next year.

Will the cabinet secretary review the suspension of local connection rules, while retaining exemptions for particularly vulnerable groups such as domestic abuse survivors, given the immediate and urgent housing pressure in Glasgow?

As a former urban planner, my colleague Monica Lennon will understand that the inability to join up rail services, subway services and bus services undermines the efficiency of the operation of the whole system, and she will get that that is part of the problem.

The minister makes a very important point. Relatively speaking, the private car has taken a significant share of the overall movement of people around the city region. However, on the point about social justice, it is important to note that Glasgow remains the city with the lowest level of car ownership in the UK, as only 41 per cent of Glaswegians own a car. The situation accentuates the social injustice across Glasgow. All the concessionary travel schemes that have been introduced are not much use if the bus service does not actually function. That is why we need to address the issue.

Members across the chamber have relayed the umpteen services that have been curtailed, reduced or cut altogether across the city; that has certainly been the case for many services in my time representing Glasgow. The number 65 bus through the Calton out to Cambuslang is only the latest example of those cuts.

It is debasing for a democratically elected parliamentarian to go and beg a private company to sustain a public service. That is not good enough. We need public accountability, which starts with control of the farebox through our franchise system. That would also address the fact that Glasgow’s bus fares are the most expensive of any British city. A single ticket is now £2.85, compared with £2 on Edinburgh’s publicly owned Lothian Buses and £1.75 on Transport for London services. It is simply not fair that Glaswegians are subject to this private rent and private profit extraction, when that money could be reinvested in subsidies for loss-making routes and could help to sustain coherence across the network. We do not even know which routes make money and which routes lose money. We cannot plan coherently.

On the wall of my office, I have a map of Glasgow’s bus and tram services in 1938. We knew what they were and we knew where they were and how they performed. There were night buses, night trams and late-night subway services. The subway ran on a Sunday and we had a fully integrated transport system. I do not know how we let that unravel. I urge the minister to hear the pleas from the people who represent our great city of Glasgow to fix our transport system and let Glasgow flourish once again.