Chamber and committees

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin launched his brutal, all-out invasion of Ukraine, which was the worst escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war since it began, in 2014, Scotland rightly stood in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Scots opened their doors in droves and welcomed displaced Ukrainians into their own homes. It is a testament to the generosity and warmth of Scots that, as of October this year, 25,701 displaced people had arrived in the UK with a Scottish sponsor.

Many Ukrainian refugees were housed on ferries or cruise ships such as the MS Ambition, which was berthed at the King George V dock in Glasgow, or in hotel rooms up and down the country. As the war continues and emergency measures shift to longer-term thinking about how we supply safe and appropriate accommodation, it is right that we think about how we best settle and integrate Ukrainians in Scotland, keeping a keen eye on reducing homelessness, because Ukrainians are “four times more likely” than the rest of the population to find themselves homeless.

As my colleague Paul O’Kane intimated, we rely on the briefing by the Red Cross for that information. If the cabinet secretary were to furnish us with equivalent Scotland-specific data in due course, so that we could have clarity on the relative position here, that would be welcome.

It is a shame that the Ukrainian resettlement team in Glasgow, where we have the highest number of Ukrainians settled, is winding down its operations when its work is, arguably, more important than ever. In a move that the GMB trade union has called “misguided”, the resettlement team has been told that, from 15 January, it will merge with the general asylum and refugee team. The resettlement team in Glasgow is working on the specific circumstances of Ukrainians to ensure a smooth transition from hotel accommodation. Critically, the team is dealing with a variety of complex pastoral issues that often come with the trauma of war. Part of the plan surely has to be properly funded asylum and refugee services, and the cuts to provision in Glasgow will significantly harm the efforts to resettle and integrate Ukrainians in the city.

Glasgow recently became the second city in Scotland to declare a housing emergency. With years of chronic underfunding in social housing supply, it is imperative that the declaration of a housing emergency by Glasgow leads to a swift house building plan. Therefore, it was disappointing to hear just a few minutes ago, in the budget statement, that the Government has announced, in effect, a 32 per cent cut in cash terms to the capital funding of housing over the past two years. That has been compounded by a 15 per cent rise in construction costs in 2022 and a 25 per cent rise in costs in 2021. That is a severe and significant erosion of purchasing power for housing supply in this country, which is completely unacceptable. When set against, for example, the £100 million contract for cruise ship hire, it highlights a lack of long-term planning and financial management to allow for the best effect and best utilisation of public funds to achieve the best outcomes for the people we are trying to help.

I was particularly alarmed by the plan for Balmore Road in Glasgow’s Possilpark district, where 1930s tenement homes that were originally destined for demolition, with the sitting tenants transferred to other housing stock, were suddenly saved and funds became available to renovate them to provide housing for Ukrainian refugees.

I thank the member for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane for lodging the motion and bringing this incredibly important debate to the Parliament. I particularly compliment Mr Greene, one of the Conservative members for West Scotland, for his moving speech, and I pay particular tribute to those from Fighting With Pride who are present in the gallery.

Although the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK began in 1967 and was extended to Scotland in 1980, those in the armed forces had to wait far longer to be treated as equals, and the so-called gay ban was not lifted until many years later, in January 2000. In the years between decriminalisation and the lifting of the ban on LGBT+ personnel serving in the armed forces, thousands of servicemen and servicewomen were dishonourably discharged. In many cases, that destroyed their lives, and it gave rise to a culture that enabled bullying, homophobic abuse, sexual assault and conversion therapy to run rampant across the forces.

LGBT+ servicemen and servicewomen had their medals and honours stripped from them when they were wrongfully dismissed from service. It was therefore right that, in 2021, it was announced that LGBT+ veterans would be able to claim their medals back. Although the onus is on the individual to make that administrative process happen, restoring honours and medals to those who served this country with distinction is a move in the right direction.

We can take some degree of solace in the progress that has been made, perhaps most symbolically by the current governor of Edinburgh castle, Major General Alastair Bruce, who, like Keith Brown, is a Falklands war veteran. He served in the Scots Guards and, in July 2021, became the highest ranking officer in the British Army to have a same-sex wedding, when he married his partner of 20 years. It was sad to listen to his testimony about how he had to conceal who he was and change his lifestyle for many years because of the culture in the forces and about how insidious that became. I nonetheless congratulate him on living as his true self by getting married in full dress uniform, and I further congratulate him on his recent appointment as honorary colonel of the 52nd Lowland and sixth battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, my former unit. I am sure that he will be a fantastic honorary colonel.

Lord Etherton’s review, which was published in July this year, is a welcome step forward in realising the experiences of many LGBT+ veterans. The subsequent apology from the Prime Minister for what he described as the “appalling failure” of the British state was also a welcome intervention, but much more must be done to right the wrongs of the past.

Before the ban was lifted, LGBT+ members of the armed forces were dismissed from service with no income or pension and, in some cases, no roof over their head, as was so harrowingly described by Mr Greene. More than 1,000 submissions were made in response to Lord Etherton’s call for evidence, including 301 from veterans who had been dismissed or discharged due to their sexuality, 297 from veterans who felt compelled to end their service because of the ban and 38 from family members and friends of personnel, some of whom had taken their own lives as a result of the discrimination that they faced.

Some of the testimony is truly shocking. Here is one example:

“When serving in the MOD I was unable to declare my sexuality. My partner at the time (now my wife) was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. I was unable to speak to anyone about it at a very stressful time for fear of recriminations. My boss at the time was particularly vindictive and probably knew about my sexuality. He deliberately blocked my selection for a post graduate master degree already approved.”

Another response said:

“Military police would often wait outside known gay venues and follow those who looked like sailors back to the dockyard. Raids would often follow the next day. Even joking around in the mess and calling someone a poof would result in an investigation by military police involving locker searches.”

Another commented:

“The hatred for homosexuality was institutionalised. I joined at 17 and a half not fully aware of my own sexuality but you quickly learn to conceal it or face bullying and harassment or worse physical abuse especially for any male members which was almost normalised and encouraged from senior officers.”

Although, rightly, we are having this debate in the Scottish Parliament, it was disappointing to learn that the British Government was reluctant to have a debate in Government time in the House of Commons, as this is an important issue that MPs should also debate. However, I am pleased that it has been reported tonight that that is being reviewed by the UK Government and that its position will change, because key recommendations in the Etherton report need to be challenged, such as the £50 million cap on the funds that will be allocated to compensate wrongfully dismissed veterans.

LGBT+ servicemen and servicewomen were treated abhorrently before the ban was lifted in 2000. It is absolutely right that we look at ways to right the wrongs of the past, by returning honours to servicemen and servicewomen and by recognising the important and continuing role of LGBT+ people in our armed forces. Fighting With Pride, which was established on the 20th anniversary of the lifting of the ban and which, as the member for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane so eloquently expressed, continues to advocate for LGBT+ veterans and their families, is pushing for those who were wrongfully dismissed or mistreated to get the recognition and recompense—the reparations—that they truly deserve.

The Conservative UK Government sank to an all-new low when it unveiled the newest iteration of its asylum policy, which is devoid of humanity and empathy for people who have fled persecution and war.

Today’s tragic news from the Bibby Stockholm underscores that heartbreaking situation. A person who had come to the UK in search of sanctuary has died in a place that was designed to demonstrate our cruelty and hostility to people such as him. We had every means to help him, but we chose not to. It should be a mark of shame on us all.

The details of the case are not yet clear, but the rate of suicide and self-harm among people seeking asylum has soared in recent years. A system that is designed to strip people of all hope and humanity is beneath us and creates huge risks to life. It is shameful that, instead of welcoming people who seek asylum, the UK Government wants to ship them off to Rwanda, ignoring human rights concerns, and is intent on making things as difficult as possible.

The asylum system that is presided over by the Home Office is woefully inadequate. Processing takes an excruciating amount of time, and asylum seekers are prohibited from getting a job, even though their skills and expertise would be welcomed in the labour market in the UK. As the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s report claims, local authorities and the Scottish Government have it within their grasp to ease the pain of people who seek asylum and to do more to address the issues in Scotland.

I welcome the committee’s recommendation that the Government should extend the concessionary bus travel scheme to people seeking asylum, which the Government has adopted. Alongside the Voices Network and the Maryhill Integration Network, I campaigned with cross-party colleagues for around two years on the proposals. It was powerful to have support from my colleagues across the Parliament set out in the report at an important juncture in the campaign. I thank in particular my colleagues Ms Stewart, the member for Glasgow Kelvin, and Mr O’Kane, a member for West Scotland, for their advocacy on the matter in the committee.

As I mentioned, asylum seekers are unable to work and are forced to live on just £6 a day. Indeed, it is as little as £1.36 for those who are put up in hotel accommodation. In my region of Glasgow, an all-day bus ticket can cost in excess of £5, which means that asylum seekers must choose between eating or travelling to their various legal and medical appointments. Extending free bus travel to people seeking asylum will ease the burden of making such difficult decisions, and I am glad that, after a long campaign, the Scottish Government has seen the potential in that practical intervention to improve people’s lives. I look forward to the funding commitment being set out more fully when the Deputy First Minister presents the budget to Parliament next week, and to hearing more details about how the scheme will be delivered in the coming months.

The committee’s report also raises the issue of asylum seeker and refugee mental health. People who have fled horrendous situations and have gone through terrible ordeals will, of course, be at heightened risk of experiencing depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. As the report suggests, in addition to what we do already, efforts should be made to make it easier for those people to access mental health services in Scotland.

The British Red Cross, in its report “Far from a home: why asylum accommodation needs reform”, highlights that asylum seekers who are housed in hotels “do not feel safe”. It says that many spend extended periods in rooms that often have no windows, which can trigger trauma from the experiences that they have fled. Again, that has negative impacts on their mental health and wellbeing. There should be greater effort to educate people who are seeking asylum on how to access mental health services. Indeed, the issue goes beyond mental health. We must ensure that more is done to educate asylum seekers on their rights to healthcare and especially how to sign up to a GP practice.

Housing for asylum seekers is inadequate. The privatised Home Office accommodation contracts do not supply enough housing, and the likes of barges and military barracks have had to be used to house asylum seekers for extended periods, which is unacceptable. The blame for the poor housing and accommodation situation lies firmly at the door of those horrific and cynical Home Office contracts. However, the Scottish Housing Regulator could be better used to monitor and raise the standard of accommodation that is provided for people seeking asylum across Scotland.

The report from the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee is welcome. It shows that, although the Conservative UK Government is managing the asylum system poorly and cruelly and is intent on making it even more inhumane, the Scottish Government and local authorities in Scotland have it within their power to make practical changes to improve people’s lives today. That is a moral obligation that we cannot deny. The report shows that the usual excuses of a lack of power under the devolved settlement are insufficient. The committee sets out exactly what can be done now to help asylum seekers in Scotland. The Scottish Government can and must introduce a comprehensive plan so that people seeking asylum can access the housing, education and healthcare that they need. There is an obligation on everyone in the chamber to see that that happens.

Has the minister any knowledge of the composition of the working group?

Talking about aspirations and money might be a fine thing, but research from the Mental Health Foundation found that

“64% of college students in Scotland had low mental wellbeing”.

Despite that, the Government has moved the goalposts on its student mental health plan time and time again.

The working group last met in December, and the plan was to be published in the spring. It was, however, still being developed in May. It was delayed again in June, and it was then to be published at some point after the mental health strategy delivery plans, but there is still no sign of it.

Does the Scottish Government still plan to deliver a student mental health plan? If so, when?

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support student mental health and wellbeing. (S6O-02851)

The Dick Stewart Service is a tremendous organisation in Dennistoun that provides a halfway place between prison and general society for men who are due to be released from prisons across the central belt. It is a key tool in stopping the reoffending cycle. Similarly, Turning Point Scotland 218 on Bath Street in Glasgow provides an equally essential service that supports female offenders with complex needs. However, funding cuts mean that both of those services are now likely to be closed. Surely the minister agrees that that is a false economy. What is she doing to help to sustain those services?

Although the act is a product of the UK Tory Government, it will have an impact on areas devolved to Scotland, including child protection and protection against human trafficking. I understand that the Scottish Government worked with stakeholders over the summer on a plan to mitigate those impacts, as the minister mentioned. Will she confirm what steps the Scottish Government will take to strengthen human trafficking and child protection measures in addition to the high-level strategies that she already outlined, and will she set out a clear timeline for the specific interventions that are urgently required?

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to mitigate any impact of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on the provision of support for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people living in Scotland. (S6O-02814)