Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that nursing staff at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital are routinely left in charge of up to 30 patients and are forced to conduct 5 am bed washes due to staff shortages. (S6T-00975)

I appreciate that, prior to the press reports, the cabinet secretary might have been unaware of the practice, but I urge him to investigate the matter further, and I welcome his offer to meet me and, potentially, the whistleblower, should they be interested in having such a meeting.

Since the publication of that story in The Sunday Times, current and former NHS staff have contacted me to say that the practice has been going on for years and is not exclusive to the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. The reality is that

“Nurse staffing levels across Scotland’s health and social care services are dangerously low and patient care is suffering as a result.”

Those are not my words; they are the words of the director of the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, Colin Poolman.

As well as acknowledging that the issue requires immediate investigation, will the cabinet secretary accept with some humility the fact that it is the decisions that his Government has taken over the past 14 years in which it has been in power that have resulted in staff being demoralised and overstretched to the point of taking industrial action, and which have left us with a system in our health service in which staffing levels are so low that staff are being forced to conduct such inhumane practices, despite the fact that it risks impeding patients’ recovery?

Remembrance week is a sober period of reflection for many in our country, and it is important for all of us to come together and show solidarity. In that spirit, I was pleased to sign the Government’s motion in support of what it intends to achieve on behalf of all of us for the service of those who have given so much for all of us.

I have served in the Army reserve for 12 years, and I know at first hand the sacrifices that members of our armed forces make. We owe a great debt of gratitude to them. I am proud to wear my regimental tie today—I see that Edward Mountain is wearing his—and I will do so on Sunday, too, when I gather with friends at the cenotaph in George Square in Glasgow to remember our colleagues who have suffered life-changing injuries, and, in my case, one of my best friends, who was killed in Helmand province 10 years ago this coming April.

That is a moment for us not only to reflect on a lacerating sense of pain at a life that was lost too soon, but to get together to have a few pints and a laugh. For many people—in particular, for those who have served—remembrance day is not just about solemn remembrance, but is about catching up with old friends. We often talk about how old pals are getting on and, over the past few years, it has been an eye-opening experience to see the difficulties that many are going through, which they often cannot make clear to their comrades and about which they are reluctant to seek help. There is a culture, particularly in the Army, of not talking about such things.

It is a vocation that not many can relate to, these days—one that requires them to sacrifice spending time with family and friends, and isolates them from everyday civilian life. However, despite that personal sacrifice, they are often not supported properly when they return from tours of duty overseas or leave the armed forces entirely—often, angry and frustrated.

Such individuals are more susceptible than the rest of the population to mental health difficulties, drug and alcohol related problems and, in many instances, homelessness; yet, even though we know that to be the case, the support is still not there to alleviate those issues. That pressure has become only more acute among my own generation, after more than two decades of intense conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, in which more than 100,000 people from our country served in operations Telic and Herrick.

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and now the cost of living crisis are having a significant impact on many veterans, who are already vulnerable and struggling. The Scottish Government must do all that it can to improve the targeted support that they need.

The mental health charity Combat Stress has seen a much higher contact rate from veterans seeking help than in previous years. Such mental health issues often lead to a reliance and dependency on alcohol and, to a lesser extent, drugs. The Forces in Mind Trust has detailed the impact that alcohol and drug abuse can have on veterans and their families. Its research suggests that alcohol misuse is the primary substance misuse problem for veterans, with many developing a reliance during their service.

We know that drug misuse is also prevalent in the armed forces more generally. Data from the Ministry of Defence shows that, in 2019, 660 Army personnel were dismissed from their duties after failing a drugs test. That is the equivalent of an entire infantry battalion. Again, we need to ask ourselves why that is happening and how we can create a system in which service personnel do not feel the need to turn to alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism or a way of fitting in.

We may also want to reflect on the fact that that issue is increasingly prevalent in wider society—the Army and the armed forces in general will reflect that—and on whether we need to keep that zero-tolerance policy in which, in effect, we destroy someone’s career over it. Could there be a more intelligent way to help people, rather than simply casting them out? Under the current policy, personnel who misuse substances are removed from the services, by disciplinary or administrative means, following a single offence. That seems an unnecessarily destructive and blunt instrument.

Housing is another persistent problem. Positive progress has been made, but too many people still leave the armed forces and become homeless. The most recent figures, for the year to April 2022, show a 24 percent increase, from 33 to 41 people, registering as homeless after leaving armed forces accommodation. Poppyscotland has suggested that a veterans housing action group would help to reduce those figures, and it is to be hoped that its recommendations will be incorporated into Government policy.

Labour supports the establishment of clear statutory targets to underpin the delivery of the armed forces covenant. We also support the implementation of all the recommendations of Poppyscotland’s manifesto. It is the Parliament’s official charity. We want to strengthen that engagement, implement the veterans’ housing pathway, and target provision aimed at ensuring that the most vulnerable service personnel and veterans experience a good transition. Poppyscotland’s recommendations from the most recent election campaign remain valid.

Although the cabinet secretary has made constructive and helpful points, it would be helpful if he would address specifically in his closing speech those actions that he is taking to meet each of Poppyscotland’s recommendations—in particular, commissioning and acting on an independent review of existing targeted provision, aimed at ensuring that the most vulnerable serving personnel and veterans experience that good transition; fully exempting military compensation from financial assessments for social security benefits; and addressing how the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland can work with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence to collect better data on veterans and ensure that that is shared, where appropriate, in order to simplify the process for injured veterans who apply for or receive benefits under the new system.

I assure the cabinet secretary and the Government that they will have this party’s full support on any measures that will improve the lives of our ex-servicemen and women. However, as I have highlighted, we as a country still need to do much more in many areas to help them live fulfilling civilian lives.

The Deputy First Minister has mentioned his engagement with the UK Government, but I was disappointed to learn recently that there has been minimal engagement from Scottish ministers on the development and refresh of the UK national shipbuilding strategy. Will the Deputy First Minister please commit to having the Scottish Government engage fully with that strategy, given that we are the second biggest purchaser of vessels in the public sector, after the Ministry of Defence? We need to get this right, because when vessels are awarded to Turkey, it is a failure for the Scottish industry.

I note the Deputy First Minister’s comments regarding the potential impact of the imminent UK fiscal statement on our devolved tax policies and his intention to wait until we hear that statement before considering further discussion on tax, but I wish to push him ever so slightly on this point. There are a number of underutilised devolved tax options that we should be fully considering, which could generate revenue to invest in the areas that have been outlined today, which are stretched so thin. Will the Deputy First Minister commit in principle to a comprehensive review of devolved tax policy within the gift of the Scottish Parliament, following the UK Government’s fiscal statement?

Will the member take an intervention?

I must say that that is a disappointing response from the Government. Investment in SEC expansion is critical for Glasgow’s economy, as campus activity seeds footfall in local hospitality venues, increases taxi and transport demand and supports businesses across the region. I previously asked the cabinet secretary whether the Government would support that capital financing, but he indicated that the discussion with the SEC management had been paused.

This is a time for progressing and not pausing investment, lest we see further decline in Glasgow’s economy—most recently, it has been marked by the failure to secure the Eurovision contest. Will the cabinet secretary and minister therefore reconsider their decision to pause the discussions, in the interests of stimulating Glasgow’s economy, ensuring that we get economic growth and securing the international competitiveness of the SEC for conferences and major events?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any discussions it has had with the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow regarding capital investment in the facility. (S6O-01451)

As others have said and as we all know, we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis that affects us all. People and families who would ordinarily class themselves as comfortable or getting by face economic hardship for the first time. In eight out of the 14 years since 2009, real-terms wages have fallen in this country, and next year will almost certainly join that list. That represents an unprecedented long-term decline in living standards. The crisis is now of an equivalent scale to the Covid pandemic and we need a response that is similar to, if not greater than, the response that we saw to that.

Of course, the problems are not helped by the on-going drama at Westminster as the Tory party implodes daily, damaging the economy and the finances of families across the country as it goes.

The impact of bad policy over a decade has been compounded in recent months. The pound is now at its lowest value against the dollar since its exchange rate was freely floated in 1971; the costs of the mortgage deals that we are tied into are increasing due to a Tory incompetence premium; and the certainty that the two-year energy price guarantee once provided has been eroded as the policy was reduced to just six months, because of Tory indecision and incompetence.

That indecision and incompetence was on show again this morning as the delayed fiscal statement, which was due on the 31st of this month, was delayed once again until 17 November. What do the Tories not understand about the impact of their indecision on financial markets and the knock-on impact on people’s household finances? Why do they not realise that it is not some parlour game for millionaires? When will they realise that more of the same austerity economics simply does not work?

The richest man ever to sit in the House of Commons has been crowned as Prime Minister. No one apart from Tory MPs voted for him. He has no mandate and, right now, he has no plan. I find it utterly absurd that the Tories believe that someone with such vast personal wealth—whose family uses non-domiciled tax status and who does not know how to pay for his petrol—could identify or sympathise with the challenges that face working families across the country.

The answer is not more of the same. The answer is that we need a change—the kind of change that comes only with a general election and the election of a progressive Labour Government that has compassion and a clear understanding of what is needed to restore our national prosperity. I accept that we are unlikely to see that soon. After all, we all know that turkeys do not vote for an early Christmas. It is for that exact reason that we need to see more action from the Scottish Government.

I accept that there is an uncertain financial position, that the economic situation that faces Scotland is far from perfect and that the uncertainty and Tory dysfunction mean that the Scottish Government’s job is made ever harder. However, none of that is an excuse for failing to do more to help Scots today. In this Parliament, we can take tangible measures that will improve people’s lives, particularly around targeting support to those who are most in need and addressing our underlying inability to defend against the inflationary effects in our economy that are due to our historically poor productivity.

Indeed, the decline in our trading competitiveness represents a hit to real incomes. Raising real incomes to offset that requires a productivity increase. It is as simple as that, and that is much more important than growth. Raising nominal incomes without productivity improvements will simply fuel more inflation. Sarah Boyack made the important point that investment and efficiency are key to the solution. We must stop the vicious cycle of disinvestment that arises by justifying cuts, which simply lead to economic stagnation and falling living standards. The Government has done that for a decade and it has not worked.

The Labour motion sets out some potential solutions, and I urge the Government to see the proposals for what they are—constructive ways to improve people’s lives and ensure that families can make it through the winter and that no one is left behind. We are in unprecedented times and they require unprecedented action and a sense of urgency. Fundamentally, we need to put fairness at the heart of our response. I have absolutely no faith that the Tories are capable of such fairness, and history proves that they are not. That is why, for the good of our country, we need a general election now.

Last week, Pladis ceased production at the McVitie’s factory in Tollcross, ending 205 years of biscuit making in Glasgow and terminating the connection of an iconic Scottish brand with our country. Workers faced the humiliation of having to walk out of their last shifts while the state-of-the-art machinery that they worked on was dismantled around them, to be shipped to factories in England. Some of that machinery was funded by almost £1 million in Scottish Enterprise grants. Has the Government raised concerns with Pladis’s management about its blatant asset stripping of the Glasgow factory, and what steps is it taking to secure the factory and its assets for future manufacturing use?