Chamber and committees

So the message could be that the recruitment of those 250 link workers should be sped up.

I have a general question for the panel. The pandemic has exacerbated systemic health inequalities. In your areas, have each of you identified one example of good practice, even if it is a small example, that could be applied more widely across Scotland? I will start with Richard Meade.

The Scottish Government has a target to have 250 link workers in surgeries. Toni, do you think that having link workers in surgeries would help people who come out of prison to integrate in the community when they need healthcare?

Sorry, that is a bigger issue. Is there one, tiny, small example of best practice that you have identified that could be applied more widely?

Richard, can you talk about link workers in surgeries?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted yes.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted yes.

We all agree, I think, that the additions to the inquiry’s scope that were announced today are welcome.

The Law Society of Scotland suggested that consideration should also be given to Covid-19 in prisons and legal custody, in order to learn lessons for the future. Will the Deputy First Minister indicate whether that, along with the early release of prisoners as a result of the pandemic, will fall within the remit of the inquiry?

I agree. The way in which processes were conducted by the committees and the minister has been a model. I thank Martin Whitfield for that and for his thanks for my contribution at committee.

Scottish electoral law has been amended quite recently with the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020, which extended the franchise to prisoners with sentences of less than 12 months—a move that I and my party opposed.

The Scottish National Party-Green Government has signalled in the shared policy programme that it again intends to consult on a wider expansion of candidacy rights, alongside other electoral reform proposals. The Scottish Conservatives will carefully consider any future proposals.

During the stage 1 debate, the minister was receptive to ideas that members might have in relation to electoral reform in Scotland. I hope that that spirit of co-operation will continue as the Scottish Parliament looks again at electoral reform in the coming months.

It is not often that the chamber is in agreement, especially when a bill has been introduced at an expedited pace. I am pleased to say that there is consensus today in support of the bill and that there are no changes at the amending stages. That means that there is less to say in our speeches, but I will persevere, albeit less colourfully than my colleague Stephen Kerr.

The legislation completes its parliamentary passage after the local elections in May, when we were reminded of the importance of local democracy and of what an immense privilege it is to represent communities across Scotland.

The bill is required because the UK Government has agreed four treaties with Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain for reciprocal voting and candidacy arrangements in local government elections. Although Scotland’s law on voting rights already complies with the treaties, further legislation is needed to comply on candidacy rights. As such, the bill is necessary and welcome. The Scottish Conservatives would, of course, welcome similar agreements that the UK Government makes with other countries, as we have said.

I note from the policy memorandum that it would have been possible for the bill to go further, for example by extending candidacy rights to all foreign nationals with limited leave to remain. However, the decision was taken to limit the bill’s scope. Given the expedited timeframe of the bill to allow ratification of the treaties with Poland and Spain, that was the right decision.

One point that emerged during the scrutiny of the bill by both the DPLR Committee and the SPPA Committee was in relation to Scottish ministers’ functions when a candidacy rights treaty ceases to apply. Specifically, there was some debate as to whether the Scottish ministers should have a power or a duty to remove a country from schedule 6A in the event of a suspension of treaty rights. That was largely because it is difficult to anticipate the intentions of future Governments and, as parliamentarians, we must be mindful of future-proofing legislation when we can. I understand that, after consulting counterparts in the UK Government, the verdict was that it would be preferable to maintain consistency between the Scottish and the UK bill provisions.

As always, the devil is in the detail, and I am grateful to both committees for their commitment to scrutiny when legislative timelines are very tight. That is how it should be.

The findings of the Royal College of Nursing’s last-shift survey are shocking. Almost 70 per cent of staff in Scotland felt that safe and effective patient care was compromised on their last shift, due to insufficient staffing levels. That is significantly higher than the number anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

We have asked this question before without getting a clear answer, so let me try again. When will the Scottish Government provide a timeline for implementing the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, which was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament three years ago?