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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 18 July 2025
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Displaying 1388 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Tess White

Good. Thank you. My second question relates to the capital investment budget. In recent years, the work on designing and delivering hospital infrastructure projects has unfortunately been beset with delays, overspends and, sadly, an unthinkable tragedy at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow.

NHS Grampian has conceded that there are serious issues, as we have discussed previously, with the design of water and ventilation systems for the Baird family hospital and the Aberdeen and north centre for haematology, oncology and radiotherapy—ANCHOR—centre. Those issues have created significant pressure on the project budgets, but the health board has said that it is very difficult for it to quantify the financial impact of such issues. Can you confirm what headroom, if any, is available in the latest capital investment budget for the Baird family hospital and ANCHOR centre projects in order that they can be completed? Have such issues been factored into the budget?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Tess White

Are you aware of the cost and the timescales for remedial action?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Tess White

So there were no costs.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Tess White

As you can imagine, that is extremely worrying. If no extra money is being provided for a hospital that has major design flaws, there will be serious questions about delays to completion.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Meeting date: 16 January 2024

Tess White

You are in control of the budget, but you are blaming the UK Government.

Criminal Justice Committee

Management of Transgender Prisoners

Meeting date: 11 January 2024

Tess White

I have no interests to declare.

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 11 January 2024

Tess White

Matrix International is one of Brechin’s biggest employers, but most of its employees are awaiting news of their jobs as the manufacturing firm considers its future. Storm Babet was blamed when the factory found itself under 4 feet of water, with extensive machine damage. What has the First Minister’s Government done to protect and preserve those highly skilled jobs in Brechin, and when will the Scottish National Party finally fulfil its promise to support the town in its time of greatest need?

Meeting of the Parliament

Changing Places Toilets

Meeting date: 9 January 2024

Tess White

I, too, am delighted to speak in the debate. As a member of the changing places toilets cross-party group, I, too, pay tribute to Jeremy Balfour for securing parliamentary time and for the extensive work that he has done on this important issue over the years. I also thank PAMIS, Enable Scotland and Capability Scotland for their contributions to the CPG and their wider work.

Why is adequate, hygienic and accessible toilet provision so important? It is about so much more than being caught short; it is about equality and ensuring that all people can go out and live life as fully as possible and that no one is left behind. As Jeremy Balfour emphasised, changing places toilets represent the difference between inclusion and exclusion. It is about dignity and making sure that pregnant and postpartum women, women on their periods, menopausal women and people with special needs and conditions such as urinary incontinence, Crohn’s disease and colitis are not isolated and can leave their homes without anxiety, fear or embarrassment.

Providing safe and accessible spaces is important in a dignified society. That requirement also encompasses safety, privacy and protecting the rights of women and girls to single-sex toilets, which was once again emphasised in the recent employment tribunal case Ms V Abbas v ISS Facility Services Ltd.

It is about ensuring that basic human needs are met—basic human needs for privacy, safety and dignity without fear. I was struck recently by a comment in Karen Ingala Smith’s brilliant book “Defending Women’s Spaces”, in which she referred to the “urinary leash” and the restriction of movement due to lack of access to toilets. Freedom, wellbeing, quality of life and the ability to participate in public life are all facilitated by something as seemingly mundane as a toilet.

I helped to care for my two elderly parents-in-law, who both suffered from dementia. A trip out, no matter how routine, required a lot of prior planning. I know exactly which towns near my home have accessible toilets, and I know the many that do not. This topic is close to my heart, because many carers have told me that they need accessible toilets to take the people who are in their care out for visits. It is about quality of life for those who are in danger of isolation. Accessible, clean and safe toilets are a basic human need.

Over the festive period, I spoke to constituents who shared with me their concerns and feedback that public toilets are either closed or filthy. Sadly, those that are not are rare. Toilets on station platforms are accessible only when there is a guard on duty, which is a barrier that prevents people from travelling. As my colleague mentioned, Dundee railway station did not even include a changing places toilet when it was redesigned. Thanks to Scottish Conservative campaigning, PAMIS and local activism, ScotRail eventually relented.

In the north of Scotland, fully accessible toilets are harder to come by. Many of the 267 changing places toilets are concentrated in Scotland’s central belt and urban population centres. Those are, of course, much needed, but provision falls away the further north you go. As Evelyn Tweed pointed out, the issue is not just in the west of Scotland—there is a significant issue the further north you go.

I pay tribute to Councillor Lois Speed, who campaigned for and successfully secured a changing places toilet in Arbroath. Too many north-east communities do not have fully accessible toilet facilities.

In its 2021-22 programme for government, the SNP Government was right to commit, as we have heard today, £10 million to changing places toilets, but the minister, Maree Todd, has confirmed that there are no plans to allocate and distribute the funds before 2025. What is the reason for that inaction? Why is it that the SNP can go full steam ahead with its overseas office network at a cost that is just shy of £9 million but cannot deliver on a £10 million promise of funding for fully accessible toilets? Meanwhile, the UK Government has already started distributing its own £30 million fund.

The SNP Government’s implementation gap has left so many people behind: people with disabilities and special needs; carers; women; and parents with children. The SNP Government must focus on its priorities and get a move on so that all people across Scotland can access toilet facilities that are suitable for their specific needs safely and with dignity.

Meeting of the Parliament

Decision Time

Meeting date: 20 December 2023

Tess White

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

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scottish Football Association

Meeting date: 19 December 2023

Tess White

Can you outline what support systems are in place to safeguard mental health and wellbeing?