Chamber and committees

Today, NHS Tayside revealed that unfilled vacancies mean that the health board will be left with no breast cancer oncology specialists. There seems to be a nationwide skills shortage. The minister mentioned looking at all options, including international recruitment and training. Will he outline what is being done to develop a long-term plan for training and recruitment for such specialists domestically?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to improve the provision of services for NHS Tayside breast cancer patients. (S6O-00728)

Compared with urban areas, rural areas across the north-east have been disproportionately impacted by recent storms. In recent years, the Scottish Government has made a series of commitments around rural repopulation. That is why the resilience of rural communities and their infrastructure, such as broadband and power, is vital. Will the minister outline what steps the Scottish Government is taking to improve the resilience of rural communities, particularly with regard to infrastructure?

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to support those communities affected by storm Malik and storm Corrie, including addressing the impact on the provision of services such as public transport. (S6T-00467)

In 2020, the National Infrastructure Commission published a study into resilience, which made key recommendations, such as Government setting resilience standards every five years, and referred to the need for infrastructure operators to carry out regular stress tests and have long-term resilience strategies in place.

I appreciate that we have had a spate of storms recently, but there is a need for long-term planning for such events. Will the minister outline whether the Scottish Government supports the NIC’s recommendations? If so, how is it engaging with the United Kingdom Government on the development of a national resilience strategy?

I want to raise a couple of issues and ask whether they could be included in the letter to the Scottish Government.

I understand that it was scallop divers who identified the site originally, which would have been verified later on. However, following that, diving, reel fishing and trawling are all included in the ban from the area. It would be good to get a bit of information on the evidence base for that. I understand that it is based on NatureScot’s advice, which stated that flapper skate eggs are sensitive to a number of activities. The list of activities mentions diver egg collection but it does not mention diving for scallops. I am concerned that there is a difference in sensitivity with regard to different activities but that they have all been categorised in the same way.

I understand that the committee in the previous parliamentary session—the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee—wrote to the minister in March last year, when the first instrument on the extension of the MPA at the site was laid. The letter in response from the minister said that part of the process to consider the need for permanent protection at the site would involve a socioeconomic assessment and public consultation, which do not seem to be happening until later on this year.

I know that it is emergency legislation, but it has been almost a year since the first instrument was passed. There is a question about why more has not been done to gather the necessary evidence in the interim period.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees can only register Afghan citizens as refugees or asylum seekers once they are outside Afghanistan and in another country. However, there are still those in Afghanistan who remain at severe risk from the Taliban, especially if they are caught trying to travel to Iran or Pakistan to seek asylum through the UNHCR. Will the Scottish Government push the UK Government to clarify which safe routes will be available through the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, particularly for those who would be at risk if they travelled to another country to seek asylum?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the United Kingdom Government regarding the resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees who may be resettled in Scotland. (S6O-00647)

Last year, there were more than 27,000 households in Scotland assessed as being homeless, while 47,000 homes, valued at £8 billion, lay empty, including in rural areas. Compulsory purchase powers are no use to councils without fair funding.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s “Housing to 2040” proposal to establish a new fund to enable local authorities to bring empty homes back into residential use. Can the minister confirm by what date the fund will be ready to receive applications from councils, and how much it will make available in its first year of operation?

The provision of GP services in Aberdeen is coming under increasing strain due to six of the city’s publicly run medical practices being put out to tender for private contract. I understand that the Scottish ministers are unable to intervene in the arrangements for individual practices, but the cabinet secretary has already informed me that he expects satisfactory systems to be in place for the benefit of all patients.

Given that an external investigation has upheld complaints from campaigners about the tendering process for Old Aberdeen medical practice, will the cabinet secretary now ask the health and social care partnership to pause the tendering process so that a full and independent review of it can be undertaken?