Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how people who are concerned with the impact on the natural environment of energy infrastructure can make their concerns known. (S6O-05573)

My inbox is flooded with emails from constituents raising concerns about the lack of transparency during the consultation process for energy projects, with little to no consideration given to the needs of local residents. That situation has only been exacerbated by the decision to remove the right to object to the energy consents unit by email. I am informed by constituents that there are several issues with the new portal, which is making it harder for elderly residents, in particular, to make their voices heard.

Will the cabinet secretary commit to improving transparency in the consenting process, and will she guarantee that, in the future, energy projects will proceed only with the express consent of local communities?

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

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

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

I thank my colleague Alexander Burnett for bringing this debate to the chamber.

Many of the issues that have been highlighted in Aberdeenshire are also present in other parts of rural Scotland, not least in my region of South Scotland. Communities across Ayrshire are well aware of the impact of the Scottish Government’s fiscal approach on them. Health services have been decimated, local authorities are buckling under enormous demand and everyday things that we used to be able to count on seem to be on borrowed time.

We do not need to look much further than at the plight of NHS Ayrshire and Arran for the evidence of that. The dire state of affairs there got so bad last week that the Scottish Government had to raise its emergency intervention to the second-highest level. That should not have come as a surprise to ministers. After last year’s emergency loan of more than £50 million, Scotland’s public services watchdog said that there was “no evidence” of financial sustainability in that health board. Patients can see how bad things have got. The severe situation there is not the fault of hard-working staff and medics; it is a symptom of years of underfunding from central Government, which, having failed to properly resource the organisation, is now having to shell out for expensive sticking-plaster solutions.

Life in the region’s councils is not much better. We know that many people from across Scotland choose to come to South Ayrshire to retire. Of course their presence is welcome, and their contribution to local life is considerable. However, for too long, the Scottish Government has ignored the impact on demographics. South Ayrshire has one of the country’s highest proportions of people over the age of 65; already, they account for more than a quarter of the population, and that will increase to a third within a few years. That will bring the region into competition with areas that have the oldest demographics in the world, yet there is no funding mechanism to reflect that, and it will have an extraordinary impact on demand for health and social care.

The sums do not add up, which is why councils are left with no option but to raise council tax or close facilities. Such counterproductive moves make people only poorer—financially, educationally and culturally. Councillors take the hit for that locally, but the decisions that are made by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh are to blame.

Health boards and local authorities are being asked to sweep up where the SNP Government has failed, whether in relation to delayed discharge, intolerable environments for teachers or the impact of policing cutbacks. All those things are felt locally but could have been prevented nationally. That is why I fully support Alexander Burnett’s motion to finally give councils and health boards the money that they need to do the job properly.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue providing funding to any organisations that challenge the judgment in the For Women Scotland v the Scottish Ministers case. (S6O-05537)

Various organisations have recently sought to reverse the implementation of single-sex spaces, ignoring last year’s crystal-clear ruling by the Supreme Court and, in turn, the rule of law, but the Scottish Government still insists on funding them. Meanwhile, 10 months on, the Scottish National Party has still failed to ensure that its public bodies are fully following that judgment, leading to costly legal challenges at the taxpayer’s expense. Will the Scottish Government finally issue an apology to women and girls in Scotland for its failure to fully implement that judgment, and will the SNP Government finally ensure that any body or organisation that it funds is committed to providing single-sex spaces?

I thank my colleague Alexander Burnett for bringing this debate to the chamber.

Many of the issues that have been highlighted in Aberdeenshire are also present in other parts of rural Scotland, not least in my region of South Scotland. Communities across Ayrshire are well aware of the impact of the Scottish Government’s fiscal approach on them. Health services have been decimated, local authorities are buckling under enormous demand and everyday things that we used to be able to count on seem to be on borrowed time.

We do not need to look much further than at the plight of NHS Ayrshire and Arran for the evidence of that. The dire state of affairs there got so bad last week that the Scottish Government had to raise its emergency intervention to the second-highest level. That should not have come as a surprise to ministers. After last year’s emergency loan of more than £50 million, Scotland’s public services watchdog said that there was “no evidence” of financial sustainability in that health board. Patients can see how bad things have got. The severe situation there is not the fault of hard-working staff and medics; it is a symptom of years of underfunding from central Government, which, having failed to properly resource the organisation, is now having to shell out for expensive sticking-plaster solutions.

Life in the region’s councils is not much better. We know that many people from across Scotland choose to come to South Ayrshire to retire. Of course their presence is welcome, and their contribution to local life is considerable. However, for too long, the Scottish Government has ignored the impact on demographics. South Ayrshire has one of the country’s highest proportions of people over the age of 65; already, they account for more than a quarter of the population, and that will increase to a third within a few years. That will bring the region into competition with areas that have the oldest demographics in the world, yet there is no funding mechanism to reflect that, and it will have an extraordinary impact on demand for health and social care.

The sums do not add up, which is why councils are left with no option but to raise council tax or close facilities. Such counterproductive moves make people only poorer—financially, educationally and culturally. Councillors take the hit for that locally, but the decisions that are made by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh are to blame.

Health boards and local authorities are being asked to sweep up where the SNP Government has failed, whether in relation to delayed discharge, intolerable environments for teachers or the impact of policing cutbacks. All those things are felt locally but could have been prevented nationally. That is why I fully support Alexander Burnett’s motion to finally give councils and health boards the money that they need to do the job properly.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue providing funding to any organisations that challenge the judgment in the For Women Scotland v the Scottish Ministers case. (S6O-05537)