Chamber and committees

I join members in congratulating my friend Carol Mochan on bringing this issue to the chamber.

Members are well aware of the horrific consequences of addiction and the national shame of drug and alcohol deaths. Alcohol-related brain damage, or ARBD, is caused by long-term heavy drinking. It can damage the frontal lobe and cause symptoms similar to dementia, such as someone struggling to make decisions, having poor impulse control or experiencing personality change.

Those with ARBD often do not know that they have the condition, or are dismissed as “problem drinkers.” As with so many other issues, it is people who live in the most deprived areas, some of which fall in my region, who are most at risk.

Many people with ARBD have complex cases with multiple issues, including addiction to other drugs, poor mental health, and social isolation. Approaches that take that into account should be supported.

In 2024, I met with the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre, where I was told about its holistic approach, which focuses on long-term positive outcomes for people with complex needs, including ARBD. With flexible care and harm reduction practices, and by building relationships, it has been able to improve outcomes for people with long-term alcohol and drug addictions and save public money in the long term. One client who required over £26,000-worth of services in the three months prior to her referral, such as police call-outs or A and E visits, needed only £3,000-worth of services in the following months with support from NEDAC.

The NHS Lothian Penumbra Milestone service, which specifically treats ARBD, also uses a multidisciplinary approach, with six different elements to recovery including social health and addiction. It has seen great success in recovery and cognition and has produced a significant saving to the NHS with 2,000 fewer hospital bed days.

However, despite clear positive outcomes, Penumbra Milestone is in the dark about its future funding, and the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre has lost funding in recent years. Those services provide proven preventative care. Underfunding them not only worsens outcomes for people with ARBD or addiction; it costs the national health service more in the long term.

The consequences of addiction for those who are suffering and their families are terrible. However, when discussing alcohol-related brain damage, it is key to remember that some recovery is possible. We know that the approach that is taken by services such as Penumbra Milestone and the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre can deliver results in the long term and save public money while doing so. For that to happen, they need to have funding and support.

I join other members in congratulating Murdo Fraser on securing a debate on the protection of park home residents, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue, as it is not one that has been raised frequently.

According to the most recent estimate from the Scottish Confederation of Park Home Residents Associations, there are around 8,500 people living in park homes, and 100 parks, in Scotland. Park homes can be used as temporary holiday homes or as permanent residences. In recent years, the use of park homes as permanent residences seems to have grown as an option for older people.

The regulation of park home sites sits between permanent and temporary residency. The different system of rents, ownership and licences is outlined in the motion. The fact that residents own the home but not the land can cause issues. People who go on to SCOPHRA’s website will find tips for living in park homes, information about membership costs and a big warning notice, in red font, that is followed by a disclaimer telling those who want to buy a holiday home to seek professional advice.

That is because of the issue of residents being missold park homes on the false pretence that they were permanent dwellings when, for licensing purposes, they were designated as holiday homes. As a result, members of the public—often, people who were newly retired—are facing homelessness, despite the fact that their park home was advertised as a home for life.

The holes in regulation extend to energy. For example, in 2022, park home residents were initially left out of the arrangements for Government support for energy bills, and a separate scheme had to be established. In recent years, following storms, residents have been left without power for days on end; indeed, some have said that they felt as though they had been forgotten about by energy companies.

I note the motion’s call for park home residents to be given access to support for housing adaptations. I am often contacted by constituents who struggle to get adaptations made to regular homes, and I hear how worrying long waits are for them. I cannot imagine how it must feel to be getting older and frailer and not be able to make adaptations because of regulatory issues. Given that such homes are being used as permanent residences, in a similar way to rental properties, consideration should be given to how adaptations can be made.

I again congratulate Murdo Fraser on bringing the issue to the chamber. I understand that the Scottish Government is considering reviewing the licensing regime for park homes, and I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say.

Many of the strategic challenges that we face—reaching net zero, tackling poverty and funding our public services—depend on driving investment for growth. In our globalised economy, in which competition for investment is fiercer than ever, we must ensure that Scotland remains an attractive prospect for business.

I welcome Edinburgh being named one of the UK’s top cities to invest in outside London. We have great strengths in finance, technology and life sciences. In a report on FDI attractiveness from law firms Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie and Irwin Mitchell, Edinburgh’s infrastructure and public transport were named as key factors in attracting investment. That includes Edinburgh airport, which has undergone massive expansion in recent years, and a publicly owned tram network, which has just had a record year for passenger numbers. If we want to drive investment in our economy, there has to be investment in infrastructure.

We also have strengths in our tourism and culture sector. Edinburgh’s festival season attracts more people each year than the football world cup does every four years.

Those areas are key to our economy and support hundreds of thousands of jobs, and they need to be more integrated into our economic strategy in order to attract investment. Collaboration between the private and public sectors can play a huge role in that regard.

We can learn a lot from Greater Manchester, which has the Media City creative cluster and has recently developed six growth locations to attract billions of pounds in business investment. A cluster that meets the needs of Scotland’s creative industry could be transformational in bringing private sector investment to an area of the economy that is often defined by Government support, increasing growth in the film and TV sectors, broadcasting Scotland worldwide and further developing brand Scotland. We should not discount Manchester’s combined authority system, which allows for a long-term regional strategy, and its great mayor, Andy Burnham, who can represent the city on the biggest of stages.

Lastly, I will touch on private equity investment, because 2024 was a record year for such investment in Scotland. Although those companies can create economic growth and reinvigorate business, they have faced criticism for unsustainable business practices and even asset stripping. We must be sure that foreign investment leads to jobs and sustainable growth.

We have many pull factors to attract investment, but the Scottish Government must not squander those by not investing sufficiently in our cities and infrastructure or by failing to partner with the private sector to deliver in our growth areas. If that happens, we will fall short in the race for global investment.

A recent report claimed that the BBC show “The Traitors” was classed as a Scottish commission despite most production staff being based outside Scotland. Such practices concentrate jobs in London and south-east England, forcing Scots to leave for better opportunities or to quit the industry entirely. Will the cabinet secretary outline how the Scottish Government is incentivising production companies to choose Scotland, and will he update us on the discussions that he has had with stakeholders on the made-in-Scotland rules?

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to increase the number of film and television productions created in Scotland. (S6O-04347)

Do you think that the present system is fair and democratic?

Good morning, minister. In a previous submission to the committee, the Scottish Government stated that it had received fewer complaints about property factors over the past 10 years. Is the minister aware of how many property factors have been dismissed in the past 10 years?

We should keep the petition open and write to the Scottish Government to seek clarity on what proportion of the NHS infrastructure investment is expected to be allocated to primary care facilities. We should also ask that it commits to providing an update on the development of the whole-system NHS infrastructure plan and the infrastructure investment plan pipeline reset as soon as is practicable after the UK spending review is completed.

The Labour UK Government was elected on a manifesto to reset the relationship with the devolved Administrations. After years of antagonism under the Conservatives, we need to move on to relationships that are based on collaboration and respect in order to deliver for the public and business. The announcement of the consultation and early review of the internal market act is evidence that the Labour Government is proactively rebuilding the relationships and working with, rather than against, the devolved Governments.

The ministerial foreword to the review by Douglas Alexander, the MP for Lothian East, says that the UK Government wants to work in a “collaborative and transparent way”. Equally, Labour reversed a decision by the old Tory Government to block the banning of glue traps by the Scottish Government. Members should be welcoming the change from a Conservative Government that frequently ran over devolution, including in its reckless passage of the Internal Market Bill in 2020.

I have a lot to get through and I do not want to argue about what we should or should not be doing. I ask members to let me say what I want to say.

The Labour Government views the devolved Governments as partners and not as rivals.

The review of the internal market act must achieve a reformed agreement that works for Scotland and allows Scottish businesses barrier-free trade with the rest of the UK. Scotland’s exports to the rest of the UK are valued at more than £45 billion.