Chamber and committees

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sorry—I could not get connected. I would have voted yes.

I thank Maggie Chapman for securing this much-needed debate. The estate of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is not fit for the future. According to the Fire Brigade Union’s “Firestorm” report, as of 2023, 75 per cent of buildings in Scotland’s fire estate were rated as having “bad” or “poor” suitability. Having visited Crewe Toll fire station in Edinburgh and spoken with firefighters, I am aware of the poor condition of our fire estate.

However, the SFRS does not have the capital budget that is required to rebuild or upgrade the stations. The SFRS recently told the Criminal Justice Committee that, if its capital budget does not grow significantly by 2031, it will be short of £119 million.

The SFRS’s solution is to consider closing stations, including Marionville in Edinburgh, after RAAC issues were identified. The service explains that rebuilding the facilities would be too costly. However, many members of the community, while recognising the financial pressure that the SFRS faces, strongly oppose those decisions, arguing that the cost of addressing RAAC is being used as a justification for closure, which exposes the community to significant safety risks.

In the recent consultation on proposals to close the Marionville station, opponents outnumbered supporters by a ratio of 10:1. I am one of those opponents and remain convinced that Marionville must remain open.

In the “Firestorm” report, the FBU estimated that the SFRS had a capital investment backlog of around £800 million, and, since then, the SFRS has reiterated those figures to the Criminal Justice Committee. However, the SFRS’s capital budget is only £47 million for 2026-27. Beyond that specific figure, the Scottish Government has ignored the requests of both the SFRS and the FBU for the budget to be allocated on a long-term basis rather than annually as is the case currently. We welcomed long-term funding for the culture budget, so why can we not have that for our life-saving fire services?

The SFRS told the Criminal Justice Committee last September that its ability to manage change, including making strategic investments to enable longer-term savings, is made more challenging because it is limited to working within an annualised budget. The SFRS cannot make long-term strategic plans for its capital investment and is forced into short-term savings while the backlog of capital investment continues to mount.

Last September, the FBU told the Criminal Justice Committee that, without the required real-terms investment, the SFRS will continue to close stations in its attempts to reduce its capital backlog. That is the cost of the Scottish Government’s mistake. If it refuses to increase the capital budget to the SFRS and continues to set that budget annually, more stations will be threatened with closure, like Marionville.

The existence of a station in a community makes a vital difference. The shorter the journey between the station and the incident, the better the chance that lives are saved, traumatic burns are prevented and buildings are saved from being reduced to dust. I thank our dedicated firefighters and service staff across our nation for carrying out their dangerous work and ensuring that our communities are safe. However, I urge the Scottish Government to allocate sufficient funding for our fire services to be fit for the future.

For more than two years, more than half of St Kentigern’s academy in Blackburn has been shut after deteriorating reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete rendered the building unsafe. More than 1,100 students have been crammed into half a school. West Lothian Council needs £15 million from the Scottish Government to complete the repairs and reopen the school. Will the cabinet secretary agree to reconsider its request, to ensure that children in Blackburn get the best out of St Kentigern’s without the council needing to borrow the money?

Bleed kits ease pressure on first responders by allowing bystanders to prevent a potentially fatal loss of blood from occurring while they wait for a responder to arrive. However, there are nowhere near enough bleed kits in Scotland. Will the minister explain what the Scottish Government is doing to increase the number of bleed kits in Scotland?

I thank Rachael Hamilton for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The subject is very close to my heart. Before I joined politics, I was heavily involved in the catering industry—I draw colleagues’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our neighbourhoods. They create wealth, provide community and bless their neighbourhoods with a rich and distinctive identity. Take Argonaut Books, a thriving independent bookshop down the road from my office on Leith Walk, which I visited last month. Argonaut is a shining example of the qualities that small business Saturday seeks to champion. It satisfies our niche tastes. I was amazed by the sheer range of books on sale. It gives the area a distinctive identity and, with its bustling cafe, it provides a kind of community that a larger business simply could not replicate. It ensures that the community grows with it. The cafe buys its coffee from Artisan Roast Coffee Roasters, its cake from Tasty Buns Bakery and its tea from PekoeTea—an example of local businesses working together. Leith Walk today is a rich tapestry of successful local businesses.

While I firmly believe in the role of the state in regenerating communities, that role must be played in partnership with small businesses. Despite the successes, I am aware of the challenges that small businesses face. To run a small business is to take a risk. The UK Government is helping small businesses to face that risk, with funding to make training for apprentices under 25 completely free for small and medium-sized enterprises, the chance to open up individual savings accounts—ISAs—for investment in SMEs and a guarantee that customs duties will be levelled on parcels of any value, to stop online firms undercutting high-street businesses.

The motion notes that the

“recognition of small businesses must continue throughout the year”,

beyond small business Saturday. I agree, and I would echo the words of Guy Hinks, the Scotland chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, in his statement on the recent UK budget:

“All eyes will be on the Scottish Government’s own Budget in January and how they invest the extra £820 million they are set to receive”.

Small businesses in Scotland have made clear to the Scottish Government what they need. It remains to be seen whether the budget will honour the spirit of small business Saturday and lend a helping hand to those—like my family—who want to take the chance to establish a small business.

A constituent of mine who is on a national health service waiting list recently received correspondence from NHS Lothian informing them that, if they did not confirm within 21 days whether they wanted to remain on the list, they would automatically be taken off it. Although I understand that that policy is in line with Government guidance, I am concerned that it might result in a vulnerable patient, such as one who is elderly or who has special educational needs, missing out on essential treatment without their consent. Will the First Minister agree to instruct ministers and officials to review the policy to ensure that vulnerable patients are not struck off waiting lists unfairly?

One of my constituents is a type 1 diabetic, and so is her son. She recently paid almost £300 to get booster jabs for herself and her son, and for her husband, who is an unpaid carer.

I am sure that the Scottish Government will agree that it is unacceptable to expect vulnerable families across Scotland to pay hundreds of pounds at a time to protect themselves from Covid. Will the Scottish Government therefore consider applying a discount for type 1 diabetics who are under 75?

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its decision to narrow the eligibility criteria for the autumn Covid-19 booster, what assessment it has made of the cost to the national health service and the impact on hospitalisation rates. (S6O-05202)

To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking in light of Public Health Scotland’s estimate that dementia in Scotland is set to rise by more than 50 per cent by 2044. (S6F-04336)

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with stakeholders regarding the development and scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel production, in light of the need to support the infrastructure, skills, and supply chains required to make Scotland a leader in the sector. (S6O-04987)