Chamber and committees

I thank the cabinet secretary, Angus Robertson, for bringing these important issues to the chamber. I echo his words on the importance of continuing our educational support in relation to the Arctic region, including the preservation of indigenous languages.

Scotland has a responsibility to co-operate and work with our northern neighbours. Particularly now, strategic co-operation with our European Arctic neighbours must continue in order to ensure a safe, peaceful and prosperous Arctic. There is much that Scotland and the UK as a whole can be doing to help and support the Arctic region and its nations. The Arctic now exists as a complex environment, with more state and non-state actors involved than ever before. As my colleague Sarah Boyack said, we must preserve the Arctic as an area of peace and co-operation.

We very much welcome the Scottish Government’s support for our Scottish Labour amendment. Russia shares 53 per cent of its border with the Arctic Ocean, and more than two and a half million of Russia’s inhabitants live in Arctic territory, which is about half the population of the Arctic. The Russian Federation is geographically and politically tied to the Arctic, and its presence in the region must not be overlooked.

Under Putin’s leadership, the Russian Federation has recently changed its state Arctic policy. It references no plans for continued co-operation with the Arctic Council; instead, it references the pursuit of Russian national interest. Full strategic co-operation and engagement with all Arctic states will simply not be possible while Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine continues. Any framework that sets out to improve Arctic co-operation must not infringe on the diplomatic sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation by the United Kingdom and its allies regarding the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation. The Scottish Government needs to recognise the new reality and shape co-operation based on the high-security situation.

As my colleague Richard Leonard commented, multilateral engagement must be at the centre of future co-operation efforts in the Arctic region. My colleagues have already mentioned the melting glaciers in the Arctic, which represent the devastating effect that global warming is having on our planet. Climate change and global warming have securitised the Arctic as a region. Changes in the Arctic environment are greater than they are everywhere else, and temperatures in the Arctic rise three times faster than the global average, with impacts across the globe.

The Arctic should be at the heart of our sustainability goals. The current climate crisis poses a significant threat to the Arctic region and to its almost four million inhabitants. That is something that we can strive to co-operate on. Scotland and the Arctic region should share the same climate action ambitions, now and in the future.

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking, in light of reports that individuals are unable to be discharged from hospital due to a lack of available spaces in care homes. (S6F-01864)

Last week, the Scottish Government issued refreshed guidance on hospital discharge to care homes. The “Guidance on Choosing a Care Home on Discharge from Hospital” policy states:

“Where the preferred choice(s) of care home is not immediately available the person will be required to make a temporary ... move to another home with a suitable vacancy to wait.”

My constituent John Findlay has progressive multiple sclerosis. He has been in hospital for seven months, and is desperate to get out and into a suitable care home. John is 58 years old, and many care homes will not admit people of that age, so the pool of places that he can go to is significantly reduced. The new guidance could see him forced into accepting a place either in a home that is very far away from his community and support network, or in a home with a very poor track record of care. Will the First Minister tell us how that is putting patients at the centre, and why people like John are denied their rights because of the Scottish Government’s failure to deal with social care?

The SEREDA—sexual and gender-based violence against refugees: from displacement to arrival—project in Scotland recently launched its report on sexual and gender-based violence among refugees in Scotland. The report highlights the urgent need for services in Scotland to focus on forced migrant survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, including a dedicated working group to address the specific needs of survivors. Given the continued influx of refugees into Scotland from Ukraine, what action is the Scottish Government taking to consider the report’s recommendations?

Is there any provision for future winter fuel payments being made closer to the start of winter rather than at the end?

Convener, I have a question on theme 2. Can I ask that one, or do you want me to wait?

Can the data that is being used to calculate these figures be considered comprehensive when there is only a single reference month when analysing the financial pressure on low-income households?

My constituent Lewis Condy lodged petition PE1891, which sought to make swimming lessons a statutory requirement in the primary school curriculum. It was very disappointing that that petition was closed in January 2023, and now potential swimming pool closures present further obstacles to providing crucial swimming lessons to children across Scotland.

Swimming pools are vital community hubs for the population of Scotland. They provide crucial water safety skills, each week teaching more than 100,000 children the essential life skill of learning how to swim.

Swimming pools also act as part of Scotland’s natural health service by safeguarding the mental and physical wellbeing of people of all ages and abilities, saving the national health service an essential £357 million every year. Will the minister support swimming pool operators to keep those vital community hubs open to provide what is an essential service?

The MS Ambition and the MS Victoria are temporary homes to thousands of Ukrainian refugees. The lease on those boats will soon come to an end and those on the boats will need to be rehoused in suitable accommodation. Many individuals on those boats have formed communities and begun to put down roots where they have been docked. What action is being taken to ensure the safe and suitable rehousing of every individual who is currently residing on those boats?

As other members have done, I express a warm welcome to the Ukrainian consul, who joins us in Parliament.

Today, the Parliament has come together to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. I echo my colleagues’ dismay over the innocent lives that have been lost in the unjustified war, as well as their appreciation of the courage and resolve that the people of Ukraine have shown. Over the past year of this illegal war, we have witnessed barbaric aggression, and Putin has made it clear in the past few days that there is no end on the horizon.

We must remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine. As my colleagues have highlighted, we must continue to provide defensive military support to Ukraine and continue to increase economic and diplomatic pressure. As Sarah Boyack noted, sanctions are still crucial to putting pressure on the Russian regime.

We must make it clear that Scotland will continue to support diplomatic means to end the war. Putin must feel the cost of the continued aggression against a sovereign nation. Still, we must remember the goal of de-escalation. The Russian regime’s aggression began this war; we must support any diplomatic means possible to end it.

Solidarity means commitment to Ukraine. We must remember that our efforts are first and foremost for the innocent people affected by Putin’s war in Ukraine. Continued support must be given to those who have been, and continue to be, displaced by the war. As Sarah Boyack rightly said, we must take measures to ensure the safety of all refugees in Scotland and ensure that they are protected against forces, such as people traffickers, that might abuse the crisis.

Ukrainian people must have a safe home here in Scotland. I express my thanks to the minister, Neil Gray, for keeping us all updated on the Scottish Government’s efforts to house displaced Ukrainians. I note the minister’s comments about local authorities working with the Scottish Government on plans for the long-term housing and resettlement of Ukrainian refugees.

The local authority in Edinburgh has previously approached me on the topic of support from the Scottish Government. I hope that the Scottish Government can continue to work in partnership with local authorities to show solidarity with Ukraine by housing as many Ukrainian people as possible.

As my colleague Donald Cameron mentioned, we need to be prepared with a long-term strategy to house Ukrainian refugees and support their integration into our society. Both the MS Ambition in Glasgow and the MS Victoria here in Edinburgh are set to disembark in the coming months. They are currently home to around 2,200 Ukrainian refugees. Neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh has the spare housing capacity to accommodate them, so there are fears that they will have to be housed elsewhere.

Many of those individuals have spent almost a year living on those ships. They have built relationships, communities and lives in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is possible that with the Ukraine longer-term resettlement fund, those individuals might now be further displaced to an unknown place in Scotland. A long-term housing strategy for those individuals is essential—one that provides support to protect the mental health of Ukrainian refugees who have been through trauma that most of us can only imagine.

They need to be able to put down roots, their children need to go to school, and they should be able to build a life here and call Scotland their home for as long as they need to. We would welcome a long-term strategy for the thousands of refugees who are likely to remain in Scotland for at least the next year, and we should be prepared to house them for much longer if Putin’s war continues.

That is how we can continue to show solidarity and support to Ukraine, one year on from the beginning of the war.