Chamber and committees

There are a range of points in the questions that Maggie Chapman’s poses. They are properly operational matters for the chief fire officer and the SFRS board in allocating the £352.7 million of budget provision that we make available to them, which looks at the whole range of improvements and enhancements that have to be made in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

I am aware that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service contaminants group is taking action across all aspects of operations to reduce exposure to harmful contaminants. I also understand that that group met Professor Anna Stec of the University of Central Lancashire to hear directly of the important research work that she is undertaking on these questions and to offer SFRS co-operation on that work.

We recognise that reliable and affordable transport to and from our islands helps to maintain thriving communities and local economies. That is why we provide significant funding to make air travel to our remote communities, including the islands, more affordable.

This year, we have allocated more than £77 million to support air services in the Highlands and Islands. That includes funding to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd to maintain its airports and funding for the air discount scheme, which provides island residents with a 50 per cent discount on fares to and from the mainland. It also includes a subsidy for the air services from Glasgow to Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra.

I understand the point that Roz McCall makes. The challenges that are faced on service provision around the country in areas of care in which a high degree of specialism is involved can be affected by movement of staff around the country and various other circumstances. Obviously, the health service works as hard as possible to minimise any disruption of such care. I recognise the seriousness of the point that Roz McCall puts to me.

One of the initial priorities of the women’s health plan is to improve access for women to appropriate support, diagnosis and the best treatment for endometriosis, and to improve the care pathways that are involved. The Government will focus on those particular issues, and I will look specifically at the issues relating to NHS Fife that Roz McCall has raised.

Those issues are being put to the United Kingdom Government regularly by the Scottish Government, and the First Minister indicated those points in her letter to the new Prime Minister on 27 October.

The point that Dr Allan raises about the particular challenges of energy costs for non-grid users is a particular problem that is the subject of active dialogue with the United Kingdom Government, and I assure him that we recognise the importance of that being taken forward.

I would also make the point that the wider inflationary pressures beyond energy costs, in relation to food and supplies, to which Dr Allan has referred, are significant issues, and they have been exacerbated by the decisions that have been taken, which have fuelled inflation. The lack of action on energy costs over the summer has contributed significantly to that experience, too.

The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have agreed shared priorities for recovery, focusing on those most affected by the pandemic. The Covid recovery strategy brings together more than 70 actions that will support people across Scotland by increasing the financial security of low-income households, by enhancing the wellbeing of children and young people and by creating good, green jobs and fair work. The strategy also focuses on renewing public services to ensure that they meet the specific needs of people and communities.

East Ayrshire Council and South Ayrshire Council, which cover Elena Whitham’s Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley parliamentary constituency, have been allocated an additional £38.6 million and £34.4 million respectively, through the local government settlement, to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those payments are over and above their regular grant payments, which, in 2022-23, have each increased by more than 10 per cent.

The Covid recovery strategy was informed by extensive stakeholder engagement, and the Scottish Government continues to work closely with a wide range of partners to ensure a successful recovery. We regularly meet stakeholders, including local government, community planning partners, the third sector and business organisations, to resolve barriers, identify solutions and maintain progress.

Our stakeholder engagement informs the discussions and decisions of the Covid recovery programme board, which I co-chair alongside the president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and it allows us to work together towards a shared national vision for recovery, as well as to support local recovery that is informed by local priorities.

Mr Greene raises a substantial point, and it is one that we need to keep in mind as we work our way through what will be a really difficult budget process this year, which will be compressed into a tight timescale. I will not rehearse all the issues around that, as I will have enough to say about it later.

The point that Mr Greene raises is one that I am anxious, at all times, not to lose sight of, because I am convinced—indeed, I am a strong advocate of this within Government—that the third sector can undertake work that will deliver better outcomes, more than likely for less money, if we can properly support and design that assistance.

This morning, with Mr Gray, the minister who is looking after the Ukrainian refugee programme, I visited a third sector venture in Aberfeldy, in my constituency. The group is called Feldy-Roo—I will leave members to reflect on the name—and is made up of local volunteers who emerged from the Covid programme that delivered vital assistance to families during the Covid pandemic. Those volunteers have created a hub for welcoming and supporting Ukrainian refugees and are now supporting more than 70 individuals in the community. That is working fabulously well, but it is a third sector venture that is achieving huge amounts of work with very small amounts of money. Therefore, I am anxious that we take Mr Greene’s point forward substantively during the budget process.

I reassure Jackie Baillie that I do not consider that the test or measure by which we deliver effective business support is the arrangements for having offices around the country. There are many changes in the way in which services are now being delivered, with an increasing move towards digital delivery of services and the remote working with which we have all become familiar. If the decisions that have been taken are a means of enabling us to deliver a wider range of business support, we should be prepared to embrace reform.

I will have much more to say about it this afternoon, but the existing financial arrangements will put enormous strain on maintaining the current network of arrangements that we have in place.

Finally, I want to make it clear to Jackie Baillie that the national strategy for economic transformation recognises the absolute centrality of regional economic policy. I welcome the opportunity to put that on the record today and to reassure Jackie Baillie about that, because there is no point in the Government pursuing an economic strategy that works only for some parts of the country. It needs to work for all parts of the country, and that is the focus of the national strategy’s regional economic policy approach.

Yes, I do. The Covid vaccination programme has been an unbridled success. It has given assurance to the population, and it has given protection to our vital public services, which would have been overwhelmed without it. It has also enabled many of us, but not all of us—some of our fellow citizens still face real challenges because of their own wider health factors—to return to something that is closer to normality in our lives. The programme has delivered welcome progress in that regard.

I take this opportunity to encourage everyone in the eligible groups to take up vaccination.

I am glad to hear that Mr Fraser has booked his appointment; so have I. I was going to be rather impertinent and suggest that I would have thought that he would have been in an earlier group to me, age-wise. Clearly, it would be inappropriate for me to even infer that.

Take up has been very encouraging; it has exceeded our expectations to date. I have numbers in front of me, so I presume that I can use them. Among older adults in care homes, uptake is 85 per cent, and in the age 65 and over age group 74.2 per cent have been vaccinated already—and we are not through the programme yet.

We are very encouraged by the progress that has been made so far. However, having said that, I note Mr Fraser’s legitimate point. We must use every opportunity to encourage people to take up vaccination and not to be deterred by some of the stuff that swirls around. Vaccination offers essential protection not only for individuals but for our public services, because it is a way of reducing the demand that might otherwise present itself.

I assure Mr Fraser and Parliament that the Government is tailoring its messages to ensure that we reach—as I mentioned in my earlier answer to Mr McMillan—the groups in which, from our evidence and experience, take up can be low. We are taking steps to improve that through our communications.