Chamber and committees

I very much hope that the developments that the cabinet secretary has outlined will prove to be effective, but she will know that residents have been raising serious concerns about noise and disruption from the prison for far too long, with very limited progress to date. Given the on-going impact that that continues to have on the wellbeing and quality of life of those living nearby, and the length of time that it is taking to find effective solutions, does the cabinet secretary agree that the Scottish Prison Service needs to continue to treat the issue as a matter of urgency and deliver a lasting resolution?

I hear what Pam Duncan-Glancy says, but would she acknowledge that there are significant medications in Scotland that are not available elsewhere? It is a mixed picture across the UK, with HER2 treatment, for example, being available in Scotland but not elsewhere. I suppose that it is a challenge for every authority to find out what they can and cannot afford.

I was not at last week’s evidence session with HES; I was away on parliamentary duties. Therefore, I suppose that I come at this from a different angle.

I was surprised by some of the discussion about meetings with the board, to be honest, because I think that most people know how these things work. The meetings that you have said that you have had, cabinet secretary, were with the chair and the chief executive. That is pretty standard when you are sponsoring an organisation. I think that there was an attempt to wilfully misrepresent the proper relationship with the board and chair for other reasons, which I am sure will become evident in due course.

Have members of the board expressed any concern either to yourself or to the Government, saying that there were issues that they would like to discuss with you or the Government officials who are involved?

To get this clear, because I think that it has become confused by some earlier questioning, the proper processes were followed in terms of the relevant minister meeting with the relevant individuals—the chair and the chief executive. You could say that the person with whom the buck stops—that would be you, as cabinet secretary—talked to the people with whom the buck stops in the organisation, as should happen. There was no clamour from the board asking for a meeting with you.

I am grateful for that answer. Given what the cabinet secretary has said, this may have happened already but, to me, that will require a mindset change and imagination, an entrepreneurial spirit and dedicated people. For example, you may be aware of a place up in the north of Scotland called Badbea, where all the highlanders were pushed to the edge of a cliff when the clearances happened, as is commemorated by some people. It is virtually a ruin, as it is on the edge of a cliff. However, the diaspora—especially in Australia and New Zealand—will be very interested in that. In fact, they are the only ones who have contributed to the upkeep of the monument. We need someone to be thinking about what the connections are and how they can be exploited, for want of a better word.

This my final point. If HES can do all that, it will have to keep its eye on its core business, as you have mentioned, cabinet secretary. One example of a place where it has not done that is very close to my constituency, in Stirling. An application to build an Asda and various other buildings on the site of the battle of Bannockburn was approved, with no representations made by Historic Environment Scotland. I cannot think of any other country in the world that would allow such a development or have nothing to say about it. There are still parts of the battlefield that are subject to potential development, and they should be protected. Rather than saying that it has no representations to make and nothing to say about such things, HES must concentrate on its core business, make those representations and defend our historic heritage. I just wanted to make that point.

That is all that I want to ask about that.

My other question harks back to an earlier session that we had with Historic Environment Scotland, which I found very unsatisfactory. I will take the chance to raise the issue now. My question stems from my view that Historic Environment Scotland sits on a huge number of extremely valuable and important assets in Scotland and, in my view, fails to make the proper return on those assets. That may be for reasons to do with budgeting and capital investment, and I accept that there are budget constraints. However, I am looking for reassurance that, with the new chairperson, whom I have not met, we will see more entrepreneurial activity. For example, I asked about a particular property. HES had said that properties were open, but it turns out that they were not open to the public. HES had just finished doing the work that it thought that it had to do. The particular example was Clackmannan tower.

These things can be potentially extremely valuable if they are tied into particular, discrete interests from the Scottish diaspora around the world, for example, and that is not happening. I hope that the new chairperson—at your behest, I hope, cabinet secretary—will take such opportunities very seriously. At a previous meeting, we discussed the huge upsurge in festival attendance and in the vibrancy of festivals. We should capitalise on these assets as well. I look for reassurance from you in that regard.

It is for Sir Mark to ask. I have said to him that we will support anything that he deems as necessary for him to deal with the challenges at root in Historic Environment Scotland. I will leave it for him to ask for what he thinks he requires, but where he has made clear what he needs in capacity and support, we have made that happen. I will look sympathetically on any suggestion that he might have, and I have ruled nothing out.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to safeguard the future of the Alloa campus of Forth Valley College. (S6O-05108)

Given the vital role that further education colleges such as Forth Valley College play in improving opportunities and life chances for people from our most deprived communities including Clackmannanshire, which has some of the most deprived communities in Scotland, will the Scottish Government support the Scottish Funding Council’s requiring colleges to ensure that there is a minimum level of course provision in those areas? For example, it could mandate that a set number of credits be delivered at campuses such as Alloa and that similar safeguards be applied consistently across Scotland.

Will the minister ask the Funding Council to meet me so that I can make clear the extent to which we are having to deal with a college board that is determined to end further education provision? What can be done to stop that approach?

Every time I hear that said, the speaker is always having a go at the governing party and is always talking about the partisan nature of back benchers from that party. Would Mr Mountain agree that partisan party politics can apply to anyone? I know of an Opposition member who cannot wait to scurry out when a meeting concludes, so that he can send a press release to his favourite newspaper. That practice happens on both sides, and it will stop only if both sides stop doing it.