Chamber and committees

I am a Conservative MSP for Lothian region.

My question is on an area that we have touched on already. Are there other widely used building materials and techniques that might pose a problem and which the committee should be aware of? Peter Watton, you touched on asbestos paint earlier. As you look at the issue, are you seeing other examples starting to come forward?

When it comes to cladding, we know that we do not have the workforce to do all the inspections. It was revealed last week that more than half of NHS buildings that might contain RAAC have not been inspected. Where is the Government as regards the provision of support with that to public agencies, especially councils and the NHS? We will not be able to magic up such people overnight. What are ministers’ expectations of the timescale for completion of those inspections, so that we know what the risk is, which is currently unknown?

I have one more question. We have already talked about a potential building register to give us knowledge about what is being built through our public services as well as individual homes. The committee has already done work on the poor quality of new-build homes and flammable cladding systems, and now it is looking at RAAC. With regard to the public sector and the procurement teams that will manage the procurement process in the future, what do you think needs to change in that particular model? I am thinking, for example, of some high-profile cases involving new-build hospitals. Why are we getting that wrong?

When I was on the Health and Sport Committee, I suggested the establishment of a central body to oversee those health projects. The health secretary took the suggestion forward, and I think that it is making a difference. We have to be honest: as we have heard, we are a small country, and sometimes our public services do not have the expertise that is needed. What would such a central body look like? Are there any suggestions that we should take forward? Ailsa, I will bring you back in, as you mentioned the building register that you had started.

Thank you for that.

In talking about homes, you touched on council-owned property and homes that are managed by housing associations. On work with properties where people have bought their homes under the right to buy, is that the model that you see for informing those individuals? How would individual private home owners be part of any inspection regime that councils might do?

I have one last question. We do not have COSLA here today, so we will maybe put these questions to it separately. For a lot of councils, given where we are with the funding formula, there will be questions about how they reprioritise potential building replacements, which they will have to bring forward more quickly. We have heard about replacement schools here in Edinburgh, for example. Are ministers having conversations with COSLA about the fact that some councils might be facing a far bigger challenge to fund those replacements? What will it look like for COSLA to be in negotiations over potential changes to that capital funding in the future?

I, too, am pleased to speak in this members’ business debate and to give my support to the campaign, which recognises the importance of funding for disabled children in Scotland. I thank Claire Baker for lodging the motion, and I welcome the families to the public gallery.

As others have done, I pay tribute to The Yard for the wonderful work that it does to support children with disabilities and their families. As the briefing says, it has always been

“a place of pure joy”

for anyone who has ever visited. Since my election, I have had the pleasure of visiting The Yard on several occasions. I think that the first time that I visited, within minutes, I was dressed as a wizard and being pushed around in a tricycle or race car. It was a fantastic visit, and it gave me a sense of the value that The Yard brings not just to children but to their whole family and support network. It is important to recognise that in the debate today.

Anyone who has ever used The Yard will know that it is a very special place, as many families have told me. However, it is also a lifeline, with a varied programme of drop-ins, respite sessions, transition youth clubs, early years sessions, specialist sessions with schools, family play sessions and inclusive play and disability training. It also provides parents with an opportunity to have conversations with other parents about the daily struggles that they are facing. It is really important for any family to be able to have that space to have those conversations.

Improving support for disabled children across Scotland and providing support for families is important, and I think that ministers and members across parties all recognise that. Investing in charities such as The Yard can help families and children and can contribute to reducing some of the financial burden that sometimes disadvantages those families. In 2022, the Scottish Government decided to roll forward the children, young people and families early interventions fund grant, and that had major implications for charities such as The Yard, which were struggling to meet demand. As Claire Baker has already outlined, in the seven years since funding was delivered, the Scottish Government’s contribution to each family has reduced in real terms by 76 per cent. That is a remarkable statistic: it has gone from £163 per family in 2016 to just £39 per family now. I think that all of us, across the parties, understand the need to recognise that, and I think that it is important that ministers are aware of it. It is an astonishing fall in funding that will clearly present challenges in the future.

We know that The Yard wants to expand into the west of Scotland, and I think that we would all want to support that work. With additional funding, those ambitions can be realised, and that will represent value for all of us.

As Ben Macpherson said, charities such as The Yard are invaluable, but they do not come free, and we cannot take for granted those organisations or the facilities and services that they provide. Most of us in the chamber will have a friend or family member with a disabled child, and it is important that we recognise the need for bespoke funding for those services in Scotland.

I will conclude, as others have, by thanking Eilish Cowan for her campaigning. I also thank her whole family and all the families who use the yard for their tremendous campaign to date. I hope that today’s debate presents an opportunity for ministers to think again and look to provide a better deal. The Yard has received just £90,000 since 2016, and that has been enough to support 550 children. However, seven years on, the charity’s reach has grown fourfold, delivering family support to more than 2,300 children in its three centres in the east of Scotland. Demand for a wide range of services is growing, and the Scottish Government needs to recognise that and rethink its position. The Yard will not be able to continue to meet demand if it does not receive that additional funding, so I sincerely hope that the minister has heard the case this evening for providing a better funding deal for The Yard and that she will undertake a review urgently to improve the funding model and make sure that The Yard can continue to go from strength to strength.

I understand that the minister is outlining a range of policies. Carers centres, which councils are struggling to fund, and places such as The Yard are key in providing holistic support, so have ministers considered what needs to happen to ensure that such services are sustainable into the future and where additional funding for them can be found? That is really important because, when people look for support in accessing the new benefits that the minister has outlined, those conversations often take place in carers centres or places such as The Yard.

I am disappointed to hear that. People across Edinburgh and the Lothians and the south of Scotland will really want to know when those recommendations will be given to ministers and how fast we can see this progress. We need the A720 Sheriffhall roundabout to be upgraded. It has now been five years since it was included in the Edinburgh and south-east Scotland city region deal.

Will the minister agree to meet me and campaigners at the junction at the earliest opportunity to see the real need for this to be progressed and the junction upgraded as soon as possible?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any recommendations from the independent reporter to consider any outstanding objections to the development of the A720 Sheriffhall roundabout in light of the public local inquiry, which took place at the beginning of February 2023. (S6O-02573)