Chamber and committees

I start by congratulating Morven-May MacCallum on a really excellent first speech in the Parliament. My father contracted Lyme disease when he was working in forests in Perthshire. He spent months in Perth royal infirmary, and I remember going to visit him as a kid. Listening to Morven-May MacCallum’s speech reminded me of that period. Many people are not believed until they are extremely unwell. I pay tribute to Morven-May MacCallum and look forward to seeing what she will do to campaign on the issue and to make a difference over the course of this session of Parliament.

I return to the contribution of my friend and colleague Paul McLennan. At the start of this new session of Parliament, and as a Lothian MSP, I must again raise concerns, as Paul McLennan has, about the growing gap in health funding on a population basis that we are seeing across our country. That is no more acute than it is here in Edinburgh and in NHS Lothian. I have raised the issue consistently in my time as an MSP, but we are seeing a shift in our country’s population, and the Government and the Parliament must start to acknowledge that. If the issue goes unaddressed, it will be one of the biggest problems that our health service will face in the future. I therefore hope that the cabinet secretary, as a fellow Lothian MSP, will agree to meet a cross-party group of MSPs to discuss how we can put in place a population-based funding mechanism to address the issue. I am kind of asking the cabinet secretary to meet herself as a Lothian MSP, but I hope that she will take that forward.

In 1999, I remember sitting in my modern studies class and being excited about the election of this new Scottish Parliament and what it could mean for our country. We used to talk about Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. However, 27 years later, I must ask myself whether this Parliament has been focused on delivering new thinking and fresh ideas for our NHS. I do not think that we can say that it has, and I hope that we can all acknowledge that. Life expectancy figures in Scotland remain shocking: between the 20 per cent most deprived and the 20 per cent least deprived communities, there is a gap in life expectancy of eight years for women and 11 years for men.

Helen McDade spoke about the need for action, which I agree with. Too often, our NHS is good at delivering a process to referral but not an actual outcome. We need a change from having Government strategy after Government strategy to having strategies that actually deliver outcomes. That said, I will highlight two of the strategies that ministers should return to, which are realistic medicine and the “What matters to you?” approach. If we are going to consider where and how patients want to be treated, we need to understand that the NHS often overtreats Scots, and have a reset on that in this session.

We have heard from several members in this debate about poor health spend in our health service, such as when police officers take people who experience mental health trauma to A and E just to sit with them all day and then take them home. I hope that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice will genuinely work together to end that practice. Stuart McMillan highlighted ambulances being tied up at A and E units across our country, and Bob Doris outlined well the cost to our health service of not urgently delivering a better hospice and community palliative care system—it is more than £1 billion.

I have two recent stories on that issue from working as an MSP in Edinburgh. We managed to get a constituent—who wanted to return to her roots to die in the Western Isles—back home to have her wishes fulfilled. Another constituent wanted to die at home in Edinburgh, but a crisis meant they were blue-lighted into hospital and died there, which was not the wish of that individual or their family—that should never have happened. We need to consider how our systems can and must change.

I congratulate David Green and welcome him to the Parliament. I have known David for many years, and he will be a great new addition to the Parliament. I met his dad at the kirking of the Parliament, but David has trained his family so well that, when I tried to get any gossip or dirt that I could out of his father, he was not for telling me. David Green made a point about rural proofing, which we need to focus on—I say that as an Edinburgh and Lothians East MSP. We need to look at how often our NHS creates more problems by not thinking about rural communities first.

Lloyd Melville made important points about the elimination by 2030 of HIV transmission. I also highlight the need for us to refocus and return to hepatitis C testing and treatment strategies. For many years, we were world leading in that area, but we are now slipping behind. The strategies that we have outlined and where they are being delivered—sometimes on a board-by-board basis instead of with a once-for-Scotland approach—need to be revisited.

Joe Long is another great new addition to the Parliament, and I also worked with him when he was at Scottish Autism. I agree with him that, in the previous session, one of the greatest concerns was that the Government decided not to take forward the learning disabilities, autism and neurodivergence bill. His former colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy did some good work on a transitions bill for young people. Those bills could complement each other, and I hope that the Government will make their introduction an urgent priority.

As we start this new session of the Parliament, I hope that the cabinet secretary is genuinely ready to work with and reach out to all parties to develop a new plan to improve our NHS not just for this session of the Parliament, but for the future of our NHS.

I welcome the cabinet secretary to her new role in government, and I look forward to working with her in that role. The cabinet secretary and I, as Lothian MSPs, have worked cross-party during all the time that I have served in Parliament, mostly on health issues. I think that it is important that MSPs, as part of their job, are able to speak to cabinet secretaries about issues. I very much look forward to working with the cabinet secretary on such issues, and I welcome both Maree Todd and Alison Thewliss to the health team as well. I pay tribute to Neil Gray, because health secretary is probably one of the hardest jobs in government.

Those of us who have returned to Parliament have, I hope, taken a bit of time to reflect on what we, as MSPs, can do. One of my greatest concerns is the fact that most of my time has been spent as an advocate for patients who, for some—or no—reason, have not been able to access services. New members will find that lobbying for people to access our health service is sometimes one of the hardest aspects of the job. That should not be happening in Scotland today. I hope that the start of this parliamentary session gives us an opportunity to genuinely change that. I thank Neil Gray, because a lot of the work that I did behind the scenes with him was lobbying for constituents to get what they should have been entitled to. I also thank the many health organisations and charities that have reached out to me and I look forward to working with them over this session of the Parliament.

I am pleased to lead, once again, for the Scottish Conservatives on health and care. I served in the role between 2016 and 2021 and I relish taking it up again. I have to say that it feels as though not a lot has changed during the time that I did not have this portfolio. From speaking to many health representatives, I know that there is a sense of frustration about the lack of reform. We need to focus on a number of priorities that can make a real difference. The Scottish Conservatives have a number of priorities in this session. I have always been a proud advocate for our wonderful hospice sector, as were colleagues Bob Doris and Marie McNair in the previous session of the Parliament. I raised the issue in my first speech in the Parliament when I spoke about the love and support that was given to me and my family when my mum died from cancer when I was just seven. We should all celebrate the hospice movement in our country and we should all want to see it improve and grow.

The national debate about assisted dying and access to palliative care services, which took place prior to the 2026 elections, resulted in cross-party support in all our party manifestos that were developed for the election. In those manifestos, we looked towards how we would take forward new funding models for the hospice sector and the delivery of palliative care services in each of our communities, in order to support people across our country. I welcome the progress that has been made. The publication of the “Palliative Care Matters for All” strategy is a welcome step forward, with the principle that anyone who needs palliative care should be able to access the best quality support. I welcome the progress on pay parity, for example. I believe that the cabinet secretary now needs to look towards a vision that we should all have for Scotland, by the end of this session, to be the best country in which to access palliative care. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s opening comments in the debate. We should all be able to collectively agree on the establishment of cross-party work with the sector to develop a new funding model for hospices, to ensure that annual public funding keeps pace, and to agree on the need to guarantee that pay parity be maintained throughout this session of the Parliament.

I will touch on a number of aspects where I think reform needs to take place, notably in relation to the third sector. Although, quite rightly, the Scottish Government talks about the importance of the third sector, we look too often at the third sector as a place where we can make cuts. If the Government is looking at where it can make changes and reform the health service, I am concerned that the third sector, as it has always been under the integration joint boards, will be the first point of contact. For example, the Scottish Huntington’s Association provides a nationwide specialist service for families that have been impacted by Huntington’s disease. Statutory funding is typically provided only on a 12-month basis via a patchwork of scores of local funders that have different reporting requirements. Often, funding is not confirmed for those services until a new financial year has started. That provides complete uncertainty for front-line staff and, more importantly, for vulnerable service users, there is an annual fight to keep the services that they rely on simply to live. We need to look at reforms such as regional commissioning as positive solutions. I hope that the cabinet secretary can investigate that sort of model and look at how it could be taken forward in any reform that the Government is minded to introduce.

I also think that we have a great opportunity. All members who will cover the health portfolio over the next five years will stand up and talk about how we need to look towards the preventative health agenda. I pay tribute to my former colleague, Brian Whittle, who used to bring that to the chamber almost weekly. In order for the Government to achieve preventative health goals, we will need to look not only at the NHS doing that, but at other providers and our whole system doing it. Education is at the heart of that. We need to look at how we adapt and deploy innovation, including cutting-edge treatments and vaccines, and ensure that those are seen as a strategic investment, rather than a cost.

We are lucky, as a country, to have a pipeline of innovation highly aligned to the needs of our Scottish health system. There is enormous potential there. I grew up in Perthshire, and I very much welcome Helen McDade to her position as Reform health spokesperson. I have known Helen for many years, and her advocacy around ME shone today in the chamber. It is important to note that, when I was young and growing up in Perthshire, Perth royal infirmary was seen as a university hospital; it was aligned to treatments and it pushed our health service. Nowadays, it feels like our health service is simply trying to keep up. I hope that we will see a change in attitude that once again aligns our health service to our university sector, which will help with many of the Government’s outcomes, especially around economic growth.

I will close for the Conservatives later, so I will make some comments on members’ opening or first speeches then. To conclude for now, I hope that this session can genuinely be one in which we work together towards a more sustainable NHS for all of us. We all rely on our NHS, and those of us who are lucky to serve our constituents here need to ensure that it works.

I welcome some of what the minister has outlined, but does she agree that it is concerning that the percentage of children who engage in one hour of physical activity per day has declined by 8 per cent since 2016? How will those initiatives help to turn that around in the school setting?

This is my first contribution since being returned to serve as a member for the Edinburgh and Lothians East region, so I will start by paying tribute to a number of colleagues who have not been returned. In particular, I thank my former Lothian MSP colleague Sue Webber for her service to my region over the past five years. I also pay tribute to my former colleagues Ash Regan, Martin Whitfield and Angus Robertson for their service to my community.

As is the case at the start of every parliamentary session, it has been refreshing and positive to hear new members make their first speeches, and I look forward to hearing more of those this afternoon. I think that it takes new members about six months of being in this building before they start to become cynical, but it is good to hear the positive energy that they bring to our debates. I distinctly remember our former colleague Bruce Crawford saying to me, when I was elected 10 years ago, that my five years would fly by and I should ensure that I used my voice in this place to make a difference. I did not believe that those five years would fly by, but they certainly did. Therefore, my advice to any new members who will take it is to make sure that, in this session, they do what they want to do as MSPs for their communities, because that is what we are here for. I wish them all well in that.

This debate offers a great opportunity to highlight the cross-party support that exists for the summer of sport that we are all about to enjoy, and how it could make a real difference. I hope that it will inspire our nation, especially given the pressure that is being placed on Scotland’s men’s football team as it competes in the 2016 FIFA world cup, as well as on our athletes who will compete in the Commonwealth games here at home in July.

I am sorry and disappointed that, to date, the Parliament has had little or no opportunity to host an event relating to the Commonwealth games ahead of our summer recess. I hope that that can be urgently corrected and that such an event can be hosted for our athletes, to inform MSPs and our communities about the games and to ensure that, ahead of the opening ceremony, our Parliament has welcomed them here. Glasgow 2026 presents Scotland’s opportunity to turn a landmark summer of international sport into lasting participation, pride and opportunity for communities across our country.

It is telling and important that all the amendments to the motion, including my own, recognise that sport should be accessible to all people in Scotland, irrespective of their backgrounds or personal circumstances, and also recognise the commitments made to ensure that physical education is supported in schools—specifically, as Jackie Baillie outlined, in relation to the manifesto commitments that we all made on swimming. It is important that we see a timetable for how that policy, which has cross-party support, can be implemented.

As is always the case when countries host major sporting events, there is concern about overpromising, about legacy, and about how sporting events can deliver a positive impact on the health of a nation. However, I have been impressed by Glasgow 2026’s organisers and the realistic goals that they have set to date.

For example, the Glasgow 2026 schools programme invites every school and youth organisation in Scotland to get inspired, to get active and to get involved as the city prepares to welcome athletes from 74 Commonwealth nations. The programme is designed to be inclusive and accessible, with flexible activities that can be delivered in classrooms, assemblies, playgrounds and youth settings. School and youth leaders can draw on free, ready-to-use learning resources covering different subjects around curriculum areas, from early years to upper secondary. Organisers of the schools baton relay invited children and young people to design batons and then relay them between classes or schools to enable them to take part ahead of the games themselves.

I hope that, after the games, we will be able to look back at how the sporting stars who will soon become household names across the country inspired our young people, helping to turn a summer of elite sport into opportunities for participation, learning, confidence and wider engagement.

The work that is being done to make these games some of the most para inclusive on record is welcome. Glasgow 2026 will feature 47 para sport medal events, making it the largest integrated para sports programme in Commonwealth games history. Para sport will be fully integrated across six of the 10 sports in the 2026 games, which is a really welcome step forward. They will include para athletics, swimming, track cycling, bowls and power lifting, and also wheelchair basketball.

Finally, I take the opportunity—as the minister did—to pay tribute to, and to thank, the more than 3,000 volunteers who are known as the Glasgow 2026 legends. I met many of them when the games were last held in Scotland, when we hosted the diving here in Edinburgh. They really helped to make those games a success—that was so welcome, and I know that they will do the same again.

This summer has the potential to truly inspire us all. Scottish Conservatives send our best wishes to all Scotland’s athletes who are competing.

I move amendment S7M-00208.2, to insert at end:

“; recognises that sport should be accessible to all people in Scotland, irrespective of background or personal circumstances; recognises the commitments made to ensure physical education is supported in schools, including swimming lessons, and considers that sport in school and in extracurricular activities is the best way to ensure access for all young people; believes that physical education should reflect the sporting opportunities in local communities and local clubs, and considers that investment in sport should reflect the positive impact that it can have in the health of the nation and attainment in Scotland's schools.”

What the cabinet secretary has had to say is incredibly frustrating. When I raised the matter before we went into the election, the former transport secretary said that she was angry and frustrated that we did not have an opportunity for a decision to be taken. For 10 years, I have been asking different transport secretaries to get on and take a decision. What timetable can we expect for the transport secretary to come back to Parliament? Before summer recess would be ideal.

I, Miles Briggs, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.