Chamber and committees

Good morning. I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak in support of PE1871.

Karen McKeown is a constituent of mine in Central Scotland. As I explained to your predecessor committee, she has become a friend through the most tragic of circumstances. Karen emailed me on 30 December 2017, just hours after Luke had taken his own life in the family home, with the children in bed. Members will have read in Karen’s submission that what happened was not through a lack of speaking out. We are all encouraged to speak out and to be open about our mental health. We hear that it is okay not to be okay. However, Karen and Luke tried to get help multiple times—about eight times, I think.

Sadly, Luke is not here, but Karen is still fighting, and not only for herself and her family. The outcome for them will never change, but when I spoke to Karen two minutes ago from outside the committee room, she impressed upon me that what happened to her family is not unique. I do not need to tell the committee that; we are all MSPs who represent communities and have our own mental health.

Karen is looking not for sympathy but for system change and action. She has become the go-to person for many other people who have sadly gone through the same tragic loss that she has gone through. Karen is supporting another constituent of mine—I will not give the person’s name—whose son was suicidal and was very vocal about how he felt. When he went to the crisis team, he was given a leaflet. That boy is not here today. That is why Karen’s petition is so important.

I acknowledge that the Scottish Government understands how serious the issue is and that it is a priority, but we are not getting things right. It is not just about putting more money into the system—although there are parts of the system that need more resource. There is a workforce crisis.

There are areas where crisis support does not exist, risk assessments are not being carried out, people do not have safe plans and pathways are not fully in place. We know from speaking to colleagues in Police Scotland that they are under increasing pressure. For someone who is in crisis or experiencing psychosis, it is not really the most helpful thing to have the police coming through their door. It is a tough job for the police, too.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the petition today and to echo some of Karen’s sentiments. The issue is a national crisis, and it is really important. Clearly, it was an issue before the pandemic, and Karen’s petition predates Covid-19. The harms and issues around isolation, mental health and alcohol and substance use must all be considered. We need to give a space in the Parliament for people to share not just their experience but what they believe to be the solutions. We are fortunate that there are people in Scotland who care deeply and who support one another in their communities, and we should hear from people on the front line.

I am very concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of people who work in our national health service, in community services and in the police. They have to turn people away with leaflets, and that brings them their own stress and anxiety. Sadly, a young doctor in Lanarkshire completed suicide recently, and following that I received a lot of emails from doctors and other people in the health service.

I will make one last point. Our general practitioners have been doing and continue to do a wonderful job during the pandemic, but the video or telephone consultation does not work for everyone with complex mental health needs, and we need to consider that in any review of mental health services.

I hope that colleagues will take this opportunity. It is not about sitting here and criticising ministers or the NHS, as everyone is trying really hard, but we are not getting it right, and people are losing their lives.

I reiterate my support for the petition, which I hope provides an opportunity for people to contribute their thoughts and solutions so that we can get this right and save lives in Scotland.

Does the minister agree that there should be a moratorium on new large-scale incinerators? Will she commend the Dovesdale action group in South Lanarkshire for its commitment to reducing waste and building a circular economy?

Given that the fund is well established and involves a huge amount of money, how can the public be confident that the bank is not investing in funds that are making money for those who are already wealthy? How does that particular investment contribute to a just transition for Scotland?

Finally, I have a more general question for Scottish Enterprise. COP26 is just around the corner. What do you see as Scotland’s main opportunities to attract investors at the conference?

Forestry has been mentioned and clearly has a huge part to play in reaching net zero. I am interested in the Gresham House forest growth and sustainability fund, on which there was a wee bit of media coverage at the weekend. The bank is making a substantial investment of £50 million. The fund is the UK’s largest commercial forestry manager and is in charge of 140,000 hectares of forestry. It operates not only in the UK but in Europe and New Zealand. I believe that it is worth £1.8 billion. How was the fund identified and how did it come to the bank’s attention?

That is all helpful. I ask Eilidh Mactaggart to expand on her comment on job creation and tell us how many new jobs the fund is expected to lead to. I also have a final question for Willie Watt. Will that investment push the envelope in relation to good practice in commercial forestry? Will it encourage more diverse planting to support native woodland targets and will it require higher levels of certification such as the UK woodland assurance standard?

What percentage of the planting will be native species? Do you have that information to hand?

Thank you—that would be great.

Thank you. There is not an overall definition of green jobs. On the applications that have come in, do you think that some companies will be disappointed because they do not meet the criteria? Do we need to do more to ensure that we have a good and robust working definition?

The green jobs fund has been mentioned today and in the written submissions. There was a call for businesses to apply for funding over the summer. How many applications has Scottish Enterprise received? How many good green jobs do you expect will be created from the first round of funding?