Will the member take an intervention?

I thank Monica Lennon for giving me the opportunity to put on record our joint thanks and the community’s thanks to Robert Brown, formerly of the Scottish Parliament, who chaired the Rutherglen 900 committee, and all the other committee members, who have worked hard over the past year. I hope that Monica Lennon will share my congratulations to them.

I am delighted to have secured this debate to mark the 900th anniversary of Rutherglen’s being granted royal burgh status by King David I, which gave it special trading rights and underlined its importance in medieval Scotland.

I have the tremendous honour of representing Rutherglen, my home town, where I was brought up, where I brought up my own family and where I still live. I could say a great deal about our town but fear that I will only be able to scratch the surface in the time that is available to me.

Rutherglen is one of those places where, everywhere that you turn, you see something of its fascinating history. My constituency office is situated on Rutherglen’s Main Street. It is a particularly wide street because it was the place to be to trade horses from the 1600s onwards. As time passed, fairs were held there 12 times a year.

A few steps from my office is Rutherglen old parish church, which has been a site of Christian worship for at least 1,400 years and is believed to have been a site of druid worship before that. John Menteith betrayed William Wallace there in 1305, and the Parliament of Scotland also sat there. In its boundary walls is a statue of Dr James Gorman, who treated Ruglonians long before the national health service was established, often for little or no charge, and during some of Lanarkshire’s worst mining disasters.

A few more steps take you to the town hall, which was completed in 1862. Civic leaders decided that a new one was needed after significant population expansion. Near the town hall is the mercat cross, a 100-year-old replica of the original to which the covenanters nailed their 1679 declaration of Rutherglen.

Behind my office runs King Street, where Rutherglen castle sat at the junction with Castle Street. Built in the 13th century, the castle’s 5-feet-thick walls made it a crucial stronghold during the wars of independence, during which it was besieged several times by Robert the Bruce.

I remember our colleague Jamie Hepburn speaking about his home town of Cumbernauld during a members’ business debate and joking about how many towns claim to have links to Mary, Queen of Scots. Not wishing to disappoint in that regard, I can say that Mary led a march to Rutherglen castle in 1568 to round up her supporters before her journey west. A year later, the castle was burned to the ground by the Earl of Moray, to punish the Hamilton family for supporting Mary at the battle of Langside.

I could spend all afternoon talking about Rutherglen’s history—from Gallowflat tumulus, a second century Roman burial site, to the coracles that travelled up and down the Clyde to and from Rutherglen in the 12th century, or the steamships that were built there in the 19th century, or how James Watt designed a bridge for the town before his tinkering with steam engines allowed its steel, chemical and textile industries to flourish.

The historic areas near the centre, such as Bankhead, Burnhill and Gallowflat, have changed hugely over the years and the village of Burnside has expanded greatly. Post-war developments on farms and estates in Blairbeth, Cathkin, Eastfield, Fernhill, Spittal and Springhall are now well-established communities. Each place has its own distinct identity but is firmly and proudly part of Rutherglen’s story.

I also remember Mr Hepburn mentioning the legendary broadcaster Magnus Magnusson. He married the journalist Mamie Baird in Wardlawhill parish church before living in Calderwood Road for many years. After growing up in the town, their daughter Sally became a renowned broadcaster and she set her novel “Music in the Dark” in a Rutherglen tenement.

In a list of notable Ruglonians, I could also include actors Robbie Coltrane, Janet Brown, Scott Kyle and Stan Laurel, the poet Edwin Morgan, fashion designer Jonathan Saunders and musicians such as Midge Ure and Audrey Tait. John Logie Baird lived a few hundred yards from where Cee Cee TV Security Solutions now displays a beautiful vintage television in its shop window. Infamously, he once fused all the lights in the town, which hastened his departure from his job at the local power station.

There is a wheen of sports people from Rutherglen, from Steve Archibald, who went from Fernhill Athletic Football Club to Barcelona, to Sadie Smith, Rutherglen Ladies FC’s captain, who battled against the odds even to play at a time when women’s football was banned in England and was deemed quite unsuitable in Scotland. Again, that could be a very long list. Ruglonians have truly made their mark on the world.

When the 900th anniversary of our town’s burgh status was approaching, a real desire grew to mark the occasion—to take the chance to reflect on who we are, where we have come from and where we are going. Rutherglen 900 was born as a community-led initiative that was built on collaboration between local people, organisations, schools, community groups and volunteers. I thank that large community network, which includes Healthy n Happy Community Development Trust, CamGlen Radio, heritage organisations, schools, artists, sports groups and local residents who are keen to give back to their community.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to thank each and every person who has given up their time to organise the wonderful programme of events that will mark our town’s milestone year. I thank them for all their efforts—not just this year, but every year and, indeed, every day—to support local residents. I urge anyone listening to the debate to visit the Rutherglen 900 website to see the depth and breadth of the programme that they have put together. There truly is something for everyone. Our town will host walking and vintage bus tours that will highlight local landmarks and explore Rutherglen’s radical history of social activism, and there will be a community picnic; a sing-along event; multiple talks and exhibitions; sporting events; a live comedy, dance and music event, including the town’s very first mela; and an inaugural book festival.

There is also a packed schools programme, with events for children and young people in every month this year. It was an absolute treat to hear the debut performance of “Song of Rutherglen” at the Rutherglen 900 launch event in the town hall last Friday, which was beautifully sung by pupils from each local school. If members are in the right place at the right time, they might even bump into Rutherglen 900’s official mascot, Dougie the pigeon, which was designed by Emma from St Anthony’s primary school.

Whether you call it Rutherglen, Ruglen or Ruggie, there is a lot happening in our town this year, as always, and there is much to celebrate about her people and organisations, who make it such a great place to live and work in. I am thoroughly looking forward to all the opportunities that we will have over the next year to celebrate, to reminisce and to look to our town’s future. Rutherglen is ready to welcome all who would like to join us.

12:57

Perhaps the minister, in an intervention, would be able to clarify this more fully, but I think that Mr Golden is misinterpreting the bill and, consequently, the recommendations of the stage 1 report.

I think that Mr Golden might have misinterpreted the bill and the committee’s report. We are talking about higher-tariff non-surgical procedures in HIS-inspected premises being supervised by a healthcare professional; the proposal is not necessarily that those healthcare professionals would carry out the procedures. It is about ensuring safety by requiring that, if there is an adverse effect, some sort of medical assistance is easily accessible.

I do not necessarily disagree with anything that Mr Sweeney has said, but does he also agree that we absolutely need a public information programme so that people understand the risks of what might be seen as a simple procedure or as something quite harmless?

As convener, I am pleased to open the stage 1 debate on the Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I thank everyone who contributed to the committee’s stage 1 scrutiny of the bill by providing written or oral evidence and place on record my thanks to the committee clerks for their work at stage 1.

During its scrutiny, the committee heard extensive evidence that non-surgical procedures such as Botox, fillers, strong chemical peels and some microneedling—many of which are provided for cosmetic purposes—can carry significant risks if not carried out in appropriate settings and by suitably trained practitioners. Our committee has concluded that patient safety has to be the overriding priority when considering regulation in the area. We have heard evidence of great variance in standards adhered to by practitioners who carry out non-surgical procedures. Therefore, robust regulation is necessary to ensure that people who want to access those procedures can do so safely and in a properly informed manner.

We fully support the provisions in the bill that will make it illegal to carry out non-surgical procedures on people under the age of 18. That is a welcome step towards protecting young people, who can be particularly vulnerable to influences about beauty standards from social media.

The committee supports the Scottish Government’s two-tier approach to regulation. Through the bill, high-risk procedures will be allowed to take place only in permitted premises, including in Healthcare Improvement Scotland-registered clinics, and under the supervision of authorised medical practitioners. Meanwhile, lower-risk procedures will be regulated through secondary legislation under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which the committee has also recently scrutinised.

At the same time, the committee concluded in its report that the bill currently lacks important detail on the specifics of clinical supervision and training requirements for those who will be allowed to undertake and supervise procedures. The committee acknowledges the impact that the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 has had on the Scottish Government’s ability to legislate in the area. Nonetheless, we urge the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government to ensure that all those who carry out such procedures are suitably qualified to do so.

Our inquiry identified a number of other areas where the Scottish Government will need to work with the UK Government to resolve certain related issues. They include improved classification and regulation of certain devices and substances that are used in non-surgical procedures, regulation of irresponsible advertising of non-surgical procedures, and action to address the potential risk that regulation of the sector will result in an increase in cosmetic tourism.

During the scrutiny process, we heard concerns from many independent aesthetic practitioners that their businesses would be negatively impacted by the proposed approach to the regulation of non-surgical procedures that is set out in the bill. To alleviate those concerns, our report calls for appropriate guidance and support to be provided to help responsible practitioners to make a successful transition to the new regulatory framework. We also support a staged approach to enforcement that will give responsible practitioners suitable time and resource to adjust to the new regime.

As part of its scrutiny, the committee took evidence from Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which will have new powers of enforcement under the bill. We heard concerns about the extent to which HIS will have sufficient resources, capacity and training to be able to carry out its enforcement role effectively from the outset. To address those concerns, we call on the Scottish Government to publish an implementation route map to ensure that suitable processes, systems and resources are put in place by the date on which regulations will come into force.

Evidence that was submitted to the committee further highlighted that the penalties for offences that are created by the bill may not be sufficient to deter the bad actors who are willing to provide non-surgical procedures illegally. We therefore call for stronger penalties for offences that are committed under the terms of the bill.

The bill will provide an opportunity to improve data gathering on non-surgical procedures, particularly concerning the rate of procedures that are carried out successfully versus those that involve a complication or adverse reaction. More systematic data gathering will allow the bill’s implementation to be monitored and evaluated over time to determine its impact on patient safety.

Our scrutiny suggests that there is not a good level of awareness among the general public about the potential risks that are associated with such procedures or how to make a properly informed choice when accessing them. Our report therefore calls for a public awareness campaign as part of the implementation of the legislation to ensure that people have the confidence and knowledge to make informed choices should they wish to undergo a procedure.

Part 2 of the bill, which is entirely unrelated to part 1, concerns processes for certification of death and authorisation of cremation. The committee supports the proposed changes to those processes that are set out in the bill. Our view is that they will improve the processes by which medical certificates of cause of death are reviewed in Scotland, making them fairer and more efficient.

Subject to the recommended improvements that I have outlined, the committee strongly supports the bill’s provisions and has recommended that the general principles of the bill be agreed to. I look forward to hearing the contributions to this afternoon’s debate and to considering the bill further should the Parliament vote to approve its general principles.

15:58

In relation to skills and heritage, I note that the Rutherglen boundary stones are being recreated in a college in Glasgow, which is helping to develop stonemason skills for the future.

In relation to skills and heritage, I note that the Rutherglen boundary stones are being recreated in a college in Glasgow, which is helping to develop stonemason skills for the future.

Perhaps the minister, in an intervention, would be able to clarify this more fully, but I think that Mr Golden is misinterpreting the bill and, consequently, the recommendations of the stage 1 report.