Chamber and committees

Four times this year?

I welcome this important debate, and I thank my colleague Gillian Mackay for bringing it to the chamber. The motion for the debate and Gillian Mackay’s opening speech say it all, and I will not repeat the shocking statistics contained in the motion on the devastating environmental impact that disposable vapes are having, although I will go on to say a bit more about their impact on children and young people.

I am delighted that, in its programme for government, the Scottish Government has committed to tackle the damage that is done by single-use vapes, and that it is consulting on a proposal to ban their sale. Scotland is leading the way in the UK on this hugely important issue, and it is a perfect example of our Government saying, “No. We will not allow the damage to continue in our country.” Good legislation protects people and the environment, and I am proud that we are leading the way.

The harm that disposable vapes do to our parks, rivers and beaches is incredibly serious. Millions of vapes are littered every year, causing significant and increasing litter clear-up and waste management costs for local authorities. Those vapes contain copper wires and lithium batteries, which are incredibly dangerous to children and animals, and are hugely difficult to dispose of responsibly. It is my understanding that 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, including East Dunbartonshire Council in my constituency, have passed motions supporting a ban.

The surge in vaping by young people, as highlighted by leading health charities such as ASH Scotland and Asthma + Lung UK, is also incredibly concerning and, as Gillian Mackay said, is driven by the popularity of cheap, sweet-flavoured, brightly coloured disposable vapes. Just as alcopops once did, those vapes hook children into a world of addiction. In a previous debate on the topic, I highlighted the supposedly cool online merchandise aimed at kids, which allows them to vape undetected by parents or teachers. Make no mistake: this is an insidious industry. As ASH Scotland has pointed out, most vapes include nicotine, which is highly addictive, and toxic e-liquids that have not been safety tested for inhalation and threaten to damage growing lungs.

The number of primary school children who are vaping has reached epidemic levels, which is a major public health concern. A single disposable vape can last for 600 puffs, which is the equivalent of smoking 20 cigarettes. According to Zero Waste Scotland, the lithium batteries used in the most popular disposable vapes could be recharged up to 500 times, if design allowed.

Single-use vapes cause immense danger to the environment. Let us be clear: they were never a good thing and are produced only to make profits for large companies. An investigation by the Daily Record revealed that a school fire in the Borders just before the start of this year’s summer holidays was blamed on the lithium battery of a vape shorting inside a metal bin in a stairwell. The Daily Record has been at the forefront of calls for a ban on single-use vapes, highlighting the health concerns, and I commend it for that. Campaigner Laura Young, known as the vape crusader, told the newspaper:

“Teachers have a hard enough job to do without being on monitoring duties making sure kids don’t have vapes.”

Last month, a survey showed that four out of five Scots back the outlawing of disposable vapes. The YouGov poll found that 77 per cent of Scottish adults either strongly or somewhat support a ban on the products. Figures for the UK as a whole are identical. Earlier this year, Keep Scotland Beautiful called on all Scottish retailers to voluntarily stop displaying single-use vapes, following in the footsteps of Waitrose, which has taken them off its shelves.

Let us get rid of these products, which do nothing but harm to Scotland’s people and environment.

Thanks. Mr Page, you talk about your reform budget. What is that exactly—what does that mean?

I am conscious of time, so I will be quick.

Thank you.

I am finding this a very encouraging session. Thanks for the efficiencies that you have made in the reorganisation. Eric McQueen, you talked at the start about how the pay increase has been a bit higher than you had thought it would be. Is that helping you with recruitment and retention?

I know that I am running out of time, but I will go back to James Gray, very briefly. You mentioned the closure of maybe 30 police stations. Would you put that money back into the capital budget, as the fire service is doing?

Thank you, convener. I will come to James Gray first.

In your opening statement, you acknowledged that you received £80 million extra in your budget. You said that half of that was spent on pay rises. Sorry if this is a bit simplistic, but can you say how the other £40 million was absorbed?

I turn to body-worn cameras. In the previous session of Parliament, I was on the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing and we were talking about cameras then, which was seven years ago. Why has that not been a priority for you? Whose decision is it? Is it operational, or is it a decision for you? You could not give a guarantee that it would happen, so I am wondering who actually decides that.

Again just briefly, I have a question for DCC Connors. You talked about THRIVE assessments, and said that it would be up to individual officers to do that. How is training going for that? Also, you will know that we did quite a large inquiry into the mental health and wellbeing of police officers; how is work on that progressing?