Chamber and committees

Can the minister outline how the Scottish Government has increased funding for gynaecology services, which has helped to drive down waiting times in women’s health?

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding whether anaerobic digestion facilities can support the decarbonisation of the agricultural sector by providing low-carbon fertiliser and the creation of biogas. (S6O-04614)

With 48 per cent of Scotland’s dairy herd in the south-west of Scotland, there is potential to harness anaerobic digestion and biogas production to not only cut greenhouse gas emissions but to provide a source of off-grid energy for rural areas, which have disproportionately higher numbers of households that are in fuel poverty. Meanwhile, 39 per cent of homes in Dumfries and Galloway are not connected to the main gas grid. What role does the Scottish Government envisage anaerobic digestion and biogas playing, and what sources of information and advice exist for farmers who might be looking to adopt that innovative technology on their farms?

It is absolutely great that Finlay Carson is on his feet, celebrating the schools that are participating in the Eco-Schools programme—well done. We do have some common ground across the chamber in some of our debates.

There are seven simple steps in the framework for the programme. Step 1 is basically to create an eco-committee that the young people lead, with teacher support. Step 2 is to complete an environmental review, which helps everyone to know how eco-friendly their school is and where improvement can be made. Step 3 is the biggest part and is the creation of an action plan. That can be done over the whole year, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint to make the school greener. The proposals include swapping toys, creating bug hotels, planting vegetables and switching lights off in places where they are not needed or where rooms are not occupied. Some of the actions can be quite simple to take forward.

Step 4 is to link the environmental work into the school curriculum across the year, so that it can be embedded as part of what we need to do to protect our planet. Step 5 involves others in protecting the planet through collaboration, with school events, stalls in the community and actions with family and friends.

Step 6 requires the eco-committee to monitor and evaluate its actions. That monitoring and evaluation helps pupils to understand and demonstrate the impact that has been made. That can be done before and after, using pictures, graphs or charts.

Step 7 is the final step, which is the eco-code. It involves creating a mission statement and letting the world know about the school’s or the pupils’ commitment to protecting their planet.

All of that good work can be uploaded into the eco-schools portal between 1 May and 31 July, so that a bid for a green flag award can be made. That is where the flag can be flown at the school, letting everyone know about the school’s commitment to the planet.

I have learned a lot in preparation for the debate. I will pick up with the local schools that I have mentioned to learn more about their progress and to congratulate them on their efforts and their participation in the Eco-Schools project to protect our planet.

In addition to what the minister has described about actions in adverse event reviews, can she advise what updates the Scottish Government has had from health boards across the country regarding the steps that are being taken to sustain and enhance maternity services, including in Wigtownshire in the west of the NHS Dumfries and Galloway region?

I wisnae intending to speak in this debate, but, on reading about the Eco-Schools programme, I thought that I would push my button. I thank Christine Grahame for bringing the debate to the chamber. She has set out very well the Eco-Schools sustainable schools programme and celebrated St Andrew’s RC primary school in Gorebridge, in her constituency.

I have had the opportunity to learn about the global Eco-Schools programme, and I will be pleased to highlight some schools in Dumfries and Galloway. Lockerbie academy is participating and Shawhead primary school is another example of a school that is involved in the programme.

Georgetown primary school won awards last year for its climate action project. It invited a proponent of the local slow fashion movement from Dumfries, Marie McKinnon, into the school to talk about fast fashion and about how everybody is into disposable clothing instead of promoting a more reusable type of clothing. There was a fashion show in the school, which spurred on the children to take action to be more sustainable in the clothes that they were choosing and wearing. That was one example that I learned about in preparation for this afternoon.

Transport connectivity is important for people in the south-west of Scotland. How many free bus journeys have been made to date by young people in the south-west of Scotland as a result of the action of the Scottish National Party Government?

Marrying up hydrogen production with the clean renewables of which Scotland has an overwhelming abundance is not just the right thing to do in our quest for a just transition when we are aiming for net zero, but also means smarter and cleaner management of our natural resources, creating better places for our people and making sure that the economic dividends of the hydrogen industry are put to good use right here in Scotland.

The UK has spent decades wasting finite natural resources and putting our energy eggs in one basket, including with the dash for gas of the 1990s. Marrying up renewables generation with the production of hydrogen will provide load balancing across the grid just as pumped storage hydro does for peak demand, but it will do so across much longer periods of time. Using surplus electricity generation to produce and store hydrogen will allow for the reconversion of that stored hydrogen back into electricity and into the grid.

The technology is there, and it has been for decades, but only now is there the political and organisational will to make that a key priority for Scotland’s energy future. This cannot involve only the Government; we need business and industry to work collaboratively with the state to drive things forward. That is why last year alone, £7 million-worth of funding was on the table for businesses as seed money for green hydrogen projects

In my South Scotland region, schemes such as the Chapelcross initiative in Annan are repurposing the facilities of the 20th century nuclear power plant and putting in place the technology of the 21st century. It was great to hear colleagues mention Green Cat Hydrogen, at Creca, near Annan. In fact, it was positive to hear the south of Scotland mentioned in the chamber at all during the debate.

Just six weeks ago, Green Cat Hydrogen announced plans for a green hydrogen facility at the new energy transition zone at Chapelcross. If the plans get the go-ahead, 150 jobs will be created during construction and another 50 long-term, high-skilled jobs would be in place once the plant is complete. That is a large number of long-term, high-skilled jobs, and that amount of jobs is important for our rural region. Schemes like that would not even make it on to the drawing board without the support of the Scottish Government and South of Scotland Enterprise. That is only one example of how the Government’s backing of hydrogen is reaping economic dividends for Dumfries and Galloway, South Scotland and the rest of Scotland.

Anyone who knows the history of renewables on these islands and further afield knows of the opportunities for wind generation that the UK missed time after time. Meanwhile, small, independent Denmark was leading the way, and today the Danes remain world leaders in wind tech, which, importantly, has brought high-skilled, high-value jobs to that part of the world. If Scotland gets in early—and that is exactly what the Scottish Government plan for hydrogen aims to do—we can be for the hydrogen industry what Denmark has been for the wind industry for decades: we can be a world leader and an exporter of technology, industrial plants and expertise, with all of that boosting our industrial sectors and our economy.

Scotland has seen more than five decades of the dead hand of Westminster frittering away our energy future. We cannot allow the new energy technologies of the 21st century to suffer the same fate. Our green industrial strategy aims to harness the full benefits of our natural bounty to the betterment of our economy and ultimately the people of Scotland.

I want to highlight the carbon capture and storage work of The Carbon Removers at Crofthead farm, near Crocketford, just off the A75, which is making inroads into carbon capture and the sequestering of biogenic carbon. The cabinet secretary and the First Minister have visited that site to see for themselves the potential of what The Carbon Removers can achieve. That is another fantastic project based in the south-west of Scotland. Part of what it is doing is carbon sequestration of carbon dioxide for the whisky industry, and The Carbon Removers was a crucial business during the pandemic when it provided dry ice for vaccine storage and transfer. That is another project that it is worth us shouting from the treetops about to get Dumfries and Galloway on the map as part of the just transition. I am conscious that we often talk about the north and the north-east, and that is absolutely the right thing to do, but there are also places in the south that are doing a great job as part of the just transition.

Hydrogen is a key strand of the green industrial strategy, and I am delighted that the Scottish Government is taking that seriously rather than kow-towing to the interests of Whitehall and Westminster and the short-termism that was on display only this week from the former Prime Minister Tony Blair. I hope that ministers give his latest outburst all the respect it deserves, and I hope that colleagues will support the motion in Gillian Martin’s name at decision time.

Does the member agree that low-emission zones will help to contribute to cleaner air in our cities, which might benefit people who have asthma—especially those who might be triggered by poor air quality?

I thank colleagues for signing my motion, which has allowed us to bring the subject of world asthma day to the chamber. I thank Asthma and Lung UK Scotland for all its work as secretariat to the cross-party group on lung health, which I co-convene with my colleague Alexander Stewart, and for the briefing that it provided ahead of today’s debate. I also thank Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland for its briefing.

Asthma and Lung UK Scotland has campaigned, advocated and made great efforts that have been crucial in driving improvements in asthma care. As we approach world asthma day, which falls on 6 May this year, it is important to reflect on the progress that has been made in asthma care and on the challenges that remain.

This year’s theme from the Global Initiative for Asthma—GINA—is “Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL” and emphasises the need to ensure that everyone, regardless of their global location or socioeconomic status, has access to inhaled medications that they need both to control the underlying disease and to treat asthma attacks. That is one reason why having the right inhaler and the right inhaler technique feature in the advice for treatment, which I will come to.

Asthma is a pervasive condition that affects approximately 360,000 people in Scotland, including 72,000 children, although it was interesting to read a recent study in The BMJ that estimated that the prevalence in Scotland could be as much as 720,000. Asthma is the most common respiratory condition impacting individuals of all ages and its management requires a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach.

As someone who is still a nurse and has a sister who was a respiratory nurse consultant during her time in the national health service, I recognise the critical importance of providing the basic elements of asthma care, which are an annual asthma review, inhaler technique check and written asthma action plan. Those elements empower individuals to manage their condition effectively. Asthma and Lung UK reported that 30 per cent of asthma patients received all three of those essential components in 2025, which is an increase from the 24 per cent figure that was stated in my motion and came from 2024. It is good to see that that number is increasing.

The 30 per cent figure highlights the need for concerted efforts to improve the delivery and accessibility of basic asthma care. I know a number of the clinicians who are involved in taking forward work on lung health improvement. Dundee’s Dr Tom Fardon led the creation of the respiratory care action plan and that work is now being delivered by the centre for sustainable delivery. In November 2024, significant strides were made with the launch of new asthma guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence along with the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish intercollegiate guidelines network, which is known as SIGN. Those guidelines are a collaborative effort to update practice in asthma management.

One key aspect of the asthma pathway is diagnosis, and the pathway includes recommendations for initial clinical assessments and objective tests to diagnose asthma in adults, young people and children. Testing recommendations include the use of fractional exhaled nitric oxide, which supports the diagnosis and management of asthma by measuring nitric oxide levels in exhaled breath. Elevated FeNO levels can indicate airway inflammation, which is a hallmark of asthma, and can help to guide treatment decisions. The pathway also includes monitoring, which is important in adjusting treatment plans and making interventions.

The new guidelines from SIGN and the BTS cover managing chronic asthma by using pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies, with inhaler device selection and strategies for improving adherence to prescribed inhalational medication, and the management of acute asthma, with recommendations for those managing exacerbations.

The pathway includes the management of difficult and severe asthma with specialist therapies and has specific management guidelines covering issues during pregnancy and labour or while breastfeeding, as well as asthma in adolescence.

I hope that I have covered enough of those guidelines, which I know are detailed and complex.

I will now touch on the environmental impact of inhaler devices and the reduction of environmental harm. One inhaler manufacturer is transitioning its pressurised metered-dose inhalers—PMDIs—to a new propellant called HFO-1234z, whose global warming potential is 99.9 per cent lower than those of the propellants that are used in conventional inhalers. That change of propellant for multidose inhalers aims to reduce the environmental impact of respiratory medicines.

We must also consider the recycling potential of inhalers. Some do not have a lot of components and are relatively easy to recycle, but some have multiple plastic components that are glued or fixed and some are manufactured thousands of miles away from the end user.

Although the new guidelines offer a road map for improved asthma care, challenges persist.

I turn to deaths from asthma. In 2023, Scotland recorded the highest number of asthma deaths in over 30 years, which is a sobering reminder of asthma’s potential severity. That situation underscores the need for continued vigilance and dedication to improving asthma prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care across the country, including in NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Borders.

There is a lot to cover, and in the few minutes that I have in this debate I cannot do justice to all the work that expert national health service clinicians do every day to support their patients. However, I thank them for that.

I look forward to hearing an update from the minister. She has been excellent in engaging with the cross-party group on lung health and she has kindly provided us with much of her time at the health events that I have hosted in Parliament, including those on asthma.

This year’s world asthma day is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to ensuring that everyone with asthma has access to the care, treatment and support that they need to live life as fully and healthily as possible.