Chamber and committees

Did use of ALISS increase during the first lockdown phase of the pandemic? The alliance has shown that use of ALISS increased in 2021, and I was just wondering whether Covid had an impact in that respect.

Moreover, are we tracking who is using it? Is it being used by link workers or others? At last week’s meeting, we were told by Optometry Scotland and Community Pharmacy Scotland that they had not heard of ALISS, but their members also spend a lot of time with patients. After all, an eye examination can take up to half an hour. Who is using the system?

Yes. It is just a quick question.

In one of my local areas, one of the manager leads of all the GP practices knows about ALISS, so his GP practices know about it; however, they said that it might not be as up to date as it should be. I am aware of some general practitioners who know about ALISS, although Dr Gulhane’s point about not knowing any GPs who access it is probably quite important.

It is about raising awareness, and linking to make it work better. For instance, the DG locator, which is run by the third sector in Dumfries and Galloway, is working on collaborating with the GP practices to direct them more towards ALISS and other services. That would involve asking what we need in order to make ALISS work better, apart from just money.

My question is just a wee supplementary.

When we talked about library services, Chris Mackie said that we must

“use them or lose them.”

Perth and Kinross Council introduced dog-friendly Fridays in its libraries in 2018, and City of Edinburgh Council introduced dog-friendly Thursdays in October 2019. Those initiatives tackle isolation and loneliness and ensure that folk do not have to tie their dogs up outside the library or leave them in the car. Are you aware of those initiatives? Are we tracking them to see whether dog-friendly days in libraries are a good thing?

The minister mentioned the community living change fund. Can he expand on the steps that will be taken to ensure that best practice is adhered to in the design of community-based support for people with complex needs, so that we can end the postcode lottery for access to high-quality services in rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway and more widely across Scotland?

I congratulate my colleague Evelyn Tweed on securing the debate and I welcome the opportunity to speak.

The pandemic has been awful for us all and it has hit the tourism industry very hard. I thank the Scottish Government for the financial support that has been provided so far. In addition to Scottish tourism month’s aims to “engage, connect and inspire”, it is really important for our tourism industry to aim for recovery, rebirth and renewal.

As a representative of Scotland’s bonniest regions, the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland, I am proud to shine a light on the sooth. The beautiful scenery and the world-class food and drink are fantastic, and the outdoor pursuits and our enormous contribution to Scotland’s national environment are really important.

The Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway have something for everyone, including forest and family holidays, historic abbeys and castles, distilleries, cycle trails, water sports and spa retreats, as my colleague Christine Grahame also mentioned. With miles of stunning coastline, rolling hills and beautiful forest, there is no better place to escape to, and history lovers can follow in the footsteps of Robert the Bruce, Walter Scott and our national bard Robert Burns.

People can also explore the many wonderful ruined abbeys that are dotted all across South Scotland, from Sweetheart abbey to the world-famous Melrose abbey. The south of Scotland also boasts some great gardens, such as Logan botanic garden. Located on the south-western tip of Scotland, it is warmed by the gulf stream and is a place of tropical beauty, with many plants that normally grow in antipodean countries.

We noo have world-class whisky, gin and rum distilleries as well, including Annandale, Bladnoch, Crafty, Ninefold, Oro, Borders, Selkirk, Dark Art and the Moffat distillery, which is still under construction.

As part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations, Dumfries has applied to be recognised as a city. When Perth, Stirling and Inverness received city status, they went from strength to strength—economically, socially and culturally—and attracted people and lots of new investment to their areas. If Dumfries receives city status, the town and our whole region could benefit similarly. The south really is Scotland’s adventure playground.

I thank the minister for taking questions on what is, as she has said, a very fast-moving situation. Cairnryan is, indeed, a busy port, not just providing connectivity to Northern Ireland but also now serving as Scotland’s gateway to the European Union and Ireland. The route providers, P&O and Stena Line, carry a lot of freight, especially for supermarkets, but also provide the carriage of livestock. Will the minister therefore outline what the Government is doing to address and minimise the disruption?

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

I thank Siobhian Brown for raising that issue. I am aware of what has been launched in South Ayrshire, and I welcome it. I thank her for making that intervention so that we can highlight that.

In addition to the cycle routes at Glentress, which Christine Grahame talked about, there are other 7stanes cycle routes in Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders. The award-winning 7stanes mountain biking trails provide among the best mountain biking that is available in Scotland.

We have the southern upland way, which is Scotland’s only official coast-to-coast long-distance footpath, and which runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea—from Portpatrick on the west coast to Cove on the east coast—and we have the Galloway international dark sky park, which has been named a gold-tier park as a result of its breathtaking and rare stargazing conditions. We also have the Galloway and southern Ayrshire United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization biosphere, which is the first UNESCO biosphere in Scotland and part of a family of 700 biospheres around the world.

Those are all fantastic resources. They really help to put South Scotland on the map, and they are all hugely important to Scotland’s economy. However, more can be done.

Stranraer Water Sports Association is involved in the development of Stranraer waterfront. Loch Ryan is a beautiful and peaceful loch, and there are huge opportunities in its potential for tourism development.

I pay tribute to the work of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance, South of Scotland Enterprise, VisitScotland Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders Council and the many organisations that work to promote tourism across the south, and I ask the minister to commit to do all he can to ensure that South Scotland is promoted as a world-class tourism destination as we recover from the pandemic.

Good morning. I would like to pick up on what Julie Mosgrove said about remote and rural areas. There are places in our small towns and large villages where people can access optometry services, but there are additional challenges in remote and rural areas. Could you outline some of those challenges in relation to people’s ability to access alternative pathways?

I am interested in social prescribing, which is also known as community prescribing. In the previous session of Parliament, both David Torrance and I were members of the Health and Sport Committee, which did an inquiry into social prescribing and talked about it as an investment rather than a cost. I am interested to hear whether you think that there is scope for wider use of social prescribing?

I have a quick supplementary question about digital exclusion and pop-up health checks. I am aware that the local NFU Scotland branch in Dumfries and Galloway went to an auction mart and did blood pressure, vital signs and blood glucose checks. Should we consider pursuing pop-up health checks at auction marts or in empty shops in town centres?