Chamber and committees

I will speak to amendment 88, in my name. I have a particular interest in the parts of the bill that relate to continuing professional development. I was a clinical nurse educator in my previous role with NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and I was embedded in CPD for 30 years as a registered nurse. During those 30 years, I witnessed and experienced the value of on-going education and CPD.

The Barony campus of Scotland’s Rural College in Dumfries and Galloway, which I have visited on a number of occasions to meet and hear from the exceptional expert team that provides education for our current and future farmers, is crucial for agricultural education.

I lodged amendment 88 to make it clear in the bill that continuing professional development activities need to be made available in “a range of formats”. It needs to be clear that there is no requirement for farmers, crofters, land managers and other agricultural producers to attend off-farm or away from their business to achieve their CPD.

With CPD, a person who is working in agricultural production could obtain knowledge or improve their knowledge about the best techniques, innovations and skills in a range of ways that meet their individual needs. That could mean peer support and completing online learning, which is similar to how healthcare staff achieve much of their required continuing professional development. NFU Scotland has highlighted that CPD could be obtained by engaging with professional organisations such as the Soil Association.

I am aware that there are other amendments on CPD, and I will listen carefully as everyone speaks. I will end there, and I will now hear from colleagues and the cabinet secretary.

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and I congratulate my friend and colleague, Collette Stevenson, on securing it. Collette has outlined the issue really well, so I am pleased to follow her at the beginning of LGBT+ history month.

I, too, want to start by condemning domestic abuse in all its forms, whether it is sexual assault, coercive control, psychological abuse or any other form of controlling behaviour.

The University of Glasgow has carried out a great deal of work on LGBT domestic abuse, and the findings of its report make for concerning reading. The research shows that LGBT+ people face fear of being stigmatised and disbelieved by police, support services being designed for heterosexual people and a systemic lack of LGBT+ domestic abuse knowledge and inclusion across “most services” in Scotland.

On the few inclusive services, the report recorded prolonged waiting lists and “inadequate” safe accommodation for LGBT+ people—a problem that the report’s author Dr Steven Maxwell has warned will only be worsened by impending local authority cuts. Dr Maxwell said:

“Domestic abuse experiences of LGBTQ+ victims and survivors are overlooked and unheard. One in 3 LGBTQ+ adults will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, the same level as heterosexual women.”

We know that such abuse has a profound impact on a person’s life, so it is absolutely crucial that the Scottish Government does all that it can to get the services right for our LGBT+ community. We must deliver parity of esteem for domestic abuse services for all domestic abuse victims—of any and all sexual orientations.

There is a clear way forward to improve the current situation. According to Dr Maxwell, a number of steps could reduce the high-risk situations that LGBT+ victims experience.

The starting point is for the Scottish Government to review the national equally safe policy, which Collette Stevenson mentioned, to have it include LGBT+ domestic abuse experiences. The University of Glasgow report says that LGBT people’s experiences are “invisible” in the equally safe strategy.

The report calls for a tailored national action plan to provide “visible competent measures” to meet people’s needs. They include: stronger prevention; service inclusion messages; more inclusive safe spaces; and practitioner workforce education for health and social care staff through, for example, Turas e-learning modules. Previously, as a clinical nurse educator, I developed and delivered e-learning courses, and it seems pretty achievable for us to pursue that, so I will ask the minister whether that could be considered.

As Collette Stevenson’s motion shows, statistical publications show that 30,139 charges that had a domestic abuse identifier were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 2022-23. The accused was male in 86 per cent of reports, which means that 4,219 women were perpetrators of domestic abuse. We need to ensure that policies such as equally safe work to support anyone who has experienced domestic abuse, because it is not a women-only problem.

One excellent example of work that is being undertaken to support LGBT+ people who are experiencing domestic abuse is the work of the charity Galop. Galop specialises in supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, honour-based abuse, forced marriage, conversion therapies and other types of interpersonal abuse. Galop is run by LGBT+ people for LGBT+ people, and the community is at the heart of everything that it does. Galop is a fantastic organisation, and I would like to hear from the minister whether the Scottish Government could engage with it.

Enabling our LGBT+ community to be supported in cases of domestic violence is crucial, so I welcome the debate.

As recently as February this year, 24 cockapoo and cavapoo puppies were discovered in a dire situation. They were confined in cardboard boxes under a lorry coming off the ferry at Cairnryan. Do you think that there are aspects of the general principles of the bill that would help to address the puppy trafficking that we still see at Cairnryan?

I am happy to speak in support of the general principles at stage 1 of Christine Grahame’s Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill. I have long advocated for a variety of policies to support and advance animal welfare, including by taking forward my member’s bill on livestock worrying in 2021.

We need to aim for responsible acquisition, giving away and selling of dogs. The minister mentioned the personalities and behaviours of dogs in his opening speech. I have twae border collies: Maya, who won the first Holyrood dog of the year competition, is now 12 years old, and Meg is 13. Those are the twae dugs that we have in our house. As they are collies, it requires a lot to keep their brains active and to give them lots of exercise. They are both rescue dogs. When we think about people acquiring a dog, it is important to talk about the way in which they will do so and about the types of dog personalities.

I put on record my thanks to Christine Grahame and I recognise her work in bringing her member’s bill to the chamber. I know the amount of work that goes into a member’s bill, so kudos to Christine Grahame and her team for putting in that hard graft.

As many members will be aware, I have campaigned for stronger action to address the horrific illegal puppy trafficking trade, which others have mentioned. In the time that I have, I will focus many of my comments on that. There has been a real increase in the practice of selling puppies without considering the puppy’s welfare. That is a particular issue in the South Scotland region, which Colin Smyth highlighted. The SSPCA reports that illegal puppies are still being brought into Scotland through the port of Cairnryan, and that they are then sold in Scotland and the wider UK.

Illegally bred puppies that are sold through black-market trade on social media or small advert sites have been identified as a significant source of revenue for serious organised crime gangs. Price tags for some designer breeds can reach thousands of pounds. Prosecutors at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are concerned that money that is raised by unauthorised puppy dealers from some online platforms could be laundered to support drug traffickers and other criminal activity, as part of a multimillion-pound enterprise. A Scottish multi-agency strategic threat assessment—SMASTA—report that was published last year reported that the market for illegally traded puppies is estimated to be worth £13 million.

So far this year, the SSPCA has received 336 calls in connection with puppy farms and puppy breeding. Many of the pups involved later suffer severe health problems and either cost their new owners money in huge vet bills or are too ill to survive their first months.

That all demonstrates that puppy trafficking is a hugely pressing issue, and it is one that the bill and the proposed code can seek to address. The committee’s stage 1 report highlights a quote from Christine Grahame. She said:

“Six years ago, I became aware of the growth in the supply of puppies and dogs purchased online and from puppy factory farms”.

She went on to say:

“I decided that, if supply was the issue, the current legislation and policing were not having a sufficient impact and that I should perhaps tackle demand, which would have an effect on supply.”

Ms Grahame said that her bill would be

“a valuable tool in the box alongside other on-going work set out by the Scottish Government in the minister’s evidence.”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, 22 November 2023; c 14.]

According to the evidence that was taken at committee, that view is supported by the Scottish SPCA and the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government ran the “Buy a puppy safely” campaign with a budget of £300,000, £225,000 of which was to pay for media and overall development of the campaign, with the remaining £75,000 covering insight and evaluation. The campaign aimed to help people to source their new puppy responsibly by informing them of the consequences of illegal puppy farming, arming them with knowledge of the warning signs to look for and directing them to the “Buy a puppy safely” campaign website.

Although those steps are welcome, as the SSPCA has said, more targeted action is needed to combat the illicit trade, and I believe that the bill will be an additional tool with which to do that.

The Scottish Government has set out its support for the general principles of the bill but has outlined areas where it feels that the bill could usefully be amended. I believe that the bill would have huge value in improving the welfare of dogs. I welcome Christine Grahame’s commitment to working with the Scottish Government on it.

Amendment 47 would ensure that the need for sustainable food systems and supply chains to deliver food security was explicitly considered right at the heart of the rural support plan. I am pleased to hear of the cabinet secretary’s support for that.

The issue of food security has gained prominence recently, given the impacts on it from conflict and climate and the interest in it among members of Parliament, stakeholders and the public. After the conflict in Ukraine started, we began to hear the term “food security” much more often, and that conflict continues to highlight the fragility of the global supply chain and of global food systems. The conflict in Ukraine has hit the agriculture sector hard, leading to some significant changes to gross margins. Input costs have risen sharply during the past 12 months, with the hike in fertiliser and fuel prices impacting agricultural businesses and increased feed costs affecting livestock margins.

I recognise that the objectives of the bill lend themselves to ensuring that consideration, but I am sure that all members must agree—

Good morning, everybody. I worked on drafting amendment 93 with NFU Scotland. It is a fairly simple amendment, but I believe that it is an important one. I am sure that we can all agree that it is important to specify the role of Scottish agricultural policy. Through amendment 93, I believe that we are emphasising Scotland’s world-leading reputation for high-quality agricultural production and high standards of animal welfare. As NFU Scotland highlights, those commitments should be specified in the bill to enhance the understanding and importance of Scottish provenance.

During my past eight years as an elected member for the South Scotland region, I have spoken in chamber debates and have raised questions about promoting and protecting the provenance of our world-class produce, especially in the language of protected geographical indicator status. We know that we have world-class produce in Scotland, including our Scotch beef, Scotch lamb and other products, and I know that we are always keen to support the work of Quality Meat Scotland and the Scotch whisky industry. They are so valuable for our economy.

I will keep my contribution short. The legislation sets out the requirements for Scottish agricultural policy and it should be defined as such.

In the overall consideration of the bill, I am suggesting that we amend the rural support plan to explicitly put the food security issue at the heart of the plan.

Members around this table agree that it is important that food security is considered. We have heard about amendments relating to the issue earlier. Having it explicitly put at the heart of the rural support plan is something that I am sure members would agree to support, and we have heard representations for doing so. I would like to see it made explicit that food security is of paramount importance. For those reasons, I ask members to support amendment 47.

I welcome the opportunity to lead this important debate to recognise world asthma day 2024, which took place yesterday, 7 May, with the theme “Asthma Education Empowers”. I thank members who have supported my motion, allowing the debate to go ahead today. I also thank Asthma and Lung UK Scotland for its briefing and for all that it does in respect of research, advice and support for persons with an asthma diagnosis and their families.

Gareth Brown from Asthma and Lung UK Scotland serves as the secretariat for the cross-party group on lung health, which I co-convene with my colleague Alexander Stewart. Gareth does a great job, and I thank him for all his work. The CPG has done work relating to asthma previously, and the input from clinicians, asthma support groups and those who are living with asthma is welcome. My thanks go to the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health for her active engagement with our cross-party group. One of our CPG members, Olivia Fulton, chairs a group that focuses on severe asthma, which meets online—I will say a wee bit more about Olivia later in my speech.

As my motion indicates, world asthma day is organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma, which is a World Health Organization collaborative that was founded in 1993. There is a lot of great info on the GINA website, which I encourage people to visit to find out more.

Asthma is a very common long-term lung health condition. In the United Kingdom, 5.4 million people have an asthma diagnosis—that is one in every 12 adults and one in every 11 children. In Scotland, 368,000 adults and about 71,000 children live with an asthma diagnosis. People with asthma might have sensitive, inflamed and irritated airways. Asthma symptoms can come and go; sometimes people might not have symptoms for weeks or months at a time. However, asthma needs to be treated every day, even if someone feels well, in order to lower the risks of their symptoms being exacerbated and of having an asthma attack.

The most common symptoms of asthma are coughing, wheezing—which is a whistling sound when you breathe—breathlessness and chest tightness. Experiencing one or more of those symptoms could mean that you have asthma. It is more likely to be asthma if your symptoms keep coming back, if they are worse at night or if they occur when you react to a trigger such as exercise, weather or an allergy such as pet hair or pollen. Anyone who experiences those symptoms should speak to their general practitioner as soon as possible.

The seriousness of asthma varies from person to person. There are different types of asthma—indeed, there is an important difference between severe asthma and uncontrolled asthma. Uncontrolled asthma improves with treatment changes such as steroid inhalers and good inhaler technique, but someone with severe asthma, which affects about 5 per cent of people with asthma, can have symptoms most of the time and can find them very hard to control.

Poorly controlled severe asthma takes a toll on people’s physical and mental health, leading to an average of four asthma attacks per year. Among people who live with severe asthma, 55 per cent report depression, 66 per cent report anxiety and 68 per cent say that it impacts their work and education. Where people live also has a bearing on outcomes, as those in the poorest areas of Scotland are, on average, three times as likely to be admitted to hospital as a result of their asthma.

There is a huge financial cost. In Scotland, the cost of treating respiratory disease is estimated to be £500 million each year, and asthma care represents £97.5 million of that spend. Flare-ups of severe asthma can result in patients presenting in the costliest part of the healthcare system: accident and emergency departments. Data suggest that people with severe asthma attend A and E departments roughly four times more often than people with non-severe asthma.

However, the situation can improve. Earlier, I mentioned Olivia Fulton, who is a great example of how improvement in severe asthma care can be achieved. She had serious challenges with her severe asthma, but thanks to proper care and treatment, she is now playing for Scotland’s women’s wheelchair rugby team. Asthma education has certainly empowered Olivia.

Since 2013, Asthma and Lung UK Scotland has surveyed people with asthma, and, earlier this year, it launched its “Life with a Lung Condition” survey for the second time. The survey results highlighted that 24 per cent of Scots received all three recommended aspects of asthma care: an annual review of their asthma care and treatment, a check-up on their inhaler technique and a written asthma action plan. In particular, 75 per cent of those who were surveyed said that they received an annual review, 50 per cent said that their inhaler technique was checked and 40 per cent said that they had received a written asthma plan.

I would welcome an update from the minister regarding what further steps the Scottish Government could take to increase awareness of asthma education in Scotland so that people know what their entitlements are and are empowered to press for them.

In 2021, the Scottish Government launched the “Respiratory Care Action Plan 2021-2026”, which sets out a vision for driving improvement in prevention and in the diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions in Scotland. One aspect of the plan is that the pillars of asthma care should be available to everyone, so I would welcome an update from the minister on the implementation of the RCAP.

I will touch briefly on the link between asthma and inequality. We know that people from the most deprived areas of Scotland are much more likely to receive an asthma diagnosis. Managing a variable lifelong condition with complex treatments such as inhalers is difficult; managing asthma while juggling multiple jobs, family responsibilities and financial pressures is even harder.

I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling health inequalities, and it is important to note that good-quality housing, sound state welfare support and good air quality are key components of achieving health equality. With regard to air quality, 57 per cent of those who are living with asthma in Scotland say that air quality makes them feel more breathless.

In closing, I highlight one final point: the importance of working across countries to learn from experience and ensure good practice. The International Coalition for Respiratory Nursing—of which I am a member, as I am still a registered nurse—was created in 2021. The ICRN is a global network of advanced respiratory nurse practitioners, with the aim of working together to improve care for people who live with lung conditions and to educate and empower patients. I support this year’s world asthma day theme, “Asthma Education Empowers”, as educating people empowers them to receive improved care and, consequently, have healthier outcomes.

Again, I welcome the debate, and I look forward to contributions from colleagues.

In the cross-party group, we have talked about how pulmonary rehab and singing help with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Does Alexander Stewart agree that PR and singing can help folk with asthma, too?