Chamber and committees

When we were in Stormont, the Stormont Assembly was not sitting. Does Ross Greer agree that the whole-hearted disappointment of members there about the fact that there was no sign of getting the Assembly restarted was absolutely palpable?

You might come on to this, as you are—I mean, the member is—a member of the BIPA committee that deals with culture, which has just completed a report on indigenous languages, including Scots languages. That is really important for me. I welcome that and I would be interested in your comments on it.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate about the important progress that has been made in Scotland to becoming a breastfeeding friendly nation. I have enjoyed the contributions so far. Like Clare Haughey, I am a registered nurse, although my experience is much less than that of my colleague Ms Haughey, in that my training was in general nursing and I did not work much in the field of midwifery.

I will focus my remarks on the progress that has been made in Scotland and on some fantastic examples of what is happening across Dumfries and Galloway in my South Scotland region. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through policy, investment and interventions that support breastfeeding without shame or stigma. The Scottish Government has provided additional investment to support breastfeeding, particularly in the days immediately following birth. More than £9 million of additional funding has been made available since 2018 to support breastfeeding friendly principles.

Taking a fully rounded approach that is inclusive of stakeholders such as healthcare practitioners, the third sector and peer support groups is the most effective way to address breastfeeding concerns. Interventions in the health service such as ensuring the availability and quality of breastfeeding support for new mothers continue to be important. Equally, wider interventions are continually required, including positively influencing public attitudes towards breastfeeding, objectively promoting more appropriate marketing of formula milk and ensuring supportive employment policies that allow women to continue to breastfeed after returning to work. I welcome the minister’s commitment to doing so and to ensuring that the promotion of breastfeeding is continued.

Although the UK Government discontinued the UK-wide infant feeding surveys that were carried out every five years from 1975 to 2010, the Scottish Government commissioned its own national maternal and infant feeding survey in 2017. That provides continued insight into the changing environment of breastfeeding, the common challenges that it faces and the areas that are most impacted by them. The survey, along with continued medical research, demonstrates that breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies and young children and supports children’s health in the short and longer terms.

It is worth repeating what Carol Mochan said at the beginning of the debate, which is that current guidelines recommend that babies should receive breast milk for the first six months of life and then, after the introduction of solid foods, continue to breastfeed up to their second birthday or for as long as the mother and baby wish to. I know that that is not always possible, and I welcome Karen Adam’s comments and those of others in the chamber about how emotionally taxing and difficult it is to fail to feed adequately when a woman’s choice is to breastfeed. We need to recognise and not stigmatise people who cannot breastfeed their babies for whatever reason.

There is strong evidence that breastfeeding reduces children’s risk of gut, chest and ear infections, which was interesting to read, and leads to a small but significant improvement in brain development. Rachael Hamilton said that we need to remember that breastfeeding also benefits mothers’ health. We have strong evidence that it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and it is worth repeating that it can reduce type 2 diabetes and promote maternal healthy weight, as Clare Haughey mentioned.

The benefits of breastfeeding for the baby and the mother are recognised across the world, including in high-income countries such as Scotland. Improving breastfeeding rates in Scotland would therefore help to improve the health of babies and mothers and reduce inequalities in health. It is welcome that the Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland a breastfeeding friendly place for all. That means focusing interventions to target areas of inequality. It is worth repeating that increases in breastfeeding over the past 10 years have been greatest in groups with low rates historically, such as young women and those living in the most deprived areas.

The latest infant feeding statistics show a continued narrowing of the breastfeeding inequalities gap, and the additional investment has been both targeted and based on best evidence regarding what works. Scotland’s infant feeding teams are pivotal in that effort, and the Government will continue to use all means necessary—including Scotland’s baby box, which a few members have mentioned—to normalise breastfeeding in Scotland.

One of the reasons why I was interested in the debate is that, in 2016, I had a staff member who was blatantly criticised and made to feel uncomfortable in a cafe in Dumfries while she was breastfeeding. That was 10 years after the Breastfeeding etc (Scotland) Act 2005 was brought in. I then wrote to all the cafes and restaurants across Dumfries and Galloway to ask whether they knew about the breastfeeding friendly scheme and whether they would participate in it.

I received some responses, and some of them were positive. The chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway—Jeff Ace, at that time—launched a scheme at Threave gardens in Castle Douglas to widen and raise awareness about the breastfeeding friendly scheme in Dumfries and Galloway. After today’s debate, I will follow up with the businesses across Dumfries and Galloway to find out whether they continue to participate in the scheme and whether they are promoting it.

Finally, I ask the minister to continue to do all that she can to encourage businesses to become breastfeeding friendly and to encourage mothers to breastfeed.

Since the announcement of the changes to legislation in relation to XL bullies in England, we have seen reports of people bringing XL bullies to Scotland, including examples of XL bully puppies being abandoned on the Scottish side of the border. Can the minister give an assurance that any legislation in Scotland will include the principles of animal welfare and that the Government is working with animal welfare organisations to ensure that any dogs that have been brought to Scotland are properly looked after and dealt with?

To ask the First Minister, in light of reported concerns regarding food labelling being a devolved matter, what the Scottish Government’s position is on what impact the United Kingdom Government’s reported plans to roll out “not for EU” labelling on food and drink products across the whole of the UK could have on Scotland’s food and drink industry. (S6F-02729)

I agree with the First Minister about the impact and the harm that the plans will cause many Scottish food and drink businesses. Does the First Minister also agree that, although the labelling may be needed for goods that are being traded with Northern Ireland, there is no rationale for it in relation to trade with other countries? Has the Westminster Government shared why it intends to impose the regime?

I am going to declare an interest, too, as a registered nurse. I worked with physician assistants and what are now physician associates when I worked in a level 1 trauma centre in California, including in anaesthesia. Therefore, I have been interested in following this debate and, indeed, have looked at the American perspective. In May 2021, the House of Delegates passed a resolution to formally name physician associates as associates. I know that there are issues and concerns that the training of physician associates or anaesthesia associates might impede the ability of junior doctors to find time for their training. Has that been considered so that we can allay concerns that it might impact the training of our junior doctors?

I forgot to remind everybody that I am a registered nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. I should have said that at the beginning.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I am interested in the NHS Scotland resource allocation committee formula and the review of that. I know that it is specifically calculated to support remote and rural places. Can you give us an update on the undertaking of a review of NRAC and a timescale for when we might expect to have the review in front of us?

I want to pick up on Gillian Mackay’s question about preventative spend and the point about the diabetes-related work. In the previous session of Parliament, I was interested to find out that investing more in prevention would mitigate a lot of NHS spend. For example, the NHS spends £772 million on obesity-related conditions. What would happen if we could, up front, prevent or reverse type 2 diabetes or help to manage people’s weight?

I note that the Public Health Scotland budget was £56.3 million in the current year and that it is proposed to be £57.5 million next year, which represents an increase. Public Health Scotland is taking a whole-systems approach to diet and healthy weight, but it is not just the health budget that is impacted by these things. The social care budget also seeks to tackle poverty, which is part of what leads to, for example, poor diet. Is work being taken forward or happening that is not specific to one portfolio but brings in other portfolios to help to inform the action that is taken? What I am suggesting is that it should not just be up to the health budget to manage some of the challenges that we have in tackling poverty and managing weight; other portfolios should support that work, too.