Official Report 1222KB pdf
Good morning. The first item of business is general question time.
Changing Places Toilet Fund
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the changing places toilet fund. (S6O-04201)
I provided an update to Parliament on the changing places toilet fund during Jeremy Balfour’s members’ business debate on the subject on 11 December. I also provided answers on 6 January to five written parliamentary questions that were submitted by Mr O’Kane on the issue. As I have said previously, I will provide a further update once arrangements have been finalised, and subject to parliamentary approval of the Scottish Government’s budget bill.
I thank the minister for that answer and the previous answers to which she refers.
According to PAMIS—Promoting a More Inclusive Society—when the funding was initially announced in 2021, the average cost of equipment for a changing places toilet ranged from £12,000 to £17,000. The minister will be aware that significant rises in construction costs and the costs of equipment over many years have vastly increased the overall cost of building a changing places toilet.
The Government has caused delays. There has been repeated reprofiling of the fund, which has caused exasperation for disabled people, as the minister has heard and well knows, and it is clear that projects across the country now cost more money and that the fund has been devalued.
Has the Government done any analysis of how many projects it would expect £10 million to fund? How many fewer projects might there be as a result of the delays around the issue?
We have done a great deal of work on the issue over a number of years, and I am absolutely delighted to have seen such good progress in Scotland. The number of changing places toilets in Scotland has risen from 25 to 269, which means that Scotland has the highest number of changing places toilets per head in the United Kingdom. That is an increase of almost 30 per cent compared to 2019, when the Scottish Government introduced the new Scottish building regulations, so it is not the case that we have made no progress in relation to that funding.
The member will be aware that we are operating in an extremely challenging financial context. We had to make difficult decisions collectively and flex to respond to changing circumstances. However, on 11 December, I was pleased to be able to confirm that work is on-going to establish the number of projects that we have and how the fund will be distributed and profiled, and the funding will be in place next year.
Ministers’ support for the investment has been solid and steadfast. The best thing that the member can do to ensure that that investment becomes a reality is to vote for the budget.
Changing places toilets make a real difference to disabled people and their families, and we would all like to see further provision of them. Will the minister outline a wee bit more about how the Scottish Government will ensure that the CPT fund is designed to meet the needs of those who need it most?
I recognise the level of cross-party interest and support for changing places toilets. During the debate on 11 December, members from every party, including Stephen Kerr, Stuart McMillan and Paul O’Kane, all committed their support for more provision of the facilities.
We are working closely with PAMIS to develop the fund so that it takes account of users’ needs. PAMIS has significant technical expertise and experience of supporting local projects across Scotland. I updated the cross-party group on changing places toilets on 14 November, when I sought initial views on the fund criteria. I would like to continue that engagement and to learn lessons from similar funding schemes. We are able to learn a great deal from what has happened in England. It is clear that the fund will need to be flexible enough to take account of different local circumstances across Scotland.
What meetings has the minister had with third sector organisations other than PAMIS in the past six months regarding the setting up of the changing places toilet fund?
I am afraid that I do not have that information to hand. I can certainly write to the member and let him know what engagement the Government has had on the fund over the past six months.
Child Poverty
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the steps that it is taking to tackle child poverty. (S6O-04202)
Eradicating child poverty remains the top priority for the Scottish Government. By the end of June, we will publish an annual progress report detailing action taken across 2024-25. The Scottish budget for 2025-26 outlines how we will continue to drive progress, including through continued investment in our Scottish child payment, early learning and childcare, free bus travel, and the expansion of free school meals. We have also committed to spending £3 million to develop the systems to effectively scrap the impact of the two-child cap in 2026, which the Child Poverty Action Group estimates could lift 15,000 children out of poverty.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It is clear that the Scottish Government is throwing the full weight of the Scottish budget behind its priority mission to eradicate child poverty. However, in spite of the remarkable work that is under way, it is also evident that, under devolution, Scotland has one hand tied behind its back, while Westminster’s priorities lie elsewhere.
Absolute rubbish.
Can the cabinet secretary outline how much of its devolved budget the Scottish Government anticipates it will have to commit to mitigating regressive United Kingdom Government policies in 2025-26 in relation to tackling child poverty, despite Labour’s promise of change?
I had difficulty hearing some of Jackie Dunbar’s supplementary question, due to a combination of laughter and groans from Labour members—[Interruption.]
Members!
Let me explain the details in the Scottish Government budget. I say to Richard Leonard that, under devolution, we plan to spend more than £210 million mitigating regressive UK Labour Government policies—an increase of £56 million since the Conservatives were in power. We are continuing to invest in the Scottish welfare fund and are committing more than £99 million for discretionary housing payments, mitigating the bedroom tax and the benefit cap. Despite Labour’s promise of change, it has delivered deeper austerity, so the Scottish Government will go further: we will mitigate the UK Labour Government’s winter fuel payment cut and deliver the systems to mitigate the Labour two-child cap.
Swimming (Children and Young People)
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of children and young people leaving school unable to swim. (S6O-04203)
The Scottish Government believes that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to swim. It is a life skill that can save lives. Swimming lessons are not delivered nationally as part of the school curriculum and there is currently no requirement to report a child’s swimming ability, either locally or nationally. As a result, we are unable to provide an estimate of the number of pupils who leave school unable to swim. However, we will continue to work with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming and various local and national partners to develop interventions and approaches to provide opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers.
Community access to swimming has been massively reduced through pool closures and cuts to opening hours. Costs are rising for families, too. Not every school has a pool and it is getting harder to go swimming outwith school.
We know from Scottish Swimming that, some time ago, up to 40 per cent of primary school-aged children left school unable to swim. That should be a serious concern for us all, including the Scottish Government. Next week, the Parliament will consider Scottish Swimming’s petition concerning the proposed closure of school pools, including five in Dundee.
Does the minister accept that that all makes it more difficult to ensure that primary school-aged children have the opportunity to learn how to swim and the basics of water safety? What is the Government’s plan to make sure that they can do so?
I absolutely recognise the challenges that Neil Bibby has described. I remind members that I live in the Highlands, where children often attend school at a very long distance from their local pool. However, Highland Council is dedicated to ensuring that children can learn to swim at school.
Neil Bibby asked about leisure facilities. We understand the challenging financial circumstances that local authorities are facing in relation to maintaining and operating sports and leisure facilities. That is due, in part, to rising energy costs. We have repeatedly called on the United Kingdom Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle the cost of living crisis and to provide appropriate energy bill relief to leisure facilities. Swimming is a very energy-dense activity. It is vital that all avenues are explored to ensure that, where possible, local clubs and communities have access to sport and leisure facilities.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and I will continue to work on a cross-portfolio basis to ensure that we maximise the opportunity for children to learn to swim at school.
Swimming is a life skill. This is a safety issue. Swimming is a positive health activity at a time when children’s physical and mental health is worse than it has ever been. If someone cannot swim, they are excluded from participation, which exacerbates inequalities.
As I have continually said, we need to increase opportunities to be active. All primary schools should have access to free swimming lessons. Why does the Scottish Government keep digging its heels in? Surely, it must be running out of excuses by now?
Brian Whittle and I are very aligned on the issues around the value of sport and exercise for both physical and mental health. He alluded to the opportunities that arise from swimming for children with disabilities to be included. It is a superb sport for people to get involved in. That is why the Government is so committed to ensuring that opportunities are available for children in schools. As I said, we will continue to work with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming and local authorities, and on a cross-portfolio basis across the Government in order to ensure that we maximise those opportunities.
Budget 2025-26 (Drug and Alcohol Services)
To ask the Scottish Government how its draft budget 2025-26 will support the delivery of drug and alcohol services across Scotland. (S6O-04204)
The total funding proposed for alcohol and drug services, including health board baseline funding, is over £150 million in 2025-26. That includes maintaining £112 million of funding for alcohol and drug partnerships; continuing to fund grass-roots organisations through £13 million of funding via the Corra Foundation; supporting a wide range of activity, including residential rehabilitation; and making £2.3 million available to support the Thistle centre, the safer drug consumption facility.
That adds to our significant investment over the past four years and means that I am confident that we will meet the national mission’s commitment to £250 million of additional funding over five years.
During recent engagement with general practitioner practices, tackling alcohol harm was raised as an unrelenting health challenge. They expressed strong support for minimum unit pricing and other measures to tackle alcohol harm. However, they also expressed some concern about a potential shift in the balance away from tackling alcohol harm—a point highlighted in the recent Audit Scotland review of alcohol and drug services. That is not to diminish the urgency of the work to reduce drug harm.
In addition to previously announced efforts, such as a review of the evidence on alcohol marketing, increasing MUP and developing a service specification for alcohol and drug services, what assurance can the cabinet secretary give that the draft Scottish budget will support the action necessary to reduce the level of alcohol-related health and social harms and reduce the number of people who die as a result of alcohol?
I want to reassure Audrey Nicoll and other colleagues across the Parliament that we remain committed to and focused on tackling both issues. We remain committed to tackling alcohol-related harm on an equal footing with harm caused by drugs. Our forecast spend in 2025-26 of more than £150 million is for both alcohol and drug services, and our substantial investment supports services that are often delivered in tandem at the front line.
In addition, national mission initiatives have made improvements in treatment for alcohol as well as drugs. For example, our substantial investment in residential rehabilitation is benefiting people with both alcohol and drug dependency. Moreover, the forthcoming alcohol treatment guidelines will provide support for alcohol treatment that is similar to the medication-assisted treatment standard for drugs.
The Audit Scotland report that was published towards the end of last year states, in its findings, that the
“Government’s increased focus on drug harm through its National Mission programme is shifting the balance of attention from, and effort on, tackling alcohol harm.”
The Government has said that this is a twin public health emergency, and we accept that. However, sometimes the Government tends to set out a semi-complete list of disjointed actions relating to alcohol harm prevention. We need clearer actions and more urgency. Through its 2025-26 budget, is the Scottish Government considering ring fencing funding for improving access to alcohol treatment services?
I will continue to work with alcohol and drug partnerships to ensure that, as Carol Mochan asks, the services are available to provide support for addressing both alcohol and drug use.
We are also taking action this year with Public Health Scotland to provide an evidence-based picture of what further preventative actions we can take on alcohol advertising. When the report comes back from Public Health Scotland, we will consider what further preventative measures we can take on that.
Through the interventions that we are making with alcohol and drug partnerships, the work that we are doing on minimum unit pricing and the work that we are doing to reduce the impact that alcohol advertising has, we are taking as many steps as possible. If Carol Mochan wishes to suggest further work, I am more than happy to engage with her on that.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway (Delayed Discharge)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed plans to reduce delayed discharge with NHS Dumfries and Galloway. (S6O-04205)
The collaborative response and assurance group that I chair jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has met weekly with leaders from across the health and social care system, including from Dumfries and Galloway, since last June. Our most recent meeting was on Monday. We have been working to understand the challenges faced by areas with high levels of delay, including Dumfries and Galloway, and to support them to deliver the changes that will improve people’s journey from hospital to home or the care setting that is right for them.
Our planned budget for 2025-26 will invest a further £200 million to reduce waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove the barriers that keep some patients in hospital longer than is necessary.
A decade ago, the Scottish Government promised to eradicate delayed discharges. Since then, 193,000 bed days have been lost to delayed discharge in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and the latest figures show that that number is rising yet again. It is no wonder that, today, the Royal College of Nursing published devastating testimony of nurses who are having to care for patients on trolleys because there are no spare hospital beds. When will the Government finally deliver on its promise to eradicate delayed discharge, or is that just another broken Scottish National Party health promise?
I will address two elements of that situation.
First, the intervention that we seek to take in the budget is intended directly to address the issues that we face with scheduled care or waiting lists and to address the flow through the system by providing capacity in social care and primary care in order to reduce hospital occupancy and length of stay. Where we have worked with local systems in the health service and social care to reduce length of stay and hospital occupancy and to address pre-delay discharge from hospital, that has been successful, and that is the basis on which we will continue to intervene. I encourage Colin Smyth to support the finance that is being provided to ensure that that can happen through the budget interventions.
Of course, I regret the situation that was raised in the Royal College of Nursing’s report. I addressed that on “Good Morning Scotland” this morning. We obviously wish to avoid that situation, not only for patients but for staff, and to ensure that we have a system that meets the needs of both groups.
Bovaer
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on farmers giving the methane-reducing feed additive Bovaer to their cattle. (S6O-04206)
Bovaer is a methane-suppressing feed product that has undergone a safety assessment by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland as a feed additive for all ruminants involved in milk production and reproduction. It was authorised for use in Scotland in December 2023. Parallel regulations authorise Bovaer across Great Britain. That approval means that farmers in Scotland can use the additive if they choose to do so.
As the minister is aware, Bovaer is manufactured at DSM-Firmenich’s plant, near my Dalry constituency office. Despite more than 58 studies on the product and its having been evaluated as being completely safe to use, Bovaer has been the focus of significant online misinformation. Studies also show no safety concerns for workers who handle the additive.
Does the minister agree that science, not social media, should govern our approach to food safety and that Bovaer, which is now routinely used across Europe, Australia and North America, has an important role to play in combating climate change?
I agree with that understanding of our climate change. Kenneth Gibson makes an important point. Social media has been great for many things but, occasionally, it throws up misinformation that overtakes the reality of the conversations and reasoned discussions that we need to have about the measures that we will take to tackle the challenges that we face. Research suggests that the appropriate use of methane-suppressing feed products—or MSFPs—such as Bovaer in livestock diets more generally plays an important role in helping us to reduce emissions from livestock production.
I regret that we will not be able to take any further questions in this item. I remind members of the expectations regarding the length of questions and responses, because more concise questions and responses enable more members to participate.
That concludes general questions.
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First Minister’s Question Time