Seòmar agus comataidhean

We know from National Records of Scotland and Alcohol Focus Scotland that alcohol-specific death rates in Scotland’s most deprived areas are more than five times higher than they are in the least deprived areas. With hospital stays linked to alcohol, we see rates that are six times higher in our most deprived communities than in our most affluent. There is a clear need for improved access to alcohol-related support services in our most deprived areas, which are being badly let down by the Government.

The alcohol-related and wider health inequalities that exist in our country are both deep and divisive. The First Minister’s predecessor did little to address them. How can the country have any confidence that he will do any better?

Like many others we have heard from today, I am very enthusiastic about the possibilities that will become available to us with increased investment in the space industry. I join colleagues in encouraging even further investment across Scotland to push our economy forward and bring much-needed jobs to our country. They would be the kind of technical, varied, skilled and well-paid jobs that we need to see more of. It is heartening to come here to discuss job creation instead of yet more people suffering the threat of job loss or precarious and unreliable work.

To be ready for this growing industry, however, we have to increase the number of young people studying STEM subjects, as Audrey Nicoll said in the previous speech. Having STEM subjects at school is really important, as is the ability to carry them forward all the way to relevant degrees and qualifications. That is about how we structure education and the link to understanding all the learning styles and learning options that are, or should be, available to young people and other people throughout their lives.

I have met fantastic apprentices at flourishing businesses such as Spirit AeroSystems in Prestwick, which is training young people in intricate and technical jobs that can sustain them for life. It is an example of supported learning taking place in a work environment, and it came across as an excellent way for the apprentices to learn.

There has to be co-operation among schools, universities, businesses and Government, as we have heard, to achieve this over the long term, for generations to come. I am glad that the minister seems to have the mindset to ensure that that is what we will seek to happen.

I would like to see a much higher proportion of young women studying STEM subjects, which we know continue to be dominated by men. When I spoke to the young apprentices, they spoke about how hard it was to make the decision to go into this field. The issue is not just how to develop relevant skills among young women but how to retain women in these professions as they advance through their careers. We definitely need to work on that. Too many young women do not see engineering and this kind of development work as an environment that they can continue in throughout their lives. It feels a bit closed to them, and that definitely needs to change.

The proposed Mangata Networks development will be of great benefit for Prestwick and the surrounding area in my region of South Scotland, as other members have spoken about. Fears about the long-term sustainability of Prestwick airport have been growing for some time, and the proposed development provides great news for an area with a long and proud history in the aviation and aeronautics industry. It is a wonderful development for the community as a whole, which is full of people who have worked in this kind of industry. I am sure that the spaceport and the industries that pop up around it will be firmly welcomed by everybody in South Scotland.

Increased investment like that will also be a fantastic benefit to our world-leading university sector, which is training the scientists, data analysts and engineers of the future right on the doorstep of the proposed plans for the space industry and at pioneering institutions across Scotland, as we have heard from other members about their regions. This is an opportunity for us to be on the cutting edge and it is very exciting.

Foremost, however, I see this as a brilliant opportunity to bring well-paid, highly skilled jobs with proper trade union representation to the area, and a wonderful chance for future generations to get in on the ground floor in the exciting development of the spaceport and all its surrounding industries. I must stress the importance of those being good trade union jobs—that is so important.

Union representation leads to the long-term sustainability of industry across Scotland; it does not detract from it. Workers who feel represented stay in their jobs and drive innovation. Workers who feel short changed and undervalued go elsewhere, so it is important that we make sure that these jobs come from an industry that welcomes that role of the trade union movement. I will be making that point very clearly to the businesses and investors in the space industry in my region and ensuring that the Government sticks to its promises in that regard—about work and the importance of representation.

I join with my Scottish Labour colleagues and all members across the chamber in celebrating the investment opportunities in the space sector and encouraging others to look at Scotland and, in particular, my region of South Scotland. It is a place where the space sector can make advancements, flourish and be an excellent place for people to work and for communities to be involved in the process.

I thank Stephanie Callaghan for bringing this important debate to the chamber. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I, too, welcome world autism acceptance week and all the work in Scotland that is linked to world autism month, which is happening throughout April.

We know that autistic and other neurodivergent people often find themselves excluded from life opportunities and unable to access the support to which they are entitled. Until 2022, the focus of this time of year was world autism awareness. The move to focus on acceptance occurred as a result of the belief that, although, thanks to the campaigning of many people, there was an increased awareness, that was not accompanied by the better understanding of autism that Stephanie Callaghan talked about, or the systemic change that promotes inclusion and acceptance in the long term—those elements are an important part of the work that needs to be done. That is a fair point, and it is worth repeating that we need to think about what changes we can make in society to promote inclusion and that long-term acceptance.

In my life before coming to this place—there was life before this place—I was lucky to meet and work with many people with autism. In that role, I saw at first hand some of the barriers that people and their families face, but I stress that I also saw solutions and the potential avenues that are available to support people with autism and their families.

I thank the National Autistic Society for its very helpful briefing. We know that many autistic people and families face barriers to acceptance and supports in a wide range of everyday settings. People have spoken about school settings that do not have adequate facilities to support autistic learners. In social care, supports are often not forthcoming until a person is in crisis, which is totally the wrong thing for people with autism. It would be remiss of me not to say that the crisis in social care is hugely affecting the support that is available for people with autism and, if we address that crisis, that will help. Providing such support is a professional role, and we should see it as that.

As I have heard many times from families, advocacy services are really important so that people do not reach the crisis point that causes so many problems. As we heard, accommodation affects people with autism, and many people are trapped in the wrong settings, which does not help them. With regard to healthcare, we have heard from members that people have challenges in getting their diagnosis and, perhaps because of that, the help and understanding that they need within health services.

It is really important to me that there are meaningful opportunities in the job market and in other areas, so we must equip employers to support people. In addition, we must understand what happens as people get older, so we need research to look at that.

As people know, for me, a fairer society is one that prioritises health and, in the chamber, we often talk about that. Physical, mental, social and economic health are all crucial aspects that we want for ourselves, so we want them for other people as well.

I am aware of time, but another interesting point is that we estimate that about 56,000 people in Scotland are living with autism, but an additional number of people need support. There are around 700,000 people for whom autism and/or a learning disability is part of their daily life, and those complexities would be helped if we had better understanding.

In my concluding remarks, I will talk about the learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill and the creation of a commissioner. I was lucky enough to visit a group in Catrine in Ayrshire, in my region, where there is a very compassionate group of staff. They spoke to me about how worth while that work would be and how important it is to get in there. I ask the minister to give us some idea of a timeframe for that work, as that would be very helpful for people who are living with autism.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app did not appear to connect. I would have voted no.

I thank Christine Grahame for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I welcome the new ministers to the front bench. On behalf of Scottish Labour, I also welcome global intergenerational week and all the work in Scotland that looks to bring people of all ages together to ensure that generations have the best chance of a healthy and happy life together.

The work of Scotland-based Generations Working Together is exciting, and the development of policy from the manifesto of 2021 gives us much to aim for. The vision of Generations Working Together is for a Scotland where different generations are more connected and where everyone can build relationships that help to create a fairer society. In order to have a fairer society, we must prioritise the health of our population, which must surely be a priority for any Parliament and any Government. That has become even more important over the past few years, as it has been difficult for people to be connected as much as we would all like to see, and as we talk about in the chamber.

We have heard in this debate—and many other times in the chamber—that being healthy means being not only physically healthy but mentally, socially and economically healthy. Each of those crucial aspects of life play a role in determining the health and outcomes of an individual, a family or a population. The intergenerational work that we are talking about is essential, and there is now really good evidence to support just how important it is. We all know of the benefits of learning from our parents, grandparents and neighbours, and we have heard many good examples of how we as a society can encourage that and build on it for those who, in a more modern society, do not always benefit from that naturally. Christine Grahame gave us some lovely examples of how people can be intergenerational together. I hope to watch her Twitter account and check that those emojis are all in the right place.

That must be addressed in an intergenerational way. I hope that all your “LOLs” are in the right place.

Evidence suggests that we can sometimes live in silos in Scotland today, but the development of intergenerational space gives us a chance to grow together and to feel safe to share experiences and events. That is known to help with learning, loneliness and physical and mental health, which are all really important. We know that health inequalities exist from birth and that they continue to negatively impact people throughout their lives and can determine outcomes in later life. If we believe that intergenerational policies will benefit people and communities of all ages, we must acknowledge that and build intergenerational space and activity with health inequalities at the core of that policy development.

We must be honest about policy development. The motion

“notes the calls on the Scottish Government, local authorities and all other relevant bodies to prioritise intergenerational work and develop policies and initiatives that promote intergenerational collaboration and understanding, across a vast range of policy areas, including health and social care, early years and education, and community planning.”

That describes work across the portfolios, but the reality is that we need to fund local government to allow those things to happen. Local government is key to the development of all those policies and if we truly believe in that work we will fight to retain local government funding.

I am short of time, so I conclude by thanking everybody for contributing to the debate. There is a lot to be done. We need to challenge some of the decisions that are made and some of the inaction, but I believe that we can make it happen if we look at the issue with some urgency.

Okay. You said that there is work to be done on different levels. There might be layers of things that require to be done, but this committee can build on existing work. It is important that, although certain avenues have been explored, some pressure is applied to get the last part over the line.

No, I was just going to agree.

Thank you for all the information. I am interested in what you said in your opening remarks about how you had already done some work on the issue before you approached the committee. Is there anything in that that we can follow up on? What commitments did you get that might not have been fulfilled yet? Tell us about the work that you did beforehand in case we can build on anything that has already been put in place.

That is no bother. I will be quite brief, because the information has been clear and I am incredibly supportive of what has come across.

Do you believe that the Government knows what needs to be done but is finding it difficult to make decisions about how to do it, or is the Government just not clear about what has to be done?

It seems to me that being a corporate parent is about the state, so as elected members we have responsibilities to hold people to account and to hold the Government to account. As experienced people, do you believe that the Government understands what has to happen and is just unable to deliver it, or do we need to be clearer about the stages that we need to go through to get what is needed to happen? It would be helpful for the committee to be clear about that.