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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 2 April 2025
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Displaying 1492 contributions

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Public Audit Committee

“Decarbonising heat in homes”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

It is interesting that you talked about the various incarnations of the work in this area. Following the days when solar panels on roofs were the big thing, people were told, “We’ll come and insulate your home. There are some grants available for that, and you can top it up yourself.” We are now talking about a root-and-branch approach, which involves people taking out their current heating system and replacing it with new technologies, yet most people probably do not understand what those technologies are. Does that open up any risk of increased exposure to rogue companies, scams, fake grant scenarios, misleading advice being given to consumers and so on? Should the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets pay attention to that?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of NHS Forth Valley”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Mr Murray, did you say that you are the longest-serving member of the board or just the longest-serving member who is here this morning?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of NHS Forth Valley”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Please do not take this question personally but, as the longest-serving board member here, you saw your health board escalated to level 4. That is one off from level 5, which is the most serious level and effectively means that the Government has no confidence in the board at all to deliver effective and safe care to patients. Level 4 is almost there. How could the board—collectively and individually—over a number of years have let things get to the stage at which the Government has had to intervene in such a fashion? Surely, the board, on an on-going basis, would be monitoring and auditing processes, outcomes and practices. If it was a private business, it is difficult to see how you would be sitting here this morning.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of NHS Forth Valley”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

We are very short on time, and I want to move on. Surely the proof would have been in the pudding, and as Mr Simpson said, outcomes for patients are what matter. Could you see a pattern of deterioration in outcomes? For example, your four-hour emergency access compliance is down at 50 per cent, which is way below the Scottish average and that dropped considerably over a period of time. Surely, all those performance issues in relation to the CAMHS statistics, the out-of-hours GP access and the 18-week waiting times for referral for psychological assessment would have been massive red flags to the board that it was in danger of escalation.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of NHS Forth Valley”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Can I move on to the present day? We could spend a lot of time on retrospect, but I am sure that lessons will be learned and that there is a lot of personal regret in the executive leadership team.

Ms Croft, where are you currently with some of the service improvements? It is still looking quite grim for patients in Forth Valley with regard to waiting times across a number of key metrics. At the risk of my questions needing a lengthy answer that we do not have time for, what are some of the steps that you are taking right now to improve, for example, performance with regard to the four-hour A and E turnaround and 18-week referrals for mental health assessments? What are the limiting factors? We have talked about workforce and finances, but what key barriers exist right now to making immediate improvements so that you can de-escalate out of level 4?

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of NHS Forth Valley”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

It is at 64 per cent, against a target of 80 per cent, so it is still—

Public Audit Committee

“Decarbonising heat in homes”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

A lot of very good ground has already been covered, and I have been listening intently. I want to mop up a few other areas where you might share your wisdom.

First, there is an overarching discussion about how we define fuel poverty in the modern world. The technical definition is that a household is in fuel poverty if it spends more than 10 per cent of its net household income on fuel/energy consumption. As we know, if that figure reaches 20 per cent, a household is defined as being in extreme fuel poverty. It does not take very much to fall into that category. Even someone on a fairly substantial income who might be in a higher tax bracket could quickly find themselves in a position in which their annual fuel bill was £2,500 or £3,000, which would very easily take them into that situation. Are you worried that there is an assumption that people on very low incomes or people on various benefits are the sole victims of the current fuel poverty situation?

Public Audit Committee

“Decarbonising heat in homes”

Meeting date: 29 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Thank you. I appreciate that we are out of time, convener, so I will park my other questions.

Public Audit Committee

Interests

Meeting date: 22 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Thank you, convener, and good morning, colleagues. I have no relevant interests to declare.

Public Audit Committee

Deputy Convener

Meeting date: 22 February 2024

Jamie Greene

Thank you. I, too, look forward to it.