Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Official Report 636KB pdf

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William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill

The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-6450, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on the William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill.

14:05

I am delighted that the William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill has reached the final stage in the legislative process. As convener of the bill committee, I am pleased to open the final stage debate on the bill.

Perhaps it will be helpful if I set out briefly some of the background to the bill. In 1829, Francis Simpson of Plean gifted his estate to trustees to establish an asylum for indigent men of advanced age—to be called the William Simpson’s asylum—in memory of his son William, who was lost at sea. The trustees sought and were granted incorporation under a private act of Parliament—the Simpson’s Asylum Act 1864, which received royal assent on 23 June 1864. The home was established at Plean and it continues to be located there.

The home provides specialist residential accommodation for up to 44 service users with alcohol-related brain damage and mental health problems, and placements are arranged by local authorities. The home also provides respite and day care services for a further 16 people. Local authorities throughout central Scotland use the service, with Falkirk Council and Stirling Council being the home’s principal customers.

The trustees wished to change the home’s constitution to provide better governance arrangements and to develop its work to provide services to a wider and larger group of people, but they considered that such developments were not possible given the restrictions that were placed on the home and the trustees by the 1864 act. After investigating a number of alternatives including the use of charity law, the trustees concluded that, given the statutory nature of the charity, the only way in which to achieve their objectives was to introduce legislation through the private bill procedure to transfer the existing property, rights, duties, interests, employees and liabilities to a new charitable company and to dissolve the existing home. A bill was therefore introduced to the Parliament on 28 January 2010.

The role of the bill committee was to examine the bill at the preliminary and consideration stages. Our objective was to scrutinise the bill, consider its general principles and whether it should proceed as a private bill, and to consider any admissible amendments. In considering the general principles of the bill, the committee considered, among other things, whether a bill was necessary to achieve the trustees’ objectives, whether the trustees had adequately explained why they had chosen to create a new charitable company rather than use an alternative model, how the trustees had consulted users, their families and employees, and what effect the proposed changes would have on users, their families and employees.

A key issue for the committee throughout its consideration of the bill was the extent to which the new home would further reflect the original intentions and ethos of its founder, Francis Simpson. Francis Simpson was a ship’s captain with the Honourable East India Company. He had only one son, William, who had served in the Royal Navy in the early 1800s and had become acutely aware of the needs of ex-servicemen who had come from serving in various wars and conflicts and had no fixed abode. Unfortunately, William died in 1809 while he was on a voyage to Malta.

Francis Simpson left everything in trust in memory of his son, including the William Simpson’s asylum, which he specified should have a preference for former soldiers and sailors. Jean Lyon, the home’s chief executive, explained in her evidence to the committee:

“Care was at the heart of Francis Simpson’s setting up of the trust. He realised the dream of his son, William, who had, like his father, served in the navy and had seen men coming home and living rough after serving their country. His vision was that there should be a place of all-encompassing holistic care for their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.”—[Official Report, William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill Committee, 27 April 2010; c 17.]

Although the trustees are keen to preserve Francis Simpson’s intentions in establishing the asylum, they seek changes to its constitution to enable the home to provide its services to a wider and larger number of individuals. The trustees pointed out that changes in society have led to a change in the profile of potential clients. Witnesses said that, sadly, there is a growing number of cases of alcohol-related dementia, which notably includes younger men and women. Such individuals are currently precluded from using the full service that the home provides under the 1864 act.

In her evidence to the committee, Shiona Strachan from Stirling Council, which is one of the main local authorities that refer service users to the home, advised that there are very few facilities for women or younger men in such circumstances. She said that the council found that, if there was no specialist unit,

“younger people with a certain level of cognitive impairment and physical disability will be placed inappropriately in older people’s care provision. That means that they do not get the level of stimulus that they require, and they certainly do not get the level of rehabilitation services that William Simpson’s home can offer. It is a unique provider in the current market.”

That was confirmed by Marion Robinson from Forth Advocacy, who has direct contact with users of the home. She pointed out:

“The home is a unique setting, which is greatly in demand. The tragedy is that there are not enough beds.”

Witnesses explained that although they wished the home to be expanded, they were keen for it to retain its original ethos. As Jean Lyon highlighted,

“The central focus of any change in the organisation must remain the vision of our founder, who had care in his heart. We have continued and will continue with that ethos.”—[Official Report, William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill Committee, 27 April 2010; c 31, 22, 17.]

The main charitable purposes of the new charity, as set out in the company’s memorandum of association, are

“the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, financial hardship or other disadvantage by providing accommodation and care.”

The committee learned that in furtherance of those objectives, the company will provide accommodation and care, respite care and related facilities, and any other facilities that support the charitable purposes of the company, but we were pleased to note that the home maintains an extremely strong service link. In general, ex-servicemen make up around 50 per cent of the residency. The trustees advised that that emphasis on supporting service personnel will be maintained in the new constitution.

Having considered all the evidence, the committee accepted that the restrictions that are placed on the trustees and the home are considerable. We learned that apart from the restriction on people who can benefit from the home’s services, the 1864 act places restrictions on those who can become trustees of the home and on the ability of the trustees to enter into contractual relationships that are necessary for its development. As a result, the committee concluded that the bill is necessary to allow the home to introduce modern governance arrangements and to expand the service that the home provides to a wider range of users.

A few weeks ago, the Parliament debated the committee’s preliminary stage report and agreed to the bill’s general principles. The committee then dealt with amendments at the consideration stage. In this case, just two amendments were lodged, which simply sought to amend the bill to reflect the fact that the new charitable company had been incorporated. The committee agreed to them unanimously.

Today will complete the committee’s involvement with this short but important bill. I consider it a privilege for the Parliament to have the opportunity to help to ensure the continued existence of the home and the valuable services that it provides to its service users, and to make possible its expansion.

I express my thanks to all those who have been involved with the bill. In particular, I thank my fellow committee members for their helpful and thoughtful comments, and the promoters for their assistance throughout the process. I also thank the clerks for supporting us in our work and all the witnesses for taking the time to contribute to our consideration of the bill.

I urge members to support the bill at decision time to ensure that a larger and wider group of individuals can benefit from the unique services that the home provides, and to enable it to continue the wishes of its founder.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc.) (Scotland) Bill be passed.

I call on Nanette Milne to wind up on behalf of the committee.

14:13

I am very pleased to speak in the final stage debate of the William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill. The committee recognised the bill’s importance to the future operation of William Simpson’s home, and I am delighted that it has reached the final stage.

There are two key elements to what the bill will mean to William Simpson’s home. First, as we have heard, it will allow the home to become a charitable company and to put in place modern governance arrangements. Secondly, as the committee’s convener has explained, it will allow the home to provide its services to a wider group of people across Scotland.

The committee was struck by the commitment to supporting vulnerable ex-servicemen that was demonstrated by Francis Simpson of Plean when he gifted a substantial part of his estate to establish the home in his son’s name. Francis Simpson’s vision was that there should be a place of all-encompassing holistic care for those men.

The chief executive of William Simpson’s pointed out that the home provides

“care for men who are very vulnerable and who are at risk if they are in the community, because of their alcohol-related dementia, which affects their short-term memory.”

The chair of the trustees, the Rev Gary McIntyre, feels that the home is in many ways unique and that it will continue to be so. He said:

“I have always been greatly impressed by the care that is shown to the clients, a number of whom I do not think would be included in another kind of home.”—[Official Report, William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill Committee, 27 April 2010; c 17.]

The committee is content with the assurances that were given by the trustees that the original intention and ethos of the home will be kept. The Rev Gary McIntyre put it well when he explained that the intention was to protect the “DNA” of the home.

However, as the convener has highlighted, the committee also heard evidence about the widening demand for the home’s services and the wish of the trustees and the chief executive to provide services for men and women of all ages. That has been a key component in the promoter’s wish to bring forward the bill for the Parliament’s approval.

Unfortunately, alcohol-related dementia is a growing problem in Scotland and current social trends mean that the home’s facilities are required by a much younger age group than is allowed by the home’s current constitution. Now, men and women as young as in their 30s need the facilities that the home provides.

We heard how the bill will help the home to meet the demand from client groups that councils have had extreme difficulty in placing—particularly women, who are still in the minority but who are increasingly becoming a demand area for the services offered by the home.

The home has made an excellent job of using its current facilities to serve its residents, but its care manager felt that it could do even better

“with more modern facilities for the future.” [Official Report, William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill Committee, 27 April 2010; c 21.]

One further positive outcome to be achieved by the home’s future development that was welcomed by the local authorities from which we took evidence is the development of the home’s outreach and rehabilitation services.

We were pleased to find out that placement at William Simpson’s home is made on the basis of social need and does not have any geographical constrictions.

Should the bill be passed today, William Simpson’s home will become a charitable company with a very different management structure from that which was established by the 1864 act. During its evidence taking, the committee examined how that would work in practice and how it would impact on the work and ethos of the home. The patron of the home, Dennis Canavan, felt that the restructuring to a charitable company would allow for “more of a link” between the local community, the families of service users and the home. It is felt that that development will mean that people will have more of a sense of ownership of the home.

The convener has set out the home’s continuing commitment to ex-servicemen and women. She has also set out the early principles and ethos of the home. In summing up, I will turn our attention to the future of the home and what the bill means for its current and future residents.

We are aware that robust financial management is required to support the home’s development programme and that restructuring to a charitable company supports that. That was drawn to our attention by a family member of a service user who pointed out that bringing the constitution up to date will help the home

“to maintain financial viability and stability for the future.”

He said that if that was established

“the organisation will continue to be very well run on a day to day basis ... this will give me and my family great comfort.”

We heard from an advocate who has represented particularly vulnerable users of the home and she informed us that

“there is a positive feeling about the future”.—[Official Report, William Simpson’s Home (Transfer of Property etc) (Scotland) Bill Committee, 27 April 2010; c 22.]

The bill will support the future of William Simpson’s home and we wish the promoter every success in developing such an important service.

I ask the Parliament to support the motion at decision time.