Contents
- Scottish Parliament Thursday 12 June 2003
- Europe
- Point of Order
- Question Time
- First Minister's Question Time
- Public Transport
- Parliamentary Bureau Motion
- Decision Time
- Animal Welfare Centres (Closure)
Question Time
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
Doctors (Working Hours)
To ask the Scottish Executive what problems it has identified regarding the provision of hospital care services as a consequence of the reduction in junior doctors' hours to 56 and what further reductions in doctors' hours are planned. (S2O-158)
Meeting the requirements of the new deal for junior doctors has proved to be a challenge for the service, particularly in some specialties. The new deal implementation support group is working with trusts to provide assistance and guidance in that area. Junior doctors are currently excluded from the working time regulations but, from August 2004, junior doctors' working hours will be progressively reduced to a maximum of 48 hours a week.
What interest has been taken in the training of junior doctors? What effect will the reduction in hours have and how will services be affected? For example, it is thought that a children's ward in Ayr hospital will have to be closed because it will not have sufficient facilities for the training of junior doctors given the change to their hours. Will that situation spread across Scotland or is it unique to Ayr?
Many issues arise from the implementation of the working time directive, in relation not just to doctors but to other health care staff. We have known about the situation since 1992. It is unfortunate that we made so little progress in the 1990s, but we are catching up and most people believe it a good thing that doctors should not have to work excessive hours.
On the specific question about Ayr hospital, I am aware that there is public engagement with Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board. I pay tribute to the board, because it is not going for the traditional end-stage consultation; it is engaging with the public in a new way at an early stage, in accordance with the Executive's new guidance. That is the correct way of dealing with such complex issues. The board has not made any decisions yet.
Does the minister accept that many trusts are continuing to fail to make junior doctors' posts compliant with the 56-hour rule? That failure puts patient care and safety at risk. Will he state today whether the 50 per cent of newly qualified junior doctors' posts that are still non-compliant with the 56-hour rule will be compliant by the August deadline? How will he achieve that in 10 weeks?
The posts will not be completely compliant by August. However, the figure to which the member refers is from a few months ago and there has been a great deal of progress since then. We are taking a partnership approach towards the issue and are working closely with the junior doctors committee, which was recently involved in a big event in Edinburgh to drive the matter forward. The issue is complex; it involves service redesign and doing things differently. We are getting there but, as I said, progress was slow in the 1990s. We are catching up but, as my answer indicated, it may take several years to get to the full 48-hour limit.
Does the minister accept that the implementation of the European working time directive, the reduction in junior doctors' hours and the training regime for junior doctors are having a serious and detrimental impact on patient access in my constituency of Greenock and Inverclyde and throughout Scotland? When can we expect a co-ordinated approach from him to that problem in favour of patients?
There is a co-ordinated approach. There is no simple solution. We have been introducing 375 extra junior doctors and that process continues this year. That is part of the solution. We are also in the process of expanding the consultant work force in an unprecedented way. In the partnership agreement, we have set a target of 600—more consultant-delivered care is also part of the solution. The third vital strand is the redesign of services, but that will be done in accordance with the principles of quality and patient safety. Those are the key criteria that will be applied, but we cannot avoid the European working time directive. Ultimately, it is in the interest of patients for junior doctors to work reasonable hours.
Combat Stress
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to the organisation Combat Stress. (S2O-147)
During the financial year 2002-03, the Executive paid £740,000 for nursing care provided to war pensioners in Hollybush House in Ayr, which is run by the charity Combat Stress. I am not aware of any recent application from that charity for grant funding.
I thank the minister for that answer, but I am sure that he will remember the fine words that the First Minister and others expressed in the chamber about the need to support our troops during the recent conflict in Iraq. Does he agree that our servicemen and women who come back from such conflicts psychologically damaged are even more deserving of our support in the form of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as and when it is required? Why is it that, in this country, unlike in Australia or the United States of America, it is left to charities such as Combat Stress to pick up the main burden of that task? Some 32 per cent of the clients of Combat Stress receive no financial support whatever from the Government.
The original question was about the treatment supplied to war pensioners in the facility that was mentioned. I explained to the member that the national health service fully reimbursed the cost of the nursing care that was provided. I fully support the words of the First Minister that our troops should receive the highest-quality medical care after combat experience, whenever it is required. I am sure that the national health service will do all that it can to ensure that that is a reality. As the member will know, particular emphasis is placed on war pensioners. When they need national health service treatment, they are fast-tracked through the system to ensure that their treatment is appropriate and speedy.
Radiographers and Oncologists<br />(Recruitment and Retention)
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the recruitment and retention of radiographers and oncologists in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area. (S2O-189)
The Scottish Executive is taking positive action to recruit and retain radiographers and oncologists in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area, including providing significant extra resources and pursuing a targeted recruitment drive for the Beatson oncology centre. On top of that, the Executive is implementing a range of recruitment and retention initiatives, including various courses and incentive schemes for all national health service staff.
I accept that there is an international dimension to the problem but, as there is a worldwide shortage of oncologists and radiologists, can the minister confirm that there are adequate training places in universities and training centres for the recruitment of new people to those specialties? Does he expect to be able to overcome the shortages in the near future, particularly at the Beatson, where I believe there are six oncology shortages?
I am sure that I speak for all members in welcoming Professor Rodger to his post as the medical director of the Beatson from last week. Professor Rodger discussed the issue in question in his first week. Many staff have been recruited at the Beatson and a significant number of therapy radiographers have applied for and got jobs there. There is great progress in that area.
Robert Brown referred to oncologists and particularly clinical oncologists. We know that there is an international problem in that respect. I am pleased that over the past two or three years in Scotland we have increased the number of specialist registrars, who are the health professionals who will become consultants in due course. Robert Brown will have heard Alan Rodger speak with confidence about attracting applicants for some of the clinical oncologist posts that are currently being advertised at the Beatson.
As there is a world shortage of oncologists and as we perhaps cannot compete with salary payments, I suggest to the minister that we might give oncologists an inducement. As the national health service sells off most of its land for building houses, perhaps we could do a deal with the builders, keep some houses and offer lovely homes to go along with the jobs—we have a lovely country. If that is not possible, we might remember that, many years ago, banks gave their staff cheap mortgages. Perhaps we could extend such a scheme to nurses and other members of the NHS. However, lovely houses with jobs for people from abroad would be perfect.
Many factors will help to attract consultants to Glasgow, one of which is the splendid new Beatson that will be built very soon. The £700 million capital investment in the health service in Glasgow will also attract people. I regret that, in all Jean Turner's excursions into the territory, she has not noticed that the sale of land is helping to pay for £700 million of investment in Glasgow's health service.
We are making positive progress on consultants' contracts in Scotland. Jean Turner will know that such progress has not happened in England. If we continue to negotiate in the final stages—which I believe we will do—the Scottish health service will have significant inducements and advantages.
Sport in Schools
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote sport in schools. (S2O-187)
Through the Scottish budget for 2003-06, which was published earlier this year, the Executive announced the investment of £24 million in the development of the active primary schools programme and the school sports development officer programme.
I welcome that investment. However, will the minister give support to the many volunteers who back up what is happening in schools by giving their time and energy to participate in sporting activities outwith school hours—at weekends, for example? In some areas, education facilities are willingly made available to organisations, but that is not the practice in all education authority areas. How will the minister encourage sporting facilities that are owned by education authorities—and therefore by the public—to be made more readily available for voluntary use?
One of the key elements in the programmes is the development to link in with local community sports clubs. Through the provision of the £24 million, we wish to see a willingness to engage with local communities and particularly the many thousands of volunteers who have held together many sports clubs throughout Scotland. The sportscotland commitment on the design framework for new schools takes into account sporting facilities. Through a combination of new resources, partnership at a local level and a broader framework, we confidently believe that we can make a difference in respect of many matters that the member has raised.
Men's Health Week
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting men's health week from 9 June to 15 June 2003. (S2O-183)
The Scottish Executive is happy to support men's health week as part of the drive to improve the health of the nation as a whole. The Scottish Executive has been funding Men's Health Forum Scotland for three years. That organisation promotes and co-ordinates activities and events throughout Scotland in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, not only in men's health week, but throughout the year.
Will the minister join me in welcoming men's health week, especially as statistics show that, on average, men die five years earlier than women? The gap is wider for men from lower-income backgrounds. How is the Executive addressing men's health issues in the light of that situation?
I am happy to join Richard Baker in welcoming men's health week and congratulate him on bringing the issue to the chamber. I am equally happy to restate the Executive's determination to close the health inequalities gap and to ensure that men are aware of the behavioural and lifestyle choices that pose so much danger. The Executive is providing £60,000 a year to the Men's Health Forum over a three-year period. We are working with the forum to ensure that men's health issues are integral to health policy developments. Our involving people team wants to obtain men's views in the wider service redesign debate and is working to create a more gender-responsive service.
Examples of activities during men's health week include a free men's health MOT at Rutherglen primary care centre and the provision by Blantyre health partnership of free diabetes checks at Hamilton racecourse and Asda supermarkets. The Western Isles health promotion department is targeting workplaces, placing information on national health service pay slips and broadcasting men's health discussion topics on Isles FM.
I call David Davidson.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I apologise, Presiding Officer—I forget that you have been promoted. I must catch up.
Does the minister agree that one of the best ways of improving men's health in the community is to free general practitioners from the restrictions imposed on them by the Scottish Executive and to leave them to decide how best to deliver men's health?
One of the best ways of improving men's health is for us to sign up fully to a health promotion agenda across Scotland. That agenda must show awareness of a variety of lifestyles and behavioural choices that impact negatively on men's health and on health in general. Irrespective of our political perspective, we should all be determined to bring down the terrible statistics that for far too long have impacted on health in general in Scotland and, more specifically, on men.
Does the minister agree that the issue is not just about lifestyle and behavioural choices, but is linked to the fact that men are far more reluctant than women to approach or consult their GPs? When it comes to the diagnosis of cancer, that can lead to premature death and an inability to treat the cancer in time.
I concur completely with the member's views. There is evidence that men are far more reluctant to present to their GPs and that, when they present, their condition is more advanced than is desirable. A large part of our health promotion and health awareness agenda is about convincing men that there are no macho issues involved and that it is in their interests to present as early as possible. If they do, they will enjoy a better life journey and a far better quality of life.
Scottish Agricultural College
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will advise the Scottish Agricultural College to publish in full the Deloitte & Touche report on the college and the farm appraisal options for the farm at the Craibstone campus. (S2O-142)
The Scottish Agricultural College has already made public the main Deloitte & Touche report, which contains all the salient information from the option appraisal. The report to the college is supported by a volume of more detailed information. The Scottish Agricultural College is of the view that, for reasons of confidentiality, it would be inappropriate to publish that volume. The college holds the same view of the option appraisal of its farm facilities at Craibstone.
I am rather disappointed with the answer that the minister has given, especially in the light of comments that he and his colleagues have made in the past. It is true that some of the Deloitte & Touche report has been published, but it is not true to say that all the salient points are in the public domain. I question the objectivity and independence of both that report and the totally separate report on the farm option appraisal for Craibstone. I seek the minister's help in putting those matters into the public domain for reasons of openness, transparency and accountability and to assist the parliamentary inquiry that is under way. Will the minister assure me that he will reconsider his previous answer and encourage the authorities to publish both reports in full?
I think that we might be talking at cross-purposes to some extent, but I will try to deal with the point. Executive officials have seen volume 2 of the report, which, in our opinion, supports phase 2 in volume 1 of the report. I do not believe there to be a conspiracy of silence in that regard.
We have no power to direct the SAC, which Mr Adam would have understood if he had listened to my previous response. However, as I am always ready to assist the Opposition, I state that I would welcome the publication of the volume in question and, today, I invite the SAC to publish it, save for any confidential material that it might contain.
Does the minister agree that Scotland needs a national centre for land-based education and research and that the SAC's preferred option—a hub-and-satellite model—will create a national centre while maintaining a local specialism in Aberdeen and Ayrshire? Can the minister confirm that, as the SAC is a private company limited by guarantee, the final decision on the future of the college will be made by the board of directors?
The answer to the last question is yes. However, for the public record, I will state that ministers should have considerable influence in that decision as a result of the significant public funding that goes into the SAC. We need to ensure that we receive best value for that funding, so I am firmly of the opinion that ministers need to be satisfied that any reconfiguration is in the taxpayers' best interests. On the first part of the question, the partnership agreement provides, in the longer term, for the examination of the case for the development of a rural development institute. We will take that forward in accordance with the agreement.
Will the minister go further and accept that it is essential that, now that the Environment and Rural Development Committee has decided to invite representatives of the SAC to give evidence on 25 June, all information pertaining to the matter is made available to the committee so that the issues can be fully discussed in public with all the facts to hand?
No. It would be inappropriate of me to pre-empt the parliamentary inquiry that is under way. The members conducting the inquiry can request whatever information they feel is necessary for them to reach a satisfactory conclusion. That might include some of the information to which Alex Johnstone referred.
M74 (Northern Extension)
To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections were received in the recent consultation on the M74 northern extension. (S2O-168)
A total of 379 objections were received.
On what criteria would the minister base a decision to approve the setting up of a local public inquiry on the M74? What impact would there be on public confidence in the Scottish Executive's role in the planning process if, just six weeks after an election in which the share of the vote of the parties that campaigned hard against the M74 extension increased while every other party did badly in Glasgow, a decision were made not to allow a local public inquiry into Britain's biggest motorway project?
I will base my decision whether to have a local public inquiry on the normal criteria. I will be given advice by civil servants following their examination of all the objections. That will be done in the proper and objective way. I hope that I will make my decision on the issue very soon after the receipt of that advice.
I represent a constituency that will be affected by the M74 and did not too badly in the election, despite the fact that I support the northern extension.
Does the minister agree that the comments made by the Scottish Green Party during the election on the environmental effects of the extension are not lost on my constituents in Rutherglen and Cambuslang, who will benefit from the reduction in traffic, particularly heavy goods vehicles, in the main streets of the area as that will lead to improved air quality in our town centres?
I agree. The M74 project will have positive environmental benefits. It will reduce congestion and delays, and improve air quality in the local communities. A good example of that, as the local member pointed out, will be the traffic reduction in communities along and close to the route. For example, it is estimated that traffic will be down by 15 per cent in Rutherglen Main Street and by around 13 per cent in Calder Street. Those will be significant improvements. The M74 project is worth while on a number of fronts.
Does the minister agree that 110,000 car journeys per day through urban Glasgow will be detrimental to the people who live along the route of the extension and, indeed, to the rest of the planet?
The impact of the scheme is relatively neutral in terms of the total number of traffic journeys. There will be important benefits from improving the present situation in the south side of Glasgow, where there is significant traffic congestion. I believe that the scheme will also help to regenerate the south side of Glasgow and bring new jobs to the area. That is an important benefit that everyone in the chamber should welcome.
Genetic Modification (National Public Debate)
To ask the Scottish Executive how the genetic modification national public debate is being conducted in Scotland and what role the Executive is playing in that debate. (S2O-169)
The public debate is being managed at arm's length from Government by an independent steering board. It is for the steering board to run the debate as it sees fit to ensure a credible and wide-ranging dialogue with the Scottish public. The first event in Scotland took place in Glasgow yesterday. Local events are expected to follow throughout Scotland.
I thank the minister for his answer. I noted with interest that The Scotsman today quoted Ross Finnie as saying:
"I'm wholly opposed to any conclusions being arrived at before the results of the GM trials are known."
Given that statement, will the Executive give the public an opportunity to debate GM after the trials' results are known?
I saw that quote and I noted that Mr Ruskell was quoted extensively in the same report. I am not sure whether the quote from Ross Finnie is accurate. The farm-scale evaluations are assessing the impact on biodiversity of herbicide-tolerant crops. The debate is obviously intended to cover much more than that because it will deal with broader GM issues. I assure Mr Ruskell that there will be an opportunity for the public and environmental groups to comment on the farm-scale evaluation results.
Can the minister tell us whether Mr Finnie, when he was in Brussels recently, took the chance to speak to the Belgian environment minister, who has banned GM field trials in his country? That is unlike Mr Finnie, who continues to ignore the concerns of two parliamentary committees and the views that the Scottish public have overwhelmingly expressed against GM planting.
I have not had the opportunity to discuss that particular matter with Mr Finnie, because he is in Luxembourg. Of course, Belgium is bound by exactly the same European directive as the UK is. Evidence of potential harm is required to support any decision to halt the release of a GM plant. It is erroneous to suggest, as Mr Gibson did, that there is somehow a moratorium on GM releases in Belgium. There is not.
North-east Fife Fishing Industry (Financial Aid)
To ask the Scottish Executive what intermediate and long-term financial aid it plans to make available to assist with the current situation in the fishing industry in north-east Fife. (S2O-152)
Ross Finnie announced a £50 million restructuring support package for the industry earlier in the year. That is in addition to funding available under the 2000-2006 financial instrument for fisheries guidance programme.
More generally, the enterprise network has in place a range of initiatives to stimulate business growth and more employment. With Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise Fife has commissioned a survey of local companies to assess the economic impact of recent changes to European Union fishing regulations. That report will form the basis of a co-ordinated response from the council and the local enterprise company to the difficulties facing local industry.
Is the minister aware that the fishing community of Pittenweem is particularly disadvantaged, even compared with the other fishing communities round the coast of Scotland? We opened a new fish market a decade or so ago; it has no fish to sell. We have an ice factory that operates on a care and maintenance basis. The number of fishing boats has dropped by something like 70 per cent over the past 25 years. Is he able to say anything to the prawn fishers of Pittenweem and places round the rest of the coast to assure them that, when the vaunted aid package finally arrives, it will go not only to the white-fish fishermen, but to the nephrops fishermen?
There are a lot of issues in that question. I undertake to develop some of them with Mr Brocklebank in the fullness of time, as we are doing with the constituency member, Iain Smith. I understand the frustration that exists about the delay in aid payments, but the Executive cannot act without European Union state aid approval. I understand that the European Commission has just approved our decommissioning proposals. However, we await the formal decision, and we need to ensure that that decision has been taken before we can take forward work on the transitional aid programme. I undertake to work with members along those lines.
The minister will be aware that I have, on a number of occasions, raised the problems that face the nephrops fishermen of Pittenweem and north-east Fife because of the impact of the white-fish regulations on the prawn catch. The price of prawns has fallen significantly and the income to the industry has fallen by more than 40 per cent this year to date. Will the minister assure me that he will consider different ways of providing support to the industry in north-east Fife, including support for research on and development of alternative fisheries, for example, the sprat fishery in the Firth of Forth? Will he also ensure that the Executive considers other sources—for example, the Scottish Co-operative Development Agency—to assist the fishing co-operative in Pittenweem?
I would put the drop in the price of prawns down to oversupply in the market, poor European markets and, possibly, a very good prawn catch in the Western Isles. I undertake to work with Iain Smith along those lines to ensure that appropriate research opportunities that might help to spread the pain, so to speak, are entered into.
visitscotland.com
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the effectiveness of visitscotland.com. (S2O-134)
Operational matters are obviously the responsibility of visitscotland.com. However, we believe that that organisation's role is to play a significant role in developing the Scottish tourism market to ensure that all businesses within the Scottish tourism sector get maximum opportunity through the development of the strategy that we have put forward through visitscotland.com.
Will the minister undertake to take up with VisitScotland and the operators of visitscotland.com the concerns of small tourism operators about the barriers that they perceive are being put in place to tourists being able to contact them directly through the visitscotland.com website? At the moment, there are many barriers to accessing a number of accommodation providers directly and tourists have to go through the call centre.
I have already paid a visit to visitscotland.com this week, and I raised that question with the organisation. It is willing to deal with providers and all within the sector to try to address those concerns. The opportunity of a visit is also being extended to David Mundell, if he wishes to take the offer up. I hope that he gets the e-mail, if he has not already received the three that I understand he has already received.
On the broader issue, we want to work with those in the industry to ensure that we maximise the opportunity for profiling the opportunities that exist in Scottish tourism. If we grow it together, everyone can be a beneficiary. If practical issues need to be overcome, we will endeavour to do that.
I hope that Mr Mundell will be able to take up the kind offer.
Does the minister acknowledge that disenchantment with visitscotland.com increases rather than decreases as the months go by? Is one of the problems not that it has two conflicting objectives: to sell Scotland to the world and to make money for SchlumbergerSema? Is that not exemplified by the fact that a 10 per cent per day booking charge is levied on all guesthouse and hotel owners? Is that charge not excessive?
The charge is the best that is available in the United Kingdom, if not Europe. In fact, at a basic minimum, market competitors operate at 15 per cent commission. Some, such as lastminute.com, operate at between 25 per cent and 30 per cent commission. Therefore, it is not necessarily excessive.
The industry has engaged in partnership and, by focusing on the joint strategy of improving opportunities and investment in Scottish tourism, so that we gain a growing market share in world tourism, we can make a genuine difference. If one of the partners benefits from that, that is a by-product, but the central issue is to ensure that we increase the range and quality of products in Scottish tourism, so that we can market them internationally. Areas such as the South of Scotland, which Alasdair Morgan represents, as well as other parts of Scotland, will benefit from that growth agenda.
Schools (Indiscipline)
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is with regard to indiscipline in schools. (S2O-145)
We are working with schools and local authorities to address discipline problems and to implement the recommendations of the discipline task group's report
Is the minister aware that David Eaglesham, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, said earlier this year:
"There is still pressure on schools not to use exclusions. That is wrong"?
In light of that statement, would the minister not agree that Scotland's teachers deserve to be more strongly supported?
I wish to make it clear that we take discipline problems in schools extremely seriously. That is in stark contrast with the time when Lord James Douglas-Hamilton was himself an education minister in the Scottish Office. The complacency on the Tory benches—
That is ridiculous.
The Tories refused to collect the statistics that would have revealed the problem. We are not taking that line. We are prepared to collect statistics about difficult situations in schools precisely to allow us to take the action that the Tories failed to take when they were in government.
To deal with Lord James's specific point, I have made it clear to him—not least in the chamber, a week ago—that we will never second-guess a head teacher about the difficult decisions that they have to take in individual discipline situations in schools.
Does the minister agree that there are some excellent examples of alternatives to excluding disruptive pupils, such as the Schoolhouse at Dumfries High School, to which I referred during the debate on young people last week? Will he consider ways in which such excellent projects can continue once funding for fixed-term alternatives to exclusion ceases?
Elaine Murray makes a very good point, which picks up on the point that I was making to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. One of the reasons why we collect data on difficult situations in schools is so that we can understand the problems more fully and then take the necessary action. The pupil support bases, behavioural support teachers, learning support teachers and the various actions that are now being taken to address problems in schools, to which Elaine Murray has alluded, are very much making an impact on individual schools and pupils, and we want them to be rolled out across Scotland to ensure that every school is following the best practice that exists.
Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning
To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths have been caused since 1999 by (a) lung cancer, (b) road traffic incidents and (c) amnesic shellfish poisoning. (S2O-138)
Tragically, during the period 1999-2000, 15,850 deaths were recorded from lung cancer; 1,287 were recorded as the result of road traffic accidents; and no deaths were recorded as a result of amnesic shellfish poisoning.
We are all aware of the essential need to protect public health. Those statistics show that there is no real risk of death from amnesic shellfish poisoning. There is certainly no case for the even tighter testing regime that is being proposed. Does the minister agree that the view of the scallop fishing industry is that it would have no future if we were to adopt a new, tighter testing regime, and that we would lose a proud, sustainable and successful Scottish industry for no good reason?
The statistics do not show that. I think that everyone in the chamber would agree with me and would struggle to see the relevance of an analogy between deaths from lung cancer and deaths from amnesic shellfish poisoning. I only wish that we had been blessed with the foresight and the science that would have given us the same success in preventing deaths from lung cancer that we have had in preventing deaths from amnesic shellfish poisoning.
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