Yesterday in Parliament I took part in the Scottish Government debate on Hydropower. Hydro not only provides electricity and jobs to many rural places across Scotland but can also play a fairly significant part in helping us meet our future climate change targets.
The debate focused on the 70th anniversary of hydro-power in Scotland and I was recently at a dinner during Scottish Renewables hydro conference to mark the occasion. The night and conference was a great opportunity Continue reading
Recently I met with Mike McFarlane and Moira Cook from the Save Wemyss Ancient Caves Society to discuss the future of the caves after I had spoken on the issue in a debate in the Scottish Parliament.
The Society was established in 1986 to protect and save as much of the Wemyss Caves and their unique drawings as possible. They aim to record information on the caves, to preserve them and promote them as a tourist attraction.
Yesterday in Parliament I opened the Flood Insurance Problems debate in the Scottish Parliament for the Scottish Labour Party. The debate was a committee debate after Professor David Crichton submitted a petition to the Public Petitions Committee calling for the Scottish Government to ensure Scotland’s interests are represented in on-going negotiations over home insurance for flooding.
The region of Mid Scotland and Fife is one such area that has been particularly affected by flooding recently. Last year a home in Dura Den was severely damaged and up to 30 families had to be evacuated from their homes when the River Eden burst its banks. In December the Eden also burst its banks between Ladybank and Kettle causing severe flooding for some homeowners. Continue reading
Today I called for the Scottish Government to reconsider their support for court closures across Scotland, including Cupar Sheriff Court, during Scottish Labour Party Business in Holyrood. Todays debate will be the only opportunity to discuss the closures in Parliament out with the Justice Committee and it was important to highlight the Scottish Government’s decisions to accept all the recommendations from Shaping Scotland’s Court Service without proper scrutiny.
The paper, published this month by the Scottish Court Service, recommends the closure of courts across Scotland, including Cupar Sheriff Court in Fife due to its proximity to Dundee. Other courts affected by the recommendations include Dingwall, Arbroath, Stonehaven and Haddington. Continue reading
The past two days, during topical and general questions in the Scottish Parliament , I have questioned the Energy Minister Fergus Ewing on the liquidation of Scottish Coal. Administrators Blaire Nimmo and Tony Friar have so far laid off 590 workers across Scotland including 18 of the 28 jobs at St Ninian’s at Kelty.
The news of Scottish Coal’s liquidation comes after St Ninians gained permission to extract a further 70,000 tonnes of coal from the site near Kelty. We have seen this week, in the report from Coalfields Regeneration Trust,that in Scotland deprivation is higher in coalfield areas than non-coalfield areas. Scottish Coal’s liquidation will, sadly, only add to that. Continue reading
This week I have spoken about the success and challenges faced by butchers in the current climate during a Scottish Parliament debate on local food. As the granddaughter of a butcher, who worked in the industry since he left school, I understand the skills involved and welcomed the opportunity to have this debate in Parliament.
There are undoubtedly opportunities for local butchers in today’s markets and reports of increased footfalls amongst local butcher shops are encouraging. I also understand that many are now promoting online sales which is vital in today’s marketplace.
There are undoubtedly benefits to shopping locally, a shorter supply chain, higher quality and traceability. However, we can’t hide from the fact that many families across Scotland are facing harsh economic challenges. When faced with the choice of spending £3.24 for a lb of pork sausages at a farmers market or £1.38 at a supermarket many households have to prioritise price before other factors.
The debate was held by Nigel Don MSP who aimed to congratulate farmers’ markets and food purveyors across the country. Nigel Don also hosed a successful Farmers Market in the Scottish Parliament to highlight Scotland’s finest food and drink, promoting the ethos of ‘Buy local, eat Scottish.’
I was delighted to see that the farmers market in Parliament included two Fife companies, St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company and Eden Brewery and was delighted to talk to both them and mention them during the debate along with Fife’s fantastic reputation for food and drink.
Last year I held a debate in Parliament highlighting the excellent work of Fife Diet and their Food Manifesto and I called for a wider debate on our relationship with food, particularly on what and how we eat. The recent revelations that have emerged from the horsemeat scandal shows that a wider debate is still essential. It is important that low income families are not excluded from the benefits that come from shopping locally and regardless of what you can afford for food, you still deserve to have confidence in the quality of what you are buying.
Today I visited Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre in West Calder to announce that Scottish Labour is supporting compulsory microchipping of dogs.
Microchipping has a number of advantages, it helps return stray dogs, allows easy identification of those undertaking animal cruelty on their dogs, ensures owners of dangerous dogs are held to account and is a deterrent to dog theft.
With their being close to 3,000 stray dogs a year in Scotland, microchipping is a great help is reuniting worried owners. At the same time by quickly reuniting owners there is a saving made on the public purse through reduced kennelling costs.
Compulsory dog chipping is currently in place in Northern Ireland, England is planning on introducing it south of the border by 2016, a consultation on the issue has just concluded in Wales, the results of which are due soon. Currently the Scottish Government has no plans to introduce compulsory microchipping in Scotland.
With plans across the rest of Britain, Scotland face being left behind on the issue of microchipping. It is important that the Scottish Government takes action to ensure Scotland comes into line with the rest of the UK.
Dog owners already have to ensure their dog is wearing a collar and tag but microchipping can hold much more information whilst it cannot be removed.
Dogs Trust, who do invaluable work in rehoming lost and abandoned dogs, microchip dogs for free, helping reduce the costs for the owner. It was great to meet with the staff in West Calder and see first-hand the work they do in chipping, scanning and taking care of their dogs.
I joined with my college Jayne Baxter in asking for clarity from the Scottish Government on the future of colleges within the Kingdom as we called for a delay on the SNP’s Post-16 education bill.
The bill, which seeks to address issues of college and university governance, widening access, data sharing and a tuition fees cap, has come under criticism from witnesses during committee evidence sessions. Labour, along with other opposition parties, are asking the Cabinet Secretary for Education to withdraw the bill and address the concerns raised.
There is growing criticism that the bill is not fit for purpose. Particular concerns have been raised over the college regionalisation aspect of the bill which is seeing Carnegie College and Adam Smith College merge.
The merger of Adam Smith and Carnegie Colleges has been driven by cuts to the sector from the SNP Government rather than by what is best for staff and students in the Kingdom. Throughout this whole process we have had very little reassurances over future course availability and student numbers.
Today Jayne Baxter MSP and I have written to Tony Jakimciw, the regional lead for Fife college mergers, to ask for a meeting to raise our concerns over the future of Fife colleges.
The criticism of the education bill comes on the back of motion of no confidence passed on Education Secretary Mike Russell by EIS earlier this month.
Today in the Chamber I opened for Labour during the Committee Debate on the Scottish Government’s draft Second Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP2). RPP2 is the document that lays out what action the Scottish Government will be taking in the years ahead to reach our legally binding emission reduction targets.
Unfortunately we have an early indication that all is not well. The Government’s first emissions target was missed and we have yet to see the greater action needed to get back on track.
Stop Climate Chaos have completed a scenario calculation which shows that only if the EU shifts to 30%, and all policies and proposals were introduced, would Scotland hit all targets. With it looking likely that any change to the EU target won’t be delivered until at least 2016, RPP2 is at risk of being doomed to failure.
Failure to achieve the targets in the early years will only make future targets more difficult to achieve as we will be constantly compensating rather than making progress.
It’s not just concerns over the EU target and the impact that will have – it is also the over reliance on proposals over policies. While proposals have a role to play, the dominance of proposals risks undermining the credibility of the document
Of course there needs to be a degree of flexibility but an over reliance on proposals leads to the plan lacking credibility. As opposed to proposals, policies come along with finance and/or legislation as well as clear timescales. It’s not clear which proposals are expected to become policy.
A copy of my speech is available below and a video will be added once it becomes available:
Thank you Presiding Officer
I welcome the debate this afternoon. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act is a significant piece of legislation – it established Scotland as a good example of Government and Parliamentary action on climate change and it set out ambitious targets which we all agreed to. It was recognised internationally as progressive. In a number of recent debates, we have made clear that the rewards of delivery are not just domestic but also contribute towards Scotland’s effort in delivering climate justice and our international obligations. The collective international effort is not where it needs to be and increasingly there is not only a greater need for leadership but also results. There is a huge responsibility on this Parliament and the Government to deliver.
We all accept Scotland’s targets are ambitious but that places all the more emphasis on the need to deliver if the targets are to be credible. We have had early indication that all is not well. The first emissions target was missed – the Minister blamed a cold winter – surely that shouldn’t really be a surprise in Scotland. But we need to move away from these excuses and what we need to see is greater action – cold winters by themselves are not the problem – too many homes and properties with inadequate insulation and inefficient heating, not enough progress on building standards for new homes – we can’t afford missed opportunities if we are to deliver the step changed needed. Also, much of the progress which has been made can be attributed to the economic downturn – there are concerns that not enough is being done now to embed change.
This afternoon we are debating a draft report and the next few weeks provides the Scottish Government with the opportunity to respond to the concerns raised and come back with a more convincing set of policies and proposals.
In this short debate it is impossible to cover the four reports, and the convenors opening comments set out the thrust of each of the reports. While there has been scrutiny by policy area, there is a need for scrutiny of RPP2 as a coherent package of measures – although RACCE is the lead committee, there was no synergies between the reports – I know there was frustration from witness at RACCE that they couldn’t talk about transport policy, though it’s pretty impossible to talk about behavioural change without it. But through the hours of scrutiny, by MSPs, by environment campaigners, local authorities, key stakeholders and partners, there are key messages emerging which the Government must listen to and act on.
Although it is a statutory requirement to report on how the Scottish Government will respond to the missing target – it is open to interpretation whether or not it achieves this. There is rhetoric but it is difficult to identify what specific policies or proposals have changed in response to the missed target. There has been criticism that it is difficult to compare RPP1 and RRP2. There is a lack of transparency over which proposals from RPP1 have become policies, what proposals and policies have been dropped and how many have been delayed. The Economy committee make the point that there needs to be clearer explanation of what steps will be taken to address the failings of RPP1 – if anything there have been comments that there is less detail in RPP2 rather than more.
No one would suggest that meeting our climate change targets would be easy. It needs a combination of Government effort, local authorities, individuals and communities and the reports make good points in these areas. There is an acknowledgment that there are positives in the document – that’s not in doubt. The recognition of the importance of peatlands restoration is a welcome addition to the Government’s priorities. We can point to progress in recycling. As part of behaviour change, our schools and their partners are doing a lot of good work, and as my local primary school heading off to the beach today as part of Eco Week, I don’t imagine they expected to be doing that in the snow, but the unpredictability of our weather at home and abroad is one of the key challenges of climate change.
However the question is whether RPP2 is robust enough to get us where we need to be. Whether the document is credible, ambitious, transparent and capable of delivery? When the document was published, Stop Climate Chaos did a scenario calculation demonstrating that only if the EU shifts to 30%, and all policies and proposals were introduced, would Scotland hit all targets. With it looking likely that any change to the EU target won’t be delivered until at least 2016, RPP2 is at risk of being doomed to failure. Failure to achieve targets in the early years will only make future targets more difficult to achieve – we will be constantly compensating rather than making progress. Stop Climate Chaos chair Tom Ballantine has in recent days described it as
‘Ministers are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the parliament with the current climate plan.’
To be fair to the committees, they have recognised the risk. RACCE’s report states:
‘It is clear from the draft Second Report on Proposals and Polices that there is only one combination of circumstances that will allow Scotland to meet each of its annual targets from 2013 until 2027.’
The committees are consistent in calling for the Scottish Government to be clear about how they will respond to a delay or failure of the EU to set a 30% target – at the weekend a Government spokeswomen is reported as saying it was ‘commonly understood’ that Scottish targets were based on the EU target. That is not the case – it was always recognised that without the 30%, achieving targets would be harder, but they were there to be achieved regardless of the EU target. The challenge for Scotland is to be bold and ambitious in this context – and RPP2 needs to respond to these challenges.
It’s not just concerns over the EU target and the impact that will have – it is also the over reliance on proposals over policies. While proposals have a role to play, the dominance of proposals risks undermining the credibility of the document - RACCE describe it as a failure to ‘strike the appropriate balance between policies and proposals’. RPP2 itself recognises it limitations – as Stop Climate Chaos highlight – low carbon transport policies are classified as proposals rather than policies and RPP2 states
‘…while in most cases they are already being taken forward, they are not being implemented at the intensity required for the abatement figures in the document.’
Of course there needs to be a degree of flexibility but an over reliance on proposals leads to the plan lacking credibility. As opposed to proposals, policies come along with finance and/or legislation as well as clear timescales. It’s not clear which proposals are expected to become policy.
In 2009 as the Climate Change Act was passed, there was recognition of the need for ‘early action’. Yet RPP2 backloads activity and there is a lack of evidence of policy action in the earlier years of the intensity needed. Transport, housing and rural land use are the areas identified for additional effort – that is not to say nothing is happening but that the scale of the challenge in these areas are significant, and we have the opportunity to do more about them now.
And while there are calls for a greater commitment in the early years, there were particular concerns raised over the future abatement figures. ‘Wishful thinking’ was used in more than one committee. From 2025, Transport and Rural Land Use in particular identify significant abatement to potentials. The Infrastructure committee state that they are
‘concerned that it is unclear as to how these abatement figures have been calculated.’
There needs to be greater transparency over how projections are arrived at if there is to be confidence in the document.
The Minister cannot deliver on these challenges alone. It needs a Government response; and it needs leadership in Cabinet if the RPP2 is to have the confidence of MSPs and wider Scotland. While there is support for what can be achieved, the purpose of RPP2 is to set out the future path to meet the statutory targets and there are concerns that the report, as it stands, will fail to achieve these. Scotland has a reputation on climate change that it world leading and is worth saving.
This week in Parliament I backed an innovative project which raises awareness of the vital contribution of those who care for adults across the Kingdom living with dementia.
The Dementia Carer Voices Project from the Health and Social Care Alliance harnesses the work of Tommy Whitelaw, a former carer for his late Mum Joan, who has collected hundreds of life stories from people which detail the difficult and different experience of caring for a loved one living with dementia.
These stories demonstrated that carers of people with dementia often feel isolated and that there is insufficient recognition of the range of complex issues about which they are expected to have understanding.
The project aims to empower carers by raising awareness of dementia and the carer journey amongst health and social care professionals, and providing a platform from which carers’ views and experiences can inform future policy and service provision.
Speaking during a debate on Parliament I said:
“Dementia is a condition which impacts on so many families and individuals across Scotland and it is a condition which is only expected to increase.
“The level of demand will impact on health and social cares services and we must ensure we develop services which will respond to these increasing demands.
“The letters that have been collected are powerful and are testimony to the valuable work that carers do, but they are also about human experience. Being a carer is not a job, it is part of being a family and the letters demonstrate that while people do it for the best of reasons, they can’t and shouldn’t have to do it alone.”
Programme Director of the Health and Social Care Alliance, Irene Oldfather, said:
“Discussing and debating the carer experience is to be welcomed as a way of increasing awareness of dementia and the carer journey.
“Carers of people with dementia describe the journey as an emotional roller coaster which is both rewarding and incredibly sad as you lose a little of the person each day. The ALLIANCE welcomes the Parliamentary debate and the commitment of MSPS across the chamber to promoting the carer experience.”
Dementia Carer Voices Project Officer, Tommy Whitelaw, said:
“I would like to thank MSPs for their on-going interest and taking this opportunity to listen to the thoughts, feelings and experiences of carers. It is imperative that we raise awareness of the impact of dementia on families, and the vital role played by carers, so that nobody else in Scotland has to go through the caring journey experiencing the loneliness and isolation that we did.”
