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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 6 August 2025
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Displaying 1072 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)

Reducing Drug Deaths in Scotland and Tackling Problem Drug Use

Meeting date: 22 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

Good morning, minister. We had a discussion with the previous panel about progress on safe consumption facilities. We heard from a number of the stakeholders that were represented about the importance of pace on that work.

At the beginning of the year, we had a communication from the Crown Agent, which said, essentially, that there had been back and forth, if you like, between Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. You wrote to me on 20 February—about a month ago—setting out the fact that there was no timescale, because of the complexities involved. However, I think that you also said in that letter that, through your discussions with the Crown Office and Police Scotland, essential progress had been made and that the parties understood the urgency.

We are a month hence from that, so I wonder whether you are able to give an update on those developments and on the urgency, because it is critical that we see progress—I think that everyone on the committee wants to see that.

Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)

Reducing Drug Deaths in Scotland and Tackling Problem Drug Use

Meeting date: 22 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

That is a very helpful contribution.

Can Karen Reynolds give the ADP point of view? Obviously, a line of funding has been sustained, but I wonder about the knock-on effects of local authority budgets and, indeed, other areas of work to which we would often see signposting. As those services decline, is that a challenge?

10:45  

Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)

Reducing Drug Deaths in Scotland and Tackling Problem Drug Use

Meeting date: 22 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

The minister and I had an exchange about data in the chamber yesterday, and she agreed to write with further detail across the wide spectrum of data. However, I am particularly interested in the spike in the number of suspected drug deaths in the past quarter, which I referred to yesterday.

There is a sense from public health experts and experts in the field that the spike could be related to the new drugs that are arriving on the streets and their availability. It is about data and surveillance to understand the new drugs and how to tackle the new challenges that come with them. Naloxone will be part of that, as is surveillance and tracking where the new drugs are coming from. To what extent are the minister’s officials doing work in that space in order to understand it?

Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)

Reducing Drug Deaths in Scotland and Tackling Problem Drug Use

Meeting date: 22 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

Good morning. I will continue the conversation about the interventions, programmes and projects that are run, particularly in the third sector. I am particularly interested in sustainability, as there is clearly a funding focus. One of the key recommendations of the national mission is funding that is fit for the public health emergency.

I will direct my question at Liz Nolan. How sustainable does Aberlour Child Care Trust feel? How sustainable is its ability to continue services? I know that, in 2015, residential rehabilitation services were withdrawn in the Glasgow area, for example. Obviously, there is a huge focus on the issue now, but we need to sustain that, because the danger is projectitis. I think that everyone would recognise that. Will you comment on that?

Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)

Reducing Drug Deaths in Scotland and Tackling Problem Drug Use

Meeting date: 22 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

I have further questions on data, convener, but I am happy to defer at this stage if colleagues have further questions.

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scrutiny of NHS Boards (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders and NHS Forth Valley)

Meeting date: 21 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

I wonder if I can expand on your Covid recovery plans. Audit Scotland was critical of the lack of consultation with NHS boards on the development of the national recovery plan. It also highlighted that many boards desired greater autonomy in their own recovery plans. Would it have been helpful to have had a more localised recovery plan that you could have worked to within your resource allocation?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scrutiny of NHS Boards (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders and NHS Forth Valley)

Meeting date: 21 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

Did the Government ask you specifically about workforce issues in relation to the national recovery plan?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Scrutiny of NHS Boards (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders and NHS Forth Valley)

Meeting date: 21 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

From the evidence that has been submitted, I think that there is a huge issue not just with recruitment of new staff but with staff retention. For example, 30 per cent of leavers from NHS Ayrshire and Arran were retiring, and that sort of turnover in your boards is higher than the national average.

First, is retention in the system the significant issue? Secondly, what action is being taken to encourage staff to stay to ensure that we are not facing the twin challenges of having to recruit new staff while trying to keep staff in the system? Perhaps we can hear first the perspective of NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

10:15  

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Female Participation in Sport and Physical Activity

Meeting date: 21 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

Good morning to the panel. I will ask about socioeconomic issues for women and girls in sport. We had a response from Lanarkshire health and social care organisations that told us clearly that physical activity and sport are costly. That presents a challenge when it comes to targeting subsidy and access with reduced rates and things like that, which can make a huge difference. I would be interested in Patrick Murphy’s take on my question initially. In the context that we are in just now, in which local authority budgets are increasingly pressurised, how can we do some of that with a reducing resource?

Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Female Participation in Sport and Physical Activity

Meeting date: 21 March 2023

Paul O'Kane

In a previous life, I served on the board of a culture and leisure trust, and there were certainly challenges. There was always a tension around reviewing charging and the eligibility criteria for concessionary rates. Have you found having to change the margins of that a particular challenge, with more people maybe moving outwith the opportunities for concessions?