Seòmar agus comataidhean

Along with other members, I thank Stephanie Callaghan for securing this evening’s members’ business debate on circular fashion, which I very much wanted to take part in, as it is a subject that I have had an interest in for many years. In the interests of Maurice Golden’s birthday wishes, I have only a few words to say, so I should not keep everyone.

It was interesting when I spoke to Friends of the Earth this afternoon to hear about how far we have to go in Scotland on the circular economy. I had a very interesting discussion with it about how much we have to do. I hope that all members are very committed to ensuring that we can get this right.

When I was researching for this debate, I read something that really stood out for me:

“The vast majority of consumer fashion is stuck in a linear model with most used clothes perceived as having no value and being disposed of at an ever-increasing frequency ... In recent times modern culture has driven continued increases in oversupply and planned”

throwaway.

“Fast fashion is a linear business model that focuses on a rapid supply chain, working to design, produce and distribute new items of clothing at an accelerated rate.”

Many members have mentioned that. The point that I want to make is that

“This model works due to the low cost of labour”.

Many members have stated that changing fashion trends, purchasing power and consumer demand have an effect on those who work in the industry.

I want to highlight why I have an interest in this debate. I have an interest in low-cost labour, particularly child labour, around the globe. We have to be honest and not kid ourselves. We should not shield consumers and our constituents from the truth.

My interest in the issue stems from a visit that I made to India 30 years ago. Part of a tour on that visit took me to a factory in which tiny children were threading beads for fashion. I was only in my 20s. As I stand here, I can feel what I felt at that moment. A video was produced 30 years later, in 2021, when the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—was in Scotland. There are still tiny children across India threading beads, and that is absolutely unacceptable. The western world has huge responsibility for that.

It was good to bring this debate to the Parliament, and it is good to discuss the issue, but we need to be honest about where we are in the world on it. Unless we can change consumer attitudes towards clothes, purchasing and the things that we have discussed—valuing things and having things made to last—it will be really difficult to shift the industry, which is driven by purchasing, and change the supply chain for the circular economy. We see great examples—it is lovely to see those in the gallery. That can be done, but we need to work hard to make that happen. The cost is the human cost of the fashion industry, and we have to take that seriously.

The motion asks the Parliament to encourage

“the adoption of circular fashion methods”.

I hope that, one day, in Scotland and across the world, the legislation will be clear that we have no option but to manufacture, purchase and recycle in a responsible manner. I hope that that is legislated for. We can save the planet. Let us save our fellow workers and small children across the world and ensure that we change fashion for the better.

May I come back in on social care?

When you have had your budget deliberations, have you talked at all about moving towards collective sectoral bargaining? The trade unions say that that one change could make a significant difference to retaining staff, and that would help with budgeting across social care.

I have one final question. When you look at your finances and budgets, what consequences do you think there may be from having to fund the introduction of the national care service? How will that affect pay, terms and conditions in the short and slightly longer term?

The convener asked some general questions at the start about the allocation of pay in the budget. I would like to drill down into nursing and social care pay.

At the committee on 15 November last year, Colin Poolman of the RCN said:

“Social care pay in the health service is, frankly, upsetting”.

He also said:

“It is no surprise that we have a crisis in the social care workforce as well as in the health workforce.”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 15 November 2022; c 11.]

Responding to the cabinet secretary and the First Minister’s briefing yesterday, Mr Poolman said that the RCN’s

“previous warnings have not been listened to.”

He reiterated the point that fair pay is fundamental to the retention of the current workforce and to attracting a workforce for the future. For the sake of the NHS and social care, can the cabinet secretary afford not to listen to the serious and real concerns of nurses, given the number who are turning away from the profession? Does he think that nurses are being unreasonable?

I am sure that the Government understands that there are people in this country who have been switching off their heating almost entirely throughout the winter so far, due to fear that they simply cannot afford it. It is clear that the Tories are the architects of this dreadful cost of living crisis. The sooner that they are replaced with a UK Labour Government, the better.

It is important, though, to focus on what we can do in this Parliament. I am aware of the fuel insecurity fund, which was increased to deal with the challenges faced by our most vulnerable. However, will the Government review the fund and assess whether the money that is available for families and older people in our communities is actually getting to them—we have heard from constituents that that may not be happening in good time—and whether it is close to enough, when the lowest temperatures since 2010 have been recorded in parts of Scotland?

I reiterate my agreement that the Tories at Westminster have created this cost of living crisis. My point would be that they will pay for that at the ballot box next year, which will help to address the crisis.

Following yesterday’s briefing from the First Minister and the cabinet secretary, it is clear—if it was not already—that the Scottish National Party has lost control of the health service. Record numbers of people are waiting more than 12 hours at accident emergency and, crucially, nurses and social care workers are feeling the strain of poor pay and underfunding of services. Patients are suffering as a consequence.

Our national health service is our proudest possession. Staff and patients are concerned. How can the cabinet secretary be confident in the slightest that, when the temperatures drop again to dangerously low levels, vulnerable individuals suffering from hypothermia will even be able to receive treatment and attention as quickly as they need it?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, during freezing temperatures in December, ambulances were called out to 800 people with hypothermia. (S6T-01077)

The cabinet secretary will be aware that allied health professionals have unique skills that help with discharge from hospital. They are essential in making that happen and returning people home safely, which undoubtedly helps with pressures on acute beds. AHP services are currently under pressure, with vacancies across the country. What discussions has the Government had to ensure that the increase in bed capacity also gives patients access to that essential group of staff?

In the absence of Jim Fairlie’s debate on male suicide this week, it is important to recognise that 75 per cent of the people who died by suicide in 2020-21 were male and that a high proportion of those males were young and from a more deprived area. Every death by suicide is a tragedy—it means a life lost and a family grieving a loved one. It is abundantly clear that we need a strategy that not only promises but delivers.

How will the Scottish Government work with organisations that have close links to large groups of young men, such as football clubs—there is Kilmarnock Football Club, in my area, and Ayr United in South Ayrshire, which is in my region—to ensure that we continue to make progress together towards fully removing the stigma of talking about mental health and suicide, particularly among the young male group?