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Frequently, we become so accustomed to the innovative policies that the Parliament has introduced that we forget to reflect on—and, in some circumstances, to celebrate—the impact that they have had on people for the better. Examples include the ban on smoking in public places, no prescription charges in Scotland and, of course, cashback for communities. Although the public will be aware of the smoking ban and free prescriptions, I am sure that most of the public are unaware of cashback for communities, mainly because it does not affect them overtly. However, it has an impact on their communities and on the quality of life not only of those communities but of the many individuals who benefit from the programmes.

I welcome the debate and Labour’s amendment. I suggest to Russell Findlay, who made a very interesting contribution, that he should put forward solutions, if he can, to better the recovery of proceeds. We all want to see that, although I appreciate the cross-border and international aspects that my colleague Keith Brown raised.

Cashback for communities is 15 years old. In that time, it has distributed £150 million to good causes. Many of the recipients are in my Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency. I was reminded of that recently when I was visiting the YMCA hub in Penicuik at the inauguration of RUTS. That is an unfortunate name—it stands for the Rural & Urban Training Scheme. The project is run in partnership with the YMCA. For 2023-26, RUTS has the target of carrying out 400 activities for young people.

In the Scottish Borders, between 2008 and 2021, a total of over £2 million was distributed, which covered more than 100,000 activities. In Midlothian in the same period, over £1.5 million was distributed for more than 46,000 activities. That is not money to be dismissed.

I go back to RUTS at the YMCA in Penicuik. The grand facilities there, which had become underused and were in financial difficulties as a consequence, have been rescued, and in the right way. I saw the boxing ring, and I had a go with the gloves on a punch bag. I will not disclose whose image I mentally projected on to it—although I will do so if I get the right donation for the YMCA.

I went on to look at the motorbikes. Young people aged 14 to 24 can learn about motorbike maintenance there, and there are other projects that they can engage with to give them some sense of direction.

Young people may self-refer there or be recommended by social work or schools, for example. Most of the young people at RUTS are, for a range of reasons, disengaged from the so-called “traditional routes” through education and so on. The project builds self-confidence and a sense of personal achievement, which can lead to apprenticeships, work or further education. Most important, it is centred on the individual.

In the Borders, Tweeddale Youth Action and TD1 Youth Hub are both recipients of funds. In Gorebridge, the guides, and in Galashiels, the Boys Brigade receive funding support.

There are many more projects, from large to modest. The purpose is always to help young people not to get back on track, but to find a track towards a fulfilling and positive life that suits them, whether by diverting them from prosecution or—we hope—intervening far earlier. It is about helping them to help themselves before that becomes out of reach. What better application could there be for the proceeds of criminal activity?

The member makes a very important point. I want to ask a question that I intend to be helpful, although it might be too complicated to answer here and now. What can one can do to recoup the extra money that he refers to? What is missing? What would he suggest that the review should do?

May I be so bold as to ask the minister to make her own personal evaluation of the RUTS programme at Penicuik YMCA, which I referred to?

In June, the minister responded to me regarding my concerns about the lack of assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity order for adults in my constituency. The response said that there is no routine reporting of community adult mental health service activity, nor any national routine reporting. In the documents that accompany the statement, is there a commitment to improving and collating data on ADHD in adults to inform workforce requirements?

I thank the cabinet secretary for his detailed answer. I advise him that both Midlothian Council and Scottish Borders Council in my constituency have on their websites information as to where salt bins are located, which is good. However, does he agree that the more that can be done by simply increasing the number of salt bins available for clearing winter pavements, the greater the likelihood that there will be even fewer falls and so less pressure on already hard-pressed accident and emergency services?

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on rates of winter admissions to accident and emergency as a result of winter falls since October 2020. (S6O-02677)

I declare an interest as convener of the cross-party group on animal welfare.

The safety of people, especially children, is obviously paramount, but does the First Minister agree that we should be mindful of the effect of fireworks on our pets and livestock, to keep them safe, too, and that, if in doubt about what to do, people should follow the advice of animal organisations, including NFU Scotland?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

I note that, not for the first time, we have only six Conservative members in the chamber. In other words, 80 per cent of Conservative members are not present at decision time. Do you share my dismay that that shows disrespect for Parliament?

To be subject to flooding, at either your home or business, is horrible and heartbreaking. The Borders, in past times dependent on the rivers and waterways to power the mills, has seen many parts of its communities flooded. I recall several incidents in my early days here when I visited homes in Hawick, Selkirk and Stow and businesses in Gala where all people’s worldly goods were heaped outside in a sodden pile, the floors and cupboards of homes were warped by the floodwater and stock was damaged beyond recovery. What images on the news cannot tell you about is the stench that quickly follows the receding waters and, in summer, the invasions of flies.

The Borders learned the hard way how to deal with that, how to co-ordinate responses and what preventative measures could be taken, including simple measures such as accessing sandbags as well as electronic monitoring of waterways through sensors, particularly upstream, linking the data directly to fire and rescue as an early warning, and, more fundamentally, dealing with water flow upstream.

Today of course, the fall-out that we reap from global warming adds pressures to communities living by waterways in particular, where more are vulnerable as flood risk areas spread. In an area whose economy was, historically, founded on the wool and weaving mills where machines turned through the power of the river, the risk from rivers in spate remains, despite the fact that many of the mills have long gone.

However, I am impressed with the systems that Scottish Borders Council has put in place, supplemented with Scottish Government funding for flood prevention schemes. Therefore, I consider that, in the Borders, where people have developed skills and responses over decades, learning from bitter experience and with excellent inter-agency emergency communication, there is no need for an additional bureaucratic layer. The council already has a functioning multi-agency task force. Category 1 responders in the Borders include the council, the police, the fire service, the Scottish Ambulance Service, health boards and integration joint boards.

There are several phases to an emergency. There is prevention—I will speak about that later—and preparation with pre-warning. Much has improved these days, with local detail forecasts through the Met Office, which enable preparations such as providing places where people can access sandbags, opening rest centres or simply putting staff on standby in readiness to respond.

There is also recovery. Floodwaters subside. Help and assistance have to be provided to communities to get people back into their homes and businesses, clear up debris and signpost residents to funding and other support. Care for people is key in the event that floods manage to invade private and commercial properties. In preparation for that, emergency accommodation must be on standby. People must be prepared to provide food, water and other necessities.

There is transport. We need to utilise the voluntary sector, such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and to provide financial and other assistance.

Much of that is already in place in the Scottish Borders, where we have learned from bitter experience over the decades. Several flood protection projects have been completed or are planned for towns across the Borders. They include, in my constituency, the Galashiels flood prevention scheme, which was completed in 2014. Next on the list is Peebles. Innerleithen, Broughton and Earlston are currently having flood studies undertaken in order to gain an understanding of the flood mechanisms and appraise mitigation options.

Upstream from Peebles, as Willie Rennie mentioned, the Eddleston Water project, which I have visited several times, is already functioning. The Eddleston Water, which is a tributary of the Tweed, has been reshaped to make its route wind more, with the planting of suitable vegetation at the water’s edge, all to slow the water flow downstream into Peebles and to protect, in particular, the vulnerable Tweed Green, which is right at the banks of the Tweed.

To date, much has been successful. I hope not to tempt the rain gods but, on Bank Street in Galashiels, where shops and businesses were once flooded when the tributaries upstream burst their banks and flooded down the brae past the volunteer hall, such flooding has been prevented through interventions and early warning alerts to agencies to unblock any blockages and, therefore, divert a build-up of water. Low-lying parts of Stow used to be flooded by Gala water, but its course and depth have also been altered and, so far, all that has flooded is the park, which protects all properties and businesses round about.

Those are just some examples of places where I have visited flooded properties in the past and seen remedies that work. There has been much progress with local government taking the lead, supported by the Scottish Government and SEPA. With funding and other national mechanisms for emergencies, such as COBRA and the Scottish resilience room, I do not see a need for more bureaucracy. What works in the Scottish Borders could work elsewhere.

Thank you, Presiding Officer—I will be brief. I invite the minister to meet, as I have, with the Dementia Friendly Tweeddale group to learn of its work in supporting carers and those with dementia to continue to enjoy life and their activities after diagnosis, and even add more.