Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to people at risk of alcohol harm in the most disadvantaged communities. (S6O-00827)

As has been said, the debate around gender recognition can at times involve the use of language that some people can find hurtful and derogatory. Following on from the remarks made by the Presiding Officer and all Opposition spokespeople, does the cabinet secretary agree that it is important for all of us, as Scotland’s elected representatives, to set the tone of the debate by setting out our positions and listening carefully to the views of others in a respectful and courteous manner?

Thanks to substantial Scottish Government funding, a dozen brand-new zero-emission “electric emerald” buses have been deployed by Xplore Dundee across the city, including on the number 28 route, which includes Lochee Road—the fourth most polluted street in Scotland—in my constituency. Does the minister agree that the Scottish National Party can be proud of the support that it has provided in driving forward the decarbonisation of buses in Dundee and in delivering clean, green and free public transport for young people in my city?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its action to decarbonise buses. (S6O-00801)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls for the head of the civil service to investigate and rule on the deployment of Scottish Government civil servants to develop policy on independence. (S6O-00747)

Does the cabinet secretary agree that that political stunt is an embarrassing and hypocritical attempt to thwart Scottish democracy by a political party whose leader, just a couple of weeks ago, accused the Prime Minister of treating Scotland with “utter disdain”?

I am pleased to speak about the work of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee. There is much in the budget to be welcomed, such as the 39 per cent increase in the promoting equality and human rights budget line, from £32.28 million to £44.98 million. That has the potential to provide continued funding for many organisations that support some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland.

Surely everyone will welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling inequality and poverty, including the pay rise for those who work in social care and the Scottish child payment increase and expansion, which will support women and those on low incomes. In its evidence, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation welcomed the doubling of the Scottish child payment, but cautioned that it will not be sufficient on its own to eradicate child poverty.

We welcome the progress that has been made on the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement, which the chair of the equality budget advisory group said just yesterday has led to really significant improvements, has become more accessible and has developed into a tremendous resource.

What are the main areas in which the committee feels that progress is needed? First, although the increase in the promoting equality and human rights budget line will be crucial, that is just one budget line, and it accounts for about £1 in every £1,000 in the overall budget. There is a bigger picture, and a bigger prize, if we look at the effects of the overall budget on equalities and human rights and try to ensure that different budget areas do not work against one another but, instead, contribute to and complement one another.

The committee heard about the need for much more extensive equalities data, which should underpin everything that the Government does. For example, there are still many challenges in relation to gender-disaggregated data, even before we consider any additional protected characteristics. Witnesses pointed to perceived shortcomings in relation to data on learning disabilities, ethnicity and poverty. Although the Scottish Government told us about the positive work on the equality data improvement programme, data has been a recurring issue for our committee.

Yesterday, we heard that data challenges continue and, indeed, have been made worse by the pandemic. Without the right data and thorough analysis, including on how current data compares with the data that we might have relied on to analyse trends before the pandemic, it is more difficult for us to understand, for example, how the pandemic response has fared in protecting particular groups, or which groups have fared worse. The committee will continue to explore why those challenges exist and how they might be resolved.

I will provide an update on two other areas of the committee’s work. On women’s unfair responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work, our pre-budget scrutiny highlighted that pre-existing inequalities were exacerbated and brought into stark focus by the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to it. The committee heard that the burden placed on women, such as unpaid caring duties for elderly parents and children and an increase in domestic work during the pandemic, is likely to have a long-term negative impact on their future rights and economic prospects.

That led to our inquiry into women’s unfair responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work. Although we are in the early stages of the inquiry, we have heard that policy solutions need to be gender sensitive and to take account of intersectionality. Examples include gender-sensitive employment support and increased access to flexible childcare.

I highlight the committee’s work on human rights budgeting. The committee is taking a year-round, human rights-based approach to its budget scrutiny, and we encourage other committees to factor that approach into their scrutiny. It was good to hear one or two other conveners mention equality in their contributions.

Taking a human rights approach means thinking about and discussing what are new concepts for many of us in relation to budgets, such as a minimum core, a progressive realisation of rights and maximising available resources to achieve rights. Previously, we heard from Dr Alison Hosie of the Scottish Human Rights Commission that the minimum core is simply the red line below which we are not prepared to accept that our society should fall in Scotland, so that everyone can live with human dignity.

Taking a human rights approach will involve identifying specific areas on which to focus during the year. That work might be in the form of short discrete inquiries, which we hope will inform our subsequent pre-budget scrutiny later in the year.

To complement our year-round approach to budget scrutiny, the committee has agreed to a Scottish Parliament information centre fellowship in human rights budgeting. That will commence in April, and we envisage that it will include a case study that will enable us to get into the practicalities and real-life circumstances of a specific group or focused issue.

We anticipate that that work will help to inform a consultative, participatory exercise to be launched in the summer that will give us real-life examples that we can take into our pre-budget scrutiny for next year. We hope that that exercise will offer an opportunity for a range of individuals and groups to get involved and engaged in a process that can sometimes seem distant, dry and formulaic.

We look forward to receiving an update from the Scottish Government on its response to the equality budget advisory group’s recommendations. As noted in our correspondence of October 2021, that response requires some urgent consideration. We also note that the response is due in the spring and we would be grateful for a little more clarity from the minister in his closing speech about precisely when that might be.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to address fuel poverty. (S6O-00655)

The fuel well scheme, which was introduced by Dundee’s Scottish National Party administration and is supported by Scottish Government funding, provides financial support of between £90 and £150 to help those who are most in need with winter fuel costs. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, although the action by our SNP colleagues in Dundee is commendable, the UK Government, which has cut £20 a week from universal credit, needs to step up urgently and take responsibility for dealing with spiralling energy costs?

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to place additional strain on our NHS, including on its mental health services. We know that the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the mental wellbeing of many in our communities, so I welcome that the Scottish Government has provided £80 million of dedicated funding to help to respond to the specific mental health challenges of the pandemic.

In Dundee, there have for some time been calls, which I have backed, for a service in the city centre that can support people, in particular at a time of crisis, and I am really encouraged that my city is now delivering on that ambition. A site has been identified for a new community wellbeing centre, which will be always open and will provide an immediate compassionate response to anyone who considers themselves to be in need of mental health support. I look forward to seeing that vital service up and running, and I pay tribute to Phil Welsh and his wife for campaigning for it.

As we have heard, the SNP has committed to increasing Scottish Government investment in mental health by at least 25 per cent, which will ensure that, by the end of the current session of Parliament, 10 per cent of our front-line NHS budget will be invested in mental health services. I welcome the Scottish Government’s plan to build on the success of its community link worker programme to ensure that every GP practice in the country has access to a dedicated mental wellbeing link worker, creating a network of 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help to grow community mental health resilience and help to direct social prescribing. That will ensure that people get the support that they need when and where they need it.

In primary care across Dundee, the new patient assessment and liaison mental health service, or PALMS, aims to enable without-barriers access to a mental health specialist right across our city. PALMS places mental health specialists directly within general practices and encourages people who are concerned about their mental health and wellbeing to book appointments directly, without having to see their GP first. Social prescribing link workers are supporting practices across the city. I understand that, as of August, there were seven general practices with full access to PALMS and four practices with partial access. Further expansions are planned.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to some of the charities and third sector organisations that are playing a vital role in improving mental health and wellbeing in communities across Dundee. The Lochee community hub in my constituency provides mental health support, as well as drug and alcohol support, child and family groups and one-to-one services. The hub has been supported by funding from the Scottish Government’s investing in communities fund and is an invaluable community space, with staff supporting the Lochee community.

At the Lynch centre, Street Soccer Scotland’s new change centre is providing football-themed training and personal development opportunities for socially disadvantaged groups from across Scotland, including those in my constituency. Street Soccer is doing incredible work in supporting people to address issues such as mental health issues, drug and alcohol use, loneliness and isolation.

The Dundee fairness commission brought together members from the public, voluntary, community, private and academic sectors, including those with lived experience of poverty and inequality. Since 2015 the commission has gathered evidence and has worked tirelessly to identify solutions to improve local communities across Dundee.

One of the areas that the commission identified as being beneficial to mental health and wellbeing was safe access to green space. In 2019 I was pleased to help launch green health prescriptions in Dundee as part of the green health partnership. Three general practices piloted the programme, which has since been expanded into primary care and selected secondary care services across the city. The initiative aims to bring about a step change in the use of nature-based solutions to deliver health outcomes, as part of social prescribing, aiming to allow NHS healthcare professionals to connect patients with free outdoor interventions that are delivered and supported by the third sector.

I highlight the important work of the award-winning Tay View community garden, which now has 25 plots and is helping to connect the community with local organisations and charities. Preparations are under way at the adjacent site to create Dundee’s first wee forest—a partnership between the University of Dundee’s botanic gardens, a local primary healthcare provider and local primary schools, funded by NatureScot. Wellbeing Works Dundee works closely with individuals and partner organisations to grow food at the community garden. The community toolbox has recently been launched, allowing members to hire tools and equipment from its library. That ranges from tools for home improvements to camping equipment.

The fruit bowls community garden project at Lochee park, in the heart of my constituency, has transformed a former bowling green to a community growing project. That is another example of repurposing green space in Dundee for the benefit of the local community’s health and wellbeing.

I take the opportunity also to thank the parish nurses at the Steeple church, the Hot Chocolate Trust, Positive Steps, Feeling Strong, the Dundee Carers Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts and the Dundee Rep theatre, as well as the many other organisations that continue to work tirelessly to improve the mental wellbeing of my constituents.

Finally, I recognise the two Andy’s man clubs that now operate in Dundee—and a woman’s club is also planned. The clubs regularly organise walk and talk sessions, and everyone is welcome to join. Almost 38,000 people attended an Andy’s man club across the UK last year, including many in my constituency. Charities such as that are integral to tackling stigma around mental health, which I hope all of us across the chamber can work to do.