Scottish Grand Committee
Monday 2 March 1998
(Edinburgh)
[Mr. John Maxton in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
The Chairman: Before we begin questions, I ask that questions and answers be kept as brief as possible. This item of business will finish at 11.15 am.
The Secretary of State was asked--
Diabetes (Screening)
1. Mr David Stewart: What advice he has received from the United Kingdom national screening committee on the introduction of a national screening programme for diabetes among high risk groups. [30329]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Sam Galbraith): The national screening committee has not yet considered national screening for diabetes but will do so as part of its future programme in the light of emerging evidence. Any decision on the introduction of a national programme will be made in the light of that consideration.
Mr. Stewart: I thank the Minister for that constructive reply. In planning future health services in Scotland, will he consider high-risk screening programmes for diabetes before the onset of diabetes? Will he consider screening the over-40s and the overweight and looking into their family histories? As the Minister knows, diabetes is a major cause of blindness among those aged under 65 in Scotland. Nearly 50 per cent. of non-traumatic amputations result from diabetes. High-risk screening would benefit the whole country.
Mr. Galbraith: I thank my hon. Friend who is well known for his campaign on diabetes and the onset of diabetes. As he said, it is important to target those who are at risk rather than having across-the-board screening. Such questions will be considered by the national screening advisory committee.
Housing (Scotland)
2. Mr Andrew Welsh: When he last met Shelter (Scotland), Scottish Homes and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to discuss housing and homelessness in Scotland. [30330]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Calum Macdonald): Scottish Office Ministers are in frequent contact with Shelter, Scottish Homes and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. I look forward to meeting Liz Nicholson, Director of Shelter, next week.
Mr. Welsh: Why are the Government reducing overall investment in housing and imposing a 75 per cent. debt repayment regime at a time when there are rising numbers of homeless persons? As the Scottish housing conditions survey points out, substantial investment is needed to bring Scottish housing up to modern standards. Will the Government either adjust or dump the 75 per cent. rule to free much-needed resources for Scottish housing?
Mr. Macdonald: The hon. Gentleman is mistaken in some of his figures. The latest homelessness figures show a slight fall from 31,000 to 30,000. That is still much too high, but it is not increasing. Likewise, he is wrong to say that we are reducing spending on housing--it will increase next year by £40 million. That will not restore the level of housing investment achieved in earlier years, but it means that the decline during the past few years has been halted and reversed. Private investment in housing is another important factor and is expected to be around £130 million next year.
Mr. McAllion: Does my hon. Friend accept that the only realistic hope for the homeless lies in the social rented sector, which is dominated by more than 600,000 council houses? Is so, does he agree that the Tory rule that insisted that 75 per cent. of capital receipts should be used to reduce borrowing rather than invest in housing is sucking hundreds of millions of pounds out of investment? The hands of local authorities are tied and they are prevented from coming to terms with the homelessness problem in Scotland. Will he review the situation urgently and make an early announcement scrapping that Tory rule?
Mr. Macdonald: The 75 per cent. set-aside rule is being considered as part of a comprehensive spending review. However, I must tell my hon. Friend that a reduction to 50 per cent. would result in the Scottish block paying about £50 million extra, which would have to be recovered either from rental income to cover the debts that have not been redeemed or from the Scottish block, preventing its use for other purposes. I take my hon. Friend's point and we are considering the rule.
Mr. Godman: I know that my hon. Friend has not been in his job long, but what plans does he have to democratise Scottish Homes if more representatives from housing associations are not involved in its strategic decision making? Will he urge Scottish Homes this afternoon to avoid delays in the negotiations on the funding of housing association projects?
Mr. Macdonald: The most important single advance in making Scottish Homes democratically accountable is to have a Government who represent the people of Scotland. We now have that and, from next year, we will have a Scottish Parliament--an Executive to whom Scottish Homes will be accountable. I agree entirely with my hon. Friend that it is important for Scottish Homes to work in partnership and consultation with housing associations. Indeed, we want all sectors dealing with housing in Scotland to work together in partnership.
Scottish Parliament (Accessibility)
3. Mr. Savidge: What plans he has to ensure that the new Scottish Parliament and its precincts are fully accessible to those with mobility difficulties. [30331]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Donald Dewar): The new Scottish Parliament building and its environs will be accessible to all, including people with special needs. We will apply the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1996 to the design of the Parliament building and the site at Holyrood.
Mr. Savidge: Although I pay tribute to the symbolic significance of this building and the valiant efforts that have focused on it in the crusade for devolution, does my right hon. Friend agree that we are correct to have a purpose-built parliamentary building that will be fully accessible to those like my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg), who have mobility problems, and that will be adequate for the needs of Members of the Scottish Parliament, the media and the public? Does he also agree that we should take those factors into account when considering a temporary venue while the new parliamentary building is being built?
Mr. Dewar: I agree with my hon. Friend. I assure him that those factors will be an important consideration, especially when a decision is taken on the Parliament's temporary premises. I was astonished by the nationalists' response to the suggestion of a site in Glasgow. I do not believe that a sensible person would find that proposal an insult to the city of Glasgow, as has been suggested. I can only think that that view is based on blind prejudice.
Mr. Wallace: Although it is inevitable that the Scottish Office has to take the lead in evaluating and proposing sites, does the Secretary of State accept that Parliament's temporary site is a good example of something that should be subject to full consultation among the parties, and in particular by the consultative steering group? Will he assure the Committee on that?
Mr. Dewar: I am happy to tell the hon. and learned Gentleman that, of course, we will talk to the consultative steering group and, as the name suggests, consult it. The group was told that at its last meeting--[Interruption.] It has been told that that consideration will be an item on the agenda. I can also say--as the hon. and learned Gentlman knows--that I spoke to him, the leader of the Scottish National party and, indeed, the spokesman for the Scottish Conservative party as soon as it became clear, after reports from officials, that there was a runner in Glasgow which should be considered along with Edinburgh sites.
Mr. Salmond: The Secretary of State said that concern about disabled access is comon and that all three interim sites under consideration for the Parliament will have to have adequate disabled access for people with mobility difficulties--not just for Members, but for visitors. As for consultation, can he guarantee that we are talking about a genuine consultation and not about using the consultative steering group as a rubber-stamp body? If he looks forward a year to the opening of our first national legislature for 300 years, when the eyes of the world will be turned on Scotland, does he really think that it will be appropriate to present a building that looks like a tower block, and which, was once opened and occupied by a local authority?
Mr. Dewar: I want to discuss those matters fully with everyone of good will. I find it a little disconcerting, after I have announced that there are three options to discuss, to have debate by press release and an absolute no before those who issued the press release had any opportunity to consider the evidence or the briefing material from those who have been investigating possible sites. It is important that within the first 18 months or two years the Scottish Parliament has a home which is appropriate, encourages good working practices and bonds the Parliament to a common cause--the good governance of Scotland. We must consider the matter against that background of practicality and suitablity. I would like to believe, although the evidence is against it, that the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends will approach the matter in that sprit.
Class Sizes
4. Miss Begg: What plans he has to reduce class sizes in primary schools?
The Minister for Education and Industry, Scottish Office (Mr. Brian Wilson): I am confident that during the lifetime of the present Parliament we shall reduce class sizes in the first three years of primary school to a maximum of 30. My officials have entered detailed discussions with local authorities towards that end.
Miss Begg: I preface my comments by saying that access for disabled people here leaves much to be desired and that is why I am sitting in the public gallery and not with my colleagues. It is just as well that I am not a Minister.
The toilet is round a corner and down a hill. I ask hon. Members to imagine the indignity of being unable to go to the toilet on their own and then to tell me that the situation is ideal for the new Scottish Parliament.
I welcome the reply of my hon. Friend the Minister for Education and Industry on class sizes. It is obvious that there is a direct correlation between the size of classes and the raising of standards in schools. My question concerned the time scale and my hon. Friend has already answered that. I am pleased that by the end of the current Parliament we shall not see classes of more than 30 in years one, two and three in Scottish schools.
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