House of Commons
Tuesday 26 January 1999
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
SCOTLAND
The Secretary of State was asked--
Housing
1. Mrs. Rosemary McKenna (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth): What steps are being taken to deal with the problems faced by owner-occupiers in housing regeneration and improvement schemes. [65825]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Calum Macdonald): At present, local authorities can give grants to owner-occupiers to assist with the cost of repairs. The forthcoming Green Paper on housing will consider the housing needs of all tenures, including owner-occupiers. It will be the first Green Paper on housing in 20 years, and is proof of the Government's commitment to achieving better housing in Scotland. From 1 July, it will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mrs. McKenna: Will my hon. Friend the Minister join me in congratulating North Lanarkshire council's housing department, which this morning received a charter mark award in the presence of the Prime Minister? The Minister will be aware of the specific problems in Scotland's new towns, where a large percentage of owner-occupiers are in former public sector housing. Those houses were built in the 1960s and have particular problems.
Housing partnerships are the way forward in dealing with those complex issues. Cumbernauld housing partnership in my constituency is working hard to find solutions. There is one issue that I should like the Minister to look at. Will those owner-occupiers who do not maintain their properties, and therefore jeopardise their neighbours' plans to take part in the modernisation programme, be dealt with in the White Paper?
Mr. Macdonald:
I am happy to congratulate North Lanarkshire council. I visited it at the charter mark award ceremony. It has done extremely well.
As my hon. Friend has pointed out, there is a problem. Local authorities have a wide range of statutory powers available to them. The powers may require some amendment. The question will be raised in the Green Paper.
Mr. Donald Gorrie (Edinburgh, West):
Will the Minister follow that up by clarifying what the
Mr. Macdonald:
The latter question, as I have said, will be examined in the context of the Green Paper. There is a problem. Since the dropping of ring-fencing by the previous Government, the amount of money going to owner-occupiers has fallen dramatically. That is something that we will also look at in the context of the Green Paper.
Mr. John Swinney (North Tayside):
Does the Minister recognise that one of the problems affecting owner-occupiers is the higher mortgage payments by owner-occupiers in the eurozone? Is he aware that the average owner-occupier in Scotland will pay £1,400 more in mortgage repayments because Britain is outwith the single European currency? What is he going to do about it?
Mr. Macdonald:
The Government have already introduced various measures to try to help with mortgages. We have talked to lenders to encourage them to provide flexible mortgages and mortgage insurance. That has been welcomed by those holding mortgages.
2. Mr. Tony Worthington (Clydebank and Milngavie):
If he will make a statement about the supply of nurses in Scotland. [65826]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Sam Galbraith):
The supply of and demand for nurses and midwives in Scotland is assessed annually, taking account of employers' expectations over a five-year horizon. This year, the intake to nurse training courses will be increased in accordance with the findings of last year's assessment. A new assessment for 1999 is about to be launched.
Currently, the vacancy rate is around 3 per cent., part of which is turnover. At present, there are 1.7 suitably qualified applicants for every place available for nursing or midwifery training courses. From 1 July 1999, that will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Worthington:
Can my hon. Friend confirm that it is a good time to go into nursing because the role of nurses is being redefined, particularly in primary care groups? Their role will be one of leadership rather than of following, and they will have a much broader and more enhanced role.
Will my hon. Friend encourage health boards to place less reliance on agency nurses in their staffing of hospitals, because the quality of the service is bound to fall if staffing is too tight and agency nurses are used too often?
Mr. Galbraith:
Although the use of agency nurses is low in Scotland, it is being reviewed with the option of
Mr. Oliver Letwin (West Dorset):
What is the total cost of the Minister's bureaucratic reorganisation of the health service in Scotland? How many extra nurses could he employ by saving that money?
Mr. Galbraith:
The reorganisation involves no costs. The savings produced by reducing the number of trusts by almost half are £18 million and the total savings from slashing the bureaucracy imposed by the previous Government are £100 million.
Mr. John McAllion (Dundee, East):
We are told that under capitalism supply will always increase to meet demand, but as the national health service is a socialist enterprise, does my hon. Friend agree that the only sure way of increasing the supply of nurses is to pay them the full rate for the job? We had 18 years of Tory government boosting the pay of the police and the armed forces. Can we have the next 18 years of socialist government boosting the pay of nurses, doctors, social workers, teachers and public sector workers that make up the fabric of our still too neglected welfare state?
Mr. Galbraith:
My hon. Friend is right. One of the great assets of the NHS is that it is a system based on need and free at the point of delivery. Its staff are part of the reason that it delivers so well and that is why the Government seek to ensure that their contribution is recognised and rewarded. We trust that the review body's recommendations will recognise the value of nurses and others in a way that the Government can afford.
3. Mr. Robert Maclennan (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross):
If he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the maintenance, repair and protection of Scottish war memorials. [65827]
The Minister for Home Affairs and Devolution, Scottish Office (Mr. Henry McLeish):
Responsibility for the maintenance, repair and protection of a war memorial lies with the owner, or the body in which it is vested. Local authorities are responsible for the war memorials that they own. I expect them to take that duty seriously and I shall take steps to draw the matter to their attention.
Mr. Maclennan:
I thank the Minister for that reply. Is he aware that the sacrifice made by the young is still strongly felt in the highland communities and the long list of the dead is still a reminder in the heart of every parish? Will he remind the Highland regional council that it is entrusted with the safekeeping of our memorials and that
Mr. McLeish:
I concur with those comments. It is a serious matter. Let me take the opportunity to acknowledge that war memorials are important to every family and community in Scotland and to the country at large. Given that we are 80 years on from the end of the 1914-18 war, it is absolutely right that we should acknowledge that. Let me reassure the right hon. Gentleman that I take the matter seriously. I shall take it up with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and with the Highland regional council. It is not an issue that requires large expense in many communities, but there is a facility that provides the powers to the local authorities that own war memorials. However, the collective view of the House should be that war memorials should be taken seriously and I shall pursue the matter. After 1 July 1999, it will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
I hope that the Scottish Parliament will want to look again at the relevant legislation as we cannot sacrifice the war memorials that fulfil an important function in society.
Mr. John Home Robertson (East Lothian):
Will my hon. Friend pay special attention to the commemoration of Scots who died while serving with units based in other parts of the United Kingdom, and English, Welsh and Irish service men who died on active service with Scottish units during two world wars? Will he comment briefly on the extraordinary statement of Colonel Stuart Crawford, the SNP defence spokesperson, who said that the Scots guards who are commemorated on so many Scottish war memorials are
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South):
The Minister will recall that although the Ministry of Defence could not pardon those soldiers who were killed--wrongly, in the opinion of many--because they seemed to have deserted their posts in the first world war, there was a suggestion that their names could be put on war memorials. Has that been followed up in Scotland?
Mr. McLeish:
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. However, my colleagues at the Ministry of Defence, including my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, will want to look at his comments in the Official Report and respond to him.
Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring):
I am sure that the Minister--unlike the Scottish National party--would
Madam Speaker:
Order. The hon. Gentleman's question is totally out of order. It does not relate to Scottish war memorials. I understand that the hon. Gentleman wants to ask another question.
Madam Speaker:
In that case, we shall move on.
"a quasi-mercenary regiment . . . tainted by their association with England"?
Mr. McLeish:
However tempted I may be, I do not want to go too far down that road. Suffice it to say that the SNP defence policy is a shambles and we should not spoil the discussion of an important issue with such comments. People who lose their lives in war, no matter what their nationality, should be commemorated. We have proud traditions in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England regarding that. It is the collective wish of the House that we register that concern today and send a message to every council and every owner of a war memorial that they should ensure that they are kept in a proper state of repair. Communities demand that and the House should reflect that concern.
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