Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Dennis Robertson on securing this important debate. Our concern is highlighted in the line in the motion that points out that “nearly 75% of all premature deaths in Scotland” are caused by non-communicable diseases. That is a big challenge for us all. Of course, we can point to improvements. For example, from 1994 to 2013, age-standardised death rates for under 75s fell by...
Malcolm Chisholm: 2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the planning moratorium on fracking to include onshore underground coal gasification installations. (S4O-04629)
Malcolm Chisholm: I am sure that the minister knows the great concerns of communities and is aware that all MSPs have had many emails and letters about the matter. Given that underground coal gasification is the most frightening and experimental method of unconventional gas extraction and given its unacceptable climate change implications, it is puzzling to people throughout Scotland that the Scottish...
Malcolm Chisholm: As a novice in agriculture debates, I found it particularly useful to read “The Future of Scottish Agriculture: a Discussion Document”, which addresses some of the key opportunities and challenges that are facing the sector. It says that the sector must become more efficient and sustainable, given climate change imperatives. That necessitates closer working with farmers and the use of new...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Bill Kidd on lodging the motion, and I pay tribute to the courage and endurance of the people of the Marshall Islands after everything they have been through. I apologise to Bill Kidd and the minister, because I must leave to chair the cross-party group on cancer, which is supposed to start now. The motion considers Trident renewal from the point of view of the...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Jim Eadie on securing the debate and Sustrans on all its great work as we celebrate 20 years of the national cycle network. As several speakers have reminded us, the network is for walking as well as cycling. Sustrans tells us that, out of 121 million trips a year, about 58 million are on foot. As many speakers have said, that is hugely beneficial for our health in the first...
Malcolm Chisholm: I agree with what Claire Baker said on decentralised powers, but I will focus on the immediate issue of the Scotland Bill. I hope that the Parliament will unite in supporting the Government motion. I think that all members support the Smith agreement. Clearly, the SNP members want to go a lot further; I would like to see Smith plus, but surely nobody in the Parliament wants to see Smith...
Malcolm Chisholm: My understanding is that the new sick children’s hospital in Edinburgh and the Lothian health centre bundle reached financial close between September last year and the ONS ruling. Will both those projects be delayed? What will be the financial implications for those and other projects if agreement cannot be reached with the ONS and Eurostat?
Malcolm Chisholm: Ken Macintosh and Jayne Baxter both reminded us that the number of people who are living in private rented accommodation has almost tripled during the years of the Scottish Parliament. I will speak mainly about that subject, and will illustrate it with an example that has been a major issue in my constituency over the summer. Before I do so, I will make three points about social rented...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Christina McKelvie on lodging this important motion. I agree with what she said at the start of her speech about refugees but also more generally about the importance of the Human Rights Act 1998 in protecting fundamental liberties and holding power to account. Of course, the Human Rights Act was passed by the Labour Government in 1998. It was seeking to ensure that people who...
Malcolm Chisholm: 8. To ask the Scottish Government what rate of landfill tax will apply to the disposal of contaminated soil. (S4O-04545)
Malcolm Chisholm: Does the cabinet secretary agree that it would be more environmentally friendly to encourage the remediation and recycling of contaminated soil rather than sending it all for landfill disposal? Would it not be better to impose a higher rate of landfill tax for such soil than a lower rate, which will kill off the soil-remediation industry?
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome much of the legislation that was announced yesterday and some of the reactive measures relating to general practitioners, attainment, the police and the private rented sector. However, those measures are not just reactive but reactive late, on issues that Labour MSPs have been highlighting for a long time. I spoke about GPs yesterday, so I will spare members that subject today, but...
Malcolm Chisholm: Of course that would be perfectly acceptable. My point is that they seem to be having discussions as part of the forecasting process and therefore are becoming high-level advisers. Of course they would need to have discussions at various points, particularly when they are critiquing forecasts at the end of the process. I welcome the proposed abusive behaviour and sexual harm bill,...
Malcolm Chisholm: As the motion states, 90 per cent of patient interactions with the NHS come through the primary care services. Since the whole direction of health policy for more than a decade has been towards more services being delivered in community settings, that percentage can only be set to increase. That is the background to the serious concerns that I am sure everybody has about the current...
Malcolm Chisholm: 2. To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the recent ministerial meeting with member organisations of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland. (S4O-04509)
Malcolm Chisholm: I thank the minister for that response. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport said this morning that she wanted to put the voluntary sector centre stage, so why is the minister ignoring the views of every single neurological voluntary organisation in Scotland, including MND Scotland—which I know the cabinet secretary and the First Minister respect very much—and the...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Jim Eadie on securing the debate. I also congratulate NHS Lothian because Edinburgh is, I think, the first city in the world to offer the family nurse partnership programme to all eligible mothers—in this case, teenage mothers. The programme started five years ago. It was, in a sense, part of a wider movement towards focusing on investment in the early years as part of the...
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome many of the changes that the bill will bring about, although I think that there will, in due course, need to be a more fundamental revision of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. On airguns, I accept—as Alex Fergusson said—that the bill is not going to eliminate the problem totally. However, I believe that, as with firearms legislation, it will make a significant...
Malcolm Chisholm: If Cara Hilton’s amendment had dealt with a new issue, we would not be able to complain. However, it dealt with an issue on which she had lodged an amendment at stage 2, when we heard not one word of the explanation that we heard today. It was absolutely impossible for us to assess what the cabinet secretary was saying, which is why we supported amendment 22, along with Zero Tolerance and...
