Duncan McNeil: I, too, thought that Jackson Carlaw’s speech was a good one. He looked at sweating the assets that we have; we need not just new build, but to use the homes that we have more effectively. Does Patrick Harvie share my regret that there is a disconnect between the integration of health and social care policy and the Scottish Government’s housing strategy?
Duncan McNeil: 10. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth last met the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise and what was discussed. (S4O-02631)
Duncan McNeil: In August last year, the cabinet secretary kindly agreed to come to Inverclyde to hear about the opportunities for development in our area. At the time, he said that the Scottish Government would promote Inverclyde as an area for investment and he acknowledged that we look to be in a strong position to participate in the renewables industry. In January this year, he acknowledged the...
Duncan McNeil: Only 12 days ago, the Deputy First Minister said that shipbuilding is dear to her heart and vital to the Scottish economy. However, 150,000 words later, can the 35 words in the document that refer to shipbuilding in any way match up to a new future or even to a sustainable future? Where are the assurances and guarantees to my constituents who work in Govan, Scotstoun and Rosyth that the...
Duncan McNeil: As convener of the Health and Sport Committee, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I express my thanks and those of committee members to everyone who gave written evidence and who came along to our evidence sessions. I also thank the clerks and the team from the Scottish Parliament information centre for all their help during the process. Members of the committee...
Duncan McNeil: The First Minister will be aware that due to the reckless conduct of metal thieves on Tuesday, 280 homes in Greenock lost their power and four houses were set on fire, which put people’s lives at risk. The consequences go on, in that the circuit boards of all the central heating boilers have been blown and will have to be replaced, possibly with significant investment by the social landlord...
Duncan McNeil: Will the member give way?
Duncan McNeil: Johann Lamont said that she has the Govan shipyard in her constituency, and I am proud to say that I have constituents who work for BAE Systems in the Govan shipyard and at Rosyth. The road has been long and it has not been an easy one. There are many reasons why we are in a situation in which so little shipbuilding is done in Scotland. There is no doubt that it has been a difficult journey....
Duncan McNeil: No, thank you. We have not diversified, but the threat is imminent. It is only a year until the ships will be signed off—or not. Somebody mentioned Ferguson Shipbuilders, which was promised a ship in 2007. The Scottish Government and the previous Scottish Executive worked hard to get ships into Ferguson Shipbuilders. I am grateful for that, because the yard is in my constituency. However,...
Duncan McNeil: I think that both Governments need to get together to discuss diversification in shipbuilding, with the defence contracts being used as a core or backbone. We need to keep the First Minister, Mr Salmond, to his promise about the reindustrialisation of the Clyde. We need to deliver on renewable jobs. We need to re-equip the North Sea. We need to do all those things. There is no point in...
Duncan McNeil: I concede that I did not intend to take the minister back to that point. The point that I tried to focus on was that it is surely not beyond the Scottish Government, which has been in power for six years, to connect up the skills shortage in the North Sea with the overabundance of skills on the west coast of Scotland. We could have delivered renewables and manufacturing jobs, and we could be...
Duncan McNeil: Will Sandra White give way?
Duncan McNeil: I will begin in the same way as many other members have begun by quoting some definitions of person-centred care. The NHS Scotland quality improvement hub defines person-centred care as: “providing care that is responsive to individual personal preferences, needs and values and assuring that patients guide all clinical decisions.” Inclusion Scotland welcomes the move towards...
Duncan McNeil: Answer the question!
Duncan McNeil: When will we finally receive the evaluation of the cashback scheme? I and many others have raised concerns about outcomes and the meeting of its objectives. When will that evaluation come before the Parliament?
Duncan McNeil: I put on record my thanks to the Presiding Officer for ensuring that I can speak in this debate on behalf of the Health and Sport Committee. Bums on seats, Presiding Officer. What counts is “more bums on more seats more often, more flexibly and more cost effectively.”—[Official Report, Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, 15 May 2013; c 1706.] That is what Highland Council...
Duncan McNeil: I will refer to the question of leadership later. In my locality, and from witnesses, we hear a lot about what people cannot do. I ask those people what is preventing them from doing what they want to do. If we ask the question differently and involve more people who deliver the service, we certainly can make progress. That is a personal departure from the committee line—I must watch what I...
Duncan McNeil: First, I thank the clerks, the Scottish Parliament information centre and all those who contributed written evidence and gave of their time to participate in the committee’s public sessions. It is just as important to thank all those people who came forward over the period of the committee’s inquiry at a difficult and vulnerable time in their life and spoke out about the failings in terms...
Duncan McNeil: How does the cabinet secretary expect to overcome that problem when those decisions will be constrained by the current modifiers and QALY thresholds during an interim period of up to three months?
Duncan McNeil: I appreciate the cabinet secretary’s answer, but the issue whether, during the transitional period, drugs will be turned down under the new regime or the old regime has not been resolved. The cabinet secretary has said that he would expect the SMC to take into cognisance his current position. Has he made his current position clear to the SMC?
