Mary Fee: It is up to the member’s party to make budget choices, as it is in government, not me. If the Government really wishes to improve the rehabilitation of the elderly and ensure that they have dignity in their twilight years, it must fund local authorities and the NHS appropriately. As a result of its funding, many councils have been forced to increase or introduce charges for services on...
Mary Fee: I have already taken one intervention and I do not have time. I need to move on. Does the minister agree that charges for elderly day care services, such as the £34.70 per day that Dundee City Council charges, contradict the statement that the Government makes in paragraph 3.4 of “Reshaping Care for Older People: A Programme for Change 2011-2021”? It states: “Achieving this vision...
Mary Fee: I hope that the minister will give a commitment to fund properly a telehealth service.
Mary Fee: Does the member agree that a local authority that imposes charges for buses to day care centres, increases elderly and adult day care charges and implements charges for blue badges does little to rehabilitate or enable elderly and disabled people?
Mary Fee: Today’s debate on the carers strategy is perfectly timed, as it was only two weeks ago that members, including myself, debated a motion on rehabilitation and enablement. During that debate, I discussed the importance of the carer’s role and I welcome today’s opportunity to expand on that. A few years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with dementia. As her carer, I truly understand the...
Mary Fee: 5. To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to tackle overcrowding in prisons. (S4O-00393)
Mary Fee: In a recent visit to HMP Barlinnie, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice said: “We’ve got to make sure that prison isn’t used routinely for short-term prisoners where it doesn’t benefit them and it doesn’t benefit us.” Can the cabinet secretary update us on progress in setting up the Scottish sentencing council, so that sentencing can be more consistent and transparent?
Mary Fee: Earlier this year, the Scottish Government announced plans to train 200 dementia champions, with the contract awarded to the University of the West of Scotland and Alzheimer Scotland—Action on Dementia, both of which are based in Paisley. Will the cabinet secretary give an update on the progress made with the first 100 to be trained this year? What is the completion date for the training?
Mary Fee: 16. To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have used the individual learning account in the last financial year. (S4O-00474)
Mary Fee: Does the minister agree that ILAs are a key element in ensuring that people can access training and qualifications? The difference between the £200 funding that is given and the cost of the courses—most cost between £600 and £1,000—could discourage people either from applying or from finishing their course. Does he agree that cuts to college funding may force colleges to increase the...
Mary Fee: When the First Minister addressed members in the chamber in June, he announced that the bill consultation would be extended to allow the First Minister and his Government to achieve “consensus across the chamber and across our partner organisations.”—[Official Report, 23 June 2011; c 1020.] Six months later, it is clear to all, except to Alex Salmond and the SNP, that they have failed...
Mary Fee: I am not in any way downgrading any outside work or wider work that is going on. This is a huge problem, and we need a wide variety of solutions to tackle it. Scottish Labour has published our action plan to tackle the ills of bigotry through education, working with young people, teachers, employers, faith groups, football clubs and supporters groups. We agree that we need to tackle...
Mary Fee: I do not have time. The minister who is responsible for the bill, Roseanna Cunningham, told the Justice Committee that fans who cross themselves or who sing the Scottish national anthem, “Flower of Scotland”, or the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen”, could be arrested if they were behaving in a threatening or offensive manner. There is no clarity about what is offensive....
Mary Fee: This week, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy announced a radical rebranding of community health partnerships, which will now be health and social care partnerships, on a visit to open Barrhead’s new health and care centre. In the minister’s words, the reforms “will deliver a system that is effectively integrated, leading to better outcomes for older people...
Mary Fee: Will the minister take an intervention?
Mary Fee: Does the member agree that, in the wonderful area of Renfrewshire, where we both come from, the public have huge concerns about the proposed takeover of the Arriva services by McGill’s, and that there is a great fear that service levels will suffer and services will be cut?
Mary Fee: I am glad to take part in the debate as a proud and patriotic Scot. I find it hypocritical and suspicious that the First Minister and his party have brought the claim of right to the very chamber that he refused to work towards through the Scottish Constitutional Convention. When Alex Salmond was a member of the Westminster Parliament in 1989, he refused to sign the claim of right, which...
Mary Fee: No. I have many points to make, and I do not have enough time to give way. We have a nationalist Government that is masquerading as progressive. Nationalism is a regressive ideology, and it must be exposed as that. The purpose of the motion is to stir up the debate on how the people of Scotland use their sovereign right to determine what Government should be formed to meet their needs. That...
Mary Fee: No. I do not have time to do so. Why is the SNP’s attention elsewhere? Where is the leadership on the issues that matter to everyone in Scotland? Since the election in May, all parties have talked about how we need to include civic Scotland in the consultation for the referendum but, in 1988, the SNP walked away from the opportunity to listen to civic Scotland. How can we trust that party...
Mary Fee: That was what the Scottish people wanted, and they still do. Why did the SNP not listen to their wishes and needs? What has changed since then? The claim of right is a pledge that we will give the people of Scotland a right to say how they are governed. It has taken the SNP 20 years to realise that. If it honestly believes that now, why does it not give Scotland the chance to vote on its...