Oliver Mundell: As part of dyslexia awareness week, Dyslexia Scotland and the University of Glasgow yesterday published a hard-hitting research project report, “Towards a dyslexia-friendly Scotland?”, which looks at the experience of 1,400 adults with dyslexia. The report highlights a number of areas of concern, including challenges in obtaining an adult assessment outwith formal education. A total of 80...
Oliver Mundell: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve access to general practitioner appointments. (S6O-03775)
Oliver Mundell: I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but the current situation remains a disgrace. The move to the increased use of same-day-only appointments, which are rationed at 8 am, simply does not work for the elderly, the disabled or people with young children. The latest in the long line of complaints that I have had from constituents includes one from an elderly couple in...
Oliver Mundell: I am having a slightly strange day. I sat through the previous education statement and found myself agreeing with almost everything that the cabinet secretary was saying and then—I hope that this is taken in good spirit—I came to this debate and found myself agreeing almost entirely with Maggie Chapman. I think that she is right and, to a degree, what Jeremy Balfour said at the start of...
Oliver Mundell: I thank the committee convener for that intervention. I am looking at recommendation 56 on page 10 of the committee’s report. I know the wording that was agreed; I remember being there when it was discussed. The committee indicated a strong preference for a reference to missing people to be included in the bill, although we said that we did “not have a strong preference for how...
Oliver Mundell: I am a bit confused about the Cabinet sub-committee. If this issue is the Government’s overarching priority, should it not be a policy priority that runs through every single portfolio? For example, is hiking rail fares for hard-pressed families not completely contrary to the things that the cabinet secretary will be setting out to do?
Oliver Mundell: I am perhaps less generous than some colleagues and less optimistic than Willie Rennie. I find myself arriving here today and wondering what the point of this debate is. I do not think that it is real. I am not sure what has depressed me most: the suggestion that we are confined by devolution or watching the glee and joy with which many SNP MSPs have pivoted their attacks from the...
Oliver Mundell: To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve road safety on the A75. (S6O-03674)
Oliver Mundell: I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer and for mentioning Mouswald. I would like the whole road to be dualled, but it is clear that that is not going to happen under the Scottish National Party. Therefore, will be cabinet secretary take away and consider the very reasonable request from some deeply concerned and desperate constituents at Mouswald for a couple of double white lines to be...
Oliver Mundell: As the First Minister will be aware, since plans for a new Galloway national park were announced over the summer, there has been significant and growing opposition to the proposal, which now spills into my Dumfriesshire constituency. Many fear that this promises to be yet another example of urban do-gooders imposing their sanitised, overregulated idea of the countryside on already fragile...
Oliver Mundell: The worrying attack comes at the worst possible time and is adding more pressure on already hard-pressed staff and on a health board that is struggling to meet huge funding cuts. In addition to making information technology support available, will the cabinet secretary explore what additional emergency funding can be put in place to ease the pressures on the board and ensure that the chief...
Oliver Mundell: To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any support that it provides to communities opposing onshore wind farm developments at public inquiries. (S6O-03359)
Oliver Mundell: The current process is far from fair or equitable, with local communities and residents facing aggressive and humiliating questioning from legal representatives who are desperate to deliver consent for their clients. Worse still, useful video evidence from past inquiries that shows such behaviour has been removed, which prevents scrutiny and denies new objectors the chance to familiarise...
Oliver Mundell: To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the ministerial task force on population has made of the potential impact of the centralisation of services on the sustainability of rural communities. (S6O-03309)
Oliver Mundell: Across Dumfriesshire, my constituents are finding it harder and harder to access basic services. National health service dentistry is now non-existent in many parts of the constituency. My constituents in Sanquhar, Kelloholm and Kirkconnel tell me that they cannot see a general practitioner face to face. Gretna community council says that finding the police in the community and getting them...
Oliver Mundell: I thank the minister for what he said at the start of his speech, but what he is saying now is more of the same. It is very hard to believe that, although Cumberland Council and National Highways are able to put Langholm on road signs just south of the border, technical requirements prevent the same from happening in Scotland. As I said in my speech, that seems to be odd because there are no...
Oliver Mundell: While a day out of Langholm is a day wasted, I am delighted to have brought the debate to the chamber, with support from members on all sides. It is an opportunity to put Langholm on the map, in the Scottish Parliament at least. Langholm is a proud community, and rightly so, with a rich past and equally vibrant present. The muckle toon, as it is known locally, is said to have taken...
Oliver Mundell: Mr Carlaw makes an interesting point. [Laughter.] Shares were available to the community, but I declined to take them up, primarily because I felt that it would limit my ability to lobby the Home Office for a licence, and the Scottish Government for the financial support that is needed, to build what is an incredible facility that will bring jobs and opportunities to the community....
Oliver Mundell: 2. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the creation of new jobs at the Chapelcross site near Annan. (S6O-03261)
Oliver Mundell: As the minister said, part of the site is now available and in the hands of South of Scotland Enterprise. Alongside a cross-party group of local MSPs, I have been working hard to support a company that is called ReBlade, which is interested in setting up a wind turbine recycling hub on the site. I have raised the matter before, but there has since been a change of cabinet secretary. Is the...
