Author: Rhoda Grant

A Highlands and Islands MSP has asked the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding the proposed privatisation of a new merged college on Shetland.

Labour’s Rhoda Grant raised the issues at General Questions in Parliament today.

She said: “I have had concerns expressed to me about the level of consultation with staff, students and the wider public.

“Concerns were are also expressed around access to public funds for Further and Higher Education and the impact of privatisation on staff terms and conditions.

“Can the Minister advise me what protections would be available in the event of privatisation to allay these fears and whether they would block privatisation should it carry such risks?”

The Minister for Further, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead, replied that there was regular contact with the Scottish Funding Council on the issue but as yet there was no formal business case on the merger but when that was submitted in due course it would undergo full scrutiny.

He added: “Clearly this is a proposal that has been developed locally and we await a final business case to be signed off by Scottish Funding Council, which the Scottish Government will be consulted upon on, before any prior legislation is put in place to make the merger officially happen.

“In terms of the funding, again that is a case of the financial memorandum that would have to be signed and put together for the new merger, if that were to proceed, and then it would be signed off by the Scottish Funding Council as well. So, there are processes in place to make sure all these issues are in order.”

Mr Lochhead said he was open to Mrs Grant contacting him if she had specific concerns and he would have them looked at.

Afterwards Mrs Grant commented: “I will be taking this up with Mr Lochhead because there is real concern and unease in the community that the new merged college will be privatised.

“The new merged college will be funded predominantly from public funds and therefore needs to be subject to democratic public accountability and the scrutiny of Audit Scotland, in line with public sector finance requirements.”

MSP Rhoda Grant has said she is ‘delighted’ that NHS Highland has back-tracked over plans to see its successful and long-standing alliance with Sight Action severed.

Rhoda ­­­‑ who worked with service users and staff to oppose the plan – and tabled a motion for debate in the Scottish Parliament in a bid to save Sight Action – said today’s announcement that both parties have decided to work together to find a way forward for these valuable services to continue will bring immense relief to clients.

The Inverness-based charity’s specialised qualified Rehabilitation Officers have been delivering support to more than 2700 blind and low sighted people since 2008 under contract to the health board.

However, the last few weeks have seen its future swivel on a knife-edge, after Sight Action Executive Manager Gillian Mitchell warned it could not bid to renew its contract because the health board was unwilling to adequately fund the service.

And she believed the health board’s intention to take the service in-house would see blind people “walking out in front of buses” or “not leaving the house at all”.

A campaign was quickly launched, which Rhoda helped to spearhead.

And a joint statement released from Sight Action and NHS Highland this morning shines light from the end of the tunnel.

The statement said: “We have all agreed to work together to evaluate the current model, consult with service users and identify areas of the service that will meet any new developments in Scottish Government strategic planning and ultimately benefit service users”.

Commenting, the Labour MSP said: “This has been a very frightening time for Sight Action staff and clients and I am so relieved that NHS Highland has taken pause to listen to the concerns. I’m still shaking my head as to how the health board might have considered an alternative model. I shudder to think what might have happened to the blind or partially blind people for whom Sight Action is their lifeline. However, I will be watching this issue closely. Negotiations will be tight in the coming weeks. Not only has funding for the Sight Action contract not been increased in more than a decade, it was cut by 10 per cent along the way. If Sight Action did not provide this model of service, there would be a loss of 84 years of combined qualified experience in this field of expertise. These specialist staff would leave the area, lost to the Highlands for good. Everyone knows budgets are tight but we all would still expect common sense to prevail.”

The MSP praised the hard work put in by Sight Action and service users fighting the move.

She said: “Staff, campaigners and politicians like me campaigned against this move. We were able to pick apart NHS Highland’s case, which was based on a misunderstanding of the unique difficulties that come with impaired vision. The important thing is that the campaign for Sight Action to continue delivering the contract appears to have been successful.

“I am delighted. This is a real victory for people power.”

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant was delighted to meet apprentices from Speyside Property Service today (02.03.20) in Aviemore to promote Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2020 which takes place between 2^nd to 6^th March 2020 and is co-ordinated by Skills Development Scotland.

 

Mrs Grant met with apprentices from Speyside Property Services and assessors from Safety Training Solutions who asses the apprentices every 4-6 weeks. This is to promote Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2020.

 

This year the theme of Scottish Apprenticeship Week is “Talent Without Limits”. This is celebrating the diversity that makes Scottish apprenticeships good for individuals, employers and the economy.

 

Rhoda Grant said: “I’m delighted to support Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2020 by visiting Speyside Property Services today and chat to their apprentices about how an apprenticeship is beneficial to them.”

 

Mrs Grant continued: “It’s wonderful to celebrate this week as some people cannot sit in a classroom full-time so it’s important to highlight the different routes possible such as work-based learning.”

 

Speyside Property Services offer property maintenance services whether the home is a holiday home, holiday rental, hotel or B&B. They also provide renovation services from re-decoration to a full extension or installation of a hot tub.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant supported campaigners today (02.03.20) in a demonstration outside NHS Highland HQ at Assynt House in Inverness in a bid to save a local charity, Sight Action.

 

Mrs Grant joined service users who are either blind or visually impaired themselves or are connected to someone who is blind or visually impaired to demonstrate how valuable Sight Action’s services are to almost 3000 adults and children within the Highlands, Islands and Moray communities.

 

Mrs Grant has also tabled a motion for debate within the Scottish Parliament on Sight Action and has asked NHS Highland’s Chief Executive, Paul Hawking for a meeting to discuss this issue.

 

Mrs Grant says: “Sight Action provides incredible support to those who are blind or visually impaired. They provide equipment, aids, emotional support and home visits so that blind and visually impaired people can live as independently as possible.

 

“People are telling me today, that they are demonstrating, not for themselves, but for the people who will be told in the future, that they are blind or visually impaired, as it’s a very isolating time and Sight Action provides that support and hope needed to go through that change.”

 

Mrs Grant continued: “I think that NHS Highland needs to seriously consider what the future framework of services for the blind and visually impaired will look like because currently there is no one else at the standard of Sight Action.”

 

It was indicated to Mrs Grant at the end of last year that Sight Action’s valuable services to almost 3,000 blind or visually impaired adults and children will no longer continue past the 31st March 2020 as NHS Highland are unable to uplift funding – even though Sight Action have had no uplift in funding for the past twelve years compounded by a 10% cut in funding in 2010-11. This is despite the number of users increasing in this period.

 

This will also have a knock-on effect to service users on the Western Isles as Western Isles Council also have an agreement with Sight Action to provide specialist services.

 

A Highlands and Islands Labour MSP has been told that Transport Scotland is to commission a study on the safety and operation of A9 junctions on the stretch of road around Munlochy, including the junction where a teenager died last year.

Rhoda Grant wrote to Transport and Infrastructure Secretary, Michael Matheson, after a constituent contacted her, following the tragic accident on December 20, with suggestions of how the junction could be improved. Transport Scotland replied.

The constituent, who lives nearby, suggested the junction at the A9 with the B9161 had been an issue of local concern for some time, with drivers forced to cross the dual carriageway to exit and join.

Mrs Grant agreed that the increase in traffic in the Highlands, both from tourism and continued development, have placed increased pressure on roads and on those using this junction and the constituent suggested that the construction of an underpass, similar to that at the North Kessock junction would improve safety at the location and asked for Mrs Grant to push for this.

Mrs Grant asked Mr Matheson to look at remodelling the junction at the B9161 to Munlochy with immediate effect.

She is pleased that Transport Scotland is to take action.

“They say they recognise the concerns this tragedy has raised and will continue to review the safety of the location,” said Mrs Grant.

“I’m grateful that they have moved on this and they are to commission a study in the near future to consider junctions on this stretch of road.

“This will include consultation with Highland Council and other stakeholders to understand how development in the surrounding area and the impact of an increase in traffic may have on the junctions.

“While the study is welcome, any recommendations coming out of it will take time to implement and temporary safety improvement measures should be installed at the area in the meantime. I will press the Cabinet Secretary again to introduce temporary measures at the location as a matter of urgency to prevent any other family losing a loved one in this way.”

The transport agency said a review of the personal injury accident data, for the most recent annual periods for which data is currently available, has highlighted two accidents recorded in the vicinity of the Munlochy junction but it did not include the tragic accident of 20 December.

In her letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Mrs Grant highlighted a series of junctions on the A9 north of Inverness which she believed were inadequate and asked if a wider scoping exercise of all the junctions on the A9 north of Inverness could take place to identify where safety measures may be implemented.

She was already in touch with Transport Scotland about improvements to the Tain Asda and Lidl junctions, but she also asked about the junctions at Evanton, Alness Point and Invergordon.

Mrs Grant was told that Evanton, Alness Point and Invergordon had not been identified for further investigation but the agency would continue to monitor the locations.
Transport Scotland has advised the MSP that they assess the safety performance of the trunk road network on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in a three year period.

Alongside accident clusters they advise, they also look at accident patterns and rates in the form of Route Accident Reduction Plans.

Mrs Grant concluded “I have also been pressing for safety measures to be implemented at the Tain junctions at Aldi and Lidl for some time and I’ve been told that the design work necessary to progress a speed limit reduction scheme at these junctions has now commenced and the installation of the necessary signage will be programmed. Consultants are being appointed to carry out an assessment of longer-term options for these junctions and communities will be engaged in the study in due course.

“We need to see the same thing happen at Munlochy until a longer-term option is found and I will press the Government again to make this happen.”

NHS Shetland has admitted, through a Freedom of Information request, that it could provide a better out of hours care service if it was given more money.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, sent FOIs to all health authorities in Scotland on the issue of care to allow people to die at home.
As part of the request, she asked what changes the boards would like to see brought in to allow more people to fulfil their wish to die at home.

The reply from Shetland was: “Additional financial resource would support the development of a more comprehensive out of hours service which could include an overnight support service for patients and their carers earlier than just in the immediate end of life phase”.

NHS Shetland highlighted that there were no nursing home or hospice facilities on Shetland and therefore care at those facilities was not an option.
Also, that it was in the process of planning a move to an awake, shift-based district nursing service which will enable regular scheduled visits to be provided for patients at end of life across the 24-hour period.

Mrs Grant last month supported her Labour MSP colleague, David Stewart, who initiated a cross-party member’s debate on the ‘Right to Full Care to Die at Home’.

The debate was prompted by a plea from Shetland GP Susan Bowie that there should be an automatic right for people to have full care at home day or night for their last few days of life, so that then can have their wish fulfilled by being able to die at home with suitable palliative care.

However, after the debate, Dr Bowie, has told Mrs Grant and Mr Stewart that she has yet to see any change, despite the announcement from the health authority, and is continuing to organise a ‘hospice at home’ for her patients and is recruiting volunteers to help.

Mrs Grant said: “Despite reassurances by NHS Shetland and Public Health Minister, Joe Fitzpatrick, that the situation is going to be better for these patients on Shetland, it is telling that the doctor who first raised this is not convinced there is any improvement on the ground.

“While a sticking plaster may be applied in the near future – and I await confirmation of an improvement – this type of care service needs a major operation, not only across Shetland but across Scotland and I won’t be letting this issue go.”

Both MSPs are currently considering what steps can be taken to push to issue forward with Mr Stewart saying that a right to die at home could be a legacy policy that parliamentarians and constituents of the future could look back on with pride.

Mr Stewart has highlighted that when it comes to statistics of those who die in a community setting, this is not necessary ‘at home’ as in the person’s own home it could be in a care home or in a hospice, so although the percentages look good they are not broken down and do not reflect the total number of people who die in their own home.

Figures from ISD Scotland (Information Services Division) show that in 2018/19 Shetland had a percentage of 94% of time in the last 6 months of life spent at home or in a community setting – the highest percentage of anywhere in Scotland, and consistently the highest percentage in Scotland since 2013/14.

There is no national and systematic data recorded on a person’s preferred place of care at the end of life and the measure is: “Percentage of last six months of life spent at home or in a community setting”.

Yesterday I spoke in a debate on Gaelic-medium education on the Western Isles. You can hear my speech above.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has tabled a motion for debate in the Scottish Parliament in a bid to save a local charity, Sight Action, as NHS Highland make funding cuts and re-design services for the blind and visually impaired.

It was indicated to Mrs Grant at the end of last year that Sight Action’s valuable services to almost 3,000 blind or visually impaired adults and children will no longer continue past the 31st March 2020 as NHS Highland are unable to uplift funding – even though Sight Action have had no uplift in funding for the past twelve years compounded, she believes, by a 10% cut in funding in 2010-11.

This will also have a knock-on effect to service users on the Western Isles as Western Isles Council also have an agreement with Sight Action to provide specialist services.

Mrs Grant has contacted NHS Highland asking if they have done an Islands Impact Assessment in Skye where some of the service users live. She has also asked what services will be available post 31st March and has contacted Highland Council as the statutory duty to provide these services lies with them. Mrs Grant has now also submitted a motion for debate in the Scottish Parliament.

Rhoda Grant said: “Firstly, my primary concern is with these 3,000 people who will be affected by this. Sight Action offers an invaluable service to these people as they provide not only physical and practical help but also emotional support.”

Some service users have taken part in a survey conducted by Sight Action where they were asked what the impact would be if these services were removed. One said they would be devastated if they had nobody local that they knew. Another said removing the support would be so detrimental and they would be lost without such a committed and local service. Another anonymously said they would feel totally isolated as they know of no other organisation in the Highlands that offers practical support on how to live life without sight.

Mrs Grant continued: “The service users and I want this charity to be saved. I am concerned about what level of service will be available after 31st March and we need to ensure service users receive the same amount of care and support and that the health board and local authority don’t cut this to the bare bones of a service.”

An MSP says she is “seriously worried” about winter road gritting in the region after asking about an incident where school children were stuck on a school bus due to icy conditions.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, wrote in November last year to Highland Council after hearing about the Lochcarron/Kishorn high school bus.

She received a reply from the local authority last week. (Feb 5)

At the time, according to the Kishorn Community Facebook Page, the children were all safe on board the bus after it was stuck, but they awaited a gritter to help out.

However, by 5pm the gritter had also gone off the road and children were said to be walking under escort by the bus driver to Achmore to get a Skyeways bus. Everyone was safe.

“I know the area extremely well, having gone to school there, and was very worried that this could happen again,” said Mrs Grant.

“So, I was taken aback when I received the reply from Highland Council that it ‘unfortunately cannot guarantee that roads are clear of ice during the winter’ and that it ‘simply did not have the resources to grit roads more frequently’.

“I understand that councils need priorities but the fact that a school bus route is being omitted is just another sign that our local authorities are being starved of resources by the Scottish Government and are being faced with difficult decisions.

“We have been lucky so far this winter that it has been unseasonably mild. Let’s hope that this won’t happen again because children should not have to face a walk, in icy conditions, because the local authority hasn’t got enough money.”

Highland Council explained that the school bus was on a ‘secondary route’ and therefore it was not pre-treated during cold weather.

“It had been gritted the morning of the incident but had become icy again by the time the school bus used the road that afternoon,” said the council reply.

“Unfortunately, gritting vehicles are susceptible to icy roads too, and the gritter sent to the incident did also slip off the road and had to be recovered.

“Councillors and members of roads staff were kept regularly updated from the time the school bus became stuck until the road was clear again later that evening.

“The Highland Council covers a vast road network and unfortunately cannot guarantee that roads are clear of ice during the winter. Each road on the gritting routes is treated according to its priority, and we simply do not have the resources to grit roads more frequently. This was an unfortunate incident but is fairly uncommon and has not happened again this winter.”

 

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has received an assurance from Orkney Islands Council that nursery places for eligible 2-5 year olds will be found and that before and after school care will also be provided when the Peedie Breeks Nursery closes later this year. The MSP however, has not yet received confirmation on what will be available for 0-3 year olds who are presently catered for by Peedie Breeks.

Mrs Grant said “Some parents have contacted me to advise of the uncertainty and how this is leaving them worried about what future provision will be in place.

“Orkney Islands Council has told me that the council has a point of contact for all parents affected and they are gathering information about how parents use the existing service.

“They advise that as of August 2020, all of the largest nursery settings in Orkney, including two in Kirkwall, will run all year round and operate before and after school and that parents who formerly used Peedie Breeks for extended days will have alternative choices.

“The council has also committed to finding places for eligible 2-5 year olds who are presently catered for at Peedie Breeks.” she continued. “They brought the enrolment forward from March to January so that numbers could be gathered and contingencies put in place. Numbers for this age group, they say, should be known by the end of this week.

“What is still not clear however, is what provision will be available for the 0-3 year age group when Peedie Breeks closes. I have already written to the Scottish Government to ask what they will do to support parents with regard to 0-3 year old provision and I await their response.”