Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 March 2011
09 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
“Report on preventative spending”
I associate myself with the words of tribute for our convener, Andrew Welsh. As Malcolm Chisholm said, Andrew has always convened the finance committee in an entirely non-partisan manner. As a new MSP, I sometimes found that quite frustrating, but Andrew Welsh’s years of experience show that that is the correct way for a convener of a parliamentary committee to conduct his business. It has allowed us to make far more progress than we would have done if we put party before the Parliament at all times. I therefore associate myself with the words of members who have already spoken.
I am pleased to be able to take part in the debate, which follows one of the most important inquiries that the Finance Committee has conducted in my four years as a member. At the start of the inquiry, we were unanimous in thinking that the subject was important, and the inquiry has only made that clearer. It has also made it clear that not only will the current financial pressures make it more challenging for us to achieve a shift of funding into preventative projects, but it is becoming increasingly important that we face up to that challenge and overcome the barriers that Andrew Welsh mentioned in his opening remarks.
Preventative spending is not new. We recognise that a lot of progress has been made by the Scottish Government, building on the progress that was made by previous Administrations. Nevertheless, we must step up a gear in the next session. Although we heard of some proposals that could produce rapid results in as little as a year, most preventative spending will not see readily measurable outcomes for many years, often spanning several parliamentary sessions, as Derek Brownlee said. That is why it is vital that we approach the issue in as consensual a manner as possible, ensuring that all parties and civic Scotland as a whole buy into what we are doing to make that long-term progress. We achieved consensus on the committee and took the correct approach. We are now entering the heat of an election campaign, but I hope that we can quickly resume that consensual approach in the next session.
I will spend some time in outlining examples of preventative spending projects in Dundee, the first of which is the family-nurse partnership, which Mr Whitton mentioned. Earlier this year, Dundee and its surrounding towns and villages were chosen as the second pilot site for that specialist programme, which gives first-time teenage mums extra support. The project was piloted previously in NHS Lothian, where it supported 145 young families. It is based on a model that we have seen in progress for a number of years in America. The NHS Tayside pilot was launched in January by Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, at the St Andrew’s family support project in Dundee, where she met young mums with their babies and some of the staff who were leading the local pilot. Evidence from programmes that are already up and running in America and the Lothians show that the initiative is improving prenatal health, increasing employment among young mums, cutting the number of unintended pregnancies and helping to reduce child neglect.
Family nurses visit first-time mothers under the age of 19 every one to two weeks during their pregnancy and throughout the first two years of their baby’s life. The nurses offer guidance on child development, preventative health measures, parenting skills, breastfeeding and better diet as well as advice for mothers on education and employment. The project is a fantastic example of how dedicated support in the earliest stages not only supports parents, but helps to improve children’s health and long-term opportunities. It will make a real difference to the lives of almost 300 families throughout Tayside.
Another example of preventative spending is the keep well programme, which has been operating for a number of years, including in Dundee, and provides health checks in areas in which there is a high level of deprivation. The success of the keep well programme has been recognised and its funding has been extended by £11 million to enable it to cover all of Scotland’s poorest communities by 2012, tackling some of the deprivation issues that Jeremy Purvis mentioned. The keep well programme has already helped thousands of people, and the additional funding will enable it to help a further 30,000 Scots a year to get the assistance and treatment that they need.
The recently announced life begins at 40 package of services, backed by nearly £15 million, will help people approaching that landmark birthday—which I passed some years ago—to consider their lifestyle and take the opportunity to access health checks. Further, at the start of the year, the Scottish Government announced a four-year pilot project to explore the feasibility of introducing universal face-to-face heart MOTs for those who are aged over 40. That pilot should help 20,000 people, who will receive a check-up.
Those are only some of the most recent interventions. As I said, they build on the work of the present Scottish Government and its partners and on the work of the previous Scottish Executive. However, we must do much more in health, early years, social services and elsewhere. It will not be easy, but the tone of this debate gives us hope that, as a Parliament, we will be successful.
15:36
I am pleased to be able to take part in the debate, which follows one of the most important inquiries that the Finance Committee has conducted in my four years as a member. At the start of the inquiry, we were unanimous in thinking that the subject was important, and the inquiry has only made that clearer. It has also made it clear that not only will the current financial pressures make it more challenging for us to achieve a shift of funding into preventative projects, but it is becoming increasingly important that we face up to that challenge and overcome the barriers that Andrew Welsh mentioned in his opening remarks.
Preventative spending is not new. We recognise that a lot of progress has been made by the Scottish Government, building on the progress that was made by previous Administrations. Nevertheless, we must step up a gear in the next session. Although we heard of some proposals that could produce rapid results in as little as a year, most preventative spending will not see readily measurable outcomes for many years, often spanning several parliamentary sessions, as Derek Brownlee said. That is why it is vital that we approach the issue in as consensual a manner as possible, ensuring that all parties and civic Scotland as a whole buy into what we are doing to make that long-term progress. We achieved consensus on the committee and took the correct approach. We are now entering the heat of an election campaign, but I hope that we can quickly resume that consensual approach in the next session.
I will spend some time in outlining examples of preventative spending projects in Dundee, the first of which is the family-nurse partnership, which Mr Whitton mentioned. Earlier this year, Dundee and its surrounding towns and villages were chosen as the second pilot site for that specialist programme, which gives first-time teenage mums extra support. The project was piloted previously in NHS Lothian, where it supported 145 young families. It is based on a model that we have seen in progress for a number of years in America. The NHS Tayside pilot was launched in January by Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, at the St Andrew’s family support project in Dundee, where she met young mums with their babies and some of the staff who were leading the local pilot. Evidence from programmes that are already up and running in America and the Lothians show that the initiative is improving prenatal health, increasing employment among young mums, cutting the number of unintended pregnancies and helping to reduce child neglect.
Family nurses visit first-time mothers under the age of 19 every one to two weeks during their pregnancy and throughout the first two years of their baby’s life. The nurses offer guidance on child development, preventative health measures, parenting skills, breastfeeding and better diet as well as advice for mothers on education and employment. The project is a fantastic example of how dedicated support in the earliest stages not only supports parents, but helps to improve children’s health and long-term opportunities. It will make a real difference to the lives of almost 300 families throughout Tayside.
Another example of preventative spending is the keep well programme, which has been operating for a number of years, including in Dundee, and provides health checks in areas in which there is a high level of deprivation. The success of the keep well programme has been recognised and its funding has been extended by £11 million to enable it to cover all of Scotland’s poorest communities by 2012, tackling some of the deprivation issues that Jeremy Purvis mentioned. The keep well programme has already helped thousands of people, and the additional funding will enable it to help a further 30,000 Scots a year to get the assistance and treatment that they need.
The recently announced life begins at 40 package of services, backed by nearly £15 million, will help people approaching that landmark birthday—which I passed some years ago—to consider their lifestyle and take the opportunity to access health checks. Further, at the start of the year, the Scottish Government announced a four-year pilot project to explore the feasibility of introducing universal face-to-face heart MOTs for those who are aged over 40. That pilot should help 20,000 people, who will receive a check-up.
Those are only some of the most recent interventions. As I said, they build on the work of the present Scottish Government and its partners and on the work of the previous Scottish Executive. However, we must do much more in health, early years, social services and elsewhere. It will not be easy, but the tone of this debate gives us hope that, as a Parliament, we will be successful.
15:36
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-7994, in the name of Andrew Welsh, on the Finance Committee’s “Report on preventative spending”. I call A...
Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP)
SNP
This will be one of the last speeches that I will make as an MSP, and it is my final scheduled contribution as convener of the Parliament’s Finance Committee...
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab)
Lab
I know that the debate is supposed to be consensual, but will Andrew Welsh comment on the abolition of the health in pregnancy grant?
Andrew Welsh
SNP
Such questions are better posed elsewhere. I am relaying to Parliament a positive report, rather than the usual negativity that is produced in debates. I say...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
Mr Welsh said that this was his last scheduled appearance in a parliamentary debate as convener of the Finance Committee. As finance secretary, I am always a...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD)
LD
I heartily endorse the cabinet secretary’s comments, but does he recognise that the committee found it difficult to establish what baseline information on ou...
John Swinney
SNP
Mr Purvis goes on to fascinating and complex ground in all of these areas. With Scotland performs, we have tried to identify a set of indicators that will pr...
David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to speak for Labour in support of the Finance Committee’s report. I associate myself with the remarks of the cabinet secretary on our convener, ...
Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank the committee clerks, and the witnesses who gave evidence to the inquiry. I also thank Andrew Welsh for his time as convener of the Finance Committee...
Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD)
LD
This is an important debate, which is why I am particularly sorry that I will have to leave before the end of it, as I have a meeting regarding my constituen...
Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
As a member of the Finance Committee, I, too, was very pleased to take evidence in the inquiry into preventative spend and to help to compile the report.Ther...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)
Lab
I start by paying tribute to Andrew Welsh for chairing the Finance Committee in a model, non-partisan way for the past four years, and for the contribution t...
Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP)
SNP
I associate myself with the words of tribute for our convener, Andrew Welsh. As Malcolm Chisholm said, Andrew has always convened the finance committee in an...
Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab)
Lab
I trust that I will not change the tone of the debate too much.I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. As the first person to spea...
Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD)
LD
As a non-member of the Finance Committee, I thank Andrew Welsh for his contribution to the Parliament, and the committee for its very useful report.The commi...
Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I congratulate the committee on its work on this report. I am not on the committee and have not been intimately involved in the process, but even a rudimenta...
Linda Fabiani
SNP
Not that many.
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
It seems plenty to me. I also gently point out that Mr Welsh had represented Angus for five years before I was born, although I am not sure whether he will t...
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab)
Lab
I do not often get excited by the work of the Finance Committee, important though it is. However, its report on preventative spending is excellent, and I com...
Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD)
LD
The debate has been interesting and, by and large, consensual. Like several members who have spoken, but not the majority, I do not serve on the Finance Comm...
Derek Brownlee
Con
Ross Finnie raised an important point about the outcome basis. Although there has been a shift in rhetoric in Parliament about moving towards an outcome basi...
Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab)
Lab
I place on record my thanks to Andrew Welsh for his contribution to the Parliament and its workings. I also thank the Finance Committee for its report.Having...
John Swinney
SNP
It is not often that I can follow Mr Kerr in a debate and agree heartily with many of the sentiments that he has expressed. I particularly agree with his sta...
Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab)
Lab
As others have done, I acknowledge Andrew Welsh’s service. I will not repeat all the plaudits. I simply say to him that he should be proud of his public serv...