Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 21 June 2012
21 Jun 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Families
I thank members for the many thoughtful contributions on a significant issue affecting families in Scotland. One of the essential values of the Scottish Parliament is its capacity to educate and to highlight important issues and, on occasions, genuinely to speak with one voice. This is an issue on which we are doing that.
However, we also need to highlight some of the work that Parliament is doing through the education and community partnerships team and its community partnerships project. That is a strong example of the Parliament giving a voice to people who might otherwise be underrepresented. I want to say to those families that we have heard what they have said to us, that we will not forget about them, and that we will continue to listen and to work to support them.
We can do that through our commitment to bringing down waiting times—access to services for drug users has changed overwhelmingly compared with what it was a few years ago—through our record funding of front-line drug treatment services, which is being preserved against the backdrop of difficult economic circumstances; through our direct funding for voluntary organisations such as SFAD; and through our commitment to tackling stigma and supporting the growth of recovery in communities the length and breadth of Scotland.
No one who has participated in today’s debate, or who has been involved in the community partnerships project, has not been moved by the challenging daily experience of families who are struggling with drug or alcohol problems. As Maureen Watt and Sandra White reminded us, decisions that are made elsewhere, such as in welfare reform, and which are designed for a very different approach to the drugs problem, can put those partnerships at risk. At the moment, we are still struggling with what looks to be a rule that says that no benefits can be given until the first substantive appointment, which does not include the first conversation with the GP. Even the three-week waiting time that we are getting down to will be a challenge for people who will have to face three weeks without benefits. There is no clarity about the way in which relapses will be treated, but in our system, we accept that relapses can sometimes be part of recovery.
Those are outstanding issues that we cannot get to the bottom of and are a worry for us, which is why welfare reform is an important part of the debate. I am proud of the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to support strong professional services and more rapid access to specialist care and support. However, we must remember that it is the families who are coping with their family member’s addiction 24/7 and who are supporting them in their recovery. I have met many such families in different parts of Scotland and I am always impressed and inspired by their resilience and commitment to the individual whom they love, and their capacity to forgive and to keep going, never giving up on their family and never losing sight of the potential of an individual to recover from addiction.
The value to those families of the organisations and local support groups that we have heard about this morning is immeasurable. Across Scotland, such organisations and groups are all punching above their weight and working from the strongest motivations of care and support. Organisations such as Scottish Families Affected by Drugs offer access to advice and support, bring people together to share and learn from their experience, and continue to raise awareness of the needs of families.
As Richard Simpson suggested, we should also remember the families who have experienced bereavement as a consequence of addiction, and we should continue to build our awareness of the needs of families who are in recovery. We can learn a good deal from families on that aspect of what happens to them. The recovery happens event that was held in Parliament on 1 March was a great example of how politicians can learn from the lived experience of those who are directly affected.
At local level, ADPs across Scotland play their part in supporting community groups as part of local packages of action to tackle drug and alcohol problems. They make local decisions on the basis of local needs. I continue to be grateful to the partnership drugs initiative for its wise stewardship of Government funding while working locally across Scotland. Funds are being distributed, but we are also building capacity in local organisations to describe the impact and value of their work, and to share learning across the country. To answer Neil Bibby’s point, I say that that includes the looked after children regulations which, for the first time, empower local authorities to pay an allowance to kinship carers. In agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, funding for that has been put in place. In March 2011, we also launched a national advice and support service for all kinship carers.
Liz Smith rightly reminded us of the major challenges that remain, and that evidence gathering and measuring outcomes are huge issues. That is correct, particularly when we want to empower local groups and not overwhelm them with bureaucratic demands. Kezia Dugdale and Alison McInnes also reminded us of how complex that can be.
Today, we can recommit to continue to listen to the families who need our support; to ensure that valuable examples of good work continue to be shared as a source of inspiration and example to others; and—as Mark MacDonald reminded us—to take care how we, as politicians, contribute to the debate in the comments that we are sometimes called upon to make.
To return to the specific point of Nanette Milne’s original speech, I say personally to Sheila McKay and the Grampian Family Support Forum that they have my thanks for the commitment that they have shown. I thank Sheila, for being, as a mother, a source of support and inspiration in the community; and I thank the forum for the work that it has done to raise Parliament’s awareness of this important issue.
10:19
However, we also need to highlight some of the work that Parliament is doing through the education and community partnerships team and its community partnerships project. That is a strong example of the Parliament giving a voice to people who might otherwise be underrepresented. I want to say to those families that we have heard what they have said to us, that we will not forget about them, and that we will continue to listen and to work to support them.
We can do that through our commitment to bringing down waiting times—access to services for drug users has changed overwhelmingly compared with what it was a few years ago—through our record funding of front-line drug treatment services, which is being preserved against the backdrop of difficult economic circumstances; through our direct funding for voluntary organisations such as SFAD; and through our commitment to tackling stigma and supporting the growth of recovery in communities the length and breadth of Scotland.
No one who has participated in today’s debate, or who has been involved in the community partnerships project, has not been moved by the challenging daily experience of families who are struggling with drug or alcohol problems. As Maureen Watt and Sandra White reminded us, decisions that are made elsewhere, such as in welfare reform, and which are designed for a very different approach to the drugs problem, can put those partnerships at risk. At the moment, we are still struggling with what looks to be a rule that says that no benefits can be given until the first substantive appointment, which does not include the first conversation with the GP. Even the three-week waiting time that we are getting down to will be a challenge for people who will have to face three weeks without benefits. There is no clarity about the way in which relapses will be treated, but in our system, we accept that relapses can sometimes be part of recovery.
Those are outstanding issues that we cannot get to the bottom of and are a worry for us, which is why welfare reform is an important part of the debate. I am proud of the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to support strong professional services and more rapid access to specialist care and support. However, we must remember that it is the families who are coping with their family member’s addiction 24/7 and who are supporting them in their recovery. I have met many such families in different parts of Scotland and I am always impressed and inspired by their resilience and commitment to the individual whom they love, and their capacity to forgive and to keep going, never giving up on their family and never losing sight of the potential of an individual to recover from addiction.
The value to those families of the organisations and local support groups that we have heard about this morning is immeasurable. Across Scotland, such organisations and groups are all punching above their weight and working from the strongest motivations of care and support. Organisations such as Scottish Families Affected by Drugs offer access to advice and support, bring people together to share and learn from their experience, and continue to raise awareness of the needs of families.
As Richard Simpson suggested, we should also remember the families who have experienced bereavement as a consequence of addiction, and we should continue to build our awareness of the needs of families who are in recovery. We can learn a good deal from families on that aspect of what happens to them. The recovery happens event that was held in Parliament on 1 March was a great example of how politicians can learn from the lived experience of those who are directly affected.
At local level, ADPs across Scotland play their part in supporting community groups as part of local packages of action to tackle drug and alcohol problems. They make local decisions on the basis of local needs. I continue to be grateful to the partnership drugs initiative for its wise stewardship of Government funding while working locally across Scotland. Funds are being distributed, but we are also building capacity in local organisations to describe the impact and value of their work, and to share learning across the country. To answer Neil Bibby’s point, I say that that includes the looked after children regulations which, for the first time, empower local authorities to pay an allowance to kinship carers. In agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, funding for that has been put in place. In March 2011, we also launched a national advice and support service for all kinship carers.
Liz Smith rightly reminded us of the major challenges that remain, and that evidence gathering and measuring outcomes are huge issues. That is correct, particularly when we want to empower local groups and not overwhelm them with bureaucratic demands. Kezia Dugdale and Alison McInnes also reminded us of how complex that can be.
Today, we can recommit to continue to listen to the families who need our support; to ensure that valuable examples of good work continue to be shared as a source of inspiration and example to others; and—as Mark MacDonald reminded us—to take care how we, as politicians, contribute to the debate in the comments that we are sometimes called upon to make.
To return to the specific point of Nanette Milne’s original speech, I say personally to Sheila McKay and the Grampian Family Support Forum that they have my thanks for the commitment that they have shown. I thank Sheila, for being, as a mother, a source of support and inspiration in the community; and I thank the forum for the work that it has done to raise Parliament’s awareness of this important issue.
10:19
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
Good morning. The first item of business is a debate on motion S4M-03394, in the name of Nanette Milne, on families. I remind all members that time is extrem...
Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I begin by indicating that we are happy to accept both amendments.It is well recognised that Scotland still has an enormous problem with drug addiction, whic...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I call Roseanna Cunningham to speak to and move amendment S4M-03394.1. Minister, you have no more than seven minutes.09:25
The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs (Roseanna Cunningham)
SNP
I welcome the motion and the Labour amendment. Nanette Milne is absolutely right—the role of families is key to the success of our national drug strategy “Th...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I have listened carefully to the minister’s comments about the recovery programmes, which I fully support, and I support everything that Nanette Milne said, ...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
The member will accept that, in a speech of seven minutes, I cannot touch on every issue, but I am aware of the mental health problems that go along with dru...
Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Nanette Milne for bringing forward this debate on supporting families who are affected by drugs. It is an important and challenging debate on an issu...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
We move to the open debate. I remind everyone that we are tight for time and that speeches will be no more than four minutes long.09:37
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Nanette Milne for raising an important issue that, such is the scale of substance misuse in our nation, is—I am sorry to say—relevant to every member...
Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
The debate is likely to be consensual, which reflects the fact that under the previous minister in the previous parliamentary session agreement on the recove...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
The member needs to wind up.
Dr Simpson
Lab
We should praise Scottish Families Affected by Drugs, welcome the work that is done by the Scottish Drugs Forum and call on the Government to continue its co...
Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
I am glad that Nanette Milne managed to bring the topic to the chamber as a Conservative business debate this morning; it was originally going to be a member...
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
The debate has already shown that there is not an MSP in the chamber or anyone who is involved in making policy on children who does not believe that good-qu...
Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I congratulate Nanette Milne on bringing this important debate to the chamber. I know that her original intention was to have a members’ business debate on t...
Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Not long after my election, I took on the role of co-convener of the cross-party group on drug and alcohol misuse, and through it I have learned a tremendous...
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Kezia Dugdale for her informative speech—I will certainly visit the cafe that is just around the corner from here. I also thank Nanette Milne for ini...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
I, too, thank the Conservatives for using their debating time this morning to highlight the role of families who are in recovery from drug abuse and—in parti...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The debate has been very good, and it is timely and worth while. I thank Nanette Milne and the Conservatives for bringing the topic to the chamber. In the pa...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
I thank members for the many thoughtful contributions on a significant issue affecting families in Scotland. One of the essential values of the Scottish Parl...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank Nanette Milne for moving the motion and allowing a debate on one of the biggest issues that Scotland faces today. As Richard Simpson said, the debate...