Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2020
I was told that we had three minutes for our speeches, so in time-honoured tradition, my speech is probably five minutes long.
I, too, support the order. It is absolutely crucial that our local authorities continue to have the funding that they need to enable them to deliver services in what is an unprecedented crisis. I thank our local government colleagues for the feedback that they have given me over the past few days. I know that they have lots of concerns about ensuring that the social care sector is supported. There is particular concern about social workers—there is a specific issue with access to personal protective equipment for social workers. I put on record the fact that we would be keen to get feedback from the Scottish Government on what it can do to assist local authorities. I do not expect the minister to give an answer now; I would have made that request to the First Minister earlier.
I have also been made aware of Inclusion Scotland’s concern about the fact that vulnerable and disabled people and their carers have already lost their social care support with no notice as a result of the coronavirus.
This guarantee of funding is absolutely crucial for our local authorities, because it will enable them not just to continue to provide key services that we take for granted, such as waste services and education services, but to put in place new services and to work with the third sector to support our constituents over the next few weeks and months of the crisis.
Finally, I ask the minister to confirm that he will work with his colleague Kevin Stewart, the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, to respond to local authorities when they ask for help, to review progress and to ensure that vital services continue, alongside the new support that is being developed for the third sector, which was announced in the statement on support for communities last Wednesday.
We very much welcome the order, and we will support it at decision time. If the minister cannot answer my question today, I would be grateful for an update afterwards.