Meeting of the Parliament 06 November 2025
I am pleased to speak in this evening’s debate, and I thank Paul Sweeney for bringing this important issue to the chamber. As someone who previously served as my party’s spokesperson on older people, and as the current shadow cabinet secretary for social security, I am delighted to speak on this topic and to congratulate Marie Curie on its work.
Marie Curie has raised issues that are important not just to the communities that I represent but to areas across Scotland. Its report, which comprises research by Marie Curie and by Loughborough University, shines a light on the reality for thousands of people across Scotland who are spending their final months in poverty.
The basic statistics are quite grim—more than 6,500 people with a terminal illness are in poverty at the end of life. In 2021, more than 56,000 people in Scotland died with a palliative care need, and the Scottish Government’s analysis shows that that figure could increase to 63,000 by 2040. I have no doubt that members on all sides of the chamber can agree that no one who is at the end of their life should have to spend their final days worrying about financial issues.
As with many health-related issues, the problem does not affect all parts of Scotland equally. The Government’s palliative care strategy, which was published last year, identified that levels of palliative care services vary significantly across different health boards.
In areas such as Glasgow and Dundee, the figure is one in three, but this is not just an urban problem; it affects rural communities such as the ones that I represent across Mid Scotland and Fife. In Clackmannanshire, which is in my region, transport barriers can limit access to specialist healthcare, and energy costs can make it very expensive for mains-powered medical devices to be plugged in at home.
For those who are living with a terminal illness, such pressures can be overwhelming. They can also be challenging for unpaid carers, who remain the backbone of the social care system.
Marie Curie rightly highlighted that local authorities have a role to play in tackling the issue. It identified the example from Manchester of discretionary council tax support, which is helping to support those with a terminal illness. Individual councils are well placed to decide how to provide extra support. Councils need to be properly funded in order to provide the right level of support. The onus is on the Scottish Government to discuss how the issue could be dealt with and how funding could be provided.
Marie Curie’s report shows us that dying in poverty is far more widespread than we think. It is also difficult for us to solve the problem. As we have seen, very little has happened to reduce the statistics between the surveys that came out in 2019 and those that came out in 2024.
The suffering is not inevitable, nor is it necessary. Through access to all levels of Government, solutions can be put in place to tackle that. For all those who have suffered with end-of-life poverty in the past and for those who might be suffering as they go into the future, I hope that the Scottish Government can work constructively towards solutions in order to help to give people security. I look forward to hearing from the minister in his summing up what steps the Scottish Government is taking to achieve those goals.
As we have said, nobody should be put in such a position at the end of their life. We—the Government and us as a Parliament—have a role to play in ensuring that we do all that we can to help to end suffering. I commend Marie Curie and Paul Sweeney for what they have done on the issue so far.
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