Hansard

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, which is the last debate of the year, on the important issue of home and community safety.

First, I pay tribute to members of one of the local authorities in my constituency, East Ayrshire Council. The council has worked hard to put together a community safety strategy, which includes home safety. I pay special tribute to Councillor George Smith, who has taken a particular interest in the issue over the years.

I would have welcomed to the gallery people from various organisations who intended to travel here to hear the debate. Unfortunately, because of the change in the timetable, not all of them will be able to attend. None the less, we should welcome the effort that organisations interested in the issue have made to come here today.

I will tell members why this issue is so important and give reasons why more work needs to be done, particularly in relation to a home safety act.

Home safety is one of several aims in East Ayrshire Council's draft community safety strategy. The strategy talks about the need to prevent and reduce the number of accidents in the home, on the roads and elsewhere. We have strategies on health and safety at work and on road safety. Many local authorities are beginning to develop strategies on home safety, and the Scottish Executive has done work on the issue.

East Ayrshire Council has highlighted some key issues that still require attention, including child safety and bonfire and firework safety—I know that Margaret Jamieson wants to speak about fire safety. The council draws up strategies and arranges seminars to allow interested partners to come together to address the issues.

For a number of years, the Scottish Accident Prevention Council has advocated the need for statutory powers, including a power to collate widespread and comprehensive accident information for the national health service. It has been suggested that general practitioners do not record the number of people who are treated following accidents in the home or the type of accident in a way that could be used later. If local authorities are unable to collect accurate statistics on the number and cause of accidents in the home, they will be unable to develop effective and proactive home safety strategies. We need to address that problem.

The Scottish Accident Prevention Council lists strategic ways in which local authorities can help to promote home safety. The council suggests that local authorities form a home safety committee or give one of their committees a remit to deal with home safety; that they appoint a senior officer to co-ordinate efforts to implement good safety practices; that they appoint a home safety officer, as some local authorities have considered doing; and that they undertake the collection of accident statistics and home safety audits.

In the light of the tragedies that have occurred over the years, I know that home safety audits are very much on the agenda, particularly at this time of the year, when Christmas decorations, toys or other items that are not of high quality or that are faulty can cause accidents. The Scottish Accident Prevention Council also suggests that local authorities should disseminate home safety publicity material and should promote public awareness of home safety and of the avoidance of accidents in the home. Most important, the council suggests that home safety is the responsibility not just of the local authority, but of the health board and voluntary organisations.

The cost of employing home safety officers and of other resources to tackle the issues would be offset by the savings that their introduction would lead to. Prevention is better than cure, especially when we are talking about the cost of accidents in the home to the NHS.

Statistically, children and the elderly are the groups that are most likely to be victims of accidents in the home. There can be many causes of such accidents. Sometimes they are caused because children are curious and, while they are playing or are involved in other activities, get into situations in which they do not realise the dangers that they face. At this time of year in particular, accidents are caused by toys and other pieces of equipment. It is estimated that about 50,000 accidents may have been caused by dangerously designed toys. We should consider legislating in that area.

The other group that is most likely to be involved in accidents in the home is the over-65s. As people become more frail and elderly, there is the potential for falls and other accidents in the home. People may not take as much care in their own home as they take when they are out and about in unfamiliar circumstances. People usually feel more safe and secure in their homes, so potential problems may not be picked up—people assume that the home is a safe place. It was estimated that between 1996 and 1998, the number of people aged over 65 in East Ayrshire who were admitted to hospital as a result of a fall in the home was 1,374 per 100,000, compared with only 113 per 100,000 among those aged between 15 and 64. In isolated parts of rural East Ayrshire, there was a higher rate of hospital admissions, which raised concern and questions about why that occurred.

A number of other arguments could be made about why home safety is important. I will conclude by asking whether the arrangements that are made should be voluntary or statutory, which is a question that we must ask. The Executive may take the view that many of the arrangements can be made through voluntary agreements, but making powers statutory may give them a higher priority. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and other organisations have made a clear argument that it is only by putting a statutory duty on local authorities and health boards to promote home safety that it will be given a high enough priority for something to be done.

A great deal of work has been done on crime and community safety, but many more people are likely to suffer serious injuries as a result of an accident in the home than are likely to suffer as a result of crime. Home safety should be at the top of the agenda.

I ask the Executive to examine seriously the statistics that have been prepared by the organisations that are involved in the debate, to highlight the good work that is being done by many local authorities and to give serious consideration to supporting the introduction of a statutory measure. That would ensure that home safety remains high on the agenda, that targets are set for reducing the number of accidents in the home and that we work towards achieving those targets.