Hansard

The Deputy Convener: SNP Committee

19 Mar 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

The Deputy Minister for Social Justice has written a follow-up letter in relation to taking stock on disability issues, which has been circulated to committee members. Does the committee have any comments on it? Is everybody satisfied?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

In April, we were informed that the Scottish Executive advisory group on equality in budgets had proposed the appointment of a specialist adviser to work with the Executive in developing gender impact analysis in the Scottish budgetary process. What progress has been made?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

So the issue of having a special adviser is still on the agenda?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

Does the Executive plan to publish a gender audit in 2002? Is the Executive committed to maintaining the production of a gender audit?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

I come from a background of criminal justice social work. I want to ask a specific question about women in the justice system.There is a so-called benefit trap for women in the justice system. A woman who is offered a place in a bail hostel might choose not to take up tenancy ...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

The issue is one of equality, because it affects women rather than men.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Oct 2001

Taking Stock (Gender Issues)

It is a vicious circle with the fines.

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Committee

12 Feb 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

The right to appropriate and accessible housing is fundamental to the needs of people with disabilities. There is a recurrent problem in the responses that we have received. Almost half of the adapted homes in Scotland are occupied by people who do not need the adaptations. It...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Feb 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

Yes, it could be discriminatory.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Feb 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

Do we need to find out exactly where the adapted houses are? Is any work under way to improve record keeping about adapted and improved properties, both private and public?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Feb 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

I know where you are coming from. From my previous involvement in social work and from personal experience—from when my mother no longer needed help in the bath, for example—I know that it is difficult to get social work departments to take back the bath adaptations, the zimme...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Feb 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

I want to ask about the difference between publicly funded housing and private housing. There seems to be a problem, in that for a number of years the publicly funded housing has been built, barrier free, to a minimum standard of accessibility. New private housing need only me...

The Deputy Convener: SNP Committee

19 Mar 2002

Subordinate Legislation

Before we proceed to our evidence-taking session, members might find it useful if I put our work on the order in context. The order derives from the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which places a statutory general duty on listed public bodies to promote race equality in c...

The Deputy Convener: SNP Committee

19 Mar 2002

Taking Stock (Disability Issues)

We welcome the letter.We now move into private to discuss a paper that outlines an approach to discussions with the Scottish Executive, which the committee has not yet signed off. I ask the public and press to leave.

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Committee

14 May 2002

Taking Stock (Race Issues)

Good morning, minister. I reach across the party divide to congratulate you on your appointment. I want to ask about Gypsy Travellers. You will be aware that the committee made 37 recommendations in its report to the Parliament on Gypsy Travellers and public sector policies in...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

14 May 2002

Taking Stock (Race Issues)

The part on health was decidedly better than many other parts of the response.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

14 May 2002

Taking Stock (Race Issues)

A written response that followed the headings and the different issues that were raised in the committee's report would be particularly helpful. The response on health stood out because we felt that some of the issues that we raised were being addressed. However, we were very ...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

14 May 2002

Taking Stock (Race Issues)

I do not know whether this is a question or an observation. As you might know, I worked in the criminal justice system as the senior member of a court social work team and I am surprised to hear that there is a lack of information leaflets in ethnic minority languages. When I ...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

14 May 2002

Taking Stock (Race Issues)

And about what expectations they can have.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

03 Sep 2002

Gender Equality and Best Value Inquiry

Anyone who worked in local government as I did saw the effect of CCT—suddenly the cleaners in the office were taking pay cuts and cuts in their hours. It was appalling. We must stop that happening again. How do we use best value to ensure that?

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

Good morning, minister. I will ask you some questions about health issues, so it will be like old times. The submissions that we have received repeatedly highlight concerns about the way in which the LGBT community is treated by health services. Angela Mason, executive directo...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

One of the most glaring things relates to sexual health advertising. There is a lack of positive images for LGBT people in health advertising campaigns. I am also concerned by the low number of gay men attending genito-urinary medicine—GUM—services. Clearly, there are gay men ...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

I understand that. There is clearly a problem at grass-roots level, with general practitioners and citizens advice bureaux simply not knowing to whom to refer people with certain problems. Sometimes, the referrals do not happen. The minister's response to a written question fr...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

Particularly young men.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

Are there any statistics on those programmes, for example on the number of callers to the support line who are concerned about LGBT issues?

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

It would be helpful to know whether a high number of calls are from that group of young people.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

Finally, I have a question on awareness and training. Outright Scotland's written submission states:"There should be pre-registration and on-going awareness training on LGBT issues for all social-care workers, doctors, nurses and other professionals allied to health care."Are ...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

As a very aged social worker, I am concerned about the training that social workers and social care workers receive. In my day, such training did not happen.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

I would like to raise a point of clarification. I was concerned about the chairing of that last session, convener. On two occasions, once with Lyndsay McIntosh's questions and once with Tommy Sheridan's, you intervened—inappropriately, in my opinion—to try to save a minister w...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

12 Nov 2002

Taking Stock <br />(Sexual Orientation Issues)

I was appalled, quite frankly, at the convener's intervention at a point where members of this committee were questioning a minister. The minister was obviously under pressure on both occasions and the convener intervened to try to save him. I find that totally inappropriate.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

07 Dec 1999

Community Care

I can see the benefit of our going to an area and taking evidence from a group of people that includes, for example, the local health board and the local social work department, instead of organisations coming here to give evidence formally. We could take evidence during discu...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

29 Mar 2000

Community Care Inquiry

Resource transfer certainly should not vary by the amount that is described in your submission. Resource transfer is still happening, but in many ways the horse has bolted, because fewer and fewer closures of geriatric and long-stay mental health wards are taking place.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

03 May 2000

Budget Process

But postcode prescribing is taking place on grounds of cost.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

14 Mar 2001

Lobbying

I am only taking Greenpeace as an example because you used its name.

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

30 Jan 2002

Members' Interests Order

My concern is that share values can fluctuate wildly. The example in the paper states:"For example, BT shares had a nominal value of 50p at launch. On 24 January 2002, BT shares were priced at £2.36 each."However, if you look in today's newspaper, you will probably find a valu...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Committee

08 May 2002

Members' Interests Order

I have the same concerns as Susan Deacon. I retired as a social worker in 1997 and know that I could not return to work as a social worker immediately because I have not been keeping up with the profession. As Susan says, that principle can be extended to all kinds of professi...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Chamber

11 Nov 1999

Question Time · Long-Term Care

Thank you. Given that virtually all those people are in acute NHS beds awaiting funding packages from local authorities, and local authorities claim that they do not have the funds needed, will the minister tell us what steps he is taking to ensure that the necessary funding i...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

09 Dec 1999

Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

As Roseanna Cunningham said, we made a commitment in our manifesto for the Scottish Parliament to support an incapable adults bill, with the proviso that the bill should not include legislation on advance statements. That was done for a simple reason: we did not wish the focus...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Chamber

18 May 2000

Community Care

No, I have said that I am not taking any more interventions.The £5 million announced by the minister in November last year ought to be compared with the SNP's commitment in our Scottish Parliament manifesto to a £30 million initiative that would create 60,000 more respite care...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Chamber

06 Jul 2000

National Health Service

This is serious stuff. As a doctor, Richard Simpson should understand that.During the 3 February health debate, I raised the issue of waiting times at the Beatson oncology clinic. That day, I highlighted the plight of a patient who was diagnosed with lung cancer on 19 November...

Kay Ullrich: SNP Chamber

21 Sep 2000

Public Health

I thank the minister. She obviously has a closer knowledge of babies and teeth than I do—my babies are somewhat large, but they do still have all their own teeth.As we know, public health is not just a health issue. There is hardly a policy area that does not have a potential ...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

14 Feb 2001

Community Care

This report is a good example of the important work that is being undertaken by the committees in the Parliament. In addition to taking written submissions and oral evidence, we went out, as Mary Scanlon said, in small cross-party groups. We visited nine different areas to wit...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

15 Mar 2001

National Tartan Day

We have heard much talk in the debate about our links with America and, indeed, the love that we Scots have of everything American and Americans themselves. However, perhaps I am the only member in the chamber who can actually prove her love of America and Americans. My husban...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

21 Nov 2001

Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

We must acknowledge that cases in which the accused has opted for the right to defend himself in person have been relatively few and far between. However, the impact of the publicity that is given to such cases has deterred victims from reporting crime.As a former court social...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

05 Dec 2001

Gypsy Travellers and Public Sector Policies

I will do what I can, Presiding Officer, but I make no promises. This has been a good debate. On behalf of the Equal Opportunities Committee, I thank all members who took part in it. Most of all, I echo Kate MacLean's thanks to those who contributed to the committee's inquiry....

Kay Ullrich: SNP Chamber

14 Mar 2002

Nuclear Power Stations

What the minister needs to explain is why Scottish energy policy is formulated outwith Scotland. Until Scotland becomes a normal nation and retakes its political independence, the Scottish Parliament will not be allowed to decide how Scotland produces the energy that powers ou...

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP Chamber

03 Oct 2002

Lobbying

I was not on the Standards Committee when it started its deliberations into lobbying; I joined the committee more than a year later. Like all members, I was aware that a national newspaper had bounced the committee into conducting an inquiry into the so-called lobbygate affair...