Meghan Gallacher
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party · Scotland
“Shirley-Anne Somerville: One example of when cutting people’s benefits does not help involves the suggestion that we take away support from disabled people, which disabled people tell us helps them into employment. We need to bear that in mind.”
“I, too, thank Maggie Chapman for bringing the really important issue of our universities to the chamber. I want to cast members’ minds back to March 2025, when Douglas Ross, as the convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, challenged the former principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, Professor Iain…”
“As the cabinet secretary mentioned in her statement, the Scottish Government has spent billions of pounds on tackling child poverty, but it remains stubbornly high, with one in five children still living in relative poverty.”
“If we fast forward a year, we see that the University of Dundee has sadly found itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again. As Maggie Chapman said, that is not down to the lecturers or the students; it is down to the university’s governance and structures, as well as the financial situation that our universities and colleges…”
“On that latter point, I went to Fife Gingerbread this morning and spoke to families and their support workers about the work that that organisation and others do to ensure that women are supported into employment in a way that encourages their confidence, builds their skills and is sustainable and successful in the long term.”
“The former education secretary and now Deputy First Minister, Jenny Gilruth, said in January this year that teachers would need to relocate to where the jobs are. Mike Corbett from the NASUWT condemned those comments.”
The complete record
Every one of 420 lines we hold for Meghan Gallacher, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 9.
“If the Scottish Government can address that through conversations with GPs, that would be the right way forward to allow more women who have disabilities to access a smear test whenever they are called to receive one. On the exchange that I had with Alex Cole- Hamilton about cervical cancer, that issue needs to be picked up by the Scottish Government. Children from the poorest areas are less likely to get an anti-cancer jab than those from affluent communities. Public Health Scotland has warned about the uptake in Scotland’s most deprived communities, which is 20 per cent lower than in more affluent areas. The Government needs to address that in the women’s health plan to ensure that, as well as addressing concerns for older women, we address concerns for younger women, get them on the right pathway and ensure that they are vaccinated.”
“Any woman who has concerns regarding those issues should be able to be seen—and straight away. It is important that women have access to healthcare for those conditions as soon as possible. Pam Duncan-Glancy raised an important issue about smear tests for disabled women. Too many of us take for granted being able to go for a smear test. As awkward as that is, disabled women have to add how they might feel about having to check with a GP to see whether they have the accessibility for them to come in and get their smear. That is on top of the worry and stress that naturally come with getting a smear test, which we have all felt at some point in our lives.”
“On a point of consensus with Pam Duncan- Glancy, I am sure that my team also wishes that I did not have access to my social media accounts, because I see the abuse that I receive daily, and I have also seen the abuse that many other female MSPs receive daily. However, what we probably need to start doing is collectively calling it out, as that might make the Parliament a far better place than it is now. I welcome the publication of the first annual statement on gender policy coherence in response to the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. Members have spoken about healthcare, justice, childcare and the equality strategy. I want to dip into each of those topics in the time that I have. I will start with healthcare, because there are a lot of areas of consensus, particularly in relation to plans around endometriosis and menopause.”
“One of the key messages from the advisory council has been that we need to be better at understanding and reflecting women’s different needs and experiences in our policies, for example—as has already been discussed by Pam Duncan-Glancy—disabled women, older women and minority ethnic women. Making sure that we hear from a diverse range of women as we develop the strategy will help us to achieve that. The strategy will be co-designed with the advisory council and the empowering women panel, which the minister and I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with this year. They are a diverse group of women and girls of different ages and backgrounds whose lived experience informs and enriches the council’s work. We will publish our equality strategy for women and girls in 2026.”
“Flexibility and ensuring that childcare works for parents, particularly women, is exceptionally important—for women and for children. Reducing child poverty is the Government’s top priority, as I have said, and it is inextricably linked with women’s poverty. We have to tackle the inequality that women experience to fulfil our mission. During this financial year, we expect to invest £517 million to deliver three benefits to support unpaid carers, the majority of whom are women. Those are the carers support payment—which replaces carers allowance—the carers allowance supplement and the young carers grant, which are both unique to Scotland. This summer, we will begin to develop an equality strategy for women and girls in partnership with the advisory council. The strategy will identify the gender equality goals that we will prioritise.”
“On the point of childcare, there are councils across the country that are not allowing eligible two and three-year-olds to access the 1,140 hours of free funded childcare until the beginning of the term after they have turned two or three years old. Does the cabinet secretary realise that that is a problem and that we need to fix it if we are going to encourage women back into work, alongside the childcare policy? Shirley-Anne Somerville: We have to look in general at ensuring that there is sufficient, good- quality provision that is available flexibly in a way that aligns with what parents need. That is very important, whether for eligible two-year-olds, younger children or children who are at school. I was pleased to attend an extra time session in Renfrew to learn about the work that is happening with children at school.”
“Màiri McAllan: On the latter point, I will absolutely pick up the work with members in respect of decisions that were made to work together between stages 2 and 3. I will be glad to speak with Meghan Gallacher. She mentioned the charter. I think that the bill is just one way in which to strengthen it, but I will be very pleased to discuss that with her. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Question 3 has been withdrawn. Housing (Orkney Islands) 4.”
“During stage 2 proceedings on the Housing (Scotland) Bill, I lodged amendments that sought to strengthen the Scottish social housing charter. The amendments looked specifically at the relationship between social landlords and individuals who they believe may “have experienced, are experiencing or are at risk of domestic abuse”. Given that the charter was created in 2010, this is an opportunity for the Housing (Scotland) Bill to strengthen support for women, especially if they are at risk of being homeless. I was pleased to hear the cabinet secretary say that the Government will lodge amendments at stage 3, but I hope that she will work with members who lodged the related amendments at stage 2 to make sure that they are agreed at stage 3.”
“She has an opportunity to do three things. First, she can meet with the campaign groups in order to fully understand their concerns and the issues that they have continuously raised and campaigned on. Secondly, she can create a plan to work with local authorities to ensure that remediation options are consistent and that they prevent upheaval for home owners specifically. Thirdly, she can outline—finally—whether the Scottish Government will assist with the remediation of privately owned homes. That is the very least that the Government can do in order to provide the reassurance and clarity that many people across Scotland desperately need, given that the properties that they own are affected by RAAC. 17:56”
“As was the case with the 150 privately owned affected properties in Torry, the buy-back offers that are proposed by councils are likely to be significantly less than the homes were bought for. That is a grave injustice that home owners, through no fault of their own, are suffering because of Scottish Government inaction. Lastly, I raise the issue of the disparity in the approaches that are outlined by local government. Some councils have opted for demolition, while others try to remediate. As there has been no leadership and no direction from central Government, that has undoubtedly led to inconsistency across the board, which means that RAAC remediation is a postcode lottery. We have a new opportunity, however, as we now have a Cabinet Secretary for Housing who will sit at the top tier of Government.”
“On 22 April, at a meeting of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, the former housing minister promised that he would meet local residents in Aberdeen in May. That is on the official record, and I am pleased that that meeting took place. That could have been an opportunity to alleviate the concerns of local residents and for the Scottish Government to commit to a plan to assist home owners to remediate their homes. However, again, we are no further forward. At the same time, cash-strapped councils face mounting repair bills to fix RAAC in public buildings and thousands of Scots have been forced out of their homes while the value of their properties plummets.”
“Of course, those figures do not include home owners, many of whom are conducting their own investigations to find out what position they are in. Despite knowing for years that RAAC could present a serious public health risk, the Scottish Government has failed to address the issue head on. RAAC hotlines have been set up to try to identify the exact number of people who live in homes that are riddled with RAAC, but, frankly, it is embarrassing that we are no further forward than we were when the issue was raised in 2019, after the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service identified the presence of RAAC in fire stations. That is why my colleague Liam Kerr’s members’ business debate this afternoon is important.”
“I am certain that one of the many issues that the cabinet secretary will be well aware of is RAAC— specifically, how the Government will remediate properties that are affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. I will not ask the cabinet secretary how many properties are affected by RAAC, because we all know the answer that I would get. I tried to obtain that figure from the previous housing minister, but was unsuccessful, because the Scottish Government has not got a clue. We know from data that has been collected by the Scottish Housing Regulator that around 2,500 social housing units have been identified as containing RAAC. However, although 145 social landlords have confirmed that no RAAC is in their properties, some are still investigating.”
“I congratulate my colleague Liam Kerr on achieving cross-party support on the topic of the debate. I also congratulate him for his work on it—he is not just standing up for his constituents but raising RAAC as an important issue for the Scottish Parliament to consider. As this is my first opportunity to do so, I welcome Màiri McAllan back to Parliament following her maternity leave, and congratulate her on her new post as Cabinet Secretary for Housing. I look forward to working with her over the next few months. I am relieved that the penny has finally dropped for the Scottish Government. I have long argued that housing should be a stand-alone portfolio, and should sit in the Cabinet. That is the only way that we can ensure that the Scottish Government can be held fully to account on progress on tackling the deepening housing emergency.”
“We have made decisions to scrap the two-child cap, in effect, and to invest in the Scottish child payment, because we want to lift children out of poverty. The Scottish Conservatives need to be very clear to people. If they want to cut social security expenditure, do they plan to take it from disabled people, as the Labour Party does? Do they intend to take it from carers or from low-income families? We will balance our budget in every year, as we always do. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government will set out the sustainability of our finances, but the Tories also need to come clean about whose benefits they would cut—would they cut the benefits of disabled people, of low- income people or of carers?”
“I will simply repeat the question, because I do not believe that the cabinet secretary answered it when Liz Smith asked it originally. How will that be funded? Shirley-Anne Somerville: This is about setting out responsibilities. Today, I have set out the responsibilities that the Scottish Government feels very deeply, and I have set out the responsibilities that I expect the UK Government to have on child poverty. Again, I make no apology for that, because it is a simple statement of fact: if we want children to be lifted out of poverty, it would help if both Governments were pointing in the same direction. I am also concerned when we discuss the level of expenditure on social security, which the Scottish Conservatives’ leader and others continuously say that they want to be cut.”
“We are hearing the same thing time and time again. It is always someone else’s fault when it comes to the SNP failing to achieve its targets. Over the years, the Scottish Government has promised to deliver a number of policies to eradicate child poverty, such as free laptops, free bikes, smaller classroom sizes, new swing parks and closing the attainment gap, to name just a few. However, not one of those policies has been delivered in full. I want to go back to the important question that was raised by my colleague Liz Smith about the mitigation of the two-child cap. The issue comes down to finances. As Liz Smith rightly pointed out, the mitigation of that policy will contribute significantly to worsening the pressure on the social security budget.”
“To ask the Scottish Government how many transgender prisoners have had their criminal records erased, following a self-identification process and changing of their birth name. (S6T- 02590)”
“Professional advice from the Institution of Structural Engineers and others points to that important fact. On the funding aspects, the Government has given local authorities a record settlement in this year’s budget. We continue to engage with affected local authorities to understand how we can best work with them to provide support as necessary. It is also worth reflecting that, although the RAAC issue affects properties across the UK, the Conservative Government formerly in power at Westminster refused to put in place a financial support scheme for affected homeowners. I urge the member to tone down her language and focus on the facts when addressing the issue.”
“It is a complete injustice that, through no fault of their own, homeowners in RAAC- affected properties find themselves living in defective homes with little to no resale value. Does the minister think that that is an acceptable situation for homeowners to be in? Why will the SNP not step in, at either local or national level, to support people who are affected by the scandal? Ivan McKee: First, given the situation in which we find ourselves—and, more importantly, that in which homeowners find themselves—it is not helpful for the member to scaremonger to that extent. As I indicated in my statement—and the member should know this if she is familiar with the issue—RAAC is not necessarily a problem if it is properly maintained; it depends on the findings of the risk assessments that are undertaken.”
“I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. Despite knowing for years that RAAC presents a serious safety risk, the Scottish National Party has failed to take action to address the issue. While councils face mounting repair bills to fix RAAC in public buildings, local government budgets have been cut year on year. At the same time as politicians prioritise the debate on the use of toilets at Holyrood, thousands of homeowners who have been forced out of their homes are having to make mortgage payments on properties that they cannot access, while the value of those properties plummets. In Aberdeen, SNP councillors refused to commit funding for RAAC repairs, which means that affected homeowners will have to shell out thousands for a new roof or see their home demolished.”
“Last week, I wrote to investors to reassure them that the Scottish Government will, if necessary, introduce amendments at stage 3 to ensure that rent controls are not extended. That addresses one of the main concerns that I have heard from investors recently. Only last week, I also heard from investors that they need certainty. We have had differences of opinion in the Parliament about rent controls, but the Government is moving forward with them. We have made changes at stage 2 to provide certainty for investors in the build-to-rent and purpose-built student accommodation markets. The Government is determined to provide that certainty. I hope that Ms Gallacher will join me at stage 3 in voting for amendments that are needed to rectify any potential challenges that have been brought about by earlier voting at stage 2.”
“Is the cabinet secretary confident that the Government will reach its target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, considering that it is miles off its target and that today’s statement did not mention the word “build” once? Finally, will the cabinet secretary confirm today that the Scottish Government will not cut the affordable housing supply budget next year, given that it has already been cut by £218 million in real terms since 2021? Shirley-Anne Somerville: As I said in my statement, the Government is absolutely committed to the 110,000 target. I am slightly confused about the outrage about rent controls that Ms Gallacher is portraying today, given that, at stage 2 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, she joined Labour and the Greens to extend rent controls into other areas of the housing sector.”
“I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. A year ago, the Scottish Government was forced to admit that Scotland has a housing emergency. Sir Tom Hunter has said that Scotland’s housing shortage could be resolved “tomorrow” if the Government listened to the sector. He said that he knows of developers who are choosing to take build-to-rent projects to Birmingham and Manchester because of Scottish National Party rent controls. Yet, here we are, progressing a bill to bring in permanent rent controls that is bad for investment and will not result in one home being built. Sir Tom Hunter is right, is he not? We need to “build, baby, build”. Instead of continuing with plans to push damaging rent controls, will the Government focus on building more affordable housing?”
“Right now, the important thing to move the scheme forward is for the council to make a decision on how it wants to take it forward. I understand that MSPs want cast-iron guarantees and commitments. It is for the council to decide how and when it takes forward the scheme. Of course the Scottish Government will engage with it on any funding requirements that it has—at the point at which it has made that decision.”
“Falkirk Council cannot afford 20 per cent of the funding. The Grangemouth flood protection scheme cannot come to fruition. Falkirk Council cannot contribute more than £100 million: like many councils, it does not have sufficient funds to commit to such a scheme. What options are available? Is the cabinet secretary suggesting that, if councils cannot meet the 20 per cent requirement, no protection can be put in place? If that is what the Government is saying, communities will suffer as a result. On the back of my colleague Stephen Kerr’s question, will the cabinet secretary commit to considering a bespoke plan for Grangemouth to safeguard those communities? Gillian Martin: In my meeting tomorrow with Councillor Meiklejohn, we will go through a lot of those issues.”
“I do not want to deal with hypotheticals; I want to deal with fact and reality, which is exactly what I have laid out in my statement. In relation to the Promise bill, I was clear in committee, and I have been clear today, that the Promise bill is coming, and that it will come in good time to ensure that the committee can scrutinise it. I want to make sure that the bill is as strong as possible so that it can deliver on the Promise that was made to care-experienced children and young people, and I am sure that, when the bill is introduced, it will do just that.”
“We are talking about matters relating to the Promise, so why has it taken the minister so long to introduce the bill, given that her party gave its word to care-experienced young people that it would be introduced before the end of this parliamentary session? Natalie Don-Innes: I am interested in understanding how Meghan Gallacher believes that the statement shows that we have no confidence in our response. I have been very clear that I have confidence in our response. It is a difficult issue, and nobody is backing away from it. Meghan Gallacher is bringing to me hypotheticals about what would happen if Rossie was not available. Rossie is available, as a direct result of Scottish Government funding and Scottish Government priority.”
“The statement tells me that the Scottish Government is not confident in delivering the outcomes and targets that have been announced by the minister. If the new national contingency resource facility had not been opened last month, there would be no beds available for children who require secure accommodation. That is not progress. Members have asked about data in relation to young people who have not been able to be placed into secure accommodation because of the lack of beds. It is simply nonsense for the minister to respond by saying that the Scottish Government does not hold any data on that whatsoever. The minister has known that we need such data in order to scrutinise the work of the Scottish Government. Why has she not looked into that?”
“If we put in place policies that stifle investment and development and constrain the provision of more affordable homes in the private rented sector or elsewhere, we will not be able to tackle the big problems that we face with housing today. I will leave my remarks there, in case I get a telling-off about timing from the Presiding Officer. 13:06”
“It is in the interests of people who have second homes to play an active role in supporting both the community in which they have their primary home and the one in which they have their secondary home. The best way of ensuring that communities that have particularly high levels of second home ownership are able to thrive is to make sure that we have a sufficient supply of homes to meet demand. That is the biggest point that I can make today. We also need to look at how we approach the housing sector from an ideological perspective, given the need to ensure that we have enough homes to tackle the housing emergency.”
“Just before the debate, I had a look at what properties are available in certain areas, including north Ayrshire, which Ross Greer represents. I discovered, from looking at the website of just one selling company, that, on Arran—to take that as a silo—there are 81 properties available right now. Therefore, there are homes available, but we need to look deeper into the reasons why people are not buying in those areas. That is an important point to make in the debate that we are having today. We need to look at the facts. Second homes equate to just 1 per cent of the total number of dwellings in Scotland. People tend to buy second homes in areas that they would like to move to permanently when they retire, which means that they contribute to not just one but two economies. We have had discussions about exemptions and all the rest of it.”
“Ross Greer: I agree that, historically, that has been a prominent part of Scottish life. A generation ago, my working-class family from Maryhill had a hut at Carbeth. However, does Meghan Gallacher acknowledge that, over the past 20 to 30 years in particular, the balance of second home ownership has skewed massively towards those in our society who are far wealthier? The prospect of owning a second home is now far out of reach for the vast majority of working-class Scots in this country. Meghan Gallacher: That is why we need to look at the whole of our housing sector. We need to build more homes in order to tackle the housing emergency. We are not going to do it otherwise, because, as it stands, supply is completely outweighed by the demand of people who need homes. I think that we can all agree on that point.”
“The Broons, a typical working-class family who live in a tenement flat, have that second home in the Highlands, which is a relatively short distance from their home. The Broons belong to more than one community. Second home ownership is intrinsically Scottish. The fictional Broons enjoy their weekends there and, although the younger Broons need some encouragement to enjoy their short breaks, the family have many an adventure while enjoying some time away with the family. One short comic strip section even shows how the family renovated the but and ben to bring the property back into use. The point that I am making is that second homes are not always for the rich and wealthy. I hope that that is taken into consideration during the debate, because ordinary working Scots are also involved in second home ownership.”
“I hope that you feel better soon, Presiding Officer. One of my favourite comic strips when I was growing up was “The Broons”. “The Broons” is a staple in many Scottish households, with generations eagerly awaiting the next edition. It is published in the Sunday Post each week, and many people collect the annuals. Why on earth am I talking about “The Broons” today? The Broons, fae Glebe Street, have their but and ben, “a rare wee beauty spot wi a difference”. It is a second home, which is the topic of the debate today. A but and ben, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a traditional Scottish residential house featuring two rooms—the but being the outer room or kitchen area and the ben being the inner room or living space.”
“There are 10,000 children across Scotland in temporary accommodation, but there are 50,000 second homes and short-term lets. That is not right, but it is not inevitable, either. It can be fixed. Fixing it will require standing up to the wealthy. It will require saying and doing what powerful people do not like and what they will not want to hear. However, we owe it to those who need a home of their own to take that action now. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I remind members who wish to speak in the debate to check that they have pressed their request-to- speak button. 12:57”
“Will Ross Greer take an intervention? Ross Greer: If there is any time in hand, Deputy Presiding Officer, I will do so. The Deputy Presiding Officer: There is very limited time. Ross Greer: I apologise to the member. I think that I am supposed to come to a close in a moment. The Parliament has already agreed that we are in a housing crisis across Scotland and that dramatic action is required to address it. However, there is no point in building homes to tackle the crisis, because they are being bought and used as second homes or short-term lets. The issue is existential for our rural communities. Tax is a powerful tool to tackle it, but it is not our only tool. This afternoon, I look forward to hearing other proposals to escalate action.”
“There is only one thing left for me to say, and that is that we will remember them. The Presiding Officer: Jackie Dunbar is the final speaker in the open debate. 16:26”
“Passing that baton of memory and meaning to the next generation will not only have helped to close the generational gap, but will have left a huge impression on the young people, who now have memories of being able to speak to a veteran who lived and fought through the second world war. The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation is the proud custodian of those letters, which have captured those moments in history and which form an additional piece of the picture that members of the public will be able to reflect on in years to come. I think that that is wonderful. It is what we should strive for in our society—connecting older generations with younger generations, in order to learn from past mistakes. Sharing those experiences can ensure that our future generations do not repeat the mistakes that were made by previous ones.”
“However, given current global conflicts, it has never been more important that we reflect on our shared history in order to ensure that our future is one of peace. The values of victory in Europe day are as relevant now as they were then. In the time that I have left, I will share an uplifting incentive that I read about. It is a fantastic example of how schools can connect with our armed forces and veterans community while learning about the VE day commemorations. Through the Together Coalition, 1,300 schools requested a letter from a veteran setting out their wartime experience and what it means to them 80 years later.”
“Among the crowds that gather are veterans of past wars and more recent conflicts, armed forces personnel, community groups, members of the public and, of course, politicians. We attend those events because we understand the significance of past conflicts and how fragile our world is. That is why I intend to introduce a member’s bill to protect our war memorials. It is important to ensure that they survive for years to come because, one day, there will be no more veterans left to attend such important occasions. We must encourage our younger generations to learn what people in our communities fought and died for—the triumph over totalitarianism. Often we are told that there is an overfocus on world wars in our education system.”
“We must never forget the brave men and women who fell during the conflict of world war two and those who fought to secure freedoms and liberties that we all take for granted today. We will forever be indebted to our second world war veterans for the sacrifices that they made, the friends whom they lost or the stories that they have told. This momentous occasion marks the 80th year since the end of the war in Europe. In my short contribution, I wish to focus on why we need to keep marking that occasion. In every community across the country, names are etched into stone, alongside a rank and the date on which those soldiers died. Those are the names of family members and loved ones who will never be forgotten. Every year, we stand at those memorials and fall silent.”
“She will have to answer for that to private investors directly.”
“The best way to make housing affordable for Scots is to build more homes, but we know that the Scottish National Party Government’s housing policy has led to the loss of £3 billion of investment from the private sector. Will the cabinet secretary work with the sector to ensure that housing providers can do their job without further interference from the Government? Shirley-Anne Somerville: I have heard loud and clear from investors who wish to invest more in Scotland about the importance of ensuring that we balance the rent controls that we are bringing in to protect tenants with the need to provide certainty. I find it astounding that Meghan Gallacher has asked that question two days after she made it easier for rent controls to apply in Scotland rather than take her supposed principled stand against them.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is challenging the United Kingdom Government’s proposed inheritance tax changes for farmers. (S6O-04608)”
“Jenni Minto: I welcome the apology from NHS Lothian to its maternity care staff following the report of the independent review of its women’s services. NHS Lothian has committed to working with staff in maternity services to ensure that they feel supported at work, safe to raise concerns and able to thrive. I expect NHS Lothian to take that work forward as a priority to ensure that that learning is translated promptly into action to improve staff experience at work, so that they are empowered to continue to deliver the best and safest care that is possible for mothers, their babies and their families.”
“We knew about the concerns previously. Whistleblowers at NHS Lothian raised concerns about staff shortages at a maternity unit last year, and an investigation that was launched back in 2024 found that there has been a toxic relationship between managers and midwives. One midwife, who remained anonymous, spoke to STV News last year and said: “Management didn’t listen to staff concerns—we’d say we’re short staffed and they’d say it was fine.” I imagine that that will not be the only case of such relationships between managers and midwives in a health board. How do we correct that culture to improve relationships between managers and midwives and encourage whistleblowing, should there be concerns?”
“In my previous contribution on this topic, I said that the reason that I feel so passionately about the issue “is because I am a mum.”—[Official Report, 20 September 2023; c 96.] I will continue to push the Scottish Government to improve neonatal services across Scotland. The Deputy Presiding Officer: We move to the open debate. I call Clare Adamson, who joins us remotely. 18:02”
“Regardless of whatever evidence they say has been produced, it is clear that communities are against the move, and ministers have ignored the fact that receiving care further from home can reduce parents’ ability to be partners in their baby’s care. In addition, ministers cannot overlook the need to ensure that overnight accommodation is provided to parents so that they can always be with their babies. The minister must set out what the Government sees as essential criteria in the best start model, including adequate staffing provision, and the timescale for full implementation. Uncertainty causes alarm, and this debate provides an opportunity for the Scottish Government to outline those next steps today.”
“That is essential for any new model of neonatal care. I cannot believe that we are even having this discussion today—it is just basic common sense. The implementation of the best start model recommendations in the report “The Best Start—A Five-year Forward Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland” has been painfully slow. Even if people do not agree with all of those recommendations, the fact is that families who might be affected in the future—and, critically, the staff working in neonatal services departments across Scotland—deserve to know how long the new model will take to implement. If the Scottish Government is truly committed to providing high- quality care to the sickest babies, it needs to get a move on. Ministers cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand over the downgrading of neonatal services.”