David Smith
Reform UK · Scotland
“To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Accounts Commission's report on integration joint boards finances, which highlighted a projected funding gap of £457 million in 2024-25, what urgent action it will take to ensure that health and social care services are protected, and that patients and service users do not experience any red…”
“Allocated time slots for carers have been reduced to seven minutes. Many local authorities across Scotland have reduced their time slots to 10 minutes. Does the cabinet secretary agree that such incredibly short visits are completely inappropriate?”
“Many, if not all, local authorities in Scotland are in severe financial difficulty, which is cited as the reason for the decline in many health and social care services. Will the cabinet secretary review the formula for health and social care funding, with a view to better match the funding to the service demands in local areas?”
“Our current system for delivering social care is devolved to each individual local authority, which means that when we consider reform and look at the picture across the whole of Scotland, we see that it is very fragmented.”
“My aim today is not to campaign against the Government but instead to identify areas in the social care system in which there are significant shortfalls, so that collaborative work on renewal and reform can begin across all parties. My experience of the social care system is lived experience.”
“Last October, I had the privilege of being invited to the carers parliament, which was held just up the road at the Apex hotel on the Grassmarket. Such events are incredibly beneficial, because they bring together unpaid carers from all over Scotland to speak about and debate health and social care issues.”
The complete record
Every one of 14 lines we hold for David Smith, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.
“To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the approval of licences for the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments, in light of their potential impact on North Sea jobs and oil and gas tax revenues. (S7O-00098)”
“To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Accounts Commission's report on integration joint boards finances, which highlighted a projected funding gap of £457 million in 2024-25, what urgent action it will take to ensure that health and social care services are protected, and that patients and service users do not experience any reduction in the quality or accessibility of care. (S7O-00084)”
“Secondly, many believe that there is actually enough money in the system but that it is being spent poorly. I believe that too, but I was surprised to hear that on the day from other people at the event. A few people even said that we should introduce some sort of trial system in social care to identify wasteful spending. The final point that I took away from the event is that many believe that the problem with the whole system is that, for far too long, although the Scottish Government has introduced policies that sound amazing, there is never a plan and there is never enough money to fund the policies. We all have a shared responsibility to get this right, and we are willing to work with all parties to ensure that that happens. 15:18”
“Last October, I had the privilege of being invited to the carers parliament, which was held just up the road at the Apex hotel on the Grassmarket. Such events are incredibly beneficial, because they bring together unpaid carers from all over Scotland to speak about and debate health and social care issues. Many people attended and bravely shared their stories and experiences. It would be inappropriate for me to repeat any of them now, but I will share what many considered to be the broad consensuses of the day. First, carers do not want platitudes. They do not want to hear from us that we sympathise and they are doing a great job but that they should just carry on. They have heard that all before, and they have been hearing it for far too long. They demand action.”
“Many, if not all, local authorities in Scotland are in severe financial difficulty, which is cited as the reason for the decline in many health and social care services. Will the cabinet secretary review the formula for health and social care funding, with a view to better match the funding to the service demands in local areas? In many areas across Scotland, there is a higher proportion of people claiming adult disability payment than there is in other parts of Scotland. That includes areas where, historically, there have been large blocks of industry. An easy example is the constituencies around the Clyde area, where there is a higher proportion of people claiming adult disability payment due to shipbuilding. That leads to increased funding demands, and councils in those areas are the ones that are struggling the most.”
“Allocated time slots for carers have been reduced to seven minutes. Many local authorities across Scotland have reduced their time slots to 10 minutes. Does the cabinet secretary agree that such incredibly short visits are completely inappropriate? The Scottish Government must consider legislation that would introduce statutory time allocations. Jackie Baillie: I would not be opposed to the legislation that David Smith has suggested, but there would be a quicker way: the Government could give staff sufficient resources to enable them to do their job. Would he agree with that? David Smith: I would, and I will come to that point. Thirty minutes is generally considered by a lot of campaigners to be a reasonable amount of time for a visit, and the issue was discussed in the Westminster Parliament in 2014. However, that is just one example.”
“Our current system for delivering social care is devolved to each individual local authority, which means that when we consider reform and look at the picture across the whole of Scotland, we see that it is very fragmented. Some boards deliver services very well, and others do not, but we must acknowledge that service delivery takes very different forms across Scotland. We also need to acknowledge that every health board across Scotland is really struggling to deliver basic services. Health and social care partnership board meetings have largely become showcases for cuts on top of cuts, so being a board member can sometimes be really depressing. In trying to justify everything that I have said, I will use the example of the care at home service. In West Dunbartonshire, the service is particularly poor at the moment.”
“Such children generally get very good results when they go on into further life. Our cared-for person has now grown up, and she has a house of her own. Those experiences led me to sit on West Dunbartonshire health and social care partnership board. Every local authority has such a board, and it is the subject on which I want to start. Some members might have sat on such a board, and others might not have done. Every board should have an unpaid carers rep, which was my position. Support for those representatives is provided by the Coalition of Carers in Scotland, to which I pay a special thank you for all its efforts to support unpaid carers over the years.”
“My aim today is not to campaign against the Government but instead to identify areas in the social care system in which there are significant shortfalls, so that collaborative work on renewal and reform can begin across all parties. My experience of the social care system is lived experience. My oldest son has learning difficulties, which has given me many opportunities to work with many different organisations and understand the areas in which our social care system does and does not work from an end-user perspective. A few years ago, my partner and I became kinship carers. For those of you who are not familiar with kinship care, it is when social services place a child with somebody who the child already knows: a grandparent, auntie, uncle or friend—in our case, the child was my daughter’s friend.”
“My speech today will be limited to social care due to the scale of what we are talking about. I start by thanking all the NHS staff, local authority staff and those in the third sector for all their hard work over many years to provide care and kindness to the most vulnerable citizens in our society. I also welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care to her position and thank her for recognising the need for reform and renewal and for lodging this motion. There is a temptation with such motions to ask whether the phrase “reform”— and we really like reform—is an acknowledgement of all the Government’s failures over the years, but I will not do that.”
“The estimated average shortfall is £1.25 per hour, per child, which equates to £1,425 across the year for that placement. My party’s position has been made very clear by my colleague Angela Ross. We think that, now more than ever, the Scottish Government needs to get on with fixing the system that is already in place, before any expansion happens. I appreciate the time given to me, but I will keep my contribution short and leave it there.”
“My youngest child went to a childminder, and she would fondly describe her childminder as her best friend. That went on for a number of years. With regard to Scottish Government funding over many years, policies that sound fantastic are created, but providers are often short changed at the end. Private nurseries are struggling to deliver funded hours sustainably, which has resulted in a significant loss of childminders and places. Staff are under incredible amounts of pressure, and many of them are leaving the sector. The National Day Nurseries Association has stated that seven out of 10 private and third sector nurseries in Scotland say that the hourly rate for three and four-year-olds in relation to the 1,140 hours that we have been talking about does not cover their costs.”
“Deputy Presiding Officer, I congratulate you on your election, and I welcome the cabinet secretary to her role. I also extend my thanks, welcome and congratulations to all the other members in the Parliament. I thank my family and friends for their love and support during the election campaign, and I thank everyone who has been working in my party over the past few years to get us all elected. I am here to represent the West Scotland region. Therefore, I give a very special thanks to everyone from our region for all their incredible efforts so far. With regard to receiving childcare, nine months seems an incredibly young age to me. I remember when my oldest children were growing up. They were fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with their mum.”
“I, David Haydn Smith, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me”