• Almost 1 in 6 calls in NHS 24 go unanswered
• Martin stretching climate credibility with watering down comments
• Planning applications fall across almost every category

Almost 1 in 6 calls in NHS 24 go unanswered

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that every corner of our NHS is suffering under SNP mismanagement as he revealed that almost 1 in 6 calls to NHS 24 went unanswered last year.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request revealed that in 2023/24, 16.5% of calls to the NHS 24-111 service went unanswered.

The freedom of information request also shows that in 2023/24, the longest wait for a call to be answered was more than 3 hours in January 2024. The average wait for a call to be answered was almost 28 minutes in March 2024.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

As these figures show, too many calls are going unanswered and people are facing very long waits before they get through to someone who can help.

Under the SNP’s mismanagement, this is another part of our NHS that is crying out for help. From excruciating waits at A&E to record numbers of people stuck in hospital, patients are suffering and staff are beyond breaking point.

Scottish Liberal Democrats want a complete overhaul of the SNP’s failed NHS recovery plan. We need a new plan that will tackle burnout among staff and address core problems, such as the crises in mental health and social care. That’s how we can ease pressures across the rest of the health service and get everyone the care they desperately deserve.

Martin stretching climate credibility with watering down comments

Responding to Scotland’s Net Zero Secretary, Gillian Martin, telling the BBC that the SNP government haven’t been ‘watering down’ their climate targets, despite choosing to scrap key emissions goals just weeks ago, Scottish Liberal Democrat climate crisis spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said:

If ditching key emissions targets after years of failing to meet them isn’t watering down, I’m not sure what is.

The Cabinet Secretary deserves credit for her collaborative approach in finding a way forward, but does herself no favours by engaging in spin. The reality is that ambitious targets were repeatedly undermined by SNP and Green ministers failing to do the hard graft of insulating homes, making transport cleaner or creating green jobs.

Rather than denying what is obvious to everyone, SNP ministers should be moving heaven and earth to finally deliver for both the climate and communities. Doubling down on denials will only further damage the Scottish Government’s credibility at COP29.

Planning applications fall across almost every category

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry has today said that the SNP government must do more to lift up the economy and tackle the housing crisis after new figures revealed there has been a drop in planning applications across almost every category of development.

According to the latest Scottish Government Planning Applications Statistics 2023/2024:

• There has been a fall in applications across almost every category, including local developments, local housing developments, major developments and major housing developments.
• The number of local development applications is at its lowest level in 5 years at 22,565- this is down from 24,723 in 2022/23 and 26,585 in 2019/20.
• There were 277 major development applications, compared to 307 in 2019/20. There were also 77 major housing development applications, compared to 175 in 2019/20.
• The average waiting time for a planning decision rose for local developments and all housing developments.
• The average wait for a decision on a major housing development is now 59.8 weeks.

These figures come as the numbers of people experiencing homelessness and living in temporary accommodation have reached new highs.

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry said:

These figures are very concerning because they point to a downward trend in the number of planning applications, while some applications are now waiting more than a year for a decision.

The SNP have only made things worse by taking an axe to the housing budget and failing to build the thousands of homes they promised for social rent.

We need to fix the problems with our planning system because that is one of the key ways we can lift up our economy and tackle the housing crisis

Scottish Liberal Democrats would also build more homes, bring thousands of empty homes back into use and re-establish social rent as a valid, long-term option.