• Health Foundation mortality report: must be a “wake-up call” for Government to turnaround these “unacceptable statistics”
• Winter Fuel Payment: u-turn taking so long it puts “turning an oil tanker around to shame”
• Jamie Greene taking on additional role as transport spokesperson
• Lib Dems: UK Govt must ensure households compensated if worse off after RTS shutdown
• Rennie: Decline in college staff shows SNP neglect of further education
• McArthur comments on young offender death inquiry
• Greene responds to Liberty Steel news
• Cole-Hamilton presses SNP over failure to deliver Erasmus replacement

Health Foundation mortality report: must be a “wake-up call” for Government to turnaround these “unacceptable statistics”

Responding to a report by The Health Foundation, which revealed that by 2023, female mortality rates in the UK were 14% higher when compared with the median of 21 other high-income countries, with male mortality rates 9% higher, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

Preventing avoidable deaths and protecting the public’s health should be at the top of any Government’s priorities and to see it neglected in this way, bringing immeasurable suffering to people and their loved ones, should be a wake-up call to us all.

The Conservatives’ catastrophic mismanagement of the NHS and their savage cuts to public health support have brought us to this point but the Labour government has shown nowhere near the ambition required to repair these unacceptable statistics.

It is not good enough for ministers to sit on their hands and watch the NHS and the opportunity to live a healthy life decay in this way. We need to see the Government step in as a matter of urgency, to reverse the cuts to the public health grant and bring an end to these devastating deaths.

Winter Fuel Payment: u-turn taking so long it puts “turning an oil tanker around to shame”

Responding to the Chancellor’s comments that she will listen to concerns over the Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This U-turn is taking so long it puts turning an oil tanker around to shame.

The Government should feel embarrassed that it has taken a dire set of a local election results to realise what everyone has known from the start: this policy was doomed to fail and punished some of the most vulnerable.

It still remains to be seen if the Chancellor has truly listened and we will scrutinise any new proposals closely so that no pensioner is forced to freeze in their own homes.

Jamie Greene taking on additional role as transport spokesperson

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today appointed Jamie Greene MSP, a West of Scotland MSP, as the party’s transport spokesperson, alongside his role as the party’s economy and finance spokesperson.

The move comes after the most recent Scottish Transport Statistics revealed that the number of bus journeys was still 7% lower than pre-pandemic, while the number of rail journeys was 16% lower than in 2019-20 and the number of ferry journeys was down 7% compared to 2019. The move also comes at a crucial time for the CalMac ferry fleet which has seen further delays to the delivery of the MV Glen Rosa and was recently handed a new £3.9bn contract to run Scotland’s west coast ferry services for the next 10 years.

Jamie Greene is also the Deputy Convenor of the Public Audit Committee, which ensures that public money is spent efficiently and effectively.

Daniel O’Malley will continue to serve as an additional spokesperson on the transport portfolio outside parliament.

Jamie Greene said:

I am delighted to be taking up this important role in Parliament.

My constituents have been on the frontline of SNP transportation failures since I became and MSP. They’re well familiar with unreliable bus services, expensive trains and ferries stuck in the shipyard.

Good transport links are essential for a thriving economy, while reliable public transport is a key ingredient in delivering our climate commitments.

As well as holding the government to account on their broken promises, I want to speak to communities, local authorities, transport campaigners and bosses about how we can do things better. My door is open.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

I am really pleased that Jamie has agreed to take up this additional post.

Knocking doors across the country, we have seen a real uptick in the number of Scots complaining about the state of local transport.

There’s a real opportunity here for a party that is focused on getting the basics right. People are tired of worn-out roads, expensive trains and buses that just don’t go where you need them to.

Jamie taking on this role in parliament is a sign that we are serious about offering Scotland an alternative after years of SNP failure.

Lib Dems: UK Govt must ensure households compensated if worse off after RTS shutdown

Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland Alistair Carmichael MP has today called on the UK Government to require energy suppliers to compensate households in full if they requested a replacement meter before the RTS shutdown but failed to receive one.

It comes as his colleague and MSP for Shetland Beatrice Wishart leads a debate in the Scottish Parliament today, where she will highlight the potentially devastating impact of the shutdown, particularly for homes in island and rural areas.

There is almost one month to go until the radio signal that controls old-style RTS electricity meters is switched off. This could leave many households, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, without heating and hot water or alternatively with their heating stuck on all the time.

Ofgem has stated that no household will lose electricity supply when the switch-off happens on 30th June. But by the end of April, there were about 423,000 RTS meters still to be replaced in the UK, and nearly 135,000 of these are in the Highlands and Islands.

The Liberal Democrats are now calling on the UK Government to require energy suppliers to compensate any household that requested a replacement meter before the shutdown but never received one.

Alistair Carmichael said:

Despite the shutdown looming in less than two months, there are still far too many households without replacement meters. They must not pay the price for the failures of the energy companies and Ofgem.

When I led a debate on this issue in the UK Parliament, the minister told me that there would be a ‘spring surge’ of replacement meters. It is critical that the government puts their shoulder to the wheel in making that a reality.

These efforts, however, are coming incredibly late in the day, especially when energy companies and the regulator knew of the shutdown for years but chose to sit on their hands.

At the moment, the priority is to ensure that as many smart meters as possible are installed and that everyone gets fair energy tariffs on replacement meters. But once the deadline has passed, we may find that there are households which requested a replacement meter and never received one. If that is the case, the government must ensure that energy suppliers compensate those households in full.

Beatrice Wishart MSP added:

This shutdown could be a disaster for households across Scotland.

It has the potential to cause massive disruption for our island and rural communities, which face the additional problems of engineer shortages and connectivity issues.

Energy companies have failed to replace meters at the required pace, which is why they must step up, or be ready to compensate all those households left worse off after the deadline.

Rennie: Decline in college staff shows SNP neglect of further education

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has said that a decline in college staff illustrates the SNP’s neglect of the economy and further education, as he urged the government to deliver on funding secured by the Liberal Democrats to support the sector.

New statistics published today by the Scottish Funding Council show that:

• The number of FTE staff employed in colleges in 2023-2024 decreased by 845 (7.7%) from the previous year.
• Since 2014-15, full-time staff have decreased by 6,866 (11.0%).
• Since 2014-15, college teaching staff decreased by 7.7%, while non-teaching staff decreased by 5.0%.

Mr Rennie said:

For many years, college budgets were the first on the SNP’s chopping board.

Ministers have neglected further education. This has contributed to our wider economic malaise because we are not producing the skilled staff that we need in key areas.

The Liberal Democrats secured more money for colleges in the budget for the year ahead, so the government must now ensure that funding gets to where it’s needed most.

Colleges provide people with the skills they need to be employed in key sectors, from insulating homes to tourism, to social care and nursery education. We should be making sure their staff and students can thrive.

McArthur comments on young offender death inquiry

Responding to the fatal accident inquiry into the death by suicide of Jack Mackenzie at YOI Polmont which concluded that the prison service “closed ranks” and that failing to discipline prison officers after an inmate took his own life “condoned” bad practice, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said:

Now that this inquiry is complete, the Scottish Government and the prison service must ensure that the sheriff’s recommendations are fully and properly implemented, including making cells safer and ensuring additional training for those officers who need it.

More widely, we need to ensure that young people are only locked up if there is no other reasonable alternative.

This will be an incredibly tough time for Jack’s friends and family. We owe it to them to ensure that no more young people die in custody.

Greene responds to Liberty Steel news

Responding to the news that Sanjeev Gupta is seeking to adjourn a winding-up petition that could force his UK operations into compulsory liquidation, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP said:

Workers at the Dalzell plant will be very worried about what this news could mean for them.

My party has repeatedly warned about the possibility that Liberty Steel operations could collapse. We wrote to the Deputy First Minister when it became clear that all was not well at Dalzell, but so far ministers have refused to act.

Today’s news must be the catalyst for both the UK and Scottish governments to come together and agree a joined-up strategy for this vital Scottish business.

The Scottish Government has intervened before, albeit it hasn’t gone well, so there is significant public interest in what it does next.

The Dalzell plant has huge potential, including in the wind industry. Ministers must act urgently for the sake of all those workers potentially at risk.

Cole-Hamilton presses SNP over failure to deliver Erasmus replacement

Speaking after this afternoon’s Scottish Government statement responding to this week’s EU-UK Summit, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Liberal Democrats support this first step to healing our broken relationship with the EU and reversing the damage caused by the Conservatives’ botched deal.

The Cabinet Secretary has some nerve in suggesting that his Government has been lobbying for a replacement for an Erasmus+ student exchange.

Within 18 months of Brexit, a Liberal Democrat Education Secretary in Wales had delivered a replacement scheme for Welsh students.

We have been lobbying the Scottish Government to do the same for Scottish Students. It has always been in their power to do so but they’ve dragged their feet so much, they’re in serious danger of being lapped but the UK Government in the pages of this agreement.

The Cabinet Secretary should now apologise to the five years’ worth of Scottish students who have missed out on European exchange opportunities.