- Winter Fuel Payments: Hundreds of thousands more pensioners set to lose out
- NHS Scotland Stop Smoking Services fall short of target
- Cole-Hamilton challenges Health Secretary to tackle cancer crisis
- Worst ever homelessness figures on the SNP’s watch
- Jardine responds to GB Energy Aberdeen announcement
- Cole-Hamilton demands action on Highlands care home closures
- Just 3.2% of acid attacks in London have resulted in charge this year
Winter Fuel Payments: Hundreds of thousands more pensioners set to lose out
Responding to the latest Winter Fuel Payment statistics showing that there was a 214,000 increase in the number of recipients of the payments in the winter of 2023/24 compared to the previous year, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Steve Darling MP said:
Hundreds of thousands more pensioners are now set to lose out on these desperately needed payments that protect so many from having to choose between heating and eating.
Cutting these payments for pensioners, which include millions who are just scraping by and are now worried about how they will get through the winter, is totally wrong.
It is not too late for this new government to change course and Liberal Democrat MPs will push them every step of the way to reverse these cuts and protect vulnerable pensioners this winter.
NHS Scotland Stop Smoking Services fall short of target
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has warned that efforts to deliver a smoke-free Scotland are falling short as new figures released today showed that NHS Scotland Stop Smoking services only achieved 74% of their target for helping people to stop smoking.
The new figures also reveal that only Western Isles and Dumfries & Galloway met their yearly targets. NHS Shetland and NHS Borders achieved less than 50% of their yearly targets, with Lothian, Lanarkshire and fife also performing poorly.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
These figures demonstrate just how far the government is falling behind its own targets. Smoking claims the lives of thousands across Scotland every year, predominantly in the most deprived areas of the country.
With our NHS already under immense pressure, helping people take preventative action to quit is now more vital than ever before.
Liberal Democrats were instrumental in delivering the ban on smoking in public areas and in cars with children, but further progress is being stifled and delayed by a lack of government support.
The Scottish Government needs to work with health boards and urgently set out how it will enable these Stop Smoking services help more people quit and meet the standards set.
Cole-Hamilton challenges Health Secretary to tackle cancer crisis
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on the Health Secretary, Neil Gray, to wake up to the crisis in our NHS, as figures published today show poor cancer waiting times performance against the 62-day referral to treatment standard.
New Public Health Scotland figures reveal that only 73.2% of patients were seen within the 62-day standard. They also showed that the standard was not met by any of the NHS Health Boards. 83.7% of patients were seen within the 62-day standard in the quarter ending 31 December 2019.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
There can be few more challenging and frightening moments than being told you have been diagnosed with cancer. Everyone diagnosed with cancer should be able to access treatment quickly and effectively, but right now far too many are being forced to wait day after day for the help they need.
Early intervention in cancer cases is crucial to chances of survival so the stakes here simply could not be higher – it’s a matter of life and death.
The Health Secretary needs to wake up to the crisis in our NHS. He may be content to bury his head in the sand but that is not good enough for the thousands of patients being failed by this government’s mismanagement of our health service.
Under my leadership, I am determined that Scottish Liberal Democrats will be the champions for swift, local healthcare wherever in Scotland you live.
Worst ever homelessness figures on the SNP’s watch
Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry has today called on the SNP government to urgently combat homelessness across the country, after official figures published today show that the numbers of people experiencing homelessness and living in temporary accommodation have reached new highs on the SNP’s watch.
Figures show that in 2023-24:
- 10,110 children were in temporary accommodation- the highest number since records began. This is almost double the number in 2007 (5,455) when the SNP came to power;
- 40,685 homeless applications were recorded- the highest number since 2011-12;
- As at 31st March 2024, there were 31,870 open homeless applications and 16,330 households in temporary accommodation. Both figures are the highest on record.
According to new housebuilding figures, housing completions (-4,003;-17%) and starts (-3,032;-17%) were down in the year to the end of June 2024 compared to the previous year.
Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Paul McGarry said:
For yet another year, levels of homelessness have soared to new highs. It makes you wonder what on earth the SNP have been doing for the last 17 years.
In Scotland, affordable housebuilding has collapsed and the cost-of-living crisis has made rents and mortgages extremely difficult for many to afford. The SNP have taken an axe to the housing budget and failed to build the thousands of homes promised for social rent.
Ensuring that everyone has a place to call home is a basic responsibility of any government. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats would build more homes, bring thousands of empty homes back into use and re-establish social rent as a valid, long-term option. If the SNP do not listen to these calls, we could see ever greater numbers of people plunged into homelessness.
Jardine responds to GB Energy Aberdeen announcement
Responding to the confirmation that GB Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen, Liberal Democrat Scottish affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said:
I welcome the announcement that GB Energy is to be based in Aberdeen. The north of Scotland will play a key role in the just transition, so it is only right that it is also the site for this kind of organisation.
Of course, we are still in the early days, so it remains to be seen how effective GB Energy will be in driving investment and cutting energy bills.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis and climate crisis, people across the country need the UK Government and GB Energy to put their foot to the floor.
Cole-Hamilton demands action on Highlands care home closures
Scottish Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today urged the SNP Government to urgently act on the social care crisis as he raised the issue of care home closures in the Highlands with the Heath Secretary in the Scottish Parliament.
It follows the news that Moss Park Care Home in Caol, Lochaber is set to close within three months. Moss Park provides care for up to 39 people and there is now just one other care home in the Fort William area.
New statistics published today also show that there were 446 people in the Highlands estimated to be waiting on a social care assessment as at 2nd September 2024. In July, 228 people in the Highlands had their discharge from hospital delayed- the health board has the highest level of delayed discharges in Scotland as a percentage of the population.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
Last week, it was reported that another care home in the Highlands is set to close in Fort William, with the loss of 39 care spaces.
At the moment, nobody seems to have an answer as to what happens next, but it is highly likely that some of those residents will be transferred to hospitals, impacting on that health board’s ability to prepare for winter.
The loss perhaps of as many as 20 care homes within Highland Council over the last decade is forcing people to leave their communities for care placements that can be as much as 100 miles away, with delayed discharges already through the roof.
Does the Health Secretary agree that the extra challenges of delivering care in remote and rural areas, particularly during winter, and the journey times, the costs of care, attracting staff, mean that the care crisis is only going to compound the efforts to prepare for winter, and what is his plan to fix it?
Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, Angus MacDonald, added:
Across the Highlands, the crisis in social care is sharply felt. In rural areas like my own constituency, care homes just can’t get the staff they need, often having to rely on agencies and to pay the travel and accommodation for those agency workers. It’s simply not financially viable.
We need a major investment in care home capacity in the Highlands. With the closure of Moss Park, more and more people struggle to access the care they need close to home. There are 257 fewer care beds available in the Highlands than three years ago.
Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have a plan to fix the problems in social care. We would create a new minimum wage for care workers, £2 higher than the national minimum wage, to tackle chronic staff shortages and make social care a profession of choice once again.
Just 3.2% of acid attacks in London have resulted in charge this year
The number of acid attacks in London resulting in a charge have fallen to just 3.2 per cent so far this financial year.
The figures, requested by the Liberal Democrats, represent a significant fall from the 16.5 per cent of cases that resulted in charge in period of 2020-2021.
Overall, out of the 691 acid attacks reported to the Met across London since 2019, only 13.5 per cent have resulted in a charge, with the percentage having fallen every single year since 2021.
In three Boroughs: Camden, Hounslow and Kensington & Chelsea no suspects were charged over the last five years despite 41 incidents of acid attacks between them.
London Liberal Democrats have called on the Mayor of London and Metropolitan Police to do more to ensure acid attacks result in a criminal charge and conviction. The Party has argued that more needs to be invested into front line policing and officers freed up from back-office duties to investigate crimes.
Commenting Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and Police & Crime Spokesperson Gareth Roberts said:
Acid attacks have an extraordinarily devastating impact on victims ranging not only from physical scars but also the emotional and psychological trauma inflicted.
Previous data also shows us that women are disproportionately targeted by these horrific chemical attacks.
While I appreciate changes in legislation by the Government around the sale of corrosive substances do appear to have had an impact on bringing down the total number of acid attacks in London, it is unacceptable that the percentage of attacks resulting in criminal conviction has fallen to just over 3 per cent.
The Mayor of London and Met Police must do more to ensure the investigation of these heinous crimes are prioritised and met with the full force of the law. Both deterrence and justice for victims is being compromised by these declining charge rates.