- Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay
- Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care
- Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision
- 1,065 drugs deaths last year
- Vacancies in majority of care homes and care at home services
- Rennie responds to Dundee University news
Jardine calls for doubling of maternity pay
Liberal Democrat women and equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has called for the UK Government to do everything possible to tackle economic barriers for women, including by doubling statutory maternity pay and expanding parental leave.
As well as backing parental leave as a day-one right at work, Liberal Democrats are calling on the UK Government to:
- Double Statutory Maternity Pay to £350 a week.
- Increase paternity pay to 90% of earnings.
- Create a new use-it-or-lose-it ‘dad month’, encouraging more fathers to take parental leave.
Currently, low rates of statutory maternity and paternity pay are not high enough to give parents a real choice, while the UK’s two weeks of statutory paternity leave lags far behind most advanced economies. Around a quarter of fathers are not eligible for paternity pay, either because they are self-employed or because they have not been with their employer continuously for six months.
The party argues that encouraging more fathers to take parental leave is critical to closing the gender pay gap. On average, women face a ‘pay penalty’ of 45% lower earnings in the six years after giving birth to their first child.
Ms Jardine said:
As we celebrate the achievements of women and girls across Scotland, we cannot forget about the barriers that stand in the way of progress.
That’s why my party is committed to doubling maternity pay and expanding parental leave.
Doubling maternity pay would help ease the pressure on women to return to work before they are ready.
Meanwhile, encouraging more fathers to take paternity leave will give women greater choice and help new dads to spend time with their child.
Liberal Democrats want to see women given the choice and flexibility they need, backed up by a proper package of support.
Cole-Hamilton: We cannot fix A&E waits without fixing social care
Responding to new figures showing only 63.5% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 2nd March, while 3,532 people waited over 8 hours and 1,510 waited over 12 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:
For years under the SNP our A&E departments have been left mired in crisis and it’s leading to staff burning out.
The problem at A&E is that there isn’t enough capacity. Too many people are stuck unable to leave hospital because they can’t get the care package they need to leave safely.
We cannot fix these A&E waits without fixing the problems in social care to create the capacity needed to get people seen on time. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats fought for more money for social care in the budget and back a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.
Carmichael calls for government response following shipping collision
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has said that a shipping collision off the coast of North-East England today must be “a spur for stronger regulation” against unsafe behaviour by tankers, including in the waters around the Northern Isles. Mr Carmichael noted local complaints about tankers sheltering in areas off the coast of Shetland in particular, despite these being marked as “areas to be avoided” for such vessels.
The incident occurred before 10:00 GMT, with the Stena Immaculate tanker apparently hit while at anchor by the container ship Solong, according to BBC analysis of tracking data.
Thirty-six people have been brought ashore after a cargo vessel collided with an oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast. One of the 14 crew members on the Solong cargo ship is missing according to the owner, though the coastguard has not yet confirmed if anyone is still missing.
It has also emerged that the cargo ship involved was carrying 15 containers of the toxic chemical sodium cyanide, while the tanker was carrying jet fuel for the US government, some of which is spilling into the North Sea.
Mr Carmichael said:
What we are seeing off the north-east coast of England is a graphic reminder – if it were needed – of what can go wrong when shipping vessels collide. We do not yet know exactly what has caused this collision but the consequences are already plain to see.
It should be a reminder in particular of the serious risks being taken by tankers anchoring near to the Northern Isles in zones which are supposed to be understood as ‘Areas to be Avoided’. Our history is already marred by destructive examples of ships going to ground so we know more than most about the harm that can come from these events. It is a danger to human, animal and plant life alike.
What has happened off the English coast with the Stena Immaculate and the Solong could very easily happen in our waters if the authorities do not take this as a spur for stronger regulation and to be stricter with vessels acting outside of the limits. We cannot afford another Braer in our waters.
1,065 drugs deaths last year
Responding to new Police Scotland figures showing that there were 1,065 suspected drug deaths between January and December 2024, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:
It is a national tragedy that so many lives are still being claimed by Scotland’s drugs emergency.
We need to do everything we can to stop people dying. I am proud that in the recent budget my party secured additional money for drug and alcohol services.
As a former youth worker, I was also pleased to secure support for a new facility for mothers and their babies born addicted to drugs. I know how important it is that people don’t start out on the wrong path. But there is still much more to do.
Alongside support for alcohol and drug partnerships, Liberal Democrats want to see the Scottish Government rolling out a nationwide network of safe consumption rooms, new drug checking facilities and giving people who are misusing drugs treatment instead of prison.
Vacancies in majority of care homes and care at home services
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called on the SNP Government to finally invest in care services and staff after a new report found that there are staff vacancies in almost three quarters of care homes and two thirds of care at homes services across Scotland.
A report by the Care Inspectorate and Scottish Social Services Council found that in 2023:
- 74% of care homes for older people were reporting vacancies.
- 68% of care homes for adults were reporting vacancies.
- 67% of care at home services were reporting vacancies.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
Care services are stretched to breaking point. Vacancies are rife, meaning more and more demand will simply not be met.
The SNP Government wasted four years and £30 million attempting a bureaucratic takeover of social care that was never going to fix core problems. Now they have finally ditched their plans, it’s time to finally invest in the staff and services who need help now.
Only Scottish Liberal Democrats have a plan to fix the crisis by introducing a new minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher. That’s how we can people care at home or in the community, free up space in hospitals and help everyone get seen faster.
Rennie responds to Dundee University news
Responding to the news that Dundee University is to cut 632 jobs, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said:
This is devastating news for the workforce at the University of Dundee who now face profound uncertainty. It is also a devastating blow to the wider economy of Tayside and Fife.
There have clearly been some reckless decisions taken by the University of Dundee leadership, but this situation also reflects the underlying Scottish Government funding model.
That’s why we need an urgent review of funding arrangements to prevent further crisis in Scotland’s universities.