Ambulance shift changes create jobs

Changes to ambulance staff working hours will result in the creation of 150 new jobs in the Scottish service, the Health Secretary has told MSPs.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that a deal has been struck with Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) workers to resolve the issue of rest breaks.

Up until now, ambulance crews took unpaid rest breaks, during which the control room did not contact them.

But recent controversies - such as the death of Mandy Mathieson, 33, who had a cardiac arrest in Tomintoul, Moray, in 2010 - brought the policy into focus.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that a
new staffing deal has been struck with ambulance crews

An ambulance technician was on a meal break and did not attend the emergency even though he was stationed near her home.

Ms Sturgeon outlined details of the new deal, agreed by SAS management and trade unions earlier this week, when she delivered a statement to MSPs in Holyrood today.

She said: "I am pleased to say that a long term solution - that protects patient safety and also supports ambulance service staff - has been agreed."

However, Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie raised concerns that the deal may still have implications for patient safety, and called for an "urgent independent review" of the way emergency ambulance calls are categorised.

Under the new plans, staff will move to a 37.5-hour paid week inclusive of rest periods, and will be required to attend emergency calls throughout their shift period.

Previously staff were rostered for 40 hours per week, paid for 37.5 hours and entitled to 2.5 hours of unpaid rest periods. Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would invest £5 million in providing 150 front-line jobs to support the changes.

UNCERTAINTY 'HARMING SCOTS ECONOMY'

Uncertainty about Scotland's future in the United Kingdom is having a damaging effect on its economy, David Cameron has warned.

Chancellor George Osborne briefed the Cabinet on the feedback he and the Prime Minister have received in private talks with major companies who said the prospect of a referendum on Scottish independence was having an impact on their decisions and may be deterring inward investment.

The Government is expected to publish proposals within days, which could involve offering the Scottish Parliament a legally binding poll, to be held within 18 months, on the yes-or-no question of whether Scotland should remain part of the UK.

Mr Cameron declined to spell out the details of his plan, but said it would allow a "fair, legal and decisive" resolution to the uncertainty.

But his intervention was greeted with anger by the Scottish National Party administration in Edinburgh, which accused London of trying to interfere in a matter which should be settled north of the border.

SNP leader Alex Salmond is understood to favour a referendum in 2014 - possibly on the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn - and wants to retain control over the wording of the question on the ballot paper. He has not ruled out including a third "devo-max" option, which would see Scotland stay in the UK but gain more power over its own affairs.

Mr Cameron denied trying to "dictate" the terms of the referendum from Westminster, and insisted it will be for people in Scotland to decide whether they stay in the Union.

"I want the United Kingdom to stay together," the PM told Sky News. "It is a fantastically successful partnership. I think Scotland and England are better off in the United Kingdom.

"But we can't stand in the way of a part of the UK if it wants to ask the question 'Are we better off outside it?' We can't stand in the way of that, but what I think the Scottish people deserve is a fair, clear and decisive question.

"We have to have legal clarity over who is responsible for this decision. Is it the Westminster Parliament or is it the Scottish Parliament? We will be setting out the legal position and trying to find a way through."

The Scotland Act of 1998, which ushered in devolution, reserved constitutional matters for the Westminster Parliament, and it is thought that a referendum called by Holyrood could be open to legal challenge.

Advice received by ministers on the legal implications of a referendum will be published alongside the Government's proposals in the next few days.

Mr Cameron said: "We are not going to dictate on this. We have first of all got to resolve this legal uncertainty and then try to work with the Scottish Government and make sure there is a fair, clear and decisive outcome."

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon denounced the move as "a blatant attempt to interfere in the decision that is really one for the Scottish Government in terms of the timing of the referendum and for the Scottish people in terms of the outcome".

She added: "We were elected on the basis of our commitment to have a referendum in the second half of this parliamentary term. This is about Westminster seeking to interfere."

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said that any attempt by Westminster politicians to dictate the terms or format of the referendum would only fuel demands for independence.

"The more the UK Government interferes with this process, then the stronger support for independence will become, and we've seen that trend under way since the election," said the spokesman.

"The days of Westminster determining what happens in Scotland are over.

"We'll bring forward our proposals, we'll stick to what we said we would do in the election."

Mr Cameron warned that delay in resolving the independence issue was damaging to Scotland's economy.

"If Alex Salmond wants a referendum on independence, why do we wait until 2014?" he asked.

"This is very damaging for Scotland because all the time businesses are asking 'Is Scotland going to stay part of the UK? Are they going to stay together? Should I invest?'

"We are beginning to see companies asking those questions so I think it is rational to put to the Scottish people, would it be better to have a more fair and decisive question put earlier?"

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said: "We want the referendum to be held as quickly as possible and we want it to be run in Scotland."

If the Prime Minister's proposals "help there to be a quick, clear and decisive referendum result, we would welcome them", she added.

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: "The damage to Scotland's economy is coming from the disastrous policies of the Tory/Lib Dem Westminster Government - which is why the UK Government should be amending the Scotland Bill to give the Scottish Parliament the economic and financial powers so that we can boost growth, recovery, and jobs.

"We already know that the Chancellor has been lobbied by his own Tory Party colleagues in the north of England who are complaining about the level of inward investment that is coming to SNP-run Scotland, and want him to do something to stop it.

"Mr Osborne has not got a shred of evidence for his scaremongering about the referendum.

"In stark contrast, the reality is that business at home and abroad are voting with their feet with full confidence in Scotland's future by making huge investments here. In recent months, Avaloq, Dell, Gamesa, Amazon, Doosan Power Systems and Michelin, to name just a few, have invested in Scotland - and with the full financial and economic powers of independence we can achieve even more.

"Scotland's leading business person and entrepreneur, Jim McColl, has said that many people in business are convinced that a productive and prosperous future for Scotland depends on securing real economic powers for the parliament through constitutional change.

"And the director general of the Institute of Directors, Simon Walker, said he is 'relaxed' about the possibility of Scotland becoming independent."


PA 2012

SALMOND ASKED TO BACK JOBS DRIVE

First Minister Alex Salmond was urged to "put his pride aside" and join forces with the UK Government to tackle youth unemployment.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Holyrood and Westminster needed to work together as he made the plea to the Nationalist leader.

Mr Clegg says Westminster and Holyrood Parliaments should work closer together.

Mr Clegg was in Scotland to promote the UK Government's £1 billion scheme to deal with the problem.

But he said the SNP administration had initially dismissed the Youth Contract, which aims to find at least 410,000 work places for 18 to 24-year-olds across the UK, with wage subsidies worth £2,275 handed to employers to take on 160,000 young people.

The DPM say that Scotland's First Minister should "put his pride aside"

The initiative, which gets under way in April, will also create additional work experience places while £50 million will be spent on helping 16 and 17-year olds into training.

The Government says the programme will see £100 million of benefit to Scotland, £18 million of which will go to the Scottish Government over three years.

Mr Clegg, meeting apprentices at double-glazing firm CR Smith's Dunfermline headquarters, said the initiative "provides hope, which is the most precious thing of all, to young people at the moment who are unemployed".

But he said that when the scheme was announced in November, the SNP's initial reaction had been a "very breezy dismissal".

He added: "I thought it was a very cavalier, careless immediate response to something which is really serious - I can't think of anything more serious than the future of our young people in Scotland and elsewhere."

But he said since then the Scottish Government had appointed Angela Constance to the new role of youth employment minister, and he now believed there had been "some indications that Scotland will play its part and put up its side of the bargain to make sure the youth contract works in Scotland just as well as it does in other parts of the UK".

The Liberal Democrat leader stressed: "It's very important we work in full co-operation with the Scottish Government.

"I know Alex Salmond and the SNP were very dismissive when it was first announced, I hope they have now looked at the details a bit more and are prepared to work with us co-operatively.

"I know Alex Salmond never likes to give credit for good ideas which are not his own, but I think it would be a good thing for the young people of Scotland if he could put his pride aside and work with us to give those opportunities, from April, to every single young person in Scotland who, at the moment, is sitting at home feeling a bit lost, a bit cut off, feeling demoralised, just at the time in their life when they should be full of optimism and hope."

CR Smith chairman Gerard Eadie hailed the Youth Contract as a "welcome step forward".

Mr Eadie says Youth contracts are a "welcome step forward"

Mr Eadie said: "It is the first initiative to truly recognise that it is employers that create jobs, not colleges or even government."

He recalled that as a 16-year-old school leaver he had started his career with an apprenticeship and added: "By the time I was 20 it had also given me my entry into business and means to start my own company. I've never doubted the good that it did me."

Mr Eadie argued apprenticeships were "crucial for future growth". He added: "We need a new army of tradesmen to help us out of our current stagnant economy."

A spokesman for the First Minister said: "The Deputy Prime Minister is entirely wrong - as the First Minister has made clear on several occasions, the Scottish Government is fully committed to working with Westminster to tackle youth unemployment in Scotland.

"While youth employment is higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK - 61.9% compared to 57.8% - and a third of unemployed young Scots are also in full-time education, youth unemployment in Scotland is a hugely serious problem.

"We announced the appointment of Scotland's first dedicated minister for youth employment last year - the only such government position in any of the UK administrations - backed up with £30 million of new resources, which represents an additional £12 million on top of the £18 million Barnett consequentials from Westminster.

"This is in addition to our existing initiatives - such as the 'Opportunities for All' programme to guarantee a training or learning place to all 16-19 year-olds, and the record 25,000 Modern Apprenticeship places being provided in each year of this parliament."



PA 2012