Response times for emergency services are a critical issue affecting communities. This video features a discussion about the performance of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and the factors influencing their ability to respond quickly to incidents. Gain insights into the challenges and strategies involved in maintaining effective fire and rescue operations.
The conversation explores resource allocation, geographical considerations, and the impact of various incidents on overall response times. Discover how the SFRS adapts to meet the diverse needs of Scotland's communities, from urban centers to remote rural areas. Understand the ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and ensure public safety.
00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Monday.
00:05My name is Dale Miller.
00:06I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by political correspondent
00:09Rachel Amery.
00:11Rachel, we've got a tremendous looking weekend story in terms of the weather,
00:15but there is plenty happening still on the news agenda despite recess here
00:20at Holyrood.
00:21Just to pull up the front page of today's paper, and we led on a story,
00:26the 999 response times hit by savage cuts to the fire service.
00:31Criticism of S&P cuts in relation to this story, but effectively over the past decade,
00:38figures showing that the response time for emergencies from the fire service
00:43has been gradually creeping up from just over six minutes in 2014 to just over eight minutes
00:50or about eight and a half minutes as the median.
00:53Concern about those delays and what it means in terms of the critical risk to life
00:59and obviously the damage that can be caused by any delays in getting firefighters out
01:05to major blazers and other incidents.
01:08You can read that story at scotsman.com and a terrific photo there of Cam Norrie
01:13who pushed into the quarterfinals with a terrific five-set win, albeit he plays
01:19against Carlos Alcoraz in the next round, which is going to be an incredibly difficult match-up.
01:26Rachel, you've been reporting on another political story this morning,
01:32UK Health Minister or Health Secretary, West Street, and taking a bit of a pop at John Swinn.
01:37Yes, it's always one of these things where we get to recess.
01:40We start to see a lot more of these sort of spats happening
01:43because we're obviously trying to fill the news agenda at the moment.
01:48So this is all down to the NHS app.
01:50So there is an app coming in Scotland.
01:52It's coming at the end of the year, but it's going to be very limited.
01:55It's going to be limited to dermatology patients in Lanarkshire only,
01:58and the app will pretty much only be to check up on their appointments,
02:01get notifications about their appointments, that kind of thing.
02:03So it's quite limited and restricted in scope.
02:06Now, if you look at NHS England, for example, they have had an app for a number of years.
02:09I think about 35 million people use this app in England.
02:13And recently, the UK government has said that they have big plans to basically increase it a bit more,
02:19give more advice on the app, have more ability to book and check appointments on the app, for example.
02:24So if you look at the two apps separately, there is a wee bit of a difference there.
02:27And this is what West Streeting, the UK Health Secretary, is trying to point out.
02:31And the criticism that he is having is that John Swinney is an analogue politician in a digital age.
02:37That is something that Scottish Labour has accused John Swinney and the SNP government of before.
02:42And West Streeting in his complaints was having a bit of a reference back to that,
02:46saying that we should be trusting Scottish Labour leader Anna Sarbar to replace him in the next Scottish Parliament election.
02:52So, yes, it's an argument about NHS apps, it's an argument between different governments,
02:56but ultimately it is a chance for the Labour government in Westminster to showcase why Scots should vote Labour at a holiday election next year.
03:05So it's all down to electioneering, really, when you look down at it properly.
03:09Right, Joel, on a practical term, though, comparing the apps, and we've covered this a little bit before,
03:14so a lot of people watching this will be familiar with it.
03:17It hits 8.30, you need to get on the phone or even go in person to your health service or your GP to try and get a booking on the day.
03:26It can be incredibly difficult.
03:28You can have to call multiple times, whereas the app in England is getting to the point where you've got the functionality
03:34where you can book GP appointments via the app, which seems attractive on paper.
03:39Now, does the UK Labour government have a point here because that functionality in the app is not going to be here when it launches?
03:49I think when you look at both apps, they probably are quite far behind what we're seeing technology-wise in the private sector.
03:56Even just looking at simple things like banking apps, for example, they can become very sophisticated.
04:00So you're seeing a lot of things lagging behind.
04:02There's been complaints as well about local authority services, for example, should there be more technology used there?
04:08So I think it's an across-the-board kind of thing, and it's probably something that both governments need to really be on top of at the moment,
04:15particularly with the rise of AI.
04:16So the UK government, for example, is saying that they're wanting to try and use AI in their app, for example, moving forward.
04:22So lots of questions right now about what both governments do.
04:25But I think both governments have a problem with slightly falling behind the private sector when it comes to technology here.
04:31And talking about electioneering, you've been doing a bit of forward-looking ahead to next year's election.
04:39It's never too early for these things because we're starting to get an idea of who the likely candidates for constituencies will be.
04:46We know some of the battles, like Fergus Ewing, will be involved as an independent.
04:51But you've been looking at smallest and biggest majorities, effectively.
04:55Just tell us about a couple of the interesting seats that we can keep it on.
05:00Yeah, if you look at the largest majority, it's probably not surprising because most of the constituency MSPs in Holyrood are SNP.
05:08So it's not a surprise that when you look at the largest majorities, they are all people who won as SNP candidates.
05:15Kate Forbes, now she has the largest majority up in Skylchabr and Badenoch.
05:18And the Lib Dems are saying that they want to win this seat.
05:22They are quite confident they have a historic fan base in that area.
05:26But we look at Kate Forbes' majority, it's over 15,000.
05:30It's a massive majority.
05:32So unlikely that the Lib Dems are going to be able to make much of a dent in there.
05:36So other big majorities as well.
05:38You've seen Jenny Gilruth down in Fife, for example.
05:40She is a very large majority.
05:42Both Dundee seats for the SNP have large majorities too.
05:45So quite interesting to look at that.
05:46Perhaps what's more interesting is the smallest majorities.
05:50The smallest majority is only 170, and that is in Ayr.
05:55So this is the Community Safety Minister, Siobhan Brown.
05:58She only has a very, very, very tight majority.
06:01So going into this next election, Ayr is probably one of the seats you want to keep a very close eye on.
06:06The other one with a very small majority is the Banff on Buckingham Coast.
06:09Karen Adam has got, I can't remember exactly how many it is, but it is a three-figure majority.
06:14It is very, very small.
06:16And what's quite interesting is Gordon and Buckingham in the Westminster election last year went to the Conservatives, one of the very few seats in Scotland to do so.
06:24So those two seats in particular are ones that I think people will really want to keep an eye on to see what happens when it comes to majorities.
06:30But a few other seats are interesting too.
06:34Both Dundee seats I think will be interesting because you've got Joe Fitzpatrick and Shona Robinson, two huge figures in the SNP who are standing down from Hollywood after many, many years.
06:43Both have massive majorities.
06:45Dundee, of course, is Yes City.
06:46It's one of the few places to vote Yes in the 2014 independence referendum.
06:50So whatever happens there is going to be very, very interesting, I think.
06:53You mentioned Fergus Hewing there, Inverness and Nairn, a very interesting seat to watch as well.
06:59The SNP have got Emma Roddick as their candidate.
07:01Now she is currently an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has previously been a government minister as well.
07:07And she's already putting out a lot of pieces in newspapers about why people should vote for her rather than Fergus Hewing.
07:13That's because Fergus Hewing has announced that he will be standing in that constituency again, albeit as an independent candidate.
07:20So he's got a very comfortable majority.
07:22He's been in that seat for years and years and years.
07:26Can he hold on to it without the SNP name behind him?
07:28That's going to be a really interesting one to watch as well.
07:31And Rachel, am I right in saying Jackie Bailey, the Labour deputy, a Scottish Labour deputy later, doesn't have a massive majority either?
07:38Yeah, it's not a massive majority. It's only about 1000 and something.
07:42So it is quite small on the grand scale of things.
07:44When you look at Kate Forbes on 15 and it's odd, you see Jackie Bailey, the equivalent in her party as deputy leader is a bit smaller, of course.
07:55She has been the MSP in Dumbarton.
07:58I want to say since devolution, it's certainly been a very, very long time.
08:02So she does have that staying power, which she will have behind her.
08:05She's a very well-known name. Same time, though, as a very small majority, anything could happen moving forward.
08:11So that is probably another one to keep an eye out for.
08:15And let's just remember that in 2021, Labour only won two constituency seats.
08:20Jackie Bailey was one of them.
08:22And we're very keen to make sure they can hold on to that when it comes to 2026.
08:25You can read the packages that Rachel's done around smallest and biggest majorities at scotsman.com.
08:32If you ever can't find any of the coverage, just look for the politics tab in the navigation bar.
08:38You can read the story about the row between West Streeting and John Sweeney, certainly in one direction at the moment at scotsman.com as well.
08:47So, Rachel, thank you for joining us.
08:50For everyone else, pick up a copy of the Scotsman in Print tomorrow, and you'll get all the latest politics here in Scotland, more widely broad in the UK and beyond.
