Fy ffé ydw i ddim yn wedi bod available d ceniwyd o gweld y ffordd bynnag. Yn pinc i ffordd generell yna'r lle tanbeiddi. amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau a'r amoliadau ar y sylwetheidau. Felly, chi'n hoffa fyddio amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau amoliadau... efallas mae e'n yst iddynt phraes ym mhagoedd sy'n dweudau i mwy nesaf, mae efallai i amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau i mwy rhaid efallas eu 빠b o'r argyffennu. Roedd mae'n bryd o'r ffordd ddiddordeb i amoliadau i amoliadau a'r amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau i amoliadau i. Social isolation is about the quality and the quantity of social relations a person has. Loneliness is a subjective but important feeling based on a person's perception of their social connections and both matter. Before I go much further, I want to commend the important work taken forward by the Equal Opportunities Committee in this previous Parliament into age and social isolation, the first of its kind, at least in the UK if not further afield. Will the minister, along with myself, welcome the appointment of a UK Government minister to lead on loneliness for the United Kingdom? Thank you very much and thank you for raising that. I welcome that appointment and have written to the minister, Tracy Crouch, congratulating her on her appointment and offering to work with her and share our draft strategy. The Equal Opportunities Committee in the previous Parliament, which I was speaking about, had as its first recommendation that the Scottish Government should develop a national strategy to tackle social isolation. There have of course been other important developments since then, not least the one that Ms Wells herself mentioned, but also members will be aware that before her death Joe Cox established a commission on loneliness. She recognised it as an important human issue, one that does not discriminate and, in her words, is everyone's business. Following her tragic death, her parliamentary colleagues have taken this work forward and late last year the commission published a call for action for Governments to show national leadership in this area. Last year I was privileged to meet Brendan Cox to discuss our work and theirs and I am grateful for the commission's support and encouragement for the leadership that we and I hope from today this Parliament is showing. On Tuesday I was proud and pleased to take an important step when I launched the draft of our national strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness at Connected Scotland. In it we aim to articulate a vision of the kind of Scotland we need to build, one where community connections are increased and everyone feels able and encouraged to participate as they want to. I visited the hidden gardens in Glasgow, a fantastic example of a community-based project supporting people to connect socially, community-driven work that is absolutely vital if we are to see change. All the evidence tells us that this is an important issue that we need to address. The campaign to end loneliness review highlights that loneliness has comparable impacts on our health to smoking and obesity. Age Scotland has pointed out that it can increase the risk of mortality by 10 per cent. It has been identified as a serious public health issue by the Mental Health Foundation, Age UK and many others. Further evidence tells us that being lonely or socially isolated can lead to depression and contribute to an increased risk of dementia. Age UK suggests that 8 out of 10 carers feel lonely or isolated, and in the first half of 2016 31 per cent of callers to Silverline Scotland identified loneliness in how they were feeling. The Go Well study in deprived areas in Glasgow found that just over 31 per cent of working-age adults who were disabled or suffering long-term health conditions were frequently lonely and that 17 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women in those areas reported frequent loneliness. Childline figures for 2016-17 reported a large number of counselling sessions focusing on loneliness, with the majority of those being with girls. We know the significant physical and mental health impacts and we know that particular groups, carers, those living in poverty, young mothers, those in poor health, disabled people, the bereaved, our LGBTI community and those in our ethnic minority communities, all face an increased risk of suffering from social isolation and loneliness. But, Presiding Officer, above all, this is an issue that touches each one of us. It may be something that we ourselves have experienced and it is more than likely that each one of us know of someone or worry about someone who is right now feeling lonely or isolated. So, there can be no one-size-fits-all approach, nor is it a problem that can be legislated away or fixed with a single initiative. As a Government, we have already taken important steps. Our Community Empowerment Act strengthens the voices of communities in decisions that matter and has the ambition for truly meaningful local decision making through the decentralisation of power. We have invested significant resources in supporting local community-based projects. Last year, our £0.5 million social isolation and loneliness fund demonstrated that small grassroots initiatives can have a profoundly positive impact on the number of social connections a person has. But this is about more than just money. It is about what all of us can do to build a more connected, cohesive and connected society.  It takes away whatever confidence you had and makes you retreat from the social connections so vital to our wellbeing. Recent work by the Carnegie Trust identified that kindness can go a long way to reducing social isolation and loneliness. This work has kickstarted a real conversation about the role kindness can play. I want to ensure that our approach to tackling this matter is informed by those conversations. With so much of what we as a Government need and want to do, tackling social isolation is not the responsibility of one part of our work, it is a collective responsibility across Government. We will continue to promote positive health and wellbeing and support the development of strong and positive relationships by giving our children and young people the best start in life. We will continue to tackle poverty and inequality through the 50 concrete actions of our Fairer Scotland action plan and continue to support and recognise the key role played by the third sector and volunteers in our society. We will continue to ensure that our places and spaces encourage people to get out and about and able to shape their own environments. We know that accessible public transport is vital to people being able to remain socially active, particularly in rural areas, so the transport bill that we will bring forward will aim to give people access to the best possible services. Because we know that people can undoubtedly connect through the tremendous national asset of Scotland's rich culture and heritage, we will seek to reflect the importance of that in our cultural strategy. We will continue to invest in our country's national digital infrastructure to ensure that people can connect beyond their local communities. We are already doing a great deal already, and it is right that we see how each part of the work that I have mentioned and more can contribute to the task at hand. We have an important role to play as Government and leadership to show, but the real impact will come by working together. National and local government, of course, but working with and listening to our communities, our neighbourhoods, our third sector organisations and our businesses, a partnership that harnesses and values our collective expertise and experiences. The draft strategy rightly emphasises that people and communities have a central role in building and maintaining social connections and supporting those who may be socially isolated. Our role, the role of government, is to create the conditions that allow the ideas and initiatives that grow from communities to flourish. It is an approach that involves everyone because we need everyone. It is not top down and it is not ground up, but it is working together. The solutions lie in our communities. Each one of us knows of a local activity or initiative that works because it goes with the grain of that community. We know of work that is not directly focused on tackling loneliness, but by bringing people together for one purpose, increases and reinforces the social relationships that we all need. Last night, I heard of an NHS-driven initiative to help older people exercise to reduce the likelihood of falls and increase their bodies' capacity to recover from a fall. That initiative also provides real lived evidence that its work reduces feelings of loneliness and improves mental health among those who go along. Or the men's shed that draws in a disparate group of individuals who discover talents that they did not know they had and shared interests that would have gone unknown, but for that locally devised and locally driven opportunity. Who, on Tuesday, took the opportunity to make sure that I knew that they felt as individuals less lonely and more connected. Governments do not do that, people do. Our job in government and across the chamber is to recognise that and use our resources and our powers to support and encourage that work. Regardless of our political differences, recognise that, on that issue, the challenge for us all is to show collective leadership. I want us to ask ourselves four questions. What needs to change in communities to reduce isolation and loneliness and increase social connections? Who can play their part and what can they do more or less of? What do we, as a Government, need to do to empower and create the conditions for positive change? And what can I do, a question that each of us should ask ourselves in my own community to tackle loneliness and social isolation? The draft strategy sets out the work that is already happening and is led by government, the third sector and local communities. It sets out the evidence behind the issue and the information to increase our understanding. But above all, the draft strategy invites all of us, our stakeholders and the communities of Scotland that we serve, to start a dialogue that is open and co-operative. One that listens and focuses on the task at hand and on the concrete steps that we can all take to tackle and reduce loneliness and social isolation. This draft strategy signals this Government's commitment to tackling social isolation and loneliness. It sets out our belief that we have to do more to empower communities to lead in this area and that our role is to create the conditions for change to happen and to lead by example. Building a connected and cohesive Scotland is everyone's business. I move the motion in my name. Thank you very much. I now call on Annie Wells to speak to you and move the motion in her name. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this vitally important debate on social isolation and loneliness. With 79 per cent of adults in Scotland experiencing loneliness, it is important that we get it right. We have seen with recent media coverage and support for continuing the legacy of Joe Cox real momentum is building, which is why I am pleased to see that the Scottish Government welcomes the appointment of the new minister and offering to share the draft strategy. I am greatly encouraged by a national strategy that seeks to tackle this issue, making it the responsibility of everyone from government down to local communities to make a real difference. I sincerely hope that we can go beyond party politics to help mould a genuinely effective strategy. As has become clear, social isolation has become a prevalent public health issue. We are increasingly independent and transient. We are living increasingly independent and transient lives, and largely gone are the days of three generations living under the same roof, and individuals staying in the same villages, towns and cities for their entire lives. More people than ever are going to university, moving away from their hometowns and setting up a new life away from parents. Instead of the career ladder, we now speak of the career jungle gym, where young people move from job to job as they connect the dots of an eclectic career path, and increasingly technology has replaced face-to-face contact, from catching up with our friends on WhatsApp to using self-service check-outs. We are more likely to be on our own, and whilst being alone does not always mean you are lonely, it is important that we account for this societal change. Further to this, we are becoming even more aware of how groups such as carers, young new mums and those in the LGBT community, for example, are disproportionately affected, something that should be built into the strategy. Long-term cultural change is therefore key, and that is something that can be achieved through both government and individual action. I am pleased that the draft strategy picks up on the need to focus on grassroots action and letting communities lead, as I have been lucky enough to see first hand some of the great initiatives that are out there. When I visited the food train last year, it was the wider benefits of that charity, the charity provided that struck me the most. Through delivering food shopping to people's homes, volunteers went above and beyond their core duties to provide the friendship and vital human contact that we all need. Visiting Contact The Elderly, a charity that organises monthly tea parties for older people, some who may live alone, I realised just how simple yet effective volunteer efforts can be. At a tea party in Glasgow, I was pleasantly surprised by the mix of ages, as volunteer drivers and guests came together, taking a few hours out their day simply just to chat. What those initiatives showed me was that simplicity can sometimes be key and that those volunteering got as much out of helping others as those who were helping. From examples in the media, it also became apparent that thinking outside the box is increasingly effective at combating social isolation and loneliness. Only this week in the newspapers, we saw a story of a London student moving in with a 95-year-old pensioner and what has turned out to be an arrangement benefiting both of them, both financially and more importantly, in providing that companionship. It's a simple idea that could be systematically promoted within universities or companies perhaps that have a lot of younger interns who can't afford city rental prices. Those indeed feed into the premise that intergenerational work is important in creating connections and to use a phrase coined by Age UK Scotland and the Mental Health Foundation is about treating older people as assets to the community. Many people were impressed, as was I, by the recent Channel 4 Age UK trial where a nursery age kid set up a classroom in a retirement home in Bristol and in the same vein I'd like to put forward an idea of a PEMPAL system within some schools whereby young people can write to older people who perhaps because of living in rural settings are hindered by the lack of transport and befriending services. We know that there are huge, wider benefits to tackling this issue. Physically and mental health is intrinsically linked with loneliness as well as it being thought that it increases the likelihood of mortality by 10 per cent. There are proven links between loneliness and higher dementia rates for older people and research has found that people who are lonely are more likely to have high blood pressure, poor sleep and depression. Evidence points to people reporting to GPs and A&Es when the root cause of their problem is loneliness so I would like to see the Scottish Government being systematic in its approach to sign towards the appropriate support where we know lonely people might first seek help. I appreciate the strategy's mention of social prescribing but beyond research and its impact I would like to know more about how social prescribing will become part and parcel of the health service response to loneliness something that will provide the foundation and structure to tie together the initiatives out there and promote them in a systematic way. The Royal College of GPs found that patients were more likely to make contact with a group if they received clear information. At the start of its improving links on primary care projects it found that 50 per cent of patients accepted the recommendation of sign posting to a local resource but that has increased to 80 per cent six months after the end of the project. Trial projects such as that in North Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire whereby GPs in the pride areas refer patients to linked workers to explain to them what services are available locally have shown to work very successfully. As well as an update on how many of the 250 community linked workers the Scottish Government committed to recruit by the end of the parliamentary session how many have been recruited so far. I'd like to ask the minister how he will set about creating a joined up approach using resources such as the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and I'd also like to ask how it intends to monitor and select pilot projects in local communities which can be recommended as models to use elsewhere. I want also to make a final ask for the creation of a Scotland-specific national day dedicated to this issue. We all have a responsibility to play in preventing social isolation and loneliness but this would be supported by a national awareness of what's out there and what individuals can do in their communities to make a difference. And a final point I'd like to make is the need again for a systematic assessment of how any future strategy would work, something that I have alluded to in my amendment. I don't wish for us just to mean well, I want us to do well and for this we need to find concrete ways of measuring and monitoring progress and I appreciate the strategy does contain a draft framework but this would be undoubtedly strengthened by referencing exactly how levels of loneliness and isolation will be measured as well as a national indicator committing to reducing isolation and loneliness To finish today I would like to reiterate my support for the draft strategy as we look to build on the legacy of people like Joe Cox. This is an important step forward from the Scottish Government as we look to tackle an issue that is becoming more and more prevalent across our communities that we represent. And only by doing that will we give ourselves the best chance of succeeding in the longer term, preventing social isolation and loneliness as the responsibility of us all and I look forward to working together to build a strategy addressing that vital issue in the coming months. I move to the amendment in my name. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'll call on Monica Lennon to speak to and move amendment 9927.3 in her name. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to open today's debate for Scottish Labour because a national strategy to combat social isolation and loneliness is very welcome. Scottish Labour committed to establishing a national loneliness strategy in our 2016 manifesto. We are fully committed to working with the Scottish Government in order to make sure that it is a success. I congratulate the minister for her leadership on this issue so far. As the minister said, social isolation and loneliness can affect any of us at any stage of our lives which is why it is so important that we develop this national strategy which will look at how we can work collaboratively both across government, Parliament and indeed with external partners to combat this. I would like to thank the minister and Annie Wells for their recognition of our friends Joe and Brendan Cox. I would also like to thank the many organisations who have provided helpful briefings for today's debate including, and I don't want to forget anyone, the Mental Health Foundation, Age Scotland, the Red Cross, the Corp of Party, of which I am a member of, and Marie Curie and Lawntree Health Scotland. There is clear recognition across specific Scotland that loneliness is a growing problem and that it is in all of our interest to try and grapple with this. The Joe Cox commission on loneliness carried out a year-long study which found that 9 million people across the UK are lonely with a health consequence of £32 billion to the economy every year. We have heard some of the evidence including that loneliness can be as harmful to health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. I find that quite hard to believe. So not only does it create a huge burden on our public service, is it unacceptable social inequality, which must be eradicated? That is why my colleague David Stewart, who is our new Shadow Minister for Health, is closing the debate today because we see that need to work across our policy areas. That strategy is an opportunity to consider how government can show leadership working with other partners to consider how we can take preventative action, which reduces social isolation, yes, and by extension prevents people from experiencing loneliness where possible. We have heard that loneliness affects people of all ages, and, although it is often thought of as a problem that affects older people, recent research from the mental health foundation shows that loneliness is having a negative impact on the mental health of tens of thousands of young people too. With 2018 being the year of the young person and the government also committed to a strategy on child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing in addition to the on-going education governance review, I hope that this social isolation strategy will contain actions that reflect the work that is on-going across the government in tackling this issue, specifically with regard to prioritising good mental health and providing access to school-based counselling at the heart of the education system. I welcome the commitment in the consultation that ultimately we want to let communities lead and I am particularly struck by the sentiment in the Liberal Democrats amendment, particularly on the role that people can play in place making. I think that it is very timely given the Government's planning bill is very much in everyone's minds. I agree that change does happen from the ground up and tackling a complex problem like loneliness is not something that we can be solved by any one policy document or a directive from Edinburgh. We agree that we all have to play our part in combating loneliness. That is why the amendment in my name today to the motion is on the importance that local government has to play in delivering community services. Local government is responsible for the delivery of many services that are vital to connecting people, whether that be day centres or social care services for older people, community transport links, social activities through access to community-run leisure facilities or funding to local voluntary groups. I think that it is very important that we are honest about the challenges facing all of those services and the impact that can have, particularly for older people. I fully agree with the sentiments in the draft strategy around the desire to empower communities and the important role the third sector has to play. We cannot have an honest conversation about how we will go about building cohesion in our communities without acknowledging that public sector budgets are being squeezed and the knock-on impact of that on third sector organisations reduces their capacity to achieve that. Community organisations are well placed to tackle loneliness, but they are at risk in places. In terms of some of the groups who are active, I have been thinking a lot about my own area in Central Scotland, including South Lanarkshire, Leet Poos, Lightburn, Elderlay, Association Project, and if the minister is not the chance to visit, I am sure that he would be pleased to host a visit. They specialise in reducing loneliness through befriending services to older people, but their budget, if such a case will go ahead, will be slashed by 15 per cent, and that is £8,000, so that will have an impact. In a previous debate on loneliness, I think that the member will take the intervention. I hear what she says about the draft budget at South Lanarkshire Council. Will Monica Lennon be encouraging her Labour colleagues on South Lanarkshire Council to engage with the current administration in the draft budget and be putting forward their proposals? Monica Lennon. I thank her for her intervention. I had a meeting with Councillor David McLaughlin, who led the Labour group last Friday, and I think that he has had a meeting with Councillor John Ross, who is the leader. I know that the leap is based in clear hockey's constituency, so she will also be concerned about the potential cut of £8,000. As I was saying, when we had a debate in Loneliness last year brought forward by my colleague Rhoda Grant, at that time I talked about the benefit of organizing the light leap and how we can celebrate them, and Covey, another organisation who is based in South Lanarkshire, provide befriending to young people. I volunteered myself when I was a student, so that was not yesterday. Annie Wells' points about the intergenerational links are really important. When I was a councillor in Hamilton, in Whitehill, we had an annual intergenerational lunch where the young people came and they cooked the food for us. We had an annual intergenerational lunch where the young people came and they cooked the food and joined the older people. We had the lunch together. I was not one of the older people. I think that I was somewhere in the middle, but you get the theme and there was entertainment. It brought everyone together, but these events are at risk if we do not invest in our local councils. I think that what we are getting at here is not just one word, we do need appropriate funding. The third sector cannot continue to fill in the gaps when core services are being cut back. We need to engage with the minister as she takes forward a consultation on this important strategy. Social isolation is a complex issue. Solving it requires not only leadership from the Government, but also active constructive participation from all parties. We are fully committed to doing that. I move the amendment in my name. Thank you very much. I am now calling Alex Croll-Hamilton to speak to and move amendment 9927.3 in his name. Thank you very much. Presiding Officer, I am very grateful to debate this issue and for the work that they have already undertaken in the construct of the strategy that we debate in part today. If I may say so, the timing of this is very well-pitched, coming as it does hot on the heels of the festive period, which, whilst is a bright and joyous collection of days for most, serves as a counterpoint to amplify the isolation endured by many. Nearly 80 per cent of our adult population have experienced loneliness. There is a stark reminder of the human condition. However, so much about our modern life precludes meaningful social interaction. A considerable amount of our lives are spent in virtual worlds of our own creation now. Whilst we are certainly active in many cases and informed, it is easy to spend much of that time in relative isolation. That isolation, as we have already heard, can impact massively on physical health with a heightened risk of cardiovascular problems and dementia. Loneliness and mental ill health have a causal and self-sustaining relationship. Given that one-quarter of all doctors' appointments have an underlying mental health issue at their root, that is a massive impact on the flow and functionality of our wider health service. I do not mean to do our country down, but I point to the fact that recent studies show that the vast majority of people in the communities that we all represent do not recognise the presence of a community spirit where they live. That is a worrying reality. It is something that we have seen underscored in the steady erosion of opportunities for and engagement in volunteering. We have heard a great deal about in the cross-party group on volunteering, which I am very proud to convene, but I am very grateful for the work of the Scottish Government in their efforts to draw volunteering through as a golden thread in all policy areas. How we construct the places where we live is key to turning all that around. The built environment is so important to establishing meaningful social cohesion in our society and to reducing social isolation, but the pressures of housing demand and the business models of developers mean that all too often we are building dormitories and not communities. Planning by increment has been such that the expansion of our urban landscape has been undertaken without much thought at all of place, thousands upon thousands of homes built, but with seldom a thought given to the creation of community hubs and communal activity for recreation. However, it is also in the maintenance of our existing towns and cities where we exacerbate this problem of isolation still further. I have told this chamber before, of the time that I chaired the Scottish Order of People's Assembly in this very room, and on asking them what their greatest concern was, I was shocked to learn that this was the fear of falling. Put simply, Deputy Presiding Officer, the fear of falling reduces the orbit of your world especially at this time of year. As we know, the icy weather just before Christmas brought with it a spike in fracture cases presenting at our A&E departments, but if you're in your 80s, already frail and don't have faith in the safety of pavements around you at the best of times, you're far more likely to stay at home. It's why I sought and won support from this chamber for the introduction of a comprehensive national falls strategy. I have been challenged at times by Government members and ministers who point me to the 2014 falls framework. I accept that that exists, but I say to them that it isn't working entirely. It doesn't stretch the provision of grit in our streets on icy days or handrails on our hills. It doesn't look to the even surfacing of our roads and pavements and it doesn't propose the training of non-NHS public sector staff in how to respond and offer assistance when somebody does fall. We need to work with our Scottish local authority partners to devise a national falls strategy which looks at risk of falling in every aspect of life. By doing so, we can reduce the strain on our NHS, improve social cohesion and most importantly, increase the size of the social universe in which our most frail and infirm constituents currently exist. Presiding Officer, the loneliness is not, of course, the preserve of the elderly. We have endured an adverse childhood experience and they will tell you how isolating, trauma, attachment disorder and loss can be, yet we still don't properly identify these young people that alone help them to fully recover. A weight of evidence shows us that these events cause so much difficulty for them in later life and loneliness is right up there. It's why Sir Harry Burns put this at the heart of his review on NHS targets. It is a theme picked up in the briefing that we all received in advance of this debate when they said that major life events which change someone's sense of self and their ability to connect with other people should be seen as moments of particular risk. We must therefore act on this call from the former chief medical officer and use the data already available to us to identify trauma early on so that those vulnerable young people receive access to trauma recovery at an early stage. We all act of befriending one of the most powerful antidotes to loneliness that there is for any age group yet we have seen many such services struggle with core funding in recent years. So I lend the support of these benches to calls from the third sector organisations for mainstream government support and assistance to sustain them into the long term. But we must look for an appropriate policy response to this issue wherever we may find it. To that end, I welcome the appointment of the UK Government by the UK Government of a Minister for Loneliness in Tracy Crouch that is the silver lining to an otherwise calamitous reshuffle but I would urge the Scottish Government to follow suit in that respect. Presiding Officer, people are often lonely in our communities in plain sight. They are all around us but seldom known to us yet their eyes are turned to this chamber for solutions not to let them down. So I move the amendment in my name. Thank you. Thank you. We now move to the open debate. Six minute speeches. I do have some time in hand so I can allow extra time for interventions. I call Kenneth Gibson to be followed by Jeremy Balfour. Thank you Presiding Officer. Produce a national strategy to tackle social isolation and loneliness will surely help in the battle against feelings of isolation and loneliness that afflict so many people feelings which impact on both physical and emotional wellbeing. I'm sure everyone in the chamber today can agree that when they imagine a better Scotland part of that vision features more connected communities which allow all members of society to build meaningful relationships and feel part of something greater. Most of us are probably experienced what the Government's consultation refers to as transient loneliness. A temporary state sometimes provoked when contact with friends and families or when feelings of isolation take root that can develop into a chronic condition which limits our ability to participate in society and enjoy life. Many people feel embarrassed to share such feelings even if, indeed, they have someone to share them with. Thanks to the work of organisations such as a campaign to end loneliness and the Jolcox Commission on Loneliness we are more aware than ever of the link between loneliness and poor mental health with lonely individuals increasingly prone to depression and even suicide. Ar lech chi'n gwybodaeth o gwneud y rhagleniol killersol yn y maes fywach i Lleidwydd Llywodraeth yn ddeif ei hir i'r ymddai gennym. Swn y peth o edrych i ni'n ei gweithio. 11 percent o fath yn y maes fywach i Lleidwydd Llywodraeth yn byw gynulleidol, 22 percent o fyw, ac yn hyn o bwysig i gweld tuadu sylfaith oedd yn cyhoiol ichi'n byw i'r gweithydd ynddol iawn. Rydyn ni'n byw i'r fywch i gyffredig o'r cynnig oedd yr hanffordd han Goldsmith ac yn cynraddiad ddechrau medieval social plays part 2, as research consistently indicates that the more time people spend online, the less they spend in the company of other human beings". Ysafodd canwys я parl만uddur sy'nırefgeidiau ar ini drog fel ornamentau should be on that matter. On that note, microlaratio, Sererog, wneud i ym mŵs Diwrsyn'd i behaves i diem Spitwll Arder achael través gyfodaeth o theidiau a do два �idd o erioedol voestr y wnddon searching, includes contacts for organisations ranging from aged scotland to eruck company to LGBT Youth Scotland. National and a Bold step forward, Scotland is a first UK nation and one of the first in the world to develop a national strategy to address this issue. Above all, local communities themselves are the key to identifying and protecting those at risk of becoming isolated, while Government can foster an environment where these communities are empowered to design and implement their own initiatives that meet their own particular needs. Community initiatives can come in all shapes and sizes and, of course, any group that comes together to learn a new skill or share an old pastime, helps to build those vital connections that make us feel more rooted in our communities. Sometimes befriending can be the specific goal of an initiative and sometimes it's just a happy consequence. An example of one such project exists in my constituency, Food Train North Ayrshire, which of course I raised at FMQs today. Some members may already be familiar with the excellent work that this charity does across Scotland. In North Ayrshire, the service provides weekly groceries to 170 older people through a network of 40 enthusiastic volunteers backed by two full-time employees. Not only does a food train provide a vital lifeline by delivering groceries to household and isolated older people, it also forms meaningful connections between the volunteers and those they serve. John Scott I think that Kenny Gibson has taken the intervention. He mentions Food Train, which is also piloted in South Ayrshire, where a pilot has now been suspended due to a lack of funding with the SNP council. I know that he is going to be speaking to the cabinet secretary about that, but will he also bring up the loss of the service to my constituents in the air and breast control room, please? Kenneth Gibson We actually had a brief discussion on that just after FMQs. At the time, I said that I would be happy to speak to the minister and I'm certainly happy to do that with regard to South Ayrshire, just as well as North Ayrshire. I urge members across the chamber to sign my motion on Food Train North Ayrshire, which is, as you will see, a completely non-partisan motion. The power of this kind of dependable relationship, where someone can go days at a time without company but has someone who can visit them and give news and chat and ensure that the recipient is okay, cannot be underestimated. However, as a Food Train North Ayrshire soon to be taken away by North Ayrshire Health and Social Care partnership, I certainly believe that this decision should be reversed before serious harm has caused the users who have come to rely upon its physical and emotional benefits. This year of young people is especially important to remember that loneliness is not just a problem limited to older members of society. In fact, to report by the Mental Health Foundation in 2010 found loneliness the most common between ages 18 and 34. Support for this age group has been deemed lacking by many campaigners, as they are mostly too old to access youth services and too young for initiatives aimed at younger people. Monica Lennon touched on that in her own speech. In particular, young disabled people, LGBT teens and those from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience social isolation. Chronic and persistent bullying can lead to intense loneliness, reduce self-esteem and social anxiety in later life. The new strategy ties in with the recently published national approach to anti-bullying and encourages an intergenerational approach to building connected communities. After all, every generation can learn from those that came before, and I am sure that Scotland's young people could teach us a few things or two, certainly in IT, that is for sure. There is no denying that austerity is forcing individuals and families into poverty across the UK, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that cuts in welfare spending will lead to a 10 per cent reduction and the incomes of the poorest 20 per cent of working families. Meanwhile, an additional 1 million children will be in relative poverty in the UK in 2020, as a direct result of cuts imposed since 2013. The Scottish Government is working hard to mitigate those cuts, and this strategy reaffirms its commitment to tackling poverty and inequality. However, when looking at both the causes and consequences of social isolation, there are several core areas where the Scottish Government can act. For example, recent studies have shown a definitive link between socioeconomic status and social isolation, with those living in poverty increasingly likely to experience feelings of loneliness. Over the course of the consultation, after the strategy has finalised, I look forward to the on-going collaboration between the Scottish Government, health and social care partnership schools, the third sector, grassroots community organisations and others to make the goals outlined a reality. Together, I am confident that we can begin to turn the tide of the loneliness epidemic here in Scotland as a service and example to nations around the world. I call Jeremy Balfour to be followed by Ruth Maguire. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As the classic song Simon and Gafunco, I am a rock, the chorus says, I am a rock, I am an island. The song ends with the words, but a rock feels no pain and an island never cries. Or, as the Good Book in Genesis tells us, as God said, it was not good for man to be alone. All of us are aware that we are made for relationship. We need to interact with other human beings. Because without that interaction, we end with social, physical and mental issues. I suspect that for too long in our society and in Western Europe, loneliness has not been taken as a serious issue. As we look at the fact, 79 per cent of adults in Scotland have experienced loneliness. 17 per cent of people in Scotland are always or often lonely. That means that nearly 1 million Scots, adults, are feeling lonely at some point. Loneliness can occur to many different individuals. Older people stuck at home, mummies and dads bringing up their children who lack adult company and all age groups due to the breakdown of traditional society. We have seen over the past probably 50 years a breakdown in our culture of community, volunteering and neighbourhoods. It is interesting that one of my assistants was saying to me today that she knows one family only in her street. Yet her mother, on Hong Manay, had the whole street in and partied until 4am in the morning. I think that there is something there about a generational difference and change. That has a lot to do with the way in which we live and work. People are working longer hours. The community is not sometimes found in the place that they sleep. Technology is both a blessing and a curse. I am personally, although a Facebook fan, not convinced that it is an alternative to a good chat with somebody in a pub or a coffee shop. In fact, quite the opposite is the case. I know a number of my friends who say to me that they are coming off Facebook because they are going through a difficult time. Facebook is about cats and dogs and happy faces and murder talking about themselves. Those with disability can be isolated and, as we have heard, it takes different areas and different communities. Perhaps older people and those with disability find it difficult to speak and build a relationship because of loneliness and because they are stuck in a house because they are scared of going to a crowd or getting out. Alex Cole-Hamilton pointed out that there are things that we can do locally and nationally. If I can give an example from this Tuesday, where I stay, we had snow and ice. The streets where the buses ran were absolutely fine and clear, but that was about 500 or 600 yards from my door. Without help due to slipping on ice, I could not get to that bus to get to work. I think that local authorities have to look again at what roads we grit and what pavements we grit. Too often we have roads being gritted, but never pavements, which means that they can be for weeks, if not sometimes months. Older people and disabled people are left in their houses and are isolated. One GP said to me recently that if he could deal with isolation amongst his older patients, he could cut a third of the prescriptions that he writes. There is a medical cost here as well. I think that there are things that we can do. There are examples here within Edinburgh, which are really positive. A vintage vibe is a charity that has been going for a fairly short time, which is to bring older and younger people together, not just for a younger person to visit somebody in their house, but to go out to the cinema, to go shopping, to socialise together. That must be surely a good thing that we have intergenerational talking to people and finding out experience. I think that we need to see local authorities, local communities, voluntary sectors, national government or playing their part. Finally, the heart feels of responsibility on all of us as well. How well do I know my neighbours? How well do I know the older person who lives a few doors along from me? Can I take time out of my schedule just to pop in and see that they are okay or do something for them? Yes, I welcome the strategy. It is a very helpful document. I welcome the UK, announcing a minister, but I suspect that the only way that we will actually change that is when you and I, the rest of us, all of us, play our part. Ruth Maguire, to be followed by Mark Griffin. There is no doubt to me that social isolation can have a significant impact on a person's health and wellbeing and on their ability to recover from those emotional or physical setbacks or bumps along the road that life throws at us. Social isolation and loneliness can affect anyone at any stage of life, but today I would like to talk about older women in my constituency and on the importance of a service called Food Train to them, a service that is being withdrawn but which the community I am sure will come together to fight to save. Sheila Alderson is from Irvine and she wrote of her sadness at the decision that was announced last week, saying that Food Train is more than a shopping service, it is an interaction as well. I get a good blether when I phone in my shopping order on a Monday and we have a blether when they come to deliver my shopping as well. It breaks the week for me, they are friendly folk, they always ask how I am doing. Food Train also gives Sheila the freedom and flexibility to do her own shopping when she is up to it. If the weather is good she can catch the bus to the local supermarket, but if the weather is bad or she is not feeling up to it she can order the food that she needs from Food Train. This lets her stay in her own home and by doing her own shopping she can do what she enjoys, which is cooking fresh food for herself. The end of Food Train means the end of this freedom of being in her own home in her community. 85-year-old Rosina Donnelly, also from Irvine, cares for her husband who has dementia. In advance of today's debate she wrote to me describing the announcement as a bombshell and Food Train volunteers as the most wonderful caring people she has ever come across, saying that she knows that she can trust them to come into her home. To quote Rosina directly, she said, without a single doubt in my mind, Food Train was the best thing North Ayrshire Council did for pensioners, making sure that we could feed ourselves with a very trustworthy and reliable workforce. Food Train is our lifeline. If we can't feed ourselves, the next step is a care home. That's expensive and no one wants to end their lifetime out of their own home if it's a tall possible to remain there. I appreciate that local authorities and health and social care partnerships have very challenging, difficult decisions to make under times of considerable economic pressure. However, in reaching those decisions, proper impact and risk assessments have to be done about ending services, and people on the front line receiving them need to be consulted. In the case of Food Train, my more vulnerable constituents, older people who rely on the service, their opinion wasn't sought in making the decision, and that's simply unacceptable. I will do all I can to support the Save Our Service campaign to get this decision reversed, and I would encourage any other west of Scotland MSPs who have not signed the petition or Kenneth Gibson's motion to do so and to get involved and to talk to the people and their constituent, their part of the patch that are affected. Of course, tackling social isolation and loneliness is not just about services, it's about wider societal change that we can all be part of by doing our own wee bit. As the draft strategy makes clear, that can be as simple as being more kind in our day-to-day lives, something that's been identified is going a long way to reducing social isolation amongst people of all ages and stages of life. I was really touched to see one primary school's approach to encouraging kindness on social media last week. The outline of one pupil is drawn on a big sheet of paper, and the rest of the class write down reasons why we love, and then all of the other children have to have to write something positive about their wee pal from the class. Last week's included the following inspiring gems. He respects the whole class and our feelings, he never leaves anyone out, and my personal favourite is like he has 100 hearts and they're all good. What a beautiful, beautiful thing and something that we could probably all learn from in this chamber now and again. I hope that North Ayrshire health and social care partnership can find it in their hearts to save North Ayrshire food chain. Our older people really rely on it and it does make a difference. Are we changed to what I said before? We'll have Graham Day followed by Mark Griffin. Social isolation is undoubtedly a scourge of modern-day living as we've supposedly moved on as a society. Too many of our citizens have in this regard been left behind. Many of us have become too self-focused, interested in our immediate family perhaps, but in a meaningful sense, little beyond that. I know that I have in the past been guilty of that myself. That realisation only hit me as a consequence of a comment made in the course of engaging with a number of organisations in my constituency that are making a concerted effort to address that situation. In relation to social isolation and loneliness among the elderly and the lack of appreciation of that, they pointed to an everyday situation that many of us have been confronted by. Popping into the supermarket for a few essential items, in a rush as we always are, stewing the queue, becoming increasingly agitated as the older person being served, chatting to the checkout operator about nothing much, holding the rest of this up. A bit many of us in the chamber have been there.  Here's a much more worthy thought. What about reflecting on whether that old person is enjoying the only interaction with another human being that'll have that day, or maybe in the course of a few days? Is it really such a hardship for the rest of us to wait another minute or two before getting on with our lives? Surely all of us could make that small and seemingly insignificant contribution towards creating a connected Scotland tackling social isolation and loneliness and building stronger communities, the aspiration of today's debate. I'm fortunate to represent a part of Scotland where a considerable structure community where in delivered effort is going on to addressing loneliness and isolation amongst the elderly, which perhaps leaves us well-placed to take forward what the Scottish Government aims to around having people and communities, having a central role in building and maintaining social connections with those who may be socially isolated. In highlighting some of that work, I would acknowledge that we're not there yet in Angus South because much of that is focused in the towns. Isolation and loneliness may well be even more acute in more rural parts. This is about community support to its members, but I think that where there is perhaps a role for government is in facilitating the delivery of more comprehensive networks and indeed ensuring that GP, social work and other agencies are proactively signposting anyone they identify as being socially isolated to the support that can be provided. There are two highly successful befriending networks in my constituency, one in Canusty and the other in Montyfaith. Having started up in 2011 with a client roster of six people, Canusty befriended us now as 22 volunteers making regular visits to 30 people in the town and surrounding villages, who sadly don't have anyone or at least anyone nearby. The referrals come from GPs, social work, neighbours and family members. I note that in my experience that isn't settling the case of GPs and absolute giving. A little further down the Angus coastline when you reach Montyfaith, where the brilliant Montyfaith befriending scheme currently is over 40 clients matched with adult befrienders. What's particularly pleasing about the Montyfaith group is the involvement of pupils from the local high school. This year of young people, I want to applaud the work that Montyfaith befriending scheme is doing with the S6 pupils, with the assistance of the deputy headteacher, Kathleen Ritchie. Those pupils support folk in care homes, either by being partnered with one of the residents or by helping with group activities. Incidentally, the Montyfaith scheme works out of the local GP practice, a good example of collaborative and joined up working. Another group that is seeking to tackle the issue of social isolation in my constituency is Contact The Elderly. The organisation is volunteers who provide monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties. Why Sunday? It seems that Sunday has been identified as the loneliest day of the week. Nationally Contact The Elderly has been operating for 52 years, and in Angus South those tea parties have been held in Cymru and the more rural setting of tewing. A survey conducted—absolutely—Emma Harper. Thank you, Graham Day, for taking my intervention. Does he agree that we should recognise the fantastic work that the National Rural Mental Health Forum has undertaken with respect to the unique challenges presented by rural isolation as you are talking about all those communities that are rural in his constituency? Thank you. I am aware of the significant work that Emma Harper refers to. I am looking forward to hearing more about it when I meet our former Parliamentary colleague Jim Hume, who is leading on this next week. A survey conducted by Contact The Elderly found that 90 per cent of guests said that they had made friends with volunteers and that 81 per cent had made friends with other guests. That sounds like a pretty good success rate to me. Sitting alongside all of this and also playing a vital role in tackling isolation, as the minister rightly pointed out, are men's sheds. There are three in my constituency—Kerrymure, Arbroath and Cymru—and I visited the latter two. I know of the great benefits that they provide. For many men, suggesting to them meeting up with a friend for a coffee might not appeal, but combining that with an activity and being more likely to get a positive reaction from them. Joining one has been shown to lead to users living healthier, happier and more connected lives. In noting the work of the groups that I have highlighted, let me acknowledge the shortcomings. Those schemes do not cover every part of my constituency and will certainly not every rural nuke and cranny. Although there is work being done to deliver a pan-angus befrending service, we are still some way to go. I very much welcome this debate and the consultation. This is a conversation that we absolutely need to have. Let me recognise that, although I have focused my contribution on efforts being made to tackle social isolation among the elderly, that problem impacts many other groups of all ages, one of which would be children with additional support needs and their parents. I think that there is perhaps an overlap between what the strategy sets out to achieve and the current wider consideration of how we best meet the needs of ASN youngsters. I wonder whether the minister in closing might comment on that particular issue. We do still have a bit of time in hand. Mark Griffin is to be followed by Alison Johnstone. We support the launch of the strategy this week and are pleased that Scotland has taken the lead in tackling loneliness. The minister has delivered on something that Labour and the Government would have, too. I hope that we can work together to refine and execute the strategy. I welcome the minister's constructive comments on the shared responsibility that we all have. Yesterday, the UK Government announced that there would be a minister to tackle loneliness. I reassure her that this is one area where all parties across the chamber and across parliaments are now taking action to tackle the growing social and public health problem. Before she was murdered in 2016, Joe Cox's commission on loneliness led the way in tackling the issue. As her husband Brendan said yesterday, we should be thankful that, even though she is not here, her work is still making the world a better place. My colleagues Rachel Reeves and Seamac Kennedy, who now chair the commission, have highlighted just how extensive loneliness is across the UK. As Monica Lennon said, they found that nine million people in the UK are lonely, the consequence of which costs the economy £32 billion every year. The minister's draft strategy highlights equally worrying trends in Scotland. One in 10 fail lonely often, three in 10 calls to Silverline Scotland and the national LGBT helpline were about loneliness, and eight in 10 people caring for their loved ones have felt lonely. Those trends undoubtedly fill us with concern, but they should drive us to tackle the root causes. Across Government, there are solutions and social security housing in local government, but also in health, mental and public. We can help to prevent loneliness, spot it and intervene. I am particularly interested in the emphasis that the draft strategy places on the role of community. Of course, our relationships with neighbours, loved ones and the people that we see every day can help to make sure that contact meets our social needs. Studies suggest that social isolation can also interact with poverty and can lead to feelings of loneliness. We need to tackle that poverty that plays communities so that communities themselves can tackle that loneliness. There is an important question about how we in the chamber aid those connections. Surely we have the power to ensure that services are in place to help communities to make those connections or to create a setting so that we can reach out to someone. As Rachel Reeves has said, when the culture and the communities that once connected us to one another disappear, we can be left feeling abandoned and cut off from society. That is why we are asking Parliament to recognise the importance of community services that tackle loneliness and acknowledge that austerity-driven budget cuts to local authorities reduce their capacity to do that. In North Lanarkshire, the likes of common old action for care of the elderly and voluntary action in North Lanarkshire are doing great work to help tackle loneliness, while the suicide prevention campaign, run with NHS Lanarkshire, Albin Rovers, Motherwell, Airdria and Clyde football clubs, is award-winning. However, the finance secretary's budget settlement could make that work harder in the very near future. The council has had to cut £200 million from services in the past decade, while the decision on the integrated joint board funding for the year ahead is imminent. Before I close, I wanted to pick up on a point that I touched on. Before that, eight in 10 people caring for loved ones have felt lonely. In two weeks, we will begin stage two consideration of the Social Security Bill. The people of Scotland will seek Parliament using new powers to create our own system to change the lives of disabled people in their carers, tackle poverty and reinforce the safety net. Over 30 per cent of working-age Glaswegians who are disabled or unable to work experience loneliness and carers feeling increasingly lonely. I hope that the minister and I can discuss how the bill begins to tackle that. A contact report in 2011 for forgotten families said how disability in a family can cause loneliness through a combination of financial, emotional and practical pressures. Stigma and lack of services prevents families from being integrated while low income compounds that freedom to get out and about. The report highlights how families struggle to find or access the support of other families in their situation, all the while trying to do by the best by their children and loved ones. I hope that the minister will accept that her proposed amendment to operate certain benefits could have afforded carers that same assurance. That would match the Government's commitment to annual uprating of carers allowance in line with inflation. I hope that the minister and I can discuss a further amendment. I am working on to better reflect that policy. There is a great deal of consensus in the chamber this afternoon on this issue. I even agree entirely with Jeremy Balfour, particularly regarding Murdo Fraser and Facebook. He touches on the fact that this is an area that is cross cutting. Education impacts, housing impacts, planning impacts and transport policy impacts. I am glad that we are debating the important issue today and that the Government is developing a focus on reducing social isolation and loneliness. Although it is clear that people in communities have an important role in this, the Government's motion today and consultation document are certainly clear that it too has an important role in creating the conditions for change and highlights a number of key areas, such as planning and transport, which are central to creating communities that connect people. I welcome the focus on that in the Lib Dem amendment 2. That is fundamental. We cannot build thriving communities that make varied social interaction and all the part of everyday life if we continue to design around the car. We need to make public transport more accessible, invest more in walking and cycling. It is vital to creating a community that people feel they are part of. I live in Edinburgh, so I experience the benefits of a bus service that is managed locally for public benefit, but people in other parts of Scotland are not so lucky. Glasgow first bus of hiked children's bus fares by 40 per cent, tried to increase fares for unemployed people. On my way to the bus stop in the morning, I might have a neighbour shouting at me. I saw a young telly last night. I did not agree with the word you said, mind, as my daughter looked around a scans. I moved house a couple of years ago, and one of the people I met at the bus stop gave me a card saying, I hope that you meet some good bus stop people when you are further up the road. Those little connections are really important. That is why public transport and active travel are so important to invest in. I welcome the document that restates that the Government is committed to the national concessionary travel scheme, but we need to get serious about re-regulating our buses. Improving that concessionary travel offer includes young people and people on low incomes. As we all acknowledge, social isolation and loneliness really do affect people at all ages and stages of life and manifest itself in different ways, I am deeply concerned that loneliness is increasing. I see signs of this every day in my own work. Sometimes reaching out for an assistance with a practical problem is also a way of reaching out for contact for a chat, for the feeling that somebody somewhere is on your side, that somebody somewhere knows you exist. My staff and I are aware of increased phone calls from constituents who seem to have little other social contact who call us regularly. We now recognise their voices. We do all that we can to help, but it is my experience that more and more constituents are turning to us in severe emotional distress, perhaps struggling with a mental health condition. We will, of course, do all that we can to help. I do not know if any of you, after the late news last night, saw a clip. There was a 71-year-old woman, I believe. She was on the late national news. She was sharing her experience with a befriending service. My mum is 71, so I watch that. I feel slightly choked that she was choked when she was speaking about how much she looks forward to one phone call a week that is arranged for her by a service. I do not know if you have seen the Age UK video just before Christmas. John's story does watch it. It is heartening that we are discussing this. It is now on mainstream media. We have people like Joe and Brendan Cox to thank for that. We heard Tony Giuliano of the Mental Health Foundation speaking articulately on television last night. It is becoming part of our national discussion, but it is becoming part of mainstream media. That can only be a really good thing. Labour's amendment makes clear that community services are crucial. The consultation document runs through a long list of individual initiatives and sources of funding that are welcome, such as the Public Library Improvement Fund, but we must protect what we have on a local basis. The consultation document states that there must be good access to appropriate community facilities and places to meet, so we must protect local authority budgets. That is fundamental. Although many local services have turned to co-location, that can sometimes be driven by pressure on budgets, so we must make sure that people have a wide range of community services and facilities to choose from. I welcome Jeremy Balfour's highlighting of vintage vibes. They say that good company never gets old. You can go and gather and giggle, you can join the stroll patrol if you fancy a walk, and if singing is your thing, there is vintage vocals. Many organisations are really working hard to combat loneliness and social isolation. In volunteering in athletics, I was well aware that I worked with three coaches who had all suffered bereavements. Getting out, down to the track, meeting people of all ages, helping them to attain their athletic ambitions, and doing something that they were passionate about. I could see the difference that it made to those individuals' lives. Making affordable and possible for those who want to volunteer to do so is incredibly important. As well as considering the social fabric of our towns, cities and rural areas, how we design our built environment and travel infrastructure, we have to ask hard questions about how loneliness and social isolation relate to a culture that has become increasingly individualistic over past decades. There is a political dimension to that. As the mental health foundation points out, our society prides itself on self-reliance, and it makes it difficult for people to own up to feeling lonely. It stops them talking about it or reaching out for help. I welcome the Government's acknowledgement that employers and businesses have a vital role to play here. People in Scotland and the UK work some of the longest hours in Europe. It keeps us away from our friends, families and communities. Let's support flexible working, let's be more open to part-time work, and let's ensure that workload priorities are not isolating people. We have to work hard if we want to build a more connected society. We have to place greater value on protecting people's time away from work if we want this change to happen. I look forward to working with colleagues to build a more socially connected, less lonely Scotland. Before I get into the body of the speech, I would like to pick up on something that Kenny Gibson and Alison Johnstone raised. Although predominantly lonely, that affects older people, it certainly can affect all ages. I remember being on the Equal Opportunities Committee, when we were doing the investigation, we did a phone-in on the radio, and we had a number of young people and one young professional man phoned in, which stuck with me. His personal life had fell apart, but he couldn't tell anyone his work, so he would go to his work and he would just go home and sit in the house. It's important that we look at that as well. I know that other people are predominantly talking about the older people, because percentage-wise it affects them, but we need to remember that it can affect everyone. It's much, much harder sometimes if you're younger to speak to your peers about the situation that you have found yourself in. I thank you for indulging me in that particular one. As a previous deputy convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee, I am pleased to be speaking on this debate. I'm proud that the Scottish Government has launched the consultation on loneliness and isolation following on from the recommendations of the Equal Opportunities Committee, as the minister has already mentioned. I also note a comment in the consultation document in reference to the committee's recommendations, and it says how are we doing. I must say that I've been honest in saying this, and I'm going to say that having read the report, I think that you're doing pretty well when I look at what the recommendations are and how many have actually been enacted, and how many are on-going as well. I will, of course, keep a watching brief, as the strategy makes it way through Parliament, and I know that not just me but others will certainly be looking at that. However, I thank the minister and the Scottish Government for picking up on that. The work that was done during that time and Margaret the convener did a fantastic job as well. The briefing from Mental Health Foundation and Age Scotland raises some very important issues, particularly the fact that a quarter of a Scottish adult who is 65 years and over experiences depression when they are lonely, and they have listed 12 recommendations. I'm pleased to say that I'm not going to read all of the recommendations out. Some have already been mentioned, but I will pick up on a couple of them. I think that this one has been mentioned in investment in community services. Monica Lennon raised that particular part, and I think that that's really important, not just for keeping people out of hospital, but community services can give people a much better life and combat loneliness as well. Placing social prescribing, front and centre and primary care, I think that Annie Wells had raised that. I know that that is part and parcel of the deep end practices, and it's also been mentioned in the strategy as well. It's a very, very important one, too. Tackling poverty and inequality has also been mentioned. This is really important.  A number of older people experience that, so I think that it's really important to tackle poverty and inequality in later life. It actually marries into recommendation 11, social inclusion for ethnic minority-older people, including asylum seekers and refugees. Sometimes, when you come for a certain ethnic minority, it's much harder to become involved. I think that we really need to put a particular emphasis on that to get people from minority ethnic minority more involved, but also the fact that sometimes they are living poverty as well, and they are too proud to perhaps say that, too. It's an excellent piece of work as well. Age Scotland's briefing on mentions the triggers for loneliness bereavement, absolutely. Moving home, sometimes far away from your family, children moving away, that's already been mentioned as well. Retirement, that's a really important one. Evidence that we took in our committee basically showed that most men are the ones who suffer very much so from retirement because they've had this group of friends and they no longer sometimes have anything to go up for in the morning. That's why I think, and I know that Graeme Dey has mentioned it and others, that men's sheds have become so important for men who have retirement. They can go along there and they feel as though they're sometimes going to their work. That was certainly the evidence that we had in it as well. There are so many initiatives that are important in my Kelvin constituency, and there are other members who have excellent initiatives. We have got by Glasgow People's Welfare Association, fantastic works throughout Glasgow, friendship clubs such as that in town head, line dancing, we've got the party pluckers, I've always been very careful when I mention that. A group of older people that play the banjo at classes. I always think that I'm glad that I don't come from Falkirk when I'm saying that, but we have designated walks of many, many more involved in that as well. One of the areas that I wanted to pick up, and it's actually in the strategy as well, is the community of libraries. They have a really important part to play, and there's a real opportunity to sort of widen their remit, I think, and a quote which is in the consultation strategy, which is from Hillhead Library, and I know the people at work in the library, it's in my constituency. They said that the majority of what we do is custom-led service, but in a bigger sense, some of these people have nobody else to talk to, so they come in here, which is nice.  The community of libraries has a lot to do, and before I finish up, we have a fantastic new initiative in my constituency. It's called the weekday wow factor. You may have seen it on the TV, I took part in it. It takes, believe it or not, older people zip sliding, and they absolutely love it. I'm too frightened to go up there, but they go, they do trips down the Waverly, and they have weekly discos. If you've seen the joy in the people who come in with their carers, people in wheelchairs, older people, there's got more energy than I have, and the joy in these people's faces, because it brings them back to a time when perhaps they were younger, they were just married, had children, whatever it may be, but the recognition in their faces is absolutely wonderful, so well done weekday wow factor. It's in a nightclub, but it's in the afternoon, sorry, it's not at night time, it's in the afternoons, but the DJ and the people who run the nightclub give off their time free to let the people to come in. Carers bring people with wheelchairs, people with disabilities and otherwise, and it's a fantastic day. I want to get a nightclub from one o'clock to three in part, please get in touch and I'll take you along to the weekday wow factor. There's loads and loads of things out there, but we've got to make sure that we let people access it. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I think that we should bring the wow factor in here. I call John Scott to be followed by Gail Ross. Presiding Officer, I think that we've already got the wow factor in here with yourself and Sandra White. I may take a little extra time. Presiding Officer, can I begin by welcoming this debate today and the many positive contributions that have been made so far? I can also welcome the last equal opportunities committee's hard work on this subject and also the Government report on Connected Scotland, which is a good piece of work and clearly defines what needs to be done. I also like other welcomes, Tracy Crouch's appointment as the UK Minister for Loneliness, taking forward the good work of Joe Cox. Let me start with the report. I think that Jane Freeman, in her introduction, identified developing the principle of kindness as vitally important and I could not agree with her more. In our own different ways, we are all here to improve the lives of our own special constituents. For me, kindness, delivered on a daily basis, is one very practical way of endeavouring to make life better for others. As we all know, loneliness and social isolation is a growing problem and, for me, picking up the phone to speak to a constituent who has a problem sometimes helps to solve a problem in itself, a problem that is often caused by loneliness and isolation and an inability to deal with their problem brought about by not having someone to turn to. In developing the theme of kindness, I believe that it is something that we in Ayrshire do well, particularly in South Ayrshire, which I know best. As Byrneson suggested, gently scan my fellow man gently or still a sister woman, Sandra. I am immensely proud of the strength of our close-knit and caring communities in Ayr, Prestwick and Trun and surrounding towns and villages. While I have no wish to appear complacent and perfectly well understand that much more can, could and should be done, I wish to commend to Parliament the good work of some organisations in my constituency that work daily to reduce the impact of loneliness and social isolation. Opportunities in retirement in Ayr with 1,400 members, as well as OIR and Trun, create communities with a huge range of clubs and different activities that are taking place daily, from photography groups to chest to hill walking. I will be happy to discuss the OIR model with the minister if she is not already aware of it. Voluntary Action South Ayrshire, VASA, supports many of our social enterprises, as well as organising community events, one of which I attended before Christmas in Ayrtown hall. Several befriending groups support our communities, as does dementia, friendly, Prestwick and Trun. The dementia-friendly town model could easily be rolled out not just in Ayrshire but across Scotland. Our rotary clubs of Ayr, Prestwick and Trun all do huge amounts of charity work, and I have to declare an interest as a member of the Ayr rotary club. Those are just a few of the many similar organisations in my constituency that, to be frank, give people a reason to get out of their bed in the morning to go and either help with on a voluntary basis or benefit from the contact and services that various different groups and others like them provide. Coffee mornings and Saturday mornings can be the highlight of a Saturday for some, and our churches often overlooked as community builders are great meeting places with Trun old parish church holding a coffee morning every Saturday morning of the year and supported by its very own and very special group of people and not often enough by me. Five to six hundred people attend St Columba's church in Ayr every Sunday to enjoy and benefit from the sense of community created by our minister Fraser Aiken. I know from a lifetime of community involvement both in rural and urban Scotland of the problem that we can and have all defined in our different ways this afternoon. I also know that it is not a new problem. One only has to think back a hundred years to 1918 to the lifetime of loneliness and isolation so many women were consigned to after the loss of husbands, fiancees, fathers and brothers after the Great War. Similarly, the very real losses in the hardships sustained by the Clydebank community after the Second World War and I draw attention to those times to emphasise loneliness and social isolation and its different causes is not a new problem and sadly it has had to be faced and addressed before. In that regard, the good news is that the problem has long since been recognised and we now have an opportunity to build on the caring and voluntary infrastructure already in place. With many fit and active people of my age already at retired looking for worthwhile engagement within their community, there is a huge opportunity for developing an even larger voluntary caring sector through a variety of models, but particularly the social enterprise model. The food train was an initiative that was piloted in South Ayrshire as well as North Ayrshire, but subsequently became unaffordable in South Ayrshire and now apparently in North Ayrshire as well, from Kenny Gibson's question to First Minister this morning. It was exemplary in the front line light touch help that it delivered to those whom it looked after. Rural isolation is also a growing problem with the new drink driving laws, the law of unintended consequence almost, but now deterring country people from going to the local pub for even one drink. Rural bus services are in decline too and winter weather makes the problem worse as well, particularly for the elderly. Of course, there is a growing problem with loneliness and social isolation, as others have said, driven by mental health issues, driven by fuel poverty to be found in the deafblind communities and too much of which goes unreported and unnoticed, and some of which is self-inflicted. Here I speak of social media, which in my view is growing in its importance and its contribution to loneliness and social isolation, as well as mental health issues in the young. Too much time spent on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, et cetera, turned social media into anti-social media, as conversational and social international skills are no longer to be learned or developed, as young people often can only communicate through one of the above platforms. A text message is no substitute for a phone call. The constant need to check a screen by ourselves—probably everyone here in the moment is on a screen one sort of another—by our work colleagues, by our children, by our grandchildren is already affecting the evolution of our species and not necessarily in a good way. The day may yet dawn when class actions might be brought against these companies, these internet providers, with the long-term effects of internet damage to mental health and wellbeing, as well as physical health, are realised and evaluated, and Kenny Gibson referred to this into my surprise. Almost everyone else has referred to it as well. However, I digress, and this is a topic for another day. Today I encourage the minister to not just note those two reports but to start making plans of action as to what is to be done. The Government will have our support tonight on that motion and our support in future in this area of work. The sooner we get started, the better. Thank you, Mr Scott. I say to members that there is time to digress, and Mr Scott, I am sure that everyone was devoted to listening to your speech and not diverted in looking at screens. I now call Gail Ross to be followed by Alec Rowley. I also put my thanks on record to the Scottish Government for bringing this debate on such an important issue today. The draft strategy that will launch the consultation, the decision to include loneliness and social isolation in the fairer Scotland action plan, to set aside funds and to hold this debate today, show that this issue is finally something that we can, should and must do something about. I thank the minister for detailing what has already been done. I would also like to commend the Scottish Government's rural divisions recent campaign, Don't Wrap Up This Christmas, which aims to tackle loneliness and mental health issues in rural areas. Loneliness is a blight not solely experienced by the elderly, as we have already heard, but can be found in all areas of society, affecting immigrants, bereaved people, those living with disabilities, those with a terminal illness, the LGBTI community, people from ethnic minorities, people with mental health issues, actually anyone. Due to the surging-us of social media or anti-social media, as John Scott has just told us, concerns have also been expressed about loneliness in younger people after psychologists have found that more time spent online can increase feelings of loneliness due to minimised real-world interactions. The human cost of loneliness and social isolation cannot be understated. We already know that loneliness can have a massive negative effect on mental health, and now the potential damage to physical health is also becoming apparent. I was pleased to hear Alison Johnstone mention Tony from the Mental Health Foundation—he is actually in the gallery today, I would just like to say hello to him. The Mental Health Foundation and Age Scotland have both identified loneliness as one of the leading public health challenges of our time. A contribution to the British Medical Journal in 2016 highlighted that loneliness is associated with a 30 per cent high risk of stroke and heart disease. Another research conducted by charities indicates that being lonely can be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, poses greater harm than not exercising and is twice as harmful as being obese. Thankfully, recent awareness of the issue has inspired people to act, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of them here today. People like Mamie Thompson at NHS Highland, who champions the Reach Out campaign, which was launched in 2016 and aims at combating loneliness and social isolation in the Highlands, reach out, aims to make a difference to the lives of individuals who may be lonely, and also involved in online pledge for members of the public to display their commitment to help those in need of support. The campaign even inspired an 88-year-old woman living in Spain to make the kind offer of weekly correspondence via email to any Scots who feel lonely or isolated. I would also like to give my sincere thanks to Christine Campbell at befriending Caithness and her team, a project run by Caithness voluntary group, which also aimed to end loneliness in the community by supporting volunteers to make visits to those who require the service. They also carry out fantastic intergenerational work with schools and nurseries, where pupils get to visit people in hospitals and care homes who do not get many visitors. The difference between friend and Caithness is making to the lives of the service users is huge. As we have heard from many other contributors today, people are enjoying socialising together, being brought together through the service from various areas, sparking conversation. They have not seen or have been unable to see each other, friends have been reunited due to mobility problems and other health issues. Befriendies have said that they are feeling alive again. They look forward to seeing each other, they feel healthy and have increased confidence. People who felt that they could not go out in the past are now doing so, meeting others with their befriender, visiting the cinema and other places of interest. Meeting up with the service users also makes a positive impact on the lives of the volunteers as well. I have had the pleasure of seeing some of the other work in the constituency first hand, Lindsay Tennant at the Brewer of Village Hub, the two primary skills in WIC that undertake visits and projects, and the young people who have worked towards their Duke of Edinburgh award through volunteering. In a report compiled recently by NHS Highland on isolation, the evidence suggests that the interventions that support people to become active participants in group activities rooted in their communities is one of the most successful ways of reducing loneliness. Although the undertaking to end loneliness in social isolation can seem like an almost impossible task, it is something that each and every one of us can do something about. Even if we do not volunteer specifically with a befriending service, we can reach out more to those around us. We can engage with our neighbours, we can invite someone out for a coffee, even the smallest of actions can have a positive impact. I was also pleased to hear Alec Cole-Hamilton speak about ACEs and childhood trauma, which is a hugely important issue. I have a member's debate next week, so I am looking forward to his contribution to that debate. My final thanks goes to Jeane Freeman, the Social Security Minister, for all her hard work and for taking this issue so seriously. If you have not done so already, read the document, take time to respond to the Scottish Government's consultation and think about what you can do to help others. Remember, you do not have to be alone to be lonely. Thank you very much, Ms Ross. I call Alec Rowley to be followed by Bob Dorris. In supporting the motion and the Labour amendment, there is not anything in the motion the amendment or in the strategy that I think people would object to. As we have seen from the many briefs from a range of organisations such as Age Scotland, the co-op party, the Red Cross, Marie Curie and the Mental Health Foundation, there is real support in the country for such a strategy. Indeed, there is a lot of work—very good work—going on across Scotland. I also saw yesterday the announcement by the UK Government that it has appointed a minister for loneliness. There is a consensus across political parties and civic society that is social isolation and loneliness is a very real issue in communities across our country. On that, we are united. However, I was very struck yesterday by the comments of the CEO of Food Train, a third sector charity in North Ayrshire, who told the national newspaper that, without action, the strategy is just words on a page. The funding for the organisation that relies on comes from the local health and social care partnership, the integrated joint board. In the real world of Scotland today, many of the IGBs are reporting massive overspends and are facing real term cuts to their budgets moving forward. They are struggling to fund the very care packages people need to get out of hospital and to have security in their community. Never mind supporting the funding of community groups. I was also struck a few weeks ago seeing a worker from a health charity interviewed on the Scottish News. She said that the strategy and policies of the Scottish Government for the issues that that charity dealt with were brilliant, but she then went on to say that, on the ground, local authority budgets are being cut and they are not able to implement the strategies. That is the key question. At what point does the strategy we agree in this Parliament become little more than rhetoric bits of paper gathering dust on shelves? There are no resources out there in communities in order to action the strategy. To make this point further, I would refer to an interview in the eye in the Scotsman on 2 January this year with the chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, Douglas Hamilton. Speaking about the child poverty bill, Mr Hamilton said that setting targets is commendable but would be meaningless unless it is followed up by bold action. He said, in my quote, that there is a real danger of complacency setting in with politicians and political parties generally agreeing about tackling poverty. You get to the situation where almost everyone agrees. People come up from Westminster and say, it's amazing, the rhetoric is completely different up here, it's much more progressive, but he then continued to say that we don't have actions that match up to that. That is exactly what we need, actions. Thank you very much, Mr Rowley. I am sure that Mr Rowley will agree that it is precisely to respond to those comments and that we need actions to match our words, that this Government has asked the Poverty and Inequality Commission to look in detail as part of its first piece of work on our child poverty delivery plan that comes from that child poverty act. I am sure that he, like we, looks forward to what Mr Hamilton and his colleagues have to say to us when they return with that task, which this Government has set them. Mr Rowley. I hope that the minister is not taking offence at the comments from Mr Hamilton. I think that the point that he makes is absolutely correct. He can have all the strategies in the world, but if he doesn't have the budgets in order to fund the local community action, then nothing happens, and that's the reality where we are, and that's exactly why we need action. It's not simply a case of words on a page, no matter how commendable those words are. Unless strategies followed up with real and meaningful action, the problems that we face as a society will not go away. For action to happen, we need resources that can be focused on the delivery of the strategy, and we need joined-up Government at every level, all of which I am afraid is not happening from the evidence that we can see today. Priority 1 in the Scottish Government report on tackling social isolation and loneliness states that we must empower communities to lead. It says that we should do that by building cohesive communities and investing in resources. I could not agree more. However, the reality is that the resources are being stripped from local communities through sustained cuts to local services budgets, with cuts in turn being passed on to third sector and community organisations. I am afraid that the rhetoric is not backed up by the practice. Priority 2 talks about tackling poverty, addressing inequality and to promote and improve health and wellbeing. However, we see that poverty is growing, inequality is widening and our health and social care services are in crisis. While I recognise the £500,000 investment in a social isolation and loneliness fund, it does not offset the millions upon millions of pounds being stripped out from local budgets right across Scotland. How does that sit with the ambition of promoting and improving health and wellbeing? What can be lonelier than being stuck in a hospital bed waiting on a social care package and not knowing whether that social care package will come or not? If we are to be serious about tackling these issues, we need to start to address the chronic level of cuts to our local services and local community and third sector organisations, as it is those front-line services that deliver the biggest impact on people's lives. Do not let it be said in the years to come that the Scottish Parliament was brilliant at policy and strategy, but a complete failure when it came to delivering. Thank you, Mr Rowley. I call Bob Doris to be followed by Claire Hawke, because he will be the last speaker in the open debate. That last speech was a little bit out of tone instead with the rest of the debate to be fair. We heard a lot of rhetoric yesterday around the budget. I would not take the debate in relation to empty rhetoric and words without policies after Mr Kelly's statement yesterday in the chamber, but I think that we will leave that sitting there as gently as we possibly can. I think that what a lot of people have wanted to do here is to draw a really good example from their constituencies that they think could be used to be rolled out across Scotland as an example of a best practice to develop connectivity and to tackle loneliness and isolation. Like everyone else, I would seek to do some of that. I would like to start with loneliness and isolation in relation to young people in the first instance. I note that Childline said that last year it had 4,063 young people in counselling sessions where loneliness was a huge focus in relation to what their problems and issues were. It is worth noting that 73 per cent of those young people were girls. I thought about what could all our schools do and what are some of the schools in my constituency that could show an example of what we could do more in. I thought about the relatively—he is not that new now—the relatively new headteacher of John Paul academy, John McGee, the first time I met him, said to me, and we weren't talking about loneliness, but we were talking about attainment. He said to me, I am determined to look through every child in my school and the data we have for them and work out who is in a club, who is in a society, who takes part in sports groups, who goes on trips, who is in active outer school activities where it is organised by the school or by the local youth club, but who is not in any of that? The young people who are not in any of that are the ones who are most likely to suffer in relation to attainment. I suspect that they might also be a key group that might be quite likely to suffer in terms of loneliness and isolation. It got me to wonder during this debate whether there is something in relation to how our schools can help us to identify young people at risk of that loneliness and isolation. I put that down there as an idea, because the consultation asks us to come up with ideas that could be used to develop the strategy and to make it effective. I want to talk a little bit about older people in loneliness and isolation. I am actually really lucky in Glasgow, Mary Helen Springburn. I have got some amazing groups, and I will not be able to mention them all. I will name checks on them quickly, but I will miss lots out. Older persons groups, called the Monday clubs, are a lot of them, because they meet in the Monday lunchtimes. They meet in Summerston, Coddor and Lambhill, the absolutely amazing alive and kicking project at Red Road in Springburn. Every time that there is an election on it, every politician wants to go there, because they are such an amazing active ageing community. That is an important one to mention to the minister in relation to that connectivity and getting away from isolation, because they have their own premises. They have a large hall, a kitchen, a stage, and they run their own shows three, four or five times a year that organise trips. They are very well funded, but they do a lot of fundraising themselves. There is a template there that is quite simply outstanding. We heard a little bit about the role of planning in relation to tackling loanless and connectivity services. It is worth saying that the Alive and Kicking project will have a certain future, because the political will is there, but when the Red Road flats were demolished and their building was in a poor condition, no-one thought about their relocation. They are regenerating an area of the local authority, but they have not thought about a key aspect of a key facility and immunity in that area. That was just wrong. Not through any ill will, but it is just poor planning. I think that that is a cultural thing, not just for Glasgow, but across the country. Does the member hope, as I do, that the planning bill is an opportunity to rebalance the planning system, not just about people's rights at the start of the process but also at the end? How can we work towards equalising rights of appeal? Does Bob Doris have a view on that? I might not take up the cudgels of equalising rights of appeal, because that is a whole wider debate. You are right in relation to local place plans, for example, on how that feels in local development plans, which I will move on to my next section. It is about local place plans. If you stayed in Springburn and it was after 5.30 at night and you wanted to go out, it is dark, there is nowhere to go, everywhere is closed, that is poor planning, loadliness, isolation and lack of connectivity. We should ask that question about all towns right across Scotland. After 5 pm, after 5.30, where can you go? That is an important thing to ask as well. I can't take an intervention, how much time do I have left? We have plenty of time. Yes, of course. Mr Rowley. I am grateful for Bob Doris for taking an intervention. Can I say to him that, regardless of whether it is Tory austerity or failure by the SNP to stand up to austerity or failure by Labour to offer an alternative to austerity, regardless of all that, does he accept that, right across Scotland, youth services are being cut? The CLD departments within local authorities have shrunk through sustained budget cuts over years. So, when you asked the question, where is there for young people to go, then party, the answer to that is that the youth services that were in place when I grew up are not there today for our young people. Mr Doris. I see you're still got the tone wrong, Mr Rowley. So, in my constituency, it could be young people's futures and possible part, it could be North United communities in Winford and Ruck Hill, it could be Royston youth action, there's a whole plethora of organisations, they would always want more money, but they certainly exist, Mr Rowley, and I support them in my constituency, let me tell you. I think it was Alison Johnson who mentioned the importance of a phone call once a week. What again, an exemplar of best practice, and that would be the good morning service based in my constituency, and other ministers have been there in the past, Ms Freeman, I would love you to go along and see what they have to offer, that's not a formal invite, I'm just making you aware of what would love you to go along. Now they say that what they do is every single day in the morning they have a friend and a phone for older people in the community, and sometimes, you know, they don't talk about, or were you okay the night before, they talk about East Enders or Coronation Street or Big Brother or whatever, that it doesn't matter, it was just that human connection every single day, 365 days a year, hugely valued. Here's what they say in their website, we want every older person in Scotland to have the opportunity to join our good morning community, to be connected, to be safer and to feel valued. If you would like the service in your area, please contact your local councillors and the MSP and tell them about it. I already know about it, we have the service in our area, we'd love it to be expanded, but I'm now telling the whole Parliament, so I'm asking the Scottish Government how they can capacity build to roll that kind of thing out across Scotland. Final point, if I have time, Presiding Officer, that in Maryhill, part of my constituency, one of the issues isn't so much the range of activities that there is to do, it's about not everyone always knowing about the activities. So they're about old school in Maryhill, we have the mad directory launched every year, the Maryhill activities directory, and it doesn't matter whether it's a judo club, it doesn't matter if it's a pensioners forum, it doesn't matter if it's the bingo, it doesn't matter if it's active walking or cycling or other classes or whatever, it's all in there and it's up-to-date classes and opportunities, childcare and provisions for the entire year, they've designed an app as well. So sometimes there's a lot of stuff out there but we don't always get the connections right. So just some suggestions for how to take forward that strategy and mentioning some good practice in my constituency as well and thank you the opportunity Presiding Officer to take part in this debate. Thank you very much. I call Clare Haughey. Last speaker in the open debate, we obviously then moved to closing speeches, that's a red alert, temporary that should be in the chamber, Ms Haughey. Thank you Presiding Officer and I remind members of my entry in the register of interests as I'm a mental health nurse who holds an honorary contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. From listening to the other speakers in today's debate it's clear that we all agree that action must be taken to address loneliness and social isolation. I'm sure you will agree Presiding Officer, it was at points a difficult debate to listen to, indeed at times saddening to hear the different testimonies and experiences and the effect loneliness can have on our fellow Scots. As a mental health nurse of over 30 years, the devastating effect loneliness and social isolation can have on someone's health is indisputable and the problem only seems to be becoming more prevalent. Research shows, as we've heard, that in terms of mortality, loneliness is more damaging than obesity and that lacking social connections is as harmful to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. As society changes, thankfully, there is an increasing acknowledgement that loneliness and social isolation should be treated as a major public health issue, particularly for its effect on a person's mental health. It seems rather perverse that in an increasingly connected world that our human interactions are reducing. Nearly 20 per cent of older adults in Scotland see technology as being a cause of loneliness as it often replaces human contact. However, despite the fact that loneliness is mostly associated with our elderly population, it permeates throughout the whole of our society and across all age groups. Commissioned by the Scottish Government and completed by NHS Scotland, research shows that 11 per cent of adults in Scotland often feel lonely, although a significant minority of children are vulnerable to social isolation because of bullying or poor peer support. There is no escaping the fact that loneliness and social isolation can lead to depression, stress, anxiety and a lack of confidence, so it is vital that we are able to tackle the issue head on. I thank the Mental Health Foundation for its assistance in preparing for this debate, and in particular Tony Giuliano, who I see as joined us today. I fully agree with his assertion that this is a serious public health issue and that the Scottish Government's commitment to developing a strategy on this is a welcome step forward. The Government's draft document is an essential platform to build on, so I repeat the calls that all stakeholders should participate in the consultation before it ends on 30 April. The publication of the draft strategy is a clear commitment from the Scottish Government that it is willing to show leadership to address the issue, however we cannot disregard the central role that communities play to. Indeed, as the Minister for Social Security said in the consultation document, the biggest impact can only be delivered if we enable communities themselves to lead this work. In my constituency of Rutherglen, I have an inspiring example of a person who is at the forefront of the challenge of tackling loneliness and social isolation locally, and he is absolutely dedicated in bringing communities together. My constituent Gordon McLean from Rutherglen is a volunteer and the chairperson of the local organisation, Grow73. Grow73 is a community gardening group whose ethos is that by bringing people together to grow fruit, vegetables and plants, the community's whole will be able to grow too. Gordon works closely with his colleagues Lynn and Eugenie, whose dedication, passion and drive have been instrumental in shaping the person he is today. According to the research undertaken by NHS Scotland, 22 per cent of people do not feel that they have a strong sense of belonging to their local community, so we all therefore have a responsibility to ensure that our communities are more connected and cohesive so that no one is left behind. In that regard, each week, Grow73 holds a weekly, Monday meet-up in Rutherglen, which is open to all and simply consists of small walks or planting throughout a local park. A dedicated number of people turn up every week, some of whom are retired, some are in work, some unable to work, some come with their families, some come with their children who are in school or even at nursery. Gordon is clear that his weekly event allows people to meet up with others for meaningful social interaction, which they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to experience. Recognising Gordon's commitment in tackling loneliness and social isolation, he was invited by the Eden project to attend the launch of the great get-together campaign, which was set up in the memory of the late Joe Cox. Joe Cox's family and son friends came up with the initiative. Now, in conjunction with the Eden project's big lunch project, our programme, it encouraged communities across the UK to have lunch with their neighbours once a year in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. Following on from this example, Gordon and Grow73 held such an event at Overton Park in Rutherglen, which was a remarkable success, drawing together people of all ages. Communities themselves are best placed to ensure people who may be at risk of becoming isolated or lonely can access the support that they need. I welcome the Government's acknowledgment that communities should be the focal point in tackling the issue. I take pride in the fact that the SNP Scottish Government will be one of the first countries in the world to develop an international strategy to address loneliness and isolation. However, what gives me even greater pride is seeing people like Gordon in our communities who are leading the way. Loneliness and social isolation should not remain a silent epidemic, so please speak out if you are needing help. Before I move to closing speeches, I say that I am disappointed that Kenneth Gibson and Gail Ross neither of them is in the chamber for closing speeches. That is disrespectful to the chamber, disrespectful to members in the chamber. I expect a note to my colleagues and myself as to why they are not in the chamber. Mr Cole-Hamilton, please close the liberal Democrats if you have seven minutes. I start by echoing Bob Dorris in giving my thanks for what has been an excellent debate, full of consensus. I am grateful in particular for the tone set by the minister at the very top of the debate, particularly in her speech when she sought to heap praise across party lines, both on the newly appointed Minister for Loneliness in Westminster, Tracy Crouch, but in the late great Joe Cox, whose work as Mark Griffin reminds us continues to this day in much of what we have discussed this afternoon. In my opening remarks, I talked about the human condition and that we are in essence a social animal. Certainly there are those of us who enjoy our own company and who would readily seek out space and time alone, but there is a massive difference between those who seek out the peace that solitude can bring and those who have loneliness thrust upon them as the old French novelist Balzac said that solitude is fine, but you will always need someone to tell you that it is fine. Indeed, it is possible to exist amongst a sea of people and yet still feel totally and hopelessly alone. John Scott reminds us that that reality is in fact ages old in terms of the plight of women just after the outbreak of the First World War and in terms of the many hidden corners of our society for centuries. That has been a reality. The statistics speak for themselves. 200,000 older Scots go half a week or more without a visit or a phone call. Half of all 75-year-olds say that their main form of company is either a television or a pet. In any given year, and this speaks to the ageless quality of loneliness, there are 15,000 children in the care of this state who grapple with attachment disorder, trauma and loss, only to have that isolation worse and still further when the day comes around where they have to leave their placement and take up their first tenancy. Although it is certainly possible to identify groups at greater risk of isolation, loneliness does not draw any distinction across class, age or geography. People are lonely for many, many reasons and often, as I said earlier, exist in plain sight. We have heard this afternoon many excellent examples. It was struck by the minister's four questions, which she posed to the chamber in her opening remarks. The most important of those, to my mind, was the last. What can I do? We often hope that the machinery and apparatus of Government will, through the votes that we cast in this place and the decisions that we make in this place, will somehow clunk into action and address any particular social issue of the day. On that, perhaps above any other issue, we hold key to at least part of that answer in how we treat each other and in how we reach out to those around us. Clare Haughey has just reminded us of the big get-together weekend. That was one of the first times in a while that we, in my small cul-de-sac of six houses, have actively sought out each other's company. However, what I particularly liked about this debate was the range and massive plethora of local examples of great organisations and community spirit that is alive and well in this country. We heard from Kenneth Gibson, Ruth Maguire and others about Food Train, which sounds like an amazing initiative. I really hope that that campaign to save it is successful. I particularly like to associate myself and those benches with the call from Annie Wells for a national day around this issue. I think that it is something that we need to keep fixated on and reminding ourselves each and every year. Monica Lennon, in a typically excellent speech, as well as making some very cheerful remarks about the Liberal Democrat amendment, made a very important point about crafting our response to this across every political policy directorate in the Scottish Government. It is very easy to think that this is the preserve of perhaps the minister's brief, but there are elements of this in every department in the Scottish Government. It also took up the importance of intergenerational interventions, and I thank her for that. We are reminded of the co-location of nurseries and care homes for older people in other parts of the world, and we obviously have lots to learn from overseas. I always enjoy the contributions of Jeremy Balfour, particularly when he evokes the great Simon and Garfunkel. He delivered a very eloquent speech and also talked about the strain on local GP practices in prescribing, when he referenced the fact that a third of prescriptions would not be necessary if we could combat the isolation that brought people there in the first place. Graham Day built on that by making important points about how GPs and other primary care professionals represent the first line in identification of those who are lonely in our society, because people do not always come forward to that end. It is a point that Sandra White made, very importantly, that there is a stigma associated with this. We have cracked in a number of ways around getting people to understand and talk about mental health, but it feels like with loneliness we are just a little step behind there, because there is baggage associated by coming forward and saying that you are lonely or isolated. Gail Ross made an excellent speech. I want to put on record my gratitude for her bravery over Christmas in talking openly in the national press about her own mental health. She reminded that there are those champions individually working for the rights and interests of people who are isolated in our community. I am very grateful for the collective support around our amendment. We have much to do around the built environment, ensuring that the new build environment that we create builds communities and not dormitories, but we make sure that the older settles communities that we already have are well-served and maintained so that people's social orbit is not limited by their fear of leaving their home and falling in the street. I think that I am very much welcome to the consensus around traumatic life events that these can actually set in train a response, a human response, at a molecular level within people, which sets a course through their lives, which brings about many negative social outcomes. There are many lofty social policy answers to this, but, as we have heard throughout the debate today, 1,000 seemingly tiny acts of human kindness can move a mountain as big of this, and they are needed. They are needed now more than ever. Significant pressures on mental health services and national suicide rates rising by 8 per cent last year alone. The need for concerted cross-chamber action on this matter is acute. The founding principles of this Parliament established this chamber to give voice to those who had struggled to be heard. To today's debate, the Government's continuing work towards the strategy and the unified consensus that we have forged today go some way to helping us to give comfort and company to those in isolation as well. I now call David Stewart, close for Labour. Seven minutes, please. I know you have no trouble filling seven minutes. Thank you for your confidence, Presiding Officer. This has been an excellent debate with sparkling and well-informed contributions from across the chamber. Many members rightly referred to the tragedy of the murdered Labour MP Joe Cox and the Loneliness Commission set up to tackle the issue that the late MP cared so passionately about. The commission's recommendation, as many members referred to, is that there should be a minister responsible for a national strategy to combat loneliness has been, as we have heard, accepted by the Prime Minister. Tracy Crouch, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society, will lead on Loneliness to head up the UK Government's work to tackle a problem that is believed to affect nine million people in the UK. As Gail Ross said, you do not have to be alone to be lonely. I have personal experience of loneliness and social isolation. In my early 20s, and yesterday, Presiding Officer, I was young once, I volunteered to work with the Samaritans in my home city of Inverness. Many of the calls that I took in my day shift or overnight were from desperate, sad, lonely people, some of whom also had physical and mental health problems. That is the joint cognitive group in British Red Cross report, tracked in the bubble and referred members to my membership of the Scottish Co-operative Party. Loneliness people mistakenly perceive as an issue faced either solely or predominantly by older people. On a personal level, I was inspired by my volunteering and I trained as a social worker, which led to a 16-year career as a front-line worker and middle manager, including specialised training on mental health. Loneliness and social isolation have been well documented in the debate to affect physical as well as mental health. They cause, as we heard in the debate, greater risk of chronic heart disease and stroke, higher risk of alcohol consumption and smoking, lower levels of physical exercise and substantial increase in the chance of dementia among older people. On top of that, the chances of suffering from isolation and loneliness is exacerbated greatly by social and economic inequalities. It is absolutely key to building a better Scotland. We tackle this public health challenge head-on. In my region, the likelihood of feeling cut-off from society is not helped by the squeeze in public services. With people living in isolated, rural and super-rural areas, access to support networks, family and friends, local groups or charities are already more limited, and this has made worse with poor public transport links. Accessibility and affordability are key factors, and with the drawl of more and more rural bus services and under-investment in north-highland rail links, it only emphasises the remoteness of the region. That said, some excellent local charities should get a mention, as other members have done, who have the objective to mitigate isolation and loneliness. For example, the Highland Hospice for Helping Hands for Befending Services offers visits to the home of people with terminal illness. It matches each person with their own befender, based on their needs, to offer social and practical help. A new project has also been trialled with a run of four months in the Western Isles at the moment. The well-connected communities are supported by support in mind, the mental health charity and the National Rural Mental Health Forum. Across the Highlands and Gailan Bute, Befender's Highland offers are befending by phone, letter, email and in group sense. As I said, I thought that this was an excellent debate. The minister kicked off and reminded us the major impact on health and wellbeing of loneliness and social isolation, not restricted to elderly, and she commended the previous Parliament's Equal Opportunities report. She also referred rightly to the Joe Cox commission on loneliness, and I welcome, as others have done, the launch of the draft strategy on social isolation and loneliness. I thought that Annie Wells made a very good speech and she was encouraged by national strategy and again she emphasised the importance and issues about socialisation and the links with the major public health issue. She also made the very valid point about how technology is replacing face-to-face contact in modern society. Monica Lennon flagged up that Labour had the 2016 manifesto promise on socialisation and loneliness. She talked about the Joe Cox commission. As others have done about the UK figure of 9 million people being lonely and also flagged up in the year of young people in 2018, we need more actions to target young people and the links with good mental health. Alec Cole-Hamilton made a very valid point that we all perhaps look towards Christmas and New Year as a high point of our social calendar, but for many who are socially isolated it is a very negative time. He made a very good link about the links with loneliness and mental health and stressed the golden thread of volunteering, the very important role that volunteering has in Scotland today. Kenny Gibson quite rightly talked about the importance of having a better Scotland is to tackle loneliness and social isolation. Jeremy Balfour got the best laugh in the chamber when he talked about murder and rose constant approaches on Facebook. I am sure that that is correct, but I do not have personal evidence about that. He also made a very valid point about social prescribing and the key point about how well I get on with my neighbours. Jeremy Graham Day talked about people in communities having social connection with neighbours and the very valid point that I would agree with the crucial issue about ensuring that we have a strategy for rural areas as well. Mark Griffin mentioned the Joe Cox work in Parliament and the innovative work of the commission. Apologies to other members that I do not have time to refer to. In conclusion, I welcome the positive and productive debate to build a connected Scotland to tackle social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation recognises no age, no class, no gender. Let us recognise the passion of Joe Cox's crusade against loneliness and the importance of her legacy still living on in her commission. All that we need to succeed, Presiding Officer, is the will to do and the soul to dare. Thank you very much, Mr Stewart. I call Miles Briggs to close with me because he served us up to nine minutes, please. I am pleased to close what I think has been a useful and positive debate today. There have been some excellent contributions from across members in the chamber. It is a good deal of recognition to the extent of the challenges that we face and some welcome consensus of what needs to be done and how we as a Parliament can make a difference. As other members have already done, I concur with the joint briefings that are received for today from the Mental Health Foundation Scotland and Age Scotland that states that learningness is one of the leading public health challenges of our time, with more than 100,000 older people in our country now classed as being chronically lonely. In an advanced, wealthy, developed society like ours, that cannot be right and something this Parliament and all parties can play a role in solving. Many members have focused rightly on the mental ill health that can be caused by social isolation and loneliness. It is a key trigger of depression and low mood and can be linked to a significant number of suicides, especially among elderly members in our communities. Loneliness puts individuals at greater risk of cognitive decline. It is worth reflecting that one recent academic study had indicated that loneliness has a 64 per cent increased chance of then developing clinical dementia. Improving Scotland's mental wellbeing is extricably linked to also tackling social isolation. We need to see strategies on both issues that very closely align to complement each other and reinforce each other on that. I was also very struck by research that was highlighted by Channel 4 before Christmas, which set out just how harmful loneliness and social isolation are to physical health, as well as people's mental health. The research showed that lacking social connections is as damaging to our health as has been already mentioned by smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Indeed, it is estimated that loneliness increases the likelihood of mobility by 10 per cent. As a Lothian MSP, I shared the concern and surprise of many other fellow residents here in Edinburgh when the capital was described as the loneliest city in the UK in December. It was revealed that broadly about 60,000 people above the age of 65 in Scotland would be spending Christmas day alone. Clearly, we need to do much more, but we should be proud of some of the first class work that has been highlighted during the debate, and that work has also been undertaken in Edinburgh and Lothians that I would like to highlight. We should also commend the dedication and effort of those who are giving their time as befrienders of volunteers in their communities, either formally or informally. I was pleased recently to meet with vintage vibes here in Parliament. They are a fantastic dynamic organisation that has created dozens of successful matches between older people here in Edinburgh and their volunteers. Ahead of Christmas, they ran a cosy Christmas campaign launched by Gail Porter, which encouraged people to send a Christmas card and an information pack to isolated older people here in the capital. I must admit that I wrote mine at the back of the chamber here in one FMQs ahead of the Christmas break. For me, I felt that that was the most productive FMQs that I had been involved in, but, despite being a new charity, it has only been operating since April 2016. It has already won Age Scotland's Patrick Brooks award for best working partnership, and we are a finalist in generations working together with the new international project award. I wish them continued success as they plan to expand their services across Edinburgh and Lothians in the future. As Annie Wells outlined, contact the elderly. Monica Lennon I am grateful to Miles Briggs and I think we all congratulate the many charities and volunteers who we have all name-checked today. Would Miles Briggs also recognise the important role that volunteers and food banks play right across Scotland? We have put a challenge to the minister today to work across government and look at the impact of all policy decisions. Will the Scottish Conservatives be writing to Tracy Crouch? We are getting our names wrong today. To Tracy Crouch, not just to congratulate her but also to ask her what she will do to make representations to other new members of the government, for example, Esther McVey in the Department of Work and Pensions. We have to recognise the impact of inward poverty of benefit sanctions on people's mental health, on their physical health and how they feel within communities. That would be grateful. Miles Briggs I think that this debate has outlined how tackling the issue of social isolation is one that we all need to work across not only in this Parliament but in our councils and at Westminster. To move on from that, what I had been looking to highlight is what Annie Wells had mentioned. That was the work of contact the elderly, which is another brilliant charity working in my region, which organises Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups of older people, aged 75 and over, who live alone, offering regular and vital community links each month. As equal access programme provides a similar service for people from minority ethnic communities who can often experience language and cultural challenges. It is their programme, our community navigator project, also working here in the south-west and southeast of Edinburgh that helps people over 65 to find out what is on or near them and how they can access support they need in a way that they want. All of us in this chamber should do what we can to support those organisations and others like them and encourage constituents to volunteer for them so th