Measuring our progress

During the election just passed, we in the SNP made standing by our record of achievement during the last four years of minority Government a big part of our successful campaign. It is a record that I believe we can be proud of, despite the challenges we faced, and while much of the recent focus and analysis in Scotland has been on our plans for the next five years as a majority Government, it is important that the signs of how far we have come so far should not be overlooked.

Recent weeks saw the publication of quarterly registration figures for NHS dentists. Across Scotland, an additional 1.2 million people are now registered with an NHS dentist compared to when the SNP took power in 2007. For a country the size of Scotland, that is progress on an impressive scale although there is of course still much to do, not least in the Grampian area.

Dentist registrations are well behind the national average in this area and we can all well remember how bad the situation was allowed to become under the previous administration. When the SNP came to power, just 35% of people in Grampian were registered with an NHS dentist.

That figure was a scandal and as a Government we took action to address it. A major part of that was the opening of a £20 million dental school in Aberdeen, training dentists in the region so that there are more dentists in the area for people to access. The latest figures show the progress that has been made, with over 51% of people in the area now registered with an NHS dentist.

Clearly there is much more progress still to be made, but that things are moving in the right direction is undeniable. As more and more newly qualified dentists graduate in Aberdeen, I believe that progress will continue and the disparity in dentist provision can finally be brought to an end.

Recent days also saw statistics demonstrating the progress that has been made in policing under the past four years of SNP Government. We were elected to office in 2007 with a promise that we would recruit an additional 1,000 police officers to protect our communities. The recently published statistics show that having met that promise well ahead of schedule, we finished our first term in office having maintained that increase.

There is now a more visible police presence in our communities, with 142 additional officers in the Grampian area, and crime has been reduced to a 32 year low. It has been one of the most significant achievements of our first term in office and we are determined to maintain that achievement throughout our second term.

The parliamentary term just passed saw progress in many aspects of Scottish life of which we can be proud. Yet I know that we will not rest on our laurels, but will instead work tirelessly to ensure that at the end of our second term in office people can again look back and see that we have come even further.

Carers Week

It would be remiss of me not to mention that Carers Week takes place from the 13th to the 19th of June. The many unpaid carers across Scotland are without doubt unsung heroes without whom the NHS and local Government would be overwhelmed. It is extremely challenging work that carers do and I warmly welcome the recognition of their efforts that Carers Week provides. As a society we all owe a debt of thanks to Scotland’s army of carers.