Scottish Government clinical waste scandal is another waste of taxpayer cash

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The SNP’s electoral breakthrough in 2007 saw the party pitch itself as a careful keeper of the public purse.

The Nationalists rightly attacked Labour and the Tories for wasting hundreds of millions of pounds through private finance initiative contracts. They were supposed to refurbish schools and hospitals but often ended up poorer value for money than under local authorities or health boards.

Now, after 17 years in power at Holyrood, it is the SNP increasingly viewed as the party of waste. After such a long period at the helm of Scotland’s key services, it was inevitable that some public sector investments would go wrong. But the scale of some of the splurges under the SNP’s watch has made many voters take notice.

Last week, the Glen Sannox ferry was finally handed over to its owners after a torturous build process at a nationalised shipyard in Port Glasgow. It was launched by Nicola Sturgeon as far back as 2017 but won’t take on any passengers until January.

The government’s response to the clinical waste scandal, which saw a firm collapse after it failed to dispose of toxic materials it was paid to collect, may have faded from view. But fresh questions have now been asked regarding the company hired to step into the breach.

Tradebe was given a £120million contract in 2019 yet was given £5.4million more following a fire at its plant in 2021. And still, tonnes of NHS waste are being driven south because there are no facilities to deal with it here.

Voters might well wonder if that is value for money – or another money pit for our hard-earned tax pounds.

Heed charity’s alert over kids

The Daily Record's Our Kids...Our Future campaign has been at the forefront of highlighting the dangers posed to young people by exposure to violent online content.

We’ve long called for social media giants to be more responsible over the content kids access on smart phones. Another aspect to this explosion in social media use is the impact on our young people’s mental health.

Figures obtained by young person’s charity Children First show a “staggering” 100 referrals a day being made to adolescent mental health services. The charity rightly points out that this is a national emergency and health services need to adapt to this epidemic.

Of course, there are many complex reasons including poverty and the after effects of Covid lockdown. But there is little doubt 24-hour-a-day connection to the online world is harming our kids. Parents, the health service AND social media giants all need to do their bit to help our kids cope.

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