Scottish Parliament, 18 May 2022

362 contributions from 64 members. The official report.

Covid-19 Recovery and Parliamentary Business

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

Good afternoon. The first item of business is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio is Covid-19 recovery and parliamentary business. If a member wishes to ask a supplementary question, they should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question or place an R in the chat function.

Human Rights (Incorporation of Treaties)

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

1. To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update to Parliament on when it plans to bring forward legislation to incorporate human rights treaties. (S6O-01086)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

In line with the ambitious recommendations from the national task force for human rights leadership, the Scottish Government has committed to introducing a world-leading human rights bill during the current session of Parliament, and we are on track to do that.

The programme for government set out that we would consult on the bill in the coming year. That consultation, and the bill itself, are being developed collaboratively with a wide range of partners and stakeholders from across Scotland. We will continue to provide updates to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on the bill’s progress and timings.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer, and I look forward to hearing what I hope will be a comprehensive update on the progress of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill in his statement next Tuesday.

Can the Deputy First Minister set out when he expects to introduce specific legislation on the four human rights treaties that the Scottish Government is committed to incorporating into Scots law, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women? Can he confirm that the Scottish Government will seek appropriate legal advice and work with the United Kingdom Government to ensure that future legislation is within devolved competence?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

With regard to the question on legislative competence, there is an obligation on ministers to ensure that that is the case and, accordingly, to introduce bills alongside the certificates that make that point.

With regard to incorporation of other treaties, as I indicated in my earlier answer, the Government’s work on that is under way; there will be consultation in the coming year and we will keep Parliament updated on specific timings. As we set out legislative programmes year by year, further details will become clear to members during parliamentary announcements.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

There is frustration about the lack of progress on incorporation of the UNCRC. I know that there will be a statement next week, but can the minister tell us that that will be the end of the process, rather than there being another consultation or review group process? We need to get the matter sorted quickly, so can the minister guarantee that?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I assure Mr Rennie that while we have been addressing issues in connection with the specific points that the Supreme Court raised—which will be the subject of my statement to Parliament on Tuesday—we have also been undertaking preparatory work to implement the elements of the bill that were uncontested in the Supreme Court judgment. That work is under way. My statement will update Parliament on where we have reached in our consideration of the Supreme Court judgment.

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has expressed concern about the UK Government’s plans to introduce legislation to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a new bill of rights. Can the Deputy First Minister say whether proposed reforms could take place without unsettling the current devolution arrangements, and what actions the Scottish Government will take to oppose any regressive proposals?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

At this stage, I am unable to give Stephanie Callaghan the reassurance that she—understandably and rightly—seeks. The Human Rights Act 1998 is embedded in the legislation that led to the establishment of this Parliament, and the powers of this Parliament and the way in which they are exercised are inextricably linked to the provisions of the 1998 act. The fact that the United Kingdom Government is now, in essence, going to replace that legislation raises all sorts of issues about consideration and handling of human rights issues, but it also raises the danger that the devolution settlement on which this Parliament is founded might be destabilised, as a consequence.

We do not yet know the answer to the question. We know, however, that new human rights legislation is emerging. Once the bill is published, we will scrutinise its contents very carefully in order to assess its full impact, and we will update Parliament.

I assure Stephanie Callaghan that the Scottish Government will resist any attempt, in any shape or form, to diminish the human rights that are entrenched in the Human Rights Act 1998, and which are linked to the foundation of this Parliament.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I understand that Mr Whittle wishes to apologise to Parliament in advance. He has advised us that he will need to leave the chamber immediately after asking his question.

Covid-19 Recovery (Data)

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to improving data gathering and data management across Government as part of the development of policies relating to the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-01087)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The Scottish Government is committed to improving data gathering and management to produce high-quality and impactful research supporting our recovery from the pandemic. That includes the data and intelligence network—a community of data experts promoting best practice on sharing and use of data, in response to the pandemic. The network has produced a range of resources including a data catalogue, and has worked to improve data set quality.

Research Data Scotland provides a way of systematically organising Scotland’s data and offers researchers quicker and clearer access to data. It developed the Covid-19 database for quick data set linkage. It now holds 36 data sets and supports 68 Covid-19-related studies.

The business support partnership programme data and analytics workstream seeks to improve data set linkage abilities in order to gain a more holistic view of the business support that was offered during the pandemic.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

I am sorry, Presiding Officer. I should have acknowledged the fact that I have to leave straight after my question, as I have a constituency case to deal with.

I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. The cabinet secretary will appreciate that, throughout the pandemic, having easy access to reliable data on everything from Covid cases to details of businesses that are eligible for support has proved to be vital in protecting the public, and has allowed our response to the virus to be as targeted as possible.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that as we look to recover from the pandemic and build greater resilience against future challenges, improving how the Scottish Government gathers, stores and uses data could bring significant benefits in every policy area, from future NHS workforce planning to health outcomes to hitting education attainment targets? If he does agree, what steps is the Scottish Government taking to address the shortfall?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Data management is central to every aspect of Government policy and action. It helps us to identify the most effective targeting of support to assist individuals who face difficulties during the cost of living crisis, for example. It also helps us to manage effectively the implications of Covid in the national health service and a wide variety of other environments.

The programmes that are being done through the data and intelligence network are designed to ensure that we constantly review the approach to data management and data handling, so that we achieve all our objectives in this respect and so that we can effectively deliver Government policy.

We have learned from the Covid pandemic that we need systems that can readily deal with distribution of resources to a wide range of recipients, whether they are individuals or businesses. Such systems had to be developed at pace during the pandemic, but we are looking to entrench those approaches in order to ensure that we are equipped for any eventuality in the future. That is material to the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill, with which Mr Whittle is familiar.

Covid-19 Recovery (Hospital Restrictions)

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what cross-Government discussions regarding the remaining Covid-19 hospital restrictions have taken place as part of its Covid recovery strategy. (S6O-01088)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

As Covid-19 infection prevention and contr

ol guidance is confined to healthcare settings, there are limited cross-Government discussions outside of health directorates regarding Covid-19 mitigations. Scotland’s hospital Covid-19 guidance is developed in conjunction with NHS National Services Scotland’s antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention and control staff, supported by the independent expert Covid-19 nosocomial review group.

The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with NSS and with relevant policy teams on reviewing and updating Covid-19 hospital guidance in the light of emerging scientific and World Health Organization advice.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

I thank Mr Swinney for that answer.

However, on-going Covid restrictions in Scotland’s NHS are causing avoidable harm to patients and are restricting patient flow, which results in on-going pressure on waiting times. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that appropriate hospital visits play an important role in patients’ treatment and recovery? Will he, as part of his Covid recovery strategy, commit to working closely with ministerial colleagues and officials to ensure that normal processes and procedures are resumed and maintained in hospitals wherever that is clinically safe and possible?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I agree on the final part of Mr Hoy’s question, that hospital visiting, when it is clinically safe to do so, is absolutely essential.

However, I rather parted company with Mr Hoy at the start of his question because it suggested that that is not the approach that we should take. Everything that the Government is doing around hospital visiting is founded on clinical analysis. We are all familiar with nosocomial transmission of Covid, so we must be careful to ensure that we are taking the right clinically advised steps on hospital visiting so that we can protect the population that is in hospital and people who are visiting hospital for legitimate purposes. Yes—we will take an approach that is driven by clinical analysis and clinical advice because we must make sure that it is safe for individuals to visit in the current context.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 4 was not lodged.

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what role a Covid-19 booster vaccination programme this winter will play in its Covid recovery strategy. (S6O-01090)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Vaccination remains a critical component in our response to Covid-19. Since its beginning, the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has been guided by the expert advice that has been provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and senior clinicians.

In February this year, the JCVI advised that an autumn/winter booster programme for 2022 is likely to be recommended for people who are at higher risk of severe Covid-19, such as those of older age and those who are in clinical risk groups.

The JCVI will continue its review, and the Scottish Government understands that the committee is likely to make a further announcement with more precise details of timing and eligibility for the anticipated autumn/winter programme in the coming weeks. We stand ready to consider any further guidance from the JCVI as it is issued.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

What consultations have taken place with local authorities and health boards about possible vaccination venues for this winter?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

Dialogue is on-going with local authorities and health boards about the delivery of the vaccination programme, particularly in relation to convenience and locality for individual areas. It is obviously a very complex exercise, and the vaccination programme has led to the distribution of in excess of 10 million vaccines in a relatively short space of time. When the programme operates at population scale, it opens up different opportunities around locations than if it is a more limited vaccination programme for older people and for the clinically vulnerable. Of course, if the programme is targeted at those groups, access and locality will be ever more significant. I assure Mr McLennan that those questions will be considered very carefully with local authorities and health boards as we apply the advice from the JCVI.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

A constituent caught Covid in February this year and now, three months later, she has it again. She is completely vaccinated. It was bad before, but this time it has floored her. Given that waves of omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 are on their way, I am pleased that the cabinet secretary is indicating an extension of the booster programme. Could I encourage him to look at that particularly for people aged 50 and over, including those who have underlying health conditions such as diabetes or asthma? Will he urge the JCVI to move quickly, given that both of the new strains are thought to be very contagious and there is a level of vaccine escape?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

All those are legitimate points, and I am sorry that Jackie Baillie’s constituent has had that experience.

Jackie Baillie will be familiar with the fact that the Government follows, and has followed to date, as have other Administrations in the United Kingdom, the advice of the JCVI. We have made clear to the JCVI at different stages our enthusiasm for elements of the vaccination programme to be undertaken, and for it to be undertaken more quickly than might ordinarily be the case.

I will certainly discuss with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, who leads on dialogue with the JCVI in that respect, the issues that Jackie Baillie has raised but, fundamentally, as Jackie Baillie will understand, the JCVI operates independently of Government and provides high-quality clinical advice to Government.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 6 was not lodged.

Covid-19 Recovery (Testing and Contact Tracing)

Sarah Boyack (Labour, Lothian)

7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what modelling it has undertaken to estimate the impact on its Covid recovery strategy of removing population-wide testing and contact tracing at the end of April. (S6O-01092)

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

The decision to make those changes to our testing policy was informed by the latest available evidence and advice from public health officials and clinicians, which included modelling of the epidemiological impact of the changes in testing policy. The Scottish Government continues to model the latest Covid-19 trends, and the results are published online in the “Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic” reports.

Alongside our evolving response to the pandemic, the Scottish Government’s Covid recovery strategy will continue to focus effort and resources on bringing about a fairer future, particularly for people who have been most impacted during the pandemic.

Sarah Boyack (Labour, Lothian)

Given the challenge of new variants, the most recent of which are those that have been identified in Portugal and South Africa, what risk assessment has the Scottish Government done on the impact of ending routine testing, given the on-going health issues that Jackie Baillie raised, as well as the effects of long Covid? Does the Deputy First Minister agree that, without a commitment to free vaccines in low-income countries and around the globe, we will not be safe until everyone is safe?

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I agree entirely with that latter point. Over the course of the vaccination programme, the Scottish Government has supported practically, and through the application of pressure, the achievement of the objective that Sarah Boyack set out.

As I indicated in my initial answer, the change to testing policy was included in the modelling of the pandemic. We continue to monitor levels of Covid in our society through the various modelling exercises that are undertaken. The modelling that we do around waste water shows declining prevalence of the virus. We also monitor hospital admissions and case numbers.

We will continue to engage with the international clinical community on the research that is emerging on new strains and new variants, and we will reflect that in the choices and decisions that we make.

Parliamentary Questions (Timescale for Responses)

Daniel Johnson (Labour, Edinburgh Southern)

8. To ask the Scottish Government for what reason a number of written parliamentary questions have not received an answer by ministers within the required timescale. (S6O-01093)

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

The Scottish Government is committed to answering all parliamentary questions as quickly as possible and within the deadlines agreed with the Parliament. In the first quarter of 2022, the Government answered 90 per cent of written parliamentary questions on time, exceeding the Parliament’s 80 per cent benchmark.

The Government produces quarterly statistics, which are available from the Scottish Parliament information centre, that show how many parliamentary questions were cleared after the substantive date and those that were still outstanding at the time of audit.

Daniel Johnson (Labour, Edinburgh Southern)

I thank the minister for that answer, but I think that the number of wry smiles around the chamber probably points to the fact that things are somewhat awry from the picture that he paints.

The problem is a growing one, and it is not experienced only by Opposition members; I have had the same conversation with Scottish National Party back benchers. There is a problem with the timeliness and the quality of answers. I have asked three questions that it has taken the cabinet secretary more than four months to answer.

In relation to quality, I had an answer from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills that was simply a hyperlink to myjobscotland.gov.uk, as well as answers that have simply referred me to SPICe. As good as the work of SPICe is, I know where SPICe is and can ask its staff myself. I have also had answers that have just given links to previous answers, regardless of their age—some of them have been up to six months old. I want the Government to tell me what the answer is today.

Ultimately, it is not just me or other members whom the Government is letting down, but my constituents, because I am asking questions on their behalf.

I ask the minister to reflect on that, because the answers that are given should be considered to be answers to the whole Parliament. If ministers would not be happy to answer questions in the chamber in the way that they answer written questions, they should not submit written answers in that way.

Will the Government undertake to improve matters from the point of view of time and, importantly, of the quality of the written parliamentary answers that are provided?

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

I repeat that, in the first quarter of 2022, 90 per cent of questions were replied to in time.

The member should take into account that there are many factors that impact on the time that it takes to provide substantive answers to written PQs. Resourcing pressures for the Government mean that it has to prioritise activities such as, for example, our response to the pandemic. Delays can be caused through difficulty in interpreting the question, or by taking steps to ensure that answers are properly researched, accurate and, above all, open and helpful to members.

As always, I will try to be open and helpful to all members of this chamber at all times. If Daniel Johnson or any other member wishes to have a chat or discussion about any of the issues, my door will always be open.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

The member says that with no hint of irony at all.

With any form of majority Government, it is, if anything, more important than ever that the strongest standards of transparency and scrutiny are upheld. Just this week, we heard of the SNP Government’s abysmal adherence to freedom of information laws, with shady interventions from ministerial advisers going undocumented.

Written questions are treated with similar distain by the Scottish Government, which often does not address the questions or simply states that they have already been answered, when they have not.

With the Scottish Government in the news for its secretive handling of the ferries fiasco, should Scottish ministers not be doing far more to earn the public’s trust?

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

Mr Kerr will understand that we had a public opinion poll only two weeks ago, and the public’s trust was with the SNP.

Once again, we have Mr Kerr’s hyperbole when it comes to interpretation of what is actually published and out there. We need to be very careful when we are discussing these matters. Mr Kerr seems to think that he can say what he likes, when he likes, shout about absolutely anything and be correct. His interpretation is not the same as everyone else’s in this room, however, so he needs to have a wee think about how he conducts himself.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That concludes portfolio questions on Covid-19 recovery and Government business.

We will move on to the next portfolio—[

Interruption

.] We will move on to the next item of business once everyone is in place and following proceedings.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport

The Deputy Presiding Officer

The next portfolio is net zero, energy and transport. I remind all members who wish to ask a supplementary question to please press their request-to-speak buttons during the relevant question or enter the letter R in the chat function.

Invasive Species

Gordon MacDonald (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Pentlands)

1. To ask the Scottish Government what measures are available to stakeholders seeking to manage invasive species and mitigate their impact. (S6O-01094)

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

Invasive non-native species are a key driver of biodiversity loss. It is estimated that they cost the Scottish economy around £300 million annually. The management of INNS is fundamental to our efforts in tackling biodiversity loss. The Scottish Government provides funding streams to stakeholders seeking to manage invasive non-native species. Funding has been available through, for example, the forestry grant scheme and the biodiversity challenge fund, and there has been direct funding through NatureScot for projects of strategic national importance, such as the Scottish invasive species initiative. The new nature restoration fund also includes management and eradication of INNS in its objectives.

Gordon MacDonald (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Pentlands)

A survey found that there are American mink present in the Pentland hills regional park in my constituency and that their presence can have an absolutely devastating impact on native mammals and ground-nesting birds. Does the minister share my view that there is a pressing need to keep the impact of invasive species on Scotland’s ecosystem to the absolute minimum, and that steps should be taken to ensure that they do not undermine work to restore and enhance biodiversity?

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

I do indeed share Mr MacDonald’s view, which is why we are providing support to projects such as the Scottish invasive species initiative, which is tackling invasive plants and mink along rivers in an area of 29,500km2

, which is over a third of the total area of Scotland. In the past four years, more than £1.5 million has been invested via the Scottish rural development programme to tackle rhododendron, which threatens our precious Atlantic rain forest. However, we recognise that there is always more that can be done.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

There are a number of supplementary questions.

Maurice Golden (Conservative, North East Scotland)

Beaver activity can have and is having a negative impact on farmland, biodiversity and rural communities, especially in Tayside, where beavers were released either accidentally or illegally. The Scottish Government’s new translocation scheme aims to help, but it lacks detail, so can the minister provide answers to the following questions? When will the new rules launch, how many trappers have been trained, how many translocation sites have been identified and for how long will the scheme be funded?

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

I am really excited about our beaver translocation initiative, because it is an excellent way of managing conflicts between beavers and other land users. I disagree with the member on biodiversity loss, because beavers are excellent at improving biodiversity by creating natural wetlands. [

Interruption

.] Beavers are a reintroduced species. When my father grew up here in Scotland, there were no beavers—they were extinct—so this is a success.

We will publish a new beaver strategy—in June, I believe—and I very much expect that it will answer the member’s questions.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Alasdair Allan for a supplementary question.

Alasdair Allan (Scottish National Party, Na h-Eileanan an Iar)

I think that you are mistaken, Presiding Officer—apologies

.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Foysol Choudhury for a supplementary question.

Foysol Choudhury (Labour, Lothian)

What measures are available to the Scottish Government to ensure that invasive species are not being brought into Scotland through international arrivals at airports?

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

That is a live issue for us given the issues around Brexit and the delay of 18 more months to border checks, and it is a particular concern for my plant health colleagues. We are very concerned about biosecurity, and I am happy to write to the member about that in more detail.

Scottish Water (Reserves)

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on using Scottish Water’s reserves to fund a £100 rebate for customers. (S6O-01095)

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

It is vital that Scottish Water continues to invest in infrastructure to provide a high-quality service to the people of Scotland. Revenue that is raised from customer charges is essential to deliver Scottish Water’s investment programme.

Scottish Water’s cash balance is not a surplus of funds; it is substantially allocated at any time to investment projects on a rolling basis. The average water charge in Scotland is already lower than the average charge in England and Wales.

From 1 April 2021, we increased the maximum discount available from the water charges reduction scheme—which is available to customers in receipt of full council tax reduction—to 35 per cent, up from 25 per cent. That enhanced scheme provides support to more than 470,000 customers.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

At a time when Scots are experiencing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, Scottish Water is sitting on at least £500 million of reserves, and its senior executives are getting eye-watering bonuses—not salaries, but bonuses—of £92,000, which is three times the average wage. Does the cabinet secretary believe that that is right, and will he rule out further rises of the retail price index plus 2 per cent next year, given that inflation is expected to be at least 10 per cent?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

As I mentioned, the cash reserves that Scottish Water holds are not a surplus of funds; they are for identified projects that have to be delivered, and Scottish Water has to hold a working cash balance that is allocated as those investments roll out. That is what those funds are held for, and the figure goes up and down during the course of the year and over different years. It is important that the member understands how the budgeting process operates, but given her question, it is clear that she does not.

On the support that we are providing, the member will recognise that extending the council tax support scheme that we provide for Scottish Water charges means that, because we have extended the reduction to 35 per cent, households that are in receipt of the full council tax reduction discount will pay less under this year’s water rates than they did back in 2021.

As the member will recognise, targeting support to households with the lowest incomes is a key priority during the cost of living crisis. [

Interruption

.] That is exactly what the scheme does: it assists households that have the lowest incomes with their water charges—and this year it reduces their water charges.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Before I call a member to ask a supplementary question, I say to members that if a question has been asked it is courteous to listen to the answer.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

A very rough calculation suggests that the chief executive officer and managers of Scottish Water, which is a publicly funded company, cost around £1.5 million—as well as the bonuses that Jackie Baillie talked about. Has the cabinet secretary reviewed whether the spend provides value for the public purse and considered whether those funds could be used to reduce bills?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

As the member will recognise, the board of Scottish Water is responsible for the remuneration package of staff, including the chief executive.

When it comes to value for money, we just have to look at the base salary packages in some of the water organisations in England, which in some cases go up to almost £1 million. The level at which Scottish Water’s chief executive is paid is considerably lower than the level in comparable organisations in other parts of the United Kingdom.

It is important that we make sure that we use public money efficiently. I am sure that the member recognises that customers have voted Scottish Water as one of the most efficient and effective public utilities in the UK, given its progress on investment. We recognise the significant progress that has been made.

The important point is that the money that Scottish Water makes stays in Scottish Water, unlike the situation in the privatised systems that the Tories operate.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Elizabeth Smith (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

3. To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to the United Kingdom Government’s consultation, launched on 9 May, regarding the proposed expansion of its warm home discount scheme. (S6O-01096)

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

The warm home discount is a Great Britain scheme, which provides an annual £140 rebate to around 210,000 vulnerable Scottish households.

Last year, we proposed an expanded replacement scheme, but—sadly—that was not agreed by the UK Government. The UK’s new consultation proposes to continue the current scheme separately in Scotland, with just a £10 increase. We will urge the UK Government to listen to Scottish stakeholders and do much more to protect the most vulnerable households.

Elizabeth Smith (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I understand that the uplift will mean that rebates are provided to an additional 50,000 families in Scotland, on top of the 230,000 who already receive payments.

Will the minister confirm that the Scottish Government will not in any way disrupt the additional payments, which could be of considerable importance to families throughout Scotland, including in Mid Scotland and Fife?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

Liz Smith is correct about the figure of 50,000 more households, and it is worth putting that figure in context.

The price cap rise last autumn created 50,000 more fuel-poor households, and the cap rose again in April, pushing a further 140,000 households in Scotland into fuel poverty. Further, big increases in energy prices are anticipated in October, and we fear that almost a million Scottish households will be in fuel poverty by the winter.

In the context of those figures, I hope that Liz Smith will acknowledge that extending support to 50,000 households is a pretty paltry response to the cost of living crisis that the Conservative Government is overseeing.

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Although all measures, including energy efficiency measures, to support households in the context of rising energy prices are welcome, the crisis is happening now. As welcome as existing measures are, including the warm home discount consultation and the further £30 million, does the minister acknowledge that support is not being put in place fast enough or on the scale that is needed?

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets estimates that 613,000 households in Scotland are in fuel poverty. What discussions has the minister had with the UK Government about more immediate assistance to deal with energy price increases? The wait-and-see approach that the UK Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, Greg Hands, set out to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee last week is not acceptable and not good enough.

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

I agree with Fiona Hyslop’s characterisation of the scale and pace of the response that is required, but which is clearly lacking from the UK Government.

I mentioned in my first answer that we have repeatedly proposed improvements to the warm home discount, with an expanded scheme that would be combined with other measures in Scotland. However, the UK Government chose not to take up our proposals and delayed any confirmation of even the continuation of the scheme.

I hope that the UK Government will do more. It is clear that there is huge pressure on it, even from some of its own back benchers, to do more and to act more swiftly to support people in relation to the cost of living crisis.

The figures that I mentioned speak for themselves on the scale of response that is required. This will be a life-or-death decision for some individuals and families this year As we approach the autumn, I very much hope that the UK Government will reconsider its approach and do so urgently. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything that we can with our powers and, in particular, with the energy efficiency measures that we are supporting as a way of cutting people’s fuel bills.

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

Although it is great that many people are getting help with new boilers under the warmer homes Scotland scheme, the decision in May 2017 to exclude non-traditional construction properties from funding for external wall insulation means that a lot of expensive energy is still wasted. Many local authority houses are affected.

Would the Scottish Government consider reviewing the position, given the current cost of living crisis?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

Such properties are included as part of our fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes. For example, we have provided £64 million to local authorities to deliver external wall insulation through our area-based schemes this year.

Those local schemes target fuel poverty and benefit exactly the kind of hard-to-treat properties that the member describes. That approach has improved the homes of more than 100,000 fuel-poor households since 2013. Many of those properties are ex-local authority properties in mixed tenure blocks. They are often technically complex to insulate and they require other essential repairs, so the neighbourhood approach to improvements is often the best solution all round.

We are continuing to look at more ways to provide help with insulation and, over the coming months, we will consider all possible options to insulate and improve more homes.

ScotRail (Services)

Russell Findlay (Conservative, West Scotland)

4. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with ScotRail regarding returning rail services to pre-pandemic levels. (S6O-01097)

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

Throughout the pandemic, Transport Scotland officials have worked closely with the rail industry, via the rail recovery task force, to ensure that scheduled train services have met overall passenger demand.

Although passenger demand remains well below that seen prior to the pandemic, I fully expect ScotRail to keep its timetable under review, with scope to adapt where feasible to provide the most reliable service for passengers.

Russell Findlay (Conservative, West Scotland)

The minister omitted to mention that ScotRail revealed today that, from

next week, nearly one third of its services will be cut. That is 600 daily services across Scotland—at this rate, we will have more ferries than trains—and will cause absolute misery for passengers up and down the country.

Does the minister share ScotRail’s view that the unions and drivers are to blame? If not, who is responsible for another calamitous chapter in the story of the Scottish National Party’s nationalised rail?

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

I do not agree with Mr Findlay’s characterisation of this Government’s handling of bringing rail services into public ownership. However, to reflect on some of his substantive points, I think that we have seen 225 services affected today, with 138 full cancellations, so I would encourage any passengers who are watching to please check online for the availability of services.

Mr Findlay is correct that, due to some drivers not taking up the option of overtime Sunday and rest day working, ScotRail has today announced plans to run a temporary reduced timetable from 23 May, which is next week, to give passengers a more stable and reliable service.

We know that people want certainty when they travel and ScotRail has therefore looked at how best to give that certainty during what is—I absolutely recognise—a really challenging time for passengers.

Under the temporary timetable, services will be reduced by a certain level, but it is hugely important to note that ScotRail will keep that under review. It is worth saying that an extension to the rest day working arrangements and additional payments for staff was negotiated with the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen and it will continue to be in place until October of this year.

Again, I would appeal to trade unions, which of course campaigned so strongly for public ownership, to come back to the table and negotiate an agreement so that we can deliver on the timetable expectations that should have been met last week in the new timetable.

Jackie Dunbar (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)

The approach that the Tories have taken to rail relations elsewhere in the United Kingdom is a prime example of how not to engage with a workforce. The UK Government refused to increase pay during the pandemic and Network Rail’s communications chief recently said that rail workers

“should have probably worked harder at school”.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Ms Dunbar, could you please get to a relevant question?

Jackie Dunbar (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)

Does the minister share my disgust at those events, and will she join me in condemning the disdainful attitude of the Tories towards rail workers?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Minister, please extract the bits that are relevant to the initial question.

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

Forgive me, Presiding Officer?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Could you respond to what the member was trying to get at? A supplementary must be relevant to the initial question.

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

Understood, Presiding Officer.

It is disappointing that the UK Government appears not to be doing more to resolve the dispute south of the border. However, in Scotland, we have ensured that our general grade, non-driving railway staff have already received their previously negotiated and agreed 2.2 per cent increase for this year, while negotiations continue with both ASLEF and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.

Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Can the minister tell us how long the devastating 30 per cent cut in services will go on for?

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

As

I have already alluded to in my response to Mr Findlay, the situation will be kept under review. It is worth saying that, without Covid and its resultant impact on training, ScotRail would have trained an extra 130 drivers by this point. That would have eliminated ScotRail’s need for drivers to work overtime on rest days.

However, I will speak to ScotRail later this week to ask for the update that Mr Simpson has requested. I would be more than happy to share further details on that with him.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Before I turn to the next question, could I please have less commentary from a sedentary position and a bit more courtesy and respect to one another on the part of all members?

West Coast Main Line (Services)

Emma Harper (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with TransPennine Express, Network Rail and ScotRail regarding the reported frequent cancellation of rail services on the west coast main line, particularly impacting travellers using rail services at Lockerbie station. (S6O-01098)

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

Rail services that are run by Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express stop at Lockerbie railway station. They are cross-border rail operators that are managed by the Department for Transport, although Transport Scotland participates in regular cross-border operator task force meetings.

For the first part of this year, TransPennine Express services in particular have been impacted by Covid-related issues and industrial action. However, recent performance data shows an improvement since February. I can advise that TransPennine Express has increased calls at Lockerbie from this week and is, broadly, offering customers an hourly service northwards and southwards on weekdays.

Emma Harper (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)

Passengers need assurance that services will be available and on time. I know that the Scottish Government does not have control over TransPennine Express, but does the minister agree that the sooner rail is fully devolved, the quicker we can provide certainty to passengers who are travelling to and from Lockerbie station?

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

Emma Harper is right that we need certainty about travelling and which services are operating for passengers. We heard that when the previous question was discussed.

Ms Harper is also right that full devolution of rail powers is a long-stated aim of the Government, as it would bring track and train together and ensure that we have the levers that we need to create a sustainable rail service in the future. However, in the meantime, passengers must be reassured that alternative options are available during times of disruption.

The Lockerbie services are not ScotRail services. I will raise the issue directly with the United Kingdom rail minister when I meet her next week, and officials will follow up with operators what we can do to help to improve on people’s recent experience of the services.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

This is the worst train service in Britain, and there is a fair bit of competition for that title. The problems are not new; passengers from Lockerbie station have been treated as second class since the franchise began. When the minister meets her UK counterpart, will she join me in calling for an end to the failed franchise and for it to be brought under new management?

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

I will certainly raise some of the issues that Mr Smyth has alluded to regarding his constituents’ experience of the service.

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

I have a suggestion that the minister might find will focus the Government’s mind. Will she make a commitment that, for every day that there is rail strike disruption, the ministerial limos will remain parked, in solidarity with ScotRail passengers—yes or no?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Before the minister tries to respond to that, I say that I do not think that that supplementary is relevant at all. I appreciate that Sue Webber wishes to conflate the two issues. If the minister wishes to respond, please go ahead.

Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)

No, Presiding Officer—I do not see the relevance of that supplementary question at all.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

No wonder.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Mr Kerr, perhaps we could have comments through the chair. Thank you.

Levenmouth Rail Link

Claire Baker (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Levenmouth rail link, including the planned reopening date. (S6O-01099)

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

We are committed to delivering the new railway, which will reintroduce passenger services on the line for the first time in more than 50 years and benefit communities, businesses and visitors in the Levenmouth area. Transport Scotland and Network Rail are working closely with their industry partners and currently expect to deliver this transformational project by spring 2024.

Construction activities are under way, with the first mile of track and drainage already completed. Work continues on the route structures, and site compounds are being established at key locations to provide strategic links to on-site activities.

Claire Baker (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The minister will be aware of the strong desire from the community for the rail link to be the best that it can be. What discussions has he had with Network Rail about the delay in the public consultation and the need to get that under way?

In recognition of the importance of the community’s input into the station design, what flexibilities are there in the budget for a station that will meet the needs and ambitions of the community and be designed for a growing population?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

The consultation is being undertaken, and it is important for it to be undertaken comprehensively. I hope that Claire Baker will join me in congratulating the communities that campaigned long and hard to ensure that we have reached the point where we can see the project’s completion in the near future.

I will happily write to Claire Baker regarding the budget issues that she raises. However, I hope that, for the time being, she agrees that consultation should be undertaken and that it is necessary to take time to ensure that the voices of people in the affected communities are heard.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

It has been a dream come true for communities that campaigned for the Levenmouth rail route to now see the tracks being relaid. The route also opens up opportunities for a rail freight facility, which is being worked on with Diageo, the Malcolm Group and other local businesses. I note that it took seven years for the Highland Spring rail freight facility to be designed, developed and built. What role can Transport Scotland play in accelerating the development of a rail freight facility on the Levenmouth line, especially given the climate emergency?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

Mark Ruskell is right to acknowledge the hard work of campaigners and the positive opportunities to expand rail freight. That is an economic as well as an environmental opportunity, and the Scottish Government is leading the way with a first-of-its-kind target for the growth of rail freight, as well as significant investment.

We look forward to opportunities to include rail freight in all our investment, and our approach to the Levenmouth railway is no different. We are working with stakeholders, including local businesses and Fife Council, to maximise the economic, social and environmental benefits for the area. I am sure that we will all commit to continuing to proceed with that with the momentum that Mark Ruskell’s question demands.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Before I call question 7, I say that I would like to take question 8 too, but I need brief questions and brief answers if I am to do so.

“The Environment Strategy for Scotland”

David Torrance (Scottish National Party, Kirkcaldy)

7. To ask the Scottish Government how the ambitions expressed in the first annual report to Parliament on progress in developing “The Environment Strategy for Scotland” coincide with the findings of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. (S6O-01100)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The Scottish Government’s environment strategy sets out our overarching response to the global climate and nature crises. As highlighted by Mr Torrance, recent reports from the IPCC highlight the increased urgency of those efforts. The environment strategy progress report, which we published in March, recognised that, although Scotland has made great progress in cutting emissions, we must go further and faster to reach our target of a 75 per cent reduction by 2030. We are considering all options on how to accelerate progress.

David Torrance (Scottish National Party, Kirkcaldy)

In the wake of the latest IPCC report, leading scientists stated that the UK Government is moving too slowly to tackle the climate emergency. Meanwhile, the UK Government’s Brexit minister has declared that he supports exploiting every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea. Does the Minister for Environment and Land Reform share my concern that, if the Tories get their way, Brexit will become an act of environmental, as well as social and economic, vandalism?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I absolutely do. The Scottish Government has made clear our commitment to remain aligned with the European Union on environmental standards. The EU is a beacon of progress in environmental policy, which is in stark contrast to the UK Government, whose cringeworthily entitled Brexit freedoms bill seems intent on abandoning legislation that has protected Scotland’s environmental interests for almost 50 years.

Scope 3 Emissions (Local Authorities)

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to local authorities to enable them to reduce scope 3 emissions. (S6O-01101)

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work closely with local authorities to tackle the global climate emergency.

We published new climate reporting guidance to public bodies, including local authorities, in October 2021, which included specific guidance on reducing indirect scope 3 emissions.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and the Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance wrote to chief officers in public bodies on 16 March 2021 with a call to action to decarbonise the public sector supply chain, which is worth £13.3 billion annually. A follow-up Scottish Government procurement policy note in 2021 highlighted the national sustainable procurement tools to support that work.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

The Scottish Government has not set a target for reductions in scope 3 emissions, which are a hugely important part of emissions from local authorities, covering procurement and supply chain issues, as the cabinet secretary said. Instead of working with councils and offering support in expertise and funding, the Scottish Government simply gives them an exemption when it is inconvenient to do the work. Why has the Scottish Government abandoned the issue? Is it because it is too hard?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

It is becoming a pattern in here that Mr Kerr gets things badly wrong. The Scottish Government has already issued guidance, and regulations have been set out for local authorities, which Parliament approved previously. Those regulations clearly set out the required responsibility. Through the new guidance, local authorities need to publish details on what they are doing to tackle scope 3 emissions, which is part of the procurement duty process.

Importantly, I am sure that Mr Kerr will welcome the recently published data that shows that emissions from public bodies’ operations have fallen by a third since 2015-16 and that emissions from their electricity use have halved since 2015-16.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

You are not answering my question.

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

Stephen Kerr clearly does not like the information that I am providing him with—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Please resume your seat for a wee second, cabinet secretary—thank you very much. I have already said that I do not want a lot of sedentary commentary and I have already asked members if they would please listen to the answers that are given, to ensure that the question session is meaningful.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I do not want to try your patience, but I am asking for an answer to the question that I asked—not for the text from a civil service briefing that the cabinet secretary has in front of him.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That is not a point of order, Mr Kerr. The chair is not responsible for the substance of ministerial responses or indeed anybody’s responses. I ask for some courtesy and respect across the chamber to ensure that we make these sessions as productive as possible for all.

Please resume, cabinet secretary.

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

I could give many other useful data points to Mr Kerr, which I am sure that he would not like to hear because they would not feed his narrative, which tries to talk down our local authorities.

My final point is that Mr Kerr will recognise—I think that he recognises it now—that the regulations have been put in place. It is for local authorities as corporate bodies to set their target dates, which means that it is our local elected members—on our councils, which were elected just over two weeks ago—who are responsible for setting out how they will meet targets. I know that those elections were not good for Mr Kerr and his party. I trust local authorities to get it right, and it is clear from their track record over recent years that they are doing exactly that, but this time, they will do it with even fewer Tories involved.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That concludes portfolio question time. Before we move on to the next item of business, there will be a short pause to allow front-bench teams to move positions, should they wish to do so.

14:54 On resuming—

Supporting Carers (Cost of Living)

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-04441, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on supporting carers during the cost of living crisis.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

I am grateful for the opportunity to hold this debate. There is no doubt that we face a cost of living crisis the likes of which we have not experienced in a generation. Inflation has risen to 9 per cent during the past six months and will be at least 10 per cent by the end of the year. Economists are forecasting a recession: things are tough, and they are going to get tougher.

During the pandemic, unpaid carers and social care workers stepped up to the plate. They shouldered an enormous burden as they kept loved ones safe, and they still carry that responsibility because services have not fully resumed. Pre-pandemic, too many carers experienced poverty and the problem is now much worse.

Carers Scotland found that more than half of unpaid carers are currently unable to afford their monthly expenses, and that their financial situations have worsened during the past six months. Carers have also seen increases in the costs of products and services that they need for the people for whom they care. Everything has gone up, from personal protective equipment to incontinence pads to medical equipment.

Among carers, 87 per cent think that they will not be able to heat their home to a safe level, 41 per cent are worried that they will have to use a food bank, and the overwhelming majority are worried about the impact on their mental and physical health from the additional stress and anxiety that the cost of living crisis is causing.

If we value carers, as we say we do, we must not allow that to continue. The time to act is now. It is no longer good enough for the Scottish Government to simply blame the United Kingdom Tory Government and wring its hands; the Scottish Government also has a responsibility to act.

This morning, I talked to carers from across Scotland, who said:

“Crumbs on the table are no longer enough. Unpaid carers save the Government £43 million a day and without us, the system would collapse. The Carer’s allowance supplement is wiped out by hidden costs like laundry, and there is no recognition of this. We are constantly having to fight, and this must stop.”

Scottish Labour has set out many times the actions that the Scottish National Party Government can take. First, ending non-residential care charges—which both Scottish Labour and the SNP committed to in their manifestos—should be done now. That will make an instant difference to the amount of money that people have in their pockets.

Secondly, the Government should increase access to the welfare fund for unpaid carers, and make caring responsibilities a qualifying criterion for grants.

Thirdly, the Government should keep the carers allowance supplement at the enhanced rate. It should also, in order to meet the increased costs of energy, develop additional financial support for households that include disabled people and carers because energy costs are higher for them than they are for the general population.

Finally, the Government should implement a strategy for unpaid carers. I know that one is coming, but please let it include action on poverty and the restoration and expansion of respite services, with entitlement to short breaks and wellbeing services.

We have suggested five simple things that the Scottish Government can do now, if it wants to. It has the power to act; the responsibility lies with it.

Let me turn to social care staff. I met Shona, Samantha, Shirley and Val this morning—they are care workers from around Scotland—and they said:

“We are so understaffed that we have to cover between 10 and 12 extra visits per week. We work in partnership with the NHS and care for the same clients, so we simply do not understand why we are treated differently. We are being asked to pay huge amounts on fuel, and there is no support in place for us.”

Some care workers in my constituency are subsidising their employers. They work in the private sector and they get 25 pence per mile. The cost of petrol has skyrocketed, so in visiting their clients they spend more than they are reimbursed.

Although NHS staff have rightly received a 5p per mile increase in the mileage rate allowance from the Government—which I welcome—social care staff have been left behind once again. We must also remember that the starting position of most NHS staff is 45p per mile, whereas the amount for some people in the care sector is 25p per mile.

My question to the Government is this: why does it persist in treating social care workers as second-class citizens? They deserve parity of esteem; they deserve the same financial recompense for caring for people.

It was only six months ago that the SNP and Greens rejected Scottish Labour’s calls to deliver an immediate pay rise to £12 per hour for social care staff, moving to £15 per hour the following year. Instead, they opted for a measly 48p pay increase. We must remember that we are talking about a predominantly female workforce that is low paid. The SNP has paid lip service to them. It cannot be right that retail and hospitality jobs pay so much more than social care jobs. Of course, the Greens used to believe that social care workers deserved £15 per hour, but their principles went out the window for a ministerial Mondeo and a £31,383 pay rise for each of the two Green ministers. That is more than a care worker earns in a year. That is shameful.

Social care staff are not immune to the cost of living crisis. We should be exploring every opportunity to help them and to retain their skills in the sector. Another suggestion, which was made by the trade unions, is that the Government pay workers’ Scottish Social Services Council registration fees. That would be a small but important gesture.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

You need to wind up, Ms Baillie.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

I will come to a conclusion, Presiding Officer.

None of that should be a surprise to the SNP Government. It does not need to spend months and years deliberating over what to do and it does not need to blame someone else. It can act: it has the power to make a difference and carers need it to do so now.

I move,

That the Parliament is concerned by the escalating pressures that the cost of living crisis is putting on both the social care workforce and unpaid carers across Scotland, the majority of whom are women; recognises that poor pay and working practices in social care have been increasingly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and have created a recruitment crisis; notes that the rise in fuel prices is impacting on the ability of care workers to visit the people they support; calls on the Scottish Government to immediately end all non-residential care charges and implement a strategy for unpaid carers, which includes the restoration and expansion of respite services, with entitlements to short breaks and wellbeing services, and resolves that the mileage reimbursement rate for care workers is increased by five pence per mile, as agreed for NHS workers.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I advise members that we are tight for time, so I require that colleagues stick to their time allocations. I call Kevin Stewart to speak to and move amendment S6M-04441.2. You have around five minutes.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

I thank carers—paid and unpaid—for their remarkable work in providing critical and invaluable support to people across Scotland.

The Tory cost of living crisis has an impact on everyone in Scotland, including on the social care workforce and unpaid carers. The Scottish Government has already committed to increasing spend in social care by 25 per cent by the end of the current session of Parliament, in order to help to lay the groundwork for the establishment of a national care service.

We will take forward the ambitious reforms, but we do not want to wait for the NCS to come into being before we take action. This year, funding of £846.6 million will be transferred from the health portfolio to local authorities for a range of investments in health, social care and mental health services.

We want, through working in collaboration with our partners, to see improvements in recruitment and retention, fair work and ethical commissioning. We are fully committed to improving the experience of the social care workforce, including by increasing levels of pay, because we recognise and value the work that those staff do.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

Will the minister give way?

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

I will carry on for the moment, because I have a lot to get through.

From April, we have provided funding of £200 million to local government to support investment in health and social care, embed improved pay and conditions and deliver a £10.50 per hour minimum wage for all adult social care staff in commissioned services from 1 April 2022. I remind members that that is more than social care staff are paid south of the border and in Labour-controlled Wales. That represents an increase of 12.9 per cent over the year.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

What would the minister say to the 51 per cent of local authority staff who earn below £25,000 a year and for whom the figure for a pay increase that is on the table is only 2 per cent? Many of those staff are social carers.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

I say to everyone right across the country that at this moment we require an emergency budget from the Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer to address the cost of living crisis. That is what we need. I would like this Parliament to have all the levers of power to enable it to deal with such things, but we do not—which is something that Labour members do not acknowledge. The UK Government giving us powers over employment law is one thing that would be very helpful indeed.

We are also working with the fair work in social care group, which has developed a set of recommendations for minimum standards for terms and conditions that reflect fair work principles. An ethical approach to commissioning and, as a consequence, to any procurement of care and support will have massive benefits for staff and supported people alike. There have been some gains already from early adopters in local government, but that approach must be extended and enhanced.

In relation to increasing fuel costs, the Scottish Government does not set the mileage rates that are paid to social care staff; those are agreed by their employers—1,200 individual employers, as I have told the chamber before.

The Scottish Government is committed to abolishing charges for non-residential social care and support, so that provision of those services is based on a person’s need and not their ability to pay. We are working with stakeholders to develop options to achieve that as soon as is practicable.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Is not it right to say that the private companies are being squeezed, and that they cannot pass on money that they do not have? If that were to be sorted out, they would be able to pass on their money.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

No, I do not think that all private companies are being squeezed during the cost of living crisis. Some companies are making huge profits. Why should the Government subsidise those private companies? I find it absolutely hypocritical that Dr Gulhane has lodged an amendment that says that the Scottish Government should find the money to pay for people’s additional fuel costs, when he is too afraid to say the same thing to the chancellor from his own party and to call for an emergency budget now.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

Will the minister give way?

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

No—I need to crack on.

We

have improved support for Scotland’s unpaid carers as a priority, using our social security powers. Our carers allowance supplement was the first payment that was made by Social Security Scotland. It increases carers allowance by over 13 per cent, with eligible carers receiving a payment every six months.

We are doing more than that. In January, we announced an additional £4 million to help organisations that work with unpaid carers to put in place expanded services this winter. On top of that, we have invested an additional £20.4 million for local carer support in 2022-23, which brings total investment this year in Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 provisions to £88.4 million. We have also earmarked additional funding for short breaks and we will introduce a new carers strategy, which we are working on with carers.

The key thing in all this is that the UK Government needs to play its part to address the cost of living crisis for all of us. It needs to implement an emergency budget now to address the costs of living for care workers, for unpaid carers and for society as a whole.

I move amendment S6M-04441.2, to leave out from “recognises” to end and insert:

“recognises the severe and ongoing impact of Brexit on the recruitment and retention of social care workers; believes that responsibility for employment law should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament so that it can embed fair work principles, including enshrining the real Living Wage for all ages; notes that the minimum hourly rate for adult social care workers in commissioned services in Scotland increased by over 10% to £10.50 per hour in the last year; supports the Scottish Government’s commitment to scrapping non-residential care charges and introducing the National Care Service; further supports that the principles of fair work and ethical commissioning will be embedded within the National Care Service; welcomes the additional £5 million for short breaks for 2022-23 to enable more families and young carers to take a break from caring; encourages local authorities to engage with social care providers and contractors to address increased fuel costs for staff, particularly through mileage rates, and calls on the UK Government to take forward an emergency budget to address the cost of living crisis and increasing fuel costs, not least its impact on unpaid carers.”

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Sandesh Gulhane to speak to and move S6M-04441.1. You have five minutes, Dr Gulhane.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

The minister seems to think that private companies that are providing care to our most vulnerable are making vast amounts of profit. I would welcome an example.

I believe that all of us in the chamber recognise that our social care workforce are overwhelmed and we acknowledge their immense work. The pandemic exacerbated—[

Interruption

.]—Sorry, is there something that you would like to say?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Michelle Thomson.

Michelle Thomson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk East)

I forget the exact name of Robert Kilgour’s private care homes, but I think that he funds the Tory party to the tune of £220,000 a month. Perhaps you can ask him to make a contribution.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Members should speak through the chair. I call Dr Gulhane.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Well, I believe that your facts and figures, like everything to do with SNP and facts and figures, are all wrong. Let us move on.

The pandemic exacerbated long-standing challenges facing the sector, which has long experienced increasing workloads, burnout and rising sickness levels. More than 200,000 staff work in social care in Scotland and we know that they are ignored, overstretched, poorly paid, undervalued and, frankly, hamstrung by a lack of effective leadership from the SNP-Green Government. Recruitment and retention rates are poor, with a quarter of staff leaving within three months of joining an organisation. Let us not forget Scotland’s 700,000 vitally important unpaid carers, who have seen rest and respite services closed since the Covid pandemic struck.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Will Dr Gulhane give way?

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

I need to crack on.

The knock-on impact is increased anxiety, depression and mental health exhaustion.

We have a duty to act to get a grip, and we need to act today. Of course, there are different views in the chamber on how to tackle the crisis. We support the principles that are set out in Labour’s motion, albeit with some fine tuning of the words. The SNP-Green Government has savagely cut local authority budgets, so it must centrally fund all Labour’s calls.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

Does Dr Gulhane think that the national insurance hike is helping or hindering with regard to the cost of living crisis?

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

We need to be clear that the increase in national insurance is coming this way through the Barnett consequentials to help us here in Scotland.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Will Dr Gulhane give way on that point?

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

I really need to continue, but I will come back to the minister if I have time.

We also need to ensure that allowances for carers are handled efficiently and effectively. The statistics for December show that just 3 per cent of claims were settled within 10 days, while complaints to Social Security Scotland soared by 200 per cent in two years. We are calling for unpaid carers in full-time education to receive the carers allowance immediately and for unpaid carers to continue receiving carers allowance for up to six months after bereavement.

As Gillian Martin said, there is the not so small matter of more than £1 billion coming to the Scottish Government from the UK health and social care levy. That must be passed on in full, and there should be a clear audit trail so that we can see how the money is spent and so that Audit Scotland can ensure that public money is spent properly.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Dr Gulhane could do us all a favour if he would join with me and ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when we will actually catch sight of that money. How much is coming to Scotland and when we will get it? There is no clarity on that whatsoever, and if—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Dr Gulhane.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

It is clear that there is a lot of money coming our way—

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Where and when?

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

What we are asking for is the Government to promise to ring fence it and not fund its pet vanity project—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Dr Gulhane, hold on a second.

Minister, the member has taken an intervention. Shouting from a sedentary position is not going to help us get through a debate in which we are already tight for time.

Dr Gulhane, I can give you some additional time, but not an awful lot.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Audit Scotland says:

“a lack of action now presents serious risks to the delivery of care services for individuals.”

Audit Scotland also points out that the SNP-Green Government’s

“inability or unwillingness to share information, along with a lack of relevant data, means that there are major gaps in the information needed to inform improvements in social care.

Given the SNP’s track record when it comes to public sector centralisation, we should all be worried about scrapping local accountability and imposing ministerial control. Let us have a quick look at the record. We had the botched merger of local police. What about the SNP Government’s management of big-money projects? There are inquiries into the business case and governance of the Edinburgh children’s hospital and Glasgow Queen Elizabeth hospital, where the SNP was responsible for £150 million of cost overrun.

The SNP has also made a hash of its adventures in boat craft, with the now infamous project to build two CalMac ferries, which is £150 million over budget and five years late. We are now told that they might not even enter service.

Michelle Thomson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk East)

Will the member give way?

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Well—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

No, you cannot, Dr Gulhane. You are just about to wind up.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Indeed I am.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities is also concerned.

Finally, we need to address quality. The current focus on cost has suppressed staff salaries, contributed to high vacancy levels and prioritised the speedy completion of care home visits at the expense of emotional care and relationships. We believe in providing the Care Inspectorate with a wider scope of powers to promote sustained improvement of care services over time and to deal with issues that do not meet the high bar of serious risk to life, health or wellbeing.

Before I move the Scottish Conservatives’ amendment in my name, I point members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am a practising NHS doctor.

I move amendment S6M-04441.1, to leave out from “immediately” to the end and insert:

“provide funding to local authorities and integration authorities to end all non-residential charges; regrets that local government revenue has decreased by 20% in real terms since 2013-14 according to COSLA; calls on the Scottish Government to implement a strategy for unpaid carers, which includes the restoration and expansion of respite services, with entitlements to short breaks and wellbeing services; further calls for Carer’s Allowance to be made available immediately to unpaid carers in full-time education; calls for payments of Carer’s Allowance to be made to unpaid carers for up to six months after bereavement; further calls on the Scottish Government to guarantee that funding received through the Health and Social Care Levy will be passed on in full, and, while welcoming the UK Government’s cut to fuel duty, considers that the mileage reimbursement for care workers should be temporarily increased, based on the cost of fuel, and funded by the Scottish Government, by five pence per mile, as agreed for NHS workers.”

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

I thank my friend Jackie Baillie for bringing to the chamber this important debate on an issue that is far too often ignored in the Parliament. There are currently almost 700,000 unpaid carers in Scotland, and almost 210,000 people working professionally in the Scottish care sector. In total, carers account for 16 per cent of our overall adult population, which is astonishing. The services that they provide are indispensable. It is estimated that unpaid carers alone contribute a value of £36 billion every single year in Scotland. The positive impact that a carer will have on the person for whom they care, and on that person’s family and community, is unquantifiable.

The American professor Leo Buscaglia has said:

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear ... all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

That is the true value that carers visit on their charges each and every single day, through their ability to soothe, reinvigorate and fortify. Families should be able to rest easy, knowing that, regardless of who is caring for their loved ones, it is someone whom they can trust and who has the capacity, resources and fortitude to deliver the best possible standard of care.

Unfortunately, however, we know that that is all too often not the case, as our carers are stretched to breaking point. While all carers work unbelievably hard to provide care, they are simply not given the right support to enable them to keep up with the inordinate workload. At least 15 per cent of the caring workforce regularly work unpaid overtime, while unpaid carers have to go for long periods of time without breaks and have to sacrifice other aspects of their life. We know that during the pandemic, in lockdown, the closure of services such as adult respite care only compounded the situation in which unpaid carers found themselves. All of that puts significant strain on carers’ health and wellbeing.

Worryingly, despite an act of this Parliament enshrining the rights of those same carers to access support and advice, according to a survey that was conducted in 2019, only 16 per cent of carers knew about that legislation and the rights that it provides, and more than half of them had not heard of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 at all. That is why the Scottish Liberal Democrats have campaigned for an update to the act in the light of the pandemic, and have campaigned to actively include carers and service users in the process to better bind lived experience with the legislation that we passed in the chamber.

As we have heard, and as the motion mentions, the cost of living crisis has had a devastating impact on social care. Half of unpaid carers across the UK report that they are unable to afford their monthly household expenses. Meanwhile, professional carers feel that their salaries can no longer provide the income and stability that they sorely need and deserve.

The situation is dire, and it needs urgent attention. Kevin Stewart would argue that the answer lies in the creation of a so-called national care service, but it does not. A national care service would strip individuals and local communities of the little agency that they have left. It would put powers with ministers: the very same ministers who were responsible for sending untested and Covid-positive patients into our care homes when we were in the foothills of the pandemic.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats believe that the answer lies not with centralisation and bureaucracy, but with localism, giving the ability to make decisions to the people who are most affected by them. That includes working with local government to introduce a package of new carer benefits; establishing a new fund to support training and education for carers who are returning to work; and moving away from narrow work-based contracts towards more holistic, flexible roles.

Those are all Liberal Democrat policies, and they could be implemented right now without building complicated and unnecessary structures, so what is the Government waiting for? We are legislating on the precipice of the worst crisis in a century; it is our duty to protect the vulnerable and those who are caring for them, and we must do so urgently. That is why the Scottish Liberal Democrats will support Labour’s motion.

Carol Mochan (Labour, South Scotland)

The cost of living crisis has impacted, and continues to impact, on communities up and down the country. At this moment, in this debate, we all need to focus on that fact. Just this week, it was reported that,

“one in five people in Scotland”

—many of whom, we understand, will be unpaid carers and care workers—

“are struggling to pay for their weekly food shop”.

That figure should shame us all.

Behind the numbers are stories of family members and key workers struggling to get by, and of people who provide care to the most vulnerable in our society being unable to make ends meet. That should be a reminder to members of all parties that inaction is not acceptable; sitting on their hands will not put money in people’s pockets.

I need to send a message to the minister that, by definition, a crisis ought to be responded to with purpose and with maximum strength, using all available resources. It is not a surprise that the Tories have shown such a lack of political will to assist those most in need, but it is truly shameful that the SNP and the Greens here in this Parliament have not stepped up and supported measures that would offer immediate assistance to people in dire need. Today, however, they have another chance. Today, Scottish Labour heard from carers: the very best of society, caring for loved ones. Now we need to ensure that the Parliament hears them and responds by supporting the motion.

It is fair to say that the SNP Government has failed to recognise that the crisis can be tackled properly only through the implementation of radical policy here in Scotland. In failing to hear that, it has failed our carers, paid and unpaid.

In the short time that I have, I want to emphasise that Scottish Labour’s motion has, importantly, highlighted the increased fuel prices that are making it more difficult for care workers to visit the people they support. I have heard that many times, so I want the Scottish Government to listen. If the Government wants to join us in reducing the burden that is placed on care workers, it will support our proposal to increase mileage reimbursement for care workers by five pence per mile, as was agreed for NHS workers.

We ought not to be surprised by the lack of action thus far. Many of the issues facing social care workers that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, such as low pay and poor working conditions, among others, long pre-date both the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis, as we have heard. Our social care workforce is demoralised and people understandably feel as though they have been undervalued, underpaid and overworked for far too long. Scottish Labour’s call to immediately end non-residential care charges is an achievable one—we know that—yet, yesterday in committee, the minister seemed unable to detail any progress on those issues. He told us that his department is very busy, but he seemed able only to outline the poor pay offer from the Government: an insulting 48 pence increase.

Ultimately, the minister and the Government are bereft of ideas on how to support our unpaid carers and social care staff. It is clear that action is needed and needed urgently. Far too often, carers and care workers appear to be forgotten about by the Government. Families who use social care are often burdened by high costs, and those in care suffer the consequences of poor decision making.

For far too long, the social care workforce has been overworked. I call on other parties—I look to the SNP back benches and the Green benches—to support the motion, which values our unpaid carers and the social care workforce.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Gillian Martin, to be followed by Sue Webber. We will have to stick strictly to the speaking time allocations. You have up to four minutes, Ms Martin.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

Some people are feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis more than others. The walls of the chamber have echoed for weeks and months to speeches from members on most benches about our deep worries for people who are already in poverty and those who are in work who are being plunged into poverty. It is right that Labour is using its debate time to address the impact of the crisis on carers, because it is not right that people are bearing the cost of doing their job, particularly in relation to mileage remuneration for those who use their own cars for their clients in the face of stratospheric petrol and diesel costs.

I will take the example of one of my constituents. She is a home carer, working in the Aberdeenshire area and getting £10.93 an hour. She earns roughly £20,000 a year before tax. She comes from a two-earner household: her husband is a teacher at an Aberdeenshire secondary school. She enjoys being a carer, and it fits in with her life: she has three kids to look after. She loves her job. She gets a mileage reimbursement of 35p a mile and averages about 150 miles a week, visiting rural clients in her diesel car. She fills up the tank about three times a month, and she has noticed that that costs about £15 more than it did in January. Her mileage reimbursement has, of course, stayed the same.

The couple calculates that they spend about £90 per month more on using the car to both their jobs. Their combined domestic electricity and gas bill has also gone up by about £90, and they reckon that their food costs have easily risen by £80 per month. However, it is the national insurance rise that has affected their family income the most. Her teacher husband is seeing an extra £120 coming off his pay packet at source. All in all, the family estimates that it is about £400 worse off every month. She said, “I am lucky. I have my husband and he is earning more than me. What if I was on my own?”.

I am therefore in agreement with Labour that my constituent and other carers need help. However, where I do not agree with Labour is about the asks that it has made. The 12.9 per cent pay increase that the Scottish Government facilitated for care workers is well above inflation, and it is the highest in these islands. Every move that the Scottish Government makes to ease the pressure on low and middle-income earners is all but cancelled out by the fiscal irresponsibility to the vast majority of workers and the poorest in our society through decisions that are made at UK Government level. Jackie Baillie said that the carers allowance supplement has been wiped out, but wiped out by whom and by what? It is wiped out because of what happens at Westminster.

Yes, the causes of the increased fuel and food costs are global and partly the outcome of current geopolitics.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

Will the member give way?

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

I have not got time. We are facing the same effects of the same issues as every other country, but UK fuel duty is around 40 per cent. Last month’s 5 per cent reduction is not enough and it is not keeping up with fuel price rises. We need to put a windfall tax in operation on all companies that are profiting from our situation, and we need to cut VAT on fuel bills.

I do not have much faith that the Conservatives will do the right thing, but I was genuinely shocked when the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, went ahead with the national insurance rise in the face of ordinary people’s electricity and gas bills doubling, and in the face of huge rises in the cost of the weekly shop.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

Will the member take an intervention?

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

I do not have time.

This is the most regressive tax that I have seen since the poll tax, yet Labour’s only answer is for the Scottish Government to mitigate bad decisions by Tories in Westminster at a cost of £600 million a year. What could we spend that £600 million on? Increasing public sector wages, perhaps?

I say to Labour that, for once, they should turn their fire on those who can act to reduce the tax, fuel and food cost rises at source. Let us ensure that that 12.9 per cent increase is not swallowed up. Let us ensure that we do not rely on Tories, whose response to the cost of living crisis is to say that people should simply change to supermarket value brands, work more hours, decide to earn more money or sit on buses instead of putting their heating on.

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

There is a crisis in our social care service. Staff are overwhelmed, having gone above and beyond during the pandemic, but they have not been given the leadership or supportive environment that they need from this SNP Government. Quite frankly, there has been no leadership at all.

It is not just the SNP that is at fault. Instead of working to address the crisis in social care, Scottish Labour is working with and focused on the centralisation of care services alongside the SNP. That will hollow out local councils even further.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

Perhaps the member is not aware of what is in the Labour Party manifesto, and I could forgive her for that. However, if she did read it, she would understand that it is about local delivery and accountability. Will she change what she has just said in the light of that factual information?

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

There is still an impression that Labour supports a national care service. With that, I will carry on with my speech.

The message from service users and people with lived experience is clear: it is local services that they want; it is local services that can adapt to the diverse nature of their needs; and it is local services and third party organisations that we should focus on and invest in. They are delivering the services that people want.

Labour supports the plans for a national care service, despite organisations such as the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Fraser of Allander Institute voicing serious concerns.

The SNP’s plans amount to a blatant power grab. Costly new legislation and centralised structures are not the solution. That is why the Scottish Conservatives would offer a local care service, which would protect individual choice and individual control.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

Will the member take an intervention?

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

Not at the moment.

Our local care service would include a local care guarantee, which would ensure that support was delivered as close as possible to the people who need it, especially in rural and island communities.

We want positive action to be taken. We would give further powers to the Care Inspectorate to drive up standards of local care. A wider scope of powers should be considered to promote sustained improvement of poor care services over time.

We would build minimum pay and terms and conditions into commissioning and procurement, as the Feeley review recommended. We would make care a rewarding career path and would ensure that commissioned services rewarded length of service and positive job performance with pay progression and development of the skills base and responsibilities.

We would institute rigorous workforce planning for the future. A robust, transparent data set to underpin that work can be developed without a national care service. Ours would be not merely a workforce plan that was affordable, but one that was based on forward capacity planning carried out by people who deliver the services and those who access them.

We would improve the carers allowance and extend payments. We would do that by introducing a taper rate so that carers do not lose 100 per cent of their allowance if they earn £1 more than the £128 per week limit. We would also extend payments of carers allowance to up to six months after bereavement and would allow carers in full-time education to continue to receive the carers allowance.

We would amend the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to give unpaid carers automatic rights to support for breaks from caring. Right now, only around 3 per cent of unpaid carers receive statutory support for breaks from caring.

The UK Government’s health and social care levy delivers a clear union dividend. In 2024-25, Scotland will benefit from an additional £1.1 billion because of the health and social care levy. We are calling on the Scottish Government to guarantee that that fund will be passed on and ring fenced in full.

Although we welcome the UK Government’s cut in fuel duty, we consider that the mileage reimbursement for care workers should be temporarily increased by 5p per mile, based on the cost of fuel, as has been agreed for NHS workers. Most importantly, it should be funded by the Scottish Government.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Will the member give way?

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

Yes, I will.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

As briefly as possible, minister.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Does Ms Webber still agree with what she said last year, when she said that public sector workers should have a pay freeze? She also said that she thought that it might be wise to consider a 20 per cent pay cut. Does she still agree with those comments?

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

I think that the minister is manufacturing a false grievance. The public want us to work together.

The UK Government has stepped up during the cost of living crisis, by providing a £22 billion package of support, which includes a cut in fuel duty and an increase in the national insurance thresholds. Instead of pressing ahead with a bureaucratic overhaul of services, the SNP should bring forward reforms now.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

The cost of living crisis is really starting to impact on the most vulnerable people in our society.

Inflation is forecast to reach 10.25 per cent, fuel poverty is expected to double and food bank usage is up by 50 per cent.

Who can forget the silence among Tory members when the Parliament debated the cut in universal credit that impacted the poorest in our society?

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

Will the member give way?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

No—I do not have time.

That Tory silence was replicated in council chambers across Scotland.

What makes the situation even more galling is that, across Scotland, Labour and Tory councillors are sitting together over cups of tea putting council administrations in place. [

Interruption

.] In Stirling, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire councils, and probably more, a Labour-Tory cosy-up is in motion. In East Lothian, we even had a Tory candidate telling voters that he was being promised the job of provost by the local Labour Party, if they supported a Labour administration.

Local authorities play a vitally important role in delivering social care.

Labour going into partnership with the Tories in Scotland is a slap in the face for anti-poverty action campaigners. Last night, Scottish Labour tweeted—

Daniel Johnson (Labour, Edinburgh Southern)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Mr McLennan, please resume your seat.

Daniel Johnson (Labour, Edinburgh Southern)

Presiding Officer, could you remind the chamber of what the standing orders say about speaking to the motion at hand in a given debate?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I have been listening to the speech. It has roamed a little further from the text than usual, but the member has referenced the relationship to local authorities delivering these services. Mr McLennan, please resume.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

Thank you. I also reference social care and the cost of living crisis.

Last night, Scottish Labour tweeted:

“Tonight at Westminster, the Tories voted down a Labour amendment calling for a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.”

This is the best part:

“Make no mistake, the nasty party is back.”

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

What has that got to do with social care?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

Across council chambers in Scotland, we see Scottish Labour keeping the bed warm for the Tories. The Scottish Labour Party prefers to work with what it calls “the nasty party”.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

You are factually wrong.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

I am not factually wrong.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

I will give way to Jackie Baillie if she wants to stand up and tell us—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Mr McLennan, please resume your seat. Craig Hoy has a point of order.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

Might I suggest that

Mr McLennan has come to the wrong debate? I suggest that he retakes his seat and comes back when we hold the debate that his speech has clearly been written for.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That is not a point of order. Mr McLennan, please resume.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Members do not like what they are hearing.

I will give way to Jackie Baillie if she can stand up and say that Labour will not go into administration with Tory colleagues.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

If you would like to sit down, I would be happy to intervene on you.

Perhaps you might reflect on East Dunbartonshire. Could you perhaps tell me what is going on there?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Through the chair, please.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

Of course.

Is there a collaboration going on in East Dunbartonshire between—let me guess—the SNP and Labour? Would the member care to reflect on that? Would he care to name the other councils that are having similar discussions?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

Jackie Baillie did not answer my question.

In the past year, the Scottish Government has raised pay twice for social care staff. Kevin Stewart laid out other measures in his speech. In April this year, the minimum hourly rate for providing adult social care increased to £10.50, which was an increase of 4.8 per cent from the £10.02 that was introduced in December 2021 and an increase of 12.9 per cent in the course of a year. For a full-time adult social care worker, based on a working week of 37.5 hours, the increase represented an uplift of £1,600 over the financial year. The £10.50 hourly rate in Scotland is significantly higher than the national living wage rate, which will apply to many social care workers in England and Northern Ireland, with workers receiving less money per hour than those in Scotland.

The national care service is the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the NHS and it will be established, as the minister said, by the end of the current parliamentary session. With the creation of a national care service, we can take forward national pay bargaining for the social care sector for the first time.

The carers allowance supplement was the first payment made by Social Security Scotland. It increased the carers allowance by 13 per cent, with eligible carers receiving a payment of £231 every six months. In December last year, eligible carers received a double carers allowance supplement of £462 in recognition of additional pressures that they have faced as a result of the pandemic.

How can anyone take Labour members seriously on the cost of living crisis? They are holding hands with the architects of the crisis. The message is loud and clear: vote Labour, get the Tories—get the nasty party.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We now have absolutely no time left over the course of not just this debate but the subsequent debate, so I am going to have to require members to stick absolutely to their time, whether or not they take interventions.

Gillian Mackay (Green, Central Scotland)

As many others have done, I thank all social care workers and unpaid care workers for everything that they do.

As the co-convener of the cross-party group on carers, I will focus on the impact of the cost of living crisis on unpaid carers. At CPG meetings, I have heard at first hand how unpaid carers and those whom they care for have been affected. Many have been experiencing rising costs against the backdrop of a global pandemic, during which they have been worried about the effect on Covid-19 on their loved ones, while also coping with the impact on their own mental and physical health of taking on more care.

As we know, Covid resulted in some people’s care packages being reduced or withdrawn, and it often fell to unpaid carers to fill the gaps. Research published in 2020 showed that an estimated 392,000 additional people in Scotland have become unpaid carers as a result of the pandemic, bringing the total number of carers in Scotland to around 1.1 million.

The cost of living crisis has a disproportionate impact on unpaid carers, many of whom face significant financial hardship because of their caring role. Research recently published by Carers Scotland revealed that 92 per cent of carers surveyed had seen their energy bills increase, and two thirds were already cutting back on heating.

There may be additional costs associated with caring. Carers often find themselves paying for items to keep the people they care for well and safe, such as personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies. According to the Carers Scotland report, those costs have risen in the past six months.

There may also be additional energy costs associated with running electrical equipment if the person who is being cared for has mobility issues, because they may spend more time at home and therefore have higher energy consumption. That also applies to people who are receiving palliative care at home. Recent Marie Curie and Loughborough University research highlighted that the double burden of income loss and increased costs of living that are brought on by a terminal illness, such as higher energy bills and home adaptation costs, can leave people struggling to make ends meet.

All those factors must be taken into account when we consider the impacts of the cost of living crisis on carers and the level of support that is required.

Contrary to the advice that was recently offered by a certain UK minister, people, especially carers, cannot simply work more hours or move to a better-paid job to offset rising costs. Caring, which is often a full-time job in itself, impacts on unpaid carers’ ability to take up paid employment. According to Carers Scotland, six in 10 of those who care for 35 hours or more a week are not in paid employment.

I fully support the call in the Government amendment for the UK Government to take forward an emergency budget to address the cost of living crisis and increasing fuel costs, including the impact on unpaid carers. We need to see action on that now, because people are struggling and have been for some time.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

Will the member take an intervention?

Gillian Mackay (Green, Central Scotland)

I do not have time; I am sorry.

Carers Scotland warned that, as well as the financial impact, the cost of living crisis is having an increasing impact on carers’ mental and physical health, with 80 per cent reporting that they feel stressed, anxious and worried about the steps that they would need to take to manage their current finances.

The greatest impact is often felt by full-time carers. We must deliver the right for unpaid carers to take breaks from caring as part of the national care service as a matter of urgency, and we must make sure that those breaks address the multitude of caring responsibilities that some people have.

I look forward to the publication of the Scottish Government’s carers strategy, and sincerely hope that it will set out clear actions that can be taken to improve support for unpaid carers across Scotland. Unpaid carers should be recognised as equal partners in care; our social care system would collapse without them, and the support that they provide is worth more than £10.9 billion to the Scottish economy each year. It is vital that we recognise that. We thank them for their efforts, but they need more than warm words and applause; they need action on the cost of living crisis and improved support that helps them to care for their own mental and physical health as well as that of the people for whom they care.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

When I read the SNP amendment this morning, I felt despair, because either the minister and his party are unwilling to recognise the key issues in social care, or they just do not know how to fix them. That gives me real concern; more important, it must concern the tens of thousands of older people up and down Scotland who are trapped in hospital because they cannot get a care package, are sitting in their houses and cannot get a care package after having been assessed or are on waiting lists for assessment.

As usual, the minister and the SNP Government say that the answer is to set up a national care service, but I remind Kevin Stewart and the Government that when the Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, appeared at the Public Audit Committee some weeks ago, he was very clear that some things cannot wait for the establishment of a national care service.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Will the member give way?

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I will give way in a minute.

I am clear that we cannot wait years to address the appalling terms and conditions of the workers in the private sector who are delivering a public service. We are talking about years: if the Government introduced a bill before summer recess, whatever we came up with would take years to pass and implement. This cannot wait.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

We are not going to wait until the establishment of the national care service to make progress on pay and terms and conditions. That is why I will continue to talk to

COSLA, the unions and other partners, to see what progress we can make on that front.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The whole point is that there are two sets of workers who are delivering a valuable public service to vulnerable people, but the pay and terms and conditions of one set are completely different from those of the other set.

Social carers, who are mostly women, are putting in eight-hour shifts but finding that they are paid for five hours, because they are not paid for the travel time between clients. That is because councils contract out those services. In effect, what we have in Scotland is social care on the cheap.

I acknowledge the issue to do with employment law powers, and I would support our looking at that, but you do not need those powers to address the problem. That is a fallacy that you continually put across. You have the powers, in Scotland, right now, to say to every local authority in the country—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Through the chair, please, Mr Rowley.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Sorry.

Mr Stewart and the Government have the powers right now. They could fix the issue tomorrow by putting resources into health and social care. They cannot wait year after year. This is fixable, and it is fixable now.

Paul McLennan talked about a national care service in terms that are similar to those used when people talk about the creation of the national health service, but the SNP amendment talks about “ethical commissioning”. Let us get rid of commissioning. What about not-for-profit public services, delivered free at the point of need? When the public in Scotland get their heads round what the SNP is proposing—a privatised care service that will not work—the SNP will be in for a shock.