Scottish Parliament, 3 November 2022

290 contributions from 58 members. The official report.

Qualifications and Assessment

Pam Gosal (Conservative, West Scotland)

1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the consultation on the future of qualifications and assessment. (S6O-01500)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Professor Hayward is leading an independent review on the future of qualifications and assessment. To inform that review, a public consultation was launched on 21 October and it will close on 16 December. The public consultation invites views on a range of topics, including the balance between exams and other forms of assessment, and how a wider range of learners’ achievements can be recognised.

I encourage everyone with an interest to have their say. Professor Hayward is due to submit a final report for ministers to consider in March 2023. As previously made clear to Parliament, externally assessed examinations will remain part of any new system.

Pam Gosal (Conservative, West Scotland)

Last week saw the launch of the consultation into the future of exams and qualifications in Scotland. Only three of 59 members of the education reform board are teachers, and there are no parent representatives.

What assurance can the cabinet secretary give that the views of parents, pupils and teachers will not be ignored if they happen to disagree with the reforms that are proposed by others?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Oh dear. I fear that Pam Gosal has come to the chamber with a great lack of understanding of the education reform work that is going on. The board whose membership she refers to concerns the reform of the three national agencies. Professor Hayward

’s work, which is independent of Government, is being supported by an independent review group that includes learners, parents, carers, education staff and college and university representatives. I hope that, now that I have clarified that, Ms Gosal will be satisfied that parents, carers, education staff and college and university representatives are already included.

Accommodation (Displaced People from Ukraine)

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to displaced people from Ukraine who are moving from temporary accommodation into permanent housing. (S6O-01501)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Our aim is to improve the performance of the supersponsor scheme, and this week we published 16 interventions following a review of the scheme. We want to empower those arriving with clear advice, support and improved access to longer-term housing options, thereby reducing dependency on short-term and temporary accommodation. That is why we have put in place up to £50 million for our Ukraine longer-term capital fund to increase the overall supply of housing stock. That has already provided more than £400,000 to North Ayrshire Council and £6 million to Aberdeen City Council.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I have seen at first hand how communities and local authorities across my region, from Killin to Rosyth, are working tirelessly to try to find long-term housing solutions for displaced Ukrainians who have found sanctuary in Scotland. However, it is critically important that any housing offer empowers our new Ukrainian neighbours to have choices over their next steps.

I welcomed Tuesday’s statement by the Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine, but will the cabinet secretary outline what further support will be made available specifically to local authorities such as Stirling Council to support the displaced Ukrainians to access that housing and also, critically, to co-ordinate efforts with local communities who have their own interests with regard to finding solutions for their Ukrainian neighbours and are engaged in their own efforts to do so?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

We have provided £11.2 million of funding to increase the capacity of local authority resettlement teams, to support the refurbishment of properties and to enhance the pace of host checks and matching. I encourage local authorities to ensure that they are making full use of that funding. We are encouraging all local authorities and registered social landlords to consider what properties in their area could be brought back into use, and I encourage Mark Ruskell to discuss that fund with local authorities in his region, in order to identify opportunities to make best use of the funding.

Mark Ruskell also made a very important point about the role of communities. The warm, welcoming response from communities throughout Scotland has been absolutely amazing. We want to encourage the continuation of that and we want solutions that are proposed by communities to be listened to and acted on where that is appropriate.

General Practitioners (Workload)

Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help general practitioners manage their workloads. (S6O-01502)

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, general practice is being strengthened significantly. We are committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland by 800 by the end of 2027, and we are making good progress towards that target. We have also now recruited 3,220 whole-time-equivalent healthcare professionals, such as community nurses and physiotherapists, into multidisciplinary teams across practices. Local evaluation shows that the expanded MDTs are freeing up GP capacity and allowing a focus on patients with more complex conditions. That is also reducing multiple appointments for the same issue, and it is associated with high staff and patient satisfaction.

Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Almost every MSP in the chamber will have constituents who are unable to get an appointment with a GP. Instead of helping to address that issue, the cabinet secretary has cut GP sustainability payments by around £5 million. Considering the tremendous workload that GPs are under, how can the Scottish Government justify that?

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

I remind Alexander Stewart that investment in general practice is going up, not down. We are investing at least £170 million a year in growing primary care multidisciplinary teams. That is up by £15 million from last year. We are supporting general practice, and we know and have heard anecdotally that face-to-face appointments are beginning to increase—although I accept that that is not to the level that some people would like. I have therefore asked GP practices that are not offering pre-bookable appointments to ensure that they are offering them.

I remind Alexander Stewart that the reason why we are having to reprofile money within health is, in large part, to respond to his party’s economic incompetence. The health budget is worth £650 million less just due to inflation. Pay rises are way in excess of what we budgeted for because of the Tory cost crisis. I say to Alexander Stewart: please do not come here and shed crocodile tears about primary care when it was your party’s disastrous stewardship of the United Kingdom economy that caused such devastating impacts in the first place.

Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

Constituents have advised me that, post-Covid, in certain—only certain—GP practices, they are experiencing barriers to booking face-to-face appointments because the practices have changed their process so that there are online consultation forms, which are difficult for some constituents to use. Is the cabinet secretary aware of that, and will he comment on it?

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

I am aware of that, and I absolutely accept what Christine Grahame said. As I said in my last response, I have spoken to the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners about that matter. That is why I came to the Parliament a number of weeks ago to say that I will personally be in contact with every single GP practice to ensure that pre-bookable appointments are also available to help with the face-to-face issue.

On online appointments and booking, I will ensure that I reach back in to our key stakeholders, such as the BMA and the

RCGP, to ensure that those who are digitally excluded are not left out of getting face-to-face appointments, including GP appointments.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

Last week, I met a respected GP in the south of Scotland who trains the next generation of doctors. The GP was blunt with me: he said that he and his colleagues are burnt out from not only the impact of the pandemic but the strain that GPs have been under for years. Many GPs are now at breaking point and are seriously considering early retirement. The Scottish Government needs to show GPs that it is serious about getting primary care services right. Given the announcement yesterday, does the cabinet secretary not fear that that will act as a catalyst for early retirement by GPs?

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

Martin Whitfield has raised a very important point. When I met Dr Andrew Buist from the BMA earlier this week, he said a similar thing about GPs’ burnout and workload. That is why it is so important that we continue to invest in the multidisciplinary team model. Funding for that continues. Recruiting 3,220 healthcare staff as part of the multidisciplinary team model will help to ease and alleviate some of the workload from general practice.

I say to Martin Whitfield that the reason why we are having to reprofile some of that money—which is, of course, staying within health—is to help us to ensure that we can put forward the best pay deal possible for our healthcare staff in these challenging times.

Women’s Health Group

Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)

4. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the women’s health group, including when it will next meet. (S6O-01503)

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

The women’s health group was established

in February 2020 to develop a women’s health plan. It was disbanded following the publication of our plan on 20 August 2021.

The women’s health plan implementation programme board was established in January of this year to oversee the delivery of the plan. Chaired by Professor Marion Bain, the deputy chief medical officer, the board brings together a range of organisations to ensure that the actions in the plan are implemented effectively, with continued input and influence from women themselves.

The board meets quarterly and it last met yesterday. The terms of reference and other information about the board are available on the Scottish Government’s website.

Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)

Six months ago, I was advised that the Government is working with the Scottish perinatal network to examine adoption of the placental growth factor test for pregnant women in order to detect pre-eclampsia, which can kill both mother and baby or lead to further health risks later in life.

Such tragedies can now be prevented by the use of those simple and reliable tests, which are already in use in places from England to Sierra Leone. Can the cabinet secretary therefore advise us on progress in rolling out PLGF tests in Scotland?

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

First, I recognise the interest that Kenneth Gibson has had in this issue for not just many months but many years. Progress has been made—the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that women receive high-quality, safe care, including in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia.

Although national health service boards in Scotland can already choose to offer placental growth factor testing should they wish to do so, we continue to progress that work with the Scottish perinatal network. We have also approached the Scottish health technologies group, which provides advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing technologies. That group started work last month on considering the most recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on PLGF testing and will produce an adapted version of the guidance for Scotland, with recommendations.

The SHTG has started consulting the clinical community, patients’ organisations and wider stakeholders, and that work is expected to be completed by spring 2023. However, on the back of the member’s question, I will explore whether any further pace can be injected into the process, given how important we know the tests can be.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Waiting Times)

Neil Bibby (Labour, West Scotland)

5. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is reducing waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services. (S6O-01504)

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

We are setting the conditions needed for long-term, sustainable improvement to the CAMHS systems.

In the last quarter, we saw an 8.6 per cent drop in the number of waits over 18 weeks. However, I recognise that performance against the national waiting time standard varies across health boards. We are directing tailored support to boards that are not on track to meet the standard, providing access to professional advice and ensuring that they have robust improvement plans in place. We are monitoring progress closely.

I have also met recently with the boards that are furthest away from achieving the standard to discuss my concerns and my expectations for improvement.

Neil Bibby (Labour, West Scotland)

I have previously written to the minister about my constituent John, who lives in East Dunbartonshire. John’s nine-year-old son has been self-harming. He waited six months from referral until initial assessment by CAMHS. He was then told that it would be a further year until a support plan was in place.

John’s younger son is now imitating his brother’s behaviour. The entire family are at their wits’ end.

Thousands of children are on waiting lists despite the Scottish Government repeatedly promising to fix the situation. Can the minister explain to John why children are continuing to wait so long to get the proper support plans that they need?

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Neither John nor his son should be put in that position and I will write again to Mr Bibby about that situation. We want young people to be treated as quickly as possible; we also want to put in place a system in which there is not overreliance on acute services and we are able to deal with things before they reach that stage.

We are working very hard and have invested very heavily in CAMH services. Obviously, there has been an impact because of the Covid pandemic, but we are seeing progress. I hope that that progress continues, and I will write to Mr Bibby.

Rent Freeze (Affordable Housing)

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that affordable housing development plans have been put on hold because of its rent freeze. (S6O-01505)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Scotland is significantly ahead of the rest of the United Kingdom in providing affordable housing, having delivered almost 113,000 affordable homes since 2007, more than 79,000 of which were for social rent. We recognise the impact of high interest rates and high material and labour costs, which is why we continue to operate a flexible grant system, which we expect will support the continued delivery of the affordable homes target.

In advance of the passage of the emergency legislation, we set up a working group with social landlords to help assess the options for keeping rents affordable for tenants beyond 31 March 2023 in the light of the cost of living crisis. That work is continuing, and during the passage of the bill, we further committed to giving clarity and certainty to social landlords on rent setting no later than 14 January 2023.

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

The cabinet secretary has failed to answer the question. Lord Willie Haughey recently announced that his plans to spend more than £1 billion on building 11,000 affordable homes in Scotland had been scrapped. Lord Haughey specifically said that, because of Patrick Harvie’s rent freeze bill, he would have to “put things on hold”. Does the cabinet secretary recognise that the Scottish National Party Government’s rent freeze has made the housing crisis in Scotland worse, not better?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I certainly recognise, once again, the laissez-faire attitude of the Tories in opposing measures to help tenants with rent increases during a cost of living crisis—[

Interruption

.]

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

Members! Thank you.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

—in the same way as they opposed measures to restrict the loss of housing to short-term holiday lets. They have no ideas and no solutions—it is just opposition for opposition’s sake. However, they refuse to take responsibility for the disastrous economic policies of the Tory Government, leading to high interest rates—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

We will hear the cabinet secretary.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Those high interest rates have had the biggest impact on the social rented sector and the affordable housing supply programme. As ever, there is total hypocrisy from the Tories.

Agriculture Bill (Consultation)

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consultation on a new agriculture bill. (S6O-01506)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The Scottish Government launched our consultation entitled “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture: Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill” on 29 August. The consultation closes on 21 November, and all members of the public are encouraged to submit responses. Alongside the consultation, we are hosting a number of events to hear views from across the country on what needs to feature in the bill to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Yesterday, hundreds of farmers with a handful of tractors rallied outside the Parliament to highlight the issues that are facing farmers across Scotland. They feel let down by a Scottish National Party-Green coalition that simply does not understand their concerns. Their disdain for the Bute house agreement was especially clear. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Can we please hear Ms Hamilton?

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Given the views that were expressed by farmers yesterday,

does the minister agree that her Green coalition partners have no understanding of the needs of rural Scotland?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I am not even sure where to begin with that question, except to say—[

Interruption

.]—that farmers and food producers in Scotland are quite right to come to the Parliament to speak to their representatives. The fact of the matter is that, while I stand here answering the question, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands is right now with the agriculture reform implementation oversight board, where she is proactively engaging with the industry to design future policy. Whether on Brexit, on utter economic incompetence or on the Tories’ complete refusal to listen to the industry—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Members! Thank you.

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

—it is the member’s party in government that is repeatedly and profoundly letting down Scotland’s food producers.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

It never ceases to amaze me when the Tories try to promote themselves as the party that stands up for farmers. They can say what they like about their concerns and support for agriculture, but where was that support and that concern when they opposed this Parliament’s withholding consent to the Subsidy Control Act 2022? [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Thank you. We will hear Mr Fairlie.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

The hypocrisy is utterly galling. NFU Scotland was clear in its concerns about the potential impact on farmers of that legislation, which could have a profound and fundamental impact on our ability to tailor support to the specific needs of Scotland’s farmers, whom the Tories are supposed to represent.

Does the minister agree that, while the other parties can be relied upon to play politics, when it comes down to the facts the SNP can be relied on to safeguard and deliver on the interests of Scottish agriculture?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I completely agree with Jim Fairlie, who is a very useful voice for the farming industry in the Parliament. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Members, can we make sure that we can hear all members when they are speaking?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The inclusion of agricultural support in the scope of the United Kingdom Subsidy Control Act 2022 is unnecessary and risks undermining the agricultural support framework. Farmers and crofters in Scotland face challenges that are not found elsewhere in the UK, but the legislation constrains our and the Parliament’s ability to develop future policies that are tailored to meet those challenges. However, we remain fully committed to delivering our vision for agriculture and implementing a framework that delivers both high-quality food production and empowers Scotland’s farmers and food producers to play their very important role in mitigating climate change and supporting nature recovery in Scotland. We will get on with that job.

National Health Service (Scans)

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

1. I have previously raised examples of patients being sent south of the border for national health service treatment because they cannot get it here from Scotland’s NHS. Now, through a freedom of information request, we have learned that £500,000 of Scottish taxpayers’ money has been spent on sending almost 15,000 patient scans around the world—some as far away as Australia—to be reviewed. Why are Scottish scans being sent to private companies on another continent for analysis?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

The NHS will always take steps to ensure the speediest possible diagnosis and treatment of patients. As for what Douglas Ross has narrated, I am happy to look closely at the figures and respond to him in more detail, but that number will represent a tiny fraction of the processing of scans overall in Scotland. Where, for whatever reason, whether it be partly to do with the nature of the condition or, at times, constraints in the service here—I do not know whether it is to do with that in this case—steps have to be taken to speed up test results and the treatment of patients, the NHS will take them.

The fact of the matter is that we are investing record sums and employing record numbers of people in our national health service, but the service is under significant pressure. We will continue to support it to ensure that patients get the services and the treatment that they deserve.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Let me tell the First Minister why thousands of scans are being sent abroad at great cost to Scotland’s NHS. The Royal College of Radiologists has said that Scotland needs 100 more consultant radiologists than it has right now.

However, the problems are not unique to radiology. Across Scotland’s NHS, serious issues are mounting. Health figures this week show that delayed discharge in our NHS has reached its worst ever levels, meaning that patients are unable to get home and are stuck in our hospitals at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds. Nearly eight years ago, the then Scottish National Party health secretary—who is still sitting on the front bench—promised to

“eradicate delayed discharge” within the space of a year. Today, it is worse than ever before. Will the First Minister’s Government ever “eradicate delayed discharge” as it promised?

The First Minister

I remember on many occasions over the past years—when I was health secretary and since I have been First Minister—Conservatives coming to the chamber and criticising this Government for not using the independent sector more to tackle waiting times. It seems that, today, Douglas Ross is doing the exact opposite. I am not sure whether that is another flip-flop from Douglas Ross—that is for him to determine.

With regard to the pressures on our national health service, there has been a global pandemic since the start of 2020, which everybody knows is having an impact on services. However, let us look in more detail at the two particular issues that Douglas Ross raised.

First, with regard to radiology, under this Government, there has been an increase of 62.5 per cent in the number of clinical radiology consultants, as well as an increase in the overall NHS workforce. We have increased the number of radiography staff by 20.5 per cent. We also need to recruit internationally, but there is a global shortage of radiologists, and the challenge of international recruitment is not made easier by the policies of the Conservatives on Brexit and immigration. Nevertheless, we will continue to invest in recruitment and the overall NHS workforce.

Secondly, with regard to delayed discharges, we continue to see significant pressure across the entire health and care system. More people who are coming through hospitals need high levels of care and support in order to be discharged home, and we are investing to address that significant challenge. We are investing more than £100 million to enhance care at home, we have increased the hourly rate of pay for social care workers, and we are investing £40 million to enhance multidisciplinary teams.

However, despite those pressures, the number of average bed days occupied by delay is now similar to pre-Covid levels. The total number of delayed discharges in the most recent year is actually down by 23 per cent on the period immediately pre-Covid.

Those are significant challenges, but the policies, interventions and investment of this Government are intended to address those challenges, and we will continue to take those steps.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

The question was about whether the First Minister will promise, as her former health secretary did, to “eradicate delayed discharge”, but she refused to answer. Delayed discharge has got worse, but the First Minister’s excuses are the same.

Serious problems like that are happening throughout our NHS. Today, there are reports of a pensioner in Musselburgh who has been trying to get through to her general practitioner to get treatment for a lung infection. She had to phone the practice 120 times before she got through to anyone. The lady said, “This is the first time in my life I feel like I don’t have proper medical care.” Does the First Minister think that it is acceptable that anyone—let alone an elderly, vulnerable person—has to call a GP more than 100 times before they get through?

The First Minister

I will answer the question about delayed discharges before I come to the issues around GP services.

Of course, it is our intention and policy to eradicate delayed discharges—[

Interruption

.]

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

I would be grateful if we could have silence when members are speaking on their feet.

The First Minister

The key piece of information that I gave to Douglas Ross in my previous answer is that we have had a pandemic and, whether he likes to admit it or not, that has had an impact on health and social care services not just in Scotland but across the United Kingdom, Europe and the world.

If we look at the situation in relation to the most recent year for which

we have a full year’s figures, we see that there has been a reduction in delayed discharge compared with the period that immediately preceded the Covid pandemic. That is a result of not only the dedication of those who work in health and social care, but the interventions that I referenced in my first answer. We will continue to invest in and support policies that are intended to eradicate delayed discharges.

With regard to GP services, I do not think that the experience that was narrated is acceptable, and I am interested in hearing from the particular GP practice about the reasons for that. GPs are working under considerable stress, strain and pressure, as is the entire NHS, which is why we are committed to further increases in funding for GP services and to recruiting more GPs. We will continue to do the hard work of Government to support our national health service.

My final point is that, if it was down to Douglas Ross, those very difficult circumstances in our national health service would be even worse, because tens of millions of pounds—even more money—would have to be taken out of services to give tax cuts to the wealthiest. It is only six weeks since Douglas Ross demanded that we take money out of public services and give tax cuts to the wealthy. No matter the challenges that the NHS is facing, everybody across Scotland will be breathing a sigh of relief because at least the Conservatives are not in government here, in Scotland.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Whether or not the First Minister wants to admit it, Scotland’s NHS is in crisis at every level. Patient scans are being sent abroad and waiting lists—which were too long before Covid—are now at record levels. The situation at accident and emergency departments is at the most critical level that it has ever been at, and delayed discharge is plaguing our patients and hospitals worse than ever before.

On top of all of that, reports this week say that we could be facing a winter of strikes by staff across our NHS, which could cripple the health service in Scotland. This week, Dr Iain Kennedy, the chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland, said:

“Doctors are terrified about the winter and the year ahead.”

They are right to be terrified, are they not, First Minister?

The First Minister

People are right to be worried about the ability of our national health service to cope with spending constraints and the impact of Tory mismanagement on our economy.

Since we have been in the chamber, we have heard that interest rates have been increased by the Bank of England to 3 per cent, which is the highest rate for 14 years and the biggest single increase since black Wednesday, in 1992. That is the cost to people of Tory economic mismanagement.

On the national health service, in Scotland, we have higher funding per head of population for the NHS than there is in the rest of the UK, and our accident and emergency services, although under significant pressure, are the best performing anywhere in the UK.

In terms of the agenda for change workforce and pay, I wish that we could give them more, because they deserve every penny that we can give them. However, in Scotland, they are being offered an average pay increase of 7 per cent, with more than 11 per cent for the lowest paid. That compares with 4.5 per cent in England, where the Conservatives are in power, and in Wales, where Labour is in power. We are having to fund that increase without any additional resources from the Westminster Government. Instead, on 17 November, we face the prospect of spending cuts—again, to pay for Tory economic mismanagement.

I will continue to take seriously my job of supporting the NHS, and I will take no lessons from the Conservatives, who are making such a mess of the economy, with disastrous impacts for all of our public services.

National Health Service (Waiting Times)

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

2. This Government has no grip on the national health service crisis. Staff are being asked to do the impossible and patients are being asked to accept the unacceptable.

I will give just one example: 81-year-old Catrina McFarlane has bone cancer, a disease that can cause significant pain and increases the risk of fractures. Last month, she had a fall at home, and she and her husband heard a snapping sound. She was in extreme pain. Due to her condition, she was told that she would need to be transported to hospital in an ambulance. That was at 10.15 in the morning. At 11 o’clock that night—13 hours later—Catrina was still waiting in pain. The emergency operator, who was in tears, said that they could not even guarantee an ambulance by the next morning.

The following day, Catrina’s husband gave up waiting for an ambulance and, in desperation, took her to hospital himself. She was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis. Why did Catrina McFarlane have to wait in pain for nearly 24 hours for an ambulance that never turned up?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I am happy to look into Catrin

a’s experience. Nobody should wait that length of time for an ambulance, and I will not say otherwise.

As we do with accident and emergency and the NHS overall, this Government continues to focus on supporting our NHS through these difficult times so that it can recover from the impact of the pandemic and get back to delivering the level of service that all patients have a right to expect.

Looking specifically at the Ambulance Service, it, like A and E, is dealing with significant pressures, but its staffing under this Government is up by 67.3 per cent. The number of paramedics is up by almost 40 per cent and ambulance technicians are up by more than 60 per cent. This year, we have allocated additional funding of £45 million over the Ambulance Service’s baseline funding to support workforce growth and service improvement. Our ambulances are saving more critically unwell patients than ever before, and they are diverting cases away from accident and emergency.

Although, of course, an experience like that is not acceptable, and other patients will be having experiences like that right now, the fact is that the vast majority of people who rely on our Ambulance Service, or on any part of the NHS, get an extraordinarily good service from those who work in our national health service. The duty of me and my Government is to ensure, through investment and other interventions, that we are supporting those workers every step of the way. It is not easy. It is not easy for any Government right now, particularly in light of the economic circumstances, but each and every single day we will not shy away from that duty.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

Week after week, year after year, the First Minister comes and tells people that it is unacceptable, and then expects people to accept the unacceptable, with devastating consequences across the country. Change the script, First Minister.

Catrina’s experience is not an isolated one. One reason that ambulances are not available is that they are queuing outside A and E, waiting to drop off patients—in some cases for hours. Last week, I highlighted the hidden waits at assessment units; this week, it is patients waiting hours in ambulances just to get through the doors of the hospital. In the past month, more than 2,700 ambulances across Scotland waited at least an hour and 50 minutes to drop off their patients. In just one month at one hospital—the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow—218 ambulances waited more than three hours. These are ambulances and paramedics that should be out on the road supporting patients, but are instead forced to wait hours outside A and E.

Last year, I asked the Government to support calls from paramedics and ambulance drivers for a 15-minute turnaround time at A and E, with a maximum wait of 30 minutes. Why is the Government not listening to the paramedics and ambulance drivers? Why are things getting worse, even before we reach the peak winter challenges?

The First Minister

First, I will not stop what this Government is doing to support our national health service. Government, at the best of times—and these are not the best of times—is hard. It is more complicated than simple soundbites or setting targets; we have to do the work in order to achieve them.

That means supporting our national health service and those who work in it with the investment and the wider support that they need. We will continue to take all of those steps. I have narrated the increase in the number of people who are working in our

Ambulance Service

and the additional investment that we are putting into the

Ambulance Service

to ensure that we can see that improvement.

Anas Sarwar is right that these issues are all interconnected, so we need to invest in the wider health service in order to improve performance of the Ambulance Service. No, I will not stop saying that we are doing these things, because they are the necessary steps that any Government would need to take to support our NHS in these tough times.

Of course, management of the NHS is our responsibility and nobody else’s. However, our NHS is not immune from wider economic and budgetary decisions that, unfortunately, are outwith the hands of this Government. I wish that we could invest much, much more in our national health service. I agree very much with the Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, who recognises that, although it is his responsibility to manage the health service in Wales, that has been impacted by the decisions of the Tories at Westminster. He can recognise that, so I am left wondering why Anas Sarwar, instead of making sure that people understand the impact of Tory decisions, wants to pretend that it does not exist.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

I will never shy away from attacking the Tories for their decisions, but this Government needs to recognise its responsibility for the decisions that it makes and the impact that they have. There is always somebody else to blame; it is always somebody else’s fault. It is the same old soundbites and the same old script from this tired First Minister.

She does not want to listen to me, so maybe she should listen to the words of an ambulance driver:

“Waiting times at the Queen Elizabeth and elsewhere are not a post pandemic issue, we have been raising this for as long as I have been in the service but sadly the times are getting even longer, patients are getting sicker, and it’s happening in all seasons now, not only in the winter months.”

It has got so bad that ambulance workers have voted this week for strike action, not just because of pay but because they feel that they have been undervalued and underresourced for years—but this Government is in denial. There are growing queues for treatment at A and E departments, ambulances off the road for hours while trying to drop off patients and people waiting in pain for help to come.

All of that is before we have even reached the worst of winter. Lives are being lost as a result, and now the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care says that it will take another five years to fix the problem—a problem that has been 15 years in the making. After 15 years of Scottish National Party Government, why should patients in Scotland have to wait a minute longer?

The First Minister

I will always listen to those who work in our NHS, and listen very carefully because they are the experts on the situation. However, I will not insult their intelligence by pretending that the issues are easy to resolve. We will continue to support people on the front line of our national health service, with record investment supporting record recruitment into our national health service and supporting the redesign of our NHS to make sure that patients get the treatment that they need, when and where they need it. That is in the interests of those who work in our national health service, as well.

Of course, we will continue to do everything that we possibly can to reward those who work in the NHS to the fullest possible extent. That is why the pay offer that has been made to agenda for change staff is, in Scotland, an average 7 per cent compared with 4.5 per cent in England and, indeed, in Wales, where Labour is in government. We take those responsibilities extremely seriously, every single day—every minute of every single day—but the fact of the matter is that the pressures on our national health service are not divorced from wider budgetary issues.

The Welsh Labour health minister said recently that the NHS in Wales next year would be “hell on earth” without additional funding from the United Kingdom Government. She said that the Welsh Government faces a “real nightmare” in running the NHS next year unless the UK Government steps up with additional funding. How come it is the case that Labour in Wales can recognise that reality, but Labour in Scotland is clearly so thirled to defending Tories that they are blind to that reality?

We will continue to do everything that we can in terms of the management of our national health service, but the fact of the matter is that we need more funding for our national health service and that can only come from decisions that are taken at Westminster.

The Presiding Officer

We move to general and constituency supplementary questions.

Energy Vouchers

John Mason (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Shettleston)

We are hearing reports that a large percentage of energy vouchers have not been redeemed by the end of October, and I have had constituents coming in to say that they have not received their vouchers. Can the Scottish Government shed any light on that and put any pressure on the energy companies to sort it out? The energy companies seem to be blaming the postal service.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I am concerned to hear about experiences such as that of John Mason’s constituents. Those echo wider reports this week that a significant proportion of support in the form of prepayment vouchers has so far gone unclaimed. It may be the case that some people are choosing to hold on to the vouchers until the weather turns colder, but it would be deeply worrying for people to be going without because of delays in the system, or for other reasons beyond their control.

I have chaired two meetings with energy suppliers and advice services over the past few weeks. Those have highlighted the need to ensure that the people who are most vulnerable are receiving the support to which they are entitled. I will continue those discussions with energy suppliers and others, but I would encourage energy companies to do everything that they can to ensure that the people who are most vulnerable are getting the maximum possible support and getting it as quickly as possible.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway (Patient Complaints)

Oliver Mundell (Conservative, Dumfriesshire)

It is no secret that NHS Dumfries and Galloway is on a crisis footing. A shortage of beds, staff and cash is seeing patients failed. Just when it seemed that things could not get any worse, the health board has now confirmed that it does not even have the capacity to respond to complaints, telling patients that it can no longer give a timescale for investigating their concerns. Does the First Minister think that that is safe or acceptable and will she investigate the case of one of my constituents? She has been waiting since February to get answers as to why her surgery went wrong, and she is losing sleep knowing that the same doctor could be making the same mistake in treating other patients.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

First, as I often say in the chamber, I will look into any case that members of Parliament draw to my attention, so if Oliver Mundell wants to send the details of that case, I will of course ensure that it is looked into as quickly as possible.

Secondly, I expect all health boards to deal with complaints appropriately and as quickly as possible, and to communicate with patients as they do so. As I have talked about in earlier exchanges, I absolutely understand the pressures that every part of our national health service is dealing with. As I have already said many times today, I treat with the utmost seriousness the big responsibility on my shoulders and those of the Government to support, and to ensure the good management of, our NHS.

Oliver Mundell mentioned budgets. We are dealing with significant budgetary pressures, which are caused by inflation and the fact—which I do not begrudge at all—that we are trying to pay our NHS staff more. As I have said to Douglas Ross, the reality is that, had we taken the advice of the Scottish Conservatives, there would be even less money to support our NHS, because we would have given tax cuts to the richest. It is to everybody’s relief that we did not follow that call and the example of the United Kingdom Government in that regard.

Cancer Care (Inequality)

Foysol Choudhury (Labour, Lothian)

Reports that were published this past week show that people in Scotland’s most deprived areas are 74 per cent more likely to die of cancer than those in the least deprived areas. Is the First Minister content with that level of disparity in health outcomes between Scotland’s richest and poorest? If not, what will the Scottish Government do about it?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

This is an important issue, although it is important to stress that mortality from cancer is reducing overall, which is due to a range of factors, such as better treatments, advances in drugs and technology and, of course, the hard work and dedication of the people who work in our cancer services.

There has been an inequality gap for a considerable time, which we are focused on closing. The factors that drive that are many and varied. Our detect cancer early programme and all the other work that we are doing to promote earlier diagnosis of cancer have a particular focus on inequality; so, too, does all the work that we do to encourage people to adopt behaviours that reduce the risk factors for cancer.

Equality in outcomes is, of course, of driving importance in all this, and that is reflected in all our work on cancer care.

Impact of Brexit

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

This week, the United Kingdom’s own data shows that exports from Scotland to the European Union have slumped by more than £2.2 billion since Brexit. To put it simply, Brexit has made things worse rather than better and made the lives of people throughout Scotland more difficult.

Does the First Minister agree that it is time for the Tories to call out Brexit for the act of vandalism that it is, or acknowledge their role as willing accomplices in the havoc that it has wreaked on the lives of people throughout the country?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

As Evelyn Tweed was asking a really important question, a member on the Conservative benches, from a sedentary position, asked, “What has this got to do with the Scottish Parliament?”

I suggest that the state of the economy, and the fact that Brexit has caused a slump in our exports to the EU and made it so much harder to recruit staff into businesses and our public services, including health and social care, has an awful lot to do with the Scottish Parliament.

Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster—a Tory-imposed disaster. We are seeing its impacts in every walk of life, from exports to the economy and our ability to recruit into essential jobs. It is time that Brexit was reversed, but I do not expect that we will get that from the Tories and, sadly, we no longer hear that commitment from the Labour Party. The only route back into the EU for Scotland now is by becoming an independent country, and the sooner that happens, the better.

Ukrainian Refugees (Killin Hotel)

Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

As the First Minister will be aware, refugees staying at the Killin hotel, which is in my region, were originally given four weeks’ notice to quit when the Scottish Government cancelled its contract with the hotel, effective from 18 November. Since then, media interest and coverage of the plight of the refugees has resulted in what has been billed as a U-turn by the Scottish Government, which has said that it will work with the hotel to see whether the refugees can continue to stay while the Government assists them to find long-term, sustainable accommodation. However, despite the Scottish Government’s reprieve, which was announced last week, neither the hotel, the local community council nor the Ukrainians have heard anything further. Many of the Ukrainians are unsure and anxious and have already resigned themselves to relocation. The situation is highly unacceptable and is causing severe distress to the individuals concerned. What action can be put in place to draw a line under the saga and give everybody the resolution that they deserve?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

It is our priority to ensure that people who are displaced from Ukraine are looked after and well supported here. Figures that are out just today, I think, show that, since the conflict in Ukraine began, more than 21,500 people, most of whom are sponsored by the Scottish Government, have arrived here. That represents 20.8 per cent of all United Kingdom arrivals, which is testament to our desire and determination to support people from Ukraine as far as possible.

Many of the people staying at the Killin hotel wanted to move to a more central location with easier access to amenities and employment, and, by offering accommodation in Stirling, we seek to provide exactly that. We have of course listened to those Ukrainians who wanted to stay in the Killin area, such as those with employment or children in local schools, and we will help them to do that. We are working with Stirling Council and the local community to ensure that they are supported to find suitable alternative accommodation. We are aware that some of the Ukrainians will be able to stay at the hotel while they continue to be supported to find matched or longer-term accommodation.

We will continue to support everybody who has come here from Ukraine. Part of that is about supporting them out of temporary accommodation and into more settled accommodation as quickly as possible.

Industrial Action (University of Dundee)

Mercedes Villalba (Labour, North East Scotland)

Unite the union members from the University of Dundee are in their third month of industrial action in defence of their pensions. Today, a delegation of those workers is in the Parliament to provide an update on the dispute, and every MSP has received an invitation to the meeting, which will be held in committee room 2 at 1 o’clock. Can the workers count on the First Minister and her education ministers attending today’s update?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I understand the frustration that people working in our university sector feel at the continued dispute about their pension arrangements. It is of course a matter for universities as the employer; the Scottish Government is not the employer in this case. However, I always encourage employers to get round the table with workers to find resolution to such disputes, and I would call on Universities Scotland to do exactly that.

Mental Health Services (Universities)

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

3. To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to increase and improve the provision of mental health services in Scotland’s universities. (S6F-01479)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

We are working closely with universities to ensure that the mental health support that they have in place is responsive to student needs. Over the past three academic years, we have invested more than £11.5 million in providing almost 90 additional counsellors in colleges and universities. That exceeds our programme for government commitment to provide 80 additional counsellors and is on top of what institutions already provided. We are also working with health boards to improve referral pathways to national health service and community-based services for students who are in need of acute support. Finally, in association with stakeholders, we are developing a student mental health plan, which will provide a best practice framework for mental health services in universities and colleges and will be linked to the wider mental health and wellbeing strategy.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

The First Minister will know that the Mental Health Foundation, Universities Scotland and the Robertson Trust surveyed more than 15,000 students and found that 74 per cent reported low wellbeing, 45 per cent experienced a serious psychological issue that they felt required professional help and 36 per cent reported experiencing either moderately severe or severe symptoms of depression.

There is a mental health crisis in our universities and colleges, and I am afraid that the actions of the First Minister in cutting the allocated funds for mental health support have made the problem worse. However, she has one chance to deal with the mess that she has created: she must guarantee that the £20 million four-year programme of sector support for student mental health will continue and not be cancelled.

Can I help the First Minister to find that £20 million? [

Interruption

.] How about the £20 million that she has earmarked for an independence referendum that the majority of Scots do not want? Will she act now to avoid a further crisis?

The First Minister

I do not want to waste too much time giving a basic lesson in financial management to the Conservatives, but money that is due to be allocated in a future financial year cannot be used to fund services in the current financial year.

The fact remains that investing a very small sum of money to give the people of Scotland an alternative to Westminster mismanagement is a very good idea indeed.

On mental health, Stephen Kerr is right to point to the figures that he has narrated in the chamber today. Of course, it is, first and foremost, for individual institutions to ensure that they have in place appropriate mental health support for their students, but we are working closely with institutions to support them as they provide such support. As I said earlier, we have invested more than £11.5 million to support 90 additional counsellors in colleges and universities. In fact, we are the only United Kingdom nation to have funded student mental health support in that way, so perhaps Stephen Kerr’s comments would be better directed to his own party in government at Westminster.

As regards yesterday’s statement by the Deputy First Minister, spending on mental health will continue to rise. The vast majority of mental health funding is directed through national health service boards, and that is completely unaffected by anything that the Deputy First Minister announced yesterday.

I come back to the central point. We are in a situation in which we have a budget for this year that was already 2.9 per cent lower in cash terms than it was last year because of Tory Westminster decisions, but within this financial year it has been eroded by £1.7 billion due to inflation. The cost of public sector pay deals so far—I repeat that I do not grudge this—is £700 million more than was budgeted for. Again, that has been driven by inflation.

We have no power to borrow for day-to-day services, we cannot raise tax mid-year and our reserves are fully allocated. Therefore, we have to find ways of providing funding to deal with those pressures from within existing budgets. Of course, we might face even more difficult choices when the Chancellor of the Exchequer announces his budget statement in a couple of weeks.

The fact of the matter is that, if the Conservatives—who, six weeks ago, called on us to cut public service funding to give tax cuts to the richest—want us to invest more in any element of public services, they need to persuade the chancellor to increase the budget of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government. Until they do so, they will continue to have zero credibility on any matters relating to budgets or to public services in Scotland.

Living Wage

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

4. To ask the First Minister what work the Scottish Government is doing to improve living wage equality. (S6F-01481)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

The real living wage accreditation scheme supports employers in lower-paid sectors to become real living wage employers. Recent Office for National Statistics data shows that, in the past year, the proportion of women employees aged over 18 in Scotland who earn the real living wage or more increased by nearly 6 percentage points to 89.7 per cent, compared with 91 per cent of employees overall, and that 10.3 per cent of women in Scotland earn below the real living wage, which is lower than the equivalent United Kingdom figure of 14.3 per cent.

The data confirms that Scottish employers are leading the way in paying the living wage, and we should be proud of the progress that has been made. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to tackle gender and other pay gaps, and we will publish the refreshed fair work action plan later this year. It will address actions to further close those gaps and create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

I agree that we can be rightly proud of Scotland’s record on wage equality, which means that we have the highest proportion of workers in the UK who are paid above the living wage, as well as the lowest gender pay gap.

However, our progress has been impeded by a broken UK labour market. Does the First Minister agree that we can truly address wage inequality only through Scottish independence, which will provide an opportunity to embed equality principles in our labour laws and to design a system that better meets the needs of Scotland’s workers and employers? [

Interruption

.]

The First Minister

I know that the Conservatives and Labour do not like hearing this, but it is a very important point that demonstrates a fundamental fact. Independence is not abstract; it is about real issues that impact on the day-to-day lives of people across Scotland.

Take the issue that is being raised here now. Employment law, including the setting of the national minimum wage, is currently reserved entirely to the UK Government. If we had employment powers lying in the hands of those in the Scottish Parliament, which would come with independence, that would enable us to do even more to protect and enhance workers’ rights and to support working people across this country by ensuring that they are paid a living wage. That, in turn, would improve living standards, increase our tax take and boost our economy.

We will continue to call on the UK Government to do more and to devolve crucial powers, but the only way to get those powers—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Members!

The First Minister

—which have the potential to change the lives of people across Scotland, into the hands of those in this Parliament is by Scotland becoming an independent country. That is not abstract; it is very real, and it becomes more and more obvious with every day that passes.

Malnutrition and Food Insecurity

Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)

5. To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent poverty-related malnutrition and food insecurity, in light of reported growing concerns from healthcare workers, school staff and charities about the impact of hunger on people across Scotland. (S6F-01480)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

That may be another illustration of the point that I made in my previous answer. I am deeply concerned—as, I know, Monica Lennon and other members will be—about the hardship that people are facing as a result of the cost of living crisis. This Government has allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to helping households to face that, including £1 billion that is not available anywhere else in the United Kingdom. That includes the Scottish child payment, which will shortly increase to £25 per week, and the Deputy First Minister confirmed yesterday that we will double the December bridging payment for families to £260 and increase the fuel insecurity fund to £20 million.

We must see the UK Government use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the emergency rather than make it worse. That must include increasing benefits in line with inflation and increasing universal credit by £25, and that should also be extended to means-tested legacy benefits. I hope that we will see the UK Government take those steps. However, if those powers lay in the hands of this Parliament, we would not have to look to a UK Government to do those things—we could do those things by our own hand.

Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)

The First Minister has set out some important context, but I hope that she agrees that there is more that we can do in this place.

Why has the working group on malnutrition, which was announced by this Government more than a year ago, not met? If it has met this week, it would be good to know about that. I know that there has been some bad publicity.

Free school meals are not yet universally available for young people in Scotland. There was a commitment to make them available for pupils in primaries 6 and 7 in August of this year, but we missed that deadline. We have heard about a pilot scheme for secondary schools. Will the First Minister give a clear timetable for the delivery of the roll-out of free school meals, and will that pilot scheme be published?

Campaigners and front-line workers with both children and older people raise the alarm every day, so I ask whether the four calls to action by the Eat Well Age Well project will be taken on board by the Government.

There is really good work on universal free school meals in Scotland, and I give credit to the Government for doing that, but we all know that we must do more, so I hope that the First Minister will set out those details very soon.

The First Minister

Monica Lennon says that we all know that we can do more here. We will always seek to do more and to do as much as we can, but there is a limit to what we can do within a fixed budget.

I do not know whether Monica Lennon listened to John Swinney’s statement yesterday. We are at the limit—probably beyond the limit—of what we can do financially without additional resources from Westminster. I wish it was not like that, because I wish that we were in control of our own finances, but we are not.

I turn to the specific issues that Monica Lennon raised. The date set for an initial meeting of the malnutrition working group was not suitable for some of the key participants, but we intend that the group will meet by the end of this month.

We have an ambitious plan for the roll-out of free school meals, but right now we are already way ahead of any other part of the UK on that. In Scotland, during term time, free school meals are already universally available to more than 280,000 children in primaries 1 to 5 and in special schools, as well as to eligible pupils in P6 through to secondary 6. In England, universal provision is available only in the first three years. In Wales, where Monica Lennon’s colleagues are in government, free school meal provision is based entirely on eligibility. I think that they have just started work on universal provision for the first year.

We have some way to go, but we are absolutely serious about getting to the end of this journey. However, we have already come much further than anyone else, and we are doing all of it within a budget that is being eroded by inflation and that is essentially fixed. If Monica Lennon wants us to do much more and to do it faster, it is not enough for Scottish Labour to will the end; it must also will the means. That will involve giving the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government full control over our own finances instead of leaving us at the mercy of Tory Governments at Westminster.

Glasgow Climate Pact

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

6. To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will be building on the legacy from the Glasgow climate pact by attending the 27th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP27—in Egypt. (S6F-01477)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

Scotland is determined to continue to play its part in responding to the global climate emergency. If the world is to deliver on the Glasgow climate pact, all nations need to continue to increase their ambition and take credible action to reach net zero emissions.

Over the next few days, I will attend COP27 to do what I can to further collaboration between Scotland and other countries, to build on the agreements that were reached in Glasgow and to continue Scotland’s leadership not least on the issue of loss and damage funding. Although we are not yet a member state of the United Nations or party to the Paris agreement, Scotland will play its part by sharing our own experiences of delivering against a net zero target at home, as part of our just transition, and by helping to amplify the voices of people who are being most impacted by climate change, who are often also excluded from the debate. They include people from the countries of the global south, women and young people.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I am pleased that, unlike the Prime Minister, the First Minister did not have to be shamed into attending COP27.

COP26 in Glasgow showed us that, when small nations work together, they can lead the world on climate justice. Alongside Scotland’s leadership on loss and damage funding, which the First Minister mentioned, Denmark helped to launch the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance and was joined by a flotilla of countries that are planning for a fair and fast phasing out of fossil fuels.

Now that the Scottish Government has a clearer position on ending new coal extraction, is it ready to join that alliance and show the global leadership that is desperately needed on a just oil and gas transition?

The First Minister

At COP26, in Glasgow last year, we had good engagement with those involved in the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance, including its founder country, Denmark, and we will continue that. Last year, we set out the programme of work that we are undertaking, which will influence and ultimately decide our involvement in the alliance. We are undertaking in-depth analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero, ensuring an approach that supports and protects our energy security and our workforce while meeting our climate obligations. We will publish an energy strategy and our first just transition plan, which will provide a road map for the energy sector’s role in meeting our emissions reduction targets and securing a net zero energy system for Scotland.

Taking all of that into account, we will continue to engage constructively with the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance as part of the wider programme of analysis and engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders.

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Given the publication at the weekend of three new UN reports stating that there is no clear pathway to the 1.5o

C limit being set, and given the devastating floods in Pakistan that were caused by climate change, will the First Minister set out what more can and should be done at COP27, particularly on loss and damage funding? Does she agree with me that people and countries in the global south must be given due attention and that there must be action

by the global north? In welcoming the now planned attendance by the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, will she urge all global north leaders to act on the issues that are already being faced by countries in the global south?

The First Minister

Yes, I absolutely agree with that. Countries in the global north have a moral obligation and owe that to those in the global south, including action on

the issue of loss and damage. Good progress was made in Glasgow last year to put the issue of loss and damage firmly on the agenda. I think that we all wish that we could have gone further, but it is vital that this year’s COP delivers implementation of the Glasgow pact. That includes delivering, in particular, the finance that is needed to enable global south nations to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

However, that is not enough. We need further action on loss and damage. I think that we can be very proud of the commitment and leadership that Scotland showed on the issue last year, which was followed by commitments from Denmark, Wallonia and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. We hope that, this year, other Governments will follow suit and help us to mobilise funding to address the losses and damages that people and communities in the global south are suffering right now as a result of climate change, which is caused largely by the global north. In my view, that is one of the big tests for COP27, and I hope that it meets that test in full.

Maurice Golden (Conservative, North East Scotland)

I am sure that the First Minister will agree that, if we cannot do the basics of tackling climate change, Scotland will have no chance of achieving net zero. When will the 2013 target of recycling 50 per cent of household waste be met?

The First Minister

Scotland is doing more than the basics of tackling climate change. I will write to the member with an update in response to his specific question.

Scotland is rightly seen by countries around the world as a leader on these issues. We should continue to challenge ourselves at home and ensure that we are delivering against the targets that we have set, and we will always do that. However, we should also take some pride in the fact that other countries look to Scotland for the leadership that we show—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

I am sorry, First Minister.

I am sure that we would like to hear a response to the member’s question.

The First Minister

The Tories are always very keen to talk down Scotland’s contribution. I think that, at COP27, we will see countries around the world talking Scotland up, because they see the leadership that this country offers.

The Presiding Officer

That concludes First Minister’s question time.

Point of Order

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, members were informed that the deadline for amendments at stage 2 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill would be just two weeks after the stage 1 vote. We were told that there would be just two sittings in which to consider the amendments.

That is unacceptable. It is far too little time, and I am concerned about the quality of the information that I was given by the convener when I questioned the decision on Tuesday. It looks like an attempt to limit or even to shut down debate on a very complex and contentious bill. Rushing this legislation is wrong when fundamental issues of women’s rights and trans rights are at stake.

Presiding Officer, first, what steps are available to members who wish to prevent the bill from being rushed through with very little debate? Secondly, what action can you personally take to ensure that the timetable for the rest of the bill stages is not limited? Thirdly, do you agree that, on such a sensitive topic, the Scottish Parliament should seek to protect and enhance its reputation by scrutinising the legislation properly for as long as is necessary?

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

I thank the member for her point of order. It is for the Parliamentary Bureau to consider and recommend to the Parliament deadlines for the different stages of bills. The Parliamentary Bureau will consider the timetabling of stage 2 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill at its meeting next Tuesday. The member may wish to ask her business manager to raise the matters that she has highlighted at that point, in the discussions at the bureau next week.

12:54 Meeting suspended.

12:55 On resuming—

Cancer Card

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business

is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-04821, in the name of Miles Briggs, on Cancer Card. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. Members who wish to participate should press their request-to-speak buttons as soon as possible.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament acknowledges what it sees as the tremendous work by Jen Hardy in establishing Cancer Card in Scotland, which is an initiative that provides people with access to vital cancer support services and information regarding their diagnosis in one place; understands that, after her own incurable breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, Jen was struck by the realisation that there was no single place for her to obtain useful information related to her illness, which motivated her to establish Cancer Card; further understands that this community can help people diagnosed with cancer, including people in the Lothian region, to find the support that they require, minimising stress during an already highly stressful time; recognises that Cancer Card attained charity status in 2021; considers that it can play an integral role in securing relief and comfort to cancer patients, and welcomes the appointment of Ian Pirrie as Cancer Card’s first CEO.

Miles Briggs (Conservative, Lothian)

I start by thanking members for supporting my motion for debate today. I also want to invite members to attend the photo call that will take place on the garden lobby steps at 1.35, following the debate. I hope that members will be able to join us.

I think that we would all agree that one of the greatest honours that come with being an MSP is the opportunity that it presents to meet remarkable people. One such person is Jen Hardy, and I am delighted that she has joined us today in the public gallery, alongside Ian Pirrie, the new chief executive officer of Cancer Card.

I first met Jen Hardy in March 2018, when she successfully campaigned alongside women with incurable breast cancer and the Breast Cancer Now charity to help to deliver access to the secondary breast cancer drug Perjeta. I am pleased that the cabinet secretary said that those discussions continue, and I note that, yesterday, he engaged with the continuing campaigning work of Breast Cancer Now.

Jen was diagnosed with stage 4 incurable breast cancer on 18 October 2017, after having a CT scan to find out the cause of her paralysed vocal cord. While searching for cancer support, she noticed that there was no single place or online resource that listed the hundreds of different support services, support providers, information channels and free experiences that are available to people living with cancer, and their families.

It was that realisation that prompted Jen, who has an information technology background, to work to establish Cancer Card in order to create a single online point of access for anyone who is affected by cancer so that they can find the help and support that they need. Cancer Card, which was launched in May 2022, provides a detailed index of support services that are available, helping individuals navigate what can often be a complicated and complex world of cancer.

It is hard to believe that something like Cancer Card did not exist until now. I know that it is incredibly hard to have the difficult conversations with someone living with cancer about their treatment journey and, indeed, to ask the many personal questions that a wife, husband, mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, son or friend might want to ask. That is where Cancer Card is so wonderful: it recognises the questions and support that are involved in reaching more than just the person living with cancer but their families, friends, employers and professionals. It is available any time of day or night, when questions might be asked or answers or support might be sought. It also acts as a directory of key contacts for all United Kingdom cancer charities and support services.

One in two of us will develop cancer in our lifetimes. Over the past six years, in my time as co-chair of the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party group on cancer—alongside Jackie Baillie—one of the regular requests of many clinicians, charities and groups has been for access to the support services to be improved and made more readily available. That is what Cancer Card offers.

The significant impact of a cancer diagnosis on an individual’s life is immense, with the potential to render them feeling lost, frustrated, fatigued, isolated or financially disadvantaged when trying to obtain information of a non-medical but nonetheless essential nature. At a time when people living with cancer, and their families, need the most support, it can often be difficult to find the right information at the right time for the right person.

Cancer Card seeks to address that through the online support hub, where those affected by cancer find invaluable insights from the Cancer Card community and access to local and national cancer support charities and services, including financial help, exercise classes, counselling and local support networks. The advanced search and filtering options allow users to create a bespoke search based on their individual needs. That is very important. I ask those who have not had the opportunity to see cancercard.org.uk for themselves to visit it, please.

I pay tribute to and thank all the charities and organisations that provide information, help and advice to people and families living with cancer. We owe those organisations a huge debt of gratitude. The difference that they make to people’s lives, including those living with cancer, is significant across our country.

I believe that Cancer Card can and will elevate cancer support charities and services and help to promote their invaluable offering. There is no cost to users or charities for the services that are listed. That presents a great opportunity for local groups to highlight what is available in different localities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking work on the new cancer strategy, which I welcome. That presents an opportunity to reset and reconsider how support and advice are provided in Scotland and across the United Kingdom, and especially to reconsider how, during and following the pandemic, access has shifted online. I hope that the new strategy can embrace Cancer Card and that the fresh new approach can provide the information and advice services that people living with cancer and their families and friends so desperately need and want to access.

I thank members for allowing this debate to take place, and I look forward to hearing the contributions to it.

Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)

I congratulate Miles Briggs on securing debating time this afternoon.

We all know that cancer is one of the major causes of disease and death in Scotland, with more than 30,000 patients diagnosed and more than 16,000 people dying of cancer recorded every year. Sadly, half of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in our lives.

Unfortunately, unprecedented challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on cancer treatment. The impacts range from temporary pauses in screening programmes to longer waits for CT scans and colonoscopies. That threatens the steady progress that has been made in cutting cancer mortality rates in recent years.

New research that was published in

The Lancet Oncology

on Monday showed that countries with cancer policies that are consistent over time are more successful in improving survival across a range of cancer types. Scotland has fared better than other UK nations, but it still lags behind countries such as Denmark, which has among the highest increases in survival rates after maintaining a cross-party consensus on policy and the level of investment required.

That said, I welcome the establishment of Cancer Card in Scotland and congratulate Jen Hardy on her tireless work in setting up that online hub after having been diagnosed with stage 4 incurable metastatic breast cancer in October 2017. Through her lived experience and by navigating the information and support available, she found that there was no all-encompassing hub to bring together the numerous cancer charities and support services that are out there. That gap is what Cancer Card seeks to fill, and does fill.

What I found particularly interesting in browsing the new Cancer Card website is how easy it is now to find the tailored support that is right for each individual, as Miles Briggs highlighted, depending on the type of cancer that the person or a loved one has, their location and their relationship with cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer is, understandably, a huge shock to most people, and easy access to the right resource will make an already highly stressful and worrying time a little less difficult. Videos and blogs from people who have survived cancer can also help to provide some reassurance.

In 2010, my twin sister had breast cancer that was so virulent that she was operated on within 72 hours of her initial diagnosis. Janis had radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and she has now been cancer free for more than 11 years. The big C, as John Wayne famously used to call it, need not be a terminal diagnosis if it is caught early and/or treated aggressively.

I also welcome Cancer Card’s vision of supporting everyone who is affected by cancer, with help being directed to not only the patients but their partners, family members, friends and, indeed, employers. I hope that the new directory will be of assistance to my constituents by signposting them to the numerous amazing local charities and support services that are available across Ayrshire and Arran. Those include Ayrshire Cancer Support, which is Ayrshire’s leading cancer charity. It provides practical help and emotional support to people who are affected by cancer, including transport and complementary therapies.

The same applies to Arran Cancer Support Trust, which supports cancer patients and their families with the unique challenges that island life can pose. Not only does the trust offer counselling and wellbeing support, but volunteers pick up Arranachs at Ardrossan harbour, take them to the mainland hospital and wait or come back to take them on the return ferry to Arran, where transport can also be arranged to and from the ferry terminal. I thank everyone who is involved in local charities for their efforts and indeed everyone in the third sector, which is a vitally important partner for the national health service in our efforts to combat cancer.

I have no doubt that Cancer Card will play a vital role in improving the access of patients, as well as family members and friends, to the many vital resources that are out there, signposting them to the local charity or support service that is best suited to their needs. I will certainly do my bit to make my constituents aware of the help that Cancer Card can offer.

Once again, I congratulate Jen Hardy on setting up Cancer Card and I congratulate Miles Briggs on bringing this important topic to the chamber.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

I also congratulate Miles Briggs on having secured this debate to celebrate the work of Cancer Card.

With one in two of us being diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime, not many of us can say that we have not been touched by cancer. Whether it is a personal story or that of family or friends, the experience is real and is often very difficult. A cancer diagnosis comes with a whirlwind of emotion. There is an overwhelming amount of information to take in at once, accompanied by worries about loved ones and concerns around finances—especially now, during the cost of living crisis. Of course, a cancer diagnosis also has an impact on work, because many people have to give up employment for a time.

Despite the support that is available, the landscape is new and it is very difficult to navigate for the person who has just had a diagnosis. That is where Cancer Card comes in. It is an online hub that brings together all the information that people need. I join others in congratulating Jen Hardy, Ian Pirrie and the team, because they have managed the quite remarkable task of pulling together all the information so that people can find out all that they need to know about receiving support once they have received their diagnosis. That helping hand is invaluable in making people feel less alone at such a hard time.

We are all aware of the pressures that are being faced by our health service, so the work of Cancer Card is needed now more than ever. Figures for the quarter ending 30 June 2022 show that performance against the 62-day cancer waiting times target was at its lowest point since records began, with just 76 per cent of patients starting treatment within that target time. It is a target that, regrettably, has never been met, so we need collectively to do more to deal with that.

We are also seeing the toll that lockdown has taken on early diagnosis of cancer, with more people presenting with late-stage cancers than were doing so before lockdown. It is against that backdrop that Cancer Card’s work truly shines. It is a light in the dark, offering advice and lived experience, as well as helping people and their families to navigate this new world. It also supports staff, who are stretched to the limit.

Cancer Card is not alone in carrying out that vital work. I want to recognise organisations such as Macmillan Cancer Support, which is there to assist people in whatever ways are necessary when their lives have been turned upside down, whether they are having issues with finances or struggling with their mental health, and Marie Curie, which provides overnight palliative care for cancer patients at home as well as in its valuable hospice provision. Marie Curie nurses care for people in 31 out of 32 local authority areas in Scotland and the charity’s work ensures that vital research into palliative and end-of-life care continues to be a priority. Of course, Cancer Research UK, together with clinicians, does similarly important work looking at how to improve treatments for the future, and funding scientists, doctors and nurses to help to beat cancer sooner.

The work of those charities and many more makes an immeasurable difference to the lives of people across the country. They do it because they care and because many of the people in those charities have experienced the effects of a cancer diagnosis at first hand. We must continue to support charities such as Cancer Card because, from 2015 to 2019, something like 141,000 adults in Scotland received a cancer diagnosis and the number shows no sign of decreasing anytime soon.

Presiding Officer, the fight against cancer continues, but thanks to the work of Cancer Card and other charities, people’s battles are not fought alone. For that, we thank them.

Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I congratulate Miles Briggs on having secured the debate. I wanted to speak because most of us will have been affected by cancer in some way—either through ourselves, our families or other people who are close to us being diagnosed. I am no exception, but I will not regale members with a personal story today. We all know about cancer and the effects that it can have.

I had a look at the Cancer Card website. It was not clear to me that there is a card involved; however, there is one, and Miles Briggs handed it to me earlier. I think that the idea is that when a person anywhere in Scotland is diagnosed with cancer, they will be given a card. There is a barcode on the back, which can be scanned and takes the user to a website. I have tried it and it works. When someone gets to the website, as we have heard, it is a one-stop shop of services across Scotland. It is a fantastic resource that can be built on, because when someone is diagnosed with cancer, there is a feeling of despair and “What do I do now?” People really need to know where to turn.

The website is very good, because it is localised and there are services throughout Scotland. In my own patch, which is Lanarkshire, places such as Kilbryde Hospice, Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust, Lanarkshire Carers, Lanarkshire’s Speak Easy cancer support group—which is for people who have throat cancer—Maggie’s Lanarkshire, Leukaemia Care, move more North Lanarkshire, and Strathcarron Hospice are listed. Of course, there will be more groups out there.

The website is really good, and I congratulate Jen Hardy on getting it set up. We can build on it, and it needs to be promoted. What we actually need—I do not know whether this is in place yet—is everyone who has a cancer diagnosis, as I described at the start of my speech, being given a card so that they are signposted to local and national services. I think that that will be a great comfort and help to people.

Once again, I congratulate Miles Briggs and I congratulate Jen Hardy on getting the service going.

Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)

I congratulate and thank Miles Briggs for securing debating time on an important subject—one that is, going by the contributions, clearly and unsurprisingly close to everyone’s hearts, for many personal reasons. Even if someone has not had personal experience of cancer or has not had someone close to them experience it, hearing the stories of people who have had a cancer diagnosis and the challenges that they have had to face over the years will often move us to tears.

I offer my full support for everything that has been said by all members who have contributed to the debate. I join each and every one of them in paying tribute to Jen Hardy, who is in the gallery, alongside Ian Pirrie, the first CEO of Cancer Card. Miles Briggs is right that there are tough times in the job, for sure, but one of the best parts of it for all of us as members of the Scottish Parliament is getting to meet people and hear their phenomenal stories.

I enjoy meeting everyone, of course, but there are certain people who have an energy about them and immediately light up the room, and that energy stays with you for quite a while. I can think of a number of people I have met over the years who are like that, and Jen Hardy is absolutely one of them. I met her only yesterday, but I could feel her enthusiasm for what she does and her energy in wanting to improve the lives of, and give support to, those who have had a cancer diagnosis.

Thankfully, I have never had a personal diagnosis—I have known many people close to me who have—but nobody would have faulted Jen Hardy for just getting on with life in her own way and dealing with the difficulties that a diagnosis such as hers throws up. She is undoubtedly getting on with life, but what she is also doing—and doing very well—is supporting others through her efforts with Cancer Card. For that and the fact that she is using her time to ensure that people right across the country receive support, I pay her all the tribute in the world that I possibly can.

I want to pick up on a couple of points that colleagues have raised in the debate. As I have seen in my time as an MSP and in government, the best ideas are always the most simple ones. We can all think of such examples. One great example is Mary’s Meals—a simple but so effective concept—and Cancer Card is in the same bracket. Its simple idea is to have a one-stop shop of information for people to access. Those who have not gone on to the Cancer Card website should do so; all that people have to do is put in their location and some basic information about the cancer that they are suffering from or want support for, and, with a click, they are on a webpage that provides access to and sets out contact details for the support groups that are closest to them. It is a simple but really effective idea.

What I have heard from a number of third sector cancer support organisations and charities is that people do not hear about that sort of support until they are well on in their cancer journey. When I recently visited the Maggie’s centre in Edinburgh—which will be known to many and might well have been visited by a number of members across the chamber—the people there told me that they would not need to do any fundraising if they had a pound for every time somebody walked through the door and said, “Oh, I wish I’d known about you guys sooner.” We do not want that to be the case. We want people to get information when they are diagnosed so that, as Graham Simpson rightly said, they can access support right away.

We have to think about the point that Jackie Baillie made—and made well—about many people who get such a diagnosis going into almost a state of shock and not necessarily absorbing all the information that they receive. It is therefore really important that we and the NHS follow things up with those individuals and ensure that they get the information that they need about support—and not just that one time when they get the card, although that is an excellent idea that I will take away and address shortly. We should be going back again and again to ensure that those individuals get the support that they require.

As for Miles Briggs’s very reasonable question about the new cancer strategy, I think that the debate is taking place at a really opportune time, given that the strategy is very much in its development phase. Many organisations and individuals have inputted into the consultation on the strategy, and I give Mr Briggs an absolute commitment that a key part of it will be access to support. Indeed, having met Jen Hardy and Breast Cancer Now yesterday, we are considering how Cancer Card can be part of the support that is offered.

Another issue is how we ensure that our clinical colleagues know about Cancer Card. It is all fine and well our knowing about it and the public knowing about it, but it is really important for our clinicians to know about it, too. After all, they are often the ones who have to give people the difficult news about a cancer diagnosis.

I agree with the points that have been made about third sector support being more important than ever before. I think that that was the case before the pandemic, but it has become exceptionally important in the light of the challenges that the pandemic has brought to bear on us.

I also agree with the importance of early diagnosis. That is why we are investing in our rapid cancer diagnostic services. Indeed, the First Minister has just announced two additional services to ensure that people can get a diagnosis sooner. After all, we know as a result of really difficult decisions that we had to make during the pandemic that there is a backlog in cancer diagnostics.

I end where I started, by commending Jen Hardy for her work on Cancer Card and for what has been achieved so far through what is a really easy-to-use website. I should say to Graham Simpson that it is a QR code rather than a barcode on the back of the card—we will bring him kicking and screaming into the 21st century yet. If people scan that code, they will get immediate access to the website.

The website does not just focus on patients; it also gives access to support for partners, families and employers, all of whom have different support and information needs. The resource is a fantastic addition to the support that we already provide. As I said, I have given a commitment to consider how we can incorporate it in our future work on our cancer strategy.

Again, I thank Miles Briggs for securing time for the debate, and I congratulate Jen Hardy and the team at Cancer Card for all the incredible work that they have done. I wish her the best of health in the future, and I wish the Cancer Card charity every success in the future. I am certain that its work will help a great many people.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, cabinet secretary. A whole new exciting world of QR codes has just opened up for Mr Simpson.

That concludes the debate. I suspend the meeting until 2.30 pm.

13:20 Meeting suspended.

14:30 On resuming—

Business Motion

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-06596, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on changes to today’s business.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees to the following revisions to the programme of business for Thursday 3 November 2022—

after

2.30 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions

insert

followed by

Appointment of Junior Scottish Minister

delete

2.30 pm Portfolio Questions:

Net Zero, Energy and Transport

insert

followed by

Portfolio Questions:

Net Zero, Energy and Transport—[

George Adam

]

Motion agreed to.

Junior Minister

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-06595, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on appointment of a junior Scottish minister. Members who wish to speak in the debate should press their request-to-speak buttons now.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I am very pleased to move the motion in my name, that Elena Whitham be appointed as a Scottish junior minister.

Before I do so, I thank Ash Regan for her contributions to the Scottish Government. During her time as Minister for Community Safety, Ash worked across a wide range of important issues, such as tackling inequality in the justice system and introducing and seeing being passed new legislation to restrict the sale and use of fireworks. In thanking her, I also wish her all the best for the future.

I turn to today’s appointment. It gives me great pleasure to seek Parliament’s agreement to the appointment of Elena Whitham. Although she is relatively new to Parliament, I have no doubt that she brings significant experience to the wide-ranging role of community safety minister.

Elena has spoken of how her political convictions have been shaped by her own life experiences growing up in a loving family that was often blighted by poverty and real hardship, which eventually forced them to emigrate to Canada when she was just six years old. Elena returned to Scotland after graduating from university. She worked in community youth and homelessness roles, and ran three businesses as a sole trader.

She also spent over a decade as a Scottish Women’s Aid worker in Ayrshire, supporting women and children who experienced domestic abuse. More recently, Elena has served as the depute leader of East Ayrshire Council and was community wellbeing spokesperson for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

Since becoming a member of the Scottish Parliament last year, Elena has greatly impressed both her colleagues and, I hope, her political opponents with her robust and fair convenership of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.

Finally, Elena is, I think, the only person in the chamber who has campaigned in independence referendums on both sides of the Atlantic, having been involved as a student in the 1995 Quebec independence vote. The yes side, of course, lost that referendum by the narrowest of margins. Without swaying too much into constitutional politics, let me just say that I am confident that for Elena it will, on the referendum front, be third time lucky.

It is often said that people rightly place huge priority on politicians’ having real-life experience. If that is the case, Elena’s political, professional and, indeed, personal experiences make her overwhelmingly qualified for ministerial office. She has proved herself to be a hard-working and capable public servant, and I am sure that everyone in the chamber will give her their best wishes.

I ask Parliament to agree that I seek the King’s approval for the appointment of Elena Whitham as a junior Scottish minister.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that Elena Whitham be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, I echo the First Minister’s congratulations to her newest minister, Elena Whitham. I also commend the First Minister for displaying her customary good humour and collegiate warmth in the text of her letter to the outgoing minister, Ash Regan. The letter was short, but I am not sure that it was sweet, so it is no wonder that ministerial resignations are a rare event in her Government.

On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, I join the First Minister in congratulating Elena Whitham on her new role. Despite a long period in Canada, she is deeply rooted in the community that she represents. The new Minister for Community Safety served as a Scottish Women’s Aid worker in Ayrshire for more than a decade, so she is experienced in the sensitive and important issues relating to her new role.

Like the First Minister, I also note that in the 1995 referendum, Ms Whitham was a campaigner in favour of an independent Quebec, so can I wish her the same success in any similar future referendum, should it ever arise.

I also pay tribute to Ash Regan. It is not common for Scottish National Party MSPs to think independently of the First Minister, let alone to resign from her Government, so I thank her for her integrity, her principled honesty and, of course, her bravery.

There is an irony in a Minister for Community Safety resigning on an issue that is, ostensibly, one of community safety. She took a principled stand—something that, sadly, we do not see enough of in public life today. There is also irony in that the minister who sought to ban fireworks went out with a bang the week before Guy Fawkes night. She lit the First Minister’s blue touchpaper but, judging by her press conference this week, she is clearly not going to retire to a safe distance.

I also take the opportunity to commiserate with those bright, aspiring and ambitious SNP back benchers who are still hoping to have their first ride in a ministerial limousine—Christine Grahame, Paul McLennan, Kenny Gibson, Stuart McMillan, John Mason and Michelle Thomson, among others. I am sure that their time will come. Indeed, it might come sooner than they think; it might come as soon as stage 3 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill later this month, when the First Minister might receive a further round of ministerial resignations.

In closing on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, I wish Elena Whitham well. It is an important position that she takes on for the communities that we represent, so we wish her well in it.

The Presiding Officer

The question is, that motion S6M-06595, in the name of Nicola Sturgeon, on appointment of a junior Scottish minister, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that Elena Whitham be appointed as a junior Scottish Minister.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

The next item of business is portfolio question time, and the portfolio this afternoon is net zero, energy and transport. I ask members who wish to ask a supplementary question to please press their request-to-speak button or to indicate so in the chat function by entering the letters RTS during the relevant question.

As ever, I make a plea for succinct questions and answers so that we can get in as many members as possible.

Water Rates 2023-24

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct Scottish Water to freeze water rates for 2023-24 to help with the cost of living crisis. (S6O-01492)

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I do not think that the minister’s card is in.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

He said yes.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

It will be for the cabinet secretary to indicate what his response is, Ms Baillie.

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

There we go.

The decision on water charges is a matter for Scottish Water’s board, but it must be taken with due regard to the principles of charging for water services that have been set by Scottish ministers, including the key principle of affordability.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

My understanding is that the cabinet secretary intervened last year, and I encourage him to do so again this year, because inflation was at 10 per cent in September and is expected to be at least 11 per cent by the end of the year. The pricing formula agreed between the cabinet secretary, Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland is that prices will rise by the consumer prices index plus 2 per cent. That will mean an eye-watering rise of 12 or 13 per cent for every household in Scotland. With Scottish Water having reserves of more than half a billion pounds and paying senior executives eye-watering bonuses of £90,000 each, it can clearly afford to freeze water bills. Households are struggling.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Ms Baillie, could we have a question, please?

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

It is entirely within the cabinet secretary’s power to freeze bills, so let me try again. Will the cabinet secretary freeze water bills?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

Let me try to deal with some of the facts. Ms Baillie will be well aware that Scottish Water payment levels are some of the lowest in the United Kingdom because of the way in which the organisation operates.

It is wrong for Ms Baillie to portray the cash in hand with which Scottish Water operates as spare money that sits in a bank account. That money is substantially allocated to projects in order to meet Scottish Water’s net zero targets, improve services overall and deal with emergencies.

The third thing that Ms Baillie chooses to ignore is that our substantial water rates reduction scheme discount was extended to 35 per cent from the 25 per cent that was in place previously, which means that almost half a million homes benefit from the scheme—I think that some 460,000 homes benefit, of which 370,000 will pay less in water rates in this financial year.

I assure Ms Baillie that we will continue to ensure that there is the right capital investment in Scottish Water, while making rates affordable for Scottish households.

Natalie Don (Scottish National Party, Renfrewshire North and West)

Unlike the situation elsewhere in the UK, Scottish Water is publicly owned. The Scottish Government continues to use its limited budget and constrained powers to cushion the impact of UK Government policies, which are at the heart of the cost of living crisis.

My understanding is that the water charges reduction scheme discount has increased from 25 to 35 per cent. The scheme targets support to households with the lowest income, which is clearly a key priority during the cost of living crisis.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Can I have a question please, Ms Don?

Natalie Don (Scottish National Party, Renfrewshire North and West)

How many households does the Scottish Government estimate are being helped through that initiative?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

We have extended the water rates discount scheme, which aligns with the council tax reduction scheme. Overall, about 460,000 homes will benefit from the scheme. As a result of an extension of the scheme by Scottish Water and the Scottish Government, some 370,000 homes—those households that have a full council tax reduction discount—will pay less this year than they did in 2020-21, and a further 130,000 households that benefit from some level of council tax reduction will have enhanced reductions in their water charges.

That is how we have sought to ensure that the support targets households that are the most vulnerable financially. The scheme, alongside the other discount measures to support customers, costs us in the region of £182 million each year.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 2 is from Alex Cole-Hamilton, who joins us remotely.

Sewage Discharge

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to address the discharge of sewage into rivers, lochs and waterways. (S6O-01493)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

In a statement to Parliament in December 2021, I set out how, backed by more than £600 million, Scottish Water had upgraded 104 waste-water treatment works and 279 storm overflows since 2010, and how that had taken us to a figure of 66 per cent in relation to good water quality in Scotland, compared with only 16 per cent in England.

I went on to confirm that Scottish Water, backed by another half a billion pounds, would undertake another suite of works in the 2021 to 2026 regulatory period. The work focuses on improving remaining waste-water treatment works and 26 priority storm overflows, and on developing solutions for the others.

Scottish Water intends to publish its first progress report on its “Improving Urban Waters—Route Map” by 21 December, which will be the first anniversary of my statement to Parliament that set out the route map.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

In my members’ business debate last week, at which the minister was present, I highlighted the issue of raw sewage, sanitary towels

and wet wipes being routinely discharged into Scotland’s waterways. We know that that happened at least 12,000 times in 2020. However, as Scottish Water monitored only 3 per cent of releases or spills, the actual figure is likely to be exponentially higher.

It is even happening at 49 of the 87 designated bathing waters, including Loch Leven, which has four layers of environmental protection. When I raised the issue with the minister last week, she said that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency had

“‘found no evidence of sewage debris or pollution in the’ water course before it entered Loch Leven.”—[

Official Report

, 26 October 2022; c 111-12.]

Would the minister be comfortable going for a swim in Loch Leven?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I would love to have the time to go for a swim in Loch Leven.

I reiterate what I said during Alex Cole-Hamilton’s members’ business debate, which is that, following the incident on 8 September, SEPA inspected the location and

“‘found no evidence of sewage debris or pollution in the’ water course before it entered Loch Leven.”—[

Official Report

, 26 October 2022; c 111-12.]

The discussion that he and I had during the debate was about the way in which we refer to the instances that happen and the very specific nature of what is and is not being discharged into the environment.

Alex Cole-Hamilton mentioned monitoring, which is an important point. As part of Scottish Water’s improving urban waters route map, we will design monitors for more areas and better communication with the public. We have taken a strategic decision in the past to invest in improving storm overflows, not just in monitoring the problem.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

Loch Leven is a beauty spot in my constituency so, naturally, I followed with great concern Alex Cole-Hamilton’s claims following the reporting around the matter. There are figures that clearly indicate that Scotland’s water environment is classified as being in good condition and ahead of both the European average and the average south of the border. Can I ask the First Minister—sorry, I promoted her there; I meant the minister—what further work the Scottish Government will undertake to build on that and to ensure the continued protection of our water environment, including Loch Leven?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I clarify again that SEPA inspected the location and

“‘found no evidence of sewage debris or pollution in the’ water course before it entered Loch Leven”,

because there was no discharge of untreated raw sewage from Kinross sewage works into the adjacent water course.

On improving our water environment, our river basin management plans, which we published on 21 December, set out for each of the four key water environment themes how, by 2027, we will improve water quality from 87 to 92 per cent good, water quantity from 90 to 96 per cent good, fish migration from 88 to 99 per cent good and physical condition from 90 to 92 per cent good. Despite the overall picture in Scotland being very good, we are not complacent and are driving further improvements.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

In last week’s debate, I made the point that, as only 10 per cent of sewage overflows are monitored in Scotland, it is likely that the data that is gathered underrepresents the problem, as Alex Cole-Hamilton has said. That makes the minister’s comparisons with England, where 80 per cent of sewage overflows are monitored, a completely false equivalence. Will the minister, having reflected on the debate, now look to increase monitoring to the 80 per cent level that we see elsewhere?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I have already confirmed that we have in place plans to improve monitoring as part of the overall picture of improving the situation. I do not need to reflect on the exchange during the debate, because my response now is exactly the same as it was then: the 66 per cent figure in relation to good water quality is not based on the monitoring of combined sewer overflows or the sewage system in general. It is based on the four constituent parts of a good water environment, which, as I have mentioned, are water quality, water quantity, fish migration and physical condition. All those factors together, not monitoring sewage overflows, create the 66 per cent figure.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Loch Leven is one of Scotland’s best wild swimming spots, but we are seeing unacceptable discharges and environmental quality. Down the road in Kinghorn, huge improvements in water quality have resulted from the beach being designated as a bathing water area. What consideration has been given to establishing Loch Leven and other freshwater sites in Scotland as bathing water areas?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I have rehearsed one or two of the points about Loch Leven, so I will not go over them again. Bathing water areas are designated by Scottish ministers for areas where they expect a large number of people to bathe, having regard to past trends, the infrastructure or facilities that are provided and other measures to promote bathing. Any organisation or individual can submit for consideration a bathing water area designation form, which is available on SEPA’s website. In Scotland, we currently have three inland freshwater bathing water areas, which are at Luss on Loch Lomond, Loch Morlich near Aviemore and Dores on Loch Ness.

Active Travel (Stirling)

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what investment is being made in safe active travel routes in the Stirling area, including any missing links in the national cycle network at Manor Powis and between Doune and Callander. (S6O-01494)

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

The Government is investing up to £9.9 million in active travel routes in the Stirling area through the places for everyone programme and investment in the national cycle network. Projects at

Manor Powis and between Doune and Callander have committed funding totalling £170,000. Additionally, in the current financial year, more than £600,000 has been awarded directly to Stirling Council through the cycling, walking and safer routes grant.

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

My constituent Christina Mackenzie recently suffered significant injuries while cycling near Kippen. Although active travel routes are welcome, there are still issues around awareness of cyclists. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to educate people on safe use of roads for all users?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

I read about the incident that affected Ms Mackenzie. First and foremost, I extend to her my good wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to record-breaking ways.

I make it very clear that involvement in a hit-and-run incident such as the one that

affected Ms Mackenzie

is a serious offence. It is in all road users’ interests that those responsible are held to account for that crime and that they face the consequences of their actions.

Road Safety Scotland has developed a significant number of social marketing campaigns to address those behaviours that cause the most harm on our roads. We also invest £400,000 a year in the give me cycle space campaign, which raises awareness among drivers of the need to give at least 1.5m when overtaking people on bikes. The campaign, which runs on television, radio, social media and physical advertising, recorded more than 140 million impressions last year. Post-campaign analysis shows that awareness of the issues raised has increased significantly, with more than 90 per cent of respondents agreeing with the overall message.

The Government is committed to the vision and aspirations of the road safety framework to 2030. Fundamental to that is the adoption of the safe system approach. One of the five pillars of that system is safe road users.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Minister, will you please wind up your response?

Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)

Recognising that road safety is also a life skill, the Scottish Government, through Road Safety Scotland, has invested in a suite of online learning resources for young people.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, minister. We are a wee bit pressed for time.

Rail Workers (Pay)

Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)

4. I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests.

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the impact in Scotland of calls by rail workers for fair pay settlements. (S6O-01495)

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

I agree with those calls. It is unacceptable that Network Rail employees have not had a pay rise in the past two years, unlike workers at ScotRail. I have written several times to United Kingdom Government ministers to urge them to support negotiations to encourage the reaching of a settlement.

The Westminster Government’s position contrasts with ours. We managed to secure a pay settlement with the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen—ASLEF, the train drivers union—and we continue to work with ScotRail to reach an agreement with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. I encourage the RMT’s UK leadership to allow its ScotRail members the opportunity to vote on the newly enhanced offer.

Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)

Back on 21 June, the Scottish Government resilience room was assembled, the Minister for Transport wrote to the UK Government and the Deputy First Minister took to the media to denounce the UK Government. Let me quote him. He said:

“there needs to be more urgency”.

He warned the UK Government to

“get this situation fixed—and fast.”

The lack of action by the UK Government over rail strikes was, he thundered, “a dereliction of duty”, and he was right, but now, four months later, ScotRail workers have been forced to take industrial action for fair pay—they were on strike just last Saturday.

Where, now, is the Scottish Government, which owns ScotRail and is the sole shareholder in ScotRail Trains Ltd? The Scottish Government called for urgent Government action in the UK rail disputes. What about urgent Government action in the current ScotRail dispute? Is it not time that the Scottish Government got that situation fixed, and fast, showed more urgency, recognised its own serious dereliction of duty—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Mr Leonard, is that the question finished?

Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)

—and stepped up to settle this dispute?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Please respond, minister.

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

Where the Scottish Government is is assisting in trying to get us to a resolution with the unions and ScotRail. That is really important.

I spent some time meeting the railway unions only three weeks ago and, last week, I met ScotRail to talk about its approach to engaging and working with our trade union partners. I again put on record the difference between the approach of the Scottish Government, which is working with our trade union partners, and that adopted by the UK Government, which is bringing forward anti-trade union legislation. Only two weeks ago, it came forward with additional anti-trade union legislation in an attempt to ban legitimate trade union action, which is quite despicable, as I hope the member would agree.

Back in June, the RMT’s Mick Hogg was quoted as saying that he wanted to work with the Scottish Government, and that perhaps the UK Government should take a leaf out of the Scottish Government’s approach to union engagement.

It is important to recount that the pay offer that was put to the RMT represents a 5 per cent increase in basic pay, plus an excess revenue share premium that is worth up to £195 every four weeks if targets are exceeded. I accept that the RMT took a decision not to put that to its membership in Scotland. That is in its gift. Last week, on top of the 5 per cent that had already been offered, ScotRail proposed consolidating a technology payment into basic pay. That was worth up to £500 per member for all general grades of staff and would have been 7.4 per cent for a gateline member of staff, or 6.5 per cent for a conductor.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Minister, I must ask you to bring your answer to a close by summarising some of your points.

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

It is untrue and unfair to characterise the Scottish Government’s involvement in the process as lacking urgency. We have consistently engaged with trade union partners. I have undertaken much of that work myself and ScotRail continues meeting regularly with trade unions. However, it is worth saying that the wider UK dispute is no doubt playing into what we are seeing in Scotland at the moment.

Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)

ScotRail has made what I would describe as a fair and affordable offer to RMT staff. Is it not time for the union barons of the RMT to put that offer to their members and to stop holding the country to ransom?

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

I will not associate myself with Mr Simpson’s language, but I do think that it should be for RMT members in Scotland to have a democratic say on the offer that was put on the table.

European Hydrogen Week

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the outcomes of its attendance at the European hydrogen week in Brussels. (S6O-01496)

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

I visited Brussels last week at the start of European hydrogen week and engaged with a range of stakeholders, including the European Parliament and key hydrogen partners. That was an opportunity to showcase Scotland as a potential exporter of green hydrogen to the European Union and to highlight our extensive renewables capacity, skills base and energy experience. I also hosted a high-level round table at Scotland House in Brussels, where we discussed the importance of North Sea collaboration.

Outcomes from that visit will support the delivery of our hydrogen ambitions, particularly the realisation of Scotland’s export potential, as set out in our hydrogen action plan.

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests.

For a number of years, I have heard, and have relayed to the Scottish Government, German interest in green hydrogen exports from Scotland. That was again emphasised to me in meetings held in Germany as part of an MSP visit during the summer.

How is the cabinet secretary ensuring that Scotland does not act merely as a supplier of renewable energy exported by international companies that are internationally owned? Can the Scottish Government assure me that it will be proactive in securing jobs, supply chains, value and benefit—which could include equity stakes and ownership—from renewable energy technologies and industry for people and communities here in Scotland?

Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)

There is huge potential for Scotland to maximise the hydrogen economy here, not only for our own domestic purposes but for export. That is why, in September, I published the hydrogen proposition, which helps to set out the scope of investment opportunities here in Scotland and the process that companies considering investing in Scotland can choose to use.

A supply chain event in September allowed us to bring together stakeholders and companies from across the country and abroad. There are more than 50 hydrogen projects in Scotland. If they all realised their ambitions, they would collectively deliver in excess of 5GW of hydrogen by 2030.

The key to that is to ensure that we are not simply a production base for hydrogen but that we are a manufacturing base for the capabilities that sit alongside that. That is why Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International have been undertaking a piece of work on electrolyser manufacturing with Scotland-based businesses and have been looking at the opportunity to attract inward investment to electrolyser manufacturing here in Scotland. I hope that we will be able to capitalise on that in the months and years ahead to ensure not only that we produce hydrogen but that we manufacture the component parts that go into that production process, particularly electrolysers.

Bus Drivers (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to address any bus driver shortages across Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. (S6O-01497)

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

I know that the shortage of bus drivers, which is more prevalent in some areas than others, is creating challenges for local communities. Short-notice cancellations affect people who have no other way to travel. I am acutely aware of how that disproportionately impacts lower-income workers—in particular, those who work unsociable hours—who are proportionately more reliant on bus travel than others are.

I have convened the bus task force to address the issues affecting the industry, which include establishing a sub-group that focuses on driver shortages. On Tuesday, I met the unions that represent the bus workforce to hear their concerns and ideas for addressing the shortages.

Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

Whether I am speaking to representatives of Lothian Buses, the main company that serves Midlothian in my constituency, or Borders Buses, which serves the Borders, the answer to the driver shortage question is the same: Brexit. Apart from such meetings, what else can be done, under devolved Government, to remedy the impact that such shortages are having on delivery of bus services in my rural constituency?

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

Christine Grahame is absolutely right. There is increasingly clear evidence of just how harmful Brexit has been and will be for Scotland’s economy and communities. The current shortage of bus drivers has been exacerbated by Brexit, which has prevented people from the European Union from coming here to work freely. I discussed the issue with representatives of Lothian Buses when I visited one of its depots in Edinburgh earlier in the week.

We have repeatedly sought a formal role in determining which occupations are in shortage in the devolved nations, but unfortunately the United Kingdom Government has denied us that thus far. Bus drivers are not included in the shortage occupation list. I will shortly write to the UK Government to raise the issue again. We need the Conservatives at Westminster either to act or to hand over powers on that aspect to the Scottish Parliament to enable us to find our own solutions to the problem.

Also in the reserved competences space, fuel prices are becoming increasingly challenging for our operators. To that end, I have invited my UK counterpart to join the bus task force. She was unable to join its inaugural meeting, but I very much hope that she will be able to join the next one, which will be in December.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

The shortage of drivers is hitting services in the Borders, as can be seen from the frequency of the X95 service, but so too is funding. The minister will know that the 101/102 service between Dumfries and Edinburgh through Midlothian and the Borders is under threat because the tender for that service came in 90 per cent higher than the previous contract, for the very reasons, such as fuel prices, that she has mentioned. Does she think that more or fewer services will be under threat as a result of her decision to withdraw the network support grant plus from bus companies?

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

I presume that the member is referring to the

network support plus grant. Is that accurate?

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

Yes.

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

The member will know that that funding came to an end this month. However, in an update that I provided to Parliament during a previous session of question time, I confirmed that I was urgently seeking assurances from my officials on what more we might be able to do to support the bus industry. I very much recognise the challenges that it faces at the moment, in particular in relation to fares and driver shortages, which we have touched on.

We are already investing in the bus network. The resource spending review has provided more than £2.1 billion for bus transport over the rest of this parliamentary session, so significant funding is there. However, I recognise the challenge, which is why I remind the member that, as I said in Parliament only a matter of weeks ago, my officials are urgently looking at options in this space.

The member needs to recognise the financial challenge that has been presented to the Government, and not as a result of its own actions. We will work within the competences of the Scottish Parliament to see what more the Scottish Government might be able to deliver. I hope to be able to update Parliament further in the coming days to that end.

Air Quality

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

7. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve air quality on Scotland’s most polluted streets. (S6O-01498)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

Compared with the rest of the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, Scotland enjoys a high level of air quality. Air quality objectives are being met across the vast majority of Scotland, and levels of the main air pollutants have declined significantly over the past three decades. The introduction of low-emission zones in our four largest cities is a key initiative in further improving urban air quality. Modelling predicts that there will be a significant reduction in harmful vehicle emissions on some of the most polluted streets within the low-emission zones when enforcement starts, which I welcome.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

With landslides alongside the A77 being dealt with by long-term temporary traffic lights, which keep vehicles stationary for long periods of time, every stationary car, lorry, motorbike, camper van and other vehicle is releasing high quantities of pollution into the atmosphere there. What plans has the Scottish Government to reduce the pollution occasioned by that stationary traffic to help to meet our net zero targets, as well as for road safety reasons?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The

Minister for Transport has just informed me that she met the action task force on this very issue yesterday. If the member is content for me to do so, I will confer with my colleague after the meeting and will update him in writing.

Jackie Dunbar (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)

We know that air pollution in Scotland is often worse in deprived inner-city areas, which worsens existing inequalities, local environmental quality and human health. What impact is it anticipated that the low-emission zones will have on improving air quality in those highly affected areas?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Briefly please, minister.

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

There is no doubt that air pollution has a negative impact on health, and the introduction of the LEZs in our four largest cities is, as I said, a key initiative in improving the situation. Air quality assessments were undertaken by the local authorities in preparation for the introduction of LEZs. The assessments predict that the LEZs will deliver a significant reduction in emissions of harmful air pollution in those four cities.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I can squeeze in question 8 if I get brief questions and, from the minister, brief and succinct answers.

I call Jenni Minto.

Peatland Restoration

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

8. Thank you, Presiding Officer—I will try to be brief, or I will speak quickly.

To ask the Scottish Government how peatland restoration will be measured as a component of the proposed land management plans in the forthcoming land reform bill. (S6O-01499)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The forthcoming land reform bill is in its early days; we have just closed the consultation. That consultation included a range of proposals, including on land management plans, which will help to ensure that large-scale land holdings contribute to Scotland’s net zero and nature restoration goals.

Existing schemes to support peatland restoration have monitoring and reporting requirements, and landowners who are seeking financial support can apply to NatureScot’s peatland action fund, which sets out clearly how the project’s outcomes are measured.

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

Peatland restoration is fundamentally about restoring the habitat to its best possible condition. That can be tied into land rights and responsibilities where the Scottish Government wants to restore a community’s relationship with the land, while also ensuring that the community has certainty about its social and economic future.

What plans does the Scottish Government have to ensure that communities that get their land get full support and technical assistance to undertake peatland restoration?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The connection between people and land is important to me, as I know that it is to the member. The Scottish Government funds NatureScot to deliver the peatland action programme across Scotland

. The programme welcomes approaches from all landowners and land managers who are interested in undertaking peatland restoration on their land, whether it is private, public or community-owned land. Through its website and network of project officers, the peatland action programme offers a range of both general and bespoke guidance and advice on the peatland restoration processes, from design to delivery.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. During the preceding series of questions, there was not a single Conservative question officially down to be asked. Apart from the last question, I was the only member who was not allowed to ask a supplementary to a question.

I understand that some of the questions and answers were long, but after I tried to ask a supplementary, other members got supplementaries to other questions. I would like an explanation, please.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

First, I think that the member is aware that questions are randomly drawn—and not by me; they are not a matter for the chair. Secondly, the management of a question time is up to the Presiding Officer in the chair, and a number of factors are taken into account.

I assure the member that of the supplementaries that were taken, three were taken from Scottish National Party members, two from the Conservative party, one from Labour and one from the Green party. I think that one can see that that is a fair allocation. As I said, it is a matter for the Presiding Officer in the chair, and I would hope that the member would accept the authority of the chair.

Social Security Benefits

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-06572, in the name of Ben Macpherson, on progress on the automation and take-up of Scottish social security benefits. Members who wish to speak in the debate should press their request-to-speak buttons.

Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)

Today’s

debate is—regrettably—timely, because, as we head into winter, the unfair and unnecessary reality of 21st century Britain is that, for far too many people, the cost of living crisis that we are in is deeply worrying and will be damaging in a multitude of ways.

Too many of the constituents whom we serve are facing difficult financial decisions that they should not have to make, and they are facing costs and bills that should not be so high. That should not be happening in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, at a time when there are more billionaires in the United Kingdom than ever before. The situation is wrong.

That is why the Scottish Government is taking action, including investing £1 billion to support families and households with financial help that is not available elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Of course, that includes the Scottish child payment, which will shortly increase to £25 a week and be extended to under-16s. I note also that, yesterday, the Deputy First Minister confirmed that we will double the December bridging payment for families to £260 and increase our fuel insecurity fund to £20 million.

I acknowledge the action that the UK Government has taken so far. It is welcome, but we need that Government to use the vast amount of levers that it has to do more in this emergency and to tackle the scale of the challenge in a way that is required, including by increasing benefits in line with inflation and increasing universal credit by £25, a move that should also be extended to means-tested legacy benefits.

In the context of the cost of living crisis—this unjust context—that has undoubtedly been influenced by Covid and international affairs, but has also undoubtedly been exacerbated by 10 years of ideological austerity, the calamity of Brexit and reckless recent UK Government economic policy decisions, having a reliable and responsive social security safety net has never been more pertinent, and how we use the limited powers and resources of this devolved Parliament where we can, ambitiously but also realistically, to make a meaningful difference, has never been more important.

The Scottish Government is clear that social security is an investment in the people of Scotland—indeed, that is the first of the eight principles in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. It is a shared investment in building a fairer society together. From promoting devolved Scottish benefits to delivering more accessible application processes, and from providing advice and advocacy to taking a more person-centred approach and starting from a position of trust, we are committed to doing what we can to ensure that people are aware of what they are entitled to and feel empowered to seek what they are due. That is why we are working day in, day out to remove barriers, provide support, tackle any stigma around applying for benefits and get more money out to help low-income households than is being made available anywhere else in the UK.

Remarkable teams are doing that work out of Social Security Scotland’s offices in Dundee and Glasgow. We are also working in communities, directly with people who use the social security system, as we have successfully implemented Social Security Scotland’s local delivery network, with more than 400 excellent staff now operational in all 32 local authority areas.

In the four years since the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 was passed, the Scottish Government, with highly motivated and extremely capable civil servants, has delivered 12 benefits, seven of which are completely new forms of financial support that are available only in Scotland, and our 13th—the winter heating payment—will be introduced in February.

We are delivering a simplified, easily accessible and compassionate system that treats everyone with dignity, fairness and respect—one in which 92 per cent of respondents to a client survey rated their overall experience as very good or good.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

I welcome the approach to social security in Scotland that the minister has outlined, but how does he explain the high rates of redeterminations that overturn decisions, particularly in relation to child disability payment?

Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)

I am not sure what empirical evidence Pam Duncan-Glancy is citing, but I am happy to engage with her on that point. Of course, there is a determination, with child disability payment and adult disability payment, to get our decisions right first time. I am happy to have further engagement on that point, but I would say that the situation that she has outlined is not reflective of the situation as I see it. However, we can engage further on that point in a constructive way.

I will deal with the amendments. On the Conservative amendment, I have already acknowledged the support of the UK Government, but I have pushed and encouraged it to do more. Unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment, because it contains a factual inaccuracy. It states that the Scottish welfare fund review has been delayed, but it has not been, and I will update the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on that shortly. I cannot accept the amendment because of that.

Unfortunately, I cannot accept the Labour amendment either, because it would delete huge portions of the motion, and all that I can see in it is wishful thinking. It seems to state that things could be done quicker and things could have been delivered quicker in past years. I say in good faith that, since the 2018 act was passed, the Government has worked with innovation, determination and passion to deliver Scottish devolved social security benefits as quickly as possible and as safely and securely as possible. We will continue to do that.

The motion is not party political in the sense that it does not criticise and does not mention the constitution. Therefore, I hope that, if both amendments are defeated, all parties can support the motion, and we can take a united approach.

The Government is working proactively and with determination to support people who are eligible for assistance and to help them to access and take up the benefits to which they are entitled. For example, information about Scottish social security benefits is featured as part of our new cost of living campaign. The campaign directs people to our new one-stop-shop website, which was launched in September. Moreover, since October 2021, Social Security Scotland has delivered 12 paid-for marketing campaigns covering a range of online and offline channels, including television, radio, print, digital and out-of-home advertising.

We will, of course, continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that information about each of the Scottish benefits is available in places that our target audiences are already accessing, so that it is as accessible as possible. For example, 43,000 leaflets that cover the five family payments and, more recently, the child disability payment are included in the Scottish Government’s baby boxes and in national health service midwife and health visitor packs. We provide materials to Department for Work and Pensions work coaches in jobcentres to encourage young people to apply for the job start payment, and we have partnered with the supermarket retailer Asda and worked with Iceland, Scotmid and the Co-op to ensure that information about our benefits reaches people where they are. Information about our benefits is included in refugee welcome packs, and fact sheets are proactively translated into community languages, such as Ukrainian in particular this year.

In January, we launched our free and independent social security advocacy service to support disabled people to access and apply for Scottish social security benefits. We have also continued to invest in providing advice in accessible settings to maximise incomes and tackle poverty.

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

For clarification, I am unsure—maybe it is my ignorance—where those advisers sit in my region. Would it be possible for at least MSPs and maybe local councillors to be given that information? I am certainly not aware of where that happens in Lothian.

Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)

Social Security Scotland has been proactive with MPs and MSPs in reaching out to raise awareness of the available services. Indeed, Pam Duncan-Glancy met her local delivery team just recently. I can certainly take that point away following the debate and write to members again about sources of information so that all of us can play a role in spreading the word. That is being done in general practitioner practices, and it is happening across Scotland, as I have set out.

All of that is helping with take-up rates and

is being done to drive the take-up of benefits. Our latest estimates of the take-up of benefits were published on Monday in what is a very helpful publication. They are estimates and analysis is difficult, but they will help to give us a benchmark in order to continue to track where we are.

On the whole, our most recent estimated take-up rates are reassuring. They show really encouraging figures for our Scottish child payment and best start suite of payments in particular. We are not quite where we want to be with the funeral support payment and the job start payment, but we are working proactively to make a difference in that regard.

Automation is one of the key tools available to us in driving up benefit take-up. We are working proactively to remove barriers to access in relation to the automation of processes and payments across the social security system. We have already automated the payment of the carers allowance supplement and child winter heating assistance. If Parliament agrees next week, we will also pay the best start early learning and the best start school-age payments automatically to eligible individuals who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment, from 28 November. There is more to do in that area, and I am sure that we will discuss it today, but we are already making good progress.

It would be inappropriate for me to outline the important ways in which we seek to maximise the take-up of Scottish benefits without referring to resourcing and the financial uncertainty that we are experiencing. Social security expenditure is needs based and demand led; as such, it is determined by the number of people who are in receipt of benefits.

It is important to acknowledge that, after benefit take-up work has been carried out, any shortfall between actual expenditure and the social security block grant adjustment will need to be covered by funding that is provided by the Scottish Government, in line with the principles and policies set out in the mid-term financial strategy. However, we are absolutely committed to that spend and resolute in our conviction that it is important, as it is an investment in the people of Scotland. It is about putting our principles into practice.

We have a finite budget—one that is already worth £1.7 billion less than it was in December last year due to inflationary pressures and UK Government actions—but every decision that we make in social security that needs additional investment must come from that fixed budget, as the constraints of devolution mean that we cannot borrow to meet increased costs. However, we are absolutely committed to promoting and encouraging people to access the benefits and support that they are entitled to, because that is the right thing to do.

The collective challenge that our constituents face underlines the need for us to work together to support and empower people to access the assistance that they are entitled to—both Scottish support and UK Government support, such as universal credit and pension credit. I emphasise that we all need to encourage people to access Social Security Scotland and to assure them that, when they do so, they will always be treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the positive impact that existing automation of Scottish social security payments is having, including ensuring that most eligible people receive the Child Winter Heating Assistance and Carer’s Allowance Supplement without needing to apply; further welcomes the proposal to automate the Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment and Best Start Grant School Age Payment for eligible families in receipt of Scottish Child Payment by the end of November 2022; notes the Scottish Government’s intention to continue exploring opportunities for further automation; believes that these changes will mean that more people get the benefits that they are entitled to, which is especially important at a time of increasing economic uncertainty; recognises the progress made in promoting Scottish benefit take-up since the publication of the second benefit take-up strategy in 2021, including the launch of an independent advocacy service and funding welfare rights advisors in up to 180 GP practices in Scotland’s most deprived areas, as well as remote and rural areas; acknowledges that there is still work to do regarding both automation and take-up, and agrees, therefore, that all governments should ensure that people are aware of, and enabled to access, the financial support that they are eligible for and entitled to.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, minister. Before I call the next speaker, I remind all members who wish to speak in the debate to ensure that their request-to-speak buttons are, in fact, pressed. Thank you.

I call Jeremy Balfour.

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

I am happy to speak in the debate and hope that the Conservative amendment, in my name, can unite members in the chamber in recognising the work that both the Scottish and the UK Governments are doing to help people during the cost of living crisis, because

what this country needs, at this moment in history, is both our Governments working together to alleviate the stress that is being placed on families.

The benefit of devolution is that we can provide, alongside national measures that are enacted UK-wide, targeted local support here in Scotland. Our amendment reflects that and acknowledges that there is a positive working relationship between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Scottish Government, so I give credit to the minister for engaging constructively with the DWP to ensure that claimants in Scotland have been through minimal disruption during the transfer to Social Security Scotland.

However, I am afraid that that is where credit for this Scottish Government runs dry, because the transfer of benefits to the devolved agency has been far from smooth. “Late and over budget” does not even begin to describe the extent to which the Scottish National Party has struggled to take control of benefits in Scotland.

Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)

Will the member take an intervention?

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

I will, in a second.

The handover will not be complete until at least 2025, which means that a project that was projected to take four years will take almost a decade. The administration cost for Social Security Scotland has quadrupled from £36 million in 2019-20 to a staggering £130 million in 2021-22.

I am happy to take the intervention now.

Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)

I thank Jeremy Balfour for taking the intervention. Does he recognise that the increases in costs have been because we are delivering more than was envisaged when we passed the 2018 act, in that we are delivering seven benefits that are not available elsewhere in the UK?

Does the member acknowledge that the Department for Work and Pensions and the Scottish Government made a collective decision to pause delivery of some of our benefits because of the need for reprioritisation during the pandemic?

This is a joint exercise between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, so any criticism about delay should be targeted at both Governments, if it is to have any validity.

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

The minister is missing the point. The process would have been delayed even without Covid: the delays were already happening before the pandemic hit, which was all to do with the Scottish Government and nothing to do with the DWP.

Add to that the fact that the Scottish Government’s soft approach to assessment has cost Social Security Scotland over £64 million in fraud and error over the past year alone, and we find ourselves staring at a complete mess. I am thankful that the broad shoulders of the UK Government have been able to pick up the slack that has been left by the Scottish National Party’s mismanagement. Thanks to the DWP’s steady hands, claimants have experienced minimal disruption and money continues to get into the hands of those who need it.

At this point, it is worth noting that if the Scottish Government has its way and breaks up the UK, the people of Scotland will lose that vital support. The Scottish Government would be on its own to muddle through with the difficulties of setting up a social security system for an entire nation, when it has not even been able to manage a few benefits.

Bob Doris (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn)

Will the member give way?

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

I am afraid that my time is running short.

The truth is that, as much as the SNP Government might like to deflect from its own record by complaining about big bad Westminster, the DWP is taking action to ensure that the people of Scotland are supported through this difficult period.

Jim Fairlie (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)

Will the member give way?

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

I am afraid that I do not have time.

The DWP is providing the £650 cost of living payment for every household that is on means-tested benefits, which means that more than 8 million of the most vulnerable UK—

Bob Doris (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn)

Will the member give way?