Scottish Parliament, 8 December 2022

270 contributions from 67 members. The official report.

Health Portfolio Ministers (WhatsApp Messaging)

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm whether WhatsApp messaging by the health secretary and his ministers are covered by freedom of information legislation and the processes that are in place to archive these to prevent them being inadvertently lost or otherwise deleted. (S6O-01668)

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

All recorded information that is held by ministers or officials that relates to the business of the Scottish Government is subject to freedom of information law, irrespective of its format or the platform on which it is held.

The Scottish Government has in place a robust information management policy that governs how we retain documents of record for Government business. The policy covers any exchanges on WhatsApp, or any other form of digital communication that Government ministers undertake. Any policy or business discussions must be transcribed or copied into an email or text document using the SCOTS platform and stored in the central corporate record.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

Given that the First Minister had no minutes of her meetings regarding ferries and that the cabinet secretary is potentially conducting ministerial business by text, we are obviously concerned that there is no paper trail and that things are hiding. I hear the minister’s answer, but we feel that business should be conducted via Government emails or by official correspondence. We are concerned that we keep seeing secret Scotland under this Scottish National Party-Green Government.

Will the Scottish Government commit to releasing all WhatsApp messaging, with any personal messages being redacted by an independent party?

George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)

It would perhaps be helpful for Dr Gulhane if I explained the process again. Given his supplementary question, I feel that I probably did not articulate the situation.

Substantive Government business and communications among ministers and officials are normally conducted using email and the SCOTS information technology platform. Scottish Government policy is clear that staff and ministers who use any digital platform have a responsibility to consider issues such as security and general data protection regulation compliance.

Mobile messaging apps can be a useful tool, but there is a clear expectation that any information that relates to the substance of Government decision making should be transposed into the official record and retained.

Public Financing (Assessment of Financial Health of Businesses and Viability of Projects)

Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment is made of the financial health of businesses and the viability of projects prior to the award of a grant of public funds. (S6O-01669)

Ivan McKee (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Provan)

The Scottish Government has established extensive guidance and processes that are available to Scottish Government staff to ensure that adequate due diligence is conducted around all organisations that receive public funds via public sector grants.

The guidance also requires all projects to be assessed for viability via a business case to ensure that the regularity, propriety and value-for-money principles of the Scottish Government are adhered to. Public bodies are also expected to observe the guidance in the Scottish public finance manual in relation to grants and adhere to the principles of value for money, regularity and propriety.

Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

In September, the company Recycling Technologies went into administration with £22.8 million in liabilities and just £1 million in assets. In 2018, the company was given a grant of £1.7 million of taxpayers’ funds by Zero Waste Scotland. However, according to Companies House, accounts for the company that were lodged on 11 October 2017 raised concerns about the company’s ability at that point to continue as a going concern.

Why was the grant of £1.7 million of taxpayers’ money paid to a company about which there were concerns over its on-going viability, will any of that money be recovered for the taxpayer, and what lessons have been learned from this sorry episode?

Ivan McKee (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Provan)

As I have already indicated, processes and procedures are in place in the Scottish public finance manual in relation to grants. Those processes adhere to the principles of value for money, regularity and propriety.

If the member had been serious about getting an answer to that specific question, he would have let me know in advance, so that I could have come prepared with the answer. Of course he does not expect me to know the ins and outs of every company that has been awarded a grant. If he seriously wants an answer, I will take that on board

, find out the information and reply to him with the specifics in regard to that business—the situation that applied, why that grant was made and the background work that was done to check the business case under the principles that I have just outlined.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

The recent Audit Scotland report on the consolidated accounts was quite revealing. The Scottish Government wasted £50 million of public funds in return for zero jobs at BiFab. If the Government had its time again, would it make the same decision about BiFab?

Ivan McKee (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Provan)

When we go into any situation, we are not sure what the outcome will be. That is the whole point and why the public sector steps in. If a win was easy and clear-cut, the private sector would be investing and there would be no need for public sector involvement.

The public sector gets involved where we think that there is a case and that public money can be used adequately to support an economic outcome. In addition, we would have a strategic intent that said that it would be important to Scotland’s economy for a situation to be pursued. We do that within the bounds of the public sector finance manual and the other regulations and business case requirements that are in place.

We will not go through all such scenarios and come out the other end with them all being financially successful; that is absolutely and obviously the case. However, the Government will not be in a position in which we will not intervene for fear of failure. We will win some and lose some; that is what it is all about. It is important that we intervene where we think that the numbers make sense but, of course, the outcome is not guaranteed in any scenario.

Dementia Strategy (National Conversation)

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the next steps for the national conversation to inform a new dementia strategy, which closed to responses on 5 December. (S6O-01670)

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

I am grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have taken the time to input into our national conversation. We have heard the priorities of people who are living with dementia, their families and carers, and of individuals and organisations that are interested in dementia policy. Final engagement events are continuing throughout this week. We will take the responses and, working with our national dementia lived-experience panel, the strategic advisory group and other key stakeholders, we

will develop an outcomes-focused strategy, with publication planned for spring 2023.

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

The discovery of the breakthrough drug lecanemab

is exceptionally welcome news and offers real hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers and their families. Professor Tara Spires-Jones and the research team at the University of Edinburgh are to be congratulated on that development.

However, is the minister familiar with childhood dementia, a condition that is caused by more than 70 genetic disorders that, together, account for almost as many deaths in children as cancer? There is no cure and there are very few treatments that can even slow it down. Will Kevin Stewart commit to taking cognisance of that devastating but little-known condition when developing the new dementia strategy?

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

Childhood dementia is a term that is sometimes used to describe a very rare group of neurodegenerative disorders that require referral for specialist paediatric assessment and then care within specialist neurodegenerative disorder services as required. The national health service will always use the best international clinical evidence and research to inform best practice. I am grateful to the member for raising awareness of this very important issue in the chamber.

Social Care Staff (Retention and Recruitment)

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

4. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on addressing the reported care staff retention and recruitment challenge within social care. (S6O-01671)

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

The Scottish Government acknowledges the pressures that are faced by the social care sector at present. To address those pressures, we plan to launch an adult social care recruitment campaign in January next year, and we have approved funding for the myjobscotland.gov.uk recruitment website to enable all organisations to advertise vacancies free of charge. We continue to push the United Kingdom Government for an improved migration system, and we are working with stakeholders to develop resources and support to recruit international workers. We also plan to host further job fairs with the Department for Work and Pensions across Scotland, and we continue to work with employability partners and the Scottish Social Services Council to deliver career events that target young people.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The fundamental problem at the heart of our retention and recruitment issues is the gap between what care workers are paid in the private sector and what they are paid in the public sector. The private sector’s low pay and poor terms and conditions mean that workers walk out of the sector, which makes the matter more difficult. All care is paid for by the Government, so does the minister agree that that gap is the fundamental issue? If he agrees, why is he not addressing it? Unless we address the poor pay and poor terms and conditions of care workers who work in the private sector, which is paid for by the public sector, we will not address the problem.

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

The Government recognises the pay and conditions issues in the care sector, which is why it has given not one but two pay rises to adult social carers in the past year. We are looking to see what more we can do on that front.

I highlight to Mr Rowley and to other members that adult social care workers in Scotland are paid much more than those in Labour-controlled Wales or Tory-controlled England are paid.

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

I refer to the Scottish Government-commissioned research entitled “The Contribution of EU Workers in the Social Care Workforce in Scotland 2022”, which was published in August. Further to those findings, although I accept that Covid has had its impact, does the minister agree that Brexit has made the situation relating to the retention and recruitment of European Union workers worse?

Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)

I completely agree with Christine Grahame. The sector is deeply concerned about the impact that the post-EU exit loss of freedom of movement is having on recruitment to critical front-line social care roles. The UK Government’s immigration policy fails to address Scotland’s distinct demographic and economic needs, and it completely disregards the key sectors on which we have relied during the pandemic, including social care.

We believe that Scotland’s social care services benefit greatly from the staff who join the workforce through international recruitment. I wish that we had control over immigration policy, so that we did not have a situation in which some services have lost loads of staff—I talked to one service that had lost 40 per cent of its workforce because of Brexit—which is not good enough.

Agricultural Support Schemes (Argyll and Bute)

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what its latest assessment is of the potential impacts of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 and the Subsidy Control Act 2022 on future agricultural support schemes in areas such as Argyll and Bute. (S6O-01672)

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

Our farmers and crofters face challenges that are not found elsewhere in the United Kingdom, so we have tailored our current agricultural support to help to address those through schemes such as the less favoured area support scheme.

The deeply damaging

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020

, which was imposed on Scotland without our consent, allowed UK ministers to introduce the Subsidy Control Act 2022. We have serious concerns about that, not least because the principles that are set out in schedule 1 to that act risk constraining our ability to tailor support to the specific needs of Scottish farmers and crofters in the future.

Jenni Minto (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)

In 2021, 739 businesses in Argyll and Bute received LFASS payments. Those payments provide vital investment for hill farmers and crofters, who are a crucial part of our agricultural sector. NFU Scotland has noted that 97 per cent of the Scottish Government’s budget for agricultural schemes is derived from Westminster. The legislation that I have mentioned has left the door open to future policy decisions threatening the Scottish Government’s ability to offer focused support of that nature.

What would the cabinet secretary say to the hill farmers and crofters whom I represent, who are concerned that the Tory Government in Westminster would be prepared to sacrifice necessary support, such as LFASS, in pursuit of its mission to undermine devolution?

Mairi Gougeon (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)

I absolutely agree that that UK legislation could threaten our ability to support farmers and crofters in constituencies such as Jenni Minto’s through vital schemes such as LFASS. We are committed to maintaining the support for the people who farm and steward the land in our most challenging areas, but that will depend on getting certainty of UK Government funding and on the guarantees being honoured in the future.

European Union exit means that we no longer have long-term certainty of funding, and the unilateral choices that are being imposed by the Treasury provide insufficient replacement EU budget. We have been clear and consistent in our position: we expect full replacement of EU funds to ensure that there is no detriment to our finances, and we expect the UK Government to fully respect the devolution settlement in any future arrangement. However, as it stands, I have no clarity about the future budget, and we already face a shortfall of £93 million because those guarantees have not been honoured.

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

Let us have more succinct questions and responses, please.

Swallow Roundabout Dundee (Development)

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported delays to the development of the Swallow roundabout in Dundee. (S6O-01673)

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

Transport Scotland is working with representatives of the developer on a minute of agreement, which will provide the Scottish ministers’ consent to make changes to the A90 trunk road in the vicinity of the Swallow roundabout in Dundee. That work is not straightforward, but every effort is being made to bring matters to a conclusion.

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

Residents in Dundee’s western gateway have been waiting for more than seven years for those vital upgrade works on the Swallow roundabout. At long last, the minute of agreement that the minister referred to is sitting on a desk at Transport Scotland. Will the minister say when the agreement will be signed? What more can the minister do to lock down a timetable for those vital safety measures?

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

I know that Mr Marra takes a keen interest in the issue and that he has previously been in correspondence with Transport Scotland on the matter. Delivery of the improvements that are needed is a planning requirement, and the developer is obligated to deliver junction improvements at the Swallow roundabout, which will address the impact of the development on the trunk road network for which Scottish ministers have responsibility.

I have discussed the issue with my officials in Transport Scotland, who advise that they are in regular contact with the developer on the matter. They will continue to work constructively with Springfield Properties to progress the outstanding issues, which include the completion of the minute of agreement as soon as possible. In the interim, I am happy for my officials to meet Mr Marra and other interested parties to ensure progress on the issue. I recognise that it has been going on for a number of years, as he has said, and that there is a need for the local community to have a timetable.

Great Risk Transfer Mitigation (Engagement with United Kingdom Government)

Audrey Nicoll (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine)

7. To ask the Scottish Government, with regard to flooding in Scotland, what engagement it has had with the UK Government to mitigate the great risk transfer, as described in a recent David Hume Institute report. (S6O-01674)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

The DHI report explores risk and where it falls between individuals and institutions. The report highlights Flood Re, which is a re-insurance scheme to help people to access affordable flood insurance, and sets out that it is a best practice example of how institutions can underwrite risks that are not realistically within individuals’ control. The scheme now benefits 16,500 properties in Scotland.

Flood Re supports the build back better approach, whereby home owners install property flood resilience measures when repairing their properties after a flood to ensure that they are better prepared. The Scottish Government is working with Governments across the United Kingdom to ensure that flood insurance remains widely available and affordable.

Audrey Nicoll (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine)

With several areas of Scotland, including my Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency, now at increased risk, the Flood Re scheme to which the minister referred offers some hope to householders. However, too few people are aware of the scheme, and it excludes properties that have been built since 2009. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to publicise the Flood Re scheme and ensure that home owners are aware of the possibility of affordable insurance through it?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

We will continue to work with Flood Re, the insurance industry and others to promote flood insurance. Since 2009, we have funded the Scottish Flood Forum, which works with communities and advises people about property flood resilience and insurance issues such as Flood Re. I am always happy to work with and speak to Audrey Nicoll about ways in which we can ensure that her constituents know that they have access to that support.

The majority of homes in areas with a high flood risk are eligible for Flood Re. Properties that have been built since 1 January 2009 are not covered, but that is because it is important not to incentivise home building in areas with a flood risk. Scottish planning policy takes a precautionary approach to ensure that new properties are built outwith areas of significant flood risk, and the revised draft national planning framework 4 includes updated policy on flood risk, which aims to strengthen resilience to flood risk and reduce the vulnerability of existing and future development.

Accident and Emergency Waiting Times

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

1. This week’s health statistics show that almost two in three patients who attended accident and emergency at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth university hospital were not seen within the target time. In just one week, more than 1,000 people at the Queen Elizabeth alone were not treated within four hours. Across Scotland, the number of people who waited beyond the target time was more than 9,500. That is the worst-ever performance in Scotland’s A and E departments.

What specific actions is the First Minister taking to prevent people from waiting for hours on end at A and E departments over Christmas?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

First, I will talk specifically about the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow. Obviously, it faces the same challenges that other hospital sites face. The performance there—as is the case in hospitals across Scotland—is not where we want it to be, and it is certainly not where patients have a right to expect it to be. That said, the most recent statistics show that performance at the Queen Elizabeth had improved. However, we know that performance will fluctuate, and for the national picture, as well as for individual sites, the monthly figures give a clearer depiction of performance.

Through the overall urgent and unscheduled care collaborative, the Queen Elizabeth has a range of actions under way, including opening additional wards on site and reconfiguring its surgical and medical capacity balance. It is also working to improve performance in the minor injuries flow for patients who need care but not necessarily admission to hospital, and it is optimising its discharge process by rolling out discharge without delay, which has the potential to result in an additional two to three discharges per ward per day. The intensive work that is under way at that hospital reflects some of the work that is under way across Scotland.

The situation is of concern to me and to the Government, and we are working hard to address it by supporting the health service. Of course, the situation is not unique to Scotland; the same pressures are being experienced by health services in all parts of the United Kingdom and, indeed, further afield. We will continue to take steps to support the NHS to address the issues here in Scotland.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

The First Minister focused on the Queen Elizabeth hospital, which is what I asked about, but I also said that the statistics that I mentioned are the worst statistics on record for A and E departments across Scotland. I think that people who are watching would like to hear what the First Minister plans to do across Scotland in the lead-up to the critical Christmas holiday period.

Let us look at other hospital departments beyond A and E departments. The First Minister mentioned discharges. The number of beds that are occupied because of delayed discharge is also at its worst-ever level. The most recent month of data shows that, every day, 1,900 beds were taken up in Scotland’s hospitals by patients who had been medically cleared to leave. They could safely have gone home but, instead, they were occupying beds.

Is it not the case that, if the Scottish Government had kept its promise to end delayed discharge, we would have 1,900 extra beds to treat patients right now?

The First Minister

I will go through all those points as quickly as I can.

First, I concentrated on the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in my previous answer for the simple reason that Douglas Ross asked me about the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. However, I also referred to the urgent and unscheduled care collaborative, which is a national initiative that is backed by £50 million of investment. That is supporting the implementation across Scotland of a range of measures to drive down waits in our accident and emergency units. Those measures include offering, where appropriate, alternatives to hospital, such as hospital at home, directing people to more appropriate urgent care settings and scheduling urgent appointments to avoid long waits in accident and emergency. As I said, the examples that I gave in relation to the Queen Elizabeth reflect that wider national work.

I also made a point that I think is worth repeating: although there are very serious issues in Scotland, which this Government is extremely focused on addressing, they are not unique to Scotland. In England right now, more than 10 per cent of patients going to A and E are waiting for more than 12 hours. Health services across the UK and in much of the world are facing similar issues right now. We continue to focus on those issues.

I will turn briefly to delayed discharges. Again, that problem is replicated across all health services in the UK right now. Of course, not all delays are in the acute sector, and it is important to point out that, in the most recent year for which we have data, 97 per cent of all patients were discharged without delay. However, we are taking significant steps, working with health boards and integration joint boards to target investment this year. That includes investment to enhance care at home, to increase the hourly rate of pay for those who work in social care, to support interim care arrangements and to enhance multidisciplinary teams.

The Presiding Officer

Please be brief, First Minister.

The First Minister

I will be as brief as possible. This is important stuff, Presiding Officer. Serious questions have been asked and I am seeking to give detailed answers.

The final point that I want to make is that a ministerial—[

Interruption

.] I would have thought that, having raised those really serious issues, the Conservatives would want to hear the information that answers the questions. Even if they do not, I suspect that people watching at home do.

The Presiding Officer

Please be brief.

The First Minister

My final point is that, in response to winter pressures, we have established a ministerial assurance group to provide advice on the deployment of options that support the resilience of the health and social care system. That group currently meets weekly.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

The concerns from Conservative members were to do with the First Minister apparently disrespecting the Presiding Officer, who was asking her to focus on the issues. Perhaps the First Minister would have more time to focus on issues in and questions about Scotland’s national health service if she did not try to place the blame elsewhere around the United Kingdom.

The unique issue here is that Nicola Sturgeon and her Government are in sole control of the NHS in Scotland. I have asked about the problems in our A and E departments and I have asked about the issue of delayed discharge. Let us look at another issue that is happening in a part of our NHS where patients are really struggling to get treatment: general practices.

This week, Dr Andrew Buist of the British Medical Association Scotland said:

“my real fear is we are at a tipping point and what we are going to see is areas of Scotland that are under-doctored”.

He continued:

“And that is more likely to happen in areas of higher deprivation and the care of these patients is going to suffer.”

First Minister, are doctors right that someone who is poorer will receive second-rate healthcare in Scotland’s NHS?

The First Minister

A great deal of what this Government does in the health service, and, of course, what it does more generally, is designed to tackle and address inequalities, not least of which are the steps that we are taking through our social security system to lift people out of poverty and to mitigate the actions of a Tory Government at Westminster that is pushing so many more people into poverty.

On the NHS, I was giving, as I think is right and proper, detailed information about the actions that this Government is taking to address the challenges that our NHS is facing. I was making the point—it is an important one—that the challenges are not unique to Scotland and that they are not even unique to the United Kingdom right now. If Douglas Ross wants to say that this is all specifically about this Scottish National Party Government, that is okay. Notwithstanding the challenges that our NHS is facing, A and E units in Scotland are the best performing anywhere in the UK. Delayed discharges, although they are far too high, are lower than they are in England and Wales.

Before I come on to the question about GPs, I will mention head count. There are more GPs per 100,000 of population in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, by some considerable distance.

If Douglas Ross is saying that the challenges in our health service are all about the SNP, he must recognise the relative performance of our NHS when compared with other parts of the UK.

On GPs, we are working to increase the numbers in our national health service. We have record numbers across many different clinical areas already in our health service. We are working to increase the number of GPs. We have already increased head count by 277, working with the GP profession, and that positive progress will continue. Of course, we are recruiting and supporting the recruitment of other professionals to support multidisciplinary teams in primary care.

My final point, Presiding Officer, is that it is easy, and it is entirely legitimate, in this or any session of First Minister’s questions, to state the problems in our national health service, but the responsibility of Government is to take actions to support the NHS to address those issues, and that is the job that the people of Scotland trust this Government to do.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

It is shameful that the First Minister dedicates more of her time on attacking the NHS in other parts of the United Kingdom than she does on focusing on what she can do here in Scotland. It is absolutely clear that more has to be done to tackle the crisis in Scotland’s NHS. There is a crisis in our A and E departments, a crisis with delayed discharges and a crisis

at GP practices, all of which adds up to healthcare that does not deliver for patients. For cancer patients, the situation can then be between life and death.

We have received a freedom of information response on the issue from a Scottish health board. It reveals that a patient has waited more than six months to start treatment for breast cancer; that another patient has waited 18 months to start treatment for prostate cancer; and that, worst of all, someone has waited two years to start their treatment for cancer. First Minister, that is not good enough. Lives are at risk. The longer that someone waits to start treatment for cancer, the less likely they are to beat cancer.

What action will the First Minister and her Government take to tackle those appalling waiting times?

The First Minister

First, there are few areas of the NHS that are more important than cancer care, for the reasons that Douglas Ross has set out. He has cited individual cases. As always, I am very willing to look at the particular circumstances of individual cases. However, it remains the case, even with all the challenges of the pandemic, that the median waiting time for a patient with cancer to start treatment once a decision to treat has been made is measured in days, not in weeks and certainly not in months—

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

It is 721 days in that case. [

Interruption

.]

The First Minister

I am trying to answer serious questions in a detailed fashion, Presiding Officer. I had started to say that there will be individual cases where, sometimes, clinical circumstances will mean that it takes longer, and where, sometimes, yes, failings in the NHS will mean that it takes longer. I am making the point that, for the vast majority of patients, that is not the case. The median waiting time to start cancer treatment is measured in days in this country. That is down to the hard work of those on the front line.

Douglas Ross started his previous question by saying that I spent more time attacking the health service elsewhere than I did talking about the Scottish health service. First, I have not attacked the health service anywhere. Secondly, I think that anybody who reviews the

Official Report

of this session will see that that is just factually inaccurate. In fact, the Conservatives were getting impatient because they seemed to think that I was taking too long going into detail about the urgent and unscheduled care collaborative earlier on.

However, when Douglas Ross puts it to me that the problems in our national health service are unique to Scotland and they are worse in Scotland because of this Government, it is reasonable for me to point out that that is not the case—

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Deal with the issues in Scotland. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer

Thank you, members.

The First Minister

Despite the challenges, which nobody here is shying away from, our NHS performs better than its counterparts in England and Wales. The only reason why I say that is because Douglas Ross is putting the counter to me.

Finally, it is really important that we continue to support record investment in our national health service. It is not that long ago—here, we are measuring in weeks—that Douglas Ross was demanding that I cut taxes for the richest people in our country. Had I followed his advice, we would have had to take investment out of our national health service, which is why few people will take Douglas Ross or the Conservatives seriously when it comes to trust on the national health service.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

2. Child and adolescent mental health services are in crisis, as they have been since long before the pandemic. Too many children and young people are having referrals rejected, and too many are waiting for too long for treatment. How many referrals to CAMHS have been rejected in the past year, and how many children have waited for more than a year for their first appointment?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I will be happy to give Anas Sarwar the precise figures on rejected referrals later on. However, although there are challenges in child and adolescent mental health services—as there are across the national health service, as I have just been reflecting—-in recent months, we have seen some very positive changes in waiting lists. Those changes are among the most positive in more than half a decade.

In the latest quarter, the overall CAMHS waiting list has decreased by 1,398 children since the previous quarter; the number of children waiting for more than 18 weeks has decreased by 658 since the previous quarter; and the number of children who have waited for more than 52 weeks has decreased by 281. That marks the first time since September 2016 that there has been a decrease in all three waiting lists.

Although there is significant work still to do—not least to continue our progress in community mental health services for children and young people—progress has been made, particularly in tackling the longest waits. That should be welcomed.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

In the past year, 8,873 children and young people have had their referrals to CAMHS rejected. A total of 1,248 have been waiting for more than a year for their first appointment. The First Minister has quoted statistics on those who have had their first appointment; however, even those who have had a first appointment are still not getting the treatment that they need.

Here is just one example. Charlie is a primary 7 pupil. He was referred to CAMHS in January 2020. In April 2020, he had a video consultation with a doctor from CAMHS—so he would have dropped off the list that was referred to by the First Minister. However, that was the last time that he heard from CAMHS. He has had no diagnosis and, without treatment, Charlie has become withdrawn and does not like to spend time with other children.

His mother found a video that he had posted on TikTok, in which he asked whether anyone felt like they wanted to die because they were so different. Charlie’s mum told CAMHS, but they said that it would make no difference to his waiting time. They told her that it could be another two years before Charlie receives the support that he needs.

That is not good enough. Charlie is not alone—there are thousands of children like him. How has the First Minister let it get so bad?

The First Minister

Before I come on to the general issue, I will say that, obviously, Charlie’s experience is not acceptable. I do not know all the circumstances of his case. As always, I am willing to look into individual cases that are raised.

It is the case that there are waits for child and adolescent mental health services that are too long. However, it is also the case that significant action is being taken, which is already reducing those long waits.

Anas Sarwar did not respond to the information that I gave him in my previous answer, but it is really important. Nobody is denying that there is a significant issue, but we are now seeing decreases in the numbers of children who are waiting for more than 18 weeks and the numbers who are waiting for more than 52 weeks—and the overall waiting list is also decreasing.

Does that say that there is no longer a challenge? No, but it does say that the significant investment—the increase in the workforce—is now having an impact where that is needed. We need to continue that.

We have already accepted all the recommendations in the audit of rejected referrals that was published in 2018, and we continue to act on those. One in every two referrals to CAMHS is seen within 10 weeks, and health boards have a duty to prioritise those who need to be seen most quickly. If any experience does not match that, we have a duty to look into that and learn from it.

There has also been a significant increase in the number of people who access community mental health services, which is an important part of mental health support. Local authorities report that, in the first six months of this year, more than 38,000 children accessed enhanced community-based mental health support services. That is important in ensuring that those who need specialist services can get them more quickly.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

The First Minister is just not listening. If someone gets a first appointment that is a telephone call, but their diagnosis does not happen and their treatment does not start, and they then fall off a list, that is not a measure of success but a measure of failure. It demonstrates that the system is being gamed.

That was a problem long before Covid. When Charlie’s mother phoned CAMHS, she was told that it was still working through cases from 2018. There will be cases where someone has had their first appointment, but there will also be cases where treatment has not started and a diagnosis has not happened.

This Government has never met its CAMHS waiting time targets. According to Public Health Scotland, a quarter of all deaths of five to 24-year-olds in our country are from suicide. In the words of Charlie’s mum,

“Our children are being failed and no one is doing anything about it.”

However, we can fix this, so I ask the First Minister do the following: first, reverse the cuts to mental health in primary care; second, guarantee funding for schools-based counselling; third, commit to increasing the proportion of the national health service budget that is spent on mental health so that it reaches 11 per cent—the same level as England and Wales; fourth, create a new referral and triage system for mental health so that no one is rejected; and finally, record and publish the true waiting time, from referral to diagnosis and the start of treatment, so that no child is abandoned, like Charlie has been.

The First Minister

I will say it again, because it is important, that experiences such as Charlie’s are not acceptable. I do not know all of the circumstances; I am willing to look into that.

I am not standing here and saying that Charlie will be the only young person in the country who has that kind of experience—far from it—but nor is it right to say that the progress that I have narrated today is somehow unimportant, because that is the progress that requires to be made to ensure that there are far fewer experiences like Charlie’s.

In terms of funding, mental health spending has almost doubled in cash terms since we took office. We will continue to support record expenditure across our national health service and ensure appropriate expenditure for mental health services. As I said earlier, we are also shifting more treatment into the community. One of the most important things that has been done, backed by investment, is the recruitment of counsellors across our secondary schools. Those are really important issues.

Although it is right and proper to come to the Parliament and state the challenges, our job, as I have demonstrated today, is to get on with the work of addressing those challenges. As I have set out, we have seen a fall in the waiting lists for access to CAMHS. That is down to investment and the actions that have been taken, which is why it is so important that we continue with that.

Cabinet (Meetings)

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

3. To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. (S6F-01613)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

T

he Cabinet will next meet on Tuesday. I advise the chamber that one of the matters that the Cabinet will discuss on Tuesday is on-going monitoring of the Strep A situation. Sadly, as we know, a number of children in England and Wales have died from invasive group A Strep infections; our thoughts are with their families.

Although increased levels of infection have been seen in Scotland, current numbers are not exceeding previous spikes, and so far, we have had no deaths of children. However, a total of 13 invasive group A Strep cases in children under 10 were reported to Public Health Scotland between the start of October and 5 December. The majority of those cases are mild and can be treated with penicillin. However, there is no room for complacency, and we will continue to monitor the situation very closely.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

I am grateful for that reply and gratified to hear that Cabinet will be discussing the Strep A outbreak. I ask that the First Minister comes back to Parliament before Christmas with a statement on the progress on that issue.

What we have just heard from Anas Sarwar is devastating. Charlie is by no means alone—not by a long shot—and the situation is desperate. When Humza Yousaf launched the national health service recovery plan last year, the mental health treatment target was missed for one in five children; it is now one in three. Young people are battling the long shadow of lockdown, anxiety and depression without support. Nicola Sturgeon is trying to persuade the chamber of progress, but £38 million has just been cut from this year’s mental health budget—money that could have been spent on cutting waiting times, training staff and putting more counsellors in our schools—and that cut will lead to more delays.

We get only one childhood, and waiting month after month for help can shatter those formative years. The NHS recovery plan promised the eradication of mental health waiting lists by March. That was always a bold target, but it is barely 100 days away, and things are moving backwards. If that target is missed, will the First Minister continue to stand by the beleaguered health secretary?

The First Minister

Mental health spending has doubled under this Government—that is a fact. The number of people who are working in child and adolescent mental health services has also doubled under this Government; to be precise, it is up by 110 per cent.

There are significant challenges in waiting times for CAMHS, and we take that extremely seriously. However, it is right to point to progress, which that investment and the increase in the workforce are designed to achieve.

There has been a 14.4 per cent decrease in the number of children and young people who are on the waiting list compared to the past quarter. There is a decrease in the numbers of children and young people who are waiting more than 18 weeks and more than 52 weeks. As I said earlier, that is the first time since 2016 that there has been a decrease in all three waiting-list measures.

Does that mean that we do not have more work to do? Of course it does not; there are significant challenges, but real progress is being made because of the actions, focus and determination of this Government to support the work of those who are on the front line, and that will continue.

Child Disability Payment (Roll-out)

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

4. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the roll-out of the child disability payment. (S6F-01626)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

We know that caring for a child who is disabled or has a long-term condition can result in extra costs, from buying specialist equipment to taking part in activities. That is why the child disability payment is a vital benefit that helps parents to support their children to live their lives as fully as possible.

I am very pleased that, in the child disability payment’s first year, almost £60 million has been paid to the families of nearly 44,000 children and young people. The child disability payment is the first disability benefit anywhere in the United Kingdom for which applicants are able to apply online, by phone, by post and face to face. That demonstrates our commitment to improving access to social security and ensuring that people receive the assistance to which they are entitled.

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

With increasing financial pressures on families in Scotland, it is more important than ever that people get all the benefits to which they are entitled. Can the First Minister outline how our constituents can apply for the child disability payment and check what extra financial support from the Scottish Government they might be entitled to?

The First Minister

It is important that we take steps to raise awareness of all of the help that is available and encourage as many eligible people as possible to apply for assistance. As I said in my original answer, people can apply for the child disability payment online, by phone, by post or face to face. I encourage anyone who thinks that they might be eligible for any of our benefits to get in touch with Social Security Scotland. Staff are available to answer queries about benefits and help people to complete application forms, and local delivery officers are available across the country, so that the application can be made face to face, where that is necessary.

As shown through our benefit take-up strategy, we are absolutely committed to making sure that everyone gets the financial support that they are entitled to.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

When setting up Social Security Scotland, the Scottish Government said that one of the things that it would do would be to get decisions right the first time round, in recognition of the distress that redeterminations can cause. Figures show that, in 86 per cent of redeterminations that were requested for the child disability payment, the decision was not right the first time around.

We were promised a fairer system here, so what can the First Minister do to address that issue and bring certainty to people who need social security that they will not need to jump through hoops in order to get it?

The First Minister

Feedback from applications in which the first decision is not made correctly is part of the process of making sure that the system is improved on an on-going basis. I know that Social Security Scotland takes that work very seriously and focuses very hard on it.

For all the issues that she rightly brings to the chamber about the operation of the social security system, particularly as it affects people with disabilities, I am absolutely certain—and I hope that I am not wrong—that Pam Duncan-Glancy shares my view that we already have a fairer system around those things in Scotland than exists elsewhere in the UK.

However, through Social Security Scotland, we have an obligation to continue to improve that experience, so that, first, people are getting all the help to which they are entitled; secondly, they are getting it as easily and with as little bureaucracy as possible; and, thirdly, decisions are being taken correctly in the first instance.

Emergency Response Single-crewed Ambulances

Edward Mountain (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

5. To ask the First Minister how many single-crewed ambulances, responding to an emergency, have been deployed in the last six months. (S6F-01608)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

Between June and November this year, there were 1,429 instances of the Scottish Ambulance Service single crewing ambulance shifts across Scotland. To put that into context, I would point out that it represents 1.72 per cent of the total number of shifts in that period.

In addition, there will be paramedic cars or motorbikes that are routinely single crewed and which are used to support the Ambulance Service’s multivehicle response to serious incidents as well as being used by advanced paramedics to support patients with less serious conditions in the community. Single-crewed ambulance shifts happen only in exceptional circumstances that cannot be avoided, such as short-notice staff absences or a significant unforeseen increase in demand.

Edward Mountain (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

That is really concerning, because in simple terms, single-crewed ambulances cannot transport patients to hospitals. In the Highlands, where journey times can be over two hours, it means that there is a significant danger to life.

In 2008, when the First Minister was the cabinet secretary for health, she said:

“The Scottish Government’s policy is clear: traditional accident and emergency ambulances should be double crewed, with at least one member being a paramedic, unless there are exceptional circumstances. In too many instances, particularly in the Highlands, practice is not living up to that policy.”—[

Official Report

, 4 June 2008; c 9260.]

It is clear that after 14 years of inactivity the First Minister has failed. Will she explain to my constituents why she has failed and when single-crewed ambulances will be consigned to history?

The First Minister

I am genuinely not sure that Edward Mountain listened to the answer to his first question. With regard to the commitment that was made in 2008—and which I remember very well, because I was

health secretary at the time—the instance of single crewing at that time was significant, particularly in rural areas, and our commitment to support the Ambulance Service with funding to eliminate the requirement for rostered single crewing, particularly in remote and rural parts of the country, was achieved. Single crewing now takes place only in exceptional circumstances that cannot be avoided. In the six months that I have been asked about and have talked about, 1.72 per cent—less than 2 per cent—of shifts were single crewed.

Let me explain to Mr Mountain’s constituents why that is the case. If, for example, at the last minute a member of staff is ill and does not turn up to work, as happens in any walk of life, the only alternative to single crewing would be not to have a crew at all and not to have the ambulance on shift. It only happens in such exceptional circumstances—and I would also say that, in any national health service, a figure of less than 2 per cent effectively amounts to eliminating single crewing. The Scottish Ambulance Service continues to work to minimise that figure as much as possible.

Cost of Living Crisis (Freezing of Water Rates)

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

6. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an update on whether it will instruct Scottish Water to freeze water rates for 2023-24 to help with the cost of living crisis. (S6F-01607)

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

Decisions on the levels of water charges are matters for Scottish Water’s board, and its decision must be taken with due regard to the principles of charging for water services, which are set by Scottish ministers and include the key principle of affordability.

Last year, the board took a responsible view and held charges to a real-terms freeze, and we expect it to take a proportionate position again, balancing affordability with critical investment needs to protect the quality of our drinking water and the environment.

Of course, the average water charge in Scotland remains lower than the average charge in England and Wales, but we are committed to supporting people facing any issues with paying their water bills. That is why, as part of our overall package of cost of living measures, we have increased the maximum level of the water charges reduction scheme discount from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)

Last year, inflation was running at about 4 per cent. Under the formula agreed by Scottish Water and this Government, water rates are charged at the consumer prices index plus 2 per cent. Last year, the Scottish Government intervened to hold water rates down, which was welcome, but this year inflation is at 11 per cent and water bills are set to increase by an eye-watering 13 per cent. With this acute cost of living crisis—the worst in many decades—will the Scottish Government freeze water bills for the next financial year? The First Minister has the power to do this—she intervened last year—but the question is: does she have the political will?

The First Minister

This is obviously a matter for Scottish Water’s board. As I said in my original answer, the board of Scottish Water took a responsible decision last year—we would expect it to do the same this year—to recognise the cost of living pressures, which remain intense and acute. However, we also expect and require Scottish Water to discharge other responsibilities to ensure that we have a well-maintained water system, so that the quality of our water services is high, and it is mindful of its wider obligations to the environment. If we did not have proper investment in our water infrastructure and, as a result, the quality of our drinking water declined, I am sure that Jackie Baillie would be one of the first to point a finger at this Government.

We will continue to take responsible decisions on this issue and across the range of other ways that we are supporting people through the cost of living crisis—decisions and actions that continue to result in the Scottish people expressing high levels of trust in this Government.

United Kingdom Fiscal Policy

Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)

Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has said that the last three Westminster Tory Governments fiscal policy U-turns have cost taxpayers more than £40 billion of extra debt in just six months—that is £600 for every man, woman and child in the UK, and is 2,000 times the estimated cost of the independence referendum that the Tories keep moaning about.

Does the First Minister believe that it is acceptable for the people of Scotland to keep paying the price of Westminster’s economic incompetence?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

No, it is not acceptable.

The cost of Tory fiscal and economic incompetence, which is epitomised by the disastrous decisions in the mini-budget—decisions that, members should remember, the Scottish Conservatives initially wanted the Scottish Government to replicate—coupled with the disaster of Brexit that unfolds on a daily basis, is being paid by individuals, businesses and households across Scotland right now.

There is an alternative to that, and it is to make this Parliament responsible for the decisions that are being so badly mishandled at Westminster. I think that there is a growing desire in the people of Scotland to become independent and build a much better alternative to what we have now.

A83 (Rest and be Thankful)

Donald Cameron (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

At the weekend, the

Sunday Post

revealed that, in the past 15 years, almost £100 million has been spent on short-term repairs to the A83

at the Rest and Be Thankful. Meanwhile, communities across Argyll remain exasperated by the lack of action since Transport Scotland announced its preferred permanent route last year. Will the First Minister now instruct Transport Scotland to select that route and make it a top priority for delivery, thereby ending once and for all the misery that closures of that road cause?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I assume that the member is not suggesting that the investments in temporary repairs should not have been made—that is my first point. Secondly, as I am sure that the member knows, in relation to the Rest and Be Thankful, a preferred route corridor for a permanent solution was announced in 2021. Route option designs within the preferred corridor are being progressed and we are working towards announcing a preferred route for the long-term decision by next spring.

Housing (Mould)

Foysol Choudhury (Labour, Lothian)

The First Minister will be aware of the tragic death of

Awaab Ishak in Rochdale due to mouldy housing. Currently, I have constituents contacting me with concerns about issues with mould in substandard temporary housing that could cause a similar threat to human life, with small children being particularly at risk. The issue seems alarmingly common across local authority boundaries in a variety of housing stock. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that similar tragedies do not happen in Scotland?

The First Minister

The Scottish Government continues to invest significantly in housing, in terms of our targets for new affordable housing and, as the member alludes to, our existing housing stock. I will ask the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to write to the member in more detail about the actions that we are taking and any lessons that require to be learned in Scotland from the tragic case that the member has highlighted.

Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones)

Gillian Mackay (Green, Central Scotland)

Yesterday, we saw the very welcome ruling from the Supreme Court on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill in Northern Ireland. The judgment was unanimous and unequivocal, and I believe that it gives a clear way forward for safe access zones in Scotland. Will the First Minister join me in congratulating Clare Bailey and her team on that victory, and will she give her response to the ruling and say what she believes that it means for Scotland?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

I congratulate

Clare Bailey and thank her for the advice that she has offered to the Scottish Government. She attended the summit that we held earlier this year, which Gillian Mackay also attended.

I was very pleased to see yesterday that the Supreme Court has protected the rights of women to access abortion services in Northern Ireland without fear of harassment or intimidation. The Scottish Government is considering very carefully the detail of that judgment, and we look forward to working with

Gillian Mackay on how we can progress quickly the next steps for taking forward her proposed bill. We are absolutely committed to supporting her with the development of a bill to safeguard access for women in Scotland to healthcare facilities that provide abortion services and to do so without fear,

harassment or intimidation.

Cost of Living Crisis (United Kingdom Government Response)

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

Recent analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland found that half of Scots are being forced to cut back on

household spending. The main levers to address that crisis reside in Westminster, which is an institution that cannot be trusted to concern itself with the plight of ordinary people. What conversations has the First Minister had with the Prime Minister about the inadequacy of the United Kingdom Government’s response to the crisis that it created?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

When I met the Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago, I urged him, as the Scottish Government does more generally on a regular basis, to take more action to help people who are struggling with the basic necessities of life because of the cost of living crisis, which continues to affect the livelihoods, lives and, increasingly, the health and wellbeing of people across the country. The key policy levers are held by the UK Government, and we will continue to press it to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the emergency. That includes access to borrowing, providing benefits and support to households.

We will also continue to take action ourselves. We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to help, and we have, of course, increased the Scottish child payment by 150 per cent in less than eight months to £25 per eligible child per week.

Police Complaints System

Russell Findlay (Conservative, West Scotland)

Rhys Bonner has been described as a “gentle giant” by his mum Steph. He was found dead in marshland in Glasgow in 2019. Police Scotland said that his death was fully investigated, but his family disagrees. Last week, three and a half years since losing her son, some of Steph’s complaints were upheld, with the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner asking Police Scotland to conduct new inquiries and to provide more information. Steph has told me that she is tormented by a process that she describes as “cruel”.

It has been two years since the Angiolini report laid bare the Scottish National Party’s broken police complaints system. How many more families have to suffer before the First Minister or her justice secretary fixes it?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

On the police complaints system, we are, of course, taking forward recommendations from the Angiolini report and, indeed, we will legislate in respect of those recommendations.

It would not be right or appropriate for me to comment in detail on that specific case. However, the police are, of course, expected to respond to any recommendations or actions that they are instructed to take by the PIRC, and I would expect that to be the case there.

The broader reform of the complaints system is under way and on-going, and the justice secretary will keep the Parliament updated as appropriate.

Community Justice System

Jamie Greene (Conservative, West Scotland)

This week, the BBC reported that the community payback orders backlog has reached 700,000. That is on top of the quarter of a million that were written off during the pandemic. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans told the BBC that that was

“pretty much business as usual”.

With respect, if someone is a victim of crime, that is anything but business as usual. That includes the domestic abuse victim who saw her offender walk free from court with unpaid hours as his sentence. She was punched in the face and chucked through a glass door, and she is scarred and traumatised for life.

The justice system is letting people down. It is letting women down, and community payback orders are not even being served. When will that end, and when will the community justice system actually serve justice for victims of crime?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

Obviously, individual cases of the kind that Jamie Greene has narrated are always difficult and unacceptable for the individuals concerned. However, more generally, as I often say in the chamber because it is absolutely right that I do so, court decisions are for courts. It is not for ministers or any politicians to intervene in decisions of our justice system.

When a community payback order is issued, the offender has to serve that order. That remains the case. More generally, our community justice system performs well. That will be one of the reasons why levels of crime in this country continue to be historically low and reoffending rates are reducing.

We continue to support the justice system to recover from the pandemic and catch up on backlogs in all different aspects of the system.

The Presiding Officer

That concludes First Minister’s questions.

Points of Order

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance on the procedures surrounding the correcting of the

Official Report

.

I have here a letter that I received last night from Sir Robert Chote, who is the chair of the UK Statistics Authority. After I alerted the authority, it investigated the Scottish National Party and Green Government’s claim that Scotland has 25 per cent of Europe’s potential offshore wind resource. Sir Robert confirms that those figures are, in fact, a mash-up of several different studies that are more than 20 years old. He confirms that the Scottish Government’s calculations exclude

“countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland which have large offshore wind potential.”

He also confirms that the figures “give an inflated picture” and were always inaccurate. The letter specifically says:

“On 15 November, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater (Scottish Greens), acknowledged in Holyrood that the figure was ‘outdated’, but not that it was poorly constructed.”

In other words, the figure was never true and it is time for the SNP and Greens to give up the spin and admit that.

The First Minister’s spokespeople still insist that the figure

“was calculated accurately at the time.”

That is not true. Michael Matheson, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, has even written to me this morning to say that the figure is dated. That is not true. It is also still on SNP leaflets that are going through people’s doors.

The UK Statistics Authority is now contacting the Scottish National Party and a number of nationalist parliamentarians directly about the matter. I fully support the expansion of Scotland’s renewables sector but—[

Interruption.

] I cannot believe that Michael Matheson is leaving the chamber at this stage. I find that disrespectful.

The strong case for expanding Scotland’s renewables sector is undermined when the Scottish Government—the SNP in particular—uses figures that are completely fictitious.

The Parliament’s guidance states that corrections can be accepted only within 20 working days. Therefore, I seek your guidance, Presiding Officer, on whether Lorna Slater has approached you about her statement to Parliament on 15 November. Do you expect a correction to be lodged before the 20-day deadline expires next Tuesday? I am concerned that Parliament has been misled.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)

rose—

Alison Johnstone (Presiding Officer, Lothian)

Can I respond to Mr Cole-Hamilton?

It is of paramount importance that members, including ministers, give accurate and truthful information to the Parliament, correcting any errors at the earliest opportunity. If a member has a question about the factual accuracy of another member’s contribution, they should raise it with that member. Members, including Mr Cole-Hamilton, will be aware that the Parliament has previously agreed a corrections mechanism and how that mechanism operates.

To answer Mr Cole-Hamilton’s question, the minister has not approached me, but it is entirely a matter for members to decide whether and how to use the corrections procedure.

The First Minister

On a point of order further to that, Presiding Officer. As ministers have said, that figure is no longer appropriate to use because it is out of date. However, I think that Alex Cole-Hamilton would want me to put a complete picture before the chamber. There are statements that he did not include in his point of order that I will give:

“Scotland has a major role to play in this with an estimated 25 per cent of Europe’s offshore wind potential.”

That was a statement from Liberal Democrat minister Michael Moore. Secondly:

“We have more offshore wind power than the rest of the world combined”.

That was from Lib Dem leader Vince Cable.

If it is the case that Alex Cole-Hamilton is so distressed by the use of that figure by Scottish Government ministers, perhaps, in the interests of completeness, he would also refer to his colleagues who have used exactly the same figure. The fact of the matter is that we have massive renewables potential, which is what he does not like.

The Presiding Officer

Thank you, First Minister. That was not a point of order. However, your comments are on the record.

Alex Cole-Hamilton has a point of order.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

I seek the Presiding Officer’s clarification about the correction of the

Official Report

, because I believe that the First Minister has, once again, trotted out the suggestion that the statistic is, in her words, no longer accurate. The UK Statistics Authority wrote to me yesterday to say that it was never accurate. Frankly, I find her broadside attack on me personally beneath her.

The Presiding Officer

Mr Cole-Hamilton, I have responded to your point of order. I have made it quite clear how the corrections mechanism operates, and members should make themselves aware of that.

Asylum Seekers (Support)

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on S6M-05880, in the name of Bob Doris, on “How Will We Survive? Steps to preventing destitution in the asylum system”. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament notes the impact of the cost of living crisis on people seeking asylum in the Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn constituency, and across Scotland; further notes the research published by the British Red Cross and Refugee Survival Trust,

How Will We Survive? Steps to preventing destitution in the asylum system

; understands that the report was written by peer researchers with lived experience of the asylum system, through the Destitute Asylum Seeker Service; further understands that it outlines seven overarching recommendations, covering both the Home Office and Scottish Government, including that the Scottish Government should pilot a peer support system to ensure new arrivals through the asylum system can access support, guidance and friendship from people who have shared experiences of navigating the asylum system, that people with no recourse to public funds should have access to adequate support and increased access to health services, including mental health support, and that the Home Office should automatically grant people the right to work if they have been waiting for longer than six months for a decision on their initial asylum claim, or following the submission of further evidence, and that such a right should not be restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list, and notes the view in the report that the Home Office should also offer an initial grant to asylum seekers to help them set up life in the UK, which it considers would lessen the likelihood of destitution.

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

I thank parliamentary colleagues who have signed my motion. “How Will We Survive? Steps to preventing destitution in the asylum system” is a joint report that was prepared by the British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust. The report is the conclusion of important work carried out by peer researchers, some of whom join us in the gallery. My particular thanks must go to peer researchers Ronald, Adnan, Tandy and Zainab. I extend my heartfelt thanks to you all.

Those researchers have drawn on their own lived experience and the testimony of others, as well as their great expertise and skill, in order to reach the important recommendations in the report, which have been made to both the United Kingdom and Scottish Governments. The research found that, during the first six months of a person’s time in the UK asylum system, there is a particularly high risk of destitution. That is a result of factors including delays or problems with receiving financial and other support, language barriers, asylum seekers being unaware of their rights, and difficulties with accessing effective support and advice networks. The report calls on the Home Office to offer an initial grant to asylum seekers in order to help them to set up their lives in the UK, which would considerably lessen the likelihood of destitution. Asylum seekers often arrive in the UK with little or nothing at all. The case for an initial grant is a powerful one.

The report says that people are still at risk of becoming destitute. That is partly because of the difficulty of having an allowance of just over £5 a day, which needs to stretch to cover essentials including food, clothes and payment of various other costs. Inflation is spiralling and people who are in the most precarious financial position are the most exposed to rising costs. That includes asylum seekers, who are on the front line of the cost of living crisis. The report recommends that the Home Office should review the weekly asylum support allowance to ensure that it reflects the real cost of living. That must happen.

Asylum seekers cannot strike for better income or improved conditions. Of course, many do not have the right to work in the first place, which must also change. The report recommends that the Home Office allows asylum seekers to work after they have been waiting for six months for a decision on their claim, and that right to work should not be restricted to the shortage occupation list.

Not only does a person have a right to work to support themselves and their family—it is a basic human right—but to deny asylum seekers that right is clearly an act of self-harm against the social and economic interests of Scotland and the UK. There are many skilled asylum seekers who are restricted in using their skills for the betterment of our country.

Week in, week out in this place, we hear about unfilled vacancies in health and social care in our country, and we have a willing and able workforce that is denied the right to work. Many have been driven into destitution rather than be permitted to make a contribution, which is just wrong. I praise all those who have raised their voices as part of the Lift the Ban campaign, which champions that right to work.

There are recommendations for the Scottish Government, and a key recommendation relates to peer support. The peer researchers believe that people seeking asylum should have access to good-quality information, advice and advocacy, and they are right to stress the benefit of a formal peer support network. The Scottish Government is called on to invest in and pilot a peer support system for people who are seeking asylum in Scotland. That would ensure that new arrivals, as well as those who are more vulnerable at any stage of the asylum process, are able to access support, guidance and friendship from people who have a shared experience of navigating the asylum system.

There are wonderful existing models of peer support. For instance, the Maryhill Integration Network, which I am privileged to have in my constituency, offers peer support and has done so for many years. Ahead of today’s debate, Pinar from MIN told me that it will officially introduce its peer support volunteering pilot in January. Although the MIN voices group operates on a peer support model, it wants to expand the process across MIN and train people to be peer support volunteers who provide information to new arrivals; attend meetings with people; and provide training in essential areas such as healthcare, current immigration rules and a variety of other matters. Therefore, I say to the cabinet secretary that much of the work to develop peer support models for asylum seekers has already been done by the communities themselves and their third sector partners. However, it needs to be resourced and formalised, and support needs to be offered to identify and address gaps in provision.

There has been positive movement on some of the recommendations in the report. The report states that the Scottish Government should take on board recommendations from groups including the Voices Network, to implement free bus travel for people in the asylum system. We are not there yet, but that is hopefully on course to be delivered.

I pay tribute to the Voices Network and others, and I acknowledge the cross-party approach in the Parliament to delivering that recommendation, particularly by me, Mark Ruskell and Paul Sweeney. Together, we have pushed for free bus travel for asylum seekers in the chamber and in constructive meetings with two ministers, Neil Gray and Jenny Gilruth. We understand that a pilot project is imminent and that the policy intent of the Scottish Government, within the powers that are currently available to this Parliament, is to seek to embed wider provision in the concessionary travel scheme in the longer term.

I am conscious that there are other powerful recommendations in the report on mental health and unsuitable temporary accommodation. I note that, across Scotland, up to 600 asylum seekers are currently staying in 10 hotels as institutional accommodation, and that they get just £1.18 a day to live on. I am sure that colleagues will pick up on the tragedy of the Park Inn incident, and there are powerful recommendations in the report on housing and who inspects that housing to ensure that it is of a suitable standard.

There are recommendations on the need for longer-term stable funding for those in the asylum system who need support at points of crisis, which could perhaps be done as part of a review of the Scottish welfare fund. That would build on the excellent partnership work between the Scottish Government and the British Red Cross, which currently administers the Scottish crisis fund project as part of the Scottish Government’s “Ending Destitution Together” strategy. The project provides grants to people who are facing destitution and who face additional barriers in accessing support. To date, it has supported more than 1,400 people and has provided more than £450,000 in cash payments.

As I draw to a close, I say let us work together on a cross-party basis to persuade the UK Government to deliver on those initial grants, on the right to work and on improving the dreadfully low level of financial support for asylum seekers, as well as on various other matters that I have not had time to mention. Those can be key drivers in reducing destitution.

Likewise, we should continue constructively to press our Government here in Scotland to address the recommendations that are aimed at it. Although the report recognises that the recommended measures are often mitigation measures, they are no less important. I would very much welcome a Government debate on those matters in the Scottish Parliament, which I think would be welcomed by many.

I close by thanking our peer researchers for their powerful recommendations. I look forward to working with others to address the very real concerns that have been raised by them, for the benefit of all.

Maurice Golden (Conservative, North East Scotland)

I acknowledge the vital work that organisations such as the British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust do to support those in need and I thank them for producing the report, “How Will We Survive? Steps to preventing destitution in the asylum system”.

At a time when we face a cost of living crisis, it is important to note that the people who have the least, including those seeking asylum, are the most impacted by rising costs and that, with no right to work or to a bank account, people in the asylum system are dependent on the support that is available.

Over the past five years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of individuals who have been waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim, which is leading to increased pressure on the limited resources available. More must be done in order to speed up the process, so as to reduce both the number of people waiting on an initial decision and the length of time that they are waiting for. I note that the Home Office also recognises that as a problem and has increased the number of caseworkers by 80 per cent to address it.

The UK Government has recently made a host of key reforms to the asylum system. Those include cracking down on the illegal people-smuggling networks and ensuring that those who are engaged in people smuggling should face tougher penalties. In doing so, the UK Government has pledged to free up the asylum system so that it can better support people in genuine need of asylum through safe and legal routes.

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

Maurice Golden is right to mention illegal networks. Denying asylum seekers the legal route and the right to work could push them, in destitution, to be exploited by illegal networks and, at a real crisis point, into really dire exploitation. Would Maurice Golden acknowledge that and does he think that perhaps we should look again at extending the right to work for asylum seekers?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I can give you the time back, Mr Golden.

Maurice Golden (Conservative, North East Scotland)

That is something that should be looked at. I think that the member suggested allowing asylum seekers to seek work after six months, which seems to be something that should certainly be considered.

The report that today’s debate focuses on has, in turn, made a number of recommendations. Given the UK’s Government’s pledge to better support people in genuine need of asylum, I would encourage the UK Government and the Scottish Government to review those recommendations. Although the British Red Cross, the Refugee Survival Trust, the Scottish Government and the UK Government all have different approaches to and views on the way in which the asylum system should be designed and supported, there will undoubtedly be areas where common ground can be found. Those should be fully explored in order to improve the current system.

Pauline McNeill (Labour, Glasgow)

I thank Bob Doris for his members’ business debate and pay tribute to him for the relentless campaigning that he has done, both as a constituency member and through his involvement with the social security system. I, too, have a long-standing interest in refugees and asylum seekers and feel quite passionately about the issue.

I hope that Bob Doris and the Presiding Officer will forgive me if I am not able to stay for all the speeches, although I will stay for as many as I can. It is simply because, as a dog lover, I would be really upset if I missed the dogs that are in Parliament. I hope that that is okay with everyone.

I begin by acknowledging the work that Baroness Helena Kennedy KC has done in the final report of the commission of inquiry into asylum provision in Scotland, and the overall conclusion of the panel in relation to the Park Inn incident in Glasgow in 2020, which Bob Doris mentioned. I remember the incident very well and am sure that he does, too. Helena Kennedy said that the incident was an “avoidable tragedy”; I believe that, as well. Not much—and not enough—has changed in two years since the Park Inn tragedy.

Today, between 500 and 600 people in the asylum system live in 10 hotels across eight local authorities in Scotland. I believe, as Bob Doris does, that those 600 or so people are seeking safety, refuge and a better life.

It is now clear that placing asylum-seekers in hotels might not be the best policy, because it removes them from communities and undermines their human dignity. It has caused unnecessary suffering, and we all know that there are serious consequences for their health and wellbeing. I have learned in my work with refugees and asylum seekers, and through work that I have done in other countries, that the core of human existence is that feeling of dignity—that is what drives being human. Stripping away that dignity from anyone who is already destitute leads to serious consequences, and not just for them. There are reactions to that.

As members have said, most asylum seekers are barred from working and rely on United Kingdom Government support—typically, £40 a week, or just £5.84 a day. Other refugees, who are not asylum seekers and stay in hotels, are given £8.24 a week or just over £1 a day.

I support the British Red Cross campaign to lift the ban, and acknowledge that to run a pilot would make sense, so that we could see how it would run in practice.

I welcome Maurice Golden’s suggestion about a six-month period. I have always supported the notion that we should give the people who are here the chance to do even limited work so that we protect their dignity and wellbeing, and give them some income.

Academics and policy makers have argued that destitution is designed into the UK’s asylum system as a form of deterrent and punishment. For reasons that I have outlined, that is a risky policy, through which already traumatised people are trapped with no money, information, agency or opportunity. I believe that the Scottish Government could think more long term about how people who are here to seek asylum could have more dignity in their daily lives.

I welcome the work that Bob Doris and my colleague Paul Sweeney have done. I cannot remember who else was working with the members, but I acknowledge the cross-party work on things such as free bus services—little things that can make a huge difference to people who seek asylum in the UK and Scotland.

People have been removed from communities where they had made friends and established neighbourly connections, and now live in hotels. We need longer-term thinking about how we will move away from that situation, with all the challenges and problems that it brings.

For too long, third sector organisations such as Refuweegee, Refugees for Justice, Safe in Scotland, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Refugee Survival Trust, to name but a few, have been tasked with those difficult challenges. I would like to see better funding for those organisations and recognition that they are dealing with some of the hardest cases on the front line.

I welcome the information pack that is provided to new Scots about how they can go about surviving in Scotland. In the face of a hostile environment for refugees and asylum seekers who seek shelter and long-term accommodation, we can do better to restore dignity and humanity to people who, for the most part, are among the most vulnerable in our society.

Clare Adamson (Scottish National Party, Motherwell and Wishaw)

I thank Bob Doris for securing the debate this afternoon. I apologise to Parliament—if the debate is still going at half past one, I am afraid that I will have to leave at that time. I thank the Presiding Officer for the permission to do so.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Glasgow’s refugee Councillor Roza Salih, whom the BBC named one of the most influential women of 2022. Roza was one of the Glasgow girls who campaigned against deportation and dawn raids, and who were influential in campaigning for the right to further and higher education for the children of asylum seekers, as well as children who arrive in Scotland alone but meet the residency criteria. She has acknowledged how important her being named is. She has said:

“The list ... reflects the role of women at the heart of conflict around the world in 2022—from the protesters bravely demanding change in Iran, to the female faces of conflict and resistance in Ukraine and Russia.”

It is important to note Roza Salih’s immense achievement of having been nominated for the list.

Roza Salih acknowledges that Scotland does things differently, although there is always more that we can do. The fact that the Scottish Government has committed to developing policies for refugee children, under its devolved responsibilities, to reflect the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, should be acknowledged.

I was taught by a Chilean refugee, Dr Jose Menoz, who fled from Pinochet with his wife, who was a paediatrician. I remember the influence that that had on my life, and I remember him telling me how frustrating it was for him and his wife not to be able to work in their professions when they first came to the UK, before their asylum-seeker status was completed. We must recognise that this is about people’s talents, experience and education and what they bring to Scotland, as new Scots. We should be able to embrace that in all its forms and welcome people. The right to work is so clearly an area in which we could make the situation better for people. I recognise that element in Bob Doris’s motion.

I want to talk a little bit about the work that the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, of which I am convener, has been doing on settlement of temporarily displaced Ukrainians who have come to Scotland. There was one thing in the British Red Cross report that I found disturbing. It said that inappropriate use by the Scottish Government of ships in Glasgow and Edinburgh should be stopped. I emphasise that members of our committee visited one of the ships. It is not a permanent solution—such temporary accommodation should never become a permanent solution for asylum seekers—but a staging post. As an MSP who has in her constituency a new block of flats that is dedicated to looking after Ukrainian displaced people—it houses up to 80 families—I linked the group on the ship with the group in my constituency so that they can talk and provide peer support to people who might be thinking about coming to live in North Lanarkshire.

Daria Bondarenko, who is from the Ukrainian Freedom Ballet, gave evidence to the committee and said that peer-to-peer work is supported by the Scottish Government, and that

“the crew of the ship were a big help, but it is more about our own initiative”—[

Official Report, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee,

3 November 2022; c 10.]

in relation to support for the children who are on the ship.

The use of the ships is not normal or ideal, but we have to take some positives from the great work that is being done there to bring people to Scotland: 18,500 people is obviously a lot, given that we initially said that we would take about 3,500.

Maggie Chapman (Green, North East Scotland)

I am very grateful to Bob Doris for lodging his motion, securing the debate and giving us the opportunity to discuss how we can better support some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We should view people who are in the asylum system as being part of our society—Scotland can and should be a welcoming place. It is right that we provide sanctuary to people who are fleeing unimaginable horrors: war, environmental catastrophe, threats to their personal safety because of any aspect of their identity, or any other risks. We would want others to support us if we were in such need.

If we were in the position of seeking asylum in a foreign country, perhaps without any connection or tie such as language, culture or anything familiar, the last thing that we would want to face is destitution. As defined under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,

“a person is destitute if”

they do

“not have adequate accommodation or any means of obtaining it (whether or not ... other essential living needs are met); or”

they have

“adequate accommodation or the means of obtaining it, but cannot meet ... other essential living needs.”

The UK’s asylum system is hard-wired to produce destitution among people who seek sanctuary here. Indeed, the threat of destitution is used as a deterrent and, as part of the hostile environment, is an explicit policy choice by the UK Government. We cannot disagree that having less than £50 a week to cover all costs is not enough to enable people to meet their “essential living needs”.

As we have heard, destitution can occur at all points in the asylum system, but people are most vulnerable to it when asylum claims are refused or they are in their first six months after arrival in the UK. Of course, women and LGBTQIA+ people are disproportionately at risk.

The inhumane UK Government seeks to treat people who get to the UK via “irregular” routes—small boats, for example—worse than those who come via other routes. No one gets in a small boat to cross a dangerous body of water unless they have no option. Criminalising them or treating them as less than human is not the right response.

So, what should we do? As long as we do not have control over our immigration system, we need to keep campaigning against the UK’s hostile environment. We must keep pressure on the UK Government to grant asylum seekers the right to work, as other members have said. We know that we have a skills shortage in Scotland and that we have folk who are desperate to work here.

However, there are other things that we can and should do within devolved powers. We must ensure that our different approach to asylum, which is to offer genuine sanctuary, is backed up by the radical action that is needed to keep people safe. We should be testing the limits of the devolution settlement by doing such things. We cannot tolerate a UK Government that is forcing people into homelessness and poverty through blind ideology.

The Scottish Refugee Council recently presented its 10-point action plan for social inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. That plan identifies where preventative action could not only result in savings compared with the cost of current approaches, but could deliver a more humane and just service for people in need. When the cabinet secretary closes the debate, I ask her to address particular points from that plan: that asylum seekers and refugees need to be explicit groups in the Scottish child poverty action plan; that guidance should be provided on what should be in the legal duty to prepare, review and implement local child poverty action plans; and that we close the data gap that exists around the number of people in Scotland who have no recourse to public funds.

Those anti-poverty recommendations are clearly within devolved competence. We must accept them and implement them as soon as we can. By doing so, we will make a material and positive difference to the lives of people in asylum and resettlement or relocation programmes.

I thank individuals, communities and organisations—which include, among so many others, the Scottish Refugee Council, the Red Cross, Crisis and Refugees for Justice—for the work that they do day in and day out to support asylum seekers and refugees, doing battle on their behalf. I am grateful to them.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I thank Bob Doris for bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber. A number of thoughtful speeches have been made, and I thank members for that.

When the British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust commissioned research on behalf of the destitute asylum seeker service in Glasgow, they knew that people seeking asylum were impacted by recurring issues of poverty and destitution. As members have noted, the “How will we survive?” report found that experiences of destitution were widespread among people seeking asylum. Sadly, that situation has not changed. Increasingly, people who have been forced to flee war, persecution and violence find that they must endure prolonged periods of uncertainty and destitution before they can feel properly safe and begin to rebuild their lives.

In speaking about the report, members have highlighted that the key causes of destitution for people seeking asylum include delays in receiving asylum support, the inadequacy of support when it is received and the long waiting times for asylum decisions. That tells us that the fundamental cause of asylum destitution is Home Office policy.

Home Office statistics show that more than 147,000 asylum applications were awaiting an initial decision at the end of September this year and that almost 100,000 of those had been waiting for more than six months. That is shocking. We should all be appalled that people who live in our communities have been waiting in limbo for years for a decision.

That significant backlog is a symptom of years of underinvestment in the fundamentals of the UK Government’s asylum system and a lack of recognition of the importance of our international obligations to recognise refugees. Changes must be made so that the UK has a fair and effective asylum system that protects people who seek safety. I have repeatedly called on the UK Government to make improvements to ensure that people are treated with dignity at all stages of the asylum process.

UK Government policy means that people who are seeking asylum have no recourse to public funds. That prevents them from accessing safety nets, such as the Scottish welfare fund, in times of crisis. Instead, if they would otherwise be destitute, the Home Office provides basic accommodation—increasingly, in a hotel or other institutional setting—and only £40.85 per week for food, clothing, travel and other essentials.

It is also Home Office policy to restrict the right to work for people seeking asylum, which members have touched on during the debate. That policy prevents people from supporting themselves, using their skills and contributing to our economy. They are also prevented from accessing the opportunities for social networking, wellbeing and integration that are found in workplaces. As others have noted, there are skills shortages in many parts of Scotland’s economy, and people who come here with skills could contribute in that regard.

Unless the underlying causes of destitution are addressed, that will continue to be the reality for too many people in our communities. Through the new Scots refugee integration strategy and the ending destitution together strategy, the Scottish Government is working with partners to do what we can, within our devolved powers, to make a difference for people in our communities who are seeking asylum. I am always interested to hear more about peer support projects, because I recognise the benefits that those can bring people. The third sector provides fantastic initiatives including integration networks, refugee-led community groups and the Voices Network, all of which enable people to meet, share their experiences and support one another. Bob Doris mentioned the work of the Maryhill Integration Network, and others have pointed to other projects.

I am pleased to be able to inform members that, for the rest of this financial year, the Scottish Government will continue to fund two important projects that deliver on ending destitution. The diagnostic legal advice project, led by the Scottish Refugee Council as part of the fair way Scotland partnership, will continue to provide direct advocacy support and triage and will link people to qualified legal advice to ensure that they can resolve underlying status issues and make informed choices about their future. I am also pleased to be able to inform the Parliament that the Scottish Government will continue to fund the Scottish crisis fund project, which is delivered by the British Red Cross in collaboration with a number of third sector partners. That project will continue to provide crisis grants to people who are experiencing, or at risk of, destitution, including people who face challenges in accessing mainstream support and those who have no recourse to public funds.

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

The cabinet secretary has mentioned those who have no recourse to public funds. It was probably remiss of me not to mention in my speech the emerging concerns about pathways for young people who are in the asylum process, particularly those who leave secondary school and seek to go to university but are not able to take up places. The cross-party group on migration, of which I am deputy convener, is concerned about that. I would be very interested in meeting the relevant Scottish Government minister to discuss how we can ensure that we meet every aspiration of asylum seekers who have made their lives here in Scotland. We initially sought to fix the issue in 2007, when Fiona Hyslop was the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, but recent court rulings mean that we are not where we would like to be on that. I would welcome dialogue with the Government.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I will certainly ask my relevant colleague—it will probably be Shirley-Anne Somerville—to respond to Bob Doris on that important point.

I want to mention another issue that Bob Doris and other members have taken a keen interest in, which is concessionary travel. I understand that there was a constructive meeting with the Minister for Transport recently, and I hope that members found that useful. As was discussed at that meeting, work is now under way on a travel support pilot that will inform the work that is taking place in parallel on how we can provide travel support for people who are seeking asylum in the longer term.

We continue to press the Home Office on reserved issues that impact people who are living in our communities, and to push for positive change. Since I came into my role, I have written to Home Office ministers numerous times about many of the issues that have been highlighted in today’s debate, as my predecessors did. The UK Government must invest in the asylum system in order to increase the quality and speed of asylum decisions. That is the only way to uphold the UK’s international responsibilities to recognise and protect people who have been forced to flee persecution. It would reduce the uncertainty and the risk of destitution for people who just want and need to rebuild their lives in a place of safety, and it would also reduce the number of people the UK asylum system has to accommodate and support by allowing people to get on with their lives and play a full part in their communities.

The UK needs an effective and efficient asylum system that delivers for people who might be highly vulnerable, as well as our communities. We need a system that treats people with dignity and respect at all stages of the process and does not subject them to destitution.

I again thank Bob Doris and the other members who contributed to the debate for highlighting this important issue. Home Secretaries and Home Office ministers have repeatedly referred to the UK asylum system as being broken. It is clear that we all agree on that, as we heard in members’ contributions today, but there is no use in saying that it needs fixed and then not taking action. The UK Government must now fix its failed and inhumane system or provide this Parliament with the powers to do so. Meanwhile, of course, we will use our devolved powers to do what we can to support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

13:27 Meeting suspended.

14:30 On resuming—

Education and Skills

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio question time. On this occasion, the portfolio is education and skills. As ever, if a member wishes to ask a supplementary question, I invite them to press their request-to-speak button or type RTS in the chat function during the relevant question.

Teachers (Neurodiversity Training)

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

1. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that teaching staff across all local authority areas receive additional training on neurodiversity including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention deficit disorder. (S6O-01660)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We want all children and young people, including those who are neurodivergent, to get the support that they need in order to reach their full potential.

We work closely with partners, including Education Scotland, to ensure that teaching staff have access to a range of free professional learning and development resources. That includes the development of free learning modules, which are available via the Open University, on practice that is inclusive of dyslexia and autism.

On 30 November, we published our updated action plan on additional support for learning, which outlines the further work that we will undertake to ensure that teaching staff continue to receive training to support all children who have additional support needs, including those who are neurodivergent.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

I am sure that the cabinet secretary will join me in welcoming the launch of Scottish Borders Council’s neurodiversity strategy, which is championed by our fantastic Borders councillors.

Does she agree that that strategy sets an excellent precedent for how to improve our national curriculum for neurodivergent pupils, and will she explore ways of implementing similar plans across Scotland?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I thank Rachael Hamilton for bringing the work of the council to my attention. I would be more than happy to receive further information about what Scottish Borders Council has achieved, and what it hopes to achieve, in this important area. I, my officials and Education Scotland will be more than happy to see what lessons can be learned across the country, so I look forward to further correspondence on the issue, if Rachael Hamilton wishes it.

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Young and neurodivergent constituents tell me that more additional training is needed, but also that a world of difference can be made by small changes to the school day, such as instigating one-way systems in corridors to reduce busy jostling—as many schools decided to do during Covid—and reducing instances of loud decorative classrooms that have overwhelming visual stimuli. Does she agree, and is she satisfied that that area is adequately covered in the autism kit for schools and that such things are being actioned?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I very much agree that listening to the views of young people is vital in this area, as in all areas. As the young ambassadors for inclusion put it in their vision statement, a

dults in schools

“should ask, listen and act, on what the young people say about the support that works best for them.”

Such a way of working with and involving children and young people is also set out for local authorities in the statutory guidance on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

The autism toolbox sets out information on sensory differences and what approaches can be taken to support young people who are affected by them. It also provides links to tools such as the sensory audit for schools and classrooms. The autism toolbox working group is currently undertaking work to update the toolbox. That is due for completion in spring 2023. I would welcome any specific feedback from Fiona Hyslop and her constituents about what the working group should consider.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

Next year, I hope, we will see a learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill, for which recruitment of a lived-experience advisory panel is under way. Does the cabinet secretary feel that the commissioner that it is envisaged will be in the bill will have a part to play in extending knowledge and experience to teachers and educationists across Scotland, when the bill becomes an act?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

The learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill is important work that is being undertaken by the Government. It is part of our programme for government. Kevin Stewart, the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, who will be taking forward that work, announced that the Government will carry out the scoping work on the remit and powers of the bill, including a commissioner that could result from it, during this parliamentary year. I very much look forward—as, I am sure, Kevin Stewart does—to working with colleagues from across the parties to make that very important piece of legislation as stringent and useful as possible.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Earlier this year, I visited, with the cabinet secretary, Touch primary school, where we saw the pioneering neurodevelopmental pathway project that is being trialled by schools in the area. However, I am still hearing from families in Fife who are desperate for that kind of multi-agency support for their children to be rolled out further.

Has the pilot concluded, what findings were gleaned from the trial and does the Scottish Government have firm plans to roll out that type of programme to other areas across Scotland?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

It was a pleasure to accompany

Mark Ruskell

on that visit, which was also undertaken by Kevin Stewart. Given that the project was a pathway project, it sits under health rather than education. I can perhaps ensure that Mr Stewart writes to the member with further details of where the project has got to and, importantly, the lessons that have been learned, not just for Fife but for across the country. I will make sure that Mr Stewart copies me in to that letter.

If Mr Ruskell would like further discussions on that with me or with Kevin Stewart, I am sure that we would be delighted to take that up, given the very useful visit that we had together.

University and College Union and Educational Institute of Scotland (Mandate for Strike Action)

Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a vote in favour of strike action by more than 80 per cent of members of the University and College Union and more than 90 per cent of members of the Educational Institute of Scotland is a democratic mandate for strike action. (S6O-01661)

Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)

I recognise that reaching such a threshold provides the legal right to strike under the provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016.

Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)

I thank the minister for that brief answer.

UCU members were on strike last week and the week before, with more action planned. EIS members are taking 16 days of strike action early in the new year. Today, members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers are taking part in strike action right across Scotland.

The cabinet secretary often speaks of a fixed budget. The Government does not have, and never has had, a fixed budget. The cabinet secretary speaks, as well, of unaffordability, but when will the cabinet secretary and the minister understand that what we really cannot afford is demoralised and undervalued teachers, more disruption to the education of our children, university staff on poor pay and precarious contracts, and a mediocre Government that is too indifferent, intransigent and inept to fund a fair pay settlement for the people who work in our universities, our colleges and our schools?

Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)

F

irst, I note that the brevity of my answer was only a reflection of the straightforward nature of the question.

On what Richard Leonard said about the Scottish Government not having a fixed budget, I am bound to say that that is inaccurate. We are talking about this year’s funding settlement and this year’s pay settlement. In that respect, the budget was fixed last year, so we are operating to a fixed budget.

On the situation in higher education, I am in regular dialogue with unions and management alike, and I continue to urge them to engage with one another to ensure that they can successfully resolve their dispute. The Scottish Government does not have a direct role in those negotiations.

The Scottish Government’s clear position is that the offer on the table for teachers is a fair settlement and, above all, an affordable settlement. The Scottish Government cannot go further in terms of what is on the table. That is the fact of the matter.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Of

course, the Scottish Government does have a seat at the table, so that was a disingenuous answer.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We do not, in respect of universities, which is what the minister said.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I mean in

relation to the schools dispute.

Pupils have had heavily disrupted education for the past two years, for reasons that we all know. Now, as we have just heard, that will continue into the new year. What contingency plans does the minister have in place to help and support pupils—particularly those who are in the senior phase of their education—to make up for that lost learning and prepare them for the very important exams that lie ahead of them in the spring?

Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)

First, let me correct Mr Kerr’s observation. When I referred to the fact that we are not directly involved in negotiations, that was a specific reference to higher education. I am sure that Mr Kerr understands that that is the case.

On the contingency that we have put in place to support young people, the fundamental point is that we need to ensure that young people get the support that they deserve. There is a range of measures in place, through remote learning and e-Sgoil, to support young people in the best fashion that we can support them, so that they can do the best they can in the exam period ahead.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 3 was withdrawn.

Neurodivergent People (Provision of Information in Easy-read Formats)

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

4. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with ministerial colleagues in relation to the automatic provision by public service bodies of easy-read formats to accommodate the needs of people who are neurodiverse. (S6O-01663)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I have had no specific discussions about the automatic provision of easy-read formats for people who are neurodiverse. All public bodies are subject to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, including provisions to consider “reasonable adjustments” that take account of people’s needs and preferences in certain circumstances.

To strengthen that, as part of our current review of the operation of the public sector equality duty in Scotland, we are proposing a new Scotland-specific duty that seeks to ensure that inclusive communication is embedded proportionately across the work of listed authorities when they are communicating with the public.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with people who are neurodiverse to improve opportunities, outcomes and support. To that end, we will introduce a learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill.

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

I am encouraged to hear about the work that the cabinet secretary proposes. As, I am sure, she will, does she appreciate that intervention of that kind is necessary to ensure that all public bodies realise that provision of material, whether it is in Braille or easy-read format, is essential to support the inclusion of all, and to ensure the equitable access of all to public services?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We are proposing the creation of a new Scotland-specific duty that seeks to ensure that inclusive communication is embedded proportionately across the work of the listed authorities when they are communicating with the public. From December 2021 to April 2022, we ran a public consultation that contained a series of detailed and ambitious proposals for changes to the PSED scheme. Obviously, that would sit alongside the Scottish Government’s other work to embed inclusive communications across the public sector, including development of national standards, best practice and a system of monitoring the work’s effectiveness.

Of course, we will engage further with stakeholders to ensure that any revised regulations—and the implementation environment around them—deliver our goal of better outcomes for people who continue to experience inequality.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Question 5 was withdrawn.

Educational Improvement (Enhanced Data Collection)

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to enhance data collection for educational improvement. (S6O-01665)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

The Scottish Government always aims to improve the availability, quality and consistency of data to extend its understanding of what works, in order to drive forward improvements in all parts of the Scottish education system. More recently, a consultation was launched in May this year, and the results from that will inform the 2023 national improvement framework and improvement plan.

Local stretch aims for improvement and closing the poverty-related attainment gap have been gathered as part of the Scottish attainment challenge and will be published this afternoon. I will make a statement to Parliament in which I will emphasise the collective ambition of local authorities to ensure recovery and accelerated progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap. That data will provide a strong indicator of ambition and a baseline for improvement.

Stephanie Callaghan (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)

Clearly, having useful, informative and up-to-date data is essential in driving improvements in education, especially as we look forward to reforms. How will enhanced data help to bring about improvements, specifically for learners in the senior phase of secondary education—secondary 4, 5 and 6 pupils?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Having access to comprehensive data enables schools and local authorities to analyse their performance within a culture of self-evaluation and reflection, and it enables Education Scotland to work with local authorities to provide improvement support. In order to support self-evaluation and improvement at the local level, the Scottish Government provides the Insight benchmarking tool, which helps schools to interrogate their data and use it to inform improvements and, ultimately, improve the outcomes for learners.

Pam Gosal (Conservative, West Scotland)

At the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s meeting on 21 September, Derek Smeall, from Glasgow Kelvin College, raised concerns about how completion and drop-out rates are recorded in Scotland’s colleges. When the Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Jamie Hepburn, appeared before the committee recently, he accepted that improvements are needed in that area. He stated:

“My ambition is to do it as soon as possible”—[

Official Report,

Education, Children and Young People

Committee,

2 November 2022; c 17.]

If we do not have accurate data on that issue, we cannot make informed decisions. What work is the minister undertaking to fix the issues with the collection of data on completion and drop-out rates?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Work is under way on the issue. We know that there are particular issues that the system does not deal with adequately. For example, someone might have left their course early because they moved on to another destination. They might have begun a college course but, later on, went to university or, indeed, into employment. We are keen to work with the college sector to ensure that useful data is being collected, because our ability to improve what is happening in that sector follows from that. However, I am sure that the minister will be delighted to hear more from Ms Gosal on how she thinks we should improve the system.

Language Learning Policy (Implementation)

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of its policy, “Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 Approach”. (S6O-01666)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I can report that almost all schools now provide an entitlement under the one-plus-two approach. To date, we have invested nearly £37 million in successfully achieving a culture shift in schools, with more children learning languages throughout the broad general education than ever before. This year’s funding of £2.5 million is supporting local authorities and other partners to deliver professional learning for teachers, provide classroom language assistants and deliver school outreach projects. We will continue to consolidate that progress by ensuring that our approach provides the most appropriate access to language learning for Scotland’s young people.

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

I welcome the fact that the one-plus-two language policy has been rolled out in all secondary schools and the vast majority of primary schools. It is clear from last month’s debate in Parliament on protecting Scotland’s indigenous languages that the Scottish Government has a strong commitment to language education, but it is important that other minority languages such as British Sign Language are not forgotten about. Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on progress on outstanding actions in the BSL national plan?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I fully agree on the importance of BSL as a language of Scotland and of making it available to young people to learn. The Government is working with Education Scotland, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages and others to promote BSL to local authorities and to ensure that teaching resources are available.

As for progress, we surveyed local authorities on language learning last year, and more than 100 primary schools reported that they were providing BSL as part of their one-plus-two offer. That is a significant increase on previous years, and it demonstrates that the investment that we made in improving language learning is delivering positive outcomes. I hope that, in the longer term, that approach will lead to improved understanding of BSL and of the deaf community and culture in Scotland, and we will continue our progress with the publication of the new BSL national plan for 2023 to 2029 next October.

Colin Beattie (Scottish National Party, Midlothian North and Musselburgh)

Will the Scottish Government review the one-plus-two language policy to bring it more in line with the European language framework, which will help Scotland to prepare for its return to the European Union as an independent member state?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

As the member might know, the one-plus-two approach was based on the principles of the European Council’s 2002 Barcelona agreement, which called for countries to teach pupils at least two foreign languages from an early age. We will continue to look to European best practice as we consider the future of language learning in schools, but I am pleased that our overall approach aligns with European principles. Our approach supports young people in being more confident in communicating with one another as well as with people from Europe and, indeed, around the world, which is essential if they are to become global citizens and participate in our institutions.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Here is a reality check. Between 2018 and 2022, there was a 34 per cent decline in the number of entries in higher French and a 38 per cent decline in the number of entries in higher German, whereas in England, over the same period, there was a 5 per cent increase in GCSE French and a 12 per cent increase in GCSE German. The Scottish National Party loves to parade its European credentials, but what is the reality? The reality is that we are in a country where young people are being deprived of the opportunity to develop the ability to learn other languages and, through that, other cultures. Given those take-up figures for French and German under the SNP, is the cabinet secretary concerned that there has been such a dramatic decline in that respect compared with other parts of the United Kingdom?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I notice that, in this instance, Mr Kerr is quite happy to make comparisons between England and Scotland, and I therefore look forward to him not making any comments if I ever do the same in reverse.

I recognise the important point that Mr Kerr makes about languages. It is important to note that the cohorts that will have benefited from the full language entitlement in the 10 years of broad general education will not yet have progressed to the senior phase, so the full impact of the one-plus-two policy in terms of national qualification entrances and passes has yet to be seen. However, I recognise that there is more to be done in this area. Perhaps we did not get into it in the Conservative Party debate on education yesterday, but if Mr Kerr would like to put forward concrete suggestions and proposals about what can be done, rather than just criticising, I will be more than happy to receive them.

Early Years Sector (Staffing)

Roz McCall (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to tackle the reported staffing crisis within the early years sector. (S6O-01667)

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

Scotland’s childcare workforce increased by 7,750 posts between 2016 and 2021 to deliver our transformational investment in 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare. Unlike in other parts of the United Kingdom, the overwhelming majority of funded providers in Scotland pay at least the real living wage.

However, I recognise that, as is the case in many areas of the economy, there are workforce challenges in the childcare sector, and we are committed to working with the sector to address them. That is why we are working with our partners to develop a strategic framework for Scotland’s childcare profession. The framework, which we will publish in the new year, will set out priorities for action across key areas, including recruitment and retention of staff.

Roz McCall (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The Scottish Childminding Association recently announced that 34 per cent of childminders have quit the profession since the expansion of funded early education and childcare in 2016. It warns that that figure could rise to a staggering 64 per cent by July 2026, with more than 10,500 childminding places being lost as a result.

Two years ago, the Scottish Childminding Association warned that a workforce crisis was coming. Today, that crisis is here, and the association’s calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

How does the minister plan to not only stop the exodus of childminders from the profession but replace the 2,000 childminding businesses that are already closed?

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

We are committed to building a vibrant, thriving childminding sector and to promoting childminding, along with other roles across the early learning and childcare sector, as a valued and fulfilling career choice. We welcome the SCMA’s annual audit and the updated evidence that it gives us with regard to the involvement of childminders in funded ELC. We want to encourage more people into childminding, and we are working with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to address the decline in the childminding workforce—a trend that is mirrored elsewhere in the UK. We also want new childminding services to develop in areas with limited access to this form of ELC, and that is why we are supporting a recruitment pilot, led by the SCMA and partners, that aims to recruit and train 100 new childminders in remote and rural areas.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We have a number of supplementary questions. They will have to be brief, as will the answers.

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

I am sure that the Government will be taking a number of actions to ensure that Scotland has a sustainable childcare sector. For the benefit of the chamber, will the minister outline them?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Be as brief as possible, minister.

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

I will certainly try to be brief.

We are committed to supporting a sustainable, diverse and thriving childcare sector and, alongside maintaining a robust but proportionate means of monitoring the financial sustainability of the sector, we are providing support through providing the funding to allow councils to pay sustainable rates to private and third sector providers and to childminders for the delivery of funded ELC; legislating to continue the nursery rates relief scheme, which provides 100 per cent relief on non-domestic rates to eligible day nurseries beyond 13 June 2023; and progressing the actions that are set out in the financial sustainability health check, including funding pilot programmes of targeted business gateway support, which will be available to all childcare services.

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

I have been contacted by a number of deeply concerned constituents regarding the lack of early years care that is available in Huntly in Aberdeenshire. The minister might be aware that one of the providers in the town, Kiddie Winkles nursery, has announced its closure in the coming weeks due to the Care Inspectorate’s concerns about the quality of the building. So far, Aberdeenshire Council appears to be unwilling to plug the gap, and families are reporting that they might have to give up work in a cost of living crisis.

Will the minister commit to working with the owners of the nursery and the Care Inspectorate to find a solution that will keep this vital service open?

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

Of course, Mr Marra will be aware that local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that every child can access a place, no matter where they reside. If Mr Marra wants to write to me with the details of that particular nursery, I will be happy to have my officials look into the difficulties that those parents are experiencing.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

I am sure that the minister is uncomfortable with the fact that one of her predecessors agreed that staff in private and voluntary nurseries are paid much less than their counterparts in council nurseries. What steps is she taking to close the gap with fair and equal funding, no matter where staff work?

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

I am sure that Mr Rennie is aware that our funding agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities allows councils to pay sustainable rates for funded ELC hours to private and third sector providers and childminders. The joint Scottish Government and COSLA guidance, which was published in May this year, is clear that rates should reflect up-to-date information on the costs of delivery, provide scope for reinvestment and enable delivery of the real living wage commitment.

Although the funding to providers in the third, private and childminding sectors is an important element of local authority ELC budgets, that funding must also cover a wide range of other costs. For example, as I said in response to Mr Marra’s question, local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that every child can access a place, no matter where they live, and they must provide services that would not be commercially viable for other providers.

For Mr Rennie’s information, on average, the funding to private and voluntary providers for 1,140 hours of funded ELC equates to between 33 and 45 per cent of their income.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I am going to have to set homework on the definition of “brief”. Brian Whittle should be very brief.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

Are we sitting comfortably? To follow on from Willie Rennie’s question, the disparity in the salaries that can be offered to nursery staff in the private sector and those in the public sector is an issue. What can the Scottish Government do to try to prevent staff from drifting away from private sector nurseries to the public sector?

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

The recruitment and retention of a childcare workforce with the right skills, values and attributes remains a priority. Given the tight labour market, that is a key challenge. We have taken a number of actions to support recruitment and retention in the childcare workforce, including providing funding to local authorities to enable them to set local sustainable rates; working with the Scottish Social Services Council to invite those whose registrations have lapsed in recent years to rejoin the sector; providing resources to support recruitment to all parts of the sector; and working with partners on childminder-specific recruitment programmes.

Scottish Attainment Challenge (Local Authority Stretch Aims)

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business is a statement by Shirley-Anne Somerville on the Scottish attainment challenge—local authority stretch aims for recovery and accelerating progress in 2022-23. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I am pleased to provide this statement to Parliament to update it on the setting of local stretch aims for raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

At the outset, I thank all local authorities for approaching the new requirement as part of the Scottish attainment challenge with commitment and rigour.

The Government is absolutely committed to closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Since its launch in 2015, the Scottish attainment challenge has been a key part of our strategy to do that. We know that it has had a positive impact on children and young people. Our evaluation shows that almost nine out of 10 headteachers who responded reported improvements in closing the poverty-related gap in attainment and/or health and wellbeing as a result of Scottish attainment challenge-funded approaches.

To build on the progress that has been made to date and in response to the impact that the pandemic has had on children and young people—particularly those impacted by poverty—I have taken the opportunity to make some fundamental changes to the Scottish attainment challenge. Key among those changes is a new mission for the Scottish attainment challenge that focuses squarely on outcomes for children and young people: to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.

I do not expect teachers to achieve that on their own. Schools and education services must collaborate across services and local partners to make progress.

That

approach recognises that every local authority has a part to play. From the £1

billion investment in the Scottish attainment challenge over the course of this parliamentary session, we are now distributing strategic equity funding to all 32 local authorities.

I know that that was welcomed by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. That comes alongside continued investment of

more than £130 million per year in pupil equity funding, which goes directly to schools, and continued funding to support the educational outcomes of care-experienced children and young people.

Alongside that significant investment, Education Scotland continues to provide local authorities and schools with a range of support. That includes a new approach that involves working with local authorities to agree a model of universal, targeted and intensive support. In addition, Education Scotland’s range of published resources includes the new “Scotland’s Equity Toolkit: supporting recovery and accelerating progress”, which draws together in one place the range of resources, research and learning from the Scottish attainment challenge.

Earlier this year, we published the framework for recovery and accelerating progress, which made clear the respective roles and responsibilities, and introduced local stretch aims, for closing the poverty-related attainment gap. I will now focus on those local stretch aims.

We know that a from-the-ground-up approach works best in embedding improvement. Therefore, the stretch aims have been developed by local authorities using local knowledge, data and expertise, and they express each local authority’s ambitions for learning and its learners. Local authorities operate in a range of different contexts and have different starting points for that work. At the same time, I am committed to the importance of ensuring that every child and young person has the same opportunities through their education, wherever they live in Scotland.

Through the range of analyses of the Scottish attainment challenge, we know that we are making progress, but we need to progress more quickly. A key element of the progress that has been made to date is a change in the culture and ethos across the education system, which has raised the profile of equity in education. Through the refreshed mission of the Scottish attainment challenge and the introduction of local stretch aims, we have shifted our focus towards outcomes for our children and young people who are impacted by poverty. Key to improving those outcomes is the work done in local systems with schools, third sector organisations and other local services.

Further, by introducing a requirement for local stretch aims, we also seek to ensure clear local ownership of progress towards the overall mission of the Scottish attainment challenge; drive a greater transparency around data for improvement, creating opportunities for learning and partnership working; and help to address unwarranted variation between local authorities in attainment and progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

With consistency and flexibility in mind, the requirements for stretch aims involve a core plus model. The core aims are a sub-set of the existing 11 national improvement framework measures of the poverty-related attainment gap. They include aims for literacy and numeracy in the broad general education phase and in the senior phase at Scottish credit and qualifications framework levels 5 and 6; sustained positive destinations through the annual participation measure; and a locally identified measure for health and wellbeing.

Alongside those core aims, for which all local authorities must set stretch aims, the “plus” element of the model enables local authorities to set aims for their own local improvement priorities. To be clear, the stretch aims are locally identified and determined by councils. Councils have undertaken rigorous local processes to set them and will work with schools to meet them, keeping in mind the local context, the continuing impact of Covid and the increasing impact of the cost of living crisis.

Collectively, the core stretch aims set by local authorities show a great deal of ambition for recovery and accelerating progress. Aggregated, they represent local ambitions for improvement on 2020-21, which was the last year of published data when the requirement was introduced, and 2018-19, which is the last year of pre-pandemic data. I welcome that level of ambition. However, I also know that, ultimately, what matters is the implementation of the plans, supported through strategic equity funding, that underpin the stretch aims and the progress made locally throughout the academic year.

For overall attainment and for closing the poverty-related attainment gap in literacy and numeracy in primary schools, the collective stretch aims of local authorities amount to working towards achieving the biggest two-year improvement recorded since the introduction of the challenge. If the stretch aims for literacy and numeracy are achieved in full and that rate of progress continues, we will be on track to substantially eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap in primary schools, which is where the Scottish attainment challenge started. Given the effect of Covid-19 on children and young peoples’ achievement of curriculum for excellence levels in 2020-21, the aims represent significant local ambition for recovery back to and beyond the national position pre-pandemic.

For the senior phase, we asked local authorities to set stretch aims for SCQF levels 5 and 6. In contrast to the dip in achievement of curriculum for excellence levels—ACEL—attainment as a result of the pandemic, the changes to approaches to certification played a part in record levels of attainment in the senior phase in 2020-21. Therefore, I welcome local authorities’ aims to sustain or exceed the levels of attainment that were achieved in 2020-21.

In terms of the annual participation measure, which helps us to understand outcomes for young people, local authorities have set aims to improve on the already high 92.2 per cent in 2020-21 to 93.4 per cent in 2022-23, and to narrow the poverty-related gap by 1.2 percentage points. In terms of the range of health and wellbeing aims and the plus aims, which reflect local authorities’ various local priorities, there is a wide range of different aims for progress this year.

Those include aims for improved attendance and participation; aims that break down the component parts of some specific core aims—for example, focusing on the elements of reading, writing, listening and talking—aims for care-experienced children and young people; and aims that span the full learner journey. There are aims for early years and some that capture the full range of achievements of children and young people in the senior phase, including foundation apprenticeships and a focus on learner pathways.

What matters now is local progress towards those stretch aims.

Detailed questions on the ambitions of individual local authorities for their children and young people are for local authorities themselves to address. The impact of the pandemic—and now the impact of the current cost crisis—means the moral imperative to support our children and young people who have been most impacted by poverty to achieve to their full potential is stronger than ever. In that difficult context, we remain absolutely focused on our children and young people.

That is why, alongside the £1 billion investment in the Scottish attainment challenge, the Government is supporting children and young people in numerous ways. We are tackling the cost of the school day through the expansion of free school meals and continued investment in the school clothing grant. Teacher numbers are currently the highest that they have been since 2008, with the number of primary teachers the highest since 1980; and we have delivered the highest education spend among the United Kingdom nations, and more teachers per pupil than any other UK nation, while also protecting free tuition in higher education.

We are also listening to children and young people, parents, carers and professionals through the national discussion and our reform agenda, and we are delivering on the national mission to tackle child poverty through measures such as our increased Scottish child payment—a key benefit that is unavailable anywhere else in the UK and which is projected to lift 50,000 children out of poverty next year.

Taken together, those measures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. We will continue to work together with our local government partners to deliver on our shared mission to improve outcomes for children and young people.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for that, after which we will need to move on to the next item of business.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance sight of her statement. There is a great deal in it and a great deal of information that lies behind it—we have also been sent spreadsheets—that deserves much more scrutiny. I hope that we will have lots of opportunities for that.

However, I welcome some aspects of the statement. One is the fact that the cabinet secretary acknowledges that it is not just down to teachers to achieve the reduction in the poverty-related attainment gap, and that there is much need for further collaborative work between agencies and services to support individuals and their families.

I agree with the cabinet secretary that it is about implementation—we have been talking about that for a long time and it is not a new subject. Audit Scotland has made it clear that it has grave concerns about implementation and outcomes.

The cabinet secretary is also right to highlight the importance of attendance because, when I speak to teachers, they say that they have grave concerns about the regular attendance of pupils at school in general, particularly in the post-pandemic reality.

The statement makes some claims about narrowing the attainment gap. I think that those claims are highly debatable, because the facts do not always stack up with what Scottish National Party ministers like to claim in the chamber. However, many educational experts have said that, to restore Scottish education to the standards that we once had, we should be focusing on raising attainment overall rather than on closing the attainment gap, which could lead to an overall levelling down of Scotland’s educational attainment. I hope that we can all agree that we should be levelling up.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I need a question, Mr Kerr.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I will come to my question now. Fewer pupils in primary 1, primary 4 and primary 7 are achieving the expected levels of literacy, reading, writing, listening, talking and numeracy. In relation to the statement, and the progress that is measurable, why does the cabinet secretary feel that so little progress—if we can agree that there has been progress at all—has been made so far in this work?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

There was a lot in that question, and I would like to have spent some time on it, because there is a fair bit in it on which I agree with Mr Kerr, which does not always happen in debates. I welcome what he said.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

We should strive for more of that.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We should certainly strive for more of that, and I will do my best.

Mr Kerr is correct to talk about attendance. I point out that attendance levels at the moment seem to be roughly the same as they were pre-pandemic, although I appreciate that there are concerns about why pupils are not attending, which might be for a variety of reasons. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and I have given attention to that issue and will continue to give it attention, and Mr Kerr is right to point it out.

I appreciate that there is a lot of information from each council on the matter but, when Mr Kerr looks at that information, he will see that, as well as information on the ambition to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap, there is information on raising attainment overall, which is important and is something that councils, as well as the Scottish Government, are keen to do. I do not think that it is an either/or situation; it is about both, and I hope that Mr Kerr finds that in the material when he looks at it.

Pre-pandemic, year on year, there was a positive trend in the ACEL data, which has clearly been impacted by Covid, as Mr Kerr said. We need to wait for the new information on the results in the ACEL data for the most recent years.

On Mr Kerr’s first point on further scrutiny, I would welcome further scrutiny; indeed, I have written to the committee to invite it to do just that.

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

We hear the statement from the cabinet secretary today, when schools are closed, kids are at home and striking members of teaching unions are outside this Parliament. The first action that the cabinet secretary must take is to solve this dispute as a matter of the utmost priority.

We must not forget that the policy refresh is being paid for by cuts for the poorest children in the poorest communities, which has been described in this Parliament by school leaders as an “immoral disgrace”.

The statement claims that

“If the stretch aims for literacy and numeracy are achieved in full and that rate of progress continues, we will be on track to substantially eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap in primary schools”.

Will the cabinet secretary confirm whether that means by 2026? More cynical people than me will say that this exercise amounts to an attempt to pass on to local authorities the responsibility to meet the SNP’s pledge. No one will forget that it was Nicola Sturgeon’s pledge—her “defining mission”. This week, the SNP is asking teachers to do more. Is it right that, next week, this Government will be asking them to do more with much less?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I genuinely ask Mr Marra to approach this in the way that the Government, Education Scotland and local authorities have. It was a new process for local authorities, and I commend them for the way in which they have approached it.

When I talk about substantially eliminating the poverty-related attainment gap, I mean by 2026. We recognise that there are different roles for everyone in the work. There is a role for the Scottish Government and a role for our national agencies, including Education Scotland and its attainment advisers, and the work that they do to provide support to local authorities. However, there is an important role for local authorities as well. They have a statutory duty in relation to the provision of education and the improvement of education services.

We are not trying to pass the buck; we are trying to genuinely work together to recognise our different roles, have some transparency on the data and deliver the improvement that we all want.

Mr Marra mentioned the current pay dispute with teachers. For the sake of time, I will briefly reiterate the Government’s position that the trade unions’ current ask of a 10 per cent flat rate is not affordable in a fixed budget. We are absolutely committed to resolving the dispute, but we need to find a way to do that that is fair and affordable within the fixed budget that we have.

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

Clearly, it has to be a partnership endeavour, so how will the Scottish Government and its agencies support schools and local education authorities to achieve improved attainment and tackle the poverty-related attainment gap? I am thinking specifically about how the Government will ensure that the best practice that has been gleaned from all the work that has been done to this point is shared among councils and our schools, so that the delivery focus can be on approaches that have been proven to pay dividends.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Mr Dey rightly points to the collaborative work that is required to solve the poverty-related attainment gap. The framework for recovery and accelerating progress that was published this year makes clear the importance of that collaboration right across the system to share best practice and close that gap. Education Scotland, for example, has a key role in professional advice and guidance, professional learning opportunities and subject networks, and through its range of published resources, including the publication highlighting effective practice in the use of pupil equity funding.

The launch of “Scotland’s Equity Toolkit: supporting recovery and accelerating progress”, which provides practitioners with access to a range of evidence and research, is also important. Again, it points to collaboration and to the way in which national Government, national agencies and local government are very much trying to work together to achieve the outcomes that we all want for children and young people.

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

We can all agree that headteachers will play a critical role if we are ever to make progress in closing the attainment gap. The cabinet secretary’s statement claims that nine out of 10 headteachers have responded citing improvements in closing the poverty-related attainment gap and/or in health and wellbeing. To help people in the chamber and those who are watching, perhaps the cabinet secretary could expand on how that was measured, if we are now to focus on outcomes. Nine out of 10 sounds impressive, but how many headteachers responded out of the 2,129 headteachers in Scotland and how many of our local authorities are represented in that data?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I do not have the specific details about the number of headteachers who responded—the data was from the most recent headteachers survey—but I would be happy to provide that to Ms Webber. It is not a compulsory survey for headteachers to hand back to Government and its agencies. The figure was from that survey, and we will provide information on it in due course.

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

Will the cabinet secretary set out what impact the cost of living crisis and the UK Government’s wholly inadequate response to it will have on our national mission to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and will she set out what action the Scottish Government is taking to support families through the crisis?

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Is that relevant?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

The Conservatives are asking, “Is that relevant?” Yes, and let me be very blunt about why it is relevant. Although we can do everything within education to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap, the easiest and simplest way to do so, if only we had the powers, would be to tackle poverty itself. That is absolutely why it is relevant and I am genuinely disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, that the Scottish Conservatives cannot see that link.

The Scottish Government analysis that was published in April highlights the devastating impact of successive UK Government welfare reforms that have been imposed since 2015, which have had a very detrimental impact on children and young people right across the country. Contrast that with the Scottish Government approach: in this financial year, we have invested £3 billion through a range of measures that will help to mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis, whether that is the Scottish child payment, the fuel insecurity fund or our new winter heating payment, which begins in 2023. I am determined, through the new stretch aims and the £1 billion increased investment in the Scottish attainment challenge programme, to support the work that is being done to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and to support those families who need it, but the lack of action that is being taken by the UK Government is disappointing and is certainly not helping.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

The cabinet secretary said:

“I do not expect teachers to achieve that on their own. Schools and education services must collaborate across services and local partners to make progress.”

However, with 1,784 fewer teachers since 2007, cuts to support staff over that time and cuts to staff at the centre, who in the schools and education services will do that?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Teacher numbers are currently at their highest since 2008, with the number of primary teachers at its highest since 1980. There are now more than 2,000 teachers more than there were before the start of the pandemic, and the ratio of pupil to teacher is at its lowest since 2009. Through the Scottish attainment challenge, we have been trying to recognise and encourage the work that schools do collaboratively with other parts of the public sector and with third sector colleagues—that is one of the changes that we have made to widen our approach to the Scottish attainment challenge as part of the refresh.

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

I welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement and the fact that all local authorities have set out their ambitions for tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. Can she give her view on the ambition that councils as a whole have demonstrated across Scotland?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Again, I take the opportunity to thank councils for how they have approached this work. I am pleased to see that, when they are taken together, the stretch aims for progress point to real ambition, and build on the progress that was made, particularly pre-pandemic.

For literacy and numeracy in primary schools in particular, we are seeing ambitions to close the gap by more than 7 percentage points compared to 2021. If those aims are achieved, that will represent the biggest two-year improvement since the introduction of the challenge.

Councils have set important and ambitious aims, and the Government and Education Scotland look forward to supporting them in their work, taking close cognisance of the local context and difficulties that local authorities are experiencing in supporting children, young people and families during the cost of living crisis.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

The statement is an admission that the poverty-related attainment gap will not be closed completely by 2026. At the current rate of progress, can the education secretary set out by when—what year—she expects that gap to be closed completely?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Forgive me

if this is not correct, Presiding Officer, but I think that I mentioned that during my statement. For the avoidance of doubt—in case I did not mention it—I repeat that, if local authorities achieve their stretch aims for literacy and numeracy in full and that rate of progress is sustained, we will be on track to substantially eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap in primary schools, which is where the Scottish attainment challenge started. If that was not clear enough in my statement, I add that we will do so by 2026.

Rona Mackay (Scottish National Party, Strathkelvin and Bearsden)

What steps are being taken to improve outcomes for care-experienced pupils, and how are stretch aims used to drive improvement for care-experienced children and young people?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

The Scottish attainment challenge has a very strong focus on assisting care-experienced young people. Funding continues to be given to all local authorities for that specific issue , and I commend them again for how they are approaching this work and learning from one another, with the assistance of Education Scotland, to ensure that we see an improvement in attainment for care-experienced young people across the country.

Pam Gosal (Conservative, West Scotland)

The cabinet secretary mentioned in her statement that the Scottish Government has tackled the cost of the school day through the expansion of free school meals. We have all heard countless times about the positive impact that eating nutritious meals has on a child’s ability to learn. Why has the Scottish Government failed to deliver free school meals for primary 6 and 7 pupils in August, and when will free school meals be extended to secondary pupils? Does she accept that accelerating the provision of free school meals will have a positive impact on pupils’ attainment?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I agree that the provision of free school meals is an important policy, which is why the Scottish Government is committed to universal free school meals in primary schools. That is why the budget for this year included £30 million for capital improvements for local authorities, because facilities need to be improved to allow us to move forward with primary 6 and 7.

That is exactly why we have had to look again at the timeline. For the benefit of Ms Gosal, I point out that the current system in Scotland is the most generous one in the UK.

Fulton MacGregor (Scottish National Party, Coatbridge and Chryston)

The cabinet secretary has set out the responsibility and approach of the Scottish Government and its agencies. However, provision of education in Scotland is clearly the responsibility of local authorities. Does she agree that it is crucial that every local authority, including North Lanarkshire Council, where I live, takes ownership of the national mission to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I do not mind repeating this: all local authorities have taken the development of stretch aims exceptionally seriously, which I commend them for, as it is a new approach that we have been taking.

As we have said on a number of occasions during this item of business, it is crucial that we recognise the different responsibilities in different parts of the education system. There is absolutely a role for the Scottish Government and, as I have mentioned previously, there is a statutory responsibility for improvement in councils, so it is important that we work together.

We support the work of councils with £43 million in strategic equity funding, which will assist them in setting the strategic direction for local approaches to closing the poverty-related attainment gap. The stretch aims that councils have set and we are publishing today underpin lots of detailed work, through a range of local approaches, that is already being undertaken to improve the situation in our schools and, therefore, to improve outcomes for learners.

Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)

The first step to tackle the stubborn

attainment gap has to be ensuring that our teachers are properly supported and resourced and that their health and wellbeing is properly invested in. What is the Scottish Government doing to reduce the increasing pressure that is causing so much anxiety in our overstretched teaching profession?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

One of the ways—and it is just one of the ways—in which we would like to do that, and are committed to doing that, is a reduction in class contact time for teachers. That is a commitment that we have made, recognising the heavy workload of teachers. I completely appreciate and support the fact that national Government has a role in supporting our teachers. For the sake of brevity, I will leave it at that one example.

International Human Rights Days

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-07133, in the name of Christina McKelvie, on international human rights days. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons.

Christina McKelvie (Scottish National Party, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse)

I am pleased to open today’s debate marking international human rights day and the international day of human rights defenders.

The dates of 9 and 10 December are important ones in the calendar. They remind us of the universal and inalienable human rights that belong to everyone and which were unanimously endorsed by the United Nations general assembly on 10 December 1948. These important days serve to celebrate the work of the thousands of campaigners, activists and human rights defenders who work around the world to promote and protect human rights.

Human rights are transformative in their intent and effect. They guide this Parliament in its work and they define a programme of action for the world at large. Let me quote the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who summed up the role and necessity of human rights. He said:

“Human rights are humanity’s common language”,

and they provide

“a distinctive voice of conscience, reason and wisdom in a fragmented world.”

He said that we need to implement human rights in a way

“that transforms us as a society, that shows us how we interact with each other, how we interact with communities, how we care for each other”.

The high commissioner’s call for conscience, reason and wisdom in a world of turmoil, and his emphasis on the transformative role of human rights, speak directly to all members of this Parliament, and we can all contribute to achieving that vision.

We mark international human rights day and international human rights defenders day because we believe in dignity, decency and humanity, and the values that inspired the universal declaration. The Scottish Government stands in solidarity with everyone who promotes and defends human rights. Today, I pay special tribute to the thousands of human rights defenders around the world who challenge human rights abuses and hold the powerful to account. They are deserving of our admiration and support, as well as our profound gratitude and respect.

In 2018, we established the Scottish human rights defender fellowship in partnership with the University of Dundee, Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders as a way to lend practical support to people who defend human rights. In the past five years, we have welcomed human rights defenders from 11 countries. This year, we are honoured to welcome Junia and Riska from Kenya and Indonesia respectively.

In Kenya, civil society and civic spaces are facing more attacks. In the face of that, journalists and women human rights defenders in particular continue to work courageously to expose human rights abuses and hold authority to account. In Indonesia, too, civic spaces are shrinking. On Tuesday, a new criminal code containing more than 600 articles was passed. That code, which has been described by Amnesty International as a “significant blow” to human rights in Indonesia, is far reaching and could further oppress or persecute minority groups such as LGBTI people.

All human rights defenders are at risk, but the risks to those who defend land, indigenous rights and communities that face the impacts of climate change are increasing. In the decade between 2012 and 2022, 1,733 land and environmental defenders were killed as a direct consequence of their work. As community organisers and advocates, women are often at particular risk.

Therefore, I am pleased that the Scottish Government has made available £50,000 of funding to create a new fellowship based at the University of Dundee. That announcement was made last month at the 27th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP27—by my colleague Màiri McAllan, the Minister for Environment and Land Reform. That new fellowship will build on existing Scottish support for human rights by giving women human rights defenders from the global south the opportunity to spend several months in Scotland, where they can continue their work in a place of safety and with support.

As a modern progressive nation, it is incumbent on us to demonstrate our own leadership on human rights. Scotland has a responsibility to lead by example to ensure that its human rights record meets the highest of standards.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)

It is now more than a year since the United Kingdom Supreme Court identified the changes that were required to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill to enable the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to be incorporated into Scots law. A year has gone by in which children have continued to be denied access to justice and rights. When can we expect those changes to be brought to Parliament?

Christina McKelvie (Scottish National Party, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse)

I reassure Alex Cole-Hamilton that we remain absolutely committed to incorporating the UNCRC into Scots law, as far as that is possible within devolved competence, and to doing that as soon as practicable. We are currently engaging with the UK Government about the proposed amendments to the bill to establish whether it is broadly content that those amendments will bring the bill within legislative competence, and to reduce the risk of another referral to the Supreme Court.

The timetable for bringing the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration cannot yet be confirmed, but I reassure Alex Cole-Hamilton that preparations are under way for that.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

Will the minister take an intervention?

Christina McKelvie (Scottish National Party, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse)

No, thank you. I will carry on, because I think that we are pretty tight for time. I might take an intervention from Mr Kerr at another point.

The Scottish Government’s human rights bill will give effect to a wide range of internationally recognised human rights. It will strengthen domestic legal protections by making them enforceable in Scots law. The bill will include provision to ensure that everyone—including LGBTI people and older people—has equal access to the substantive rights that are contained in the bill. In addition to incorporating rights from core existing UN human rights treaties, it will establish a new right to a healthy environment.

The Government has a clear vision for human rights in Scotland, which includes resolutely defending the existing Human Rights Act 1998 in the face of UK Government attempts to replace it with a British bill of rights. The 1998 act is one of the most important statutes ever passed by the UK Parliament. It plays a critically important role in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the whole United Kingdom and is woven into the fabric of the constitutional settlements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has a 22-year track record of delivering justice, including for some of the most vulnerable people in society. It has ensured that gay couples have the same housing rights as heterosexual couples, protected the rights of disabled and older people who receive care and enabled victims of the Hillsborough disaster to obtain justice. In other words, the 1998 act has brought human rights home.

The UK Government’s ill-considered Bill of Rights Bill poses a clear and present danger to our most fundamental rights and freedoms. The bill has been roundly condemned by some of the UK’s most eminent legal experts and was the subject of repeated expressions of concern when the UK’s human rights record was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council in November. Even Liz Truss, in her short-lived tenure as Prime Minister, seemed to understand the dangers posed by that bill. She halted its progress at Westminster and sacked the Secretary of State for Justice.

For the time being, the bill, and its principal architect, are back. The proposals in that bill are alarming. If passed, it would substantially change the convention rights embedded in the Scotland Act 1998 and put the UK on a collision course with the Council of Europe. That all remains uncertain: the bill might yet be shelved, for the third time, by a second Prime Minister. The Secretary of State for Justice has no mandate to force through the bill of rights because repealing and replacing the Human Rights Act 1998 act formed no part of the UK Government’s election manifesto.

On our part, the Scottish Parliament has repeatedly expressed its support for the Human Rights Act 1998. We have called on the UK Government to avoid any action that would weaken human rights protection in Scotland and throughout the UK.