Scottish Parliament, 30 November 2023

342 contributions from 71 members. The official report.

General Question Time

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

Good morning. The first item of business is general question time. As ever, I would appreciate succinct questions and answers to match in order to get in as many questions as possible. Members who are seeking to ask a supplementary question should press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question.

Teacher Training (Employment-based Routes)

Elizabeth Smith (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

1. To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is in relation to employment-based routes to teacher training. (S6O-02822)

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

The Scottish Government is supportive of a range of university-based routes into teaching, and we are open to working with our university providers to consider alternative routes that lead to an appropriate teaching qualification. The member will be aware that we offer bursaries for career changers who wish to become teachers in our most hard-to-fill subjects. However, it is the General Teaching Council for Scotland that determines what constitutes a recognised teaching qualification.

Elizabeth Smith (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I am asking the question because of concerns that have been expressed to me by those who have been working with the University of Buckingham as mentors to postgraduate certificate in education students that this might be the last year that the University of Buckingham offers its highly regarded and rigorous training course in Scotland. Allegedly, that is because of changes to Scottish Government policy on employment-based routes into teacher training. Can I ask the minister for some verification of that, and can he provide me with details about what has happened?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

The University of Buckingham offering was at no time an employment-based route into teaching as such; it was a transitional arrangement that followed the requirement for teachers working in the independent school sector to be registered with the GTCS, which was introduced in 2017. The University of Buckingham delivers a top-up programme to enable that to happen, but it was accredited only for a small category of teachers, with a limited timescale in which to complete it.

I hope that that provides Liz Smith with sufficient clarity, but if it does not or if I have not quite captured the essence of her question, I am more than happy to engage with her further on that.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

Will the minister confirm that the Scottish Government is still committed to a graduate teaching profession?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to the teaching profession full stop, but it will always engage with opportunities to universities to see how we enhance that further.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Willie Rennie is joining us online.

Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)

The minister will know that I am concerned about the high levels of unemployment and short-term contracts in the teaching profession. That will not be particularly attractive to those who are looking to switch careers into teaching. What is the minister doing about recruiting the 3,500 extra teachers who were promised and the reduction in teacher contact time that will be essential to recruit those extra teachers?

Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)

As Mr Rennie knows, that is not my area of responsibility, but I am more than happy to write back to him in full detail on that. I know that he had an exchange with the cabinet secretary in the chamber not so long ago, when I think she answered that question quite fully.

Subsidised Bus Routes

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities to ensure that any subsidised bus routes are maintained. (S6O-02823)

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Local authorities receive funding from the Scottish Government via the general revenue grant and have a duty to consider supporting socially necessary services that are otherwise not commercially viable. In 2021-22, local authorities spent £55 million supporting bus services in that way.

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

Stirling Council has recently launched its budget consultation, which includes three options for public transport, all of which would see cuts to the subsidised X10 and C60 services, which are vital in linking Stirling’s rural communities. W

hat conversations take place with local authorities to ensure that there is an awareness of the importance of the provision of bus services in rural areas?

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Under the Transport Act 1985, local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular bus services, and they can subsidise those services at their discretion. That means that local transport authorities can provide subsidy for services that are not provided on a commercial basis, but that is entirely a matter for local authorities to determine, and the Scottish Government has no powers to intervene in those matters.

Under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, local transport authorities now have powers that enable them to run their own services. Those powers sit alongside their existing powers to subsidise local services. However, it is for local transport authorities to decide whether they want to use those powers to improve services. I discussed rural transport bus issues with the regional transport partnerships only this week.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

The M2 bus that runs from Toryglen to Castlemilk, in my region, is an hourly service that is regularly used by older people, and it is the only bus that serves the bottom of Spittal and Dunure Drive. For the past month, it has been reduced from an hourly service, and recently to no service at all, due to repairs. It has taken over a month for that work to be done and there has been no replacement. What can the minister do to establish why that has gone on for so long? What mechanism can she put in place to ensure that replacement services are there now and in the future?

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

I am sure that the member will be aware that the bus services are run by commercial operators in the deregulated market. As we have just discussed, some are subsidised by the local authority, but they are run by private companies.

I appreciate that, as is generally the case across all transport areas, repairs and replacement of parts are placing pressure on transport issues. When it comes to bus services, the member, as an MSP, is best placed to make representations on behalf of her constituents directly to the bus company. If she has not yet met with the bus company, I strongly encourage her to do so.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I ask the minister about the importance of local political leadership on this issue. My understanding is that Stirling Council has had money from the community bus fund to develop new local rural services and that Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park is also committed to establishing new routes, working with the council, which will be included in the forthcoming park plan. It seems that all the ingredients are there to restore rural bus services, but what is lacking is the local political leadership to pull it all together and use the new powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

It is disappointing to hear that bus services are deteriorating in the Stirling area. It is a matter for local political leadership, just as it is a matter for national political leadership to put transport front and centre in our priorities. Anybody who has concerns about private operators can approach the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

On the provision of enabling tools, on the back of the 2019 act a whole suite of regulations are coming into force or are already in force, giving more powers and responsibilities for local authorities to use. The community bus fund is intended to support local transport authorities in considering the powers from the 2019 act and to improve local services. More than 500—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, minister. We need to move to the next question.

COP28 (Scottish Government Priorities)

Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)

4. To ask the Scottish Government what its priorities are for the 28th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP28. (S6O-02825)

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

In summary, our principal objectives for COP28 are that our leadership on loss and damage builds momentum for urgent funding; that our co-chairmanship of the Under2 Coalition supports action and commitments; that our commitment to low-carbon energy and a just transition to net zero, particularly around offshore wind and hydrogen, can influence others to do more to achieve net zero; and that we will advance international relationships, attract investment in Scotland and enhance Scotland’s global reputation, particularly on renewable energy. We will also continue using our platform to platform the voices of women, young people and the global south in the COP28 debate in action.

Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)

Now that the European Union has decided to criminalise offences comparable to ecocide, will the Scottish Government take the opportunity at COP28 to meet Governments and campaigners who are advancing ecocide law, in the light of the Scottish Government’s commitment to maintain alignment with the EU on environmental protection?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

I welcome Monica Lennon’s question. I have a very full programme at COP28, which includes a number of meetings centred on the twin crisis of nature loss.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to protecting Scotland’s environment. Monica Lennon is right to recognise the progress at EU level. We will assess the final revised EU environmental crime directive against our own policy to seek to maintain alignment where we can with EU law. Of course, I will take that important matter into a number of the conversations that I will be having at COP28.

Karen Adam (Scottish National Party, Banffshire and Buchan Coast)

The climate credentials of the United Kingdom Government are in absolute tatters, and the only thing that the Labour Government-in-waiting seems capable of is flip-flopping and U-turns. How can Scotland work with the international community at COP28 to effect a positive outcome and show the world that our views and ambitions for the future of the planet are not represented by Westminster?

Màiri McAllan (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)

Karen Adam is absolutely right to point out how much of a leader Scotland is already recognised as being in the climate space, not only in our commitments and actions—particularly on renewables and nature-based solutions—but, equally, in our pursuit of climate justice.

We will use our platform at COP28. The First Minister is already there, and I will follow as he returns home. However, the point is that no nation has all the answers or the means to respond at the scale that is required. That is why national leadership and representation at fora such as COP28 are so important, and Scotland will use its role to our full potential.

Regeneration and Economic Renewal Projects (South of Scotland)

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is providing for regeneration and economic renewal projects in the south of Scotland. (S6O-02826)

Neil Gray (Scottish National Party, Airdrie and Shotts)

Our place-based investment programme has directly provided more than £18 million to councils in the south of Scotland region since 2021, and the area has received more than £48 million from other Scottish Government regeneration funding programmes.

The Scottish Government is also investing £85 million in the Borderlands deal and £300 million in the Edinburgh and south-east Scotland deal, to support a wide range of projects and programmes that are designed to stimulate economic growth. In addition, we have allocated more than £34 million to the South of Scotland Enterprise agency in 2023-24, to support economic and community development across the region.

Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)

I recognise the funding that the United Kingdom Government’s levelling up fund has brought to projects such as the one at the George Hotel in Stranraer.

The cabinet secretary might be aware that, in April 2016, the Scottish Government committed to invest £6 million towards the regeneration of Stranraer when the ferry port closed. Unfortunately, previous Scottish National Party and Labour administrations at Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Scottish Government have failed to deliver a process to draw down that money, despite knowing that the investment could bring transformational change, jobs and opportunities for local people. What discussions has the cabinet secretary had with the current administration? What progress has been made to draw down that money?

Neil Gray (Scottish National Party, Airdrie and Shotts)

We have been in constant dialogue with Dumfries and Galloway Council and have made it clear that, in the absence of detailed proposals, we cannot release those funds. Officials met council representatives on 13 November to discuss Stranraer’s place plan and underlined the need for the council to develop and submit detailed investment proposals for us to consider.

Stranraer has already benefited from £2.8 million from the regeneration capital grant fund. Through the Borderlands growth deal, we have also committed £16 million to support the redevelopment of Stranraer marina, with a focus on creating new jobs and drawing in new visitors to the area. I hope that that gives Mr Carson some reassurance.

Emma Harper (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)

I have previously raised regeneration and economic renewal in relation to addressing the many vacant, abandoned and derelict sites across south Scotland, such as the Arches restaurant in Stranraer and the Interfloor factory in Dumfries.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is crucial that funding to address derelict sites ensures that rural areas such as D and G are included? Will he agree to meet me to discuss how those sites can be better addressed?

Neil Gray (Scottish National Party, Airdrie and Shotts)

I am happy to meet Emma Harper to discuss that issue and the fact that the vacant and derelict land investment programme is open to applications from all local authorities, including those in the south of Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway. The programme will assist them in tackling the persistence of vacant and derelict land in the areas that they cover.

Buses (Actions to Increase Use)

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the use of buses across Scotland. (S6O-02827)

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

Earlier this year, we co-funded a successful national marketing campaign with bus operators, to encourage people to return to bus or use it for the first time. The campaign reached an audience of millions, prompted more than 32,000 visits to the choosethebus.scot website and increased older and disabled persons’ concessionary journeys by 5.8 per cent during the campaign period.

In addition, our concessionary travel schemes provide access to free bus travel to more than 2 million people in Scotland, including around 170,000 in Fife. The schemes account for more than 3 million journeys every week and help people to cut costs, which makes sustainable travel a more attractive option.

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Although I have repeatedly welcomed the under-22 bus pass scheme in the chamber, I have also repeatedly raised the issue of unaffordable and ever-increasing bus fares for people who are without the benefit of a concessionary scheme. The United Kingdom Government has introduced a blanket cap of £2 for all bus fares in England, to help to tackle the issue during the cost of living crisis.

Will the minister examine the case and cost for a similar fare cap in Scotland that would benefit all bus users?

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

The rest of the UK does not have the generous concessionary bus scheme that Scotland has—more than 2 million of our population benefit from the scheme. However, the member makes an important point about working people who cannot afford bus fares and are not eligible for the concessionary scheme. That is why our fair fares review, which is due to report shortly, is looking at the balance there, including the issue of tackling poverty. One of the biggest blights resulting from successive Westminster Governments is in-work poverty. If the Scottish Government can do anything to help to relieve that, we will do it.

Let us be realistic, though. When it comes to achieving what the member and I want to achieve, which is properly to tackle poverty in Scotland, we are facing a very serious budget situation.

Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)

T

he minister is perhaps missing an opportunity here, because we could have a Scottish bus fare cap if she chose to consider it. Is the minister prepared at least to look at the proposal and what it might cost?

Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)

The

member makes an important point, but he also fails to reflect that Scotland does not have a centralised system for what can be done in local authority areas. We are in the process of introducing regulations that will give more powers, for example over franchising; powers over running services are already there. Unless the member wants to centralise all decision making on transport, what he suggests would be problematic in our context.

I have met regional transport partnerships from across Scotland, and I think that all of us—whether in local authorities, regional transport partnerships or in the national Government—are thinking about how we can do things in a better way. However, I do not think that centralising everything, as the member suggests, is the route forward that our local authorities would want.

Public Service Provision (East Lothian)

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

7. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with East Lothian Council regarding the future of local public service provision in the area, including in relation to the Loch Centre in Tranent. (S6O-02828)

Joe FitzPatrick (Scottish National Party, Dundee City West)

The

Scottish Government places great importance on community sports and leisure facilities. The Deputy First Minister met representatives of East Lothian Council on 23 August. We are fully aware that local councils, like all public authorities, are facing challenging financial circumstances, which is why, in 2023-24, we increased the resources that are available to local government by more than £793 million.

In 2023-24, East Lothian Council will receive £221.5 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £8.1 million to support vital day-to-day services, or an additional 3.8 per cent compared with 2022-23.

Martin Whitfield (Labour, South Scotland)

The International Society for Physical Activity and Health’s sixth priority in its publication “Eight Investments That Work for Physical Activity” states:

“Sport and recreation opportunities must target audiences where the need may be greatest or participation rates may be lower”.

The Scottish Government agrees, and the Loch Centre in Tranent does exactly that.

Does the minister agree that, although it is right and proper that local authorities should decide how local funding is distributed to their communities and, in turn, how to provide and maintain community and sporting facilities, they must have the political and practical support from the Government to meet that need properly?

Joe FitzPatrick (Scottish National Party, Dundee City West)

The

member makes a strong point. The benefits of physical activity, and sport as part of that, are huge across our country. It is really important that we all work together, and local authorities, the Scottish Government and sportscotland are working hand in hand. We absolutely understand the particular challenges that we face with the estate, which is why sportscotland has been tasked with looking at facilities across Scotland and how they can be sustainable in the long term.

It is also why the Government’s programme for government mentioned a working group, including our partners in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and sportscotland, to look at how we can better use all of that estate, particularly the schools estate. On many occasions, although the best facilities in a community are located in the schools estate, they are often inaccessible to members of that community. We need to do more, but we need to do it in partnership.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I can

squeeze in question 8 if I have succinct questions and answers. Dr Gulhane joins us remotely.

Public Services and Facilities (Glasgow)

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life regarding the future provision of public services and facilities in the region, including the Glasgow national hockey centre. (S6O-02829)

Joe FitzPatrick (Scottish National Party, Dundee City West)

The Scottish Government is fully aware that local authorities are facing challenging financial circumstances, in particular in maintaining and operating facilities, largely due to energy costs and other cost of living pressures. The Scottish Government will continue to regularly meet the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and individual local authorities to cover a range of topics, including current and future budget processes. It is vital that all avenues are explored to ensure, where possible, that local clubs and communities have access to sport and leisure facilities.

Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative, Glasgow)

I am sure that the minister will be aware that the hockey centre in Glasgow is a 2014 Commonwealth games legacy venue. A question mark now hangs over the facility’s future viability. Scottish Hockey has a potential investor, but I am told that progress has been slowed due to inactivity on the part of Glasgow Life. No one wants to lose potential investment in a valuable sporting venue in Glasgow, so will the minister intervene to ensure the future of the facility and the many clubs that use it?

Joe FitzPatrick (Scottish National Party, Dundee City West)

Sandesh Gulhane will be well aware that Glasgow City Council, like other local authorities, is a democratically elected institution, and it is important that this Parliament respects the democratic mandates of local councillors across Scotland.

On the specifics of the question, I know that Scottish Hockey has written to the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, and a response will be going to Scottish Hockey in due course.

Michael Matheson (Expenses)

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

1. The Deputy First Minister was interviewed last week about Michael Matheson’s dishonesty. She was asked whether Scottish National Party ministers always tell the truth. She was given multiple opportunities to answer with a simple yes, but she did not. I will give her another opportunity today. Do Scottish Government ministers always tell the truth?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Before I answer Douglas Ross’s question, I pay tribute to the late Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. Lord James had a long and distinguished career as a public servant in three parliamentary chambers, including this one, of course. Those of us who served alongside him in the Scottish Parliament remember a kind, funny and warm gentleman who embodied the spirit of cross-party friendship and collaboration, which is part of the ethos of the Parliament and has served us well. On behalf of the Scottish Government, I offer my condolences to Lord James’s family and his friends. [

Applause

.]

It is, of course, for Douglas Ross to decide on his questions, but it is very telling that, for weeks now, he has had nothing to say on the Tory autumn statement, which has been devastating for Scotland’s public services; nothing to say on the cost of living crisis; nothing to say on Grangemouth; and nothing to say on the climate emergency, as leaders gather to discuss the biggest challenge of our age. Of course, these are Tory priorities.

I will answer Douglas Ross’s question about what I said. Of course, ministers should tell the truth. I was referring to the fact that, sometimes, people get things wrong and make mistakes, including Douglas Ross, who made a mistake worth around £28,000 when he was late with his outside earnings. Of course, ministers should always tell the truth.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

I will begin on an area on which we agree. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton was a true gentleman and a friend to everyone he worked with, not just in Holyrood and at Westminster as a minister, an MP and a member of the House of Lords but as a local councillor, where he started his career in public service. The tributes that we have seen from across the political spectrum have helped his wife, Susie, their children and the wider family at this difficult time. They are all in our thoughts today.

The Deputy First Minister’s answer was telling. She was basically saying that there are more important issues than a Government minister claiming £11,000 of taxpayers’ money and thinking that he could get away with it. That is why this issue is important.

The simple question was: do Scottish Government ministers always tell the truth? We still have not had a yes or no answer. We have had the conditional answer that they would try to but that, sometimes, they make mistakes. However, that is not what is at the heart of the issue. It is about what Michael Matheson claimed for. It is about what he said, what he did and then the cover-up. It is now quite clear that the SNP Government defends dishonesty. Michael Matheson claimed taxpayers’ money when he should not have done. He changed his story. He made up ludicrous excuses. Does the Deputy First Minister seriously believe that Michael Matheson has been 100 per cent honest throughout this scandal?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Michael Matheson has reimbursed the Parliament in full for the costs that were incurred. He also set out his position in detail in his personal statement and he has, of course, referred himself to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Importantly, he has recognised that he should have handled the situation better, he has accepted responsibility and he has rightly apologised in full.

The appropriate thing now is to allow the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to look into the matter, and I am sure that it will do so with the pace that is required.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Of course, Michael Matheson could have handled the situation better—he could have told the truth; he could have been honest. We cannot park the issue with the Scottish Parliament’s investigation, because it is looking at the claim that was made for taxpayers to pay £11,000 for a bill; it is not looking at the statements that Michael Matheson made, which now seem to have been dishonest.

Let us remember that Michael Matheson is the MSP who once bragged about watching six football matches in a single weekend, but now he wants us to believe that, when he was on holiday, he never watched the games, he never knew that the football was on, he never spoke to anyone about it and, when a giant bill came in, he was completely clueless about it. Does the Deputy First Minister seriously expect the public to believe a word of that story?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

As I have said, Michael Matheson set out the circumstances and the way in which he handled them in his personal statement. As for the matters that the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will look into, those are matters for it. Obviously, it can refer the matter elsewhere if it feels that that would be the appropriate thing to do.

Michael Matheson has given a full account to the Parliament; he also opened himself up to questions from members of the Parliament. He has accepted that he should have handled the situation better, he has accepted responsibility and he has rightly apologised. The appropriate thing now is to allow the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to look into the matter.

I said what I said at the beginning about Douglas Ross’s priorities because he has had nothing to say about a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement that has given no money whatsoever to this Government or this country for our public services for next year. I think that the public are pretty concerned about that, because it will impact on every part of the public sector across Scotland. If the Tories do not care about that, the Scottish National Party certainly does.

Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Of course,

I have spoken about the autumn statement and the £545 million of extra money that is coming to the Scottish Government to spend on public services, but the public are also speaking about how one of the most senior members of the SNP Government—one of the highest-paid ministers in Scotland—tried to claim £11,000 of taxpayers’ money for his iPad bill.

The problem for the SNP Government is that the public do not believe Michael Matheson. Yesterday, a poll showed that the vast majority of Scots believe that he should stand down, and that included a majority of SNP voters. They believe that Michael Matheson needs to go. They can see that he is not focused on the day job. In the middle of a national health service crisis, the public need to trust the health secretary, but they do not. When nurses and doctors meet him, they need to know that he is honest, but he is not. The health secretary has lost the confidence of the country and he needs to go for the good of our NHS.

This week, the Deputy First Minister said that the public sector workforce would need to shrink. Should that not start with the sacking of Michael Matheson?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

What Douglas Ross did not refer to was the fact that the poll found that 72 per cent were dissatisfied with Rishi Sunak’s performance as Prime Minister and that 54 per cent of people support independence for Scotland.

Michael Matheson is getting on with the job of being health secretary ahead of what is expected to be a challenging winter for the health service. If Douglas Ross cared at all about the NHS, he would be objecting to the fact that only £10.8 million has been given to the NHS in Scotland for next year by the United Kingdom Tory Government—less than £11 million. [

Interruption

.]

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

Members!

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I think that actions speak louder than words. I do not think that Douglas Ross and the Tories care about the NHS if they are prepared to support the Tory Government on that matter.

This week, the health secretary has announced £42 million of funding for an extra 153 training places for doctors next year, which is the largest annual expansion on record, and he met the Royal College of Nursing to discuss our agenda for change and to hear about the issues that nurses face. On that point, there is, of course, no money for agenda for change pay for next year from this Tory Government, which is an absolute outrage.

National Health Service (Waiting Lists)

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

2. I begin by echoing the comments about the sad passing of Lord James Douglas-Hamilton and send condolences to his family. I never had the privilege of meeting him, but I think we can tell from the comments made from across the political spectrum that he was held in high regard.

For weeks now, the health secretary has been trying to save his job while the crisis in the national health service continues. Things are getting worse: in one week, more than 1,000 patients waited for more than 12 hours to be seen at accident and emergency. Tens of thousands of people are waiting for crucial diagnostic tests, including for cancer, and waiting lists are now the longest that they have ever been, with 828,398 Scots now on an NHS waiting list. More than 80,000 of them have been waiting for more than a year. Tragically, many will never receive treatment. Can the Deputy First Minister tell us how many people died last year while on an NHS waiting list?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

The Government and I take those matters very seriously indeed. Those are challenging figures and we know that, behind those figures, are people who are waiting too long for treatment.

Long waits are regrettable. We have seen a significant reduction in the longest waits since those targets were announced and we have also seen some improvement in waiting times for diagnosis. The latest figures also show that NHS activity has increased.

We are committed to making further reductions in waiting times through our £1 billion investment in the NHS recovery plan, which will increase capacity and help the NHS to recover from the impact of Covid. In each of the next three years, we will provide NHS boards with £100 million to help reduce in-patient and day case waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients and to deliver year-on-year reductions.

None of that is made easier by the complete lack of funding from the United Kingdom Tory Government for next year’s NHS requirements.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

The Government has its head in the sand. There are 828,398 of our fellow Scots on NHS waiting lists, yet that pathetic answer is what we get from the Government.

The answers to our freedom of information requests to health boards showed that, in the past year, 24,567 people died while on an NHS waiting list. Many of those people waited anxiously, often in pain, for potentially life-saving tests and operations.

Two years ago, Humza Yousaf launched an NHS recovery plan that has failed. Things have got worse, not better, but, rather than having a Government that focuses on those problems, we have a First Minister and a health secretary who are going from crisis to crisis. When lives are being lost, we need a health secretary and a Government that are focused on doing their jobs, not saving their jobs.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

The health secretary, and the entire Government, is focused on the NHS because those are serious statistics and because, as I said earlier, behind every statistic is a person and a family. I deeply regret the fact that anyone has lost their life while on an NHS waiting list.

However, those issues and challenges are not unique to the Scottish health service. Every health system is under the same amount of challenge. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Welsh health minister said:

“The NHS in Wales, like other healthcare systems, is facing the most challenging financial pressure in recent history. This is due to the impact of continued increasing demand on services, persistently high inflation on costs including energy, medicines, and pay related pressures, in addition to the impact of the pandemic and on-going COVID-related costs.”

We are all facing these challenges.

I set out in my first answer some of the actions that we are taking, including the £1 billion NHS recovery plan and the £300 million investment over the next three years to bring down in-patient and day-case waiting lists. [

Interruption

.] I would have thought that Jackie Baillie would welcome that, rather than talking from a sedentary position.

None of this is made easier by the £10.8 million that we have received, or will receive, in consequentials for the NHS next year—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Thank you, Deputy First Minister.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Let me be clear—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Anas Sarwar. We need to move on. Mr Sarwar, please ask your next question.

Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)

It is not working. People are dying and waiting lists are going up. Our NHS is in crisis. Patients are being failed and staff are burnt out. We have a health secretary fighting to save his job. [

Interruption

.] I say to SNP back benchers that it is their constituents on NHS waiting lists and that perhaps they should show some care for them.

After 16 years of SNP Government, it keeps getting worse, not better. Shona Robison was the health secretary who promised to end delayed discharge, but numbers are still on the rise. Humza Yousaf was the health secretary who promised to bring down waiting lists, but, in the two years since his failed recovery plan, they have gone up by 28 per cent. That is 182,000 more people on NHS waiting lists. Michael Matheson was appointed to fix the mess, but today we reveal that more than 24,000 people have died on an NHS waiting list in the past year.

Will the Deputy First Minister not accept that NHS patients and staff cannot afford yet another winter with a failing SNP health secretary and a failing SNP Government?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

As I said earlier, these challenges—and they are challenges—are affecting every healthcare system in these islands. There is nothing exceptional about the Scottish health service or the challenges that it faces, even though Labour would try to make it so. If the member looks at the comments that I mentioned from the Labour health minister in Wales, he will see that it is facing exactly the same problems. There is nothing exceptional about the problems that the NHS in Scotland is facing.

In my previous answer, I set out the action that we are taking. We are investing and we will continue to invest. We will continue to make sure that funding goes to the front line and we will not follow Tory spending plans.

What would not help, though, is Labour shadow health secretary Wes Streeting’s answer, which seems to be to open the door for the private sector to come into the NHS. [

Interruption

.] I do not think that that is the answer for Scotland’s health service going forward. This Government will invest in a publicly funded—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Members!

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

—and publicly run health service. We will not be privatising it.

World AIDS Day

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

3. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle any stigma associated with disclosing a diagnosis of HIV, in light of world AIDS day on 1 December. (S6F-02595)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Tackling stigma is a significant part of our work towards HIV transmission elimination by 2030. It is good to see so many members across the chamber wearing their red ribbons today. That commitment is clear in the sexual health and blood-borne virus action plan, which was published this week, and the HIV transmission elimination plan, which will follow shortly.

We funded the excellent anti-stigma campaign that was developed by the Terrence Higgins Trust, which is the UK’s first television campaign on HIV-AIDS in nearly four decades. The Terrence Higgins Trust estimates that it has already reached almost 10.5 million UK viewers and listeners throughout broadcast media, and 43 per cent of the adult population in the STV region.

Building on that, we will continue to work with healthcare professionals and the public to raise awareness and to dispel myths around HIV so that people living with the virus can do so without fear of stigma and discrimination.

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

During the debate marking world AIDS day this week, it was very welcome that members across the chamber were united in their will to end HIV transmission in Scotland by 2030. Can the Deputy First Minister say any more about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to achieve that ambitious goal?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

A vast amount of work is under way as part of the sexual health and blood borne virus action plan, which was published on Tuesday, and under the HIV delivery plan, which will be published shortly. That includes working with three NHS boards to pilot HIV opt-out testing in accident and emergency departments, developing an ePrEP clinic and supporting our third sector partners in continued community engagement, including through fast-track cities.

Jamie Greene (Conservative, West Scotland)

Let us never forget that the H in HIV stands for “human”. There are not enough minutes in the day to name even a handful of the people the world has lost to AIDS over the past 40 years. Many suffered the illness in the face of prejudice, ignorance and bigotry, I am afraid to say. It is good to see that the science has come on so well in the past 40 years, but there is still so much more to do.

Will the Deputy First Minister ensure that the Scottish Government pulls out all the stops to ensure that we end new transmissions of HIV by 2030? In doing so, will the Government pay tribute to the incredible organisations that work day in, day out, to tackle that danger that is much greater than the virus itself—the danger of stigma?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I very much agree with Jamie Greene. I very much wish to join him in paying tribute to those organisations that have worked for many decades from what were really difficult times, when stigma was commonplace in every walk of life, to a position now when, thankfully, we have moved on a lot from that stigma—although too many people still suffer from it. That is why the present campaign is so important for breaking down those barriers—and it stands in stark contrast to some of the media campaigns from decades ago.

I join Jamie Greene and others as we play our role, as leaders in the Parliament and in Scotland, in breaking down that stigma even further.

A96 Corridor Review

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

4. To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will publish the results of the A96 corridor review. (S6F-02577)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

The Government remains committed to making improvements to the A96, including dualling the road from Inverness to Nairn and the Nairn bypass, despite the stark challenges to our capital budget that we now face as a result of the United Kingdom Government’s autumn statement, which, taking into account inflation, is forecast to result in an almost 10 per cent real-terms cut in—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Members, we need to hear the Deputy First Minister.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Just in case members did not hear that, there has been nearly a 10 per cent real-terms cut in our capital funding.

I am acutely aware of the importance of the route to those who live and work in the north and north-east of Scotland. The current plan is to fully dual the route, and, as part of that process, we are undertaking the corridor review. The review’s initial consultation generated 11,000 different options for improving the corridor, and it is only right that they be fully appraised. I am expecting Transport Scotland’s advice on the emerging outcomes before the end of the year. Following consideration by ministers, there will be a consultation on the outcomes, and an update on timings that will be provided by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition in due course.

Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)

The review, which was ordered simply to appease the Green Party, was supposed to be published more than a year ago. In 2011, the Scottish National Party promised the people of the north-east that the A96 would be dualled fully by 2030. More than a decade of prevarication, millions of taxpayer pounds and endless excuses later, there is nothing—not even a mention of Aberdeen to Huntly—in the programme for government. The people of the north-east want a straight answer. Will the SNP fulfil the promise to fully dual the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen by 2030—yes or no?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Liam Kerr is, in fact, being pretty insulting to the consultation, which has generated 11,000 different options to improve the corridor. It is a bit insulting to all those who have taken the time to contribute to that consultation, which, given the level of interest, I would suggest was the right thing to do.

As I said in my initial answer, I expect Transport Scotland’s advice on the emerging outcomes before the end of the year. Following that, the cabinet secretary will provide an update in due course. I have said that we remain committed to making the improvements to the A96, including dualling Inverness to Nairn and the Nairn bypass.

However, if Liam Kerr is serious about the importance of infrastructure, why is he supporting Tory spending plans that cut capital by 10 per cent over the next five years? Capital is required to build roads and other infrastructure projects. The Tories are cutting the amount of money available to do those things, but they are making no objection, as I see it, to their Tory Government down south. I would call that hypocrisy.

Fergus Ewing (Scottish National Party, Inverness and Nairn)

May I ask the Deputy First Minister a simple question? By what year will the construction of the Nairn bypass be completed?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

As the First Minister confirmed to the member during the programme for government statement to Parliament on 5 September—and as I reiterate now—we are fully committed to making improvements to the A96. That includes dualling the Inverness to Nairn section, including the Nairn bypass, which already has ministerial consent following a public local inquiry. I can also advise that Transport Scotland continues to progress the significant work required to prepare for the publication of made orders, including the compulsory purchase order, with a view to completing the statutory process as soon as possible.

In relation to our infrastructure investment plan, I have said that we will set out that plan alongside the budget in light of the changes that will have to be made, given the cut to our capital budget of 10 per cent over the next five years. However, I say to Fergus Ewing that the commitments that I have laid out in my answer are commitments that we will meet.

Reading Skills (Young People)

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

5. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that some young people are leaving school struggling to read. (S6F-02596)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I

t is important to look at the facts, which are that pass rates this year for English national 5, higher and advanced higher are the same as, or higher than, pass rates in 2019, or before the pandemic. The programme for international student assessment 2018 reading results, which looked at the reading abilities of 15-year-olds, confirmed that Scotland was above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average and that 82 per cent of pupils who left school in 2021-22 had achieved Scottish credit and qualifications framework level 5 or above in literacy.

Clearly, any young person leaving school struggling to read is unacceptable, but the evidence shows that our young people are continuing to achieve well in literacy and English, and their achievements should not be downplayed at all. We should be celebrating them.

Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour, Glasgow)

I agree that reading and writing are fundamental to the future and to unlocking a young person’s potential, but I am really worried about that response, because one in three children in Scotland are struggling to read. The Educational Institute of Scotland says that early years teachers are reporting an increase in the number of children presenting in primary 1 with delayed development and poorer minimal speech and language skills. Moreover, the national primary school literacy attainment gap has grown to its highest since 2018.

Of course, the Deputy First Minister will also be aware of reports over the weekend highlighting concerns from Scottish teachers that students are leaving secondary school functionally unable to read—a situation that former teacher Anne Glennie has described as “unforgivable”. Does the Deputy First Minister recognise that this is a growing problem, and will she set out what the Government intends to do about it?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

First of all, on a point of agreement with Pam Duncan-Glancy, there has obviously been an impact from the pandemic on the development of many children’s speech and language, in particular. We understand that, which is why it is important to ensure that supports are in place to help those young people catch up on the developmental skills that they require.

On results, as I said in my earlier answer, this year’s pass rates for national 5s, highers and advanced highers in English are the same as, or higher than, those for 2019, which was before the pandemic, so we are talking about slightly different things.

I acknowledge absolutely Ms Duncan-Glancy’s point about developmental needs, including, importantly, speech and language therapy. However, we should not talk down the results of our young people, which in the circumstances are very good indeed, and we should congratulate them on achieving them.

Roz McCall (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)

It is very challenging to deliver good outcomes for children who leave secondary school struggling to read if we do not address literacy in early years and primary. The latest statistics show that one in five primary 1 pupils failed to achieve the expected level in reading. I note the Deputy First Minister’s comments about Covid. However, as it is her job, and that of the Scottish Government, to deal with the after-effects of the pandemic, where is the appropriate investment in our schools to ensure that no child is left behind, as per the Government’s Promise?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Well, not a penny of investment for schools was given in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement—not one penny. Tory members, almost to a person, have—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Deputy First Minister, please resume your seat for a second.

Members, we need to hear the Deputy First Minister’s response.

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Tory members, almost to a person, have advised—actually, they have demanded—that I follow Tory spending plans, as set out in the chancellor’s autumn statement. If I were to do so, it would mean not a penny of extra investment in our schools or public services, apart from the £10.8 million for the national health service, which is a drop in the ocean.

The Scottish Government will not follow Tory spending plans, because we recognise the need to invest in our schools, our hospitals and our police service. We will set out our budget plans on 19 December, but they certainly will not replicate the reckless disinvestment in public services that we see from the Tory UK Government, supported by members on the Conservative benches here.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

Rona Mackay (Scottish National Party, Strathkelvin and Bearsden)

6. To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to mark the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. (S6F-02606)

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

We should all be shocked that, in the 21st century, violence, abuse and harassment remain everyday occurrences for women and girls. We continue to have to take action to prevent and tackle them domestically and globally, as a Government, as a society and as individuals.

I heard yesterday’s informed debate, which I thought was very good. Next week, alongside the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, we will publish a refresh of our equally safe strategy, which aims to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls and will focus on early intervention, prevention and providing support services. Some £19 million of annual funding from our delivering equally safe fund supports 121 projects from 112 organisations; almost 32,000 people benefited from those support services last year.

Rona Mackay (Scottish National Party, Strathkelvin and Bearsden)

During yesterday’s debate on the 16 days of activism, we heard about the need for perpetrators of abuse and violence to change their behaviour, but we know that it continues. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that it is therefore vital that we change our justice system, including establishing a sexual offences court, so that victims of sexual abuse no longer feel that they are retraumatised by the court process, which they have told the Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee happens to many of them?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Rona Mackay makes an important point: there absolutely is a need for reform. I recognise the bravery of survivors of sexual violence who have spoken out to call for change. They have been clear that the personal cost of pursuing justice is too high, and that the process has left many of them retraumatised. That is why the proposals contained in the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, such as establishing a sexual offences court, are so important. Collectively, the reforms put victims at the heart of a criminal justice system that will recognise and respond to the trauma experienced by victims and survivors, to ensure that victims maintain confidence in our justice system.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We move to constituency and general supplementaries.

Clutha Bar (Tributes)

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

Yesterday marked 10 years since a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha bar in Glasgow city centre, in my constituency of Glasgow Kelvin, tragically killing 10 people and injuring 31. The Clutha bar was rebuilt and opened again in 2015. A subsequent air accident investigation informed improvements to aircraft safety regulations, but the painful memory of that disaster still runs deep among my local communities. Will the Deputy First Minister join me in paying tribute to the emergency services, the families and the wider Glasgow community who pulled together in the face of such a tragedy, as we remember all those affected?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I absolutely will, and I thank Kaukab Stewart for the question. The events of 10 years ago are still fresh in my mind—I remember them really well, and I am sure that they are fresh in the minds of everyone in the chamber. My thoughts continue to go out to everyone who was impacted by what happened that night—those who were injured and those who tragically lost loved ones—and to the members of the emergency services, who showed such bravery in trying to save lives.

I also remember the way in which the community came together to show solidarity with all those affected by the disaster. In the hardest of times, the people of Glasgow showed a strength and compassion that we will never forget. It is right that, 10 years on, we remember those who are affected by the loss of life, but also the communities that are impacted to this day.

Mobile Phone Use in Schools

Sue Webber (Conservative, Lothian)

The use of mobile phones has been highlighted as one of the most frequent and disruptive behaviours in schools. Lisa Kerr, headteacher of Gordonstoun, has stated:

“Teenagers rarely thank adults for placing boundaries, but we will never forgive ourselves if we don’t act now.”

The evidence is there. For the sake of our children’s futures and our teachers’ wellbeing, will the Deputy First Minister commit to taking immediate steps to ban and restrict mobile phone use in our schools as soon as possible?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

As I understand it, councils are already able to do that, but we will make sure that Sue Webber gets a full response to her question. She raises a reasonable point, which is that mobile phones can be disruptive. In her statement yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills set out many of the issues regarding behaviour in our schools. We will make sure that she writes to Sue Webber with further details on the issue.

Rough Sleeping

Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Anyone who walked from the bus or train station this morning will have passed homeless people sleeping in the street. We now know that, last year, 244 of our fellow citizens in Scotland died while homeless. With 15,000 Scots currently homeless, what steps is the Scottish Government taking to support people who will be rough sleeping over the coming festive period?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Alex Rowley raises a really important point. It is our ambition to eradicate rough sleeping from our streets, and we are taking a number of actions to do so.

On the issue of homelessness more broadly, Scotland has the strongest rights in the UK for people who experience homelessness. We have taken action on local connection and on extending unsuitable accommodation orders. In addition to the funding that goes through local government, we are giving councils £30.5 million each year to help to prevent homelessness, and we are providing £100 million from our multiyear ending homelessness together fund. Further, we have given councils money to try to reduce the use of temporary accommodation. The housing first approach is also being funded to help people with complex needs, which we know many people have.

On the estimated 244 deaths, I regret every one of them. It is a tragedy. Behind each of those figures is a person and a family, and we should remember that.

NHS Orkney (Government Assistance)

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

Earlier this week, NHS Orkney was moved to the first stage of formal escalation by the Scottish Government. NHS Orkney is far from being the only health board in Scotland whose financial position is precarious, with debt levels rising, but it faces particular challenges as a small island health board. Will the Deputy First Minister confirm that the Government will respond positively to any request for assistance from NHS Orkney, and will every effort be made to help NHS Orkney to achieve financial stability as soon as possible while, at the same time, ensuring that patient needs and staff wellbeing are safeguarded?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

Those are important matters. The Scottish Government is directly engaging with NHS Orkney, and we will be looking to provide tailored support to the board. As we enter winter, it is important that NHS Orkney, alongside other boards, is well prepared to meet the challenges that winter will bring. I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care will be happy to update Liam McArthur with further details about the support that will be provided.

McClure Solicitors

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

After First Minister’s question time, I will meet campaigners who have been fighting to get a fair deal for the clients of McClure Solicitors following the firm going bust in 2021. It has been estimated that as many as 100,000 people could be impacted United Kingdom-wide. The complaints that I have received include complaints about what are considered to be exorbitant fees that have been charged by McClure Solicitors to remedy errors or to make changes to trusts as well as complaints about families discovering that trusts were never set up by the firm despite fees having been paid. How can the Scottish Government seek to support impacted families? What reforms can be considered to prevent such failings happening in the future?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

I am aware of the issues that Bob Doris has raised and the number of families that face difficulties as a result of

McClure Solicitors going into administration. I cannot comment on individual cases, but the Scottish Government has taken proactive steps to help to mitigate such situations. Such cases show the need for legal regulation that centres on the public interest and protection of the consumer.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will introduce the authorisation of legal businesses. That will bring benefits such as consistency in how legal firms are regulated, with all entities having to meet the same high standards, and a greater collation of data, which will enable the regulator and the legal profession to identify and address deficiencies early and take the necessary preventative action.

XL Bully Dogs (Ban)

Russell Findlay (Conservative, West Scotland)

The United Kingdom Government is banning XL bully dogs after a spate of horrific attacks, some of which were fatal. However, the Scottish National Party has refused to sign up to that plan. It looks like it is willing to risk public safety just to diverge from the rest of the UK. Will the Deputy First Minister U-turn and ban XL bully dogs before more people get hurt?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

That is a complete misrepresentation of the facts by Russell Findlay. Let me say what is actually happening.

We are carefully considering the evidence on

XL bully dogs and whether similar changes to ban the breed should be applied in Scotland. Public safety is paramount in our deliberations. Scotland already has a dog control notice regime that is unique in the UK and which is focused on preventing dog attacks from happening in the first place. However, we remain concerned about the reported attacks and deaths due to suspected XL bully dogs.

The UK Government, of course, announced the proposal to ban

XL bully dogs without giving any notice to the Scottish Government and with no consultation. Perhaps that was not the most helpful way to proceed.

We are carefully considering the evidence and meeting a range of stakeholders and animal welfare organisations, and we will take forward those considerations as swiftly as we can. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will update Parliament on the matter in due course.

Western Gateway (School)

Michael Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)

Eight years ago, the construction

of hundreds of houses began in the Western Gateway area of Dundee. Those who were buying homes were promised a school, and they paid an additional £5,000 on a roof tax to help to pay for it. After the failure of Scottish National Party councillors to secure funding, it appears that there is now no plan for how to get that school built.

This week, I received a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills that reassured me that the Scottish Government remains committed to working with the council. However, without a funding commitment, that is just empty words. If the SNP in Dundee fails to deliver that school, it will have failed the community. Will the Deputy First Minister commit to the Government finding a way forward to get the school built?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

When the

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills set out the latest round of learning estate investment programme funding, she had looked at schools that were in the bottom categories in requiring to be refurbished. She took into account reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete issues that have been raised in the chamber in coming to conclusions on the priorities that should be given in the latest round of LEIP funding, and she set out that there would be further discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in order to determine what will come next in the funding of the school estate.

This Government has, over the past few years, invested hugely in the school estate to bring schools across the country up to scratch. The number of schools remaining in the poorest category is now much smaller than it was when this Government came to power.

COP28

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Today, world leaders are gathering for the 28th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP28—and the stakes could not be higher. The UN has warned that current climate pledges are “falling short” of the action that we need, and that we are on course for a brutal 3° of global heating this century. It is deeply concerning, therefore, to hear reports that the United Arab Emirates is attempting to strike fossil-fuel deals at COP, which will worsen climate injustice for people who are already living on the brink of disaster. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that at COP28, we need to see a just and credible plan for the end of fossil fuels, not secretive backroom deals?

Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)

At COP26, we were the first global north Government to commit funding to address loss and damage. A year ago, at COP27, there was both a breakthrough agreement on a loss and damage fund and a disappointing lack of progress in reducing emissions and keeping 1.5°C alive.

No nation has all the answers or the means to respond to the problem of climate change alone, which is why bringing together the global community at COP28 is so important. Scotland has much to offer at COP28. The First Minister is participating in this year’s summit to demonstrate once again our commitment to tackling the twin crises of climate change and nature loss in tandem, in a way that is just and fair for all. We will also ensure that Scotland continues to play a bridging role in ensuring that the voices of women, young people and the global south influence debate and action.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

That concludes First Minister’s questions.

12:46 Meeting suspended.

12:48 On resuming—

Restoring Nature to Tackle Climate Change

Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-11282, in the name of Mark Ruskell, on restoring nature to tackle climate change. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the success of the Nature Restoration Fund, which it understands has now granted over £30 million worth of funding to 150 projects across all of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas; understands that the funding is supporting a wide range of nature restoration work, including habitat and species restoration, tackling invasive species, and health and wellbeing projects for local communities; notes that, in the Mid Scotland and Fife region, this includes funding for Argaty Farm to protect water courses and integrate beavers, for Forth Rivers Trust to improve natural flood management and support wading birds, and for the University of St Andrews to restore coastal habitats; recognises that the fund was announced on Nature Day at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021; notes the belief that restoring nature and halting biodiversity loss are key components in tackling the climate crisis; understands that nature will once again be a key theme in the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, and notes the calls for a recommitment to supporting urgent action on the twin nature and climate crises, to ensure that there is a liveable planet for future generations of people in Scotland.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I thank those members who signed the motion, and those who are joining me this lunchtime, to shine a light on the twin nature and climate crises and how communities across Scotland are responding.

My Scottish Green Party colleagues recognise the critical role of nature restoration in the fight against climate change. That is why we prioritised the nature restoration fund through the Bute house agreement. The NRF will now deliver £65 million of funding for projects on land and at sea over the five years of the current session of Parliament.

So far, £30 million has been granted to more than 150 projects across Scotland. As I just highlighted at First Minister’s question time, today is the start of the 28th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP28—but it is also one year on from the signing of the UN global biodiversity framework and the adoption of the critical target to restore a third of our degraded habitats around the globe by 2050. The Dubai COP will discuss how to harness finance for that work on its nature day on 9 December, with the aim of mobilising $200 billion per year for biodiversity by 2030.

The nature restoration fund has allowed us to take the first steps towards that goal here, in Scotland. I am proud that the fund, which was launched on the same nature day at the Glasgow COP two years ago, has been so successful. Countries around the world will follow in Scotland’s footsteps to support on-the-ground action that is vital for achieving the aims of the global biodiversity framework. However, it is important to remind ourselves again that Scotland, sadly, remains a nature-depleted country. This year’s “State of Nature” report underlines that our wildlife has decreased, on average, by 15 per cent since the 1990s. One in nine Scottish species are still threatened with extinction, and the numbers of seabirds and flowering plants have declined by nearly half since the 1980s.

Nature is impacted not only by exploitation of our land and seas but, increasingly, by climate change. We have only to look at our wild salmon populations, for example, to recognise how warming temperatures affect their delicate ecology. However, through restoration projects that help nature to adapt and become more resilient to climate change while locking up carbon and helping us to adapt to flooding and extreme weather, we can tackle the twin crises together. Those nature-based solutions, as they are often called, are rarely quick wins. It takes time to build up the action needed to a scale that can make the difference, and nature needs decades to fully build back.

Scientists believe that projects to restore and expand nature will be critical for cooling global temperatures over the long term, beyond the net zero goals that have been set for the middle of the century. They could play an important role in bringing us back down from peak global warming, but only if we start acting now, with an eye on the future for our children’s children.

This year’s “State of Nature” report said:

“The social and ecological consequences of living in a nature-depleted country are immense. They include impacts on human health, happiness and wellbeing, alongside direct costs associated with lost and damaged ecosystem services.”

In essence, what harms nature also harms us, but that also means that, if we restore nature, we also restore all the lost benefits to us and our communities.

Ninety-six per cent of Scots think that the natural environment is important to the country, so it is no surprise that, where nature restoration projects take root, they draw in volunteers and whole communities to the shared endeavour. What is happening around Scotland right now? I am looking forward to hearing from members about projects across their own areas later in the debate, but it is clear that an amazing range of approaches are being taken across the 150 projects that have so far benefited from the fund. From ancient Atlantic rainforests in Argyll to amphibian ponds on former coal mines in Lanarkshire, from pollinator corridors on arable farms to rewilded former airfields in Crail, and from coastal dune restoration in St Andrews to seagrass and oyster bed reseeding in the Forth, communities, non-governmental organisations and landowners, big and small, are working out how to restore neglected places, species and landscapes.

I will highlight some of the work that is happening in my region, particularly in the freshwater environment. Our rivers, burns, lochs, flood plains and wetlands are the arteries and organs of our catchments. From source to estuary, they sustain incredible species and habitats, but they also supply us with water when we need it, while buffering us from floods.

The relationship between watercourses and our land is critical because, over many years, we have degraded land to the point where water freely thunders off hillsides into swollen rivers—rivers that have often been canalised and moulded by industry over the centuries, with barriers that impact species such as salmon.

Therefore, I welcome the NRF-funded work that Forth Rivers Trust has done on the Allan Water, which includes placing large woody structures to create wetlands, reconnecting flood plains and planting riparian trees. Working with the community at Pool of Muckhart in Clackmannanshire, it has also built wetlands, installed overflow channels and introduced leaky dams to mitigate flood risks. On the River Teith, it has pushed on with establishing riparian woodlands—planting more than 10,000 trees along the banks with the community—and restoring 20 hectares of wetland at Blaircreich.

Jonathan Louis from Forth Rivers Trust told me that the nature restoration fund has allowed it to collaborate with partners and make a tangible impact on wildlife and communities throughout the Forth region.

Further down the Teith catchment, at Argaty farm, the fund is being used to reconnect waterways. Those on the farm have fenced off areas from cattle, encouraged wildflower seeding, planted 16,000 trees and established new hedgerow corridors. Tom Bowser at Argaty told me how that work will benefit a wide range of species, from pollinators to birds, bats and beavers. He also said that it would simply not have been possible without the fund.

We are seeing very similar work on other catchments, including on the Bamff estate near Alyth, where the project to establish habitats has now expanded to include another 10—

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Mr Ruskell, I appreciate that there is a bit of latitude in the debate, but you need to bring your remarks to a conclusion.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

The momentum is building for nature restoration. We are seeing action in Scottish communities as the world gathers to discuss a global response to the climate and nature crises. This is just the beginning, but the fund is already creating a legacy for future generations. I look forward to seeing progress on the ground in the years to come.

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

I apologise to members that I will have to leave after my contribution due to a pre-existing commitment.

I thank Mark Ruskell for lodging the motion on restoring nature to tackle climate change, which provides us with an important opportunity to recognise the importance and success of the nature restoration fund. It is incredible to think that the fund has already supported 150 projects across Scotland that are protecting watercourses, restoring coastal habitats and doing so much more.

I thank the organisations that submitted briefings for the debate. I acknowledge, in particular, the Royal College of Physicians, which calls for the climate and nature crises to be recognised as one global health emergency. I look forward to reading the editorial that is referenced in the briefing, and I hope that we can return to consider that point at a future date.

Like many colleagues, I am in my peaceful space in the outdoors. In a single walk, I have encountered deer, hare, foxes, herons, woodpeckers, raptors and even red kites. If truth be told, my love and respect of nature has probably been a little bit one way—it was more about what I was getting out of nature than the other way round. That was until I became nature champion for the freshwater pearl mussel. Through that role, I now better appreciate the importance of projects such as those referred to in the motion.

I want to highlight the successful nature restoration project on the Beltie Burn in the north-east, which I was pleased to visit this summer. The project was funded through the biodiversity challenge fund, which was a precursor to the nature restoration fund. The Dee Catchment Partnership, the Dee district salmon fishery board and the James Hutton Institute worked tirelessly to remeander a 1.5km section of river channel and reconnect it to four wetland ponds that had been previously straightened to accommodate the Deeside railway. Wetlands are an incredibly rich food larder for fish, which is a vital aspect of the river habitat. What has now been created on the Dee is an improved habitat for fish and other wildlife, which also allows the river to expand and contract during periods of high water. That was all done at a relatively modest cost. Just weeks after work was completed in 2020, 15 spawning redds, created by salmon and sea trout, were seen.

I pay tribute to Susan Cooksley, Edwin Third and all the other stakeholders for their utter commitment to the project and for their vision that the Beltie Burn must be not just a demonstration site but an example of what we need to do more of across Scotland.

In its briefing, Scottish Environment LINK recognises the importance of the nature restoration fund in tackling biodiversity loss. It also highlights the impact of funding cuts to Scotland’s environment agencies. The fiscal landscape is immensely challenging, but I hope that the Scottish Government is able to protect funding for those agencies, especially in light of the expertise and experience that they have the potential to contribute.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

We have an incredibly challenging fiscal deal—which does not keep pace with inflation—coming from the Westminster Government. Will Audrey Nicoll reflect on the fact that restoration projects are now even more challenging because of Brexit and the loss of critical funding support—including life funding—from the European Union? The Scottish Government has had to step up in order to make those things happen.

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

I completely agree with Mark Ruskell’s point, which was very strong and well made. We reflected on that when I visited the project that I mentioned and the site of pearl mussel survey work on the River Dee.

I hope that nature features as a key theme in the forthcoming UN climate change conference in Dubai. I hope that the conference will provide a platform for Governments and NGOs to demonstrate strong leadership and genuine commitment to tackling the twin nature and climate crises, so that Scotland can support projects such as the one on the Beltie Burn, reduce emissions, reverse nature loss and meet our ambitious climate change targets.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

There will not be a lot of disagreement in the chamber about the value of our natural endowment in Scotland. As a Scottish Conservative, I believe in conserving and, indeed, restoring nature. I also recognise and agree that there is a correlation between our happiness and our mental health and the environment in which we live, especially the natural environment.

There is a lot of common ground, so it was disappointing—but not surprising—to hear Mark Ruskell’s last intervention on Audrey Nicoll. Somehow, he managed to get Brexit into the debate and have another go at the United Kingdom Government, but it is worth saying that the Scottish National Party-Green Government is doing an appalling job of delivering against its ambitious plans for Scotland’s nature.

Frankly, the problem in Scotland is that a lot of good things happen but they get lost because of the emphasis, particularly from the Scottish Greens, on more controversial aspects of nature restoration. I wish to specifically mention rewilding because, although we absolutely should be focused on nature restoration, it is important that we bring people along with us in respect of that very important aspect of our stewardship responsibilities for Scotland’s natural endowment. Rewilding is problematic because, before our very eyes, we are, effectively, seeing a new wave of clearances in Scotland. Vast tracts of our countryside where people have been living are being vacated because, with rewilding, there is no space for people.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

It is disappointing to hear Mr Kerr invoke the clearances. Is he honestly saying that rewilding projects that are brought forward by communities—many of which have applied successfully to the nature restoration fund—should be stopped? Is he saying that he does not support communities doing that rewilding work?

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I am against faceless organisations, usually with headquarters outside this country, buying up tracts of land and then, basically, neglecting it. In the course of doing so, yes, we see clearances and people being taken out of those areas of our country. Rewilding on the scale that it is happening in many parts of our country means that jobs, communities and all the social infrastructure will go. It is a reckless piece of environmental vandalism.

John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)

I wonder whether Mr Kerr could name an example of an area that he is concerned about.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

There are many areas that I am concerned about and, subsequent to the debate, I am more than happy to talk to John Swinney about areas of mutual interest.

The point that I wish to make is that it is important that we listen to Scotland’s farmers. I wish us to acknowledge the genuine concerns that are held by Scotland’s farmers.

At a recent meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and a group of farmers, sponsored by NFU Scotland, one farmer was greeted with applause when he highlighted the grave concerns about the impact of rewilding on farm businesses. According to an article in

The Courier

last Saturday, the farmer, Andrew Steel, said:

“Species such as golden eagles and beavers were all eradicated for a reason because they are vermin to the farmers.

In my opinion, the white elephant in the room today is that the SNP went into coalition with the Green Party to run the country.

How can you actually run the country with statements”—

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

Will the member give way again?

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I will if I have time.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Briefly, please, Mr Ruskell.

Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)

I

appreciate the member being generous with his time, but will he also reflect on the fact that there are farmers who have applied to the nature restoration fund for species reintroduction and riparian planting because it benefits their farms and the local community? Will he acknowledge that there are farmers who support this agenda and are benefiting financially from it?

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

I

f Mark Ruskell were to listen rather than think about how he can make further interventions, he would hear me say that I generally support nature restoration. However, I am raising genuine concerns that are being raised by Scotland’s farmers, who deserve to be listened to and worked with. We cannot work against the grain of opinion.

I specifically want to mention the issue of beavers, which has been highlighted by the NFUS, particularly in relation to the recent flooding. Martin Kennedy of the NFUS had something to say about that. He said:

“We need Scottish Government and NatureScot to recognise that, in some instances, the scale of damage”—

flood damage—

“was exacerbated by growing beaver activity, burrowing into and significantly weakening long established floodbanks.”

There is a whole bunch more that I could quote from. The point is that we need to work with those who are currently the stewards of the land. We need to trust them and work with them rather than against them, because they currently feel threatened by the agenda of the Bute house agreement.

Foysol Choudhury (Labour, Lothian)

Nature can be used as a first line of defence against the impacts of the global climate crisis, but we must not only look at protecting the existing nature and species that we have; we must also make targeted moves towards restoring what has been lost. That means ensuring that there are green spaces in urban areas. It means investing in our rural lands and nature reserves, and it means taking an integrated, targeted and cross-portfolio approach.

Scottish peatlands contain unique carbon-catching properties. In its 2023-24 programme for government, the Scottish Government made a commitment to restore 10,700 hectares of degraded peatlands over the course of the next year. I welcome that investment in nature and climate restoration and hope to see the targets achieved this year. In the fight against climate change, we need to focus on that just as much as on prevention.

The climate and nature emergencies are deeply connected and must be tackled together. We are at a crucial turning point for nature restoration in Scotland. Investment in nature and our natural spaces is vital to reduce biodiversity decline. Scotland’s native species inspire and sustain our health and culture. However, one in nine wildlife species in Scotland is at risk of extinction. We need to evaluate the abundance and distribution of species in our natural spaces and monitor the extinction risk to ensure that we are taking the right course of preventative action.

We must also monitor whether the extent and quality of habitats for those species is up to standard. Targets for nature restoration must drive ambitious action across Scotland across multiple levels and portfolios, similarly to the successful mainstreaming of climate change targets.

We must pair this great investment in Scottish nature with efforts to tackle climate change around the globe. A recent report on climate inequality by Oxfam outlined that the richest 1 per cent of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66 per cent.

This week, I returned from a cross-party group visit to Bangladesh. There, we can see at first hand the impact that climate inequality is having in the global south. Going into COP28, we must ensure that climate justice is at the forefront of our minds. Nature restoration targets should involve helping countries that are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis to adapt to long-term climate-related changes.

Scotland needs to engage in multifaceted responses. That means climate mitigation, adaptation and support to ensure that climate justice for all countries can be realised on our global path to net zero and nature restoration.

Maggie Chapman (Green, North East Scotland)

I thank and congratulate my colleague Mark Ruskell for securing today’s debate. As world leaders and others gather in Dubai at COP28, it is right that we, in Scotland’s Parliament, take some time to talk about the twin crises of climate and nature and the all-encompassing work that we need to do to create a liveable planet for future generations, both here, in Scotland, and around the world.

It is clear that the climate and nature crises share the same underlying cause: our economic system that is based on the extraction and exploitation of resources without regard for externalities, future consequences or the deterioration of the commons. Our climate and our natural resources are our commons. They also have intrinsic value and should not merely be considered important because of a commodified value that the economic structures that we create deem appropriate to give them.

Today’s debate is important in allowing us to think carefully about how economic, social and environmental justice are inextricably linked and therefore how we, as policy makers, need to consider the links and connections across the often messy web of life.

The north-east of Scotland, which is the region that I am privileged to represent, has benefited significantly from the nature restoration fund, mostly in rural areas, as might be expected. We need a wider view of which natures are worth supporting and restoring. We should not be limited by thinking that only some natures in some geographies matter, and I will spend the rest of my time in the debate talking about a little spot in an urban environment that I think is worth championing, protecting and sustaining.

The award-winning wetlands and reedbeds in St Fittick’s community park in Torry are the brainchild of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, as a way of making space for biodiversity and supporting local people. The reedbeds are in a relatively small urban green space in Torry, surrounded by a community that is one of the most deprived in Scotland, with a life expectancy that is a decade lower than elsewhere in Aberdeen. Squished between industrial land and sewage works, a landfill site and an incinerator, the park is the only accessible green space for the community. It is well loved and well used by people who live locally, mostly in tower blocks and flats.

In stark contrast to the greyness of the heavy industry around them, the park and its wetlands and reedbeds are vibrant, varied places with a range of habitats, species, facilities and amenities for all to enjoy. St Fittick’s has what we might expect from a community park, but it also boasts areas of woodland, wet meadow, reedbed and diverse dry grasslands.

Then there is the staggering biodiversity of the park, with more than 40 species of breeding birds, including nine red-list and eight amber-list species; more than 115 plant species, including a wonderful array of orchids; hundreds of invertebrate species, some of which are still being documented; and otters, deer and other mammals sometimes spotted in the reeds and woods. As autumn shifts into winter, we see migratory birds stopping over in the green spaces. Over winter, we will see substantial snipe populations.

All the work that was done a little over a decade ago by the Aberdeen ranger service and SEPA has really paid off. What was a polluted, poor-quality and inaccessible area is now an award-winning biodiverse wetland. That nature, too, is worth protecting and restoring.

We must not compromise already marginalised people’s health and wellbeing, and the restored nature that they currently enjoy, in the mistaken belief that such smaller natures do not matter as much as the grander natures that other members have spoken about. It would be a travesty for the wetlands and reedbeds, and the wider park, to be lost in the name of a so-called just transition. If that nature is lost, any transition will not be just.

Ariane Burgess (Green, Highlands and Islands)

I make this speech at a time when we are deep in a climate and nature emergency. That is the unavoidable backdrop to everything that we do in this Parliament but, somehow, it is not always foremost on the agenda, so I am grateful to my colleague Mark Ruskell for focusing our minds on it today.

COP28 starts tomorrow. There will be a renewed focus on how countries will meet their targets under the Paris agreement to maintain a “safe operating space” for humanity and for the nature that supports us and makes our lives possible. That is why it is so important that we proceed with ambitious environmental policies, such as the proposals on clean, green heating and warm, green homes that are being led by Green minister Patrick Harvie.

However, despite the fact that Scotland leads the UK on decarbonisation of buildings, there is no way that we can meet our climate targets without giving the same level of attention to nature. When our natural world is healthy and thriving, it is a key ally in our fight against climate change, but, if humanity does not reverse rising emissions and nature loss soon, we will reach tipping points that will set off a cascade of global warming and species extinction that we cannot undo.

The good news is that we still have a small window of time, and we have people working tirelessly across Scotland to restore our depleted natural world and raise us up the global biodiversity league tables from our current spot—28th from bottom out of 240 countries. Seagrass restoration work on Loch Craignish is doing just that. It is being led by the community with help from Seawilding, which is supported by the nature restoration fund. Globally, seagrass captures carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. Therefore, the Loch Craignish project not only boosts biodiversity but sequesters carbon and creates good green jobs.

The nature restoration fund, spearheaded by Green minister Lorna Slater, is supporting several more projects in the Highlands and Islands this year. The protecting Gigha’s woodlands project will remove invasive species and create a system of hedgerow corridors across the island; Scotsburn Farm in Invergordon will plant aspen trees to provide habitat for our precious capercaillie; and the Glencoe habitat recovery project will restore woodlands, wetland and peatland in Glencoe national nature reserve. Luing and Scarba host the turning the tide project, and in Badenoch and Strathspey, work is being done to restore “five feisty species”.

Such projects could go further and faster with multiyear funding. That is especially true of projects that work to eradicate and prevent non-native invasive species, to benefit seabirds and other island wildlife, and to eradicate rhododendron from rainforest habitat.

A great deal of the work on the ground to meet our climate targets will be done in the Highlands and Islands. The Highlands and Islands has the land and the nature that are pivotal in this national effort, so we need to welcome and accommodate more people in the region to deliver more projects like the ones that I have mentioned. That is why affordable rural housing is crucial. We need housing for workers and long-term homes to support stable, growing communities. We also need to continue to increase support for farmers to integrate trees on their farms, to restore peatland, to manage water quality and to create habitat mosaics.

Finally, we must remember to keep our side of the bargain. Nature is powerful but it cannot stop climate change on its own. We humans in Scotland must continue to play our part by reducing emissions, supported by policies that we can pass in this Parliament. Let us work with nature, not against it, to stop climate change and protect our shared home.

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

I thank Mark Ruskell very much for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I thank all the members who have contributed.

It warms my heart to hear my colleague Maggie Chapman speak about how nature is our “commons” and say that we should celebrate its intrinsic value. Many members have done exactly that: they have celebrated specific species, including otters, or projects that they have enjoyed seeing, and they have celebrated being champions of nature. Audrey Nicoll mentioned that she is the champion of the freshwater pearl mussel.

It is wonderful to hear of our commonality in treasuring nature and valuing it for its own sake, although we all acknowledge that restoration of nature can have benefits for us. It can have benefits for our communities, tackle the global health challenge that is a consequence of our climate and nature emergencies, and sequester the carbon that we need to sequester in order to keep global temperatures within a liveable boundary.

That is such a contrast to what Stephen Kerr said when he called golden eagles and beavers “vermin”. That was, which is a shame, in real contrast to most members, who value nature for its own sake.

Stephen Kerr (Conservative, Central Scotland)

To be absolutely clear, I note that I was quoting a Scottish farmer who was talking about what he has to deal with in running his business. That is who said it. Does the minister not agree that we should listen to Scotland’s farmers about species such as beavers, which damage their businesses and the landscape in which our food is grown?

Lorna Slater (Green, Lothian)

We absolutely need to listen to farmers. I give Stephen Kerr the example of Argaty farm, which has received £65,000 from the nature restoration fund and has one of the first beaver reintroduction sites in Scotland. I have seen the farmers’ posts on the internet and their challenge to other farmers to match them and meet their goals of ensuring that nature thrives alongside thriving and profitable farm businesses.

Many farms in Scotland are doing terrific things. I have met the Nature Friendly Farming Network and farmers who do organic farming and regenerative farming. Really good work is taking place. Land managers get the point that we can have thriving biodiversity alongside sustainable food production in Scotland. We have huge opportunities to bring all farmers along on the journey as we reform agriculture subsidies to ensure that farmers get paid to do the right thing—to produce sustainable food and to work to restore Scotland’s biodiversity.

I enjoyed very much the contributions of my fellow members who talked about the link between the nature and climate emergencies. I am very glad that the conversation has moved to a point at which we are discussing them together and how they interconnect. Increasing global temperatures increase the risks to our nature. There are more diseases, pests and invasive species, and native species struggle to thrive in warming climates.

Mark Ruskell highlighted the issues around wild salmon and fish, which we know are highly sensitive to temperature. Of course, declining fish numbers also affect our seabirds, and the statistics on our seabird decline are devastating and sickening: there has been a 50 per cent decline in the number of seabirds before the effects of avian flu are taken into account.

Such situations are absolute emergencies in our nature. Measures such as the nature restoration fund and all the work that we are doing across Parliament on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, land reform, agriculture reform and the forthcoming natural environment bill, turn the tide from loss, decline and damage.

Mark Ruskell rightly pointed out that there has also been a 50 per cent decline in flowering plants in Scotland, as is illustrated in the latest publication of the

Plant Atlas

. That is really something to think about. Our parents and grandparents lived in a world that had more flowers in it, and therefore more insects, and therefore more birds.

We live in a damaged and decimated nature. We talk about how beautiful nature in Scotland is—but how beautiful it used to be when there was just more of it. Working to stop the decline—to halt it by 2030 and to substantially restore nature by 2045—is the Scottish Government’s goal. The nature restoration projects that have been highlighted are part of that goal.

Foysol Choudhury rightly mentioned our role as global citizens and said that we should consider in our nature targets how we interact with the global community. I am interested in hearing more on that as we develop our targets in the natural environment bill. How we interact with the world as global citizens is, of course, important to tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

Ariane Burgess highlighted the work that volunteers and workers do all over Scotland in restoring nature, whether it is tackling invasive species, trapping mink or farmers planting wild flowers along the sides of their fields. Many people in Scotland spend free time and working time restoring nature in Scotland, and I absolutely celebrate that.

Ariane Burgess also highlighted that much of our nature restoration funding goes to rural areas, farmers and our coastal communities. That creates jobs, and Ariane Burgess gave us a specific example of job creation on the seagrass project.

I will give further examples—the Cairngorms Connect project, which is our largest landscape-scale restoration project, now employs more people on the project than were previously employed when the land was under other management types. That directly contradicts Stephen Kerr’s claim, which he made without any concrete examples, that jobs will be lost and the number of people will be reduced. Ariane Burgess is exactly right: we need more people in our rural areas and in the Highlands and Islands to do that work. We have peatlands to restore, forests to plant, wild flowers to plant, rivers to re-meander, species to monitor and farmers and rural communities to support. That is a lot of work and a lot of jobs.

I am very proud of the work that the nature restoration fund does for nature, jobs and rural and coastal communities in Scotland.

13:26 Meeting suspended.

14:30 On resuming—

Social Justice

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business is portfolio question time and the portfolio is social justice. I remind any members who wish to ask a supplementary question to press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question. There is quite a bit of interest in this question time, so I appeal, as usual, for brevity in questions and responses.

Illegal Migration Act 2023 (Mitigation)

Paul Sweeney (Labour, Glasgow)

1. To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to mitigate any impact of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on the provision of support for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people living in Scotland. (S6O-02814)

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

The Scottish Government is vehemently opposed to the Illegal Migration Act 2023.

The United Kingdom Government’s plans to implement the act remain unclear, making it challenging for the Scottish Government to consider what action may be possible. We are assessing the scope of the mitigations that are available within our devolved competence.

We continue to deliver a range of interventions to mitigate the impact of the cruel and inhumane UK Government immigration policy, including through the new Scots refugee integration strategy, the ending destitution together strategy, the trafficking and exploitation strategy and the Scottish guardianship service. We also recently launched our paper on migration in an independent Scotland, setting out our approach to migration, which is very much based on the values of dignity, fairness and respect.

Paul Sweeney (Labour, Glasgow)

Although the act is a product of the UK Tory Government, it will have an impact on areas devolved to Scotland, including child protection and protection against human trafficking. I understand that the Scottish Government worked with stakeholders over the summer on a plan to mitigate those impacts, as the minister mentioned. Will she confirm what steps the Scottish Government will take to strengthen human trafficking and child protection measures in addition to the high-level strategies that she already outlined, and will she set out a clear timeline for the specific interventions that are urgently required?

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

I appreciate the member’s interest in the issue and remember him attending the summit on illegal migration that we held in order to explore potential mitigations. However, as I explained in my previous answer, without knowing the detail of how the act is to be implemented, it is very difficult for us to come up with specific measures to mitigate its worst impacts.

I am more than happy to continue our engagement both with the member and with stakeholders in the wider policy area, to ensure that we get on top of what we can possibly do, within our devolved competence.

Karen Adam (Scottish National Party, Banffshire and Buchan Coast)

As the recent “Building a New Scotland” paper on migration demonstrates, the only realistic way to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers receive the support that they need from the day of their arrival is to have the full powers of an independent state. How transformational does the minister believe it would it be for asylum seekers to be granted the right to work in an independent Scotland?

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

Having the right to work, and being able to do so without being limited to the shortage occupation list, would be absolutely transformational for people seeking asylum in Scotland. We recognise that access to employment can support people to settle and integrate, enable them to use their skills and experience, rebuild their confidence and expand their social networks while reducing the risk of poverty and reliance on Government support, as well as contributing to our economy and communities.

Scotland has already seen the enormous and valuable contribution made to our economy and communities by refugees and displaced people from Ukraine, who have the right to work from the day that they arrive or are granted refugee status.

Earlier this year, we commissioned our expert advisory group on migration and population to explore the potential impacts of giving asylum seekers the right to work in Scotland, and we expect the group to publish its report very shortly.

Pension Age Disability Payment

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls from Age Scotland and others to improve plans for the new pension age disability payment by including extra mobility and travel support for recipients. (S6O-02815)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I look forward to meeting Age Scotland, because I share its aim to meet the needs of older people in Scotland. That is why my priority is to have a safe and secure transfer to pension age disability payment after its launch. Although that limits fundamental changes to the existing rules, I am determined to ensure that pension age disability payment is delivered with dignity, fairness and respect. That is in sharp contrast to the actions of the United Kingdom Government, which is taking money away from disabled people and threatening them with sanctions—as was announced again in the autumn statement—about which I wrote to the Department for Work and Pensions on Friday.

Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)

The cabinet secretary will know that a mobility component is available to disabled people below pension age who are in receipt of disability-linked social security, such as the personal independence payment and the child and adult disability payments, but is not

available to those who are above pension age, which is arguably ageist. Such a component could give disabled people access to mobility schemes, automatic rights to the blue badge and an opportunity to apply for exemption from vehicle tax, for example. Crucially, it would enhance their independence and wellbeing, as well as relieving pressure on other services. Is that not something that the cabinet secretary thinks we should be encouraging?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We undertook significant work on exploring the feasibility of introducing a mobility component during the early development of PADP, and our analysis found that it could cost an additional £518 million annually. In the current challenging fiscal environment, it is important for us to set out the costs of any proposals. We also have to bear in mind the risk of significant deviation from attendance allowance, given that those who receive it or PADP are automatically passported to a range of reserved benefits and premiums. That may be at risk if we deviate significantly.

In saying all of that, though, I am very keen to continue to work with stakeholders, which is why I will be meeting Age Scotland soon to discuss its campaign.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We have a couple of supplementary questions. The first is from

Jeremy Balfour, who joins us online.

Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)

Without a car, many older and disabled people struggle with transportation, especially in rural areas, as local bus services are infrequent and not suitable for wheelchair users. Does the cabinet secretary agree that a mobility scheme in those areas is now essential?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Cabinet secretary, I am

concerned that the audio quality was not great. Did you pick up enough of the question to be able to respond?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I think that I did, Deputy Presiding Officer.

I begin, as I did at committee yesterday, by saying that I am pleased that Jeremy Balfour is still able to take part in proceedings. I look forward to welcoming him back to the chamber soon after his operation, but I wish him well for now, as I am sure do colleagues from across Parliament.

As I said in my original answer, there is a significant cost to the allocation of a mobility component to PADP, and we need to bear that in mind. I am sure that Mr Balfour will suggest costed proposals should he wish to make any changes to the regulations as they go through Parliament.

Evelyn Tweed (Scottish National Party, Stirling)

Will

the cabinet secretary explain what additional improvements recipients of the devolved pension age disability payment will experience in comparison with the DWP’s attendance allowance?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Despite the fact that it is difficult to make fundamental changes, particularly before case transfer is completed, there are still differences, including more inclusive application channels, in-person support from our local delivery service and the streamlining of routes to set up third-party representatives. With PADP, we will significantly improve the way that we work, as we have done with all the devolved benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland.

Baby Box (Single-use Items)

Edward Mountain (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what single-use items will be removed from the baby box, in light of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill. (S6O-02816)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill will establish a legislative framework to support Scotland’s transition to a zero-waste and circular economy, including measures to reduce consumption of single-use items. Scotland’s baby box is providing essential items for the first six months of a baby’s life. A small number of essential single-use items are provided to support the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies, such as breast pads and maternity towels. All items that are provided in the baby box are kept under review to ensure that they are meeting the needs of babies and parents and the latest clinical advice.

Edward Mountain (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)

Given the limited positive impact on new mothers and infants of the baby box, as laid out in

The Lancet

, does the cabinet secretary believe that ensuring that adequate maternity services are available to local mums in rural hospitals, such as those in Moray and Caithness, is as important?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Local maternity services are important, but I am genuinely disappointed that, at a time when we are seeing more countries coming to Scotland, asking about the experience of the baby box and looking to see how they can learn from it and develop it in their countries, we are yet to convince the Conservatives about its importance. That is very unfortunate, as the evaluation of the baby box highlights the positive impacts that the scheme has had on families, particularly for first-time, younger and low-income parents.

Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)

Does the cabinet secretary share my astonishment at the Tories’ long-standing and curmudgeonly view of the baby box? Will she advise how many babies have received the baby box since it was introduced and how it is being received by parents? [

Interruption

.]

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I hear Mr Mountain accusing me of spin. I am sorry that quoting an independent evaluation of the baby box is described in that way, but there we go.

Kenneth Gibson is right to point to the success of Scotland’s baby box, which is the only one available in the United Kingdom. I am delighted that, since its inception, 282,341 babies born in Scotland have benefited from the baby box. That independent evaluation of parents shows that there is a high level of satisfaction—97 per cent—with the box and its contents, and that 91 per cent of families reported financial savings. I am disappointed that Mr Mountain does not think that that is a success.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I call Kaukab Stewart and ask her to be brief.

Kaukab Stewart (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)

I am not alone in having seen a great deal of positive social media attention being directed towards Scotland’s baby box. What assurances can the cabinet secretary give that the Scottish Government will continue to monitor the way in which the baby box is received and to ensure that it stays at the forefront of international best practice?

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Be as brief as possible, cabinet secretary.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

As I mentioned, it is pleasing that many countries are looking to Scotland to see what they can learn from the baby box, and we look forward to working with international partners on that.

Property Factor Legislation

Sarah Boyack (Labour, Lothian)

4. I apologise for arriving slightly late to the chamber.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to review property factor legislation. (S6O-02817)

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

As I said in my reply to Sarah Boyack’s written question in August this year, the Scottish Government revised the code of conduct for property factors in August 2021 in order to make it clearer, drive up standards and improve transparency and consistency.

There is evidence that the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 is working as intended. Nevertheless, I have asked my officials to look at the operation of the property factor sector to see what more can be done to promote on-going improvement in standards, in line with the requirements that are set out in legislation.

Sarah Boyack (Labour, Lothian)

My inbox is increasingly full of issues relating to property factors. From the difficulties of setting up and operating residents associations to inaccurate invoices from factors, the ignoring of complaints and issues relating to the costs of landscape management, it is clear that there is a growing problem in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Will the minister therefore commit to meeting me to discuss those issues more fully and to looking at legislative and other solutions that could fix those issues for home owners, which just keep increasing in number?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

I would be delighted to meet Sarah Boyack to discuss her specific concerns. As she knows, a process is in place for home owners who are not happy with an issue to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland housing and property chamber. However, I am more than happy to pick up on the specific issues and meet her.

Craig Hoy (Conservative, South Scotland)

As Paul McLennan knows only too well, East Lothian and Midlothian are two of the fastest-growing areas in Scotland. However, sadly, many families who buy or rent in new developments are hit by unexpected or higher-than-anticipated factoring bills. Companies have been accused of overbilling, of not doing maintenance work and, in some cases in his constituency, of coercing and bullying residents into changing to more expensive weed-killing solutions that were not necessary. Is it not time that the Scottish Government took a stand through tougher regulation and told rogue operators to “factor off”?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

I refer Mr Hoy

to my previous answer. I have asked officials to look at the operation of the sector. I will certainly raise Mr Hoy’s points, and I am happy to meet him to discuss them.

Terminally Ill People and Their Carers (Support)

Ruth Maguire (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame South)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what Scottish social security support is available for terminally ill people and their carers. (S6O-02818)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

We ensure that disability benefit applications from terminally ill people are fast tracked, so that they receive the support that they deserve as quickly as possible. People who are terminally ill automatically receive the highest rates of disability assistance, and there are no award reviews. Awards are backdated so that people are paid from the day when they became entitled.

I can confirm that carer support payment, which was launched in three pilot areas last week, is available to people who care for someone who has a terminal illness. When delivered nationally, the new benefit will be paid to more than 80,000 Scottish carers.

Ruth Maguire (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame South)

Members will have been moved by last week’s dying in the margins exhibition, which highlighted the crippling injustice and inequality that are faced by some of our citizens at the end of their life. Will the Scottish Government consider making additional support with energy bills available to those who have a terminal diagnosis?

Further to that, will the cabinet secretary join me and Marie Curie in calling on the United Kingdom Government to give terminally ill people of working age early access to their state pension, which they have paid into, is meant to be there for all at the end of life and could prevent some of them from spending their final days in poverty?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I thank Ruth Maguire for asking that very important question.

Recognising the pressures on household budgets, we have increased the winter heating payment by 10.1 per cent for winter 2023-24. The fuel insecurity fund, which was tripled by the First Minister, is available to terminally ill people and households who are at risk of self-rationing or self-disconnecting. Terminally ill children receive the child winter heating payment.

Unfortunately, as Ms Maguire well knows, the Scottish Government does not have control over the state pension age or issues to do with that, but I join her in her ask of the UK Government. It is a very fair ask; quite frankly, I do not think that it is asking too much of the UK Government.

We have also called on the UK Government to urgently introduce a social tariff mechanism in relation to energy to support vulnerable consumers and ensure that social security payments are sufficient to meet people’s needs.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

I will take a couple of brief supplementary questions.

Miles Briggs (Conservative, Lothian)

The cost of running vital medical equipment such as a ventilator can be £26 a month. A humidifier can cost £15 a month, oxygen concentrators can cost £61 a month and an air mattress can cost up to £22 a month. The former First Minister said that she would work to ensure that those costs would be covered. Has that happened?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I can confirm that patients using home oxygen concentrators are fully reimbursed for the energy costs that are associated with running that equipment, but Mr Briggs’s question was wider than that. He has, quite rightly, raised that point with me before, as he is keen to see action. I would be more than happy to meet him to discuss that in detail. I recognise his point about the additional costs, although such funding would require to come from the Scottish Government’s pretty much fixed budget.

Paul O'Kane (Labour, West Scotland)

I was pleased to lead the members’ business debate on the dying in the margins report, which Ruth Maguire referenced. Last week, there was the publication of the state of caring report for 2023, which shows that there are gaps. People who are in receipt of certain income replacement benefits cannot access carers allowance supplement because they are not in receipt of carers allowance. Has the Government done any assessment of the number of carers in Scotland, particularly those who support someone with a terminal illness, who might be falling through the cracks in the system and of the impact that that is having on them?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

As Mr O’Kane well knows, we are looking to make improvements to the carer support payment as we bring it in. Some of those improvements—for example, those at launch date—were for carers who are in full-time education.

We are, of course, looking to do more. I am happy to work with Mr O’Kane to hear more about the situations that he talked about. That might have to be done after case transfer is complete, but I take the issue very seriously and we are keen to do everything to support carers, particularly those who support someone with a terminal illness.

Local Housing Allowance (Housing Policy)

Jackie Dunbar (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what recent correspondence it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding any impact on its housing policies in Scotland of local housing allowance rates. (S6O-02819)

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

Freezing local housing allowance amounted to an estimated cut of £819 million over three years, and it dramatically reduced support for low-income households in the private rented sector, putting people at risk of homelessness. Ministers wrote to the UK Government urging it to reconsider the freeze in May and November this year, and to previous secretaries of state each of the previous years in which there has been a freeze. It is deeply frustrating that the UK Government has taken so long to reverse that damaging cut, and we have, sadly, all seen the consequent damage of that. We sincerely hope that a freeze is never considered again.

Jackie Dunbar (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)

Although the end of the UK Government’s three-year freeze on local housing allowance rates is welcome, there is no denying that the policy led to a brutal shortfall between housing benefits and the actual cost of renting a home, as proven by the Chartered Institute of Housing. Does the minister agree that the autumn statement simply does not go far enough to support financially stretched tenants in Scotland and that it has been left, yet again, to the Scottish Government to pick up the pieces and mitigate Tory welfare cuts?

Paul McLennan (Scottish National Party, East Lothian)

I agree that the autumn statement does not go far enough and hinders the efforts of the Scottish Government in our core mission to tackle poverty and prevent homelessness. As I said, an estimated £819 million has been lost due to the three-year LHA freeze. The Scottish Government is spending £84 million on discretionary housing payments this year alone to mitigate the bedroom tax and benefit cap. We will continue to support those impacted by damaging UK Government welfare cuts, but, if we did not have to spend so much mitigating those, we could further invest in anti-poverty actions to better support Scottish tenants.

The Deputy Presiding Officer

We move to question 7. I call Stuart McMillan, who joins us online.

Depopulation (Greenock and Inverclyde)

Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)

7. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Inverclyde Council to discuss any impact of depopulation on the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency. (S6O-02820)

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

In addition to working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on a round-table discussion on population policy comprising all local authorities, the Scottish Government has undertaken extensive engagement with depopulating west coast local authorities throughout the development of our addressing depopulation action plan, which has formed a key part of a wider programme of official and ministerial engagement to inform the plan. Most recently, officials met the chief executive of Inverclyde Council on 8 November, when there was an opportunity for the council to further shape and provide feedback on its draft contents in advance of publication.

Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)

The minister is very much aware of the depopulation challenge that Inverclyde has faced and, as the projections indicate, will continue to face—the situation will only worsen over time. Although local government decisions have a role to play in making people want to stay in or relocate to an area, the Scottish Government also has a role to play. Does the minister agree that, as a first principle, all public bodies should consider Inverclyde to be the destination for future investment to help to address the decline?

Emma Roddick (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)

The Scottish Government acknowledges the distinct challenges that Inverclyde and other urban areas in Scotland are experiencing in relation to population decline. That is why tackling urban depopulation is one of the core components of our forthcoming addressing depopulation action plan.

We are working with Inverclyde Council to support the design and delivery of key interventions that will support people to move to, or continue living in, the local area. We aim to be led by local priorities in deciding the shape of that work and upholding the principles of the Verity house agreement during the first phase of a targeted programme of work to address depopulation.

Household Heating Costs (North-east Scotland)

Alexander Burnett (Conservative, Aberdeenshire West)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with Social Security Scotland to help with the heating costs of households in the north-east. (S6O-02821)

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

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

This winter, we will invest £22 million in our new winter heating payment to provide targeted, reliable support to people who are most in need of help with their heating costs each winter. That will include people on a low income who are disabled, have young children or are older. That is in addition to our child winter heating payment, which is available only in Scotland and provides the families of severely disabled children and young people with much-needed financial support to mitigate the additional heating costs that they face in the winter months. This winter, both the winter heating payment and the child winter heating payment have been uprated by 10.1 per cent in recognition of the on-going pressure on household budgets.

Alexander Burnett (Conservative, Aberdeenshire West)

Last December, the United Kingdom experienced its coldest day since December 2010, with the coldest temperature recorded in Braemar. However, my constituents now receive only a one-off winter fuel payment of £55.05, whereas previously they received about three times more under the UK Government’s cold weather payment scheme. Communities across the north-east have already experienced snow this year, and the Scottish Government’s payment will do nothing to support them with their energy bills. Will the cabinet secretary reform the winter fuel payment to bring it into line with the support provided by the UK Government?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

In essence, the member is asking us to take money away from people this year. I will give an example of that. In 2021-22, 11,000 people qualified for the payment administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, and those totalled—[

Interruption

.]

The Deputy Presiding Officer

Cabinet secretary, could you resume your seat for a second?

Mr Lumsden, I have previously warned you about making sedentary interventions. Could you please be quiet?

Cabinet secretary, please continue.

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will start again.

In 2021-22, 11,000 people received DWP payments that totalled £325,000. In 2022-23, 394,135 people benefited from the Social Security Scotland version of the payment. That is an investment of just under £20 million. In effect, in the year that the payment was devolved, which included last winter, 10,000 winter heating payments were made to people in Aberdeenshire alone. That is pretty much what the Conservatives managed to pay for the whole of Scotland in the final year in which they were responsible for the benefit.

Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)

Winter heating payment recipients will begin to receive support in the coming weeks in the form of a reliable winter payment that does not depend on erratic weather conditions in the way that the DWP’s cold weather payment did. Will the cabinet secretary set out how many more households are likely to benefit from the devolved Scottish system this winter compared with the old system?

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)

I have just set out some of that information, so I will stick to the very important summary, which is that the winter payment is something that people can depend on under the Scottish Government, unlike the situation under the DWP and the UK Government. That is because we recognise that many people on low incomes suffer from fuel poverty and need some extra assistance. That is exactly why about 400,000 individuals will benefit from the on-going investment of £22 million that the Scottish Government is putting into this area over the winter.

Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-11496, in the name of Gillian Martin, on the Wildlife, Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I invite members who wish to participate in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I advise the chamber that there is a little bit of time in hand, and I invite the minister to speak to and move the motion.

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

I am pleased to open today’s stage 1 debate on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. I thank the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee for its scrutiny of the bill, and I thank everyone who gave evidence at stage 1. I want to reassure Parliament that I have paid close attention to all of that evidence and to the committee’s views and recommendations in its stage 1 report.

The Scottish Parliament has a proud record of championing nature, wildlife and biodiversity. Therefore, although I look forward to hearing members’ views on how the bill can be improved and strengthened at stage 2, I hope that, today, we can all agree to support its general principles.

I was the convener of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee in 2020, when the independent grouse moor management group, which was led by Professor Werritty, presented its report on the environmental impact of grouse moor management practices. That report made it clear to me and my then committee colleagues that previous measures that Parliament had put in place to address raptor persecution were insufficient, and that we needed to consider further regulation of activities that are traditionally associated with grouse moor management, including muirburn, predator control and the use of medicated grit.

Sadly, since the Werritty report was published, the issue of raptor persecution has not gone away; even just last week, I read reports of missing hen harriers. On Monday, as other members will have done, I read a media report that, according to Police Scotland, a satellite-tagged golden eagle—Merrick—has come to harm in the south of Scotland, and on Tuesday we heard that a peregrine falcon has been found dead in an illegal trap in the Pentlands.

I, of course, recognise the important contribution that grouse shooting makes to the rural economy. Grouse moors can be successfully managed in a way that does not negatively impact on the environment or biodiversity, and a great many estates act responsibly. However, we need to end the blight of raptor persecution that takes place on the few estates that give the sector a bad name, and, as the Werritty review says we must

“change the culture of grouse moor management”.

The introduction of a licensing scheme for grouse is a proportionate measure to achieve the aims. It provides us with the means to take effective action against the destructive minority who continue to illegally target birds of prey, while allowing law-abiding grouse moors to operate without undue interference.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Can the minister give us evidence that the incidents that she is talking about are related to grouse moors?

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

In my response to the committee’s report, which Ms Hamilton will have sight of, I have included an appendix that outlines in detail that evidence, which I do not have time to go through right now.

I also refer Ms Hamilton to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds report that was published last week. It outlines that there have been 35 disappearances of various raptors since 2017. The RSPB identified that quite a lot of those instances were, I am sad to say, on grouse moors.

The introduction of a licensing scheme for grouse is a proportionate measure. It will provide us with the means to take effective action against the destructive minority who continue to illegally target birds of prey and will allow law-abiding grouse moors to operate without undue interference.

John Mason (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Shettleston)

Can the minister clarify whether the licensing scheme will be self-financing so that it will not have to be subsidised by the general purse?

Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance will move a motion on the financial resolution after this debate. Some £500,000 per annum has been allocated. A lot of that will be for NatureScot to administer the scheme, but there will, of course, be a small fee associated with the licence as well.

I firmly believe that licensing is in the interests of the grouse moor sector in order to have it regulated in the same way as shooting estates across mainland Europe are regulated. I firmly believe that it will be good for the public reputation of the many estates that hold licences and abide by the licence conditions.

Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)

Will the minister take an intervention?