Official Report 1117KB pdf
Justice (Victims)
Claire Inglis was tortured and murdered in the home that she shared with her young son. Her killer had been bailed from court five times, despite dozens of convictions. Social services tried but failed to warn Claire that she was in danger.
Claire’s parents, Fiona and Ian, are still fighting for answers. I have previously raised their plight directly with the First Minister, and with his predecessor. Claire’s parents say:
“We should not have to come to parliament again, and on the third anniversary of our beloved daughter’s murder, to beg the First Minister for answers.
We feel trapped and unable to move on because we continue to be deprived of basic but vital information.”
Will the First Minister tell Fiona and Ian how much longer they must wait for the answers that they deserve?
First, I express to Fiona and Ian my deepest sympathies over the loss of their beloved daughter. I cannot imagine the pain, suffering and agony that they have endured.
Mr Findlay is correct: he has raised the issue with me previously. He and I have exchanged correspondence on the issue. As a consequence of that, we in the Government have taken steps to ask Stirling Council to undertake a further examination and exploration of the issues that are involved, and to engage directly with Claire’s parents. Obviously, we will discuss those issues in this exchange. I remain committed to making sure that the family receives the answers that they, understandably, deserve.
When I wrote to Mr Swinney on behalf of Claire’s parents, he told me that he would reply “soon”. That was four months ago. Is that really good enough?
The Inglis family are far from alone in being failed by the justice system. Also in the chamber today is Denise Clair, who was raped by David Goodwillie and David Robertson. No credible explanation has ever been given for why the Crown Office did not prosecute. Frankly, the case stinks. Denise was forced to take civil action against the two men, and a judge agreed that she had been raped. She has since asked the Government to fund a private criminal prosecution, but she continues to be left in limbo.
Denise has suffered for 13 long years. Here is her question to the First Minister: will your Government do the right thing and support such a prosecution?
I have engaged with Mr Findlay on the case of Claire Inglis, and we have made the request of Stirling Council to provide the satisfactory investigation that is required. However, in light of the exchanges that we have had today, I will look again at that issue, to determine whether there is further pressure that we need to apply for Stirling Council to do exactly that.
Denise Clair has pursued her case through a civil action, and the court has come to its judgment on that question. I am aware that she has made an application for legal aid assistance to take forward—forgive me. She has approached ministers to take the steps that are necessary to ensure that her case can be pursued as a private prosecution, and the issue is being considered by the Government.
However, I say to Mr Findlay that the Government has taken too long to consider the request that Ms Clair has made of us. When I saw the news reports at the weekend, I asked for greater urgency to be given to engagement with her agents on that question, because I am dissatisfied with how long it has taken. Through Mr Findlay, I express my apology to Ms Clair today.
I am sure that Denise Clair will be pleased to hear that. As Thomas Ross KC said,
“There is nothing complicated or complex about this decision.”
We have the family of a murder victim with no answers, and we have a double rape victim who has no answers. That is typical of how victims are treated because of the Scottish National Party’s weak justice agenda.
The First Minister often cites judicial independence, but just this week, he subverted judicial independence. Two days ago, John Swinney and his colleagues sat there and applauded themselves for passing a bad law to free thousands of criminals early from Scotland’s prisons. That will result in more crime, more victims and more pressure on our police. Crucially, the SNP’s new law does not give prison governors the power to block the release of those who are considered to be too dangerous. Why not?
I understand the significance of the cases that Mr Findlay puts to me today, but there are some fundamental points that I need to put on the record about them. The granting of bail in the Claire Inglis case was an independent judgment that was arrived at by the courts. It is wrong for ministers to be involved in those cases. I accept that there will be vigorous debate about the appropriateness of judgments, but those decisions are taken by the independent judiciary, and none of us wants to have a judiciary that is anything other than independent.
In the case of Denise Clair, a judgment was arrived at by the Crown, which independently assessed the case for prosecution. Again—and I know that Mr Findlay would not be arguing for this—nobody accepts that those decisions should be taken by a process that is anything other than independent.
In relation to the legislation that the Parliament has passed, Mr Findlay knows that the Government has had to take that step because of the significant rise in the prison population, requiring ministers to ensure that our prisons are safe, especially for prison officers to work in. The reason why there is no governor’s veto is that the Government has amended the timescale under which individuals will be released from prison, but we have put in significant safeguards to ensure that those who are convicted of domestic violence and serious assaults are not included in the release scheme that we have put in place.
When the SNP previously ordered the mass early release of prisoners, the governor’s veto was a vital safeguard, but John Swinney now thinks that he knows better than Scotland’s prison governors. People in the real world are looking at this in utter disbelief. Soft-touch SNP justice prioritises the rights and interests of dangerous criminals.
Claire’s mum, Fiona, told me:
“There is something far wrong with Scotland’s justice system when victims are kept in the dark and not treated as a priority.”
When it is about releasing prisoners, the SNP rushes through a law in days. When it is about justice for victims, it leaves them waiting for years. Does John Swinney have any regrets about his Government’s treatment of crime victims?
I will always take seriously the concerns of victims and will take the necessary action to ensure that the interests of victims are fully and properly taken into account in all the steps that the Government takes.
I point out that, in relation to the early release schemes that have been put in place previously, there have been opportunities for victims to be fully advised about the circumstances of release through the victim notification scheme, should they wish to take up that opportunity, which is not always the case.
I will correct one of the points that I made in my earlier answer. I should have made reference to sexual assault as being an offence for which constraints are applied in the legislation.
I do not think that Mr Findlay’s characterisation of mass early release is at all appropriate. The Government took steps to ensure that our prison system is safe for those who work in it, just as Mr Findlay’s colleagues in the then United Kingdom Government did. The difference is that this Government came to Parliament, set out its case and asked for parliamentary consent to the steps that the Government was taking. That is what we do in a democracy.
National Health Service
Yesterday, the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a devastating report on the state of Scotland’s national health service under the Scottish National Party. It says:
“Performance in the Scottish NHS remains below pre-pandemic levels across many measures. Even more concerningly, many measures of performance have continued to worsen over the last year.”
Most damning, it points out that, although the NHS in Scotland has proportionally higher spending and more staff, recovery in Scotland’s health service is lagging behind that of the NHS in England on every measure. Does John Swinney accept that SNP incompetence and mismanagement are bad for Scotland’s health?
The NHS in Scotland relies on the commitment and contribution of thousands of members of staff the length and breadth of the country, and I record my thanks to them for the work that they put in to ensure that we are well cared for in the national health service.
The NHS is recovering from the Covid pandemic, and we are making progress in that respect. We know that more work has to be done, but information that is available shows that there have been improvements in the latest quarter, with reductions in the length of the waiting lists for diagnostics and in-patient and day-case activity, as well as an improvement in cancer performance.
I accept that work remains to be done to improve the performance of the national health service, but the Government is putting in the investment and maintaining the focus to enable that to happen.
It is not just patients who are being failed; it is staff, too, so they will not take kindly to being used as human shields in the SNP Government’s defence.
John Swinney can try to spin the facts all he likes, but the devastating incompetence of the SNP is clear to see. Towards the end of his answer, he focused on inputs, but the Government needs to focus on outcomes, because, on Tuesday, it was revealed that the number of patients who have been stuck on an NHS waiting list for more than a year has now risen to more than 100,000. There are now more than 863,000 patients on an NHS waiting list, which is equivalent to one in six Scots. At the same time, we are carrying out 50,000 fewer operations compared with pre-pandemic levels, and delayed discharge has soared.
When will John Swinney stop defending the indefensible, admit that his SNP Government has failed and change direction?
I think that members of the national health service workforce will welcome the investment that the Government has made to ensure that NHS staffing has gone up by 26 per cent in the period between when this Government came to office and now. In cancer care, for example, the consultant oncologist workforce has increased by 50.4 per cent over the past 10 years.
The Government is investing in our NHS staff and, into the bargain, we have put in place pay settlements that have meant that we have not had to suffer and endure industrial action in the NHS in Scotland.
I point out to Mr Sarwar that, at the end of September, the number of patient waits for one of the eight key diagnostic tests showed a decrease of 7.4 per cent. The most recent data also shows that 73.2 per cent of patients were treated on time, within the 62-day cancer waiting time target, which is higher than the figure in the previous quarter.
I am the first to acknowledge that we have challenges in recovering from the Covid pandemic, but the Government is making the investment and the interventions to ensure that our national health service performs in a fashion that meets the needs of the people of Scotland.
That answer again demonstrates that the First Minister has his head in the sand. The IFS makes the point that we have disproportionately higher spending and more staff in Scotland, but our performance is poorer than England’s. That points not to staff being wrong or resources being wrong but to a failure of leadership and a failure of the Government.
The uncomfortable reality for John Swinney is that no public service in Scotland is safe from SNP incompetence. On his watch, our NHS has plunged into a doom loop of soaring waiting lists and poorer health outcomes; our schools, which were once the envy of the world, have seen collapsing standards and rising violence; our prisons are left in tatters, with prisoners being let out early because of mismanagement of our criminal justice system; and our housing sector is in disarray, with soaring homelessness numbers and spiralling rents.
The fact is that, after 17 years of the SNP, every institution in Scotland is weaker. How many people have to lose their lives, how many patients have to go private, how many people have to be trapped in hospital and how many staff have to be pushed to breaking point before John Swinney accepts that he and his Government have failed and that Scotland needs a new direction?
On a range of policies, the Government is delivering the progress that people in Scotland require. In the face of 14 years of austerity from the Conservative Government on housing, the Scottish Government has built more affordable houses per head of population than have been built in England or Wales—and more than were built when the Labour Party was in government in Scotland—in the face of Tory austerity from London.
If Mr Sarwar believes that the solution to all our problems in Scotland is the election of a Labour Government, I ask him to have a conversation with pensioners in Scotland. In the first few months of a Labour Government, pensioners in this country have been betrayed by that Labour Government, which promised change, but all it did was slash financial support for pensioners in our country by cutting winter fuel payments. If that is what change means, Scotland does not need change; it needs progress under an SNP Government.
Fossil Fuel Transition
World leaders have once again failed to make progress at the global climate conference. They all know the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, and the public gets it, too. Polling from the think tank Uplift shows that, in Scotland, most business leaders back the transition to a fossil-free energy system. However, the Scottish Government has still not published or set out the new energy strategy that is supposed to shift Scotland away from fossil fuels. It is still sitting on the First Minister’s desk, nearly two years after the draft was published. Scotland needs clarity, our renewables industry and the energy workforce need clarity, and the Parliament needs to see the strategy, too, so that we can see whether the Scottish Government is providing proper funding. Will the First Minister finally end the delay and publish the strategy before next week’s budget?
The Government’s direction on energy policy and renewables is crystal clear. That was demonstrated by the Government’s publication of the green industrial strategy, which gives all the certainty in the world about the Government’s devotion and dedication to making the transition to a green economy through the support of renewable energy in Scotland. Mr Harvie knows that, since 1990, we have halved our emissions in Scotland, we have effectively decarbonised our electricity networks, and we are making the investments to enable us to deliver the transition to net zero. All those themes will be reflected in the Government’s budget next week.
Mr Harvie will know that some of the judgments and issues within the energy strategy are informed and influenced by recent court decisions. The Government is taking time to ensure that we properly reflect on those issues as we formulate the energy strategy, which will be published when those conclusions have been reached.
The lack of the strategy does not bring the clarity that the First Minister is claiming exists. He tells us again that his priorities include tackling the climate emergency. Driving down transport emissions will be a key part of achieving that. That is why, during our time in government, the Scottish Greens cut the cost of public transport by providing free bus travel for under-22s and scrapping peak-time rail fares. We know that cutting fares is critical to driving up public transport use while driving down emissions. Instead of continuing that work, however, the First Minister has brought back peak rail fares, which has undermined climate action and increased the cost of living.
The Scottish Greens have now set out plans for a national bus fare cap to ensure that nobody pays more than £2 for their regular bus journey. Can the First Minister see that public transport costs need to come down, and will he commit now to making that plan happen?
The Government has delivered reductions in the cost of travel for many people in Scotland, not least under-22s, who now enjoy free bus travel around the country. That is a very welcome development and a step that assists young people’s mobility and supports their involvement in our society.
We have taken steps on peak fares. We extended the pilot exercise to establish whether there was an evidence base to demonstrate that the pilot sufficiently justified the investment of public money to meet our climate objectives. Unfortunately, the results of the pilot exercise did not justify the public investment. As Mr Harvie knows, the financial pressures on the Government are such that we have to be very careful about the judgments that we make. We will reflect on all those questions as we consider the Government’s budget and take the necessary steps to achieve our objectives on net zero.
Employer National Insurance Contributions
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the United Kingdom Government’s reported allocation of between £295 million and £330 million to cover the increase in employer national insurance contributions for the public sector in Scotland. (S6F-03592)
If the figures that were reported this week are all that will be provided, that would mean that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be short-changing services that the public depend on by more than £400 million.
In evidence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on Tuesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed that Labour’s national insurance hike will mean that employees will be £800 a year worse off as a direct result of Labour’s budget, with low-paid workers disproportionately impacted. Business investment will fall by £25 billion, and taxes are projected to rise by £62.2 billion per year by 2029-30. The UK economy will continue to stagnate, growing by only 4.3 per cent between 2019 and 2028. Does the First Minister agree that, if that is what a Labour Government looks like, independence cannot come soon enough?
Mr Gibson knows the economic damage that has been done to the country by one of the biggest decisions that was taken as part of the United Kingdom—the decision about Brexit. That has inflicted significant economic damage on the Scottish economy, which is one of the arguments for independence, because with it we would be able to resume our participation in the European Union.
The change in employer national insurance contributions is an indication of the fact that the United Kingdom’s public finances are in such a weak position that action of that type must be taken. However, it is also damaging the Scottish economy, because of the financial burden that it places on public services, businesses and organisations that we depend on. As things stand, people and organisations such as general practitioners, social care providers, colleges and early learning and childcare practitioners do not appear to be being compensated by the United Kingdom Government. Mr Gibson is absolutely right to point out the damage that is being done to the Scottish economy by those measures. Independence cannot come soon enough to address the issues.
It is good to see that the First Minister has not changed the record. The Scottish National Party made a policy decision to have a larger civil service in Scotland and to pay public sector workers more, despite failing to deliver meaningful public sector reform. Is the blame for the national insurance cash crisis that the SNP Government now faces not down to the economic incompetence of both Governments: that of the SNP, for the public sector to become too big, and of Labour, for using national insurance as a means to claw back the vast amounts of money—[Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Hoy.
—that it had committed to above-inflation pay increases in the public sector?
Every day that I am First Minister is a day when I learn something new.
You need to learn a lot more.
First Minister, if I may stop you. I would be very grateful if members ceased commenting from a sedentary position. If you have not been called to speak, please do not speak.
My new piece of learning today is that Craig Hoy, a Conservative, has decided that it is a good idea to come to the Parliament and lecture me about economic incompetence after what his Government inflicted on the people of the United Kingdom.
I cannot remember, so I may be saying something that is not backed up by fact, but I know that Mr Findlay was a great supporter of Liz Truss, and I suspect that Craig Hoy was, too—there were tons of them on that side of the chamber—[Interruption.]
Members.
That is not true.
Oh—so Craig Hoy was not a supporter of Liz Truss. He was probably a supporter of one of the other economic incompetents in the Tories who damaged our economy.
Does the First Minister recognise that the very reason that Scotland is receiving an unprecedented additional £5 billion in the budget is because the UK Labour Government has taken tough decisions to raise additional revenue? What would the First Minister say—[Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Marra.
What would the First Minister say to the Office for Budget Responsibility, given what it told the Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee this week? The OBR said that, without the necessary tax changes, Governments would
“see your debts rise”
and rise
“for ever”,
and that
“Governments cannot provide ... more and more public services as a share of the economy”
and not pay for them
“without seeing their debts reach an unsustainable level.”
I am grateful to Mr Marra for putting those comments on the record; I am sure that the Office for Budget Responsibility said other things that were possibly not quite as convenient for Mr Marra’s narrative as the ones that he has selected today.
I say to Mr Marra that we are about to go through a process in which we are all going to have to make a contribution to deciding what is allocated to different policy areas in Scotland. Mr Marra and all his colleagues on the Labour side of the chamber are not innocent bystanders in that process. They can act to assist and support the Scottish—
There is £5 billion—
I am not sure that Mr Marra is interested in listening to my answer, given the way that he is shouting at me.
All that I would say to Mr Marra is this: if he wishes to see the resources that have been allocated as part of the United Kingdom budget process spent in Scotland, this Parliament has to pass a budget, and the responsibility is on Mr Marra to vote for the Government’s budget.
It is reported that the rise in national insurance contributions for employers will overwhelm the finances of charities such as the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which will face an estimated increased cost of £400,000 per annum—that is twice the cost of feeding all the animals in its care. I declare an interest as an SSPCA member. Have there been any discussions with the UK Government on the financial damage to the charitable sector in Scotland? Organisations such as the SSPCA cannot pass those costs on to anybody, so they must cut what they deliver.
I fear—well, I do not fear; I know—that the situation that Christine Grahame warns of in Parliament today is testing many charities and third sector organisations the length and breadth of the country. They have seen—or they will see, at the start of April—an overnight increase in their costs, without the revenue to support their activities.
Organisations such as the SSPCA, in the example that Christine Grahame puts to me—I know that she cares deeply about that organisation, given her commitment to animal welfare issues—will be facing difficulties, and I know that representations have been made to the United Kingdom Government in that respect.
From a Scottish Government perspective, I am concerned that organisations on which we depend to deliver services in Scotland will not be assisted by the changes that have been made.
Temporary Accommodation (Children)
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce the length of time that children are placed in temporary accommodation. (S6F-03572)
Additional investment of £42 million in affordable housing this year has been targeted to five local authorities with sustained temporary accommodation pressures. That funding is to increase the supply of social and affordable homes, including larger properties that are suitable for families, through acquisitions and bringing empty social homes back into use.
That is in addition to the record funding of more than £14 billion that the Government is allocating to local authorities to deliver a range of services, including homelessness services.
In 2008, 9,535 people were living in temporary accommodation. In 2024, 16,330 people are living in temporary accommodation. This Government is presiding over disgraceful waits in temporary housing. One of the most appalling cases involved a child spending more than seven years in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh, with another person spending close to 2,900 days without a permanent home.
The Scottish National Party has been in power for 17 years, yet things go from bad to worse. Does the First Minister believe that a child should spend seven years in temporary accommodation? When will the Government finally get a grip of the situation, which should shame the First Minister and his Government?
As I set out in my answer to Anas Sarwar earlier on, in the face of 14 years of Conservative austerity, this Government has built an average of 7,750 affordable homes each year since 2007. That is an average of 40 per cent more per annum than in the period 1999 to 2007. It is 45 per cent more affordable homes delivered per head of population than in England, and 70 per cent more than in Wales, during a period of intense austerity from the Conservative Government.
I do not want people to be living in temporary accommodation. That is why the Government is taking steps to improve the availability of rented accommodation. That will be part of the Housing (Scotland) Bill that Parliament will consider this afternoon, and I hope that Parliament will support the Government in the measures that we are bringing forward to strengthen and expand housing stock in Scotland.
Accident and Emergency Waiting Times
To ask the First Minister for what reason at least 69,000 patients reportedly waited more than an hour to be triaged in A and E departments in the first half of this year. (S6F-03591)
It is important for me to stress that, for people who are seriously unwell or whose condition is life threatening, initial triage will have been started by paramedics before they arrive at hospital, with accident and emergency staff put on standby for the patient’s arrival for an immediate further assessment.
Nonetheless, any unnecessary delay is not acceptable, and we are working with national health service boards, through our improvement programme, to reduce delays at every part in the patient journey, in order to minimise risk and improve patient outcomes.
As the First Minister knows, the reality is that the longer that people are forced to wait for that initial assessment, the greater the chance that their condition deteriorates.
That speaks to the bigger problem in our NHS. Dr Fiona Hunter, from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Scotland, said:
“Long waits for triage are yet another indicator of a system which is not functioning as it should.”
The Institute for Fiscal Studies report demonstrated clearly that the NHS in Scotland is underperforming, despite the hard work of the staff.
The First Minister is not an innocent bystander. After 17 years in power, does he accept that his Government is failing our NHS, our hard-working NHS staff and the patients in Scotland?
Jackie Baillie will know that performance on four-hour waits across the whole country, in accident and emergency departments the length and breadth of Scotland, is better than it is in other parts of the United Kingdom. It is not good enough and it is not where it should be, but it is better than in other parts of the United Kingdom.
We have to focus on some of the practical issues that affect that performance. Some of it is about the demonstration of demand because we are dealing with an increasingly frail population that has been made more frail by the consequences of the Covid pandemic.
We are also dealing with acute and intense activity in our hospital estate, which is why the Government is putting such an effort into reducing delayed discharge to ensure that we free up the opportunity for patients to make the journey through hospital care and return to their homes where that is possible.
Those are the practical interventions that the Government is making to address the situation and ensure that in our accident and emergency system the initial assessment of patient condition can be undertaken as speedily and effectively as possible.
We move to general and constituency supplementary questions. If we are all concise, we will be able to fit more members in.
Just Transition (North-east Scotland)
New research from PwC confirms that Scotland is leading the United Kingdom in the creation of green jobs, with the number tripling since 2021. That comes despite the news that Labour’s big plans to create green jobs, with the promised 1,000 GB energy jobs in the north-east, are now watered down to around 200 to 300 posts based in Aberdeen. What steps is the Scottish National Party Scottish Government taking to deliver a just transition for the north-east, as opposed to the empty promises that we are hearing from the UK Government?
The Scottish Government is committed to facilitating a just transition for the north-east of Scotland. Through the just transition fund, we have committed to more than £500 million of investment to support that journey by maintaining and creating jobs in low-carbon industries and contributing to the region’s future prosperity. We have dedicated £11 million for a package of skills interventions, including the energy skills transition hub, and we have allocated more than £75 million to help projects and communities across the north-east, including Moray, to create jobs, support innovation and secure the highly skilled workforce for the future.
Farmers
I quickly remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests. I am a farmer.
Today, the NFUS has gathered hundreds of farmers from across Scotland outside of Parliament. Thousands more will be watching from all our constituencies across Scotland. Whether it is due to Labour’s cruel family farm tax, the lost or stolen Bew review money, or the lack of commitment from this Scottish National Party Government over multi-annual funding, farmers are worried about the future. They are worried about their own future, their children’s future and their businesses. All eyes are on Scotland for the budget. What reassurances will the First Minister give to all those farmers standing outside today?
I do not think that Mr Eagle helps the farming industry—[Interruption.]
He is a farmer.
Let us hear the First Minister.
I do not think that Mr Eagle helps the farming industry by using language such as “lost or stolen” money. What language is that for a member of Parliament to use? [Interruption.] I have given a cast-iron commitment that the £46 million will be put into the rural affairs budget of the Scottish Government so that farmers can appreciate that investment. That is a commitment from me, and Mr Eagle should take it seriously.
I am deeply troubled by what is happening as a result of the inheritance tax changes. I represent a large rural constituency, with many people involved in farming. The inheritance tax changes will be catastrophic for the sustainability of family farming. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands have both written to the United Kingdom Government to point out some of the issues that it has skated past in its rush to put in place those provisions, which will be deeply damaging to the farming industry.
For Mr Eagle to put any point to me about multi-annual funding, when the Conservative Government failed to deliver that and inflicted the shambles of Brexit on the farming industry in Scotland, is an absolute joke.
People with Learning Difficulties (Health Checks)
Last week it was reported that, despite the Government handing at least £4 million to health boards since 2022 to deliver health checks for vulnerable Scots who have a learning disability, and promising that those would be completed by March 2023, as of this year, not a single board has met that target, and some boards have offered no checks at all. This week, the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee was told by individuals who have a learning disability that they feel that they “remain unheard” and that they are
“not a priority for Scotland”.
What has happened to the £4 million that was given to health boards for an unfulfilled promise, what will be done to rectify that failure and will the first minister now apologise to those vulnerable Scots with learning disabilities who have been let down by his Government yet again?
I am not familiar with the issue that Mr O’Kane has put to me today. If we have allocated £4 million to health boards, I would expect them to have followed up, delivered and applied that. I will investigate that in the light of today’s exchanges and reply in full to Mr O’Kane.
16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign
This week marks the beginning of the global 16 days of activism campaign to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, which is key to creating a society where women and girls can live safely. With that in mind, what action is the Government taking to reduce violence against women and girls.
I welcome the question from Karen Adam. I had the privilege on Friday of launching the 16 days of activism on violence against women and girls in Perth, my home city, and to committing, as a local member of Parliament and as First Minister, to taking the necessary action to address this totally unacceptable curse in our society. What has to change is the behaviour and attitudes of men, and I commit in this Parliament to giving the leadership necessary to ensure that that is the case. Across Government, the work that we take forward in our equally safe strategy is the focal point for our interventions to ensure that this scourge is addressed.
Road Safety (Speed Limit and Dualling)
The well-known road safety campaigner Neil Greig says that the Scottish Government’s proposal to cut the single-carriageway speed limit from 60mph to 50mph is
“a cheap gimmick that would do little to reduce death and injury”.
Those are his words, not mine. What it would do is increase journey times and costs for many rural road users, including those who use key routes such as the A9 and the A96. Instead of going down that route, why does the Scottish Government not improve road safety by finally delivering on its promise to fully dual the A9 and the A96?
The Government remains committed to the dualling of the A9 and the A96—[Interruption.]—
Let us hear the First Minister.
—and is taking practical steps to advance those projects.
On the question of road speed, a consultation is under way. The reason why we are having a consultation is that there are different opinions about how best to tackle the issue. I am regularly pressed, as is the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, on the number of fatalities and accidents on our roads. We would be neglecting our duty if we did not examine what options are possible to address that situation.
I hear the comments that Mr Fraser puts on the record from an individual whom I know well and who contributes significantly on the subject. However, if members of Parliament want us to address the issue of fatalities on our roads, we have to explore what the options are for doing that. That is what the Government is doing.
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Highlands and Islands)
The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report “Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Highlands and Islands” makes desperate reading. It states that “urgent action is needed” to ensure access to healthcare and
“to eradicate rooflessness and hunger”
in the region, yet the Scottish Government has shelved its proposed human rights bill. Will the First Minister work with me to progress my member’s bill to enshrine the right to food in Scots law, in a bid to start addressing the report’s findings?
The Government will, of course, engage with Rhoda Grant on her legislative proposal in relation to the needs of individuals in rural and island communities, especially in the Highlands and Islands. The Government takes forward a range of interventions in healthcare, in transportation and in other aspects of public services that are designed to address the challenges that the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report sets out. That will remain the Government’s focus as we take forward our programme of interventions in Scotland.
Child Poverty
The latest figures from Social Security Scotland show that, since their launch, the Scottish Government’s five family payments have paid more than £1 billion to families across Scotland to help to end child poverty. Meanwhile, the Labour United Kingdom Government at Westminster is maintaining the cruel two-child cap, which has forced thousands more children into poverty since Labour came to office, including in my Dundee City West constituency. Can the First Minister say more about the actions that the Scottish Government is taking to tackle poverty against the backdrop of disastrous Westminster policy making?
Modelling that was published in February estimated that Scottish Government policies would keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year. An estimated 60,000 children would be kept out of relative poverty through investment in our Scottish child payment alone. Our five family payments are providing financial support to families that could be worth around £25,000 by the time an eligible child turns 16, compared with less than £2,000 south of the border.
I am deeply concerned that the two-child limit remains part of the welfare system in the United Kingdom. I am stunned that an incoming Labour Government has not removed that anachronism from the welfare system, because it is condemning more and more children to live in poverty. One of the first actions of a Labour Government should have been to remove that cap.
Dental Services (Shetland)
Two thousand patients of the Lerwick dental practice have been notified by text that they will be deregistered and left without care by early next year. Another 4,000 patients are at risk of deregistration. Just this morning, I heard from a constituent who is one of those 2,000 patients, who says:
“I am in tremendous pain with toothache. On phoning the dentist for emergency treatment, as this is all I can access now, I eventually got through, only to be told they would see what they could do and phone me back.”
She is still waiting for the call back.
It is clear that the independent, high street model of dentistry is failing national health service patients—disproportionately so in Shetland, where there is no alternative. Talk of long-term strategies does little to ease the agony for patients with toothache. Does the Scottish Government agree that everyone in Scotland should be able to access routine NHS dental care? If so, will the First Minister ensure that the model of delivery is re-examined, as the current system is quite clearly failing my constituents in Shetland?
I have been briefed by officials on the developing situation in Shetland, and I understand that they have met the board to discuss the issue as a matter of urgency. The latest news is undoubtedly a regressive step, and the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health will be overseeing through officials that appropriate mitigations are in place to ensure that the legitimate aspirations that Beatrice Wishart has put to me are fulfilled for her constituents in the Shetland Islands. The issue will have the focused attention of the public health minister, who will be happy to engage with Ms Wishart on the question.
That concludes First Minister’s questions. There will now be a short suspension to allow people to leave the chamber and the public gallery.
12:46 Meeting suspended.Air ais
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