Official Report 200KB pdf
Good afternoon. The first item of business is general question time. To accommodate as many questions as possible, I ask for concise questions and answers. We have many supplementaries today.
Childcare (Expansion)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that expanded childcare is available to all families. (S7O-00329)
In our programme for government, we have committed to transforming the childcare offer to provide support for children from nine months through to the end of primary school over the course of this parliamentary session. We will publish and consult on a blueprint for a transformed childcare offer in 2027, focusing on what matters most to families.
We are already preparing to roll out free breakfast clubs for children in primary school areas from August 2027, giving children access to a nutritious breakfast and making it easier for parents to get to work, while also reducing costs.
The expansion of childcare support has been warmly welcomed across the east end of Glasgow. Families with children who have additional support needs very much struggle to access wraparound care to meet their needs during and outwith term time. How can the childcare support fund be used to ensure that there is suitable childcare provision for our children with additional support needs?
The member highlights an important issue that has been raised with me several times since I came into post. I assure him that our approach to transformation will be informed by the lived experience of parents and carers, including those whose children have additional support needs. We recognise that understanding the experiences of families is essential to ensuring that future childcare provision is accessible, inclusive and responsive to children’s individual needs and supports families to access the services that they require. We will work closely with delivery partners and the sector to ensure that workforce requirements are understood and addressed and that they have the knowledge, skills and support required to meet the needs of children with additional support needs.
This is how one constituent described the state of childcare to me:
“Extremely limited childcare during term time; nothing at all during the holidays, no childcare whatsoever for children under the age of two, and I just can’t and won’t do it any more.”
Between 2025 and 2026, the number of three and four-year-olds accessing early learning and childcare funding in Highland communities increased by 8 per cent, while the number of available childminders fell by more than a fifth. A recent report by the Highland community planning partnership found that national childcare frameworks often fail to reflect rural realities. What steps will the Government take to ensure that regulations are finally fit for purpose?
Across Scotland, there is a take-up rate of 96 per cent for the roll-out of 1,140 hours for all three and four-year-olds, and the policy was very welcome when it was introduced, in 2021. However, the Scottish Government is listening and we know that there are challenges, especially in rural areas. That is why we have made the commitment to roll out childcare from nine months to the end of primary school by the end of this parliamentary session. We have been speaking to nurseries, childminders and the ELC sector, and they do not want this to happen quickly, because we have to do it right. I will be engaging with them, and we will be rolling it out throughout this parliamentary session.
Parents will hold this Government to account on its plans to expand funded childcare, but I want to raise the current issues in our childcare system, such as cross-boundary issues, staffing and, of course, current funding mechanisms that threaten the financial viability of the private, voluntary and independent sector. How will the minister grapple with the current issues while looking at expansion?
The member raises some issues that I have been very familiar with since coming into post, because they have been raised with me. That is why it will be vital to have these discussions with providers across the sector, including childminders and other private providers, as well as with families and children.
Cross-boundary ELC places have become an issue in recent years. I do not think that we anticipated that issue when we rolled out the 1,140 hours. As we move forward, we have to learn lessons so that the provision is fit for purpose for all families.
I do not want to be rude, but we have been talking for years about the underfunding of PVI providers and all that I get from ministers, over and over again, is offers of further discussion. Nothing ever happens. The PVI sector’s funding system needs to be sorted before we do any further expansion of ELC, because, unless we get it sorted, we are in danger of undermining the whole system. Will the minister please, finally, do something about it?
I do not think that Willie Rennie is being rude. He is right to challenge the Scottish Government with the issues that his constituents raise.
I am in discussions with the private sector about the issues there. The Scottish Government has supported the sector with an extra £13 million in this financial year, and we will continue those discussions, because the sector will be vital in this transformation and the childcare that we aspire to roll out in this parliamentary session. We need to get it right.
The member who was due to ask question 2 was not here for the start of this item. Therefore, we move to question 3.
Rural Health Boards
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports rural health boards, including NHS Borders. (S7O-00331)
Services in rural and island communities have unique needs associated with their geography and we are absolutely committed to meeting those. Our service renewal framework sets out our ambition to design services in a way that ensures equitable access for people living in rural and island areas. We are clear that planning must reflect local needs and ensure consistency in service availability.
NHS Borders benefits from regional collaboration through subnational planning arrangements, which enable boards to work together on specialist services, workforce planning, service sustainability and improving access to high-quality care for local communities.
It is encouraging that the cabinet secretary seems to understand the needs of rural areas. However, fire services in Hawick have recently been downgraded and police officers have been removed from 2,000 miles of road. Residents are concerned that NHS Borders could be scrapped altogether. Can the cabinet secretary guarantee that there are no plans to scrap NHS Borders and that she will not risk safety, wellbeing and access to healthcare for my constituents?
Nothing that I do will ever sacrifice the safety of patients in my own constituency, in Ms Hamilton’s constituency or anywhere else in Scotland. We must remember that change is not optional. We want to future proof our national health service, which is our most precious public service, for future generations. I am acutely aware of the challenges in our rural communities. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. Yes, there are significant challenges, but, now, there are significant opportunities to improve healthcare across the country, including in Ms Hamilton’s constituency. Let us get rid of the postcode lottery once and for all.
Culture (South Scotland Communities)
To ask the Scottish Government, following the town of culture 2028 bidding process, how it will further support local authorities in the South Scotland region to use culture to tell stories about their communities. (S7O-00332)
Through providing £4 million to Creative Scotland for its Culture Collective programme and £400,000 to our flagship creative communities project, we are offering a package of support to offer excellent cultural activity in communities across Scotland. For example, through Culture Collective, we are providing more than £1 million of investment over 18 months to Alchemy Film & Arts, OutPost Arts, the Gaiety theatre in Ayr, Little Art Hub and Narture, a community interest company, all of which are in South Scotland. That is just a selection of projects, but it underlines the Government’s commitment to culture in our communities and to enriching lives and the economy in every part of Scotland.
I am glad to hear about the additional funding that is coming, and I am curious to hear what the cabinet secretary can do to engage further with bodies such as South of Scotland Enterprise, local authorities and the communities and cultural organisations themselves to explore the establishment of a regional culture network or partnership, so that we can make the most of the ideas, relationships and enthusiasm that were generated through the town of culture process rather than lose them.
We commissioned Matt Baker, an artist who is well known in the south of Scotland for his work with the Stove Network, to produce the community culture report. Yesterday, I met Matt and his colleagues to discuss their recommendations to the Government on the network of support that Laura Moodie asked about, and about quite a radical departure from the way that community culture has previously been funded and organised throughout Scotland. We had that discussion yesterday to aid me in my consideration of their recommendations. Just as I assured Matt Baker yesterday, I assure Laura Moodie today that the Government is considering them all and I will respond in due course.
Culture can play a powerful role in telling the story of our communities. In Stranraer, an exciting proposal is emerging for an immersive heritage attraction on the former Stena Line east pier that would bring to life the town’s unique maritime history and Scotland’s migration history. Considering that that attraction has the potential to become a destination of national significance comparable to the V&A in Dundee or the Titanic, which transformed Belfast, does the cabinet secretary agree that projects with such ambition deserve support? Will she visit Stranraer to see at first hand the opportunity that exists?
I do not need much encouragement at all to visit Stranraer. It is an absolutely beautiful corner of the country, and I am happy to speak to Finlay Carson about it. If my diary allows me to visit, I certainly will. The project that Finlay Carson described sounds exciting, and he is right to sit it alongside projects such as the V&A, which has been so successful in Dundee.
We are in the middle of a £100 million increase in culture funding until the financial year 2028-29, and there is ample opportunity for projects such as the one that he mentioned to make their case and seek funding. They could seek culture funding or, equally, economic regeneration funding, because such projects also amount to that.
The Isle of Bute, in my constituency, has made the shortlist for the United Kingdom’s first town of culture 2028, which will come as no surprise to those who know Bute. Scotland is recognised on the international stage for our cultural offer and heritage. Will the cabinet secretary outline how the Scottish Government will ensure that investment in culture reaches our small towns and communities and makes a difference where it matters most?
Reflecting on Mr Carson’s question, I would love it if the cabinet secretary visited the Isle of Bute as well.
You are going to be very busy, cabinet secretary—or even busier, I should say.
I might need your good will to allow me to be absent from Parliament a little more often, in order to make all these visits.
You have taken that too far.
The point is right. We can read reports about projects and places, or we can go and visit them and get a real sense of the enthusiasm that the volunteers, who are often from the community, are putting into pulling together projects such as the ones that have been mentioned.
I congratulate the Isle of Bute, Lerwick and Leith for being shortlisted for the UK town of culture 2028. The shortlistings are understandable, given the offer that Bute makes.
We are keen to ensure that culture reaches every area of Scotland. I spoke of the increased funding in my previous answer, and we have coupled that with more certainty than ever, with multiyear funding being offered to 262 cultural organisations in Scotland. That is more than double the number of organisations that previously received grants.
Neurodevelopmental Conditions (Assessment Waiting Times)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on actions NHS Scotland is taking to reduce waiting times for assessments of children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (S7O-00333)
Demand for neurodevelopmental support, including diagnostic assessments, exceeds current capacity in many areas. We are working with national health service boards, local authorities and other partners to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and families. That includes continuing to deliver on the actions in the implementation review of the “National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People” and investing an additional £7.6 million this year to enhance local support, which builds on an investment of more than £2.9 million last year. Our focus is on ensuring that support is needs based and can be accessed as early as possible instead of requiring a diagnosis before support is available.
With increasing numbers of children and young people experiencing anxiety, school avoidance and other mental health difficulties, how can programmes offering early therapeutic intervention become part of recognised referral pathways alongside schools, general practitioners, local authorities and NHS services, particularly for those who do not meet the thresholds for specialist services?
The member recognises the really important point that many children and young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties will benefit from support before their needs meet the threshold for child and adolescent mental health services. That is why we continue to invest in community-based mental health and wellbeing support, ensuring that help is available at an early stage.
Since 2020, we have provided more than £95 million to local authorities for community-based mental health support for children, young people and families, including annual baselined funding of £15 million from 2025-26. Those support services include counselling, mentoring and other early interventions to complement NHS provision where specialist CAMHS intervention is not required.
The minister will know that families face very long waits for assessment and that a child’s needs do not dissipate during that time. What action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that children and families in Lanarkshire can access appropriate support while they wait for an assessment instead of having to wait for a diagnosis before help becomes available?
The member is absolutely right that the focus should be on identifying needs and ensuring that timely support is received, in line with the policy of getting it right for every child and the neurodevelopmental specification.
We are increasing investment in local neurodevelopmental support. Some time ago, I visited St Ninian’s primary school in South Lanarkshire, where parents and carers told me how much family support can help. That is a key focus of the £7.6 million funding. Alongside that, we are working with the children and young people’s neurodevelopmental taskforce to develop a shared national picture of what the support around a child should look like and how services should work together to deliver that.
Mental Health Drop-in Hubs
To ask the Scottish Government what process it followed in selecting Scottish Action for Mental Health to deliver its new network of mental health drop-in hubs, including how it took account of existing local provision, such as Hope Point at the Centre in Dundee and the original Nook in Perth, when reaching its decision.
Our decision to support SAMH’s Nook programme reflects our programme for government commitment to expand walk-in mental health hubs across Scotland. However, that is not the only model that we support. Since 2020, we have invested more than £194 million in community-based mental health and wellbeing services, including walk-in services such as the Lighthouse and the Nook in Perth.
As we take forward that commitment, we will consider local need, existing provision and emerging evidence and will continue to support a range of models to ensure that everyone in Scotland can access high-quality mental wellbeing support.
Organisations such as Penumbra’s Hope Point and the Nook have absorbed the increase in employer national insurance contributions, alongside rising wages and running costs, while the funding that they receive has stayed largely flat. Although the extra £5 million that has been given to SAMH is, of course, welcome, will the minister commit to reviewing funding for existing local mental health providers to reflect those real-terms pressures, so that they are not squeezed out?
I greatly value the vital work of those organisations. In fact, I visited the Edinburgh Crisis Centre, which is run by Penumbra, in the past few weeks. I recognise the financial pressures that many third sector providers face.
Decisions about the funding of local services are often made by integration joint boards or local authorities, but the Scottish Government has provided a record settlement for local government and almost £22.5 billion for health and social care in 2026-27. To support that, our £194 million investment in community-based mental health support includes £178,647 for the Nook and for the Lighthouse in Perth. The Lighthouse is supporting NHS Tayside to pilot our new framework for children and young people who are experiencing mental health crisis.
Water of Leith and Wardie Bay (Feasibility Studies)
To ask the Scottish Government when it will commission feasibility studies on bringing sections of the Water of Leith and Wardie bay into safe public usage, in light of its programme for government commitment. (S7O-00335)
We are developing proposals to deliver our programme for government commitment on safe public access to waters. As an initial step, I will commission a scoping study to identify the best approach for increasing public amenity use of waters in urban environments. That study will consider both historical and current sources of contamination, any water quality improvements that are required, public safety considerations, technical feasibility and likely costs. The findings will inform the feasibility studies that were committed to in the programme for government.
Wardie bay is a popular urban beach in my constituency and, after a long campaign by swimmers and residents, it achieved bathing water status in 2023. The beach is right next to a working harbour. To protect public health and water quality, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency stipulates that no dredging should take place within 2km of bathing waters between 1 June and 15 September, but, in August of this year, dredging and raking took place there over several days, which the harbour authority insists was carried out within the terms of its licence from the marine directorate. Does the cabinet secretary agree that a presumption against dredging should have been included in the licence?
I will defer to SEPA, which is the regulator and the licence operator, on the licence conditions. I was not aware of the details of what happened at Wardie bay, so the member must forgive me if I need to look at that in more detail. She can certainly write to me, or we can have a discussion.
When it comes to the feasibility study, we must look at public safety, in particular. Waters in urban areas are—as are waters in rural areas—shared by a number of sectors, people and organisations, so public safety will be a very important aspect of the feasibility study.
I thank Sanne Dijkstra-Downie for raising the issue. Water quality and water safety issues are a huge concern in our region, in Wardie bay and the Water of Leith, as my colleague has mentioned, but also in Portobello, the Tyne, Aberlady bay and the River Esk, among others.
The issue is being exacerbated by heavy rainfall and more frequent flooding, as we have seen recently at Seafield. Data is not being collected anywhere near frequently enough to keep people safe. What specific steps is the Government taking to ensure more frequent testing of water quality and to communicate water quality data and pollution risk to the public in a clear and accessible manner?
I can give Kate Nevens an example of where there have been particular pressures—Portobello, which she mentioned. We need to look at each location as a distinct entity, because every location can present unique challenges. I have asked for an investigation to be undertaken into the issues at Portobello, so that we can see where the contamination is coming from. Until we have a clear picture of where the contamination is coming from, we will not be able to put in place the processes and the investment that are needed to bring those waters up to the standard that the people who use them would expect.
Student Visas (Police Monitoring)
To ask the Scottish Government what role, if any, Police Scotland has in monitoring the activities of people studying in Scotland on student visas, including what information it receives or holds regarding such individuals. (S7O-00336)
As, I am sure, Mr Bannerman is aware, immigration policy is reserved and the Home Office is responsible for the United Kingdom immigration system, including data relating to student visas, and for compliance and enforcement activity across the UK.
As Scotland is not a police state, our police do not, as Mr Bannerman put it, monitor the activities of people unless they have a need to do so. Police Scotland’s role is to carry out its devolved policing responsibilities, which include public safety, public order and the investigation of criminality.
I asked specifically about student visas because they now make up more than 50 per cent of all visas that are issued. Last year, 426,000 were issued, which is more than double the annual average from 10 years ago. However, although student visas make up the majority of visas that are granted, applications for such visas, unlike applications for other visa types, do not require an overseas criminal records certificate to be provided to confirm that the applicant has a clear background. Even when a conviction is declared and a visa is still granted—[Interruption.]
Members of the Scottish National Party front bench are chuntering. Even when that happens, there is no mechanism for the Home Office to automatically share that information with Police Scotland when the person is coming to Scotland to study. Is the cabinet secretary not concerned that Police Scotland might be unaware of the potential number of foreign criminals in Scotland?
I ask the cabinet secretary to reply in relation to the areas for which he has responsibility.
Scotland welcomes the contribution that our international students make to the fabric of our society, to the intellectual thinking of our universities and then, I hope, to the economy in Scotland.
The member has asked questions on issues that are the responsibility of the Home Office, so I suggest that he directs them there.
Community Policing (Multi-agency Approaches)
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen partnerships between Police Scotland and other public sector bodies to improve multi-agency approaches to community policing. (S7O-00337)
Although operational delivery of policing, including engagement with partners, is a matter for the chief constable, I absolutely recognise that effective community policing depends on strong partnership working between Police Scotland and a range of partners, including local authorities, health services and the third sector. The Scottish Government supports the preventative approach to community safety, as expressed through Police Scotland’s 2030 vision, which places a strong emphasis on effective community policing, prevention and partnership. It highlights the importance of working with partners to tackle the causes of harm, supporting vulnerable people earlier and ensuring that individuals receive the right support from the right agency at the right time.
In East Lothian, Dunbar, Prestonpans and North Berwick police stations have all closed in the past few years, leaving the county with no police cells. If someone in East Lothian is arrested and needs to be detained, they have to be transported all the way to Livingston to an available cell. As the cabinet secretary has said, the Scottish Police Authority has outlined a refresh of its estate. Will he agree to meet me and local stakeholders in East Lothian to consider an interim solution to the problem, with the opportunity for an East Lothian civic centre to be set up to provide local police cell capacity to help to keep our communities safe?
I am, of course, willing to meet Miles Briggs to discuss those issues, some of which are, as he will understand, the operational responsibility of the chief constable, who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority. I raised the matter of custody arrangements and pressures across Scotland with the chief constable at our meeting this week—not matters specific to East Lothian, but general matters across Scotland. I am alive to and understand those matters, and I will be happy to discuss them with Miles Briggs.
HMP Barlinnie
To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it is taking in response to reported warnings from the governor of HMP Barlinnie about overcrowding and the risk of critical failure arising from the prison’s ageing infrastructure. (S7O-00338)
I very much recognise the challenges that are raised. Overcrowding has serious consequences for our prisons and has an impact on important rehabilitative work. I thank the governor and his prison officer staff at Barlinnie, as well as staff across the prison estate, for their work.
We need to address the prison population so that there is a safe and secure environment for people to live and work in. That is why HMP Glasgow is due to open in 2028, adding a further 357 places, and HMP Highland will add a further 107 places next year. We have increased capacity in the prison estate by more than 640 places over the past two or three years. More needs to be done, however, which is why we are considering further options for additional capacity, including modular accommodation.
The Prison Officers Association Scotland published “Crisis Point Reached”, which contained 41 recommendations to tackle the wider prison crisis. One year on from its publication, is the cabinet secretary able to tell us how many of those recommendations have been implemented? Barlinnie’s governor is warning that Scotland’s largest prison “hangs by a thread” right now. Given the risks to the prison staff and the prisoners in that estate, will the cabinet secretary visit Barlinnie to witness the conditions at first hand and meet staff, trade union, prisoner and family representatives?
I reassure Monica Lennon that I have visited Barlinnie, where I met staff, prisoners and other interested parties to discuss the challenges and the significant opportunities that come from rehabilitative work when that is possible.
Of course I recognise the challenges, and Barlinnie, given its capacity pressures and ageing infrastructure, is at the forefront of those challenges. That is why we are making the capital investment, with the replacement for Barlinnie, and considering potential further measures in order to create a sustainable prison population.
The cost of building the new 1,344-place HMP Glasgow is £998 million—almost £750,000 per place—which does not include any running costs. Given the substantial evidence that imprisonment is often not an effective deterrent to crime and that the rate of reoffending after custodial sentences is more than double the rate of reoffending after community sentences, does the cabinet secretary consider that that is a wise use of public money?
It is clear that there are alternatives to custody that can result in lower reoffending rates. However, I will not apologise for the fact that, when serious offences are committed that have serious consequences, including serious sentences, and for public safety, we need to have a prison estate that is fit for the future. That is why the investment that we are making in HMP Glasgow, including in its ability to support an ageing population in the prison estate, is important.