Engagements
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the day. (S4F-02833)
With your permission, Presiding Officer, I would like to begin with a few brief words about the late Charles Kennedy. Although he was not a member of this Parliament, I know that we were all deeply saddened to learn of his passing earlier this week. Charles was a very special human being—a talented and gifted politician, but also a thoroughly decent man. His contribution to Scottish and to United Kingdom politics was immense. He will be remembered for many things, not least his opposition to the war in Iraq and the historic success of his party under his leadership. I know that I speak on behalf of all of us in this Parliament when I say that our thoughts are very much with Charles’s family and particularly his young son, with his friends and, of course, with his colleagues on the Liberal Democrat benches. [Applause.]
Later today, I will have engagements to take forward the Government’s programme for Scotland.
On behalf of Labour members, I say that we share that sadness and the sentiments of the First Minister. Charles Kennedy was undoubtedly a principled man and a well-loved politician. He will be sorely missed in Scottish and British public life.
Charles Kennedy was also, of course, a great European. Earlier this week, the First Minister was in Brussels, rightly making the case for the UK to remain in the European Union. Some 300,000 Scottish jobs are linked to our EU membership, and our education system must equip young Scots with the skills to take advantage of those opportunities.
The ability to speak other languages is key for young Scots when competing for jobs across Europe. That is why, in 2012, we were proud to support the Scottish National Party Government when it introduced the one-plus-two language initiative. Can the First Minister tell us how that is going?
I am happy to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to write to give the member a full progress report on the developments in the one-plus-two language programme, because that is an important issue.
I hope that we will be able to find agreement across the chamber on the fact that, in Scotland and across the UK, we have not traditionally been as good as we should be at learning modern languages. Many other countries across the continent have put us to shame in that respect. I also hope that we can agree that it is important that we equip young people with the ability to compete in the modern world. That is not exclusively about the ability to speak modern languages, but it includes that.
One of the discussions that I had in Europe this week concerned the changes in the numbers of people who speak certain modern languages, with Spanish overtaking German and French. We must ensure that our curriculum keeps up with that so that we are equipping young people appropriately.
In Brussels on Tuesday, I made the case for Scotland’s continuing membership of the European Union. I also made the point that it would be unacceptable for Scotland to be taken out of the European Union against our will. The Labour First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, agreed with me on that point. I hope that Kezia Dugdale will today take the opportunity to do so as well.
I very much look forward to working with the First Minister to make the positive case for Europe and our place in it.
I asked specifically about European languages, and the reality is that things are not going very well at all in that regard. A paper that was published by Dr James Scott in the current “Scottish Languages Review” has the evidence. His published research shows that, in the first year of the new national exams, the number of pupils sitting French and German fell by 37 per cent and the numbers passing fell by 40 per cent, which is almost half. That is appalling—a 40 per cent drop in secondary 4 pupils getting a qualification in a key European language.
The situation does not affect only European languages. In 2012, to great fanfare, the SNP Government set a target of doubling the number of school students gaining qualifications in the Chinese language. Can the First Minister tell us how that is going?
I will look carefully at the research that Kezia Dugdale has cited. I will do so for two reasons. The first is that it is important that I do that because we must look carefully at any research that is published and take lessons from it. The second is that the last time that she quoted research to me at First Minister’s question time about exam passes, she mixed up—I assume inadvertently—entries for exams and the number of candidates sitting exams. She will know that one of the express objectives of the curriculum for excellence is to reduce the number of subjects that candidates sit at exam level. I will study carefully the evidence that she cites.
I said in my initial answer that it is important that we continue to make progress in modern languages. It is important that we do that to ensure that our young people pass exams in modern languages, but it is also important that we start earlier.
One of the objectives of curriculum for excellence is to equip our young people for the range of challenges that they meet in the modern world. Rather than wait for secondary school, we should start that in primary school. As a Government, we are determined to continue to do that both for the languages that it has traditionally been important to speak and for the languages that it will be important to speak in the future, such as Chinese. I hope that we will get support from across the chamber as we continue to focus on those matters.
The First Minister suggested that I had misrepresented the work of Dr James Scott. That is not the case and she should phone him herself if she would like to check that.
I spoke to Dr James Scott again this morning, and the numbers that I am using today are accurate and appear in his published paper, which the Scottish Government funded. The Government should be careful about how it presents what I say.
What the First Minister cannot quite bring herself to say is that no progress has been made at all and things are getting worse. The number of candidates sitting the new Chinese national exam fell by over a third last year, and what is worse is that the number of young Scots who passed that exam has dropped by 42 per cent.
We know that the SNP Government is failing when it comes to European languages and we know that Scotland is going backwards when it comes to Chinese. We would hope that the SNP Government would be doing better when it comes to Gaelic. Can the First Minister tell us whether the number of Gaelic learners gaining level 3, 4 and 5 qualifications went up or down last year?
In respect of the research by Dr Jim Scott, I will look at the figures that Kezia Dugdale cites, but it is important to stress to the chamber that the last time that she cited his research, she said that it showed that the number of candidates gaining level 3 to 5 qualifications was down by almost 102,000. However, at all levels, there are only about 150,000 candidates in every year. Kezia Dugdale confused the number of candidates with the number of entries; candidates are presented for multiple exams. That is the reason why I have a degree of scepticism. [Interruption.]
Order.
Kezia Dugdale raises an important issue, which is why I will treat it seriously. It is important that we ensure that young people are equipped with the skills that they need to compete in the modern economy, which is why through our attainment challenge we are putting such a focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. It is why it is important to focus on exams, skills and knowledge in modern languages. It is why the new curriculum for excellence has been introduced and why we have the new national exams system. Those are the foundations on which we are building to ensure that we focus on areas where we need improvement to equip our young people for the future. We will continue to focus on doing that.
I noticed that Kezia Dugdale’s rival for the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party—I do not know whether he is in the chamber—said yesterday that he found that the continual SNP bashing by the Labour Party was making him begin to despair. Today, he will be finding it hard not to put his head in his hands.
I am here asking what is happening in our schools and the First Minister is asking what is happening in the Scottish Labour Party. Does that not say it all?
Here is the answer: in the first year of the new national exams, the number of Gaelic learners fell by 21 per cent and the number of pupils who passed fell by more than a quarter. Dr Scott’s analysis describes the decline in Gaelic under the SNP as significant given all the money that has been invested in the area. In a lecture based on his paper, he expressed fears that some modern languages could disappear from our schools altogether.
Teachers and headteachers have warned ministers of chaos with the new exams. I have recently raised problems with the new exams. Thousands of pupils have signed a petition telling ministers that there is a problem with the new exams. As we speak, in Perth, the Educational Institute of Scotland is deciding whether to boycott the new exams altogether. After more than eight years in government, when will the First Minister take her head out of the sand and clean up the mess?
I assume that that was not Kezia Dugdale endorsing a boycott of the new exams. I hope that she will clarify that.
Last week, Kezia Dugdale raised the understandable feeling on the part of many students that the higher maths exam was too difficult in relation to what they had been taught for it. I gave a lengthy and detailed explanation of how the Scottish Qualifications Authority deals with such situations to make sure that no young person is disadvantaged. For Kezia Dugdale to make a leap from that to describing the new exams system as being in chaos is deeply irresponsible and does a great disservice to young people and teachers across our country who are working so hard for those exams.
On the point about languages, as I said in my first answer to Kezia Dugdale, I will study carefully the figures that she has cited to me. I will particularly look to see—I will give her the benefit of the doubt—that she has not done the same thing as she did the last time and mixed up the number of candidates and the number of entries.
As First Minister and leader of the Government, I say that we will continue to focus on making sure that we have an education system that provides the education, skills and training that our young people need. We will not be diverted from that objective; that is our responsibility.
Prime Minister (Meetings)
I add my sympathies and those of my party to those that others have expressed here today on the death of Charles Kennedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with his son, Donald, and the wider Kennedy family.
To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. (S4F-02839)
I have no plans in the near future.
Staff who work in Scotland’s national health service are under pressure like never before. More patients are coming through the doors and the cracks are beginning to show in hospitals across the country. This week, the NHS workforce statistics were published, uncovering the fact that staff sickness levels across Scotland are at a seven-year high. The worst affected is the Scottish Ambulance Service, in which more than 7 per cent of staff are off at any one time, which is four times the average sickness rate outside the public sector. It is clear that health workers are struggling to cope in an increasingly strained environment and the figures show that the problem is getting worse. What will the First Minister do to help?
As I always do when I am talking about the NHS, I thank NHS staff who are working right across the country to deliver quality health services for people in every part of Scotland.
Keeping the levels of sickness absence in the NHS to a minimum is—and always was when I was health secretary—a key priority for health boards. Trade unions in the NHS work hard with health boards to support staff to do that.
Ruth Davidson’s specific question was about what the Government does to help. The most important thing that the Government has done is increase the number of people who work in our health service and deal with the rising demand for health services because of our ageing population. The statistics that were published on Tuesday from which Ruth Davidson quoted also show that there are 10,500 more people working in our NHS than there were when the Government took office.
We will continue to ensure record funding and record levels of staffing in our health service. It is because of that that we now have a health service that is delivering historically low waiting times. That credit goes not to the Government but to the staff who are working so hard to achieve it.
I thank the First Minister for her reply, but the fact is that this week’s figures, published by her Government, show only part of the picture. Despite her answer, staff shortages are a real issue. In fact, the Scottish Conservatives wrote to NHS boards across the country to ask how often staffing concerns had been formally raised by doctors and nurses, and the answer was that they had been raised in their thousands.
In Dumfries and Galloway alone, there have in the past year been 4,000 separate instances of staff saying that there were not enough people to do the job. We are talking about doctors and nurses so worried about patient care that they have formally raised the matter with their managers. It is no wonder that staff sickness levels are on the rise.
Here are two things that the Scottish Conservatives would do to help: we would hire 1,000 more front-line nurses and midwives by asking people who can afford it to pay a contribution to their prescriptions, and we also promise to pass on every penny of the extra health money that is coming to Scotland as a result of United Kingdom Government decisions, which amounts to £800 million by 2020. Can the First Minister—right here, right now—commit to both of those things?
We have already protected the health service’s revenue budget and, just as I committed to doing last year, we will continue to protect that budget each and every year of the next session of Parliament if this Government is re-elected.
Any member of staff in the health service who has concerns about any aspect of the delivery of healthcare is right to raise those concerns with health managers, and health managers have a duty to respond to and address those concerns. That is the first important point to make.
Ruth Davidson mentioned NHS Dumfries and Galloway, so let me give her some figures for staffing and staffing increases in NHS Dumfries and Galloway between September 2006 and March 2015. The figure for all staff is up 6.3 per cent; consultants are up 21.9 per cent; emergency medicine consultants are up 407 per cent; qualified nurses and midwives are up 3.6 per cent; and allied health professionals are up 16.2 per cent. That is the increase in staff numbers. Does that mean that I believe that our staff are not working under pressure? Of course not. Demand is also rising because of the changing demographics of our country.
That is why it is so important that I as First Minister give a commitment to continue to protect the health budget; why it is so important that I give the commitment to continue to support staff and ensure that staffing numbers increase; and why we have so positively welcomed today’s report from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland and the Royal College of Nursing—the last sentence of which, incidentally, calls on politicians to stop political point scoring on the NHS and come together to support it in meeting the challenges of the future. I intend to do that; members on these benches intend to do that; and I hope that others make the same choice.
What support can the Scottish Government provide to Airdrie Savings Bank and its employees, given its recent decision to close half of its branches, one of which is in my constituency and is the branch that I bank with?
I was obviously concerned to learn of the developments at Airdrie Savings Bank and the impact on the employees affected, their families and, of course, customers. I understand that the bank is seeking to modernise its service delivery and to develop a long-term business model to allow its community-based banking approach to continue.
I confirm that we are working with the bank to support its long-term business model and that, through the financial sector jobs task force and partnership action for continuing employment, we will offer all possible support to any staff affected by this announcement. Airdrie Savings Bank has assured us that it will continue to offer services to all customers whose branches will close and that appropriate arrangements will be made to enable customers to access their accounts.
The First Minister will be aware of the importance of the onshore wind sector to the economy of the Highlands and Islands, so it is therefore very concerning that the United Kingdom Government plans to end onshore wind farm subsidies. Does the First Minister agree that, at the very least, the Scottish Government and Parliament should be consulted on the UK Government’s wrong-headed plans?
No.
I agree with Mike MacKenzie, and I am rather dismayed to hear a member of the Conservative Party, I think, say no, we should not be consulted on these matters.
It is very concerning that changes to UK energy policy are coming out in a piecemeal way via the media instead of through proper engagement with this Government and, indeed, this Parliament and the energy industry. Built in the right places, onshore wind has an important role to play in helping to keep the lights on across these islands, and it can do so at a competitive cost to consumers; indeed, it can do so at a cheaper cost than the UK Government’s plans for new nuclear power. I therefore urge the UK Government to engage constructively on this issue and not to turn its back on a key industry.
Teachers (Working Hours)
First, I thank Nicola Sturgeon, Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson for their generous remarks about my late colleague, friend and fellow Liberal, Charles Kennedy.
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on reports that teachers are working 11 hours each week on top of their contracted hours. (S4F-02841)
Teachers in Scotland are hard-working professionals who always go the extra mile for the good of our young people, and we should all thank them for that. We do not want unacceptable burdens to be placed on teachers, which is why we are safeguarding posts for the next year by providing £51 million to maintain teacher numbers. That will ensure that we continue to meet our aim of having the right number of teachers with the right skills in all our schools. We are also working closely with teachers’ representatives, including the Educational Institute of Scotland, local authorities and other partners, to ensure that teacher workload is balanced. That will include taking forward the recommendations of the minister-led working group on tackling bureaucracy, which identified some specific areas where changes need to be made.
The EIS survey found that fewer than one in 10 teachers are satisfied with their workload and that only a third would recommend teaching as a career. With class size promises not met, teacher numbers down and pupil teacher ratios up, does the First Minister agree with the EIS that scapegoating teachers for a situation that she herself has accepted is not good enough is not appropriate? What assurance can she offer that things will improve over the next 335 days, given that they have not done so in the past eight years?
I do not believe that anybody should scapegoat teachers. I will never do that and neither will this Government. Our teachers do a fantastic job, and all of us should thank them for the work that they do on behalf of our young people. That we support teachers is evidenced and illustrated by the commitment that we made this year, backed by £51 million, to maintain teacher numbers. We recognise the importance of having the right number of teachers with the right skills in our schools.
Workload is important, and that is why Alasdair Allan has been chairing the working group on tackling bureaucracy. The group’s membership includes teacher associations, local authorities, representative groups, the national parent forum of Scotland, Education Scotland, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority. It published its first report in November 2013 and made a number of recommendations. Its follow-up report was published in March this year and those recommendations will be taken forward as well. We will continue to work with teacher to ensure that they are not working with an undue workload, and that we tackle bureaucracy while also maintaining the number of teachers in our schools to provide excellent education for our children.
What specific actions are being progressed following the publication of the report by the working group on tackling bureaucracy that is chaired by the Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages?
The follow-up report was published in March and was praised by the EIS. It concluded that progress has been made in tackling bureaucracy but there is still more we need to do. A number of key actions from the report have been taken forward. For example, Education Scotland is working with teacher associations and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland to design and deliver workshops that provide practical guidance and good-practice examples of how to reduce bureaucracy. That will build on the success of events held last year. The SQA and local authorities are continuing to streamline verification procedures for the new qualification. Important work has been done, and we will continue with that to ensure that we reduce the unnecessary bureaucracy that, if we are not careful, can become a burden on our teachers.
Welfare Reform (Disabled People)
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to Inclusion Scotland’s research suggesting that disabled people are experiencing stress, fear and isolation because of welfare reform. (S4F-02837)
That research backs up the findings of the Scottish Government’s own welfare tracking study, which was published on Monday this week. It found that the UK Government’s programme of welfare cuts is negatively affecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
In my view, it is completely unacceptable that disabled people are finding the process of applying for benefits so difficult and distressing, and all that is before the further £12 billion of cuts proposed by the UK Government take effect. The Scottish Government will continue strongly to oppose further cuts to the welfare budget, and we will continue to argue for this Parliament to have responsibility for decisions on social security.
As we have seen from the Inclusion Scotland report, disabled people are already concerned about the cuts and the way they are treated by the systems and processes of the Department for Work and Pensions. Does the First Minister share my deep concern about further cuts to the social security budget and how they will impact on disabled people? Does she concur that the UK Government must explain and outline which group of people it plans to push into poverty next with its proposed £12 billion of further cuts to the social security budget?
Yes, I think that there is an obligation on the UK Government to provide more clarity than it has done about who will be hit by the further cut of £12 billion, but actually I would much prefer that the UK Government dropped its plans to cut welfare by a further £12 billion.
I very much share Kevin Stewart’s concerns that the UK Government’s austerity agenda is already having a very damaging effect on vulnerable people in Scotland. The lack of clarification about that further cut is important, because it increases the anxiety that disabled and vulnerable people already feel. If someone is living with a disability, there are already many challenges that they have to overcome in life. They should not have to live with the worry of a UK Government taking a further axe to the benefit that they depend on.
We will continue to oppose the cuts, and—as I said in my initial answer—we will continue to argue that the right place for these decisions to be made is not in the Westminster Parliament but here in our Scottish Parliament.
Does the First Minister share my concern that negative attitudes to the unemployed and the poor are not reserved to Westminster, but are unfortunately all too common in our own society? Will she pledge her support for the stick your labels campaign that aims to tackle stigma and prejudice against the poor and disabled in our country?
Yes, I thoroughly endorse that view, which Ken Macintosh put forward very constructively. It is important that we challenge negative stigma and negative attitudes.
Vulnerable people in our society did not cause the recession or the deficit, and they do not deserve to pay the price of getting the deficit down. They deserve our support and our respect, and they deserve a helping hand from all of us rather than having their lives made more difficult.
We have to challenge those attitudes wherever they exist. I would never stand here and say that there are not such attitudes in Scotland, but if we all unite to tackle, address and confront those attitudes, we will be doing a great service to vulnerable people across our country.
I would be the first to admit that there is fear about benefit changes, but anyone who has been knocking on doors in the past few months will realise that that fear is rather more widespread than the actual experience, particularly in relation to universal credit.
Universal credit is only now being introduced on a pilot basis in certain parts of Scotland, and it has the potential to bring about a massive improvement in the conditions of many people who are dependent on benefits, yet hostility to the introduction of that scheme is widespread through little experience.
If Alex Johnstone really thinks that the fears that people have about further benefit cuts are somehow disproportionate to the reality, he has just proven how out of touch he and his party are in Scotland. I openly invite him to come and knock some doors in my constituency on the south side of Glasgow. He should come to one of my surgeries, where people with mental health problems, people with disabilities and people who are struggling hard and working hard to support families are at the end of their tether, coming to my office for food bank vouchers because they are living with the consequences of the cuts that have been imposed by the Government that he supports.
If Alex Johnstone is not finding that where he is knocking doors, he should come and knock doors where I knock doors and he will find a very different picture.
Qatar (Human Rights Abuses)
To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will speak out about human rights abuses in Qatar prior to the Scotland v Qatar football match on 5 June. (S4F-02838)
Scotland has a very strong commitment to securing democracy, the rule of law and fundamental human rights around the world. The Scottish ministers share the concern of many about the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar, and we condemn human rights abuses in the strongest possible terms.
We have sought to engage constructively with Qatar on human rights. For example, we have offered to share Scotland’s experiences in hosting major sporting events such as the Commonwealth games to help embed human rights and safe working practices in the preparation and staging of the Qatar world cup.
On that point, I will say one final thing. If the allegations of corruption around the awarding of the world cup to Qatar are found to be well founded, there is a very strong case for rerunning that competition.
Does the First Minister share the widespread concerns in Scotland about the Scottish Football Association’s decision to arrange the fixture tomorrow? Given that hundreds of workers have already died constructing football stadiums for the 2022 world cup, and that thousands more are facing forced labour and exploitation, will the Scottish Government—all the ministers in the Scottish Government—speak out loudly and clearly against the appalling human rights abuses in Qatar?
Yes, we will do that. I respect the views of those who think that tomorrow’s match should not go ahead, but I hope that those who hold that view will accept that the other view—that sport can be a good way to engage and highlight human rights abuses—is also a legitimate one, particularly when that alternative view is held by organisations like Amnesty International.
The decision on the match tomorrow is one for the SFA, but I respect its decision to go ahead with that match, just as I respect the decision of any fans who choose not to attend it. However, instead of us in Scotland arguing over one football match, we should unite behind these two demands: first, that FIFA gets its house in order, that allegations of corruption are investigated robustly and that anyone found guilty is brought to justice; and, secondly, that human rights are respected and upheld in every single part of the world, without exception. Those are the issues that really matter, and let us speak with one voice on both of them.
Can the First Minister indicate whether there is any co-ordination or liaison between the Scottish Government and sports governing bodies that would perhaps ensure that in future established criteria or policies are developed that would prevent inappropriate fixtures from being agreed in the first instance?
I am happy to explore how these things can be dealt with better so that some of what we are now grappling with can be avoided in future. Many governing bodies—I believe that this includes FIFA, although I do not have the particular provision in front of me just now—have very strict rules on Governments not interfering in the decisions that are taken about sporting events.
That said, there is no doubt that what is alleged—I stress “alleged”—to have been happening in and around FIFA is appalling and bringing into disrepute the reputation of a game that so many people across this country and across the world love and adore. It is absolutely essential that the allegations are dealt with, that anybody found guilty is brought to justice and that FIFA gets its house in order so that we can all go back to enjoying the wonderful spectacle of sport that we enjoy during the world cups.
Can I draw the First Minister’s attention to the actions of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, which with other groups has campaigned tirelessly to improve workers’ rights in Qatar and intends to highlight the issue to fans at tomorrow evening’s game? Does the First Minister support the STUC’s actions?
Yes, I very strongly support the STUC’s actions. Its action tomorrow is a way in which those who hold the view that sport can be a good way to engage can illustrate that. If a match is taking place, as well as being a sporting occasion it provides the opportunity to highlight concerns about human rights abuses or other issues of importance. The STUC is to be commended for the action that it plans to take tomorrow night, and I am sure that it will have the support of not just me but the many fans who will attend the game.
Question 6, in the name of Stuart McMillan, has been withdrawn for understandable reasons.
Previous
General Question TimeNext
Caledonian Canal