First Minister's questions will be taken today by the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Engagements
I have to ask the question that is in the Business Bulletin, but I am sure that the Deputy First Minister will be capable of answering it.
As colleagues may be aware, the First Minister is attending a private funeral today. Later today, I and my fellow ministers will have meetings to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland.
I am sure that the whole Parliament sends its best wishes to all those who are involved.
In case Cathy Jamieson has forgotten, I remind her that surveys of public opinion show that 88 per cent of the Scottish public want to see the back of the unfair council tax and its replacement with a fair tax that is based on ability to pay. The debate in Scotland is simple: it is between those who continue to defend a council tax that is deeply unfair and deeply regressive and which hits the poorest hardest, and those of us who are proud to propose an alternative that is fair, progressive and based on ability to pay. The local income tax would lift 85,000 people in Scotland out of poverty, including 15,000 children. It beggars belief that the party that alleges to be the party of social justice would oppose such a plan and, instead, defend the unfair council tax.
Surely, if consultation meant anything at all, the Scottish National Party would dump the local income tax proposals. I remind the Parliament who Alex Salmond has decided to ignore: the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, Unison, the Federation of Small Businesses, the National Union of Students and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland—the list goes on. The tax plan has been rubbished by an array of respected organisations that have Scotland's best interests at heart. Surely they cannot all be wrong. Why does Alex Salmond not admit that he has it wrong and dump the plan now?
We will continue to discuss our plans with all those organisations and more as we progress the bill, but I remind Cathy Jamieson that there was a pretty big consultation in Scotland last May. It was called the Scottish election. In that election, the Scottish people voted for the SNP and our plans to get rid of the council tax and replace it with a fair system. [Interruption.]
Order.
The party that presided over 60 per cent increases in the council tax was roundly booted out of office. That is the kind of consultation that I like.
Many people who voted in that election thought that they would get lower class sizes and £2,000 house-buyer grants and that student debt would be abolished. Of course, none of that has come to pass.
Cathy Jamieson mentioned Margaret Thatcher. I will say something about her.
Hail, Margaret!
That will do, thank you. Order.
Margaret Thatcher saw the need for change. I admire her. She is a conviction politician. I am a conviction politician, just like her. That is what Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said on 5 September just last year.
I notice that the Deputy First Minister was not able to answer my straightforward question. If she cannot answer that one, I have to ask her whether she is then leaving the door open for the SNP to do a back-room deal with the Liberal Democrats that could mean that a small business that employs three people—[Interruption.] This is a very serious point.
Order. I would like to hear the question, even if no one else would.
Such a deal could mean that a small business employing three people would have to deal with the red tape of three different tax rates, and a larger corporation would have to deal with up to 33 different rates. Is Nicola Sturgeon's message to Scottish taxpayers that they should prepare for the highest tax rates in the UK, and is her message to Scottish businesses that they should pack up and go elsewhere?
I point out to Cathy Jamieson that, until John Swinney was able to freeze them, the people of Scotland were paying sky-high council tax rates because of the increases brought in by the previous Labour Government.
Prime Minister (Meetings)
I do not know what I am reeling from more: the prospect of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister, or of her having constructive discussions with the Liberal Democrats.
We might have to wait and see about that, but I can safely say that the First Minister would be delighted to meet the Prime Minister in Glenrothes, if the Prime Minister can find the courage.
Yesterday, the First Minister proclaimed with unabated bravado that he has found £281 million to subsidise his unfair, unworkable and totally discredited Scottish national income tax. By how much could we cut everyone's bills if that subsidy was used to cut council tax? Only when we have the answer to that question can Scotland have a true choice, a real debate and a proper comparison.
As we move hopefully forward to have constructive discussions with our friends in the Liberal Democrats, we will leave it to the unholy Labour-Tory alliance to defend the unfair council tax. The Government has already taken firm and decisive action to reduce and alleviate the burden of council tax, which is why we took the decision in partnership with our local authority friends to freeze the council tax.
It is disappointing that among such verbiage there was not an answer to the question that I asked. Most people understand that the problem with the council tax is the amount that they have to pay. That is the problem with many taxes—people are concerned less about structure and more about bills.
I remind Annabel Goldie that the vast majority of people in Scotland would be better off under a local income tax than they are under the council tax. The replacement of the council tax with a local income tax would lift 85,000 people in Scotland out of poverty; 15,000 children would be lifted out of poverty. She will not find much favour in opposing that.
Cabinet (Meetings)
To ask the Deputy First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet. (S3F-955)
I welcome Tavish Scott to his first First Minister's questions. The next meeting of the Cabinet will discuss issues of importance to the people of Scotland.
On Monday in Campbeltown, I met people who had real worries about the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory. What is the Deputy First Minister's Government doing to keep the factory open and to save those jobs?
As Tavish Scott knows, the Government has given extensive support to the plant, which Jim Mather has visited. Constructive discussions are being, and will continue to be, held with the management, and Parliament will be kept updated as appropriate.
The worldwide head of Vestas said from the start that he would not come to Scotland and would meet only in Denmark. If such a threat to 100 jobs had occurred under any previous Government, the SNP would have been first to demand that ministers took the lead and got over to Denmark to engage with the most senior people in the company. Given that the SNP is in government, why have ministers not done that?
I say to Tavish Scott that this is a serious matter—perhaps too serious for glib soundbites. [Interruption.]
Order.
The Government has given extensive support to the company, and we will continue to do so. Jim Mather is seeking discussions with the management and will continue to work extremely hard to seek a resolution. I am perfectly happy to give an undertaking to ensure that Tavish Scott and all other members of the Parliament will be kept updated on that as appropriate.
Scottish Economy
To ask the First Minister what measures the Scottish Government is taking to bolster the Scottish economy in the current economic climate. (S3F-981)
The Government has taken early and decisive action to help the Scottish economy in difficult times. In the First Minister's Donald Dewar lecture on 19 August, he announced a package of initiatives to respond to the immediate challenges that are faced by the Scottish economy. That included: bringing forward up to £100 million of affordable housing investment to be spent this year and next, rather than in 2010-11, as originally planned; bringing forward up to £385 million of Scotland's remaining European structural funds allocation; introducing new steps to ensure that Scottish tourism reaps the full benefit of homecoming 2009; and looking at innovative ways of reducing public sector energy costs through bulk purchasing of electricity.
I thank the Deputy First Minister for that extensive reply.
I substantially agree with that statement. However, I should say that there is absolutely no room for complacency. Scotland's economy is proving to be relatively resilient, but we know from our constituencies that people are feeling the pressure. Family budgets are under severe strain across the country, which is why the Government has taken so much action over the past months to try to relieve that pressure.
In your answer to Nigel Don, you referred—
I remind you—
I apologise, Presiding Officer.
Duncan McNeil asks that question as if he has stumbled across something that nobody knew. However, when the First Minister made that announcement last month, he was quite clear about the fact that we want to bring forward up to £100 million investment to this year and next year. We made it very clear in the press release and the accompanying document that £60 million of that had already been secured from the Scottish Government's own budgets and that we were in constructive discussions with local authorities about securing the other £40 million. As members have come to expect from the good relationship that this Government has with local government, those discussions are continuing and they are constructive, and I am confident that they will reach a positive conclusion. That is in marked contrast to the negative relationship that previous ministers used to have with local authorities—which was astounding, given that most of the councillors were in the same party as them.
One thing that the Scottish Government can do is have business impact assessments—a series of nine questions suggested by the regulatory review group—for all legislation. Given the current economic climate, how many of the 15 bills announced yesterday have undergone a business impact assessment?
That issue is under active consideration by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, and I am sure that he will respond to the member about it in more detail.
In the past nine months, decisions taken by the Government within its own powers have nearly halved the operational budget of Scottish Enterprise, with 260 redundancies; abolished local enterprise companies, with no locally set budgets; and removed support for small businesses from our economic development agency. On 14 April, the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise told Parliament:
That is a complete and utter misrepresentation of what has happened. In the past few months under this Government, Scottish Enterprise has been allowed to focus much more on what most people would consider to be its core responsibility: supporting business in Scotland. That is what Scottish Enterprise is fundamentally there to do. Responsibility for training and skills now lies elsewhere, and the business gateway is being rolled out across Scotland.
Probationer Teachers
To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Executive plans to respond to reports that fewer than one in four of last year's probationer teachers have found permanent teaching jobs. (S3F-964)
The teacher employment survey that Rhona Brankin refers to was partial and already out of date when it was published. We would not expect every new teacher to be in permanent employment in August. Vacancies occur throughout the year. Indeed, we know that 6,000 teachers are expected to leave the profession this year and that retirements at such levels will continue for the foreseeable future. Since the date of the survey, more than 300 teacher vacancies have been advertised in Scotland. It is also important to be clear that we inherited a situation from the previous Administration in which more teachers were seeking employment than had been forecast. That is why we took early action last June to provide an additional £9 million for 300 teaching jobs. In November, in supporting the concordat, we made provision in the local government settlement to maintain teacher numbers at around 53,000.
There can be no greater indictment of the Scottish Government's education policy than teachers being on the dole while class sizes are rising. The Scottish National Party is responsible for bringing about the biggest crisis in education since Michael Forsyth was in charge—[Interruption.]
Order.
Will the Deputy First Minister take the opportunity to apologise to every new teacher in Scotland who has had their dreams dashed because they cannot get a job?
Let me point out that by the end of the year last year 93 per cent of teachers gained employment. As colleagues know, I usually like to be polite and diplomatic in my exchanges in the chamber, but I have rarely heard anything as downright stupid as what I have just heard from Rhona Brankin. Let me reverse the question: if every single new teacher had gained employment by this point, how on earth would we fill the 6,000 vacancies that we know are going to arise during the year? It has always been the case that new teachers gain employment as vacancies arise during the year. That was the case under Labour; it will continue to be the case under this Administration. We also know that, last year, a higher proportion of teachers ended up in employment than was ever the case under the previous Administration.
As the Deputy First Minister knows, teaching students are given a guaranteed placement at the end of their training period and councils are signed up to provide such places each year. However, as probationer teachers are not allocated to councils on a fully funded basis, councils are required to identify vacant posts into which probationer teachers can be placed in order that the annual targets for placing probationers are met. Given the often unsatisfactory impact of that on both probationer teachers and qualified teachers who are seeking posts, does the Scottish Government—notwithstanding the cabinet secretary's previous reply—have any plans to review the current approach to funding probationer teacher posts?
I will not repeat the answer that I gave to Rhona Brankin but supplement it by saying that, as I assume the member is aware, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has established a working group to look at the issues around the employment of probationer teachers and to ensure that anything that we can do to ease that process is done. That group is due to report shortly.
Teachers in my constituency who have now been unemployed for a year following their probationary year have highlighted their difficulty in obtaining supply teaching posts because teachers who have taken early retirement are often the preferred option for many local authorities. What action is being taken to review that position to ensure that, in the year after their probationary year, new teachers are given real opportunities to get into the job market ahead of those who have taken early retirement—for which they may have received a fairly large lump sum from the Government—who need to be employed at enhanced rates compared with those of new teachers?
Karen Gillon raises a fair point. As I said to Rhona Brankin, last year's statistics showed that 93 per cent of probationer teachers accessed employment, but Karen Gillon raises a valid point about local authorities' preferences in relation to supply teachers. I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning will ensure that that point is fully considered by the working group that I spoke of.
Schools (Sport)
To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government intends to support sport in schools ahead of the 2012 Olympic games in London and the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow. (S3F-956)
There is no doubt that hosting two of the world's most prestigious sporting events in two great cities within a two-year period presents all of Scotland with great opportunities to make material improvements to people's lives. That is why we are investing £238 million to deliver a successful Commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014 and why we have consulted widely to establish where and how we can best use the games to Scotland's benefit so that they leave a lasting legacy to all areas of Scotland. However, Scotland's legacy ambitions will inevitably be constrained by the diversion of £150 million of lottery funds from Scottish distributors to pay for the London 2012 games. I hope that all members will join us in seeking the return of that money so that it is used for the benefit of Scotland and Scottish sport.
I draw the Government's attention to the recent comments of the Olympic champion Chris Hoy on the importance of training facilities. I also draw attention to the written answers that my colleague Liz Smith has received that reveal that, in a number of critical areas, the Minister for Communities and Sport has no information on grass-roots sporting facilities and on sports in schools. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that, ahead of the next Olympic games and Commonwealth games, it is vital that the Scottish Government looks at detailed provision of grass-roots sporting facilities to identify where we need to improve facilities?
Yes, I agree with that. I was very privileged to meet Chris Hoy last week, when we hosted the successful Olympic athletes in Edinburgh castle. I was delighted to get his agreement during that meeting to work with us as we seek to improve sporting facilities in the run-up to both 2012 and 2014. I contend that the Government has already shown its commitment to sport—following on, I concede, from that of the previous Government—in making a substantial financial commitment to the Commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014. Across the period of the spending review, we are increasing by some 44 per cent the funding that is made available to sportscotland. In addition to that, through the cashback for communities scheme we are investing millions of pounds in good-quality grass-roots sports facilities.
The Deputy First Minister mentioned lottery funding. I am sure that she is aware of the cross-party support in Parliament for that funding. Is she considering sending a deputation of members from all parties in the Parliament to Westminster to ensure that we get that lottery funding back?
As I have already said, the Government is determined to pursue that issue. I am delighted with the support that it has attracted, and we look forward to speaking to all members who have an interest about how we take the issue forward over the coming weeks and months.
Meeting suspended until 14:15.
On resuming—
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