Engagements
With your permission, Presiding Officer, I think that I speak for the whole of Scotland when I say that it was a great relief to wake up to this morning’s news that Pauline Cafferkey is on the mend. [Applause.]
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the day. (S4F-03047)
I was also delighted to hear that Pauline Cafferkey, a brave and inspirational woman, is recovering well. I am sure that we wish her all the best as she continues to regain her strength.
This afternoon I will be seeking urgent talks with the United Kingdom Government about today’s announcement by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, which would appear to put significant numbers of jobs in Scotland at risk. In addition to that, I will have engagements to take forward the Government’s programme for Scotland.
The First Minister has urged the people in Scotland to judge her Government on its record, so let us do just that. This Government established a single police force. We supported that plan but urged the Government to ensure that the reform was implemented properly. The report published on Tuesday into call handling in the wake of the M9 crash makes it clear that that did not happen. It concluded that there were major weaknesses in the roll-out of the new call-handling system.
Back in April 2013, just weeks after the creation of the single police force, the then Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, said that there had been a “smooth transition”. Would the First Minister say today that there has been a “smooth transition” to the single police force?
Obviously, as Kezia Dugdale and all members are aware, the report that was published this week was commissioned by this Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice to make sure that we are seeking and getting assurances about the operation of Police Scotland call centres—[Interruption.]
Order.
—and to make sure that we are identifying and learning any lessons. Through the publication of the report, that has happened.
The report makes 30 recommendations. As the chamber heard the justice secretary say earlier this week, each and every one of them has been accepted and will be implemented by Police Scotland. The review highlighted a number of issues around governance, change management and performance. All those issues are being and will continue to be addressed.
Kezia Dugdale and those on the Labour benches may not particularly want to hear this, but people watching at home will want to hear it because it is important to note that the report also records the progress that has been made since the review started. It also gives some important assurances on a number of key points: first, that staff levels are stable at the call centres in Govan, Motherwell and Bilston Glen; secondly, that the grading, prioritisation and dispatch for emergency and high-priority calls is working well; and thirdly, that risk and vulnerability assessment is strong and that staff training has improved. Those are just some of the assurances that Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland has given.
We will continue to make sure that Police Scotland, overseen by the Scottish Police Authority, continues to ensure that the services that are being provided for the public are of the very high standard that people expect them to be.
There is simply no escaping the fact that the report is a damning assessment of the Government’s record on policing: calls across the country were diverted elsewhere; there were not enough staff at Bilston Glen, which resulted in low performance levels; information technology problems affected day-to-day operations; there was a lack of governance of major changes, which left risks unidentified; and the overtime bill went through the roof.
The day after Lamara Bell died, the justice minister, Michael Matheson, was on the television telling us that there no systemic failings in the call-handling process. We now know that that simply was not true. Following the report’s publication, will the First Minister concede that there were in fact systemic failings?
First, I have a serious point, and I hope that people will listen to it seriously. [Interruption.]
Order.
I want to put on record again my condolences to the families of Lamara Bell and John Yuill. I am sure that I am in the same position as everyone else in the chamber when I say that not a single day goes by that my heart does not go out to both those families for the loss that they have suffered and for the dreadful circumstances in which that loss occurred.
However, as members will be aware, the circumstances of that case are still under investigation by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, and the HMICS report was not into the circumstances of that case—that point is made clear in the report. The report that was published this week is into the wider issues around call centres.
I say absolutely frankly to Kezia Dugdale that I am not trying to escape any facts. [Interruption.]
Order.
I want to ensure that our public services, whatever they are, perform to the highest standards, so it is right for anybody to point to some of the weaknesses and issues that were identified in the report but, if there is to be any sense of balance in the debate, it is also appropriate to point to the many things that the inspector says have been dealt with, addressed and improved and to point to the key assurances that he gives to the Scottish public about the operation of call centres.
We will continue to ensure that any issues that require to be addressed are addressed and that the public can have confidence in the services that the police provide.
It is simply astonishing that, even now, with all of that evidence, the First Minister cannot accept that there are systemic failings in Police Scotland.
There is a wider reality. The Scottish National Party Government has been pretty timid: when it comes to our schools and hospitals, it is happy just to manage the status quo. The single police force is the one major area of public service reform that the SNP Government has undertaken and it has got it wrong. What was the Cabinet Secretary for Justice’s response this week? It was that it is all Westminster’s fault. The fact is that he is bang to rights on police failings. He cannot lay the blame anywhere else, so I ask the First Minister whether she still has full confidence in her justice minister.
Yes, I do. [Applause.]
Order.
This is a really serious issue.
Yes, we know.
Order. Let us hear the First Minister, please.
I accept absolutely and unreservedly everything that is in the HMICS report. We accept, as does Police Scotland, all the 30 recommendations. Therefore, for Kezia Dugdale to say, as I think that she did, that I absolutely refuse to accept what has been found to be the case is either a deliberate distortion of what I said or, perhaps, she was so busy reading her script for the next question that she forgot to listen to the answer that I gave to the question before.
I simply pointed—[Interruption.]
Order.
I simply pointed out—[Interruption.]
Order. Mr Bibby and Mr Macdonald, be quiet!
I simply pointed out—again, it is a serious point—that the particular circumstances of the tragic M9 case are still under review by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. All members should respect that.
On wider public service reform, let me mention briefly some of the major reforms that are under way under the SNP Government right now. I am not sure whether Kezia Dugdale is just completely unaware of health and social care integration, which is the biggest reform in our health and social care services perhaps since the health service was established more than 60 years ago. [Interruption.]
Order.
There is also fire service reform, which was vital, was delivered well and is performing excellently. The attainment challenge, which we have just been talking about, shows that the Government recognises the challenge that our public services face and does not shy away for a second from equipping them for the future.
I repeat that I am more than happy to allow the Scottish people to judge my Government on its record. Perhaps that is why we see today that 58 per cent of people in Scotland intend to vote for us again next year.
The people of Scotland want to hear a bit less about the polls and a bit more about what the First Minister will do to support the police, because the past few months have been some of the worst in the history of policing in Scotland. [Interruption.]
Order.
We have had the resignation of the chief constable of Police Scotland and the chair of the Scottish Police Authority; morale is at rock bottom; a third of staff are preparing to leave the force; civilian staff numbers have been cut; we have had bogus figures on stop and search and a lack of transparency on armed policing; there has been a 20 per cent increase in housebreaking here in Edinburgh; we have had controversy over deaths in police custody and allegations of spying on journalists; and there has been a £25 million budget overspend.
“Judge me on my record,” says the First Minister. What is her verdict on that record?
It is not my verdict that counts, nor the verdict of Kezia Dugdale, but the verdict of the Scottish people, and we know, at this stage, what the verdict of the Scottish people is.
There was one fact that Kezia Dugdale forgot to mention in her long list. I will be charitable to her and just accept that she forgot to mention it. The fact that she forgot to mention is that crime in Scotland is at a 41-year low. That is down to the dedication of the police officers and police service staff who are working hard around the country.
Kezia Dugdale is right to hold this Government to account—I do not deny that for a second—but it is her miserable approach that denies that there is anything good about this country that sees her and her party languishing in the opinion polls.
Prime Minister (Meetings)
To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. (S4F-03043)
On 14 December.
The report by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland on the M9 tragedy made several criticisms of the staffing levels in call centres. As we have heard, the report raised many serious issues that require considered examination but, following its publication, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice toured the television studios and blamed Westminster cuts. Will the First Minister therefore tell the Parliament what the cash increase was in her overall budget last year and what the cash decrease was in the amount that she chose to allocate to policing?
One of the points that the justice secretary made is that, because Police Scotland is the only police service in the entire United Kingdom that has to pay VAT, it is paying in the region of £25 million—[Interruption.]
Order. One moment, First Minister. Mr Wheelhouse and Mr McMahon, stop shouting across the chamber at each other.
As usual, Labour members are jumping to the defence of the UK Tory Government.
Police Scotland is paying £25 million a year in VAT that it would not have to pay if it were treated in the same way as other police services are. We will continue to make that point because, when it comes down to it, we will always stand up for the interests of Scotland and of people and public services in Scotland, in stark contrast to the Labour and Conservative parties.
To return to the report, it is a serious report on a serious issue. That is why we accept all 30 recommendations, and it is why we have made sure that the police and the Scottish Police Authority have already started to put right the things that were wrong, which the report recognises. We will continue to get on with the job of making sure that, when any weaknesses are identified, they are rectified so that the public have the confidence that they deserve to have in their police service.
The figures that the First Minister was looking for—the ones that answer the question that I asked—are as follows: her overall budget went up from last year to this by £661 million, and the sum that the Scottish Government chose to spend on policing in that same period went down by £6 million.
The Scottish Government sets its own spending priorities, and it is clear that policing is not one of them. The Scottish National Party cannot blame Westminster for that. The First Minister has sole responsibility for health, education, policing and much else in our society, and she is about to get huge new powers over tax and welfare.
The Government is always quick to claim credit for every bit of good news, but it passes the buck when something goes wrong, as it did in this case. It chose to create a single police force. The Government’s budget this year went up by more than £600 million, and it chose to cut the police budget. Is it not time that the First Minister accepted responsibility for that and did not send her ministers out on to television to point the finger of blame somewhere else?
It is interesting—I am sure that the Official Report will reflect this—that the first person to mention Westminster was Kezia Dugdale, not me.
We chose to create a single police service. It is interesting that both Labour and the Conservatives went into the 2011 election pledging to create a single police service, but they do not like to be reminded of that.
The reality is that there has been a 10 per cent real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s budget. One of the points about creating a single police service was to cut out unnecessary expenditure. Some £1.5 million, for example, is being saved because we do not have the duplication of having eight chief constables across the country.
We will continue to take the right decisions to ensure that all our public services are on the strong footing that they need to be on to face up to the challenges of the future.
Liam McArthur has a constituency question.
For those of us who live and work in the Highlands and Islands, Loganair is the only provider of scheduled air services. Those services are a genuine lifeline for many businesses and for patients travelling to hospital appointments, as well as for the wider public.
Yesterday, yet another Loganair flight was forced to make an emergency landing. That was the second in less than a week. I know that the Minister for Transport and Islands takes the matter very seriously but, given the lifeline nature of the services, will the First Minister agree to make direct representations to the airline? Will she agree to meet the chief executive of Loganair to reiterate the need to get the current problems sorted, and will she stress again that regaining public confidence in the reliability and safety of the services must be the number 1 priority?
I agree absolutely with Liam McArthur. The services that Loganair provides are lifeline services, as he just described them. They are vital to those who live in our island communities, and there are concerns about performance. Yesterday’s emergency landing caused considerable concern, not least to those who were on the plane involved.
As Liam McArthur alluded to, Derek Mackay is discussing the concerns and issues with Loganair. We will continue to do that and to demand that the issues are rectified. I would be happy to ask Derek Mackay to keep Liam McArthur fully apprised, and I am more than happy to make the Scottish Government’s views known directly to the chief executive of the company, because we expect the highest standards for people who rely on those services.
United Kingdom Government Budget Cuts (Impact on Scottish Government Budget)
To ask the First Minister what the impact would be on the Scottish Government’s budget if the provisional agreement by the Treasury and the United Kingdom Government’s environment, local government and transport departments to reduce their budgets by 30 per cent over the next four years is carried out. (S4F-03053)
It is clear that the chancellor is intent on making cuts not out of necessity but out of choice. The UK Government has already cut Scotland’s discretionary spending power by 10 per cent in real terms since 2010, and it has made it clear that the cuts will continue until at least 2020.
The cuts to public services and welfare are having the greatest impact on the most vulnerable in our society. The Scottish Government will continue to do everything that we can to mitigate the effect of those cuts, but it is essential that the chancellor uses the forthcoming spending review to abandon his austerity politics and support renewed investment in all our public services.
Does the First Minister agree that Scotland will always be at a disadvantage in any budgetary negotiations with Westminster as long as the UK Government retains the whip hand and that only a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between the Governments through an economic agreement, such as that which exists between Spain and the Basque Country, will allow Scotland to fully and successfully develop distinctive economic and social policies without fear of UK-imposed cuts?
Kenny Gibson makes an extremely important point. The negotiations that are under way over the fiscal framework are critical to making the powers that the UK Government has promised a practical reality. The Deputy First Minister has made it clear that the framework has to establish a fair, sustainable and satisfactory fiscal settlement between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
I agree that financial matters need to be discussed between the Scottish and UK Governments on an equal footing, with each Government treating the other with mutual respect to reach a joint agreement. That is what we are seeking to achieve and I hope that we have the backing of the full Parliament in that.
In the House of Commons this week, Scottish National Party members proposed an amendment to the Scotland Bill that would have introduced full fiscal autonomy for Scotland. What assessment did the Scottish Government do of the impact on its budget had that amendment been carried?
That gives me another opportunity to make the case that it will always be better for Scotland, the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government to have our hands on the levers of political and economic control, so that we can build a better country. However, I do not think that that was the most significant thing that happened in the House of Commons this week—the most significant thing was watching Labour members troop through the lobbies with the Tories to vote down the devolution of tax credits.
Equal Pay
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government considers needs to be taken to fully realise the objectives of the Equal Pay Act 1970. (S4F-03058)
On Monday, we marked equal pay day, which is the point in the year when many women start essentially working for nothing for the rest of the year, because women on average continue to earn less than men. It is a complete and utter disgrace that, despite the Equal Pay Act 1970 having been passed 45 years ago—in the year I was born, in fact—we still do not have equal pay in this country. The Scottish Government is seeking to lead by example. We have made tackling the gender pay gap a priority in our programme for government, we are working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to tackle pregnancy-related and maternity-related discrimination, and we continue to promote fair work practices and to extend childcare. I take the opportunity to call on all organisations and businesses to take action on the issue so that we end pay inequality in Scotland once and for all.
Does the First Minister agree that local authorities in which the same political party has been in office for years, such as South Lanarkshire Council, have no excuse at all not to have settled equal pay claims on a fair and equitable basis? Does she realise that some of the claims date back for many years and continue to cause stress and strife among hard-working constituents in East Kilbride and elsewhere?
Ministers have repeatedly made clear—I do so again unequivocally today—that the delays by councils in settling equal pay claims are completely unacceptable. As Linda Fabiani said, many of the claims go back to 2006—even further, in some cases. There can be absolutely no justification for taking so long to resolve the issue. Some progress has been made recently—for example, the settlement of claims against Fife Council—but much more work needs to be done. Equal pay cases need to be progressed with urgency and commitment so that those who are affected receive their legal entitlements. The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment has written to all 32 local authorities to reiterate the Government’s desire for more and faster progress, and to seek information on the number of claims that have been settled and the number that are still outstanding for each council.
Apprenticeships are often the first step in career progression. In 2013, analysis from Heriot-Watt University showed that Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom where the number of female starts is persistently lower than the number of male starts. Why have the number of women starting apprenticeships and the proportion of female starts continued to fall over the past three years?
I am not sure that the question is quite relevant, but you can answer it if you wish, First Minister.
I am happy to answer it, because it is an important point. I would be happy to provide Cameron Buchanan with the most up-to-date figures. We are working to increase the number of women who go into modern apprenticeships. That is just one of many things that we need to do to get more women into the labour market and into full-time high-quality jobs. The job figures that were released yesterday show an increase in full-time work over the past year. These are important issues. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that we advance gender equality in all its forms, and I am determined to do that.
Paediatric Services (Lothian)
To ask the First Minister for what reason the publication of the findings of the review of paediatric services in Lothian has been delayed. (S4F-03042)
We have been advised by NHS Lothian that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has advised it that not all of the royal college’s independent expert review team will be able to begin their work before January. It was originally envisaged that the work would begin in November, which is this month. The Government supports whatever steps need to be taken to ensure that a full and thorough review is carried out.
Of course, I am really sure that the Government played no part at all in kicking yet another important review into touch until after the election. [Interruption]
Order.
Just to be straight with the people of West Lothian, will the First Minister give a guarantee that the current level of service, including 24/7 in-patient services, will be retained and that there will be no downgrading of paediatric services at St John’s hospital? Maybe she can chuck away her script and give a straight answer for the first time.
As far as I can tell, the only person talking about closure of those services right now is Neil Findlay.
We want to ensure that there is a sustainable service in place. That is why it is right for NHS Lothian to instruct a thorough review. I was the health secretary who inherited a position from the last Labour Government in which St John’s hospital was possibly in terminal decline. This Government reversed that situation: we turned it around so that St John’s hospital is today a thriving local hospital.
Trade Union Bill
To ask the First Minister what impact the proposals in the Trade Union Bill could have on the Scottish Government’s commitment to fair work. (S4F-03057)
On Tuesday, this Parliament made very clear its opposition to the draconian Trade Union Bill—a bill that threatens the fundamental rights of workers to organise, to bargain collectively and, if necessary, to withdraw their labour. The bill is an unacceptable threat not just to trade unions, but to Scotland’s strong track record of industrial relations and this Government’s approach to fair work. That is why we have requested that Scotland be exempted from the Trade Union Bill in its entirety. I hope that we continue to have the support of Parliament in doing so.
Does the First Minister agree that it is a disgrace that the Tory Government is pushing through the bill, which will have a major impact on devolved services and workers across the country, without any proper engagement with the Scottish Parliament or Scottish Government?
Yes, I do. That was an issue that was raised explicitly by the Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training in a debate earlier this week. It is absolutely vital that Parliament can fully consider whether it consents to the application of the bill’s provisions in Scotland. That is why Roseanna Cunningham has asked our legal advisers to explore several possible bases for a legislative consent memorandum and motion.
We have never before been in the position where the United Kingdom and Scottish Governments have not agreed on issues of legislative consent, which in itself illustrates the disgraceful lack of dialogue from the UK Government on the issue.
There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that it is a bill that would, were it to be implemented in Scotland, have significant implications for our devolved responsibilities. If the UK Government is not willing to exempt Scotland from the bill’s provisions, it is absolutely essential that we see a legislative consent motion so that this Parliament can, if it so chooses, as I hope it would, deny its consent to a draconian set of measures that attack our trade unions.