Official Report 673KB pdf
Mossmorran
In 1998, aged 25, I spent three glorious weeks at France 98. There was no Google, no smartphones, no social media and no Scottish Parliament. It has been almost “30 years of hurt”, as our English friends would say, but we never stopped dreaming. On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives and the tartan army, I congratulate and thank our Scotland heroes. [Applause.]
I turn to my questions for the First Minister. Hundreds of Scottish jobs are at risk, this time in Fife. Thousands have already been lost: 400 at Grangemouth; 250 at Harbour Energy; 200 at Hunting PLC; 500 at Apache and 2,000 at Petrofac. Now 400 more jobs are at risk at Mossmorran. Scotland’s oil and gas industry is being destroyed before our eyes and the Labour and Scottish National Party Governments are causing that to happen because it suits their net zero agenda.
John Swinney’s Government promised a Mossmorran transition plan 18 months ago, so where is it?
I begin by expressing my warmest congratulations to Steve Clarke and the Scotland squad. It was an absolute privilege to be present at Hampden park on Tuesday night and to see such an exciting football game with spectacular goals. The Scotland national team has brought joy to everyone in Scotland and I pay warm tribute to the players for what they achieved on Tuesday. [Applause.]
Russell Findlay raises important issues about the future of employment in Scotland. We in the Government will do everything that we can to support the workforce at ExxonMobil in light of the challenges that are now being faced as a consequence of the decision in connection with the Mossmorran plant.
It is absolutely vital that we take forward measures to ensure a just transition, which means that we must manage the issues that confront us in relation to the future of the North Sea oil and gas sector and the implications for other communities.
On Tuesday, the Government signalled our determination to use the learning that has come from the work that we are undertaking on Grangemouth and apply it to the situation at Mossmorran to provide every support that we can to the employees, who are facing a very difficult future as a consequence of Tuesday’s announcement.
Where is the Mossmorran transition plan that was promised? The reason John Swinney did not produce one is because he instead fixates on net zero policies that will hit Scots in the pocket, such as fining householders £15,000 if they do not get rid of their gas boilers. Scotland’s oil and gas infrastructure is being decimated because of Government policies,
Last week, alongside Kemi Badenoch, I held a round-table discussion with leading figures in the oil and gas industry, who all say that the most damaging policy that threatens jobs is the energy profits levy. [Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Findlay.
Their number 1 ask of Labour’s budget next week is that the levy should be scrapped. Today, I am writing to Rachel Reeves to urge her to axe the EPL. Will John Swinney add his name to my letter?
For completeness, I point out to Parliament that the energy profits levy was introduced in the first place by a Conservative Government. [Interruption.]
Let us hear the First Minister.
It was also extended by the Conservative Government. [Interruption.]
Let us hear one another.
The issues around the energy profits levy are now acute in relation to the oil and gas sector. I do not need to add my name to the letter that Russell Findlay is talking about, because the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has already made those representations to the United Kingdom Government.
We are at a pivotal moment in sustaining employment in Scotland’s economy as we ensure that we build up to our clean energy and renewables future. That requires the UK Government to heed the concerns that have been expressed by many people, including the Scottish Government, about the continuation of the energy profits levy, which was introduced by the Conservatives.
The EPL must go, and both Governments must change direction. If they do not, the industry body, Offshore Energies UK, warns that 1,000 jobs will be lost every month until 2030. This is a national emergency.
The Fraser of Allander Institute today released a new report that warns that
“jobs, tax revenues and regional economies”
are
“at risk”.
It says that skilled workers are leaving either the country or the industry altogether, and it estimates that the cost to our economy could reach £13 billion. Unless Labour and the SNP change course, Scotland’s world-leading oil and gas sector will be wiped out entirely, never to return.
Does John Swinney at least accept that his Government’s hostility to oil and gas has contributed to this national emergency?
The Scottish Government has put in place practical support to assist the communities that will inevitably be affected by the transition to net zero, particularly as the oil and gas sector in the North Sea, which is a mature basin, reduces. That is a geological factor that we have to come to terms with.
For example, we have set up the oil and gas transition training fund, which supports eligible workers with funding for training to build the skills required for the sustainable energy approaches of the future. We have also put in place the north-east and Moray just transition fund, which is about practical financial support to assist in that transition. Indeed, I was privileged to take part in the opening of the new skills hub, which took place in Aberdeen just a few weeks ago.
The Government will take forward sustained support to assist in the management of the transition, which I recognise is a significant threat to companies and employees. The Scottish Government will do all that we can to support workers, and I appeal to the United Kingdom Government to take sympathetic policy decisions that will also help in that respect.
That is just an evasive insult to the oil and gas workers. He is offering a sticking plaster for a shotgun wound. The SNP opposes Rosebank, it opposed Cambo and Jackdaw, and it supports a ban on any new North Sea development. John Swinney could change that now, so why does he not? He does not because he is worried that extremists in his party would unite with the Greens and he would lose a vote in this Parliament. Let me make him another offer—my party will support his Government to overturn its presumption against new developments. We will give him the votes to protect thousands of Scottish jobs, so is he prepared to do the right thing?
The Scottish Government’s position is that any new oil and gas developments have to pass a climate compatibility assessment to ensure that they are consistent with the agenda that we have to take forward on net zero. [Interruption.]
Let us hear the First Minister.
That is the position of the Scottish Government. Indeed, court judgments in the United Kingdom have reinforced that position, so it is now necessary for the UK Government to consider developments in that context.
We will set out what we have done and what practical assistance we are delivering, such as the measures to support new business ventures in Grangemouth and the transition funds that we have made available in the north-east of Scotland. Those measures recognise that Government has to be an active player in protecting industry and employees, and that is exactly what the Scottish Government will do.
Covid-19 (Scottish Government Decisions)
I join others in congratulating Steve Clarke and the Scotland men’s team on qualifying for the world cup. They have done the entire nation proud. I remember rushing home from school to watch the Scotland v Brazil game in 1998 and the absolute jubilation when John Collins scored that penalty against Brazil, only for that to be followed by a goal. Anyway, we enjoyed John Collins scoring that penalty. Honestly, I am so proud that my kids will get to experience Scotland playing at the world cup, cheer the team on and develop their own memories for the generations to come.
Later today, the Covid inquiry report on political decision making will be published. Covid-19 shook all our lives, with thousands of lives lost in Scotland. The United Kingdom Covid inquiry is vital so that we can learn lessons, acknowledge mistakes and give answers to mourning families. Given that John Swinney was central to the Scottish Government’s operations before, during and after the pandemic, does he regret deliberately deleting evidence for the inquiry, which frustrated its process? Will he take the opportunity to apologise?
Covid-19 was incredibly difficult for everyone. I express my heartfelt sympathies to everyone who lost a loved one during the pandemic and to those who suffered a tremendous level of disruption to their lives.
At all times, ministers’ actions were based on the best information that was available to them at the time. I have set out to the Covid-19 inquiry the basis of the decision making with which I was involved. The Scottish Government took those decisions incredibly seriously to ensure that we took the necessary action to protect the population at a time when we had no guidebook on what we were dealing with. We supported establishing a public inquiry so that all Governments can learn the necessary lessons for the future. That is exactly what the Scottish Government will do.
All the actions that I took regarding information were consistent with Scottish Government policy.
John Swinney was the Deputy First Minister who deliberately deleted evidence, which is shameful and unforgivable. He was the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills who shamefully downgraded the exam results of working-class kids, and he was the Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery who failed to deliver any recovery.
The most devastating decision that was made by ministers was to send untested and Covid-positive patients into care homes, even when it was known that older people were the most vulnerable to the virus. More than 100 Covid-positive patients and more than 3,000 untested patients were sent into care homes. The devastating consequence was that more than 4,000 people in care homes died of Covid. That is now being investigated by the police. We do not need clinical advice to know that sending people with the virus to live with those who are the most vulnerable to it would lead to deaths. Will John Swinney apologise for that disastrous and catastrophic decision?
As I indicated in my first answer, at the time, ministers were dealing with an evolving situation during which advice was being formulated by scientific experts. Clinical experts were assessing the right judgments to be made in dealing with an emerging and fast-changing situation. Ministers were open with the Parliament about the dilemmas and challenges that were involved. Those decisions were subjected to scrutiny by the Parliament and, of course, they are now being subjected to scrutiny by the Covid-19 inquiry.
I have been very clear that I regret the suffering that individuals experienced during the Covid pandemic. It did enormous damage to people, including those who lost loved ones, and to our society, and we are still dealing with the consequences of it. I understand the scale of the impact and the damage that was done. As I have indicated, the Government will listen carefully to the inquiry and respond accordingly to the recommendations that it makes as we seek to learn lessons from a traumatic period in the country’s history.
We do not need clinical advice to know not to send Covid-positive patients into care homes. Right across the country, people have the common sense not to visit their granny when they have a cold, never mind putting Covid-positive patients into care homes. John Swinney was the Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, and this was supposed to be the Parliament’s Covid recovery session, but look at where we are.
In one month at the start of this parliamentary session, 16,798 Scots waited for four hours in accident and emergency; now 45,639 are waiting. At the start of this session, 1,810 waited in A and E for eight hours; now 15,821 are waiting. At the start of this session, 96,053 people were waiting for in-patient treatment; now 155,849 are waiting. At the start of this session, 391,938 were waiting for an out-patient appointment; now 559,077 are waiting. John Swinney promised recovery and he delivered catastrophe. He has a shameful record, and it is one that he cannot delete. Is it not clear that we cannot afford another five years of this and that Scotland needs to recover from John Swinney and the Scottish National Party?
One of the many flaws in the argument that Mr Sarwar has just put to me is that he is comparing this moment today with the start of this parliamentary session. At the start of this session, the country was still dealing with Covid. We were still in the midst of Covid. We still had a pause—for at least a year beyond the start of this session—on routine scheduled cases because of the priority to sustain the national health service during that period. The idea that Mr Sarwar is comparing like with like ignores—as he always does—the reality of the Covid pandemic and its significant disruption.
I can reassure Mr Sarwar that, under my leadership, the scale of national health service activity is increasing in order to tackle those very issues. We had more than 10,000 extra out-patient attendances in September compared with August. Activity in our national health service has increased: from April to September 2025, there were over 31,000 more appointments and procedures than in the same period in 2024. We are now seeing the total list size and the longest waits coming down. We are also treating more people, with activity increasing significantly compared with last month and last year.
The actions that Mr Sarwar is calling for—of increased NHS activity, increased numbers of procedures and increased solutions for the people of Scotland—are happening, and they are happening under my leadership. They will carry on happening under my leadership, because I am determined to support our population to recover from Covid.
Mossmorran (Just Transition Plan)
Like the First Minister and colleagues, I start by congratulating Steve Clarke and the national team. I cannot remember 1998—[Interruption.]—so, like many other people across Scotland, I am looking forward for the first time to the experience of having our national team compete in a world cup.
On Tuesday, workers at ExxonMobil’s Mossmorran site were locked out of their workplace and told that they would lose their jobs. Two hundred staff and 250 contractors are facing unemployment. Ludicrously, ExxonMobil has suggested that it could support workers to get a job at its other site, which is 500 miles away in Southampton.
We all knew that this was coming. For years, the Scottish Greens called on the Government to develop a just transition plan for Mossmorran. In April 2024, the Government agreed, and it promised that that work would commence within months. That was 18 months ago. On behalf of the workers and their families, who thought that the Scottish Government had their back—[Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Greer.
—can I ask the First Minister where that transition plan is?
The work that the Government is undertaking, as set out by the Deputy First Minister on Tuesday, is focused on learning from the experience of what we are taking forward in Grangemouth and on the business ventures and developments that can come forward, supported by Scottish Enterprise, to enable us to assist companies and individuals to meet the just transition. That is the work that the Government is taking forward as a consequence of the very damaging decision that was taken on Tuesday. We will support that activity with the assistance and the intervention that the Government has set out.
It is quite clear from that answer that the reality is that there is no plan and the Scottish Government has broken its promise to the workers at Mossmorran. The Government made a commitment to the workers and their community, and it is clear that it has done nothing to fulfil it.
The Scottish Greens have pushed for that just transition plan for years. In 2022, Fife’s Green MSP, Mark Ruskell, published plans that he developed. He has held summits that have brought together workers, their unions and the wider community, and he pushed Government ministers to make that commitment in the spring of last year, but we have heard nothing since—not even in the climate change plan that was published earlier this month, despite Mossmorran being responsible for 10 per cent of Scotland’s emissions.
Can the First Minister name a single thing that the Government has done specifically for the workers at Mossmorran since announcing that it would develop a just transition plan for them 18 months ago?
The Government has taken forward a number of steps in relation to the work that has emerged from Grangemouth on identifying low-carbon solutions and economic opportunities for Scotland. That is what the Government has done. A range of business opportunities and projects have been developed by Scottish Enterprise and are designed to address the need to provide sustained employment in the Mossmorran area. Those ideas and arguments are central to the propositions that we can take forward. They are part of the Government’s transition to net zero and to a just transition, but they happen in the context of the damage that is being done to the whole process by the perpetuation of the energy profits levy. That is clearly damaging, and the Mossmorran leadership has ascribed to it a contribution to the damage to employment that has been experienced at Mossmorran.
Women Against State Pension Inequality (Compensation)
To ask the First Minister, in light of the United Kingdom Government’s reported decision to revisit compensating women against state pension inequality, what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential social security implications for those affected in Scotland. (S6F-04468)
We welcome the UK Government’s long-overdue announcement to reconsider the decision on compensation for women born in the 1950s who were impacted by the maladministration of the changes to state pension age. Around 336,000 women in Scotland were impacted, and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended that they should receive compensation of up to £2,950 each. The Scottish Government has and always will support the WASPI campaign, and I urge the UK Government to finally do the right thing and compensate the women affected now.
It is welcome that the Labour UK Government has been forced into this latest U-turn, and it is vital that it stops dragging its feet. WASPI women have waited long enough, with many having died while waiting for justice. Will the First Minister provide any update on the Scottish Government’s latest engagement with the UK Government on steps being taken to set this injustice right, and will he join me in calling on Labour to immediately honour the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and deliver full compensation for WASPI women now?
I echo and support that call from Clare Haughey. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions the day after his announcement, asking for the earliest possible clarification of when exactly UK ministers were first made aware of the new evidence, and urged him to complete the review at pace. She further reiterated that the Scottish Government has always supported the WASPI campaign and that compensation must be delivered now to right that historic wrong.
Road Deaths and Serious Injuries (Moray)
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take in response to reported figures from the road safety charity, Brake, which show that over the last year road deaths and serious injuries rose by 2.8 per cent nationally, with Moray recording the highest increase, with a rise of 83 per cent. (S6F-04462)
Any death or serious injury on our roads is a tragedy, and I offer my sympathies to everyone affected by the loss of a loved one. The Scottish Government is taking forward measures on road safety, including investing £48 million in road safety this year, which is a 33 per cent increase on last year’s amount, and supporting engineering improvements, education and enforcement nationwide.
I recognise that more work has to be done, and the Government will continue working with partners to reduce harm and keep communities safe.
This is road safety week, but those figures confirm that Scotland’s roads are getting more dangerous—more people are dying or being seriously injured on Scotland’s roads, and the figures for Moray are shocking and devastating. In the past year, 43 people have been killed or seriously injured on our roads. Far too many families are grieving the loss of loved ones.
The main road through Moray is the A96, which the Scottish National Party promised to dual years ago. It has launched countless consultations but has failed to dual a single mile of that road. Will the First Minister say whether it is still the SNP’s policy to fully dual the A96 from Aberdeen to Inverness, and if it is, will he tell us when it will be done?
That remains the Scottish Government’s policy position. In my initial answer, I acknowledged the significance and seriousness of road casualties. I acknowledge that the data in Moray shows a significant increase. However, the wider pattern is that, in 2024, the number of casualties as a result of a road traffic accident was the fifth lowest on record and the third lowest outside the pandemic years, and, compared with the 2014-18 baseline, there has been a reduction in road deaths, serious injuries, child fatalities and serious injuries among children. I acknowledge that more has to be done, and the Government is taking forward that work.
Eight months ago, I raised the issue of rising road casualties in Renfrewshire. I asked the First Minister why the Scottish Government has delayed introducing speed awareness courses in Scotland, despite first promising to look into them 16 years ago. In his answer, the First Minister said that he would write to me to outline what steps the Scottish Government would be prepared to take. I am still waiting for his letter and, more importantly, we are still waiting for the speed awareness courses. Is this not another case where, when the First Minister is found wanting, he gives us warm words, promises action and then does nothing? When will those courses be introduced in Scotland, as they are in England and Wales?
I will look into Mr Bibby’s point about my reply—if I promised a reply and it was not forthcoming, I apologise for that. I will look into the issue immediately after First Minister’s question time.
As I said in my answer to Mr Ross, the Government has increased the funding available for road safety activity in Scotland by 33 per cent. Road Safety Scotland is undertaking a range of national behaviour change campaigns in 2025-26 relating to motorbikes, speed, drink and drug driving, fitness to drive, distractions and young drivers. Police Scotland and partners have been undertaking road safety activities, including the fatal 5 campaign, the motorcycle safety campaign, the 2 wheels campaign, operation spotlight and national drunk driving week. A whole range of measures have been taken to improve road safety. However, I will look into the specific issue that Mr Bibby has set out for me and will take forward the necessary response.
National Health Service (Public Satisfaction)
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to news that public satisfaction with the NHS has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to the Scottish household survey. (S6F-04472)
The Government is responding to that information by maintaining its focus on improving the delivery of the national health service. We have seen waits, particularly the longest waits, reduce for four months in a row. There is more to be done, and the Government is making the necessary investment in reducing those waiting times. We are beginning to see the effect of that in the data that is available to us.
When the First Minister’s party first took office in 2007, following eight years of a Labour-led Government, 83 per cent of Scots were satisfied with the NHS. That figure is now just 61 per cent. Does the First Minister agree that a failure to show leadership and very poor decision making have led us to this situation? Given that the Scottish National Party has been in power for almost two decades—almost 20 years—how does he plan to convince the Scottish public that the SNP should be in charge of our most valued public asset, the NHS, for another five years?
Carol Mochan asked a question that made absolutely no reference to the impact of the pandemic. The global pandemic resulted in a period of almost two years in which scheduled care essentially had to be paused to enable us to sustain the national health service. Carol Mochan’s party leader just asked me about Covid, and yet she has asked me a question about the performance of the NHS that takes no account of Covid.
I am intensely focused on making sure that we improve the recovery of the NHS. In that respect, we saw the number of hip and knee operations reach an all-time high in 2024, which is really welcome.
In the 12 months to September 2025, there was an increase in the number of operations performed compared with the previous year. In September 2025, the number of operations performed was nearly 14 per cent higher than it was in September 2024.
What we are going to do is exactly what I and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care are focused on: we are going to deliver for the people of Scotland, which is what this Government always does.
I am sure that Carol Mochan will recognise that, in Labour-controlled NHS England, levels of dissatisfaction are currently at their highest since the British social attitudes survey began, and it is four decades since that came into being. [Interruption.]
Let us hear Mr Stewart.
In Labour-run Wales, the NHS has the lowest satisfaction rate in the whole of the United Kingdom. Does the First Minister therefore agree that Scottish Labour needs only to look at its colleagues’ records on the NHS to know that those in glass houses should not throw stones? Will he reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that the SNP Government continues to tackle the longest waits, increase access to care and improve delivery in Scotland’s NHS as a matter of priority?
I remind members that concise questions enable more members to take part. I also remind members that a focus on devolved responsibilities would be helpful.
In Scotland, there are more staff working in our national health service now than there were when this Government took office. There are more midwives, more nurses and more dental consultants, and general practitioner numbers are going up. On discharges from Scottish hospitals, 97 per cent happen without delay. More patients are being seen and treated in shorter periods. There were 23,181 operations performed in September 2025, which is 13.7 per cent more than in September 2024. The number of hip and knee operations reached an all-time high in 2024. That is delivery, and that is what people get from an SNP Government.
We move to constituency and general supplementary questions. The more concise members are, the more questions we will be able to put.
Scottish National Residential Pain Management Programme
In Scotland, people living with chronic pain have been expressing concern that the Scottish national residential pain management programme, which is based in Glasgow and provides intense support to people from all over Scotland who live with chronic pain, will no longer be directly funded by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Parliament voted to create that national service and, since 2015, it has been free for all boards to refer patients to the programme, to help those who are living with chronic pain to self-manage. Will the First Minister investigate why that decision has been taken and why boards will now be forced to pay to refer patients to the service? Will it be a national service for people who live with chronic pain, wherever they live in Scotland?
It is vital that those services are available. However, fundamentally, we have to take decisions about the sustainability of services as they relate to individual parts of the country where demand for services lies. I will look at the details of what Miles Briggs has raised with me. Obviously, the Government is focused on ensuring that we have sustainable public services in place, which includes the national health service.
Mossmorran
The announcement this week that Mossmorran is to close by February next year comes as devastating news to the hundreds of workers and contractors at the site. On Tuesday, ExxonMobil was very clear that the United Kingdom Labour Government’s damaging and uncompetitive economic and fiscal policies led to that decision. Will the First Minister outline in a bit more detail what action the Scottish Government is taking to secure a future for the site?
Does the First Minister share my utter disbelief and anger that, although the UK Labour Government can somehow find hundreds of millions of pounds to save steel production in Scunthorpe, provide a £600 million loan guarantee for a petrochemical plant in Belgium and change the regulatory regime to help the car industry in England, it cannot find one penny for Mossmorran?
Thank you, Ms Ewing.
The only conclusion to draw is that, when push comes to shove, Scotland simply does not matter enough to the UK Labour Government.
I share Annabelle Ewing’s concern about the lack of intervention from the UK Government when it is able to intervene in other situations in other parts of the UK. She puts on the record the comments from ExxonMobil about what led to the decision, and the unsympathetic and unhelpful actions of the UK Government.
The Scottish Government will do the following things: we will provide direct support to the workforce who are affected, through the partnership action on continuing employment. We will take forward measures that arise from the work that we are doing in Grangemouth to find alternative opportunities for industrial sites. Details of that work were shared with the Parliament on Tuesday by the Deputy First Minister. We will continue our engagement with the company and the trade unions to identify approaches that will help to support the workforce—Ms Ewing’s constituents—who are severely affected by the announcement was made. The Scottish Government will do all that we can within our powers to support those who are affected.
Mossmorran
The number of questions that we have had this afternoon on Mossmorran shows the significance of the situation and the concern about its seriousness. The First Minister talks about lack of intervention. Was the Scottish Government aware of the report in the Financial Times in September that said that, at that point, ExxonMobil was looking to sell the site? What was the Scottish Government’s response to that report and what engagement did it have with ExxonMobil?
The Scottish Government engaged when it was apparent that ExxonMobil was marketing the site, but the announcement that was made this week was one that the Government did not expect to be happening on such a short timescale. We will sustain our engagement with the company as a consequence.
Antisocial Behaviour on Buses
Mindless vandalism and antisocial behaviour on Stagecoach buses in my region are at a crisis point. Those mindless acts endanger lives, damage vital transport services and cause significant disruption for the communities that rely on those services. What action will the Scottish Government take to protect drivers, passengers and the wider communities?
Any acts of violence are completely unacceptable in our society and individuals should not be perpetrating those attacks. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport is exploring measures around whether there are any circumstances in which there is a reason or justification for restricting access to public transport concessionary travel as a consequence of any behaviour. Policing in our communities is an essential part of that endeavour but, fundamentally, it is about how individuals behave. Any act of violence is unacceptable in our society.
Free-to-air Sports Broadcasts
On Tuesday, people across Scotland were able to watch the national men’s football team’s historic and amazing victory on free-to-air television, because of a successful campaign by many of us in the Scottish National Party and across the political spectrum. As the current broadcasting arrangement comes to an end, people risk being shut out of future successes and of nights like that one. Will the First Minister put his weight behind the campaign to keep Scotland’s international games free to air and will he raise the matter with the United Kingdom Government, broadcasters and football authorities, to ensure that all future “no Scotland, no party” matches are on terrestrial television and available to everyone?
I agree with Fulton MacGregor’s point and recognise the importance of there being free-to-air television access for matches of that nature. I will be happy to ensure that ministers support and take forward Mr MacGregor’s representations.
The Scottish Government has long called for national sporting events, such as men’s and women’s football qualifiers, to be protected for free-to-air broadcast. We will continue to make that case on behalf of fans across the country. It is a matter of enormous significance that all of us were able to experience the joyful scenes at Hampden on Tuesday evening. It should be free for members of the public to be able to see those events.
NHS Tayside Mental Health Services
I am sure that the First Minister will share my utter dismay at the Auditor General for Scotland’s report, published today, on the unacceptable lack of progress on reform of NHS Tayside’s mental health services. I have raised that issue with the First Minister on numerous occasions but, from the two Strang reviews to the ministerial oversight group, nothing seems to be able to force real change. The leadership of NHS Tayside has waited until attention is elsewhere, scaled back the process and returned to business as usual. When he is digesting the report, will the First Minister give urgent consideration to appointing external leadership to finally deliver the change that is required?
I am sympathetic to Mr Marra’s point. I have constituents who are affected by the issue that he has raised, so I understand its significance.
A whole range of external scrutiny has been undertaken and—frankly—that should be enough for all the action that is required to happen. Earlier this year, officials met the new chief executive and leadership team to understand how they were responding to the challenges. NHS Tayside is committed to addressing those challenges by December 2025, and it has already put many plans in place, including the adoption of a unified strategic approach in relation to the delivery of the service, consistent with the enhanced monitoring and scrutiny executive group.
The next three months will be critical in that endeavour. I give Mr Marra an undertaking that I will review the issue in January, once I have seen the conclusions of the work that NHS Tayside has committed to doing. At that point, I will address the point that Mr Marra has raised. We must expect the leadership of health boards to get on with meeting the challenges that they face. I am not dismissing Mr Marra’s suggestion, but I will return to it once I see what progress has been made by December.
Planning Applications (Highlands)
Community councils and communities across the Highlands are being swamped with planning applications for pylons, battery storage sites, switching stations and, now, workers’ villages. Although some of those applications extend to thousands of pages, communities have only 30 days to respond to the energy consents unit on each application. Given the complexity of those projects, does the First Minister agree that it would be more democratic to extend the 30-day period to allow Highland communities to be fully consulted and to respond?
There is an important point underlying Mr Mountain’s question, which is that communities must have adequate and appropriate opportunities to be involved in decision making in that respect. I hope that that can be undertaken within the available timescales, but I will consider the specific point that Mr Mountain has made about the appropriateness of the 30-day timescale and will write to him in due course as to whether any flexibility can be applied. I cannot quite recall the status of the 30-day period, but I will check that and come back to him.
Unborn Babies (Healthcare)
Given the emphasis on healthcare in the report by the abortion law expert group that came out last Friday, can the First Minister give an assurance that the health of all unborn babies, wanted or not, will be at the centre of the Government’s thinking?
I recognise that this is a sensitive issue. In 2023-24, the Government committed to undertaking a review of the legislation on abortion. The recommendations in the report are those of the expert group, and the Government fulfilled its commitment to publish those recommendations.
We will, of course, give consideration to these issues, but that will have to involve extensive engagement with a broad range of stakeholders. The legitimate point that Mr Mason has raised will have to be central to the analysis of the issue, along with a range of other matters that will have to be considered in relation to any future actions that the Government may decide to take at some stage in the future.
Teachers (Class Contact Time)
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has announced a brand-new plan to deliver the Scottish National Party’s promise on reducing teacher contact time. Can the First Minister tell us what is new about that plan? I assume that there was engagement and consultation with the councils and unions, so I assume that the strikes at the end of January are now off. When, therefore, will the plan be implemented?
The education secretary’s announcement set out the Government’s commitments in that respect and the progress that needs to be made. I answered a question on the subject from Mr Cole-Hamilton last week or the week before—in fact, it was last week, because I then went to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities conference in St Andrews, in Mr Rennie’s constituency, at which I set out the Government’s expectation that progress is to be made on class contact time. I hope that the education secretary’s proposals will help to advance the timescale for implementing those changes, because the last thing that I want to see is any industrial action in Scottish education.
Asylum (United Kingdom Government Proposals)
With regard to the United Kingdom Government’s asylum proposals, the assessment of the Scottish Refugee Council, which is exhibiting in Parliament this week, is that the proposals risk pushing the national conversation into dangerous territory by mirroring the language and tone of the far right. Does the First Minister agree with that assessment, which I believe will be shared by constituents across Scotland?
I share the concerns that Mr Kidd has set out to Parliament. The proposals run the risk of undermining the cohesion of our communities and pushing more people, including families with children, into poverty, destitution and increasing homelessness, and leaving local authorities to pick up the pieces. We need to take a sensitive approach to the whole question of asylum and immigration. Scotland is a welcoming country, and I want to make sure that that continues to be the case in the future.
I call Douglas Ross for a point of order.
In April 2024, Màiri McAllan announced that the Scottish Government would develop a just transition plan for Mossmorran. Russell Findlay and others have asked the First Minister about that plan, but he refused to give any answers.
The ministerial code says that ministers must be open and transparent with the public and the Parliament. Would it be a breach of the ministerial code and, potentially, the standing orders of the Parliament if the First Minister is aware of where that plan is, but has refused to tell Parliament, or is aware that the development of the plan was never progressed and has not told Parliament that?
As members are aware, the content of a member’s contribution is not ordinarily a matter for the chair to comment on. However, as a matter of courtesy and respect, I expect all members to strive to be accurate in their contributions.
That concludes First Minister’s questions. The next item of business is a members’ business debate in the name of Clare Adamson. There will now be a short suspension to allow those in the chamber and in the public gallery who wish to leave to do so.
12:47 Meeting suspended.Previous
General Question Time