Official Report 379KB pdf
Party Leaders
13:59
The next item of business is First Minister’s question time for party leaders. It will be slightly different this week, because question 1 is from Alex Cole-Hamilton.
Early Release of Prisoners (Reoffending)
I am sure that all members will join me in expressing solidarity with Scotland’s Muslim community after the brutal and unprovoked attacks on the streets of Edinburgh last weekend. That community’s response to those attacks has not been one of violence or revenge; it has been to make a plea for tolerance and understanding. In a society in which tolerance and understanding feel increasingly rare, we would all do well to listen to them. [Applause.]
New figures show that, last year, the number of violent crimes was up by 4,000 incidents and the number of crimes of dishonesty was up by 7,000 incidents—of course, one of those crimes has dominated the front pages this week. Even though, in recent days, everyone has been focused on Scotland’s prison population growing by one inmate, I want to ask about those who are leaving our jails. All told, more than 1,400 inmates have been let out of prison since the early release scheme began, and that is because our prisons are bursting at the seams. However, that is not a strategy and it will not protect the public. How many of the inmates who were released early went on to reoffend, and how many of them are already back behind bars?
I associate myself unreservedly Mr Cole-Hamilton’s comments about the feelings in the Muslim community. On Monday, I visited the Broomhouse mosque along with Simita Kumar and the Annandale Street mosque in Edinburgh with Ben Macpherson. Of course, the Broomhouse mosque is twinned with the Blackhall mosque, which I think is probably in Mr Cole-Hamilton’s constituency—if not, it is very close by.
The feeling of unease in the Muslim community is palpable. As I indicated in my answers on Tuesday, I met the young men who were the victims of last Friday’s attacks, and my heart goes out to them for the trauma and physical injury that they have suffered. I reiterate my absolute whole-hearted commitment to give the leadership that is needed in Scotland to ensure that we live in a tolerant and inclusive country at all times.
On the question about the prison population, as members will be aware—the Government has been very transparent with the Parliament over the course of the past two and a half years—the prison population has been rising significantly. With parliamentary consent, the Government has introduced measures that have resulted in the early release of certain prisoners, although there are significant exemptions in place. Later this afternoon, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice will lead a debate on the prison population and our strategy to respond to the sentencing and penal policy commission report that we received before the election.
I do not have the details about reoffending in front of me, but I am happy to write to Mr Cole-Hamilton on that point.
We can be sure that the number is not zero. For as long as we do not have a proper strategy on prison capacity, rehabilitation and clearing the court backlog, early release will be a revolving door, with people going in, coming out and going back into our prisons. Our justice system is in crisis, so we need a strategy. The Lib Dems will play a part in that, but we also need to use the tools that we have available right now.
Sexual crime is at the highest level since 1971, a rise that Rape Crisis Scotland describes as “shameful” and “sharp”. Many of those assaults will have been committed by a partner, yet the domestic abuse protections that the Parliament agreed to five years ago are still not in place. When will the First Minister’s Government stop dragging its feet, act on the will of the Parliament and restore the public’s faith in our broken justice system?
I am advised that the figures for the proportion of people who returned to custody were 13 per cent in the first tranche of the prisoner release scheme and 5 per cent in the second tranche. That is not quite the same issue that Mr Cole-Hamilton put to me, but I will furnish him with more details about his question.
I share his concern about the reporting and pursuit of sexual crime, because no woman should be subjected to sexual crimes and domestic violence, and the Government has passed legislation to address those issues.
There has been a significant increase in the reporting of sexual crime and domestic violence, and there have been substantial increases in prosecution, which is one of the factors contributing to the high prison population. Although not all the measures that were passed by the Parliament have been commenced, I do not think that it is a fair characterisation to say that the Government has been dragging its heels. I assure Mr Cole-Hamilton that the Government is entirely focused on ensuring that women and girls are protected in our society and that, as the recently retired Lord Advocate demonstrated, we have a front-footed approach to ensuring that sexual crime is pursued. That will always be the case for the Government.
SNP Finances
I begin by congratulating Douglas Lumsden on his election as MP for Aberdeen South, and I welcome our new MSP colleague, James Adams, to Holyrood.
Former members of the Scottish National Party’s audit and finance committee are also here today. At the height of Peter Murrell’s crime spree, Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie raised concerns. Nicola Sturgeon ordered them to be quiet and John Swinney assured them that there was no problem. The new Minister for Victims and Community Safety tried to bully those whistleblowers into silence. They back an inquiry because their testimony proves beyond any doubt that John Swinney and others enabled Peter Murrell’s crimes. Will he apologise to them for his central role in the SNP scandal?
First, I congratulate Douglas Lumsden on his election to the House of Commons. It will be an exciting moment for him, and I wish him well in his arduous responsibilities, particularly in tabling written parliamentary questions. [Laughter.] I extend a warm welcome to James Adams and express my apologies that I was not here, as I should have been, for his swearing in—I was detained on other Government business. I wish him well in his parliamentary engagement on behalf of the people of the north-east of Scotland.
I have apologised to members of the Scottish National Party for the events that have affected the party’s finances and I reiterate that apology today. The comments that Russell Findlay makes about me are baseless—utterly and totally baseless—but we have become accustomed to that from Russell Findlay.
As expected, there is no apology to the whistleblowers. The truth is that Peter Murrell should never have been free to commit those crimes. Members of the SNP’s finance and audit committee blew the whistle, but they were bullied into quitting after being refused access to basic information. Twice, John Swinney went on the BBC to say that his party’s finances were completely sound. He was at the heart of the cover-up then and now and that is why he is terrified of an inquiry: John Swinney, the king of the SNP cover-up, is desperate to cover his own back. Is that not the simple truth?
Russell Findlay is going on about the need for an inquiry into all those issues. This particular case must be the first time in living memory that Russell Findlay, who has championed the interests of victims, wants there to be an inquiry into the victim. To give Mr Findlay reassurance about the issues that he is concerned about, I simply say to him that I have addressed the issues with the SNP’s finances and the SNP has strong governance in place.
I think that Russell Findlay should pay slightly more attention to some of the things that are being said about him. In the newspapers this morning, a much respected—[Interruption.]
Excuse me. Let us hear the answer to Mr Findlay’s question.
A much respected former Conservative MSP, Edward Mountain, described Russell Findlay as a “disaster” and his leadership as “catastrophic”—as we have just seen. [Interruption.]
Please allow the First Minister to answer. Quieten down.
He called out Russell Findlay’s
“robotic delivery and … lack of empathy”,
and said that he thought that Mr Findlay would
“consign the party to the wilderness”.
On the basis of the Scottish parliamentary elections, Mr Findlay is well on the road to the wilderness of Scotland. [Interruption.]
Shameful deflection.
Sorry, Mr Carson? Can we allow the next party leader to ask a question? Thank you.
Hyperscale Data Centres
Since we raised the issue of hyperscale data centres with the First Minister last week, more than 6,000 people have written to him to back the Scottish Greens’ call for a moratorium. Hundreds of those people gathered outside the Parliament yesterday to make their voices heard.
Communities are rightly worried about the local environmental impacts and the massive strain on our energy system that approving such applications could bring. António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, has now joined the call, saying that artificial intelligence data centres are
“hungry for land, water and power”
and calling for every major AI company to
“publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems”.
Will the First Minister stand with communities across Scotland and the head of the UN in taking on big tech, or will he continue to allow a free-for-all on hyperscale data centres?
As I said last week, I understand the concerns about the environmental impact and the impact on energy resources that have been raised here, which emerge from the proliferation of applications for hyperscale data centres. I totally understand those concerns, as I made clear last week, and I have been reflecting on last week’s exchanges and looking further at the issue. I am giving active consideration to whether the Scottish Government should provide planning guidance to balance the rapid expansion of hyperscale data centres with national energy and climate goals, which are vital to our future prosperity.
I am pleased to hear that the First Minister is considering that, because councils are saying that they do not have the necessary guidance to decide on the megaplans. Fife Council has confirmed that the Scottish Government is looking at whether an environmental impact assessment is needed for the Auchtertool application, because that is not clear enough from existing guidance. That comes on top of City of Edinburgh councillors saying that they cannot make a decision on local applications until the Scottish Government comes up with a definition of what exactly a green data centre is. If the First Minister is considering a pause, what will be the timescale for that to ensure that we can take an overview of the applications?
The first thing that I must say is that I have to compartmentalise my comments and not comment on the Auchtertool application, because it is live.
I appreciate the urgency of the general policy elements of the question, because a number of applications are now being considered by planning authorities. My view is that, given the concerns that have been expressed by planning authorities, the Government has to be responsive to the issue. As I rehearsed last week with Mr Greer, a careful balance has to be struck between the extent and specificity of national guidance and the discretion that is available for local decision making. If that balance is not correct, the Government must examine it.
I give a commitment to Gillian Mackay that that will be undertaken as a matter of priority by the Government. Planning authorities will hear what I am saying in the Parliament today and will be able to reflect on my comments.
I appreciate the First Minister’s response. Local issues aside, the most significant impact of the data centres is their combined energy use. If all 24 applications are approved, they will use up to one and a half times the peak energy use of the whole of Scotland. If it is the Government’s position that councils should be able to make the planning decisions locally, I note that they cannot. How are we supposed to possibly get a handle on the combined energy impacts? How many do we have capacity for? At the moment, we simply do not know.
Councils cannot make those decisions in a co-ordinated and planned way without the Scottish Government stepping in. The Government has the responsibility to provide councils with guidance and communities with certainty, and they need the pause that we are asking for. While the guidance is being considered by the First Minister, will he announce a pause on applications?
Gillian Mackay asks the Government to preside over two very different things. On one hand, she asks me to enable local authorities to take decisions that will be cognisant of and compatible with the country’s energy requirements. However, she expects local authorities to do that in a co-ordinated and organised fashion around the whole country. Those two things are not possible at the same time. That is why I must explore whether it is appropriate for such decision making to be undertaken at a local level, given the scale of the developments involved.
For example, when it comes to large-scale renewable energy projects, when an application is at a certain level or scale, it automatically defers—it is not called in—to the Government. What has been raised is a fundamental reshaping of the planning policy of our country and the way in which our decisions are taken. I am prepared to consider that and contemplate it—I am trying to give answers that are as helpful as I possibly can be on the question—because I recognise the public concern. I assure Gillian Mackay that all the issues about local and national decision making and the implications for energy use will be considered fully in the exercise that I am prepared to undertake.
Post-school Education and Skills
Before I begin, I join others in condemning the appalling anti-Muslim attack in Edinburgh. No Scot should live in fear and every Scot should live in safety. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and with the wider Muslim community. I put on record my thanks to all the emergency services that responded so quickly and effectively.
We should say loudly and clearly from this Parliament and across the country that an attack on one—whether it is one individual or one community—is an attack on all of us and that hate has no place in our Scotland. [Applause.]
This week is armed forces week. I thank all those who have served, and continue to serve, to keep our great country safe.
Today, Audit Scotland published a damning report on the Government’s progress with the reform of post-school education and skills. It says that the
“sector faces significant challenges”,
that the Government
“lacks a clear plan”,
that reforms have
“not been adequately resourced”
and that there is a risk that it
“will not achieve the intended outcomes.”
In 2022, Audit Scotland concluded that the Scottish National Party Government had
“not provided the necessary leadership”
on skills reform. Four years on, not much has changed. That has consequences because, every year that passes, more pupils leave school without the opportunities that they deserve. Does John Swinney accept the findings of the new report and can he say how many more cohorts of young people will be let down before the Government finally gets its act together?
I associate myself entirely with the comments that Mr Sarwar made about the Muslim community and the necessity for all of us to stand together in the face of the spreading of hate in our society. In the disputatious world of politics, I am glad—and not in any way surprised—that Mr Sarwar and I are in exactly the same position on that question.
I, too, pay tribute to the members of the armed forces for the service and commitment that they give. We have a parliamentary event on Saturday; that is also the occasion of armed forces day. I commend everyone who will be involved in armed forces day commemorations around the country.
I welcome the report from Audit Scotland, because it is important that those vital issues are the subject of active debate. Since the report from several years ago was published, the Government has presided over the passage of legislation to rationalise that area of activity. Work is under way to transfer the responsibility for the funding of further education student support from the Scottish Funding Council to the Student Awards Agency Scotland. There has also been strong progress in skills planning, with the introduction of a new model for skills planning in Scotland and the Scottish Government moving into a leadership role. That was proposed by James Withers and came out of the legislation. We have also begun work on the post-school education and skills reform programme, which commenced in January 2026, to address many of the issues raised by Audit Scotland.
One of the key outcomes is about the destinations for young people when they leave school. On the most recent figures available, 93.5 per cent of young people were in a positive destination, which is an increase from 93.1 per cent in the previous year and is the joint highest figure since records began. Although there are issues in the Audit Scotland report that must be addressed, the Government is pleased that the general position of our young people on leaving school and going on to a positive destination—which is, surely, the most important measure of the exercise—is a strong one.
It is important that we measure where our young people are not weeks or months after they leave school but years afterwards, because that is what impacts on their life outcomes. Our young people are the future of our country, so they must be supported to achieve their ambitions. That means no one right path after school—whether it be university, college, an apprenticeship or work.
However, that is not the reality under the SNP Government. Shockingly, Scotland has one of the highest rates of young people not being in work, education or training. It is as many as one in six. That is not helped by the SNP Government’s having cut 20 per cent in real terms from college budgets in the past five years and having failed to meet its promises on apprenticeship numbers. The data for 2025-26 shows that apprenticeship starts fell below 25,000, which is the lowest number for more than a decade, excluding the period of the pandemic.
If we are serious about ensuring that every young person has a chance to succeed, the system has to change. Will John Swinney commit today that every young person who is qualified for an apprenticeship will have a guarantee of being able to access one?
Mr Sarwar raised a couple of points. In the budget that has just been put into practice, the Government increased core college funding by 10 per cent, to £764 million. We have recognised some of the financial challenges that exist in our college sector.
On apprenticeships, we are providing £198 million a year to support 25,500 new modern apprenticeships, 5,000 new foundation apprenticeships and more than 1,200 new graduate apprenticeships. That funding also supports more than 39,000 modern apprentices who are already in training. In our manifesto, we committed to increasing the number of apprenticeships to 150,000 over the parliamentary session.
I am a huge supporter of apprenticeship programmes. With foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships, the Government has brought forward important reforms that create new and successful pathways for young people. I am determined to make sure that every young person has that desirable pathway for their future.
The measure of success is whether young people get the opportunities that they deserve and whether our businesses and the economy have the skills supply chains that they need. According to the Open University, more than half of Scotland’s employers say that they have a skills shortage. Many of those businesses will pay the apprenticeship levy. The proceeds of that go to the Scottish Government; however, the SNP does not currently ring fence it to spend on skills.
That must change. That money could be spent on funding new apprenticeships for key sectors and on creating a clearing system for colleges and apprenticeships to help young people to find opportunities. In what is armed forces week, it could be used to match the United Kingdom Labour Government’s commitment to fund and create two defence technical excellence colleges in Scotland.
The First Minister could make those commitments right now. We need to get serious about delivering a modern skills system that meets the needs of Scotland’s young people. Will the SNP Government not hide behind process but, instead, focus on delivery? It is time that we had a Government that matched young people’s ambition with some ambition of its own.
This is one of the issues that I had in mind, in becoming First Minister after the election, when I said that there was an opportunity for us to make progress across the parliamentary chamber. A lot of the points that Mr Sarwar has made today about ideas, and his suggestions, are completely reasonable. We should embark on conversations about how we can take things forward.
As Mr Sarwar knows—I have rehearsed it frequently in the Parliament—the Government does not have a majority. We need wider parliamentary support for our programme. I am delighted that, on such a number of occasions, we are attracting support from other parties for the propositions that we are putting to the Parliament. This is one area in which we can do exactly that.
I am afraid that I am not quite up to speed with the deployment of the spokespeople in Mr Sarwar’s team, but I am very happy for Ms McAllan, who is Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, and Stephen Flynn, who is Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, to meet their counterparts in the Labour Party to see how we can take forward that series of ideas, because, as Mr Sarwar will not be surprised to hear, I am interested in delivering for the people of Scotland. The Scottish Government is hearing that loud and clear from the First Minister, and I am delighted to repeat it in the Parliament today.
Transgender Prisoners (Legal Ruling)
Does the First Minister welcome the recent landmark legal ruling by Lady Ross on the case brought by that excellent organisation For Women Scotland? Will he ensure that it is implemented in full, in letter and in spirit as soon as possible? Will he further ensure that the principles of that ruling are rolled out across the entire public sector, including the national health service, immediately, which would avoid the need for any further waste of taxpayers’ money on defending the indefensible in court?
Furthermore, will he ensure that information materials that are published by activist organisations and are contrary to the letter and spirit of Lady Ross’s ruling are withdrawn from all public organisations and institutions and that cessation of their production and distribution becomes a condition of any further public funding for those activist groups?
Finally, does he share my relief that Isla Bryson—who is apparently known in prison as Isla Man—will now be detained in a male jail and, upon release, should not be allowed access to women’s toilets, whether here in Holyrood or anywhere in Scotland?
I lead a Government that believes in and follows the rule of law. So, when issues are of a legally contested nature, we do the proper thing, which is to allow the legally contested debate to take place and then, at the conclusion of that debate, to follow the legal ruling. Lady Ross’s ruling is crystal clear. It has already been implemented in full in relation to the Scottish Prison Service, and the necessary amendments to custody have taken place. I do not intend to talk about individual cases, because it is inappropriate for me to do that.
In relation to the circulation of guidance materials, those must be compatible with the law as it stands, and that is exactly why the Scottish Prison Service withdrew its guidance at the earliest opportunity. The development of further guidance will be undertaken in a manner consistent with the ruling by Lady Ross.
I thank the First Minister for his answer, which was more comprehensive than I expected. I was dreading him coming back with a long-winded, “No comment,” which begs the question of whether saying, “No comment,” is ever an acceptable response to a sequence of serious questions.
He will be aware that all that illegal gender policy was implemented by his predecessor, Ms No Comment, who has now fled to London in search of fame, fortune and lower taxes. Is it true that the second edition of Ms Sturgeon’s memoir will be entitled “Frankly, I Don’t Give a Damn”? Meanwhile, we have heard that Ms No Comment is to star in a TV show playing the role of the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Frankly, you could not make that up. Is it part of John Swinney’s cunning plan?
Does the First Minister agree with me that the “No comment” saga must be part of the forthcoming inquiry into Murrellgate?
First Minister, do you want to have a go at that?
Until now, the only person who has ever accused me of being long-winded is my 15-year-old son, who regularly tells me to shorten my answers in Parliament. In the interest of currying favour with the Presiding Officer, I will keep this answer short. Mr Offord’s contribution—
No comment.
Oh, it is all very funny to Mr Kerr. He is always laughing at things. Mr Kerr was laughing at the substantial points made by Daniel Johnson in the debate in which Mr Kerr trivialised the attacks on Muslim members of our community, which is an absolute disgrace.
If anyone who voted Reform was watching Mr Offord’s question to me just now, I think they would think what a waste of time it was to vote for Reform, because that was an insulting lot of drivel from Malcolm Offord.
It is the last day of term, so, on the same theme, I will say that the items bought by Peter Murrell with money stolen from the Scottish National Party are now part of Scotland’s political history and that the saga will be taught to future generations of Scotland’s children. Will the First Minister arrange for as many items as can be found to be gathered together and displayed as the Murrell collection?
Will he also arrange for some items to be gifted to Scotland’s museums and galleries as permanent exhibits and a tribute to SNP governance? Can I suggest that the fountain pen that Nicola Sturgeon used to sign her resignation letter should go to the People’s Palace to become the people’s pen? Similarly, the two toilet seats could go to Perth to sit alongside the stone of destiny, and the £3,000 coffee machine could sit beside the declaration of Arbroath to show how political priorities have changed. Will the First Minister encourage the people of Scotland to write to us with their proposals? We cannot allow these items to be auctioned to the highest bidder, who will take them into private collections abroad. Does he agree that this part of Scotland’s history must not be lost?
No. I am going to get on with delivering for the people of Scotland.
That concludes First Minister’s question time. I will allow a two-minute break for a change of places.
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