Engagements
Later today, I will have meetings to take forward the Government’s programme for Scotland. That programme includes protecting the council tax freeze, protecting free university education, protecting personal care and bus travel for pensioners and protecting healthcare free at the point of need.
The late Campbell Christie was one of the finest trade unionists that this country has ever produced. He fought uncaring Tory Governments at every turn and helped to deliver the Parliament to protect the people of Scotland. His commission report on the future delivery of public services, which was written for the Scottish National Party Government, said:
Order.
That begs the question why Johann Lamont has set up a commission that reports after the referendum in 2014. She clearly does not have the courage of her convictions. I agree—[Interruption.]
Order.
I agree with Johann Lamont about the late Campbell Christie. He had a tremendous record in fighting uncaring Tory Governments. If only there were people on the Labour benches today who fought uncaring Tory Governments.
Order.
Nicola Sturgeon needs to understand that this is not a game about dividing lines. Nor is it about her electoral future. It is about what is happening in our communities throughout Scotland. She ought not to believe what her spin doctor tells her about what I said—I said that we need an open and honest debate, just as John Swinney said in 2010.
Johann Lamont should make no mistake: I relish this debate.
The Deputy First Minister might think that that sounds good in here, but in the country, it sounds like a lot of nonsense. The fact of the matter is—[Interruption.]
Order.
I agree with the Deputy First Minister that the budget has been cut, but if it has been cut, why does she stick with the same priorities that she set out in 2007? The dispute is not about whether there are cuts, which is how Nicola Sturgeon wants to present it; it is about which cuts should be made in tough times.
Order.
Nicola Sturgeon lives in a household with an income of more than £200,000 a year. She gets free prescriptions. Free prescriptions cost £57 million a year. How many nurses is that? Like me, Nicola Sturgeon will have saved more than £400 from the council tax freeze, but my children’s school and schools across the country are getting to the stage at which they cannot even do the basics, such as photocopy materials. If spending cuts threaten the kind of free care for the elderly that we want to deliver, is it fair that a woman such as her on 200 grand should get free prescriptions? Is it fair that the Sturgeon household, on £200,000 a year, gets universal benefits when families on average earnings pay more for childcare than for their mortgage?
Obviously, Labour is more out of touch than I thought that it was. Let me remind Johann Lamont that, under the system of prescription charges that she and her party presided over, people who earned as little as £16,000 a year paid prescription charges. That is why it was fair to abolish them.
We know that the Government’s council tax freeze is underfunded. I have been to too many meetings at which I have listened to care workers describing their lives and terms and conditions now, and I have listened to too many carers who are mopping up due to the fact that budgets are being cut, to stay silent on the issue.
Order.
If Nicola Sturgeon shuts down the debate in the way that she has started to do this week, she had better explain to the carer who is told that they can care for the pensioner for only 15 minutes why that is happening; to the son why that is the only care that his mother gets; and to the parent why their child cannot have the classroom support that they require to maintain them in mainstream education.
I remind Johann Lamont gently that the people of Scotland chose: in May 2011, they overwhelmingly chose free prescription charges, a freeze on the council tax and free university education for working-class kids. If Johann Lamont is saying that she wants to reverse all those policies, she should not set up a commission; she should have the guts to say so and let the people of Scotland choose after that.
Prime Minister (Meetings)
I have no plans to meet the Prime Minister in the immediate future.
I thank both of the honourable leaders for finally and belatedly bringing the debate on to grounds that the Conservatives have been talking about since before the last election. [Interruption.]
Order. Let us hear the member, please.
I chime hugely with Murdo Fraser and I am pleased to remind members that, indeed, there was only one party that did not take part in a Dutch auction in 2011 and had sound ideas for prescription charges, the council tax and student funding.
I agree with Ruth Davidson on one thing: the Tories have always talked about cuts and penalising hard-working families in Scotland. They have certainly been consistent.
Nicola Sturgeon clearly read her colleague’s press release, but I am not sure that she read the 2013-14 budget, because the £80 million for schools does not kick in until at least a year later and the £40 million that went back into housing was to help to repair some of the damage that was caused by taking £100 million out of housing.
I ask Ruth Davidson to listen carefully to my answer, because, not for the first time, she has got it spectacularly wrong. Not only has the SNP—me, John Swinney, the First Minister—always been perfectly clear that an independent Scotland would take its fair share of any debt associated with the bank bailout—[Interruption.]
Order. Ms Baillie.
This is the bit that Ruth Davidson should listen to. The population share for Scotland of the net borrowing for the bank bailout is already included in the “Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland” figures. The very same GERS figures show that Scotland has a relative surplus; in other words, an independent Scotland would be richer than we are now. That is another good reason to vote yes.
We have a constituency question from Malcolm Chisholm.
Without pre-judging council investigations into the death of my constituent John Gibson and the homecare services that he received, is the Deputy First Minister concerned that six complaints about the private homecare provider in question have been upheld by Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland—the care inspectorate—since February alone, and that employees of that and other homecare companies seem to be overburdened, with too many clients and too short a time with each client?
I thank Malcolm Chisholm for his question. He raises an extremely serious matter, and I am sure that I speak on behalf of all members of the Parliament when I pass on our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Gibson.
Given the recent storms that battered Scotland and, in particular, caused flooding in Peebles and power cuts in Gorebridge—both of which are in my constituency—what processes are in place to provide the necessary links from the Government’s resilience team to local authorities, such as Scottish Borders Council and Midlothian Council?
I am confident that the right links are in place and that they worked well on this occasion. We coped well with what the BBC described as
Cabinet (Meetings)
First, I take the opportunity to wish Mr Rennie a happy birthday. I am sure that my dad will be delighted to hear that he shares a birthday with the leader of the Liberal Democrats.
He is not that old—[Laughter.]
Let the birthday boy speak, please.
I thank the Deputy First Minister for her best wishes.
I agree with Willie Rennie that ensuring that we provide well for children in the earliest years is of paramount importance. This Government’s record is extremely good in that regard. We have expanded free nursery education by 15 per cent, which benefits around 100,000 children every year; we have extended the free school meals entitlement to more children and young people from low-income families than ever before; and, of course, we have pledged to increase the current 475 hours each year of pre-school entitlement for all three and four-year-olds to a minimum of 600 hours each year of early learning and childcare for all three and four-year-olds and for looked-after two-year-olds.
Bob Doris and Sandra White knew all that the Deputy First Minister has set out, but they have demanded—in a motion and through speeches here—that more is done.
I say in all seriousness to Willie Rennie that the package of early years care that this Government is pledged to deliver is greater than that being delivered south of the border. The Government in England is not providing 600 hours of childcare each year.
Drug Misuse Treatment (Waiting Times)
The latest statistics that were published on Tuesday show that our target to reach a level of 90 per cent of clients starting treatment for their drug problem within three weeks of referral has been achieved. That has been done nine months ahead of schedule.
That is great news and everyone should be grateful for what is happening. I congratulate everyone—from families to professionals—who has worked so hard to achieve the target.
Given the progress that we have made on delivering the health improvement, efficiency, access and treatment target for drug waiting times, the next phase of delivery of “The Road to Recovery” will focus on sustaining the excellent progress that has been made and ensuring that we embed quality across all services in Scotland. We have prioritised work to deliver new national standards for drug and alcohol services, which will be focused on recovery and workforce development to drive up and support quality of service provision, with a clear expectation of recovery.
College Mergers (Support)
We are supporting college leaders to take advantage of the opportunities for learners and employers that college regionalisation provides. To that end, we were pleased to announce in our draft budget a £17 million increase in funding for colleges for 2013-14. That adds to our plans for new college estates valued at some £300 million, for which the procurement process has now begun. Of course, our £15 million college transformation fund provides significant support for colleges that wish to merge. Through our college change team, officials are working closely with individual regions to offer help on all issues associated with merger.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, at this week’s meeting of the Education and Culture Committee, the further education trade unions and the leader of NUS Scotland, Robin Parker, said that economic recovery is being threatened by cuts to college budgets. Are they all wrong?
Neil Findlay should look carefully at what we are doing. We are protecting college places, which I think is what matters most to young people around Scotland. We are also doing what we can to ensure that, through revenue funding, capital funding and our non-profit-distributing programme, we are delivering substantial investment in Scotland’s colleges. I think that people want a Government that is operating in tough times to deliver on the priorities that it sets. That is exactly what this Government is doing and will continue to do.
Patients with Heart Conditions (Treatment)
NHS Scotland is providing high-quality care services and support for people with heart disease. Only today, in The Herald, the lead clinician Dr Barry Vallance describes cardiology services in Scotland as “second to none”. Just this February, Audit Scotland reported that significant progress had been made in tackling heart disease and developing services. Death rates have dropped by 40 per cent in 10 years, more patients are getting better treatment, and waiting times for treatment have fallen. We published our heart disease action plan in 2009, and we have allocated more than £2 million to support its implementation.
Notwithstanding what the Deputy First Minister had to say, she will be aware of the criticism that Professor Oldroyd of the Golden Jubilee hospital made earlier this week that Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the UK in introducing new drugs and techniques. As she will know, one technique that is of vital benefit to heart attack victims is cardiac rehabilitation, which is an inexpensive treatment with a proven track record in prolonging life. Will she commit to protecting and increasing funding for cardiac rehabilitation for Scottish patients?
I absolutely agree with Murdo Fraser: cardiac rehabilitation is incredibly important. I have had the opportunity over a number of years to visit many cardiac rehabilitation groups throughout the country, which is why I am so delighted to tell the chamber that the Information Services Division reported that access to cardiac rehabilitation for heart attack patients has increased from 52 per cent in 2008 to 71 per cent in 2010. That is a good record, which I am sure that my successor as health secretary, Alex Neil, will be determined to continue to deliver on.
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Scottish Government Question Time