Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Meeting date: Thursday, September 28, 2023
Official Report 1032KB pdf
Contents
- General Question Time
- First Minister’s Question Time
- Point of Order
- Alcohol and Drug Deaths (“See Beyond—See the Lives—Scotland” Campaign)
- Portfolio Question Time
- Scotland’s Future Energy System
- Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
- Decision Time
General Question Time
Avian Flu (Support for Poultry Farms)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking ahead of the festive period to support poultry farms, in light of the potential threat of avian flu. (S6O-02576)
Since the commencement of the current avian influenza outbreak, the Scottish Government has continued to promote best-practice biosecurity measures for bird keepers that are designed to protect their poultry premises from highly pathogenic avian influenza. The Scottish Government has robust and tested contingency plans and, where outbreaks have occurred, the Government’s response has been immediate. All appropriate disease control measures and veterinary investigations have been applied, with the aim of preventing further spread of the virus. Owners who have been impacted have received guidance and support, including financial compensation.
There have been five outbreaks of avian flu in Aberdeenshire since July and, earlier this month, 1,500 birds were killed near Peterhead. It is no wonder that NFU Scotland has described the situation as very worrying and said that it remains a serious concern. Will the minister reassure poultry farmers that the Scottish Government will consider all safeguards against avian flu ahead of the festive period, including housing orders for commercial stocks?
I thank Tess White for her interest in this extremely serious issue. The risk to wild birds and poultry is constantly monitored and assessed by scientific and technical experts and is reviewed on a weekly basis jointly by the chief veterinary officers of the United Kingdom.
The risk to wild birds remains high, while the risk to poultry is low, and biosecurity plays a crucial part in that assessment and is the single most important factor that is under bird keepers’ control. Tess White is absolutely right that biosecurity will be particularly important as uncertainty rises when we enter the winter period. It has been quite unusual to have avian flu in the summer months, and we are entering the period when migratory birds return, which increases the risk.
If the risk to poultry from wild birds increases to a certain level, Scottish ministers may consider the introduction of mandatory biosecurity measures through the declaration of an avian influenza prevention zone. On its website, the Scottish Government provides advice on how to maintain good biosecurity standards.
Innovation Centres (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce funding for its innovation centres. (S6O-02577)
Scotland’s innovation centre programme forms an important part of our knowledge exchange and innovation ecosystem by enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship across Scotland’s key economic sectors. For phase 2 of the programme, the Scottish Government has invested £80 million via the Scottish Funding Council and enterprise agencies, which will support the innovation centres until 2024.
My officials advise me that the SFC has carried out an assessment process to determine future funding. That will ensure the innovation centre programme’s sustainability in the long term and maximise the value that public investment delivers to the research and innovation landscape.
I am advised that the SFC updated centres on the outcome of the assessment process on Friday 22 September. Now that the assessment is complete, the SFC and other funders will work with the centres on the next steps.
As the cabinet secretary indicated and the Government’s innovation strategy recognises, Scotland’s innovation centres are a critical part of our economic landscape. They support economic development in key sectors where Scotland has a genuine competitive advantage, including precision medicine, aquaculture, industrial biotechnology and sensor technology.
I am slightly concerned that an education minister rather than an economy minister is answering my question. Does that indicate that the Government regards innovation centres as an academic rather than an industrial asset? What reassurance can the cab sec give that a coherent economic strategy and the imperative to press home our global advantage in key sectors will inform decisions that are made on the future of innovation centres?
As Ivan McKee knows, and as he alluded to, Scotland’s innovation strategy outlines the critical role that the further and higher education sectors play in promoting innovation. In addition, I recognise that the funding is provided by the Scottish Funding Council, which is why this response comes from me, as education secretary.
More broadly, our innovation centres build transformational collaboration between business, universities, colleges and others to capitalise on Scotland’s world-leading research. To my mind, that is not a binary education or economy matter, because the two are inherently linked.
The SFC assessment process looked at alignment with the national strategies and priorities, including the innovation strategy and the national strategy for economic transformation. That is designed to ensure that innovation centres continue to operate not as either industry or academic assets, as the member alluded to, but rather as truly national assets to maximise impact for Scotland. Notwithstanding that, I am due to meet the SFC shortly and I will ensure that the coherence that Mr McKee spoke to is at the heart of the decision-making process.
Last week, at the Economy and Fair Work Committee, Professor Sir Mike Ferguson from Dundee highlighted the issue of innovation in the life sciences sector, but also expressed his concern that start-ups in that sector are having real difficulties in accessing capital. He said that he could see a role for the Scottish National Investment Bank in providing that capital. Does the cabinet secretary agree with that?
I suspect that an economy minister might be better suited to give a response to Murdo Fraser’s question, and I will ask the suitable minister to write to him.
Scottish Education Exchange Programme (Update)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the roll-out of the Scottish education exchange programme initial test and learn project this year. (S6O-02578)
Over the summer, officials have been working with partners across the education sector to develop the test and learn project of the Scottish education exchange programme. The programme is intended to replace some aspects of the Erasmus+ programme, as the hard Brexit, which is supported by Westminster parties, continues to rob young people in Scotland of opportunities.
The test and learn project will open for applications in October. The Minister for Further and Higher Education wrote to the Education, Children and Young People Committee yesterday with more detailed information on the programme.
Can the cabinet secretary assure Bishopbriggs academy in my constituency of support to continue its German educational trainee programme, given the impact of Brexit, the withdrawal of Erasmus+ and visa challenges for the academic year 2023-24? Is she open to meeting the school’s staff for further discussion on that?
The German educational trainee programme has been a valuable resource to a number of schools. Languages assistants are a tremendous asset for our schools; they enrich language and cultural learning, and encourage young people to widen their cultural horizons. However, as I alluded to, the United Kingdom Government’s disastrous hard Brexit means that we now have fewer languages assistants in our schools, and it is harder for our school pupils to go on school exchanges because, for example, of the ending of free movement.
The impact of Brexit continues to curtail opportunities for young people in Scotland and across the UK. For example, Scotland benefited hugely from Erasmus+, and proportionately more students from Scotland than from any other country in the UK took part in it. I hope that a long-term solution can be found to allow schools to continue their work with GET in the future. I am more than happy to visit Bishopbriggs academy in Ms Mackay’s constituency to further understand the importance of the GET programme and to make direct representations to the UK Secretary of State for Education on that matter.
Before the Scottish National Party gets too carried away, that is funding of £1 million compared with the Welsh programme, which has £65 million. Surely that is just a fig leaf to hide the embarrassment of the SNP’s failure to deliver on a replacement for Erasmus+.
Of course, we will engage with our Welsh colleagues, as the committee has done directly on that matter, but I find it somewhat perplexing that Mr Rennie—whose party, as I understand it, now supports a hard Brexit—is advocating for additional funding for a policy that his party does not agree with. I am not necessarily convinced of the intent behind the question.
It is worth my while to point out that the investment is coming from the Scottish Government at a time when our young people have been deprived of opportunities because of Brexit. I hope that Mr Rennie’s party will reconsider its position on Brexit and that we can work together to encourage the UK Government to think again in relation to Erasmus+.
Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensured that the views and experiences of young people, in particular LGBTQ young people, were reflected in the new draft “Guidance on the Delivery of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) Education in Scottish Schools”. (S6O-02579)
The views and experiences expressed by children and young people through the Young Scot and Scottish Youth Parliament reports on personal and social education have informed the work to develop the revised draft statutory RSHP teaching guidance. The draft guidance was influenced by the work of the LGBTI inclusive education working group and a wide range of other stakeholders.
The Scottish Government is currently consulting publicly on the revised draft guidance. That includes specific engagement to gather views of young people on whether the revised teaching guidance meets their learning needs. Officials will take account of that activity in developing the final version of the teaching guidance, which is due to be published in the new year.
I was on the then Education and Skills Committee when we received evidence from queer young people in particular, who told us that they had resorted to watching pornography to learn about sex because the education that they received in school was so poor and not remotely LGBTQ inclusive.
The new draft relationship, sexual health and parenthood guidance is a vast improvement on its 2014 predecessor in relation to LGBTQ inclusion and key themes such as consent. That is to the credit of young people in groups such as the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Time for Inclusive Education campaign. LGBTQ young people were key to producing the draft, and having their confidence will be key to its successful delivery. How is the Government maximising opportunities for them to provide final feedback during the consultation phase before it is put into use?
I am grateful to Ross Greer for his support in the development of the revised guidance. As I mentioned, we are running an engagement project to gather young people’s views. The Scottish Youth Parliament and Young Scot will facilitate face-to-face sessions with representative groups of young people and run a survey to seek their views on the revised guidance. That will run in tandem with the public consultation and will be reflected in the final version of the teaching guidance, which will be published in the new year.
LGBT young people are also encouraged to contribute where they can or to engage with representative organisations such as LGBT Youth Scotland, Stonewall Scotland or LGBT Health and Wellbeing to help them to contribute to the consultation.
I was pleased to see some of the benefits of the TIE campaign’s hard work when I visited Castleton primary school recently. I was delighted to make a presentation to Castleton to mark its achievement of becoming the first school in Scotland to successfully and fully implement LGBT-inclusive education. I enjoyed seeing the young people’s pride in showing me how their school is an inclusive and supportive environment for all their pupils.
Agricultural Equipment Theft
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether equivalent measures in Scotland are needed to those introduced in England and Wales by the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, in light of reports of a recent spate of thefts in the Scottish Borders. (S6O-02580)
The theft of agricultural plant and machinery is a significant concern to our rural communities and it can have serious consequences for the agricultural sector in terms of cost and confidence. We continue to work with the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime and others in our efforts to tackle organised crime and the serious harm it causes to our communities.
Although Scotland has seen a decrease in the cost of rural crime, we cannot stand still. World events have triggered new illicit markets, creating more demand for stolen machinery. Thefts of quad bikes, trailers, farm machinery and GPS trackers are hitting our rural communities hard.
Westminster’s Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 was welcomed with open arms by victims of such crime. Will the cabinet secretary support my plans to introduce a similar bill here in Scotland?
Rachael Hamilton is quite correct to say that, despite the decrease in the cost of such crime to Scotland, we cannot and must not stand still. I am sighted on the fact that this type of theft has obvious links to serious and organised crime. I look forward to the member publishing her rural theft bill.
I reassure Rachael Hamilton that we are looking closely at the private member’s bill that was recently passed at Westminster. The 2023 act now has royal assent and will come into force south of the border in six months. The relevant secretary of state will be able to introduce regulations, which we will look at closely to see how they will inform our thinking for Scotland.
What is the cabinet secretary’s response to the latest set of statistics, which show that recorded crime is at one of its lowest levels in 50 years?
The continued low levels of crime are due to the efforts of the police and justice and community safety partners to deliver safer communities and, of course, to our investment in the justice system.
With recorded crime remaining at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974, the latest figures show reductions in crimes including violence, damage and reckless behaviour. Nonetheless, we continue to focus on crime prevention, reducing reoffending and supporting victims of crime.
Violence in Schools (Summit)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recent summit on tackling violence in schools. (S6O-02581)
As I confirmed in the chamber last week, there are multiple strands to the behaviour in schools summit. In June, I convened the first meeting of the headteacher task force, which focused on issues surrounding school exclusion. On 5 September, I chaired a summit that focused on recording and monitoring of incidents in schools—an area of concern that was raised during a recent parliamentary debate. The next two events are scheduled for October and November.
That approach enables engagement with a wide range of stakeholders so that we hear and learn from the broadest possible range of interests and experiences. It also allows for the key issues to be explored in depth and for the work to be informed by evidence from the behaviour in Scottish schools research, which will be published in November.
I appreciate the cabinet secretary’s having taken the time yesterday to chat with me about this constituent issue. She will be aware that an assault on a teacher took place in Coltness high school this month. Although the school is outwith my constituency of Coatbridge and Chryston, the victim is a constituent of mine and has asked me to raise her case in our Parliament. I am told that it was a very serious assault, and my constituent is still off work. I know that the vast majority of pupils in Scotland are not likely to commit such acts.
What assurances can the Scottish Government give that the recent summit looked carefully at violence against teachers as well as pupil-on-pupil violence? What further policy implementations can be introduced to prevent others experiencing what my constituent did?
I am very sorry to hear about the incident that Mr MacGregor has outlined. Although I cannot comment on the specifics of the case in question, no teacher should suffer verbal or physical abuse in their place of work. The work of the behaviour and relationships summit is concerned with ensuring that our schools are safe and consistent environments for all—staff as well as pupils.
The next two events, which will take place in October and November, will have a particular focus on that issue. The November summit will benefit from research from the behaviour in Scottish schools research programme. The BISA research will give us an accurate national picture on behaviour in Scotland’s schools. It is important that we have that granular detail; press reports are no substitute for it. We also need to be mindful of the on-going impacts of the pandemic on behaviour and relationships in our schools.
The BISA research and the wealth of feedback that we are gathering as part of the summit process will give us the evidence base to ensure that the right support is in place in our schools to respond to the concerns that have been raised.
Screen Machine (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to engage with Regional Screen Scotland regarding its call for funding for a new Screen Machine vehicle, in light of concerns that a lack of funding could lead to the end of the service. (S6O-02582)
Yes, I do have such plans. I will meet Regional Screen Scotland on 5 October to hear directly about the challenges facing the future of Screen Machine. I recognise the valuable role that Screen Machine plays in bringing cinema to rural communities for which access to culture is limited, and I note the £176,000 funding that Screen Scotland provided to Screen Machine earlier this year, which is allowing Screen Machine to lease a temporary replacement cinema until April 2024.
Yesterday, the First Minister told the Conveners Group about the importance of opening up cultural opportunities to people and communities around Scotland. Over the past 25 years, Screen Machine has done just that in the Highlands and Islands.
I declare an interest, having sat in the Screen Machine vehicle outside Sanday school—on one of the north isles of Orkney—watching George Clooney battle “The Perfect Storm” while an actual storm raged outside. It was one of those cinematic experiences that one does not forget.
I welcome the engagement that the cabinet secretary has had, but I encourage him to further support the future of that valuable cultural asset to the Highlands and Islands.
I thank Liam McArthur for sharing the positive impact of mobile cinema in the communities that he represents in Orkney. I encourage any other colleagues from across the chamber who have had similar experiences—I am sure that there are many of them—to be so kind as to forward information to me on that before the meeting that I hold at the beginning of next month. Those experiences will be very material to the discussions that we are having about the future of the Screen Machine service, which is much valued.
Screen Machine is a much-cherished service, as we have heard, for people who would otherwise have to travel hundreds of miles to get to a static cinema. Does the cabinet secretary share my view that that popular and well-used cultural service must be able to access the relevant support to commission a new greener vehicle that will allow it to visit our rural and island communities?
I am absolutely clear on the value that Screen Machine brings to the communities that it visits, including the Western Isles, the esteem that its audiences hold it in and its contribution to cutting carbon emissions through reducing audience travel. All those matters will be subjects at the meeting that I will hold early next month.
That concludes general question time.
Before we move to First Minister’s questions, I invite members to join me in welcoming to the gallery His Excellency Mr Vikram Doraiswami, who is the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. [Applause.]