Chamber and committees

Will the cabinet secretary outline how the Scottish Government’s equally safe strategy is supporting NHS boards such as NHS Grampian to tackle gender-based violence?

To ask the Scottish Government, following NHS domestic abuse awareness day, which took place on 10 December with the aim to shine a light on the high prevalence of domestic abuse affecting healthcare professionals, how it is supporting national health service boards to ensure that they have robust domestic abuse policies in place. (S6O-05301)

I have nothing further to add, Presiding Officer. I will press amendment 8.

Amendment 8 agreed to.

After section 1

Members sought to introduce various forms of reporting duties through stage 2 amendments, and amendment 8 seeks to draw the different proposed approaches together, through a single reporting duty, which will address many of the concerns that have been raised.

It is important that ministers undertake a review and report on the provision of residential outdoor education by education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools. That will help to strengthen transparency and accountability of delivery. Throughout the bill process, it has been clear that members feel strongly that, if the bill is to achieve anything, it must be to deliver more equitable and accessible provision in the future, so that every child or young person who wants to participate can do so.

Amendment 8 requires the report to set out

“the extent to which the residential outdoor education provided was suitable for and accessed by pupils ... with additional support needs”

and those

“who experience socio-economic disadvantage”.

It further requires the report to include

“an assessment of the impact on and outcomes for pupils who participated in residential outdoor education”.

There are outstanding concerns around the potential workforce implications associated with the bill, which is a matter that I raised during stages 1 and 2. Those concerns will need to be resolved ahead of implementation, which is why the amendment requires that the report also assesses the impact of provision on the education workforce.

Finally, the amendment requires the report to include any further steps that Scottish ministers propose to take with respect to the provision of residential outdoor education.

Setting out in the bill the key topics to be covered in the report will provide a strong signal to the wider education system about the overall areas of focus of any future data collection that partners would need to be able to respond to.

The report is to be produced

“as soon as reasonably practicable”

after the five-year reporting period, which begins on the day on which the act comes fully into force. That will ensure that the Government can build up a robust bank of qualitative and quantitative data, from which meaningful conclusions can be drawn.

Amendment 8 covers all the key issues that were raised at stage 2 and strikes the right balance in relation to reporting duties, and I encourage members to support it.

I move amendment 8.

A new report from the Confederation of British Industry shows that business investment in Scotland has risen to a 20-year high, in contrast with a fall across the United Kingdom. This success for Scotland’s economy comes despite the UK Government’s tax on jobs and its low-growth model. How does the Scottish Government plan to build on that momentum and continue to deliver economic growth, even within the limits of devolution?

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Aberdeen City Council to maintain its local government services, including in response to any increasing social need in the city. (S6O-05269)

Aberdeen Cyrenians, which is a charity that supports people across Aberdeen who are facing poverty and homelessness, has warned that reforming the energy profits levy

“is not just an economic imperative, it’s a moral one”,

which is needed to prevent a “spiral of decline” and social harm in the city that no amount of welfare spending can reverse. Does the cabinet secretary share my concerns about the impact of Labour’s fiscal policies on local communities in my constituency? Will she say any more about the Scottish Government’s work with local authorities to mitigate that impact?

With almost all three and four-year-olds across Scotland reaping the benefits of funded ELC, will the cabinet secretary set out exactly how that is benefiting young folk and their families?

I like talking about veterans in the chamber, because it is one of the few areas in which there is fairly broad consensus. There is clear agreement among all MSPs that nobody should be worse off for having served in the armed forces. I say this as someone who has never been a minister, so I might need to be corrected, but, when it comes to supporting our veterans, there seems to be a level of co-operation and constructive working between the Scottish and UK Governments that does not always extend to other policy areas.

Over a number of years, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s office has produced a series of insightful and informative reports that have delved into what we can do to better support our veterans in particular areas, including education, skills and learning; making a home; health and wellbeing; community and relationships; the legal and justice systems; and, most recently, financial matters. All the recommendations in those reports are sensible and deliverable, which means that there tends to be agreement that they should be delivered.

It is helpful that, in the commissioner’s progress report, we can see the status of all the recommendations from the reports. The progress report clearly shows that progress has been made and that, for the first time, progress has been recorded against every extant recommendation. That means that we can also see where more work is needed.

A particular area for improvement, which is mentioned twice in the news release covering the report, relates to the GP recognition scheme, take-up of which has been described as “much lower than expected.” The recognition scheme aims to ensure that there is a designated practice lead in every general practice across Scotland, but, as I understand it, the figure currently sits at about 5 per cent. Given that the minister is in the chamber, I would be keen to take an intervention from him so that he can set out what the Government has done to improve uptake and what else can be done.

I welcome what the minister has just said about the work that is being done on the process. While we are talking about recognition schemes, I point out that, as employers, our individual MSP offices—not us, but our offices—can sign up to the defence employer recognition scheme. My office manager has already done that for my office, and we are at bronze award level. He will email all offices to show them how it can be done.

I reiterate that the majority of veterans will never need support, and that their experience and work ethic mean that they bring a lot to our workplaces and their communities. However, some will need support, and I am pleased that we are agreed across the chamber that we need to get to that place so that Scotland is seen as a destination of choice for those who leave our armed forces.