Chamber and committees

For many people, this month’s pay cheque will be the first since the national insurance hike. That comes as energy bills skyrocket and new research reveals that folk face yet another hit, with the average food bill potentially increasing by a staggering £271 this year.

Will the Deputy First Minister outline what steps the Scottish Government is taking to support households that are facing not only acute challenges from the pandemic but a cost of living crisis of the Tory Government’s making? Does he share my view that Scotland’s recovery would be best served if this Government had the full powers over welfare, energy and the economy that would come with independence?

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on its Covid recovery strategy of the reported cost of living crisis. (S6O-00995)

Good morning, panel. As Natalie Don said, you have dug down into a lot of what we were trying to get out of today’s session, so I will just ask a small supplementary. Frazer Scott might be best placed to answer this question. It is about the support that has already been announced, which you have explained. The Scottish Government has increased the capacity at Home Energy Scotland by 20 per cent. What are your views on that? Is it enough and, if not, how much would be enough?

Thank you.

My question is about the transition to net zero. What is the potential impact on the UK and Scottish Governments of plans for blue hydrogen due to the spike in gas prices? What changes need to be made?

I would appreciate it if the committee were to get that information, if that is at all possible.

Dan, would you like to add something?

Thank you. I will just hand back to the convener, as time is short.

Does the minister agree that small changes can help, too? Tonight, I have heard members speaking about the Scottish football team and the Scottish women’s football team. We should call it the Scottish men’s football team and the Scottish women’s football team to make it more equal. Small changes like that are a beginning, although definitely not the end.

I have to disagree with my colleague Siobhian Brown, because my daughter is vice-captain of Westdyke Ladies Football Club. I do not think that I could let that one slide, I am afraid.

The rising cost of living affects all our constituents. We have talked time and again about the risk of putting people in the position of having to choose between heating and eating. For a large number of our constituents, that has, or very shortly will, become the stark reality. One in seven UK adults are already behind on at least one household bill. Rising energy costs and the spiralling cost of food are pushing more people to have to make the decision: do I heat or do I eat?

Our Scottish Government can go only so far with the limited powers and the funds that it has while fighting against the tide of disgraceful decisions at Westminster that continue to have devastating effects on thousands of people across Scotland. The spare room subsidy, which the Liberal Democrats supported the Tories to push through Westminster in 2013, is one of them. That alone costs tenants who are affected by the bedroom tax between £14 and £25 a week. The removal of the £20 uplift in universal credit, reducing household incomes by £1,040 a year, is another. Over the past six months, food insecurity levels have risen to their highest yet, affecting 5.7 million adults. One in six people who receive universal credit needed to visit a food bank at least once since the start of December, and almost 2 million people currently go without food.

However, the UK Government has rejected calls to uplift benefits, providing no security to people who are struggling to buy the bare essentials. Food insecurity in households in receipt of universal credit was 37 per cent lower when the uplift was in place compared with before the pandemic. That points to the critical role that the £20 uplift had in protecting families from food insecurity.

The UK Government should have used its spring statement to follow Scotland’s lead by matching the 6 per cent uprate of social security and increased all bands of the minimum wage to match the real living wage to ensure that we protect the people on the lowest incomes throughout the country. However, once again, no support was forthcoming from the chancellor. There was also the devastating 54 per cent rise in the energy cap, but the UK Government failed to make changes to VAT on household energy bills, which would at least have provided some short-term relief to households.

Where it can, the Scottish Government has taken significant actions to mitigate the pressures of the cost of living crisis. It has doubled the Scottish child payment to £20, with a further increase to come in 2022. It has uprated Scottish benefits by 6 per cent, which puts money in the pockets of people who are most in need. There have also been other interventions: the introduction of 1,140 hours of free childcare, the eligibility for which has been extended; free bus travel for under-22s; and £1.8 billion being committed to accelerate the deployment of heat and energy efficiency measures. We continue to have free prescription charges, free eye examinations, free tuition and increases to school clothing grants. Almost £6 billion has been invested to support low-income households in Scotland over the past three years.

As we rebuild from the pandemic and face the cost of living crisis, we have an opportunity to make Scotland a more equal and inclusive society. However, Scotland does not hold all the powers that it requires to achieve that. It will come only with independence. The UK Government has shown time and again that it is unwilling to support the poorest in our society and does not have the same priorities as the Scottish Government in relation to supporting all our citizens. That only reaffirms the need for Scotland’s future to be in Scotland’s hands.