Chamber and committees

You cannot introduce yet another cliff edge, on top of the UK Government one.

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made, including through any funding to the national autism implementation team, to help all national health service board areas establish adult neurodevelopmental pathways. (S6O-03050)

Only this week, the IMF reset its predictions for the UK economy. It predicts that the UK will be the second-worst performer in the G7 this year and the joint third-worst performer in 2025. We have had, in essence, and as reflected in the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s report, no growth over the course of 2023.

A response to the dire performance of the UK Government was made in the committee by the Office for Budget Responsibility:

“the real spending power of Government departments in England goes down by about £19 billion over the forecast period ... If those spending plans are sustained, there will be fewer real increases in Barnett consequentials—[Official Report, Finance and Public Administration Committee, 12 December 2023, c 9, c10.]

In other words, we have to expect further cuts in Scotland’s budget.

The context that we are discussing today exposes yet again the fundamental weaknesses and uncertainties that are involved in operating within a framework of UK dependence. The only way of fully addressing public sector funding pressures, particularly in the absence of appropriate borrowing powers, is to maximise efforts to create long-term sustainable growth.

The consequence of the UK Government’s economic failure has profound implications. I deeply regret, and have spoken often about, the cut in the capital budget. Regrettably, it has led to the Scottish Government making cuts to affordable housing. We know and understand that investment in house building has very positive benefits, not least in terms of growth. We know also that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has described the cut as

“brutal in the context of the housing situation in this country”.—[Official Report, Finance and Public Administration Committee, 9 January 2024; c 3.]

I absolutely appreciate the difficulty that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has been placed in by dependence on the UK, but I hope that that proves to be a short-term cut. As soon as possible, it must be fully restored and the impact on the Scottish Government’s commitment to complete 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 minimised. We know that a lack of affordable homes leads to rises in homelessness and poverty and has negative impacts on health and education.

Another area considered in committee that is important for long-term planning is the opportunities that are presented from offshore wind. During 2022-23, more than £756 million was raised from the leasing of seabed rights for offshore wind farms. I noticed the view of Professor David Bell that such funds should be regarded

“as equivalent to a sovereign wealth fund”,

which

“should be used to support future generations”.

He explained that,

“To be equitable, it should not be spent only on the generation that has been lucky enough to have that revenue gathered.”—[Official Report, Finance and Public Administration Committee, 9 January 2024; c 14.]

He also agreed with the suggestion that fiscal rules should be applied to protect the funds, and I was pleased to see that included in the report from FPAC. I understand and totally empathise with why the cabinet secretary took a different view and focused on revenue spending, but we need to find a way to give some priority to future generations, to our future economy and society, and, critically, to enabling growth.

My final comment concerns public administration. The need for reform is overwhelming. I absolutely sympathise with the complexity and expense of the situation. It is time consuming, populated by vested interests and so on, but the landscape is beyond cluttered and it has to be reduced. Only—

I am sorry; I do not have my glasses today, so I cannot read what I have written.

I suspect that, over too many years, the solution has been seen as creating a quango, a commission or whatever, and now we have a real problem that needs to be solved. The cabinet secretary has faced an unenviable task, and I think that she deserves our support, not just now but in the future, in navigating through an extremely difficult set of circumstances.

I am pleased to hear about the progress thus far. However, there remain gaps for adults who present with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or other neurodevelopmental conditions while they wait for the establishment of adult pathways. What further help is available at that intervening point until we reach the 100 per cent coverage that the minister clearly seeks?

I apologise if this has already been covered. What consideration has been given thus far to a situation in which a young man in secure accommodation should elect to self-identify as being of a different gender? I ask that specifically from a safeguarding perspective. Has the detail of that been worked up? Obviously, that issue has been much discussed by the Criminal Justice Committee.

Is the minister able to respond to my earlier question about there being equitable representation from victim groups and those of the accused at the round-table event?

I appreciate that the Government will give consideration to the matter—I agree that it should do that—but I want you to flesh out the nature of that consideration. As my colleague Ruth Maguire alluded to in the earlier group of amendments, balancing rights is a challenge, but representation must be equitable.

I will pick up on a tiny point regarding the issue of rights. In the event of the UK Government wishing to remove us from rights—for example, the ECHR—which has been presented as a very real possibility if not a threat, have you considered the extent to which that would implicate the rights provisioning in the bill?

Have you had advice on that? I am just probing a bit more about the rights-based element and the extent to which you can be confident in all potential legal scenarios. Are you confident that the advice that you have received thus far takes cognisance of that possibility, from the point of view of children’s rights?

We appreciate that the round table is an important part of the discussion. Would you look for equitability of representation of victims as well as the accused, rather than simply representation?

Will the minister give way?