Chamber and committees

Thank you, Dr Taylor. I am sorry, but I must interrupt. I am conscious of time, and we still have three members to get through.

I am conscious of the time. We were meant to finish at 10 past the hour. I suggest that we extend to 20 past, if that is all right with the witnesses. I call Brian Whittle.

We will now continue to take evidence in the long Covid inquiry. I welcome our second panel of witnesses to the meeting. Judy Thomson, director of training for psychology services, and Professor Lindsay Donaldson, deputy medical director, are from NHS Education for Scotland; Linda Currie is associate allied health professions director of NHS Highland; Heather Cameron is director of allied health professions at NHS Lothian; Janis Heaney, who is joining us online, is associate director of national strategic networks, national specialist and screening services directorate at NHS National Services Scotland; and Manira Ahmad is chief officer at Public Health Scotland. I thank everybody for giving us their time this morning.

We estimate that this part of the meeting will run until about 25 past 11—I have added an extra 10 minutes—and each member will have approximately 10 minutes to speak to the witnesses and ask their questions. I am keen to ensure that everybody gets an opportunity to speak, so I apologise in advance if time runs on too much and I have to interrupt members or witnesses in the interests of brevity.

If Janis Heaney, who is joining us online, would like to respond to an issue that is being discussed, she should type “R” in the chat box, please, and we will bring her in.

I invite the witnesses to introduce themselves briefly.

I will.

As we are all fully aware, this has been a challenging budget to prepare in a time of extreme economic pressure. Although very difficult decisions have had to be made, I am pleased to support the budget. I welcome the additional £100 million for local authorities and, alongside many of my constituents who support the Gaiety theatre in Ayr, I welcome the announcement of the £6.6 million investment in culture through Creative Scotland.

If it was not for the restraints of devolution, we could have gone much further. It is disappointing, although expected, that the UK Government’s autumn statement failed to address the pressures on devolved budgets to help people with the cost of living crisis, support public services and finance fair pay offers.

To add to the challenge of pandemic recovery, we find ourselves in the most turbulent economic and political times that most of us can remember. While Putin continues his barbaric attack on Ukraine, energy prices continue to soar, crippling households and businesses, and inflation continues to rise, adding to everyday household bills. There are workforce shortages in every sector as a result of Brexit, and there is the infamous mismanagement of public finances by the UK Conservative Government.

This Scottish Government continues to do all that it can with the powers that it has to deliver for the people of Scotland. Because we are in such volatile times, it is critical that the budget can tackle poverty, protect our NHS and make us a fairer and greener society. I will highlight some of the key ways in which the budget addresses the problems that we are facing after the crises of Brexit and the pandemic.

I begin with our young people. We know that the pandemic has hit some of our children hard. Their lives were completely changed by lockdowns and restrictions and it is imperative that we address the challenges that they face. With the limited powers that it has, the Scottish Government is doing more than any other UK Administration to tackle child poverty. It is estimated that the expansion of the Scottish child payment to under-16s will take 50,000 children out of poverty. After the increase in that groundbreaking payment to £25 per child, the budget invests £428 million to uprate all other devolved benefits in 2023 in line with September’s CPI rate of 10.1 per cent.

The budget also provides additional support for our education system by ensuring the expansion of free school meals to pupils in primary 6 and 7 who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment. Living in poverty impacts negatively on children’s educational outcomes and subjects families to increased stress, but free meals in our schools promote wellbeing and equity. Food is a key part of the day and can make a big difference. According to the Child Poverty Action Group, 16 per cent of schoolchildren in Scotland who are growing up in poverty are not currently eligible for free school meals. The roll-out to pupils in P6 and P7 will further reduce that percentage. We should note that 31 per cent of schoolchildren currently living in poverty in England are not eligible for free school meals. That stark difference in political decisions really makes a difference.

The budget will also deliver for our young people by ensuring that their parents and guardians are supported through the cost of living crisis. I am sure that all members will be able to relate to the emails that my office has received from constituents who are worried about turning on their heating over the winter and who have to make the heartbreaking choice between heating and eating. That is the reality, but it should not be happening in a developed country in 2023. All that is happening as energy companies announce record profits, which I find absolutely obscene. The use of food banks across the UK continues to grow. The UK Conservative Government has failed to take decisive action to deliver for households who are really struggling to get by.

The Scottish Government, on the other hand, is the voice of hard-working people whose monthly income has been eaten away by rising bills, causing many families real hardship. The budget commits £20 million to extend the fuel insecurity fund, providing a lifeline to the most vulnerable households to protect them from rising energy prices. We are choosing to take a different path from that of the austerity-obsessed Tories, using a fair tax system that sees the majority of Scots paying less than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK and invests in our public services.

We all know that those public services are under considerable strain. One of the biggest problems is the damage that Brexit has caused to the labour market. Many of our vital services just do not have the staff numbers that they need. As has been said, with powers over our immigration—

Thank you.

The policies that are announced in the budget add to several benefits that people in other parts of the UK have been unable to take advantage of under the Conservative and Labour Governments, including free prescriptions, free higher education and free bus travel for under-22s. I long for the day when we will have the powers to go further. I ask members to please support the budget at decision time. Thank you.

Sorry—I cannot acknowledge that because I do not recognise that figure. However, I see independent countries with immigration policies, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, that are trying to get our doctors and nurses to move over there. We do not have the powers to do it in Scotland at the moment, so my answer to the member is no.

Our NHS saw us through Covid and we now have the duty to protect it for future generations and ensure that the quality of people’s healthcare is not dependent on their income. The budget delivers more than £13.7 billion for our NHS boards, as well as £2 billion to establish and improve primary healthcare services in our communities. Overall, the budget provides record funding of more than £19 billion to the health and social care portfolio.

Can I get the time back for the intervention, Deputy Presiding Officer?

Michelle, would you like to come in?

You need a clear pathway.

I bring in Sammie Mcfarland.

Alex Rowley has some questions.