Chamber and committees

I was a bit late in putting my hand up. We should emphasise the position of children with additional support needs, because the use of restraint on them is proportionately much higher.

I thank our witnesses for being here.

Willie Rennie spoke about the different rates of funding for different age groups because different ratios of staff to children are required. Are there any additional costs related to children with additional support needs, and how that is managed? I will choose Carrie Lindsay, at random, to answer first.

Wendy Brownlie, do parents feel that their options are limited? Do you get that message? Do you ask parents that question?

Wendy Brownlie and Margot Black both mentioned that they have foundation apprenticeships. Are ideas being shared across the regional improvement collaboratives? Is much work going on to share good practice and address any concerns?

That is really helpful. Margot Black mentioned providing support for parents to find the best or most suitable provider for their child. Do the other councils do that, too? Earlier, she mentioned working with health visitors and other health professionals, and I want to check whether that happens across the board.

In relation to ASN, I am also interested in whether the balance between children going to private providers and those going to local authority providers is monitored.

I will repeat it. You mentioned that wraparound care could not necessarily be provided. Do you get the message from parents that that limits their options? Do you ask that question when you consult?

Does the minister agree that not only does the so-called Brexit freedoms bill threaten our rights and the environment but its unfettered nature will also act as an unwelcome intervention for Scotland’s businesses at a time when they need the economic security of good and stable governance?

This debate is a welcome opportunity to speak about the gravity of the cost of living crisis. We have heard about its heartbreaking impact on Scotland’s people.

I join colleagues in condemning the disastrous mini-budget. However, there has been no time to celebrate its reversal, with the imminent prospect of austerity 2.0 being forced upon us as the alternative. The very last thing that Scotland needs is another Tory Prime Minister who we did not vote for, let alone one who is an austerity-driven Brexiteer intent on squeezing the wages and benefits of working people while slashing taxes and bonus caps for the wealthy. After a decade of Tory cuts and Brexit damage, the UK already had the biggest and fastest-ever increase in millionaire and billionaire wealth. Yet the UK is still choosing finance over industry, austerity over investment and a closed economy over openness to the world. Over the years, a rentier economy has been established, in which the accumulation of key assets, such as housing and energy ownership, is extracting wealth from ordinary people.

Now we have seen the most basic supermarket items rocketing in price—some by two thirds. The reality for many is that this is escalating to a cost of surviving crisis. As many saw on Channel 4 last night, the struggle to put food on the table seems to be driving a 21 per cent increase in shoplifting; it is mostly down to first-time offenders, such as parents who need essentials for their children. People are desperate. Small businesses are selling essentials on tick. Food banks are reporting a tenfold increase in first-time users. Energy suppliers are reportedly refusing to take on new customers. People are living in freezing temperatures when prepayment meters run out. Where will this end? That is the reality for so many people as we prepare for a winter like no other.

Like others here, I am gobsmacked by the Tory party amendment, which frames the crisis as a global issue and applauds the UK Government for its inadequate support while it takes no responsibility whatsoever.

Even the energy price cap, which is now cut short, leaving households in unimaginable uncertainty from April 2023, is another enormous transfer of money from the public purse, this time to private oil and gas companies, further exacerbating wealth inequality in the name of profit. There is a reason why the crisis is so much worse here in the UK. We are a poor country with some very rich people and a Tory party governing in their interest.

Cutting UK budgets for public services that have been brought to their knees since 2010 will mean more jobs lost, wages falling, inflation rising further and the loss of the most basic living standards. If cuts to education, healthcare and more are coming down the line, the Barnett consequentials will affect us here.

We in the Scottish Parliament have a duty to come together and oppose those cruel UK policies, as well as to press the Scottish Government to continue to mitigate as much of the damage as possible. Our priority must remain putting money into the pockets of those at the bottom end of the income scale and supporting families who are struggling the most, but that can be done only within our fixed budget. Others have detailed the £3 billion that has been allocated to support households, £1 billion of which is available only in Scotland. Even the harshest critics of the Scottish Government are commending those efforts.

I join colleagues in urging the UK Government to step up and to rule out austerity, create a windfall tax, reinstate the pension triple lock, raise benefits in line with inflation and uplift this year’s Scottish budget in line with inflation. Generally, I urge the UK Government to find an ounce of compassion and end its callous threats to our basic rights and freedoms. Scotland did not vote for this crisis, Scotland can do better and Scotland needs independence like never before.

Yes.

We are very focused on wellbeing, but it seems from the data that all the countries have struggled to measure success in that regard. Does anywhere stand out as having done good work on that? Is there any work that we should be looking at and incorporating into what we are doing?