Chamber and committees

I know that this matter has been touched on, but I will raise it again, given its significance. Given that the budget year is particularly difficult for the Scottish Government in relation to the real-terms cut to the block grant, and if we think of the £2.6 billion from the resource budget alone, how has the Scottish Government focused on shared priorities with local government, such as lifting children out of poverty, building more affordable homes, investing in social care and tackling the climate emergency? How will the vast in-year transfers from other portfolios help to deliver on those critical shared priorities? We need to consider some of the latter aspects—I am thinking specifically about housing—in relation to a whole parliamentary session and not a single year. We will start with Ms Forbes, and Ms Robison might want to come in on housing.

Will Shona Robison say something about housing and about the idea of looking at it over a parliamentary session as opposed to a single year?

I have a final question for Kate Forbes, which relates to something that she has mentioned and on which we heard Councillor Gail Macgregor set out her clear position. The fiscal flexibility that has been looked for is being given through the removal of the cap on council tax rises. There is a lot of discussion about the fiscal framework—Gail Macgregor mentioned the negotiations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government in terms of reworking that agreement. Will you reiterate how important the work on the fiscal framework will be? How quickly can we expect that to be agreed?

Before I start, I refer everyone to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am still a serving councillor at East Ayrshire Council.

My first question this morning relates to the fact that Unison recently called on the Scottish Government to introduce incentives in the 2022-23 budget to attract more people to work in the care sector and to encourage social care workers to stay. Does Unison welcome the £233.5 million in this year’s budget to help to ensure that the living wage is paid to those care workers? Should that money be ring fenced for that stated purpose?

Thanks for that, Gail. I have some questions about the £1.3 billion that will be transferred to local government from other portfolios during 2022-23. I know that there has been a long-standing request for some of the consequentials that relate to social care to go to local government, as opposed to always going to health. Is that money welcomed? To what extent will that be ring fenced? Is that the right thing to do? How does that work in practice, if that money is coming from other portfolios into local government?

Given what you have said, how does Unison respond to the fact that local government reserves have increased by about £300 million over the course of the pandemic?

I have been contacted by constituents who have advised of their anxieties as they wait for cases to go to court. As we know, court closures during the pandemic have led to a significant backlog of cases. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Scottish Government’s work to enable backlogs across the criminal justice service to be cleared?

Recognising the important role that our health and social care partnerships play in delivering critical and essential care package services and the pressures that they are currently operating under, with limited staffing and a build-up in demand, and noting that the exemplar partnership of East Ayrshire—I am still an East Ayrshire councillor—is struggling and looking at a range of temporary alternatives while recruitment is on-going to bring in additional staff to support the increase in demand, what support can the Scottish Government provide to assist health and social care partnerships at this critical time?

I refer everyone to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am still a serving councillor on East Ayrshire Council.

Nicola Robison from Police Scotland told the committee on 14 December that Police Scotland is broadly supportive of the licensing scheme and welcomes the inclusion of the fit and proper person test to ensure the safeguarding of guests and neighbours. She told the committee about criminal exploitation arising from a lack of regulation. Do you recognise the risk of criminal activity? How would the licensing scheme help to combat that?

It is clear to me that local authorities must balance the needs and concerns of the communities that they serve with the needs of the wider tourism sector and owners of local short-term let accommodation. Although short-term lets are a flexible option for individuals, we must balance that with the issue of overall safety, the loss of residential housing stock, the antisocial behaviour that we have seen and the potential for criminal activity to occur, while creating a level playing field across the sector.

On balance, I do not think that a licensing scheme would be overly onerous, and I propose that we agree to the motion.