Chamber and committees

I thank Mr Yousaf for making the case for immigration very successfully. Scotland is an outward looking and welcoming nation and we can be proud of being such a welcoming country. We celebrate, value and protect diversity in our communities.

We all have a responsibility to confront hatred and prejudice wherever and whenever they appear. Scotland is a diverse, multicultural society, and that diversity strengthens us as a nation. The delivery of our new Scots strategy is a crucial way to help us to build inclusive and cohesive communities.

To support the delivery of our social isolation and loneliness delivery plan, we implemented the social isolation and loneliness fund in March 2023. In communities across Scotland, 53 projects are currently operational, providing opportunities for people to connect. At the end of year 1, projects reached 11,293 individuals, with a focus on priority groups that are most at risk of social isolation and loneliness.

We know the impact of social isolation on mental health, and that is why we continue to support the national rural mental health forum to build the confidence of rural organisations to deliver mental health support to their members and networks.

Alex Rowley raises important points, and I am well aware of the value that is added by local groups. Of course, Fife Council is Labour-led, and I ask all councils to consider the point that he has raised.

I highlight the work of Befriending Networks Scotland, which I mentioned earlier as receiving £40,000 a year for three years, covering 2023 to 2026. I have visited some of its projects. It supports befriending services across Scotland and currently has 118 Scottish members. Approximately one in four of its members are independent community organisations that operate in rural areas. Several national organisations serve rural communities through telephone befriending or commissioned services.

The task force includes members from many Government portfolios, in recognition of the crucial relationship between population, public services and communities. We continue to work closely with local authorities and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

I recognise the importance of engaging with and supporting areas, such as Edinburgh and Lothians, that are experiencing population growth. COSLA is a member of the population programme board and, along with the Scottish Government, jointly chairs a local government population round table. COSLA is also taking forward a discrete piece of work with local authorities to better understand the specific challenges of population growth. The population programme will consider the outputs of that work in due course.

The task force met on 25 September and discussed delivery of the addressing depopulation action plan’s new place-based interventions, with six local authorities receiving total funding of over £420,000 to support sustainable communities. Members of the task force agreed that the next national islands plan should include an overarching strategic focus on supporting our island populations. The task force also agreed an evaluation approach for Scotland’s migration service. That will support employers and inward investors to use the immigration system effectively to meet their needs and assist individuals to relocate to and settle in Scotland. The minutes for the meetings will be published in due course.

Ten out of the 53 projects that are funded by the social isolation and loneliness fund are based in rural locations. Befriending Networks Scotland receives £40,000 a year for three years from the Scottish Government, and approximately one in four of its 118 Scottish members are independent community organisations that operate in rural areas.

“A Fairer Scotland for Older People: A Framework for Action” was published in 2019 and has successfully delivered a range of policy measures, including the reduction of social isolation. The Scottish Government is undertaking a refresh of the framework, which includes a round-table meeting in Dumfries to hear from older people.

The Scottish Government published “Recovering our Connections 2023-2026”, the delivery plan for our social isolation and loneliness strategy, in March 2023. The plan aims to better understand social isolation and loneliness, to reduce the harm that is caused by it and to tackle that public health issue. There are a number of actions in it, including funding to support 53 organisations across Scotland delivering community-led activity that responds to local needs. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the social isolation and loneliness advisory group to help us to deliver the plan and to collaborate on ways to tackle loneliness for those who are most impacted.

Absolutely. I have been watching the evidence and I am always open to it. I will bring in Matt Elsby on the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement.

A growing wealth of information is published alongside the Scottish budget—for instance, the Scottish Government published 23 supporting documents to give further information on the 2024-25 Scottish budget. I recognise that more needs to be done, including reviewing the information that is published alongside the Scottish budget.

We are considering carefully how we can improve public participation in the Scottish budget in the longer term, while bearing it in mind that I meet stakeholders regularly. I am actively exploring the suggestion that the previous chair of EHRBAG, Professor Angela O’Hagan, made, and the alternative proposal of moving to a two-stage process, with one publication in the summer and a further publication alongside the budget. That would require a fundamental overhaul of the current system and would therefore require careful assessment of how effective and feasible it would be. That is the longer-term picture.

Since I came into the process, and having come into my role when I did, I have been trying to change cultures, attitudes and ways of working. We will need to take time to measure the impact of that. Work and actions have started now. I expect there to be more positive evidence for next year’s round of budgeting and, in the following year of the three-year cycle, I think that we will see the biggest impact of the change in how we do things.

Thank you for that mention of visible leadership that I am taking. You referred to the NPF. The review does not fall within my remit, but I look forward to the outcome of the inquiry and to working with colleagues and stakeholders in implementing the next iteration of the NPF, from 2025. I would be happy to follow up with the committee in writing on specific points relating to my role in the framework as Minister for Equalities.