Chamber and committees

Curriculum for excellence is an unmitigated failure.

There is clearly not enough time to go through the list of failures by the Scottish National Party Government. Where are the laptops and bicycles? That is the legacy of an SNP-run Scotland. My question is simple: what mess created by her predecessors will the cabinet secretary focus on first?

There has been a failure to close the poverty-related attainment gap and to amend the bill incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There has been a failure to reduce the pupil teacher ratio, with fewer teachers—including maths and English teachers—and fewer classroom assistants in fewer primary, secondary and additional support needs schools. Many school buildings are unsuitable for modern teaching and more than 1,000 schools have not been inspected in the past 10 years.

There has been a failure to reduce class sizes, the number of violent attacks or the exodus of staff from private and voluntary nurseries. There are fewer childminders, and 11,000 childminding places have been lost. The Promise is not being kept. Entries for higher exams in science subjects, English and maths are at a five-year low. Teachers have been sidelined in educational reforms, and key recommendations about the reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority have been rejected. Standards of literacy and numeracy are falling.

In the past few years, the complex challenges of the justice system have been widely discussed in this Parliament. That system and our legal processes face chronic issues and are in much in need of improvement. A new approach to Scotland’s justice system is important not only for those who encounter that system but for all Scottish people, so that they can feel safer in their communities.

All political parties agree that the justice process must be made easier and more supportive for victims. Although some parts of the Scottish Government’s perceived new vision for the justice system seem to promise steps in the right direction, the work has been unremarkable in practice. Progress on delivery has been far too slow, resulting in many victims feeling constantly let down or lacking confidence in a justice system that is meant to support them. The SNP’s soft-touch approach to justice clearly has not worked, and I hope that the bill will not be another document that gathers dust on a shelf at the back of a Government office.

Victims are at the heart of this, including those victims who will not come forward to seek justice or who feel that the justice system works against them rather than for them. One story that sticks in my mind is of a woman who had been sexually harassed by a sex pest but who told a newspaper that she would not go to court if she knew that her attacker would avoid jail. That is the current reality of our justice system: victims are anxious about going to court and fear that they will not see justice being done.

With violent crime at its highest level since 2013, the number of sexual crimes higher than in any other year on record and the number of domestic abuse incidents at its second worst level ever, it is no wonder that Scotland’s justice system appears to favour the perpetrator over the victim. The Scottish Government must deliver a justice system that takes a multifaceted approach, with victims at its heart. However, this Government has done little to assure me that it can deliver that change.

Broken promises and delays in delivering vital change to the justice system have led to many victims and witnesses being failed by the legal process. There is an endless list of the negative experiences of those who have encountered the Scottish justice system. Many victims have described feeling that they have no voice and being retraumatised or let down by the process. Community Justice Scotland quotes one report as even referring to court as a “theatre of shame” for victims of crime, with some survivors having to relive experiences of abuse and often doing so long after the crime has occurred.

The SNP has been in Government for 15 years, so we might think that it would have put victims at the heart of its programme for government by now. We are seeing some results now, in this document, but we have yet to see any real and meaningful change for victims within the judicial system. Although the framework is helpful, the Scottish Government could go further to support victims.

Through the Scottish Conservatives’ victims law, victims will no longer be left in the dark, as they will be given greater awareness to understand and utilise the processes that are there to support and protect them. Other proposals, such as Michelle’s law, could ensure that the lived experiences of victims are heard and that victims are considered at all stages of the justice system, which would enable them to be empowered and informed and would allow us to make targeted changes to transform their experiences.

Reports from victims groups reiterate the importance of trauma-focused approaches. For children and young people dealing with the justice system, that is particularly important, because they are at such an impressionable developmental stage of their life. I am pleased that the framework mentions the experiences that children victims face, especially when they are giving evidence. After all, there is the initial trauma of the crime committed against them, then there is the relived trauma of the child having to describe what happened, which is often repeated over the course of many years due to the length of court proceedings. Therefore, I seek reassurance from the cabinet secretary—after, of course, welcoming her to her post—that she will continue to work with organisations to ensure that children feel supported when navigating the justice system and that they have the essential services to decrease their risk of further trauma and serious long-term consequences.

I am sure that all MSPs would agree that having a justice system that is trauma informed will reassure victims that the Government is on their side. However, until we see those meaningful changes, I am afraid that it is all just words. The individual experiences that determine whether events or circumstances are traumatic highlight why the justice system must be trauma focused and prevent further harm to survivors of crime, unlike the current system. We need a fundamental transformation of Scotland’s justice system that moves away from the SNP’s soft-touch approach and ensures fair and transparent legal processes that better serve and protect victims, witnesses and vulnerable groups. In doing so, we can make Scotland’s communities safer and adapt to the needs of modern Scotland.

That is a concerning answer from the minister. The Federation of Independent Retailers has called on the Scottish National Party to compensate retailers who have already signed contracts for reverse vending machines due to the recently announced delay. What is the Government doing to support those who have entered into expensive contracts for RVMs who now might not need to provide RVMs as a result of the changes to the detail of the scheme?

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to tackle the vacancies in child and adolescent mental health services. (S6O-02161)

Since December last year, 190 vacancies have been listed. Eighty-nine of those were left unfilled for three months or longer. Public Health Scotland figures that were published last month showed that 70.1 per cent of children were seen by CAMHS within 18 weeks of referral. That is almost 20 per cent below the Scottish Government’s own target.

Those figures are unacceptable. When will the Scottish National Party Government make child and adolescent mental health services a priority? How will it attract people into a profession that is stretched to breaking point?

I, too, welcome the cabinet secretary to her role, and I echo what has been said about pupils and students who will be sitting their exams over the next few weeks.

This year, teacher strikes across Scotland caused significant disruption for pupils and students, who missed many days of school, including during their prelims. For many pupils, this will be the first time that they have ever sat an exam, but they have been badly let down by the Scottish National Party Government. I have been contacted by parents who fear that their children might not have received the support that they needed.

Will the cabinet secretary detail what catch-up lessons and support, such as tutors, were provided for pupils who were most affected by the strikes? Is she confident that the support that has been provided will make up for the lost learning time?

That lack of data is not good for governance nor for measuring the success of a policy. The Government should not shy away from scrutiny.

Having listened carefully to the debate, members across the chamber have reflected on the SNP’s record in tackling the cost of living and child poverty. The cabinet secretary mentioned providing immediate support to break child poverty. I therefore wonder whether she agrees with the Scottish Conservatives that the roll-out of free school meals must be a priority for the Government. Poverty does not stop when children reach primary 6, and we all know that providing children with a hot meal not only helps them to concentrate at school but makes sure that they do not go home hungry. I would therefore be grateful for an update on that when the cabinet secretary sums up.

Housing is another important issue that has been raised today by many contributors. My colleague Miles Briggs was right to raise the issue of families—in particular, children—living in temporary accommodation. We should all be concerned that 9,130 children are living in temporary accommodation. That must have a negative impact on their daily lives, and I join Miles Briggs in his calls to work with the Government to tackle that issue together. He also mentioned kinship care and the need to introduce the national minimum allowance, which I and others have called on the Government to do.

Paul O’Kane mentioned the fact that independence will always be a top priority for the SNP. He is right on that point. The Government must put that obsession behind it and focus on what matters to the people of Scotland.

Alex Cole-Hamilton raised the issues that are faced by parents—particularly mothers. He is right in saying that women are detrimentally impacted by cost pressures, particularly if they work in the childcare sector.

Stephen Kerr mentioned tackling the root cause of poverty by creating good jobs, the provision of apprenticeships to our young people and the need to pay skilled jobs well. He also, rightly, highlighted the measures that the UK Government took during the pandemic, especially those that supported families and businesses.

Jeremy Balfour mentioned the removal of the ministerial position for social security—something that I find strange, given how important that is in supporting people.

Finally, Social Security Scotland and the many teething issues in setting up the benefits system need to be urgently addressed by the Government.

Presiding Officer, I make no apology for sounding like a broken record in raising again the SNP’s flagship policy of the expansion of free childcare. It was heartening to hear so many members make reference to it today, because it is an issue that I care deeply about. It helps to lift children and families out of poverty, and we must get it right. I am pleased that Natalie Don is in the chamber—I welcome her to her role—as I wrote to her recently about working collegiately on that issue.

I also refer to the comments that were made by the First Minister in his commitment to working with the childcare sector, but I hope that that means the whole childcare sector, because we need a reset of that policy. I therefore extend that olive branch again today, and I ask that we arrange a meeting with those in the private, voluntary and independent sector to discuss the problems that the roll-out of free childcare is causing for them. Members have heard the issues that I and others have raised about the staffing crisis, council funding and PVI rates. If the private, voluntary and independent nursery settings close, the policy will fail.

We have already mentioned the 11,000 childminders. Daniel Johnson, Alex Cole-Hamilton and others raised that matter earlier. We need to encourage people into the childcare sector instead of driving them away. After all, childcare practitioners are Scotland’s first educators and, if the Government is serious about tackling child poverty, that needs to happen when a child is young, in order to support parents and to ensure that any intervention that is required can happen, to give our children the best possible start in life.

All that I am asking is that the SNP get a grip on that policy. This Government can then look towards the UK Government’s ambitious policy of 30 hours of free childcare a week for children from nine months old. That is how we will tackle poverty head-on: by fixing the problems in an existing policy and then being bold and ambitious. Time will tell if the SNP is up to the challenge.

We heard earlier about the First Minister’s programme for government, which has been completely overshadowed by the chaos that is engulfing the SNP. For the sake of our country, I ask the Government to put the needs of our country first, and not its own needs, and to tackle the cost of living crisis and child poverty. Only then will we see the real improvements that we really need.

The First Minister has made his statement today as scandal continues to engulf his party. The Scottish National Party is in total meltdown. Its former chief executive and current treasurer have been arrested amid a police investigation into the party’s finances and leaked footage has shown Nicola Sturgeon trying to shut down scrutiny mere months before that investigation began, but Humza Yousaf it is so indebted to his former mentors that he will not do the right thing and suspend them while the investigation is on-going. It is past time for Humza Yousaf to tackle that scandal head on and prove to the Scottish public that he is his own man, instead of defending and deflecting from his predecessors’ tarnished legacy.

I turn to the substance of Humza Yousaf’s statement. We welcome the decision to U-turn on 13 years of SNP education policy by rejoining international school league tables. We hope that that will be just the beginning of a wholesale re-evaluation of how this Government has devalued Scottish education during its time in office.

However, as a whole, Humza Yousaf’s proposals do nothing to dispel the notion that he is a continuity First Minister leading a continuity Government. He is tinkering with Nicola Sturgeon’s failing policy agenda and continues to be led by the extremist Greens, instead of delivering the fresh leadership that Scotland needs right now. It will dismay the majority of the Scottish public to know that campaigning for independence is the top priority for Humza Yousaf. At a time when Scotland needs national leadership that focuses on tackling the big challenges we all face—a global cost of living crisis, an NHS that is on its knees thanks to this First Minister and a sluggish economy—we have a nationalist leader appealing to his hopelessly divided party.

I ask the First Minister, based on the commitments that he makes in his threadbare document, whether anyone seriously believes that this Government will close the attainment gap by the end of this session of Parliament?

Secondly, we welcome the delay to the deposit return scheme that is a humiliation to the Green minister Lorna Slater. Can the First Minister promise that this Scottish Government will engage with businesses regarding the deposit return scheme, which it has failed to do so far?

Finally, given the scandal engulfing his party, can the First Minister tell me whether the SNP remains in debt to Peter Murrell and when it intends to repay that loan?