Chamber and committees

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?

No. I am sorry, cabinet secretary, but you did not give me that opportunity.

I begin my closing remarks on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives with consensus. Supporting Scotland with the cost of living and in reducing child poverty is a key objective for all political parties. Many of us are agreed on that shared ambition today. However, how we achieve such objectives, and our policies, will differ.

Unfortunately, the SNP has an unhealthy habit of blaming everyone but itself when debating social issues. The Scottish Conservatives understand that a thriving economy is key to lifting people out of poverty, to supporting people with life challenges and to giving our young people the best possible start in life.

It is also important to recognise the powers that the Government has at its fingertips in one of the most devolved parliaments in the world. Devolution in Scotland works best when the UK and Scottish Governments work together. We saw that during the height of the pandemic, when rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine. In my view, that is the best way to support people in Scotland.

For the past 15 years, the SNP has presided over devolved powers. When it first entered office, it promised to eradicate child poverty, but, in fact, the percentage of children in poverty has remained stable since the SNP came to power in 2007. In addition, an Audit Scotland report has said that the effects of the SNP Government’s child poverty delivery plan cannot yet be assessed, despite the SNP’s having launched in 2018 its four-year plan to reduce child poverty. Data is vital when addressing child poverty in Scotland, and I am beyond frustrated at the lack of data held by the Government.

Members may be aware that I have been raising this issue for quite some time. Since my return to Parliament in January, I have found it challenging to balance life here and at home. Talented MSPs have stood down because of the way in which parliamentary business is structured. I know that that is an issue for the Government and the bureau, but we do not want to deter people, especially women, from choosing to enter public life. Therefore, in line with the request made by Martin Whitfield, I ask the corporate body to consider forming a group of MSPs, their staff and SPS staff to look at how we can make this Parliament more family friendly.

Last week, a Scottish National Party councillor who claims to have been sexually assaulted by a former North Lanarkshire Council leader demanded reform of how the SNP handles sex complaints. It is the third claim of sexually inappropriate behaviour that has been made against that individual. Instead of supporting victims, however, North Lanarkshire SNP closed ranks. One councillor even claimed that Mr Linden had done nothing wrong and that “the only thing” that he was “guilty of” was “being ... young”.

Does the minister agree that victims should be protected by political parties, and does he think that councils should have in place additional measures for councillors should political parties fail to support them?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it produces guidance for local government on how allegations of sexual misconduct against councillors should be handled. (S6O-02053)