Chamber and committees

It is a pleasure to congratulate Ross Greer on securing the debate and on his motion, which highlights the record of industrial relations in the college sector over the past decade. In particular, it highlights the fact that there has been strike action in six out of the past eight years. Most of us will be aware of specific disputes in colleges in the areas that we represent. Even over the past few days, I have been consulted by staff in Ayrshire College, who are concerned about the draft budget, which has a £51.9 million cut and will have massive consequences for the workforce there.

Stephen Kerr is correct to put on record the pressure that students have been under during Covid. Of course, they will also be affected by industrial action. Many people who work in the college sector are very aware of that, so it is a difficult decision for them to take industrial action. It shows that industrial relations in the sector have deteriorated and that the Scottish Government needs to intervene to repair the relationships between Colleges Scotland and trade unionists. The issues have to be viewed in the wider context, and there can be absolutely no doubt that the level of cuts that colleges face has been a factor in the situation.

If we compare the treatment of colleges and college students to what happens in other parts of the education sector, we see a dramatic contrast. More than £8,000 is spent each year per secondary school student. The figure is more than £7,000 per pre-school child, more than £6,000 for primary school students, just under £6,000 for university students and just over £4,000 for college students. We know the class nature of college students and that, historically, working-class communities have looked to colleges, as have some of the trades and sectors that we need for our society and economy to survive. Whether it is building trades, beauty or hairdressing, they are many of the service industries to which working-class people look.

Since 2014, the college sector has been subjected to numerous industrial disputes. The grievances have been on issues such as equal pay, common conditions of service, transfer to permanent status for staff who are on insecure contracts, annual pay agreements, fire and rehire, which has been referred to, and disciplinary and grievance procedures and policies. It is clear that there are significant cultural issues in the sector, given that industrial relations are in such a dire condition.

I first became an elected representative in 2005, and I recall at that time being approached about issues at what is now Ayrshire College at Kilwinning. Although the issues then were different, the recurring theme is that the whole sector has been subjected to a backdrop of poor industrial relations.

We know that the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association is in dispute, and that Unison has lodged a formal dispute with colleges. We also know that 92 per cent of college workers rejected the pay offer. As Ross Greer said, UCU members are in dispute as a result of a 35 per cent cut to pensions and a 25.5 per cent real-terms cut to their pay since 2009.

I thank Ross Greer for raising the issues, and I hope that the Scottish Government will actively engage with them.

Is the minister aware that safety concerns have been raised previously in relation to seafarer fatigue on P&O ferries in a report by Professor Andy Smith of Cardiff University? Given that the new crew will be working even longer shifts and as much as a seven-day week for a continuous eight weeks, will the minister ask for an urgent meeting with the safety regulator, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency?

The new crew will be employed by International Fleet Management, which was incorporated only last month, in Malta. Given the concerns about whether the ships are safe to sail, I ask that the trade unions attend any meetings with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with DP World and P&O Ferries regarding the loss of jobs for ferry staff working out of Cairnryan. (S6T-00610)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Unfortunately, I did not vote, as the system crashed. I would have voted no.

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all apprentices are paid the real living wage. (S6O-00883)

As the minister knows, the national minimum wage for apprenticeships is only £4.30 per hour if the apprentice is 19 or under or is in the first year of their apprenticeship. Does the Scottish Government agree with that? If not, will it make paying the full living wage a condition for employer support? Can the Scottish Government confirm that all apprenticeships in the public sector are paid the living wage?

Will the cabinet secretary explain why Scotland has the highest proportion of prisoners and people on remand in western Europe?

I asked the cabinet secretary earlier this afternoon why he thought it was that Scotland continues to have the highest rate of people in prison in Europe, and also the highest rate of people on remand. A survey showed that almost half of prisoners—about 45 per cent—reported being under the influence of drugs at the time of their offence. How do we ensure that we make the kind of systematic changes that are needed to address this issue? How does he think the Parliament should hold the Government to account on the issue? Does he think that we need to have targets? Does he have a plan for how we are going to make the system change?

All in this chamber know the statistics that say that Scotland has by far the highest drug death rates recorded anywhere in Europe, and that last year there was a record number of deaths for the seventh year in a row. The number of drug-related deaths is now almost three times higher than it was a decade ago, but we discuss the problem as if it is new.

We have been here before. Damning reports are published, strategies are announced, working groups are established and recommendations are made. As Alex Cole-Hamilton said, the problem is implementation.

The cabinet secretary is correct to say that a trauma-informed and person-centred approach is not a soft option and that individuals must be treated with respect. As Claire Baker, Maggie Chapman and many others have said, we need a public health approach.

It is right that we question why Scotland has the highest drug death rate in Europe. It is clear that tackling substance use will require policies that address poverty, deprivation and Scotland’s wider health inequalities, which Carol Mochan spoke about. As Elena Whitham said, we know that people with serious drug addictions often also have mental health issues. More often than not, they have also experienced trauma. Many of them have faced grinding poverty and the knock-on effects of a lack of hope or aspiration for a decent future. Scotland has almost 60,000 people with a drug problem, and every person with a drug problem has many friends and relatives who are also affected by that drug use.

We need to listen to what the experts are saying. Many members have highlighted the action that needs to be taken. Audrey Nicoll spoke about the work of the Criminal Justice Committee and the need for alternatives to custody. Annie Wells spoke about the importance of access to rehabilitation. We simply do not have enough people in treatment. Scotland has only about 40 per cent of people in treatment at any one time, whereas the figure in England, for example, is 60 per cent.

There is a clear link between drug taking and committing offences. In the past 10 years, the percentage of people testing positive for illegal drugs on entering prison has ranged between 70 and 78 per cent. As Michael Marra discussed, new psychoactive substances have become an increasing problem, and many believe that they are now dominant in prisons. We know that drug use continues to be a significant problem in prisons. The latest drugs survey, which Michael Marra also referred to, identified that about two fifths of people had used illicit drugs in prison at some point.

As a number of speakers highlighted, there is a lack of support in prison. Prisoners need support to come off drugs—support that must continue when they are released, as Stuart McMillan said. Back in April 2020, the Drug Deaths Taskforce recommended that there should be

“adequate throughcare provision ... available to prisoners on liberation”.

We all accept that those who leave prison and are relocated in communities are not receiving throughcare in the numbers required. It is important to address not only the risk of death from overdose in prison but the risks in the months after prisoners leave custody.

We know that we face major challenges that will only be addressed with policies that are underpinned by sufficient investment. We also know that prison is more expensive than the alternatives to custody, but Scotland continues to send the highest number of people to prison in western Europe.

I believe that the Scottish Government has many of its policies in this area in the right place, but that it simply has not been implementing those policies. It has the support of Scottish Labour to implement them. If the disconnect between what is said in the chamber and what actually happens in reality in the justice system was addressed, that would make a massive difference to thousands of people in the prison system and to many more in communities up and down Scotland.