Chamber and committees

Of course, the bill has been beset by multiple delays, so it is welcome to hear that there is a commitment again in this parliamentary session.

Along with complaints in my region, we have heard that a hunt in Kelso, where a dog was taking down a fox, has been reported to the police. Will the minister consider including in the bill a complete ban, without a licensing scheme for hunting with packs of dogs, which could act as a new loophole and has been raised as an issue of concern by campaign groups?

I speak in support of the motion in Jackie Baillie’s name.

All across Scotland, people are feeling the growing strain of the cost of living going up. People are facing unthinkable choices, and it is clear that people’s physical and mental health is deteriorating as a result. That is a consequence of a perfect storm of different factors, from the rises in taxation to the increase in food prices. The sad reality is that the situation is only set to worsen, with some analysts pointing to inflation reaching beyond 6 per cent. Furthermore, we know that the true cost of inflation will be even higher for those who already have the least.

In response, what people in Scotland need is their two Governments standing up for people, but what they have is their Governments letting them down. Although I accept that the growing cost of gas is a global issue, in Scotland we are experiencing the consequences of more than 10 years of the Conservatives’ failed energy policy, which has left us uniquely exposed. The Tories failed to properly regulate our energy market, which led to dozens of energy companies going bust, with all of us having to foot the bill. The dithering and the incompetence have created an energy price crisis that is being felt by everyone.

However, the blame for the rise in energy costs does not lie solely at the feet of the Tories. The SNP’s record on energy is also one of U-turns and a failure to deliver. It has failed on the delivery of a public energy company and it has failed to harness Scotland’s renewables potential. Now, it has sold off, on the cheap, the right to profit from Scotland’s energy transition to multinational corporations with dubious human rights records. The people of Scotland should know that the current crisis happened on the watch of both Governments, with the Tories and the SNP having failed to meet the vast potential of Scottish and British renewables and other forms of energy.

Today is time to talk day, which is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. It is supported in Scotland by See Me and the Co-op and is promoted by trade unions such as the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. Will the First Minister join me in congratulating all the groups organising time to talk events today? Does she agree that having families, friends and communities coming together to talk about mental health is vital to supporting people? Further to that, what action is her Government taking in response to the growing mental health crisis in Scotland, which sees more than one in five adults waiting in excess of 18 weeks for support?

I would like to make some progress.

The SNP has also presided over the development of a low-wage economy in Scotland, which means that Scottish households are more exposed to the cost of living crisis. Many of the factors that are driving Scotland’s labour shortages and low growth in wages predated the pandemic and have gone unaddressed by the SNP for years.

As if to add insult to injury, the rise in prices can also be seen in the growing cost of public transport, with the increase in the cost of ScotRail tickets. That is just another example of the continued mismanagement of our country’s transport, which is adding to the cost of living for hard-working people.

All of that undoubtedly paints an incredibly bleak picture for Scots all over the country, with failures across both Governments. However, it does not have to be that way. There are solutions to alleviate the pain of the crisis. Both here in this place and at the UK level, Labour has a plan to make life easier for people. To address the immediate crisis, Labour would bring in fully funded measures now to reduce the expected price rise in April, which would save most households around £200 or more. Labour has also called for VAT on domestic energy bills to be cut for 12 months from April 2022, which would save an average household around £89. That could be achieved through our proposed one-off windfall tax on the increased profits of oil and gas companies.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a complete ban on fox hunting. (S6O-00715)

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My system logged out. I would have voted yes.

I am in my final minute.

Labour members would use the power of the Parliament to top up winter fuel payments. That is a choice that we would make.

The situation is stark. Charities, advice and rights organisations and now our churches and religious groups are pointing out the devastating impact of hikes in energy prices and the cost of living on the poorest in our society. Indeed, just today, the Catholic Parliamentary Office said:

“These aren’t luxuries, they are the basics.”

We are talking about decent things that people should expect to have.

It is clear that the Tories and the SNP have failed people across the country and that it is Labour that offers a real alternative and which has the ideas to address the crisis.

I think that this is the first time that we have come together as committees on these issues, and I think that it is a helpful forum. We are keen that the Parliament has a strong role in the scrutiny of the minister’s delivery on the national mission. Of course, the minister will join us in the next evidence session.

Is scrutiny by Scottish Parliament committees and this sort of forum one of the avenues that we could take to analyse the recommendations and track their implementation?

Good morning, David. Welcome to your role—we appreciate that it is a fairly new one for you.

I will follow on from the convener’s previous question about the delivery of the task force’s recommendations and scrutiny of whether they are being delivered. There has been criticism from some people that the task force has seen itself as an advisory body only. Do you think that it should have more powers to press stakeholders on delivery? You referred to the scrutiny of delivery and looking at whether recommendations have been implemented. Is it your view that the task force needs more power to follow up?

Good morning, minister. I just want to follow up with you the theme of the task force’s role and purpose that I pursued with David Strang.

It is fair to say that there has been criticism of the fact that the task force initially regarded itself as having only an advisory role. Mr Strang reiterated some of that position, but he also acknowledged that there would have to be a mechanism by which the task force could review work and come back on that. Do you think that that criticism is fair, and what more needs to be done to drive the task force’s recommendations into action?