Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress regarding the transport projects funded from the £254 million announced in 2016 and as part of the Aberdeen city region deal. (S6O-01000)

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am still a councillor on Aberdeen City Council.

In 2008, the SNP first promised £200 million to reduce rail journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt, but no improvement has been made. That was another broken promise from this SNP Government, just like when Alex Salmond said that the first decision that he would make if he was elected First Minister in 2007 was to dual the road between Ellon and Peterhead, with the decision being made within 100 days of his gaining office. If we fast forward more than 5,000 days, the north-east is still waiting. When will this Government stop the soundbites, stop breaking its promises to the people of the north-east and start delivering on the commitments that it has made?

Would decision makers and investigators take part in that process?

My concern is that there could be two individuals—an agency employee and a staff member—with identical complaints, and one complaint would be handled completely differently from the other. You have explained some of the reasons behind that. Ministers could be criticised because one complaint was not being dealt with effectively because it came from an agency worker.

Would a minister still be aware that a potential complaint was being made from an agency worker?

I asked about the issue of agency workers at the 25 January meeting and I still have a concern about that. I get that agency workers are not employees—they have their own employer, so the approach needs to be different. However, the new procedure says:

“Propriety & Ethics will take steps to assure that any agency worker with a concern about a Minister’s behaviour can have their issue addressed.”

Will that follow a separate procedure? Will the decision makers and investigators get involved at all in that process?

When will that be?

If the Government is so keen on promoting transparency, will it agree to lift the gagging orders that are in place at Ferguson Marine?

To ask the Scottish Government what role prisons have in the assessment of prisoners, including of their mental health, prior to their release. (S6O-00965)

In December 2019, Stuart Quinn was released from HMP Peterhead and, the next day, murdered devoted dad Alan Geddes in Aberdeen. I keep in touch with Alan’s sister Sandra, who strongly believes that her brother would still be alive today if Quinn’s previous convictions and psychopathic behaviour had been properly assessed. Lessons need to be learned to ensure that something like that never happens again. Will the cabinet secretary meet me and Alan’s family to discuss what more can be done to improve the system when a prisoner with a serious, unresolved mental health issue is released from prison?

It is clear that we are facing one of the worst cost of living crises in living memory. Inflation is increasing, bills are going up and energy costs are causing a lot of fear and distress in our communities. We all know the challenges that our constituents are facing and we all understand the concern and worry that they are causing many families across Scotland.

When it comes to a national crisis, Governments must step up. In Scotland, we have two Governments, and they must work together and implement a raft of measures to mitigate the crisis as much as possible. The motion from the Liberal Democrats echoes the belief that Governments have to step up. The UK Government has stepped up and introduced a raft of measures that will help households across the UK. I am sure that it can do more, and I am sure that the chancellor will do more throughout the year. There is a range of initiatives that will help hard-pressed households, although it is not a magic bullet—they simply do not exist.

We will all face increased bills and challenges because of what is happening elsewhere in the world. Maggie Chapman seems to think that the situation exists only in the UK, but it is a global problem. It is not a case of fixing the problem but a case of dealing with it as best we can. I believe that the policies that have been introduced by the UK Government will go some way to tackle the issues and help families to cope better over the coming months.

Where the UK Government is allowed to help while protecting the devolution settlement, it has done so. The cut to fuel duty by 5p per litre helps us all to fill our tanks, but it is of particular importance to people in rural areas, where car travel is essential.

Levelling up funds and city growth deals, which Finlay Carson mentioned, bring huge investment and could transform many areas of Scotland. Freeports will also provide an economic boost to Scotland. The £150 rebate on council tax bills for the coming year, which was thankfully passed on by the Scottish Government, will mean that most properties in bands A to D will pay less council tax next year than they did this year. That is welcome, and I thank the UK Treasury for making it possible. There is also the doubling of the household support fund.

That is all in stark contrast to the increased costs that the Scottish Government is burdening hard-working Scots with, which add to the cost of living crisis. SNP rail fares are going up. As Alex Cole-Hamilton pointed out, the Scottish Government could cut the fares rather than the services. Water charges are up. We have a higher tax bill than people in the rest of the UK. With the car park tax, the SNP and Greens want to tax people for going to work. They could stop that right now if they wanted to. The SNP has now announced that it wants a congestion charge in Edinburgh, meaning more tax and more costs for citizens who are just trying to get to work to pay the bills.

This year, the Scottish Government core block grant has increased by more than 10 per cent, which is the largest increase in the history of devolution. It gives the Scottish Government the means to help households directly, but instead the money might be used to cover the waste that we expect from this Government, such as £250 million on unfinished, rusting ferries; £147 million on a delayed sick kids hospital; and £40 million on the malicious prosecution of the Rangers administrators. That is all money that could have been directed to the cost of living crisis, but instead the people of Scotland are having to pay for the SNP’s mismanagement.

The SNP-Green Government could choose to do so much more, but it does not, because it has one goal and one goal only—to pursue independence. We heard it from Jackie Dunbar and we heard it from Christine Grahame. They do not care—[Interruption.] They do not care about people’s priorities; they care only about their own. It is a disgrace.

The Liberal Democrat motion is correct: Governments need to step up. The UK Government has done so—it is time that the SNP-Green coalition did so too. I support the Conservative amendment.