Chamber and committees

:So, that is Government funded, and there might be some requirement that those people spend time on legal aid cases.

:My next question is on something that my colleague Paul McLennan touched on, which is longer-term legal aid reform. It is difficult to say, because this is for the next parliamentary session, but have you stressed the point that reform is long overdue and needs to be looked at quickly?

:When we had the debate on legal aid in the chamber, we discussed the issue of women fleeing domestic abuse and the recommendation that the financial thresholds be removed. On the Scottish Legal Aid Board—or SLAB, which is an unfortunate word—there was heavy criticism of it and the bureaucracy involved. Have you addressed that issue with SLAB since we raised it in our debate?

:If the public sector was collecting data on four core protected characteristics—age, disability, sex and race—you would not be facing what you term “systemic discrimination”. We have just spoken about race, and you could say that race and religion are characteristics to address, which Maggie Chapman raised. I am adding age, disability and sex to that list. There is a massive disconnect with what the Scottish Government is measuring and reporting on, because being non-binary is not a protected characteristic, and neither is gender. You cannot manage what you do not measure.

Why do you not go back to the nine protected characteristics to look at age, disability, sex and race on an intersectional basis and at the basic services that you are providing? Last week, the committee published a report on the huge issues related to rural discrimination. You just have to look at maternity services in the Highlands and in the northern end of Scotland to see that women are being discriminated against in those areas. We are also not providing public sector loos, which discriminates against disabled people.

Both women with disabilities and women of a certain age are being discriminated against, but the Scottish Government is not collecting the data and is not requiring local government to do so. How can you measure positive outcomes if you are not even looking at the basic data?

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current state of libraries in Scotland as part of any action it is taking to protect and strengthen these services. (S6O-05515)

Libraries are the beating heart of our communities, but since the Scottish National Party came to power, 16 per cent—that is, 97—of them have closed. Funding has fallen by 30 per cent, but footfall has increased by 40 per cent. In my region, just in the city of Aberdeen, six libraries have closed, with further proposals to cut the number of school librarians, leaving many communities without access to these vital services.

I heard what the cabinet secretary said, and that is welcome, but what specific action—beyond having meetings and discussions—will he take now to stop further library closures? Why are communities, including pupils, paying the price for the SNP’s failure to protect local services?

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current state of libraries in Scotland as part of any action it is taking to protect and strengthen these services. (S6O-05515)

Libraries are the beating heart of our communities, but since the Scottish National Party came to power, 16 per cent—that is, 97—of them have closed. Funding has fallen by 30 per cent, but footfall has increased by 40 per cent. In my region, just in the city of Aberdeen, six libraries have closed, with further proposals to cut the number of school librarians, leaving many communities without access to these vital services.

I heard what the cabinet secretary said, and that is welcome, but what specific action—beyond having meetings and discussions—will he take now to stop further library closures? Why are communities, including pupils, paying the price for the SNP’s failure to protect local services?

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current state of libraries in Scotland as part of any action it is taking to protect and strengthen these services. (S6O-05515)

Libraries are the beating heart of our communities, but since the Scottish National Party came to power, 16 per cent—that is, 97—of them have closed. Funding has fallen by 30 per cent, but footfall has increased by 40 per cent. In my region, just in the city of Aberdeen, six libraries have closed, with further proposals to cut the number of school librarians, leaving many communities without access to these vital services.

I heard what the cabinet secretary said, and that is welcome, but what specific action—beyond having meetings and discussions—will he take now to stop further library closures? Why are communities, including pupils, paying the price for the SNP’s failure to protect local services?