Chamber and committees

Do some people get an automatic entitlement to the Scottish child payment, or does everybody have to apply?

There is global inflation and a cost of living crisis. Families, workers and businesses are struggling with bills. Our public services need investment, our hospitals need support and our schools need funding. Those are the top priorities for people across Ayrshire and all of Scotland, and another referendum is the last thing that people need right now. Will the cabinet secretary scrap the £20 million of funding that the Government has reserved for a referendum next year and focus instead on people’s real priorities? [Interruption.]

You have touched on some of the points in my next question. At the fifth bullet point of paragraph 29, the briefing states that reductions in spending include

“£53 million in funding for employability schemes, and £38 million of mental health spending that has been reprioritised to support the NHS pay offer.”

How is the £53 million reduction in funding for employability schemes likely to impact on achieving targets for tackling child poverty? Will your future work in adult mental health consider the extent to which the services have been impacted on by the £38 million of spending that has been reprioritised?

Good morning. Page 9 of the briefing states:

“Without very close management of the budget, there is a real risk the Scottish Government overspends against its 2022/23 budget”.

Paragraph 24 states:

“Early in 2022/23, the Scottish Government was forecasting a significant budget gap for the financial year, which was larger than could be managed through its usual budget processes.”

Paragraph 25 goes on:

“The Scottish Government has recognised that the financial situation it faces is by far the most challenging since devolution … The potential consequences and how this would take shape are unclear at this stage.”

Can you share your views on what the potential consequences are? To what extent might the Scottish Government be preparing for that outcome?

What scope might there be for the Scottish Government to identify further savings or carry out a reprioritisation of budgets to achieve a balanced budget for 2022-23?

To ask the Scottish Government how many pharmacists have been recruited into primary care since 2018. (S6O-01621)

In Ayrshire and Arran, there is a real problem with pharmacy staff shortages. Planned pharmacy closures and reduced opening hours are becoming the norm, and that was never heard of before. That situation can make it more difficult for vulnerable people to pick up prescriptions, it can impact people who work irregular hours, and it puts more strain on other health services that are open. I have spoken to pharmacists, and they say that it is the result of the Government increasing their workload and staff leaving to work elsewhere. What workforce planning has the Government done to increase the number of pharmacists, and has the number of pharmacy places at Scottish universities increased?

I thank my colleague Pam Gosal for securing this important debate.

I am currently dealing with the case of a man who assaulted multiple partners and traumatised his own children so much so that he was given a permanent no contact order. He was also given community service, probation and counselling but no jail time. None of that had any impact on his behaviour. He breached his probation by entering into a relationship with my constituent and becoming a step parent to her children. It was not long before his campaign of abuse escalated: he began throwing the children along hallways, grabbing them by the throat or hair and dragging them upstairs by their ears. He received a non-harassment order and was told not to contact the mother or children. He ignored that, getting accomplices to stalk her and break windows in the family home. They had to flee to a safe house.

Although little to nothing happened to that abuser, the trauma for the family continues. The experiences that they suffered have changed them. The family spoke about how that person’s actions have affected the children, and it is clear that the domestic violence that the children endured has severely traumatised them. The situation has not improved. The woman says that her son has changed beyond recognition, going from being a youngster who gave everyone hugs, had a great sense of humour and looked out for his younger sister to being one who recently attacked and seriously hurt his younger brother.

The family talked about burying their heads in their hands and crying over what has been taken from them by a serial abuser who has no remorse and who mocks Scotland’s justice system while going about his daily business.

Regrettably, that family is just one of many in Scotland who are affected by domestic abuse daily. I am therefore pleased to see Pam Gosal’s proposal for a domestic abuse register bill.

Violence against women and girls has no place in our society. Ultimately, we want to create a society that eliminates violence against women and girls. It is also our responsibility to establish a system that effectively deters and punishes potential abusers and unconditionally supports victims.

To finish, I will touch on the need to support victims of domestic violence. Reem Alsalem, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, has written a letter on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, about which she has raised a number of concerns. She said:

“For persons identifying as women, the certificate would create a legal presumption that they have the right to access women-only services, across Scotland ... such proposals would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process”.

She continued:

“a failure to provide single sex spaces to female survivors of male violence”

leads to

“self-exclusion from support and refuge services.”

She also said:

“While I commend the Government for listening to the voices of transwomen, including organizations that represent them, I am concerned that the consultations for this proposal do not appear to have been sufficiently inclusive of other groups of women, most notably female victims of violence. It has been reported that five survivors of male violence approached”

the Scottish Parliament Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

“to speak in a private session about their concerns in relation to the Bill and their own experiences of self-exclusion. The convenor reportedly informed the group that the Committee did not have time to see them and to put their objections in writing.”

If the Government truly wants to help victims, it needs to listen to all parties; when introducing new bills, it needs to listen to all points of view; and when members of its party raise concerns with it, it needs to listen. Otherwise, we will bring in bad law, with untold unintended consequences.

I am pleased to bring the debate to a close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. I did not have the pleasure of sitting through the evidence to the CEEAC Committee, whose report shows that the impact of Brexit is very complicated. This debate focuses on only one small part of that, which is the impact on devolution.

I will highlight some points that have been raised by members from across the chamber. Maurice Golden talked about the strains that have tested elements of the devolution settlement. He mentioned the Sewel convention and said that its application and interpretation have clearly been tested in a way that they had not been before Brexit. Oliver Mundell talked about the need to put aside political differences and work constructively together to find solutions.

I need to make progress. I know that I am getting my time back, but I am way over time.

There were lots of good contributions. Sarah Boyack talked about the need for change, transparency and accountability. She talked about the keeping pace power and the need for a mechanism for dialogue between Parliaments—I totally agree with that. Willie Rennie spoke about the fact that the debate has not moved on in three years—we do need to move on. Jenni Minto spoke about how Brexit is affecting the normal person in the street. She also spoke about good intergovernmental relationships with DEFRA. We need to have those relationships between more Government departments here and in Westminster.