Chamber and committees

So you are happy that, with the new procedures that you now have in place, you will not have the same issues that you had on the night of the attack.

I thank Clare Adamson for lodging the motion for debate and wish her a speedy recovery.

Many of us will have seen the Fairtrade logo in shops, often on coffee, chocolate or bananas, but, beyond recognising the Fairtrade sticker, I do not think that many of us know what fair trade is, what it means and what role it can play in our future. That is why, for the past couple of weeks, I have been learning about fair trade businesses in Ayrshire. The Honeybee and the Hare café in Ayr, for example, is a small, independent café that provides high-quality artisan coffee, hand-made food, art works and gifts. I have learned a lot about the sustainable supply chain and sustainable products, which has helped me to put fair trade business into perspective. The owners explained that fair trade means workers’ rights, fairer pay, safer working conditions and sustainability, while for shoppers, it means quality and ethically produced goods for a fair wage.

To learn more about fair trade in Scotland, I have been communicating with the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to understand its approach, its activities and how it is bringing together fair trade groups, businesses, non-governmental organisations, faith groups, universities, colleges and public sector organisations. Fair trade is not just about buying nice chocolate; it is a culture that we need to develop across Scotland.

Local authorities have an important role to play in promoting fair trade through supporting local organisations. Across South and East Ayrshire, those organisations include Ayr Fairtrade Partnership, South Ayrshire Fairtrade zone committee and East Ayrshire Fairtrade Group. It is encouraging to see that, because of their work, South Ayrshire became a Fairtrade zone in March 2018—that zone brings together the work of Ayr, Prestwick and Troon—and East Ayrshire became a Fairtrade zone in October 2016. That is why, today, across South and East Ayrshire, many businesses can be found that have committed to fair trade business practices.

It would make a real difference if all MSPs encouraged their local authorities to get more involved in fair trade activities such as Fairtrade fortnight. The annual Fairtrade fortnight activities help to spread the message about the importance of fairer and more sustainable trading practices. Fairtrade fortnight also provides an opportunity to hear stories about workers from the developing world who grow food and clothing materials, or mine precious metals.

Such initiatives can help us in achieving our sustainable development goals and fairer trade. Educating younger generations is a great start that gives us all a better chance of becoming more sustainable. Younger generations can utilise their skills and knowledge to shape a more compassionate and sustainable world. That is why I am pleased that many South Ayrshire schools take part in fair trade events. Kyle academy, whose geography and religious, moral and philosophical studies departments won a prize for sustainability at the Scottish fair trade awards in November, is a great example. I urge all MSPs to encourage schools from their constituencies to get involved.

There is so much more that we, as MSPs, can do. We can encourage our councils to do more for fair trade groups and campaigns. We can also sign the Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s fair trade pledge campaign, which demonstrates our support for all actions that improve the livelihoods of workers who produce many of the products that we consume. I am proud that I signed that pledge in October but, as MSPs, we should be leading by example, which is why I urge my colleagues across the chamber to sign the pledge. We should also come together to push for the Parliament to stock more Fairtrade products. Those steps would demonstrate our unity in seeking to achieve fair trade goals.

As a fair trade nation, our efforts aim to embed fair trade values across all sectors of Scottish society, whether that means looking for the Fairtrade mark on the products that we buy, attending one of the many fair trade events or simply donating to help to promote fair trade.

Can the First Minister guarantee that no Ukrainian refugee will find themselves in temporary accommodation for a period of longer than one month, in order to minimise uncertainty for the individuals concerned, many of whom have experienced high levels of stress and require a stable, integrated environment as soon as possible?

This week and last week, all MSPs have been out looking at apprenticeships and seeing how that is a great pathway for kids as an alternative to going to university. I hope that there will be core funding for apprenticeships in the future.

Paragraph 1 of the report explains that Scotland’s labour market

“faces a combination of skills gaps, skills shortages and skills underutilisation.”

It goes on to highlight particular gaps

“in social care and demand for new skills in digital and responding to the climate emergency.”

How are you and your partners addressing the skills gaps?

Good morning. I am looking specifically at funding for apprenticeships. Paragraph 14 of the report states that, in October 2019,

“The Scottish Government instructed SDS and the SFC to implement a new model for funding and delivering foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships in response to the removal of European structural funding.”

Paragraph 14 goes on to explain that funding for 2021-22 was

“intended to come largely from the SFC’s further and higher education budgets and partly from SDS’s budget.”

The report highlights that work on that instruction stalled as a result of Covid-19, although it has now resumed and supports the Scottish Government’s skills alignment priority. The report, however, highlights that sustainable funding for foundation apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships remains uncertain from 2022-23 onwards. Can you tell us what the Scottish Government’s plans are for funding foundation and graduate apprenticeships from 2022-23 onwards?

Are you doing any work on timescales to try to speed things up? One of the things the pandemic showed us was that we could basically turn things on very quickly, remove the red tape and get the desired outcomes that we needed. Are we putting in timescales that mean that the skills that we need will be delivered when we need them and it will not be like the report that we are talking about, which follows a review that has been going on for four years? Are we doing things in a timely way?

In a letter to the Scottish Government, the Ayrshire economic joint committee notes that projects in the Ayrshire growth deal have seen an increase in costs since they went to tender. It writes that councils might require contingency funds for some projects, but that budget pressures might make that impossible. What funding will the Scottish Government provide? Will it guarantee that all projects that it is involved in will be fully funded and delivered on time?

I think that I caught that. You mentioned national insurance contributions, the increase in which is set to provide an extra £1.1 billion to Scotland. Has any work been undertaken to establish what proportion of that funding will go towards social care?

That is no problem.

I was going to ask what is required to shift the delivery of social care services to a preventative approach, but you have covered change and reform. Has anything been done on the relative cost effectiveness of investing in preventative care as opposed to paying for support only when someone is at crisis point?

Paragraph 28 states that

“over two-thirds of Integration Authorities”

were

“unable to achieve a balanced budget without additional funding from partners in 2018/19.”

Paragraph 28 also highlights that the introduction of free personal and nursing care resulted in the development of

“eligibility criteria to manage the demand for services.”

That has led to local variations in response to financial pressures across Scotland.

Can you provide some further detail on the local variations that exist with regard to the eligibility criteria for free personal and nursing care, and say to what extent you believe that there is a postcode lottery for that care?