Chamber and committees

Automatic early release has been ended—that was opposed by the Scottish Conservatives, of course. We see reoffending rates among the lowest ever and a higher number of police officers than there was at any time during previous Scottish Administrations—the number is higher proportionately than that in any other part of the UK. We have strengthened the law on domestic abuse.

Then there is transport. ScotRail is in public ownership. There are lower fares on average than there are where the Tories are in power. There is the £11 billion of investment in rail infrastructure. The M74 has been completed, the Aberdeen bypass has been built, and the Queensferry crossing has been built. There is the highest investment in active travel in any UK nation.

I could go on, and I will be happy to do so later on.

I agree with all of that, and I will certainly take those steps, which are really important. There have been some positive noises from the UK Government around this matter, and I hope to see those realised and turned into concrete commitments in the UK budget next week.

It is essential that the proposed increase to the energy price guarantee cap be cancelled. Failure to do that would mean an estimated increase of 120,000 Scottish households in fuel poverty, taking the estimated total to almost 1 million. I hope we all agree that that would be completely unacceptable, and it can be avoided if the UK Government so chooses.

What I will say to Tess White’s constituent—and to anyone who is on an NHS waiting list—is that this Government will continue to focus on investment, recruitment and reform in our NHS to get those waiting lists and times down. It is simply wrong—and the facts do not bear it out—that progress is not being made in reducing the longest waits. I have already set out the progress over recent months in reducing the longest waits for out-patient and in-patient appointments and for diagnostic tests. Is the progress that has been made yet good enough? No—it is not. The challenge in our NHS is significant, but we will continue with the investment, recruitment and reforms that are necessary to make sure that we deliver for all patients every day in our national health service.

Yes, I will. The total number of patients waiting more than 18 months for a new out-patient appointment was down by 27 per cent in a single quarter; the numbers of patients waiting for more than two years for in-patient and day cases was down by 60 per cent over six months; the number of patients who were seen in December 2022 was at the highest level since the pandemic began; and the number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test had reduced by more than 7 per cent in the most recent quarter.

Of course, that progress is down to the hard work of our front-line NHS staff to clear long waits that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. We need to go further and continue to grow capacity in our national health service, which is why we will, for example, open four new national treatment centres over the coming year.

The hypocrisy here is utterly staggering. Yes, it has been a tough negotiation, but it is because the Scottish Government has been determined to find resolution, with our partners in local government, that we are where we are right now.

The reason why Stephen Kerr’s approach here is utterly hypocritical is that he is a Conservative, and when we look at the Conservative Government in England, we find a completely different approach. The Tory Secretary of State for Education said that Government is not there to do teacher pay negotiations. The full quote is:

“We didn’t negotiate the pay, that’s not what we we’re there to do.”

In this Government, we think that that is part of what we are here to do—to get around the table and agree fair pay deals for the national health service and for teachers—and that is one of the many reasons why the people of Scotland continue to put their trust in this SNP Scottish Government.

I do not recall the Tories putting forward a proposal in the budget that was passed recently for more funding for apprenticeships. If we had taken their advice over the past few months to cut taxes for the richest people, we would have less money to spend on apprenticeships and everything else.

We are investing strongly in modern apprenticeships. We have asked SDS to deliver at least 25,000 new apprenticeship starts in this financial year, and there are still some to be allocated. Apprenticeships are a real good-news story. They are a good-news story for the young people who are apprentices and the people of all ages who are apprentices, and they are a good-news story for the economy, because apprenticeships provide skills that we need for the future. That is more important than it has ever been since the Tories’ Brexit has denied us many skills from elsewhere in Europe.

I very much hope that we see this pay offer accepted and that teachers will get the substantial increase to their salary that I believe they deserve.

Education Scotland will, of course, continue to take steps, as will the SQA as appropriate, to ensure that pupils are properly supported.

The approach of this Government, whether towards the national health service, the wider local government workforce or the teaching profession, in very, very tough times, when inflation is putting significant pressure on our budget, is to get round the table, to respect trade unions and to negotiate fair pay deals. If only that were happening in other parts of the UK in the way that it is happening in Scotland, we might all be in a much better position.

I was delighted to visit City Building, in Glasgow, earlier this week to launch Scottish apprenticeship week and to meet some fantastic young people, who shared their own apprenticeship journeys with me.

The Scottish Government is working with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council to maximise apprenticeship opportunities and to ensure that employers that wish to take on an apprentice are supported to do so. The modern apprenticeship quarter 3 statistics show an increase of 7.1 per cent in the number of those who are starting an apprenticeship compared with the same period in the previous year. Despite a context of the most turbulent economic and financial situation that most of us can remember, the Scottish budget for the forthcoming financial year delivers record investment in education and skills. We have kept the Skills Development Scotland budget broadly in line with last year’s, allowing it to fund both modern and foundation apprenticeships.

I certainly applaud the work that is being done by River Clyde Homes. The award of platinum accreditation from investors in young people is testament to its commitment to offering opportunities to young people. I hope that that inspires other organisations to invest in apprenticeships, which are a key way for employers to invest in their workforce, providing the skills that the economy needs now and in the future. Almost 12,000 individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 took up the opportunity of a modern apprenticeship by the end of quarter 3 of 2022-23. Scotland’s apprenticeships support young people and those of all ages into sustainable and rewarding careers, and they give individuals the opportunity to develop the skills that they need to succeed in their chosen career.

I thank Pauline McNeill for that support. As she will know, there have been calls for the right to independent representation to go further; indeed, some people argue that it should be granted to victims of sexual crime at all stages of the criminal justice process. A move of that nature would require significant change and would need to be considered very carefully.

However, I want to make it clear that the Scottish Government is sympathetic to the basic principle that victims should have better access to legal support. That is why, today, we have announced that we will provide support for a new dedicated law clinic based at the University of Glasgow. I visited the university’s law school this morning—such visits are always a very happy trip down memory lane for me—to hear more about the clinic, which will be the first of its kind in Scotland and will offer services to victims of sexual offences from across Scotland.

As well as offering advice and representation, the clinic will teach students and do research. Perhaps most poignantly of all, given that it is international women’s day, it will be named the Emma Ritch law clinic, after the late and much-missed head of Engender. [Applause.] Emma was a Glasgow university alumna and is fondly remembered by all of us as a titan of the feminist movement in Scotland. The clinic will be a fitting tribute to her and to her formidable legacy as a fearless advocate for women’s rights. I hope that the clinic will make an important and transformative difference to women’s and girls’ experience of the criminal justice system in years to come.

When I spoke in the chamber on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the brilliant Scottish Women’s Convention, I referred to gender equality as “an unwon cause”. As all of us know, and as evidence that I have cited in this speech shows, we have a huge amount still to do in order to fully win gender equality. It can be easy to become frustrated by, and perhaps angry at, the slow pace of change, but we have a lot to be proud of. When I look back across my career, examples of progress are not hard to find. The world today is a different and, in many ways, better place than it was when I was starting out in politics.

However, I am sorry to say that, in other ways, the world is also a harsher and more hostile place for girls and young women. Abuse, harassment, sexual threats and violence are not new phenomena but, sadly, the modern world offers more opportunities for such behaviour to reach and to harm women. We must tackle that—not just for women’s sake, but for the sake of society as a whole, which needs to harness the talents of our whole population in order to thrive and to prosper.

Let me end on a more positive note. For all the challenges that we still face, we can take pride in—and, I hope, inspiration from—the very real achievements of this Government and Parliament over recent years, whether that achievement is in our social policies, our promotion of equality in the workplace or our improvement of the criminal justice system. In all those areas and others, our Parliament has made real progress for women.

I remain optimistic that we can continue that progress in the months and years ahead, and that we can do so inclusively and with common cause. As we do so, I will be in a new seat, a bit further back in this chamber. No matter how hard it can sometimes feel in these times, I will always be the strongest possible advocate for women’s rights, as this Parliament seeks to win the cause of true equality for the next generation of women.

On international women’s day, I am proud to move, in my name,

That the Parliament welcomes the 2023 International Women’s Day theme of #EmbraceEquity, which recognises that each person has different circumstances, and that there is a need to focus resource and opportunity where it is most needed to reach an equal outcome; recognises that it is the responsibility of everyone to end the discrimination that women and girls face; acknowledges that, while much progress towards achieving equity has been made, there is more to do in Scotland and around the world to achieve and maintain equity; welcomes the independent Stewart review into increasing women’s participation in entrepreneurship; recognises and takes up the challenges given by the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls to address systemic inequality; further recognises that cultural shifts are needed alongside legislation; recognises the tireless work of organisations and communities across Scotland to promote equity and support all women, and agrees that equity is necessary for society and the economy to thrive, and that everyone should work together to embrace equity on, and beyond, International Women’s Day.

[Applause.]