Chamber and committees

The guidance will be published, I expect, before we are out of the chamber. Business organisations have been communicated with throughout the week. Much of what we are asking businesses to do now is what they have done at previous stages of the pandemic. Many businesses—supermarkets, for example—still have some of the measures in place.

The Deputy First Minister accidentally said that the guidance would come out tomorrow instead of today, because regulations come into force tomorrow. He immediately corrected that.

For goodness’ sake! We have a virus raging around the country and we are trying to act at speed in order to protect people as much as possible, because that is our duty. Regardless of whether people across the chamber and the country agree or disagree with me, I hope that nobody doubts how seriously I and this Government take the duty to protect people and the country from the virus.

What I think businesses want and need more than anything right now is the Chancellor of the Exchequer at his desk, putting in place financial support schemes that will prevent them from going to the wall. The fact is that if we act right now, that has implications for businesses—they must be compensated. If we do not act, that will possibly have even bigger implications for businesses.

I take my responsibilities very seriously. I hope to speak to the Prime Minister this afternoon, if he makes himself available, so that we can work together—as we did previously in the pandemic—to put in place support for businesses, and so that we can all make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect human health and life.

On funding support, I find it impossible right now to contemplate how the UK Government can fail to put schemes in place. This is not an issue that only Scotland is facing; it is an issue that the whole UK is facing. The doubling times for omicron in parts of England are even faster than they are in Scotland right now. We are all in this together. Whatever the politics and the maelstrom around that that we have seen in recent days, I think that it will become unavoidable for the UK Government to act. I hope that it acts sooner rather than later, because that is the issue. The sooner we act, the less of an emergency we will get ourselves into.

We have maximised the financial support that we can give to businesses. That is why it is important that the UK Government acts beyond that. There will always be, as there were in the initial stages of the pandemic, some workers who have to go to work because they provide critical services. That is why it is so important that we support the right mitigations.

Some of the changes in guidance for supermarkets, for example, are as much about supporting staff as supporting customers. On Tuesday, I mentioned the workplace testing scheme. Employers can order tests directly and support their employees to test regularly.

It is very important that, if people have to go to work, we do everything that we can to protect them, not only through financial provision but through the mitigations that are in place.

However, £100 million is not enough for those businesses, which is why we need the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister to do their jobs and to get proper financial support in place for businesses as quickly as possible. [Applause.]

Cancer services have, rightly, been prioritised throughout the pandemic, and that will continue. That does not mean that there has been no impact. The decision on one of the early days of the pandemic—I remember it vividly—to pause cancer screening programmes was one of the most difficult decisions that our clinical advisers had to take. Screening programmes have resumed. The issue with screening older women for breast cancer is correct and we want to get that back to normal as soon as possible.

We have two cancer targets. The 31-day target has consistently been met for some considerable time. The 62-day target, which is a whole-journey target, is not being met. I am not saying that it is good enough, but 83 per cent are seen within the 62-day target. We continue to prioritise diagnosis and treatment and we will continue to take all appropriate steps to do so.

I dearly wish that I could stand here and say that we could somehow protect the NHS generally and cancer services in particular from the impact of the pandemic. I cannot do that, no matter how hard we work. The only thing that will protect the NHS from the pandemic is getting the pandemic under control and driving down the number of cases. I know that Anas Sarwar agrees with and accepts that, and it is why, right now, and yet again, the most important thing to do is get vaccines into people’s arms as quickly as possible, and appeal to the public to behave in a way that will stop the omicron variant in its tracks. That is the best thing that we can do right now for ourselves, our loved ones, and the national health service.

First, we have to fully exploit our renewable energy resources. Offshore wind is one of our greatest assets. Secondly, we need to capture all the economic benefits of those resources throughout the supply chain. As I have said candidly previously, I do not think that we have done that well enough for many years. There is much that the Government is doing to seek to achieve that right now. Another example is the ScotWind leasing round, which recently closed. Applicants for that need to provide a supply chain development statement, which sends a signal of the importance that we place on the imperative of creating jobs in renewable energy developments.

Marine energy is another massive opportunity for the Highlands and Islands, and indeed for all Scotland. As we make the transition, we will continue to focus on ensuring that it brings the jobs and economic benefits that are necessary to ensure that the industries that we are transitioning from are not left behind.

As I said in my original answer, the £20 million-worth of investment from the recycling improvement fund marks the beginning of one of the biggest investments in recycling in Scotland in a generation. That will support local authorities and, by extension, businesses, including small businesses. It will also make it easier for households to recycle more and drive up rates of recycling. It is estimated that the investment has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 21,400 tonnes a year, which is the equivalent of taking more than 11,000 cars off the road.

In addition, Zero Waste Scotland provides a range of support to businesses to help them to develop circular economy approaches. That includes support for design, remanufacturing and skills development, to support innovative projects that deliver carbon savings, leverage investment and create jobs.

I will make two further points. Although it is disappointing that the recycling rate fell back during Covid, I repeat that there was an increase in kerbside recycling. Secondly, in 2020, the amount of waste that went to landfill was at its lowest level since records began. Therefore, there are reasons to be encouraged, but we need to do more to maintain progress.

If the Scottish Government is failing on climate change, I am not sure what that says about the United Kingdom Government, given that we are further ahead, I think, than it is on—[Interruption.]

These are serious issues. It is the case that the recycling rate fell back. Although we are not happy about that, it is understandable, given that, for part of last year, recycling centres were closed for a period. We now need to get back on track and improve the situation. As I said, there was an increase in kerbside recycling and the lowest amount of waste went to landfill since records began. That should encourage us to press forward and make sure that we build momentum.

Earlier this week in Parliament, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity set out how we intend to progress towards implementation of the deposit return scheme. [Interruption.] It is interesting that the Conservatives complain. They wanted us to delay the scheme further the last time we talked about it.

These are serious issues. There is serious investment and serious action on the part of the Scottish Government, and we will continue to ensure that that is the case.

First, I do not need to pick up the phone to the member, as I can say it directly to him across the chamber: if the Conservatives want to propose that local government be given more money in the next stage of the budget, they can come forward and point to the part of the budget from which we should take that money. That is open to them, and I am sure that the finance secretary will be prepared to listen.

Secondly, if we are talking about savage cuts, let us put some facts on the table. In the period between 2013 and 2020, we delivered a cash-terms revenue budget increase to Scotland’s local authorities. Over the same period, local authorities in England, where the member’s party is in government, faced a cash-terms revenue budget cut of 14.7 per cent.

My point is that all Governments face difficult issues. We have to make choices. The choices that we make protect local government in Scotland more than is the case elsewhere in the United Kingdom. We will continue to keep public services very much at the heart of those choices.

I seem to remember that the member’s Conservative Party predecessors voted for the trams in the Parliament, but there we go. To be serious here, there is—

The most recent COBR meeting was in the late afternoon yesterday—I think that it was between 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That was the second in a week; the previous one happened last Friday.

I welcome the fact that those meetings have happened. It is important that we discuss these things seriously. The meeting yesterday was chaired by Michael Gove, and many things were discussed in it. Obviously, the Welsh First Minister, the Northern Irish First Minister and I raised the points about the need for funding support that I have reported in the chamber today. Therefore, it is not just the Scottish Government that is raising those points.

These meetings are very important, and I hope that the Prime Minister and the chancellor will engage directly in them from now on, because it is a serious situation that we all face, and it is important that we compare our experiences, share what we are doing and work together where we can. The Scottish Government is ready, willing and keen to do that, and I hope that we see that materialising over the period ahead.