Chamber and committees

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.

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.

I will take that last point first, as it is probably the easiest one to deal with, as anyone who had been paying attention to the situation over the past few months would have known. We had—

We had an exemption scheme in place, so the arrangements for the parts of the economy that can apply to the scheme—the arrangements for applying and who people apply to—are the same as before. We will ensure that that information is refreshed.

I will take the other points as fully but as quickly as I can. Our vaccination programme is currently the fastest in the UK. We have designed it carefully so that the right facilities are available in different areas. Mass vaccination centres are not appropriate in every area. They often result in very high “Did not attend” rates, which means that appointments are lost to the system daily. We therefore flex the system to ensure that it is appropriate for the characteristics of different areas. A number of health boards already have drop-in clinics.

As we try to accelerate the programme, we are looking again at the additional things that we need to do. It would not be the best use of resources to have mass vaccination clinics in every part of the country, but, in some areas—perhaps here in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, for example—such clinics would add helpful capacity to what is already there. We will continue to do that in the best way possible.

I say this in no way to strike a note of complacency—complacent is the last thing that we are—but what we have been doing so far in the vaccination programme has resulted in the fastest progress of any of the UK nations. That does not mean that that will continue to be the case—we will have to work at it—but I hope that that gives some degree of confidence that the right judgments are being taken in how we proceed with the programme. The programme is more important than ever and, as I said in my statement, it is absolutely the top priority for the Government in the days and weeks ahead.

On the issue of money, I do not think that the UK Government’s announcement had been made before I came to the chamber, so I did not have the information, but I have just been passed a note saying that the UK Government has announced that additional funding will be made available to devolved Administrations. I do not have any of the detail yet, but I absolutely welcome that. That is very good progress, as we have been pushing for that move for the past number of days.

We have gone out of our way—rightly so—to find as much additional resource in our budgets as we can. On television last night, I noticed a Tory spokesperson calling for a fund of £10 million; today, we have announced £100 million for businesses. We will also look at the impact of the UK funding when we have the detail of it.

On the isolation policy, the current clinical advice is due to the faster transmissibility of the variant. Releasing people within a household from isolation when they test negative is not as safe as it could be, because a person testing negative one day does not mean that they will test negative the next day. That is the basis of the advice, but we are keeping the situation under review. We have already started looking at when we might migrate away from that advice to something that is more proportionate, because I absolutely understand, and I have set out, the impact that isolation might have on the economy. Therefore, it is about taking appropriate steps now but being flexible when we think it is safe to move towards more proportionate arrangements in the future.

I first spoke to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care about the matter first thing this morning—I cannot remember at what time. Action is under way to cancel the rave and to ensure that there is full compensation for that and that the vaccination centre can continue in its current location. The health secretary has been working on that all morning; I am sure that she will be happy to give an update when we are out of the chamber. That rave was planned pre-omicron and is, in the light of the omicron developments, clearly no longer appropriate, because we want to increase facilities for vaccination, not the opposite.

We already have mobile vaccination units and there are plenty of clinics operating within more rural areas. What we need to do is expand the capacity in those to make sure that they can do more appointments and, where necessary, we need to open additional facilities. As I have said, we will do all that.

Mass vaccination clinics are not appropriate for every area. That is not the best way to get everybody vaccinated. The appointment system is important, but we will continue to flex the arrangements. I take on board every suggestion that is made, but we should reflect on the fact that, as I keep saying because it is important, what we have been doing up until now has obviously been successful, because our vaccination programme is further ahead—on boosters it is quite a bit further ahead—than England, Wales and Northern Ireland. That suggests that we are getting the balance right.

However, that was then, this is now. We have to significantly increase the pace and therefore we look again across the whole of the provision and decide where and how to add the capacity that is needed.

I think that the answer is yes. More can be done and more needs to be done. We are working with NHS boards, which have dedicated inclusion plans within the vaccination programme that outline how they will offer vaccination to people who often face barriers to uptake. Health boards plan the location of clinics to suit the needs of their populations and they often respond to evidence of lower uptake using available data and local insights. Mobile outreach units are provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service, and some health boards have partnered with local transport providers to use their vehicles to offer transport to appointments for people who might otherwise struggle to get there.

A lot of work is being done to reach undervaccinated communities, and that work will continue, because it is really important that everybody who is eligible to get vaccinated comes forward, and that they get support to do so, if that is needed.