Chamber and committees

I absolutely agree with the sentiments behind Pauline McNeill’s question. I know that the leader of the council, and indeed the council administration, are very focused on supporting recovery in general across Glasgow, and economic and business recovery in particular. Obviously, the support that I referred to earlier supports businesses across Glasgow, and the rates relief continuation throughout this financial year for retail and aviation will have been particularly important, given the nature of the Glasgow economy. I hope that there will be much in the budget for businesses to welcome in that regard this afternoon.

The Scottish Government needs to and will work closely with Glasgow City Council, and indeed other local authorities, as we come out of Covid. As I mentioned earlier, we still have a challenging period ahead, which is why we are asking people right now to work from home where possible, but as we come out of the pandemic, the focus on recovery and supporting businesses will be one that continues to have high priority.

The Scotland Loves Local campaign is really important in supporting local businesses and encouraging people to shop locally. The finance secretary will set out all aspects of our funding commitments later this afternoon when she sets out the budget, but supporting local businesses and encouraging people to shop locally will continue to be a key part of what we do.

The UK has one of the lowest levels of state pension found anywhere in Europe. It is disgraceful and shameful that the triple lock has been removed.

Christine Grahame makes a good point. Where benefits are available, there are awareness campaigns to encourage people to take them up. We are rightly called on to do that regarding devolved benefits. We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to take a more strategic approach to promoting its benefits. We made that call recently, in partnership with the Northern Irish and Welsh Governments.

Those issues would be less acute if, as Christine Grahame said, the UK had better state pension provision. I do not hold out much hope of a UK Government delivering that in the near future, but perhaps we can do that in a future independent Scotland.

On confidentiality, the questionnaires have been specially designed so that the information that is provided by children and young people is used for statistical and research purposes only. That ensures that any results of the research or resulting statistics will not be made available in a form that identifies individual children and young people.

Let me repeat what I said earlier. The survey is voluntary and is only for secondary year 4 and upwards. Any parent can refuse to give consent and, of course, any young person can opt not to take part in the survey or opt to skip particular questions in it. It is not mandatory.

I come back to the fundamental point. We can choose to pretend that young people of this age group do not have the experiences that the member has narrated or are not exposed to them online, in the digital world in which we live. We can choose to pretend that young people—sometimes girls in particular—are not subjected to harassment and pressure around sexual matters. We can refuse to ask the questions so that we do not know the answers, or we can get the answers that allow us to better support young people and provide them with the advice, information and guidance that will support and enable them to make positive, healthy choices for the future. I choose the latter.

I ask this seriously of the Conservatives and others: yes, engage in any legitimate concerns around these matters, but do not whip up concern on the part of parents for completely unnecessary reasons. Let us all focus on what matters, which is supporting our young people to make healthy choices in their lives.

Although I can understand the concerns that Rhoda Grant has expressed, I do not think that it is the case that islanders are being overlooked. There are rigorous processes that must be gone through before appointments to boards can be made, which we comply with.

I encourage Rhoda Grant—I am sure that she will do this, because I know that she takes her duties extremely seriously—to meet the new chair and the new board members. I hope that they will be able to allay her concerns from the point of view of the attention that they will pay to the needs of island communities as they go about their jobs. I am sure that the Minister for Transport would be willing to have a conversation with her about that, too.

I have written to the Prime Minister about the issue. I think that I said in the chamber on Tuesday that I would do so, and I made clear my support for the calls. Right now, the omicron variant is reminding us very starkly of the importance of getting vaccines not just to everybody here, in our own country, but to everybody across the world as quickly as possible. This is a really important call, and I hope that the Prime Minister will treat seriously my letter and the calls that are being made more widely. The Scottish Government stands ready to work with the UK Government and do whatever we can to make sure that vaccines get to people across the world as quickly as possible.

I believe that supporting a just transition away from fossil fuels to renewable and low-carbon sources of energy is a policy that we should all support. What is essential is that we support the people who currently work in the oil and gas sector and that we do not substitute domestic production with imported production.

For the sake of our planet and that of future generations, we must accelerate the transition, which is what this Government is investing in. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy will, in the budget later this afternoon, set out our next investments in the transition to net zero. That is what I am focused on.

I have just come from witnessing the demolition of the chimney at Longannet this morning. Not very long ago, we would not have been able to contemplate keeping the lights on in Scotland without Longannet, and we certainly would not have been able to contemplate that coal-fired power station closing without that causing significant unemployment. We can do a just transition. We also owe it to the oil and gas sector to support it in the transitional phase.

It is clear that references to being right wing are references that Douglas Ross seems to take very personally. I will leave people to judge why that might be the case. [Laughter.]

Let me also say, as an aside, that what is potentially putting North Sea oil and gas workers’ jobs at risk right now is the United Kingdom Government’s failure to invest, as a priority, in the Acorn carbon capture project in the north-east. Perhaps there should be a bit less political rhetoric from Douglas Ross and a bit more encouragement of his colleagues in the UK Government—if they can find time away from their other pursuits at the moment—to prioritise investments that Scotland badly needs. For my part, I will continue to ensure that the Scottish Government is investing.

We do not do anybody in the oil and gas sector any favours if we pretend that the just transition is not necessary, or if we pretend that it is not necessary for the future of the planet that we accelerate that just transition. We must ensure that no one is left behind in that transition, and we must make sure that our energy needs are met in renewable and low-carbon ways. That is what this Government is focused on, which will be reflected in the budget this afternoon.

I am proud of the progress that Scotland has made so far on the journey to net zero, but we have much still to do. As we mark, today, the definitive end of coal power in Scotland, I think that we should have great confidence in what can be done when we show leadership, plan properly and make investments. That is what this Government is going to do. I will leave the Conservatives to worry about the many other things that they have to worry about right now.

That is an utter mischaracterisation of my position. I know very well how the framework operates, and what I have set out is the case. As I said a moment ago, 88 per cent of the oversight board’s recommendations have already been implemented, and a process of scrutiny in the form of the independent public inquiry is already under way.

We take, and have taken, seriously any and all concerns that are raised about the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. As I said last week, Anas Sarwar wants to suggest to people that the Queen Elizabeth is somehow less safe than other hospitals, but the evidence does not bear that out. I am unable to comment on individual cases because of patient confidentiality, but all concerns that are raised are taken extremely seriously, which I know will have been discussed with Anas Sarwar yesterday.

I have made it very clear that any member of staff who has concerns and feels that those concerns are not being taken seriously or that they are not being allowed to speak out should feel free to come to me or the health secretary with their concerns.

We will continue to ensure that all actions are taken to deliver high-quality patient care in the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, which clinicians already provide. That is important.

It is important that Anas Sarwar and other members come to the chamber to raise concerns. However, let us not undermine confidence in a hospital that is delivering high-quality care for patients every single day.

When I had the privilege of being in Nigg on Friday, I welcomed the investment of the UK Government, alongside considerable investment by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. However, I also lamented—as did many people there, and as do many people whom I speak to across the energy sector—the lack of UK Government investment in, and commitment to, carbon capture in the Acorn project. We cannot simply pretend that that is not a real issue.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy will set out the budget to Parliament this afternoon, and it will do all the things that Douglas Ross has just talked about. I hope that he will listen carefully to one thing that the budget will do, which I am proud that we are doing in partnership with the Scottish Greens. After seeing the disgusting—I use the word deliberately—move of the UK Government to take £20 a week away from the poorest families across Scotland and the UK, the budget will devote resources to doubling the Scottish child payment, so the Government will give £20 a week to the poorest families across Scotland. That is the difference between the Scottish Government and the UK Government. I am proud of the budget that the finance secretary will present to Parliament later today.