Chamber and committees

I thank Audit Scotland for the work that it has done on the issue. However, with the greatest respect to Audit Scotland, I do not think that any Government is under any illusion about the threat of cyberattacks in our countries to the public sector, the private sector and, indeed, Governments themselves. We take the risk extremely seriously.

There have been significant cyberattacks on public sector organisations in Scotland—obviously, SEPA is a case in point—and the question whether we are satisfied that public sector organisations are taking all the appropriate steps is a reasonable one. We are working with them to ensure that that is the case. I would hesitate to sound as if I am complacent about the matter—indeed, every Government should hesitate to do that—because there is a real, present, ever-changing and evolving risk. We must ensure that, on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis, we provide the protections and support the public sector to do likewise. We will continue to do that.

I think that what people are looking to me and the Government for is action to deal with the situation that we face. That is more important than what we choose to call it. I am not in any way trying to evade the reality that we and our front-line health workers are currently experiencing. It is probably the most challenging combination—or, at least, one of the most challenging combinations—of circumstances that our health service has faced since its establishment. There is no sense in which I am seeking to underplay that.

Douglas Ross said that the Scottish Ambulance Service should declare a major incident. The service operates at various levels of escalation; it is currently operating at level 4 of its escalation plan—the highest level. Again, terminology should not be allowed to mask reality. The service is operating at its highest level of escalation, and as part of that it is, for example, deploying a national command and control centre in order to utilise resources better across the country. We will continue to consider all ways in which we can utilise and deploy additional resources. I have already set out some of what we are considering with the service.

Finally, I turn to the health secretary’s comments. The health secretary was saying something that health secretaries have said many times—I remember saying it myself when I was health secretary—and I have seen comments from ambulance services in every part of the United Kingdom over the past few days saying exactly the same thing, which is that when people require an intervention from the health service that would better come from parts of the service other than the Ambulance Service, we should encourage them to seek that. When people consider that they need an ambulance, they should never hesitate to call one, if that is the intervention that they think is required.

As First Minister, I make it very clear that the Scottish Ambulance Service exists to provide emergency assistance to those who need it. It is facing the most intense challenges and some people are not getting the service that they should get. The answer is for Government and the service to work to ensure that it is meeting the challenges, so that no one who needs an ambulance hesitates to call for one and—which is just as important—so that they get the ambulance timeously, as they have a right to expect.

I do not know why the UK Government has decided not to fund the conference of youth. I understand that it is the first time that the host nation has not done so. However, I am not particularly interested in the UK Government’s reasons for that. It is important that the voice of youth is heard. I was therefore pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government will fund the conference of youth, which brings together young people from 140 countries, I think, in the days leading up to the COP to formulate and then present their demands to world leaders. There will be a good opportunity for young people throughout Scotland to take part in that, and it will ensure that the voice of children and young people is heard loudly and clearly during the COP discussions.

Due to this Government’s interventions at Ferguson’s, there are hundreds of people working at Ferguson’s today who would not be working at Ferguson’s, because it would not still be operational had we not intervened in that way. Ferguson’s is on a journey to recovery. It has a way to go in that journey, as I think is self-evident. Its priority is to complete the two ferries that are currently under construction and, of course, continuing the work to ensure that it is in shape to compete successfully for contracts, both domestically and further afield, in future. We will continue to support the yard in that vital work.

Let us be in no doubt that, but for the actions that the Government has taken, Ferguson’s doors would be closed right now, and those hundreds of workers who are there would not have a job.

First, my condolences go to Mr Brown. The individual cases that are reported in the media this morning obviously require to be fully and properly investigated. It would not be right for me to pre-empt those investigations, but what has been reported is unacceptable. I am in no doubt about that.

As I said last week, the Ambulance Service is working under acute pressure right now, largely because of Covid. I take this opportunity to thank our paramedics and technicians for the work that they are doing in such difficult circumstances. Although crews are responding heroically to the challenges, I recognise that some people are not getting the standard of service that they should be getting, or indeed the standard of service that the Scottish Ambulance Service wants to deliver. That is not acceptable, so I apologise unreservedly to anyone who has suffered or who is suffering unacceptably long waits.

A range of actions have already been taken to address the challenges. For example, additional funding has been given to support new recruitment. A number of additional actions are also under active consideration. I will be happy to summarise those in later exchanges, but I confirm now that they include consideration of seeking targeted military assistance to deal with short-term pressure points. Such military assistance is already being provided to ambulance services in England. Of course, we have had military assistance in other aspects of the pandemic during the past 18 months.

I will meet representatives of the Scottish Ambulance Service to assess its progress on all the actions that are being considered, and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care will make an update statement to Parliament next week.

The service is under acute pressure. I think that people understand the reasons for that pressure, but the obligation is on Government to work with the service to ensure that it can meet that pressure in the interests of patients across the country.

I am happy to undertake that we will engage with NHS Orkney to provide whatever support we can. Liam McArthur is right to point to the fact that there are already record numbers of people working in our mental health services, and recruitment is under way across the country and in NHS Orkney, as he says. However, it is important that we provide support to fill any interim gaps, and I will therefore undertake to ask the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to have that conversation and to write to the member once he has had the opportunity to do so.

The impact of the pandemic on older people, and on loneliness and isolation, is well understood, and there is a range of ways in which we need to seek to tackle and address that. As was narrated in the Audit Scotland report this week about Covid spending, we have spent disproportionately in comparison to other parts of the United Kingdom on support for the charity sector, because many charitable and third sector organisations provide a lot of front-line support. We will continue to provide as much support there as possible.

All of us, as individuals, have a role to play in ensuring that we look out for and look after some of the most vulnerable people in our own lives, whether that is family members, friends or neighbours. Critically, therefore, as we go into the winter months, it is incumbent on all of us, as citizens, to think about what we are doing to try to alleviate the loneliness and isolation that older people in particular will be feeling.

Those are obviously matters for universities, which are substantially Government funded but independent institutions. However, I would strongly encourage the universities to get round the table with unions and workers in order not only to find solutions that do not penalise staff in the ways that have been set out but to ensure that there is no disruption to education. I will unequivocally call on our universities and trade unions to get round the table and find solutions.

No decisions have yet been taken for the longer term around the appeals system. Those issues will be considered in line with some of the broader issues that are being considered around assessment in exams. However, I agree in principle that it is important that we have an appeals system that is accessible for young people. This may be one area—there are many such areas—where changes that have been necessitated by the pandemic are good changes, which we should look to keep and build on. I am sure that all of those things will be taken into account as decisions are taken for the longer term.

I do not have that information in front of me, but I undertake to provide it. We effectively eliminated single crewing. When I became health secretary, it was at unacceptably high levels. It is the case that ambulances are single crewed only in exceptional circumstances. During a global pandemic we face exceptional circumstances on a daily basis. The routine rostered single crewing, which was endemic under previous Administrations, was dealt with by the SNP Government and we will continue to make that a priority as we come out of and recover from the pandemic.