Chamber and committees

Yes, we have lots of work to do, but we have a better foundation to build on than is the case where Labour is in government elsewhere in the UK.

I will ask the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity to send a detailed update on that specific point, but I agree with the member on the importance of the issue and taking action to reduce plastic waste. For example, with regard to recycling rates, waste and resources sector emissions in 2009 were more than 30 per cent lower than they were in 2011, and 73 per cent lower than they were in 1998. However, there is much more work to do, which is why all the actions that I set out in my original answer are important.

I believe that there is a considerable amount of consensus across the chamber on the need to take action and on the specific measures that we are taking. We will continue to ensure that our efforts are commensurate with the scale of the challenge.

Our new national workforce strategy highlights the key priority of the wellbeing of the health and social care workforce, wherever they work. In the previous financial year, we made £12 million available to support the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce. To complement help that is available at local level, we also have a range of resources, including the National Wellbeing Hub, a 24/7 national wellbeing helpline, confidential mental health treatment through the workforce specialist service and funding for additional local psychological support.

The reasons why there have been challenges in terms of the completion rate are well understood—the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture has set them out to the chamber—but work continues. Angus Robertson and I get daily updates on the numbers of people who are returning their census forms, and those numbers are going up. There will be no let-up in those efforts over the remainder of this month. After that date has passed, we will need to consider a number of things, a couple of which I will mention today.

First, as is the case with all censuses, work will be done to ensure that the exercise has been a credible one and that the information that was gathered is reliable. It will be appropriate to take expert advice on that.

Secondly, as we would with any exercise of this nature, work will be done to ensure that all appropriate lessons are learned, and we will do that in the best possible way.

It is very clear, and I absolutely accept, that the temporary cancellations, which have been made necessary by a pay dispute, are disruptive to individuals and to businesses. That is why it is so important that I stress, and that ScotRail works hard to ensure, that the temporary timetable is just that—temporary—and that normal service is resumed as quickly as possible. That is ScotRail’s focus, and the Government will do everything that we can to support that outcome.

It is also important to note that, although it is regrettable that it is necessary, the temporary timetable is designed to give more certainty to passengers for the short term, rather than there being unplanned cancellations such as we saw at the weekend.

The cancellations are disruptive and the situation is not acceptable and must get back to normal as quickly as possible. That is why all parties must get round the table and negotiate a fair and affordable pay deal, and it is why ScotRail must continue the work that it is undertaking to train more drivers—already, more drivers are working for ScotRail than was the case in many previous years—so that reliance on rest-day working is reduced and, eventually, eliminated. That is the focus of ScotRail and of the Government.

I say to the unions that I understand that their job is to represent their members and get a fair pay deal for them, but both parties should get round the table and negotiate for that in good faith. That is what the travelling public wants.

First, let me take the opportunity to say that anyone who sends degrading messages about children with disabilities deserves utter condemnation. That is completely unacceptable and I completely understand the concerns of the parents and young people concerned. Obviously, first and foremost, this is a matter for the council, as the employer, and it is important that I do not say anything that might undermine any process that is under way. However, I understand the desire of parents for full transparency, and I hope that the council will take full note of that.

Public ownership is the right arrangement to have in place. Over the long term, it will enable us to ensure that there are real improvements in our railway.

However, members should make no bones about it: regardless of whether the railway was in public hands or still in private hands, Douglas Ross, rightly and properly, would be asking me such questions, because such matters are of significance to people across the country. It was to individuals and businesses that I directed the comments in my earlier answer.

One of the benefits that we want to realise is affordable fares. However, we must not forget that fares in Scotland are already, on average, 20 per cent cheaper than they are where Douglas Ross’s party is in government.

On the temporary timetable, I repeat that it is temporary. It has proved to be necessary because of the dispute. I want that dispute to be settled as soon as possible and ScotRail to continue to take action to reduce reliance on rest-day working. It is right that ScotRail focuses on that. It needs the unions to get back around the table to negotiate on pay; I hope that that will be the case.

We will continue to focus on the short-term challenges, which are regrettable for the people who use our railways, but we will also focus on building the longer-term improvements that people across the country want in our railway services.

Anas Sarwar says

“after years of Labour campaigning”,

but, of course, before that, there were years of Labour Governments at Westminster that failed to bring the railways back into public ownership. They also opposed the devolution of Network Rail.

However, to move back to what is, I think, the more serious issue, this is a temporary timetable. I wish that it did not have to be put in place, but it has been put in place in consultation with Transport Focus to give greater certainty, rather than having unplanned cancellations, for the—I hope—short period of time for which the revised services have to be in place.

I have already set out in my answers the work that needs to be done and the developments that we need to see, both on pay and on training more drivers, to ensure that, as quickly as possible, these services get back to normal. That is my focus and it is the focus of the transport minister, the Government and ScotRail.

Chasing headlines—could that be like, I don’t know, saying before council elections that there will be no coalitions and then doing backroom deals with the Tories after the council elections? Could that be what Anas Sarwar is talking about? [Interruption.]

How dare Anas Sarwar come to the chamber and talk about the cost of living crisis when his party is seeking to do backroom deals with the authors of that cost of living crisis? It is one thing for Labour to say that it has championed the renationalisation of ScotRail and supported the renationalisation of ScotRail. Unfortunately, it did not do anything about it when it had the opportunity in government.

This Government has renationalised ScotRail. Yes, there are challenges in that, and we are doing the work to address those challenges, including in the short term, in the way that I have set out. People who use the railway across our country have a right to expect that. We will continue to work with ScotRail to overcome those immediate challenges and build a better railway for the future. That is what being in government is all about; on previous performance, Anas Sarwar is still some considerable way from that.