Chamber and committees

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will need to sit a bit closer to the clock next time.

I would really like the minister to address the question of the modernisation of our service. Have we done enough research to satisfy ourselves on that front? The issue is about more than waiting lists and resources. We must make sure that, as a nation, we are modernising our service to make it fit for purpose. If we do not do that, all the discussion and critique around waiting lists will be less significant. That question needs to be addressed.

The chief executive of Barnardo’s, Javed Khan, put it very well when he said that

“the negative effects of the pandemic could last a lifetime if children and young people don’t have the right support ... children must be front and centre of the Government’s plans for the post-Covid period.”

I hope that some of my points will be addressed in the summing up.

Will the cabinet secretary address investment, which was the theme of my speech? The Government says that it is a priority, which it clearly is. How does the cabinet secretary satisfy himself that Scotland’s system is not only comparable with the UK’s but is comparable internationally in terms of how we provide services, make sure that people have optimum treatments and that a variety of treatments are available? How do ministers satisfy themselves that investment results in an internationally brilliant service?

There are many examples of the impact of Covid restrictions on the events industry. For one agency, only seven Hogmanay shows out of 60 that were planned went ahead. For many in the sector, a loss of income due to Covid restrictions is catastrophic. I welcome the additional support that the First Minister announced last week, but can she ensure that everyone in the events industry chain who needs support, including agencies, will be eligible to apply for financial support?

As the First Minister knows, the hospitality sector is absolutely terrified of the impact that the recent substantial restrictions will have, especially on smaller venues that cannot apply 1m distancing. Given that she said earlier that support could be tailored to those who need it most, should a business rapid response team be set up to ensure that the £42 million of funding that has been announced today is targeted where it is really needed, in order to ensure the survival of those businesses?

I believe that the Scottish Government missed the opportunity to get private sector rents under control in the previous session of Parliament. I say that because I felt a sense of frustration that my Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill was not supported by the governing party. I believe that we lost critical time in tackling poverty and inequality.

However, I make it clear that I plan to work with the Scottish Government and Patrick Harvie, who I know is committed to this set of reforms. I hope that the minister will consider incorporating some of the ideas from my bill in the forthcoming legislation. Tenants cannot wait until 2025 to see at least some change. In the private rented sector, there is a need for parity with the public sector. That is long overdue.

This has been an extremely tough year, with tens of thousands of people losing their jobs and incomes. Many people in the private rented sector have also had to contend with rents rising above the rate of inflation, yet again. It will be worse for some, as the Scottish Government figures on private rents up to the end of September 2021 show that average rents in Lothian and greater Glasgow increased at above the rate of inflation again. Between 2010 and 2021, we have seen rent rises at well above the rate of inflation on all property sizes.

However, rising rents are not just a problem in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The statistics show staggering increases in rents of 7.1 per cent in West Dunbartonshire and 6.8 per cent in Ayrshire. Therefore, I am pleased that the temporary legislation that Parliament passed during Covid clearly succeeded in preventing mass evictions during the worst of the pandemic. It also sheltered public services from the additional pressures of responding to, and ensured a reduction in, homelessness.

A report by Andrew Watson at the University of Glasgow that was published last month found that around one in five landlords had current tenancies in arrears at July 2021. That scales up to around 45,000 landlords across Scotland, with arrears totalling around £126 million, as Mark Griffin mentioned. It is a real crisis and we need to get our heads round it.

However, the state of private rented sector housing leaves much to be desired. Many tenants routinely suffer from water penetration, damp and condensation, and the associated mould growth. Those problems are frequently made worse by repairs that are slow, with issues often going unrepaired and unresolved. Therefore, I believe that rent controls must be linked to the quality of the accommodation that people rent. My Fair Rents (Scotland) Bill would have done that.

There is a clear link between poverty and high housing costs, which should be at the centre of the legislation. We cannot continue to accept the number of people who are living in poverty in the private rented sector, many of whom have no alternative available to them. That is the key point. Evidence shows that around half of tenants spend 30 per cent of their income, and some spend 40 to 50 per cent of their income, on rent. A mortgage is cheaper for most of those people, but because of the problem that they face, they will not get alternative options for housing.

Young people are at the centre of the housing issue—they need a fair deal. We need a fair deal for families and we must recognise that single parents are very likely to be struggling to pay their rent in the private rented sector. The number of children in the sector who live in severe poverty has more than doubled.

We need a fair deal for students, too. In my bill, there is a way to address Willie Rennie’s point, which I am happy to talk about another time. We can overcome the problems. Students in the private rented sector saw their rents rise by 34 per cent in the past three years, and many of them who live in private accommodation have no rights. I ask the minister to consider whether students will be at the centre of housing reform.

We must make the reforms in this parliamentary session and ensure that we make a difference by tackling poverty and giving people options for good, affordable, warm homes.

Many of those small businesses are in Glasgow, which suffered the longest and harshest Covid restrictions in Scotland. A recent report suggests that only one in 12 office workers has returned to Glasgow city centre. We have already lost 3,000 jobs from Glasgow airport, adding to concerns about the city’s long-term recovery. As a city region, Glasgow is a key driver of the Scottish economy and is crucially important to west central Scotland.

Given that, will the First Minister say whether she agrees that Glasgow, as a key driver for the economy, urgently needs to have a fully resourced recovery plan, with something like a specialist team to co-ordinate recovery and investment, in order to ensure that the city’s recovery from the pandemic actually happens?

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to provide support to small businesses in light of reports that 20,000 small businesses ceased trading during the pandemic. (S6F-00555)

I welcome that high level of engagement with the sector. The hospitality sector welcomes the introduction of testing to the certification scheme, but it notes that the scheme will still have an on-going impact. We have seen that from the experience in Wales, where there is a 20 per cent reduction in all trade levels in the sector. The Scottish Beer and Pub Association says that there has been a drop of 40 per cent in trade since the introduction of the Covid passport scheme—not just from normal times. What further steps can be taken to provide more frequent and widespread communication to the public that they can test before they go out to nightclubs and other hospitality sector venues, to deliver more spontaneous visits where it is safe to do so?

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met with key stakeholders, including business owners, to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine certification scheme. (S6O-00493)

I commend the minister for the excellent speeches that he has made on the subject and for the work that the Scottish Government is doing.

However, twice in the chamber I have raised the question of what has been happening in some schools in England, where girls have been subjected to unsolicited graphic images—and boys, too, to an extent. Paul O’Kane’s point was well made. There is an issue, but we do not really know what is going on in schools. Has the Scottish Government thought about addressing that by trying to find out what is actually going on? Perhaps the gender stereotyping of boys and the expectations on them are a factor in all this—we can perhaps make a direct connection there. In some ways, things might be worse for young people now than they were in my day. Does the minister agree that we need to explore the matter in Parliament?