Chamber and committees

The first thing that I want to say to Winifred and her family is that I am sorry for the experience that they have had. As I have recounted on a number of occasions to the Parliament, the health service faces extraordinary pressures as a consequence of the demand for assistance in our healthcare system. I do not know when that incident happened, but, if Mr Cole-Hamilton furnishes me with the details, I will respond to that in full.

As Mr Cole-Hamilton knows, and as I have recounted to the Parliament, we have had extraordinary pressure on our healthcare system over the winter period as a consequence of flu.

I can reassure Mr Cole-Hamilton that, according to the latest data available, 12-hour waits and eight-hour waits in accident and emergency departments, which are both completely unacceptable, are falling as we begin to get on top of the implications of the wave of demand that the healthcare system has faced.

The Government is working closely with health and social care partnerships to reduce the level of delayed discharge, so that individuals are properly supported in their homes.

As a consequence of the agreement that we managed to secure with the Liberal Democrats on the budget, local authorities will be able to benefit from having more resources at their disposal to invest in social care to support individuals such as Winifred, and the health service will obviously have more resources.

I am very happy for the health secretary to meet Mr Sweeney and his constituent on that question. I am not quite clear about the status of the drug, which will obviously determine what can be made available, but I am happy to encourage that discussion to take place to address the points that Mr Sweeney has put to me.

Obviously, the Government acted in 2016 to ensure that there was not a closure at Dalzell. We endorse Mr Rennie’s points about the importance of securing productive activity there. We are aware of the GFG Alliance’s financial issues. Scrutiny of the issues is being undertaken by ministers—Mr Rennie correctly points out that there are loan-related issues involved. The Government is assiduously engaging to make sure that the interests of the workforce and the financial interests of the Scottish Government are protected at all times.

I take those issues very seriously. Throughout my time as finance minister, I was regularly attacked in this Parliament for setting exacting efficiency standards on public sector budgets on an annual basis. The result of that was that we released significant value for investment in the public finances.

I am struggling to remember about the Police Scotland reforms. I might be wrong about this—if I am wrong, I will correct it, or Russell Findlay can correct the record—but I think that the Conservatives opposed us on Police Scotland reforms.

I am always prepared to listen to reports from the Auditor General and to consider the implications for the Government and for local authorities, which are responsible for the delivery of education in our country. We take those issues seriously and will respond accordingly.

It is important that I reassure members of the public about the progress that has been made on closing the attainment gap. Under this Government, the overall poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10. In relation to meeting literacy standards in primary schools, the poverty-related attainment gap between young people from the most-deprived areas and those from the least-deprived areas is 20.1 percentage points, which is a record low. In relation to achieving the third level in literacy and numeracy in secondary schools, the attainment gap between those pupils has reached record lows of 12.7 percentage points and 12 percentage points respectively.

In relation to additional support for learning—I accept the absolute necessity to ensure that good outcomes are achieved for those young people—the attainment gap between school pupils with additional support needs and those without has reduced by almost half since 2009-10, from 45.3 percentage points to 23.1 percentage points.

I accept that more needs to be done, but important and substantial progress is being made on closing the attainment gap, and that is good for children and young people in our country.

Mr Sarwar might have conjured up that script before he asked me any questions, but I have refuted the detail that he has put on the record, because, as I recounted to him a second ago, we are making progress on closing the attainment gap.

Under this Government, the attainment gap has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10, and I am absolutely determined to improve outcomes for young people. Why are we doing that? We are doing that because this Government put in investment, through the expansion of early learning and childcare, to give children the best start in life. This Government has put money in place to support improvement in the lives of young people living in poverty through the Scottish child payment—originally, it was set at £5 for every eligible child; now, it is £26.70—which is helping to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. [John Swinney has corrected this contribution. See end of report.] That is why Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom where it is projected that poverty among children will fall, whereas it will rise in every other part of the United Kingdom under the stewardship in England and Wales of the Labour Party.

People in Scotland should look at what the SNP has delivered to improve the opportunities and the life chances of the children and young people of Scotland, and they should then look at what a Labour Government does: it went into office promising to reduce fuel bills for individuals in our country, which then went up. Labour delivers broken promises to the people of Scotland, and Mr Sarwar will be no different.

I recognise the importance of the points that Mr Lumsden has put to me. I will have to scrutinise the situation, but I imagine that regulatory oversight on those matters is reserved, and that the proximity of the Health and Safety Executive will be critical in all that. I will explore the point that Mr Lumsden has put to me and write to him setting out the definitive answer.

Regardless of where the responsibility lies, we must have a safe approach to delivery of battery storage plants. The plants are critical to the transition to net zero, but members of the public are entitled to reassurance about safety. I will write to Mr Lumsden with the definitive response that he is looking for.

Farmers are facing are an unusually high number of threats at the moment, including avian influenza, bluetongue virus, foot-and-mouth disease and Schmallenberg virus. Supporting farmers and producers is a key concern, and we are working with industry to guard against those threats.

The Scottish Government has robust and regularly exercised contingency plans, and has a proven track record in responding effectively to notifiable diseases. We are asking farmers to remain vigilant, to discuss any concerns with their vet and to report suspicion of notifiable disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with other nations in the United Kingdom to monitor and assess the risks, and to prevent incursions of disease.

I very much welcome the report, which clearly sets out the importance of net zero sectors to our economy in Scotland. Our green economy is thriving and has grown by more than 20 per cent in the past two years, which is generating more than £9 billion in gross value added and supporting more than 100,000 full-time equivalent jobs. That is faster growth than across the United Kingdom. That undoubtedly shows that the transition to net zero is driving progress towards our climate ambitions at the same time as it is delivering economic benefits.

The Cabinet will next meet on Tuesday.