Chamber and committees

The Government’s commitment to the Promise is absolute. I was in Government when the commitment was originally given, and it will remain steadfast in any Government that I lead.

However, I also recognise the challenges that we face in this regard. Just at the start of the school year, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills published the steps that have been taken in relation to behaviour and attendance in our schools, because we recognise—prompted by constructive discussion in the Parliament—that, in the Covid aftermath, there are significant implications in relation to school attendance and behaviour as a consequence of Covid’s disruptive effect. That affects all young people, and it will have an effect on care-experienced young people into the bargain.

Our focus on addressing those issues will continue. There are, of course, other aspects of work that we are doing that are being implemented as part of our commitment to the Promise. One of them was the enactment of the provisions of the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024, which ends the placement of children in young offenders institutions in Scotland. I am glad that that came into force on 28 August, and I am deeply grateful to everybody across our system who has made that possible. That is just one other commitment in the Promise that the Government has delivered, and we will deliver more.

Obviously, there is widespread concern about the Eljamel case, which is the subject of a public inquiry that is under way. The health secretary is looking carefully at the issue to determine what approach we can take to ensure that any of the concerns that have been raised in the news article can be addressed as effectively as possible and that any of the information that we hold can be made available to the Libyan authorities as appropriate.

As Mr Marra will not be surprised to hear, I am very familiar with the life sciences work of the University of Dundee. Over my parliamentary career, it has been my privilege to talk about the issue on many occasions with individuals such as Professor Mike Ferguson, who has done such superb work in developing the resources at the University of Dundee. Of course, that work has been built on very strong foundations over many years. The University of Dundee has taken a significant role in life science research over many years. It is an area of critical strength that has attracted a lot of support from Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government for many years. The Deputy First Minister visited those facilities in the summer. I wish the University of Dundee every success and the Government will work collaboratively to ensure that that is enhanced.

I was concerned to hear the reports about the proposals from Mitsubishi Electric. The factory is a significant and highly specialised asset in Scotland, and it is one that I have visited in the past. The Minister for Employment and Investment has spoken with Mitsubishi Electric to understand the rationale behind the company’s position. Scottish Enterprise is working closely with the company to consider all viable options. If we reach a point where there is any loss of employment, we will, of course, be in a position to support employees, but the intervention by Scottish Enterprise is designed to create a pathway to avoid that situation. The focused activities of Scottish Enterprise will be at the company’s disposal in order to avoid any loss of employment.

The Government takes a number of steps to ensure that rights and support for disabled people are taken forward. During the summer, along with the Minister for Equalities, I met the Glasgow Disability Alliance and a number of other organisations representing people with disabilities and we had a very open conversation about some of the issues that must be addressed. I assure Mr O’Kane, and stakeholders, that the Government take those issues very seriously and will take all practical steps that we can to address the issues that are of concern.

I in no way dismissed the expert commentary that Douglas Ross put to me. I will not have him misrepresenting my words in Parliament. I respect all those commentators, just as I respect the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which, in its “UK Poverty 2023” report, said:

“Divergence in policy across nations will probably drive greater disparity in poverty rates across”

the UK. It also said:

“Scotland has taken decisive action in defining child poverty targets in legislation and enhancing the benefits system with a Scottish child payment”.

The latest statistics show that the child poverty rate in Scotland is 24 per cent, compared with 30 per cent in England, 29 per cent in Wales and 23 per cent in Northern Ireland. I simply put that data on the record to demonstrate that we are taking action, but we are having to swim against a tide of austerity and welfare cuts that were inflicted on us by the previous Conservative Government, of which Douglas Ross was a supporter. That is before we get near the financial wreckage done by Liz Truss, which Douglas Ross wanted me to emulate. Thank goodness I did not do that.

The challenges that we face were well rehearsed to Parliament by the finance secretary on Tuesday. Cumulative inflation, which has been calculated at 18.9 per cent over the past three years, has undermined the value of the money that we have available. The Government will deliver the commitment that I set out yesterday, which is to ensure that free school meals are available for all primary 1 to primary 5 pupils on a universal basis, and for primary 6 and primary 7 pupils who are eligible for the Scottish child payment. We will deliver that in this parliamentary session.

Yes, it is my choice, Mr Ross. It is my choice to make sure that we invest in the future of Scotland, which the Conservative Government destroyed with the austerity agenda that was supported by all the Conservative members over there.

What the people of Scotland will hear from this Government is a determination to ensure that we deliver on our commitments to lift children out of poverty, whereas the Tories have made the situation worse.

The Government is facing acute financial challenges because of the persistence of the austerity agenda and the cumulative effect of inflation, which have eroded our budgets by a value of about one fifth in the past three years, and because we are having to find about £800 million in this financial year to meet public sector pay claims.

Lorna Slater will know from her experience in government that, once the financial year starts, the Government cannot expand the resources that are available to it. We have a fixed sum of money available to us once the financial year starts. All that we can do is either receive consequential funding from the United Kingdom Government, which might expand those resources, or reallocate resources within the budget.

The Government has reluctantly undertaken to take some decisions that will ensure that free school meals are available to young people whose families are in receipt of the Scottish child payment, which absolutely focuses our work on tackling poverty at a time when we are facing acute financial pressure. That is the difficult decision that the Government has had to make.

Lorna Slater will appreciate from her period in government that the Government regularly has to face up to difficult financial choices, particularly given the persistence of the austerity climate that we thought we had seen the back of with the Conservatives.

Kevin Stewart makes an absolutely valid point about the impact of the winter fuel payment cut. There will be pensioners who are not in an affluent position and who will be suffering significantly as a consequence of the cut. There was a commitment from the incoming Labour Government to reduce fuel bills by an average of £300. In fact, people will see their fuel bills increase by an average of £149, which will compound the damage that will be done to those pensioners. I do not underestimate the scale of the difficulty. If there was an alternative, I would have liked to have taken it, but Mr Stewart will appreciate, from his experience in Government, that I cannot, as much as I would like, find £160 million to enable us to continue that payment on a universal basis.

On the intergovernmental relations question, I accept that decisions get taken abruptly by Governments. Sometimes, my Government has to do that, too. I encourage the United Kingdom Government to engage in deeper dialogue with the Scottish Government as we try to resolve the very difficult circumstances that we all face.

Mr Whitfield shouts to say that it is essential. I would like it to be essential, which would be ideal, but there are other ways of reaching children with education, such as by taking their education to them, if there is a difficulty in getting them into school. That is part of the measures that are being exhausted to ensure that we establish the connection with young people to maintain their education. That approach will lie at the heart of the steps that we take.