Chamber and committees

I recognise the importance of the point that Ben Macpherson raises. The Government’s approach is directed through the detect cancer early programme—in which we are committed to raising awareness of possible cancer symptoms—and through our new primary care cancer education platform, GatewayC, which provides tools to support earlier diagnosis efforts and decision making at the point of referral.

We recognise that significant work is needed to develop the genomic testing that is available, including for bile duct cancer, and we have been working closely with partners to identify how expanded testing can be commissioned and implemented in the national health service.

I understand the points that Mr Carson puts to me. The Government must be mindful of the need to take decisions that will ensure that we have sufficiently strong and robust power networks to meet the needs of the population in every part of Scotland. That is part of the process of discussion and dialogue that the Government is engaged in. We engage substantively with communities and local authorities on such questions, but difficult decisions must be arrived at to ensure that we have adequate energy security and the appropriate infrastructure in our country.

Again, Mr Findlay ignores the point that I put to him about the significance of the obligations of the Equality Act 2010 and the requirement that all legislation is compatible with it and underpinned by it.

Mr Findlay asked me about my priorities. My priorities are absolutely crystal clear. I am in office to improve the lives of the people of Scotland by making sure that we eradicate child poverty, grow the economy, make the transition to net zero and strengthen the public services of Scotland. Next Tuesday, we will put before Parliament a budget that will put that into effect. The people who are standing in the way of the approval of a budget to improve the lives of the people of Scotland—[Interruption.]

The Government is committed to ensuring that our school environments support every child and young person to reach their full potential for learning. The school premises regulations prescribe the broad minimum standards that school buildings must meet. They were last updated in 1979. It is therefore the Government’s intention to refresh and modernise the regulations to ensure that they meet the needs of pupils in schools in Scotland. A consultation will take place this year.

I entirely understand and sympathise with the point that Clare Adamson has put to me. We in the Government are very concerned about the impact on all sectors of the economy, but especially the impact on the charitable sector and the third sector. In particular, we are very concerned about the impact that the national insurance contribution increases will have on the social care sector, which includes organisations such as Clare Adamson has raised with me today. As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government said in general questions before we started First Minister’s questions, we have put those concerns to the United Kingdom Government and will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government is committed to halving the disability employment gap. In 2023, the employment rate for disabled people was 52.7 per cent, exceeding our first interim target by 2.7 percentage points. Through the implementation of our fair work action plan, we have reduced barriers and improved recruitment and retention of disabled people. We will take further actions, but we have to be cognisant of the fact that we have only limited powers in this area, as employment powers are reserved to the United Kingdom Government.

The people who are standing in the way of that budget being approved—the people who are not interested in improving the lives of the people of Scotland—are members of the Conservative Party, which parades in front of Nigel Farage, whose support it is courting in Scotland today. [Interruption.]

I will take no lessons from Russell Findlay—[Interruption.]

On Tuesday, in the budget that Anas Sarwar is currently not going to support, there will be an increase in the resources available for general practice to the tune of £13.6 million. On Tuesday, Anas Sarwar and his colleagues can do the right thing by voting for the budget in order to start making the progress that he is apparently interested in making.

Mr Sarwar set out his commitment on GP appointments. He set out his plans and the promises that he is going to make. However, let us look at the Labour Party’s record on the delivery of its promises. Mr Sarwar stood beside me in a Scottish television debate and promised that he would save Grangemouth—[Interruption.]

The number of GPs per 100,000 of the population in Scotland stands at 82. In England, it is 64; in Wales, it is 67; and in Northern Ireland, it is 75. There are more GPs available in Scotland as a consequence of the investment that the Government has made, with 307 GPs being added since 2007. We have commitments to increase the number of GPs, and we are working to deliver them.

The performance of the national health service comes down to the way in which we tackle waiting times. According to the most recent available data, between October 2023 and September 2024, there was a 9.5 per cent increase in the number of procedures undertaken in the national health service. That is really welcome.

Over the weekend, Mr Sarwar was making a big thing about the increase in activity in England and Wales since the Labour Government came into office. That increase has been 7.6 per cent, and that is against the backdrop of strike action in England under the Tories, so it is no wonder that the number of procedures has increased in England. In Scotland, there has been a 9.5 per cent increase in the number of procedures. We should welcome that, and I am surprised that Mr Sarwar has not done so.

The absolute requirement is that all health and safety legislation in relation to access to the building must be followed while the issue exists. The first assurance that I give to Rhoda Grant is that those requirements must be followed.

The second point is that issues that have to be addressed about the environment in the building will be taken forward by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. I am happy to provide Rhoda Grant with an update on the developments that are taking place to ensure that the fundamental issues are remedied.