Chamber and committees

There was not a single solution offered by Anas Sarwar—not one. [Interruption.]

I know that Mr Fraser was a contender for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives, but he has just given an answer that is directly contradictory to the position of his party leader. His party leader wants us to cut the budgets of agencies—he said that he wants us to get rid of them. However, Mr Fraser has just argued for an expansion of the budgets of economic development agencies.

For the record, I happen to think that Scotland today is extremely well served by our economic development agencies: Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, VisitScotland and Skills Development Scotland. They work very well for Scotland, in that they attract significant investment and visitor numbers. We could add to that the capital investment for offshore wind, which we are increasing to £150 million; the £100 million for digital connectivity programmes that we are rolling out; the investment that we are putting into planning services; and the support that we have put in place for non-domestic rates relief, which is worth an estimated £731 million. All those measures show that this Government is on the side of business, as is demonstrated by business’s endorsement of our budget. I think that the Conservatives should support it.

First, I associate myself with Mr Carlaw’s comments about Paul O’Kane’s hosting of tonight’s event. I welcome cross-party co-operation on this question.

In his members’ business debate last night—in which, as ever, Mr Carlaw gave the deep and solemn commitment that he has always given to the issue—he generously referred to the fact that I had taken part in one of the visits to Auschwitz by Scottish school pupils that are supported by the Scottish Government. He correctly indicated that the experience that I had that day will never leave me. I saw, too, the profound impact on the young people who travelled with me on that occasion. For me, that was an indication of the value of the investment that the Government makes in ensuring that future generations understand and appreciate the awfulness of what happened in the Holocaust, and of why those generations must be reminded of it.

Mr Carlaw has my unequivocal commitment that, for as long as I am First Minister, this Government will be a firm funder of Holocaust memorial education in Scotland. I see that as part of our obligations to the past and the future, and it will have my unreserved support as First Minister.

Those are important questions. As the Government’s “Bright Start, Best Futures” strategy indicates, the way to tackle child poverty is through a combination of measures, such as the provision of direct payments, as in the case of the Scottish child payment, or through the provision of employability support, childcare support or transport support, all of which are part of the Government’s budget proposals.

On economic inactivity, the Government is safeguarding funding for employability schemes. Given our confidence that the budget will be passed by the Parliament, as a consequence of our agreement with partners in the Parliament, we are able to give early certainty to employability schemes in Scotland, which they did not have last year, given the financial challenges that we faced. There will be much more certainty about the roll-out of employability programmes from 1 April, and the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government are giving such assurances to organisations around the country.

I know that Mr O’Kane is deadly serious about tackling child poverty, and he knows that I am, too. That is where I get a bit concerned about where parliamentary discourse has got to, because there is a budget to be voted for. Mr O’Kane wants employability support to be put in place for members of the public in Scotland, and so do I. I am going to vote for it, and I hope that he and his colleagues will, too.

I am familiar with those details and extend my sympathies to the family of Demi Hannaway. I understand the family’s concerns about the information that has been put in the public domain and am familiar with the fact that a complaint has been made and is being handled by the professional standards channel of Police Scotland.

The Crown reserves the right in all circumstances to review any new evidence in a particular case. It does that independently of the Government, so it would be wrong for me to prejudge any of that information. However, I will raise with the Lord Advocate the point that Claire Baker has made to me about the family’s desire for further investigation of the case, because taking that forward would have to be a matter for the Crown, given the circumstances. I give Claire Baker the assurance that I will do that as a consequence of our exchange today.

At the start of the week, I set out the Government’s focus, which will be on three key areas: ensuring that the resources are used to the greatest effect and have an impact in driving down waiting times and clearing treatment backlogs; reforming the system to deliver the right care in the right place; and making a long-term shift to prevention. We will accomplish that by providing the necessary policy direction, which I have just set out, and the resources, which will be included in the Government’s budget, with the biggest settlement for the health service. I am very pleased that we have parliamentary support for the budget, but it is well shown that the Conservatives are not part of the agreement to move the health service forward in any way, shape or form.

Here is some truth for Parliament. [Interruption.] In the years of austerity under the Conservative Government, the capital budgets of the devolved Governments and the United Kingdom Government were slashed. Why? Because of economic and fiscal incompetence by the Conservatives. That is what happened.

I am now going to deliver the national treatment centres. What has certainly not helped me—[Interruption.]

It would not be possible to spend more money on doctors and nurses if I followed Mr Findlay’s tax plans, which would cut £1 billion from public expenditure. That would be stupidity on stilts from the Conservative Party, to add to all the other economic chaos that it has created.

The Parliament will face a very simple choice in a few weeks. Mr Findlay wants me to prioritise the health service and make sure that investment is in place. Investment is in place, but the Parliament has to vote for it. What will the Conservatives do? They will vote against a record funding settlement for the health service. That tells us all that we need to know. For all that posturing from the Conservatives, they do not care about the national health service.

I sympathise with the circumstances of Mr Choudhury’s constituent. I of course want individuals in our country to be adequately and properly housed.

As Mr Choudhury knows, because I have told Parliament this on many occasions, the Scottish Government has presided over an affordable housing building programme that has built more houses per head of population in Scotland than have been built in any other part of the United Kingdom. Crucially, in the budget that will be before Parliament in a few weeks’ time, there is an increase in that budget to £768 million. Mr Choudhury is quite entitled—indeed, it is his duty—to bring his constituents’ concerns here and represent them. I contend that it is also Mr Choudhury’s duty to try to make solutions happen by voting for the budget and helping to build more houses and ensure that we can get more void houses being used by people. [Interruption.]

There is no point in Labour members shouting at me, as they have done all the time today. That is the solution. If we want to build houses, how do we pay for them if we do not have the votes for the budget? I encourage Labour members to stop being observers on the sidelines, sitting there with their Tory allies. They should vote for the budget and do something constructive for Scotland.

—things that are not true.

In my speech on Monday, the Government set out a series of interventions to strengthen the national health service and its capacity by delivering extra procedures at a number of centres around the country, by improving referrals through radiology services and expanding the rapid cancer diagnostic service, and by making sure that we expand capacity in a range of different disciplines through eye condition care and the NHS Scotland pharmacy service.

Those are the practical steps that will make a difference, but they will happen only if the Government’s budget passes. Who stands in the way of the Government’s budget passing? Who is not going to lift a finger to support and endorse that investment? The Labour Party in Scotland—Labour members should be ashamed of themselves.