Chamber and committees

I want to see teacher numbers rising, which is why the Government has negotiated an agreement with local authorities on restoring teacher numbers to their 2023 levels.

However, it is important that we look at the outcomes that are achieved as a consequence of the investments that have been made by the Government and local authorities. Figures that were published this week show record levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy in our schools, and the attainment gap in literacy has reduced to its lowest level ever.

The attainment gap in positive destinations has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10—[Interruption.]

In 2022-23, 92.8 per cent of school leavers were in positive destinations nine months after leaving school. Many of those measures were put in place by me as education secretary—[Interruption.]

Many of those measures were put in place by me as education secretary, in recognition of the fact that, if we want to close the poverty-related attainment gap—when poverty has been made worse by the decisions of the most recent Conservative Government in the United Kingdom—we must take long-term action and make a long-term commitment to strengthening education. That is precisely what the Scottish Government has delivered.

The first point that I will make is that figures published this week show that record levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy have been achieved in our schools and that the attainment gap in literacy has reduced to its lowest level ever. The attainment gap in positive destinations has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10, with 92.8 per cent of school leavers being in positive destinations nine months after leaving school in 2022-23. Figures published just today show that, when young people leave school, more Scottish students than ever before are securing places at university, including record numbers of students from our most deprived communities.

In addition, the Government has secured agreement with local authorities on an increase in teacher numbers. We have also secured agreement about reducing teacher contact time to give teachers and professionals the opportunity to develop their practice, and we are putting in place resources to improve the levels of attendance in our schools, which are lower as a consequence of the Covid pandemic. We need to work hard with individual pupils to rebuild their attendance at school. That is the set of actions of a Government that is determined to strengthen Scottish education and deliver for the people of Scotland.

I do not accept what Mr Sarwar has set out. The measures that the Government is taking are having a positive impact on the attainment of children and young people in our education system.

Let me return to the data that I went through with Mr Findlay, which needs to be repeated because Mr Sarwar has obviously not been able to adjust his questions following the answers that I gave to Mr Findlay. [Interruption.]

This Parliament will face a set of decisions in the course of the next few months that are all about whether we are prepared to invest in strengthening the public services of Scotland.

Mr Sarwar suggested that the issues that he raised were not addressed. I addressed the issue about attendance, the issues about attainment and the issues about positive destinations, and I note that we are reducing the child and adolescent mental health service waiting times very significantly for children and young people.

There are of course challenges in the national health service. I want the best for Scotland and the best for the national health service, which is why there is £21 billion of investment in the Scottish Government’s budget that can be deployed to support the national health service. It is why I want to make sure that the substantial resources that the education secretary has secured to invest in education are able to be deployed. However, that will happen only if this Parliament passes a budget in February, and that is when the Labour Party comes into play.

I am interested in the Labour Party’s tactics here. Last night, most of the Labour Party members voted in favour of a motion that welcomed the steps in the budget to lift the two-child benefit cap and restore winter fuel payments to pensioners and looked forward to further discussions with the Government about the budget. I know that those discussions took place this morning with Mr Marra, and I welcome that. There was only one member who did not vote for that motion last night, and that was Anas Sarwar. It is not that he did not vote for it once; he managed not to vote for it twice. [Interruption.]

I am responsible for the Government’s policy programme and its agenda. That agenda speaks for itself, and I answer questions on that here in a democratic Parliament, where I believe fundamentally in the rule of law. Lorna Slater and I are in absolute agreement about the importance of democratic processes and the rule of law—and I believe that the acceptance of that point is fundamentally part of my being.

I recognise that there will be political differences from one Government to another, but I also have a duty to promote and protect the interests of Scotland. President Trump and I had an introductory call, at his request, on Tuesday evening. He spoke positively about Scotland and I expressed the views and interests of the Scottish Government in relation to areas of co-operation with the United States—in particular, on relevant and important issues of the whisky trade, which matters to the Scottish economy. I have a duty to represent Scotland and to make sure that that is done on our terms, representing our policy agenda, and I assure Lorna Slater and other members that I will always take that approach.

The first point I will make—[Interruption.] I am answering the question, Mr Bibby; I do not need any prompting. [Interruption.] I do not—

The Government is taking action to address behaviour in our schools. It is doing so as part of the action plan that the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has set out to Parliament. Schools are empowered to take decisions that are designed to address unacceptable behaviour. Let me make it absolutely crystal clear that the behaviour that Mr Findlay has recounted to Parliament today, which I know takes place in our schools, is completely and utterly intolerable.

However, I cannot allow Mr Findlay to denigrate the achievements of educators in our schools. The statistics that were published on Tuesday show that there are record levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy in our schools, and I will not have that denigrated by the leader of the Conservative Party.

I can tell Mr Findlay that although the measures that were taken by the most recent Conservative Government exacerbated poverty in our society and have made the challenge that the Scottish Government faces ever greater, this Government will deliver on Scottish education.

I hope that, in my original answer, I indicated the seriousness with which I take the issue. The Government will give serious consideration to the matter.

I disagree with Michelle Thomson’s characterisation of the point that I made about non-fatal strangulation already being a criminal offence under the common law of assault. It is a serious criminal offence that carries a maximum penalty of up to life imprisonment. However, the Government will explore the question of the appropriateness of a stand-alone offence.

Michelle Thomson set out many actions that need to be taken. I am very happy for the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs to have a meeting on the matter, and I will obviously be close to the issue.

However, there is one other thing that needs to change, and that is the behaviour of boys and men. Last Thursday afternoon, I took part in a debate in the Parliament on violence against women and girls, because I take deadly seriously my responsibility as a male First Minister of Scotland to make it absolutely clear that the behaviour of boys and men is integral—central—to the experiences of women in our society. We will consider all the measures that we need to take on criminal offences, but I will lead from the front a campaign to say to boys and men in Scotland that their behaviour has got to improve.