Chamber and committees

I prefer to invest in the university system, which the Government does, with £1 billion of public expenditure and a commitment to work collaboratively with the university sector to ensure that Scotland’s research excellence can be deployed as part of the overall economic approach in Scotland. Innovation and creativity lie at the heart of taking forward the fantastic elements of research that come from our university community.

What is not helping our universities just now is the fact that they face a significant increase in employer national insurance contributions. That is the point that has been made by the principal of the University of Edinburgh: the shock to the university’s finances of the United Kingdom Government’s unilateral action in increasing employer NI contributions. It is another argument for why that particular policy approach by the UK Government needs to be reversed.

That is precisely what this Government has done. We have increased pay for social care workers to make working in the social care sector more attractive, so that we can deliver more social care packages for vulnerable members in the community and they can stay longer in their own homes.

When we brought forward those proposals, the Conservatives voted against them. The Conservatives cannot come here and demand that I take action to improve the standards of the social care service, which depend on the recruitment of social care employees, and to boost the size of the social care workforce, but not be prepared to vote for the proposals. That is rank hypocrisy, and it is typical of the Conservatives.

I am disappointed to hear that Scottish energy consumers are being disadvantaged in this way. Given that smart meter roll-out is a reserved matter, we regularly raise such issues affecting Scottish consumers with the UK Government. We will continue to urge it to take the necessary action to ensure that all households with smart meters in Scotland are provided with full network access. We are also working with our consumer advice and advocacy partners to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and information to support consumers who are seeking help on managing or accessing smart meters.

I am very grateful to my colleague Emma Roddick for hosting that event with Future Economy Scotland, which has made such a contribution to the debate about rent controls in Scotland and has provided such high-quality information that has informed the debate. I suspect that some of that high-quality input has led the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, in its stage 1 report, which was published this morning, to support the principle of using rent controls to ensure that rents are affordable, making it easier for people to find a suitable home.

The Government has listened to tenants, landlords and those who have invested in rented homes, and has acted to deliver the clarity that they have been calling for. The approach that we have announced of limiting rent increase to CPI plus 1 per cent up to a maximum of 6 per cent where rent controls apply ensures protections for tenants from large rent increases and supports essential investment that maintains the quality and supply of homes for private rent. That is the type of pragmatism that I think the country is looking for.

The implications for the farming sector of the post-Brexit arrangements are deeply damaging. Prior to Brexit, farmers in this country had seven years of financial certainty. That has been removed and, at present, we have only one year of financial certainty about the support that will be available.

The Scottish Government will try to provide as much certainty as possible, and we will set out provisions in the budget on 4 December. We will also take forward the agreement of the Parliament yesterday to challenge the United Kingdom Government about the changes to inheritance tax, which will be devastating for family farms in Scotland and will severely undermine their sustainability.

Yesterday, at the AgriScot event at the Ingliston showground, I made it absolutely clear that the Government will honour its commitment to return to the rural affairs portfolio the £46 million that it had to use to deal with short-term financial pressures in the past two financial years.

I think that the problem that the Labour Party and the Conservatives have—they are both shouting at me today—is that they do not like the pragmatism that the Government is now deploying. [Interruption.] The pragmatism that the Government is deploying will see investment through public expenditure—if this crowd are prepared to vote for the Government's budget. If they are not, there will be no affordable housing programme. That is the reality that they all must face up to.

When it comes to the legislation that is before Parliament, the Labour Party has got to make up its mind. In committee, it has supported a bill that recommends rent controls. However, when the issue of rent controls came to the Parliament yesterday, the Labour Party voted against it. The Labour Party does not know whether it is coming or going.

I will make two points in response to Mr Mundell. The first is that he asked me about a number of detailed matters on which it would be inappropriate for me to answer, because those are operational decisions for the chief constable to take.

My second point is that the Government has substantially increased resources for the police service on a constant basis to ensure that we have effective policing models in the country. I know from my engagement with the chief constable that she believes fundamentally in the importance of community policing and is delivering that.

I am happy to associate myself with Mr Kidd’s remarks about the young people who have engaged substantively in career development. I support them in their efforts and I welcome the arrangements that are in place in Parliament to allow members to engage with that issue.

The Government is working in a focused way to ensure that we maximise the level of positive destinations for young people leaving our school system. Those are at very high levels just now, and that is assisted by the advice that is available through the careers system. The Government will continue to support that work.

If Mr Carson drops me the details of his constituent’s situation, I will be happy to look into that and see what we can do to assist him. Mr Carson raises a serious and significant issue, because one way of tackling delayed discharge is by doing exactly what he invites me to do, which is to provide more support for property adaptations so that people can sustainably return to their homes.

I am aware that there are inadequacies in the adaptations budget because the Government has had to take a lot of difficult decisions to deal with the pressures of inflation and public sector pay this year. I assure Mr Carson that the issue of housing adaptations is a significant priority and is the subject of discussion between the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and me as we finalise the Government’s budget. That is another reason why Mr Carson should think about supporting the Government’s budget when the time comes.

A little problem in Parliament is when members do not respond to the detail that I put on the record and read out their pre-scripted question, which has been debunked by what I have just put on the record. It is a bit of a problem with the dialogue in Parliament. [Interruption.]