Chamber and committees

Okay. Let us start with waiting lists. My Government’s priority is to bring down waiting lists and, in particular, waiting lists involving long waits. Between April and October this year, the number of new out-patient waits of more than a year reduced by 17.9 per cent—for five consecutive months, waiting lists involving long waits fell. Over the same period, the size of the waiting list for those waiting for new in-patient day-case procedures for more than 52 weeks reduced by 26.1 per cent. The plan that I put in place, backed by the resources that we have invested, which the Labour Party would not vote for, is now reducing waiting lists in our country.

If Mr Sarwar wants to own the budget of the United Kingdom Government, he must own its consequences. Those consequences are that, today, people’s fuel bills are still higher than they were when Labour came into office; they are not lower, as Labour promised. There will be job losses in the north-east of Scotland, which Anas Sarwar will be responsible for, because of the actions of the Labour Government.

I will invest people’s money wisely in boosting public services and strengthening the economy, and I will leave Anas Sarwar to dream about what he might be able to do if he convinces the people of Scotland, whereas this Government is delivering for the people of Scotland.

I have made it clear that the mission and purpose of my Government is to eradicate child poverty. I welcome the fact that the United Kingdom Government has taken the decision, from 1 April, to abolish the two-child cap, which was put in place by the previous Conservative Government. It is an atrocious intervention in the benefits system, and I am glad that my Government has shamed the Labour Party into acting on it. [Interruption.]

This Government will do what it always does—[Interruption.]

I recognise that this is a sensitive issue. In 2023-24, the Government committed to undertaking a review of the legislation on abortion. The recommendations in the report are those of the expert group, and the Government fulfilled its commitment to publish those recommendations.

We will, of course, give consideration to these issues, but that will have to involve extensive engagement with a broad range of stakeholders. The legitimate point that Mr Mason has raised will have to be central to the analysis of the issue, along with a range of other matters that will have to be considered in relation to any future actions that the Government may decide to take at some stage in the future.

The Scottish Government engaged when it was apparent that ExxonMobil was marketing the site, but the announcement that was made this week was one that the Government did not expect to be happening on such a short timescale. We will sustain our engagement with the company as a consequence.

I am sympathetic to Mr Marra’s point. I have constituents who are affected by the issue that he has raised, so I understand its significance.

A whole range of external scrutiny has been undertaken and—frankly—that should be enough for all the action that is required to happen. Earlier this year, officials met the new chief executive and leadership team to understand how they were responding to the challenges. NHS Tayside is committed to addressing those challenges by December 2025, and it has already put many plans in place, including the adoption of a unified strategic approach in relation to the delivery of the service, consistent with the enhanced monitoring and scrutiny executive group.

The next three months will be critical in that endeavour. I give Mr Marra an undertaking that I will review the issue in January, once I have seen the conclusions of the work that NHS Tayside has committed to doing. At that point, I will address the point that Mr Marra has raised. We must expect the leadership of health boards to get on with meeting the challenges that they face. I am not dismissing Mr Marra’s suggestion, but I will return to it once I see what progress has been made by December.

For completeness, I point out to Parliament that the energy profits levy was introduced in the first place by a Conservative Government. [Interruption.]

The issues around the energy profits levy are now acute in relation to the oil and gas sector. I do not need to add my name to the letter that Russell Findlay is talking about, because the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has already made those representations to the United Kingdom Government.

We are at a pivotal moment in sustaining employment in Scotland’s economy as we ensure that we build up to our clean energy and renewables future. That requires the UK Government to heed the concerns that have been expressed by many people, including the Scottish Government, about the continuation of the energy profits levy, which was introduced by the Conservatives.

As I indicated in my first answer, at the time, ministers were dealing with an evolving situation during which advice was being formulated by scientific experts. Clinical experts were assessing the right judgments to be made in dealing with an emerging and fast-changing situation. Ministers were open with the Parliament about the dilemmas and challenges that were involved. Those decisions were subjected to scrutiny by the Parliament and, of course, they are now being subjected to scrutiny by the Covid-19 inquiry.

I have been very clear that I regret the suffering that individuals experienced during the Covid pandemic. It did enormous damage to people, including those who lost loved ones, and to our society, and we are still dealing with the consequences of it. I understand the scale of the impact and the damage that was done. As I have indicated, the Government will listen carefully to the inquiry and respond accordingly to the recommendations that it makes as we seek to learn lessons from a traumatic period in the country’s history.

The Government is responding to that information by maintaining its focus on improving the delivery of the national health service. We have seen waits, particularly the longest waits, reduce for four months in a row. There is more to be done, and the Government is making the necessary investment in reducing those waiting times. We are beginning to see the effect of that in the data that is available to us.