Chamber and committees

That is not what the Government is doing. What the Government is doing is putting in place protection for tenants through rent controls, and a mechanism to enable that to be the case.

We cannot replicate the circumstances and arrangements that were in place during the Covid emergency when we are not living through a Covid emergency; we would never be able to sustain that either in law or with legal challenge. Instead, we have to put in place a measure that not only provides protection for tenants but enables investment. As we have explained to Parliament, the reason why we have resolved to propose a change to the contents of the bill at stage 2 is to ensure that we can put certainty into the market so that we can attract further private investment in the housing stock of Scotland to enable us to tackle the housing emergency that our country faces.

I am very pleased that the Deputy First Minister, along with partners, will sign the Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal this afternoon. Through that, we have committed £50 million of support to the region to deliver fair, green economic growth now and in the years to come. I pay tribute to my colleague Michael Matheson for his efforts in articulating the interests of the people of Falkirk and Grangemouth in the composition of that deal.

Through that work, we will explore the use of new technologies at Grangemouth. Mr Matheson will be familiar with the fact that ministers have engaged, through joint working with the Grangemouth future industry board, to identify such projects and to take them forward through the project willow exercise, which is identifying further uses for the Grangemouth refinery.

I have had further dialogue with Unite the union about how the refinery’s lifespan may be expanded, and I intend to persist in trying to do that to provide more opportunities for us to manage the transition effectively.

In addition, there will be £4 million of investment in the skills transition centre at Forth Valley College to ensure that we have the facilities that are required in order to deliver the necessary training, and £12 million will go towards the greener Grangemouth programme, which will be overseen by the community and will deliver projects to improve the town.

Those technologies are being rolled out and implemented, and I know from my constituency case load the difference that those technologies make. Obviously, that is a priority for Government in relation to the investment that we take forward. I assure Mr Choudhury of the importance that the Government attaches to tackling waiting times so that people can have the support that they require at the earliest possible opportunity.

Of course, we can deploy resources after 1 April only if there is parliamentary agreement on the budget, so I invite Mr Choudhury to encourage his colleagues to support the Government on the budget that we will bring forward in December.

I have every sympathy with the point that Sue Webber has put to me. Any shape or form of violent or aggressive behaviour in our society is completely and utterly unacceptable. When such behaviour is deployed towards bus drivers who are delivering a public service in our communities, it is wholly unacceptable, just as it was unacceptable for emergency workers to be attacked in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh, as they were around bonfire night. I am wholly supportive of the point that Sue Webber put to me.

I will explore the issue that Sue Webber raised with me about young people who might abuse the use of their under-22 bus pass. I know from speaking to young people how valued that bus pass is by the overwhelming majority of young people who use it properly, never cause any bother and are an absolute joy to be on a bus with. However, there is a minority, and I will explore the point that Sue Webber put to me to determine whether any action could be taken. Obviously, if there is any form of criminal conduct, that will be a matter for the police to address, and I am sure that Sue Webber will agree that we would expect the police to do so.

The Scottish Government does not support the changes that are being made to the work capability assessment. We will take forward dialogue and engagement with the UK Government to advance the concerns that disabled people’s organisations have put to us and that Rona Mackay has powerfully articulated in Parliament today and we will act to ensure that we provide the necessary support for those who face such challenges.

That is how homes get built. There has to be public expenditure allocated to make sure that we can support the affordable housing programme. If members of Parliament are going to vote against the Government’s budget, there will be no way that house building is undertaken in this country. What this Government is doing—[Interruption.]

If Meghan Gallacher wants homes to be built, I suggest that she encourages her colleagues to vote for the Government’s budget, because it is the budget that gets homes built. That is how—[Interruption.]

It has always been the case that ministers will attend sporting, cultural, societal and community events around the country. Indeed, I would expect ministers to do that, because they have to be in contact with various stakeholders around the country, so ministers will continue to engage on issues of importance with groupings around the country.

The Scottish Government undertakes procurement of consultants if in-house resources or specialist skills are unavailable within the organisation. The figure quoted by Rachael Hamilton from the material at the weekend is total spend on consultancy firms, which includes non-consultancy goods and services. Actual spend on consultants in 2022-23 was £8,570,806, not £42 million, and that spend is a decrease from the previous year and at its second-lowest level since 2018.

That will have an effect on care providers in our country.

Mr Sarwar will, week after week, as I take him through this, collide with the hard reality that what his UK Labour Government has done has increased the burdens on businesses and made it difficult for them to contribute to social care. For all Mr Sarwar’s rhetoric, he has to get behind the Government’s budget, because if he does not, he will be turning his back on the vulnerable in our society.