Chamber and committees

We welcome the UK Government’s long-overdue announcement to reconsider the decision on compensation for women born in the 1950s who were impacted by the maladministration of the changes to state pension age. Around 336,000 women in Scotland were impacted, and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended that they should receive compensation of up to £2,950 each. The Scottish Government has and always will support the WASPI campaign, and I urge the UK Government to finally do the right thing and compensate the women affected now.

I share the concerns that Mr Kidd has set out to Parliament. The proposals run the risk of undermining the cohesion of our communities and pushing more people, including families with children, into poverty, destitution and increasing homelessness, and leaving local authorities to pick up the pieces. We need to take a sensitive approach to the whole question of asylum and immigration. Scotland is a welcoming country, and I want to make sure that that continues to be the case in the future.

Any acts of violence are completely unacceptable in our society and individuals should not be perpetrating those attacks. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport is exploring measures around whether there are any circumstances in which there is a reason or justification for restricting access to public transport concessionary travel as a consequence of any behaviour. Policing in our communities is an essential part of that endeavour but, fundamentally, it is about how individuals behave. Any act of violence is unacceptable in our society.

That is the position of the Scottish Government. Indeed, court judgments in the United Kingdom have reinforced that position, so it is now necessary for the UK Government to consider developments in that context.

We will set out what we have done and what practical assistance we are delivering, such as the measures to support new business ventures in Grangemouth and the transition funds that we have made available in the north-east of Scotland. Those measures recognise that Government has to be an active player in protecting industry and employees, and that is exactly what the Scottish Government will do.

Covid-19 was incredibly difficult for everyone. I express my heartfelt sympathies to everyone who lost a loved one during the pandemic and to those who suffered a tremendous level of disruption to their lives.

At all times, ministers’ actions were based on the best information that was available to them at the time. I have set out to the Covid-19 inquiry the basis of the decision making with which I was involved. The Scottish Government took those decisions incredibly seriously to ensure that we took the necessary action to protect the population at a time when we had no guidebook on what we were dealing with. We supported establishing a public inquiry so that all Governments can learn the necessary lessons for the future. That is exactly what the Scottish Government will do.

All the actions that I took regarding information were consistent with Scottish Government policy.

It was also extended by the Conservative Government. [Interruption.]

I begin by expressing my warmest congratulations to Steve Clarke and the Scotland squad. It was an absolute privilege to be present at Hampden park on Tuesday night and to see such an exciting football game with spectacular goals. The Scotland national team has brought joy to everyone in Scotland and I pay warm tribute to the players for what they achieved on Tuesday. [Applause.]

Russell Findlay raises important issues about the future of employment in Scotland. We in the Government will do everything that we can to support the workforce at ExxonMobil in light of the challenges that are now being faced as a consequence of the decision in connection with the Mossmorran plant.

It is absolutely vital that we take forward measures to ensure a just transition, which means that we must manage the issues that confront us in relation to the future of the North Sea oil and gas sector and the implications for other communities.

On Tuesday, the Government signalled our determination to use the learning that has come from the work that we are undertaking on Grangemouth and apply it to the situation at Mossmorran to provide every support that we can to the employees, who are facing a very difficult future as a consequence of Tuesday’s announcement.

One of the many flaws in the argument that Mr Sarwar has just put to me is that he is comparing this moment today with the start of this parliamentary session. At the start of this session, the country was still dealing with Covid. We were still in the midst of Covid. We still had a pause—for at least a year beyond the start of this session—on routine scheduled cases because of the priority to sustain the national health service during that period. The idea that Mr Sarwar is comparing like with like ignores—as he always does—the reality of the Covid pandemic and its significant disruption.

I can reassure Mr Sarwar that, under my leadership, the scale of national health service activity is increasing in order to tackle those very issues. We had more than 10,000 extra out-patient attendances in September compared with August. Activity in our national health service has increased: from April to September 2025, there were over 31,000 more appointments and procedures than in the same period in 2024. We are now seeing the total list size and the longest waits coming down. We are also treating more people, with activity increasing significantly compared with last month and last year.

The actions that Mr Sarwar is calling for—of increased NHS activity, increased numbers of procedures and increased solutions for the people of Scotland—are happening, and they are happening under my leadership. They will carry on happening under my leadership, because I am determined to support our population to recover from Covid.

I will look into Mr Bibby’s point about my reply—if I promised a reply and it was not forthcoming, I apologise for that. I will look into the issue immediately after First Minister’s question time.

As I said in my answer to Mr Ross, the Government has increased the funding available for road safety activity in Scotland by 33 per cent. Road Safety Scotland is undertaking a range of national behaviour change campaigns in 2025-26 relating to motorbikes, speed, drink and drug driving, fitness to drive, distractions and young drivers. Police Scotland and partners have been undertaking road safety activities, including the fatal 5 campaign, the motorcycle safety campaign, the 2 wheels campaign, operation spotlight and national drunk driving week. A whole range of measures have been taken to improve road safety. However, I will look into the specific issue that Mr Bibby has set out for me and will take forward the necessary response.

The Scottish Government’s position is that any new oil and gas developments have to pass a climate compatibility assessment to ensure that they are consistent with the agenda that we have to take forward on net zero. [Interruption.]