Chamber and committees

I recognise the importance of access to GP services. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care will be engaging on questions about improvements that can be delivered to the capital estate. I am sure that he will be happy to engage with Dr Gulhane on that question and ensure that the issues that he has put to me can be factored into the Government’s capital planning.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continues to deliver a high standard of service in order to meet its commitment to keep people in Scotland safe.

In this financial year, there was an overall increase of £29.3 million to SFRS’s budget, which is a substantial increase. The budget is now £79 million higher than it was in 2017-18. I do not agree with Maggie Chapman’s characterisation of the service. It has attracted investment, and it continues to perform well and to deliver safety and security to the population.

Where I do agree with Maggie Chapman is in relation to the pressure on public finances, which comes from the austerity agenda. I hope that the austerity agenda will come to an end, because, as the member knows, we have to live within the resources that are available to us. However, we should have confidence in a fire service that has more firefighters per head of population than any other in the United Kingdom, and that is well supported by the Government’s financial commitments.

The national health service is working to reduce waiting times for individuals. The latest information that is available to us on NHS in-patient and day-case activity, which is for quarter 2, tells us that that is now at the highest level since the start of the pandemic.

The problems that Mr Sarwar puts to me are an accumulation of the impact of delays to treatment because of the pandemic. On waiting times, the figures that I just put on the record show the 10th quarterly increase in a row and are 9.9 per cent higher than they were during the same period last year. That comes on top of the fact that, over the past 12 months, there has been a 5.1 per cent increase in the number of operations performed, which addresses part of the issue that Mr Sarwar put to me, principally with regard to orthopaedic treatment and others.

We are seeing an improvement in national health service capability and in its capacity to impact on the waits that Mr Sarwar put to me, but we have significant challenges to overcome as a consequence of the pandemic. The Government is focusing resources through the investments that we are making. In this financial year, we have allocated more than £19.5 billion—a record amount of funding—to the national health service to ensure that the resources are in place to address the challenges that Mr Sarwar put to me.

The Cabinet will meet shortly after the October recess.

I am glad to hear the enthusiasm of Rachael Hamilton and the Conservatives for the Borders railway, because I have been around here for so long that I remember that that was not always the case when the proposal was going through the Parliament. However, we will all move on.

I am delighted that the Conservatives value the Borders railway. I think that it is super and that the level of passenger numbers that has been achieved is tremendous. I know that there is quite often quite a lot of congestion on the Borders railway, and we are doing our best to address that. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport takes forward all those issues with her counterparts in the UK Government. She was actively involved in discussions on those questions just last week with the UK Government, and that approach will be maintained.

I am interested—

I accept the points that Mr Gibson has made on behalf of his constituents in Arran. The position with the MV Caledonian Isles has been difficult. We thought that the vessel would come back into service several weeks ago—indeed, it returned from significant repairs in Birkenhead and we expected it to go back into service—but the issue that Mr Gibson raises has caused a delay to that.

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport is in active dialogue with CalMac to ensure that there is continuity of service. There has been extensive, protracted and very difficult dialogue about Ardrossan harbour—given the close attention that Mr Gibson has paid to the issue, he will know how difficult it has been. No lack of effort has been put into the dialogue—we have just not managed to reach agreement. We have managed to sustain a two-vessel service on the Ardrossan and Troon to Brodick routes over the period, and CalMac will endeavour to ensure that that remains the case in order to service Mr Gibson’s constituents. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport will keep him updated on developments.

The Acorn project and the Scottish cluster, which Kevin Stewart highlights to me, are vital for our just transition to net zero. The project is a significant strategic investment for Scotland and, I would add, for the United Kingdom. Therefore, I am very surprised that more progress has not been made on the Acorn project, when confirmation has been given for two projects south of the border and given how critical it is to our prospects.

As Parliament knows, I feel fundamentally misled on the project by the previous United Kingdom Government. I want to see urgent progress on it, and it is one of the issues that I will pursue in my discussions with the Prime Minister when I see him tomorrow.

First, I am sorry that Steven has waited as long as Mr Cole-Hamilton has narrated to me today. If he wishes to furnish me with information about the case, I will, of course, look into it and see what can be established.

What I will say to reassure Mr Cole-Hamilton is that there has been a 15 per cent increase in the number of people accessing CAMHS compared with pre-pandemic levels. In the financial year 2023-24, 18,366 patients started treatment with CAMHS and, in 2022-23, the highest number of people on record started treatment with CAMHS. One in two children and young people who are referred to CAMHS now start treatment within six weeks, which is a significant improvement on pre-pandemic levels.

I know that that is no comfort in addressing the particular circumstance that Mr Cole-Hamilton put to me, but I assure him that the Government has put resources into that area of activity. In 2022-23, the budget was increased from £98 million to £114.8 million—an increase of 17.2 per cent. I hope that that is an indication to Mr Cole-Hamilton of the seriousness with which the Government takes those issues and of its willingness to address them. We will, of course, commit to doing more, and we will consider the points that Mr Cole-Hamilton has put to me when we settle on our budget position for the next financial year. I hope that we will be able to make improvements on that question.

Clare Adamson has made a reasonable point, and she welcomes the legislative changes. However, key aspects of the income tax system, such as the definition of taxable income, continue to be reserved. This Parliament cannot effect change on matters such as tips and taxes on gifts.

Clare Adamson has made a very fair and reasonable point, which I am sure will have been heard by those who take those decisions in the United Kingdom Government. If they are at all interested in fairness, the call that she has made should be acted on. [Interruption.]