Chamber and committees

Let me be absolutely crystal clear with Parliament. I have never in my life believed, nor will I ever believe, that a male rapist should, in the words of Rachael Hamilton, get his way. I will not be associated with that language. Our law and legal framework make that abundantly clear.

In relation to the specific question about the guidance from Police Scotland, those are operational matters for Police Scotland. There would be outrage if I were to interfere in the actions and decision making of Police Scotland. The law is clear that I cannot do that. I am sure that Police Scotland will have heard the exchanges in Parliament today and will consider the issues, if there are any that it wishes to address.

In the most recent year for which published data is available—2021-22—in all convictions of rape or attempted rape, the crimes were perpetrated by males. That is a statement of fact in relation to the most recent data that is available.

I acknowledge the concerns that are being expressed in the Parliament today, but I return to the fundamental point that the recording of information on those who commit crime is an operational matter for Police Scotland. It must be accountable for the decisions that it takes, and it is not for the First Minister to interfere or specify in operational matters of Police Scotland.

Independent hospices are highly valued and provide vital support to people and their families, as well as supporting other local health and social care services and teams delivering palliative care. I understand the pressures that hospices are currently facing, and the Scottish Government strives to support independent hospices where possible.

There has been engagement and dialogue with the hospice sector, and the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health is meeting Hospice UK and the chair of the Scottish hospice leadership group next week to discuss support options in more detail.

Miles Briggs is correct that the arrangements that were previously in place were superseded by the introduction of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. As a consequence of the act, it became the responsibility of integration joint boards to plan and resource adult palliative care services, including hospice services, for their area, based on local need. That is now the route by which the funding arrangements are resolved.

We will continue to engage on these questions to determine what is the best approach to take to meet local needs, which will vary in different parts of the country. The minister’s meeting next week will provide us with the opportunity to reflect further on the questions.

We all have fond memories of the Commonwealth games in 2014, which were a marvellous spectacle, but it is important that everyone who is considering and discussing the issue is aware that the proposal that is being brought forward would not replicate the Commonwealth games of 2014, but would be a significantly reduced proposition in comparison.

There are also practical issues about the length of the preparatory time for the games. We had seven years to prepare for 2014, but there is just short of two years to prepare for any games in 2026. There are, of course, significant financial issues and Mr Whittle knows the pressures on the public purse at this time.

Discussions are under way with Commonwealth Games Scotland. The Government is engaging in good faith and will continue to do so.

It is important that we look at all the detail that is relevant in this area. For example, in the programme for government that I announced last Wednesday, we set out our investment programme for a just transition fund in the north-east and in Moray, and we set out our plans to significantly enhance the Scotland’s capacity to generate renewable energy. We have made formidable progress on the decarbonisation of electricity since this Government came to power and achieved significant improvements in that process. The programme for government includes material about the restoration of 10,000 hectares of degraded peatland and the creation of 10,000 hectares of woodlands. A variety of other measures in the programme for government also support our work on climate change.

I want to be crystal clear to Mr Harvie that the Government is absolutely committed to the journey that we have to take on climate. That commitment has underpinned our activities since we came to office in 2007, and it will underpin our activities in the years to come.

The transition has to be made, and it has to made fairly for all communities involved. That is the approach that the Scottish Government will take.

In his last weeks in office as Conservative leader, Douglas Ross really is plumbing the depths in the questions that he puts in Parliament today. His interpretation of the document is, I think, a vindication of that comment.

Douglas Ross knows full well the way in which the Scottish Government’s finances operate. If we suffer a cut of £160 million in our budget courtesy of the Labour Government, we have to respond to that, and we have to act accordingly.

I need no lessons from Douglas Ross about mitigating decisions of the United Kingdom Government, because the Scottish Government is currently mitigating a series of decisions that were taken by Douglas Ross and his colleagues on an on-going basis on the bedroom tax and other measures. We picked up the pieces because of the odious decisions that were taken by the Conservative Government in London, so I will take no lessons from Douglas Ross on that point.

Douglas Ross says to me that there are choices. Of course there are choices. If we followed the Conservatives on what they have said about tax and spending, I would not be cutting the budget by £160 million—I would be cutting it by £2 billion, because that is the reality of the position that the Conservatives put to Parliament. I will take no lessons today from Douglas Ross, as he desperately clutches at straws in his last weeks in office.

The issues at stake here are properly a matter for the local authority to determine, but it has a duty to make the arrangements that it considers necessary for the transport of pupils between home and school and to have regard to their safety. That commitment is a significant element of the guidance that is available, which has to be addressed by the local authority. The local authority’s engagement processes should be designed to ensure that parents and carers can make representations where they are concerned about the safety of their children, and the local authority should take those seriously.

The Government is facing very challenging financial times. Yesterday, I set out that we will deliver on our commitment to ensure that free school meals are available for primary 6 and primary 7 pupils who are eligible for the Scottish child payment.

We will not be able, in this parliamentary session, to roll out universal eligibility across primary 6 and primary 7 pupils, because our budget has been eroded by the fiscal mismanagement and the sky-high inflation that Douglas Ross was party to creating as part of his support for the United Kingdom Government.

On the question of the attainment gap, the Scottish Government has given steadfast support to the education system through the delivery of the Scottish attainment challenge and the provision of pupil equity funding. What do we see? We see that, among young people who are leaving school and going into positive destinations, the attainment gap has reduced by 60 per cent. That is transformational for the lives of young people in Scotland, and I am glad that the Scottish Government has delivered on those commitments.