Chamber and committees

I am sure that Parliament shares my concern at media reports of the tragic loss of five young lives as a consequence of whooping cough. Those deaths occurred in England, but Public Health Scotland has confirmed that notifications of whooping cough—or pertussis—in Scotland have increased since the beginning of the year and that the number of laboratory-confirmed cases is likely to rise in line with that.

Pertussis is spread by respiratory droplets, either directly between people or via contaminated items. Young, unimmunised children and babies are particularly at risk of severe illness. The infection can be prevented by immunisation, so I encourage parents to ensure that younger children and infants are immunised. Pregnant women should also receive the vaccine, which provides vital protection for the first few weeks of their baby’s life.

Between April 2016 and March 2023, we have delivered more than 10,000 homes in rural and island areas. We are working with local authorities and registered social landlords to encourage utilisation of the £25 million key workers homes fund where there are identified local requirements. I am pleased that three local authorities are actively looking to bring forward proposals in rural communities. We will invest nearly £600 million in affordable homes across Scotland this year, including significant investment in rural and island areas through our mainstream affordable housing supply programme, as well as our demand-led rural and islands housing fund and rural affordable homes for key workers fund.

I will happily take forward the issues that Mr Kerr has raised with me today. The Government has an infrastructure programme that is taking forward developments around the country. I will look at the particular project that Mr Kerr has put to me and consider the position of that project in the Government’s capital programme.

I am often lectured in the Parliament about the importance of good intergovernmental relations. The Secretary of State for Scotland has made no mention of the proposal to the Scottish Government. That is utterly and completely incompatible with good intergovernmental working and is illustrative of the damaging and menacing behaviour of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The Scottish Government will not support new nuclear power stations in Scotland. I was in Ardersier on Monday and the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy was in Nigg on Tuesday to support the announcements of formidable investments in Scotland’s renewable energy potential. Those are massive investments that will bring jobs and opportunities to the Highlands and Islands and deliver green, clean energy for the people of Scotland. That is the Government’s policy agenda, and we will have nothing to do with nuclear power.

I will never evade responsibility for my actions as a minister; it is not in my character to do so. However, I will be straight with the Parliament and the public in Scotland.

If anyone wants to look at all the things that I have said on the parliamentary record over the past 17 years, they will find me being straight with people about the financial challenges that we face. I also happen to be a former finance minister who balanced the budget on 10 occasions over the past 17 years. That involved taking difficult decisions to protect our public services, and it resulted in the national health service being the best-funded service among our public services.

We have also had to take some pretty tough decisions, for which I take responsibility, such as increasing tax on higher earners. Mr Sarwar has deserted that territory. Mr Sarwar and Mr Marra no longer believe in that territory. They voted for it once, and they now condemn it.

How does Mr Sarwar believe that we can invest as much as we do in the health service today if we are not prepared to ask people to contribute more in taxation? That gives us £1.5 billion more in revenue at our disposal, because of decisions for which I am absolutely happy to take responsibility. As a consequence of that, we can fund the national health service better than if we had relied simply on the financial settlement from the United Kingdom.

Keeping children and young people safe from sexual abuse and exploitation, including sextortion, is a priority for the Scottish Government.

We welcome the efforts of the National Crime Agency to raise awareness of that serious harm. We, too, are raising awareness of the risk of sextortion and have provided information to parents and carers on the Parent Club website, which is currently being promoted via social media. Police Scotland is also updating sextortion resources on its website to reflect the new National Crime Agency guidance.

We will continue to work closely with national and UK partners, including the Internet Watch Foundation, Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, to tackle cybercrime, including sextortion scams.

I reiterate to Mr Ross that the recommendations were implemented but were found to be unsustainable. They were implemented for a three-year period; I have accepted that that is not good enough and that the issue must be addressed, which is exactly what the health secretary is doing.

It is important that I put on record the emergency care that is available in Skye. There is an advanced nurse practitioner-led, non-emergency, appointments-based out-of-hours service in Portree hospital, which is available by appointment on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 8.30 in the morning to 7.30 pm.

There is an accident and emergency at Broadford hospital, which is 30 minutes south of Portree. In addition to that provision, the Scottish Ambulance Service has four double-crewed ambulances that cover Skye, which are based in Broadford, Portree, Dunvegan and Kyle.

There is, however, a necessity for Sir Lewis Ritchie’s recommendations to be implemented. That is exactly what the health secretary has insisted will be undertaken with NHS Highland, and that is what will happen. We will update Parliament about the improvements that are delivered.

It is very important that we have a substantial discussion about the public finances and the context in which we are operating. In Scotland, we are operating after 14 years of austerity that have put insufferable pressure on our public services. Within that, the national health service has been the best financially supported of any service in Scotland.

Anas Sarwar could have come here today to ask me about financial pressures on local government—he would have been right to do so, because there are financial pressures on local government—but he is raising with me financial pressures on the national health service, which is the public service that has been best funded by the Government.

I have set the context for Anas Sarwar’s question, because he and his colleagues have to understand that Scotland is now paying an intolerable price for 14 years of Westminster austerity.

I recognise the importance of good-quality affordable housing in rural and island communities to address some of the public service delivery challenges that exist.

Dr Allan and I have discussed that issue on many occasions in taking forward issues in relation to the islands. We are working to increase the supply of affordable housing in rural and island areas. An investment of £3.7 million has been made in the Scottish empty homes partnership, which is making a real difference, with more than 9,000 homes having been brought into use since 2010. I want to see all local authorities and partners working together to consider all available options. The Government will be very much part of that discussion. The Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan, who is listening to these exchanges, will take forward the issue as a priority in order to ensure that we address the challenges that exist in many of the communities that Dr Allan represents.

The Scottish Government’s priority is to ensure provision of a high-quality service to communities on the Clyde and Hebrides routes. As stated in Parliament on 16 November, the Cabinet has agreed that, subject to the completion of a satisfactory due diligence exercise, the next generation of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service provision could be awarded via a Teckal exemption to the incumbent, CalMac Ferries Ltd. If an award via a Teckal exemption is confirmed to be the procurement route for the next service provision, a tender process will not be required. Should the due diligence work have an unsatisfactory outcome, we would revert to a competitive tendering process. An update on the preferred procurement route will be provided before the summer recess.