Chamber and committees

In relation to the recent grounding of the MV Varagen, I was pleased that everyone was safe after what was a worrying incident.

Councillor Stockan has raised the issue of the strength of the interisland ferry fleet, which I appreciate causes significant concern to Orkney Islands Council and to islanders. Islanders rely on regular services in that respect, and we must make sure that those are operational and safe. That will be one of the points that Councillor Stockan and I will discuss, and I am aware that Councillor Stockan has also discussed the issue with the transport minister, Jenny Gilruth. I assure Mr McArthur that the Government is engaging constructively on the importance of renewing the ferry fleet to serve all our island communities.

The aim of the emergency budget review was to support those who need most help, while also managing the nation’s budget. That meant making hard choices to further prioritise spending and find savings. Many of the difficulties that are facing public finances are the result of the United Kingdom Government prematurely cutting the funding that was intended to support our recovery from the pandemic, despite the Scottish Government warning against that action.

The emergency budget review identified a further £615 million in savings. Those are not decisions that we would wish to make but, in the absence of additional funding from the UK Government, they are decisions that we were compelled to make in order to balance the books this financial year, while prioritising funding to help families, back business and protect the delivery of public services.

I sympathise very much with the point that Mr O’Kane makes about the importance of ensuring that people with long Covid are able to access the support that they require to assist them in their recovery. In some cases, that will involve clinical support; in other cases, it might involve additional assistance that individuals might require to assist them on their journey into employability. I assure Mr O’Kane that the Government is working across portfolios to ensure that we put in place the support that is necessary to assist individuals in their recovery.

To my recollection, the figures that Mr Fraser quotes for the funding that was available are correct. If that funding has not been utilised, it will be made available to meet other budget pressures within the Government. Mr Fraser is familiar with the fact that I am wrestling with the challenge of balancing the budget, so any resources that are not needed for the purposes for which they are allocated are being drawn into the centre so that I can meet funding pressures across the Government.

It is impossible to give Mr Fraser a link between the individual money that was allocated for one fund and the other purposes for which it is being used in the Government—Mr Fraser knows the way in which Government funding works—but I remind Parliament that I am still working to balance the budget this year, because of the significant and corrosive effects of inflation, and because of the public sector pay deals. Parliament was well informed of the challenges that I face by the Auditor General’s statement that was issued last Thursday, which gave a fair and accurate account of the significant challenges that I face in this financial year.

The current economic landscape presents us with significant challenges. The approach of the United Kingdom Government in cutting public spending risks prolonging that recession, hampering efforts to restore the public finances. There are alternatives to austerity that invest in public services and the economy, including inflationary increases to devolved Governments’ 2022-23 budgets.

It is, unfortunately, inevitable that some of the savings that we need to make will have negative impacts. There are no easy decisions, but we have prioritised help for those who need it most. The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering the actions that are set out in our Covid recovery strategy, and our internal monitoring indicates that the majority of the strategy actions remain complete or on track.

There is a careful balance to be struck between legitimate expectations of performance and support and inappropriate conduct. I am mindful of that a great deal. There are times when I am frustrated by things that are put in front of me, but I always express my frustration in an appropriate and courteous fashion. I need to be supplied with accurate information—if I do not use accurate information, people complain about that. If I do not think that I am getting accurate information, I will press to get it, but I will do so in an appropriate fashion. There is a careful balance between setting out legitimate expectations of performance and behaving in a fashion in which your conduct is not acceptable. Ministers have to be very careful to calibrate that balance in the right fashion.

There are none, full stop. Our complaints handling process has been in place since February. That is the process as it stands. For total completeness, I set out that we have had no complaints submitted on the basis of the procedure that was put in place in February. The changes that I am explaining today will potentially give rise to further change to the procedure in due course. At that moment, the points that I am raising today will be included in the procedure. As I said in response to the convener’s points, if the committee thinks that we are not getting this right, I will be interested to hear that from the committee. Notwithstanding that, with any complaints that are received after that moment of application, we will reflect any changes in the procedures.

The issue is not that I judge that not to be appropriate; it is that we do not have a basis for so doing.

It is about an initial consideration of the substance of the issue and whether it should be considered as a complaint. Some voices will say that that provision should not exist and that every issue should be considered fully but, in my judgment, it is appropriate that we have that initial consideration, given the context that Liz Smith puts about other scenarios.

Yes.