Chamber and committees

Anyone who has listened to anything that I have said during my tenure as First Minister will know that I am absolutely committed to protecting and asserting the safety of women and girls in our society.

I am exercising leadership, as I have done from the moment I became First Minister, to challenge the underpinning issue that affects the safety of women and girls in society, which is the behaviour of men. I will be unapologetic in setting out that point of view from my position as a male First Minister, and in exercising leadership to make sure that men face up to their responsibilities to ensure that women and girls can live safely in our society today.

Anyone who has listened to anything that I have said during my tenure as First Minister will know that I am absolutely committed to protecting and asserting the safety of women and girls in our society.

I am exercising leadership, as I have done from the moment I became First Minister, to challenge the underpinning issue that affects the safety of women and girls in society, which is the behaviour of men. I will be unapologetic in setting out that point of view from my position as a male First Minister, and in exercising leadership to make sure that men face up to their responsibilities to ensure that women and girls can live safely in our society today.

Yes—I agree with what Annie Wells puts to me. During the festive period just a few months ago, Police Scotland strengthened the drink and drug driving campaign. I hope that that gives Annie Wells assurance that it will now be woven into the approach that the Government and Police Scotland are taking.

I reassure Annie Wells that there is a very high conviction rate for drug driving. In 2022-23, 95 per cent, which is a very high level, of those who were accused were convicted as a consequence of charges being brought. I accept unreservedly the member’s point about the necessity of raising awareness of the dangers of drug driving. We will ensure that that is reflected in the overall messaging on the issue.

Indeed, the numbers of those going to positive destinations are at record levels, so I do not intend to follow the policy approach that has been proposed by Mr Findlay, but I do not think that he does, either.

Most young people in our society behave well, and I compliment young people on the achievements that they make in our country.

I reassure Mr Doris that the Government is taking forward work that involves the design of systems to enable us to lift the two-child cap, which is one of the policy priorities and commitments in the Government’s budget for the coming year. That is under way and we are making the necessary progress on it.

Obviously, that measure will help us to lift children out of poverty. That will not be assisted by some of the speculation that we have heard over the past few days about significant reductions in the welfare budget, which will undoubtedly have the effect of jeopardising the incomes of households in Scotland and, particularly, affect child poverty levels in our country.

In 2019, a new drug driving offence was introduced, which added to the powers that are available to keep Scotland’s roads safe. Although I was concerned by the increase in the number of positive tests by Police Scotland, it is clear that its focused enforcement approach is helping to tackle the scourge of drug driving using the new law. We fully support the enforcement efforts of Police Scotland in addressing drug driving, and the budget will increase police funding by £70 million to £1.62 billion in order to support capacity and capability.

The Scottish Government is accelerating action for a fairer Scotland for women and girls, working to ensure that women and girls have equal rights and opportunities and equitable access to resources and can live their lives free from abuse. That work includes delivering the women’s health plan, investing to tackle domestic violence against women and girls and survivors of abuse, supporting women to access fair work and helping to reduce the gender pay gap.

The Government will leave no stone unturned in our work towards equality. I know that many members will be attending events this international women’s day, which are taking place in local communities across the country. I wish everyone a successful day of celebration and action.

The concessionary bus travel scheme has been an unparalleled success. It has, crucially, given young people much greater mobility in our society and has enabled them to access a much wider range of employment and training opportunities around the country. That will have a profound effect in all communities in the country, and I know that the effect that it has had in the Paisley constituency will be precious to Mr Adam. From my dialogue with young people, I know about the positive impact of the policy instrument and the way in which it has increased opportunities and life chances for young people in Scotland.

Progress is being made. As I said in my answer to Mr Sarwar and as I repeat in my answer to Rachael Hamilton, figures that were published in February show a 4 per cent decrease in the total waiting list for diagnostic tests, so we are making progress. For example, there has been a 44 per cent decrease in imaging waiting times at NHS Fife and a 22 per cent decrease in neurology waiting times at NHS Forth Valley.

Progress is being made, and it will be helped by the investment that the Government is making in the national health service, which I point out that Rachael Hamilton did not support. It is all very well coming here and complaining about issues in the national health service, but Rachael Hamilton is not prepared to support that financial investment; in fact, she represents a position of wanting to reduce public expenditure by £1 billion to afford a tax cut. How that will get orthopaedic appointments undertaken is beyond me. The Government is investing, and we are making much progress to reduce waiting lists. I will be happy to update Rachael Hamilton on the progress that we make in the weeks to come.