Chamber and committees

The issues with the court service are an effect of the situation that developed during the Covid pandemic, when a backlog of cases had to be addressed. The court service worked—and is still working—incredibly hard to erode the backlog that we have been wrestling with, and significant work has been undertaken.

I will look at other data. As the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs reported to Parliament last Thursday, our prisons are incredibly congested, in many cases with individuals who have been convicted and sentenced for long periods of time as a consequence of their drug-related activities. Our prison system and the Scottish Prison Service are wrestling admirably with the congestion that is caused by the many people involved in the organised crime that underpins the drug issues.

I know that the Crown and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service are working incredibly hard, and in an incredibly focused way, to ensure that those who perpetrate illegal drug activity in our society are brought to justice, and that many of them are.

That will remain the focused priority of the Scottish Government.

The existing arrangements, which are specified by the United Kingdom Government, are non-mandatory. As a consequence, there is a limit. It is one of the examples of the constitutional point that I make. I am very sympathetic to the member’s point, but I cannot exercise powers that I am not legally entitled to exercise. That is one of the limitations of the constitutional arrangements.

I am absolutely with Mr Cole-Hamilton in wanting to use the energy wealth of Scotland, which is absolutely beyond dispute—we all agree about that—and I am absolutely with him on the desire to eradicate fuel poverty.

In the summer, I spent some time on the island of Yell in Shetland, where I saw an excellent example of a community wind farm that is creating real benefit in the locality and is owned by the community. Such models can be delivered where there is community ownership, and the Scottish Government enabled that development to be undertaken on Yell. I then went to the main island in Shetland and saw a colossal wind farm—the Viking Energy project—that is not delivering the right level of benefit to the community, nor is it eradicating fuel poverty. People in Shetland are living cheek by jowl with one of the largest wind farms in Europe while paying the highest fuel bills and living in fuel poverty.

The powers to arrest that do not rest in this Parliament. They rest with the UK Government. I am determined—and I am very keen to work with Mr Cole-Hamilton—to get those powers here so that we can do something about it for the people of Shetland and the people of west Edinburgh.

I very much associate myself with the comments that Clare Adamson made. The Scottish Government is taking measures that are resulting in a reduction in child poverty in Scotland, but all the estimates show that, as a consequence of the actions of the Labour Government, particularly in welfare reform, there is likely to be a rise in child poverty across the rest of the UK, and, of course, across the rest of the UK, the level of child poverty is already rising.

I make the plea today—and I have made it on many other occasions—for the Labour Government to recognise the absolute imperative of eradicating child poverty, take the measures to lift the two-child cap and enable the Scottish Government to use the resources that we are using on that to mitigate another Westminster decision that is bad for Scotland.

The budget remains as originally published at £270.5 million.

I think that transparency and clarity were in my original answer; the budget remains as originally published at £270.5 million. I understand the importance of the issue and the significance that Mr Whittle attaches to all of that, but I simply make the observation that it is interesting that Mr Whittle is interested in the budget of £270.5 million for mental health support, but he was not interested enough to vote for the budget when it came to Parliament. It is all very well to come here and complain about budgets, but people have got to vote for them for them to be spent in the community in the first place.

Scotland is a nation that is extremely attractive to investors due to our skilled workforce, world-leading universities, a strong presence in the skilled workforce in sectors such as energy and a supportive business environment. That is why we have been ranked as the top destination for foreign direct investment outside of London and the south-east for the past 10 consecutive years. That work is led by the Deputy First Minister, who was actively engaged—as I have been—in the global investment summit that took place in Edinburgh this week.

A number of steps have been taken, particularly in relation to strengthening the scoping and consenting arrangements for offshore renewables projects. The Government is focused on taking those decisions. We work closely with the United Kingdom Government and press the argument, particularly with GB Energy and those responsible for the national grid, that there should be connectivity for those projects, so that the supply chain can have confidence in its investment decisions.

A number of developments that have taken their course—at Ardersier, and Sumitomo at Nigg—are strong indications of good foundations for the supply chain. However, we need every step of the journey to be undertaken to give us confidence in attracting investment. The Scottish Government is focused on making sure that that is the case.

We all make our policy choices. On nuclear, I have made the policy choice to ensure that we develop Scotland’s natural and sustainable sources of energy, because that is better for our people and our planet. I am proud to defend that in Parliament today.

Secondly, it is the shiniest of brass necks imaginable for Craig Hoy to indicate that there is an issue with oil and gas activity, because the Conservative Government that he supported presided over the punitive tax regime of the energy profits levy, which is recognised by every commentator to be the biggest impediment to the security of the North Sea oil and gas sector. Mr Hoy should face up to the realities of the dreadful decisions made by the last Conservative Government.

That is a sensitive issue and I have to be careful, because we are in territory in which Police Scotland has to make careful judgments about a variety of long-standing circumstances in Scottish society. Some of the issues are easier to handle than others.

Fundamentally, I believe that we have to recognise the right to peaceful, respectful public assembly and freedom of expression. We all enjoy that right and are committed to upholding it. However, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression should never be used to carry out or justify any form of hateful, violent, intimidating or otherwise criminal behaviour. Any form of hate crime is completely and utterly unacceptable. The 2021 act includes rigorous safeguards on free speech, which we respect everybody’s right to.