Chamber and committees

What I am interested in doing is ensuring that we manage the transition to net zero, because we cannot deny the climate crisis that we face. That will be the position that I adopt and observe, because the science tells me that that is the rational position for us to take. It will also dictate the approach that I take on energy policy and encouraging the move to sustainable energy security by the investments that we make in offshore renewables. Again, that is supported by the Government’s budget, which passed stage 1 on Tuesday, and is facilitated by outstanding interventions such as that from SGN in Methil, where there is a pilot project on using hydrogen as a replacement for gas in domestic power systems.

Scotland is leading the world on such innovation, and I am immensely proud of what our academic institutions and companies are doing to take forward that agenda. They will have the full support of the Scottish Government.

The work of radiologists is absolutely crucial in effective delivery of a wide range of services, including cancer diagnostics. I take this opportunity to thank the radiologist community across the country for their commitment on our behalf.

Our investment in the radiologist workforce over the past 10 years is evidenced by an almost 25 per cent increase in consultant radiologist numbers. We continue to invest heavily in radiology training, funding 192 speciality training places in clinical radiology, including 78 extra places that we have added since 2014, based on modelling of future workforce need.

Clinical radiology training programmes, which have been filled at 100 per cent in Scotland every year since 2013, enable doctors to train, and to enter the workforce following completion of training, which takes a minimum of five years.

I welcome Mr MacGregor’s point. He acknowledges that I cannot comment on the substance of the case, because it is live, but I assure him that the Crown Office has made significant improvements in its engagement with families in recent years, as is reflected in its family liaison charter. I fully expect that the family involved in this tragic case will get the support that they require. If there are any concerns about that, I know that Mr MacGregor will faithfully raise them with the Lord Advocate on behalf of his constituents.

I assure Roz McCall that I have every intention, working closely with my minister Natalie Don-Innes, to provide all the necessary focus, leadership and impetus. In the programme for government that was published in September, the concept of whole family support was absolutely pivotal to the achievement of the Government’s highest priorities related to the eradication of child poverty. I want to make sure that the work that we undertake to improve the experience of care-experienced individuals is right at the heart of our agenda on eradicating child poverty and providing the best start in life for children and young people. I assure Roz McCall of the Government’s absolute determination to ensure that that is the case.

The approach is obviously having a beneficial effect given the number of procedures that are being delivered through it. To ensure that we have robust data and to allow us to better identify how robot-assisted surgery can be used across the national health service, we have commissioned Public Health Scotland to audit the experience. That data will be vital in ensuring that we can continue to scale up, drive equitable access and maximise patient benefit.

The concerns that the cabinet secretary raised were about the time taken for the decision-making process as a consequence of Government scrutiny. The minister expressed her concern that the Government had to speed up its decision-making processes in that respect. That has happened as a consequence of the actions that ministers have taken in the intervening period.

I am struck by the fact that, on 23 April 2024, one of Mr Hoy’s colleagues said that consent times were

“a huge issue”

for offshore wind farms, and he called on the Scottish Government

“to streamline the necessary regulatory and administrative processes, to expedite the approval and implementation of offshore wind programmes”.—[Official Report, 23 April 2024; c 6.]

Those were the words of Douglas Lumsden MSP as they appear in the Official Report of the Scottish Parliament.

I suggest that the Scottish Conservatives decide whether they want to have projects delivered timeously or whether they want to get in the road. Either way, the Conservatives look as though they are in their usual muddle today.

I am well aware of the case and have discussed it with Jamie Hepburn, the local member, in the course of this week.

Such decisions are taken by Creative Scotland, which works independently of Government, as the law requires. Creative Scotland makes those decisions in line with the criteria that it has set out. I understand that there is to be a meeting next week between the chief executive of Creative Scotland and Cumbernauld theatre to consider the issues.

I recognise the enormous disappointment that will be experienced in Cumbernauld. However, Mr Griffin must accept that there is not parliamentary support for the Government to intervene in Creative Scotland’s decision making, because Parliament has determined that Creative Scotland should be able to take those decisions for itself.

I hope that there is a constructive conversation that can find some way of resolving the issue. Among all the other decisions that have been taken, the content of the Government’s budget has given an absolutely colossal boost to culture and the arts in Scotland. There is a real improvement in the funding that is available, and I am glad that that has been able to be felt across communities the length and breadth of our country.

I understand the significance of the point that Lorna Slater puts to me. The temporary changes to rent adjudication come to an end on 31 March, when the arrangements will revert back to the existing legal requirements, which are based on market rent.

I am aware of the concerns that have been raised. We know that a longer-term approach is required on rental policy, which is why the Government has introduced provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Bill to support the introduction of longer-term rent controls when that is needed and justifiable. The Government will focus on ensuring that we get that legislation correct as we bring it through Parliament.

I am grateful to Rona Mackay for raising that important question on the fifth anniversary of the Promise. The Parliament made the Promise unanimously and we all have a duty to keep it.

Yesterday, I spoke with care-experienced young people at the University of Glasgow. I heard about the challenges that they have faced and about their hopes for the future.

We are making progress to deliver the Promise. We have seen a 15.6 per cent reduction, since 2020, in the number of children in care and more than £110 million of investment in whole family support, and nobody under 18 is now admitted to a young offenders institution.

I assure Rona Mackay and the Parliament that I am absolutely committed to delivering the improvements needed. I welcome the report by the oversight board, which is clear that, although there is more to be done, the Promise can be kept by 2030.

The best thing that we can do is to power on with our plans for renewable energy development and ensure that Scotland can realise the extraordinary natural resources that we have. I saw that being developed at the Methil yard in Fife yesterday in a collaboration between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government in securing investment from Navantia and securing the future of the workforce at Methil.

We should power on with renewables. That should be the clear policy signal from the Scottish Government.