Chamber and committees

On Monday, when the Government delivered on its commitment to abolish peak rail fares, commuters travelling from Glasgow to Edinburgh daily saw their travel costs reduced by 48 per cent. That is an astonishing saving for households in the country and for people commuting, but even that cannot be welcomed by Russell Findlay today.

I do not really think that Russell Findlay is in the strongest position to lecture me—[Interruption.]

In-patient waiting lists are falling. That is what is happening under the SNP. In-patient waiting lists are getting smaller as a consequence of the interventions that we made.

I put to the Parliament a range of measures that would expand the number of procedures and appointments that were envisaged in the national health service. We surpassed our original targets with that investment, and we put in place the largest-ever financial settlement to expand the service’s capacity. What is that achieving for us? It is helping us to roll out national treatment centre activity around the country; to deliver an increased number of operations; and to make sure that we have the largest number of hip and knee operations, which are at an all-time high.

Those are all things that the budget deal put in place. The only problem with the budget deal is that Anas Sarwar refused to vote for it. How has he got any credibility on the health service when he cannot even put his finger on the button to support the Government’s budget? It is laughable.

In relation to that individual case, I apologise to people who have to wait too long for treatment. The length of wait in the case that Mr Sarwar puts to me is unacceptable. If he will send me the details, I will look at it very specifically and get an answer from the chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire.

In the wider context, the performance of Scotland’s core A and E system has outperformed that of the systems in England and Wales for the past 10 years. I accept that that is no consolation to an individual who has to wait too long or to their family, but the general performance of A and E departments in Scotland’s national health service is stronger than that in the rest of the United Kingdom. As I recounted to the Parliament on Tuesday, the numbers of waits for eight and 12 hours in our accident and emergency departments are falling.

I want to ensure that people get treatment as quickly as they need to. In Scotland, 1 million people go into and out of A and E departments within four hours every year. We have to ensure that that performance is strengthened. The Government is absolutely focused on doing exactly that.

I express my sympathies to anyone who is affected by the loss of a loved one or who has been injured on our roads. The Scottish Government is investing a record £48 million in road safety in this financial year, including just over £12 million on trunk road safety engineering. Transport Scotland regularly liaises with Police Scotland on road safety issues and undertakes an annual assessment of the safety performance of the trunk road network. Mitigation measures are then prioritised for delivery. That robust approach ensures that the funding targets specific locations with a direct focus to improve safety and to save lives.

The Government is undertaking the work that I set out in my earlier answer to Tess White. On the issue of schools guidance, we are committed to ensuring that the supporting transgender young people in schools guidance is fit for purpose. As with any significant legal or policy developments, we are considering what developments are required in the guidance to ensure that all aspects of that analysis are taken forward. There is complex work under way in that respect and the Government is doing that work.

I understand the inconvenience for members of the public when there are occasional interruptions to water supply. That happens very infrequently, when issues affect individual water systems around the country. I know that Scottish Water worked quickly to restore supplies and provided water to the affected households to ensure that they received an adequate supply during that period. I understand the inconvenience, but I recognise that Scottish Water worked hard to ensure that it offered resilience where there was an interruption to supplies.

I recognise the importance of the issue that Liam Kerr raises and the worry that it will be causing his constituents. The cabinet secretary is actively engaged in considering the proposals that have been put to her and will come to conclusions very shortly. Mr Kerr and his constituents will be advised when that conclusion has been reached.

I have set out my concern about where the debate on migration is going. I honestly do not think that Sandesh Gulhane’s contribution helps us one bit in trying to ensure that our country remains cohesive and united, as it has always been on those questions.

The issues that the city of Glasgow faces are fundamentally because of the inadequacy of the approach of the United Kingdom Home Office—Councillor Aitken made that point clearly. That is where there needs to be a realisation of the implications of those issues, and I encourage the Home Office to engage with Glasgow City Council on those particular questions.

I make it absolutely clear to anyone who is listening that I think that Scotland is a welcoming country. Under my leadership, it will remain a welcoming country, and that is something that we as a country should be proud of.

What independence offers for Scotland is a fresh start, and that will be positively welcomed by the people of Scotland.

In that debate, I set out the fact that Scotland is now seeing in-patient waiting lists falling, the number of general practitioners increasing, the number of drug deaths—which is still far too high—falling, and young people delivering the best examination results since 2019, before the pandemic.

I notice that there was no round of applause from the Conservatives for the young people of Scotland who delivered an outstanding examination performance, but I am proud of them and all that they have achieved.

What the Scottish Government is doing—[Interruption.]