Chamber and committees

I agree with that point. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament have made it crystal clear that the UK Government’s 2020 act is unwelcome legislation that undermines the Scottish Parliament’s powers. It is crucial that the Scottish Parliament’s powers are respected. Those powers were supported by people in a referendum in 1997 and they have subsequently been enhanced by various legislative instruments that have been passed. Our decision-making structures should not be undermined or eroded by the UK Government.

I will, but I suspect that I am beginning to stretch the Presiding Officer’s patience.

I point out to Stephen Kerr that the Government has been elected on four occasions by the public in Scotland over the time period that he refers to. In relation to the issue of drug deaths, the Minister for Drugs Policy, Angela Constance, has made it very clear, and the First Minister made it clear in her statement, that the Government will consider all constructive suggestions, wherever they come from in Parliament. That does not guarantee that what is suggested will happen, because there will be many issues to wrestle with, but the Government will give serious consideration to the points that are raised in the proposed legislation that Mr Kerr refers to, because we are absolutely determined to put the necessary focus on the issue of drug deaths and on addressing that crisis, which I know that Angela Constance is doing.

As part of the wider approach to the 100 days commitments, particularly in relation to economic policy, we established an advisory council to shape our 10-year national strategy for economic transformation, which will be published later in the autumn. The strategy will set out the steps that we will take to deliver a green economic recovery and support new good green jobs, businesses and industries in the future.

If we are to secure that long-term sustainable future for our economy and communities, we cannot fail to address climate change and its impacts. We have worked with partners to ensure that the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—summit in Glasgow in November will be safe and, we hope, successful in relation to tackling climate change. To demonstrate Scotland’s commitment to tackling climate change, we have published our indicative nationally determined contribution based on our world-leading 2030 target to reduce emissions of all major greenhouse gases by at least 75 per cent. We have delivered on our commitment to establish the green jobs workforce academy to ensure that we can match the skills with the job opportunities that will drive our transition to net zero.

If Mr Kerr had been paying attention, he would have found that we had reached a financial agreement with local authorities over the summer to do exactly that, as well as extending the teaching profession. If he did his homework before he came to Parliament, it would be nice.

A lot has been said in the debate about the agreement that we have reached with the Scottish Green Party. I will make no apology for an agreement that focuses on taking the necessary action on tackling climate change, delivering economic recovery in the aftermath of Covid and tackling endemic child poverty, which will be made worse if universal credit cuts are delivered by the Tory Government at Westminster, or an agreement that gives the people of this country the right to decide on their constitutional future when they chose their members of Parliament to enable that. Seventy-one members were elected to this Parliament who are committed to an independence referendum, and I believe that the people of Scotland should have the right to have that referendum.

There has been an interesting point at the heart of this debate, and Douglas Ross and Murdo Fraser have been on opposite sides of it. I will reflect on a number of comments that Douglas Ross made. He is not present; I do not know the reason why.

The Government is committed to the earliest possible progress on the doubling of the child payment. The most immediate threat to the income of families is the removal of the universal credit supplementary payment, which the United Kingdom Government is about to embark on. I take this opportunity on my feet in the Parliament to commit myself to do everything that I can—my colleague Shona Robison is doing everything that she can—to try to ensure that the United Kingdom Government does not take that retrograde step. That is an immediate choice that is in front of United Kingdom Government ministers just now and which will directly do harm.

The Scottish Government has taken steps to put in place the bridging payments. We will make as early progress as we possibly can, and we would be happy to discuss that with the Labour Party.

However, as part of our dialogue and discussions with our colleagues from the Green Party, who are soon to be confirmed as ministers in the Scottish Government as a result of the Bute house agreement, we will certainly be focusing on those challenges. I look forward to ensuring that we build on our 100 days programme, working in partnership with our Green Party colleagues to progress the agreement, which will influence much of our programme for government and much of the remainder of this parliamentary session.

The Government is focused on ensuring that we continue the delivery that we have achieved in the first 100 days and to deliver on the expectations of the people of Scotland. We have set out an ambitious agenda. We have delivered on it in the first 100 days and we intend to keep delivering on it for the remainder of this parliamentary session.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the delivery of 80 key actions within the first 100 days of the new administration that will have a positive impact on the people of Scotland by leading the COVID-19 recovery, supporting NHS and care services, tackling the climate crisis, backing economic recovery and creating jobs, supporting communities and helping children and families, and recognises these actions as the foundation of improved outcomes for Scotland’s people that will continue to be delivered through the forthcoming Programme for Government, the COVID-19 recovery programme and the shared policy programme agreed between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party.

I will, Presiding Officer.

Our partnership agreement is committed to a buoyant future for Scottish agriculture. That is being challenged by the lunacy of Brexit that is forced upon us by the Conservative Party. There has been no word of apology or explanation for the chaos that is now inflicted on the people of this country, who cannot get the access to basic foodstuffs that Michael Gove promised that we would have after Brexit. Maybe a little too much time in the nightclubs of Scotland and not enough in the day job is what has gone wrong with Michael Gove.

The Government has undertaken a significant programme of work to achieve the commitments that we made in our first 100 days document. We will continue to pursue that approach for the remainder of the parliamentary session in a spirit of partnership with our colleagues in the Green Party. If the Opposition wishes to engage in that process, it will be welcome to do so, but I suggest to the Conservatives in particular that the tone of their contribution has to change significantly before anyone will take them seriously.

I remind Oliver Mundell that the Conservatives lost the election and that they lost the 2019 general election in Scotland when they told us that indyref2 was on the ballot paper. Jackson Carlaw—a man consigned to the back benches—led a campaign in 2019 telling us that indyref2 was on the ballot paper and that everyone had to come out and vote to stop it. What happened? The SNP hammered the Tories once again. The Tories lost half their seats. I would simply say to the Conservatives, “The strategy is not working.”

On 26 May, the First Minister made a statement to Parliament outlining our ambitious programme to drive the nation’s recovery from the Covid crisis. Central to that programme would be the delivery of the commitments that we set out in our first steps plan during the election campaign.

In the 100 days since the First Minister was elected by Parliament, we have applied a clear focus to delivering 81 priorities in the programme that would materially improve the health, safety, security and wellbeing of the people of Scotland. That period ended on 25 August, and I confirm that the Government delivered 80 of those 81 commitments. That is a significant achievement and one that clearly demonstrates that the Government is committed to delivering on its promises to the people of Scotland.

Successful completion of those commitments required a co-ordinated, collective approach across Government and with our partners. I welcome the progress that has been achieved, and I thank all those involved in the delivery of those commitments.

Those targeted interventions will deliver positive change for the people, families and communities who need it most, and for our economy, public services and environment. They touch on every ministerial portfolio, will have an impact on communities the length and breadth of Scotland and will have a lasting benefit for years to come.

Our most immediate priority has been to lead Scotland safely through the pandemic and to steer a careful course back to the closest that we can achieve to normality by reopening communities in a safe and responsible fashion. That has been possible only because of the success of our vaccination programme.

Every adult in Scotland has now been offered their first dose of a Covid vaccine, and we expect everyone who is eligible to be offered their second dose by 12 September. Drop-in or open-access clinics are now offered in all mainland health boards for those aged 16 and over. In total, 91 per cent of adults have received their first dose and 83 per cent have received their second. That includes 92 per cent of healthcare staff and 94 per cent of individuals who are shielding due to clinical vulnerability.

Although enormous progress has been made, Covid remains a significant threat to our people, and the sharp rise in cases in the last two weeks is a cause for a high degree of concern. Ministers are carefully assessing the case numbers and the relationship with hospitalisation levels. The First Minister will update Parliament on those considerations in her statement tomorrow.

Last week, the Government took the necessary steps towards learning lessons and improving understanding and preparedness for future pandemics when we published a set of draft aims and principles for an independent public inquiry into the handling of Covid-19 in Scotland. That will form the basis of a process to listen to the views of those affected—especially the bereaved—on what they wish to see from an inquiry. We have already started engaging with bereaved families, who we want to put at the heart of the inquiry and its approach. We will ensure that the inquiry has the necessary scope to consider the breadth of impact of the pandemic on the population across what we would habitually refer to as the four harms—Covid harm, non-Covid health harm, social harm and economic harm—to ensure that the inquiry is able to explore the full range of the actions of the Government and our partners and to subject those and the decision-making processes involved to full and open scrutiny.

Our continuing move back towards normality would not be possible without a strong and sustainable health and care sector. Throughout the pandemic, our national health service and care services have worked tirelessly to deal with the increased strain of Covid on top of the other on-going health and care needs of the population.

In our 100 days programme, we recognised the selflessness of NHS and care staff by delivering on our commitment to implement the most generous pay rise anywhere in the United Kingdom for NHS Scotland agenda for change staff. That average pay increase of 4 per cent benefits around 154,000 employees.

We also took steps to grow our health and care services to meet future challenges. Last week, the First Minister launched the NHS recovery plan to meet our ambition of increasing in-patient, day case and out-patient activity by 10 per cent. The plan is backed by over £1 billion of additional investment to support the delivery of improvements throughout the five years of the parliamentary session. Among other things, it will increase primary care investment by 25 per cent and restore face-to-face consultations in general practitioner surgeries. It will reduce accident and emergency attendances by 15 to 20 per cent and will increase out-patient capacity by 10 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels.

As part of the 100 days commitments, we also launched a consultation earlier this month to seek the views of the public on a national care system. We have heard a great deal about the problems that people face in the current system and now we want to engage the public and all interested parties to build a better approach that meets the needs of the public throughout the country.

However, health and care services are only one aspect of how the 100 days commitments materially improve the lives of the Scottish people. We also took steps to further invest in our communities, our homes, our families and the connections that help us to thrive. For instance, we have begun development of a new five-year plan focused on tackling loneliness and social isolation head on. We saw those issues being experienced during the Covid pandemic—that was illustrated to us clearly and powerfully. We have backed the plan with £10 million over five years. We recognise that that will be the first step in tackling the intensification of the issue as a result of the pandemic. On 29 July we announced almost £1 million in funding to organisations tackling isolation and loneliness over this summer and into early 2022.

We are also working to better connect communities across Scotland. One of the specific measures in the 100 days commitments was the building of 14 new mobile phone masts in remote, rural and island areas. Eight of those have already been activated for 4G service, and the remaining six will be activated by November.

We are taking further significant steps to eliminate poverty and inequality in Scotland by beginning work to design and deliver a minimum income guarantee. That radical policy will help everyone to receive an income sufficient to live a dignified, healthy and financially secure life.

That is only a sample of how we are ensuring our collective future prosperity. Through the 100 days commitments, we invested in jobs and our economy to mitigate the harmful impacts of Westminster’s Brexit and help Scotland recover from the pandemic.

We know that those issues have been particularly hard on local businesses, tourism and hospitality. That is why, among other things, we allocated up to £62 million in direct financial support to taxi drivers and operators and £25 million to tourism, including holiday vouchers for unpaid carers and low-income families. We also launched the Scotland Loves Local campaign with a loyalty card scheme and a new £10 million fund to help revitalise high streets that were hit by the pandemic.

In addition to that immediate support, we are taking steps toward a long-term sustainable economic future. Our vision for Scotland is to create a wellbeing economy—a society that thrives across economic, social and environmental dimensions and delivers sustainable and inclusive growth for Scotland’s people and places.

I will.