Chamber and committees

In its analysis, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that it expects the gap between the child poverty rate in Scotland and rates in the rest of the UK to widen because of the action that we are taking to tackle the issue through measures such as the Scottish child payment.

I encourage the Labour Government to take a different course from the one that has been advertised. It is maintaining the two-child limit. Although the Scottish Government will act to remove that in Scotland, our task would be made easier if the issue was remedied at UK level.

We will take every measure that we can. In the budget, we are taking further measures on the two-child limit and the expansion of free school meals in an effort to address child poverty, which is the overriding priority of my Government.

I agree with Clare Adamson on both points: that Scotland would be best served by being an independent member of the EU, and that Brexit has been an economic disaster for Scotland as part of the United Kingdom. It is as a consequence of our membership of the United Kingdom that we have lost our EU membership.

The economic damage done is obvious. That is what is undermining living standards in this country. I accept and acknowledge that and have a solution to it, which is that we should repair our relationship with the European Union and ensure that our businesses and organisations can trade and that we can benefit from freedom of movement.

I assure Parliament that we are encouraging the United Kingdom Government to repair the damage that has been done to our economy and to our relationship with Europe. The living standards of our population depend on that, and it must be given greater priority than it has been given since the change of Government in July last year.

The decision to allow expansion at Heathrow airport lies exclusively with the United Kingdom Government. The Scottish Government will engage closely with the UK Government and Heathrow airport to understand any potential impact of its expansion on Scotland, particularly on our climate targets and connectivity.

I share Mr Ewing’s aspiration that Scottish goods should be able to get to market as quickly as possible, but I am reminded that, when I was in Shetland a few months ago, the fish sector explained to me the obstacles that are in its way to get its products to market because of the stupid procedures that are involved in Brexit, which are deeply damaging to our economy.

If we want to get Scottish produce more quickly from the Shetland Islands and other communities in Scotland to European markets, the immediate priority of my Government would be to get agreements in place with the European Union that would allow freer trade to be undertaken. What I say to people in Scotland is that they have to understand the colossal damage that was done to our country’s economy by Brexit, which was inflicted on us by a bad deal by the Conservatives. I hope that the Labour Government will do something to rectify that, because it is undermining the Scottish economy.

The Government has made a range of interventions to improve access to public transport. For example, more than 2 million children, young people, disabled people and older people in Scotland are now benefiting from free bus travel. Throughout Scotland, more than 150 million bus journeys have been made by children and young people under 22, using their free entitlement. We have been working to expand the opportunities for people to safely walk, wheel and cycle, with the expansion of the network to around 450 miles of routes for walking, wheeling and cycling.

The Government will do that as part of its plans, but it is, frankly, laughable for Sue Webber to take me to task on the issue. Every time that a measure is presented to Parliament that might change any of those patterns of behaviour, who opposes it? The Conservatives do—every single one of them, and then they come here every week and posture with empty rhetoric about such issues. If Sue Webber wants investment in public transport, I gently and respectfully encourage her to vote for the budget that will pay for it, instead of wasting her time coming here and posturing on a weekly basis.

As Mr Sarwar knows, because I told him last week, I am engaging directly with all the interested parties in the health service to make sure that we create cohesive leadership and a focused agenda to improve and strengthen the national health service. That is what is occupying my time, and it is what is occupying the time of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. We are getting on with doing that.

We are not promising jam tomorrow; we are promising the largest budget settlement for the national health service in a few weeks, and the folk who are not going to vote for it are that lot, Labour, and that lot, the Conservatives.

Mr Sarwar has made the same mistake that Jackie Baillie made last week of saying that things are getting worse week by week. I go back to the same information that I put on the record last week. On accident and emergency waiting times, four-hour performance has increased week on week since the week ending 22 December. Jackie Baillie and Anas Sarwar are once again saying— [Interruption.]

There was not a single solution offered by Anas Sarwar—not one. [Interruption.]

—things that are not true.

In my speech on Monday, the Government set out a series of interventions to strengthen the national health service and its capacity by delivering extra procedures at a number of centres around the country, by improving referrals through radiology services and expanding the rapid cancer diagnostic service, and by making sure that we expand capacity in a range of different disciplines through eye condition care and the NHS Scotland pharmacy service.

Those are the practical steps that will make a difference, but they will happen only if the Government’s budget passes. Who stands in the way of the Government’s budget passing? Who is not going to lift a finger to support and endorse that investment? The Labour Party in Scotland—Labour members should be ashamed of themselves.

I apologise for the long wait that was experienced by the patient who was referred to by Meghan Gallacher, and to anyone whose experience of the national health service has fallen short. Services have been under exceptional pressure due to a number of issues, including a rise in winter illness, as I recounted to the Parliament last week.

On Monday, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I held a further meeting with health boards, the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24 and Public Health Scotland to assess the pressures and discuss on-going work to minimise delays. As part of that, we will build on the good work that is under way in many boards to ensure that every core A and E department has a frailty unit, which has been shown to shorten lengths of stays and improve outcomes for patients.

On Wednesday, I had a round-table discussion with the health secretary and a range of health stakeholders, some of whom represent employees in the national health service. The author of the survey that Mr Sarwar cited to me last week—the Royal College of Nursing—was represented around the table. It is important to note that I heard directly from those who represent some of the workforce.

That is not the last discussion that we will have in Bute house about the national health service. We made that clear earlier in the week. If Jackie Baillie had been paying as much attention to my press output as Anas Sarwar has, she would have heard that there will be more round-table discussions in Bute house. I will be delighted for Unison, the GMB and other unions to participate. I suspect that they will make a more constructive contribution than Jackie Baillie ever will.