Chamber and committees

I am certainly committed to ensuring that we take action on the climate. I want to make sure that we fulfil the obligations that Parliament has put into statute, and that we take the practical actions to ensure that that can be the case.

The Government has a number of policy measures in place that will assist us in that work, and Parliament knows and understands what they are. Some of them involve investment that is tied up with the Government’s budget, which involves, for example, £300 million for the heat in buildings programme and investment of nearly £200 million in a range of active and sustainable transport measures.

The Government is committed to the policy agenda of taking action on the climate, in addition to the steps that we are taking on renewable energy. We are also taking the practical financial steps to ensure that that programme is in place to support those policy interventions.

The guidelines are there for a purpose, which is to provide advice to clinicians and assurance to patients about how individuals should be treated. There will, of course, be challenges in the delivery of those services within the resources that we have available to us, but the SIGN guidelines are there for a purpose, and I encourage health boards to follow those in all circumstances.

Those are matters for Lloyds Banking Group to determine. The Government engages actively with it, and I suspect that the issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the financial services growth and development board, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government. We will certainly do all that we can to ensure that there is no loss of employment and that the individuals who are affected are not inconvenienced as a consequence of the decision that Lloyds Banking Group has taken.

It is important that we undertake the transition to net zero that society must undertake, because, as we have already discussed in the Parliament, all the evidence is that there will be catastrophic circumstances if we do not address the use of fossil fuels within our economy. The Government has a managed approach to that policy objective, which is about ensuring that we have a just transition and invest in our renewable energy technology. I am confident that Scotland will have the energy generation capacity that we need to meet the challenges of the future. We must work with the industry on a just transition strategy, which is what the Government is doing.

Active discussions on those questions are held constantly between the Scottish and United Kingdom Governments. A case of foot-and-mouth disease has emerged in Germany, so the issue is live and topical.

The Scottish Government will take all necessary steps to ensure that we are properly engaged in the process, and we will engage stakeholders to ensure that the terrible circumstances that Mr Carson reminds us of, which took place 24 years ago, are not repeated. The chief veterinary officer of the Scottish Government is actively involved in those issues, as are ministers.

That is principally taken forward through our endoscopy and urology diagnostic recovery and renewal plan, which is supported by £70 million-worth of investment. It is focused on bolstering endoscopy capacity through the recruitment of additional endoscopists. We have established a network of hubs to support us in that rapid access to diagnostic services. The points that Mr Torrance raises are important in enhancing the effectiveness of the services that we have available to us.

On whether such issues are taken seriously, I hope that what I have said already reassures Claire Baker that, in all circumstances and in all aspects of our public services, any question of sexual assault or any form of sexual misconduct must be addressed by public authorities. They have statutory and legal obligations to do so, and I expect them to do that. We will reinforce that message in light of the point that Claire Baker has put to me.

As part of our approach to the patient safety programme, we must ensure that patients are safe at all times when they are in the care of the NHS. That includes ensuring that appropriate safeguarding is in place in all circumstances. It is the duty of all health boards to ensure that that is the case, and we will remind them of that obligation.

—and the expansion of NHS 24 services, which was a key recommendation of the redesign of urgent care programme.

What has helped us in this incredibly difficult period has been the fact that members of the public have followed the advice that the Government has issued, which is to secure the right care in the right place. That has reduced the level of demand that is prevalent in some emergency settings and has enabled us to provide the support that individuals require. That is what we have to do to navigate through periods of increased demand, such as the one that we have just experienced.

The first thing that I want to do is to apologise to any individual who has had an unsatisfactory experience with the care that they have received and with the congestion in hospitals.

I commend, as I did last week, NHS staff for their unremitting commitment to ensuring that the system is able to deliver as best it can in the face of unprecedented demand. I recounted to the Parliament last week the enormity of the increase in flu cases that have been wrestled with in the NHS over the past few weeks.

The Government is entirely focused on ensuring that we meet the needs of patients and that we support staff in undertaking the essential work that they do, given the enormous increase in demand that we have faced in recent weeks.

A Labour Government did not change the circumstances for the WASPI women—women against state pension inequality—in this country, who have been betrayed by the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. When the Secretary of State for Scotland was in Parliament yesterday, he told us that the people could not cope with the honesty of the Labour Government. I think that, on the basis of the past few months, people in Scotland are waking up to the fundamental dishonesty of the Labour Party, and Mr Sarwar epitomises it.