Chamber and committees

I will make a number of points to Roz McCall. First, the fact that Police Scotland’s national child abuse investigation unit is carrying out many more investigations illustrates that police resources are being deployed appropriately to tackle issues of serious crime in our society. That is my first point of reassurance.

My second is that the work that is undertaken in relation to, for example, prosecutions is formidably effective. The conviction rate for individuals who were prosecuted for child abuse in 2022-23 was 89 per cent, so the evidence that is gathered by the police and the Crown is strong enough to obtain that level of convictions. That level of convictions has been sustained, despite the fact that there has been a growth in cases.

The third point that I would make to Roz McCall is that a lot of work is undertaken in Scotland to support international activity to tackle child sexual abuse. The Atlanta declaration, which brings together the world’s leading child protection experts to tackle such abuse, has its roots in Scotland, and it is part of the work that we are taking forward to lead the international effort in that respect.

My final point is that Roz McCall said that it was naive to expect online platforms to tackle the issue, but I do not think that that is naive—I think that online platforms have an absolute obligation to tackle the issue. They are currently getting away scot free, and we are engaging with the United Kingdom Government to do as much as we can to ensure that online platforms live up to their responsibilities.

I welcome the assessment given by Mr Ruskell. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport is very much engaged on the question and is familiar with the border control issue that is causing some difficulty. She has discussed the issue with Mr Ruskell and with Annabelle Ewing, who has also been pursuing the issue. We have had good and constructive discussions with DFDS, Forth Ports and various other interested parties.

I am very happy to be involved, but I am super-confident that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport will be able to do all that I could possibly contribute. I am sure that she will let me know if she needs any support. I assure Mr Ruskell that the Government would welcome the ferry route and that we will do everything that we can to remove any obstacles that are in the way.

I am not familiar with the case that Pam Gosal puts to me, although I understand that Mr Gibson, who is the local member, has met the Largs Medical Group to discuss the issue.

This is a local matter and a variety of discussions will have to be undertaken with the local authority and the health board. Those issues will be considered at a local level, but it is important that we have a network of social care and residential care facilities around the country that meets the needs of the population. That must be a fundamental hallmark of our society. Of course, one of the challenges that we face in social care and residential care is finding enough care workers, which is not helped by the UK Government’s approach to immigration.

Yesterday, I received a letter from the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress on some of those questions about the Scottish Water pay talks. Last night, I asked for an update from the chief executive of Scottish Water on the approach that has been taken to the negotiations. I received that update just before 8 o’clock this morning, and I have considered it. In that note from the chief executive of Scottish Water, he indicates to me that he attended the talks to demonstrate leadership support for the engagement but—[Interruption.] I ask Mr Leonard to allow me to finish my sentence. The chief executive said that he did not participate in the negotiations because he wanted to leave them to the established negotiating machinery, involving the trade unions and the leadership of Scottish Water.

That is the account that has been given to me. Talks start at 1 o’clock this afternoon, and Mr Leonard will not be surprised to hear what the Government is doing: we are encouraging a resolution of those issues to ensure that the matters are resolved amicably.

That is another example of why people have been left dismayed by the actions of the incoming Labour Government. One of its first actions, after 14 miserable Conservative years, was to take away the universal winter fuel payments from pensioners. Frankly, for members of the public, it beggars belief that that was the priority of the Labour Government.

The Scottish Government is taking action and has made provision in the budget that means that every pensioner household in Scotland will receive a guaranteed minimum of £100 this winter. That will support 815,000 pensioner households and increase the total forecasted investment in our winter heating benefits to £138 million. Pensioners in Scotland can be assured that, when the Labour Government lets you down, the SNP will come to your rescue.

The Government is taking a number of steps to ensure that we support a just transition to net zero in the Scottish economy. Part of that involves a focused approach to investment in renewables, which will have significant benefits to Jackie Dunbar’s constituents.

What would also help us in our climate change journey, which is now absolutely critical and pressing, is support from the United Kingdom Government for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. It is critical that that agreement is given in the spending review next week. We have waited far too long for that. I was promised support for the project by the previous UK Conservative Government, but it failed to deliver. It is now incumbent on the UK Labour Government to take a step that will give us a strategic foundation to our approach to tackling climate change. That decision can be made next week by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I encourage the chancellor to take the decision to approve the Acorn project. We have waited far too long for that decision.

I am trying to give Mr Marra a substantive answer, if he would allow me to do that.

I understand the anxieties of members of staff, because they come to my constituency surgeries. I hear those very directly, and I totally accept the worry and anxiety that is caused, but I have to operate within the existing legal framework. I give Mr Marra, as I give to Parliament and to members of staff at the University of Dundee, the absolute commitment that the Government is engaging actively and promptly on all these questions.

Lastly, I gave to Parliament on a previous occasion my absolute commitment to securing the future of the University of Dundee. I unreservedly reiterate that in front of Parliament today, and the Government will follow that approach in all that we do.

Mr Adam raises a particular case that is directly relevant to the answers that I gave earlier to Russell Findlay: the case of ZeroAvia, which has decided to locate its manufacturing facility for hydrogen fuel cell technology for air travel at the advanced manufacturing innovation district in Inchinnan. As a consequence of that, up to 350 high-skilled, high-value jobs will be created in low-carbon technologies. That has been made possible by investment from not only ZeroAvia but the United Kingdom Government’s National Wealth Fund, the Scottish National Investment Bank, which acts on our behalf, and Scottish Enterprise.

That is a classic example of how, by working with the private sector, the Government can attract investment. The Deputy First Minister is leading that work within Government to ensure that we attract investment into Scotland and that we create economic opportunity from the journey to net zero. That is the point that I made to Mr Findlay in my earlier answer and I am delighted that there will be a positive economic impact in Mr Adam’s Paisley constituency and in the constituency of my colleague Natalie Don-Innes.

We are taking a number of steps to expand capacity in mental health services. For example, we have exceeded our commitment to fund more than 800 additional mental health workers in various locations, including accident and emergency departments, general practitioner practices and other public sector facilities.

We are also supporting the expansion of community-based support. Since 2020, we have invested more than £145 million in community ventures to support young people. In addition, nearly 83,000 children, young people and their family members accessed community-based mental health support between July 2023 and March 2024. That indicates that we are building capacity to ensure that the mental health needs of the population are effectively addressed in community settings around the country.

As I have explained in the Parliament on many occasions before, I recognise the significant impact of long waits on individual patients. I apologise to everybody who is affected by those long waits. That impact is why tackling long waits is central to the Government’s plans to deliver the improvements in the national health service that are required.

I am aware of the case of Tracey Meechan; I saw the media reports on it. My officials have already contacted NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to raise her case with it. We are advised that dialogue is under way with Ms Meechan about the procedure and I hope that that leads to progress.

However, there are obviously many other people like Ms Meechan who are waiting for treatment, and I apologise for those circumstances. For that reason, the Government has made the largest-ever investment in the national health service. Based on the most recent initiative that we took to tackle the volume of transactions and procedures in the health service, we expected there to be 64,000 additional appointments and procedures by March this year—in fact, we achieved 105,500.

I hope that that gives Mr Sarwar and members of the public reassurance that the Government is focusing on expanding capacity to tackle the issue that he raises.