Chamber and committees

—and the sector is heavily dependent on international workers. If the UK Government decides to turn off the ability of the Scottish health service to attract international workers, that will make our challenge in addressing the waiting times issue ever more difficult. That will be a consequence of the actions of the UK Government.

Therefore, I appeal to Mr Sarwar to join me in what I said to the Prime Minister on Friday: the immigration proposals will be damaging to our national health service, and we do not want anything to do with them.

It is important that all Governments across the UK take action to eradicate child poverty, which is the focus of my Government. We have put in place the Scottish child payment, which will increase this year. We have also taken the decision to abolish the two-child limit, which is an important step in lifting children out of poverty. When I met the Prime Minister on Friday, my plea to him was that the UK Government should act in a way that assists us in our endeavour to eradicate such poverty.

I am concerned that the steps that are being taken on welfare reform will throw more children into poverty. I hope that the UK Government takes a different course of action, because we are committed to eradicating child poverty, and it would be helpful—after all the years of austerity and the damage that has been done by the Conservatives—if the Labour Government could help us in our work to eradicate child poverty.

Clare Adamson is right to highlight the lack of information since the Prime Minister made his statement a week ago yesterday. We await further detail and the implications for Scotland.

Pensioners in Scotland should be absolutely assured that, when the Labour Government decided, as one of its first acts, to remove winter fuel payments from pensioners, the Scottish National Party Government stepped in and introduced a universal payment that will provide support to more than 812,000 pensioner households in Scotland—support that is not available anywhere else in the United Kingdom. The people of Scotland and, crucially, the pensioners of Scotland can see that, where the Labour Government takes away the winter fuel payment, the Scottish National Party Government will restore it.

The Scottish Government has provided £35 million to local authority partners, which has already led to the renewal of 1,100 play parks since September 2021. In 2025-26, we are providing a further £25 million to help to accelerate local authorities’ plans and to make more parks welcoming, free and accessible spaces for all children to enjoy. That means that our £60 million commitment will be met by my Government. On the basis of a scoping exercise that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities undertook in 2022, we estimate that that will allow a total renewal of nearly 2,000 play parks, including all parks that are assessed by local authorities as being in need of immediate renewal.

Christine Grahame makes an incredibly powerful point. In the aftermath of Covid, when, as we all know, there were negative implications for children and young people in our society, making sure that there are good facilities for them to enjoy is part of the work that we have to do.

Some weeks ago, I had the pleasure, with the Deputy First Minister, of seeing some of the improvement work that has been undertaken in Kirkintilloch, and it is happening in other parts of the country. I am not surprised that it has been welcomed by my wise colleague Christine Grahame.

The Government undertook an exercise with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and worked with our local authority partners to determine the way in which the approach could best complement local work. That is the Government working in partnership with local authorities. That is what Parliament always asks us to do, and once again the Government has delivered.

First, I sympathise and empathise with the point that Mr Rennie raises with me on behalf of his constituent. At my constituency surgery on Monday, I had a member of staff come to see me in my constituency capacity, who in essence conveyed the very same message, so I understand entirely where Mr Rennie is coming from, and I want to make sure that the Government acts properly and effectively to address the legitimate concerns that he puts to me. He will of course acknowledge, because he is entirely familiar with our legislative arrangements, that the University of Dundee operates as an autonomous institution. It has to take the initiative to come to the Funding Council and the Government.

I assure Mr Rennie that the issue has the most active engagement of the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and the Minister for Higher and Further Education within Government. We are ready to consider any requests that are made to us properly by the University of Dundee and the Funding Council.

As I understand it, the issue is part of a live procurement exercise that is being led by Dumfries and Galloway Council. The Scottish Government has no involvement in that decision-making process, but I am assured that local authority officers are working through the options as part of that procurement process.

I understand the point that Mr Mundell puts to me about the importance of sustaining community travel services in Dumfries and Galloway. That will be challenging enough for members of the public without any diminution of those services. I will ask my officials to look at the situation to see whether there is any scope for the Government to assist in reaching an agreement. I have been advised that there is a live council procurement exercise, but I will take away Mr Mundell’s point and consider whether the Government can assist in any way.

I accept Mr Smyth’s final point, hence the importance of Dumfries and Galloway Council acting in a fashion that enables continuity of services.

Opportunities for bus services to be organised in a different way have been provided in legislation that the Government has enacted. I accept that the timescale that Mr Smyth and Mr Mundell have put to me means that there is an urgent need for the issue to be resolved. I give Mr Smyth the assurance that I gave to Mr Mundell, which is that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport will look at the case to see whether there is anything that the Government can do to help to resolve matters and ensure continuity of services. That is a legitimate expectation from Mr Smyth.

In the Brexit—[Interruption.]