Chamber and committees

On a range of policies, the Government is delivering the progress that people in Scotland require. In the face of 14 years of austerity from the Conservative Government on housing, the Scottish Government has built more affordable houses per head of population than have been built in England or Wales—and more than were built when the Labour Party was in government in Scotland—in the face of Tory austerity from London.

If Mr Sarwar believes that the solution to all our problems in Scotland is the election of a Labour Government, I ask him to have a conversation with pensioners in Scotland. In the first few months of a Labour Government, pensioners in this country have been betrayed by that Labour Government, which promised change, but all it did was slash financial support for pensioners in our country by cutting winter fuel payments. If that is what change means, Scotland does not need change; it needs progress under an SNP Government.

Mr Gibson knows the economic damage that has been done to the country by one of the biggest decisions that was taken as part of the United Kingdom—the decision about Brexit. That has inflicted significant economic damage on the Scottish economy, which is one of the arguments for independence, because with it we would be able to resume our participation in the European Union.

The change in employer national insurance contributions is an indication of the fact that the United Kingdom’s public finances are in such a weak position that action of that type must be taken. However, it is also damaging the Scottish economy, because of the financial burden that it places on public services, businesses and organisations that we depend on. As things stand, people and organisations such as general practitioners, social care providers, colleges and early learning and childcare practitioners do not appear to be being compensated by the United Kingdom Government. Mr Gibson is absolutely right to point out the damage that is being done to the Scottish economy by those measures. Independence cannot come soon enough to address the issues.

Oh—so Craig Hoy was not a supporter of Liz Truss. He was probably a supporter of one of the other economic incompetents in the Tories who damaged our economy.

I do not think that Mr Eagle helps the farming industry by using language such as “lost or stolen” money. What language is that for a member of Parliament to use? [Interruption.] I have given a cast-iron commitment that the £46 million will be put into the rural affairs budget of the Scottish Government so that farmers can appreciate that investment. That is a commitment from me, and Mr Eagle should take it seriously.

I am deeply troubled by what is happening as a result of the inheritance tax changes. I represent a large rural constituency, with many people involved in farming. The inheritance tax changes will be catastrophic for the sustainability of family farming. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands have both written to the United Kingdom Government to point out some of the issues that it has skated past in its rush to put in place those provisions, which will be deeply damaging to the farming industry.

For Mr Eagle to put any point to me about multi-annual funding, when the Conservative Government failed to deliver that and inflicted the shambles of Brexit on the farming industry in Scotland, is an absolute joke.

I am not familiar with the issue that Mr O’Kane has put to me today. If we have allocated £4 million to health boards, I would expect them to have followed up, delivered and applied that. I will investigate that in the light of today’s exchanges and reply in full to Mr O’Kane.

I fear—well, I do not fear; I know—that the situation that Christine Grahame warns of in Parliament today is testing many charities and third sector organisations the length and breadth of the country. They have seen—or they will see, at the start of April—an overnight increase in their costs, without the revenue to support their activities.

Organisations such as the SSPCA, in the example that Christine Grahame puts to me—I know that she cares deeply about that organisation, given her commitment to animal welfare issues—will be facing difficulties, and I know that representations have been made to the United Kingdom Government in that respect.

From a Scottish Government perspective, I am concerned that organisations on which we depend to deliver services in Scotland will not be assisted by the changes that have been made.

Additional investment of £42 million in affordable housing this year has been targeted to five local authorities with sustained temporary accommodation pressures. That funding is to increase the supply of social and affordable homes, including larger properties that are suitable for families, through acquisitions and bringing empty social homes back into use.

That is in addition to the record funding of more than £14 billion that the Government is allocating to local authorities to deliver a range of services, including homelessness services.

The Scottish Government is committed to facilitating a just transition for the north-east of Scotland. Through the just transition fund, we have committed to more than £500 million of investment to support that journey by maintaining and creating jobs in low-carbon industries and contributing to the region’s future prosperity. We have dedicated £11 million for a package of skills interventions, including the energy skills transition hub, and we have allocated more than £75 million to help projects and communities across the north-east, including Moray, to create jobs, support innovation and secure the highly skilled workforce for the future.

I am not sure that Mr Marra is interested in listening to my answer, given the way that he is shouting at me.

All that I would say to Mr Marra is this: if he wishes to see the resources that have been allocated as part of the United Kingdom budget process spent in Scotland, this Parliament has to pass a budget, and the responsibility is on Mr Marra to vote for the Government’s budget.

If the figures that were reported this week are all that will be provided, that would mean that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be short-changing services that the public depend on by more than £400 million.