Chamber and committees

Tomorrow will mark one year since I was honoured to be elected as the First Minister of this country, which I love. I spoke then of my ambition to create a vibrant economy in every part of our country, my determination to tackle the challenges that are faced by our beloved national health service, and my hope that we—as a Parliament and a country—could come together to focus on solutions rather than allowing our disagreements to dominate.

Over the past year, amid real challenges and deep uncertainty on the global stage, progress has been made. In ways big and small, a corner is being turned. The Government is working hard and is determined to get Scotland on track for success.

That progress has been evident in the way that we do our business here, in our Parliament. The fact that four parties were able to come together to negotiate in good faith and pass a budget that delivers record funding for our national health service is testament to what is possible.

Today’s programme for government is presented in that same spirit. It contains many of the fruits of our budget process, elements of which are there only because of the co-operation of other parties. However, it is also a programme by a Scottish National Party Government that cares deeply about Scotland and has total confidence in Scotland’s ability to rise to any challenge and weather any storm.

Before I turn to the elements that are in the programme for government, I will talk about some measures that are not included. With a year to go until the end of this session of Parliament, there are, clearly, limits on the amount of legislation that we can present. The Government remains—as do I, personally—entirely committed to tackling misogynistic abuse against women. Regrettably, I do not believe that there is sufficient parliamentary time to make progress through a stand-alone bill, although I will plan to introduce such a bill at the start of the next session of Parliament. We will, however, take the action that we can take during this session, by adding “sex” as a protected characteristic to existing hate crime legislation to protect women and girls, and by taking further steps through our policy to tackle unacceptable abuse of women and girls in our society.

Conversion practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are harmful and abusive. Over the coming year, we will seek to work with the United Kingdom Government to deliver a legislative ban across England, Wales and Scotland. However, if agreement is not possible, we will publish legislation in the first year of the next parliamentary session. Members of the LGBTQI+ community should have no doubt that we will work with them to protect and defend their rights.

Times are tough, and times are changing in ways that I know bring real anxiety to our citizens and real fear to many in our business community. But my promise to the people of Scotland is that, amidst the uncertainty, there is one thing that they can be sure of: this Government will always seek to do what is best for Scotland. As First Minister, I will always put the needs and interests and the hopes and dreams of the people of Scotland first.

When I became First Minister, a year ago, I heard loud and clear people’s concerns about the health of Scotland’s NHS. They would tell me about their many positive experiences of high-quality care from the dedicated staff in the NHS—experiences of treatment and care that are invariably world class. However, they also spoke of difficulties in accessing that care—of waiting times that were unacceptable, adding to their anxiety—and of systems that they felt did not put patients first.

There are many issues that compete on a daily basis for the attention of a First Minister, but what could be more important than our national health service? I am proud that the £30 million that we committed has delivered not only the 64,000 additional NHS appointments and procedures between April last year and the end of January this year that we promised, but over 40,000 more than planned. Those extra 105,000 vital additional appointments and procedures are helping to reduce waiting lists and waiting times.

We have met the children and adolescent mental health waiting time standards, with more than 90 per cent of those waiting now seen within 18 weeks of their referral. More cancer patients are now treated faster. Compared with a decade ago, 16 per cent more patients receive care within the 31-day standard and 11 per cent more within the 62-day standard. Those are statistics, but behind each one is a person who has received the reliable and effective care from the national health service that they deserve.

Yes, there is progress, but there is also a very clear understanding that there is more—much more—to do. That is why a renewed and stronger NHS is at the very heart of this programme for government. Getting our NHS on track is about reform that is fundamentally patient centred, it is about investment, and it is about increasing productivity and capacity. That approach will make it possible for us to deliver more than 150,000 extra appointments and procedures in 2025-26. The additional investment secured through the Scottish budget will enable us to expand specialist regional centres, and technology will mean more efficient use of operating theatres. As a result, there will be a 50 per cent increase in the number of surgical procedures that we can deliver compared with this year. There will also be a renewed focus on cancer diagnosis and treatment, and targeted investment so that health boards can clear backlogs and substantially improve waiting times.

I could spend the whole statement talking just about the steps that we are taking to improve access to the national health service. However, before moving on to other issues, I will highlight one other area that I know is of particular concern to many people. Although many people’s experience of their general practitioner service is excellent, for many others, there is deep frustration over the difficulty in making appointments and what has been described as the 8 am lottery. That is of central importance to me, which is why we are acting to reduce pressure and increase capacity in the system so that it is easier for people to get the care that they need when they need it. That includes, in the year ahead, a further expansion of pharmacy first services, with pharmacies being the right first port of call for many ailments. It also means the delivery of an extra 100,000 appointments in GP surgeries that are focused on key risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking.

This year, primary care, which includes GPs, is receiving a bigger share of new NHS funding, and we are committed not only to increasing GP numbers but to protecting Scotland’s advantage, which means having substantially more GPs per head in Scotland compared with elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Members across the chamber will know that, alongside the NHS, our constituents are also deeply exercised about the on-going cost of living crisis. We have experienced a decade and more of financial insecurity, higher prices and squeezed real incomes. Life feels substantially tougher for many of those whom we serve.

The economy means jobs, growth and investment, and I will talk about all of those elements. Above all, however, the economy is about people’s quality of life, their household budget and their ability to pay the bills.

The Scottish Government will always do what it can to deliver the best deal for the people of Scotland. In concrete terms, that means a commitment to keep council tax bills, which are already 30 per cent lower on average in Scotland than in England, substantially lower than elsewhere in the UK. Water bills, which are already 20 per cent lower than those in England, will remain lower, as will income tax for the majority of workers in Scotland. Prescriptions will continue to be free in Scotland, as will eye appointments and bus travel for young, disabled and older people. Students will continue to pay no tuition fees. Parents will continue to benefit from a package of early learning and childcare that is worth more than £6,000 for every eligible child. Free school meals, which save the average family £400 per child per year, will be expanded and more breakfast clubs will be introduced.

Together, that is my cost of living guarantee. It is a package that, year on year, delivers savings for the people of Scotland. It is a package that exists nowhere else in the United Kingdom.

We are always looking to enhance that package of cost of living support where we can. That is why we took the decision in the budget to restore a winter fuel payment for Scottish pensioners, with the poorest receiving the most. Those payments will be made this year.

It is also why we are committed to doing even more. Last year, in the face of severe budget pressures, we took the difficult decision to end the peak fares pilot on our railways. However, now, given the work that we have done to get Scotland’s finances in a stronger position, and hearing the calls from commuters, climate activists and the business community, I can confirm that, from 1 September, peak rail fares in Scotland will be scrapped for good.

That decision will put more money in people’s pockets and means that less CO₂ is pumped into our skies. Once again, tens of thousands of Scots are saving money. Once again, it is a better deal for people because they live in Scotland. It is better for Scots because there is a Government that always strives for what is best for Scotland.

Alongside the cost of living pressures, the consequence of a series of body blows from austerity and Brexit, to the spike in inflation and energy costs that followed Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, new threats are emerging that have the potential to cause extensive damage to the Scottish economy. Tariffs will impact directly on many Scottish exporters to the United States, while a US recession and a global trade war will have direct and indirect effects on almost every sector of our economy.

The programme for government has been published earlier than usual, partly because it allows a clear year of delivery on the NHS and other public services—that is, delivery in those areas that matter in the day-to-day lives of our citizens. It has also been published now because of the scale of the looming economic challenge that we face. For the sake of Scottish jobs and for the sake of protecting people’s quality of life, we are taking new steps and accelerating action to ensure that Scotland’s economy is better placed to ride the economic storms.

Members will see the detailed and extensive section on the economy in the “Programme for Government 2025-26” document, with action on planning reform, skills, housing investment, support for our rural economy—including our vital food and drink sector—promotion of Scotland the brand and more. However, I will highlight three particular initiatives that are designed to respond directly and specifically to the challenges that we now face.

First, working with Scottish Development International across its 34 international offices, we will deliver a new six-point export plan to enable Scottish exporters to diversify and to grow markets. The plan includes more support to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in trade missions in established and emerging markets; additional grant funding to help companies to unlock specific, targeted international growth; and bespoke support in the key sectors of technology, life sciences, renewables and hydrogen to maximise international opportunities.

Secondly, to enable emerging Scottish companies to grow, we will create a new proof of concept fund, with a focus on supporting the commercialisation of research projects that have significant economic potential. We will deliver an improved ecosystem fund to further enhance Scotland’s already effective start-up environment, including action to transform the number of women who start and scale up businesses.

We must not forget, even among the gathering clouds, that Scotland is an innovative nation and that opportunities exist that can deliver real and significant benefits now and in the future. This Government will prepare for the challenges, but we will also seek to position Scotland to make the most of the many and significant economic opportunities that still exist.

Thirdly, we will deepen our commitment to a just transition and an industrial future for Scotland. As members will be aware, the Deputy First Minister is actively engaging with potential investors to ensure a green industrial future for the Grangemouth site. A key element in the success of that work is the development of carbon capture in Scotland, which is why it is now vital that the UK Government provides support not only to carbon capture projects in England, but to the Acorn project in Scotland’s north-east.

The Scottish Government has previously committed up to £80 million to make that happen if the UK Government, in turn, makes the commitments that are necessary for the project to progress. Given the importance of this project to the Scottish economy—given its place at the very heart of the green reindustrialisation that is my ambition and, I trust, the ambition of all parties in this chamber—my Government is now willing, as part of a wider package of investment in industrial transformation, to remove that cap and increase the amount of Scottish funding that is available to make Acorn a reality, should the project be given the go-ahead by the UK Government.

I know that many in this chamber share my concern that Scotland is little more than an afterthought to a UK Government that is willing to invest in a supercomputer in the south-east of England weeks after cancelling the supercomputer for Edinburgh—a UK Government that moved heaven and earth to save Scunthorpe but will not do the same for Grangemouth. Perhaps, with swift action from the UK Government to support Acorn, which in turn will help us deliver the future that Grangemouth deserves, the Prime Minister will do the right thing by Grangemouth. [Applause.]

I see that my appeal for the Parliament to find common ground has not made much headway with Russell Findlay this afternoon, but that will not stop me continuing to find some common ground in order to make progress.

On GP services, as I indicated in my statement, the Government will allocate a greater proportion of new NHS funding to the primary care sector, which will benefit GPs and result in the delivery of an extra 100,000 GP appointments for key conditions.

On the question of income tax, I remind Parliament of the comment that I made in my statement that the majority of workers in Scotland pay comparatively less income tax than would be the case south of the border. They also pay lower council tax and water bills than is the case south of the border. Of course, if they send their children to university in Scotland, they do not pay tuition fees, which is a formidable saving for families the length and breadth of the country. In addition, if they have young children, they will get access to early learning and childcare, the expansion of which I presided over as the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, which benefits families the length and breadth of the country.

All those issues are relevant to the question about income tax. The other crucial point is that, although Mr Findlay persists in coming to Parliament and telling us that he wants to reduce income tax, he will not tell us about the cuts in public spending and public services that he would make in order to pay for that. That is just one of the big flaws in the arguments that Mr Findlay puts forward, and it is a £1 billion flaw in his argument.

Mr Findlay raised my support for Scottish independence. I have, of course, given a lifetime commitment to the question of independence. One of the reasons why I want Scotland to be independent is that I want Scotland to be a country that can enjoy a higher standard of living than is currently the case in the United Kingdom. Why is that more relevant today? It is more relevant because of Brexit, which was championed by the Conservative Party. [Interruption.] Well, all the evidence demonstrates my case that Brexit has resulted in a decline in the standard of living for people in this country. The way for Scotland to overcome the damage of Brexit is to rejoin the European Union, and it can do that by being an independent country.

On the first of those questions, on economic performance, I point out that gross domestic product per capita in Scotland has grown by 10.3 per cent since 2007, when this Government came to office, compared with an increase of 6.1 per cent in the United Kingdom. That demonstrates that the Government’s policies have supported and encouraged growth in the economy. We want to do more on planning. Ivan McKee, who is the minister with the relevant responsibility, has overseen a programme of planning reform to ensure that we are able to support developments where it is appropriate to do so. I counsel Mr Cole-Hamilton on asking us to make faster progress because, in the same breath, he will press us to ensure that we apply stringent environmental standards to protect the natural environment. On many of the aspects that he has raised, we cannot have it both ways.

On Mr Cole-Hamilton’s final point, on housing, as I indicated to Mr Sarwar, the Scottish Government has a record of building more affordable houses per head of population than the Administrations in any other part of the United Kingdom, while also dealing with the consequences of the 14 years of austerity that started under the Conservative and Liberal Government in 2010. The fact that we prioritised housing in order to achieve that record is an indication of our commitment. I am delighted that Mr Cole-Hamilton and his colleagues were able to support us in the £768 million investment in affordable housing that we made in our budget.

I will challenge Patrick Harvie’s disgusting characterisation of my comments. I want to make sure that people are supported out of poverty, but I want to enable people to access employment. The characterisation that Mr Harvie has attached to that is not worthy of his place in Parliament.

Will the member take an intervention?

I join Audrey Nicoll in welcoming the report. The Government has a long-standing commitment to support supply chain developments in renewables—indeed, that was very much a focus of the investment conference to which I referred earlier. We are investing up to £500 million over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland. We have also been successful in securing major investments such as Sumitomo at Nigg, the investments at Ardersier by Haventus and a number of other projects that are in active development to secure supply chain benefits for Scotland from the significant opportunity of renewable energy.

It is not a point with which I am familiar, but I will look at it on Mr Choudhury’s behalf, if he could supply me with more details about the specifics to enable me to do so.

Various mechanisms are available to individuals, not least the under-22s concessionary scheme—although I am not sure of the age of the constituent whose experience Mr Choudhury puts to me. If he would like to write to me, I will certainly consider those issues.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has raised that issue on a sustained basis with the United Kingdom Government. I agree with Mr Gibson’s analysis and commentary that the increase in employer national insurance contributions will deflate employment opportunities in Scotland, which I very much regret, as it will be another impediment to the agenda of delivering economic growth in Scotland.

Given the enormous external challenges that we face, the Government’s focus is to ensure that we do all that we can to support economic growth. It would assist us enormously if the UK Government changed its position on employer national insurance contribution rises.

Following development of the neurodevelopmental specification, which aims to ensure that children and families receive timely support that meets their needs, the Scottish Government has provided £1 million of funding across Highland, Fife, East Lothian, Aberdeen city and Forth Valley for projects to test and support implementation. A report on the five tests of change will be published this summer.

As Mr Mountain will know, NHS Highland was supported with funding for a time-limited test of change, which has concluded, as I said earlier. A new neurodevelopmental pathway is in development with local partners to address exactly the issues that Mr Mountain has put to me. I encourage NHS Highland to progress that work, using the £7.1 million of funding that it receives as part of the overall funding given to national health service boards by the Scottish Government to support neurodevelopmental services.

I would stress the importance of seeing a range of different interventions, some of which are assisted by the counselling services in schools that the Government has funded. We continue to provide £16 million a year to local authorities to ensure that there are counselling services in every secondary school in Scotland, and we are maintaining financial support through the mental health assistance that we have in place. All those factors are contributing to addressing the issues that Mr Mountain has put to me.