Chamber and committees

A little problem in Parliament is when members do not respond to the detail that I put on the record and read out their pre-scripted question, which has been debunked by what I have just put on the record. It is a bit of a problem with the dialogue in Parliament. [Interruption.]

The level of expenditure on consultants, as I said in my original answer, fell in 2022-23 and is at its second-lowest level since 2018. The wider category of expenditure that Rachael Hamilton is talking about includes measures such as the provision of the Scottish household survey and the Scottish health survey, both of which are crucial in determining information that informs Government as well as social policy development in our country. Crucially, they are used by academics. Other examples include the development of a case management system to help us deliver compensation to victims of sexual abuse via the redress scheme. I do not think that members of Parliament would object to the Government investing in such measures, which command all-party support.

I simply assure Rachael Hamilton of two things. First, the Government—indeed, any Government under my leadership—will always be careful about public money. That is why Ivan McKee, the Minister for Public Finance, has a mandate from me to challenge public expenditure at all times. Secondly, we will act to make sure that we maximise the resources that are available to members of the public to deliver public services. That is what people will get from a Swinney Government.

Let me assure Tess White that the Government is very focused on addressing one of the issues that contributes to the problem that she raises with me, which is the extent of delayed discharges in our hospital system. That essentially creates congestion in hospitals. It means that patients cannot be moved from A and E into other, more suitable hospital accommodation, and there is then congestion at A and E, which results in some of the long waits for ambulances that Tess White has raised with me. The Government is absolutely focused on reducing delayed discharge as a significant contribution to addressing that issue.

That is precisely what this Government has done. We have increased pay for social care workers to make working in the social care sector more attractive, so that we can deliver more social care packages for vulnerable members in the community and they can stay longer in their own homes.

When we brought forward those proposals, the Conservatives voted against them. The Conservatives cannot come here and demand that I take action to improve the standards of the social care service, which depend on the recruitment of social care employees, and to boost the size of the social care workforce, but not be prepared to vote for the proposals. That is rank hypocrisy, and it is typical of the Conservatives.

I am disappointed to hear that Scottish energy consumers are being disadvantaged in this way. Given that smart meter roll-out is a reserved matter, we regularly raise such issues affecting Scottish consumers with the UK Government. We will continue to urge it to take the necessary action to ensure that all households with smart meters in Scotland are provided with full network access. We are also working with our consumer advice and advocacy partners to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and information to support consumers who are seeking help on managing or accessing smart meters.

The implications for the farming sector of the post-Brexit arrangements are deeply damaging. Prior to Brexit, farmers in this country had seven years of financial certainty. That has been removed and, at present, we have only one year of financial certainty about the support that will be available.

The Scottish Government will try to provide as much certainty as possible, and we will set out provisions in the budget on 4 December. We will also take forward the agreement of the Parliament yesterday to challenge the United Kingdom Government about the changes to inheritance tax, which will be devastating for family farms in Scotland and will severely undermine their sustainability.

Yesterday, at the AgriScot event at the Ingliston showground, I made it absolutely clear that the Government will honour its commitment to return to the rural affairs portfolio the £46 million that it had to use to deal with short-term financial pressures in the past two financial years.

I am very grateful to my colleague Emma Roddick for hosting that event with Future Economy Scotland, which has made such a contribution to the debate about rent controls in Scotland and has provided such high-quality information that has informed the debate. I suspect that some of that high-quality input has led the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, in its stage 1 report, which was published this morning, to support the principle of using rent controls to ensure that rents are affordable, making it easier for people to find a suitable home.

The Government has listened to tenants, landlords and those who have invested in rented homes, and has acted to deliver the clarity that they have been calling for. The approach that we have announced of limiting rent increase to CPI plus 1 per cent up to a maximum of 6 per cent where rent controls apply ensures protections for tenants from large rent increases and supports essential investment that maintains the quality and supply of homes for private rent. That is the type of pragmatism that I think the country is looking for.

I think that the problem that the Labour Party and the Conservatives have—they are both shouting at me today—is that they do not like the pragmatism that the Government is now deploying. [Interruption.] The pragmatism that the Government is deploying will see investment through public expenditure—if this crowd are prepared to vote for the Government's budget. If they are not, there will be no affordable housing programme. That is the reality that they all must face up to.

When it comes to the legislation that is before Parliament, the Labour Party has got to make up its mind. In committee, it has supported a bill that recommends rent controls. However, when the issue of rent controls came to the Parliament yesterday, the Labour Party voted against it. The Labour Party does not know whether it is coming or going.

I will make two points in response to Mr Mundell. The first is that he asked me about a number of detailed matters on which it would be inappropriate for me to answer, because those are operational decisions for the chief constable to take.

My second point is that the Government has substantially increased resources for the police service on a constant basis to ensure that we have effective policing models in the country. I know from my engagement with the chief constable that she believes fundamentally in the importance of community policing and is delivering that.

I am happy to associate myself with Mr Kidd’s remarks about the young people who have engaged substantively in career development. I support them in their efforts and I welcome the arrangements that are in place in Parliament to allow members to engage with that issue.

The Government is working in a focused way to ensure that we maximise the level of positive destinations for young people leaving our school system. Those are at very high levels just now, and that is assisted by the advice that is available through the careers system. The Government will continue to support that work.