Chamber and committees

The North Sea is vital to Scotland’s energy transition. However, decisions on offshore oil and gas licensing, consenting and the fiscal regime are all currently reserved to the United Kingdom Government. We have consistently called for the UK Government to approach those decisions on a rigorously evidence-led, case-by-case basis, with climate compatibility and energy security as key considerations. We are clear in our support for a just transition for Scotland’s oil and gas sector that recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments.

There is no hostility in this Government to oil and gas. We are committed to a rational transition to net zero that enables us to fulfil our climate objectives. We will have to rely on elements of oil and gas for some time to come. That will be part of the approach that the Scottish Government takes, but we also have to fulfil our climate objectives.

I know that there has been another change of position in the Conservative Party. A few weeks ago, Russell Findlay said that it was refreshingly honest of Kemi Badenoch to say that we should abandon our climate change targets. What does that say about the Conservatives? It says that they are prepared to vote in this Parliament for climate change targets but, when it becomes opportune to cuddle up to Nigel Farage and Reform, they abandon the climate change targets. We all now know, because people are now deserting the Tory party, that the Tory party is in a dance with Farage. I will leave them to all of that.

I addressed some of those points in the answer that I gave to Murdo Fraser last week, in which I made it clear that I thought that the approach that was being taken in Tayside to seek to provide earlier intervention to support young people who presented with mental health challenges had been ill communicated. I think that that approach is the right way to proceed. We should move forward by providing early intervention that meets the support needs of young people, but that provision must be properly planned, delivered and communicated in all localities.

I will not dictate what the prescribing policy should be. It would be ridiculous for me, as First Minister, to set that out. Clinical judgments must be made by clinicians who are trained to undertake such expert analysis, and I trust them to make those judgments.

Mr Doris raises an issue that matters enormously to me. He knows, as the Parliament does, that the focal point of my Government’s agenda is the eradication of child poverty. In the London School of Economics study that he cited, Professor Ruth Patrick said:

“The progress Scotland has made on driving poverty rates down shows another way is possible.”

We certainly need another way when the United Kingdom Government has voluntarily set out welfare reforms that, based on analysis by a Labour Government, will push 50,000 children into poverty. What on earth is the point of a Labour Government that is forcing more and more children into poverty? We are taking better decisions in Scotland, where child poverty rates are falling, whereas they are rising in every other part of the United Kingdom. That demonstrates that the Labour Government in Westminster is not delivering for the people of Scotland.

Fundamentally, I agree with the point made by Katy Clark. We incarcerate a greater proportion of our population, per head, than almost all other European countries do. That results in a larger prison population. Katy Clark and other members will know from the transparent engagement of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs with the Parliament that the size of the prison population is a significant challenge that we are managing.

Katy Clark made a point about the importance of investment in community justice. I agree with her. That is why, over a two-year period, there has been a £25 million increase in investment in community justice activity. The Government will look for opportunities to ensure that we expand that capacity, because doing so is one way of ensuring that we achieve better outcomes and avoid the situation that we are experiencing of record levels of incarceration.

The figure of £77,000 is wrong. It mistakenly includes capital spending in estimating the cost of a prisoner place in Scotland, by taking total spend and dividing it by population. The average cost of a prisoner place in 2023-24 was £47,140. That information was released by the Scottish Prison Service in February.

Presiding Officer, before I answer the substance of Patrick Harvie’s question, I wonder whether you would allow me to express to Mr Harvie my good wishes on his decision to step down from co-leadership of the Scottish Green Party. I have always enjoyed our encounters—we will have many more of them before the summer—and I wish him well for the future.

On the substance of Patrick Harvie’s question, I will make two points. First, part of the answer that I would give is in the evidence that Mr Harvie put to the Parliament a moment ago. There are opportunities for tenants to seek a review of a rent increase that they believe to be unacceptable. That right was exercised, with success, in one of the examples that Mr Harvie put to me. Secondly, I underline the importance that the Government attaches to the principle that underlines Mr Harvie’s point, which is why we have introduced a bill that includes the concept of rent controls. Parliament is considering, at stage 2, the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which will make provision for such issues as we move forward.

The public can be assured that they have a Government that is on their side—that is the Government that I lead. That is why we introduced the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which contains the important protections that I set out.

It is important that we recognise that there are strict legal processes that ensure that private landlords and their agents follow very strict rules about ending any tenancies. Mr Harvie makes a point about evictions; that is not an area that is without protections under the current legislative arrangements. Measures are also in place to enable tenants to seek a review of a rent increase.

I assure Mr Harvie that the Government is absolutely committed to the terms of the Housing (Scotland) Bill that is before the Parliament. We will scrutinise that to its completion and make sure that we implement the protections that he is seeking. That is the process that the Parliament is going through, and the Government will see it through to its conclusion.

Mr Stewart and I share the aspiration that an independent Scotland should be able to take forward the issues and challenges that Scotland faces across all policy areas. That is what independence is all about.

The most constructive and immediate thing that can be done is that the United Kingdom Government can give an early—actually, an immediate—commitment to the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. That would transform the economic prospects of the north-east of Scotland and enable us to take forward the just transition.

Mr Stewart will know my frustration at the lack of progress that has been made with successive United Kingdom Governments on the Acorn carbon capture project, as it could enhance the opportunities for Scotland and deliver the future of the oil and gas sector and our net zero transition. I just wish that the UK Government would get on and take a positive decision about Acorn.

I will say that again, because my belief in the rule of law is part of my entire being. I know that the Conservatives are cavalier about the rule of law, but I am not—not one bit of it.

Some of the issues that Mr Ewing raises in his question are influenced by court judgments that have been made. The Scottish and United Kingdom Governments will have to consider the implications of those court decisions, and Mr Ewing, as an experienced parliamentarian and lawyer, will understand the importance of considering those particular rulings as we make decisions. Of course, there could be implications of those judgments. I assure Mr Ewing that the Scottish Government will always take a considered approach to those rulings, which we must bear in mind in any decisions that we take.