Chamber and committees

I have a great deal of sympathy with the point that Mr Ross has raised with me. Ministers will look carefully at the amendment that comes forward at stage 2. The purposes of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, which I began scrutinising when I was on the back benches and sat on the Criminal Justice Committee, are coming to stage 2 proceedings in committee; Parliament supported the bill at stage 1.

The issues that His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary raised in its proposal have not been the subject of consultation as part of the preparation of the bill, so we have to be mindful of that when considering any amendments that are lodged. Parliament prefers to ensure that issues are the subject of consultation.

Having said that, I am sympathetic to the point that Douglas Ross raises. I want to ensure that the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner is able to undertake the types of functions that both Mr Ross and I would want them to undertake. That has to be effective, it has to be transparent and it has to be challenging. As the bill takes its passage through Parliament, I give Mr Ross the assurance that ministers will look carefully at and consider carefully any proposals that will work to strengthen the test that I have put to Parliament.

Police Scotland’s contact assessment model already ensures that people receive the support and safeguarding that they need in a timely fashion when they are in contact with control rooms. That is primarily an operational matter for Police Scotland, but we will be interested to see how the pilot proposals in England and Wales develop, and we will want to see the outcomes and benefits that they bring to victims of domestic abuse, which is of paramount importance to us.

I have to put on the record the fact that levels of crime in Scotland are currently at 40-year lows. That is a tribute to the work of police officers who are focusing on tackling crime in localities.

I accept that police numbers have fallen. The last census was at the end of June, when police numbers were sitting at 16,207. That is lower than the Government expected, given that we had provided the police with record funding of £1.55 billion, and I expect those numbers to increase in the next census. It should be of some reassurance to Mr Ross that police numbers are strengthening as a consequence of the significant levels of recruitment that the chief constable and Police Scotland are undertaking at the moment.

There is an inherent contradiction in Mr Ross’s question. His accusation is that crime is not being pursued but that the prisons are full. If the prisons are full, that suggests to me that crime is being pursued and that more individuals are being convicted and imprisoned. [Interruption.]

I could almost suggest that Mr O’Kane has asked a planted question to allow me to talk about the virtues of my collaboration with the United Kingdom Government, which I will happily do. Last Thursday evening, the acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy and I had the pleasure of meeting the chair of GB energy, Juergen Maier, who was generous with the time given to me. We spent several hours discussing GB energy’s plans. On Friday morning, Juergen Maier came to a meeting of the Scottish energy advisory board, which I chair with Professor Sir Jim McDonald, the principal of the University of Strathclyde, to further discuss the issues with a much wider range of stakeholders.

I am absolutely certain that GB energy will not be an energy generation company any time soon—I am absolutely convinced of that. It may be a helpful vehicle in arranging and collaborating on investment proposals, which we will happily engage with it on, but I do not think that Mr O’Kane can sustain the line of argument that GB energy will be an energy generator, because it ain’t going to be that any time soon. We will work with GB energy. We have had constructive discussions, and a lot of projects are already in the pipeline—we are supporting them with investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank. If there is other investment support from GB energy or the national wealth fund, we will welcome that and we will work collaboratively to produce a good outcome for Scotland.

In the spirit of collaboration, for which I am absolutely renowned, I will happily take forward those issues with the UK Government, with which I am enjoying such collaborative and co-operative discussions just now, although it could go further on some other questions.

The Government has invested in the pilot exercise. It was due to run for a six-month period; we extended it for a further six months. There has therefore been a year-long pilot to determine whether it was an effective way to deliver modal shift—which I agree with Lorna Slater must happen—within the resources that we have available. Unfortunately, the pilot showed that not enough difference had been made to the patterns of travel for the investment that was required. We would need to find £40 million to continue with that exercise.

I have gone through the enormous challenges that we face in the public finances on several occasions with Parliament—indeed, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government did so a few weeks ago. However much we wish to take forward the peak fares pilot, we simply do not have the resources to enable that to be the case for the scale of impact that the pilot identified.

We have put in place other measures to discount fares to encourage more travel by train and we will continue with those measures.

Lorna Slater makes a very interesting and welcome suggestion. She has provided a complete explanation of the point, because she recognises—as I do—the importance of securing an exemption from air departure tax for the Highlands and Islands. I am glad that there is a point of agreement there. As for taxing private jets, I would be very much in the spirit of doing that.

As Lorna Slater and all members of Parliament will realise, we must agree on the terms of a budget. The finance secretary and I will be happy to engage with all willing partners around the Parliament, including my friends in the Green Party and in all parts of the parliamentary chamber, on agreeing budget measures as we secure common ground. [Interruption.]

That is a serious issue. As the father of a 13-year-old, I wrestle with those challenges constantly. I say that in all seriousness, given the degree of young people’s focus on social media.

We must encourage young people to see social media activity in perspective with the rest of their activities, so encouraging healthy, active lifestyles is important, too. Next week is Scottish women and girls in sport week, and the Government is engaged in a lot of promotional work to encourage more participation and engagement in sporting activity by women and girls. Next week, I will visit UHI Perth in Perth city to support some of that work.

We must encourage the raising of awareness of the dangers of social media and its overuse. Parliament has already discussed some of the very acute dangers. For example, some months ago, Evelyn Tweed put a question to me about the tragic case in Dunblane. We must ensure that there is wide understanding of the difficulties and challenges that can arise from overuse of social media.

That is a very important issue. I recognise the importance of individuals having access to insulin supplies. Procurement is undertaken on a United Kingdom-wide basis. I am not familiar with the challenges that Jackie Baillie puts to me about supply and circulation. I will look into that in the aftermath of First Minister’s question time, because it is critical that individuals who rely on that supply are able to obtain it. I will write to Jackie Baillie with an update later today.

I respectfully say to Mr Ross that there are challenges in relation to the work of Police Scotland. Police Scotland will take the necessary steps to investigate crimes where there is evidence to do so, and people will be prosecuted where there is a case to do so. That is what we would expect, and that is what we would expect in a system in which we have a 40-year low of crime as a consequence of the Government’s stewardship of police resources in Scotland.