Chamber and committees

First, let me say that we will engage constructively with the United Kingdom Government on the issue. I know the importance of the issue to Mr Carson and his constituents, so we will engage constructively on that basis. I would be very happy to meet Mr Carson and his local campaigners to discuss the improvements to the A75 and to take forward that dialogue. It might be beneficial for me to come down to Galloway to have that conversation.

I am aware of there being quite a bit of uncertainty about the funding for particular projects that many of us believed were in the course of being delivered, because of the upcoming budget process and the spending review. I am aware of a number of projects for which the United Kingdom Government is not at this stage able to honour the commitments that were given by the previous Government. Mr Carson will appreciate that that is not an issue that is under my control, but I will engage constructively—as I know the finance secretary is doing with the Treasury—on those points. We can perhaps discuss some of those when I meet Mr Carson and his constituents.

I am enormously sympathetic to financial support for the artistic and cultural sector in Scotland. It is absolutely fundamental that we have stable and supportive financial arrangements in place for the sector.

The operational challenge is that the Scottish Government does not know what its budget will be for the next financial year. That decision will be influenced significantly by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget to be announced on 30 October, so the Government has to wrestle with the challenge of providing assurance when it does not have assurance from the United Kingdom Government. That is nobody’s fault—it is just timing.

The one thing that I want to be absolutely crystal clear about to Parliament today is that the Scottish Government will support the cultural sector to fulfil its potential in Scotland. That sector is part of our essential identity as a country. The Government will stand behind it. We simply have to ensure that we have the practical assurance in place to give the financial commitments that Mr Choudhury seeks from me and that, as I quite understand, the cultural sector requires to hear from us.

We are focusing on that question, and the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson, is engaged in discussions with Creative Scotland on the best way to navigate our way through those challenges.

The Government is concerned at any increase in violent behaviour involving young people, particularly after so many years of decline. Since 2006-07, there has been a 74 per cent reduction in the number of children who are referred to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration on offence grounds. More generally, for adults, non-sexual violent crime has fallen by 58 per cent since 2008-09, according to the most recent Scottish crime and justice survey.

Our violence prevention framework is delivering a number of key actions for young people, including the recent quit fighting for likes campaign, which aims to prevent the filming and sharing of violent incidents on social media.

I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs met Pam Gosal to discuss that and other questions yesterday, and I am very interested in her proposals. We need to do all that we possibly can to ensure that those who experience domestic abuse are able to receive the support that they require. It should be stated that domestic violence should not be happening in any circumstance whatsoever but, where it happens, we should provide support, so I am open to discussing the issues that Pam Gosal puts to me today.

I agree with Rona Mackay. Those who perpetrate violence and abuse, the majority of whom are men, must change their actions and behaviour, and we must root out and tackle the toxic masculinity culture and gender inequality that leads to violence, harassment, misogyny and abuse against women. We should stand against that, and we should call it out wherever we see it.

Our equally safe strategy is aimed at preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, and the legislative proposals in the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill are designed to help us in the process.

I am also very keen to ensure that we work across the chamber to capture some of the thinking that Pam Gosal has put to me in order to make sure that we do everything that we can to address this scourge in our society.

I would just point out to the Parliament that, as usual, when Anas Sarwar is faced with facts that rebut his argument, he always plays the man and not the issue. That is what Anas Sarwar always does.

Let me come back to the facts. I am not evading our responsibility. Under this Government, we have built 7,750 affordable homes each year on average. In comparison, when Mr Sarwar’s party was in charge, when the money was so abundant that ministers could not actually spend it, Labour managed to build only 5,448 houses a year. [Interruption.]

That says to me that this Government is getting on with the job.

Mr Sarwar said that this area of policy is all under the responsibility of the Scottish Government. To an extent, that is true—housing policy is our responsibility. However, there is a budgetary question here. I point out to Mr Sarwar that our capital budget, which is what builds affordable homes, was facing a cut of nearly 9 per cent under the spending plans of the Conservative Government, and the incoming Labour Government is going to carry on with those plans. Our financial transactions budget has been cut by a whopping 62 per cent.

The Scottish Government has engaged with energy suppliers in recent weeks on the options that are available to reduce bills for households across Scotland. We are now establishing a working group to co-design a social tariff mechanism that would secure cross-sector support and demonstrate the viability and positive outcomes of such a policy to the United Kingdom Government. The Scottish Government will consider eligible fuel types, consumer eligibility, the regulatory environment, funding and delivery.

A range of awareness campaigns is in place to encourage individuals to take the steps that Emma Harper has set out. That is an important life-saving activity that can involve us all. I use this opportunity to make clear the Government’s support for the aspirations that Emma Harper set out.

The Government is taking a number of steps. In the past two years, we have invested more than £4 million to implement the actions that are set out in the violence prevention framework.

We work with a range of partners, including YouthLink Scotland, which Pauline McNeill referred to and which delivers our national No Knives, Better Lives programme. We also work with the Scottish violence reduction unit, which has a formidable track record on tackling knife crime and violent crime, and Medics Against Violence.

I do not say any of that to suggest in any way that there is not a serious issue that has to be confronted. The Government can take a range of measures and we can work with partners.

Over the summer, I met a brave young person who has been very much involved in the Daily Record our kids, our future campaign. I warmly commend that young person and the Daily Record for the work that they have brought forward. In that conversation, I committed to drawing together representatives of all political parties to reflect on what more we could do to tackle the issue. That will be taken forward. Knowing the deep interest that Pauline McNeill has in the subject, I would welcome her participation in that cross-party summit.