Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how much it anticipates will be paid in this financial year in private finance initiative and public-private partnership unitary charge payments across the public sector. (S6O-04236)

Will the member take an intervention?

In January 2015, Christine Grahame brought a debate on a shocking way to treat a dog. I spoke in that debate and I also lodged a motion on 11 September 2007 that called for a ban on electric shock collars. What is happening now is that people who oppose the amendments are doing so on the basis of the protests of a few people who have a vested interest. Does the member agree that the people who have dogs’ best interests at heart are the Dogs Trust, the Kennel Club, Blue Cross and other animal welfare organisations, rather than people who might have a financial or other vested interest? We should be addressing the cruelty that is inherent in the shock collars, rather than hiding behind parliamentary process, as some members appear to be doing today.

When it was in office at Holyrood, Labour built a debt mountain so vast that, 18 years later, public-private partnership payments are still rising, and they will peak at an eye-watering £1.25 billion next financial year. North Ayrshire Council will have to pay more than £16 million next year for four secondary schools that were built nearly two decades ago. By the time the contract is paid off, in 2038, it will have paid £440.1 million for schools that were built for £83 million. Owning those schools will cost even more.

Can the cabinet secretary say what impact Labour’s disastrous PPP obsession continues to have on our public finances?

As we know from the Tories’ disastrous privatisation of Ardrossan harbour in 1992, the consequences of poor decisions can be felt for decades.

A Peter Brett Associates study comparing the costs of Brodick’s ferry going to Ardrossan with its going to Troon found that Troon would be 4.9 times more expensive over a 30-year period. Will the minister impress on colleagues the necessity of making Arran’s ferry service fit for the future by redeveloping Ardrossan harbour?

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on farmers giving the methane-reducing feed additive Bovaer to their cattle. (S6O-04206)

As the minister is aware, Bovaer is manufactured at DSM-Firmenich’s plant, near my Dalry constituency office. Despite more than 58 studies on the product and its having been evaluated as being completely safe to use, Bovaer has been the focus of significant online misinformation. Studies also show no safety concerns for workers who handle the additive.

Does the minister agree that science, not social media, should govern our approach to food safety and that Bovaer, which is now routinely used across Europe, Australia and North America, has an important role to play in combating climate change?

From 1 January to 12 November last year, North Ayrshire motorists endured 2,457 days of closed roads. The minister will understand the frustration of many road users about the duration of the closures, especially when no visible work is being carried out or there is no one on site. What more can the Scottish Government do to work with local authorities and, indeed, on its own network, to diminish the negative impacts of lengthy closures and minimise their occurrence?

Yesterday, the Scottish National Investment Bank announced a welcome £20 million investment into XLCC, the company that is developing the United Kingdom’s first high-voltage direct current cable manufacturing facility, at Hunterston in my constituency. That £1.4 billion-plus project will create 900 highly skilled jobs and will position Scotland as a global leader in HVDC technology. Does the First Minister agree that that is a first-class opportunity for Scotland to help to drive net zero innovation? What will his Government do to ensure that that project and similar projects secure the support needed to thrive?

Under the Tories between 2018 and 2023, seven English local authorities, including the largest—Birmingham City Council—had to issue section 114 notices of bankruptcy. Not a single council in Scotland has gone bankrupt under this SNP Government. Given the Tories’ abysmal record on local government, does the cabinet secretary agree that they are the last people from whom we should take lessons?