Chamber and committees

In the letter that the convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee wrote to the cabinet secretary on 14 May, it was made abundantly clear that the committee had significant concerns about the very late publication of the MTFS in the last week of term, which delays the scrutiny process for two months. Does she recognise the serious implications of late publication and its effects on scrutiny, forecasting and policy making?

Everything in the bill should be about raising standards in our schools. With that in mind, most especially post-Covid, given that so many young people missed out on positive educational experiences, it should be about directing our attention not only to structures that will raise attainment but to those that will reward achievement in our schools. To that end, I believe that we should give inspectors every opportunity to reward schools that have strong extracurricular and enrichment programmes. For me and most other members, that should include outdoor education, which inspectors should have the opportunity to inspect.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of any plans to introduce continuous alcohol monitoring technology for offenders across Scotland. (S6O-04842)

The cabinet secretary will know full well that 35 per cent of violent crimes in 2023-24 were carried out under the influence of alcohol. Ministers have had the power to roll out alcohol tags since 2019 but, so far, they have not done so.

In England and Wales, the use of alcohol tags has resulted in more than 97 per cent of offenders staying sober, and the reoffending rates have been cut by 33 per cent. Moreover, Police Scotland, Victim Support Scotland, Community Justice Scotland and the Government’s own electronic monitoring working group have all backed the use of the technology. When will the Scottish Government acknowledge the conclusive evidence that the technology works, and when will it finally roll out alcohol tags?

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. It was the same for me, and I would have voted no.

Given all that has happened, does the cabinet secretary consider that a case will be made to review the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016, about which the Parliament deliberated very long and hard?

In relation to the answer that the minister gave to Kenny Gibson when he asked about infrastructure, why specifically is there a £72 million underspend in the transport portfolio when there are so many pressing issues, such as the dualling of the A9 and various other upgrades?

This is the sixth debate and statement that I have sat through on public sector reform, and it just shows that the finance committee has been calling for real action for a very long time now. What one structural change coming out of the statement will make a real difference to public sector reform?

Will Michael Marra give way?

Daniel Johnson made a very relevant point about the extent of the growth of the Scottish economy over a period of time. The economy’s growth over time is the key issue that analysts are talking about.

I pay tribute to the Deputy First Minister, who made a very interesting speech at Panmure house two weeks ago, in which she identified that a top priority was ensuring that there is much better collaboration between the public and private sectors. That is exactly what we must do to stimulate the growth that is so sadly missing. That is an important part of what is required, and I hope that that is now part of Scottish Government policy. If it is not, we will have even more difficulties in paying for public services.

The public sector is bloated—there is no question about that. Every figure that we look at tells us that it is bloated. I want to come back to a point that was made in the chamber some months ago. During the Covid pandemic, we all got used to the state bailing us out. At the time, that was absolutely fine and correct. However, that expectation is still with us—people still expect the state to do all the work for the Scottish economy. That is not good enough, because it is not solving the problems that we need to address.

We need to attend to the economic inactivity in this country. Willie Rennie said that that was the most important problem; it is. We need to get people back to work. We need to get people to take personal responsibility for their lives and not expect the state to do everything. The Scottish Government needs to waken up to the fact that, for a long period of time, all of its policy development—especially when it comes to welfare spend—has been all about a big state. That approach is not working for Scotland. As several of my colleagues have argued this afternoon, we are getting less while paying more. That simply cannot go on.

I finish on a point that was raised, interestingly, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which said that it is absolutely imperative that we have a proper debate about universalism. The Scottish Government, with its social contract, is absolutely in thrall to the principle of universalism, but we clearly cannot afford that universal principle in the area of welfare spend.

The cabinet secretary has often asked me what we would cut. I throw back to the cabinet secretary—I have argued this with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice—that we have to have a debate about universal policy, because there are areas of universal policy that give benefits to people who could easily afford to pay for some of those benefits themselves. That is not how the welfare system should work: it should be about lifting up those who are in particular need and targeting those who—