Chamber and committees

I will let Oliver Mundell in shortly. He completely ignores the problems that have been created by the points-based immigration system. He does not mention them in his amendment and did not seek to raise them in his speech. He has completely ignored the seasonal agricultural workers scheme pilot, which was bedevilled by problems that were caused by the UK Government. He did not mention the EU settled status scheme, which, despite protestations, still has problems with its registration process.

The member is right about those issues, but why are people choosing not to come here? It is because they have other countries that they can choose to go to that are much easier to get into. If we are trying to compete to get the best people to come here, we should make it as easy as possible, which was the situation when we were members of the European Union.

Oliver Mundell tries to paint it as a black-and-white picture, but it is not an either/or. Of course this Government should have performed better over the past 14 or 15 years—we agree with that. However, we do not agree with simply cutting off the supply of workers.

We need to constantly regenerate our economy, because we do not have the growth rate in our population that we need—although it could be said that that is also the Scottish Government’s responsibility. The problem is that we cannot simply switch off the supply of workers overnight. The construction industry is very clear about that. It says that, ideally, we would recruit more people locally and train people better to make sure that we have more drivers and more workers here. That is incredibly difficult to do overnight, but that is what the UK Government has forced on the country.

My criticism of the Scottish Government is pretty straightforward. I know that it has failed in many areas of life over the past 14 years. However, to have a proper, rounded debate, we need to recognise that the UK Government has put a wrecking ball through many sectors in the economy. That is intolerable. I thought that Oliver Mundell, being a much more intelligent member, would have recognised that and contributed to the debate in a much more rounded way. [Interruption.] I will not take an intervention just now.

I will, in a second. It is impossible to have a rounded debate about the problems that we are facing with recruitment, employment and training in this country without acknowledging the biggest elephants in the room—the problems that have been caused by the UK Government.

Perhaps I did not make myself clear, but I was praising Oliver Mundell for being a very intelligent member of this Parliament, which is why I was surprised by his contribution and his amendment. I am full of praise for Oliver Mundell and the contributions that he makes in the Parliament. I will not step back from that.

It is important to recognise that the pandemic has also contributed to the country’s difficulties. The situation is not straightforward and, as much as I am a big critic of Brexit, it is not all Brexit’s responsibility.

For example, the foundations of the problems in the social care sector in particular relate to the amount of money that we pay the workers. Although the recruitment issues were eased during the pandemic, we need to recognise that they are back to being exactly where they were previously. Brexit has, of course, compounded the situation by restricting access to good workers who can be employed in that sector. That is why, in the reforms that are coming, the Scottish Government needs to make sure that it pays the workers appropriately.

The seasonal agricultural workers scheme is another area that has been through great difficulty. It was supposed to lead to 30,000 workers coming to the UK, because we recognised that there was not a sufficient number of workers. Last year, many people who were on furlough worked in the sector, but that is not available to the sector—

In a second—I am running out of time.

As I said, 30,000 workers were supposed to come. However, as a result of the late deployment of two operators in the seasonal agricultural workers scheme pilot, we have rotting fruit in our fields and flowers left unpicked, and vegetables are potentially under threat as well. That is all because the UK Government did not do as it promised, which was to make sure that the scheme was in place. I could go through lots of different sectors, too.

We need to make sure that we have a rounded debate and a rounded policy so that we can achieve the high-skilled, high-wage economy that we seek for the country. We need to be open to good immigration to refresh our society. People who work hard and play their part in society deserve a good job so that they can look after their families, yet they are often let down on both fronts—by the UK Government and by the Scottish Government. We can do so much better.

Last week, in response to me, the First Minister said that she would look at speeding up the reopening of services for adults with special needs. What was the outcome of that work?

Today, universities are seeking early guidance for the return of students in the autumn. When will that Government guidance be published?

The First Minister said that it is likely that the restrictions will not be eased for five weeks. I want to explore how certain that is. If hospitalisations do not go out of control and vaccination progresses, will she ease restrictions earlier than that?

I am afraid that that is just not good enough. The First Minister takes all the credit for recruiting 3,500 extra teachers but is nowhere to be seen when their terms and conditions turn out to be shoddy.

In an open letter that was written this week, 2,000 temporary teachers say that they are having to take extra jobs just to put food on the table. One in 10 teachers is now on a short-term contract, bobbing from one precarious job to the next for years on end. That is no way to treat those who are responsible for educating the next generation. We all know that if the money is temporary, the teachers will be temporary. If the Scottish Government makes the money permanent, the teachers will be permanent.

Will the First Minister fix that and treat those teachers with respect and decency, for a change?

To ask the First Minister, in light of the growth in short-term teaching contracts, how many of the 3,500 teaching and classroom assistant posts that the Scottish Government has committed to creating will be given permanent contracts. (S6F-00095)

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to reports of Danish and Swedish boats intensively fishing for sand eels just off the Firth of Forth. (S6O-00016)