I call Sandesh Gulhane.

Cabinet secretary, I thank you and your officials for your attendance today.

At next week’s meeting, we will commence taking oral evidence as part of the committee’s pre-budget scrutiny for 2026-27. That concludes the public part of today’s meeting.

Good morning, and welcome to the 21st meeting in 2025 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received no apologies.

Agenda item 1 is to ask the committee to agree to take items 4 and 5 in private. Do members agree to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

The next item is to take oral evidence on a further supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the Employment Rights Bill. The bill’s purpose is to deliver the key legislative reforms that are set out in the United Kingdom Government’s plan to make work pay.

The bill’s explanatory note states that its purpose is to

“update and enhance existing employment rights and make provision for new rights; make provision regarding pay and conditions in particular sectors; ... make reforms in relation to trade union matters and industrial action”,

and to create

“a new regime for the enforcement of employment law.”

The committee previously took evidence on an earlier supplementary LCM on the Employment Rights Bill in May this year, and it published a report on that previous supplementary LCM on 10 June. The further supplementary LCM—LCM-S6-53b, which is currently under consideration—was lodged in the Scottish Parliament on 14 August. It recommends legislative consent with respect to amendments to clauses 44 to 46 and 49 of the bill, which were tabled on 7 July.

I welcome Tom Arthur, Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing, along with Anne Cairns, solicitor; Danny Duffy, who deals with fair work and social care; David Holmes, who deals with fair work and the economy; and Rachael Thomas, who deals with fair work and social care, all from the Scottish Government. I invite the minister to make an opening statement.

Thank you, minister, for that comprehensive statement. I have had no indication from members that they have any questions. I think that the committee has already scrutinised several LCMs on the bill.

Professor Jaacks, very briefly, please.

We must move on, because we are running hugely behind time and still have seven themes to cover. We might be able to get back to some of what you were going to ask.

Thank you, cabinet secretary, that is much appreciated. We will move straight to questions from Carol Mochan.

I remind members that I hold a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

I welcome the progress that the Scottish Government has made in reducing waiting lists, and it is disappointing that Labour consistently talks down our national health service and our hard-working staff. In that vein, what can the cabinet secretary say about the recent figures in relation to the number of GPs, paramedics and the wider NHS workforce?

Today, too many households are still struggling with the cost of food, energy bills and everyday essentials. Decisions that are taken at Westminster continue to make life more difficult for families, communities and businesses across the country. They have faced years of austerity, a hard Brexit that has been imposed on Scotland, and completely and utterly catastrophic economic mismanagement by successive UK Governments.

No doubt my Scottish Labour colleagues who sit to my right will again try to distance themselves from the billions of pounds-worth of cuts made by their UK Labour colleagues, but I will set the scene with a quick rundown of just some of their greatest hits. They have refused to end the two-child benefit cap, and so have pushed more children into poverty. They have blocked compensation for the women against state pension inequality—the WASPI women. They have slashed international aid. They have tried to introduce billions of pounds-worth of cuts to disabled people and imposed a tax on jobs and public services by hiking employer national insurance contributions. The pockets of the young, the poor, the disabled and the elderly have been raided under Labour, and speculation is mounting that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is set to announce another wave of tax rises and spending cuts.

We are only just into September, and I am already hearing from constituents who are worried about yet another rise in energy bills. Those are the same constituents who had Labour leaflets pushed through their doors, promising that their bills would go down by £300.

Today, I will expand on one of those points: child poverty. The persistence of child poverty is testament to how families across the UK and the whole of Scotland have been absolutely failed by Westminster. It should be a mark of shame for the Labour Government that child poverty is rising in the rest of the UK and is expected to hit record highs by the end of this Westminster session.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the First Minister has said that the eradication of child poverty is his single most important objective, and the Scottish Government is taking action and turning the tide. Organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have highlighted SNP policies such as the Scottish child payment and the mitigation of the two-child limit as ones that see Scotland bucking the trend.

Research led by Professor Ruth Patrick shows that the Labour Westminster Government could cut child poverty in the UK by a sixth if it were to match Scotland’s investment in social security. That represents 700,000 children who would be lifted out of poverty overnight. We have to ask the question: what is stopping the Labour Government? The progress that Scotland has made on driving down poverty rates shows that another way is possible if the political will is there.

Last week, I visited Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank in my constituency to meet the new manager and to learn more about its upcoming move. With that visit and today’s debate in mind, I was very interested to read a report on the Scottish child payment that the Trussell Trust commissioned from the Fraser of Allander Institute. The Trussell Trust praised the payment as an example of

“an important lever for reducing the need for food banks”

by lifting families out of the deep poverty that leads to their use.

The report found evidence that the Scottish child payment

“successfully reduced food bank usage”

for single-adult households with children, households with three or more children and those with children aged five to 16. Although that research was exploratory in nature, the results are very promising and give us reason for optimism for when larger data sets are available. We are talking about breaking cycles of deep poverty and allowing families not just to pay for essential items and live with more dignity and freedom but to participate in more opportunities and to thrive.

In South Lanarkshire, where my Rutherglen constituency is based, more than 20,000 children and young people are benefiting from the Scottish child payment. More than 21,500 children and young people received best start grant and best start food payments. Those are families in our communities who are getting money directly in their pockets, which eases their household pressures. That is what tackling child poverty head on looks like. Although Labour continues to sit on its hands at Westminster, refusing to reverse the cruel two-child cap, which is widely recognised as one of the biggest drivers of child poverty, the SNP has taken action to effectively scrap that cruel policy in Scotland from next March.

With the powers available to us via this Parliament, the SNP Government is taking action to keep more money in people’s pockets through these tough times. Whether we are talking about social security support that is available only in Scotland, the expansion of free school meals, funded childcare worth £6,000 per year, free prescriptions and eye appointments, free university tuition, free bus travel for 2.3 million people or scrapping peak rail fares, that action is making a difference to families across the country. The SNP Government is saving people money, but the UK Government is doing nothing to help people in our communities with soaring bills. This is a story of action versus distraction, and the SNP has chosen action, which demonstrates what happens when decisions for Scotland can be—and are—made in Scotland.

As an independent nation, we could do so much more, and that is what the SNP is fighting for. Through our actions and our vision over the next year, we will show that independence is the fresh start that Scotland needs.