Alongside Blantyre, Cambuslang and Halfway community councils, I campaigned successfully against a proposed incinerator in Hamilton. I know that many local people welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of a moratorium on new incinerator sites. Can the minister update Parliament on the actions that the Government is taking to limit and reduce the amount of waste sent to existing incinerators?

You also called for MAT standards to

“cover all drugs causing harm”,

not just opiates. Can you tell us more about the evidence that you heard on why that is needed? What difference would that make to the treatment offer?

Good morning. You have called for all public and third sector services to be

“enabled and supported to share information including the justice system.”

I am mindful that you have said that not everyone has such information to share, so you might want to address that point. Why did you make that recommendation? What needs to be done to support that?

Good morning to you, cabinet secretary, and to your officials.

You will have heard us discussing the issue of naloxone with the previous panel. The people’s panel called for an additional public awareness campaign for the distribution and use of the substance, and you stated in your response to the report that you will give further consideration to that recommendation and discuss it with partners. Can you provide the committee with more detail of what that might involve and, possibly, a timescale for that work?

I have another short supplementary question, but I should first declare an interest as someone who holds a bank nurse contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

I want to ask about an issue that was raised by the people’s panel—I suppose it comes under the theme of harm reduction—which is GPs being unaware of the MAT standards, which were introduced in 2021. When I went on the Turas website, I saw quite comprehensive learning resources and information, including the package “Working with Substance Use, Trauma and Mental Health—Resources and Training for the Scottish Workforce”. From my reading, that has been there since 2021, and I would be greatly concerned if GPs had not been accessing it. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary could see whether some of the data that sits behind that could be disaggregated, so that we could see who has been accessing it and, if it is shown that GPs have not been accessing it, perhaps work with the chief medical officer to encourage them to do so. The data on the number of people with mental health issues who also have substance misuse issues—and who, indeed, have suffered trauma—is out there, and the fact is that quite comprehensive training is available.

The Scottish Government has made strides in promoting and increasing fair work employment across Scotland, and it is vital that we keep up momentum and ensure that those who are seeking fulfilling and fair work in Scottish communities can find it. Will the minister elaborate on how the community wealth building approach can feed into the development of fair and resilient local labour markets?

I know that members will have welcomed the recent announcement from the Scottish Government that, as part of the budget, a £2 bus fare cap pilot will be introduced in one regional transport area. At the moment, more than 2.3 million people—everyone under the age of 22 or over 65, and disabled people and carers—benefit from free bus travel, and the £2 cap could build on that good work.

As the scheme is set to be introduced from January 2026, will the minister outline the criteria on how the pilot will be measured? I take this opportunity to encourage the minister to consider introducing the pilot across South Lanarkshire and Glasgow, to benefit my Rutherglen constituents.

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase bus patronage in South Lanarkshire. (S6O-04306)

Change in social care is needed, and we must all work to secure improvement. I understand from the minister’s statement that was delivered earlier this month that a new non-statutory advisory board will be established to drive improvement in the sector. Will the minister advise when that board is expected to meet and how quickly it will be able to deliver vital reform?

The First Minister declared that tackling child poverty is the national mission of this Scottish parliamentary session. Our education system, as a universal service that the vast majority of families access, is an essential component of that.

In its briefing, Save the Children states:

“The early years of childhood are golden, when development is rapid, vast and holistic.”

All parents want the best for their children, but, without support, poverty in the early years can limit young children’s potential and entrench inequalities. The poverty-related gap in children’s outcomes opens well before they set foot in a primary school classroom. Disparities in health and development take root from early childhood, with those who grow up in poverty more likely to have poorer health, educational and economic outcomes throughout their lives.

Children from low-income households are much less likely to score well on measures associated with readiness to thrive at school. Like many other countries, Scotland is still reckoning with the increasing developmental concerns following the pandemic, which can have knock-on effects on the rest of a child’s education. That is particularly true for children in the most deprived communities. Interventions focusing on early childhood can play a significant role in mitigating the impacts of poverty by helping families to lay strong foundations for their children’s future.

The Scottish Government has taken many steps to make Scotland one of the best countries in which to experience the early years—the Scottish child payment, the baby box, best start grants, support services for parents and carers, investment in quality early learning and childcare—and is making every effort to ensure that those approaches are reaching and benefiting families.

Investment in high-quality early years services is essential for tackling child poverty, inequality and social exclusion and for breaking intergenerational cycles. There is clear evidence that high-quality early years education and childcare is beneficial to children’s development, with the strongest effects being seen among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Government has massively expanded the provision of fully funded and high-quality early learning and childcare—it has provided 1,140 hours for eligible children aged two and for all three and four-year-olds. This year’s budget includes about £1 billion of investment in early years services.