Chamber and committees

According to the statement, as of 15 December, more than half the people entitled to the winter heating payment had not received any money, and it will be another five weeks until everybody receives the entitlement that they are due. Why is there such a delay in the payments coming through? In the year ahead, will the payments be made earlier than they were this year?

I will come back to the point that Mr Carlaw made, if time allows.

The Scottish Government likes to make a big song and dance about its progressive tax policy, but the truth is that medium earners in Scotland pay more tax than their counterparts pay south of the border. A Scottish resident on £50,000 a year will pay an extra £1,527.80 in the next tax year, compared with someone with the same job in England.

Last year, the Deputy First Minister said:

“I have often heard it said that the negative rhetoric about tax is more off-putting than the tax itself.”—[Official Report, Economy and Fair Work Committee, 9 October 2024; c 25.]

She clearly believes that, if only Opposition parties would say nice things about SNP policies, we could trick people into moving to Scotland. The Scottish Conservatives would love to say positive things about Scottish tax policy, but, unfortunately, the SNP insists on raising taxes for hard-working families, with nothing to show for it.

It has not been the SNP, and it has not been Labour. Does the First Minister accept that both the SNP Scottish Government and the Labour UK Government have let thousands of pensioners go cold this winter, rather than provide the support that they deserve and require?

I have probably taken enough interventions.

The Scottish Conservatives believe that, by allowing people to keep more of their hard-earned wages, we can promote the economic growth that Scotland so desperately needs and establish ourselves as a top destination for skilled migrants in the UK and on the world stage. Too often, people come here not to work but to retire and be with family.

Although, as a party, we fundamentally disagree with high taxes, that would be slightly more acceptable if the standard of public services that we received was high. Unfortunately, after almost 18 years of SNP mismanagement, the people of Scotland are not getting anything like value for money. Our NHS is being stretched to breaking point. According to some estimates, more than 2,000 people died last year in Scotland due to a long wait in an accident and emergency department. Waiting lists for surgeries remain far too long, and more and more people are having to pay for private care on top of their taxes. However, once again, the SNP is more interested in spending parliamentary time talking about reserved matters over which it has no jurisdiction, instead of tackling the crisis that we have created in our health service.

The Government motion mentions that we need to increase migration to our rural communities in Scotland, but the Government does not understand that its actions are contributing to the problem. Its failure to follow through on its promises to dual the A9, for instance, has done nothing to make small communities in the north of Scotland more connected. Its failure to provide a high standard of healthcare in rural areas forces residents to travel great distances for routine appointments. Why would anyone want to move to such areas?

A report by the Scottish Human Rights Commission found that, in the Highlands and Islands, the Government is not meeting its minimum core obligations on food and housing, while it is only partially meeting its obligations on health. The Scottish Government should be dealing with those factors rather than debating today’s topic. As the development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in the Highlands and Islands, David Richardson, has said,

“Reversing population trends will require moving heaven and earth to retain more young people and attract younger people and families to move in by focusing on making rural Highland the best possible place to ... work”.

The Parliament was established to work for the people of Scotland on a number of matters. It was not established to grandstand on issues that we have no jurisdiction over, while failing to provide the basic functions of government. The irony is that, if the SNP focused on competent government and following through on promises, Scotland would be a much more attractive destination for migration. As with all debates of this nature, addressing those issues would be a much better use of parliamentary time. Unfortunately, the SNP does not seem to be interested in that.

I move amendment S6M-16034.4, to leave out from first “notes” to end and insert:

“understands that Scotland receives 6% of net migration to the UK, which is lower than its 8.4% population share; notes that the Scottish Government has made Scotland an unattractive destination to move to through a combination of higher taxes on skilled professionals, a lack of investment in rural economies, a failure to provide adequate transport routes, an inability to provide enough homes in key areas, and a neglect of public services; further notes that the Scottish Government’s failures have led to depopulation from some of Scotland’s more rural parts, and asserts that immigration is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament and not in the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament.”

Ladies first, if that is okay.

I do not accept the member’s second point because, if we look at the numbers, we see that they are lower than they are for any other part of the UK. We have been brought to this point by the SNP’s failed leadership on countless matters—not least on taxation.

Pensioners across Scotland have faced freezing temperatures this winter, and they will continue to do so over the coming weeks. The SNP is shamelessly trying to hoodwink pensioners by pretending that it has brought back the full winter payment for next year when it has not done so. Only the Conservatives have provided the full winter payment to pensioners—[Interruption.]

The project of devolution is built on the idea that devolved Parliaments can carry out certain functions of government effectively at a more local level. Over the past 25 years of our history, the Scottish Parliament has been entrusted with many responsibilities—healthcare, education, transport and social security, to mention a few.

However, that model works only if the Scottish Government is actually focused on those issues. The system fails when we ignore our core responsibilities and, instead, spend time on functions that are reserved to Westminster. This debate is the latest example of the Scottish Government not being interested in making devolution work for the people of Scotland.

With respect to the cabinet secretary, I think that she has slightly jumped the gun. She might want to reflect on what I will say in the next few minutes.

Instead of focusing on providing high-quality public services, the Scottish Government would rather grandstand on reserved policy areas and deflect attention elsewhere. The consequences of that are plain to see: a suffering national health service, an ever-growing housing crisis, the social care sector on its knees, and the wider third sector looking for life support.

Should we be surprised that Scotland is struggling to attract migrants? If the Scottish National Party is not willing to put in the work to make Scotland an attractive prospect, why should migrants be willing to move here? Scotland is home to 8.4 per cent of the UK population, but we receive only 6 per cent of net UK migration. Regardless of the SNP’s attempts to deflect from that, the blame lies squarely at its feet.

Happy new year.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an assessment of the potential impact of the reported proposed budget reduction for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on its ability to reduce any court backlogs. (S6O-04168)