Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Official Report 1189KB pdf

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Topical Question Time

The next item of business is topical question time.

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Hypothermia (Ambulance Call-outs)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, during freezing temperatures in December, ambulances were called out to 800 people with hypothermia. (S6T-01077)

We share concerns that the vulnerable, especially older people, will struggle to keep warm this winter. We are committed to doing everything that we can, in our power, to address the energy cost crisis, which is why we announced in our budget statement on 15 December last year that we will be allocating a further £20 million to the fuel insecurity fund to ensure that it can continue to provide support to those in the greatest need in 2023-24.

That follows on from our decision, as part of the emergency budget review in November, to double our fund to £20 million for the current financial year. Those additional moneys have been distributed to our three current fuel insecurity fund delivery partners so that the immediate crisis support reaches those on the ground without delay.

The United Kingdom Government’s current energy price cap of £2,500 per annum, on average—due to rise to £3,000 from next April—still leaves energy costs at an unsustainable level for far too many households. I would encourage anybody still struggling with their energy bills to contact Home Energy Scotland, which will be able to help with energy advice.

I am sure that the Government understands that there are people in this country who have been switching off their heating almost entirely throughout the winter so far, due to fear that they simply cannot afford it. It is clear that the Tories are the architects of this dreadful cost of living crisis. The sooner that they are replaced with a UK Labour Government, the better.

It is important, though, to focus on what we can do in this Parliament. I am aware of the fuel insecurity fund, which was increased to deal with the challenges faced by our most vulnerable. However, will the Government review the fund and assess whether the money that is available for families and older people in our communities is actually getting to them—we have heard from constituents that that may not be happening in good time—and whether it is close to enough, when the lowest temperatures since 2010 have been recorded in parts of Scotland?

Carol Mochan is absolutely right. The Conservatives are the architects of the cost crisis that is affecting so many people. The cost crisis is a public health crisis—[Interruption.] I am not sure why we are hearing groans from the Conservative benches, when they are responsible for the public health crisis that so many households face due to more than a decade of austerity.

My colleague Shona Robison, who is sat here to my left, is working hard in relation to the fuel insecurity fund and other funds that are available. Carol Mochan will know that we are making progress in relation to the winter heating payment and the pension-age winter heating payment. If eligibility criteria can be expanded, this Government will always keep an open mind, so that we can help as many families as possible.

I am sure that Carol Mochan will agree that, instead of mitigating the constant austerity and cost of living crisis enabled by the Conservative Government, it would be far better if we had the power in our hands to take the necessary measures to save families from the impacts of the cost crisis.

I reiterate my agreement that the Tories at Westminster have created this cost of living crisis. My point would be that they will pay for that at the ballot box next year, which will help to address the crisis.

Following yesterday’s briefing from the First Minister and the cabinet secretary, it is clear—if it was not already—that the Scottish National Party has lost control of the health service. Record numbers of people are waiting more than 12 hours at accident emergency and, crucially, nurses and social care workers are feeling the strain of poor pay and underfunding of services. Patients are suffering as a consequence.

Our national health service is our proudest possession. Staff and patients are concerned. How can the cabinet secretary be confident in the slightest that, when the temperatures drop again to dangerously low levels, vulnerable individuals suffering from hypothermia will even be able to receive treatment and attention as quickly as they need it?

Our NHS is our most prized and valuable asset, and I pay tribute to every single health and social care worker who is providing exceptional care in these most challenging of times. I will say more in the ministerial statement that is due straight after topical question time.

I disagree with Carol Mochan that we are not investing in our health service. We are. Front-line health spending is higher here in Scotland than in other parts of the UK—a record £19 billion for 2023-24. We have record staffing levels. We also care about our staff, whom we value. That is why I say to Carol Mochan that, because of our meaningful dialogue, Scotland is the only part of the UK not to have had nurses or ambulance drivers on strike, which is very different to the situation in Labour-run Wales.

There is much interest in this afternoon’s business. As ever, having concise questions and responses will enable more members’ voices to be heard.

Concerns have been raised that a cold winter, coupled with the Tory-created energy crisis, will mean that large numbers of people will experience hypothermia or other serious issues linked to low body temperature. [Interruption.]

Does the cabinet secretary have concerns that unless the Tory Government takes real action to put money back in people’s pockets, such as by matching the Scottish child payment and properly supporting people on low. incomes every winter, we will only see the number of people who experience hypothermia grow as more of them face the choice between heating and eating?

Presiding Officer, I am astonished that in response to Emma Harper’s reasonable and rational question we are hearing complete denial from members on the Conservative benches about the real harm that they are causing people up and down this country through their complete mismanagement of the economy. [Interruption.]

Thank you, members.

They are responsible for the cost crisis and they should hang their heads in shame.

I could not agree more with Emma Harper, and I share her concerns. A series of UK Government welfare reforms has eroded the real-terms value of reserved benefits. I am deeply concerned about the UK Government’s welfare policies as the rising costs of essentials are far harder for people on the lowest incomes to afford.

We have repeatedly called for additional funding to increase social security benefits to support low-income households this winter, including a £25 per week uplift to universal credit and means-tested legacy benefits, as well as an end to the benefit cap and the two-child limit.

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Teacher Strikes

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to mitigate the impact of recent teacher strikes on children’s education. (S6T-01078)

The best way of mitigating that impact is to avoid industrial action. Strikes in our schools are in the interests of no one—least of all pupils, parents and carers who have already faced significant disruption over the past three years.

I remain absolutely committed to working closely with our union and local government partners to try to reach a deal on teachers’ pay, which must be fair and affordable for all concerned. I am in regular dialogue with the unions and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and spoke to them as recently as Friday 6 January.

As Mr Kerr will be aware, the provision of education in Scotland is the responsibility of local authorities. However, I have previously made clear that wherever strikes occur local authorities should undertake individual school risk assessments based on the availability of staff, with schools remaining open or remote learning facilities being provided wherever possible.

I am not sure that I heard a single answer in that long statement from the cabinet secretary. Neither am I sure that I heard anything that will bring comfort to Scotland’s parents, carers or, indeed, the most important people: the pupils, especially those in the senior phase who are preparing for their important exams.

The cabinet secretary is right that the obvious mitigation is to end the dispute, but the dispute was going on before last April. She has said in the media—

You have made no suggestions to the Government to offer to help to end the strike.

You are the Government.

Excuse me, Mr Kerr.

You might be a shabby Government, but you are the Government.

Excuse me, Mr Kerr. Sit down, please.

I advise all members that I am chairing the session. I would be grateful if we could hear the member when he is speaking.

The cabinet secretary has said in the media that there is room for negotiation and scope for settlement. What is in scope? When will the strikes end? Was the cabinet secretary in the negotiating room yesterday?

The meeting that was held yesterday was a meeting of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, which Government ministers do not attend, but Government officials were there. As I have said, I was in the room with representatives of the trade unions and COSLA on Friday.

There have been a number of constructive talks recently, particularly those held on Friday and Monday, for which I thank trade union and COSLA colleagues. If Mr Kerr will forgive me, I will not go into the detail of those meetings. That is not just a decision of the Scottish Government; trade union colleagues would not thank me if I went into the details of private negotiations. That is not the way to settle the detailed agreement that we will need to come to.

Of course, we are considering all options to resolve the dispute, looking at scope for compromise. However, as I have stated to trade union colleagues on several occasions, the Scottish Government has a fixed budget that is already allocated for this year and it has been eroded by inflation—no thanks to the UK Government for that. We will work to do everything that we can to resolve the dispute but it is fair to say that negotiations will have to continue, as some distance remains between us.

Scotland’s parents, carers and pupils will be astonished—why on earth was the cabinet secretary not even in the room? How on earth can there be a negotiation or a resolution if the cabinet secretary does not even negotiate? That is typical. Teachers are on strike for the first time in 40 years because the SNP Government has repeatedly let them down. The teachers do not want to strike; she is letting teachers and pupils down.

I have one more question to ask, so let me see if I can get a specific answer. Will the cabinet secretary set out one practical idea that she and her Government have to help pupils to catch up and avoid falling further behind?

I gave some of the details of that in my first answer. There are many areas where, because of the impact of Covid, we have remote learning initiatives, such as e-Sgoil, that are assisted by national agencies, although the responsibility for remote learning also lies—quite rightly—with the schools.

On the day when UK Government ministers are standing up in Westminster and bringing in anti-trade union legislation, I will take no lectures from Mr Kerr or any other Conservative member of this Parliament who says that we should be doing more to settle disputes. We know what happens when the Tories are in power—we can see that at Westminster. Compare that to what we have done here in Scotland, where we are having constructive discussions. That is how we solve disputes.

Mr Kerr’s questions today show a lack of understanding of how the SNCT works and of negotiations and dispute resolution. I will take no lessons from him because of that and in particular because of the anti-trade union legislation once again being taken through Westminster by the Conservatives.

I thank the cabinet secretary for her update. Strikes are in no one’s best interest, but industrial action is an essential part of a fair and just society and economy, which has deep roots in Scotland’s industrial history. Does the cabinet secretary share my incredulousness at the brass neck of the Tories who, as she has stated, are trying to pass new anti-trade union laws? The SNP will have no truck with such laws.

Kaukab Stewart sets out the real concerns that we should all have about some of the legislation being proposed by the UK Government in relation to trade unions. I have enormous respect for the important role of trade unions in our society. I commend the role of the teaching unions, the professional associations and the strength of feeling of their members. I am exceptionally careful to listen to that and take that on board.

Once again, Kaukab Stewart is quite right to point out the brass neck of the Scottish Conservatives’ bringing such a question to Parliament on a day when the Conservatives are introducing anti-trade union legislation at Westminster.

The most recent pay offer was sent to the teaching unions at the last minute—quite literally—yet that offer had sat on the cabinet secretary’s desk for 3.5 weeks. That was seven weeks ago. With schools closed across the country, and many more days of strikes to come, when will the cabinet secretary sanction a new offer?

I go back to the point that I have already made: the Government has a fixed budget that is already allocated and that has been eroded by inflation. Although it is easy for Mr Marra to stand up and suggest that the Government should come up with a new offer, he needs to understand the implications of that and the fact that the money would have to be found from elsewhere in the education budget. When people demand that the Government simply “sort it” by putting a new offer on the table, they have to realise the implications of that and take some responsibility for them.

As I have said, constructive talks have been happening over the past few days. I look forward to those continuing over the weeks ahead and to the further discussions that I will have with trade union colleagues and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to see if the dispute can be brought to a resolution as speedily as possible, because this situation is not in the best interests of Scotland’s children and young people.

The cabinet secretary has said that she will take no lessons today, but the trouble is that no pupils in Scotland are getting any lessons today because of a strike that this Government cannot resolve. The education secretary seems to be very chilled out and relaxed—teachers are on strike and pupils are going without an education, but she is incredibly relaxed and is taking no action to resolve the strike. I will follow up on what Michael Marra asked: is the cabinet secretary saying that there will be no new offer to teachers?

What I have said and will say again is that constructive talks are on-going. We are open to considering options that will resolve the dispute and are looking at the scope to see where there is compromise. There will have to be compromise not just from the Scottish Government but from all involved in the dispute. We will of course look very carefully to see what can be done, and we will leave no stone unturned to try and do that as quickly as possible. No one wants to see strike action in our schools, and I appreciate that that includes our teachers, but the stark financial reality that the Government is in makes preventing that exceptionally difficult. We will continue to do everything that we can to bring the situation to a speedy resolution with COSLA and trade union colleagues.

That concludes topical questions.