Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Thursday, March 23, 2023

Official Report 1103KB pdf

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First Minister’s Question Time

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Scottish National Party Membership

As the month of Ramadan begins, I take this opportunity to wish all Muslims in Scotland and across the United Kingdom a very peaceful holy month.

The First Minister’s party, when asked by journalists just last month whether it had lost 30,000 members, said this:

“As the SNP clearly stated when asked, fewer than 300 members have left the party over the period”.

The quote continued:

“This story is both malicious and wholly inaccurate. Fortunately, few people are gullible enough to believe it.”

It has since emerged that the story was 100 per cent correct, so why did Nicola Sturgeon’s party—the party of Government in this Parliament—lie to the press and the public?

On matters for which the Government has general responsibility, First Minister.

I begin by wishing Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim community. I think that I am in the very privileged position of having, of any constituency in the country, the highest proportion of Muslims living in my Glasgow Southside constituency. I know that the holy month of Ramadan is a very special time for Muslims, and I wish them all the best during it.

The issue of SNP members has been well canvassed over the past few days. I have nothing to add to what I have already said, except this: the SNP remains the only mass membership party in this country. We have, by far, more members than any other party represented in the chamber, and I think that I can say with some confidence that the SNP has more members than all other parties in the chamber have combined. However, I cannot say that with absolute certainty, so let me say, finally, to Douglas Ross that, if he wants a conversation, a debate or an interaction about party membership figures, it surely should be a meaningful one in which we can compare and contrast. Therefore, before we go any further, will Douglas Ross share with the chamber how many members his party has?

It is very interesting that the First Minister—[Interruption.]

Excuse me, members. We will hear Mr Ross.

It is very interesting that the First Minister speaks about confidence in numbers, because those seeking to replace her had no confidence in the numbers that her party’s chief executive and her head of communications issued to the press. [Interruption.] This is an important issue here, in the Scottish Parliament.

How many members?

Excuse me. Mr Ross is seeking to ask a question of the First Minister. Can we please do Mr Ross the courtesy of listening?

This is an important issue here, in the Scottish Parliament, for the Scottish Government, because it lied. It lied to the press and it lied to the public. That is absolutely clear—[Interruption.]—and Nicola Sturgeon is treating the Scottish public like idiots with that embarrassing defence—

Mr Ross, I remind you that all members are required to treat one another with courtesy and respect at all times. I remind you of what not only I but my predecessors—those who have sat in this chair before me—have said with regard to the use of particular language in the chamber.

But I think that everyone has accepted that the SNP lied over those figures. [Interruption.] The defence from Nicola Sturgeon is embarrassing—

Mr Ross—

The SNP’s story went on like this—

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

We do not have points of order during First Minister’s question time. [Interruption.]

First of all, I will decide when we are and are not taking points of order. However, as is established convention, I will not be taking a point of order until the end of this session.

SNP members do not seem to want to hear this. I wonder why. The SNP’s story on those figures continued: it said that the impression given in the media was “flat wrong” as well as “malicious and wholly inaccurate”. The SNP went on to say that nobody would be “gullible enough to believe” the reported reduction of 30,000 SNP members.

The truth is that the SNP as a party did lie, which is why its chief executive and its head of communications have resigned, so why would anybody be gullible enough to believe that Nicola Sturgeon was unaware of what her chief executive and the most senior members of her party were up to?

Before the First Minister responds, I remind all members of the requirement that we not use the word “lie” in the chamber.

The only character that is being revealed in the chamber today is that of Douglas Ross.

Douglas Ross will, no doubt, be a long-standing leader of the Opposition—well, unless his party has something to say about that. As such, he chooses the topics that he raises, which is absolutely right and proper. However, for the people who are watching, let it be noted that, on this, my last appearance as First Minister at First Minister’s question time, Douglas Ross is not asking me about the national health service, education, the economy or climate justice. Instead, the topic that he has chosen is party membership figures. That is fine, but if we are to have a proper interaction—

It is about honesty and integrity.

Given yesterday’s events in the House of Commons, I do not think that Conservatives should be lecturing anyone about honesty and integrity. [Interruption.]

Thank you, members.

Before we go any further, if we are to have a debate about party membership figures, perhaps Douglas Ross will answer the question that I posed, on which we are still waiting for an answer: how many members does the Scottish Conservative Party have? Surely he knows. Tell us.

Nicola Sturgeon has started a week early—you get to ask the questions at FMQs when you are on the back benches, but, in your final FMQs as First Minister, you are supposed to answer.

The First Minister’s farewell tour this week has been a masterclass in deceit and political spin. She was far too busy to appear in front of the Scottish Affairs Committee, but she somehow—somehow—managed to eke out time in her schedule to sit down on “Loose Women” to debate the great matters of state with Janet Street-Porter.

The First Minister has said that her party is experiencing “growing pains”—this must be the first time that growing pains have actually shrunk something. She has claimed that she has left her successor a “brilliant foundation”. First Minister, the foundation is all that is left—[Interruption.]

Mr Ross.

The house that Sturgeon, Salmond and Murrell—

Mr Ross, I am finding it very difficult to hear you from here. I would be grateful if we could hear one member at a time—and only those members whom I have called.

I was just saying how the First Minister has claimed to have left her successor a “brilliant foundation”, but the foundation is all that is left. The house that Sturgeon, Salmond and Murrell built is collapsing. SNP members have said so themselves—party president Mike Russell admitted this week that the SNP is in a “tremendous mess”. He is right, is he not?

If Douglas Ross wants to know about collapsing political parties, he should look at the poll about leaders’ favourability ratings that was published this very morning—it does not make happy reading for Douglas Ross.

These are not the issues that I would have chosen to ask about today, but Douglas Ross has chosen them. If he wants to talk about priorities, let me point out that I am not the member of this Parliament who missed a veterans event in order to referee a football match. [Interruption.]

Thank you!

On that point, I am not accountable to the House of Commons; I am accountable to the Scottish Parliament. I know that Douglas Ross has difficulty in deciding which Parliament is more important to Scotland, because he has one foot in each, but I know which Parliament is most important to Scotland. It is this one—our Scottish Parliament.

Finally, I am proud of the record of the Government that I have led through some of the toughest times that Scotland has faced in recent history. Ultimately, the only people who will cast a verdict on the record of my Government and future ones are the people of Scotland. During my time as First Minister, they have had eight opportunities to do that. At each of those eight opportunities, they have voted for me, the SNP and my Government. That is a record that I am very proud to stand on.

If the First Minister is proud of her record in government, let us look at it. In her final FMQs, let us go over it—[Interruption.]

We will hear Mr Ross.

On Nicola Sturgeon’s watch, Scotland’s schools have plummeted down international league tables. She has made no progress on reducing the attainment gap—she has broken her promise to close it completely. The named person act, the hate crime act and the gender recognition bill were all unworkable. Drug deaths in Scotland are the highest in Europe and are five times greater than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Right now—at this moment—one in seven Scots is on a national health service waiting list.

On her final day in the chamber as First Minister, a cross-party committee of the Parliament delivered a damning report on ferries. It found that Nicola Sturgeon personally intervened to prioritise vanity over vessels, leading to huge delays and costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds.

On those and on so many other issues, Nicola Sturgeon ignored Scotland’s priorities in favour of her obsession with independence. She divided our country and failed on every mission that she set herself. First Minister, is that not the truth of your legacy?

That has not been the verdict of the Scottish people at any point during my time as First Minister. As First Minister, I have had eight election victories in eight years—that is the verdict that matters to me.

Let us look at my record as First Minister: progressive income tax; the Scottish child payment, which has lifted children out of poverty; the baby box; closing the attainment gap; record numbers of people from backgrounds such as mine going to university; a national investment bank; leading the way in addressing climate change; abolishing prescription charges; minimum unit pricing, which has saved lives; record-high health funding; the best performing accident and emergency departments anywhere in the UK; the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018; free period products; expanded—doubled—childcare; the Promise for care-experienced young people—[Interruption.]

Thank you!

—the highest level of school spend per pupil anywhere in the UK; the highest number of teachers per head, with 8 per cent more teachers now than when I became First Minister; free tuition for higher education; and free bus travel for those under 22. I could go on and on, but I am not going to, because this is my last session of First Minister’s question time.

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First Minister’s Record

I join others in saying Ramadan Mubarak. It is a month of sacrifice, reflection and charity, when we remember those who are less fortunate here, at home, and around the world.

We live in serious times, with the cost of living crisis and a national health service crisis. Given that this is my last opportunity to question the First Minister, I want to ask about the finishing touches to what I am sure will be a handover document for her successor.

It is important to check what she believes is in the in-tray for the next First Minister. After 15 years of Scottish National Party Government, there is not a single Scottish institution that is stronger now than it was when her party took office. From the ferries scandal to the entrenched attainment gap, the NHS crisis and decimated local services, which of her Government’s many failures does the First Minister think that her successor needs to address first?

I say with the greatest respect that Anas Sarwar is just wrong. Let us look first at some of the institutions that did not even exist when I became First Minister. For example, we have Revenue Scotland, which is making sure that we have the most progressive income tax system anywhere in the United Kingdom. We have Social Security Scotland, which is delivering benefits—including the Scottish child payment—to people across the country, and the Scottish National Investment Bank, which is leading this country’s drive to net zero.

The NHS is, of course, facing real challenges as a result of the Covid pandemic, but it still has the best-performing accident and emergency departments anywhere in the UK. Tomorrow, I will be in Fife, opening our new national treatment centre, which will deliver more operations for people in Fife. It will soon be joined by national treatment centres elsewhere across Scotland.

In education, more young people from a background like mine are going to university than has ever been the case. There has been a doubling of early years education and childcare.

I think that that represents a strengthening of many, many institutions. Does my successor have a tough job? Of course, because we live in tough times, but I have confidence that, whoever my successor turns out to be—whoever is standing here next week—they will continue to build on that record, and they will continue to retain the trust of the Scottish people.

I know that Nicola Sturgeon can try to take credit for lots of things, but I am not sure that she can take credit for creating the national health service—I think that might have been a previous Government.

Nicola Sturgeon likes to talk about records. Here are just a few that have been set in her time, which are piling up in her successor’s sky-high in-tray: record A and E waiting times, with one in seven Scots on an NHS waiting list; record drug deaths; record vacancies for nurses and doctors in our NHS; record levels of children without a home; record levels of homelessness—I could go on and on, but seeing as it is her last First Minister’s question time, I will not do that.

It is hard to see how Nicola Sturgeon’s successor will be able to fix those problems, as they were sat round the Cabinet table with her. The decisions taken around that Cabinet table have resulted in more than £3 billion of taxpayers’ money being wasted since 2007—that is £1,200 for every household in Scotland. At the same time, the SNP spent public money to build a culture of cover-up and secrecy, which is now beginning to unravel, all while Scots struggle to keep their heads above the waterline.

Given the scale of the challenges that are piled up in that in-tray, does the First Minister agree with two of the three SNP leadership candidates that mediocrity, continuity and incompetence will not cut it?

First, I never claimed to have created the national health service, but what I will claim to have done is help to protect the founding principles of our national health service, because I was the health secretary who abolished prescription charges for everyone in Scotland, which is something that, in all its years in government, Labour had never got round to doing. I also took a hospital that had been privatised under Labour back into the NHS.

On Anas Sarwar’s £3 billion figure, we have already shown that to be utter nonsense in previous sessions of First Minister’s question time, but I will not embarrass him by going back to the detail of that again today. Let me use another £3 billion figure. That is the amount of money that the Scottish Government is investing each year to mitigate the cost of living crisis to help people to deal with Tory austerity. If we were an independent country, we would not have to mitigate Tory austerity, but, while Labour still prefers this country to be governed by Tories at Westminster, rather than have self-governance and independence here, in our own Parliament, Labour will never be taken seriously in Scotland.

Like many people across the United Kingdom, I look forward to the next general election, when we can boot out the Tory Government and get rid of the Scottish National Party’s last excuse.

The First Minister has spent much of her political career talking about mandates. Her successor will inherit the SNP’s woeful record, but they will not inherit her mandate. The most recent election was a pandemic election, one that the First Minister won by her direct appeal to steer the country through the Covid pandemic and recovery. That recovery has not even started. In fact, by every metric, things have got worse. Scotland now faces two crises: a national health service recovery that never began and a cost of living crisis in which families face spiralling bills and soaring energy prices.

As her potential successors squabble over their own records in Government, they cannot escape the facts. They do not have a plan for Scotland and they do not have a mandate from the public. That is why we need an election now. So, my final question to Nicola Sturgeon is whether she agrees with her own words:

“There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately. It’s beyond hyperbole - & parody. Reality tho is that ordinary people are paying the price. The interests of the ... party should concern no-one right now. A General Election is now a democratic imperative.”

That was about the Conservatives at Westminster. One of the differences between me and Anas Sarwar is that I do not support Tory government of Scotland, because Scotland does not vote for Conservatives. I have fought three general elections as SNP leader and the SNP has won all of them. At every one, we have heard the same messages from Labour and, at every single one, the people of Scotland have given their verdict.

I am proud of the achievements of the Government that I have led. I will end on another one, because it is related to the Covid recovery and has been achieved in spite of what we are having to deal with from the Conservatives at Westminster. Today, Scotland has record high employment and record low unemployment and economic inactivity. We have a good foundation in this country. We face many challenges, but I have every confidence that my successor, who will be standing here next week, will continue to lead this country forward, will continue taking the decisions that are in the interest of this country and will lead this country to becoming an independent nation.

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Cabinet (Meetings)

I, too, wish Ramadan Mubarak to everyone celebrating the month. And, on this national day of reflection and commemoration, I remember the more than 16,000 lives lost to us and the gaps that those leave in communities and families as a result of the Covid pandemic.

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. (S6F-01944)

She may not know the answer to that.

That is, of course, a matter for the new First Minister. The only thing I know for certain is that I will not be in attendance.

I will say more about this in the statement that follows First Minister’s questions. Today marks the third anniversary of lockdown and my thoughts today, as they are at some stage in every single day, are with all those who suffered as a result of Covid. I will have them in my thoughts, my mind and my heart for as long as I live.

I am very grateful for that reply and share its sentiments.

The mental health treatment targets were introduced in December 2014, 11 days after Nicola Sturgeon was sworn in as First Minister. They have never been met—not once in more than 3,000 days, which is 99 consecutive months.

I have lost count of the number of times that the First Minister has told me that the situation was unacceptable and of the number of times that she has promised staff and sufferers that things would get better. In reality, Nicola Sturgeon quietly downgraded the office of mental health minister. Her finance department, headed by Kate Forbes, slashed £50 million from the mental health budget this winter and her health secretary, Humza Yousaf, give a personal promise to clear waiting lists for both children and adults by March 2023. We can look at the calendar: it is March, we are here and the Scottish National Party is nowhere.

There is a sea of human pain out there and so much unmet need. First Minister, do not just tell me that this is unacceptable. At this late hour, and at the final time of asking, will the First Minister admit that her Government has failed Scotland on mental health?

What I will absolutely say is that there is much, much more work to do on mental health. One of the things that has changed, certainly since I was a young person and even in the years in which I have been First Minister, is that we have reduced the stigma associated with mental ill health. More people are coming forward for help and treatment, and that is a good thing, but we must make sure that the services are there for them.

We have seen a significant increase in the budget for mental health. Under the SNP, mental health spending has doubled in cash terms. We see many more people working in mental health services than was previously the case.

Coming directly to child and adolescent mental health services, because they are important and there is so much more to do, I note that the number of children starting treatment in CAMHS in the most recent quarter is the highest on record by some distance, and we are now seeing the most sustained changes in CAMHS waiting lists for over half a decade. The overall waiting list has decreased by more than 9 per cent. The number of children waiting over 18 weeks has decreased by more than 30 per cent, and the number waiting over 52 weeks has decreased by more than 40 per cent.

There is much, much more to do, but progress is being made, and I know that it will be a priority for my successor, whoever he or she may be, to continue that progress.

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IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the AR6 synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (S6F-01959)

The evidence has never been clearer than it is now. We are fast running out of time to secure a liveable and sustainable future for the generations to come. The IPCC report must lead to an acceleration of global action to tackle the climate emergency.

Scotland is making long-term progress towards net zero, but we are now entering the most challenging part of that journey, which requires truly transformational action across society and our economy. That cannot and will not happen without all of us, including everyone across this Parliament, supporting bold steps as part of a national effort to tackle the climate emergency.

At the 27th UN climate change conference of the parties—COP27—Scotland pledged an additional £5 million to address loss and damage, and we will continue to advocate for practical action and finance to support the global south, where the effects of climate change are already being experienced.

Following the publication of the report, UN secretary general António Guterres made a plea to all Governments. He said:

“humanity is on thin ice—and that ice is melting fast ... This report is a clarion call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe. In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts—everything, everywhere, all at once.”

I know how serious and ambitious the First Minister has been in leading on the climate emergency agenda, and I appreciate that. Does she agree that this stark assessment must lead to transformational and accelerated action by all Governments—local government, the United Kingdom Government and her successor here in this Parliament—to combat climate change?

I agree whole-heartedly with Fiona Hyslop and I agree whole-heartedly with the comments earlier this week of the United Nations secretary general. There is no doubt that we need concerted and accelerated action on all fronts.

I am proud that Scotland is, and is recognised as being, at the forefront of the global journey to reach net zero emissions and a climate-resilient future. This Parliament’s ambitious climate change legislation requires all of us—Governments, individuals, communities and businesses—to take lasting action to drive our emissions down in a way that is just and fair for all.

However, we also need to see action and much higher ambition from the UK Government on the solutions for net zero that are currently reserved to Westminster, and, of course, we need other countries across the world to match those ambitions, too.

While Scotland’s emissions reduction targets are in line with the global 1.5°C pathway, it is vital that other countries revisit and strengthen the ambition of their 2030 emissions pledges and long-term strategies to align with the 1.5°C pathway ahead of COP28.

The IPCC report—[Interruption.]

We will suspend business.

12:28 Meeting suspended.  

12:29 On resuming—  

We will resume business. I ask Liam Kerr to begin his question.

The IPCC report gave stark warnings about how, if we are to have any hope of tackling the climate emergency, we must look at all green generation technologies. Given that countries such as Japan, Germany and France are swinging behind nuclear-generated energy, which is a zero-emission clean energy source, is it not now imperative that the First Minister’s Government undertakes an evidence-based and science-led assessment of its knee-jerk banning of new nuclear in Scotland?

I agree with the sentiment behind that question. We all have to up our action on this issue, and green energy generation is a vital part of that. However, I do not agree on the question of nuclear. Nuclear energy is very expensive and we still do not know what to do with the waste in the long term. Further, of course, not all other countries have Scotland’s potential for offshore wind, green hydrogen and other renewable sources of energy. Right now, ScotWind gives us the potential to generate up to 28GW of renewable energy. That is massive, and it will enable us to export as well as meet our own needs. I think that we should focus on renewable, clean, green renewable energy. Not only is that right for the environment, but it gives us the opportunity to boost industry and the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs. That is where the focus of this and future Scottish Governments should be.

The IPCC report is the starkest warning yet that, while our world leaders fiddle, the world burns, and that we are not on track to hold global warming at 1.5°C. Does the First Minister accept that, as she leaves office, Scotland is also failing to meet our climate targets? As the Climate Change Committee warns, Scotland is missing so many of those targets that they are

“in danger of becoming meaningless”.

Given that transport remains the biggest source of emissions, does the First Minister regret the fact that the savage cuts that have been made, on her watch, to our rail and bus services means that, while the dip in car use since 2016 is 12.5 per cent, rail numbers have collapsed by more than 50 per cent and bus passenger numbers by more than 40 per cent? Does she agree that it is a priority for her successor to reverse the cuts that she has made to those services?

I do not regret public ownership of our railways, I do not regret the changes to bus franchising and I certainly do not regret the free bus travel for pensioners and all young people under 22, which encourages people to use public transport.

However, I agree that Scotland, like all other countries, must do more. Scotland is doing more to cut emissions and to tackle climate change than almost any other country in the world. I have been privileged to attend climate change COP summits over many years now, and I know that there is a recognition of Scotland’s leadership—if not here, in this Parliament, then certainly among countries overseas. However, the bar for world leadership is set too low. Every country needs to do more, and to do it with urgency, and Scotland must continue to lead by example.

The IPCC report is also a reminder that extracting every last drop of oil and gas today will condemn future generations to climate breakdown. Independent research commissioned through the Bute house agreement has shown that North Sea oil and gas output will continue to fall, while a just transition can deliver an increase in jobs in the years ahead. Can the First Minister say what kind of leadership we need from the Scottish Government to ensure a future for workers and the climate?

We need to continue the kind of leadership that we have been showing on this issue. I have the greatest respect for all who work in oil and gas sector—they have contributed hugely to Scotland and we cannot make the switch overnight—but we must accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. As Mark Ruskell rightly says, even if we were not facing the climate emergency, the maturity of the North Sea fields means that we have to accelerate that transition there. We must do that in a fair and a just way, but we have the potential to do that and we should grab that potential with both hands.

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Poverty-related Attainment Gap

To ask the First Minister what the outcomes have been of the Scottish Government’s “defining mission” to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap. (S6F-01940)

This Government’s commitment is to substantially eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap in this parliamentary session, and good progress is being made on that.

The latest achievement of curriculum for excellence levels data demonstrated the biggest single-year decrease in the poverty-related gap in primary numeracy and literacy levels since records began.

We are improving outcomes for young people impacted by poverty beyond school, too. The percentage of 2021-22 school leavers in a positive initial destination is the highest on record, and the poverty-related attainment gap is at a record low, down two thirds since 2009-10. More young people than ever from deprived communities secured a place at university, and the previous commissioner for widening access described our approach as an “unambiguous success”.

That is a record that I am proud of, and I very much look forward to seeing my successor build on it.

Objectively, the best that we can say is that the First Minister tried and failed—because education in Scotland is poorer.

Here is the First Minister’s record: fewer maths teachers; fewer technical education teachers; fewer computing science teachers; fewer language teachers; narrowing subject choice; and Scotland plummeting down the international league tables. On CFE levels in primary schools, her record is: literacy falling; reading falling; writing falling; numeracy falling; the attainment gap widening; and attainment falling overall.

Can the First Minister honestly stand there and say, hand on heart, that education was her top priority?

Yes, I can.

In his initial question, Stephen Kerr asked me about “outcomes”; I have just checked and that was the word that he used. I therefore gave him the data on the outcomes, but he obviously did not like it, so he wants to talk about inputs. Let me therefore talk now about inputs.

When I became First Minister, the number of school teachers in Scotland was 49,521. Today, the number of school teachers in Scotland is 53,459, which is an 8 per cent increase. In early learning and childcare settings, the numbers have increased as well. In Scotland, we have the most teachers per pupil in the United Kingdom, and education spend per person is higher than in either England or Wales. In Scotland, we have 7,573 teachers per 100,000 pupils; in England, where the Tories are in power, the number is just 5,734. In Scotland, we spend £7,600 per pupil; the Tories in England spend just £6,700.

Yes, I am proud of this Government’s record on education, and I really look forward to seeing it being built upon.

The recent Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis of Scottish tax and benefit reform found that the lowest-income families in Scotland are significantly better off—by around £2,000 on average—as a result of this Scottish National Party Scottish Government’s progressive tax and benefits policies. If that can be achieved with limited powers, how much further does the First Minister think that we could go if we were not beholden to a UK Government with policies that directly undermine this Government’s mission to tackle poverty? [Interruption.]

I thank Paul McLennan for that question. Again—this may be the last opportunity that I have to point it out—it is really obvious how uncomfortable the Conservatives in the chamber become when we talk about poverty. That should be noted.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies rightly acknowledges the impact that progressive choices are having for low-income families. To quote the IFS briefly, it highlighted that the Scottish Government

“has made clearly a distributional choice ... to channel a lot more money towards low-income families with children in particular and that has a meaningful impact on incomes.”

If I had to single out the thing of which I am most proud, it is that—helping to lift children out of poverty, in marked contrast to the approach of the UK Government’s welfare system, which pushes children into poverty. That is the difference—that is the contrast.

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Delayed Discharge

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle the reportedly high levels of delayed discharge, which are estimated to have cost over £161 million in 2022-23 to date. (S6F-01960)

Earlier this year, we allocated an additional £8 million to support health and social care partnerships to secure extra provision of 300 interim care home beds. To date, that has enabled 408 people to be discharged from hospitals to those placements, with a total of 633 people currently benefiting from an interim care placement.

As part of the work of the ministerial advisory group on health and social care pressures, we continue to work tirelessly with health boards and health and social care partnerships to ensure that we are doing everything possible to support people out of acute settings and back into the community when it is clinically safe to do so.

Delayed discharge figures have improved substantially under this Government, and it is welcome that more than 96 per cent of all people leaving hospital are discharged without any delay whatsoever.

Since the First Minister took office, more than £1 billion has been lost to delayed discharge. At her very first First Minister’s question time, I raised the matter of cancer treatment delays. In 2014, 94.2 per cent of patients started cancer treatment within 62 days, with a maximum wait of 187 days. The situation has now declined: 74 per cent of patients are starting treatment within 62 days, with a maximum wait of 326 days. Figures for achieving the 31-day and 62-day cancer treatment targets are at their worst ever.

When the First Minister entered Bute house, 148 patients waited for more than 12 hours in accident and emergency departments; now the figure is 6,600 patients. Previously, 318,000 people were on waiting lists; now the figure is over 772,000. Some 6,200 children were waiting for access to mental health services; now the figure is more than 7,500. Nurse vacancies have risen from 2,000 to almost 6,000. In 2014, there were just 15 excess deaths; now there are almost 4,000. Life expectancy in Scotland—

Ask a question, please, Ms Baillie.

—has gone backwards on her watch, and that is shameful. As if that were not bad enough, the First Minister gave us Humza Yousaf—[Interruption.]

We must have a question.

—who is the worst health secretary since devolution.

Let me make one final plea to the First Minister. [Interruption.] Two weeks ago, she gave a commitment to look into the case of nine-year-old Harvey Martin, who has scoliosis and urgently requires surgery. Desperate for help, Harvey sent the First Minister a video message, but she has not yet replied. Before the First Minister leaves office, will she reply to Harvey and help him to get the surgery that he so desperately needs?

First, I will address the case of young Harvey Martin. Rightly, this week I have taken time to check with NHS Lothian about his case. I can confirm that Harvey will be given a date for his procedure very soon. NHS Lothian will discuss the date with his parents when they speak next week. I wish young Harvey all the very best.

On waiting times for cancer treatment, I advise members that, in the latest quarter, more patients were treated on both the 62-day and 31-day pathways compared with the figures for the previous quarter, those for the same time last year, and those for the final quarter before the pandemic. There is more to do, but progress is being made.

Jackie Baillie’s initial question was about delayed discharge, and I will end on that. Before I do so, I reflect on the fact that Jackie Baillie asked me my very first question as First Minister, and she is today asking me—if not the final question—the final scheduled one on the order paper. Of course, when she asked me my first question she was standing to my left, as the principal Opposition representative; now she is on the Opposition benches to my right. That says a great deal about the verdict of the Scottish people in the intervening period. I am still standing here, in my place as First Minister, which also says a lot about the verdict of the Scottish people.

Jackie Baillie likes to make comparisons, so, finally, on delayed discharges, I point out that, today, around 1,700 patients are classed as experiencing such delays. That is far too many but, to be clear, today, that figure includes everyone who is delayed for any period of time—even for an hour. When Jackie Baillie was a minister, and when her party was on this side of the chamber, 2,200 patients were delayed for more than six weeks in our national health service. That figure represented more than 70 per cent of all patients who were ready for discharge being delayed for more than six weeks when Jackie Baillie was last in Government. Today, 96 per cent of patients are discharged with no delay whatsoever.

There is more to do, but so much progress has been made since Jackie Baillie and her party were in office.