Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Official Report 1124KB pdf

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Topical Question Time

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Storm Babet

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the impact of storm Babet on communities in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Tayside and Perthshire. (S6T-01591)

Our thoughts and condolences are with those who have lost a loved one and those individuals and communities across Scotland who have faced significant impacts as a consequence of storm Babet. As the First Minister said when he saw the impact in Brechin first hand yesterday, it will be a long road to recovery, but the Scottish Government will support the affected areas. As we move into the recovery phase, the process of assessing the full amount of damage that has been caused in all areas affected by the storm is now under way.

These recent events are a stark reminder that climate change is not a far-off threat—the crisis is here and now. I also place on record our grateful thanks to the emergency services, responders and volunteers for working in extremely difficult conditions.

I, too, commend all the local responders and communities who worked tirelessly before and during storm Babet, and I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those who were lost during the storm.

Recent extreme weather events have severely impacted the north-east, and I now have constituents who have incurred significant financial and emotional costs arising from the devastation of repeat flooding that has been exacerbated by failing nearby water infrastructure. As regional resilience partnerships continue to develop the organisational response to specific events, what steps is the Scottish Government taking to assist householders in coping with increased flood risk and in becoming resilient to future flooding events?

The Scottish Government is working closely with responsible authorities to help communities recover from these catastrophic floods and build resilience to future flooding. The Scottish Flood Forum, which is funded by the Scottish Government, provides advice and information to individuals to help prepare and protect their homes from flooding. It also provides support and advice in the aftermath of flood events on insurance, drying out properties and carrying out repairs.

The Scottish Government has also made £42 million per year available to local authorities to invest in flood risk management actions and has committed an additional £150 million over this parliamentary session. To build community resilience to future flooding events, we are developing Scotland’s first flood resilience strategy, which will engage a broad range of partners to deliver more diverse flood management actions faster.

Yesterday, Aberdeenshire Council highlighted the sudden drop in temperatures and the on-going impact of storm Babet on its 3,500-mile road network, harbours and other services. We are no strangers to severe weather, but what action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that the public is adequately informed and prepared for adverse weather, especially as we move towards the winter months?

Traffic Scotland provides travel information on real-time conditions to road users on multiple technological platforms, including the Traffic Scotland website, which received hundreds of thousands of views during storm Babet. Radio and social media platforms are also sources of information.

The Scottish Government’s Ready Scotland channels routinely share information and advice to the general public to support them in preparing for severe weather; we also run a year-round severe weather campaign and provide social media toolkits to key partners to support them in communicating with their local audiences on these issues. During severe weather warnings, we activate a proactive marketing campaign that shares Ready Scotland content in the affected area through digital and radio advertising.

With lives tragically lost, homes destroyed and livelihoods in jeopardy, communities in Angus do not want warm words; they want reassurances that Angus Council will have the funds that it needs to support people who have lost everything, shore up the flood defence scheme and expedite urgent structural repairs. That is the Scottish Government’s responsibility. When will the money that the cabinet secretary has mentioned be coming?

Let me reassure Ms White that we are indeed focused on action, particularly now that we are moving from the emergency response stage to the crucial recovery stage. Yesterday, she would have heard, as would constituents in the Angus area and elsewhere, that we are absolutely committed to practically and financially supporting that recovery. I can confirm to members that three local authorities have notified the Scottish Government of potential claims relating to storm Babet. Obviously, all of those local areas are currently in the throes of assessing the extent of the damage and what is required, but I reassure the member that there will indeed be very extensive and intensive discussions between the Scottish Government and our partners at a local level.

In June, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition told me:

“I have absolute confidence in the river basin management plans”.—[Official Report, 20 June 2023; c 7.]

We have just witnessed severe weather causing rivers in the north-east to burst their banks, overwhelm flood defences and leave communities devastated. Yes, it was an extreme weather event, but our plans must be up to such challenges, too. Therefore, will the cabinet secretary now agree to review them?

Obviously, I will engage with my cabinet secretary colleague who is responsible for net zero and the implementation of the river basin management plan.

It is important to recognise the scale and exceptional nature of these events. We have had two storms within two weeks, and two months of rainfall within two days. We would all concur with the importance of plans, whether they be for river basin management or for the engineering works, but bearing in mind the challenges that we face as a consequence of climate change, we have to acknowledge that even the very best flood prevention schemes, for example, will not be able to provide us with 100 per cent protection 100 per cent of the time. There are other aspects to a plan that we all share on a collaborative basis.

The river basin management plan and the engineering works that Ms White has talked about and testified to are important, but it is also important to recognise that not only do flood prevention schemes help prevent floods and not only do they often work—indeed, they worked most recently in Brechin last November—but they can help delay any impact and can buy valuable time to help evacuate householders.

Please be brief, cabinet secretary.

As for the point that Mr Golden has made, there does indeed need to be a cross-community and cross-Government plan that is constantly reviewed.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that, in light of the severity and extreme nature of the events that we have witnessed in the past three weeks, the imperative of intensifying our measures for tackling climate change is one of the key lessons that must be learned from these experiences and that there is absolutely no space in our political discourse for any foot dragging on the measures that are necessary for tackling climate change in our society today?

That is a profound and fundamental point. There is no room in the chamber or elsewhere for those who seek to deny the existence or the impact of climate change. We are all living on the front line of climate change. Although we must, of course, be focused on the resilience response to events that happen, on investments in engineering projects and on plans, whether they be river basin management plans or others, ultimately the bigger task lies in all of us working together to slow down climate change.

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Council Tax Freeze (Verity House Agreement)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement issued by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the handling of the recent announcement about the council tax freeze undermined the spirit and the letter of the Verity house agreement. (S6T-01598)

The fully funded council tax freeze announced by the First Minister last week will protect more than 2.5 million households during a time of economic uncertainty and rising prices. The First Minister and I acknowledge the concerns that COSLA and some council leaders have raised. We remain fully committed to the Verity house agreement and to working in partnership with local government to demonstrate that commitment. As I said, the council tax freeze will be fully funded, to ensure that councils can maintain the services on which we all rely while households are protected from increasing burdens.

Will the cabinet secretary confirm exactly how much the council tax freeze will cost and where that money is coming from?

When I met the COSLA presidential team, we agreed to my offer for the process to involve a negotiation with COSLA. That negotiation will take place to ensure that the council tax freeze is fully funded. The figure will be part of the 2024-25 budget process, and we believe that it is important that that is a negotiation.

I want to hear less from Opposition members about process and more about the principle of whether they support the council tax freeze. [Interruption.]

Let us hear the cabinet secretary.

During the budget process, we will see whether Opposition members support the freeze.

What an extraordinary answer that was. At the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s meeting on 3 October, the cabinet secretary claimed in answers to questions from Michelle Thomson and me that giving councils “more flexibility” was a significant part of the Verity house agreement. Freezing council tax has just removed that flexibility. When the cabinet secretary gave evidence to the committee, was she aware that the First Minister would announce the freeze on 17 October? If not, when did she become aware of the policy announcement?

First, I should say that we have given local authorities more flexibility. The second home and empty home premiums that will be able to be applied are part of giving local authorities more flexibility. We are keen to discuss with local authorities what more flexibility can be given.

On the process, which Liz Smith wants to continue to talk about, we requested and received advice from officials on the concept of a council tax freeze and fully considered that advice. On balance, we decided to freeze the council tax, after taking into account the impact of sustained inflation—caused by the Tory Government’s economic policy—on households in Scotland. [Interruption.]

Members.

I acknowledge the concerns that local government has expressed about the manner and substance of the announcement, but we believe that the freeze is the right thing to do to help more than 2.5 million households at these difficult times.

The First Minister announced a freeze to council tax without consulting local authorities or his own Cabinet. Council tax is clearly a regressive tax. In the past, the Scottish Government has spoken about having a cross-party working group to look at alternatives, but that group has never been convened. What work is the Scottish Government doing to look at a replacement for council tax or alternative funding streams for local government?

That is a strange line of questioning from Katy Clark, given that the Labour Party spent the whole Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election campaign talking about council tax rises. I would have thought that the Labour Party would support a council tax freeze—[Interruption.]

Members.

—given what it said to voters during that by-election.

On Katy Clark’s question about process, last year, Scottish ministers convened the joint working group on sources of local government funding and council tax reform. The group is co-chaired by Scottish ministers and COSLA.

Scottish ministers remain committed to exploring proposals for introducing meaningful changes to the council tax in partnership with local government. We understand the need for further, more in-depth reform of the council tax. As the First Minister said in his speech, that is an important context. We understand the regressive nature of the council tax, so we want to reform it. In the meantime, we want to make important changes, such as introducing the premium on empty properties and on second homes.

A key mission of the Verity house agreement is to tackle poverty and relieve the effects of rising costs on household finances. Will the cabinet secretary confirm that the council tax freeze will be implemented in a way that honours that Verity house mission and assists Scottish local government in combating the United Kingdom cost of living crisis?

I confirm to Marie McNair that we will progress the issue in partnership with COSLA through negotiation, as I said earlier. It is important to recognise the positive impact of the measure on 2.5 million households at a time when there is a cost of living crisis. We believe that that is the right measure, and we will take it forward in a fully funded way with local government. It will be part of the budget process for 2024-25.

With the First Minister’s unilateral decision to freeze council tax, the Verity house agreement has gone the way of the historic concordat. Fergus Ewing has had his wishes granted through the shredding of the Bute house agreement, civil servants have been circumvented and Cabinet Government has been abandoned. Does the cabinet secretary believe that the First Minister was right to channel his inner Liz Truss over council tax?

That is a decision that will help 2.5 million households, including those in the member’s constituency. I would have thought that, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, he would have supported that. Lower-income households spend a greater proportion of their income on bills, including council tax. What we have heard here is the sound and fury of Opposition members about process. What we have not heard from any one of them is whether they will support the council tax freeze as part of the budget for 2024-25. That is what the public want to hear the Opposition telling us.

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Centre of Teaching Excellence

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recently announced centre of teaching excellence. (S6T-01590)

The Scottish Government’s national mission to close the poverty-related attainment gap will be supported by the establishment of a centre for teaching excellence. The centre will be progressed as part of the education reform programme. I will provide an update to Parliament on that work later this year.

I am committed to co-designing the centre with teachers and practitioners, professional associations, local government and our national education bodies. To that end, my officials are engaging with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education and the General Teaching Council for Scotland, and I will meet trade union representatives following this question time.

I offer Pam Duncan-Glancy the opportunity to meet me so that I can hear her thoughts on the centre for teaching excellence. In that spirit, I will extend an invitation to meet all Opposition party spokespeople ahead of my update on education reform to Parliament later this year.

The cabinet secretary will be aware that I have written to the Presiding Officer on this matter to highlight that the policy announcement was made to the public via the cabinet secretary’s speech to the Scottish National Party conference and not to Parliament via any of the methods available. It is a significant announcement that will potentially have an impact on all Scotland’s teachers, pupils and faculties of education, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and multiple trade unions. Will the cabinet secretary confirm which organisations or individuals were informed of the plan ahead of the announcement at the SNP conference?

I hope that the member took from my initial response my eagerness to work with Opposition members from across the chamber. Our aim is to establish a centre to help to support teaching excellence in our school. As a former teacher, my view is that the most powerful weapon that we can use to close the poverty-related attainment gap is the provision of quality learning and teaching. That is exactly the purpose behind the centre, and I hope that she very much supports that sentiment.

I have just set out my intention not only to engage with teachers and professional associations as we develop plans for the centre itself, but that the centre will be specifically co-designed with the teaching profession. Working with our teachers will be vital to ensuring that the centre operates to its full potential. My vision for the centre is one that brings together the expertise of the teachers who work in our classrooms, the world-leading academics in our universities and members of our professional organisations to consider how we can ensure that we remain at the cutting edge of new teaching practices. However, that is just my view. I look forward to engaging with the sector on those plans and hearing what members of our teaching profession think as we work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children and young people.

I am disappointed that the cabinet secretary was not able to say whom she spoke to before making the announcement. Education in Scotland is in a dire state. The tertiary sector has faced unprecedented cuts and the Government is failing to deliver on promises that it has already made for schools—free school meals, reduced class sizes, and the provision of teacher non-contact time, to name a few. We know that the education budget is stretched both centrally and in local authorities. Will the cabinet secretary confirm whether the centre for teaching excellence will replace an existing organisation or become an additional body? Will she set out how much the Government expects to spend on creating and running the new body?

Doom and gloom from the Labour Party. I have to say that that was a pretty dismal question from Ms Duncan-Glancy.

Let us look at where we are in Scotland at the current time. We have the best pupil teacher ratio, the highest-paid teachers and the highest spend per pupil in the United Kingdom. I would have thought that the Scottish Labour Party would welcome that in relation to our significant investment in Scotland’s education system.

I am very conscious that a generation of teachers learned how to become teachers during the pandemic. The purpose of the centre is to support those professionals’ development in relation to quality learning and teaching. I hope that the Labour Party and Ms Duncan-Glancy will learn to support that, and I look forward to working with them so that we can improve outcomes for our young people. That has to be at the centre—at the heart—of our education reforms in Scotland.

How will the Government ensure that the world-leading expertise of Scotland’s academic community informs the work of the centre of teaching excellence?

As I intimated in my initial response, my officials are engaging directly with teachers and the wider profession, and we will also draw on the expertise of local government, our national education bodies and, as the member alluded to, the university sector in establishing the centre. The expertise of our universities will be invaluable as we shape the centre. In particular, we want to learn from the success of, for example, the into headship programme, which has been hugely successful. The new centre will ensure that research and evidence are distilled into practical and digestible support for all teachers, no matter the stage in their career.

Given that numerous education reports have raised concerns regarding duplication among Government bodies and the need for efficient spending, what is the expected cost of creating the centre, from where in the education budget will that money be drawn and what will the relationship with Education Scotland be?

I thank the member for his question. As I set out, plans for the centre will be co-designed with our teachers and professional associations. That will be crucial in ensuring that the centre meets its full potential and that, in relation to the member’s point, there is no duplication in the system. Clearly, the outcome of that engagement with the sector will have an impact on the precise form that the centre will take, how it will operate, when it will be operational, what its scope will be and, ultimately, how much it will cost.

I hope that there is consensual support for the premise behind the establishment of the centre, which is to support our teaching profession with quality learning and teaching in our classrooms. I hope that the member will agree that that is crucial in closing the poverty-related attainment gap.