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Are members content to take on board Maggie Chapman’s suggestion and ask for more detail?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you. We will write to the Scottish Government and we will take on board Maggie Chapman’s suggestion.

That concludes our business in public. We will move into private session to discuss the remaining items on our agenda. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate that those gaps have been highlighted and are being considered by the Government.

We have also taken evidence from deafblind tactile BSL users, who feel that there has perhaps not been parity of esteem or parity in regards to education for tactile BSL. What are your reflections on that?

Thank you. We move on to a question from Marie McNair.

We move on to questions from Marie McNair.

We have heard much praise for Contact Scotland BSL and how it has been a lifeline for BSL users, and, to an extent, life changing for them. However, although, overall, Contact Scotland has made quite a significant improvement in the lives of BSL users, we have also heard some evidence this morning on some issues with it with regard to quality and the appropriateness of interpreters in different situations, and we have also heard concerns about threats to its continuation. What can the Scottish Government do to ensure the service stays and is possibly improved?

We are getting short of time now, but we still have a couple of members who would like to ask some questions. We go first to Pam Gosal.

This week marks carers week. This afternoon, I will host a round table in Parliament to discuss the Family Fund’s new report “The Cost of Caring 2025” and the urgent challenges that it highlights for families who are raising disabled and seriously ill children. With that in mind, what action is the First Minister’s Government taking to better support carers across Scotland?

A lot has been said about immigration in recent days, particularly from podiums in Downing Street, but very little has been said from places where decisions about immigration land the hardest, such as places in my Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency. There, immigration is not just an abstract debate; it is a practical necessity. Immigration is necessary to ensure that there are enough workers to staff our care homes, to keep seafood processing lines running and to support our public services and the local economy. We are talking about real jobs, real communities and real people, and what the UK Government is proposing will make their lives and livelihoods much harder.

The UK Government’s immigration white paper is not about supporting growth or meeting need, and it is certainly not about fairness. It is a political manoeuvre, dressed up as policy, that is aimed at placating Reform UK. It is not about helping Scotland, and it is certainly not about helping rural Scotland. It proposes raising visa thresholds to degree level, extending English language requirements to dependents, increasing the qualifying period for settlement from five years to 10 and—crucially for us—closing the overseas care worker route. In areas such as mine, that change alone could devastate care provision. Services are already stretched, vacancy rates in social care are at their highest, and now a key recruitment route is to be cut off. There is no plan to replace it—all that we have had are vague promises of training and home-grown staff. We have heard that before.

It is not only care that will be affected. Our essential seafood industry, which feeds the country and exports globally, is again being treated as expendable. Processing facilities in my constituency rely heavily on migrant workers. They are already dealing with the legacy of Brexit, from lost labour to increased bureaucracy, and we are now being told that the very workforce that has kept them going is no longer welcome. Those are not hypothetical concerns; they are genuine concerns that have been expressed directly to me in conversations that I have had with employers.

We are constantly told that migration should be controlled, but what is being proposed is not control; it is restriction for the sake of restriction. It ignores Scotland’s demographic reality. Our working-age population is shrinking, our birth rate is falling and our population is ageing. National Records of Scotland and the Fraser of Allander Institute have both been crystal clear in saying that inward migration is essential if we are to sustain our economy and our public services.

The argument that we need to motivate more people into work falls flat when the evidence—especially in my constituency—shows that the working-age population numbers are simply not there. We need a migration system that reflects Scotland’s needs, not Westminster’s polling priorities and a culture war that sows division. We must reject hateful messaging and work together to ensure peace in our communities.

That is why I support the Scottish National Party Government’s motion, because it not only rejects the damage that the white paper would cause but recognises the positive, vital contribution that migrants already make to our communities, our services and our economy. Their contribution deserves recognising, not scapegoating. I underline the need for urgent and meaningful engagement between the UK and Scottish Governments. We cannot afford to be sidelined. If the proposed rules go ahead without adaptation, it will be Scotland’s businesses, care providers and families who will pay the price.

I plead that we look to the future, including that of our young people, many of whom want the freedom to work, study and travel across Europe. A new youth mobility scheme must be broad, inclusive and shaped by young people themselves. They have lost so much to Brexit, and it is time to give them something back. Scotland’s needs are distinct, and our values are even clearer. Rather than lying down to UK populism, we must use our voice in the immigration debate to stand up for Scotland.

This week, Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves indicated that, although some more pensioners could receive winter fuel payments this winter as a result of the United Kingdom Government’s U-turn, not all will. Although Labour is determined to take away winter fuel payments from pensioners, can the First Minister provide an update on the Scottish National Party Government’s work to reinstate a universal winter fuel payment to all pensioners in Scotland?