Seòmar agus comataidhean

I accept that the UK economy has been too sluggish in recent years, but the Scottish Conservatives are now the only party in the chamber that is committed to economic growth. That is why we set out crystal-clear plans for cutting tax and boosting our economy. We did that because the SNP is not focused on those commonsense priorities—for the avoidance of doubt, I say that we are.

The Finance and Public Administration Committee report mentions another discrepancy. It says that the Scottish Government wants to eradicate poverty, yet the national performance framework mentions only reducing it. What is the Government’s goal—reducing it or eradicating it? Either way, it is failing, because the dial is not moving.

Less than half the Scottish Government’s key performance indicators are improving, and the rest are either stagnant or getting worse. Those statistics point to a Government that is neither in control nor in command. That clearly calls for reform of the national performance indicators, if they are meant to be driving improvements.

As the committee suggests, a proper audit of the policy process means that the framework should have greater prominence in headline announcements, such as the programme for government. It is currently not a practical tool for decision making. If the Government really wants to hold itself to account, it should use the outcomes more effectively.

The cabinet secretary might not be shocked to hear that, when I raised the national performance framework in my local pub at the weekend, not one person I asked was aware of it. I encourage her to break out beyond the Holyrood bubble.

For example, in relation to energy supply, I would not be against future use of coal-fired power stations from the next generation, but I would support the next generation of nuclear, because that is a clean, safe and efficient way to deliver Scotland’s power now and into the future.

I extend an invitation to the cabinet secretary—if she wants to break out beyond the Holyrood bubble, she is welcome to join us in the Tweeddale Arms in Gifford, where she could have a soft drink; I might have a pint. She would hear some frank assessments of the Government’s performance, and I am sure that the cost of a pint would be far cheaper than running the whole enterprise of the national performance framework.

The national outcomes are not even a blunt instrument—they appear to be the wrong instrument entirely in many respects. That is why we need common sense for a change, not another nebulous, badly designed tick-box exercise that would do little to drive the meaningful improvements that our public services in Scotland badly need, if the SNP is truly to deliver hope to the nation.

I concede that it is presently hard to do so, but we could start to compete if we made ourselves competitive. That is why the Scottish Conservatives argued to lower tax in Scotland, so that we would have a competitive advantage over south-east England.

Due to the uncertainty over which heating technologies will prevail in the decarbonisation process, colleges, employers and the private sector say that there is a reluctance to invest in large-scale training for young people in new skills such as the installation and maintenance of heat pumps. Has the Government explored the possibility of redirecting ScotWind moneys towards decarbonising the public estate rather than committing them to the crowded renewables investment market? That would surely create the surety of demand to pump prime skills and college places for those who would be needed in a large-scale roll-out of renewable heating in Scotland.

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on how to ensure the delivery of the workforce required to deliver its net zero targets, including through discussions with Skills Development Scotland and colleges. (S6O-04115)

The minister needs to learn a lesson. Yesterday, we found out that there are fewer teachers and doctors, but I know that, under the SNP, there are more spin doctors.

In its budget response, the Scottish Fiscal Commission points to a clear set of public pay risks in this year’s budget. We welcome the fact that, unlike last year, the Scottish Government has published a public sector pay policy, but the Government is proposing a 9 per cent package over three years, which is two points higher than the inflation estimate. That is, in itself, a risk, given that the Government says that its revenue budget position remains very tight.

However, although the budget makes provision for pay awards, it makes no provision for pay progress—in other words, for people who are moving up pay scales. According to the Scottish Fiscal Commission, that leaves a 1.5 per cent black hole in the SNP’s pay plans. The question for the cabinet secretary, when she speaks, is how she intends to pay for it, because the Government plans make no reference to reducing the head count. The Scottish Parliament information centre briefing that was given to the Finance and Public Administration Committee makes it clear that the budget constraint is compounded by staff costs. In other words, public sector pay is simply not sustainable under this SNP Administration.

We give a cautious welcome to the £30 million for a programme of public sector reform, but we do not necessarily need to spend money in order to save money. We will look closely at the plans when the Minister for Public Finance brings them forward next year.

In reality, how committed is the SNP Government to delivering meaningful public sector reform? Will it now remove quangos that duplicate work? Will it reduce core civil service head count, which has risen significantly since Covid? Will it wage a war on waste? If so, that £30 million will be well spent.

Let us look at what SNP waste looks like in this budget alone. There is £60 million for the woke equalities and human rights portfolio. There is £50 million for Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd this year, even though the ferries were meant to be completed two years ago.

For the record, can the cabinet secretary state how much she is receiving from the UK Government to extend rates relief to the Scottish retail, leisure and hospitality sectors and how much of that she is spending in the budget?

No. I do not have time.

In the budget, there is up to £50 million for a national care service that even SNP councils no longer support, and there is £8 million for baby boxes that many new parents do not want, need or use.

There is £5.5 million for fake foreign embassies and £12.8 million for a foreign aid budget, although foreign aid is a reserved matter. There is £5.5 million for external affairs policy and advice and £2 million for a Scottish Land Commission that is crammed full of SNP cronies.

Presiding Officer, unpicking the budget reveals that, under the SNP, the benefits bill is now unsustainable, with the Scottish Fiscal Commission warning that it will reach £9 billion within five years. Even before the Scottish Government removes the two-child benefit cap, nearly £1.5 billion more is being spent on benefits than the Scottish Government is receiving in the block grant.

In evidence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee yesterday, the Scottish Fiscal Commission revealed that the adult disability benefits bill is to surge by hundreds of millions of pounds because of the “soft touch” system that underpins it. Professor David Ulph said that sick Scots are staying on benefits longer than people in the rest of the UK, with the DWP removing claimants on review in England at a rate of 18 per cent, compared with just 2 per cent coming off disability benefit in Scotland. That poses what Professor Ulph described as a significant risk in terms of the sustainability of benefits in Scotland.

As the SNP benefits bill soars, the budget continues to be cut in core areas. The enterprise budget is down £33 million; £110 million has been taken from rail services in cash terms; there have been reductions in cash terms to drug and alcohol services; and there has been a council settlement that fails to make up for last year’s council tax freeze and a decade of cuts, which will force many councils to increase council tax next year.

It is clear that the Government has more money than ever before, but what the Government is going to do with it is less clear, as the Fraser of Allander Institute has recognised.

We welcome the increased funding for health, but more money alone will not solve the crisis in our national health service. It needs leadership and it needs a delivery plan. That is something that is evident from today’s headlines. The Herald has “Number of NHS GPs in Scotland drops again”. The Daily Mail says that accident and emergency delays are evidence of NHS collapse, and The Scotsman headline says, “Bed blocking high nine years since SNP pledged to end it”.

Therefore, whether this budget cuts funding or increases it, we know that, under the SNP, our public services are only getting worse.

The budget is bad for business, it is bad for taxpayers and it is bad for Scotland. That is why the SNP urgently needs to change course to back our pro-growth tax cuts, to reform public services and to restore sustainability to Scotland’s public finances.

I move,

That the Parliament believes that the draft Scottish Budget 2025-26 will not deliver good value for taxpayers; notes its continuation of the Scottish National Party administration’s high-tax agenda, which has damaged economic growth in Scotland; condemns funding for free bus travel for asylum seekers, which could have instead been used to provide 6,600 pensioners in Scotland with a full Winter Heating Payment, and calls on the Scottish Government to cut income tax to 19% for those earning up to £43,662, introduce full business rates relief for pubs and restaurants across Scotland for 2025-26, and raise the threshold at which house buyers pay residential Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to £250,000.

Will the minister give way?

We are getting the cheap insults in early. What I heard yesterday was the Scottish Fiscal Commission issuing to the Scottish Government a series of warnings on tax and spending.

Our plans do not only set out tax cuts for workers. We also set out tax cuts for home buyers, many of whom Scottish estate agency Galbraith Group say are “shocked” when the Scottish National Party’s property tax bill lands on their doorsteps. Our fully costed move would save Scottish house buyers an average of £800, and would take 70 per cent of transactions out of the tax regime altogether.