Seòmar agus comataidhean

I will try to set a good example for once, Presiding Officer.

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made, as part of its cross-Government co-ordination of Covid recovery policies, of the wider on-going impact of Covid-19, including on the economy. (S6O-01868)

I ask, with specific reference to my constituency, whether we have any data on the impact on the economies of Midlothian and the Borders. If the Deputy First Minister does not have that to hand, will he please write and provide me with it?

I begin by agreeing whole-heartedly with the Liberal Democrat motion, right down to the words

“shortage is impacting the waiting times of those who require care packages”,

but no further.

As we clapped during the weeks and months and, indeed, years of Covid, recognition grew among all of us of the valuable dedication of the people who work in the care sector as well as those who work in the NHS. Covid threw the spotlight not only on the nature of care work, whether through home visits or in care homes, but on the personal and selfless commitment of carers to the people in their care.

The Liberal Democrat motion highlights the various levels of pay and conditions. Of course, employment law is reserved to Westminster—would that that responsibility lay here. However, the Scottish Government is aiming to deliver work and fair pay bargaining in the social care sector. Although employment law is reserved, it might be able to do that by including fair pay conditions in a contract or in funding dished out to the sector.

I note what the minister has said about pay, but have Alex Cole-Hamilton and Paul O’Kane entered into discussions with the finance secretary regarding even more funding for the sector? I, too, would like the sector to get more funding, but they have to say how much and where it is to come from.

Regarding loss of staff, which has a ripple effect through the care and health sector, it is well documented that that has been attributed in no inconsiderable manner to Brexit, and now it has been exacerbated by UK criteria for immigration, which is not helpful. Indeed, Donald Macaskill, the chief executive officer of Scottish Care, called the UK system “unusable”.

The Lib Dems, of course, do not reference Brexit in their motion, as they have now thrown in the towel and support it. That loss of staff means delays in accessing care packages and hospital discharges, which in turns leads to delays in people having access to hospital beds and treatments. The Liberal Democrats refer to those delays but do not attribute them in the least to Brexit or, indeed, Covid. I would hope that, in summing up, the Liberal Democrats will at least recognise that.

I turn to national standards in the sector. During Covid and before Covid, I was certainly aware, not only from searching Care Inspectorate reports but from constituency cases, that there were huge variations, and not always for the better. Thank goodness for the Care Inspectorate, which was set up in 2011 to take over from the Care Commission. It beefed up, and it is still much needed.

We need a national standard of delivery in order to consign the well-worn expression “postcode lottery” to the bin. To me, that is exactly the purpose of a national care service. It is not a duplicate of the national health service, nor is it centralisation of delivery. It will have criteria that are set at the national level but delivery at the local level. I say that to Liam McArthur as well as to people in the Borders. Of course, things are different depending on where you are in Scotland, but the standard must be at a certain level and not variable. I repeat: criteria and standards at the national level; and delivery at the local level, with local input from people on the needs of their area.

As for career progression, I fully support that, but, of course, it is already available if transition is desired between the care sector and nursing. Indeed, Borders College in Galashiels has full-time higher health and social care courses and health and social care national 5, which can deliver that. I am happy to give Alex Cole-Hamilton contact details if he needs them.

Let me repeat my recognition of the dedication of all workers across the care sector, paid and unpaid. Wherever members are in this chamber, let us get it right for them and for those they care for.

A budget debate is not my usual métier, but the principles of budgets are not a mystery. With an individual’s domestic budget, income needs to be balanced against expenditure, or borrowing will be required. The Scottish Government’s budget is no different, except that its income is, in the main, set by the UK and we have no borrowing powers for revenue.

Likewise, an individual’s budget has first to prioritise payments for necessities such as mortgages, rent, utilities and so on. Then, as inflation erodes the value of that income and costs rise, choices about savings or cuts have to be made. For some folk, the choice is now quite simply between food bills and energy bills. It is much the same for the Scottish Government. It has responsibility for billions of pounds, but the principles remain the same.

The necessities of government are the responsibilities that we all know about: delivering public services, including health, social care, education, the justice system and policing, and providing funding to local authorities. In most cases, some 80 per cent of what is provided is fixed in nature. For example, in health and social care, there are fixed costs associated with hospitals, all the staff, their salaries and pensions, ambulances, medical treatments and so on. That might seem obvious to us in Parliament, but many people do not understand that cutting into one budget and moving money to another would, if it were to have any substantial effect, perhaps mean cutting into staffing levels, for example.

The biggest slice of the Scottish budget rightly goes to health and social care, which accounts for nearly 33 per cent of the total. I do not think that we would argue with that being a priority. The next large chunk—almost 20 per cent—goes to local authorities via COSLA, which then divvies up the money to councils under an agreed formula that takes into account, inter alia, demographics, population, rurality and so on. The Scottish Government does not negotiate separately with each of the 32 local authorities in Scotland. I say that to start with in order to put the budget choices in context.

In my many years in Parliament, I have never known such pressures, which are felt across the UK, on Government budgets. In more than a decade of Tory Government, austerity—indeed, stagnation—was inbuilt. That was tolerable while interest rates and inflation were low and borrowing was cheap, but the UK economy was fragile. We can factor in the years of Covid, the war in Ukraine, Brexit and four Chancellors of the Exchequer in one year. We have a rudderless shambles of a UK Government that has no clear or consistent idea of how to manage the UK economy—otherwise, why were there four chancellors in 2022?

We have ended up where we are today, with general inflation at 10 per cent and food inflation reckoned to be nearer 15 per cent, while energy companies swim in unearned profits of billions of pounds. The Scottish Government, which is almost wholly dependent on the UK for its budget and is dealing with inflation of at least 10 per cent and pay demands to match, is firefighting as it has never had to do before.

I thank the First Minister for her answer. As a former secondary school teacher—although it was some time ago—I have huge regard for the commitment of the profession. Indeed, I benefited, as someone from a working-class background, from state education through to university.

However, context is all, and budgets are, as a result of 10 per cent inflation, under severe pressure at Scottish Government and local government levels, with the same pressures applying in Wales and England, where teachers are on strike.

The issue of funding for education is not a Scottish Government problem: it is a United Kingdom-wide one and is a direct consequence of raging inflation, which Anas Sarwar sidestepped in his exchange with the First Minister. Is not it time that Rishi Sunak ditched his current policy of austerity to tackle the UK Government’s self-inflicted inflation, increased funding to the Scottish Government—and Wales, while we are at it—and dealt with the fallout of a decade of failed Tory policies, which have been exacerbated by Brexit—[Interruption.]

I will address that by quoting from the Finance and Public Administration Committee’s report—I do not know whether Mr Fraser is on that committee. In its preamble, the report says:

“It is clear from our scrutiny of the Scottish Budget 2023-24 that the Scottish Government is firefighting on a number of fronts.”

No wonder there is little opportunity for long-term planning. The problem is not only that so many costs in individual portfolio budgets are fixed but that there are horrendous pressures on those budgets.

I welcome progressive policies such as free travel for all under-22s and over-60s, as well as for people with certain disabilities and their carers; no tuition fees; free prescriptions; free school meals for pupils in primaries 1 to 5, with the proposal to extend that to all primary pupils; the baby box; and the Scottish child payment. Those policies prioritise families and children, who are Scotland’s future.

Incidentally, the Deputy First Minister referred to the small business bonus scheme, under which some businesses pay no rates whatsoever. That came into the Scottish Government’s budget after negotiations with the then Conservative finance spokesperson Derek Brownlee, who was a big loss to the Parliament. That Tory group supported the budget and amended it so that the scheme would be included in it. Those were the days when the Tories did not just oppose for opposition’s sake.

Other financial commitments will be needed to mitigate harsh Westminster policies and underfunding. No one pays the bedroom tax, which is imposed by Westminster, but that costs the Scottish Government £70 million. This year, £20 million has been allocated to the fuel insecurity fund. Those are just some examples of the millions of pounds that are spent to mitigate Tory austerity. However, there are limits. The Scottish Government has perhaps been a victim of its own success over the years, as we tend to take those mitigations for granted.

I am in my last minute.

I have listened with interest to the contributions so far. Opposition members always fail to say how much proposals will cost on a recurring basis and from which existing budget the money will come. Neither is there essential recognition of the devastating impact of inflation.

I will go back to where I started. Every household in Scotland, including the dogs in the street, knows that its money is not going as far as it did before. Savings are having to be made. Choices are having to be made—shrinking back to the basics: rent, mortgage payments, heating bills and food. The Scottish Government is no different, just as it is no different for the domestic budgets of Wales and, indeed, England.

Out of all the—[Inaudible.]

—four Tory chancellors in one year, and who could forget Liz Truss?

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities with regard to the proposals in some local authorities to reduce teacher numbers, given its commitment to increase teacher numbers by 3,500 by the end of the current parliamentary session. (S6F-01787)