Seòmar agus comataidhean

No, it is not.

I just want to make a brief point, convener, to pick up on what Elspeth Macdonald and Tavish Scott said about strategic environmental assessments. At what level would you wish to be more involved in that: at screening stage, scoping stage or development of the environmental reports? I am trying to understand what the missing bit of engagement is and how appropriate it is for you to be involved at different stages. Given what Tavish Scott said about not having enough staff to go to every single meeting, how involved can you be in the science and setting the baselines that are required through that kind of process? What did you feel was missing through your engagement in that SEA process?

It is indeed. I am left-handed, so I work that way.

Fundamentally, though, do your members see the need for restoration in the inshore?

Climate change is a factor as well—

Perhaps, you are jumping on that as one potential way forward. The whole point of a just transition is that it is led by workers and people in those sectors, so they come up with the solutions, whether it be for sea lice or biodiversity impact, and they use their technical innovation skills to do that.

I do not know what the solutions are for your sector—I do not work in that area—but is there something about the principle of asking, because we have strict biodiversity targets and we need to move forward, how we involve sectors in that change? How do we deliver the change that, I think, you acknowledge needs to happen? It is the same for fisheries as it is for the energy sector. How can such change be driven by the sectors themselves in a way that is just, rather than them just saying, “We do not want the change”?

Thanks for those reflections.

I thank the committee for its comprehensive report on the human rights of asylum seekers in Scotland. The findings are truly shocking. I challenge anyone to read it and not to feel compelled to act, because it is painfully clear that the Westminster Government has chosen to inflict unimaginable cruelty on people who are seeking refugee protection. We have seen the Prime Minister threatening to break international law and offshore refugees to Rwanda. We have seen refugees forced into wildly inappropriate accommodation, from army barracks to floating prisons.

This morning, we heard the news of the death of a person on the Bibby Stockholm, which is a huge tragedy for that person and for all the people who loved them. That is somebody who will never see the freedom that they dreamed of in coming to this country.

People have been stuck in hotels in Scotland as well, sharing rooms with people they do not know for months on end and unable to access the support that they desperately need. They are fragile and traumatised, and they need mental health support.

I was struck by the minister’s comment at the beginning of the debate, when she recalled that there are some people who do not even know that they are in Scotland. I find that so sad. That has to change, and we have to welcome these people to our hearts.

There is a huge increase in the number of people who are forced into homelessness after being granted refugee status. The Home Office is evicting some people with barely a week’s notice to find somewhere new to live. We should remember, however, that such hostility to people who are seeking refugee protection did not start with Suella Braverman or Rishi Sunak, and it is unlikely to end with a change of guard at Westminster.

With powers over immigration, Scotland could do so much better than that. We could do far more to protect the rights of refugees, people seeking asylum and all those who choose to make Scotland their home. We could choose to build a system that is based on compassion, empathy and solidarity—not on cruelty, hostility and inhumanity.

Although we might want to dismantle the hostile environment in its entirety and start again, we cannot legislate to do that in the Scottish Parliament—not yet, at least. Right now, we remain limited to mitigating some of the worst impacts of the Tory Government’s assault on the right to asylum. That is our serious responsibility, as a country that is committed to human rights, and which is proud to protect refugees.

The Scottish Government has shown leadership in protecting people who are seeking asylum through the limited powers that are available to us, and the committee’s report outlines where we have already taken steps in that regard. However, the report and the evidence from witnesses make it clear that the assault on asylum is so stark that we need to use all the powers that we have within our devolved competence to protect everyone who comes to Scotland in search of safety.

With the stakes so high, we must do more, go further and be braver, because people who are seeking refugee protection are facing unimaginable hardships right now, in our communities. They are banned from working and from accessing mainstream social security benefits, and they are forced to live on just over £6 a day for all essential living needs. That includes clothing, travel, staying connected with loved ones, toiletries, school supplies for their kids, food and so much more. The amount that they get is barely 60 per cent of what I, or other members, would receive in universal credit. Those who are living in hotels receive only around £1.40 a day.

A recent survey by Asylum Matters of 300 people seeking asylum found that 91 per cent did not have enough money to buy food; three quarters could not afford the medicines that they need; and 95 per cent were not able to travel where they needed to by public transport. That is exactly what Just Right Scotland has described as “state-enforced destitution”.

The committee also heard from witnesses about the impact of that enforced poverty on people seeking asylum, and it heard calls from within the refugee community that Scotland could do more to alleviate that hardship.

For the past two years, campaigners at Maryhill Integration Network and the Voices Network have been calling for the expansion of concessionary bus travel to people who are seeking asylum. Alongside colleagues on all sides of the chamber, in particular Paul Sweeney and Bob Doris, I have supported those inspiring campaigners, so I was delighted to see the committee’s report echo our call for change.

Since then, we have managed to secure a £2 million commitment from the Scottish Government to finally grant concessionary bus travel to people who are seeking asylum—a measure that Patrick Harvie announced last month. I look forward to working closely with colleagues and the two ministers, and with campaigners, to get that delivered within the next year. That is just one example of how we can use the powers that we have within our devolved competence to protect everyone who comes to Scotland in search of safety.

That will make an enormous difference to the lives of people who are rebuilding their lives in Scotland, and go some way towards mitigating those hardships that are inflicted by the Home Office. The committee’s report must be a wake-up call. We are witnessing an all-out assault on the rights of refugees in the UK, and our actions here must match the scale of that threat. We must stand up for our friends and neighbours, and make sure that Scotland does everything that it can to be the welcoming nation that we strive to be.

Those are useful and full answers. I will hand back to you, chair.

Thank you, chair, and good morning to the panel. Can I ask you about the capital budget? The whole of the capital budget is going on the digital strategy in the next year. I take it that there will no other capital requirements for the next year beyond the digital strategy. Is that right?