Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am a bit past the point in the speech, but I am keen to hear Mr Gulhane, who I appreciate is a significant contributor as a professional. Colleagues on his benches—particularly Mr Hoy—showed some humility about his party’s mistakes and the damage that it has done to our country through the austerity agenda, which the Scottish Government has faced the consequences of. I wonder whether Mr Gulhane is going to refer to that.

Pardon me, Presiding Officer. If Anas Sarwar gets to his feet later this week, he should come out with some constructive solutions.

When members of the Opposition parties speak, they talk as if Scotland already had all the powers of an independent nation. They talk as if a Conservative Government had not made disastrous decisions for many years. They talk as if a coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives had not put this country into the worst austerity in Europe in the 21st century. They talk as if the Labour Government had done everything perfectly over the years, when we all know that that is not the case. There is so much more that we can do, but we need to do it together and to be honest.

For example, on the NHS, the Opposition makes criticism, but we should think about what we could do if we had a migration policy in Scotland, or about how things would be better if we had not been taken out of the EU against our will. When it comes to the economy, imagine if we could reverse or had not had the national insurance increase, or could do more with VAT to support the hospitality sector, or more with other aspects of the taxation system. That would help us to make a difference. That is why the constitution matters.

Another example is energy. Members talked about redirecting wealth from renewables into communities, but energy policy is reserved. That is why the constitution and more powers matter.

Members talked about poverty alleviation. Imagine if we did not have to spend money on mitigating the two-child cap and the bedroom tax. Imagine if we could make all the welfare policy in Scotland in a more sensible and thoughtful way, to reduce poverty even further. Of course, we are making good progress compared with elsewhere in the UK, as has already been said.

So much more could be said about why the constitution matters. As much as the Opposition and others want to chip away and tear things down, I can feel that a resistant optimism is developing in Scotland. I am proud that the SNP Government is part of the pushback against negativity. Yes, we will talk about hope; yes, we will talk about how we can make things better; and yes, we will talk about the constitution being relevant in that space. More and more people are seeing independence as the space in which Scotland would be able to achieve its full potential. More and more, it is becoming the settled will. Those who dismiss it as an aspiration—those who dismiss statehood—need to remember that they are talking about 50 per cent of the people we represent. Their opinions matter and, very soon, the question will be what the Opposition and Westminster are going to do to facilitate their will.

Coming into Parliament today after a long recess, it was even more striking to me—as I am sure it was to colleagues—just what a privilege it is to come and be able to speak and express ourselves in this place on behalf of those we serve. They expect us to bring solutions and positive vision, especially at a time when, as the First Minister said, we are 25 years into this Parliament’s history, a quarter of the way into the 21st century and in a period of multiple challenges at home and across the world.

I am therefore—honestly—dismayed and shocked at the absolute lack of depth of solutions from Opposition members. When I listened to both Opposition leaders speaking, I did not hear one idea, one worked-out policy or one thing that was constructive. We all know that the people we represent are experiencing tough times, and they expect us to do what we were sent here to do, which is to come up with ways that will make a difference for them. That is exactly what the First Minister set out to Parliament and what the Scottish Government is focused on. There are challenges, but there are multiple successes to be welcomed, too.

I did not hear any Opposition MSP mention the really good results that our school pupils achieved across the country, or the fact that more people from less privileged backgrounds are going to university. I did not hear them say that we had a remarkable summer of culture and festivities—in particular, here in the capital, where people poured in from around the world and spoke positively about our country thereafter. I did not hear any praise for our remarkable police force and the fact that it managed all those events—and a presidential visit and a vice-presidential visit—extremely well.

I did not hear any comment about the fact that the standard for waiting times has been met for the third time in a row, as was announced today. I did not hear about NHS Scotland’s five-year high for operations, with a record number of hip and knee replacements being performed by our NHS.

As the First Minister said, there is more to do, but much has been achieved. Given all the challenge in our country, we need to get to a position in which people can look to this place and see people speaking with passion about ideas to make things better and being constructive about what has been done well.

Those who are just trying to talk our country down and to chip away at our society will be absolutely delighted by what the Opposition parties have put to the Parliament today, because it is empty—there are no ideas.

Anas Sarwar, you may shake your head—

Màiri McAllan, the cabinet secretary, is not in the chamber, but it is important to put on the record that she did actually respond by saying that there would be targeted spending in areas of high pressure, such as Edinburgh.

The housing emergency has been decades in the making, since Thatcherism, and it is the biggest issue for millennials and those younger than that. Therefore, I warmly welcome the significant investment that the Scottish Government has announced today. Does the cabinet secretary agree that both private and public spending on house building is an investment in our national infrastructure, and that we need to approach it with that mindset and focus on quality of build so that we create new buildings that last for many decades? Will the investment that has been announced be targeted in areas with the most pressure on the housing system, such as here in the capital city?

I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It is good to hear about the evaluations and investment.

As the Parliament is aware, there has been a notable rise, in recent years, in the number of children identified as having additional support needs. It is my understanding that councils have a statutory duty under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide out-of-school and holiday care for children with disabilities and additional support needs. However, a number of parents in my constituency and elsewhere have raised concerns with me that the level of provision that is available is inadequate to meet their children’s needs. That concern is especially pressing as we approach the school summer holidays. Councillor Euan Hyslop has been raising the issue with the City of Edinburgh Council administration. Will the cabinet secretary say a bit more about how she is considering the issue nationally and engaging with councils at this time?

We want to support our students and welcome those from abroad, but it is time to signal to purpose-built student accommodation developers that their plans are increasingly unwelcome in communities such as the one that I represent. In my constituency and in Edinburgh as a whole, there is increasing concern about the amount of purpose-built student accommodation that is being built in our capital city, especially when there is an acute housing emergency. In many instances, PBSA extracts money out of Scotland, sometimes into tax havens, and uses up valuable urban land where normal housing should be built instead. Therefore, I urge the Scottish Government to work with the City of Edinburgh Council to restrict future PBSA development, if possible, because it often involves corporate exploitation of students and Scotland’s urban land.

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of holiday hub provision for children with disabilities and additional support needs in the city of Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland. (S6O-04863)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate on progressing the recommendations on equality that have been made by the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls.

The National Advisory Council on Women and Girls was formed as a catalyst for change and as an organisation that could address gender inequality and provide independent strategic advice to the First Minister and the wider Scottish Government. Since it was formed in 2017, it has made a series of recommendations to tackle gender inequality across Scotland, with a particular focus on creating the leadership, culture and systems that are required to enable women and girls to be better prioritised and responded to in the right ways.

Much has been said in the debate already about the progress that has been made in multiple areas, including social security, pay and equality—whether financial or in terms of opportunity. I absolutely celebrate all that and welcome the Government’s statements on the progress that it wants to continue to make and that Parliament wants to be made. Hard-won progress has been achieved, and we rightly recognise that today, as well as reflecting on what more needs to be done.

One of the priorities in the advisory council’s recommendations is the issue of attitudinal shifts. Other speakers have talked about that already, and I will focus the remainder of my remarks in that space.

The Scottish Government is exercising leadership to challenge the underpinning issues that affect the safety of women and girls in our society, which, as has been emphasised already, involve the behaviour of men and boys. We have made much progress, but there is more to do—that is absolutely certain.

Let me be clear: if they had this opportunity, most men and boys would speak as passionately as me about the need for greater equality and in support of women and girls. Of course, there are still social attitudes and behaviours that are counterproductive and negative and which cause great harm to women and girls in our society, so we must continue to challenge that behaviour in men and boys, and we must do so proactively, passionately and strategically.

We have made real progress, but we are also at a very fragile time, particularly when it comes to boys. Some of the influences around them in modern Scotland try to lead our society towards regression. Online influences—some influencers are well known—can be very harmful and are very worrying.

All of that feeds into the greater challenge presented by a number of younger people in our society. They might have situations around them that have made their lives challenging, but they are engaging in some really challenging behaviour, whether that is violence or theft. The youth summit update that we received earlier today in Parliament was really helpful, because this is all connected, including the issue of violence in schools. I am glad of and support the elevated steps that we have seen and would expect from central Government to deal with the issue of the very small but growing minority of young men who are engaging in extremely challenging and worrying behaviour, including in my constituency. Their behaviour, which could impact other young men around them, includes the spreading of harmful messages about and attitudes to women and girls, and has the potential to have a really damaging effect on our communities, not just in the short to medium term, but beyond that, into the years and decades ahead.

An urgent and strong response on how we support men and boys to make better choices, and how we deal with those who are making bad choices, is really important, because we do not want to go backwards. We have enough work to do as things are, so let us continue to make progress and think together, between now and the 16 days of activism in November, about what more we can do, as MSPs in our communities and with other stakeholders in our country, to challenge the bad attitudes of a minority of men and boys, and to change those social attitudes in our communities and in our society.

It is good to be working with colleagues on this issue. I am proud to support the advisory council in its work and the Government in progressing that. I hope that, when we come back from the recess, we can think about what more we can do. I look forward to supporting the Government in its endeavours.

As the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service considers all of that, the population in Edinburgh, and particularly in the north and east of Edinburgh, is clearly and obviously growing. Last year, when there was a fire at Breadalbane Street in my constituency, fire engines from Marionville fire station were some of the first on the scene, probably saving lives. A few weeks ago, when Cables Wynd house in my constituency unfortunately caught fire, fire engines from Marionville fire station were some of the first on the scene, again probably saving lives. Just last week, in a neighbouring constituency, Hawkhill court unfortunately caught fire, and in many people’s view, fire engines from Marionville fire station undoubtedly saved lives. Does all of that not make a compelling case that it is essential to keep a fire station at Marionville or nearby, despite the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete issues that need to be dealt with?