17/12/2015 Politics Scotland

Welcome to the Scottish Parliament either at Holyrood. The day after

John Swinney spelt out his tax plans in the budget. That might form the

subject of the questions are the First Minister. You may need to turn

the volume up on your TV set a little bit because the First

Minister has a sore throat and is losing her voice. Let's find out

what is going on in the chamber with my colleague now.

Sadly, the First Minister has been coughing away. You cannot see your

right at the moment. First Minister was my questions.

Question number one. Before we begin, can I wish you, your staff

and everyone in the chamber of any many Christmas and a happy New Year.

APPLAUSE What engagements does the First

Minister have for the rest of the day? I also wish you, the chamber

and the people of Scotland a very Merry Christmas. I bring with me and

electors must present for the opposition, losing my voice. I will

be taking forward the Government's plans for Scotland. For many people,

the Christmas holidays are a chance to look back and reflect. One year

ago today, the First Minister visited Castle view primary school

not far from here. She pledged that in her Government, no child would be

left behind, get, after nearly nine years in power, the gap between the

richest and the rest is as stubborn as ever. In his budget yesterday,

John Swinney announced massive cuts to the local councils to pay for our

schools that are key to our children's education. It is

estimated 15,000 jobs will be lost as a result of yesterday's budget.

Can the First Minister tell us how many of those job losses will come

from our schools? Presiding Officer, yesterday's budget settlement was a

tough one for local Government. I make no bones about that. But I want

today to put that into some context. The net never -- revenue reduction

will be ?220 million. That is a reduction in the total expenditure

of local authorities of 2%. That is a challenging settlement. That does

not take into account the additional allocation the Deputy First Minister

announced yesterday of ?250 million for social care. Previously, of

course, it was his sole responsibility of local authorities

to fund social care. That is no longer the case. The NHS will now

share the responsibility and will next year invest an additional ?250

million in that. Of course, the core budget of local authorities does not

equally take into account the additional ?33 million announced by

the Deputy First Minister yesterday for specifically tackling attainment

and the attainment gap in our schools. So what we set out

yesterday was the choices we are making in this budget. The total

Scottish budget will decline as a result of cuts from Westminster but

we have set out priorities and these will be priorities I will be proud

to take to the Scottish people. If Kezia Dugdale wants to prioritise

different things, then she has an obligation to say exactly what those

alternative priorities would be. And secondly, Presiding Officer, and

perhaps more importantly, will be money follows other priorities would

come from. APPLAUSE

Our councils are central to the education of our children yet John

Swinney's budget pulled the rug from under them. The reality is Nicola

Sturgeon cannot guarantee the budget will not result in job losses for

specialist teachers, classroom assistants, janitors and office

staff. This week, the OECD published a sobering report on the state of

education in Scotland. The rest of the world is catching up with us and

they are overtaking us in maths. And yet again, the Buddhist children get

left behind. -- the poorest. The report warned against this category

approach to education. Let's see how that ?33 million is being spent. A

couple of weeks ago, I visited two schools in one building. They share

our joint campus Ian Johnston. They use the same dining hall and

playground and many come from the same streets, get just one of those

schools gets money from the Scottish Government was marketing and fun.

One school gets funding to close the gap at the other gets left behind.

As the First Minister agree that that is just not fair? I would say

that I encourage her if she has not already done so to read the OECD

report that was published on Tuesday in its entirety because what she

will find is that report has many very positive things to say about

Scottish education. It says for example that we are above the

international average when it comes to science and reading. It says that

Scottish education... And I think this is a direct quote, Presiding

Officer, is on an upward trend of attainment. It says schools are

inclusive and young people are positively engaged with education.

It also of course presents challenges to the Scottish

Government and everybody who cares about education. It says in

particular that curriculum for excellence, which praises, is at a

watershed moment and endorses the approach this Government is taking

to introduce a national improvement framework with standardised

assessment at its heart. So actually the OECD report, far from the way

Kezia Dugdale is characterised, is positive and sets out a clear path

for further improvement and reform. In terms of the attainment fund, I

have made very clear my priority when it comes to tackling the

attainment gap and the budget that the Deputy First Minister Mister set

out yesterday set aside the funds to make sure that we are progressing

with that work to close the attainment gap. ?33 million next

year, which of course is part of a bigger programme of ?100 million,

over and above local authority school budgets to prioritise

improvement in attainment. Now that is the commitment this Government

has made. I would see identities in the bill, if she wants to come

forward with proposals... If you want to come forward with proposals

suggesting we spend additional money in any particular money of our

responsibilities, she has an absolute entitlement to do so. But

when she does so, she also has an absolute responsibility to tell this

chamber and the people of Scotland were in the budget the additional

money would come from. I get that invitation today.

APPLAUSE Scotland yesterday will to boast

that it had the best schools in the world.

And today she tells us just to be glad they had above average. Is that

really the extent of your ambition? Under this Government, more than

6000 children left primary school last year unable to be properly.

That is 6000 children who have spent every year of their angry school

education under this Government. Now the new powers heading our way

governors the power and chance to do something different. We do not just

have to manage Tory state like the SNP bother -- the SNP's budget did

yesterday. Under our plan, head teachers would get ?1000 for every

pupil from a deprived background. We would handle real power... We would

handle real power to teachers. Ordered! We would handle power to

headteachers to improve the life chances of children in a school. It

is a planet since funds to where they are needed most and it would

end the farce well schools are not getting the same support. So will

the First Minister back plan to use the new tax powers to invest young

people? Let me to point out to Kezia Dugdale what the OECD report said

this week. No, I know that Labour do not like to you this kind of thing.

But it said that based on the action this Government is taking through

progressing with curriculum for excellence and through the national

improvement framework, through the introduction of our evaluation and

assessment system, then Scottish education has the potential now to

become a world leader. That is what the OECD says and I know that Labour

do not like it because it talks up the potential of Scotland, but that

happens to be the fact. APPLAUSE

I invited Labour to put forward alternatives. But I also invited

them to say where the money is coming from. So unless Kezia

Dugdale, in her next question, is going to tell me where, from this

draft budget, this traffic budget, the money to fund the proposal that

she has just outlined to this chamber is going to come from, then

she does not deserve to be treated with any credibility whatsoever.

Because I have put forward... I have put forward the Deputy First

Minister that follow Jason Day a fully funded plan to tackle the

attainment gap in Scottish education. That is the reality.

Kezia Dugdale says that we should use new tax powers. So let Kezia

Dugdale give us a straight answer to this question today. Is she saying

that next year in this draft budget, she thinks the Scottish Government

should put up the basic rate of income tax? That is a simple

question and let's hear a yes or no Mac cancer. -- answer. This really

gets to the nub of the matter... Yes! Old -- order. Every time she

has a progressive tax, she voted down. Four times he has done that.

And I tell you what is not credible. It is governing with a budget one

year at the time with no plan for the future, like this Government

has. And after yesterday's budget, it is clearly a commitment to ending

a steady does not extend much beyond the odd press release. The OECD last

reviewed Scotland's education system in 2007. Since the SNP Government

has cut the number of teachers by 4300, the number of qualified

teachers in our mercenaries has fallen and the gap between the

richest and the rest remains as wide as ever. And what is the SNP's

response to all of that? To cut, cut and cut again. Why is it, Presiding

Officer, that this SNP Government appears to be content to let the

next generation any price of a steady? -- pay the price of

austerity? She said something connect in the last question. We're

getting to the nub of the matter. Progressive charges, are sinners

John Swinney had the power, yesterday, he outlined plans to

raise 130 million pounds extra from business rates. Here is the nub of

the matter. Next year, the only way that we could raise extra revenue

from income tax is if we were to raise income tax at the basic rate

and raise income tax for the lowest paid people in our society. So, when

faced... Order! When faced with that question, everyone watching this

session of First Minister's Questions today will have seen Kezia

Dugdale duck the question completely. Order! Labour want to

tell us what they disagree with it when it comes to putting forward any

funded alternatives, Kezia Dugdale and Labour run for cover. We have

made our choices in this budget and those choices are to protect the

NHS, to protect social care, protect educational attainment, protect

colleges, protect university research and free tuition. And we

want to protect against Tory cuts. If the opposition want to make

different choices, tell us what the ad for once, let them tell us where

they will get the money! Order. Order. Question number two.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I add my Christmas wishes to those in the

chamber. I know that the First Minister had the pleasure to meet

this morning but I am obligated to ask, when will she next meet the

Secretary of State for Scotland? I have no plans in the near future. I

had the pleasure, I will put it that way, of meeting the prime minister

on Monday. All I will say is that when I went to Downing Street, I did

not have this stinking cold, I had it when I came out. Another thing

that is Westminster's fault, Presiding Officer. I will tell Dave

to put the metal doorway next time you come. Presiding Officer, at the

unveiling of the Scottish budget yesterday, I was pleased to see that

the SNP Government would pass on an extra ?440 million to hospitals

received through extra NHS spending in the block grant. But it

contradicts her Government's central claims. Before the referendum last

year, the then Health Secretary Alex Neil said this. Only a yes vote in

the referendum can fully protect Scotland's NHS. Can I ask, the day

after the First Minister has just allocated an extra ?440 million to

health, does she still really believe that leaving the UK is the

only way to protect Scotland's NHS? I'll return to my favourite word of

2014. Yes! This is a bit rich, I think. It is a bit rich from the

Conservatives. Let's remember that the budget of this government,

because our overall budget is still determined by the Tories at

Westminster, it is going to be reduced by ?1.2 billion in real

terms between now and the end of the decade. Overall, our budget will be

cut by almost ?4 billion since the Tories took office. This has been

the cost to this government, parliament, and country. That is the

reality. Within that, we will make sure that we protect the priorities

that we hold dear. That is why I am proud that John Swinney announced

extra funding for the National Health Service of more than half ?1

billion, taking the budget for the first time to almost ?13 billion.

Proving again that the NHS is safe in the hands of this government.

Nice try. Not exactly backed up by the facts. Her failure to increase

spending at the same rate as the UK Government has cost the NHS in

Scotland are almost ?700 million over the last five years. It's

Christmas and I am delighted that belatedly the government has

recognised that shortfall and has awarded extra funding to the NHS in

Scotland. That is something that happened under devolution and not

independence. You have just increased the budget by ?450 million

under devolution. Childcare has gone up under devolution. You said that

Scotland couldn't get a fairer deal on fishing but we have just had a

massive boost for our fishing communities. All without

independence. I wonder if the First Minister could find it within

herself, to accept that she and her colleagues got it wrong. Is it still

the case that when it comes to the SMP, it is always SMP bad? Her

argument may be contoured to do. It certainly is very contorted. In the

spirit of Christmas, I am going to take a positive and thank Ruth

Davidson for setting out, quite eloquently, how well this is doing

to protect the health service, to protect and improve childcare and I

think the third one was to do so well by our fishing industry. Thank

you so much at this festive period to Ruth Davidson and the Tories for

that vote of confidence in the SMP government. The next thing you know,

you will be quoted in the government leaflets. I hope you all have a

fantastic break. Can I take the opportunity to ask the First

Minister what she could discuss at the next meeting of the Cabinet? Let

me wish a happy Christmas even to the Liberal Democrats. Matters of

importance will be discussed. I listen to what she said to Kezia

Dugdale earlier, a few months ago, she said, even though she had been

in power for eight years, she was just getting started on education.

She said it was the driving and defining priority of her government.

How on earth does cutting the budgets of education authorities

count as a good start? I set out to Kezia Dugdale that the environment

for local authorities is challenging. That is why I said we

would ask us how we work together on our priorities. The net revenue

reduction amounts to 2% of the overall expenditure and it doesn't

take account of the additional money that we invested in education over

and above the core school budget of councils. Willie Rennie doesn't take

into account what we said yesterday about maintaining teacher numbers. I

remain determined to prioritise education. That is demonstrated in

the budget and more than that it is demonstrated in the action we are

taking through the national framework and new system of

assessment. Willie Rennie should reflect carefully on the OECD

report. Things he has been criticising and telling as he is

against our things that the OECD said are putting Scotland on track

to become a world leader. I think it is time he changed his position.

That fails the most basic test. The biggest thing that councils do is

education. They are being hammered in this budget. She climbs onto this

attainment fact while butchering the budgets of councils will stop it is

not as though she had no choice. She decided to match George Osborne on

income tax, second homes, business rate, and undercut the Tories on the

council tax. She had a range of choices. The result is she is

proposing lower tax and lower spend than even George Osborne thinks is

needed. How can she say education is her top priority if she is putting

all of that before the children of this country? I'm not taking

lectures from Willie Rennie on George Osborne. His party prop

George Osborne up in the Treasury for five long years. I think Willie

Rennie needs to go back to school himself. He has criticised us for

what we are doing on second homes and Al BBT, does he know that raises

money to spend on our priorities? We are protecting the health service,

social care, education attainment. If Willie Rennie wants to propose

that in this budget we put up the basic rate of income tax, hitting

the poorest hardest, if he is proposing to put up the council tax,

hitting the poorest hardest, he is free to go to the electorate and put

that forward in his manifesto. I would say that we would see the

Liberal Democrats plummet as a result but there is not much further

they can for. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an

update on her meeting with the Prime Minister? I held a constructive

meeting with the Prime Minister. I made clear that I want to see a deal

on fiscal frame work and we will not see a deal that is unfair to

Scotland. We need a deadline for reaching fiscal framework. We

discussed the trade union Bill where I can assure Parliament that I made

clear the cross-party and civic opposition across Scotland to this

trick pony and unnecessary piece of legislation. Christina: V. Can the

First Minister set out the government's plans and talk about

the problem of leaving employment policy in the hands of ideological

motivated Tory government? I hope the Eirene is not lost on those --

irony is not lost on those who argued in the referendum that we

should keep these powers in the hands of Westminster. The Scottish

Government has permitted a general policy memorandum which will enable

them to hold an enquiry into the impact of the bill and for

Parliament to have a vote on it. We continue to make clear our

opposition to the bill in the UK and in Scotland. Let me be clear, this

bill is unnecessary, unwarranted, and despite my discussions with the

Prime Minister on Monday, I am unaware of any logical reasons

behind the bill other than an ideological attack on the trade

union movement. We oppose the bill across the whole of the UK. I have

to agree with Christina McKelvey that the trade union Bill is not

just the problem of Scotland. If we did have the power we would

certainly not introduced it. She has confirmed that she is against this

Tory attack on workers rights. I wonder if she could then explain why

she allowed the union bashing, indemnification clause that

compensates big business out of the public purse in the case of the

Caledonian sleeper contract? I am more than happy to write to the

member on that specific issue. There may not be many of these issues but

I would hope this is one where labour and the SNP could join

together. We are well aware of the importance of trade unions, not just

in reducing industrial action but in making our workplaces safer, more

productive and happier and healthier places to be. I support the trade

union movement and I know that the member does and we should join

together to stop this attack on it. Richard Simpson. To ask the First

Minister whether it remains the government's position that the NHS

ICT programme is an exemplar of good practice? We have not used those

words about the NHS 24 future programme. As I stated on the 19th

of November, it is very disappointing that a decision to

pause the introduction of the programme had to be taken but it was

taken in the interests of patient safety and was clearly the right

thing to do. An investigation is underway into the circumstances that

led to the decision to pause the programme and we will have a full

report in January. We will consider those very carefully. The Gateway

report, which I presume was from the government, actually did say that it

was an exemplar of good practice. The government's management of ICT

in the NHS is unfit for purpose. There has been too highly critical

reports from the auditor General. It cancelled a programme at great

expense, Tayside still cannot see information from five. The Gateway

report showed that it was 40 million over budget, finally suspended, over

time, why is it still being delayed for a further eight months at a cost

of 3.5 million of tax payer's money. Could it be because there is an

election? It is for patient safety reasons and I would hope that all

members would accept that. The point about the exemplar of good practice.

That quote was from the Gateway review, by the then NHS 24 chief

executive but it was The Independent review team's opinion. The

government centre of expertise provided advice in establishing the

review but were not involved in the conduct of that review. I hope that

explanation helps Richardson soon. This is an important issue. It is

right to get the proper opportunity to scrutinise the issues here.

Decisions have been taken for patient safety reasons and because

of that they are the right decisions. We are now focused on

making sure that any issues are resolved and lessons learned and

that a system can come into operation as quickly as possible. We

are waiting on the initial report which we will get on the 13th of

December -- 30th of December or thereabouts. Then it would be

appropriate to look carefully at those reports and Aske questions

that they deem appropriate either to me or the Health Secretary. To ask

the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the

report on local tax reform. The report is very much in line with our

ambition on taxation. We will bring forward a detailed plan for reform

that will embody the principles of the report and I would urge others

to do likewise so that The People of Scotland can look at the different

options. All political parties were approached and invited to

participate and I thank those who did for doing so. It is

disappointing that only now are the Conservative Party showing an

interest in the findings when they were the only political party who

refused to participate in the work of the commission in the first

place. I think we have rather been

vindicated because the report took a great deal of what is to tell us did

not like the council tax and that it should be replaced with absolutely

no idea what it would be replaced with. Can we First Minister, and the

spirit of Christmas, guarantee a happy Christmas to aspirational,

hard-working families across the country by guaranteeing them that

whatever replacement tax she proposes will not hit them hard in

the pockets? I can guarantee to the people of Scotland that the council

tax will be frozen next year for the ninth consecutive year. Murdo

Fraser, when he responded to the budget yesterday, we are to be

disappointed that he didn't First Minister did not put up income tax

on the council tax, but we are a Government that has protected

household incomes and made sure that the obscene increases in council to

seen under previous administrations came to an end. Now, what we will do

over and above that is bring forward our proposals for longer-term reform

of the council tax will stop I am in no doubt that this Government will

do that and we will put those proposals before the Scottish people

in advance of the election. My challenge to everyone else in this

chamber is to do likewise and then the people of Scotland will be able

to choose. Thank you, that ends First Minister's Questions.

Applause already chamber that the close of questions to the First

Minister. The last session of questions to the First Minister

indeed for 2015. The parliamentary session very shortly. A spirit of

goodwill we are, wasn't there? Not particularly... They were exchanging

insults as well as offers of festive greetings. I hope you have a good

you'll and all that sort of thing. -- good Christmas. Temporary Dan Jo

Potter the Daily Politics. -- time for me

within the Labour Party, the Lib Dems facing extinction,

and One Direction going in several directions.

It's hard to know where to start, really.

IMPERSONATES ED MILIBAND: Look, I will leave 'not knowing

Turn to camera but don't read out the bits in bold like last time

I was the happy warrior simply wondering if there would be enough

And we decided to capitalise on this by writing on a big

Which turned out to be rather a good kitchen work surface actually.

But whereas I said, hell yes, I'm tough enough.