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Hello. A very warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament here at | :00:17. | :00:23. | |
Holyrood. Now, how are you coping with Storm Doris? Well, I hope | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
you're battling through it. At the very least you have the opportunity | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
to hunker down happily for the next hour as you watch questions to the | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
First Minister. Let's cross over to the chamber. | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
Thank you. It is pretty cold in the commentary booth where I can see | :00:38. | :00:47. | |
John Swinney answering a question on child sex abuse, on the make-up on | :00:48. | :00:54. | |
the panel conducting that inquiry. We turn to First Minister questions. | :00:55. | :01:01. | |
Question number one. To ask the First Minister who engagements are | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
planned? To take forward the Government for Scotland. | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
Last week, the killer of Glasgow schoolgirl had four years taken off | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
his sentence. In a case that's prompted grave concern, his lawyers | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
argued he should have his time in jail reduced, simply on the grounds | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
as he was not a bad a killer as others? In response the campaign | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
said this, "There are no words to describe how we feel. It is | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
heartbreaking and it serves no justice to Paige or her family." | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
Less than a year after watching their daughter's killer get locked | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
up, families should go through the ordeal or seeing that sentence | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
reduced simply because he was not as bad a killer as others? My | :01:50. | :01:56. | |
heartbreaks for the family. I met Paige's mother last year. And there | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
literally are no words to express the pain and grief she and the rest | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
of her family have gone through. And today, I am sure on behalf of | :02:07. | :02:09. | |
everybody in the chamber, I simply want to put on records my deepest | :02:10. | :02:13. | |
condolences for her for everything she's suffered. So, I have no | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
difficulty whatsoever in understanding the sentiments that | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
were expressed be I the justice for Paige campaign. If I had been a | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
relative, I would have felt exactly the same, given the events that Ruth | :02:27. | :02:33. | |
Davidson has outlined. Being frank about this, this is the more | :02:34. | :02:36. | |
difficult thing for me to say, this was a decision of an independent | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
judge in a court of law. We have an independent judiciary in this | :02:42. | :02:44. | |
country. As well as being First Minister, I am a human being. There | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
are many occasions where I look at decisions of courts and wish that | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
different decisions has been reached. And it may well be this is | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
one such case. But I respect the independence of the judiciary. I | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
don't think anybody in this campaign, I would include Ruth | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
Davidson in this, would expect me to interfere with those decisions. What | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
I can do today is say absolutely that I understand and sympathise | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
with the pain and grief that this family are experiencing. | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
First Minister for her response. She is absolutely right to point out | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
that we should all uphold the independence of the judiciary. But | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
it is also right to say that it is Parliament which makes the law and | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
it is Government which sets the framework under which our judges | :03:28. | :03:29. | |
operate. And we on these benches say there | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
must be change. Because a system which cuts a child murderer's | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
sentence because he's deemed not as bad as others, is seen by most | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
members of the public as a disgrace. Right now the Scottish Sentencing | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
Council is exam pinning -- examining guidelines. We believe it should be | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
a key element of its work. Does the First Minister? I think the | :03:52. | :03:56. | |
Sentencing Council thould consider any matter it thinks appropriate. I | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
would be absolutely happy for it to consider the issue that Ruth | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
Davidson has just put forward. I accept that while we have an | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
independent judiciary and courts must be allowed to take their | :04:09. | :04:11. | |
decisions, the framework and the context for those decisions is very | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
often set by Parliament. But no matter what context and framework | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
Parliament sets on any of these issues, we will still have instances | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
where decisions by courts are decisions that many people feel are | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
the wrong decisions. That is in the very nature of an independent | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
judiciary. But I am very clear that where there is evidence that the law | :04:33. | :04:36. | |
has to be changed or action has to be taken, then that is something | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
that this Government and this Parliament should reflect on very | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
seriously. And that includes the experience of the particular tragic | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
case we are talking today. That is why we have the sentencing Council | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
and it is right and proper it looks at these matters in-depth. If it | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
brings forward proposals for change to the Government then I can give an | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
assurance today that the Government will consider any such proposals and | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
if we think it appropriate bring forward proposals for reform. I | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
thank the First Minister for her response, but the problem here is | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
not just this case, it is that there are too many families who have seen | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
their loved ones feel who do not feel they are getting the justice | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
they deserve. They feel the dice is loaded against them in favour of the | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
cathedrals. We have long campaigned on these benches for whole life | :05:28. | :05:30. | |
sentences to be introduced in Scotland, so that judges could, if | :05:31. | :05:34. | |
they wish, sentence the very worst criminals to spent the rest of their | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
lives in jail. The Scottish Government has said in the past that | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
it might consider such a move. What is its view now? Well, we will | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
always consider proposals for change that we think are evidence-based, | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
that are, dwen this is not always a popular thing to say, that are | :05:52. | :05:54. | |
consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
an important protection for our justice system generally. We will | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
continue to consider openly and frankly any changes that are | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
considered to be appropriate. I think while I generally agree with | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
the thrust of the question, I don't think it is fair necessarily to go | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
from one case where I think we are all agreed in the character risation | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
of it to say that families are routinely let down by the justice | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
system. We have a well performing justice system. We have one serious | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
violent crime is one too many. I want to stress that. We nevertheless | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
have crime rates which have fallen over the last number of years, | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
thanks in good part to our police across the country. None of that | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
takes away from the pain and anguish by a family who have experienced | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
what the family has experienced. It is important, for Government and for | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
Parliament to consider periodically whether the rules we have in place | :06:55. | :06:57. | |
are right or whether they require to be changed. I can give an assurance | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
on the part of the Government today that we will always seek to do that. | :07:02. | :07:08. | |
I simply inject the caveat, which I don't think anybody is disagreeing | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
with, that no matter what sentencing rules we have in place, no matter | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
what frameworks we have in place, because we have rightly and properly | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
an independent judicial system in this country there'll always be | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
decisions taken by judges that some of us think are the wrong decisions. | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
That is in the nature of the independence of the judiciary. But | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
all of that said, we will continue to be open minded to proposals which | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
come forward for reform and change in area as in any other area of our | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
system. I thank the First Minister. It is one we have heard several | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
times before from this Government. As it stands, our judges do not have | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
the tool of a whole life tariff at their disposal. We say they should. | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
Presiding Officer, we can sit in this Parliament and express outrage | :07:58. | :08:00. | |
every time something like this happens, or we can do something | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
about it. And I want to do something about it. If the Scottish Government | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
won't act, then I can say today that the Scottish Conservatives will do | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
so by pushing ahead with a bill pushing ahead for the introduction | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
of whole life sentencing in Scotland. We need to stand up for | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
families who see sentences cut less than a year after handed down. We | :08:25. | :08:27. | |
should change the law so families feel that the law is tipping back in | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
their favour and that the worst criminals are kept off our streets | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
forever. We have waited too long, Presiding Officer, isn't it time | :08:37. | :08:43. | |
that we all acted? I do think it's important that we | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
consider to look at these issues rationally, I think Ruth Davidson is | :08:49. | :08:51. | |
right to raise these issues. We have introduced over the course of the | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
period that we have been in Government a whole range of reforms | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
to our justice system. I said earlier on that the fall in crime is | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
partly in large part due to the good work of our police officers. We are | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
seeing increases in the rates of convictions and increases in the | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
length of prison sentences for many offences as well. Much of that is | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
down to reforms introduced to our justice system over the period of | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
the last decade. We will continue to look with an open mind at proposals | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
brought forward for further reform. I would say this and I don't want to | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
comment too much more on the individual case, I think we are all | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
agreed on the tragic nature of that case, but if the system that Ruth | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
Davidson is advocating for today had been in place and this is an | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
important point, there is no guarantee that is the sentence a | :09:46. | :09:48. | |
particular judge would have opted for. So, I am simply making the | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
point that even if we had and I'm not saying that it is absolutely the | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
wrong thing to be considering, but the point I am seeking to make is | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
this, we will always have cases, no matter the sentencing options that | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
judges have, where a judge makes a decision that some people do not | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
think is correct. And therefore whoever happens to be occupying the | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
opposition benches would be raising these issues with whoever happens to | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
be the First Minister or the Government at the time. I think | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
these are serious issues. I would not underestimate or underplay the | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
importance of them at all. But let's consider these things in the proper | :10:29. | :10:31. | |
rational way that all Parliaments should. This Parliament has done on | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
many occasions in terms of past reforms to our justice system. I | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
give a commitment to Ruth Davidson and to Parliament today that the | :10:40. | :10:42. | |
Government will continue to reflect and reflect further in light of this | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
exchange at First Minister's questions about what further changes | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
we might think appropriate and then Parliament should act in the way | :10:50. | :10:52. | |
that it thinks best in light of all of the circumstances. | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
I want to ask the First Minister what engagements she has for the | :10:57. | :11:04. | |
rest of the week. To take forward the Government's programme for | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
Scotland. Earlier this week the Greater Glasgow health board voted | :11:09. | :11:11. | |
to close a children's ward at the hospital in Paisley. This was a | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
decision opposed by Labour SMPs, Labour councillors and thousands of | :11:18. | :11:20. | |
families and patients. It was the wrong decision. Last year, during | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
the live election TV debates, the First Minister was asked if this | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
ward would close. She promised the voters, there's no proposals to | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
close that particular ward. But there were proposals to close that | :11:35. | :11:37. | |
ward. So, why did she offer that false hope to thousands of families | :11:38. | :11:45. | |
on live TV? This is an important and serious | :11:46. | :11:53. | |
issue, but I thought Kezia Dugdale should have been able to spot the | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
contradiction. This was voted on by greater fwlas go and Clyde health | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
board this week. -- Glasgow and Clyde health board this week. It did | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
not combis in a form the Scottish Government could consider last year | :12:08. | :12:11. | |
before the Scottish election. That proposal does now... Labour have | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
raised this as an important issue, they may want to listen to the | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
answer that I am about to give. This is an important issue. The health | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
board has voted to put this proposals and let's remember and I | :12:27. | :12:29. | |
am not prejudging the Scottish Government's view of this because we | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
have to go through a formal process of our own. This is a proposal in | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
the context of there being a new children's hospital in the south of | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
Glasgow, just a few miles away from the royal Alexandra Hospital. But | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
the health board has voted. This is something which Labour called for. | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
So I would think they might welcome it whats been designated major | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
service change. What that means it is comes to the Scottish Government, | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
to the Health Secretary for proper consideration and for decision. | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
That's why it would be wrong for me to be wrong going any further in | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
prejudging this today. It will be given full and proper consideration. | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
I would ask Kezia Dugdale to reflect on this pointed, as Health | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
Secretary, unlike my Labour predecessors as Health Secretary, I | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
never shied away from overturning decisions of health boards when I | :13:23. | :13:28. | |
considered that they were not in the interests of patients. Monklands | :13:29. | :13:34. | |
Accident Emergency is one example. Ayr Accident Emergency is another. | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
Some of the proposed closures, for example. We will continue to put the | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
interests of patients first. That is what the people of Scotland and fren | :13:44. | :13:49. | |
fewshire would expect us to do. -- Renfrewshire would expect us to | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
do. Where the First Minister was right | :13:54. | :13:56. | |
in that answer is that the ultimate decision to close this ward at now | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
rests with her Government. And here's her chance to do the right | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
thing. But I'm not holding my breath, given the two local SMP | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
politicians couldn't be bothered to respond to the public consultation. | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
The supposed post rules we have in place poster girl, Marie Black | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
couldn't be bothered and neither could George Adam. The SMP, for | :14:21. | :14:28. | |
Paisley found the time to oppose the closure of a local McDonald's but | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
not a children's ward in his own constituency. Perhaps the First | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
Minister will listen to gor Dan Clark. -- Gordan Clark. He is the | :14:38. | :14:46. | |
man who asked her that question about the REH on live TV and he's | :14:47. | :14:53. | |
here in the public gallery today. The First Minister promised Gordan | :14:54. | :14:56. | |
there were no plans to close that children's ward. What does she say | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
to him now? Will she step in and keep her word and save this ward in | :15:01. | :15:04. | |
this hospital? I would repeat... I would repeat | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
again what I said previously. There were no proposals. There are now | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
proposals because of the decision taken by the Health Secretary, these | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
proposals have been designated major service change, so they come to the | :15:22. | :15:24. | |
Health Secretary for decision. I would have thought that was | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
something that Labour would have welcomed, given it is something they | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
called for. In respect of the local MP and MSP, they have recognised | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
that this is a decision for the Health Secretary. So they have got | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
on with the job of contacting the Health Secretary. They have invited | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
the Health Secretary to go to Renfrewshire, to meet with patients | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
before she takes a decision and the Health Secretary will agree to do | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
that. That is the right and proper way to proceed. The Health Secretary | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
will listen, not just to the views of the health board, the Health | :15:55. | :15:57. | |
Secretary will listen to the views of patients and we will come to a | :15:58. | :16:03. | |
decision that is in the interests of patients and that is in stark | :16:04. | :16:09. | |
contrast to the way in which previous Labour Governments used to | :16:10. | :16:12. | |
operate when it came to health service changes because they used to | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
ignore the voice of patients and simply rubber stamp the health board | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
proposals to close Accident Emergency unknits and other services | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
across the -- units and other services across the country. This | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
Government will act in the best interests of patients whether in | :16:31. | :16:33. | |
Renfrewshire or anywhere else in Scotland. | :16:34. | :16:42. | |
First Minister, parents of sick children do not want to hear a | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
ten-year-old story about keeping A open, they want to know about the | :16:49. | :16:57. | |
future of this ward. And the cuts in Paisley are not the only cuts | :16:58. | :17:00. | |
planned to NHS services in Scotland. The maternity units at the Vale of | :17:01. | :17:06. | |
Lieven and in the Clyde Royal are also under threat and we learned the | :17:07. | :17:15. | |
MSP plan -- the SNP's plans to remove neonatal units across | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
Scotland. Because of their failure to fund the NHS, children's health | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
services are in crisis. Parents want to know, when will the SNP | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
government fix the mess it has made of the NHS? First Minister, when | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
will you get on the job of this? There are certainly some people who | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
do not want to hear about a decision taken almost ten years ago to save | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
Accident and Emergency services at air and Monklands and they are | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
sitting on the Labour benches. Those are the ones that want to close | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
them. And those people who do want to hear about that, they are the | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
hundreds of thousands of patients who have been treated in those units | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
in the 10-year is since. In terms of the other issues that Kezia Dugdale | :18:03. | :18:11. | |
has raised, the maternity, midwife led maternity units at Inverclyde | :18:12. | :18:14. | |
and the Vale of Lieven, I assume she knows the health board is | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
reconsidering its proposals in light of the recommendations of the | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
maternity and neonatal review. That is right and proper. In terms of | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
what Kezia Dugdale has said about neonatal services, what she has said | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
is absolutely and utterly disgraceful! Because what we have is | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
an expert led report setting out what we need to do to enhance a | :18:38. | :18:43. | |
small number of neonatal units, to make them specialist enough to care | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
for the sickest babies in our country and yet Kezia Dugdale is | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
somehow suggesting that as First Minister and as a Health Secretary, | :18:55. | :18:57. | |
we should ignore the opinions of those experts when it comes to the | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
care of the sick list babies in our country. That is utterly disgraceful | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
and Kezia Dugdale and Labour should be deeply ashamed of themselves! And | :19:08. | :19:17. | |
in terms of the children's Ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital... | :19:18. | :19:23. | |
Members, please refrain from interrupting, if members feel | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
strongly, if you wish to be, stand up and make a point but do not speak | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
from a sedentary position. It is very clear in this chamber that | :19:32. | :19:34. | |
Labour is not particularly interested in patients, it is all | :19:35. | :19:37. | |
about political point scoring for Labour in this chamber. Let me get | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
back to the RAH and I will say this to the parrot in the gallery and | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
every other parent in Renfrewshire who is understandably concerned | :19:48. | :19:50. | |
about this issue, this Government will listen carefully not just the | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
views of the health board, but to the views of parents and other | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
patients and we will come to a decision rightly and properly based | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
on what we think is in the best interests of patients. That is the | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
right way for a responsible Governor to proceed and that is perhaps one | :20:06. | :20:08. | |
of the reasons why we are in government and Labour is not even | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
the opposition any longer, but in a dismal third place. Two | :20:13. | :20:22. | |
supplementary is, the first is Jamie Green. | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Mr Brian J from North Ayrshire set up | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
and runs his own wedding car company which he invested ?60,000, which we | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
should applaud this chamber. The company was going well until the | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
Scottish Government introduced the weapons and licensing act which she | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
forcing additional licensing costs on private operators across | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
Scotland, he has now ceased to take bookings and is worried he might | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
have to close shop indefinitely, I have written to the Cabinet | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
secretaries for justice and economy, jobs and fair work, asking for | :20:57. | :21:00. | |
clarification on this matter. Can I ask the First Minister... You can | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
haggle, but Mr Jay is sitting watching is at home and is | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
interested in hearing what the First Minister has to say. What guidance | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
can she offer Mr Jay and many other like him across Scotland and what | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
action the Government is taking to mitigate the negative affect this | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
act is having on their industry and when it will undertake the | :21:21. | :21:23. | |
assessments that they were promised? First Minister. Well, of course, the | :21:24. | :21:30. | |
Ayre weapons and licensing act was introduced with the interest of | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
public safety at heart and I think the Conservatives photographed for | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
the bill before this Parliament. And I think they were right to do so | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
because of the motivation of this piece of legislation. With any | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
legislation, it is absolutely vital we strike the right balance between | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
the legislation doing what it is intended to do, without putting | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
unnecessary burdens on anybody. The member has rightly written to the | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
relevant Cabinet secretaries and I will make sure they were to his | :22:01. | :22:02. | |
correspondence and the Justice Secretary would be happy, I am | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
telling him now, he would be happy to meet with the business concerns | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
to discuss his circumstances and whether or not there is anything | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
that can be done to mitigate the impact on the business. I would hope | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
everybody across this chamber would support the motivations and | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
provisions of this piece of legislation because it is about | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
protecting public safety. Could I just encourage members, I am | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
not expecting reverential silence, but just as there should not be | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
chuntering when the Minister and First Minister is trying to answer | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
questions, they should not be interventions when somebody is | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
trying to ask a question. First Minister, but the Clydesdale | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
bank and the TSB have announced the closure of two branches in my | :22:47. | :22:49. | |
constituency. It will lose two of its three banks as a result and in | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
one place, the last bank, the TSB. And the Clydesdale branch. What | :22:57. | :23:03. | |
representations is the Government is banks to encourage them to maintain | :23:04. | :23:06. | |
a High Street presence and mitigate against any closures? | :23:07. | :23:12. | |
The decision to close these branches while a commercial decision, it is | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
obviously very disappointing for the customers, local communities and the | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
staff affected by these decisions. While we recognise that branch | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
activity and football may be declining due to be increasing | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
number of bank transactions can -- conducted online, the Scottish | :23:31. | :23:33. | |
Government in the concept we have with banks would urge them to | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
consider branch closes as a last result and consult staff and | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
communities before making a final decision. Bank branches and the same | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
can be said of post offices, they are important in terms of the | :23:48. | :23:50. | |
business they do and the football they bring to other businesses. Many | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
customers continue to have a strong preference or a need for | :23:56. | :23:58. | |
face-to-face provision of banking services and I would expect banks to | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
explore -- to explore all practices to boost footfall and boost services | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
in local communities wherever it is viable. | :24:10. | :24:11. | |
Question number three, Willie Rennie. What issues to be discussed | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
at the next meeting of the Cabinet? Matters of importance for Scotland. | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
For years, the SNP government has instructed the Chief Constables of | :24:24. | :24:27. | |
Scotland to employ 1,000 extra officers. Is that policy still in | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
force? We have a thousand extra officers at the moment and in terms | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
of our budget for the year, I expect that to continue. Willie Rennie will | :24:38. | :24:42. | |
be aware from discussions in this chamber and I think from the SNP's | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
manifesto at the last election, it is important going forward that we | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
not only maintain an appropriate level of front line police officers, | :24:51. | :24:53. | |
but we recognise the changing pattern of crime, the increase | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
inside the crime and ensure the police have the right mix of | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
specialist staff, the right crime fighting force on the front line in | :25:02. | :25:08. | |
our communities. Police officers will always be the most important | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
part of that. We have 1,000 more police officers than we inherited, I | :25:13. | :25:16. | |
would always expect to have way more police officers than we inherited. | :25:17. | :25:21. | |
And we will continue to work with Police Scotland to ensure that | :25:22. | :25:24. | |
balance and that mix is the right one. As the member will be aware, | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority will shortly | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
publish a consultation on their strategy for the next period, and | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
that is one I hope Parliament and every member Parliament will | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
positively engage. For years, the First Minister has | :25:44. | :25:47. | |
spoken about little else but the 1,000 extra officers. She has done | :25:48. | :25:56. | |
it again just now. Order! At Mr Rennie answer the | :25:57. | :25:59. | |
question. So I would have thought a change of | :26:00. | :26:05. | |
policy like seems to be happening now would have merited some kind of | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
formal announcement from the Government before now. Civilians are | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
important. Not least for cyber crime and call centres. Yet 2,000 valuable | :26:17. | :26:23. | |
civilian posts have been lost in recent years. This is very sensitive | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
and important, as we will soon find out what with the contributory | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
factors to the events following the crash? So this policy really does | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
matter. Communities deserve a clear explanation of government policy. | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
Next week, the Chief Constable will publish the policing plan for the | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
next ten years. What limits on officers has he been given by the | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
First Minister? Can I thank Willie Rennie for the | :26:56. | :26:58. | |
confirmation that I talk about little else other than matters like | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
justice and health and education, because it gives lie to the | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
accusation that I am always talking about other matters. But this is... | :27:06. | :27:15. | |
In terms of major policy changes, if and when there are major policy | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
changes on this or any other matter, of course the Government will make | :27:20. | :27:22. | |
that clear to Parliament. But I set out early on for Willie Rennie our | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
manifesto for the election, what it said last year, and that was very | :27:28. | :27:32. | |
open about what we consider to be the challenges of policing, given | :27:33. | :27:34. | |
the changing patterns of crime and how we had to work with the police | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
service to make sure they are equipped to deal with that. And | :27:39. | :27:41. | |
maintaining appropriate numbers of police officers, as we have done in | :27:42. | :27:46. | |
each and every one of the ten years we have been in office, continues to | :27:47. | :27:49. | |
be extremely important. What the Chief Constable and the Scottish | :27:50. | :27:56. | |
Police Authority will do next week is set out their draft strategy for | :27:57. | :27:58. | |
consultation and it is important they consult widely on that in terms | :27:59. | :28:00. | |
of the challenges and the opportunities they face in the | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
period ahead. I will not pre-empt what they said. But they will | :28:04. | :28:09. | |
continue to work with and be guided by government in terms of the | :28:10. | :28:12. | |
decisions they take as a result of that. Finally, perhaps unlike Lee's | :28:13. | :28:19. | |
forces in other parts of the UK, we have increased funding for front | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
line services for the coming year. There was an increase in funding in | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
terms of the revenue for Police Scotland, which we have pledged to | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
protect in real terms over this Parliament, but also, additional | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
reform funding and stage one of the draft budget to Derek Mackay | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
announced, with even more funding. We are putting resources into our | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
police services and we are required to work with the Chief Constable and | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
his colleagues and the Scottish Police Authority to make sure those | :28:51. | :28:52. | |
resources support a police force equipped to deal with crime not just | :28:53. | :28:59. | |
now, but in the years to come. One of the supplementary from Rory | :29:00. | :29:01. | |
Grant. This Parliament voted in December | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
the 7th that seafarers and buoyed by Marine Scotland should receive a | :29:07. | :29:11. | |
fair pay settlement rather than the pay cut they now face. Despite this, | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
really -- Marine Scotland has refused to increase pay offer, | :29:16. | :29:21. | |
putting them on and on equal footing. Will the First Minister | :29:22. | :29:26. | |
make sure Marine Scotland respects the decision of this Parliament now? | :29:27. | :29:32. | |
I think the member knows and indeed shares the commitment of this | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
Government to fair pay and I will certainly after this session of | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
questions today look into this matter and respond to her in | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
writing. I believe it is important the public sector leads by example | :29:45. | :29:48. | |
on issues of fair pay, there will always be issues involved in | :29:49. | :29:51. | |
negotiations that it would not be appropriate for gunmen to get | :29:52. | :29:54. | |
involved and while negotiations are under way, but I will undertake to | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
look into this matter and return to this as quickly as possible -- | :30:00. | :30:02. | |
appropriate for government. What is the Scottish Cup mud's response to | :30:03. | :30:07. | |
the report by Macmillan Cancer that highlights the disparity in survival | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
rates between people from more and less deprived areas. The last | :30:13. | :30:18. | |
tenuous have seen an overall reduction in the cancer mortality | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
rate of 11%. 100 million strategy set out a range of actions to | :30:24. | :30:27. | |
improve survival for people affected by cancer, including targeted | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
efforts to increase screening uptake in deprived areas. Our detect cancer | :30:33. | :30:39. | |
early programme is aimed at reducing in qualities and we expect to see | :30:40. | :30:45. | |
continued improvements in survival. The most recent staging daters shows | :30:46. | :30:48. | |
the largest increase in early diagnosis, state-run diagnosis of | :30:49. | :30:54. | |
16.3% in the three tumour groups I have mentioned, has been in the most | :30:55. | :30:58. | |
deprived areas of the country so there is still more work to do, but | :30:59. | :31:02. | |
that data would suggest we are starting to see signs of a narrowing | :31:03. | :31:04. | |
of that inequality gap. I have to confess I am one of them, | :31:05. | :31:19. | |
have been reluctant to engage with the screening and early diagnosis | :31:20. | :31:21. | |
with the health services. Does she feel it is just a question of money | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
here? Or are we needing to change underlying attitudes? Well, firstly, | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
we have to make sure we resource screening programmes and prevention | :31:33. | :31:37. | |
strategies, so they detect cancer early programme which was introduced | :31:38. | :31:41. | |
when I was Health Secretary is backed by ?41 million of resource. | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
But I do think John Mason is right to say it is not just about | :31:46. | :31:51. | |
resources, it is about changing attitudes, changing cultures. | :31:52. | :31:55. | |
Encouraging people not to be frightened to come forward for early | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
examination if they are worried about any symptoms. The earlier | :32:02. | :32:06. | |
cancer is diagnosed, then the better the chance of survival. That is why | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
we put such emphasis on early detection on our screening | :32:12. | :32:14. | |
programmes, on encouraging people to come forward that is the whole ethos | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
and motivation of the detect cancer early initiative. That is | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
particularly important when it comes to men, who suspect that they may | :32:24. | :32:28. | |
have early symptoms of cancer. We know that men generally, I am | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
generalising here, are often less likely to come forward and to see a | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
doctor. So it is really important that we stress the messages of | :32:37. | :32:40. | |
taking advice if you've got any concerns because that will help | :32:41. | :32:44. | |
ensure that we detect cancer early. If we do that then we will safe more | :32:45. | :32:49. | |
lives in the process. And I think we've all got a part to play in | :32:50. | :32:54. | |
getting these messages across. The research found you are up to 98% | :32:55. | :32:59. | |
more likely to die from cancer if you are from the most deprived, | :33:00. | :33:08. | |
compared to the least deprived area. Inequalities have widened in terms | :33:09. | :33:11. | |
of health, attainment and wealth. Will the First Minister agree that | :33:12. | :33:16. | |
the greatest fight against cancer deprivation has been led by Glasgow | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
City Council and McMillan. Would she agree to work closely with the | :33:23. | :33:27. | |
council and McMillan to replicate the programme and roll it out across | :33:28. | :33:34. | |
Scotland? We work closely with organisations like McMillan and | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
partner with them in areas. We work with Glasgow City Council and others | :33:40. | :33:43. | |
to support our work in these areas. It is right that we continue to do | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
so. I don't think any of us should underestimate the challenges here. | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
Nor should any of us, whatever party, somehow pretend these are | :33:53. | :33:56. | |
issues which have just arisen under one more party. The issues of | :33:57. | :34:02. | |
inequalities and including health inequalities are long standing and | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
deep rooted in Scotland. We have seen some statistics around heart | :34:07. | :34:14. | |
disease and stroke, for example. In our most deprived areas mortality | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
rates for heart disease have decreased by 31% and by stroke for | :34:20. | :34:27. | |
24% over the last period. We are making progress in some of these | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
areas. We need to do more. Going back to cancer we know that | :34:33. | :34:35. | |
prevention first and foremost is important. That is why this | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
Government has picked up on the work of the last Labour Government around | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
reducing smoking rates, trying to deal with the problems of alcohol | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
misuse. We know these are drivers of some kind of cancer, but also early | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
detection. Our screening programmes are important. Encouraging people to | :34:53. | :34:59. | |
come forward and the cancer t tumour types that programme focuses on are | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
responsible for half of all cancers in Scotland. I hope people around | :35:05. | :35:07. | |
the chamber would agree there is a great deal of work being done here. | :35:08. | :35:13. | |
Much is about proper resources, much is about changing long-held | :35:14. | :35:16. | |
attitudes and patterns of behaviour. That is something where all of us | :35:17. | :35:19. | |
should come together and make sure we do play our part in achieving. | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
Question number five. To ask the First Minister in light | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
of the verdict whether the Scottish Government considers that it was | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
worthwhile for it to spend ?136,000 on legal fees in the recent Brexit | :35:37. | :35:44. | |
case at the Supreme Court? Well, I not only think it was worthwhile for | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
the Scottish Government to be represented in that case, I think it | :35:49. | :35:51. | |
was essential for the Scottish Government to be represented in that | :35:52. | :35:54. | |
case. And interestingly, just as an aside, | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
he might want to say to his Tory colleagues in Westminster that it is | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
about time they told us how much time they spent defending a case | :36:04. | :36:07. | |
that they always knew they would lose. The Supreme Court case was | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
necessary to force the UK Government to enact the legislation currently | :36:13. | :36:15. | |
going through the Westminster Parliament before the triggering of | :36:16. | :36:19. | |
Article 50. It raises funt mental issues about the rights of people in | :36:20. | :36:22. | |
Scot #4r57bd and the role of this Parliament. So -- Scotland and the | :36:23. | :36:26. | |
role of this Parliament. So, yes it is right like the Government in | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
Wales defended our interests in what was the most constitutional law case | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
for many, many years. This is like a game of jeopardy. The | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
answer is Brexit. Westminster and the Tories. | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
What is the question? It's any question that you ask us First | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
Minister. My point was about the use of taxpayers' cash, because this SNP | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
Government will literally say and do anything that they think furthers | :36:56. | :36:58. | |
their goal of tearing our union apart. | :36:59. | :37:06. | |
And they don't care how much Scottish taxpayers' money they | :37:07. | :37:09. | |
squander in the process. This ?136,000 is one example of the tens | :37:10. | :37:16. | |
of millions of pounds that this SNP Government spends on policy | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
decisions that they believe will promote separation, such as the | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
unpopular plans to dismantal the British Transport Police. No-one | :37:26. | :37:29. | |
should be under any illusions, this SNP Government puts its own | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
interests first, not Scotland. With this SNP Government taking ever more | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
money out of the pockets of hard-working Scots, will the First | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
Minister cut out the needless spend on furthering their unwanted | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
campaign for independence and instead focus on growing our | :37:49. | :37:56. | |
economy? You always know when it happens regularly when David | :37:57. | :37:59. | |
Davidson is completely embarrassed by one of her backbenchers because | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
she starts to is a separate conversation on the front bench as | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
though she's somewhere else and what is happening behind her is nothing | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
actually dodo with you. Ruth I sympathy because -- sympathise | :38:14. | :38:16. | |
because I would have been embarrassed had he been one of my | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
backbenchers. Don't you worry, I am going to answer his question. | :38:21. | :38:26. | |
Firstly, in the spirit of finding some consensus, because as members | :38:27. | :38:29. | |
know that is always what I like to do. I agree with Morris, Brexit is | :38:30. | :38:39. | |
like a game of jeopardy. Unfortunately the Tories are playing | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
it at the expense of the rest of us and it is completely unacceptable. | :38:43. | :38:46. | |
Secondly, and this may be a point, it seems to be a point that has | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
completely escaped him, but there would have been no case at the | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
Supreme Court for the Scottish Government to have to intervene in | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
if the Tories hadn't invested on -- on appealing this case every step of | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
the way to the Supreme Court. Even though everybody knew they were | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
going to lose. I think it might be more appropriate for him to ask his | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
colleagues, Tory colleagues at Westminster, how much they spent on | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
this case. Because so far they are refusing to say what the legal costs | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
of this case have been for the Westminster Government. My final | :39:27. | :39:29. | |
point is this, you know, another reason, it a east not the main | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
reason, but it is another reason why I think it was worthwhile to take | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
that case, because it ex-exposed something, did it not? It exposed | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
the fact that when the Tories told us that they were going to embed the | :39:44. | :39:50. | |
convention in statute and this was going to make so much of a difrnsz, | :39:51. | :39:55. | |
they were misleading people -- difference, they were misleading | :39:56. | :39:58. | |
people, because that promise was exposed in this case as being | :39:59. | :40:03. | |
utterly meaningless. Maybe just another benefit of this case is that | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
we exposed the fact that the promises the Tories make to Scotland | :40:08. | :40:09. | |
can never, ever be trusted. Order! Order! That's quite enough! | :40:10. | :40:36. | |
Question number six, Mark Griffin. Thank you, Presiding Officer, we got | :40:37. | :40:42. | |
here eventually to ask the First Minister why the wealth gap between | :40:43. | :40:46. | |
rich and poor in Scotland is widening? The Scottish Government is | :40:47. | :40:49. | |
committed to creating a fairer and more equal Scotland. We are taking a | :40:50. | :40:56. | |
range of actions to tackle inequalitied, including a child | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
poverty bill and encourage employers to pay the real living wage. While | :41:01. | :41:06. | |
all categories of household wealth have increased, the main reason the | :41:07. | :41:10. | |
gap in rich and poor has increased is the private pension wealth. It is | :41:11. | :41:15. | |
not distributed equally. As it increased by 39% between 2012-2014, | :41:16. | :41:22. | |
the wealth gap has also increased. However, we remain committed to | :41:23. | :41:26. | |
doing everything we can within our powers and our resources to tackle | :41:27. | :41:31. | |
poverty and to close the inequality gap. | :41:32. | :41:37. | |
First Minister, Wealth is more concentrated under this Government | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
and the wealthiest 1% alone own more than the wealth of the bottom 50%. | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
But this week the Government choose not to use their power to tax that | :41:48. | :41:56. | |
wealthiest 1% at 50 p, top rate. The Government's newest adviser, a | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
20% top-up on Universal Credit. When will the Government make the choice | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
to use the powers over tax and social security to reverse these | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
appealing trends? Firstly, on social security, the | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
minister for social security made a statement in this very chamber just | :42:16. | :42:18. | |
yesterday, updating Parliament on the work we are doing to create a | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
new social security agency, to update on a response to the | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
consultation around social security. We have set out a range of ways in | :42:28. | :42:31. | |
which we are going to use these new powers to try to tackle poverty and | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
disadvantage amongst those who depend on the social security | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
system. One thing we will do is abolish the bedroom tax. We mitigate | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
the bedroom tax but we about to abolish it at source. Right now we | :42:47. | :42:54. | |
have a situation where the UK Government introduce their benefit | :42:55. | :42:57. | |
cap. What we would give with one hand, they will talk away with | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
other. I hope everyone gets behind us when we say that is completely | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
unacceptable. In terms of tax, we will debate this | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
afternoon the final stage of the Budget, a Budget that strikes the | :43:13. | :43:18. | |
right balance between raising extra rev threw tax, not giving higher | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
rate payers a tax cut. Investing ?900 million more in our front line | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
public services and those who might vote against that Budget this | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
afternoon will be voting against that ?900 million additional | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
spending on our public services. My final point is this, Mark Griffin | :43:37. | :43:41. | |
talks about raising taxes on the wealthiest. I would encourage | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
everybody interested in this to read Labour's amendment to the Budget | :43:46. | :43:48. | |
this afternoon. That is not what it talks about. It talks about raising | :43:49. | :43:56. | |
tax by 1% for everybody earning over ?11,500 a year. That's Labour's tax | :43:57. | :44:04. | |
policy. Not tagling austerity, but transferring austerity to the | :44:05. | :44:08. | |
shoulders of the lowest paid. The difference between Mark Gri if, fin | :44:09. | :44:16. | |
and I is I don't think somebody earning ?11,500 qualities as | :44:17. | :44:17. | |
wealthy. Thank you, to ask the First Minister | :44:18. | :44:26. | |
who discussions have been held over the future of broadcasting in | :44:27. | :44:31. | |
Scotland? The Scottish Government has had several discussions | :44:32. | :44:34. | |
regarding the future of broadcasting in Scotland through the active | :44:35. | :44:38. | |
involvement in the recent renewal of the BBC charter. The Culture | :44:39. | :44:42. | |
Secretary met with the Director-General this morning to | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
discuss yesterday's announcements for the plans for Scotland, | :44:47. | :44:49. | |
including the welcome announcement of a new channel for Scotland from | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
autumn next year. Pro-irto this she met with him on 29th February, 18th | :44:54. | :45:00. | |
August and 17th October, 2016, to reiterate the Scottish Government's | :45:01. | :45:03. | |
position on how there could be better outcomes for audiences and | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
for Scotland's creative sector. Thank you, First Minister for that | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
answer. I welcome the announcement yesterday as a step in the right | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
direction and heard a bit more detail from the BBC at committee | :45:16. | :45:18. | |
this morning. Does the First Minister agree while it is a good | :45:19. | :45:21. | |
start it must be properly resourced and that the BBC should be working | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
towards a fairer share of the license fee raised in Scotland being | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
invested here as these plans would leave us lagging behind Wales and | :45:31. | :45:32. | |
Northern Ireland in that respect? I hope this is something we can | :45:33. | :45:46. | |
unite behind. I unequivocally welcomed the announcement yesterday | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
of a BBC Scotland channel. The SNP first called for a separate channel | :45:51. | :45:56. | |
in April 2006 when we made a contribution to the last charter | :45:57. | :45:59. | |
renewal process. So this is something we welcome. I think | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
everybody would agree it is vital it is properly resourced. I welcome the | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
commitments made yesterday to resource in, I particularly welcome | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
the commitments made yesterday to an additional 80 journalist jobs in | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
Scotland. A difficult time for journalists and for the media | :46:17. | :46:19. | |
generally. That is announcement we should all welcome. But we have got | :46:20. | :46:23. | |
to be very firm and said the BBC that this channel has to be properly | :46:24. | :46:29. | |
resourced, on an ongoing basis. When the Scottish broadcasting Commission | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
reported in 2009, it estimated a similar channel would cost around | :46:34. | :46:39. | |
?75 million a year which is double the ?30 million announced yesterday. | :46:40. | :46:42. | |
And of course yesterday's announcement increased the | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
percentage of the licence fee raised in Scotland that is spent in | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
Scotland and again, I absolutely welcome that. But that still does | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
leave that percentage lower than the corresponding percentages in Wales | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
and Northern Ireland. I absolutely think the announcement yesterday by | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
the BBC were a welcome progress and I thank Lord Hall from making those | :47:03. | :47:05. | |
announcement yesterday, but I think we all now have an interest in | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
making sure the announcement is turned into a successful reality and | :47:11. | :47:13. | |
for the Channel to be successful, with high-quality content, as we | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
have the talent here to produce, it does necessitate good, solid funding | :47:18. | :47:23. | |
for the long-term. So we should unite in making sure the BBC deliver | :47:24. | :47:26. | |
on that commitment. Can I join the First Minister in | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
that? We heard from Lord Hall this morning 60% of the programming on | :47:33. | :47:36. | |
the new channel will be new commissioning and together with the | :47:37. | :47:39. | |
initiative of BBC studios, the question for the Scottish Government | :47:40. | :47:42. | |
is whether we are structured in Scotland to ensure we can take | :47:43. | :47:44. | |
advantage of that opportunity. There is a wide drone that widespread | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
belief that devolved administration in Northern Ireland is working in | :47:50. | :47:52. | |
partnership with the development agency to take the advantage created | :47:53. | :47:59. | |
by the sector, whereas Scottish Enterprise and creative Scotland | :48:00. | :48:03. | |
here is not facilitating that. At the same time, there are real | :48:04. | :48:07. | |
concerns over studio capacity in Scotland, with major studios being | :48:08. | :48:10. | |
built and commissioned elsewhere in the UK. Will the First Minister | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
ensure ministers as well take advantage of the opportunity this | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
now creates to ensure that our creative sector in Scotland is able | :48:19. | :48:21. | |
to take advantage of the opportunity that has now been presented? | :48:22. | :48:27. | |
Well, I agree with much of that question. I genuinely glad to hear | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
the Tories welcome what was announced just a day because when I | :48:34. | :48:35. | |
called for a separate Scottish channel back in 2015, at the admit | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
television Festival, Liz Smith said I was just showing how out of touch | :48:41. | :48:45. | |
I was and she did not want to see millions of pounds of licence fee | :48:46. | :48:49. | |
funds diverted to pay for it, so I am really glad to hear the | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
conversion of the Scottish Tories. On to the wider issue rightly | :48:54. | :48:57. | |
raised, the Minister will be aware of the changes we are making and the | :48:58. | :49:01. | |
funding available in Scotland has bought the screening of the film | :49:02. | :49:04. | |
sector and it is absolutely vital that we make sure the sector is | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
equipped and the relationships of Creative Scotland and with the wider | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
sector and Scottish Enterprise, they are the right ones to continue | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
growth. We are seeing success in the film sector right now, I understand, | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
I have got many constituency interests who talk to me about this | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
regulator. The view within the film sector is that we need additional | :49:28. | :49:30. | |
studio space. I do not want to say much more about that now because | :49:31. | :49:35. | |
some of the proposals are subject to planning decisions. I certainly | :49:36. | :49:38. | |
would agree I would want to see the provision of studio space in the | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
future. We have state aid issues in terms of our ability to directly | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
fund that. But we have a success story for the Scottish economy, we | :49:48. | :49:51. | |
now have the opportunity to turn this into an even bigger success | :49:52. | :49:54. | |
story and that is why we should be and using a stick and welcome it | :49:55. | :49:57. | |
with both hands. Thank you very much, that concludes | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
First Minister's Questions. There we have it, First Minister's | :50:03. | :50:04. | |
Questions. Running over a bit, but they were discussing broadcasting so | :50:05. | :50:10. | |
I forgive them! Joined by two colleagues now, ill ever met an and | :50:11. | :50:17. | |
Kieran Andrews, we will raise up broadcasting issue in a moment -- | :50:18. | :50:24. | |
Lynsey Bews. A tragic case raised by Ruth Davidson, can you reminders of | :50:25. | :50:28. | |
the basics of that case? Yes, this is the shocking murder of the | :50:29. | :50:32. | |
teenager Ruth Davidson, who was killed by John Leathem, who was | :50:33. | :50:36. | |
originally sentenced and served a minimum term in prison of 27 years | :50:37. | :50:41. | |
and had that reduced on appeal to a minimum of 23 years, that does not | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
mean he will be out in 23 years but that is the minimum tariff. It | :50:46. | :50:48. | |
sounded as if the First Minister was not delighted with that judicial | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
decision. Unusual comment from Nicola Sturgeon saying there will be | :50:54. | :50:57. | |
times when people including herself as a human being as well as a | :50:58. | :51:00. | |
politician might not agree with what judges hands down in appeals or in | :51:01. | :51:04. | |
original sentences, and she said for her, this was probably one of those | :51:05. | :51:07. | |
times. It is always difficult, you have | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
this independence of the Judiciary Committee First Minister stressing | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
that again and again, and stressing the frustration there can be. | :51:16. | :51:19. | |
Indeed, politicians will always express that frustration. A key | :51:20. | :51:23. | |
point in this is the fact that what Ruth Davidson was talking about, it | :51:24. | :51:27. | |
would not have made a difference necessarily. This was about one | :51:28. | :51:35. | |
individual judge's decision, changing the law. Yes, it might | :51:36. | :51:39. | |
strengthen things, it might discourage the attitudes that result | :51:40. | :51:45. | |
in more lenient sentencing, but it would not change necessarily the | :51:46. | :51:51. | |
decision made in this case. Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
treading a cautious line between those two positions, willing to look | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
at whole life sentences and stressing that had to be scepticism | :51:58. | :52:01. | |
about whether they would be applied by judges. Yes, and that would seem | :52:02. | :52:05. | |
to be a reasonable position to take. I think the frustration for read | :52:06. | :52:08. | |
Davidson is this has been raised by the Conservatives many times and | :52:09. | :52:12. | |
that is what has brought about this idea about a member's bill to try | :52:13. | :52:15. | |
and force the issue and bring the issue into the Parliament more | :52:16. | :52:20. | |
often. On the question of judging, we had the issue of the health | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
service raised, the Royal Hospital, raised by the Labour leader, and the | :52:26. | :52:28. | |
First Minister stressing it would be the Health Secretary who judged that | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
because big decisions about hospitals came to central | :52:33. | :52:41. | |
government. Yes, this case in particular... It was really Kezia | :52:42. | :52:48. | |
Dugdale's comfort zone. Nicola Sturgeon is correct to say that it | :52:49. | :52:55. | |
will be their decision. There is an out for her. It is under | :52:56. | :53:01. | |
consideration, so the Scottish Government cannot comment on it | :53:02. | :53:05. | |
fully. But there are serious questions and Kezia Dugdale raise | :53:06. | :53:08. | |
them about how much the First Minister knew before the election | :53:09. | :53:12. | |
and how we will make the decision as we approach another election. As an | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
opposition, as Kezia Dugdale tries to establish Labour as the official | :53:18. | :53:21. | |
opposition, to keep chipping away at questions. Macro and on the subject | :53:22. | :53:28. | |
of treating sick children, stressing that they had to take expert advice. | :53:29. | :53:33. | |
Even when perhaps popular sentiment was against that. | :53:34. | :53:36. | |
Kezia Dugdale also brought up the issue of the intensive care unit for | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
babies being closed. As part of that maternity review. On that, Nicola | :53:42. | :53:44. | |
Sturgeon has got the experts on her side. She got quite angry about | :53:45. | :53:49. | |
that. The Royal College of Midwives said the content of the review could | :53:50. | :53:55. | |
revolutionise care, so she has the backing of midwives. Hang on, as I | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
mentioned the subject of the BBC's plans announced yesterday was raised | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
in committee this morning. Lord Hall, Tony Hall, the Director of the | :54:05. | :54:08. | |
BBC, giving evidence, this is a taste of the exchanges with the | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
committee -- committee convener, John McAlpine. | :54:14. | :54:17. | |
You will be aware one of the criticisms, perhaps criticisms, but | :54:18. | :54:22. | |
queries, is that the Scottish digital channel proposed ten years | :54:23. | :54:26. | |
ago was costed at 75 million and this new channel will have 30 | :54:27. | :54:33. | |
million of money, which is all new. I wondered whether you could tell | :54:34. | :54:38. | |
us, is that a starting point, do you expect that to increase and to think | :54:39. | :54:41. | |
you will be able to deliver the services for that amount? Yes, I | :54:42. | :54:47. | |
cannot compare with the proposal that was put forward a decade ago | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
because I do not quite know how that was, the numbers were put together. | :54:52. | :54:56. | |
But I can confirm that no hidden overheads in this. The 30 million we | :54:57. | :55:02. | |
are talking about is money to spend on the Channel. If you look at the | :55:03. | :55:07. | |
BBC -- if you look at BBC Four, there are other things we will lay | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
into it, this is absolutely money we can spend on content. We have looked | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
at an outline, we have done an outline for what the Channel will | :55:18. | :55:22. | |
look like. 60% of the output will be new commissions, which I think is | :55:23. | :55:26. | |
really a very good start. To go back to the funding, 30 million commit | :55:27. | :55:31. | |
spend 60 million for example commissioning Match of the Day | :55:32. | :55:38. | |
writes, so 30 million, it does not go that far. In terms of you | :55:39. | :55:43. | |
referring to the committee's interests in the proportion of the | :55:44. | :55:46. | |
licence fee that is spent in Scotland, in your good year, it is | :55:47. | :55:52. | |
currently not a great year at 55%, but in your good year, I think it | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
was 2014, you are spending about 63%. I understand with this new | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
money, it is up to 67%. That is still a long way behind both | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
Northern Ireland at 75 and Wales at 95. Are we are going to get to a | :56:07. | :56:12. | |
position where Scotland has parity with those other nations in the UK? | :56:13. | :56:19. | |
You are right to say we have taken not a good year, if you take the | :56:20. | :56:22. | |
previous year, that was boosted by money we put in both for the Olympic | :56:23. | :56:29. | |
Games and the referendum. Again, it is an artificial year. I want to | :56:30. | :56:35. | |
take a base we can take the 20 million from and you can see that | :56:36. | :56:39. | |
and we hold ourselves to account for that. Which gets to 68% from a | :56:40. | :56:46. | |
figure of 55%, which I know you have focused on a lot. We have started. | :56:47. | :56:55. | |
If you add to the 68% another sum which is for distribution, in other | :56:56. | :56:58. | |
words, I think we should be including in these figures the | :56:59. | :57:05. | |
amount we pay, over 30 million, to distribute programmes around | :57:06. | :57:08. | |
Scotland. So you get to another 11% on that which gets to a figure of | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
79%. But you are right, compare to 68% on content against Northern | :57:13. | :57:17. | |
Ireland which is 74%, I think we are moving and shifting and I think the | :57:18. | :57:23. | |
challenge now the BBC Scotland and the BBC is to see whether in terms | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
of the net spending, we can do more than we are committing to do, and | :57:29. | :57:32. | |
that depends on good ideas and winning commissions. We are open to | :57:33. | :57:36. | |
making sure, that is why we have the Commission which is based here, to | :57:37. | :57:40. | |
make sure we get good stuff on the network, as we can. | :57:41. | :57:45. | |
Lord Hall giving evidence this morning to a Holyrood committee. | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
Still joined by my colleagues. Nicola Sturgeon in questions was | :57:50. | :57:52. | |
saying it has to be backed up by resources. That is a theme made by | :57:53. | :57:59. | |
many MSPs. Yes, perhaps the announcement of this new channel and | :58:00. | :58:03. | |
new programme was a bit of a surprise for some people. I did not | :58:04. | :58:07. | |
get the Scottish six they were looking for, the SNP, but they got | :58:08. | :58:12. | |
this new channel, and they are looking at whether there is enough | :58:13. | :58:16. | |
to fund it. Any investment in journalism is to be welcomed and I | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
am sure the First Minister and the Scottish Cup mat will welcome the | :58:20. | :58:23. | |
extra scrutiny from having more journalists in Scotland. That is a | :58:24. | :58:27. | |
good point, as well. The announcement has generally been | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
welcomed? Yes, broadly, it is good news for broadcasting. This is one | :58:32. | :58:33. | |
of the biggest investments in Scotland for 20 years, which is | :58:34. | :58:38. | |
great news. Lynsey and Kieran, thank you very | :58:39. | :58:42. | |
much indeed. We are closing our coverage of First Minister's | :58:43. | :58:45. | |
Questions and my attention shifting to Perth, I have just seen the | :58:46. | :58:48. | |
Labour leader walking by, with the Labour conference beginning | :58:49. | :58:52. | |
tomorrow, I am going to Perth later to cover that for you. From me, | :58:53. | :58:54. | |
Brian Taylor, have a good afternoon. see how the life of the Scottish | :58:55. | :58:58. | |
child has changed Children don't get to play outside | :58:59. | :59:02. | |
in the way that they used to. I can remember being afraid to | :59:03. | :59:08. | |
go to school. How we were raised shaped not just | :59:09. | :59:11. | |
us but also our nation. Educating the mass of a population - | :59:12. | :59:15. | |
that is a wonderful ideal. I've searched the world to find | :59:16. | :59:27. | |
these extraordinary people. | :59:28. | :59:33. |