Browse content similar to 05/05/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon. Two as the First Minister what engagements she has | :00:33. | :00:41. | |
planned for the rest of the day? Engagements for the government of | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
Scotland. At the weekend, her predecessor was asked on television | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
while one in five children with primary school illiterate. And the | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
reply was it was just one statistic. It is not. It is those and is of | :00:56. | :01:03. | |
lives. An 10 euros on from this SNP government taking charge, Keynes was | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
being asked to run the schools tomorrow, it is perhaps worth asking | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
the First Minister about some more statistics. Why is it that between | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
2011 and 2015, the proportion of children performing in numerous fell | :01:17. | :01:24. | |
in P4 and P7? I have made absolutely no bones about my determination to | :01:25. | :01:34. | |
raise levels for numerous, literacy, across-the-board. That is why we | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
have established the National improvement framework, the | :01:39. | :01:40. | |
attainment challenge and the attainment fund. As we have talked | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
about, it is now channelling additional resources directly to | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
headteachers in order so that they can decide the ways in which to base | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
reads attainment. It is also why, and we will get the latest figures, | :01:58. | :02:04. | |
in the same vein as those cited shortly, sample surveys, I am not | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
dismissing them but it is one of the reasons why we have taken the | :02:11. | :02:13. | |
decision to start publishing comprehensive school by school, | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
local data. Authority so that we know how the schools are performing, | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
but crucially we know what is wanting, so that we can drive | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
attainment. We remain focused on something vitally important for | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
young people and parents across the country. The First Minister talks | :02:32. | :02:39. | |
about the intention to improve, but absolutely no knowledge meant that | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
the failures are on her watch. We can take another statistic. In | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
science, the Sutton Trust reported on the decline of performance, under | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
the SNP. Over the last decade, since the SNP came to power, it said this | :02:58. | :03:04. | |
decline is equivalent to around an entire year of schooling. The First | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
Minister is going to stand and cancer, telling me that everything | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
will be sorted, but can she tell me, why has this drop in standards | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
happened on her watch? I do not dismiss any of the statistics, but I | :03:18. | :03:24. | |
think Ruth Davidson does a disservice to pupils and teachers. | :03:25. | :03:36. | |
As we have set out before, we now see record numbers of higher and | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
advanced higher passes. And also recognised gross, positive | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
destinations. More young people going into employment, product | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
education, training, has ever been the case. We are far fewer pupils | :03:50. | :03:58. | |
seeing from deprived communities leaving school without any | :03:59. | :04:01. | |
qualifications. And we are starting to see a narrowing of the gap | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
between the least and most deprived areas in terms of access to | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
university. It is not a case of standing here, telling you my | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
intentions, will be absolutely solid, continuing to make | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
improvements. But I can point to the improvements we have already made. | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
We will invest the money, conducting reforms, supporting teachers and | :04:27. | :04:29. | |
headteachers to make sure that we can continue to improve attainment | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
for young people across the country. I stand next to know one, but what | :04:36. | :04:48. | |
they do, it is work under guidance, described as quote, self evident | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
lunacy. That is what is coming out of the government. This is what | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
parents think. This SNP government has presided over following | :05:00. | :05:02. | |
standards, we do not have enough teachers in the classroom to change | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
that situation. Another statistic. 4000 fewer teachers, in Scotland, | :05:09. | :05:16. | |
and 2007. We know that 16% of training places for English | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
teachers, unfilled, a quarter for maths, unfilled. Possible solutions | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
to this, we have councils in some rural communities, the north-east | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
and payment is wanting more flexibility to tackle disgraces | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
themselves. Sitting the circumstances. But they are having | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
to stand around, because John Swinney's answer to governance has | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
been delayed. It is a problem of SNP's meeting. Councils want to fix | :05:46. | :05:51. | |
this, but the Education Secretary has said let me chew on this. Why is | :05:52. | :06:02. | |
this? In terms of the government 's review, the recommendations that we | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
are taking will be published shortly, once we have properly | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
analysed as it is correct to do, all the submissions made. And one thing | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
that is absolutely certain if past experience is anything to go by, as | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
soon as we set out the direction of travel, the other parties in this | :06:22. | :06:24. | |
chamber who have been calling on us to do this, will suddenly decide | :06:25. | :06:32. | |
that they oppose everything that we are going to do. I would absolutely | :06:33. | :06:40. | |
put some bets on that. But this is part of our wider package of reform. | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
The attainment challenge, attainment fund, introduction of standardised | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
assistance. Labour used to support that, but when we decided to do | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
that, they decided to oppose. The publication of local authority | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
figures, so that we can track got back exactly. The Liberal Democrats | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
oppose those reforms. What we have time and again, seen, opposition | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
parties calling for things to be done, and when they are done, they | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
decided to oppose that. We will take the action, backed by investment, | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
delivering improvements in schools, and will continue to deliver | :07:26. | :07:33. | |
improvements. I am sorry but jam tomorrow does not cut it. With this | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
SNP government, it is not one statistic, it is the ten year of | :07:40. | :07:47. | |
failure. Record it is leaving the situation, according to the | :07:48. | :07:50. | |
architect of Curriculum for Excellence, the schools can no | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
longer be classed as world leading. Tomorrow, the only whose job it is | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
to support schools, and the SNP has said it is the top priority but does | :08:02. | :08:07. | |
the ten years of failure not tell a different story? Weevil go to the | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
local elections tomorrow, pointing to the improvements made, and the | :08:12. | :08:21. | |
?120 million of additional resource, and I am standing here wondering why | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
it is the case that education was of any priority to the Conservatives, | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
they are putting out around the country leaflets... I got this one. | :08:32. | :08:40. | |
It mentions me, the SNP, independence, a grand total of 43 | :08:41. | :08:48. | |
times. It mentions... Nine times. Ruth Davidson, the Conservatives, | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
nine times. One of those, her signature. It mentions the policy on | :08:55. | :09:03. | |
education, not once. In this election, the Conservatives have not | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
put forward a single policy on schools, social care, roads, | :09:10. | :09:17. | |
transport, anything. They have a constitutional session. I am going | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
to get on with raising standards in schools. | :09:22. | :09:37. | |
What engagements does the First Minister have planned for the rest | :09:38. | :09:44. | |
of the week? Even more engagements, the government's programme for | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
Scotland. In 2015, the First Minister said she supported the 50p | :09:50. | :09:57. | |
top rate of tax for those earning more than 150,000, but in 2016 she | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
changed her mind. In 2017, without any sense of irony, she claims to | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
support this again. Does she expect people to believe this thing? Kezia | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
Dugdale should listen more carefully. In 2015, I said I | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
supported that across the United Kingdom. In 2016, I said if we only | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
did that in Scotland, to tackle tax avoidance, the advice that we had | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
taken was that that could potentially lose revenue. I do not | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
think anybody in this chamber would seriously stand up and argue that we | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
should put up a tax if the advice says it would lead to a reduction in | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
revenue. We're going into the United Kingdom wide election, and we will | :10:45. | :10:51. | |
publish the manifesto. But of course, this is Kezia Dugdale. The | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
leader of the Labour Party, just a few weeks ago, publish the local | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
government manifesto saying that the council tax freeze had crippled | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
local government. Yet, reading eight Labour authorities, promising to | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
freeze the council tax. Perhaps Kezia Dugdale would comment on that | :11:12. | :11:21. | |
before asking me about taxation. The First Minister spent ten years, two | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
elections, promising to scrap the council tax. And I have just heard | :11:25. | :11:34. | |
the First Minister, saying we should not bother to tax the rich, because | :11:35. | :11:37. | |
they will find some way around that. The truth, the Scottish National | :11:38. | :11:48. | |
Party have voted against the 50p top rate of tax no less than eight | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
times. So much for stronger for Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon has spent | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
her entire career campaigning for more accurate to stop cuts to public | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
services, but now that she has got the power, she refuses to do that. | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
The ridiculous situation, the nationalist First Minister says that | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
she wants to tax rich, but only if England does that first. Nicola | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
Sturgeon has plenty of principles when campaigning, but nothing but | :12:17. | :12:17. | |
excuses when in power. What I actually said, the problem | :12:18. | :12:29. | |
was that we do not have the powers in this Parliament to stop the | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
wealthiest potentially avoiding a higher rate of tax. I want these | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
powers. Kezia Dugdale argues to keep these powers in the hands of a Tory | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
government at Westminster. That is the difference between me and Kezia | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
Dugdale. And, you know, is your Dugdale cannot really expect to be | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
taken seriously on the issue of tax, because she has come here week after | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
week saying that I should raise taxes, not just on the rich but on | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
ordinary working people as well. She has come here week after week saying | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
the council tax freeze is wrong, and yet going into an election tomorrow | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
with eight local authorities across this country promising to continue | :13:08. | :13:10. | |
to freeze the council tax, and each and every one of those councils is a | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
Labour led council. How can Kezia Dugdale have a single shred of | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
credibility on tax? I think voters tomorrow will make their own | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
judgment on Labour right across this country. The council tax is unfair | :13:25. | :13:32. | |
and regressive. How do we know that? Because the SNP have been telling us | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
that for ten years! And there we have it, just another excuse as to | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
why she won't ask the richest people in society to pay a bit more tax. | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
What a shame, it is the same thing the Tories have been saying for | :13:46. | :13:49. | |
years. She claims to back a 50 be tax rate but she will not increment | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
one here in Scotland, when she has the power to do so. She plans to be | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
protecting the NHS while local services across the country face | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
cuts and closure on her watch. And she claims that education is her | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
number one priority and then spends every waking minute plotting how to | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
force another independence referendum. Does Nicola Sturgeon | :14:09. | :14:18. | |
feel any guilt, any guilt at all, touring the country, warning against | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
austerity, when it is her government that has cut ?1.5 billion from | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
council services? Look, I will continue to do what I have done for | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
the past few years, which is to argue against austerity at source. | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
That's what I will be campaigning for in this election. The difference | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
between me and Kezia Dugdale is, she doesn't want to scrap austerity, she | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
wants to transfer the burden of austerity onto the shoulders of | :14:45. | :14:46. | |
low-paid people right across this country. And why is that? Because | :14:47. | :14:55. | |
she prefers to allow a Tory government at Westminster to take | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
the big decisions about our economy, rather than have them made here. Is | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
your Dugdale is wrong in what she says about the NHS and about council | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
services. The NHS budget is more than ?3 billion higher today than it | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
was when this government took office. The number of NHS staff is | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
10% higher almost than it was when we took office. We have got the best | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
of forming A departments anywhere in the UK. We've got ?120 million | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
going into the hands of head teachers. I will come back to the | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
central question. Kezia Dugdale, albeit wrongly, is accusing this | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
government of short-changing local authorities. The question remains - | :15:37. | :15:41. | |
why is it only Labour councils going into this election, missing to | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
freeze the council tax? Why are they not doing what SNP councils are | :15:47. | :15:49. | |
doing, choosing raise revenue for schools and social care? Kezia | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
Dugdale has no credibility on this issue, and I think from looking at | :15:55. | :16:03. | |
her, she knows it. There is one constituency supplement reborn | :16:04. | :16:09. | |
that's come the First Minister offer any hope for my constituents having | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
to endure a very lengthy orthopaedic waiting lists, in contrast to what | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
she has just said about the NHS? One man was told he was to have a knee | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
operation at the Golden Jubilee, only for funding to be withdrawn by | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
the NHS. He is virtually unable to walk and is in constant pain. Can I | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
ask the First Minister why, at the start of the financial year, when | :16:32. | :16:36. | |
patients are in severe pain and waiting times have been badly | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
breached, why are Greater Glasgow And Clive rationing treatment and | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
denying patients the opportunity to have the treatment at another NHS | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
hospital? And what action will she take to ensure that Mr Howie and | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
others like him can get treatment he deserves? NHS boards right across | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
the country are investing to make sure that we have got short waiting | :17:03. | :17:05. | |
times. Waiting times today are much shorter than they were when this | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
government took office. We are focusing on making sure those | :17:11. | :17:13. | |
waiting longest get priority in terms of treatment. I would say that | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
what she has outlined is something I want to know the detail of. The | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
Health Secretary has told me that she has written this morning I think | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
to the chief executive of Greater Glasgow And Clyde, and once we have | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
the detail of that, I will ask John Robertson to write to the member | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
with the full details. To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
next meet. Tuesday. The First Minister accuses opposition parties | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
of demanding changes on education, and then complaining when the | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
Scottish Government increments of those changes. The greens have never | :17:58. | :18:01. | |
argued that standardised testing of reviews of Governor structure are | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
the root of the problem. And the greens have never supported the | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
stripping of local authorities of their power to make decisions about | :18:10. | :18:12. | |
these matters. What we have consistently argued is that | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
resources are at the core of the question. And if we want to | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
recognise the thousands of teachers that have been lost in Scotland, the | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
hundreds of support workers, school librarians, classroom assistants and | :18:28. | :18:30. | |
the lack of resources which are available to our local authorities, | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
isn't it very clear that that has to be the core of the solution, if that | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
is what has been causing the problem? The Scottish Government... | :18:38. | :18:47. | |
Isn't it clear that those cuts have to be the beginning of a change | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
which puts resources back into our local authorities, so that they are | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
able to support the professionals doing the job around the country? | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
Patrick Harvie and I have something of a disagreement when it comes to | :19:03. | :19:03. | |
education reform. I do think it is education reform. I do think it is | :19:04. | :19:10. | |
important not that we strip local authorities of their | :19:11. | :19:12. | |
responsibilities come about is not our intention, but that we do give | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
greater flexibility and autonomy and control to local schools. Because | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
much of the evidence about how you drive improvements in education says | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
that that, along with the capacity and quality of teachers and the | :19:28. | :19:30. | |
quality of learning, is how you do that. So that's why we are doing | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
those reforms. I also think it is vital that we have more rigour | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
around both how performance is assessed, but also how that is | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
reported publicly. That's why we are introducing standardised | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
assessments, to inform teacher judgment, so that there is more | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
rigour around that. And then we want to make sure that there is | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
transparency around the performance of schools. For the first time ever, | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
we are going down a road where we are publishing not sample surveys | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
but preventive school by school data, so that we can properly assess | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
how they are performing. And I think the white reforms. And I will | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
continue to carry on with it, because I believe they're essential | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
to getting that improvement in our schools. However, where I do have an | :20:23. | :20:28. | |
agreement with Patrick Harvie is on the issue of resources. We have also | :20:29. | :20:36. | |
said that resource in the hands of head teachers is a vital part of our | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
attainment drive. That's why I've said already on a couple of | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
occasions that there will be ?120 million going direct to | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
headteachers. Headteachers are then free to decide how that money is | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
invested. If they want to invest that in staff, that is up to | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
headteachers. That ?120 million is part of the wider attainment fund, | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
which totals ?750 million across this Parliament. So, yes, sources | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
and investment is crucial, but I believe we need a couple that with | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
reforms which will allow us to drive improvements faster, and I make | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
absolutely zero apologies for that. I'm afraid I still do not think the | :21:20. | :21:26. | |
Scottish Government has yet countered the concern that | :21:27. | :21:28. | |
standardised testing will end up here and used for the same purposes | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
as league tables, if they were caught that. I also don't accept | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
that teachers want to be managers, or that headteachers want to be | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
chief executive is or chief financial officers. I think they | :21:42. | :21:44. | |
want to focus on what they are passionate about and talented at, | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
which is teaching and education and the life chances of young people. | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
But if we want to reverse that decline, 4000 teachers lost, if we | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
want to reverse that in these other important professions, librarians, | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
classroom assistants, the overall level of resource needs to go | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
higher. Over successive years, we need to be resource in local | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
councils to make those decisions. The Scottish Government is willing | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
to cap council tax rates at national level without legislation, they're | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
willing to tell England and Wales what their income tax rate should | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
be, but not willing to change them in Scotland more than an inch. Isn't | :22:25. | :22:29. | |
it very clear that we need to reject this Tory notion of Scotland has a | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
higher tax part of the UK, make people like the First Minister and | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
myself pay a bit more tax into the pot to produce the resources to | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
going to education, which will make a difference in the life chances of | :22:43. | :22:45. | |
every child in this country? Because of the decisions that we've taken, | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
higher rate taxpayers are paying a bit more than higher rate taxpayers | :22:52. | :22:58. | |
elsewhere in the UK. These are the right, balanced tax decisions which | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
I think it is appropriate to take. At a time when inflation is rising | :23:03. | :23:05. | |
and living standards are under pressure, I don't think it is right | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
to increase income tax for those on the basic rate. Again, people are | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
free to take a different view but that is my view. On the issue of | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
education and local government funding, in the financial year that | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
we are now in, there is available to local services additional spending | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
power of ?400 million. As Patrick Harvie Whiteley said, some of that, | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
down to discussions which his party and my party had leading up to the | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
agreement of the budget. So, there is more resource in local | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
government. And specifically in education, there is more resources | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
going to headteachers. Let me assure Patrick Harvie, we have no intention | :23:48. | :23:50. | |
of seeing headteachers become bureaucrats. The point is allowing | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
them to be the leaders of learning that they need to be in order to | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
drive improvement and to put into their hands the resources that they | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
need in order to do that. These reforms I think will lead to | :24:04. | :24:06. | |
improvements in our schools. I think it is right that we have rigorous | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
debate about these things, but I am determined to take forward these | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
reforms, and we will be held to account on them. Which is why the | :24:16. | :24:23. | |
publication, people like to dismiss it as league tables, that is the | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
information parents have access to, to know how the schools are | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
performing, it is information which people in this Chamber have access | :24:31. | :24:33. | |
to, to hold me and this government accountable. It is right and proper | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
that we continue to make sure that it is available. Last night, on STV, | :24:39. | :24:46. | |
Ruth Davidson repeated the fiction that under the new two-child cap for | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
child tax credits, a woman only has two White Hart Lane in a box to | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
prove that they have had a subsequent child as a result of rape | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
- is this true? It is not true, and Ruth Davidson knows it is not true. | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
We had a very powerful and at times very emotional debate on the brief | :25:07. | :25:13. | |
child tax rate cap just a couple of weeks. I find it quite hard to | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
believe that Ruth Davidson could have sat through that debate and | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
listened to the letter read out by Kezia Dugdale and still gone on | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
television last night and say that it was just about ticking a box. I | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
think that's disgraceful. And more importantly, what it demonstrates, | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
or at least what it gives the impression of ADI will choose my | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
words carefully, what it gives the impression of, because I hope this | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
is not the reality, is a complete lack of empathy for the emotional | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
trauma that any woman in these circumstances would have to go | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
through, of having to declare to a third party that their child had | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
been conceived as a result of wake. A woman that probably is determined | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
to do everything in her power to protect her child from ever being | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
aware of those facts. So, I think it is really important that whatever | :26:05. | :26:07. | |
disagreements we have around policy on this, and it beggars belief that | :26:08. | :26:15. | |
anybody can defend the rape laws, it is indefensible, in my view, and I | :26:16. | :26:18. | |
think that is why the Tories are struggling so badly to defend it, | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
but for goodness' sake, when it comes to support four of the most | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
vulnerable people in our society, a bit of empathy and compassion and a | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
bit less of a dismissive attitude I think would go down well from the | :26:33. | :26:33. | |
Tories. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The | :26:34. | :26:49. | |
BBC have reported a response, from Freedom of Information Act, the | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
number of serious assaults and robberies increasing in Scotland. | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
The information that the BBC has been reporting, it is management | :27:02. | :27:04. | |
information. It is important to stress that. It is not official | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
figures. That could reflect the information reported, but it is | :27:11. | :27:13. | |
important that we point out the fact that some things that cannot be the | :27:14. | :27:22. | |
case. Figures can fluctuate, and what we have been seeing in | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
Scotland, for something, it is a long-term reduction, in non sexual | :27:27. | :27:36. | |
violent crime. We have seen that for something. 52% reduction, from 2006, | :27:37. | :27:48. | |
and in 2015, 16, the latest statistics are available, the number | :27:49. | :27:52. | |
of homicides in Scotland was at its lowest level since comparator will | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
read cuts began in 76. We always have to make sure that we are | :27:57. | :27:59. | |
supporting the police, to make sure that we keep all sorts of crime now, | :28:00. | :28:07. | |
but we have the production, continuing to do everything | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
possible. That is one of the reasons why we have supported the police, | :28:13. | :28:18. | |
when 20,000 police officers have been lost south of the border. We're | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
going to continue to support the police, across the country. Does the | :28:24. | :28:31. | |
First Minister support the 10,000 people, probably more, who have | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
signed a petition against the imposition of the ?2 drop off fee at | :28:37. | :28:42. | |
Glasgow Airport? Does the First Minister agree it is not going to | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
reduce congestion, and we do not have great transport links to | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
Glasgow Airport, so a rail link may have made a difference, families | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
going on holiday are going to be forced to pay. It is not going to | :28:57. | :29:04. | |
reduce congestion, because it is a smaller area and they are going to | :29:05. | :29:11. | |
block drivers in. The First Minister has to condemn this. It is a | :29:12. | :29:14. | |
moneymaking venture, it has nothing to do with congestion. Genuinely, I | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
am raising this genuinely, public fury at this, I think the public | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
would appreciate at least your understanding, they do not think | :29:27. | :29:31. | |
this is justified. Of course, I understand the concern of members of | :29:32. | :29:36. | |
the public whenever a change like this happens. I understand that. | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
Many of my constituents, in common with MSPs will use Glasgow Airport | :29:41. | :29:49. | |
regularly. I constituency is one of the closest geographically. I | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
understand that many people will have concerns. This is a matter for | :29:54. | :29:57. | |
Glasgow Airport. It is incumbent on them, to make the case why this was | :29:58. | :30:05. | |
necessary. To have that scrutinised. Pauline also raised the issue of the | :30:06. | :30:12. | |
air link. Certainly, at the parliament before this we had | :30:13. | :30:16. | |
debates about the Glasgow Airport rail link, and for good reasons we | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
decided not to proceed. But what Pauline should also be aware of, | :30:22. | :30:29. | |
being funded, these councils have the ability to have access projects | :30:30. | :30:39. | |
to Glasgow Airport. I certainly will wait and see who is going to be in | :30:40. | :30:42. | |
charge of these councils after tomorrow. Does the First Minister | :30:43. | :30:53. | |
not understand that the plans for the publication of school league | :30:54. | :30:57. | |
tables can result in teachers teaching to the tests rather than | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
concentrating on teaching the children, and that this could have | :31:04. | :31:09. | |
opposite effect than she intends? I say this insincere and the, if you | :31:10. | :31:18. | |
intended properly what we intend to publish, you would not have asked | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
that question. The premise of the question, it is wrong. It is not the | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
test scores being published, it is the performance of young people, | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
against the required level of Curriculum for Excellence. Judged by | :31:32. | :31:39. | |
teachers, informed by the tests. Why is that important? Because it makes | :31:40. | :31:47. | |
the judgment more rigorous, but secondly, it avoids the narrowing to | :31:48. | :31:52. | |
the tests because it is not only be standardised test score taken into | :31:53. | :31:58. | |
account. The teacher will look at all performance. In all sincerity, | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
people across this chamber, we can't have these debates, but come to | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
these, informed with the facts of what we're doing, rather your | :32:08. | :32:14. | |
prejudice. Then, we will have meaningfully, meaningful debates. To | :32:15. | :32:24. | |
assess the First Minister what is the Scottish Government's response | :32:25. | :32:27. | |
to the population rising to an all-time high of 5.4 million? We | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
welcome the news that the population is growing. Stimulating population | :32:33. | :32:39. | |
growth, it is sustainable economic growth. It also underlines the role | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
that migration has got to play, to grow the population. Robust evidence | :32:46. | :32:50. | |
that confirms the long-standing view that migrants inside of the European | :32:51. | :32:58. | |
Union contribute, mostly young, economically active and qualified. | :32:59. | :33:03. | |
Scotland benefits from the contribution of people across the | :33:04. | :33:06. | |
world, choosing to live and study here, with expertise, helping to | :33:07. | :33:11. | |
underpin economic growth. We should take every opportunity to tell them | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
that they are welcome. Thank you for the answer. In a half-century before | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
the millennium, more than 2 million Scottish people emigrated, and | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
Scotland once had the lowest population growth of any nation or | :33:26. | :33:31. | |
nails. That left us with an economy, overtaken by others. -- on earth. | :33:32. | :33:36. | |
Does the First Minister agree that will be population is growing, there | :33:37. | :33:46. | |
is cause for concern, and the Brexit stopping the movement of people will | :33:47. | :33:48. | |
not only stop the population growth, but also need to skills shortages | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
and damage the economy? I feel as though I should start by thanking | :33:55. | :34:02. | |
the Presiding Officer. I better not. The latest estimates published, have | :34:03. | :34:05. | |
shown that the population increase has been driven by migration. That | :34:06. | :34:13. | |
is why I make this point, continued inward migration, and I will be | :34:14. | :34:18. | |
scanned the controversial, but it is critical to maintaining population | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
growth, driving economic growth. If the current trend continues, and it | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
is projected to be the main contributor to the population growth | :34:29. | :34:35. | |
over the next 25 years, it is find one of the things that should | :34:36. | :34:38. | |
concern all of us about Brexit and the negotiations, any serious | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
restrictions to the ability of European Union nationals to live in | :34:43. | :34:46. | |
Scotland would be deeply damaging to the economy. It is important that | :34:47. | :34:52. | |
across the chamber, and all of us in mainstream politics have the courage | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
to make that argument. If we allow the migration and immigration debate | :34:59. | :35:01. | |
to be distorted, we will damage the economy and society. These latest | :35:02. | :35:10. | |
statistics, stark reminder. Scotland has consistently attracted fewer | :35:11. | :35:16. | |
migrants, relative to other parts of the UK. Why does the First Minister | :35:17. | :35:21. | |
think after ten years of raising the government, Scotland is a relatively | :35:22. | :35:27. | |
unattractive place for immigrants to come? What an utterly disgraceful | :35:28. | :35:37. | |
thing for a member of this Parliament to stand up, in this | :35:38. | :35:41. | |
chamber, and discreet his own country as an unattractive place to | :35:42. | :35:50. | |
live. Murdo Fraser, hang your head in shame. As I have said before, I | :35:51. | :35:57. | |
remember the days, becoming dark, distant days, when you used to be a | :35:58. | :36:06. | |
serious politician, now you aspire to be a figure of fun. Just what the | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
serious point, we have got to encourage people to come here, one | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
of the reason why more migrants will settle in London, is because of | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
geography, anybody with common sense would know that. But we have just | :36:22. | :36:25. | |
had a figures, showing the contribution that migration is | :36:26. | :36:32. | |
making. The real question is not what Murdo Fraser posed. It is... | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
Are we going to make sure that we continue to have the ability to | :36:38. | :36:40. | |
attract people to come and live in Scotland, or are we going to allow | :36:41. | :36:48. | |
narrow minded Tories to put barriers in the way? That is going to be the | :36:49. | :36:56. | |
question for Scotland. To ask the First Minister, if headteachers will | :36:57. | :36:59. | |
require the agreement of the relevant local authority, before | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
decisions are made about the pupil equity fund spent in school? I have | :37:04. | :37:10. | |
been absolutely clear, and the Deputy First Minister, that the | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
funding scheme, the ?120 million will be used at the discretion of | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
headteachers. The national operation guidance on the funding sets out | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
principles to support headteachers and headteachers should work in | :37:26. | :37:27. | |
partnership with each other and local authorities to share good | :37:28. | :37:33. | |
practice and consider the use of funding. It is the discretion of | :37:34. | :37:36. | |
headteachers, the central factor deciding how that is spent. I thank | :37:37. | :37:44. | |
the First Minister for that reply. Quite correct, John Swinney stated | :37:45. | :37:51. | |
categorically on 13th September, under the Scottish Government | :37:52. | :37:53. | |
reforms, the presumption of decision-making at school level. | :37:54. | :37:59. | |
Could I ask, why then from the Scottish Government documents it is | :38:00. | :38:02. | |
clear that it is good to be national guidance and local authority, | :38:03. | :38:07. | |
guidance, compelling headteachers to agree to the use of the pupil equity | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
funding and local authority to be accountable to the local authority, | :38:14. | :38:16. | |
for how that money is the point. We'll headteachers ever have real | :38:17. | :38:28. | |
spin? Autonomy, I think Liz Smith is misrepresenting, not intentionally, | :38:29. | :38:35. | |
the cadence. I can just point to some of the content of the cadence. | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
I know the commission for school reform had wrongly claimed it was | :38:42. | :38:44. | |
prescriptive. The direction in that guidance refers to principles must | :38:45. | :38:55. | |
be additional to the current spend. Who could possibly disagree? | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
Secondly, targeted at closing the attainment gap. Who could possibly | :39:00. | :39:04. | |
disagree? That is what the money is for. It should be based on the | :39:05. | :39:10. | |
evidence of what works. That seems to be sensible. And that parents, | :39:11. | :39:18. | |
children, young people should be involved in planning for equity | :39:19. | :39:21. | |
funding. It is common sense. As I said to Patrick Harvie, evidence | :39:22. | :39:27. | |
that the involvement of parents and young people in these initiatives to | :39:28. | :39:33. | |
drive improvement are important. Of course, headteachers are going to | :39:34. | :39:37. | |
share practice, and with any use of public money, and accountability, | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
not least through the figures. Also the performance of schools. And this | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
money is money to be spent at the discretion of headteachers. Having | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
called for this... I would have thought the chamber would support | :39:56. | :40:03. | |
this, get behind this. Thank you. To as the First Minister, what action | :40:04. | :40:05. | |
will be Scottish Government take to improve access to sanitary products? | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
The Scottish Government is actively considering what support we can | :40:11. | :40:14. | |
provide for women, on low income, to have access to these products, in a | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
dignified way. We have a commitment to tackling poverty, but we know | :40:22. | :40:24. | |
that in this use of these conservative welfare cuts, and | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
posterity, pushing more people into poverty, we have one hand tied | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
behind your back. The bedroom tax, fair food fund, the independent | :40:35. | :40:40. | |
living fund, to name just some of the policies, the mitigation of the | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
bedroom tax, we spent hundreds of millions of pounds every year | :40:46. | :40:51. | |
protecting the most probable in society from the worst excesses. -- | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
vulnerable. These are resources we would rather than investing in more | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
anti-poverty measures, not mitigating, not sticking plasters on | :41:00. | :41:05. | |
Conservative cuts. I thank the First Minister for that answer. I welcome | :41:06. | :41:08. | |
some of the states that the government has outlined, because | :41:09. | :41:12. | |
last year when I asked this I was told the government had not done any | :41:13. | :41:16. | |
work and that women could use food banks, but if you but we have moved | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
on. Last year, we debated one period poverty and I have announced my | :41:24. | :41:30. | |
intention to bring forward the bill. Member we have gender inequality, | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
and just last week, the NUS, the youth Parliament, and I go on... | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
Could all of them supporting the proposals. No women or girl should | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
face the indignity, of not having access to these products. Now it's | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
why this should be the case in a progressively wealthy country. Does | :41:54. | :41:56. | |
the First Minister agree that sanitary products are a necessity, | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
not a luxury, and the Scottish parliament should accordingly be | :42:02. | :42:04. | |
taking all the necessary action to ensuring that rate of axis? | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
survey, firstly, and I commend her for taking forward this issue as an | :42:10. | :42:19. | |
important issue? The Government is certainly open to working in | :42:20. | :42:22. | |
partnership as we explore the ways in which we can deal with this | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
issue. I do agree with her, and I think any woman and a lot of men | :42:28. | :42:30. | |
would agree that sanitary products are not a luxury, they are a | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
necessity, and we should not have a situation where women are forced | :42:35. | :42:37. | |
into situations of indignity because they are on income is that can't | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
support the purchase of these products. So, as she has | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
acknowledged, the Scottish Government is exploring a number of | :42:48. | :42:51. | |
ways in which we can help with the issue of period poverty FINA and I | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
know Angela Constance would be happy to talk further with Monica Lennon | :42:57. | :43:01. | |
as our consideration of these issues develops. I hope we can come to a | :43:02. | :43:08. | |
consensus about ways in which we can help full stop and we in the | :43:09. | :43:11. | |
Scottish governorate are keen to do that. Talking about how we help | :43:12. | :43:21. | |
women in vulnerable situations, rather than debating how people in | :43:22. | :43:24. | |
other places are trying to penalise women in voluble situations. To ask | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
the First Minister how the high Court of Justice's decision to order | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
the UK Government to publish its Aleutian strategy impacts on | :43:35. | :43:38. | |
Scotland? The decision relates to the timing of the strategy's | :43:39. | :43:42. | |
publication rather than the content of the strategy, and I understand | :43:43. | :43:45. | |
that the UK Government has now decided not to appeal the decision | :43:46. | :43:49. | |
of the High Court and will consult on the updated plan. The Scottish | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
Government is committed to promoting the equality and the UK action plan | :43:56. | :43:59. | |
will include a contribution from the Scottish Government, setting out how | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
we intend to deliver further air quality improvements in Scotland via | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
our own strategy. Also by establishing Scotland's first low | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
emissions zone. Can I thank her for that response? But I am not prepared | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
to put my family at risk any more on Scotland's polluted streets. This is | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
a public health crisis, 2000 people dying every year, not just in the | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
First Minister's city but across Scotland, from Perth to Aberdeen. | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
The UK Government was relying on dodgy emissions data from car | :44:36. | :44:38. | |
companies while putting off action to save lives today. The Scottish | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
Government has made the same errors and is captured by the same ruling. | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
When will the First Minister step out of the shadow of these toxic | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
Tory plans and urgently review Scotland's clean air strategy, | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
including funding more than just a solitary low emission zone but when | :44:55. | :44:58. | |
I am not responsible for the UK Government's plans. I am responsible | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
for the plans of the Scottish Government. On this, as on any other | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
issue, we are happy to discuss with other parties in the Chamber how we | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
improve the plans that we have in place. But I think it is important | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
to point out that in Scotland, we are meeting both domestic and | :45:18. | :45:20. | |
European air quality targets across much of the country, although there | :45:21. | :45:24. | |
are still hotspots of poorer Arab quality in a number of areas, | :45:25. | :45:27. | |
particularly urban areas. It is an issue which interests me hugely as | :45:28. | :45:33. | |
an MSP representing an urban constituency. All local authorities | :45:34. | :45:38. | |
with air quality management areas now have action plans in place, and | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
the Scottish governorate is working with these authorities, including | :45:44. | :45:45. | |
Glasgow City Council, to help implement the plans and deliver air | :45:46. | :45:51. | |
quality improvements. I think it is important to stress that we have set | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
more stringent quality targets than the rest of the UK has. Scotland is | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
the first country in Europe to legislate for a particulate matter | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
2.5, which is of particular concern for him and health. And we are | :46:07. | :46:09. | |
providing practical financial support to local authorities. So, we | :46:10. | :46:14. | |
will continue to take action to address what I agree is an issue of | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
the utmost importance. The Environment Secretary will be happy | :46:19. | :46:21. | |
to speak to the member if he wishes, in order to take his views about how | :46:22. | :46:24. | |
we strengthen these plans further. We are working with other partners | :46:25. | :46:46. | |
to develop the first low emission zone which will improve health and | :46:47. | :46:50. | |
help create better places to live, to work and for people to visit. The | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
national modelling framework has already been developed and it | :46:56. | :47:02. | |
informs the specific restrictions needed to develop air quality | :47:03. | :47:12. | |
improvements. We look forward to agreeing with local authorities the | :47:13. | :47:15. | |
location of the first zone once new local administrations are in place | :47:16. | :47:20. | |
following tomorrow's collection. Thank you very much. That | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
concludes... A point of order. A point of order. Yesterday, the | :47:25. | :47:31. | |
Scottish Government issued a press release announcing a regeneration | :47:32. | :47:35. | |
project in Glasgow which everyone knows is an SNP target. I have | :47:36. | :47:39. | |
written to the permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government to | :47:40. | :47:44. | |
complain against the first strong possibility that purdah guidance was | :47:45. | :47:48. | |
ignored. Can you advise if there are any grounds to bring the minister in | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
question before this parliament next week to explain how on earth a | :47:53. | :47:56. | |
Government announcement with a clear possibility of influencing party | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
politics was allowed to go out? Can I thank Mr Thompson for the point of | :48:02. | :48:06. | |
order. These sorts of questions are a matter for the ministerial code | :48:07. | :48:10. | |
and should be pursued with the Government directly. That concludes | :48:11. | :48:11. | |
First Minister's Questions. This morning, as Mandy has | :48:12. | :48:39. | |
explained, we're going to be | :48:40. | :48:40. |