Browse content similar to 05/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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A warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament. The number one political | :00:19. | :00:25. | |
event today was the Chancellor 's Autumn Statement in the Commons. | :00:26. | :00:31. | |
There is major-league politics and away she and the shape of questions | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
to the First Minister. It is the main substance of today's programme. | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
Let's go over to the chamber to find out what is happening. | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
The First Minister has just two debs and we can cross straight over to | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
the chamber. As members will no we have had gusts | :00:49. | :00:59. | |
of over 100 mph in Scotland. The transport minister is in the | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
transport Scotland control room and will be there until the emergency | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
passes. I can confirm to the chamber there has been one reported | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
fatality, weather-related in Scotland and they have in injuries. | :01:11. | :01:18. | |
None of them yet reported a serious. There's then disruption to road rail | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
and ferry infrastructure. Utility companies have reported many | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
customers are off-line but re-connections have been made and | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
they will be considering throughout the day. In light of the tragedy in | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
The Clutha we have had good reason to play -- paid tribute to our | :01:35. | :01:41. | |
emergency services. That work is on again today as we respond to the | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
ongoing emergency of the weather conditions. Can I thank the First | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
Minister for that update. Our thoughts are with those families who | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
have now in affected by this bad weather. Also with all those brave | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
people in the emergency services and other agencies who are working to | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
get Scotland safe again so people can move about. The First Minister | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
put at the heart of his White Paper for independence, childcare. Can he | :02:10. | :02:13. | |
tell me what the final stage of his plans would cost, how many jobs | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
would be created and what the average salary of those jobs would | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
be if a separate Scotland was going to re-coop the cost of the policy. | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
Forgive me, I thought the policy was a serious one. What the average | :02:28. | :02:34. | |
salary of those jobs would be... Perhaps we can get the answer to the | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
question. How many jobs will be created, what those average salaries | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
would be if a separate Scotland is going to be cut the cost of the | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
policy as the White Paper says it would in income tax. The policy in | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
terms of the first term of office of an independent Scottish parliament | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
with cost ?700 million a year. In terms of additional jobs in | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
childcare, it'd require a doubling of the childcare workforce and that | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
is an increase of 30,000 jobs. One of the great economic benefits is | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
releasing the availability of more women to move back into the | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
workforce, that estimate is just sort of 100,000, assuming we could | :03:15. | :03:21. | |
raise the dissipation raise to the same level as Sweden. The Swedish | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
example is taken from a number of reasons. There is a lot of | :03:27. | :03:35. | |
credibility in it end that it is identical. There is no reason why | :03:36. | :03:42. | |
there should be a 6% differential in women participation in the workforce | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
except for the fact Sweden has such extraordinary supportive childcare | :03:47. | :03:52. | |
arrangements that provide the opportunity for more equality in the | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
workforce while allowing women not just to care properly for the | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
children but to fully participate in the workforce and society. Whatever | :04:00. | :04:06. | |
that was, it was not an answer to the question I asked. Perhaps the | :04:07. | :04:13. | |
First Minister would like to reflect on the fact modern women are not too | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
impressed by men who promise the earth without any evidence that they | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
are serious about it. That evidence, he is not serious about it. Let me | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
try and help him. The Scottish Parliament information Centre | :04:29. | :04:30. | |
estimates the cost of the policy to be at least ?1.2 billion a year. | :04:31. | :04:37. | |
That is without the cost of Lee buildings and facilities to meet | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
increased demand. The First Minister has promised the White Paper would | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
answer all the questions about independence, he must have worked | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
out how many jobs, as what average salary would need to be created for | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
the policy to pay for itself. Unfortunately, in 670 pages there | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
was enough room to explain what time zone we would be in but not these | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
details. Could the First Minister now give Scottish families, men and | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
women, the details they deserve to now. I pointed out 30,000 extra jobs | :05:13. | :05:25. | |
would be needed and that it would release 100,000 people, mainly | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
women, back into the workforce and available to work. At the end of the | :05:30. | :05:37. | |
first parliament around 50% of two-year-old and all three and 4 | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
euros will be allowed to childcare a year. That'll be one of the great | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
benefits of having the freedom of independence, that would an interest | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
meant of about ?6 million a year in addition to the ?100 million in the | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
first year to make the improvements that are specified. That isn't | :05:56. | :06:02. | |
argued transformational change in childcare provision in Scotland. | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
What we pointed out is that if you look at the benefits in terms of | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
increased taxation revenue from releasing that additional workforce | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
into the community of Scotland, and the range of benefits in terms of | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
employers national Insurance, employees National Insurance, income | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
tax and VAT see, these revenues will flow into the Scottish exchequer in | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
an independent Scotland. Enter the devolution position we have now and | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
the one proposed by JoAnn allotment, they will go into the pocket of | :06:38. | :06:47. | |
George Osborne. When it comes to increasing Scottish expenditure, we | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
don't want to look for the Conservative chancellor in London | :06:52. | :06:54. | |
who looks forward to years of austerity. That is why the | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
differences opening up a showing that transformational policy in | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
childcare can't be afforded, can be pursued in independent Scotland, | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
just as it is pursued in independent Sweden. First of all, the First | :07:07. | :07:18. | |
Minister re-read the answer to the question I did not ask him. He has | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
not explained how he would cost the bit beyond the first term. He | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
ignored that. He says it is transformational that does not give | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
us the figures. You need to know the figures from it'd be more than same | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
poll assertion. I have done some estimates of my own. Let's give the | :07:37. | :07:46. | |
First Minister... Order. Let's give the First Minister the maximum | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
benefit of the doubt. There are currently 90,000 women unemployed. | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
Let's imagine they all get jobs cars of this policy, even the ones | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
without children. To give the First Minister the biggest tax base to | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
draw from let's say all the 35,000 jobs don't go to any of those women | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
that all go to unemployed men. That is 125,000 people off the dole | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
saving at the most ?370 million in job-seeker's allowance. These people | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
need to pay a tented and ?30 million in income tax for the policy to pay | :08:29. | :08:42. | |
for itself as... Order, order. I am only quoting but the White Paper | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
says which are supposed to be the Bible. It is the White Paper that | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
says it will. He will rest on the figures in the White Paper. Doesn't | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
that mean on average every single one of them would have earned more | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
than ?42,000 a year, almost twice the average wage for an independent | :09:04. | :09:12. | |
Scotland today coop the money? The calculation on addition income to | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
government is the calculation on the increase in output that is generated | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
by that increase in the labour force. That increase in output goes | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
across the economy, it benefits lots of people. If you have more people | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
in employment spending more it doesn't just mean more tax, the | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
people who benefits from the economic expansion also contribute | :09:36. | :09:43. | |
more tax. The calculation, this is why it should be recognised by the | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
Labour Party because they have deployed this argument time after | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
time in time -- in terms of the debate. It is the benefits of an | :09:50. | :09:58. | |
economic expansion as opposed to the austerity policies we have been | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
suffering from Westminster over recent years. I am surprised Johann | :10:03. | :10:10. | |
Lamont doesn't embrace this expansion. She came to see me months | :10:11. | :10:18. | |
ago and couldn't explain how she would pay for any increase in child | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
provision in Scotland and not a single positive idea of amendment in | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
the budget to tell us what Labour's plans would be to make any change in | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
the provision of childcare. She seems to suggest it would be | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
difficult to get that expansion of numbers of women back into the | :10:39. | :10:40. | |
workforce of Scotland. Incidentally, thanks to the benefit of the | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
initiative in this matter, female participation of workers in | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
employment has increased by 3% over the last year or two in Scotland. I | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
don't think it is overambitious to suggest that with a transformational | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
offer in childcare that a six descent increase could be achieved. | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
That talent and ability which is locked away at the present moment | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
could be used for the benefit of these families and for the wider | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
Scottish economy. Can I say how delighted I am to get this debate | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
onto the benefits of independence. Let's talk about jobs, let's talk | :11:21. | :11:24. | |
about families and let's talk about the transformation in childcare. Now | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
we have the truth of it. This isn't about men and women struggling with | :11:31. | :11:37. | |
childcare, it is getting onto the benefits of independence. How | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
disgraceful! It is an opportunity to argue for independence rather than | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
addressing the needs of families in Scotland. He says it's benefits lots | :11:46. | :11:52. | |
and lots of people, I hate to tell you that is not good enough. His | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
White Paper is predicated not on output but the money recouped | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
through income tax and he hasn't been able to show us the figures. | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
East he is telling as his White Paper isn't telling us the truth it | :12:08. | :12:14. | |
will be of no surprise to the people behind him. If the First Minister | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
doesn't like my figures and his own figures don't seem to exist, let me | :12:19. | :12:24. | |
give him some he has provided. According to Scottish government | :12:25. | :12:29. | |
figures if 105,000 women joined the workforce, more than the number | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
currently unemployed, the tax revenues would be less than half of | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
the most optimistic estimates of this cost. Last week the First | :12:39. | :12:48. | |
Minister was googling his answers. But even that can't make his figures | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
work. In order not to wait in order that we don't have to wait our | :12:54. | :12:56. | |
freedom of information request to get the fact on which this was work | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
downtown, will the First Minister now publish full costings of his | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
flagship policy or admit it is a shameless attempt to con the people | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
of Scotland and we have all seen through it. Order. We still don't | :13:16. | :13:28. | |
know if Labour are for or against the change in childcare in Scotland. | :13:29. | :13:35. | |
They haven't laid out their policies, they have not said how | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
they will pay for it. We know the cuts commission is looking at | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
cutting food transport, free personal care, reintroducing tuition | :13:45. | :13:47. | |
fees but I don't think these options are going to the palatable to the | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
people of Scotland. I would be delighted to put down the | :13:54. | :14:01. | |
calculation is... Order. That increase in Scottish revenues will | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
accord is now but what happens is these revenues go on the vast vast | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
majority of them, go to the Westminster Exchequer at the present | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
moment. Is it likely, just imagine for a second, Labour decided to cut | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
everything else and go for a transformation in childcare and | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
these additional revenues, do you think George Osborne would say that | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
is fantastic, I will return these additional revenues to Scotland? I | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
will help Scotland? I think their policy in childcare should be | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
supported. That is not the fate that any of the no parties have for | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
Scotland in the event of a no vote. We know what it is. It is a 4000 | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
million pounds cut from the existing position in Scottish public finance. | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
We know also that is supported by an all-party, not just the Tories, but | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
the Labour Party as well. Not only do we have the prospect of a | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
transformation in childcare and that it will... Don't we just have a | :15:07. | :15:14. | |
policy in increasing economic output, we all know what the | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
alternative is which is no improvement in childcare and the | :15:19. | :15:20. | |
slashing of the Scottish budget following a no vote. To ask the | :15:21. | :15:32. | |
First Minister will he warned it -- when he will next meet the Secretary | :15:33. | :15:44. | |
of State. I will protect them from the debating skills of the typically | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
First Minister! We ask nurses to work long hours and physically and | :15:51. | :15:53. | |
emotionally demanding jobs and they do it with fresheners and care, but | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
we also need to care for them. It is out of six the Royal College of | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
nurses reported that one in five nurses had suffered bullying in the | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
previous year. At the time the RCN said such treatment was unacceptable | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
and added that we can not expect nurses to put up with this at work. | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
The RCN report out today shows that the number of nurses bullied over | :16:17. | :16:20. | |
the last 12 months has risen from one in five to one in three. Can I | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
ask what steps the Scottish Government are taking to help tackle | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
this problem? Let's make clear that the Scottish Government has a zero | :16:31. | :16:33. | |
tolerance approach to bleeding in the workforce. There were a number | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
of aspects of that server that would cause, secretary has already | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
written, in particular the suggestion that people in some cases | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
were not being properly numerate it for what they were doing, -- not | :16:51. | :17:01. | |
properly remunerated. You will find that the Scottish Government and our | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
partners are hugely responsive to any indications that bullying or | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
indeed other unacceptable practices may be taking place in our public | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
services in Scotland. I welcome the words and sentiment, but the fact | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
remained that nurses themselves say that the problems are getting worse, | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
not better. That one in three of the lead. But is the equivalent of | :17:24. | :17:31. | |
nearly 20,000 nurses who face abuse. We appear to have a system and a | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
culture where bullying against nursing staff is widespread and a | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
systemic practice in our stores and health centres. It's clear we're not | :17:40. | :17:45. | |
rooting out the Belize, -- the Belize, and we are not properly | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
supporting those staff who have an already difficult job made harder by | :17:51. | :17:56. | |
the abusive experience. Our nurses have consistently been failed and we | :17:57. | :18:03. | |
have to act now to make it better. Bullying in any form is | :18:04. | :18:06. | |
unacceptable. I want to do something about it. I know the First Minister | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
will too, so will he meet with me and the other party leaders and | :18:11. | :18:14. | |
nursing repentance tips to draw an action plan? -- nursing | :18:15. | :18:23. | |
representatives. As I said to her, we are sensitive and responsive to | :18:24. | :18:25. | |
any indications that management practices are what they -- not what | :18:26. | :18:33. | |
they should be. Two things I would say to Ruth Davidson. She should | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
look at how the nursing workforce planning tools, in terms of the | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
future direction of the workforce, have been welcomed by the RCN. It's | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
good to be a very important aspect in terms of future planning of the | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
National Health Service staff. We know we will have more staff than we | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
had in 2007, but she should appreciate the welcome by the RCN to | :18:56. | :19:02. | |
that initiative. All the points she makes are important, she should also | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
remember that there are certain guarantees given to our public | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
servants in Scotland which have provided a great deal of the | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
insurance, no compulsory redundancies, I mention that because | :19:16. | :19:18. | |
she might be aware that the National Health Service immigrants have made | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
a total of 8702 compulsory redundancies since 2011. While | :19:23. | :19:29. | |
unacceptable that we must be vigilant and we will do it on a | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
cross-party basis in terms of eradicating any acceptable | :19:33. | :19:36. | |
management practices in the NHS, I hope she will be in arrests enough | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
to concede that it in terms of workforce planning, he/she welcomed | :19:41. | :19:47. | |
by the RCN, and intent of the no compulsory redundancy, there are | :19:48. | :19:50. | |
aspects of the public service workforce in Scotland which are in | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
comparatively better than what is happening elsewhere on these | :19:55. | :20:01. | |
islands. Either the First Minister is aware that the dreadful weather | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
conditions affecting many parts of Scotland, including the Borders | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
today, many schools in the Borders have had to close due to loss of | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
power. Can you show me the government will be doing everything | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
possible to make sure local councils are given the support they need to | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
get reconnected to be power supply as possible? I try to give an update | :20:23. | :20:30. | |
early on. The number of school closures is 195, seven in the | :20:31. | :20:37. | |
Scottish Borders. But it is an evolving situation. The minister of | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
transport is in full operation, we will find public services are | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
working hard to inform the public of the likely consequences of | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
disruption, including school closures, but also to travel, and | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
also to restore supplies as quickly as possible. I shall arrange for | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
information to be launched, so any member can see what is happening for | :21:05. | :21:12. | |
some hissy aware that funding for the NHS Grampian falls short of what | :21:13. | :21:23. | |
should be by 35mm is a year. Does he agree that trying to run health | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
services without proper funding was like running a race against Usain | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
Bolt and having to give him a four yard start? With the help catch up | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
by setting a full timetable for information of the government 's own | :21:37. | :21:43. | |
funding formula? The member will know that we have taken a policy to | :21:44. | :21:50. | |
bring the boards towards parity, in a way that doesn't cut services | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
elsewhere. He should also be aware that this week I visited the new | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
health village in Grampian, the first of the hard initiatives, which | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
will have 600 staff working in a combined service, and from the 10th | :22:06. | :22:12. | |
of December, we will be seeing many patients. I think he should welcome | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
that initiative, the first of its kind in Scotland, one of many that | :22:17. | :22:20. | |
have been rolled out. He should also be aware that I monitor very closely | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
the statistics on waking times -- waiting times in Grampian. I can | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
tell him that spectacular new investment has been one of the | :22:33. | :22:35. | |
reasons, along with the commitment of our NHS staff, for a very good | :22:36. | :22:42. | |
performance in terms of meeting the targets on throughput of patients. | :22:43. | :22:44. | |
An indication that combined with the new facilities coming into place, we | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
can still make substantial improvement to our health service, | :22:51. | :22:53. | |
which I'm sure all members will welcome. To ask the First Minister | :22:54. | :23:00. | |
what recent conversations the Scottish Government has had with UK | :23:01. | :23:02. | |
Government regarding the Barnett formula? I have written to the prime | :23:03. | :23:10. | |
minister seeking clarity on the proposed Christmas to plan for a tip | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
cut in Scotland in the event of a no vote. While he has not provided any | :23:15. | :23:20. | |
answers on the future of the Barnett for Miller, we do know that | :23:21. | :23:23. | |
Westminster calls for spending in Scotland to be cut by about ?4 | :23:24. | :23:32. | |
billion, the equivalent of ?1600 for every income taxpayer in Scotland. | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
We also know that in every one of the last 32 years, Scotland has | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
contributed more in tax per head in the UK, and in the five years to | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
2012, the relative surplus was 12.6 billion pounds. It does seem | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
extraordinary, in the face of these figures on income, that Westminster | :23:53. | :23:57. | |
parties are proposing to follow the provisions of the commission which | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
suggests a ?4 billion cut in Scottish expenditure. I think it's | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
very important that the Prime Minister answers that letter and | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
reveals the intentions of this government, if there were a no vote | :24:13. | :24:21. | |
in Scotland next year. As well as that cut, we also know from the | :24:22. | :24:24. | |
autumn statement that Westminster have their sights set on Scotland | :24:25. | :24:32. | |
and there pensioners. Does he give me -- agrees me that under these | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
plans, people in Scotland will enjoy fewer years of retirement and | :24:37. | :24:39. | |
pension in almost any other part of Europe, and to see agree that this | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
is at yet another reason for Scotland to vote yes in next year's | :24:45. | :24:54. | |
referendum? I heard, when Ruth Crawford was making these excellent | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
points, disquiet on the Labour Party backbenchers. There should be | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
disquiet. An all-party committee has put forward a proposal that the | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
proposals should be followed with regard to spending in terms of a no | :25:09. | :25:16. | |
vote. In an article described as... This is the head of the article, | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
Scotland is taking more than its share of funds, they estimated that | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
would cut Scotland's spending by ?4 billion. For any -- I have indicated | :25:28. | :25:34. | |
what that would mean in terms of an income tax rise by everyone in | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
Scotland, but perhaps the chamber would like to reflect that the | :25:40. | :25:42. | |
dramatic cuts we have seen over this period of austerity and that | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
something, just over ?3 billion a year. So what the colleagues in | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
Westminster have in mind for Scotland is a cut following a no | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
vote, even greater than the austerity we have seen from Labour | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
and Tory governments over the last few years will stop they are --. | :26:01. | :26:08. | |
They will be disquiet across Scotland as these facts percolate | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
into the debate. Can the First Minister tell us why the lead | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
abating point in favour of independence, from him and his party | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
colleagues, has become the report of an obscure Westminster committee? Is | :26:24. | :26:30. | |
it because his substantive economic and financial arguments in favour of | :26:31. | :26:33. | |
independence have fallen apart within days, so that his project | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
wish of last week has become Project scared today? I would like to | :26:40. | :26:51. | |
say... The case for independence is to explain how in the transformation | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
of childcare provision in this country, independence means jobs and | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
new prosperity for Scotland. But can I say to Malcolm Chisholm why I take | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
this seriously. I met George Osborne when he was Shadow Chancellor to ask | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
what his intentions were with regard to the honour to formula. He told me | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
it was his intention to scrap the Barnett formula. He told me that. | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
Alistair Carmichael says that formula will be there until this | :27:18. | :27:26. | |
period of austerity is over. George Osborne has just said the economy | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
has stabilised. Now of course, the argument is that we say we want to | :27:33. | :27:38. | |
have access to Scottish revenue because yes, we received 9.3% of | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
spending in the last count but we generated 9.9% of the revenue of | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
this country. What the no campaign and his colleagues in Westminster | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
want to do, I can give them a range of quotations, is to cut Scottish | :27:56. | :28:05. | |
pending -- spending, as the ultimate comes through, of the transformation | :28:06. | :28:09. | |
in society that is possible for having access to Scottish resources, | :28:10. | :28:12. | |
then this argument will follow the yes vote next year. To ask the first | :28:13. | :28:22. | |
Mr which powers of the first Mr which powers over land ownership | :28:23. | :28:24. | |
could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament to strengthen Scottish | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
land reform? The land reform agenda is part of building a more equal | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
society. Earlier this year, I announced a target that 1 million | :28:36. | :28:42. | |
acres of land should be in community ownership by 2020. There is a review | :28:43. | :28:51. | |
group producing a plan, but decisions about ownership and | :28:52. | :28:53. | |
leasing are tied to policies on taxation. I thank him for that | :28:54. | :29:00. | |
answer with regard to taxation, would he agree with me that | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
Westminster's Scottish affairs committee, enquiring into land | :29:05. | :29:07. | |
reform, which met last week in Inverness, must focus on ways to end | :29:08. | :29:16. | |
UK tax system's lenient treatment of landowners who use it for capital | :29:17. | :29:23. | |
gains tax. The registration of such entities in offshore tax havens such | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
as Grand Cayman, and the offsetting of this data management losses | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
against landowners, each one of these reserve powers hinders | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
Scotland's effective approach through this Parliament to land | :29:37. | :29:44. | |
reform. Which is why we have set out in the White Paper that we want a | :29:45. | :29:48. | |
simple, transparent system, designed to minimise the opportunities for | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
tax avoidance. The member will also be aware of other reserve powers | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
that are important, the attempted land grab by the Ministry of | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
Defence, contrary to the wishes of the local community, and I can | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
assure him that such a situation would not be allowed to happen. I | :30:10. | :30:14. | |
hope and believe that people in this chamber will celebrate the fact in | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
that target for 1 million acres of land in committee ownership, not | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
making up a huge contribution to the target in numbers, but hugely | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
important for communities and symbolically, we will shortly have a | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
situation where the lighthouse is in community ownership, and the far | :30:34. | :30:39. | |
north of Scotland will soon be in community ownership. I think most | :30:40. | :30:47. | |
will find it symbolically important for these communities. | :30:48. | :31:02. | |
Joseph Rowntree foundation report, coping with cuts. The time when the | :31:03. | :31:11. | |
Scottish Government budget has been cut by 20 -- 10% as a result of the | :31:12. | :31:17. | |
austerity agendas of the Westminster parties, the Scottish Government has | :31:18. | :31:20. | |
worked closely with our local partners to protect communities. As | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
the report makes clear, Scottish local authorities are fed to them | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
they English counterparts, with the next period, maintaining a | :31:31. | :31:39. | |
like-for-like basis. The Joseph Rowntree report recognised the | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
protection provided by council budgets for Scotland but it is | :31:45. | :31:46. | |
disappointing that the analysis fails to recognise that local | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
funding is determined by the needs -based funding formula agreed, | :31:52. | :31:56. | |
largely driven by population and importantly, by pupil numbers. We | :31:57. | :32:04. | |
can agree that level government is one of the four most casualties of | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
austerity but given that local government has borne the brunt of | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
the time and cost for providing those services, they have risen by | :32:12. | :32:16. | |
10% with big social care and welfare challenges to come. Does the first | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
Mr except that given the loss of ?1 billion from Scottish government | :32:22. | :32:25. | |
spending and anti-poverty programmes, it's vital that next | :32:26. | :32:31. | |
week's financing that is underpinned by principles of fairness and social | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
justice, if the most vulnerable in our communities are not to be | :32:36. | :32:38. | |
subjected not just to austerity but to austerity bus? It would seem a | :32:39. | :32:45. | |
good reason for Scotland never again being subjected to the government | :32:46. | :32:48. | |
that we have at the moment in Westminster. Can I just take issue | :32:49. | :32:55. | |
in terms of how she describes the situation. I have the figures here | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
in terms of local government spending, as part of the overall | :33:00. | :33:06. | |
Scottish loch. That is increased from 34.7% five years ago to 36.4% | :33:07. | :33:11. | |
on a like-for-like basis. It's simply not true. On the contrary, as | :33:12. | :33:18. | |
the report indicates, the Scottish local authorities are not just fared | :33:19. | :33:20. | |
better than the English counterparts but have a... It is incorrect for | :33:21. | :33:30. | |
her to try and assert that local government has borne the burden of | :33:31. | :33:35. | |
cuts. On the contrary, the impact of the percentage on local government | :33:36. | :33:38. | |
spending as part of the total budget we have has risen from five years | :33:39. | :33:45. | |
ago. I don't except the argument that this government isn't acting to | :33:46. | :33:50. | |
mitigate the impact of austerity and poverty. For example, over the | :33:51. | :33:57. | |
period from 2013, for the next few years, to mitigate welfare put | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
reform, there will be spending a ?44 million. Maybe at some stage we will | :34:03. | :34:09. | |
come to an agreement that instead of having to take action to mitigate | :34:10. | :34:12. | |
the worst of Westminster's spending cuts, perhaps we should charge -- | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
take charge of the resources of this nation and plan out a new future for | :34:18. | :34:25. | |
this country. That the first minister explained earlier to the | :34:26. | :34:28. | |
opposition benches the reality of the 4 billion cut coming down from | :34:29. | :34:34. | |
Westminster. I wonder if he would take this opportunity to explain to | :34:35. | :34:37. | |
the opposition potential impact of that on this armaments efforts to | :34:38. | :34:56. | |
tackle poverty. The continuation of austerity will cause a great deal of | :34:57. | :35:04. | |
misery across society, in terms of supporting charities in terms of | :35:05. | :35:06. | |
those suffering from benefit cuts, and also Council tax reduction and | :35:07. | :35:11. | |
in partnership with our local authorities, to protect the people | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
on council tax benefits from the impact of austerity and the | :35:16. | :35:18. | |
commitment to mitigate the bedroom tax this year and next. The Scottish | :35:19. | :35:22. | |
Government has done everything within its powers to take the edge | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
of these has polished shoes Westminster. This will make Scotland | :35:27. | :35:36. | |
a more equal society, this is exactly why we have to take charge | :35:37. | :35:40. | |
of the resources and spending of this country, to move policy in much | :35:41. | :35:50. | |
better direction. We have come to the close their, as you would | :35:51. | :35:53. | |
expect, the subject was mainly money. The right in to do on the day | :35:54. | :35:59. | |
that was the chance in to do on the day that was the Chancellor's Autumn | :36:00. | :36:00. | |
statement. | :36:01. | :36:02. |