:00:18. > :00:22.Hello and welcome to the first Politics Scotland of the new
:00:22. > :00:25.Holyrood session. The First Minister has led the way in
:00:26. > :00:29.outlining the laws the government wants to pass in the next year.
:00:29. > :00:33.There's to be one police force for the whole of Scotland, instead of
:00:33. > :00:37.the current eight. The idea is to save money and improve efficiency,
:00:37. > :00:41.but it is controversial. And this is the scene in the main chamber at
:00:41. > :00:44.Hoylrood as the debate continues on the SNP Government's plans. Other
:00:44. > :00:48.laws include minimum pricing for alcohol and measures to tackle
:00:48. > :00:52.sectarianism. We'll be back to the parliament in a moment.
:00:52. > :01:01.It's a very busy day at Hoylrood and here to talk us through it is
:01:01. > :01:06.the political commentator Hamish Macdonnell. Let's put this in some
:01:06. > :01:09.kind of context. We have an SNP government which has a majority.
:01:09. > :01:15.That is never heard of in devolution so far. What
:01:15. > :01:18.opportunities has that given them? It is hard to estimate how ground-
:01:18. > :01:24.breaking this is. All governments have been minorities or in
:01:24. > :01:28.coalition. The SNP has a majority. It can do what it likes. This is
:01:28. > :01:35.its big opportunity. It can pass any laws within the devolved
:01:35. > :01:39.settlement it wants to. But when they were a minority at the station,
:01:39. > :01:43.they wanted to be competent in government and Alex Salmond said he
:01:43. > :01:48.hoped to continue that in government of. Does that give us a
:01:48. > :01:51.clue to the sign -- kind of laws he will be setting out? Some critics
:01:51. > :01:54.have been suggesting these next couple of years will be a very
:01:55. > :02:02.quiet approach from the SNP with everything geared up to
:02:02. > :02:06.independence. A kind of, don't rock the vote because everything is this
:02:06. > :02:12.push for the referendum on independence. I think some of those
:02:12. > :02:17.critics must be tempted to say, I told you so. We have 16 bills which
:02:17. > :02:22.seems an awful lot. We have seen a number of tidying up exercises.
:02:22. > :02:30.Very few are radical or controversial. Is that fair
:02:30. > :02:34.reflection of their experience in government? If you look back to
:02:34. > :02:38.their first term when they had these ideas like local income tax.
:02:38. > :02:42.Very radical change to the way local government finance is
:02:42. > :02:47.organised, that was dropped. They could have brought that backing but
:02:47. > :02:52.that has been dropped completely. We are now dealing with things that
:02:52. > :02:56.look like they are tinkering around the edges a bit more. Their major
:02:56. > :03:01.priority has been the economy and Alex Salmond has talked about that
:03:01. > :03:04.again today. How important is that going to be in the years ahead?
:03:05. > :03:10.economy is absolutely central and it was central to his speech today
:03:10. > :03:15.as well. He made a big point of saying every 16-19-year-old would
:03:15. > :03:18.have a place in employment or training. But we have heard this
:03:18. > :03:23.before. Delivering on the economy is going to be harder than saying
:03:23. > :03:27.they can provide those places. is nothing if not a confident
:03:27. > :03:30.individual and he often talks about being more ambitious for Scotland.
:03:30. > :03:34.If you look at some of the debates we have already had, the
:03:34. > :03:38.sectarianism bill which they are going to take action on, you also
:03:38. > :03:42.have the minimum pricing for alcohol, they are being ambitious
:03:43. > :03:49.in some ways. They are, and they are being controversial in one or
:03:49. > :03:54.two. Minimum pricing, sectarianism and one police force. Those are the
:03:54. > :03:57.ones they will have trouble with. Not necessarily in the chamber,
:03:57. > :04:01.because they can rail road anything they what through, but in central
:04:01. > :04:06.and important parts of civic Scotland. I think they have got a
:04:06. > :04:10.bit of a rough road ahead on minimum pricing, sectarianism and
:04:10. > :04:14.on the single police force, and I think those ones are controversial.
:04:14. > :04:18.They will prove difficult to persuade Scotland as a whole that
:04:18. > :04:22.they are worth pursuing. Put the speech into some kind of context
:04:22. > :04:29.Forest. We are not expecting a great deal of detail from Alex
:04:29. > :04:32.Salmond today. The First Minister gives a broad theme, a global theme
:04:32. > :04:36.for the next year of what his administration is going to do, and
:04:36. > :04:41.over the next few days and the next couple of weeks, we will see each
:04:41. > :04:43.Cabinet Minister giving the detail and taking their place.
:04:43. > :04:52.The First Minister outlined his law-making plans just before we
:04:52. > :04:55.came on air. Let's listen to some of his speech.
:04:56. > :05:01.I have great pleasure in introducing the Government's
:05:01. > :05:05.programme for the coming session. Every way today, men and women,
:05:05. > :05:10.yearn to be productive. They are ready to work because they often a
:05:10. > :05:14.life of unemployment is no life at all. Political leaders over to
:05:14. > :05:20.these young people to create the conditions that encourage growth.
:05:20. > :05:23.From growth comes work, with work comes security and confidence. With
:05:23. > :05:26.confidence comes prosperity and a deeper sense of well-being, not
:05:27. > :05:31.just for individuals and families but for the wider community. That
:05:31. > :05:35.is how we create the good society, the fair society, and it is the
:05:35. > :05:39.heart of the programme for government that I outline today.
:05:39. > :05:46.Recent events in Europe and the United States have highlighted the
:05:46. > :05:50.fragility of the global recovery. Some are even suggesting another
:05:50. > :05:54.blast of recession threatens the world, certainly threatens the
:05:54. > :05:59.Western economies. While I believe we can continue to grow, the fact
:05:59. > :06:09.pete double-dip is at the door is in part due to the mistakes of
:06:09. > :06:11.
:06:11. > :06:14.those who choke recovery with their attempts to deficit reduction. A
:06:14. > :06:20.new government economic strategy will be published followed by the
:06:20. > :06:25.spending review allocating the Scottish budget. There is no better
:06:25. > :06:30.articulation than his record in managing the public finances. Our
:06:30. > :06:35.first priority is that the new plan is promoting capital investment in
:06:35. > :06:39.the economy. Our previous decision to accelerate capital was a
:06:39. > :06:44.considerable success with growth and construction jobs at 11.6 %
:06:44. > :06:50.over the year to the first quarter of 2011 compared to a fall in the
:06:50. > :06:55.United Kingdom as a whole. At the end of June we opened plans to
:06:55. > :06:59.generate as many as 20,000 jobs for our economy over the years ahead.
:07:00. > :07:08.It is ahead of Schedule and under budget. We will deliver key
:07:08. > :07:16.infrastructure projects, the Glasgow South hospital project. We
:07:16. > :07:21.will take forward a new Housing Investment Programme which is
:07:21. > :07:31.starting with �400 million budget which is estimated to support 1,500
:07:31. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:39.jobs across the country. The second way to assist economic
:07:39. > :07:42.recovery is to improve access to finance. We have a blockage at the
:07:42. > :07:46.moment with many large companies holding significant amounts of
:07:46. > :07:49.capital but many of our smaller and most dynamic companies constrained
:07:49. > :07:53.by an inability to secure affordable finance from our banks.
:07:53. > :08:00.To address this we have established the Scottish Investment Bank which
:08:00. > :08:02.is now open and lending to Scottish companies. Yesterday I announced an
:08:02. > :08:06.investment in life sciences business seeking to grow
:08:06. > :08:11.internationally from its base and creating much-needed and well paid
:08:11. > :08:14.and highly skilled jobs in that community. However, the Scottish
:08:14. > :08:22.Investment back cannot take the place of bank lending as a total
:08:22. > :08:27.resource available is some �200 million. Compared to Scotland's
:08:27. > :08:29.share of lending for small and medium-sized businesses of �6.5
:08:29. > :08:34.billion. Therefore we continue to press the banks and the UK
:08:34. > :08:38.government to improve the supply of finances. We still need the UK to
:08:38. > :08:40.show the same kind of initiative and come forward with a plan for
:08:40. > :08:45.boosting business growth. The Scottish government will not wait
:08:45. > :08:51.for the UK to show initiative. That would be a hazardous policy and a
:08:51. > :08:55.long wait. A jobs agenda is at the very heart of this programme for
:08:55. > :09:00.government. We are committed to doing everything in our power to
:09:00. > :09:05.reduce youth unemployment which has fallen by 2,000 in the last year,
:09:05. > :09:08.but it remains far too high. We have responded with a range of
:09:08. > :09:14.initiatives including providing almost 300,000 training
:09:14. > :09:18.opportunities since 2007, including a record 25,000 modern
:09:18. > :09:24.apprenticeships this year which we now commit to for every single year
:09:24. > :09:28.of this Parliament. That annual level is some 60 % higher than when
:09:28. > :09:32.he came to office. We will make sure that access to higher
:09:32. > :09:36.education is based in Scotland and the ability to succeed rather than
:09:36. > :09:41.the ability to pay and we will maintain bursary support and have
:09:41. > :09:43.young people remain engaged in college and training. We will
:09:43. > :09:48.invest in pre-employment training opportunities and we shall continue
:09:48. > :09:52.to fund the educational maintenance allowance for young people in
:09:52. > :09:57.school and college. Our key commitment is to these young people
:09:57. > :10:01.who, as I said, yearn to be productive. No young person should
:10:01. > :10:07.go through school to become an unemployment statistic at the age
:10:07. > :10:11.of 16. We will not allow that in Scotland. We already have 85 % of
:10:11. > :10:16.school-leavers going on to positive outcomes. That is employment,
:10:16. > :10:21.education or training. The 125,000 modern apprenticeships over five
:10:21. > :10:26.years will build on that success. But the strength of Scottish
:10:26. > :10:30.apprenticeships is the link to a real job. Expanding be on that
:10:30. > :10:36.hugely impressive number is dependent on the labour market
:10:36. > :10:41.there. That is why, today, I can announce the Opportunities for All
:10:41. > :10:51.initiative. Every single 16-19- year-old in Scotland will be
:10:51. > :10:53.
:10:53. > :10:57.offered a learning or training place if they are not in employment.
:10:57. > :11:04.In the context of the unprecedented and extended real cuts being made
:11:04. > :11:08.to our budget over the coming years, it becomes even more important as a
:11:08. > :11:14.component of this Government's's programme. If we are to maintain
:11:14. > :11:16.the levels of public services we all want, we need to do things
:11:16. > :11:20.smarter and better. Therefore, I have appointed the Christie
:11:20. > :11:26.Commission to look at ways to reform public services while
:11:26. > :11:30.improving. It recommended an emphasis on collaboration. There
:11:30. > :11:35.was also focus on investing in prevention, which in the longer
:11:35. > :11:39.term can save money to. We will publish the response in the very
:11:39. > :11:44.near future. In health, we will take action to improve the early
:11:44. > :11:49.detection of cancer. A bill on minimum pricing for alcohol will
:11:49. > :11:52.tackle the scourge of alcohol on Scottish society and families. We
:11:52. > :11:56.will make sure services are organised around the needs of the
:11:56. > :12:01.individual. A Bill on self directed support will put those receiving
:12:01. > :12:05.care at the heart of decision- making. And we will deliver our
:12:05. > :12:11.commitments to carers and young carers in particular around better
:12:11. > :12:15.information, respite and support. In addition, in education we will
:12:15. > :12:20.introduce far-reaching reforms for post 16 learning and student
:12:20. > :12:25.support. We will set these out in a pre-legislative paper. Let me
:12:25. > :12:29.affirm our absolute commitment to keep university education three for
:12:29. > :12:34.Scott his students so that access to education is based on the
:12:34. > :12:37.ability to learn. To demonstrate our commitment to young people, we
:12:37. > :12:41.will introduce a Rights of Children and Young People Bill. We are
:12:41. > :12:48.motion a consultation on that tomorrow. We will introduce an
:12:48. > :12:58.alias change fund and build on our children's writes belt. We will
:12:58. > :13:00.
:13:00. > :13:04.develop family centres and a parent in strategy. We will introduce a
:13:04. > :13:08.European style system of language teaching and a new programme of
:13:08. > :13:12.Scottish Studies so that our children can acquire a deeper
:13:12. > :13:18.understanding of their own diverse culture and Scotland's place in the
:13:18. > :13:22.wider world. Our colleagues in the Conservative benches have dismissed
:13:22. > :13:27.Scottish Studies as indoctrination. I cannot imagine any other nation
:13:27. > :13:33.we teaching your own history, arts and literature in an impartial way
:13:33. > :13:37.would be dismissed in such a negative fashion. It is more
:13:38. > :13:41.surprising given the new found Conservative interest in their own
:13:41. > :13:49.history but that history also teaches us that success takes more
:13:49. > :13:54.than a change of name but also a change of attitude. Injustice, we
:13:54. > :14:02.will make Scotland a safer country by rolling out the No Knives,
:14:02. > :14:07.Better Lives programme, bringing forward a radical reform. We will
:14:07. > :14:10.progress the bill to crackdown on violent and bigoted behaviour.
:14:10. > :14:17.Official statistics published yesterday report that crime levels
:14:17. > :14:21.in our country are now at their lowest level since 1976, 35 years.
:14:21. > :14:28.Separate figures also confirm police numbers remained well above
:14:28. > :14:32.our target to keep 1,000 additional officers in Scotland's communities.
:14:32. > :14:42.Scots are feeling safer. 71 % say that local crime has improved or
:14:42. > :14:43.
:14:43. > :14:47.stayed the same. 94 % of Scots now rate their neighbourhood as a very
:14:47. > :14:52.or fairly good place to live. But there is widespread recognition
:14:52. > :14:59.that reform is needed so that we can create the services fit for
:14:59. > :15:03.21st century Scotland. Communities do not care about boundaries, they
:15:03. > :15:07.want services to work effectively and efficiently. After detailed
:15:07. > :15:11.consideration of all the evidence available, we are persuaded that a
:15:11. > :15:15.single police services and a single Fire and Rescue Service are the
:15:15. > :15:19.right options. This is the only way in terms of the police service to
:15:19. > :15:23.maintain the number of officers in every community right across
:15:23. > :15:27.Scotland. It will sustain and improve the delivery of local
:15:27. > :15:31.services by giving all parts of Scotland access to national
:15:31. > :15:40.expertise and assets whenever and wherever they are needed. And the
:15:40. > :15:44.reform will enhance national bills, securing a clear separation of
:15:44. > :15:48.Minister -- ministers. I am announcing our intention to move
:15:48. > :15:51.towards single services. Tomorrow, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice
:15:51. > :15:55.will provide Parliament with further information on how we will
:15:55. > :16:00.seek views on the options for how the new services will work in
:16:00. > :16:06.detail. This programme for government, the Government economic
:16:06. > :16:10.strategy, the spending review, set out how we will make full use of
:16:10. > :16:14.the powers currently devolved with the aim of improving Scotland's
:16:14. > :16:20.rate of sustainable economic growth. It is also important to reflect on
:16:20. > :16:24.the type of country and economy we want to be in the future. In May,
:16:24. > :16:27.the people of Scotland voted for change. They want this Parliament
:16:27. > :16:37.to have the control, flexibility and freedom to make the decisions
:16:37. > :16:42.Many of the key job-creating powers lie outside the remit of Scottish
:16:42. > :16:46.Government. Around 90% of Scotland revenues are collected by
:16:46. > :16:50.Westminster and are not set with any reference to economic
:16:50. > :16:53.circumstances here, or the preferences and needs of our
:16:53. > :16:58.businesses and households. With greater responsibility we can
:16:58. > :17:03.address these needs. The Scotland Bill as it stands fails to make
:17:03. > :17:07.things better. The tax proposals that are designed are potentially
:17:07. > :17:10.damaging and could result in less funding for Scotland. Even more
:17:10. > :17:15.importantly, they provide no meaningful economic levers and
:17:15. > :17:18.failed to give Scotland power over its own wealth and resources. We
:17:18. > :17:21.look to work with the Westminster Government and its Parliament to
:17:21. > :17:26.strengthen the Scotland built to legislation that will really take
:17:26. > :17:30.Scotland forward. I mentioned earlier that the Conservative Party
:17:30. > :17:33.would benefit from knowing its own history and that applies to Labour
:17:33. > :17:36.and the Liberal Democrats as well. They should remember the claimed
:17:36. > :17:40.that they signed before the establishment before this
:17:40. > :17:44.Parliament. Let me remind the chamber what it said. We do hereby
:17:44. > :17:50.acknowledge the solemn rite of the Scottish people to form a
:17:50. > :17:54.Government best suited to their needs and we pledge that in all our
:17:54. > :17:57.actions their interest shall be paramount. In May, the people of
:17:57. > :18:04.Scotland determined that they wanted key additions to the
:18:04. > :18:14.Scotland Bill. It is now the duty of the parties to response to the
:18:14. > :18:14.
:18:15. > :18:19.will of the Scottish people. I ask them to remember their policies.
:18:19. > :18:23.Today we unveil a programme for Government. Practical measures to
:18:23. > :18:28.make our citizens safer and healthier, bred for investment to
:18:28. > :18:32.aid his recovery. I welcome constructive ideas across the
:18:32. > :18:37.chamber on how to make Scotland better. Making Scotland better is
:18:37. > :18:42.the focus of this Government. That is why we won historic victory in
:18:42. > :18:46.May. It was recognition of competence and commitment. It was
:18:46. > :18:51.also about Scotland and our nation's future. The people are
:18:51. > :18:54.ready to move on to the next chapter of Scotland's story. Our
:18:54. > :19:00.first objective in the constitution as set out in the electoral
:19:00. > :19:06.campaign, was to set out new job- creating powers for this Parliament.
:19:06. > :19:10.Voters understand that the SNP also believe in independence. They
:19:10. > :19:14.understand it and they do not fear it. We have won their trust and we
:19:14. > :19:18.will not abuse it. We know they are listening to the positive story
:19:18. > :19:22.that we have to tell about their future as parents, students,
:19:22. > :19:27.entrepreneurs, professionals. They share our excitement about the
:19:27. > :19:32.project at hand to build a better nation. Independence will improve
:19:32. > :19:36.the future for all these people. It will be an independence generation.
:19:36. > :19:41.It is the opposite of dependence, limited ambition, negativity,
:19:41. > :19:45.pessimism. It means rejecting those that tell us we are too lazy or too
:19:45. > :19:51.poor. In fact Scotland is in a better financial position than the
:19:51. > :20:00.UK as a whole. We have been for four out of the last five years
:20:00. > :20:05.recorded. Our successful sons and daughters support more real
:20:05. > :20:12.economic power for Scotland. The population is growing. Numerically
:20:12. > :20:15.as well as in comfort. As that population is made up of millions
:20:15. > :20:21.of individuals, communities, families and businesses, that lie
:20:21. > :20:26.at the centre of this programme for Government, the Government economic
:20:26. > :20:29.strategy is a spending review. We are global in spirit and we listen
:20:29. > :20:33.to voices of economic sanity, virgin world leaders to invest in
:20:34. > :20:38.the future. This Government prefers to think big for Scotland because
:20:38. > :20:42.this Government knows where it is going. We have Scotland's interests
:20:42. > :20:46.at the heart of the programme we have outlined today. The people
:20:46. > :20:49.trust us to take Scotland further on its journey and so should this
:20:49. > :20:55.chamber. APPLAUSE.
:20:55. > :21:00.The can see the whole of that speech -- you can see the whole of
:21:00. > :21:05.that speech on our online democracy live page.
:21:05. > :21:13.Scottish Labour leader in grey was the first to respond.
:21:13. > :21:21.For four years of an SNP minority administration, the First Minister
:21:21. > :21:26.duty brought -- dutifully brought forward his plans and then he
:21:26. > :21:30.cancelled or smothered them. It was always someone else's fault. He
:21:30. > :21:34.still cannot tell us about the Scotland that he wants to see. He
:21:34. > :21:38.cannot tell us what currency it would have. How it would defend
:21:39. > :21:45.itself. Which institutions it would share with our neighbours. Whether
:21:45. > :21:49.it would be a member of NATO or not. How it would enter into the
:21:49. > :21:54.European Union, if it could. He cannot tell us how our benefits and
:21:54. > :21:59.pensions will be secured. In fact the one thing he has told us for
:22:00. > :22:03.sure about the Scotland that he wants, is that the Queen would
:22:03. > :22:09.remain our head of state. He told her that right here only a few
:22:09. > :22:13.weeks ago. Of course, then it turned out that he could not
:22:13. > :22:18.actually be sure of that because his party's policy is to have a
:22:18. > :22:25.referendum on that matter as well. There is nothing he can tell us
:22:25. > :22:29.about the proposition, after all this time. The First Minister has a
:22:29. > :22:34.mandate for this now. He has a majority for it in this Parliament.
:22:34. > :22:39.He has a draft bill, or so he says. He has no credible excuse for not
:22:39. > :22:43.bringing that Bill forward. Except that he does not think that the
:22:43. > :22:50.people of Scotland are ready to have their say, because they might
:22:50. > :22:54.not give him the answer he wants. What do we find in this legislative
:22:54. > :23:03.programme? There is, I think, in the creation of a Scottish police
:23:04. > :23:09.force and fire service face substantial -- face substantial
:23:09. > :23:14.reform, and one that I have made clear that we will support. We will
:23:14. > :23:19.not get this right if the argument is sorely made in terms of saving
:23:19. > :23:24.money. This is a real opportunity to strengthen local democratic
:23:24. > :23:29.accountability of our policing at a more local level than we have now,
:23:29. > :23:34.and at the same time to streamline policing of organised crime, terror
:23:34. > :23:39.and fraud at national level. I am concerned that the plant built will
:23:39. > :23:44.be narrowly drawn, and will not allow us to look again at other
:23:44. > :23:54.issues. -- the planned bill. Such as restrictions on carbonated
:23:54. > :23:58.
:23:58. > :24:03.alcohol, for example. We should be able to extend other Test
:24:03. > :24:07.purchasing and increase support for the children that are exposed to
:24:07. > :24:15.the excesses of our coal fuelled behaviour. If the bill cannot do
:24:15. > :24:20.that, that will be an opportunity for Scotland lost. The sectarian
:24:20. > :24:25.bill is another one that we support, but critically. Critically because
:24:25. > :24:29.it is another area of great difficulty. I think that has been
:24:29. > :24:32.demonstrated and reinforced by the inexplicable judgment in
:24:32. > :24:37.Edinburgh's High Court in the recent case of an assault against a
:24:37. > :24:42.nationally known figure, which appeared on live television. The
:24:42. > :24:46.lesson for us is of course that these offences are on the statute
:24:46. > :24:51.book. There will is there, but making those offences were it is
:24:51. > :24:55.hard. That is why the First Minister was right to delay this
:24:55. > :25:01.legislation, to extend the timetable. It is why we must take
:25:01. > :25:06.our time to get it right. On higher education, too, we agree with the
:25:06. > :25:12.Government on the principle of free education. But the funding
:25:12. > :25:17.situation is already spiralling out of control. Of course fees for
:25:17. > :25:23.students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland had to rise. Of
:25:23. > :25:28.course the fundamental problems is caused by soaring fees in the rest
:25:28. > :25:33.of the United Kingdom. I do not deny that. But we now have the
:25:33. > :25:39.crazy situation where by Edinburgh University is the most expensive
:25:39. > :25:45.university in Britain. That is not what the Education Secretary said
:25:45. > :25:54.he wanted or expected. He said he expected that fees would be set in
:25:54. > :25:58.the range of �1,800 to �9,000. It is hard to escape the conclusion
:25:58. > :26:08.that frankly the universities are laughing at home and giving their
:26:08. > :26:10.
:26:10. > :26:12.own way. He needs to get a grip and question of fees for Scottish
:26:12. > :26:18.students is one element of how we find our higher education sector.
:26:18. > :26:24.There are many other questions we need to resolve and resolved
:26:24. > :26:30.urgently. In the list of bills, there are others there. I am sure
:26:30. > :26:38.we will support others. The National Library build, I apologise
:26:38. > :26:42.to the National Library for poking fun at it earlier. We will also
:26:42. > :26:52.support, for example, a self- they erected care bill. It is late as
:26:52. > :26:56.well. It was promised well over a year ago. But this is what I meant
:26:56. > :26:59.about opportunity. A Government with a majority five-year term
:26:59. > :27:05.ahead of it could legislate today to create the National Care Service
:27:05. > :27:09.that would integrate health and social care, stand alongside the
:27:09. > :27:12.NHS and give a guarantee to our older people and those with
:27:12. > :27:17.disabilities that they will be looked after. That would be bold
:27:17. > :27:20.and dramatic and would change Scotland for the future. Alex
:27:20. > :27:25.Salmond will grind on and on day after weary day about the powers he
:27:25. > :27:29.does not have. I can hear him now. If only I have the powers to do
:27:29. > :27:36.this or that. Well, First Minister, today's opinion poll in the Times
:27:36. > :27:41.could not be clearer. They say get on with the referendum and get it
:27:41. > :27:46.out of the road. But if the First Minister went, and if he refuses to
:27:46. > :27:50.answer questions on independence, would he please stop concentrating
:27:50. > :27:58.on using the powers that he does have? Let me say from the outset
:27:58. > :28:04.that they run -- their of measures that we can accept and some we
:28:04. > :28:08.cannot. Let me highlight a couple. Firstly, sectarianism. The
:28:08. > :28:12.Government was right to acknowledge the problem, write to contemplate
:28:12. > :28:17.legislation but wrong to try and rush it through. It was sensible to
:28:17. > :28:24.pause, reflect and consult. Let's make sure that this bill actually
:28:24. > :28:30.addresses the evil of sectarianism and contributes to its eradication.
:28:30. > :28:37.And second over reform of the police forces. The Scottish
:28:37. > :28:42.Conservatives have accepted the positive, but the issue of public
:28:42. > :28:45.accountability is paramount. The Scottish Government's reform of
:28:45. > :28:49.policing cannot concentrate power in the hands of one minister and
:28:49. > :28:54.one police chief, without the public protection of democratic
:28:54. > :28:57.accountability. I hope that the First Minister will listen to us.
:28:58. > :29:04.Presiding officer, this afternoon I also want to put down some markers
:29:04. > :29:08.about the big challenges facing our country and our people. Challenges
:29:09. > :29:12.which transcend constitutional issues or party politics. Three
:29:12. > :29:16.years ago I gave a speech which in the light of recent developments
:29:16. > :29:21.has a renewed resonance. I said that a new threat was emerging from
:29:21. > :29:26.the shadows, which was insidious and corrosive. The threat to which
:29:26. > :29:30.I referred was not drug and alcohol abuse. He did not arise out of
:29:30. > :29:36.something that people do but rather something they do not do. I am
:29:36. > :29:40.talking about parenting skills, or sadly in far too many places, the
:29:40. > :29:44.complete lack of them. Too many parents don't or can't extend to
:29:44. > :29:48.their children the parenting skills that are essential if young
:29:48. > :29:52.children are to have any hope of growing up with guidance, support
:29:52. > :29:57.and boundaries. Why don't they do it? Sadly, they were the children
:29:57. > :30:02.of parents that did not possess these skills. Disturbingly we may
:30:02. > :30:06.be moving into the third generation of this parental void. Look around
:30:06. > :30:12.our society in Scotland and ask our teachers. Depressing evidence is
:30:12. > :30:18.all too obvious. Indeed, the 2010- 11 report from the Children's
:30:18. > :30:23.Reporter wrote that the number of children in the third generations
:30:23. > :30:27.of poor parental care was 13,000. We all recognise that is a deeply
:30:27. > :30:31.disturbing number. That is not an abstract bit of data, these are
:30:31. > :30:35.young lives being ruined. 13,000 children in that desperate
:30:35. > :30:39.situation and these are just the ones that we know about. And they
:30:39. > :30:43.are our nation's future, and not just that. They are the parents of
:30:44. > :30:48.the future. I welcome the First Minister's intention to address the
:30:48. > :30:52.issue, but only time will tell if legislation is what we need. We
:30:52. > :30:55.certainly need a long-term strategy to deal with the new problem. We
:30:55. > :31:01.cannot just cobble together solutions to deal with individual
:31:01. > :31:11.problems as they arrive. We cannot hope that the problem will solve
:31:11. > :31:13.
:31:13. > :31:17.The Liberal Democrats initially opposed, have now reflected and
:31:17. > :31:27.considered and will support the SNP's plans to tackle the plight of
:31:27. > :31:28.
:31:28. > :31:33.alcohol which holds back communities. It is backed by a wide
:31:33. > :31:37.range of health bodies. Alcohol hits communities with anti-social
:31:37. > :31:41.behaviour, the health effects are severe, it impacts on children and
:31:41. > :31:45.families. As a Liberal Democrat, I want to remove the barriers that
:31:45. > :31:51.called people back from getting up and getting on in their lives.
:31:51. > :31:57.Excessive drinking of alcohol is one of those barriers. The smoking
:31:57. > :32:01.ban was a success. It was a bold measure by the last majority
:32:01. > :32:10.government. I think we can tackle the plight of Arkle to in this
:32:10. > :32:19.Parliament. Just a quick recap on the Bills
:32:19. > :32:23.announced today. Action on alcohol, sectarianism, the budget, April on
:32:23. > :32:27.the National Library of Scotland, social care, police and fire
:32:27. > :32:30.service reform. Joining us now from our Edinburgh
:32:30. > :32:32.studio is Professor Richard Kerley from Queen Margaret University.
:32:32. > :32:40.He's an expert on the search for efficiencies in public
:32:40. > :32:43.organisations like the police. It has been talked about for long
:32:43. > :32:53.enough but we have finally confirmation in the chamber at
:32:53. > :32:58.Holyrood that eight pieces -- the police forces will soon be no more.
:32:58. > :33:03.It is no great surprise to anybody. We will get the detail tomorrow. It
:33:03. > :33:08.seems to me that on the basis of the available arguments, there is
:33:08. > :33:11.still a very important case to be made by the Government. They have
:33:11. > :33:20.the votes and a cancer cure whatever outcome they wish in terms
:33:20. > :33:26.of legislation, -- they can secure whatever outcome they wish in terms
:33:26. > :33:31.of legislation. The Fire and rescue Service have often been hidden
:33:31. > :33:35.behind the police. The initial consultation did not show any great
:33:35. > :33:39.enthusiasm for having a single force in place and a single force
:33:40. > :33:43.in fire and rescue. It was actually markedly hostile to it. The second
:33:43. > :33:49.factor is that an awful lot of the calculation has been built around
:33:49. > :33:55.savings in the budget which could be achievable under either of the
:33:56. > :33:58.two major change models proposed. The single force models all the
:33:58. > :34:08.three or four models. It will be interesting to see how the debate
:34:08. > :34:13.plays out. The Police Federation has been convinced that this is
:34:13. > :34:18.probably a good idea. That has been done in part by saying that they
:34:18. > :34:22.will not suffer any attack on their terms and conditions which police
:34:22. > :34:28.officers in other parts of the UK might suffer. How important EU
:34:28. > :34:33.think spending cash has been in persuading people? There are two
:34:33. > :34:38.different aspects to that. One is that time will tell because the
:34:38. > :34:43.figures that have been assembled in the various business cases propose
:34:43. > :34:47.for both policing and Fire and rescue are predicated on making
:34:47. > :34:52.changes to terms and conditions. Altering shift patterns, ordering
:34:52. > :34:56.premium payments, altering or manner of incentive payments. It
:34:56. > :35:00.will not hit the basic level of payment but there are other areas
:35:00. > :35:05.where there will be implications from the changes and they are built
:35:05. > :35:08.into the car donations of the financial efficiencies. Some of
:35:08. > :35:12.these are impress -- incredibly detailed and they are swept up in a
:35:12. > :35:17.savings figure of �5 million over three or four years and it is only
:35:17. > :35:21.when it works its way down the system that a 1,000 or 2,000
:35:21. > :35:28.uniformed police officers on certain shifts say, what has
:35:28. > :35:34.happened to me? The second factor that is really fundamental to all
:35:34. > :35:40.of this is that by creating one or even a three-piece forces, you do
:35:40. > :35:44.have, unless you make very detailed, special provisions which uses a lot
:35:44. > :35:48.of the efficiency, you must have an impact on terms and conditions. If
:35:49. > :35:55.we have a single police force, one of the questions is whether
:35:55. > :36:02.somebody who lives in Glasgow or Edinburgh or Dumfries is available
:36:02. > :36:07.to join the police force is available for posting to Wick or
:36:07. > :36:11.anyone else within the country. One force, one posting. That would be a
:36:11. > :36:21.fairly dramatic change. If you look at some of the committees the
:36:21. > :36:22.
:36:22. > :36:26.Scottish government has set up in recent years, we had the Christie
:36:26. > :36:29.Commission which published earlier in the summer, you get the sense
:36:29. > :36:33.they were building some evidence for some great reform programme and.
:36:33. > :36:39.Do you get a sense of a great reform programme in this
:36:39. > :36:45.announcement? I would not say there is a great reform programme in the
:36:45. > :36:50.sense of a clean sweep of every set of public services. Bear in mind
:36:50. > :36:53.what the independent public review did was to outline some of the cost
:36:53. > :36:57.alternatives and some of the expenditure alternatives and
:36:57. > :37:02.therefore the savings available to the Government. It is building up
:37:02. > :37:05.that momentum. The Christie Commission, I noticed the First
:37:05. > :37:09.Minister said they would be responding to that report shortly.
:37:09. > :37:14.No timescale to that but no doubt we will find out over the next few
:37:14. > :37:16.days. Also discussed and outlined, it kind of trade up the ground for
:37:16. > :37:23.making some of the changes that I think will be quite significant
:37:23. > :37:27.over the next five or 10 years. But there is not a clean sweep in this.
:37:27. > :37:30.It is very important that if you want to make major changes to
:37:30. > :37:34.public services as could happen over time, that you take people
:37:34. > :37:39.along, not just those employed in the service and those running it,
:37:39. > :37:47.because they have their own interest, but you build up public
:37:47. > :37:51.acceptability of change as well. A great line from the First Minister,
:37:51. > :37:55.a levy speech line which was, communities don't care about
:37:55. > :38:00.boundaries. He was talking in relation to the peace force.
:38:00. > :38:03.Actually, if not quite, First Minister. A lot of evidence coming
:38:03. > :38:09.back over many decades is that communities to care quite a lot
:38:09. > :38:19.about boundaries. They're not very good at defining them in a neat and
:38:19. > :38:22.
:38:22. > :38:26.tidy way but they have a sense of, people who live in a small village
:38:26. > :38:33.think there nearest city is a long way away. They will be anxious
:38:33. > :38:42.about how these decisions are made. Thank you very much for your time.
:38:42. > :38:46.Hamish, what have you made of today's proceedings? I felt it was
:38:46. > :38:49.a low-key speech. I thought it was a below keep this -- debate as well
:38:49. > :38:54.when you think this was the big kick-off for the new parliamentary
:38:54. > :38:58.year. What we have and what we are witnessing is a government which
:38:58. > :39:03.has already been in power for four years and it is losing that sense
:39:03. > :39:07.of newness and adventure that we might have had four years ago. I
:39:08. > :39:12.think as well that there is perhaps a sense, People don't like to admit
:39:12. > :39:15.it, Parliament does not matter as much as it used to. Alex Salmond
:39:15. > :39:20.has the votes and the opposition can say what they like but they are
:39:20. > :39:24.never going to really turn things over. For both of those reasons, it
:39:24. > :39:26.was a little bit low key and some of that tension there we used to
:39:26. > :39:33.have when the Government had to fight to get things through has
:39:33. > :39:36.disappeared. We heard during the speech Alex Salmond referring quite
:39:36. > :39:39.a lot to the issue of independence. It's not something that will be
:39:39. > :39:45.part of his legislative programme but he was making the argument in
:39:45. > :39:48.the last week. We have had a couple of opinion polls suggesting more
:39:48. > :39:56.people supported the idea than were against it. The Times today
:39:56. > :40:00.suggested something else. Where do you think we are in that debate
:40:00. > :40:04.now? Independence has come to the forefront of political debate in
:40:04. > :40:10.the way that it wasn't doing the first four years of SNP government
:40:10. > :40:16.because the SNP has a majority. The polls are moving in their direction.
:40:16. > :40:21.The Unionists will say, they are not there yet, and they are right.
:40:21. > :40:25.But will -- with every successive pole, the margin get smaller, and
:40:25. > :40:30.the polls are moving in Alex Salmond's direction. His plan to
:40:30. > :40:35.put of the referendum at -- put off the referendum for as long as
:40:35. > :40:38.possible is based on the premise that this trend will continue.
:40:38. > :40:43.Maybe in a three years' time when he was to put that question, the
:40:43. > :40:50.polls will be pretty tight indeed. You have the two main opposition
:40:50. > :40:54.figures, Iain Gray, who will not be here when these may be voted on,
:40:54. > :40:59.and neither will Annabel Goldie. What is the state of opposition at
:40:59. > :41:03.the moment? There is not much opposition in Holyrood. They have
:41:03. > :41:08.not got the votes and two of them have not got the leaders. There
:41:08. > :41:13.really is not much of an opposition at all. Iain Gray's performance was
:41:13. > :41:19.good, it was up to the standard we expect of him, as was Annabel
:41:20. > :41:24.Goldie's, but they are on their way out. They are leaving behind them
:41:24. > :41:27.parties that do not really know where to turn or were to turn to.
:41:27. > :41:31.have got to ask you that the Scottish Conservatives, the
:41:31. > :41:37.proposal that they should no longer be any Scottish Conservatives. Do
:41:38. > :41:43.you think that will give people have that centre rite opinion and
:41:43. > :41:48.latitude? Many people and wealthy people who will back a new centre,
:41:48. > :41:54.right party, who won not backing the Conservatives at the moment.
:41:54. > :41:57.The problem they have is that the people to vote on the idea are the
:41:57. > :42:01.8,500 members of the Conservative Party in Scotland who worry pretty
:42:01. > :42:05.conservative lot and they may not like dropping the name of their
:42:05. > :42:08.party and changing it completely, however many people out there want
:42:08. > :42:12.to back it. I think he has got a good radical idea which has thrown
:42:12. > :42:16.open his party leadership and a thrown open Scottish politics but
:42:16. > :42:20.he has a big job in trying to get it through the membership. People
:42:20. > :42:24.are at the very least talking about the Scottish Conservative Party.
:42:24. > :42:32.Not much discussion about the vacancy at the top of the Scottish
:42:32. > :42:37.Labour Party. Two people declared, kind of, we think. What the
:42:37. > :42:40.Scottish Labour Party needs is a thumping -- something radical to
:42:40. > :42:44.get people talking about the Scottish Labour Party and the
:42:44. > :42:49.Scottish Labour leadership. It is pretty bad if the main opposition
:42:49. > :42:53.party at Holyrood has nobody really caring too much where it is going
:42:53. > :42:57.for was going to reap lead it. They need to get somebody to get into
:42:57. > :43:02.that leadership contest to say, I have got some radical ideas, let's
:43:02. > :43:04.talk about them and let's put this forward. Briefly, do you think this
:43:04. > :43:10.programme for government will excite many people outside the
:43:10. > :43:17.chamber? No, I don't think it will, that they are waiting for the
:43:17. > :43:20.referendum. Just to remind you, we have
:43:20. > :43:29.extensive coverage of the programme for government not only on the
:43:29. > :43:35.television but on our online site. There will also be an extended
:43:35. > :43:40.version of the Newsnight Scotland programme this evening available on