:00:22. > :00:28.welcome to the Scottish parliament here at Holyrood. This afternoon,
:00:28. > :00:31.MSPs will be debating the legacy of Lady Thatcher in Scotland. There is
:00:31. > :00:34.a commissioned report out from the Scottish Labour Party on their
:00:34. > :00:39.proposals for further powers in the Scottish Parliament. We will see
:00:39. > :00:46.what comes up from that. The main subject of this programme is
:00:46. > :00:56.questions to the first Minister. finance secretary was just answering
:00:56. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:01.a question on oil. Joanna Lamont and neighbour is asking about
:01:01. > :01:08.engagements. This afternoon, the Scottish parliament will debate the
:01:08. > :01:15.legacy of Margaret Thatcher. I was a schoolteacher throughout her time in
:01:15. > :01:19.office, and as a teacher, I saw first-hand how young people had
:01:19. > :01:21.their hopes and aspirations extinguished. I remember the
:01:21. > :01:26.challenge of trying to motivate teenagers who thought that studying
:01:26. > :01:34.was a waste of time because there were no jobs for them. No one in
:01:34. > :01:44.this chamber wants a return to those days. The first Minister pledged
:01:44. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:52.that every 16 to 19-year-olds would have a job or training available to
:01:52. > :01:59.them. Youth unemployment in Scotland in the last year has declined by a
:01:59. > :02:02.third from 25% to 17%. That is still far too many, but I think it is a
:02:02. > :02:08.substantial achievement over the last year, and the 16 to 19-year-old
:02:09. > :02:18.guarantee, along with apprenticeships in Scotland, is part
:02:18. > :02:23.of that success. APPLAUSE I'm not sure if that means the first
:02:23. > :02:29.Minister has or has not achieved his goal. He promised that no young
:02:29. > :02:33.person should be left behind, and who could disagree with that? Can
:02:33. > :02:43.the first Minister tell the chamber how many 16 to 19-year-old s do not
:02:43. > :02:49.have a place in education or training? The guarantee is to make
:02:49. > :02:54.an offer to 16 to 19-year-old s. I think Labour MSPs should reflect on
:02:54. > :02:57.what is happening elsewhere in terms of the UK government, in terms of
:02:58. > :03:07.what is happening to young people who are being forced to work for no
:03:08. > :03:10.
:03:10. > :03:19.which is unparalleled across these islands, is a very significant part
:03:19. > :03:25.of the offer to young people. I would say that the reduction in use
:03:25. > :03:29.and ploy meant is a substantial success, which every single member
:03:29. > :03:32.of this chamber should recognise as such and take pride in the fact that
:03:32. > :03:37.the parliament, through some of the initiatives that we are taking, is
:03:37. > :03:42.making a real difficulty -- difference to the issues that affect
:03:42. > :03:47.our society. You can say that there are still far too many young people
:03:47. > :03:51.unemployed, of course there are. But not to recognise a reduction of that
:03:51. > :03:56.extent in a single year certainly has something to do the initiatives
:03:56. > :04:02.taken by this Parliament in the 60 or 70% increase in apprenticeships
:04:02. > :04:05.in Scotland, in the youth training guarantee for 16 to 19-year-old s, I
:04:05. > :04:09.think is to deny the reality that significant moves made by this
:04:09. > :04:17.government, this Parliament, are resulting in benefits to the young
:04:17. > :04:20.people of Scotland. First of all, we know that if the figures had gone on
:04:20. > :04:26.the other direction, he would not have taken responsibility for bad
:04:26. > :04:30.news. He would not have taken responsibility for bad news. The
:04:30. > :04:37.second point, and a very serious point, and I am thinking again about
:04:38. > :04:42.these young people that I taught in the 1980s. Unemployment of young
:04:42. > :04:47.people in Scotland is disproportionately higher than the
:04:47. > :04:53.rest of the UK. The first Minister doesn't seem to know the answer to
:04:53. > :04:57.the question I asked. But can I tell him that in private he does know,
:04:57. > :05:01.because under the Freedom of information, we have established
:05:01. > :05:09.that schools development in Scotland has identified more than 7000 school
:05:09. > :05:16.leavers who are known to be looking for training or work but have yet to
:05:16. > :05:21.find a place. They have lost more than 7000 -- 17,000 school leavers.
:05:22. > :05:26.They don't know what 17,000 school leavers are doing or where they are.
:05:26. > :05:31.And if you don't know where they are, how do you prevent them and
:05:31. > :05:39.protect them from becoming the long-term unemployed that we know
:05:39. > :05:43.suffered over the last year? So in that context, what are the first
:05:43. > :05:53.Minister's pledges worth when a guarantee now has become an offer,
:05:53. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :06:03.and an offer has not been delivered? The employment rate of 16
:06:03. > :06:07.to 24-year-old s in Scotland is now 56.7%. That compares to the UK of
:06:07. > :06:17.49.7%. An impairment rated 16.1%, comparing with the UK level of
:06:17. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:28.20.6%. By any standard, by any standard whatsoever, that is a
:06:28. > :06:31.substantial success against the most difficult economic climate. Joanna
:06:31. > :06:41.Lamont says that we take the credit for that. I think that when you've
:06:41. > :06:44.usually increase -- when you hugely increase the benefits, you are
:06:44. > :06:49.entitled to take satisfaction in the improvement in the situation facing
:06:49. > :06:54.young people in Scotland. I can tell her in terms of the destination of
:06:54. > :07:00.people leaving school, which we have measured and measured exactly over
:07:00. > :07:05.the last few years, we now know that in the destination of people leaving
:07:05. > :07:15.school for 2011 to 2012, 80 9% of youngsters go to a positive
:07:15. > :07:17.
:07:17. > :07:22.destination. -- 89 percent. Just reflect for a second what that
:07:22. > :07:27.means. Not only has there been over the last year as substantial
:07:27. > :07:31.improvement in young people getting jobs and apprenticeships, getting a
:07:31. > :07:40.start in life after the recession, but the destinations of our school
:07:40. > :07:46.leavers are more in the good times than when Labour were in charge of
:07:46. > :07:51.this Parliament. So by any level, by any measure, can she not find it
:07:51. > :07:55.within herself to say, something really important is happening here.
:07:55. > :08:00.Perhaps we should follow the apprenticeship programme which is
:08:00. > :08:04.proving such a success. Perhaps the issue of guarantee has something to
:08:04. > :08:08.be said for it in helping young people who are on the tough end of
:08:08. > :08:15.life. Lenders and isn't it something for this entire Parliament to
:08:15. > :08:18.welcome? It has resulted in a substantial improvement which has
:08:18. > :08:26.affected the lives and welfare of ten serves thousands of young people
:08:26. > :08:32.in Scotland. -- tens of thousands. It is interesting that he can find
:08:32. > :08:37.lots of figures to trade with me, but he can't answer the question
:08:37. > :08:40.about the 7000 young people without education and training, and the
:08:40. > :08:45.17,000 people that we don't even know where they are.
:08:45. > :08:48.One of the lessons we are reflecting this week, one of the lessons I
:08:48. > :08:53.learned as a schoolteacher, is that when politicians talk to each other
:08:53. > :08:58.and trade figures, they ignore the reality of what is happening to
:08:58. > :09:04.communities across Scotland. We cannot allow that to happen a game.
:09:04. > :09:08.And I ask the first Minister not to change and give us figures about the
:09:08. > :09:14.bits he is happy with, but to listen and think about what his own agency
:09:14. > :09:18.is saying, and what is happening to some of our young people. Because we
:09:18. > :09:22.know that one in every six school leavers is either out of work or
:09:22. > :09:26.training, or we don't know what their statuses. And the problem for
:09:26. > :09:32.this Government is it starts with the slogan, but then it cuts
:09:32. > :09:35.officers, cuts college places, and denies the truth. The first Minister
:09:35. > :09:43.thinks that politics is about process and good news stories. It is
:09:43. > :09:50.not. It is about taking hard choices and changing peoples lives. He talks
:09:50. > :09:54.to bolster his argument about 25,000 apprenticeships, but he gets to that
:09:54. > :10:03.figure by calling 10,000 people who are already in work for six months
:10:03. > :10:10.and apprentices. He cuts college funding... I am asking the first
:10:10. > :10:15.Minister to think about doing the hard stuff. He cuts college funding,
:10:15. > :10:20.but tells the parliament it is going up. And now we know what he knew,
:10:20. > :10:26.that there are 17,000 school leavers who have simply disappeared,
:10:26. > :10:31.according to the Government. Please, in this week of all weeks, will the
:10:31. > :10:39.first Minister learn that lesson, put down the slogans and start doing
:10:39. > :10:42.his job? I know that she doesn't like these
:10:43. > :10:47.figures, but perhaps she could reflect on the fact that I just gave
:10:47. > :10:51.her the figure for school leavers reaching positive destinations,
:10:51. > :10:56.something we have now identified. And it shows us not just a recovery
:10:56. > :10:59.since the recession but also better than when Labour were in power.
:10:59. > :11:06.During that question, there was something she said that was
:11:06. > :11:10.particularly interesting. She said or tried to suggest that the reason
:11:10. > :11:14.that the 16,000 to almost 26,000 apprenticeships wasn't a real figure
:11:14. > :11:17.because the percentage of people in work for six months was high. The
:11:17. > :11:23.percentage of apprenticeships going to be then work for six months is
:11:24. > :11:27.lower than it was when the Labour Party when office. In other words,
:11:27. > :11:31.there are more people now in the 26,000 than there was as a
:11:31. > :11:37.percentage when the Labour Party were in office, so how on earth can
:11:37. > :11:40.it be presented as anything with a semblance of an argument. I think it
:11:40. > :11:45.is important to learn the lessons, and the key lesson I would learn
:11:45. > :11:49.from the years of Margaret Thatcher is that political parties to go into
:11:49. > :11:57.coalition with the Conservatives and campaign in Scotland are going to
:11:57. > :12:00.result in exactly the same fate as the Conservative party, and she
:12:00. > :12:04.believes that she can campaign hand in glove, we are better together,
:12:05. > :12:14.and people in Scotland would draw the obvious conclusion about the
:12:14. > :12:24.politics and the direction. She and her party will pay the high price.
:12:24. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:36.That is a certain conclusion that first Minister next meet the
:12:36. > :12:42.Secretary of State for Scotland? Later today. A few days ago, Sean
:12:42. > :12:49.McLoughlin was sentenced to ten years for homicide. He should have
:12:49. > :12:54.been in jail rather than being free to stab Robert Brown repeatedly. He
:12:54. > :12:56.had over a year still to serve of his most recent centres, but had
:12:56. > :13:03.been released early under the Government's automatic early release
:13:03. > :13:06.scheme. The first Minister promised in both his 2007 and 2011 manifesto
:13:06. > :13:16.to end automatic early release, yet no legislation has come before this
:13:16. > :13:16.
:13:16. > :13:21.chamber, and there is no hint that any is due. There was no sign of it
:13:21. > :13:27.when he introduced another bill. If he had acted earlier, Robert Brown
:13:28. > :13:32.could still be alive. Why is the first Minister refusing to fulfil
:13:32. > :13:38.the promises he has made to protect Scottish communities? Can I just
:13:38. > :13:43.point out in terms of fact that when we revoke the automatic early
:13:43. > :13:46.release, which was introduced by the Conservative party, it could not and
:13:46. > :13:50.would not apply to retrospective cases, and I don't think anybody has
:13:50. > :13:55.ever suggested that. So the question that I have just been asked is
:13:55. > :14:00.factually wrong. Unless she is saying that she would argue that it
:14:00. > :14:04.be introduced for retrospective cases. If that is the case, perhaps
:14:04. > :14:09.she should say that to the chamber. But the party which introduced the
:14:09. > :14:13.vision that she's complaining about, doesn't recognise the extraordinary
:14:13. > :14:17.achievement in having the lowest level of recorded crime in 30 years
:14:17. > :14:21.in Scotland, is very poorly placed talk about individual tragic
:14:21. > :14:28.examples when the implications of the policy she is suggesting would
:14:28. > :14:35.not apply retrospectively. Presiding officer, I fully accept it was the
:14:35. > :14:40.Conservative government who presided over early release, but the Scottish
:14:40. > :14:43.government has had six years and done nothing. It is not good enough.
:14:43. > :14:49.The first Minister promised the people of Scotland that if the SNP
:14:49. > :14:52.were put into Government's they would end automatic early release.
:14:52. > :14:58.He has a clear majority in this chamber. He has cross-party support.
:14:58. > :15:03.So why not act? So far, this Government has found time in the
:15:03. > :15:06.parliamentary schedule for a debate on a wall which happened ten years
:15:06. > :15:16.ago, for which this department has no responsibility, countless debates
:15:16. > :15:24.
:15:24. > :15:30.without vote at all. This matters. A girl was attempted to be raped at
:15:30. > :15:34.knifepoint by one gentleman when she was in a wheelchair. He is due to be
:15:34. > :15:37.released soon. This is not a situation that anyone wants. The
:15:37. > :15:47.first Minister has promised us twice that he will get this done. Will he
:15:47. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :15:58.bring forward the necessary Perhaps she should re-think and
:15:58. > :16:01.look carefully when introducing such subjects in terms of how a
:16:01. > :16:09.question would or not apply. We have make our position clear on
:16:09. > :16:13.this. The review instructed us on how
:16:13. > :16:18.that should best be done. The idea that a criminal justice record,
:16:18. > :16:21.which is achieved at the lowest level of recorded crime in 30 years,
:16:21. > :16:27.is something which should not be proclaimed from this Parliament, I
:16:27. > :16:30.think is a very, very strange one indeed. Perhaps the Conservative
:16:30. > :16:33.Party would find something to learn from the confidence that the police
:16:33. > :16:36.service of Scotland has in the policies of this Government,
:16:36. > :16:42.compared to the lack of confidence that the police service has in the
:16:42. > :16:47.lack of policies being evoked from London at the present moment. To
:16:47. > :16:52.suggest, for what reason I don't know, that a debate on Iraq was not
:16:52. > :16:55.a sensible and proper thing to this Parliament to be debating, given
:16:55. > :16:59.the impact it's had on tens of thousands of people across this
:16:59. > :17:03.country and hundreds of thousands of people elsewhere, I think is a
:17:03. > :17:06.remarkable conclusion to draw. Of course Parliament should debate
:17:06. > :17:09.this rightly and properly. If we look at the mistakes of the past,
:17:09. > :17:14.many which were committed by Conservative Governments, then
:17:14. > :17:20.perhaps this Parliament has the proper powers and will not repeat
:17:20. > :17:26.them in the future. I have a constituency question from Gordon
:17:26. > :17:34.MacDonald. Thank you. There are a number of companies involved in the
:17:34. > :17:38.production of computer games. Is the First Minister aware of the
:17:38. > :17:42.proposals by the European Commission to investigate the tax
:17:42. > :17:47.release offer by the UK Government? Does the First Minister agree these
:17:47. > :17:50.are vital to support this dynamic sector? Will the Scottish
:17:50. > :17:58.Government make reputations to the UK Government and the commission to
:17:58. > :18:04.ensure these reliefs are not threatened? It is an important
:18:04. > :18:07.point. I am aware of it. It is an important sector which employs some
:18:07. > :18:11.600 people in Scotland. That is why the Scottish Government, alongside
:18:11. > :18:16.the industry itself, pressed the UK Government to introduce these tax
:18:16. > :18:21.breaks. Now the UK Government has accepted. It is a good thing and we
:18:21. > :18:25.will work with them to put a compelling case to the commission.
:18:25. > :18:31.The sector for commercial affairs is writing to the UK minister for
:18:31. > :18:36.creative industries on this subject. Question number three. To ask what
:18:36. > :18:44.matters will be discussed? Matters of importance to the people of
:18:44. > :18:48.Scotland. I was pleased the bill published today expands education
:18:48. > :18:54.for three and four years olds to match that of those in England. Two
:18:54. > :19:00.year olds will be left behind. At this late sense will they see sense
:19:00. > :19:05.and provide nursery education for 22,000 two year olds in Scotland?
:19:05. > :19:11.welcome the welcome for the bill and to recognise the importance of
:19:11. > :19:15.the 600-hour commitment. Having inherited in 2007, 212 hours. The
:19:15. > :19:25.600-hour commitment is hugely important to families across
:19:25. > :19:26.
:19:26. > :19:30.Scotland. As gently as I could I have shieded about the reality. I
:19:30. > :19:33.have a range of views from experts in the field which suggest there
:19:33. > :19:37.are serious questions to answer. Therefore, I think it is important
:19:37. > :19:41.that as we move forward to providing this level of nursery and
:19:41. > :19:45.childcare provision, that we do so on a quality basis that makes a
:19:45. > :19:49.difference to the lives of young people. I accept this is only the
:19:49. > :19:54.start of a process of direction, which I think is hugely important
:19:54. > :19:58.in the future of this country. I hope he will accept that the
:19:58. > :20:03.assurance we are giving on statutory binding and quality in
:20:03. > :20:09.Scotland has many things to be said for it, in comparison to the lack
:20:09. > :20:12.of standards and the lack of quality happening elsewhere.
:20:12. > :20:16.Investigating the First Minister's claims from his documentation
:20:16. > :20:20.published this morning, what the First Minister has omitted to tell
:20:20. > :20:25.us is that rash shows in Scotland have been poorer than in England
:20:26. > :20:31.for the whole time that he's been First Minister. So, he shouldn't
:20:31. > :20:35.lecture anyone any more about that. The reality is that this week,
:20:35. > :20:40.thousands of parents across England are queuing up for 15 hours of
:20:40. > :20:44.nursery education for their two year olds. Scottish parents and
:20:44. > :20:49.Scottish children are being denied this opportunity by this Government.
:20:49. > :20:55.So rather than settling for this timid Children's Bill, will it will
:20:55. > :21:00.bold and match England on two year olds? He is being incomplete in his
:21:00. > :21:08.question, that the Scottish ratio is one to three. That is the same
:21:08. > :21:13.as in England. It is moving to one to four in England. Our ratio is
:21:13. > :21:18.has been one to five. The English one is moving one to six. I thought
:21:18. > :21:26.this chamber would like to hear the whole picture, as this chamber will
:21:26. > :21:30.want to hear the views of Professor Nutbrown who carried out the review
:21:30. > :21:34.into the UK Government's strategy and is a leading critic of that
:21:34. > :21:39.strategy, who has said watering it down there threaten quality.
:21:39. > :21:49.Childcare may be cheaper, but children will foot the bill. He may
:21:49. > :21:49.
:21:49. > :21:54.want to list -- listen to the director of the unit. "I don't
:21:54. > :21:58.think we have... What we know of the evaluation of the two-year
:21:58. > :22:04.pilot is unless it was of good qualify it did not make a
:22:04. > :22:08.difference." I could give a range of other quotations. "it will be a
:22:08. > :22:17.recipe for disaster for children. The quality of provision will be
:22:17. > :22:22.lower. There'll be less one-to-one care. "as we look at comparisons
:22:22. > :22:27.elsewhere, let's be aware of the deficiencys which are being
:22:27. > :22:32.examined in the system which he is proclaiming by the experts in the
:22:32. > :22:38.field, including the lady in charge of the original proposal. Let us
:22:38. > :22:41.see that there is sense in some of the actions we are taking in
:22:41. > :22:48.Scotland, including the binding guarantee of ensuring the quality
:22:48. > :22:53.and seeing the childcare nursery provisions of one of a range of
:22:53. > :22:56.planning partnerships for people and the family centres which are
:22:56. > :23:04.designed to make sure that early intervention is as good as we can
:23:04. > :23:11.make it to ensure the future of our young people. To ask what
:23:11. > :23:16.assessment the first lt minister has made of Scotland's public
:23:16. > :23:22.finances? Last week the balance sheet was published. It shows
:23:22. > :23:26.Scotland is in a stronger position than the UK. Take one example - tax
:23:27. > :23:33.free receipts per person has been higher in Scotland for each and
:23:33. > :23:38.every one of the last 30 years. Thank you for that answer.
:23:38. > :23:42.Yesterday's figures showed that Scotland has higher employment and
:23:42. > :23:48.lower unemployment than the rest of the UK. Does he agree the misguided
:23:48. > :23:56.economic policies of the UK Government are the greatest threat?
:23:56. > :23:59.And it would allow us to build further on this progress.
:24:00. > :24:05.Well, earlier this session, it was suggested that we only talk about
:24:05. > :24:10.things like youth employment and unemployment when there are reasons
:24:10. > :24:14.to see success and initiatives are being made. Can I say that the only
:24:14. > :24:18.time I get asked about general employment and unemployment by the
:24:18. > :24:22.UK parties is when the Scottish figures are worse than that of the
:24:22. > :24:26.UK. That was a substantial bet that I wouldn't be asked about the
:24:27. > :24:33.general level of employment and unemployment, given the substantial
:24:33. > :24:38.success indicated by the figures this week. I do think that although
:24:38. > :24:42.recovery from the session is of course a substantial and exacting
:24:42. > :24:46.process, the largest rise in employment for 12 years is
:24:46. > :24:48.something which will perhaps be regarded as a success by the
:24:49. > :24:52.unionist parties and coalition in this Parliament, but the people of
:24:52. > :24:57.Scotland will see that as part of the process of Scottish recovery. I
:24:57. > :25:01.know a lot of people will see it as part of the argument for seeing all
:25:01. > :25:09.of the levers of economic control under the ages of this Parliament,
:25:09. > :25:12.so we can turn that improvement into a real and lasting recovery.
:25:12. > :25:19.The First Minister published Scotland's balance sheet at the
:25:19. > :25:23.weekend. In it, it states it does not consider wider liabilities. Can
:25:23. > :25:31.I ask the First Minister, which wider liabilities have been
:25:31. > :25:36.ignored? Can he quantify them? assets for that matter. It is a
:25:36. > :25:42.stock take. One is a flow, one is a stock. Assets and liabilities. I
:25:42. > :25:47.hope that is an answer to the question.
:25:47. > :25:54.Question number five. Elaine Murray. What progress has been made on
:25:54. > :25:58.changes to the improvement programme? As I am sure she knows
:25:58. > :26:04.the Government is making record levels of investment in the
:26:04. > :26:11.improvement programme. A key part of that record investment. Deliving
:26:11. > :26:17.new systems. Edinburgh Glasgow and the Hay Market tunnel. Network Rail
:26:17. > :26:22.has confirmed an important point that it remains confident the route
:26:22. > :26:28.will be electrified by 2016, as planned.
:26:28. > :26:36.I thank the First Minister for his re ly. However, industry sources
:26:36. > :26:42.quoted in Scotland on Sunday 31st March state that the industry
:26:42. > :26:47.experts state that the first phase may not now be finished until 2019.
:26:47. > :26:55.That is three years later than he is claiming. Which estimate does
:26:55. > :27:00.the First Minister actually agree with? The Transport Ministers or
:27:00. > :27:07.the industry experts? She was referring to the front-page article
:27:08. > :27:14.of 31st March, 2013, which is perhaps why David Simpson, the
:27:15. > :27:19.manage wrote on the 15th April. That is later than the first
:27:19. > :27:24.article. Mr Simpson rejects the asserted delays and says that is
:27:24. > :27:30.not the view Network Rail would make and are confidence of
:27:30. > :27:35.completing the projects between the two cities for 2016. I think, given
:27:35. > :27:43.that the gentleman took the trouble and time to write to Scotland on
:27:43. > :27:50.Sunday to make that cex, I do think Elaine Muray could have -- Murray
:27:50. > :27:53.could have read the letter. Some Labour sources seem to think that
:27:53. > :27:58.the regulated asset base, borrowing from Network Rail comes out of the
:27:58. > :28:08.sky and it has nothing to do with the Scottish Government, can I
:28:08. > :28:12.
:28:12. > :28:18.Murray says she knows that. It is significant on a per capita basis
:28:18. > :28:26.our investment is double the equivalent committed for 2014 by
:28:26. > :28:30.England and Wales. �632 per capita, compared to �326. That is not just
:28:30. > :28:33.in terms of the electrification but the substantial improvements which
:28:33. > :28:43.are taking place across the country. That seems a great investment on
:28:43. > :28:51.
:28:52. > :28:57.the future rail of Scotland. Well, this morning the minister for
:28:57. > :29:02.young people announced recipients of an investment. In addition, I
:29:02. > :29:07.can confirm they will invest a further �10 million in strategic
:29:08. > :29:12.funding partnerships. Bringing investment of �30,000 over two
:29:12. > :29:17.years for organisations which provide crucial support for
:29:17. > :29:26.families sms I can see Liz Smith smiling at that announcement. In
:29:26. > :29:33.her press release she will take the credit for forcing the Government
:29:33. > :29:37.to make that announcement. Given the financial rigours being
:29:38. > :29:44.imposed by our party colleagues in Westminster that strikes me as a
:29:44. > :29:49.big success for the third sector intervention fund.
:29:49. > :29:52.First Minister, I am glad you know I will try and take the credit for
:29:52. > :30:02.that. Notwithstanding today's welcome announcement the Scottish
:30:02. > :30:02.
:30:02. > :30:07.Government will be aware that over 400 children's chartstys and groups
:30:07. > :30:11.like the Scouts have subjected bids. This has forced a delay in the
:30:11. > :30:16.allocation of funding. Will the First Minister acknowledge this
:30:16. > :30:22.causes an unacceptable uncertainty for the strategic funding of these
:30:22. > :30:25.bodies and may jeopardise the future of some of the smaller
:30:25. > :30:29.charities? I think that the announcements have been welcomed
:30:29. > :30:33.today and the increase in funding. Perhaps she should reflect on why
:30:33. > :30:38.there is such a huge demand for these services at the present
:30:38. > :30:45.moment and wonder why so many of the third sector organisations are
:30:45. > :30:48.feeling it necessary to introduce and intervene in the areas of
:30:48. > :30:52.social welfare which have been deserted by the Government for
:30:52. > :30:55.these matters. Let us try and end this session on a note of consensus.
:30:55. > :30:59.It is a good thing that the �20 million has been announced. It is
:30:59. > :31:03.an excellent thing that a further �10 million has been announced. It
:31:03. > :31:06.is a fantastic thing that that represents an increase in funding
:31:06. > :31:10.in the budgetary position, which I am sure she will agree for all
:31:11. > :31:16.sorts of reasons, is highly constrained at the present moment.
:31:16. > :31:26.That note of consensus - let's end that session.