:00:19. > :00:22.A warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. It is the
:00:22. > :00:28.last session of questions to the First Minister for this year but
:00:28. > :00:35.the first opportunity for Joanne Lamont to pose those questions. Let
:00:35. > :00:39.us see how she gets on. I will say to her as I said
:00:39. > :00:43.yesterday, that she can be assured that where the opposition bring
:00:43. > :00:47.forward points of substance, that the Government, not withstanding
:00:47. > :00:51.our majority, will be prepared to take common cause. That is
:00:51. > :00:56.symbolised today, where this Parliament will unite substantially
:00:56. > :01:01.in expressing concern about the direction of travel in the UK
:01:01. > :01:04.Government's welfare reform, which seems to be instead of increasing
:01:04. > :01:13.employability, in danger of impoverishing some of the most
:01:13. > :01:18.impoverished. I thank the First Minister for his answer? Where it
:01:18. > :01:23.is possible for us to work together, I can assure him that we will. We
:01:24. > :01:27.will take the responsibility of challenging you, where that is our
:01:27. > :01:32.responsibility. At Christmas, we are looking forward to spending
:01:32. > :01:36.time with our children. I have seen less of my own and I might want to.
:01:36. > :01:40.It belongs to children, this time, but for some children that has not
:01:40. > :01:45.much to look forward to. Children abandoned and abused by parents,
:01:45. > :01:52.children like Declan. What has the First Minister done in response to
:01:52. > :01:58.this tragic case? All cases involving children are examined by
:01:58. > :02:02.the Government. By the Government keeps things under action, but
:02:02. > :02:07.perhaps she will want to specify the action she is looking for and I
:02:07. > :02:10.will be able to say what the Minister has done. I am concerned
:02:10. > :02:15.that the First Minister has not already indicated what he is
:02:15. > :02:19.intending to do in response to something that is very serious. We
:02:19. > :02:23.have to ensure that the rhetoric of this chamber reflects the reality
:02:23. > :02:27.of Scottish life. When the First Minister was asked about a
:02:27. > :02:31.tragically similar case, the death of Brandon Muir, he said "We have
:02:31. > :02:36.the most systematic and strenuous inspection system anywhere in these
:02:36. > :02:40.islands, and perhaps anywhere in Europe." Does the First Minister
:02:40. > :02:44.believe that is still the case? And does he agree the reality, but it
:02:44. > :02:48.was not good enough for Declan Halfpenny or Brandon Muir and it is
:02:48. > :02:54.not, for scores of children whose names will never appear in the
:02:54. > :03:01.papers but who are now suffering? remember the case very well. The
:03:01. > :03:04.point I made on the Brandon Moore case was that -- Brendan your case
:03:04. > :03:08.was that we have in place a systematic way of trying to
:03:08. > :03:12.identify children at risk. Are made the point that no system can be
:03:12. > :03:18.foolproof, but there are going to be individual tragedies regardless
:03:18. > :03:22.of what system is in place but we reinforce our support to local
:03:22. > :03:31.authorities to enable this to happen. I would like to reiterate
:03:31. > :03:38.my point that I stress the fact that often there was a tendency to
:03:38. > :03:43.blame social work departments and to see that there was some failings.
:03:43. > :03:48.Where there are failings, they have to be examined and in that case,
:03:48. > :03:52.they were systematically examined. This chamber has to understand that
:03:53. > :03:56.we have a substantial system. We also have excellent social workers
:03:56. > :04:01.in Scotland or subscribe to the higher standards. They are a
:04:01. > :04:05.professional group of people and have a substantial we make our
:04:05. > :04:12.system, whatever the sincere efforts of our social workers,
:04:12. > :04:16.there will always be tragic cases. That is a certainty in society. Our
:04:16. > :04:19.job as parliamentarians is to give the maximum support to our social
:04:19. > :04:24.work departments and the professionals, to make sure that
:04:24. > :04:29.systems of inspection are such, to minimise tragic cases, minimise the
:04:29. > :04:33.number and the effect on society. want to believe that that system is
:04:33. > :04:39.in place and that our children are safe, but the fact of the matter is,
:04:39. > :04:43.we know that is not the case. We cannot simply say that this is an
:04:43. > :04:47.inevitability. The responsibility of government in this kind of case
:04:47. > :04:52.is to identify where the challenges were, or where the problems are and
:04:52. > :04:56.what we can do to address it. It is not about winning the workforce, it
:04:56. > :05:01.is recognising that for all of us, whatever system is in place, they
:05:01. > :05:04.are not sufficient. The reality is that across Scotland we have
:05:04. > :05:07.overburdened social workers, under pressure health visitors and the
:05:07. > :05:12.inevitability of children abandoned by their parents being abandoned by
:05:12. > :05:17.a system that is supposed to care. We all know that budget cuts are
:05:17. > :05:21.only going to get worse. What is the First Minister going to do in
:05:21. > :05:30.his Budget choices to insure it that the Most Honourable children
:05:30. > :05:34.in our country are protected? -- most vulnerable. The system of
:05:34. > :05:39.inspection has been substantially enhanced and improved. That is
:05:39. > :05:44.validated by the re- inspections that have taken place. There have
:05:44. > :05:47.been faults and difficulties at in individual local authorities and
:05:47. > :05:51.there has been huge improvement in the majority on the reinspection
:05:51. > :05:54.initiative. These things have been brought into place by this
:05:54. > :06:00.Government to correct the failings of a system that was already in
:06:00. > :06:05.place. But political parties and parliamentarians have to understand
:06:05. > :06:09.that however we make and attempts to prove such systems to protect
:06:09. > :06:13.every single child in Scotland, there will still be tragic cases.
:06:13. > :06:22.In terms of budget choices for disadvantaged children, perhaps
:06:22. > :06:27.Joanne Lamont would like to welcome our initiative, that two year-olds
:06:27. > :06:30.will have access to nursery education. That is the first time
:06:30. > :06:34.this has been done across these islands and it is a budget choice
:06:34. > :06:39.that we have made. I'm sure Mr Lamont would like to reflect her
:06:39. > :06:43.support for it. -- Joanne Lamont. Of course I support that sort of
:06:43. > :06:48.thing. But this child was not in care and that is part of the
:06:48. > :06:52.difficulty. The child was in the family home. Other than that, the
:06:52. > :06:56.danger is we have a culture of despair. That there is not anything
:06:56. > :07:00.government can do. We know that if we work together, if we are almost
:07:00. > :07:04.we can get this right. But we cannot afford to have a gap between
:07:04. > :07:08.what we say we care about and are rhetoric in this chamber, and the
:07:08. > :07:15.reality in Scotland's homes. There has to be a connection between what
:07:15. > :07:19.we say at have people live. -- and how people live. I am asking the
:07:19. > :07:25.Minister to have an inquiry into how our most vulnerable children
:07:25. > :07:29.are being affected by his budget choices. Surely it is possible,
:07:29. > :07:33.recognising the scale of the challenge, that our budget choices
:07:34. > :07:41.are tested by their capacity to protect the most vulnerable in our
:07:41. > :07:45.communities. And not quite certain that the direction that Joanne
:07:45. > :07:51.Lamont has taken her questioning reflect her aspirations at the
:07:51. > :07:55.start of the question session. In terms of budget choices, I would
:07:55. > :08:01.have thought that the settlement for local government, which has
:08:01. > :08:06.protected local government against the average cut... It is much
:08:06. > :08:13.better than the settlements under direct government control. In that
:08:13. > :08:17.settlement, we indicated our value and worth in other departments. In
:08:17. > :08:21.terms of the improved system that we have established, compared to
:08:21. > :08:25.the one that we inherited, I think most people across social work
:08:26. > :08:29.would say that, regardless of the fact that we will always have
:08:29. > :08:34.individual tragic cases, nonetheless the system is far
:08:34. > :08:39.better than it was some years ago and the system of inspection and
:08:39. > :08:44.reinspection is proving its worth. The reason I indicated the question
:08:44. > :08:48.of looking after children, was not because it was relevant to the
:08:48. > :08:51.individual case that Joanne Lamont asked about, but because it was
:08:52. > :08:55.relevant to a question of how this Government looks upon children in
:08:55. > :09:00.terms of its budget priorities. I would have thought the huge
:09:00. > :09:05.emphasis, even in this time of great economic stringency, that we
:09:05. > :09:08.are given too early intervention with a substantial transfer of
:09:08. > :09:12.funds in this extraordinarily difficult time, is an indication
:09:12. > :09:16.that this government is concerned for every child in Scotland and
:09:16. > :09:20.wants to make the earliest intervention possible so that we
:09:20. > :09:26.can try and establish the quality of opportunity that will do this
:09:26. > :09:30.country and parliament proud. just say, I am asking this question
:09:30. > :09:35.as a mother. There are mothers across the country asking the same
:09:35. > :09:39.question. These children are hidden to the system. I am asking you,
:09:39. > :09:44.what can you do? Can you have an independent inquiry into how the
:09:44. > :09:48.child protection system is working? There will be bits of it that are
:09:49. > :09:52.fantastic, but clearly there is a huge problem. If we have an
:09:52. > :09:55.independent inquiry we can work together to challenge this most
:09:55. > :10:00.awful circumstances, happening in our communities, and make Scotland
:10:00. > :10:04.a better place for our most vulnerable children. Can I just
:10:04. > :10:10.point out that the improvements in the inspection team came about as a
:10:10. > :10:14.result of such an inquiry looking at tragic individual cases and
:10:14. > :10:18.seeing how that reflected on the system across the country. These
:10:18. > :10:21.improvements have been made and there is substantial evidence that
:10:21. > :10:29.the social work departments, as result of inspections, are
:10:29. > :10:32.performing much better than they were before. If she asking for a
:10:32. > :10:37.guarantee that there will never be a tragic circumstance? I cannot
:10:37. > :10:40.give that guarantee. No politician can. If she is asking the question
:10:40. > :10:44.of what has been done by this Government, then the systematic
:10:44. > :10:49.improvement in inspection regimes validates what has been done. If
:10:49. > :10:53.she is asking about budget choices, then a huge input of resources into
:10:53. > :11:03.early intervention indicates that this Government cares, as all this
:11:03. > :11:08.Parliament cares, about all of Scotland's children. May I add my a
:11:08. > :11:10.welcome to Joanne Lamont and her election as the first leader of all
:11:10. > :11:15.Labour Party in Scotland and my own Christmas wishes to the members of
:11:15. > :11:23.the chamber. To the First Minister, can I ask when he will next meet
:11:23. > :11:27.the Prime Minister? No plans in the near future. As the STUC has
:11:27. > :11:30.revealed this week, eight out of the 10 of the worst areas for
:11:30. > :11:34.rising long-term unemployment across the UK are here in Scotland.
:11:34. > :11:40.This comes one week after figures revealed that unemployment in
:11:40. > :11:43.Scotland is now higher than the UK average. Week after week, all here
:11:43. > :11:47.is the First Minister claiming that -- claiming the credit when things
:11:47. > :11:51.look good but shoving the blame anywhere else when they look bad.
:11:51. > :11:56.One ministerial job for one Scottish Nationalist is not the
:11:56. > :12:00.same as thousands of jobs for the Scottish nation. Isn't it time that
:12:00. > :12:10.the First Minister got his eye back on the ball, started doing the job
:12:10. > :12:10.
:12:10. > :12:15.that he was elected to do, delivering jobs for Scotland?
:12:15. > :12:19.the report and unlike Ruth Davidson, I listened to what they had to say.
:12:19. > :12:23.Can I caught Stephen Boyd, the assistant general secretary, from
:12:24. > :12:27.the radio yesterday morning? Asked what to -- asked what should be
:12:27. > :12:31.done, this is what he said: "A thing we have to be very clear at
:12:31. > :12:36.this moment in time. Scotland is part of the UK economy suffering
:12:36. > :12:40.from a severe deficiency in aggregate demand. That demands a
:12:40. > :12:46.major counter-cyclical response and that can only be implemented at a
:12:46. > :12:51.UK level.'s some people might think, given that is what the STUC said,
:12:51. > :12:55.that Ruth Davidson, even at this pre-Christmas edition, has
:12:55. > :13:00.something of a brass neck, weeping crocodile tears for the Scottish
:13:00. > :13:10.unemployed when our Government's policy has a direct responsibility
:13:10. > :13:13.
:13:13. > :13:15.for the employment conditions in Scotland today. I did listen to the
:13:15. > :13:18.interview and I listened to the interview with the finance
:13:18. > :13:22.secretary, wriggling out of the areas that do come under Scottish
:13:22. > :13:27.government control. Let me say what the UK Government have done to help
:13:27. > :13:31.employment across the UK. Reducing corporation tax, investment in
:13:31. > :13:34.renewables, establishing a Youth Contract, a cut in National
:13:34. > :13:37.Insurance and reduction in the national debt. Let us remind
:13:37. > :13:44.ourselves of the awful fact that the First Minister is trying to run
:13:44. > :13:48.away from. 26,000 people facing their second Christmas out of work.
:13:48. > :13:54.It has happened on the First Minister's watch. He needs to take
:13:54. > :13:59.responsibility for his actions because he has the powers he needs
:13:59. > :14:07.to make the difference. The First Minister could be properly funding
:14:07. > :14:10.colleges instead of repaying �74 million out of them. He could be
:14:10. > :14:14.cutting the tax burden on businesses, not hitting the biggest
:14:14. > :14:19.businesses with more. He could be renewing the town centre
:14:19. > :14:24.regeneration fund instead of scrapping it and he could be
:14:24. > :14:29.building the 6000 socially rented homes that he promised instead of
:14:29. > :14:33.cutting is on target by one quarter. The First Minister's policies are
:14:34. > :14:43.damaging the economy. Will he take responsibility for the consequences
:14:44. > :14:46.
:14:47. > :14:51.I am doing a quick calculation. I count 250 million of additional
:14:51. > :14:56.expenditure in that list alone. I shall assume Ruth Davidson is
:14:56. > :14:59.speaking with the full of oddity of the leader of the Scottish
:14:59. > :15:09.Conservative party who will tell the Chancellor to put the cheque in
:15:09. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:20.the post. As opposed to cutting our capital budget by 32 % over the
:15:20. > :15:24.next he is. In terms of the eight out of 10, the percentage increase,
:15:24. > :15:34.unemployment is a huge difficulty but that includes for example areas
:15:34. > :15:36.
:15:36. > :15:42.like Aberdeenshire, my there was no one unemployed. The way to a level
:15:42. > :15:52.is the level of long-term unemployment. Scotland has two area
:15:52. > :15:53.
:15:53. > :15:59.is out of the UK's top 30. And three in terms of long-term
:15:59. > :16:04.unemployment. That is not to say it is not a huge problem, of course it
:16:04. > :16:07.is but when talking about the Scottish economy there are more
:16:07. > :16:13.people employed in Scotland and across the United Kingdom, there
:16:13. > :16:19.are more people in economic activity in Scotland and across the
:16:19. > :16:24.UK. Our recession was shorter and shallower than the rest of the UK
:16:24. > :16:28.and if we had the rules the S T U C were calling for there would be no
:16:28. > :16:32.deficiency of demand in the Scottish economy and Bruce Davidson
:16:32. > :16:40.and her colleagues would be able to celebrate the investment they call
:16:40. > :16:44.for. -- the Ruth Davidson. If the parliament once this Government,
:16:44. > :16:49.this parliament to have responsibility for the Scottish
:16:49. > :16:59.economy on election night they will get the tools to do the job for
:16:59. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:06.Scotland. There are proposals to change the system of charging for
:17:06. > :17:14.electricity transmission, this benefits the Highlands but not the
:17:14. > :17:17.islands, will the First Minister raised this question? Yes, this has
:17:17. > :17:22.been a constant preoccupation of many people in this chamber for
:17:22. > :17:27.many years, the huge discrepancy and unfairness of the present
:17:27. > :17:31.charging regime which discriminates against many areas of Scotland, the
:17:31. > :17:36.islands in particular. The consultative proposals which were
:17:36. > :17:41.made this week show a move in the right direction and while for some
:17:41. > :17:47.areas of Scotland the offer fairly substantial change from the current
:17:47. > :17:51.unacceptable position, there is no indication of any relief whatsoever
:17:51. > :17:56.for Our Island Communities so they can mobilise the tremendous
:17:56. > :18:00.resource they have. Just as this chamber has united in the past been
:18:00. > :18:04.pressing to in this discrimination I think we should Unite again to
:18:04. > :18:11.make sure the Islands of Scotland are included in these new
:18:11. > :18:16.settlement. Can I associate myself with what I think was a fairly
:18:16. > :18:26.accurate analysis of that statement? I know the First
:18:26. > :18:26.
:18:26. > :18:30.Minister is on record as saying if we are to achieve our targets on
:18:30. > :18:34.renewables it will require the island to play their part. In
:18:34. > :18:39.trying to be be a charging regime for the islands and mainland that
:18:39. > :18:44.is perhaps not achievable, is it now time to establish an approach
:18:44. > :18:54.which recognises the unique challenges of renewables in and
:18:54. > :18:54.
:18:54. > :19:01.around Gortney? The Scottish Government has asked for a
:19:01. > :19:08.conference on January 30th to allow you the island councils renewable
:19:08. > :19:13.developers a more level playing field for our island communities.
:19:13. > :19:17.This is a very long-standing issue, one for which we have had
:19:17. > :19:21.incredible support. It has been indicated by the UK Energy
:19:21. > :19:28.Secretary that this is an issue with which he has great sympathy.
:19:28. > :19:33.It is frustrating however that in making the progress, they seem to
:19:33. > :19:38.have omitted to remember that the islands are part of Scotland. Our
:19:38. > :19:44.argument is there is at charging regime which does not pick and
:19:44. > :19:50.unfair discrimination on the islands. I think there should be a
:19:50. > :19:54.capping regime so that people would have a certainty that the
:19:55. > :20:01.additional amount was capped at a certain level. In the current
:20:01. > :20:06.system that is not the case. I hope as we go forward with that
:20:06. > :20:15.conference we will be able to make an answerable case which we have
:20:15. > :20:19.already presented. This week the Cabinet Secretary for Health
:20:19. > :20:24.decided to close award and the Vale of Leven hospital which has caused
:20:25. > :20:29.considerable distress in my local community. Patients are being
:20:29. > :20:35.boarded out in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and even as far as
:20:35. > :20:39.Livingston. Is he aware that enhanced crisis intervention
:20:39. > :20:44.services are only available in daylight hours in parts of my
:20:44. > :20:54.constituency? Can he enhance these so that people suffering from acute
:20:54. > :20:55.
:20:55. > :21:05.mental illness are protected at all times? As she knows, this ward was
:21:05. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:13.D Rees closed by fire, that is the current situation. This situation
:21:13. > :21:18.is uppermost in the Health Secretary's mind. I would say that
:21:18. > :21:25.I do not think hospital closures around Scotland are at the Labour
:21:25. > :21:30.Party's strongest suit. To ask the First Minister what issues will be
:21:30. > :21:38.discussed and the next meeting of the cabinet. Issues of importance
:21:38. > :21:43.to the people of Scotland. welcome Ms Lamont to her position.
:21:43. > :21:47.The First Minister said he was taking seriously be �1 billion
:21:47. > :21:50.youth contract to help young people into work but yesterday when I
:21:50. > :21:55.listened to an interview with the finance secretary on the radio, he
:21:56. > :21:59.did not even mention it. Will the First Minister set out how many
:21:59. > :22:04.Scottish businesses and how many young people could benefit from the
:22:04. > :22:08.youth contract? I gave him an answer last week saying we will be
:22:08. > :22:13.delighted to co-operate with the youth contract. He seemed to
:22:13. > :22:18.conflate our pointing out that the consequentials amounted to some �6
:22:18. > :22:22.million per year as an unreasonable thing to do. I pointed out that in
:22:23. > :22:27.addition to the 80 million over the next three years we have added 12
:22:27. > :22:32.million to get the additional resources and firepower to help
:22:32. > :22:38.with the youth employment initiative. But he should
:22:38. > :22:48.understand and take yes for an answer. I have been following his
:22:48. > :22:48.
:22:48. > :22:53.tweets on this matter. All right, I am the Orly follower he has got! --
:22:53. > :23:00.the only follower. But I am fully aware of his concerns. As I said
:23:00. > :23:04.last week, for the third time, we will co-operate as a Government
:23:04. > :23:08.with the youth initiative. We would like these powers to be with his
:23:08. > :23:13.parliament which will propagate an interest in the young people of
:23:13. > :23:21.Scotland. Will he now take yes for an answer? The First Minister has
:23:21. > :23:26.to be judged by his actions. I expect he says he will support the
:23:26. > :23:32.use of contract but will he actively promote it? The youth
:23:32. > :23:38.contract, the answer to my question is simple, the of contract can
:23:38. > :23:46.benefit 160,000 young people. The suspicion is that the Scottish
:23:46. > :23:49.Government will only peddle softly because it wasn't their idea. By
:23:49. > :23:55.engaging and promoting this, the Scottish Government can do
:23:55. > :24:01.something positive for young people. They also still have in their
:24:01. > :24:06.pocket �67 million from the UK Government. He can use that to
:24:06. > :24:15.reverse the cuts to colleges. He should take the steps that he can
:24:15. > :24:25.rather than whinge about the ones he cannot. Can we have a question,
:24:25. > :24:26.
:24:26. > :24:35.Mr Rennie? This is a great year. Can he finish off? Order! Settle
:24:35. > :24:40.down! Can he finish off a with some good news for other people? Will he
:24:40. > :24:48.embraced the youth contract and save colleges? In terms of the year
:24:48. > :24:55.of contract, yes, yes, and yes again. We welcome the colleges in
:24:55. > :25:02.to the transformation fund. I do confess that I have been a follower
:25:02. > :25:12.of Liberal Democrat tweeting and not just to Willie Rennie but also
:25:12. > :25:17.
:25:17. > :25:23.to Andrew Page, the former Liberal candidate. He says that many's
:25:23. > :25:28.attacks on the SNP leadership have been weak and played directly into
:25:28. > :25:35.Salmond's hands making our party appear small-minded, tribal and
:25:35. > :25:41.idiotic. It is not surprising people are not attracted to our
:25:41. > :25:46.broader message. In the interest of Christmas spirit I will
:25:47. > :25:51.disassociate myself from those tweets. I think he should focus on
:25:52. > :26:00.the needs of the unemployed rather than making cheap remarks about
:26:00. > :26:05.other politicians. Remarks of a Liberal candidate. In terms of
:26:05. > :26:11.youth unemployment he will know that the guarantee is unrivalled
:26:11. > :26:16.anywhere in these islands. A training place, full time
:26:16. > :26:20.employment on an apprenticeship. This is in order to enable us to
:26:20. > :26:25.look at contracts in the way of what they provide for Scotland's
:26:25. > :26:30.young unemployed and above all the 25,000 apprenticeships, 60% more
:26:30. > :26:36.than the level we inherited, which I am delighted to tell this chamber
:26:36. > :26:44.I have been fully contracted by development Scotland. That is
:26:44. > :26:52.something for all of this chamber to welcome. What is the Scottish
:26:52. > :26:58.Government's position on the impact of rural communities? It is an
:26:58. > :27:03.important issue which has great resonance at this time of year.
:27:03. > :27:09.Calls for online retailers took us signed up to a pledge and comply
:27:09. > :27:14.with the law by displaying delivery costs. The will of her delivery via
:27:14. > :27:21.Royal Mail wherever possible and offer a flat rate cost. People
:27:21. > :27:26.living in rural villas are entitled to fair treatment, they should not
:27:26. > :27:33.be discriminated against simply because of where they live. --
:27:33. > :27:36.rural parts. Can I put to the First Minister that constituents of mine
:27:36. > :27:40.in Stonehaven are being charged extra despite the fact the
:27:40. > :27:44.deliveries stations are on the south side of Aberdeen. Is there
:27:44. > :27:50.anything that can be done to support trading standards officers
:27:50. > :27:54.to put an end to these unfair delivery charges? Fergus Ewing has
:27:54. > :27:59.written this week to the UK minister with responsibility to see
:27:59. > :28:04.what measures can be taken to ensure that online retailers adopt
:28:04. > :28:09.a much fairer pricing policy across the country. I did not in the
:28:09. > :28:13.Inverness Courier this week our man in Westminster, Danny Alexander,
:28:14. > :28:18.the Chief Secretary for the Treasury, was calling on such an
:28:18. > :28:21.initiative. No doubt he will not just be calling for it but be
:28:21. > :28:26.having a discussion with his parliamentary colleagues so that
:28:26. > :28:34.something is done about it. Coming to the close of a session during