:00:22. > :00:25.A warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament here at Holyrood.
:00:25. > :00:30.Questions to the First Minister. But a different format today. For
:00:30. > :00:34.one thing, the First Minister is not there. He is in Chicago for the
:00:34. > :00:39.Ryder Cup. I would not be surprised if Nicola Sturgeon who is standing
:00:39. > :00:45.in as the deputy, tries to turn around and put some questions of
:00:46. > :00:51.Arend to Labour's Juana Lamont. That is after she said to things
:00:51. > :00:54.like a free bus passes might not be able to be afforded by Scotland in
:00:55. > :01:02.the future. I bet there is contention in the chamber. Let's
:01:02. > :01:09.find out. Thank you, Brian. General questions are on going here. We
:01:09. > :01:14.expect them to wrap up shortly. Christian number one, Joanna Lamond.
:01:14. > :01:21.To ask the Deputy First Minister what plans she has for the rest of
:01:22. > :01:29.the day. I will have meetings to take forward the plans for Scotland.
:01:29. > :01:34.That includes personal care and bus travel for pensioners and
:01:34. > :01:38.healthcare free at the point of need. The late Campbell Christie
:01:38. > :01:42.was one of the finest trade Unionists this country has produced.
:01:42. > :01:47.And man who fought uncaring Tory governments at every turn and
:01:47. > :01:52.helped deliver this place to protect the people of Scotland. His
:01:52. > :01:57.commission, his commission on the future delivery of public services,
:01:57. > :02:02.written for this SNP government said, contentious issues such as
:02:02. > :02:08.the continuation of universal entitlements must be considered
:02:08. > :02:13.openly and transparently, rather than in a current polarised terms.
:02:13. > :02:18.This is about the kind of fairness we want to reach for our
:02:18. > :02:23.communities. With spending projected not to get even 2010
:02:23. > :02:29.levels for another 15 years, and Scotland's population ageing, I
:02:29. > :02:33.agree with Campbell Christie. I believe that debate about how we
:02:33. > :02:40.made make choices care for people across Scotland must happen before
:02:40. > :02:49.the referendum. Does Nicola Sturgeon? Deputy First Minister.
:02:49. > :02:59.Order. That begs the question why a duo Wham Lamont has set up a
:02:59. > :03:03.
:03:03. > :03:07.commission that reports before 2014. Can I agree with her? Can I agree
:03:07. > :03:12.about the late Campbell Christie because he did have a tremendous
:03:12. > :03:19.record about fighting uncaring Tory governments, if only there were
:03:19. > :03:26.people on the Labour benches today. Presiding Officer, this government
:03:26. > :03:30.makes its choices. We deliver balanced budgets to this Parliament,
:03:30. > :03:35.balanced budgets that focus on growth, on protecting public
:03:35. > :03:40.services and yes, yes, protecting the household budgets of families
:03:41. > :03:46.who are struggling to make ends meet. We will be proud to protect
:03:46. > :03:50.the council tax freeze. We will be proud to protect free education for
:03:50. > :03:55.working-class young people. We will be proud to protect free personal
:03:55. > :04:00.care and bus travel for our pensioners. If Joanna Lamond wants
:04:00. > :04:08.to make that the dividing line of Scottish politics, I have one thing
:04:08. > :04:15.to say to her, bring on. Order, order. For what Nicola Sturgeon
:04:15. > :04:21.needs to understand, this is not a game about dividing lines. This is
:04:21. > :04:25.not about her election will future. This is what is happening in our
:04:26. > :04:32.communities across Scotland. She ought not to believe what has been
:04:32. > :04:38.doctor tells her. We need an open and honest debate -- her spin-
:04:38. > :04:44.doctor. If she does not want to agree with Campbell Christie and me,
:04:44. > :04:50.maybe she will agree with one of her own. With her chief economic
:04:50. > :04:54.adviser in another report commissioned by her government. He
:04:54. > :04:58.said free services, concessionary travel, prescription charges, eye
:04:58. > :05:03.examinations, tuition fees are commendable but simply may no
:05:04. > :05:09.longer be affordable. But critically, he added a debate needs
:05:09. > :05:14.to be had on whether those who can afford to pay might be invited to
:05:14. > :05:20.do so, thus allowing better targeting of those most in need.
:05:20. > :05:26.The fact of the matter is, her own Minister, Alex Neil, when he got
:05:26. > :05:31.rid of the universal provision of central heating systems said, it
:05:31. > :05:41.would be inappropriate to use scarce resources to provide free
:05:41. > :05:42.
:05:42. > :05:45.central heating systems for some of our retired bankers, for example,
:05:45. > :05:51.who exceed -- who receive substantial benefits. This is not
:05:51. > :05:56.an issue of the principle of universality, it is critically a
:05:56. > :06:00.calculation, and electoral calculation by Nicola Sturgeon. Y
:06:00. > :06:07.when she have the debate demanded by Campbell Christie and beverage
:06:07. > :06:14.and make sure we have that debate this side of the referendum?
:06:14. > :06:20.should make no mistake. I relish this debate. I think she is on
:06:20. > :06:25.pretty dodgy ground invoking spin- doctors into this debate. Within 20
:06:25. > :06:28.minutes of her making her brave speech on Tuesday, she had
:06:28. > :06:32.dispatched her spin doctors to say, she did not really mean police
:06:32. > :06:38.numbers, she did not really mean bus travel for pensioners, she did
:06:39. > :06:46.not really mean free personal care, except after midwinter has told the
:06:46. > :06:50.truth today. He has told the truth today. There are lots of things you
:06:50. > :06:58.can call that kind of approach from Labour. Shambolic is the word which
:06:58. > :07:05.springs to my mind. Let me tell Johann Lamont something for free.
:07:06. > :07:09.It is not brave and it is not honest. Yes, it is not easy to
:07:09. > :07:15.deliver balanced budgets where those budgets have been cut by the
:07:15. > :07:24.Tories. That is why we are queue for the control of our own
:07:24. > :07:29.resources. Joanna Lamond's answer to that is to pass on Tory cuts.
:07:29. > :07:32.Professor Arthur midwinter will be advising on this issue. The Deputy
:07:32. > :07:39.First Minister might decide these things sound good in here but it
:07:39. > :07:43.sounds like a lot of nonsense. Order! I agree with the Deputy
:07:43. > :07:49.First Minister that the budget has been cut, but if the budget has
:07:49. > :07:53.been cut, why does she stick with the same priorities that she set
:07:53. > :07:58.out in 2007? If there are cuts, the dispute is not whether there are
:07:58. > :08:03.cuts or not which is the way Nicola Sturgeon wants to present it, it is
:08:03. > :08:10.about which cuts you make in tough times. Let me explain what real
:08:10. > :08:15.people think. Nicola Sturgeon lives in a household with an income of
:08:15. > :08:20.more than �200,000 a year. She gets free prescriptions. Free
:08:20. > :08:25.prescriptions cost �57 million a year. How many nurses is that? Like
:08:25. > :08:29.me, she will have saved more than �400 from the council tax freeze.
:08:29. > :08:32.Yet my children's school and schools across the country are
:08:32. > :08:40.getting to the stage where they cannot even do the basics like
:08:40. > :08:45.photocopying materials. If spending cuts threaten the kind of free care
:08:45. > :08:49.for the elderly that we want to deliver, is it fair that women like
:08:49. > :08:55.her on 200 grand get free prescriptions? Is it fair that the
:08:55. > :08:59.sturgeon household, on 200,000 a year get universal benefits when
:08:59. > :09:09.families on average earnings pay more for child care than they do
:09:09. > :09:13.for their mortgage? Labour are obviously more out of touch than I
:09:13. > :09:18.thought they were. Let me remind her that under the system of
:09:18. > :09:24.prescription charges, that she and her party presided over, people
:09:24. > :09:31.earning as little as �16,000 a year pay prescription charges. That is
:09:31. > :09:39.why it is fair to abolish prescription charges. On the
:09:39. > :09:44.council tax freeze, if Labour think the council tax freeze is so wrong,
:09:44. > :09:47.if they think it is doing so much damage, then why is it that just
:09:47. > :09:51.five months ago in the local government elections, Labour
:09:51. > :09:56.promised to continue the council tax freeze. I have it here.
:09:56. > :10:05.Labour's Glasgow manifesto, 100 things we will do, number one on
:10:05. > :10:12.the list, continued to freeze council tax for the next five years.
:10:12. > :10:19.Jawline Lamont likes to talk about honesty but if she was being honest
:10:19. > :10:24.then, by definition she is being deeply dishonest now. We know that
:10:24. > :10:30.your council tax freezes underfunded and what we now have to
:10:30. > :10:34.confront, I have been to too many meetings listening to care workers
:10:34. > :10:39.describing their lives now and their terms and conditions. I have
:10:39. > :10:44.listened to many carers mopping up for the fact that budgets have been
:10:44. > :10:47.cut to stay silent on this issue. Talk about not opening the gas bill
:10:47. > :10:52.but putting it in the drawer. That is what Nicola Sturgeon is doing
:10:52. > :10:58.with the nation's bills. And let me tell her, as every decent household
:10:58. > :11:05.knows, that never ends well. These are serious times. You said you
:11:06. > :11:14.want a debate, have won. Let the people of Scotland to choose. If
:11:14. > :11:18.she closes the debate, if she shuts down the debate, she had better
:11:18. > :11:24.explained to the carer told they can only care for a pensioner for
:11:24. > :11:29.15 minutes of why that is happening. To the Sun why that is the only
:11:29. > :11:36.care his mother gets. To the child a cannot have the classroom support
:11:36. > :11:40.they required to maintain their child in mainstream education.
:11:40. > :11:47.There is a public spending crisis happening now and it is going to
:11:47. > :11:53.get worse and she should face up to it. Yes, the Tories are cutting the
:11:53. > :11:57.budget, but within that budget, we will all be judged about the
:11:57. > :12:01.choices we make, whether it is our benefits or the needs of the people
:12:01. > :12:11.of this country. She should get that and she she changed her mind
:12:11. > :12:17.
:12:17. > :12:20.Can I remind Johann Lamont gently that the people in Scotland did
:12:20. > :12:24.choose in May 2011, the overwhelmingly chose free
:12:24. > :12:28.prescription charges, a freeze on the council tax and free university
:12:28. > :12:33.education for working-class kids. I say that to Johann Lamont that if
:12:33. > :12:36.she is saying she wants to reverse all these policies, don't set up a
:12:36. > :12:41.commission, have the guts to say so and that the people of Scotland
:12:41. > :12:48.choose after that. But don't just listen to me about this, let's have
:12:48. > :12:53.a look at some of the reaction from Labour posters on a blog site. What
:12:53. > :12:58.are we doing? Did we learn nothing from the New Labour nonsense? This
:12:58. > :13:02.is not a speech based on any reasonable interpretation of Labour
:13:02. > :13:09.values. This is what Labour members have to say. But all is not lost
:13:09. > :13:13.for Johann Lamont because Murdo Fraser was quick to take to put a.
:13:13. > :13:22.What he said was, good to see Johann Lamont warming to Tormey
:13:22. > :13:29.policies. -- to Tory policies. We can laugh, but you know what, it is
:13:30. > :13:34.actually quite tragic. Johann Lamont, poster girl for the Tories.
:13:34. > :13:43.Whatever happened to Labour? We used to have New Labour but now we
:13:43. > :13:46.have got Johann Lamont, New Blair. Question number two. Ruth Davidson.
:13:46. > :13:52.Thank you presiding Officer. To ask the Deputy First Minister when she
:13:52. > :13:57.will next meet the Prime Minister. I have no plans to meet with the
:13:57. > :14:01.Prime Minister in the immediate future. Thank you. I would like to
:14:01. > :14:05.thank both of the Honourable leaders for finally, belatedly
:14:05. > :14:11.bringing the debate on the grounds that the Conservatives have been
:14:11. > :14:17.talking about since before the last election. Order, let us hear the
:14:17. > :14:21.member, please. I am pleased the Deputy Presiding Officer wished to
:14:21. > :14:25.remind the chamber that there was one party which was not taking part
:14:25. > :14:32.in a Dutch auction in 2011, who had found ideas for prescription
:14:32. > :14:36.charges, council tax and student funding. But last week, the finance
:14:36. > :14:40.secretary gave us what he said would be a Budget for growth. He
:14:40. > :14:44.gave it a quick build up. He took to the newspapers and the airwaves
:14:44. > :14:50.and said every penny would be put towards the economy. That was a
:14:50. > :14:55.Budget which fell apart in 24 hours, which has been decried by the
:14:55. > :15:00.leading economist Professor David Bell. It has been decried by the
:15:00. > :15:04.construction industry chiefs and even by the Parliament's own
:15:04. > :15:10.independent service. Let's give the Deputy First Minister a chance to
:15:10. > :15:15.repair the damage. Can she tell me now, what is the big game changer
:15:15. > :15:25.in 2013 / 14, to give the Scottish economy the beast which John
:15:25. > :15:29.
:15:29. > :15:34.I do agree with one thing. The Conservatives have always talked
:15:34. > :15:41.about cuts and penalising hard- working families. As regards the
:15:41. > :15:47.Dutch auction, I seem to remember she used to claim credit for at the
:15:47. > :15:54.council tax threes, so she should never look back at some of her
:15:54. > :16:01.previous speeches. It was the Budget focused on getting growth in
:16:01. > :16:07.that our economy - �40 million per year in housing and more funding in
:16:07. > :16:11.schools, Green Investment, adding to the capital programme we have
:16:11. > :16:21.this year. That is what we are doing to accelerate construction
:16:21. > :16:27.and get growth and jobs in that our economy. She mention Michael, he
:16:27. > :16:30.actually welcomed the steps we are taking and said that the United
:16:30. > :16:38.Kingdom Government needs to do more. So perhaps she should get on the
:16:38. > :16:46.phone to the Prime Minister to ask him to do his bit. She clearly to
:16:46. > :16:51.read the press relief. The �80 million for schools would not taken
:16:51. > :16:58.until the year after and the money for housing was to compensate for
:16:58. > :17:03.the funds which had already been taken out of the programme. At the.
:17:03. > :17:08.The budget was being picked apart, he was speaking to Scholl and's
:17:08. > :17:13.accountants but what he told on was he was going to correct his own
:17:13. > :17:22.leaders work in January to say that a separate Scotland would take
:17:22. > :17:30.called a share of the multi- Chilean banking industry. This
:17:30. > :17:35.follows the gaffe by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP's economic
:17:36. > :17:40.illiteracy. This week has proved that not only does this government
:17:40. > :17:48.able to make a budget for today, but they have no idea to construct
:17:48. > :17:53.a financial system for the future. The at the back of the cigarette
:17:53. > :17:57.packet government and talk about this mythical white paper we are
:17:57. > :18:02.Rollitt expected to seek at the end of next year. If the Scottish
:18:02. > :18:11.National Party is asking everyone to trust them, but they will not
:18:11. > :18:14.tell how they will keep that money saved, it can be Deputy First
:18:14. > :18:22.Minister tell us in pounds and pennies how much of this they are
:18:22. > :18:26.willing to take on? I would ask her to listen carefully to my answer.
:18:26. > :18:32.Not for the first time, Ruth Davidson has got it spectacularly
:18:32. > :18:38.wrong. Not only has the Scottish National Party, John Swinney,
:18:38. > :18:47.myself and the First Minister that the Scotland would take their fair
:18:47. > :18:52.share of any bail-out associated with the banks. The net borrowing
:18:52. > :19:01.for the bank bail-out, the population share for Scotland, is
:19:01. > :19:06.already included in the figures. It is already there. These very same
:19:06. > :19:11.figures show that Scotland has the relative Supplies, in other words,
:19:11. > :19:21.an independent Scotland would be richer than we are now it - another
:19:21. > :19:28.
:19:28. > :19:35.good reason to vote yes. Without wishing to prejudge regarding the
:19:35. > :19:45.death of Mike colleague in Council, six complaints have been upheld by
:19:45. > :19:45.
:19:45. > :19:55.the care can spectre it, it would appear that too many care companies
:19:55. > :20:03.
:20:03. > :20:11.are burdened by too many clients. Will we take a look into this
:20:11. > :20:21.issue? The the death of Mr Gibson, I am sure on behalf of everyone in
:20:21. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:25.the chamber I would pass on the condolences to his family. There is
:20:25. > :20:31.an investigation been lodged by the police and I think it is important
:20:31. > :20:38.that we do not pre-empt any decision on that. I think it is
:20:38. > :20:42.absolutely essential that we have the robust system of inspection.
:20:42. > :20:47.When I was Health Secretary, I took steps to strengthen the care
:20:47. > :20:52.inspectorate that we haven't this country. Some suggestions that
:20:52. > :20:57.Malcolm made were taken for work by this government. We will wait until
:20:57. > :21:00.the outcome of the investigation and if there is action to be taken,
:21:00. > :21:06.I can give Malcolm Chisholm an absolute assurance that this
:21:06. > :21:13.government will not hesitate to take these steps. Catt I asked the
:21:13. > :21:23.Deputy First Minister, given the recent storms in the likes of
:21:23. > :21:24.
:21:24. > :21:30.Peebles, what process around place to provide the necessary resilience
:21:30. > :21:35.to assist the councils in the affected regions? I am confident
:21:35. > :21:41.that they coped well on this occasion. It was described in a BBC
:21:41. > :21:46.as the worst September storm for 13 years. We work very closely with
:21:46. > :21:52.local authorities had a space that those most affected, in the Borders
:21:52. > :21:59.and Lothians. We want to ensure that at all times we take the
:21:59. > :22:05.appropriate response. Anna liked to commend both Lothian And Borders
:22:05. > :22:15.Police and council for the prompt action be to to prevent further
:22:15. > :22:15.
:22:15. > :22:22.problems for the public. One issues will be discussed at their next
:22:22. > :22:30.meeting of the Cabinet? Can I first take the opportunity to wish him a
:22:30. > :22:40.happy birthday. He shares a birthday with the leader of the
:22:40. > :22:43.
:22:43. > :22:51.Liberal Democrat Party! Can we let the birth the boys beaky, please!
:22:51. > :22:56.It is good news that the Scottish government is focusing on nursery
:22:56. > :23:02.education. Save the children tell us that children from disadvantaged
:23:02. > :23:07.backgrounds have already fallen behind. If we want to give them a
:23:07. > :23:15.chance, will we increase provision for two year-olds, does the Deputy
:23:16. > :23:22.First Minister think that her plans to to increase the numbers of two
:23:22. > :23:29.eels by only one % will be enough to bridge that gap? K A D that
:23:29. > :23:34.making sure that we are providing education in the early years for
:23:34. > :23:40.children is of paramount importance. I think our record is extremely
:23:40. > :23:49.good and that regard. We have expanded three nursery education by
:23:49. > :23:56.15 % and we have extended the free school meals entitlement to more
:23:56. > :24:03.children and of course, we have pledged to increase from 475 course
:24:03. > :24:09.entitlement to a minimum of 600 are worse for all three and four year-
:24:09. > :24:14.olds. I do believe that is the sound package of support, but I
:24:14. > :24:19.also accept that the most vulnerable children and the
:24:19. > :24:22.youngest of those, we always have to be working towards increasing
:24:22. > :24:32.the support and giving our young children the best possible start in
:24:32. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:45.life. Sandra White knew all that, but has demanded that more needs to
:24:45. > :24:46.
:24:46. > :24:53.be done. They are going to give nursery education to fork out of 10
:24:53. > :25:00.to year-old. If it is only so small in Scotland, an entire generation
:25:01. > :25:04.will miss out. It is the gap in provision and appeal to her that
:25:04. > :25:12.the government plans should be reviewed so that the younger
:25:12. > :25:17.children do not miss out. Can I say, the package of a early years here
:25:17. > :25:23.this government is pledged to deal there is greater than what is being
:25:23. > :25:29.delivered south of the border. The Government in England is not
:25:29. > :25:34.providing 600 years at -- $600 per year. But I agreed this is
:25:34. > :25:39.something we could build some cross-party consensus on. We needed
:25:39. > :25:45.to as much as possible for our young bomb rubble children. That is
:25:45. > :25:49.why we have set up the early years Exchange Fund. These things always
:25:50. > :25:59.be kept under review so that we make sure we have taken all
:26:00. > :26:01.
:26:01. > :26:11.reasonable steps we can. What progress is being made for reducing
:26:11. > :26:12.
:26:12. > :26:19.waiting times for drug misuse? waiting time showing that the
:26:19. > :26:29.target of seen 90 % of patients within three weeks has been
:26:29. > :26:29.
:26:29. > :26:36.achieved. Await of over six months used to be not uncommon. We are
:26:37. > :26:42.seeing an increase in from line drugs services and there has been
:26:42. > :26:51.the �30.2 million allocated to health boards to tackle this,
:26:51. > :27:01.representing an increase of over one third in the last six years.
:27:01. > :27:02.
:27:02. > :27:07.do congratulate the professionals for working so hard to achieve it
:27:07. > :27:15.those targets. Can I ask the First Minister of what the next stage of
:27:15. > :27:19.this strategy will be? Given the progress we have made for drum-kit
:27:19. > :27:25.waiting time targets, the next phase of the delivery and recovery
:27:25. > :27:30.will focus on sustaining the excellent progress which has been
:27:30. > :27:34.made and that we remain the quality across all services in Scotland. We
:27:35. > :27:44.have set new standards for drug and alcohol services and these will be
:27:45. > :27:49.
:27:49. > :27:59.focused on recovery and development. What support as the Government give
:27:59. > :28:03.
:28:03. > :28:13.to colleges that may urge? -- that may emerge. The Ayr is a 17 %
:28:13. > :28:15.
:28:15. > :28:18.increase in funding for colleges in 2013-14. Are �15 million College
:28:18. > :28:23.transformation fund provides significant support support for or
:28:23. > :28:33.colleges wishing to merge. Through our college exchange team, we are
:28:33. > :28:40.working closely with individual regions to assist in all issues.
:28:40. > :28:49.Meanwhile, back in the real world, at this week's meeting of the
:28:49. > :28:56.Cultural Committee, it was said at the economic recovery will be
:28:56. > :29:01.stifled by cuts to college budgets. Neil friendly should listen
:29:01. > :29:07.carefully and look carefully at what we're doing to protect college
:29:08. > :29:15.places. That is what matters most to young people around Scotland. We
:29:15. > :29:19.are also doing what we can to ensure that both revenue funding
:29:19. > :29:24.and capital funding will deliver a substantial investment in
:29:24. > :29:28.Scotland's colleges. That is what people want from the Government
:29:28. > :29:38.operating in tough times. That is exactly what this government is
:29:38. > :29:42.
:29:42. > :29:45.doing. How will the Government ensure that patients with heart
:29:45. > :29:52.conditions get treatment comparable with those in the rest of the
:29:52. > :30:02.United Kingdom. In N H S column provides high-quality care in heart
:30:02. > :30:12.disease. Only today, he told Dr described the cardiology services
:30:12. > :30:12.
:30:12. > :30:17.in Scotland as "second to none". More patients are getting better
:30:17. > :30:23.treatment and the waiting times for treatment have fallen. We published
:30:23. > :30:33.the action pant in 2009 and supported some plummy
:30:33. > :30:41.implementation. -- and the action plan. Scholl and is lagging behind
:30:41. > :30:48.the rest of the United Kingdom. One technique of vital benefit is
:30:48. > :30:57.cardiac rehabilitation -- and in expects inexpensive treatment which
:30:57. > :31:06.can help prolong life. Will funding be increased for cardiac cardiac
:31:06. > :31:10.rehabilitation. I absolutely agree. I have been able to visit many
:31:10. > :31:17.cardiac rehabilitation groups across the country, which is why I
:31:17. > :31:26.am delighted to say that access for cardiac rehabilitation for heart
:31:26. > :31:31.attack patients has increased substantially in the last two years.