Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 March 2021
23 Mar 2021 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Covid-19 (Reflections and Next Steps)
Everybody will have lots of things that they miss and are desperate to get back to. Hugging my mum is probably the thing that I miss and look forward to doing most of all.
Over the past year, social care workers have gone above and beyond the call of duty, as have those who work in our national health service. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult, traumatic and challenging it must have been, on a day-to-day basis, to be caring for older people in one of our care homes at the height of the first wave. We talk about gratitude—I have done so today—and I regularly talk about things for which I cannot find the words. However, in this case, I genuinely cannot find the words. What we asked of our care workers, and what they gave, was truly exceptional.
I do think that it is time to pay care workers what they deserve. In Government, it is not as easy as just saying that we will do so—we have to work out what we mean by that and how we will deliver it through budgets and a policy programme. It is time that we transformed and reformed the way in which the whole social care system works. The national care service is an opportunity to transform the quality of care for our older citizens and the way in which we value and remunerate those who work in it. Should I be in a position to influence it in the next parliamentary session, that is something that I am determined to drive forward as an absolute priority.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a statement by the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on Covid-19 reflections and next steps. 14:04
The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)
SNP
This will be my final full parliamentary statement on Covid before Parliament rises for the election. As Richard Holloway noted in his thoughtful and moving...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you, First Minister. We move to questions, starting with Ruth Davidson.
Ruth Davidson (Edinburgh Central) (Con)
Con
Presiding Officer, I was proud to join you and the other party leaders for the day of reflection and the minute’s silence at noon today, as we remembered all...
The First Minister
SNP
First, I say, as I have done already today, that I think not only of those who have lost their lives to Covid in the past year, and their grieving families, ...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
A year since Scotland went into the first lockdown, almost 10,000 of our fellow Scots have lost their lives, and my thoughts are with all their families. Thi...
The First Minister
SNP
Test and protect is robust and has been so since it was established. It has played a vital role in trying to break chains of transmission and minimise the sp...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
It is the little things—the things that we took for granted—that I think we now miss most, such as hugging our mums, walking in the mountains and coffee morn...
The First Minister
SNP
Everybody will have lots of things that they miss and are desperate to get back to. Hugging my mum is probably the thing that I miss and look forward to doin...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
On this national day of reflection, on behalf of the Scottish Green Party, I send my deepest sympathies to all those who have lost a loved one in the most ch...
The First Minister
SNP
I will make two points about the prospects of a third wave. First, we cannot guarantee that it will not happen here. It is an infectious virus, and one of th...
Dr Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)
SNP
As we mark the anniversary of lockdown, I am sure that the First Minister will wish to join me in paying tribute to people in Scotland’s islands, many of who...
The First Minister
SNP
As I said last week, over the next few weeks, we will have discussions with island authorities in order to come to a view on whether, as the rest of the coun...
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I have been contacted by a 65-year-old constituent with an underlying health condition who still has not had the vaccine. The options on the helpline do not ...
The First Minister
SNP
If Maurice Golden sends me his constituent’s details, I will, of course, look into the matter. I have made it clear that, if people are not getting answers f...
Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
As we mark a year since the start of lockdown restrictions, it is impossible to ignore the toll on people’s mental health and the subsequent demand for menta...
The First Minister
SNP
The mental health recovery plan has already been set out by the Minister for Mental Health. We have announced increases in funding for and investment in ment...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Businesses in my community have struggled during the pandemic, and they have been grateful for rates relief. Many members across the chamber asked for and we...
The First Minister
SNP
We should all encourage businesses to apply timeously—as most do, for obvious reasons—for the support that is available, so that it can be got to them as qui...
Bruce Crawford (Stirling) (SNP)
SNP
Travel restrictions have been a vital component in controlling the spread of Covid-19. I was therefore very concerned, over the past weekend, when constituen...
The First Minister
SNP
That is a really important point. I think that all of us are frustrated by the inability to travel across local authority boundaries to see loved ones. I kno...
Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
On this day of reflection, one year since the first lockdown, I join others in remembering all who have lost loved ones to Covid-19. I have been in contact ...
The First Minister
SNP
Nobody is going to fall through the cracks. I ask Annie Wells to recognise that people are working really hard and are delivering exceptional success in the ...
Annabelle Ewing (Cowdenbeath) (SNP)
SNP
Many of my Cowdenbeath constituents—and indeed people across Scotland—have relied on the First Minister leading us through the coronavirus pandemic and are v...
The First Minister
SNP
Yes, I can give that assurance. Notwithstanding the election campaign, all the requirements of which I will respect and observe—it is important that there is...
Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
Will the First Minister get the Government to look at local authority business funding? Categories of business such as dog kennels, laundry services, commerc...
The First Minister
SNP
We keep all those things under review. The local authority discretionary fund has been increased since we first established it. Obviously, money is constrain...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
Given the well-publicised issues to do with vaccine supplies, particularly in April, what assurance can the First Minister give to people who are awaiting th...
The First Minister
SNP
I can give an assurance that people will receive their second dose within the 12-week window. As I said last week, because we will have, over the next four w...
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
Yesterday, I talked to members of Unite the union who represent the taxi trade. Some taxi drivers have had help during the pandemic, but in no way has that c...