Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 02 October 2013
02 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Cost of Living
Unlike David Cameron, I believe in a Scotland in which those with the broadest shoulders bear the biggest burden, but to allow that to happen we need to have a social contract that benefits everyone. Knowing that everyone gets something makes our society more cohesive. I understand why people might want to debate how many universal services we can afford when we are in the grips of Westminster austerity, but what I object to most is the attack on the principle of universal benefits and the notion of a social contract. We are a cohesive society. Through the powers of independence, we want to protect and develop the social wage. We do not want it to be knocked down as a result of Labour’s regressive party politics or Westminster austerity.
Let us not forget that we have free prescriptions that save the sick and infirm £104 per year and free university tuition that saves students £9,000 a year, or that free personal care for the elderly, which was introduced under a previous Administration, is funded and maintained by us. Those and other initiatives form our social wage. We are protecting incomes, delivering services and mitigating Westminster’s misguided austerity. We are doing so not simply because we believe that those are the right things to do for the benefit of everyone in Scotland, but because they are the fair things to do, and because international evidence shows that countries with greater equality perform better in economic terms.
However, we are doing so in the teeth of Westminster cuts, which will take hundreds of millions of pounds from households on low incomes. The cumulative reductions in Scotland will total an estimated £4.5 billion by 2015, around £1 billion of which will impact directly on children. We will not be able to mitigate the impact of all the changes, but we must continue to act when and where we can.
We have therefore pledged £23 million to mitigate the cut in council tax benefit funding and have established in partnership with councils the Scottish welfare fund, which amounts to £33 million for crisis grants and community care grants. We are also spending nearly a quarter of a billion pounds over the spending review period on fuel poverty and energy efficiency.
Let us not forget that we have free prescriptions that save the sick and infirm £104 per year and free university tuition that saves students £9,000 a year, or that free personal care for the elderly, which was introduced under a previous Administration, is funded and maintained by us. Those and other initiatives form our social wage. We are protecting incomes, delivering services and mitigating Westminster’s misguided austerity. We are doing so not simply because we believe that those are the right things to do for the benefit of everyone in Scotland, but because they are the fair things to do, and because international evidence shows that countries with greater equality perform better in economic terms.
However, we are doing so in the teeth of Westminster cuts, which will take hundreds of millions of pounds from households on low incomes. The cumulative reductions in Scotland will total an estimated £4.5 billion by 2015, around £1 billion of which will impact directly on children. We will not be able to mitigate the impact of all the changes, but we must continue to act when and where we can.
We have therefore pledged £23 million to mitigate the cut in council tax benefit funding and have established in partnership with councils the Scottish welfare fund, which amounts to £33 million for crisis grants and community care grants. We are also spending nearly a quarter of a billion pounds over the spending review period on fuel poverty and energy efficiency.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-07872, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on the cost of living.14:55
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that times are tough, but times are much, much tougher for some people than they are for others. I am not often given ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
No. We have heard enough from you. Interruption.
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
A simple “No, thank you” would suffice, Ms Baillie.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.The last time I looked, it was millionaires and bankers who had the broadest shoulders, but members should not kid themselves th...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Does Jackie Baillie agree that if the national minimum wage had been introduced at the rate of £5 per hour, which unions asked for at the time, we would not ...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
That was an interesting intervention from John Wilson. Aside from the fact that Labour ensured that the minimum wage was uprated adequately, I recall that th...
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
I appreciate what the member says and believe that she and I would be in agreement on a lot of things. However, how does she square that circle with her desi...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
That is just ridiculous. If we examine the SNP’s record, we can see that it is the SNP that is taking money away from low-income families by not targeting th...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I have not got time.I campaigned for a Scottish Parliament because I realised the Parliament’s potential to help people at times such as this. Just as the la...
Gavin Brown
Con
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I genuinely do not have enough time.What about food banks? The Trussell Trust reported in April this year that the number of people in Scotland using food ba...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
It is depressing the SNP chooses to play constitutional politics instead of thinking about the real issues affecting people in Scotland. I have already said ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I am afraid that members will have to keep to their time limits, as the debate is oversubscribed.15:09
The Minister for Youth Employment (Angela Constance)
SNP
I very much welcome the debate, which gives the Parliament an important opportunity to continue to make its distinctive voice heard on such vital matters.I b...
Drew Smith (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister take an intervention?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a minute.The bus pass for Scotland’s older citizens saves cardholders around £250 a year and the scrapping of bridge tolls saves a regular commuter £233 a...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a moment.Nursery care is being expanded, which will save families £707 per child per year.
Drew Smith
Lab
I am grateful to the minister for coming back to me.There is something that I would like the minister to help me with. I thought that the position of the Sco...
Angela Constance
SNP
Unlike David Cameron, I believe in a Scotland in which those with the broadest shoulders bear the biggest burden, but to allow that to happen we need to have...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a moment. As John Swinney has made clear, this Government will not walk by on the other side.I give way briefly to Jackie Baillie.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I will indeed be brief. Does the minister support Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze?
Angela Constance
SNP
I think that Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze is very well intended. It is a scandal that in a resource-rich country such as Scotland we have fuel poverty. ...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
But does the minister support the principle?
Angela Constance
SNP
I want to see the details. However, I have to say that I would have had more confidence in Ed Miliband had I not looked at his record in government as energy...