Meeting of the Parliament 13 January 2016
I have only six minutes, so I will not give way to Mr Stewart.
I recognise the impact of changes to the income tax personal allowance, which will take hundreds of thousands of the lowest earners in Scotland out of paying income tax altogether.
We recognise the achievements of our schools and the dedication of our teachers, but there is little doubt that our education system has historically failed some of the worst-off people in our society. We therefore welcomed the investment in the Scottish Government’s attainment fund, but we must ensure that the money is spent effectively and has measurable outcomes. It should be effectively targeted and combined with the earliest possible interventions.
My Conservative colleagues have given examples of our successful reforms in England, such as the pupil premium and increased autonomy for schools and headteachers. Schools must not be expected to provide only an excellent general education; they must also provide the skills and the support that pupils will need for their future lives. I agree with Mr Rowley that we need those skills.
The substantial range of new powers that are to come to the Parliament will be transformative and will give the Scottish Government a genuine responsibility to raise the money that it spends. That is why I am pleased that the Labour Party’s motion makes an explicit link between social and economic success because, regardless of the Parliament’s best intentions, it is our economy—the trade and hard work of individuals—that provides us with jobs, stability and improved living conditions.
It is also the hard work of our people and their success that supply us with the money that we spend here. That is why we should seek to create a Scotland that is an attractive place in which to live, do business and invest. That means that we cannot simply ramp up taxation to fund public services to some indefinite degree. There is a balance to be struck that recognises that Scotland must remain competitive not only within the UK but internationally.
We must examine how powers over measures such as the work programme can be best used and how devolution can create opportunities to work better with some of our other devolved services or even to administer services more locally to respond better to the diverse economic circumstances that we find across Scotland. I pay tribute to the Welfare Reform Committee’s serious work on that.
Poverty is linked to a range of poor outcomes not only for individuals but for society as a whole. It is a blight on the country and it is closely connected with crime, ill health, mental illness, social exclusion and a lack of skills. It must be tackled head on, seriously and in a way that reflects reducing poverty as one of our central priorities and which realises the often difficult choices that that brings. The rewards not only for individuals but for society are far too great to be overlooked.
I move amendment S4M-15290.3, to insert after “concern”:
“; welcomes that levels of poverty are at historic lows while recognising that more still needs to be done; notes that increases in employment and pay are built on the success of the UK as the fastest growing major advanced economy in the world; acknowledges the positive effect of reducing the number of workless households as work is often the most sustainable route out of poverty; considers that the national living wage premium will have a positive effect for people on the lowest wages; invites all voices across the Parliament to consider how best to use its existing powers as well as the substantial new powers to be devolved in the Scotland Bill to create a fairer, more prosperous Scotland,”.
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