Hansard

I welcome this further debate on education, which reflects many of the issues that we considered when I led a similar debate a fortnight or so ago, and I thank Kezia Dugdale, lain Gray and their colleagues for enabling it to happen.

Scottish Liberal Democrats agree with Labour that education spending must, as a minimum, be protected over the next five years. That does not represent an undue focus on so-called inputs; rather, it is an entirely appropriate response to the considerable challenges that Scottish education faces: 152,000 college places have been lost since 2007 and there has been a failure to deliver on early learning ambitions, given that just 7 per cent of two-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are accessing free provision, which is a quarter of what was promised by ministers.

In addition, our education system is slipping down the international standings. In that context, a commitment from each party to maintain education spending would be a welcome start. However, there is a risk that persevering with the current approach will simply embed some of the failures that the SNP has presided over in recent years. It will not deliver the transformation in education that the Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see; it may not even be enough to reverse some of those worrying trends. However, as I said, in the context of the impending cuts that the Scottish Government has chosen to impose, it would at least be a start.

Those cuts are real, and they are savage: £500 million from local authorities that are tasked with delivering our schools and our childcare. Bizarrely, in highlighting those concerns, I have incurred the wrath of nationalists locally in Orkney, who have accused me of scaremongering, yet the convener of the local council condemned the cuts as totally unacceptable. Councils across Scotland have not been mincing their words. They told the finance secretary in no uncertain terms that his cuts will hurt front-line services and

“prove very bad for the most vulnerable in our communities”.

Mr Swinney’s response was to increase the fines for those daring to disobey.

Some councils have already started to spell out where the cuts will fall. When half of what councils do is education, ministers should be in no doubt that the cuts will be felt most severely by our children and in our classrooms.

That is why the Scottish Liberal Democrats have proposed a penny for education. That would give us £475 million, which would enable us to make the biggest investment in education since devolution. It would enable us to deliver a transformation in Scottish education, from the early years right through to further education. It would enable investment in a pupil premium, in early learning, in our colleges and in our schools.

That investment in education would get Scotland fit for the future. It would help to propel our education system back up the international tables. It would help the one in five businesses that cannot find people with the skills that they need. Crucially, the investment would ensure that every child and young person has the opportunity to get on in life. It is a progressive alternative to the cuts that are being imposed or proposed by SNP ministers—cuts to schools that are anything but progressive.

The cabinet secretary need not just take my word for it. As Kezia Dugdale indicated earlier, this week the IPPR said:

“For Scotland, matching the UK government’s tax plans would reduce tax for the rich but not the poor; the proposals of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Labour”

to raise income tax by a penny

“would increase tax on the rich but not on the poor”.

The Resolution Foundation think tank concluded that the policy would reduce the impact of cuts and that it “would be progressive”, thanks to the big increases in the personal allowance that Liberal Democrats secured under the previous coalition Government.

For all their voodoo maths, SNP ministers cannot escape the fact that someone on £100,000 would pay 30 times as much as someone on £21,000. Under our plans, someone would have to earn more than £19,000 to pay more tax next year compared with this year.

The way that the Liberal Democrats would spend the penny for education would be similarly progressive. We would reverse the cuts to education and focus on creating opportunity where there is none or where it is presently curtailed. We would focus on giving children and young people, particularly those from the poorest backgrounds, the best possible start in life.

Ministers’ tired excuses no longer apply. The Scottish Government’s income is no longer fixed. We have the powers and there are costed alternative tax proposals on the table. We do not need to wait, yet ministers are happy to talk left and walk right. John Swinney has chosen to impose the kind of budget that he has previously condemned.

As my amendment notes, there are many examples of world-class teaching and learning experiences here, from early learning through to further and higher education. Ministers are right to state that Scottish education has the potential to lead the world. However, they once again overlook that, under their leadership, our international standing is headed in the wrong direction. For all the positives, the OECD report made it clear that our standing is slipping.

Implementing savage cuts to education is a destructive response that will do nothing to reverse a trend that should seriously worry members in the chamber. It is certainly worrying parents, businesses that cannot get the skilled workforce that they need and those who care about nurturing the talents of each and every individual in our country.

The Liberal Democrats are not prepared to stand by while the SNP is happy to demand powers but not to use them; happy to blame Westminster rather than take responsibility; and happy to slash council budgets rather than invest in the future of our children and young people.

That is why we will support the Labour motion this afternoon. I move amendment S4M-15588.1, to insert at end:

“; notes that, while Scotland has traditionally excelled in education and many aspects of the system remain world class, its international advantage is slipping, there is an urgent need for new measures to close the attainment gap, college places have been cut by 152,000 since 2007 and businesses are struggling to find the skills that they need, and endorses the proposal to put a penny on income tax, raising £475 million per year, to prevent planned education cuts, improve life chances and strengthen the economy”.