Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 September 2020
01 Sep 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Programme for Government 2020-21
The First Minister asks where the money might come from. I point out that £6.5 billion in Barnett consequentials has been transferred from the UK Government to her Government. That is not allocated.
Yesterday, I walked down George Street in my constituency of Edinburgh Central, which is one of the major retail destinations of our country, and I was shocked at the number of businesses that have simply not opened their doors. I know that that will be replicated—or worse—in the shopping streets in towns across the country. In fact, the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland says that more than a third of firms that have been forced to close have no idea whether they will ever be able to reopen.
However, FSB Scotland also says that there are measures that the Scottish Government can take to help more of them to do so. A simple one is to put back the business rates revaluation, as small businesses cannot afford to pay rates that are based on pre-recession values when they have less money coming through their doors. England and Wales have already agreed to push their revaluation back to April of next year. Will the First Minister follow suit?
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 the Scottish Government’s programme for government 2020-21. The First Min...
The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)
SNP
I will start with a brief update on today’s Covid statistics. An additional 154 positive cases were confirmed yesterday. That represents 1.2 per cent of the ...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
The First Minister will now take questions on her statement.
Ruth Davidson (Edinburgh Central) (Con)
Con
I thank the First Minister for the advance sight of her statement. She has called the action to protect, support and create jobs our “national mission”, and ...
The First Minister
SNP
I thank Ruth Davidson for her comments. I absolutely understand the importance of small businesses to our economy and, indeed, to our society and our wellbei...
Ruth Davidson
Con
The First Minister asks where the money might come from. I point out that £6.5 billion in Barnett consequentials has been transferred from the UK Government ...
The First Minister
SNP
Yes, that is under consideration. I think that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance will shortly make clear our intentions on the next revaluation date. I under...
Ruth Davidson
Con
I am coming to the First Minister with practical and constructive measures that have been advanced and supported by Scotland’s largest business membership or...
The First Minister
SNP
If Ruth Davidson had listened carefully to the first part of my previous answer, she would probably have heard the direction of travel in terms of the date o...
Ruth Davidson
Con
One of the best and biggest ways to help people back into work is to sort out childcare. I think that it is sadly typical of this Government today that its c...
The First Minister
SNP
Ruth Davidson may be interested to know—or to learn—that there are many local authorities right now that are already delivering 1,140 hours. I saw today, I t...
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the First Minister for advance sight of her statement. I share her concern that the public health crisis remains a major risk. It is a matter of conc...
The First Minister
SNP
Of course, as Richard Leonard will know, we continue to work hard on an on-going basis to make sure that many of the economic benefits of vast renewables pro...
Richard Leonard
Lab
I am reminded that, back in 2010, in its “Low Carbon Economic Strategy”, the Scottish Government promised 130,000 jobs in renewables and low-carbon technolog...
The First Minister
SNP
That characterisation is completely wrong. We have legislated to reform the private rented sector, delivering and implementing many protections for tenants t...
Richard Leonard
Lab
The last time Labour was in power, child poverty halved, and I am not sure that I got a yes or a no to the question that I put. Therefore, I am not quite sur...
The First Minister
SNP
Before I move on to a national care service, I will go back to the point about tenants. Richard Leonard used the expression “crumb of comfort”. It is of more...
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
The context of this programme for government is unprecedented. In the midst of a global pandemic, with the prospect of a no-deal Brexit fast approaching, and...
The First Minister
SNP
We will absolutely look at replicating the approach at Grangemouth elsewhere. We established the just transition commission to guide us in making sure that, ...
Alison Johnstone
Green
There are few more important policies than those that would guarantee a secure roof over our heads. We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has fina...
The First Minister
SNP
I hope that Alison Johnstone’s colleagues will tell her that I have signalled an open-mindedness to discuss all those matters. I will not go into the detail ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I wish to pay a sincere tribute to professionals and volunteers who have worked to serve their communities during the pandemic. It has never been a problem ...
The First Minister
SNP
We have invested record sums in general mental health and in child and adolescent mental health. We are employing record numbers of professionals in mental h...
Willie Rennie
LD
I say to the First Minister that the numbers have doubled but there is nothing new today in the child mental health arena. What we have is yet another plan...
The First Minister
SNP
Willie Rennie is just wrong on childcare. We are delivering a commitment on—Interruption. I welcome back Mike Rumbles; I am glad that he has been able briefl...
Angela Constance (Almond Valley) (SNP)
SNP
The question is no longer whether we should establish a national care service but how we should do so. How will the comprehensive review of adult health and ...
The First Minister
SNP
I thank Angela Constance for her question, and for her leadership on this issue. Not only has she set out a vision for a national care service; she has engag...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
The First Minister said in her statement that she would publish a new inward investment plan by the end of this year. However, this time last year, she made ...
The First Minister
SNP
I hate to be the one to remind Murdo Fraser that, over the past six months, we have been living through a global pandemic. The minister who will publish the ...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
The First Minister touched on the ways in which the pandemic has affected our treasured health and social care staff, in particular the toll that it will be ...