Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 06 September 2023
06 Sep 2023 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Equality within the 2023-24 Programme for Government
As I have just said, the Government is on track to miss the legally binding poverty reduction targets that have been set. Clarion calls have been made in relation to the fact that the Government is going to miss those targets. [Interruption.] No—I need to make progress.
No organisation has been clearer in making that point than the Fraser of Allander Institute, which has said:
“Missing a statutory target should be a big deal, shouldn’t it? Instead we have had the equivalent of a shrug and a suggestion that the constitutional settlement means we lack the necessary levers.”
We have already heard plenty about the constitutional settlement in today’s debate. We are talking about poverty, on which we can and must do more.
Scottish Labour has offered interventions to tackle the cost of living crisis and to prevent people from experiencing poverty, but they have been ignored by the Government. We have suggested capping the cost of public transport, providing rebates on water bills, implementing mortgage rescue schemes and taking quicker action to pay care workers not £12 but £15 an hour. If the First Minister, the Cabinet and the Deputy First Minister are serious about their offer to listen and work across this chamber, they must engage on our proposals.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-10343, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on equality within the 2023-24 programme for government. I...
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (Shirley-Anne Somerville)
SNP
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Tackling poverty and protecting people from harm is one of the three critical missions for this Government, alongside...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Is it still the case that the Scottish Government will stand by the First Minister’s commitment in March for a new national funding framework for hospices in...
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
I am sure that that is an aspect that the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care can deal with in his closing speech. I recognise that ma...
Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The cabinet secretary might have seen some correspondence on social media last night from the private, voluntary and independent sector. People in that secto...
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
We will, of course, continue to work with people right across early learning and childcare, but I will take no lessons from the Tories, who want us to follow...
Meghan Gallacher (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I welcome the opportunity to debate equality in relation to the programme for government, because yesterday’s programme was nothing short of disappointing. H...
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance (Shona Robison)
SNP
I am not sure whether the member has paid any attention to what is happening in England, where council after council—both Tory and Labour—is going bankrupt. ...
Meghan Gallacher
Con
I am not quite sure that the cabinet secretary understands the damage that her Government is doing to local authorities across Scotland—to community centres,...
Paul O’Kane (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to have the opportunity to open this debate for Scottish Labour on equalities in the programme for government, and I will begin with areas of co...
Shona Robison
SNP
I want to go back to the issue of the social care workforce. I notice that the Labour amendment talks about “a workable plan for achieving a £15 an hour min...
Paul O’Kane
Lab
The Deputy First Minister well knows that, budget after budget, the Scottish Labour Party has brought to the chamber proposals on how we can accelerate to £1...
The Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees (Emma Roddick)
SNP
Given that it is estimated that, so far, the Scottish Government’s anti-poverty measures have lifted 90,000 children out of poverty, is that not the sort of ...
Paul O’Kane
Lab
As I have just said, the Government is on track to miss the legally binding poverty reduction targets that have been set. Clarion calls have been made in rel...
Shona Robison
SNP
Will the member give way on that point?
Paul O’Kane
Lab
No. I mentioned care workers because we know how vital health and social care are to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has the best life that they can, but...
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member should be concluding.
Paul O’Kane
Lab
Each year, that commitment slips further and further into the parliamentary calendar for delivery. Today, along with my colleagues, I met campaigners outsid...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I am pleased to have the chance to contribute briefly to this afternoon’s debate on the programme for government. Its title—“Equality, Opportunity, Community...
Martin Whitfield (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Is it not also a truism that the families who have suffered the most in trying to gain access to child benefits are some of the poorest families in Scotland?
Liam McArthur
LD
That point is very well made by Martin Whitfield. Even if the Government succeeds in growing the workforce by 1,000, it will still not reach the level that ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move on to the open debate. I remind members that their speeches should be up to six minutes long. 15:24
Kaukab Stewart (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
Before I focus on some of the equality measures that are set out in the programme for government, I put on the record how pleased I was yesterday to hear the...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I advise members that we have some time in hand, so there is time for members to take interventions should they wish to do so. 15:30
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I found it interesting that Kaukab Stewart majored on priorities, because I listened carefully to the First Minister’s speech yesterday, in which he explicit...
Kevin Stewart
SNP
I agree that education is a priority but, when I have talked to many teachers in my constituency over the years, they have said that it is difficult to teach...
Liam Kerr
Con
Part of what Mr Stewart said included an important point, which is that Magic Breakfast says that Scotland is an outlier when it comes to having no nationall...
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Liam Kerr
Con
I will carry on and take an intervention if I have time. That is exactly the sort of smoke and mirrors that the First Minister is employing, and we have to ...