Shirley-Anne Somerville
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“Laura Moodie: Does the cabinet secretary recognise the distress that is being caused to constituents, including a disabled veteran in my region, by the continued uncertainty around the scheme?”
“The Scottish Government has been working closely with Motability since March, and its notification of changes from 1 July in England, Wales and Northern Ireland—the 1 July commencement—is not set to apply in Scotland.”
“The Scottish Government is committed to working with East Lothian Council and private partners to unlock investment and growth at the strategic site at Blindwells, and we are providing £2.4 million of funding flexibility to support the development of the outline business case.”
“What reassurances can investors be given that the Scottish Government will work with them to deliver the project? Shirley-Anne Somerville: As I mentioned in my original answer, my ministerial colleagues and I recognise the strategic importance of Blindwells not just to housing but to the East Lothian economy.”
“Motability will continue to work with the Scottish Government to see what can be done, because it also recognises the distress and inconvenience that the situation is causing.”
“She said that she did not want to call out only Reform. Will she call out Alex Cole-Hamilton for mentioning the Third Reich or Daniel Johnson for making insinuations about fascism?”
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“That is why the latest programme for government reiterated our commitment to the delivery of the 110,000 affordable homes target by 2032. We will remove barriers to stalled sites, support people to access secure tenancies, double to £20 million our funding for housing adaptations for disabled tenants, and make available £97 million in discretionary housing payments, which mitigates the bedroom tax and the benefit cap. We have also extended the rural and island housing fund to March 2028 to deliver more affordable homes in rural and island communities. The Scottish Government will continue to make progress, applying all available powers and resources to the challenge. We will, of course, continue to work at pace alongside local authority and housing coalition partners to support a co- ordinated response.”
“The coalition made 17 asks, and I am pleased to say that we assess that our action to date has resulted in almost 90 per cent of those asks being met, in part or in full. In addition to the asks that were set out by the coalition, last week, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee published its housing inquiry report. It sets out a range of recommendations for the Scottish Government to consider as we continue our work to respond to the housing emergency. I thank the committee for its report, and we will give it close and serious attention before responding to the committee. I have set out the work that the Scottish Government has undertaken in the past 12 months. We are making progress, but we know there is much more to do as we move into the next phase of our response.”
“The activity that I have set out is enhanced by our partnership with private, public and third sector partners. The housing to 2040 board has been central to our collaborative approach, bringing together private developers, Shelter, Crisis, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and national Government to provide a forum to work collectively, share best practice and to stress test delivery plans. There have been welcome and valuable contributions from across the partnership. One example of many is the sustained constructive input from Homes for Scotland colleagues. In June last year, following the declaration of a housing emergency, some members of the board formed a coalition of partners to set out a range of actions in response.”
“That is why we have included an additional £4 million in the ending homelessness together budget for 2025-26 in order to help local authorities, front-line services and relevant partners to prepare for the new prevention measures and to help them to respond to the housing emergency by preventing homelessness before it occurs. Where possible, we are taking a cross-party approach to ensure the legislation will effectively strengthen tenants’ rights and protections so that people can have safe and warm homes. We continue to support local authorities to transition to a rapid rehousing approach, with a commitment of £8 million this financial year to deliver initiatives that prevent homelessness where possible, and when homelessness does occur, to minimise the time that is spent in temporary accommodation.”
“Focused partnership action helped an estimated 2,669 households with children into affordable housing in the year ending December 2024. Our most recent statistics show that 20 councils have reduced the number of children who are in temporary accommodation. We take two lessons from that: we are encouraged that we can make a positive difference, and it also is confirmation that there is still more to do. Our Housing (Scotland) Bill is currently undergoing stage 2 scrutiny. If passed by the Parliament, it will deliver new homelessness prevention duties and create new tenants’ rights, including long-term rent controls for the private rented sector. Those provisions will ensure that people can stay in their homes and avoid becoming homeless. The new prevention duties are seen by many as a game changer.”
“We have also progressed our programme for government commitment on strategic sites by confirming £15 million in funding to unlock the opportunities for more than 800 affordable net zero homes at the Granton strategic site, supporting our approach to place-based intervention. Alongside that, we have been working intensively with local authority partners to better understand the local drivers of homelessness and temporary accommodation, which is helping partners to develop plans for impactful, purposeful spend, while sharing best practice and pursuing economies-of-scale opportunities. I turn to our action on homelessness. Temporary accommodation is an important safety net for those who need it, but we want far fewer households, especially those with children, to be in temporary accommodation.”
“We have progressed the 23 actions that are set out in the Government’s “Planning and the Housing Emergency—Delivery Plan” and we have worked at pace and in close collaboration with housing providers and local government on removing barriers to stalled housing sites. Through strategic actions and direct intervention, we are supporting the delivery of up to 20,000 new homes. The stalled sites work that has been undertaken since the autumn is another example of the required partnership working, where Government and business are working together to identify the problems and deliver solutions.”
“That approach has brought more than 1,000 properties into use as affordable homes, helping to reduce the number of homeless households spending long periods in temporary accommodation. A further reflection of our determination to focus our efforts on the people who are most in need is our work with local authorities to directly support increased family housing capacity. Our investment of £3.7 million in the Scottish empty homes partnership and network of empty homes officers is also delivering real results, with more than 11,000 homes being returned to active use since 2010, including 1,875 in one year alone, as per the latest analysis. Our work on planning is demonstrating the activist, supportive government approach that will take Scotland through and beyond the housing emergency.”
“We have also invested £46 million in charitable bonds, supporting the delivery of around 325 homes. That will generate £13.8 million in charitable donations to help to fund future affordable housing projects. To home in on the areas in most need, we have adopted a targeted approach. We introduced a new £80 million voids and acquisitions fund, with 80 per cent of that resource being directed towards the five local authorities that face the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures. We have already seen marked positive impacts, with the City of Edinburgh Council’s management information showing us that void levels have been cut by more than 50 per cent since June 2023.”
“I am pleased that, as part of our commitment, the housing investment task force, in addition to the work that it has done with Government over the past year, provided its report to ministers, which will be published in the next few weeks. We are now focused on long-term plans for implementing those recommendations to unlock new investment opportunities across all tenures. Optimising the impact of investment is essential if we are to bring further private investment into the housing sector. One clear example of how we aim to amplify increasing institutional investment is the £100 million funding that was committed last year, which is intended to grow to at least £500 million to fund construction of 2,800 mid-market rent homes. The procurement for market testing of that is now live.”
“I will take a moment to summarise some of the key activities and outputs from this year’s delivery. This year, the Scottish Government is investing £768 million to support the delivery of 8,000 homes for social and mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership. We have also announced £4 million of homelessness prevention funding and £2 million to increase the scale and pace of privately owned empty homes being returned to use. We remain committed to working closely with the private sector to support economic growth, including through regional economic partnerships. Yesterday, the Minister for Housing attended an event in Annan in the south of Scotland organised by Prosper, exploring opportunities for housing and its role in supporting the economy across the region.”
“Housing has an essential part to play in delivering the First Minister’s four key priorities for Scotland, most notably those on eradicating child poverty and growing Scotland’s economy. Housing is both a social and an economic good. It is critical to supporting health, wellbeing, life chances, job prospects and tackling child poverty. We know that more people must be able to access good, affordable homes, but the drivers of the housing emergency are long standing, complex and interconnected. A broad span of ownership and co-operation is therefore required to deliver comprehensive solutions, which is why, over the past year, we have built a strong collaboration with a range of key partners spanning the Scottish Government, local government, housing representative bodies, developers, investors, third sector organisations and tenant groups.”
“I hope that the EHRC will take up the opportunity to speak to Scottish Government ministers soon, because I am determined to ensure that the Scottish Government does the work that people expect us to do.”
“The cabinet secretary and the Scottish Government are dragging their heels, so I ask again: when will the Scottish Government implement the EHRC interim update? It is a simple question—what is the date? Shirley-Anne Somerville: As I have already said—but I will try once again—the Scottish Government has already begun its work to review the policies, guidance and legislation that are impacted by the decision through the cross- Government short-life working group. Decisions on the parliamentary estate are for the Scottish Parliament to take. I assure members that we have begun to undertake our work. I am disappointed that the EHRC cancelled its meeting with Scottish ministers, when we could have gone through this in detail. As I said in my recent correspondence with the EHRC, my diary remains open for further discussions on the matter.”
“The EHRC has not objected to that approach from the Scottish Government. Pam Gosal: As expected, the cabinet secretary has not provided a clear answer. It has been more than one month since the UK Supreme Court’s monumental judgment on the definition of the word “woman”, and almost a month since the EHRC published its interim update. Two weeks ago, the Scottish Parliament announced that it will be implementing what is in the update. However, bodies that are still waiting for clarity from the Scottish Government include the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and the national health service nursing unions. Sandie Peggie is calling for the Royal College of Nursing to take a stand, and prisons need clarity on how to handle transgender prisoners.”
“The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched its consultation on updating its code of practice, which will run to 30 June 2025. We encourage organisations to engage with the consultation. The Scottish Government is reviewing its policies, its guidance and the legislation impacted by the judgment through the cross-Government short-life working group to ensure that we are ready and prepared ahead of the updated code of practice being published. On 15 May, I met the United Kingdom Government to discuss the Supreme Court judgment and our work to prepare for the updated EHRC code of practice. The UK Government confirmed that it, too, is waiting for the EHRC’s updated code of practice before it issues any further guidance, to ensure consistency in this complex area of law.”
“I will not stop going on about that this year, and nor will the First Minister. The Deputy Presiding Officer: There are a number of supplementaries, and I will try to get them all in. They will need to be brief, as will the responses.”
“On accountability, given that the affordable housing supply programme risk register, obtained by Scottish Labour through a freedom of information request, shows that staffing, financial and commercial risks are all so high that the 110,000 target is at risk, what is the Scottish Government doing to address those risks—or does the cabinet secretary, like the First Minister, think that we should all just move on from the issue? Shirley-Anne Somerville: I assure the member that the Government is absolutely determined to deliver on the 110,000 affordable homes target. What the First Minister was pointing to—and I make no apology for also doing so—is the hypocrisy of the Labour Party in coming to the chamber to talk about putting more money into housing when it would not even support the £768 million that is in this year’s budget.”
“No matter how much the First Minister would like the Labour Party to “move on and find something else to talk about or to moan about”,—[Official Report, 6 May 2025; c 29.] which I noticed that he doubled down on at First Minister’s question time today, when he told us to stop “whinging”, we will continue to hold the Government to account for that failure and to advocate for action to help those 10,000 homeless children.”
“We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes across Scotland by 2032, with at least 70 per cent for social rent and 10 per cent in our rural and island communities, backed by the investment of £768 million in 2025-26. We will continue to work with partners to increase the number and availability of affordable homes to help to tackle the housing emergency and deliver on our target. Paul O’Kane: Delivering more affordable homes is a vital component of tackling the tragedy of there being 10,000 homeless children in Scotland.”
“Social Security Scotland actively manages its workforce to ensure that resources are managed effectively and efficiently, ensuring that there is value for money for the public and that it delivers on requirements. That involves managing application peaks and the challenges that inevitably come with the roll-out of additional benefits, such as the pension age disability payment and the winter fuel payments that I mentioned earlier. Affordable Homes Target 8.”
“What assurances can the cabinet secretary give about the available capacity at Social Security Scotland, particularly given the transfer of some 66,000 disability living allowance recipients to Scottish adult disability living allowance? What progress has been made in approving accessibility of key performance indicator data in order to assist with the improved scrutiny of how Social Security Scotland is functioning overall? Shirley-Anne Somerville: In the past six years, the agency has grown at pace and is now delivering 15 benefits, seven of which are available only in Scotland. This winter, the agency will introduce the pension age winter heating payment, which will restore winter fuel payments for pensioners.”
“Social Security Scotland has significantly improved processing times. In April 2023, processing time for adult disability payments was 96 working days, and the latest statistics from January 2025 show it as 42 days. The agency’s flexible approach manages client demand effectively. Along with new applicants being supported, more than 390,000 people have now had their awards transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions. Client satisfaction remains high, and 90 per cent rate their overall experience as “very good” or “good”. I hope that that reassures Ms Thomson that the Government is taking very seriously the need for improvements in processing times. Michelle Thomson: Since the agency was set up six years ago, there has been a quite remarkable delivery of 15 benefits.”
“I absolutely take the member’s point about the concerns that carers have raised. However, I urge caution, because it is an exceptionally complex area. We need to ensure that the differences that any change will make to the wider support for carers, some of which is still reserved, are taken into account. I assure Mr Greene that we will do that. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Collette Stevenson has a brief supplementary question.”
“I reassure him that we are already trying to undertake—and have undertaken—work with carers to make sure that the information on the earnings rules for carer support payment, as it stands, is clearer. For example, to provide more stable support, we average out carers’ earnings and use data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and scheduled reviews to check and track earnings, in order, I hope, to assist with some of the challenges. As we have gone on with the consultation, there have been differing views on the earnings taper. The analysis was that that would introduce significant complexity for carers and their interactions with wider support. As I said in my original answer, as future policy on earnings develops—and once the case transfer is complete—we will continue to consider that approach.”
“If people go £1 over the earnings limit, they lose the benefit in its entirety. The problem with that is that people face a choice between refusing to do more hours or accept pay rises, or putting in more working hours and perhaps being able to care much less. I do not think that either of those outcomes is good. I ask the Government, in response to calls from Liberal Democrat members and the third sector, to give serious consideration to some form of tapering of the benefit so that there is not a cliff- edge cut-off. We hope that such an approach will get people back into work but allow them still to perform their caring duties. Shirley-Anne Somerville: As we have developed the carer support payment, I have had discussions with carers organisations. I assure Jamie Greene that I fully appreciate the importance of the point that he makes.”
“The recent earnings limit increase for 2025-26, from £151 to £196 a week, means that carers in Scotland can earn £45 more per week and still get the carer support payment. That will help to remove barriers to work and provide more stable support. The earnings limit for the carer support payment will continue to be aligned with carers allowance until the case transfer process is completed later this year. We continue to consider stakeholder feedback, learning from live delivery of the carer support payment and from engagement with the Department for Work and Pensions on its plans for carers allowance in order to develop future policy on earnings rules from 2026-27 onwards. Jamie Greene: The increase to £196 per week is welcome in the care sector, but it still involves a cliff edge.”
“In my answers to Elena Whitham, I mentioned the responsibilities not just of the Scottish Government but of local authorities through their local housing strategies and through the public sector equality duty and equality impact assessments, which we are all required to have at the heart of our discussions. I appreciate that there are challenges that we all need to rise to. I hope that my original answer detailed some of the work that is going on at Scottish Government level to increase provision in the area. As the providers of housing, local authorities also need to take that into account very seriously.”
“Another constituent in Ardrossan, who also has serious health conditions, has been informed that they will have to wait 12 years, even though they are sleeping on the sofa and the lack of a downstairs toilet means that they have to use a commode. As the cabinet secretary knows, this is a Scotland-wide problem. What more can the Scottish Government do to increase the stock of accessible housing across Scotland? Does the cabinet secretary think that there is consistency of provision in different local authorities? Shirley-Anne Somerville: That is an important aspect that we should, rightly, be discussing in Parliament. It ties into Elena Whitham’s question about the challenge for the Government and local authorities to ensure that housing is available to everyone and that their particular needs are taken into account.”
“We are increasing the supply of accessible and adapted homes across Scotland. To support tenants to live safely and independently, we have increased the budget for registered social landlord adaptations for 2025- 26 by more than 150 per cent, to £20.9 million. We have also consulted on proposals to enhance the accessibility and adaptability of Scotland’s homes, which include proposed updates to the “Housing for Varying Needs” design guide as well as the introduction of a Scottish accessible homes standard through changes to building standards and guidance. The analysis of that consultation will inform our next steps. Katy Clark: A constituent in Irvine has been waiting for housing with wheelchair access since May 2022.”
“The Deputy Presiding Officer: Question 4 has not been lodged. Accessible Housing Stock 5.”
“I hope that I can reassure her that the theme of equality runs through our homelessness strategy, “Ending Homelessness Together”, which is underpinned by a person-centred approach. We expect local authorities to meet the needs of each homeless household and to pay due regard to the public sector equality duty as they carry out those functions. The number of children in temporary accommodation is too high. Of the £768 million that we will invest in affordable housing in 2025- 26, £40 million will be targeted at local authorities with sustained temporary accommodation pressures, in order to increase through acquisitions the supply of social homes, including larger homes that are suitable for families. I hope that that will assist local authorities to address the challenges that Ms Whitham has highlighted.”
“Elena Whitham: Statistics recently highlighted by Shelter Scotland show that black people and people of colour are bearing the brunt of Scotland’s housing emergency, with 27 per cent of all failures to provide temporary accommodation and 28 per cent of unsuitable accommodation order breaches being experienced by those households. They can also expect to spend longer in temporary accommodation than white Scottish households. Will the cabinet secretary update the chamber on the actions that the Scottish Government can take to target support for those families who are facing systemic inequalities in Scotland’s housing system? Shirley-Anne Somerville: I thank Elena Whitham for raising an important issue.”
“Scotland is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice and in building a better, fairer world. We are investing £768 million in affordable housing in 2025-26. Local authorities are responsible for assessing local housing need and demand, as well as setting out how that will be met through local housing strategies and strategic housing investment plans. They should ensure that equality is central to housing and housing service delivery. The Scottish social housing charter, which is monitored by the housing regulator, also requires social landlords to provide fair access to housing in a way that recognises individual needs.”
“The programme for government, which was published this week, has committed us to further action, with a further £90 million for employability services and funding for pilot projects that will focus on inclusive recruitment practices to support people to enter and progress in the workplace. Housing and Homelessness Systems (Racism) 3.”
“With evidence suggesting that poverty is increasingly affecting working families, can the cabinet secretary provide details of how the Government is working with local employers and job support services in Coatbridge and Chryston and across Lanarkshire to tackle in-work poverty, especially for parents who are juggling low-paid jobs with caring responsibilities? Shirley-Anne Somerville: Last year, we made up to £90 million available to local authorities to support the delivery of our no one left behind approach to employability services, including more than £2.1 million for North Lanarkshire Council for parental employment support, which supports parents both in and out of work to increase their earnings. Between April 2021 and September 2024, we supported almost 20,000 parents through our devolved employability services.”
“We are providing a range of support that will benefit families in Coatbridge and Chryston and across Scotland, including investment in the Scottish child payment, early learning and childcare, and free bus travel for under-22s. Between February 2021 and December 2024, more than 530,000 Scottish child payments worth more than £77 million were made to low-income families in North Lanarkshire. That action is making a real difference. On average, households with children that are in the poorest 10 per cent of households are, this year, estimated to be £2,600 a year better off because of Scottish Government policies. Fulton MacGregor: I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government is taking, which the cabinet secretary has outlined.”
“At least their approach has been consistent. I am not entirely sure how the members from the Tory party can defend their approach, but I look forward to those discussions continuing. Martin Whitfield talked about accountability. The accountability for ministers—and, indeed, for all of us—is clear: it is the election. With one year to go, I look forward—in fact, I relish this—to taking the Government’s record to the people with our vision for hope for the future. Business Motions 17:00”
“I suggest that that is all because members in Opposition parties do not believe that they will be anywhere near Government any time soon. If they did, they would not come forward with a list of things to do without constructive ways of how to deliver them. Paul O’Kane: Will the cabinet secretary give way? Shirley-Anne Somerville: I hope that Paul O’Kane will forgive me. I usually give way to him, but I am running short of time. There is also policy incoherence. I point to Murdo Fraser. To be fair to him, he is an exceptionally busy man, so he probably had not caught up with the fact that Tory members on a committee yesterday voted to make rent controls easier. I have enormous respect for my Scottish Green colleagues, who have a very principled stance on that matter, and I look forward to continuing discussions on it.”
“Shirley-Anne Somerville: I am sure that the young people who are going through their exams and vocational training and their parents will be heartened by the fact that 95.7 per cent of school leavers entered a positive initial destination on leaving school. That is the second-highest figure since records began in 2009-10. Unsurprisingly, many members have come to the chamber to ask us to deliver more in different areas. I would like to touch on Kenny Gibson’s point about policy coherence. I am afraid that economic incoherence is something that we have heard quite a lot of today—there has been a litany of demands for more money and disappointments about what is in the programme for government but no suggestions as to how to pay for them.”
“Pam Duncan-Glancy: Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention? Shirley-Anne Somerville: If Pam Duncan- Glancy would like to explain to the Parliament how, for example, taking away money to which under-22s are entitled due to their disability will help that young person and that family to get into employment, I would be delighted to hear about it. Pam Duncan-Glancy: I note that the cabinet secretary quickly moved on from data on the attainment gap when she saw that I was about to seek an intervention on the topic. Does the cabinet secretary share the concerns of families whose young people have sat highers today that those who come from poorer backgrounds are more likely to have poorer results because the attainment gap for highers—she has failed to point this out—is now higher than it has been?”
“Pam Duncan-Glancy talked about education. I spare a thought for those parents who look forward to going home to see how today’s higher English exam went—I do not think that I am the only one in the chamber in that position. I look forward to those discussions, as I am sure that others do. It is important to look at what we have delivered in education. There have been record levels of literacy and numeracy attainment for primary and secondary pupils. There has also been a record- low attainment gap in literacy for primary pupils and for secondary pupils at level 3 in both literacy and numeracy between the proportions of pupils from the most and least deprived areas. That is delivering for our young people. Of course, 95.7 per cent of school leavers are entering a positive initial destination on leaving school.”
“I point him to the work that is in the programme for government on whole-family support and on the fairer futures partnerships, because that gets right to the heart of the challenge that he, quite rightly, presented to us today, which is to deliver public services for people when they need them, to ease the difficulty of finding that support and for it not only to be there at points of crisis. Fergus Ewing: Many members have mentioned the dualling of the A9 and the A96. On the topic of delivery, when will the Nairn bypass be delivered? Shirley-Anne Somerville: Fergus Ewing will be well versed in what Fiona Hyslop has told the Parliament about the on-going work on that. He will note that Fiona Hyslop was on the A9 very recently to take forward the next stage of that, and she is taking forward the discussions and work on the bypass.”
“Shirley-Anne Somerville: Murdo Fraser knows well the answer to that, as he consistently reminds members in the chamber that the Scottish Government has delivered a great deal of detailed work on the benefits of independence. If he wants to see that work, perhaps he should not complain when the Government delivers it. It is also important that we recognise the successes in the economy. That is why it is important that we look at earnings growth, with median monthly pay for payroll employees having grown by 2.6 per cent in real terms, compared with 2.1 per cent in the UK. We are making a difference, despite the fact that the Tories have delivered Brexit and Labour is now defending it. A number of members, including Jamie Greene, mentioned public service reform—and they are right to do so.”
“At this point, I want to mention Murdo Fraser and his praise of Brexit. I point out to him that modelling by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research estimates that, due to Brexit, there was a 2.5 per cent hit to GDP by 2023 and that there will be a 5.7 per cent hit to GDP by 2035. That makes a real difference right across the country to every single business and community. Murdo Fraser rose— Shirley-Anne Somerville: If Murdo Fraser would like to defend Brexit further, I am happy to take the intervention. Murdo Fraser: What modelling can the cabinet secretary point to that gives the impact that independence would have on the Scottish economy and public finances? According to the Scottish Government’s own economic adviser, the impact would be “Brexit times 10”.”
“Official statistics that were published in March show that, despite the considerable headwinds that we have faced, the proportion of children who are living in relative poverty has reduced and the 2023-24 rate was lower than it had been in any year since 2014-15, while the proportion of children who are in absolute poverty has also fallen, with the annual figure being the lowest in 30 years. Our action is making a difference to families. On average, households with children who are in the poorest 10 per cent of households are estimated to be £2,600 a year better off in 2025-26 as a result of Scottish Government policies. This Government is delivering for the people of Scotland. However, it is also important to reflect on what the UK Government has delivered for the people of Scotland.”
“We have nearly doubled the number of funded childcare hours for all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds, helping to give the best start in life to every child and supporting more parents to access training, learning and employment. We have helped to deliver more than 26,000 affordable homes and moved towards our ambitious target of 110,000 homes by 2032, helping families to access warm, safe homes. We have supported 28,000 parents through our devolved employability services. Those actions and the wider actions that we have taken are making a difference to families and to our economic prosperity.”
“In the programme for government that was published this week, the First Minister set out the Government’s plans for delivery in the final year of this parliamentary session, building on the action that we have taken to date, and he highlighted the progress that we will continue to make. We have delivered. Over the lifetime of this parliamentary session, action has been taken to reduce child poverty and to tackle its roots. We have expanded the Scottish child payment to eligible children under the age of 16 and more than doubled the value of the support that is available for families, helping families both in and out of work to meet the costs of raising a child.”
“I am grateful to all the members who have engaged constructively in the debate today, focusing—as we all have been, but perhaps from different perspectives—on the best future for Scotland. As the Deputy First Minister said in her opening speech, eradicating child poverty and growing our economy go hand in hand. Without one, we simply cannot achieve the other. A strong economy will not only support investment in our ambitious anti- poverty measures and the public services on which we all rely; it will support a buoyant labour market that will provide the opportunities for parents and others to increase their earnings through fair work. That point was made by Kenny Gibson and other members.”
“I am very happy to move amendment S6M- 17437.4, to leave out from first “the actions” to end and insert: “that all good Scottish Government outcomes, including supporting household incomes, reducing poverty, creating wealth and funding public services, depend on delivering stronger economic growth; regrets that, despite the overriding importance of stronger economic growth, the Programme for Government 2025-26 fails to contain the policies needed to deliver it, and instead signals the continuation of the UK’s harshest tax regime on households and businesses, and fails to commit to the actions needed to deliver a growth-promoting regulatory and planning environment, and calls on the Scottish Government to adopt the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party’s common-sense proposals to grow the economy, including by reducing taxes on individuals and businesses and by improving the skills of the workforce.” 15:13”