Stuart McMillan
Scottish National Party · Scotland
“Can the cabinet secretary provide any details about when funding will be in place to replace the Port Glasgow health centre with a new health hub? Can she advise when there will be investment to improve the fabric of Inverclyde royal hospital?”
“Will the member give way? Mark Simpson: I would love to. Stuart McMillan: Reform’s policies are about taking money out of the public sector, but Mr Simpson is now asking for more money to be spent on throughcare support. Where is that money coming from? I am genuinely interested to know.”
“Millions of people globally are impacted by climate change today, and that will also be the case for future generations, as has already been touched upon by Sanne Dijkstra-Downie.”
“It is important that they are successful in delivering the heat that we all need, but the issue of their environmental impact is also vital. District heating systems play an important role in communities up and down the country, but they come in a range of scales. Are they operating effectively?”
“I touched on the CPA a minute ago, and the issue of AI data centres has been raised time and again at both international and regional conferences. We are not the only people who are talking about the issue. Helpfully, it is on the agenda for this year’s festival of politics.”
“I look forward to the contributions from MSPs in the open debate, which I am sure will help the committee’s discussions on Thursday, when we meet for the first time, and during the rest of the parliamentary session. I will touch briefly on three items, for wider consideration.”
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“I again thank Marie McNair for bringing the debate to the chamber. The Deputy Presiding Officer: The final speaker in the open debate is Maggie Chapman, who joins us remotely. 13:12”
“I firmly believe that, if the DWP had employed a more caring and person-centred approach, staff might have identified the acute challenges that my constituent was facing. Instead, the modus operandi is to treat people with suspicion rather than view them as human beings in need of help. I imagine that colleagues across the chamber will have experience of similar actions from the DWP, but whether they consider that to be a horror story depends on their point of view. It is abundantly clear to me that the UK welfare system is not fit for purpose, and I echo Marie McNair’s comments about benefits being devolved to this Parliament. I consider that for Labour to come into power and adopt the Tories’ cruel and callous so- called reforms and, in some cases, to perpetuate them further, is an utter betrayal.”
“Numerous personal circumstances, many of which were outwith my constituent’s personal control, had led to them falling behind on their rent, but they had agreed a repayment plan with the DWP. The DWP then penalised my constituent for missing an appointment, which, once again, was for reasons outwith their control. The penalty was that they got no universal credit payments for 80 days. As I said, I will not go into all the details, and my constituent accepts that they have made mistakes along the way, but I fail to see how that approach achieves anything other than making people feel more vulnerable. For my constituent, that almost resulted in eviction, at which point other services had to step in to provide support.”
“Since the Scottish child payment was established in 2021, more than £17 million has been paid out to assist families in my Greenock and Inverclyde constituency, benefiting 5,360 children as of December last year and demonstrating the SNP Government’s commitment to putting more money into people’s pockets. That is in stark contrast to the operation of the DWP, which seems to be tasked with finding any reason to deduct money from people’s benefits. I will touch on some elements of a case that my office has been dealing with. Paul O’Kane: Will the member accept an intervention? Stuart McMillan: I am sorry, but I am short of time. I am not going to reveal the constituent’s name or much of their case, but that individual approached me for support due to rent arrears.”
“The policy positions that were adopted under consecutive Westminster Governments are the polar opposite of how benefit support should work—it should lift people up when they need a helping hand, rather than make life harder for them. I am therefore pleased that, in Scotland, we have taken a different approach through Social Security Scotland. I recognise what Paul O’Kane said about the challenges that exist, which clearly must be worked on, but the principles of dignity, fairness and respect are at the heart of the organisation. I will give an example. The Scottish child payment is unique to Scotland. Currently, the payment is worth £26.70 per week per eligible child but, following the passing of the budget last week, it will increase to £27.15 per week from 1 April.”
“Stephen Kerr: Stuart McMillan deflects from my comments by referring to events that took place 44—no, 46—years ago. He must reflect on the fact that it is desperation on his part to reach back so far to deflect from the valid criticisms that are being made by many outside the Parliament about the SNP Government’s lack of commitment to skills training and further education. Stuart McMillan: I am sorry, Mr Kerr, but the fact is that my community has still not fully recovered from the decimation—[Interruption.] The Deputy Presiding Officer: Please speak through the chair. Stuart McMillan: My community has not fully recovered from the decisions that were taken by Mr Kerr’s party in 1979. The same is true of Marie McNair’s community and the communities of other members of the Parliament.”
“I thank Marie McNair for securing this important debate, which emphasises the detrimental impact that the UK welfare system is having on society’s most vulnerable. At the outset, I want to touch on a couple of Stephen Kerr’s comments. He said that the SNP’s approach is not compassionate but cruel. He also spoke about the cutting of apprenticeships and the lack of upskilling, and he highlighted the idea that work must always pay. When Stephen Kerr’s party took control at Westminster in 1979, many communities, including mine in Inverclyde, were absolutely decimated because of the Government’s cruel approach. Apprenticeships were culled and there was a lack of upskilling, because the introduction of the youth training scheme—the YTS—to replace apprenticeships did not upskill people.”
“To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the future of Greenock police station with Police Scotland. (S6O-04399)”
“We do not know what the £200 million is actually going to do, where it will come from or what it is going to deliver. Let us get some balance in this debate and some reality. Michael Marra: I am happy to defend the idea that, after eight months, the UK Labour Government has brought £200 million to the table to invest in the local community, whereas the Scottish Government sat on its hands for 18 years and did absolutely nothing. Beatrice Wishart continued by making an articulate case for her community rather than against other communities. I will close on a quote from Beatrice. She said that it would be better, frankly, for people to bring a “can-do and enterprising attitude, which recognises where the future lies.” If only, sir—if only. 16:41”
“She gave the best examples of the centralising tendency of the Government, and she could have given the same speech that Scottish National Party back-benchers gave—that money spent anywhere other than where it wants it to be is an illegitimate affront. George Adam claimed that the £200 million for Grangemouth is nothing, which is an insult, frankly, to the local people who have campaigned for jobs and investment. In his view, the people of Manchester should have no investment whatsoever. George Adam: I do not know whether the member is intentionally misinterpreting what I said, or if he is doing so for political effect, but I was questioning whether it is right to give £1 billion to someone who is already destroying the lives of people in Grangemouth. That is what I was questioning, and that is what the people of Grangemouth want to know.”
“Lorna Slater went on to tell us that growth is not everything, although I am afraid to say that I do not believe that anyone claimed that it was. Ms Slater rightly referred to distributional questions and inequality, but I continue to fail to see the relationship between an end to growth and the political means by which we can find the space to redistribute the money. That is a singular failure in Tim Jackson’s work on the end to growth, if I am honest. Part of the spatial question is the fact that we are all advocates for place and for local people, about which we are all rightly passionate and positive. Beatrice Wishart gave the best example of that. She will be a sad loss to the Parliament in 2026.”
“That situation is of the Treasury’s making, and London sucks up capital. Michael Marra: As I said at the outset, there is a fair point at the core of the issue that Mr Stewart raised about investment on a spatial basis. We heard the example that my friend Paul O’Kane gave about Manchester. Andy Burnham is a frequent and loud campaigner for investment in his region. The question is whether we want to do that in partnership and try to deal with some of the issue. What has happened in the most recent budget is that an additional £610 million of capital has been invested by the UK Labour Government in Scotland but we have no capital plan to tell us how that will be spent. We were promised one for the past two years, and, as the investment cost rises, we are none the wiser as to how any of the money should be spent.”
“After that, we strode, bizarrely, across a range of cod economic theorising—none worse, I have to say, than the bizarre Malthusian fantasies of Kevin Stewart, recalling the worst warblings of physical resource constraint, based on, frankly, pre- technological views of the world. For all his railing against empire and the East India Company, his view is profoundly ahistorical and, frankly, it is irrelevant to the people of the north-east and of Scotland today. What they want to know is what the money will actually be spent on. Kevin Stewart: Will the member give way? Michael Marra: I certainly will, sir. Kevin Stewart: What is entirely relevant to the people of the north-east and people throughout Scotland is the capital spending difference—the per capita capital spending of £2,237 in London compared to £1,789 in Scotland.”
“However, yesterday, at the Finance and Public Administration Committee, the Minister for Public Finance could not tell me a single project that any of the money would actually be spent on in the next financial year, when it is meant to be Invested. Therefore, how the Government will use the money to invest in our energy future remains a complete mystery, including to the Government, and the clock is ticking. That is the kind of area that the Government could have been talking about today—things that, frankly, it needs to get in order— Stuart McMillan: Will Michael Marra take an intervention? Michael Marra: No, thank you. Stuart McMillan: It is on that point. Michael Marra: No, thank you.”
“The then First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that ScotWind money “will help deliver the supply chain investments and high- quality jobs that will make the climate transition a fair one”. Three years on, precisely none of that has happened. The money has shifted in and out of budgets over the years. Frankly, it has become a fund to be used as a backstop for an increasingly chaotic Government that is losing control of the public finances, with three consecutive emergency in-year budgets. There was an announcement in the 2025-26 budget that around £300 million will be spent on long-term investment for the energy transition—the kind of investment that Kevin Stewart was calling for.”
“We have been slightly bedevilled by the motion that is in front of us from the Government and by the tone taken variously, and rather depressingly, by the front bench, but, rather hysterically, by the SNP back benchers in some of the quite fantastical warblings that we have had of grievance, grudge and, frankly, an aggressive tone about anything good that happens anywhere else than Scotland. It is not a tone that builds an atmosphere of partnership, which is what we hope to see and which can help the whole country. One area that could have been a focus today— in relation to the kinds of issues that we talk about as representing a genuine investment in our economy—is ScotWind. In 2022, the ScotWind auction realised £756 million in fees.”
“Unchecked, climate change will force changes into our economy. We can either make changes in how our economy works, to ensure that everyone benefits from our success in reducing emissions, or have changes forced on us by the collapse of global systems—climate, food production, precipitation patterns, disease and extreme events. Action is not optional. Members might want to opt out of the costs and difficult choices of achieving net zero, but they cannot opt out of the costs and effects of catastrophic climate change. 16:34 Michael Marra: There is a very important debate to be had about spatial economics in the UK and in Scotland. Unfortunately, this was not it.”
“Despite the fact that Scottish independence is supported by roughly half the population of Scotland, the UK Government—which is so fanatically unionist that it refuses to defend the union in a new referendum on Scottish independence—maintains the Tory line that, if it does not allow a democratic process of self- determination for the Scottish people, we will all just forget about it and it will go away. The UK Government is therefore in a bit of a bind. If it invests in Scotland, it risks stoking Scottish economic confidence and, therefore, confidence in what an independent Scotland might achieve. That undermines project fear. However, if it does not invest in Scotland, it risks stoking Scottish resentment, allowing those of us who support independence to say how much better off we would be as an independent country.”
“However, instead of implementing road charging, announcing a road building moratorium as Wales has done, bringing forward an ambitious heat in buildings bill or publishing a new energy strategy with a clear presumption against new oil and gas, the Scottish Government points to the UK and the Acorn project again and again. Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is a very risky investment. Even if it can be made to work— and no one has done that yet—it is frightfully expensive. It lets polluters off the hook by imagining that they can just hoover up their emissions, instead of us all having to make significant changes to how our economy works. I will conclude by joining Michael Marra and others in calling out the explicitly political and constitutional nature of the motion for debate.”
“The mass human displacement that is caused by that, along with global food and water shortages, is an enormous risk to our security. The security of our future depends on our reducing emissions on a very rapid trajectory. As always, I am a bit concerned about the Scottish Government’s focus on carbon capture and storage and the Acorn project. It appears to be looking for an easy way out of the climate emergency. We know what is needed to reduce emissions urgently, and nearly all of that includes proven technology that we already have.”
“Instead of creating a level playing field for all businesses, the Conservatives would like to hand out sweeties to companies that do not want to pay taxes or follow regulations. I also challenge—again—the claim that North Sea oil and gas contribute to Scotland’s energy security. North Sea oil and gas are extracted by private companies and sold on the open global market. They are in no way reserved or set aside for Scotland’s use, and, far from their creating security for us, climate change is creating significant risks for our future. Everything from food shortages to species extinctions, storm impacts, flooding, fires and droughts will increase if global emissions do not drop quickly enough, and large parts of the Earth will become uninhabitable to humanity.”
“I also challenge Murdo Fraser on freeports, which are an excellent example of exactly the sort of compromise that ends up being made in the pursuit of growth at all costs. In a freeport, some taxes and regulations are suspended in the hope that companies that do not want to contribute to their country and communities and that have a cavalier attitude to regulations can be lured into those locations. Even assuming that that leads to the creation of new companies instead of just causing businesses to relocate, what message does it send to companies that pay their employees properly, follow the rules and pay their taxes? It sounds as though the Conservatives do not value them.”
“In exchange for that, they will get a baby box if they have a baby, free prescriptions, free bus travel for their kids, free university tuition for their kids, more police officers per person, a greater ratio of general practitioners per person, free social care should they or any of their family require it, and—although this is not something the Scottish Government can take credit for, with or without the Greens in government—significantly lower housing costs. Anyone who ran the numbers on that would find that living in Scotland is a really good deal. John Cullinane, director of public policy at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, noted: “the divergence created by devolution has not led to any noticeable changes in taxpayer behaviour”.”
“Therefore, investing in airports is not a sensible thing to do unless that investment is in decarbonising and shrinking those airports. I cannot agree with what Craig Hoy said in his intervention on Kevin Stewart. He seemed to imply that people in the financial services sector are not very good at maths. The Chartered Institute of Taxation has calculated that someone in Scotland who earns the whopping salary of £150,000 will pay £3,857.88 more in income tax than someone in the rest of the UK, which is less than 3 per cent of their gross salary.”
“I hope that this afternoon’s debate is a momentary blip in the constructive relationship and the debates that we have in the chamber. The Deputy Presiding Officer: We move to closing speeches. There is a little time in hand. 16:28 Lorna Slater: Like Murdo Fraser, I had been enjoying—up until that last speech—having another debate on the economy, although my staff have forbidden me from rolling out my Meatloaf joke again. I was a bit distressed by that last speech because of its focus on airports. We are a long way into the climate emergency for members not to understand the role that aviation plays in global climate emissions or the status of aviation in the future. Aviation is one of those industries that must decline. The Climate Change Committee has said that there will always be some role for aviation, but it is not a growth industry.”
“We need to be clear about the fact that the UK Labour Government is taking what are sometimes very difficult and tough economic decisions and making investments that are necessary after what has been a lost decade in Scotland’s economy, while the SNP and the Tories seem to want to continue the story of grudge and grievance. I do not think that that does a service to the people of Scotland. It is clear that the job is not done. As I have said, we cannot rectify a lost decade after only seven months in office, but the new UK Government has made a significant start. Earlier, I mentioned my disappointment about the return to grudge and grievance that the motion represents, in spite of the significant co-operative work that has been undertaken by the two Governments. It is important that the Scottish Government reflects on that.”
“We have seen a lack of investment in and support for Glasgow airport. I think that the motion is disrespectful to the good partnership working that has taken place between the Scottish and UK Governments over the past seven months, which has represented a constructive change and has sought to deliver for people and communities who need investment. I am thinking, in particular, of the partnership working that we have seen on a sustainable future for Grangemouth, the Grangemouth industrial cluster and the wider Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal.”
“Will the member take an intervention? Paul O’Kane: I will, once I have made this point. The point about airports was well made. The expansions at Heathrow and Gatwick—which I think were tentatively welcomed by the First Minister—will have a knock-on impact on the supply chain for our very important industries, such as Scottish salmon. Stuart McMillan: On GARL, does Mr O’Kane recognise that the rail link that was proposed would have had a negative effect on people who travel between Inverclyde and Glasgow because, if it had gone ahead, it would have reduced the number of trains per hour between Inverclyde and Glasgow? Paul O’Kane: Those arguments were well rehearsed at the time. It was abundantly clear that the Scottish Government abandoned Glasgow airport. Quite frankly, that is what happened.”
“I highlight that example because childcare provision and support in schools for pupils with ASN is a key issue that local SNP councillors and I have been working on over the past year, as local parents have highlighted the challenges that they face in accessing sufficient support for their children. Scottish taxes are often a bone of contention when it comes to the budget. We have heard that this afternoon. We know that household incomes are tight. However, we need to raise funds to invest in services, rather than stripping them of moneys. The austerity approach harms only those who are most vulnerable, and it risks costing the Government more money in the long run. As I touched on a few moments ago, we have had 14 years of austerity. People at the lower end of the financial income ladder cannot deal with any more austerity.”
“That is why I support the calls for the UK Government to fully fund that raid on third and public sector organisations. Inverclyde Council has not yet set its budget—that will happen next week—but the first 7.1 per cent of any increase in council tax is Labour’s to own. Another welcome announcement in the budget is the £158 million uplift for the education and skills portfolio, which includes additional investment in additional support for learning. That will involve the delivery of an extra £28 million, through the local government settlement, to improve support for children with additional support needs.”
“Ardgowan hospice in my constituency advises that running its services costs approximately £11,000 per day. We need to go still further on hospice funding, a thorough examination of which is supported by a variety of colleagues across the chamber. Hospice finances are to be raided, as other finances are, by the Labour UK Government, through increased employer national insurance contributions. That demonstrates how decisions that are taken at Westminster impact devolved areas, especially financially. As the Labour UK health secretary Wes Streeting stated last year, “all roads ... lead back to Westminster”, so the financial hit that our public and third sector organisations must attempt to deal with is the sole responsibility of the Labour UK Government.”
“I welcome the record £15 billion for local government to support the services that communities rely on; the commitment to match the UK Government in raising the earnings threshold for carer support payment and carers allowance to £196 a week; the provision of £768 million for affordable homes, which will enable the building of more than 8,000 new properties for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership in the coming year; the restoration of the universal winter heating payment to every pensioner household; and the development of the systems that are necessary to effectively scrap the impact of the two-child cap in 2026. I also want to highlight some other aspects of the budget. I welcome the additional £1 million for hospices, which takes the total support to £5 million, as I know how challenging hospice funding is.”
“I genuinely believe that there can be more investment in the use of technology to help with the preventative approach. However, I gently remind him that we had 14 years of Conservative austerity— Brian Whittle: We have had 17 years of the SNP. Stuart McMillan: We had 14 years of Conservative austerity before Labour won the election, and it has continued some of that austerity since it came into power last year.”
“I welcome the record £2 billion increase in front- line NHS spending, which takes overall health and social care investment to £21 billion, including an increase in capital spending power of £139 million compared with 2024-25. Brian Whittle: What I have a problem with is not actually the health budget, but how the Scottish Government directs it. Does the member recognise that it is the underinvestment in policies such as the development and adoption of healthcare tech and artificial intelligence, as well as the lack of investment in people’s ability to be active, that creates the need to continually increase the budget, with poor outcomes? Stuart McMillan: There are many areas that Brian Whittle and I will agree on when it comes to aspects of health.”
“I actually quite enjoyed Tim Eagle’s audition for the fringe in his comments a few moments ago. I am pleased that the budget will pass today. The First Minister has made it clear that his focus is on delivering on the people’s priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, improving public services such as our NHS and tackling the climate emergency. The engagement of the Greens, the Lib Dems and Alba on the budget has been welcome, and it provided a level of reassurance that the process would not be dragged out, which would have led to a sense of uncertainty for local government, businesses and the wider public.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the representations that it has made to the United Kingdom Government regarding reimbursements to the public sector in Scotland due to the increase in employer national insurance contributions. (S6O-04335)”
“Those bodies cannot work alone—they must work alongside others, through alcohol and drug partnerships, to ensure that people receive the integrated services that they need. Following that ministerial letter of direction, the requirement for local areas to provide quarterly update reports on progress against their implementation plans is continuing.”
“I remind the chamber that I chair Moving On Inverclyde, which is a local recovery organisation. Will the cabinet secretary give an update on the steps that are being taken to ensure that there is local accountability in relation to the implementation of the MAT standards, with a view to driving improvements across Scotland? Neil Gray: I thank Stuart McMillan for the work that he does locally. Integration authorities for health and social care have a legal responsibility to plan and deliver treatment and recovery services for people who experience drug harms. In June 2023, ministers issued a letter of direction to NHS chief executives and local authority chief executives and chief officers, which requested that they personally sign a public delivery plan for implementing the standards.”
“Does the Deputy First Minister agree that the Scottish Government’s £14.2 million investment—as we heard this morning in the Public Audit Committee, £9 million of that is for the next budget year—would be a significant step in helping to develop the yard so that it can secure both public and commercial contracts? Kate Forbes: The £14.2 million will be invested over two years. It will support a range of initiatives to improve productivity and will help to give the shipyard the best possible opportunity to bid for and secure new work.”
“The Scottish Parliament has limited powers, and he should know that. I am conscious of the time, so I want to finish on this point. Over the past two years, Labour Party demos have taken place outside my constituency office, with people claiming that the budget settlement has not been fair for local government. Thus far this year, I have not received a notification of any such demo. Perhaps Inverclyde Labour will be holding a demo outside the Labour Party MP’s office instead, calling for the full cost of the national insurance contributions bill to be paid back to Scotland and for Inverclyde to get back the £3 million that will be grabbed by the chancellor. I will back the budget, and I encourage all parties to do the same. 15:52”
“Michael Marra: It is certainly right that the member highlights the challenges that the issue presents for businesses, the third sector and the public sector across Scotland. That is clearly the case, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken a difficult decision. However, if he is completely opposed to how the £5.2 billion that he talked about in the first part of his speech was raised, how does he think that it should have been raised? What is his alternative? Stuart McMillan: Mr Marra will very much recognise that, as my colleague Kevin Stewart said, Scotland is not a charity; Scotland is a country. Regarding how the UK Government gets money, it has access to full powers, unlike the Scottish Parliament. Michael Marra: Is that the answer? Stuart McMillan: Mr Marra is shaking his head.”
“While the Scottish Government delivers more funding for local authorities, the UK Government will remove a huge chunk of that investment through its increase to employer national insurance contributions. The estimated cost to Inverclyde is some £3 million. The local government settlement from the Scottish Government is the result of meaningful budget engagement. It is therefore hugely disappointing that the Labour UK Government has failed to thoroughly engage with the Scottish Government on its tax on jobs—its NI hike—which undermines the increases in funding for Scotland’s public sector and third sector organisations. I say for the record that I chair a third sector organisation, Moving On Inverclyde, which is a local recovery service.”
“Boosting fair green economic growth is central to the delivery of the Scottish Government’s priorities, and prioritising the transition to net zero will benefit everyone through a strong, growing green economy. I am therefore pleased that the budget will invest in the work to scale up renewable energy, restore Scotland’s natural environment, expand our public transport and active travel networks, and support a step change in how we heat our homes. The final key budget commitment that I wish to focus on is the record local government settlement of £15 billion, which includes a £1 billion uplift. That will enable councils to deliver the services that people rely on and the pay increases that have been agreed for our teachers, social care workers, refuse collectors and others.”
“There is also new funding to put more breakfast clubs in primary schools. Those measures will have a positive impact on children and young people across Inverclyde. The announcement of this year’s £34 million uplift to the culture budget—the largest-ever funding commitment to Scotland’s cultural sector—is also hugely positive. In Inverclyde, the Beacon Arts Centre and RIG Arts will benefit from that, receiving multiyear funding awards from Creative Scotland that total more than £1.5 million. That will enable the two organisations to increase the accessibility of culture and the arts, and to collaborate with other local groups on projects that enrich my constituency and beyond. Another budget commitment that I welcome is the £4.9 billion investment in tackling the climate and nature emergencies.”
“The additional investment in services to ensure that improvements happen at scale and pace is very welcome. Importantly, the extra capital investment will provide NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde with the opportunity to progress plans for some of its capital projects. We all know that, in recent years, there have been major issues with progressing capital projects, primarily because of the huge cost of construction inflation. I have lobbied consistently for a new Port Glasgow health centre, which I know is a priority for the health board, and I will continue to lobby for it until it is delivered. Another key announcement is the delivery of the real-terms uplift of 3 per cent in spending on education and skills to maintain teacher levels and invest in school infrastructure.”
“I will highlight some of the announcements from the budget that will have tangible and positive benefits for my Greenock and Inverclyde constituency. The first is the commitment to deliver a record £2 billion increase in front-line NHS spending. That will take overall health and social care investment to more than £21 billion, including an increase in capital spending power of £139 million. I am sure that colleagues from across the chamber can relate to this: health is one of the key issues that leads to constituents contacting our offices and seeking assistance. Their concerns range from small points of clarification to major issues that have occurred over several months or years. Regardless of that, it is clear that our NHS is beloved by people across Scotland.”
“I support the budget. I believe that it provides additional investment in our public services, which is what the people of Scotland want to see. The First Minister has made it clear that his focus is on delivering on the people’s priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, improving public services such as our NHS and tackling the climate emergency. I do not think that anyone in the chamber could disagree with those priorities. The Scottish Government has listened carefully to the needs and priorities of organisations and businesses across the country, and it has engaged seriously and constructively with other parties—as we now know, because the Scottish Greens, Scottish Liberal Democrats and Alba are going to vote for the budget.”
“Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on the Scottish Government’s plans for the replacement of HMP Greenock? Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has invested to improve the fabric of the building at Greenock, specifically to tackle areas of water ingress, and the health centre. We are absolutely committed to having buildings that meet the needs of people in the care of the prison service, but Stuart McMillan will be aware that HMP Highland and HMP Glasgow remain the key priorities for major infrastructure improvements in the prison estate. I am grateful to the member for constantly being a champion for his local prison. Policing (Remote and Rural Communities) 5.”
“The Presiding Officer: That concludes decision time. Brexit (Scotland)”
“Thank you. The result of the division on motion S6M-16237, in the name of Neil Gray, on investing in public services through the Scottish budget, as amended, is: For 67, Against 46, Abstentions 0. Motion, as amended, agreed to, That the Parliament welcomes the investment in Scotland’s public services through the draft Scottish Budget 2025-26; notes that £21.7 billion for health and social care investment and over £15 billion in funding for local authorities is being provided; calls on the UK Government to fully fund the additional cost of its increase in employer national insurance contributions, noting the significant impacts on public services, including social care, if it does not fund it in full; further calls on the UK Government to fully fund the increase in employer national insurance contributions in commissioned services and arm’s-length external organisations; notes the importance of the public service reform programme to drive future financial sustainability; further notes the success of the four-day week pilot trialled by South of Scotland Enterprise; calls on the Scottish Government to expand the four-day working week within the public sector workforce; celebrates the key role that the Scottish public service workforce plays in delivering these services across Scotland; notes that Scottish Liberal Democrat priorities have been reflected in the first draft of the Budget through the inclusion of the reinstatement of a winter heating payment for pensioners, extra funding for social care, additional funding for local healthcare to make it easier to see a GP or NHS dentist, funding for new specialist support across the country for people with long COVID, chronic fatigue syndrome and other similar conditions, the right for family carers to earn more without having support withdrawn, business rates relief for the hospitality sector, funding to build more affordable homes, enhanced support for local authorities operating ferry services, and the resumption of the work required to replace the Belford Hospital in NHS Highland and the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in NHS Lothian; calls for further investment in drug and neonatal services, hospices, support for the young people with complex and additional needs attending Corseford College, and colleges, so that they can deliver the skills that the economy and public services need, and further calls for local authorities to receive a fair share of the money for additional employer national insurance contributions when it is received by the Scottish Government.”