 Mae'r next item of business is consideration of business motion 7.834, in the name of George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau on changes to this week's business. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now, and I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and moved. Thank you, Minister. No member has asked to speak against the motion, therefore the question is that motion 7.834 be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is topical questions in order to get as many members in as possible. Short and succinct questions and responses would be appreciated. At question number one, I call Stephen Kerr. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to bring the strike action by teachers to an end. Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville. We remain in talks with unions and recent dialogue has explicitly focused on the potential areas of compromise with a view to reaching an agreement which is acceptable to all sides. Only COSLA as the employer can make a formal offer to the teaching unions. I met with the EIS General Secretary on Friday of last week and had discussions with the other teaching unions on the same day. There remains a shared commitment to continue this dialogue. Stephen Kerr. I'm sorry, but this is such a mess, a mess of the Cabinet Secretary's own making. Shirley-Anne Somerville is the Cabinet Secretary. She is responsible and yet she shows not one ounce of energy or urgency to resolve this dispute. Now there's a clear threat to the exam's timetable. After everything our young people have been through, the Cabinet Secretary should be ashamed. She was on TV on Sunday, more interested in purging the SNP of dissidents than settling the dispute with Scotland's teachers. She did say that everyone should get around the table. Yet two weeks ago she made it clear that she wasn't even in the room, let alone at the table. Will she now take a place at the table and take an active part in the talks to end the teacher strikes? Why has the Deputy First Minister been parachuted into the dispute? Is this an admission of Shirley-Anne Somerville's failure? Cabinet Secretary. I think not for the first time, Presiding Officer, Mr Kerr's questioning suggests a lack of understanding about the workings of the SNCT in particular. Can I point out that the only way that this could be resolved today is for the Scottish Government and local government to agree to the union payments? That is simply unaffordable. It is simply unsustainable. If that's what Stephen Kerr is suggesting, it is perhaps just as well that he doesn't have responsibility for the public finances. However, if I did say very clearly at the weekend and will do so again that I'm confident that discussions that are being had between the Scottish Government, councils and the SQA will ensure that the exam diet will not be threatened even if teaching unions choose to undertake industrial action during that time. Stephen Kerr. I perfectly understand what the process looks like and how it should be conducted. While Nicola Sturgeon is happy to meet representatives of other public service unions, apparently the cabinet secretary is not prepared herself to get involved in speaking to Scotland's representatives' teachers. We're 312 days in and it's clear that the cabinet secretary's policy is to do nothing. There is a very real threat now. Despite what we've just heard to the exam timetable, the cabinet secretary has no intention of settling this pay dispute in this financial year. It's her deliberate policy to do nothing. Her inaction is letting down Scotland's children and young people. She's showing disdain to teachers. The cabinet secretary has no interest in negotiating a deal in this financial year. Tell me that I am wrong. Cabinet secretary. I'm not entirely sure that Mr Kerr was listening to my original answer because if he was he would have heard that I met with the EIS General Secretary on Friday. That's the latest of many meetings and I had discussions with the other trade unions on the same day. We have an on-going commitment for that dialogue to continue. Again, it does no one but particularly Scotland's children and young people any use whatsoever to continue with this scaremongering around the exams. I dealt with it in my previous answer and I would say once again that the Scottish Government, councils and teachers, we all came together during the pandemic to do our utmost to support young people preparing for exams. I appreciate and respect that unions have a mandate to take continuing action should they wish to do so. However, there is a shared endeavour to support our children in the build-up to during exams. That remains in place with the Scottish Government. It remains so with our agencies and I am confident that, working together, we will have contingencies in place so that the exam diet is not threatened. Only last month, the Tory education secretary and Westminster snubbed striking teachers down south by saying that we didn't negotiate pay with teaching unions because that is not what we are here to do, while at the same time trying to crack down on collective action with our draconian anti-strike legislation. Can the cabinet secretary provide a renewed commitment that no stone will be left unturned here in Scotland to find a fair, sustainable agreement with the teaching unions? I think that Jackie Dunbar is quite right to point to the fact that the resolution has to be fair, affordable and sustainable. We are, as a Government, absolutely committed to the continuation of the Scottish negotiating committee for teachers. We are, of course, resolutely opposed to the anti-trike union legislation being proposed by Stephen Kerr's colleagues in the UK Government. It is something he himself, I note, has not came out against today, nor, as far as I am aware, has other Tory MSPs. Yesterday, the cabinet secretary took to the airwaves to warn unions not to disrupt exams. The brass neck of this Government warning anyone about the conduct of exams is the teaching workforce that has bailed them out of their SQA disaster for the last three years. The response to that rhetoric today, more strike dates, and those unfortunate enough to have the cabinet secretary as their MSP among the worst affected. We are back in the 1980s. Are we not? Michael Forsyth, George Younger, Peter Fraser, Malcolm Rifkind, all targeted by the teaching unions. How on earth did we end up here? When will the cabinet secretary do the job taxpayers of centre here to do? When will she sanction an offer, get it on the table and get a deal done? With the greatest respect to Michael Murray, I go back to the point that I made earlier. If the pay dispute was to be resolved today, the Scottish Government and local government would have to agree to union pay demands that are unaffordable and unsustainable. Is that actually what he is asking us to do? That is the reality of the situation that we are in. We will continue to work very closely with councils and with the SQA to ensure that contingencies are in place. There are, of course, support mechanisms that are already in place through Education Scotland, for example, to provide support for the nationally learning offer as we work towards the exam diet and support of that as well. In response to the escalation of strikes that has been suggested and proposed by the EIS today, it can choose to target action that impacts on some children and young people more than others. It can choose to escalate that strike, but none of that changes the financial reality that we are operating in. It does not change the need for all parties to compromise accordingly, to find a settlement that, I say once again, is fair and affordable. Willie Rennie is weak after weak with no offer to the teachers, insulting teachers with claims that are paid quite enough. Is the education secretary not even just a little bit worried about the deep damage that she is inflicting on the special relationship between the teaching profession and the Government? Does she not understand that this could last for generations and ultimately damage our pupils? I appreciate that we remain some distance apart between the Scottish Government and trade union colleagues on the matter of pay. However, I would point to the continued work that we are all doing on other issues with the exception of pay. I think that that is very important. I would pay tribute to the fact that, despite having a dispute around pay, we are continuing to work together for the benefit of children and young people in other areas. I think that that is the important and responsible thing for the Scottish Government to do. It is also the important and responsible thing for the teaching unions to do, which they continue to do. I pay tribute to them for that. Alex Rowley I listened at the weekend to the cabinet secretary with utter dismay, and I have to say the same today. Does she not realise the damage that has been done to children's education across Scotland? What the cabinet secretary said at the weekend suggested that the Government are willing to allow this strike to run and run and run, doing more and more damage. Surely the cabinet secretary or does the cabinet secretary accept that at the end of the day it is for this Government to resolve this issue. You will only do that by taking a better pay deal to the table. The sooner you do that, the better for all children across Scotland. We all want to see this pay dispute resolved—the Scottish Government, local government and the teaching unions. I will not reiterate again what I have said about the financial reality of the situation. That is the financial reality that we all have to deal with when it comes to trying to find a way to compromise and find a way forward for this. It is very important, as a Government, that we find a way through this that is fair and affordable, fair and affordable for teachers and also fair and affordable for other colleagues within the public sector that have already settled their pay disputes with the Scottish Government. We will endeavour and we will continue to endeavour every single day, every single week, to ensure that this dispute has bought to an end. In the meantime, my work will also focus on children and young people and their run-up to their exams and protecting their education. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that M&Co will close all of its 170 stores, resulting in almost 2,000 job losses. The people affected by this development are our immediate priority. This is, of course, a very difficult time for the company's staff, their families and the local areas affected. I met with the administrators of M&Co on 19 January to discuss the situation and to consider what support the Scottish Government could offer. Regrettably, the company has not secured a buyer. The Scottish Government is in contact with the administrators and stands ready to offer what supported can to those facing redundancy in Scotland, including through an initiative for responding to redundancy situations, partnership action for continuing employment, PACE. I thank the minister for that answer. M&Co has been an iconic Scottish brand and a welcome presence on our high streets for decades. Although I acknowledge that the M&Co brand will be retained by AK retail holdings, jobs and stores are set to go by Easter. This is a devastating blow for nearly 2,000 employees of M&Co throughout the UK, including around 600 in Scotland and those at the HQ in Renfrewshire, which is also set to close. I know from my own experience and the minister will, as well, these workers have provided a friendly and helpful service to their customers over many years. If any other industry was to lose this many jobs, the Scottish Government would rightly be all over it. Retail should not be any different. As my Labour colleague Katie Clark has suggested, are the Government considering setting up a ministerial task force to support these workers unless in the blow of this devastating news? I thank Mr Bibby for his supplementary and echo his sentiments in recognising the tremendous workforce at M&Co. Given an undertaking, I am happy to consider any proposals for further action that the Scottish Government can take. With regard to a task force specifically, given that task force often responds in a place-based manner, given the disparate nature of the workforce across multiple sites, a task force might not be the best means in which to respond. However, I do not want to preclude any options at this stage and I am more than happy to meet the member and Ms Clark as well to discuss in further detail what action could be taking. I thank the minister for that answer. I have to disagree, because of the disparate nature of the workforce across many communities in Scotland, I think that it reinforces the need for such a task force. The workers at M&Co have demonstrated excellent customer care skills and need their support to find other employment. Stores such as M&Co have been the lifeblood of our town centres for decades, but high-street retailers are struggling to survive against unfair competition with the online giants, rising energy costs and customers struggling in a cost-of-living crisis. There are nine M&Co stores alone in the west of Scotland, and the minister will be Willa Willa stores in Johnston and Paisley. In addition to helping the workers affected, what new action will the Scottish Government take to reverse the economic decline of our town centres? I can again thank Mr Bibby for his supplementary. He very eloquently outlined many of the systemic challenges that our retail sector is facing from changing consumer habits to the growth of online. We are taking a range of action through our industry leadership on retail, which is taking forward our retail strategy. We are taking forward our town centre action plan. Indeed, I am co-chairing the first meeting of the town centre action plan forum with COSLA tomorrow. We are also taking forward the proposals around community wealth building. Next week, we will adopt formally the national planning framework for which embeds the town centre first principle, which will help to ensure that we see a greater concentration of economic activity in our town centres. One way in which that will be supported is by having more of a population in our town centres. Increasing that density of population in our town centres is absolutely vital to secure the demand for local services, including retail. I would also say that, while extending an invitation to discuss with the members the specific challenges around M&Co and the immediate response, I am also happy to engage with the members and any member for that matter more generally in how we ensure that Scotland has a thriving retail sector for years to come. Jimmy Halcro Johnston The news is another devastating blow to our high streets and, of course, to those who work for M&Co, there is real pressure on retail businesses and communities across the country. In the Fraser of Allander Institute, it has reported that 75 per cent of firms expected weak growth in the coming years, and just 5 per cent of Scottish firms felt more confident about the outlook of their business after the budget. Given that it is clear that the Scottish budget has provided little encouragement to Scotland's businesses, can the minister tell me what new actions the Scottish Government is now considering to prevent further closures on our high streets and more jobs and livelihoods lost? I recognise that, in our budget, we provide the most generous package of support for non-domestic rates, with 95 per cent of subjects in Scotland liable to a lower tax rate than they would be elsewhere in the UK. Indeed, around 50 per cent of retail and hospitality subjects will pay no rates at all because of the UK's most generous small business bonus scheme. I will not rehearse the points that I made in my response to Mr Bibby, but I would refer the member to that answer in highlighting the range of strategic and co-ordinated action that we are taking in partnership with local government, with the sector directly, butchers by significant funding that has been delivered in partnership with local government, for example, through the place-based investment programme and the vacant and developed land improvement programme. That news will be of significant concern to many of my constituents who are employed at the Emond Co headquarters, which is based in my constituency of Renfrewshire North and West, and I have requested a meeting with the employer to establish what support they are providing to those whose jobs are being cut. Can the minister provide any further information at this stage regarding the steps that the Scottish Government can take to provide support to those facing redundancies and help them to find similar employment locally? I thank Natalie Don for her question. At this time, there are no dates for when individual stores will close and redundancies occur, including those at the distribution centre and remaining head office staff at the Renfrewshire site. The administrators have assured us that it is their aim to provide as much notice as possible to the Scottish Government and the impacted individuals. The administrators have already notified PACE, Job Centre Plus, the Insolvency Service and the Redundancy Payments Service in order that they can provide support to those at the relevant time. The PACE national team met the administrators in December to discuss support for the staff being made redundant and has provided further information on what help and support is available. The administrators have confirmed that no offers have come forward that would result in the transfer of the company's stores or staff. Of course, those job losses come on top of the proposed job losses at the Amazon site in Gwrwch in the west of Scotland. I am very grateful to the minister for the offer to meet to discuss a task force. Will he agree with me, as well as making sure that we provide every support to any staff affected? We have to stop more empty buildings in town centres in the west of Scotland. I agree absolutely. I want to thank Kitty Clark for the constructive way in which she has engaged on this. She also makes a very important point about recognising the cumulative effect in the west of Scotland with regard to recent announcements. I will not go through the points again, but we are taking a range of actions to address shop vacancy. Shortly as well, I will be publishing the Government's response to phase 2, the permitted developments review. I will not anticipate what is in that but it is another strand of the action that we are taking to help support our town centres. I look forward to picking up this topic of conversation further when we have the opportunity to meet. That concludes topical questions. The next item of business is a statement by Richard Lochhead on Scottish Government's response to the second round of the levelling up fund. I will allow a moment or two for members to take their seats.