 That concludes the debate on the fourth national planning framework. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of business motion 7457, in the name of George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a business programme. And I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and moved. Thank you, no member has asked to speak on the motion. Therefore, the question is that motion 7457 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 7458, in the name of George Adam on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on timetabling of a bill at stage 1. 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. Fy hi'r ddffordd hyn? Nifr, mae ein ddaeth bydd yn ddiogel. Fy hi'r ddaeth bydd yn ddiogel. Fy hi'r ddffordd hyn? A fyddai yn ddiogel? Fy hi'r ddffordd hyn? Mae ddifredigol yma o diogel o'r etym yn cyfrifiadol os ydw i gyflei gymaedd bwyd o rhan, yn yn 7459 o'r adeiladol o'r SSI. Rwy'n ddaeth gael George Adam o'r parlymedd sicrhau hospitals yma o ddiffwyd. Mae hi ddiffwyd, rydyn ni'n ddych iawn. I want to speak in regard to the winter heating assistance, which is a new benefit that the Scottish Government is bringing in to replace a previous benefit. We have been waiting years for this benefit to come forward in regard to its design. The outcome by the Scottish Government was that it was going to leave nobody behind and would be more appropriate for Scotland. Yet when the committee took evidence just before Christmas, there was a diamond reflection on what this benefit was going to bring. Energy Action Scotland made the very clear comment that this benefit will make people who are in fuel poverty worse off than they would under the present scheme that we have. Years in designing and yet making people worse off, of course. Pam Duncan-Glancy. I thank the member for taking the intervention and for many of the reasons stated, Scottish Labour abstained on those regulations in committee. Voting against would have meant that people got nothing and so we abstained and will be doing so again today. The current system needs improved, of course, but what's on offer does nowhere near what is needed. The new system, as the member has highlighted, can leave approximately 120,000 people about £50 worse off this winter, which has already had the lowest temperatures of the last 10 years than it would have been in 2021 under the previous system, which is exactly why organisations such as Energy Action Scotland have said that the new system will have less impact on fuel poverty than the one that is set to replace. Does the member agree with me that the SNP has had the potential to make a difference to people who are hardest hit by fuel poverty but, instead, they have taken a half-hearted ill-thought-through approach that leaves tens of thousands of people worse off? Jeremy Balfour. I thank the member for her intervention and, yes, I absolutely agree with what she said. The irony, Presiding Officer, was that, as we were taking evidence in regard to those regulations, the snow was falling outside, the temperatures had plummeted, England, Wales were getting money in their pockets. Four days later, people in Scotland got zero. People, particularly vulnerable people in the Highlands and other parts of Scotland, have missed out on money that we could have helped them with their fuel poverty gap now rather than having to wait. That benefit will affect people, particularly with disability, because not all disabled people will get that. People who need that money because they stay in their houses longer to heat their houses will miss out. We are calling on the Scottish Government to go away and come up with a new scheme for next year that will actually be designed to help people who are vulnerable here in Scotland. We heard evidence, both from Social Security Scotland and from the Minister himself, of the lack of involvement in ministers around designing the scheme. They seem to be quite happy to leave it to their officials to do all the work and simply not get engaged in the difficult issues. Finally, Presiding Officer, perhaps most damning for us is that the minister in his evidence and Social Security in their evidence could not guarantee that people would get their money in February. It is not given money, and why is that? Mr Balfour says that we cannot guarantee that there will be a payment in February. Does he not recognise that there is no guarantee that anywhere would get a cold weather payment on any given year? In winding up, Mr Balfour. If the member loots, everybody did get money back in December after that four-day period. There will be no guarantee from the Scottish Government. That is why these benches will be abstaining this afternoon in regard to the regulations. We plead with the Government, think of the most vulnerable, go away, think again and come up with something new. If Parliament passes the winter heating assistance low-income Scotland regulations today, then each and every year around 415,000 people will be paid an annual, reliable benefit to support them with their winter energy bills. For £22.23, this payment will be £50 and paid automatically from next month as long as Social Security Scotland received the necessary data from the DWP in a timely way. It is critical, as I have emphasised to the committee, that DWP delivers on its commitment to provide client data to Social Security Scotland by the agreed date of 31 January. Winter heating payment will be an improvement to the previous unreliable system, which was called cold weather payment. To receive a single £25 payment of the DWP's cold weather payment, the eligible person has to live in an area where the average of the mean temperature—a daily temperature—is zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days. The temperature is identified through 27 weather stations across the country, which often do not represent local conditions. Because of that, many people in Scotland have previously received little support through cold weather payments. People require support regardless of whether it is exceptionally cold for just under a week or marginally above zero degrees. Pam Duncan-Glancy, I thank the minister for taking the intervention. The minister has highlighted some concerns around the weather stations and the cold weather payments. Can the minister set out any conversations that the minister had with the Met Office when trying to design a better system or did they just decide that that would be too difficult? I refer the member to my comments at committee around that point and the point that I have emphasised around the fact that the weather stations do not necessarily reflect the cold conditions in places. For example, particularly in the Highlands, where there have been very low numbers of cold weather payments, despite people feeling the cold through the windchill, we will provide support regardless of whether our new benefit will provide guarantees support, so people will not have to hope for a period of cold weather to be sustained to trigger a payment. Indeed, winter heating payments will be an automatic reliable payment that will support energy bills this year and in winters to come. I am aware that there has been a period of exceptionally cold weather so far this winter. However, I also know that this is not always the case. For example, last winter, no cold weather payments were made in the areas of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Shetland, Orkney, Wick and Fife. Indeed, last winter only 11,000 people in Scotland received the DWP's cold weather payment. By comparison, our winter heating payment will provide a reliable payment to 415,000 people on the lowest incomes no matter the weather. Between 2015-16 and 2021-22, an average of only £8.3 million was spent on cold weather payments in Scotland, supporting an average of 185,000 people. By comparison, our new stable benefit will be an investment of more than £20 million each year to all those who are eligible and we will upgrade it in the next financial year. Overall, winter heating payments will be an improvement and will reliably support people more than the cold weather payment system. For those reasons and many others, I urge members to vote for the regulations today. The question on this motion will be put at decision time. The next item of business is consideration of parliamentary bureau motion 7460 on approval of an SSI. I asked George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motion. The question on this motion 2 will be put at decision time. There are three questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that motion 7442, in the name of Tom Arthur, on the fourth national planning framework, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The Parliament is not agreed, therefore we will move to a vote and there will be a brief pause to allow members to access the digital voting system.