 The next item of business is a debate on programme for government, cost of living. Again, I would invite members who wish to participate to press the request to speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on Patrick Harvie to open the debate for around 11 minutes, minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. As the First Minister said yesterday, the programme for government comes against the backdrop of unprecedented circumstances, which threaten a humanitarian emergency in every community in the country. It's a crisis that's impacting on people of all walks of life, but that impact will not be evenly felt. People on low incomes, people with poor health, people in precarious work, families, especially with young children and people renting their homes will be among those hardest hit. As a responsible Government, in order to support people, especially over this winter, we're determined to act to mitigate the impact of the crisis to the maximum extent possible within our limited powers and resources. That includes support for energy bills, childcare, health and travel, as well as social security payments that are not available anywhere else in the UK. The programme for government also outlines important steps to support people who rent their home, and that's what I'll be focusing on today. First of all, our financial support. We're providing over £88 million in housing support this year, building on the £39 million of additional funding already provided to protect tenants as a result of the pandemic. We've committed in our programme for government to extend eligibility for the tenant grant fund. That means that, as well as supporting tenants with pandemic-related rent arrears, the fund can now help those who are struggling to pay rent due to costs of living pressures. We're also providing an additional £5 million for discretionary housing payments so that they can help people with energy costs as well as rental liabilities. That takes our total investment in DHPs to over £88 million, providing a lifeline for very many people. For some people, renting a home is a choice that they have made freely and happily, and their rented home is good quality, secure and affordable. For others, this is not the case. People who rent, especially in the private rented sector, spend a greater proportion of their income on housing than people who own their home. Tenants have, on average, lower incomes, and in the private rented sector, energy standards are poorer as well. Many people living in a rented home were already facing an incredibly challenging and precarious financial situation, and this new crisis is only exacerbating those problems for many tenants across Scotland. While we know, and as the Government regularly restates, that there are many responsible landlords who provide a good service and try to protect their tenants, we also know that this is not universal. I'm certain that I'm not the only MSP with constituents getting in touch about eye-watering rent increases. While few people would defend the extraordinary inaction from the UK Government over the summer or the frankly insulting remarks of the man who overstayed his tenure in Downing Street when he said that people should deal with the energy crisis by buying a new kettle, we have to hope—we have to hope—that we may yet see some significant action from the new Prime Minister. Throughout the campaign, she repeatedly refused to commit to providing sufficient support to deal with this crisis. That is not what this Government will do. We have examined what we can do within our devolved powers and limited finite budget to support people who are feeling the brunt of this crisis now. We have already taken important steps. With direct support and stronger housing rights put in place during the pandemic and since made permanent. In doing so, we made clear that we would continue to seek new ways to give the support that is needed. That is why our programme for government set out new, immediate and bold action that we will take. We will work with Parliament to introduce emergency legislation designed to protect tenants by freezing rents and imposing a moratorium on evictions until at least the end of March next year. We will ensure that rents are effectively frozen from yesterday when the announcement was made and we will introduce a prohibition on executing eviction decrees for a limited period of time, similar to what was in place during the pandemic. The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations has warned against Government rent controls in the social housing sector. What consultation, if any, has the Government undertaken on this? Both the cabinet secretary and myself have had conversations with the social housing sector. We are very aware that we need to take account not only of the protection that people need from rent increases but also of the social housing sector's need to invest in provision of new homes and improvement in quality. We will continue to take great efforts to engage with the social housing sector as we move forward. Looking at the proposal on rent freeze, it will be in place across both parts of the rented sector. Any emergency action by definition has to be temporary and the on-going necessity of it must be continually reviewed. Given the huge uncertainty as to what the next six months will bring and beyond, we intend to build in regular review points and consider carefully whether and how any measures may be extended beyond that initial period and how those measures will impact on and complement the existing longer-term reform of the rental sector that we have already committed to during this Parliament. I thank the minister for taking the intervention. I know that, like Labour, the Scottish Greens are committed to support for tenants. In their manifesto, they are committed to supporting student renters. They are committed that, regardless of housing providers, student renters would have the same protections as those with private rented tenancies and that they would ensure that any rent controls would apply to student accommodation. I just wanted to check and get confirmation from the minister, now that he is in Government, if he stands by that and if the rent freeze will also apply to student accommodation. I commend the member for her prescience, the very next paragraph in my speeches about exactly this issue. She will be aware that, in the longer-term work that we are doing on the new deal for tenants, we have been undertaking a review of purpose-built student accommodation. In relation to those emergency measures, our plans include students who are renting in the private rented sector. We want them to benefit from protections that we are putting in place. For those students who are in university and college halls of residence or PBSA, the structure of contracts is different and it often includes energy costs. Therefore, we are working quickly to determine exactly how we can give parity of protection for those students, but that is our intention to achieve that. Moving on to the issue of evictions, we have always been clear that eviction by a landlord, whether private or social, should always be a last resort when all avenues to sustain a tenancy have been exhausted. Through the recently passed coronavirus recovery and reform act, we are ensuring that pre-action protocols providing further protections against eviction are made permanent. Once again, we find ourselves in unique and unprecedented times. Recognising that, alongside our bold action to freeze rents until at least the end of March, our emergency legislation will also seek to place a moratorium on evictions, similar to the restrictions that were put in place during the pandemic. That action will effectively halt the service and enforcement of evictions across the rented sector. Cases related to antisocial behaviour or criminality, though, will be allowed to proceed. We are considering what additional safeguards are required, particularly for landlords who may find themselves in financial hardship. Emergency legislation is the linchpin of our action, but it is by no means the whole story. People need to know, for example, what their existing rights are—stronger rights than exist in other parts of the UK. That will be increasingly important over the next few weeks. Any tenant who, as a result of the announcement that we made yesterday, is told by their landlord that their rent will increase immediately should know that that is illegal and can be challenged. Private landlords must give three months' notice of any rent increases, and, as such, our intention is to shape our emergency legislation to make sure that any notices issued from yesterday will not come into effect. Also, a private landlord cannot simply throw you out of your home. They must follow the strict legal processes and conditions that are in place. To try and evict without following those routes is illegal and should be reported immediately to the police. I ask all members to make sure that we are sharing these messages about the existing rights. That is really important. If any tenant finds themselves in a position over the coming days and weeks where a landlord is trying to immediately increase their rent or to make them leave the property without giving the required notice, please seek advice now from an organisation such as Citizens Advice, Shelter, a Tenants Union or your local housing department. To help to drive up awareness of the new and existing protections in place for tenants, we will be undertaking a further awareness-raising campaign over the coming months. Of course, people who rent are not just worried about paying the rent. They and other households are facing many other pressures, which is why we provide such significant financial housing support. It is why yesterday's programme for government also committed to doubling our fuel and security fund to £20 million to help households at risk of severely rationing their energy use or self-disconnecting entirely. We have also recently committed to an additional £1.2 million to enable the immediate expansion of energy advice services to ensure that households and businesses receive the support and guidance that they need. We want to make sure that people get all the support that they may be able to access, so we are preparing a new Scottish Government cost of living website, bringing together into one place all of the potential support and how it applies to people in different personal circumstances. There is a huge amount more, and I am sure that members will highlight their concerns during this debate, and the cabinet secretary will add to that when closing as well. To be clear, though, all of that additional help is already needed. It is by no means an alternative to our demand for a major intervention on energy prices, which the UK Government must make to stop the October price rise and put additional support in place. The Scottish Government has already proposed bold new plans to deliver a longer-term work on a new deal for tenants. We initiated that well before the full nature of this cost crisis became clear. It is right that we act now to protect tenants in the context of these exceptional pressures, but our longer-term aims remain. We will keep reviewing our work on that longer-term reform as we go to ensure that we respond to the immediate pressures, but without losing sight of the aim of delivering the new deal for tenants that is so badly needed. I can advise the chamber that we have a bit of time in hand, so anybody who does take an intervention should get the time back. I call Liz Smith around seven minutes. Yesterday's programme for government debate set out the extent of the Parliament's concern about the cost of living challenge that is facing both of Scotland's Governments, not just in terms of addressing the very significant economic problems that we are all grappling with as a result of the rampant inflation, but just as importantly about the resulting social and personal costs within our communities. It is good to hear what the minister has just said about the advice service that will be provided in that regard. The editorial in Saturday's Financial Times could hardly have been more blunt in its economic analysis of the fragility of the economy, that many members of the public and of businesses are on the brink, and that there is little optimism that the current situation will be short-lived. It said that any failure to directly support at least the most vulnerable households and enterprises would be catastrophic for the economy, and it acknowledged that the effort required is on the scale of tackling the pandemic. It is very clear for some weeks that the £37 billion package of support that was announced some months ago by the UK Government, including the £400 payments that will start for households in October, and the additional support with winter fuel and disability payments, is not enough, and certainly not enough, to help those who are most in need. On the point of the £400, as I do in my constituency, Liz Smith will have many people have all oil-fired central heating. Is there any news on whether they are going to be getting that £400, as well as people on gas and electricity? That is a good question. It was raised in the House of Commons at lunchtime today, and I think that there is important detail to be forthcoming on that point, because you are quite right. That affects quite a lot of constituents. It was also good to hear at lunchtime much more about the direction of travel for the new trust government when it comes to additional support. In particular, I want to welcome the acknowledgement that what is happening now is on the scale of the pandemic. Most of the economic analysts this morning are predicting a package of upwards of £150 billion of support. That is above the level of support for the Covid pandemic, and it is also what would be the largest welfare bail-out in recent history. Likewise, Liz Truss has intimated that an energy price cap is likely to be put in place around £2,500 instead of the predicted £3,500. I hope that those measures will persuade the First Minister that the UK Government is taking this matter extremely seriously, and I hope that the First Minister will respond accordingly to that commitment, including the assurances from the new chancellor that there is a need for a very large package of support now, rather than by making several incremental changes over time. Something that I think will give a little bit of help and much-needed relief in the short term. I hope that the First Minister will also acknowledge and support the assurances that were made by the Prime Minister in her first public statement that this very large package of short-term support will be accompanied with policies to address the longer-term imbalances in energy markets. As Governments set about tackling the awful crisis, not just in this country, it is important to pay attention to the most recent economic analysis, most especially to the factors that are affecting the supply and cost side of the economy and those that are affecting the demand side, because tackling each requires slightly different policy approaches. The on-going war in Russia, but most especially the actions of Vladimir Putin regarding the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, is, as everyone agrees, the route of the trouble for the supply change and the basic costs of production. All of us, yes I will. Thank the member for taking intervention. Independent reports have indicated that Brexit has increased food prices by 6 per cent, and Stirling has lost 10 per cent of its value. Now that has impacted on imports. Do you think that Brexit has had that effect? Do you agree with this independent report? Through the chair, please, Ms Graham. I think that Christine Graham will know what my views on Brexit are, but it is quite clear that Brexit is by no means the root cause of all this problem. It is very much a global crisis. Many countries not involved in the Brexit situation have exactly the same forces that we are having to contend with, and I think that that is something that Christine Graham should bear in mind. How many times in recent weeks have we been told as MSPs that businesses—many of them at the heart of our communities—can be on the brink in terms of closing their doors? It is not just a situation that is creating viability issues within our own constituencies. It is affecting schools, hospitals and care homes, many of which are the backbone of our society. I am grateful to Liz Smith for giving way, and she raised an important point about the wider cost crisis that is impacting on public services and businesses throughout her economy. Does she agree that the intervention from the UK Government on energy prices must ensure that all of those organisations gain that benefit and that it should be those who have been raking in record profits on whose shoulders that cost falls? Liz Smith. Yes, I agree with that point. This is not just about the public at large. This is very much about the future of our businesses. In any package of support, it must deal with the concerns that businesses are facing. I personally would still like to see a removal of the VAT on fuel prices, because I think that that is something that comes through everybody's cost of production. Obviously, we will have to wait until tomorrow's announcement by the Prime Minister as exactly what the targeted support could be to businesses, as well as what it will be for the public. I think that it also means a revaluation of world energy markets and a diversification of the energy source. The minister himself might not like that point, because it is not going to be easy because of the inherent contradictions in the short term when it comes to pushing ahead with greener options, but also making the best use of the supply of our fossil fuels. I know that the minister will not like that point, but I have to say to him that there is a balance to be required here. It makes no sense at all to harbour total opposition to nuclear energy and to the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the North Sea. We need a genuine mix of energy if we are to avoid a serious problem in the future. That mix has to be based on need, but also on incentives that allow new investment in green alternatives. That is why we have to be very careful about arguing for longer-term windfall taxes. We must not have disincentives for those who can place significant sums of money in our green alternatives. The member likes to reflect on the transmission charges, which means that it is a disadvantage in Scotland for people to do renewable energy, because it costs far more to get the energy on to the network than it does in the south of England. Surely that is a way of keeping down the cost to consumers. That is exactly the point that consumers will want to address in the cost of living crisis. Presiding Officer, I will sum up quickly, because— Excuse me. Liz Smith has taken a number of interventions. I think therefore those making interventions in a sedentary position should reflect on the behaviour of Liz Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I quickly sum up. I do believe very strongly that the UK Government has to be very bold with its economic assistance, but it absolutely does not mean that the Scottish Government has no part to play in. My colleagues will address some of these issues as we move through the debate. I return to the fact that there is an expectation amongst our constituents that we act together, that we listen to each other, that we talk, that we cooperate and that we are united in our approach to dealing with this. I will repeat what I said yesterday. I do not think that the constant bickering about constitutional issues is helpful at all. Thank you, Ms Smith. I now call on Pam Duncan-Glancy for a generous six minutes, Ms Duncan-Glancy. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. This cost of living emergency means households are seeing their incomes squeezed like never before. People on low incomes are living in poverty. We are already choosing whether to heat or eat. The choices that they now face are devastating. Organisations and businesses are struggling to cover costs too, particularly those in the third sector, which faces ever greater demand for its long-recognised expertise in poverty and inequality against a £1 million funding cut. Without sustainable multi-year funding, the support they offer is at risk. Governments must act right now. The new Tory Prime Minister's inbox will be, as ours are, bulging with despair and challenge on a scale that is not seen in generations. Sadly, I do not hold out much hope that she will meet it. I desperately urge her to bring down bills and listen to my colleagues in Westminster, who have long called for a windfall tax on the energy giants and who are reporting excessive profits at the expense of people. However, it is not all down to the Tories. The SNP has failed us too. They have not used the powers that are already held in Scotland to do their bit to ease the bite of the crisis. I welcome the announcement on when the Scottish child payment will be increased and rolled out and recognise the impact of that payment, but it is not enough. For those already in receipt of it, it amounts to £30 extra this year. For many, it is too late. The delayed roll-out has meant that the over-60s have either been left on bridging payments and have missed out on vital lift or have fallen through the cracks and received nothing at all. All of that has led to children missing out on £5 million every single week in Scotland. The reality is that much of which was announced yesterday was a rehash of previously announced policies that the Government has delayed and failed to deliver on. When people will receive the money in their pockets from 14 November, which is yet a date yet to come, surely she can find it within herself to welcome that money into the pockets of families who need it most, surely? I thank the cabinet secretary for that intervention, but the cabinet secretary will be well aware that both of the announcements on the Scottish child payment were made on 9 December last year to double the payment and in March in the child poverty delivery plan to add the fibre to it. The date that was announced yesterday is the new bit, and that is why people will only get £30 extra if they are on Scottish child payment this year. It is not a new or significant commitment, and it already means that thousands of children have missed out on millions. The cabinet secretary and others can shake their heads all they like. That is the reality in Scotland, much of which was announced yesterday was a rehash. Despite the SNP's claim to have spent billions of pounds in response to the current crisis, the Parliament's own impartial information service is clear that much of that relates to long-standing commitments that go back many years, including commitments that were made by the Labour Party in office over 15 years ago. The actual figure is near £500 million of which half was to pass on to the UK Government council tax rebate. The people of Scotland need action and a Government that will be bold that will level with them, not one that is more interested in scoring political points than getting the help that people need. Neither have the ambition, both are tired and neither are being bold enough to tackle this crisis. You can laugh if you like, but I will tell you something, people in Scotland are not laughing. It is not good enough to sit on your hands when you hold the power that can change people's lives, and it is galling to hope that people do not notice because the comparator is the worst Tory Government in history. However, the Scottish people are not daft, but they are desperate. They can see their bills going up and their purse is getting emptier, and they recognise the lack of support that has come from the SNP. We have seen countless opportunities passing by when they could have put money in people's pockets who desperately need it. I have heard from disabled people who cannot afford to charge their wheelchairs. The Scottish Government could have acted, but it failed to live up to its own fuel poverty strategy by refusing to expand the child winter heating assistance to disabled adults and those on all rates of assistance. They failed to keep their promise to maintain the uplift to carers allowance supplement, and, of course, had they used the social security powers for the real radical change promised, we would have a more adequate and fairer disability and carers benefits system, meaning that people would have been off to a better start at the beginning of the crisis than they are now. The SNP says that they do not have the powers that they need to act, but it is not true. When Scotland received consequentials following the UK Government's initial cost of living package and adequate as it was, the SNP lazily picked up the blueprint, drawn out by the Tories and copied it, meaning that some of the most well-off got support, while those who needed it received barely enough to scratch the surface. There is no excuse. We gave them a plan, showed them how to give the money to people who needed it most and they did not use it. Our plan would have seen £1,000 of support, get to people who needed it, cap bus fares, cut rail fares, reversed water charges and every household would have got 100 pound rebate on them. Crucially, we had a targeted £400 at people who needed it the most and were hardest hit. Disabled people and paid carers and people on low incomes would have received desperately needed support and they would have been money left over for the welfare fund too, but it is not too late. The Scottish Government can act now and I urge it to, but the bigger problem now is deeper and bigger and so the solutions must also be bigger and bolder. Children on bridging payments are not going to receive what they are eligible for to the end of the year. That is a long time to wait when you are struggling to put food on the table. Doubling it now would really help. The role that debt plays in poverty is that people are borrowing money to pay the basics and co-operising bills. Increasing funding for money advice services to ensure people with the support that they need to manage what little they have will be crucial. A winter eviction ban, of course, would ensure that no one is left out in the cold and winter. Over the last decade, mismanagement of our economy and failure to work together in both Governments has meant that living standards and real wages have failed to grow and we have entered the crisis from a position of significant disadvantage. The country and people are on their knees. We need more than sticking plaster to get us back on course. We need a stronger, more secure economy that does not just mask but ends poverty and inequality for good. I can advise the chamber that there is a bit of time in hand, so if you have something to say I would encourage you to invite an intervention, which I am sure will be taken. I call Beatrice Wishart for around four minutes. I am pleased that the Scottish Government is dedicating this time to debate the cost of living and energy crisis. We will see in the coming days what plans the new Prime Minister will set out for the country to tackle this national crisis. Liberal Democrats have already and in some cases were the first to call for the rise in the energy price cap to be scrapped, a support scheme to help businesses deal with the rise in energy prices since the cap does not apply to them, a national programme to insulate homes, and a doubling of the warm homes discount than the winter fuel allowance. It is no exaggeration to say that people are in fear and worried sick about how they will pay their energy bills this winter. The fact is that so many cannot pay the sums being spoken about. It is an insidious thought impacting on businesses and households alike and it is imperative that our Governments do all that they can. It is not difficult to see disastrous consequences ahead should we continue down this path. Pensioners, including already hard-hit waspy women, further limiting heating and eating. Single-person households are struggling. Parents are trying their best to feed their children while working all hours to make ends meet. More children, cold and hungry, growing up in poverty. The child payment increase will help the worst affected. People with low-fixed incomes are already struggling with limited budgets and businesses that cannot survive eye-watering energy cost increases. While the programme for government did outline measures from the Scottish Government, there is more that needs to be done. Last week, Shetland Islands Council highlighted that by next April, 96 per cent of households in the islands—96 per cent—could be in fuel poverty. To stay out of fuel poverty, households in Shetland would need to earn £104,000 compared to £52,000 by their UK counterparts. The irony of Shetland being a contributor that helps to make Scotland energy rich, as the First Minister described it yesterday, is not lost on those of us who live there. It is important to highlight the difference in weather patterns across the UK. Not everywhere has experienced the recent 40-degree heat and some may never have switched their heating off this summer. Households across rural Scotland rely on heating oil rather than mainline gas. There is no price cap on heating oil and there has been little support from either Government so far to directly help those households. Homes across Scotland lack adequate insulation to benefit both energy bills and efforts to save energy while tackling the climate emergency. Emma Harper I thank Ms Wishart for taking an intervention. She is talking about oil, fuel and gas and the people that are living off grid, our own constituents in Shetland, as it is really, really part of that. Would she agree that the same folk are affected in the south of Scotland as well? Yes, I would agree that those who are affected by being off grid's impact is across rural Scotland. Homes across Scotland—I think that I have lost my place now—we are talking about insulation. Homes across Scotland lack adequate insulation to benefit both energy bills and efforts to save energy and the climate emergency. Recent Scottish Liberal Democrat research indicated that it could take us over 300 years to insulate every fuel-poor home in Scotland at the pace that the warmer home Scotland scheme is working at. One can only hope that the new investment that was announced yesterday will speed up the process. The cost of travel is also a great consideration for many households. Petrol prices are fluctuated over the summer and cars are essential in many parts of Scotland. Public transport isn't cheap to operate and expensive to use, especially when budgets are squeezed. For many, reliant on daily train or ferry services to commute, additional travel costs can feel like paying a second mortgage. While the Scottish Government will point to its announcement around freezing ScotRail prices, that will only effectively be in place for two months. Finally, any money that is available in the system should be used to help people to navigate the cost of living crisis and not to reheat divisive political arguments. We now move to the open debate. I call Emma Roddick, who will be followed by Miles Briggs, for a generous four minutes. I also took part in yesterday's debate on the programme for government. I think that it was difficult to disconnect any of it from the cost of living crisis. The Scottish Government has clearly made a choice to support people and do what it can to address what are huge household cash flow issues. The new Prime Minister, on the other hand, has launched straight into offering a so-called reward for nothing more than being rich by cutting tax for high earners and prioritising economic growth, which we know is her shorthand for saying that the rich are getting richer, over making sure that people in UK countries can access food and warmth. The Scottish child payment being raised again for the second time this year is the perfect illustration of the SNP's priorities, but it is far from the only measure here that will have huge impact for those in poverty or just about managing. When I campaign for independence in 2014, we talked a lot about a tale of two Governments and a tale of two futures, but this is not just a tale of two futures, this is a tale of two presence, and social security being partially devolved reserved provides a perfect illustration of the contrast between the UK Tory's approach to social security and the fairness that we have here. The Social Justice and Social Security Committee recently received a briefing from our researcher at the University of Glasgow, which dug deeper into the DWP's benefit sanction statistics. Many of us will remember the rising Covid rates this spring, but in May 2022, a universal credit claimant out of work was around three times more likely to be on benefit sanctions than have Covid. One in 14 were under sanction at that time. The DWP's approach is punitive, it's hostile and it's degrading, but Social Security Scotland, on the other hand, is already delivering 12 benefits, seven new and exclusive to Scotland and has outstanding feedback. The most recent client survey had 93 per cent of respondents describing their overall experience as very good or good, and that is a higher satisfaction rate than the DWP's target number, which is still a long way from reaching. The difference now is so stark that I really struggle to see how anyone can deny it. I appreciate the member taking this intervention. The member will be aware that there was a target for adult disability payment as well, but it is now no longer on the website for Social Security Scotland. Will she agree with me that we need to make sure that that is retained so that people know how quickly their application will be processed? Emma Roddick I think that it's very important to have targets and to know because Pam and I are both on the Social Security Committee and it's important to us to be able to scrutinise. I absolutely know that that question has been raised in the committee and I'm sure that an answer will be forthcoming. One government here is making themselves and their donors richer, and one is supporting people through a cost of living crisis. One government sees the value in keeping kids out of poverty, and one is contemptuously insisting that it won't resort to handouts, as if handing food to a hungry burn is a bad thing. My team and I spent a lot of time this summer trying to get some help for constituents who responded to my cost of living survey. 98 per cent of respondents to that said that they were worried about their energy bills, even people who were really quite well off. 74 per cent said that the cost of living was affecting their mental health. We're talking about fundamentals here. It's a disagreement between the UK Government and the Scottish Government about what sort of society we want to be, one that looks after each other or one that protects the wealthiest and engages in a race to the bottom on employment, housing and even human rights for the rest of us. Across the highlands and islands, folk are displaying their intention to be the kind of society where people look after each other. In South Bronalds, where Orcadians are likely to face extreme fuel poverty and struggle to heat their homes this winter, the local church has turned into a warmth bank. That shouldn't be necessary, but thanks to an action from the UK Government, people will rely on places like that to survive. The anti-democratic stance that the Tories are taking is one that's up to them to take, but Scotland does not agree with them. I don't know how many times this country is going to have to vote SNP before the Tories admit to themselves that their insular, conservative politics are just not winning hearts and minds. Scotland has made its choice, and the SNP Government is simply listening and acting on the wishes of the electorate. If the Tories won't listen, hell mend them. I would like to begin on a note of consensus. That is with regard to some aspects of the programme for government that I do, in fact, welcome and indeed have campaigned for. I think that the Children's Care and Justice Bill is indeed a welcome development, and I hope that that will finally deliver on the promises made to care-experienced young people. Also, as I've discussed and hope to discuss again with the Education Secretary, a move to end the restraint of children in care settings. The First Minister has made a number of key promises to care-experienced young people, and this now has to be the time that they are delivered on. I also welcome the announcement on the establishment of a Scottish patient commissioner. The devil will indeed be in the detail around this, but this can and must help to improve patient advocacy in Scotland. In the limited time that I have today, I wanted to concentrate my comments on housing, and the minister has also done that. It is clear that we are starting to see a storm cloud gathering on the horizon of the Scottish housing market. Over the last year, the cost of building a home has increased by an average of 17 per cent. Indeed, over the past two years, the cost of building a new home in Scotland has increased to over £200,000. The decision by SNP ministers to remove the first home fund and help to buy for first-time buyers in Scotland has pulled the ladder up from many aspirational Scots and has negatively impacted on the housing sector. The national planning framework, as it stands also, is not fit for purpose and needs to be redrafted to help to facilitate the delivery of housing and renewable targets. We need to see a housing revolution in Scotland. It is disappointing that the Scottish Government currently, with its national planning framework, has not included housing as a key infrastructure priority. I think that that needs to change. If we are going to see a slowdown in the construction sector in Scotland in the months ahead, it is also vital that both the Scottish Government and local government act to work to retain construction jobs. That is why reintroducing help to buy schemes and moving forward on shovel-ready projects, for example, is something that I hope that ministers will look to actively consider. On the first-time buyer support, as Miles Briggs will know, we have shifted resource to those who can least afford it so that we can help to get them on the property ladder that they would not otherwise be able to do so. He will also know that those who access the previous funds would have been able to purchase without that support. Is he saying in the light of what the Deputy First Minister said earlier on about constrained finances that we should shift that money away from those on the lowest incomes towards those who are better off? I just want clarity of where that money is coming from. Miles Briggs, and I can give you that turn back. It is not easy for people to get on the property market. The cabinet secretary will be aware that so many people who do not have a deposit relied on these schemes. They now do not exist for many. The builders themselves are saying that first-time buyers in Scotland are not coming forward for those properties. There are not homes that do not exist for them today. I can send him the evidence that the first-time buyer market is very buoyant. There may be issues in the city of Edinburgh for all the reasons that we understand, but on a Scottish-wide basis the first-time buyer market is very buoyant. Surely we should be putting our resources to those who would otherwise not be able to get on the housing market without Government assistance. If he wants to widen that, he has to tell us where that money is coming from. Miles Briggs. It is not the first time that the cabinet secretary does not understand Edinburgh and in terms of where first-time buyers want to get on the property ladder, the current price does not allow them to even get on. What is specific? There has been no solution that the cabinet secretary has brought forward. He has just pulled the ladder up. Excuse me, can the front bench please not be heckling from us? I said to you, Miles Briggs. Mr Briggs has taken a couple of interventions from the front bench, and therefore I think that he is the right to expect the front bench not to be heckling when he is responding to the responses that he has got. Miles Briggs. The cabinet secretary, I will say that I welcome what has been briefly outlined today around homeless prevention, which will be included in the housing bill. However, the housing bill cannot simply be an attempt to cover over SNP cracks in the wall. The housing crisis that we are facing is a result of the fact that SNP Green and Labour Liberal Democrats' Scottish Governments over the last 20 years have failed to deliver at their affordable homes and they have promised to communities across Scotland. The announcement of a rent-free scheme may have grabbed the headlines, but there has been no consultation or opportunity for Parliament to properly scrutinise how that will be legally implemented. Ministers must now demonstrate how they intend to deliver on this policy. Thank you. I appreciate that the member is giving way. Very clearly we will introduce legislation. That will go through parliamentary scrutiny and has to meet the legal test, just as any legislation going through Parliament does. However, is the member actually saying that we should have signalled this intention in advance and seen a wave of rent increase notices before that legislation was actually in place? I am saying to the minister that he should have consulted because just a few short months ago the minister described Labour's proposals in this chamber when him and his colleagues voted against them as unworkable and that would in the long term heighten the risk of eviction and destabilise an already vulnerable housing sector. Perhaps that is why, as I have raised with him, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations are warning the Government that rent controls will destabilise the social housing sector. It would be extremely regrettable and indeed will drive a potential Scottish housing crisis, I will have to this point. If this policy actually results in fewer rental properties being made available, especially in parts of Scotland, like here in the capital, where private rented market is already overheated, if I can get the time back. You can, but make it a brief intervention, please, Mr Griffin. I thank Miles Briggs for giving way. The UK Government is currently consulting on a rent cap in the social sector. Does Miles Briggs not support the UK Government intervention in that market? Miles Briggs, but what I am saying is that we are concerned about the impact because these proposals could lead to the potential loss of private rented property. I do not know if Labour expects that to happen or are happy with that, but we cannot allow, especially here in the capital, private rented properties to not be made available so that students will not be able to. Like we are seeing in parts of Europe, they will be camping in fields to go to university. We cannot see that happen and these properties cannot leave the market. There are no homes to replace them with. Organisations as well who are expressing concerns are looking for an answer, and the answer is a mixed housing approach with more social rented affordable housing targeted at lower earners, not destabilising the sector even further. It is concerning that the Scottish Government still has not published the housing of varying needs review. Organisations such as MND Scotland have called for action to help to fast track applications for adaptations in accessible housing for people with life-limiting conditions like MND. I hope that we will see that published as soon as possible. The programme for government has the potential to drive a housing crisis in Scotland. Ministers should be warned that the problems that they are seeking to solve could be made much worse by their actions, and I hope that they will properly think about what they are proposing. Thank you, Mr Briggs. I now call Christine Graham to be followed by Neil Bibby for around four minutes, Ms Graham. Oh, I am just extending my speech. I thought we had time anyway. Minister, I welcome the increase in the child payment to £25 and the extension due by the end of the year to every child in a qualifying household under the age of 16. This is the only part of the UK with this intervention. Already, more than 2,500 children in Midlothian and a similar number in the Borders are benefiting from this. Surely, to goodness, the whole of the chamber says that this is a great idea. The freeze on rents in both private and social housing is a bold but necessary move. We are in a crisis. Free school meals to P5 and under are a determination to extend to all at primary assist fundamentally the wellbeing of children and the family at large. The baby box in its first three years has been delivered to more than 144,000 homes with an incredible 93 per cent uptake. Free prescriptions now costing over £9 per item in England. Free bus travel for all under 22 and over 60. No tuition fees. Just a few examples of the socially just measures the Scottish Government has and is carrying forward. It is a different world to south of the border and it is a pity that Pamela Duncan-Gladz is not. She is back. I am glad that she is here because she seems to think that we are sitting on our hands. If that is sitting on our hands, let us have more of it. I am proud of these initiatives. Let me get into my flow a wee bit. The energy and cost of living crisis has reminded us how vulnerable devolution leaves us. The public sector pay increases were budgeted when inflation was 3 per cent and it is now at 10 per cent and probably rising. Of course, people rightly look to protect themselves and their dependence from this economic tsunami and the Scottish Government was right to try and meet the demands. However, we must all accept, though opposition parties seem to think that we have a forest of money trees that, with a fixed budget and very limited borrowing powers, money will be cut from other budgets. Devolution must wait for this unelected Prime Minister perhaps to give the devolved Governments quotes and handouts closed quotes. Importantly, the crisis exposes the fragility of the UK economy under the stewardship of the Tories and their successive, not successful, Prime Ministers and the stark limitations of devolution. The UK economy was always built in the sands of consumerism and credit. Energy, wind power and tidal power has not really financially benefited Scotland or the UK. Those turbines on the borders are not Scottish built, they are probably Danish, and the energy from our natural resources was hopped off to international companies. It happened in the 70s with the oil. Even the retail energy companies are owned by Spanish, Scottish Power and EDF, French State owned. In the 70s, and this is an important history lesson, inflation flew off the victor scale at over 23 per cent while all revenues flooded the UK treasury. Not a penny was saved for a rainy day but used to prop up a failing UK economy. Norway, by contrast, set up stat oil. Still over 60 per cent stayed owned and saved this unexpected energy bonus in the Norwegian pension fund. Now in credit, in trillions, the UK bank nothing. Indeed, UK debt is over 100 per cent of GDP. Everywhere a business it would be filing for bankruptcy. Add to that to Brexit. In my reference, I say to Liz Smith, was to a report by UK in a changing Europe think tank about the impact of Brexit on the economy and perhaps that explains partly why we are at the bottom, apart from Russia, in terms of inflation, with the highest inflation of the G7. Those are hard lessons for Scotland and they have to be learned from all this. Here is the bigger picture. You must conclude now. The bigger picture will be short but important. You must conclude. My conclusion is this. We have had enough of the last of last. We need Scottish independence and radical policies. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Neil Bibby, to be followed by Clare Adamson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We need to see real action now from both the Conservative and SNP Governments to help people with the cost of living, and Scottish Labour will continue to offer solutions that will make a real difference. With rising fuel prices, rising bus fares, and rising rail fares this year, we need to see meaningful action now to reduce the costs of public transport, as evidenced by the Truswell Trust in their briefing for today. Few people are hit harder by these costs than people in work on modest incomes who have to spend thousands of pounds to commute to their work. The Government therefore needs a legislative and policy programme to make life easier for them, not to make it more difficult. But for too long we have seen the opposite approach. This was illustrated earlier this year when the SNP Green Government legislated for a workplace parking levy. We warned that it was wrong then, and they need to finally recognise that it is wrong now. Taxing people on low incomes who have no choice but to drive to their work is not fair and will only make the cost of living crisis worse. There should be a moratorium on this community of tax, but there is no mention of that in the programme for government. I wonder for a point of clarity what Cammie Day, the Labour leader of Edinburgh City Council's view on this policy, is. Neil Bibby? Yes. Edinburgh Labour Council, we are working with them to ensure that we work on modes to get people out of their cars, which does not induce a workplace parking levy, and that was not in the manifesto of Edinburgh Labour Group. Those powers were introduced following the Transport Act of 2019. Three years on, though, we still have not seen the introduction of bus regulation powers, which were also contained in the same act. Many people in my region who use the bus do so because they cannot afford a car, yet they are being hit by exorbitant bus fares by private bus companies. From Sunday, people in Manchester, thanks to the leadership of Labour Mayor Andy Burnham, have seen the introduction of a capped £2 bus fare, which will make a real difference to working people there. Even the former Tory transport secretary Grant Shaps subsequently announced a roll-out of this across England. Where is the same leadership in Scotland to tackle the broken bus market? In the city of Glasgow, where our First Minister represents, and in many parts of the west of Scotland more widely, the cost of an adult single bus journey costs £2.65. It is simply not fair that working people in my region pay significantly more to take the bus than people in Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and London. Where to is the national smart travel card that was promised by Nicola Sturgeon in 2012? The Government managed to deliver free integrated travel cards for COP26 global delegates last year. We were told then that progress was being made on its introduction, but still it is nowhere to be seen. Just like the public energy company that was promised the SNP talk a good game but failed to deliver on their promises. Yesterday, the First Minister announced a freeze on ScotRail fares until March next year, but the First Minister neglected to mention that fares had already risen by 3.8 per cent in January that were introduced two months before fares went up in England and Wales. When ScotRail fares are already too expensive, that is not nearly enough action to help Scotland's hard-pressed commuters and get people on to public transport. There is a better way, and we need to be bolder. Look at the difference the recent 9 euro ticket in Germany has had on increasing passenger numbers and reducing carbon emissions. 15 per cent more passengers in June compared to pre-pandemic and 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions saved. We will not get people on to public transport unless we make it more affordable. That is why Scottish Labour has called for ScotRail fares not just to be frozen but to be halved for three months, not just to help with living standards but the climate crisis too, and to help to grow revenues in the long term. You must conclude, Mr Bibby. I will conclude, Presiding Officer. We need to be much bolder. You will indeed. Not just because people are paying for the rising cost of living, but they are paying for the cost of this Government's failures. Thank you, Mr Bibby. I call Claire Adamson to be followed by Mark Ruskell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Yesterday, his speech in the chamber, Douglas Ross, said that the cost of living crisis is one of the biggest threats to livelihoods in our lifetimes. I agree. However, that is not the first threat to livelihoods that my community in Motherwell and Laesia has had to face in my lifetime at the hands of the Conservative Government. I am old enough to remember the miners' strike, the closure of Ravens Creek, food parcels in the community, fuel poverty, the hated poll tax, the simple truth is that in those intervening years, for some in my community, they have barely recovered. I hear Mr Lim's talk and demand that the just transition is spent in full and that that is there for the north-east. However, the steel industry in my community was thrown in the scrap heap, along with the livelihoods aspirations of my community. That is a mistake that this Government will not make. For my constituents, I am hosting two costs of living events in my constituency with my colleague Marion Fellows. The first will take place in the Lanarkshire Association of Mental Health and Well-being Café in Wishar this Friday, and the next in the Dail building where our offices are the following week. We have many third sector council and Government organisations there to help people both financially and with mental wellbeing at this incredibly difficult time. I am urging my constituents to make use of these two events. We have from mental health local third sector organisations such as the Miracle Foundation and YAMS, with the food banks from across the area. I am really sad to say to many of them because we should not be having them in 2022, but they are coming and they have today some of them put out an appeal because their stocks are low because of an incredibly busy weekend. We will have organisations that help with financial insecurity, Christians against poverty, the credit unions in that area and Citizens Advice Scotland will be there. I was really heartened to hear Patrick Harvie say that they are trying to build a hub to bring all those threads together for support for people in the community. I would very much look forward to working with him going forward with that. We will have warmer homes, the fibre gates, the Andrews first aid there to make our homes as safe as they possibly can be as people are facing different challenges this winter, and Social Security Scotland, welfare rights and the DWP, employability services and support for families such as One Parent Families Scotland. We will be highlighting the many vouchers that are available from private organisations and some other areas, such as the supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, the programme from the SSPCA who operate pet aid that supports people who are struggling to feed their pets at home, and also some of the organisations that can make available period products free being delivered in the local area. 30 years after the closure of Ravenscraig and the poverty that I saw in my community, I am appalled that I am having to host this event, but we will do as much as we can to support my constituents. We will be highlighting all the Social Security Scotland benefits. I cannot list them all, but we will try to be encouraging the uptake of things like best art grant, early learning payment, best art foods, carers allowance, supplements, funeral support payments and adult disability payment that has been mentioned, because those are rights of people, but I have to say in all of this I am fed up mitigating for decisions that are made elsewhere. I am fed up mitigating for the bedroom tax for welfare reform for the two child cap for the rape clause. I want our country to be able to make its own decisions. I do not want to be pleading to Westminster Government to do a windfall tax. I want us to be leading on this. You must conclude, Ms Adamson. It is a symbol choice between a Boris element and a new kettle or the benefits of independence that are elementary. The programme for government comes in the midst of a humanitarian crisis that is without precedent in the devolution era. The Scottish Government's response is the right one. Protect the vulnerable in the short term while addressing the long-term structural problems that are often being caused by decades of deregulation in the pursuit of profit. On housing, it is clear that an evictions ban and rent freeze is needed, but deeper reforms must also happen. When I see just how bad the quality of rented flats are in areas such as Stirling, I know that this crisis goes beyond costs. It is also about dismal living conditions placed on some tenants that need to be tackled urgently. That is why the new deal for tenants, announced by the First Minister yesterday and expanded upon by Patrick Carvie today, is so critical. I know that the Scottish Government will continue to reach out to those who are equally passionate about fixing the housing crisis to design the right solutions. If there is time in hand, Presiding Officer. There is a very little time in hand. I will take a very brief interview. Mercedes Villalba. I am very grateful to the member for taking the intervention. I am sure that the member agrees that the cheapest energy is the energy that we do not use. He will want to see incentives for residential rented properties to be made more energy efficient by his landlords. Does he agree with me that we should maintain the rent freeze on all properties until they reach the EPCC requirements? The issue about private rented accommodation and the quality of energy efficiency measures is something that has been dealt with in the heat and building strategy. I know that the minister is on top of that as an issue. We need to improve that quality across the private sector. On transport, the freeze on rail fares is a welcome assurance to commuters. Free bus travel has already benefited hundreds of thousands of young people and their families. Hundreds of thousands more will join them in the months ahead. The more fundamental long-term reform is also coming to break the cycle of decline in bus services, reverse Tory deregulation and bring services under public franchises and municipal ownership. On energy, funding for more direct advice and grants will give many more householders the ability to control their energy use and even generate their own energy. However, this Government is pushing up against the limit of the devolution settlement. To go further, it needs the fiscal power to fight Tory austerity alongside the regulatory powers to make energy markets work for people on the planet rather than profit. Oil and gas companies are recording billions in profits, while half a million Scots have simply no money left after paying household bills. When BP's boss bought a £5 million house with his bonus earlier this year, he talked about the corporation having more cash than we know what to do with. Meanwhile, people on prepayment metres have been disconnecting their homes to avoid rising bills. Fundamental reforms are needed but lie beyond the powers of this Parliament. While Scotland's electricity generation is dominated by low-cost renewables, electricity prices still move in lockstep with wholesale global gas prices. That's wrong and it needs changed. Like the banks before them, no energy company is too big to fail and nationalisation in the public interest must now be on the table. Just as bankers and Governments were responsible for the 2008 financial crash, now in 2022 it's the oil and gas corporations and the Governments that aid and abet them are fueling the cost crisis and the collapse of our climate. With Jacob Rees-Mogg now in charge of energy at Westminster, the chief arsonist has now been sent in to put out the fire. The obscene revenue from oil and gas could have been used to fund clean energy transition and independence from global markets, but the so-called windfall tax was in fact a tax avoidance scheme for more drilling. We don't have to look far to see how a genuine windfall tax could have been used, with Germany, Italy and Spain all raising billions of euros to support their people through this crisis. Presiding Officer, Scotland has the richest renewable energy reserves of any country in Europe. It's time that we have the power to use that energy for the common good, not for the few. Thank you. I call Liam Kerr to be followed by Gillian Martin. Thank you Presiding Officer. This global cost of living crisis must be the top priority for both of Scotland's Governments, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the new UK Government brings forward for families and businesses tomorrow. As we've heard, the UK Government has already announced £37 billion of support, with all those on means-tested benefits receiving £1,200. UK households will receive £400 next month to help with energy costs. There was this morning's announcement of a 36 per cent uplift in spending and a 22 per cent increase in recipients. That's 50,000 people in Scotland under the UK's warm home discount scheme. Scots also expect their devolved Government to be doing much more. Yesterday, the First Minister said that the powers to act do not lie with this Parliament. If they did, we'd have acted. However, the Scottish Government does have powers. For example, it could have created a cost of living support fund, as we've called for, to provide additional payments to the most vulnerable households. It could deliver additional funding to local councils to support families at risk of being unable to make housing payments by essentials—two seconds, John Mason, please. It could have created a rural hardship fund to support off-grid households. It could rule out income tax and business rates rises, and it could urgently review its ill-informed total opposition to nuclear energy and North Sea gas. However, this is a Government hindered by the fact that it doesn't know how best to target support. Last week, a response to my parliamentary question revealed that, at present, there are no national statistics estimating the number of households in fuel poverty in 2020 and 2021. A scandal indeed that this Government does not even have up-to-date data on who is in fuel poverty. John Mason. I thank the member for giving way. Would he accept that, while we may have the powers to do certain things, we do not have the money to do certain things? If he gives more money to say local government, it means less for the NHS. Liam Kerr. I thank the member for the intervention. Indeed, the First Minister sought to justify this Government's inaction yesterday, because she said that it's not political will that stops us, it's a lack of money. So yes, John Mason, let's examine that. People are well aware that the UK Government is providing the highest funding settlement ever. A union dividend, in excess of £12 billion, worth £2,184 for every single person in this country. However, they also know that this is a Government that underspent their budget by £650 million last year and are putting £20 million into their plans for another referendum, the wrong priority at the worst possible time. They are squandering over £1 million a year on a team of 22 civil servants, writing a new prospectus for independence. As we discovered recently, up to 2021, the SNP Government had wasted, through delays, through overspends and the like, £4.5 billion of taxpayers' money. In a global cost of living crisis, frivolous and wasteful spending such as this proves that the SNP Government's priorities are not the same as those of the people that they serve. These are spending choices by this Scottish Government. If the SNP's Government budget really has been maxed, that is quite simply because, quoting the First Minister, political will of this Government is to spend time and money fermenting grievance and promoting separation at a time when Scotland and the whole of the UK needs to come together. Both Governments must do more. The UK Government has proven that it will step up. This SNP Government already has the powers and it also has the money. What it lacks is the political will, and that is what needs to change. I'm sure that I speak to the experiences of many of my MSP colleagues and public sector colleagues when I say that I've referred too many families to food banks over the years, but this summer I had to ask our local food bank for parcels with food that didn't need cooked. Those are families that had no funds in their prepayment meter and nothing in the kitchen cupboard. It's summer and it's been a particularly warm one, but it's taken the obvious that winter is coming and they are already vulnerable. What will they do when the inside of their house is as freezing as the outside? What about the 116,000 Scottish pensioners that already live in extreme fuel poverty? The situation that's unfolding is of a scale that requires an emergency response and the increase in the child payment is such a response and its importance cannot be overstated. I'm particularly concerned about the effects that increased fuel poverty will have on children. Those effects are immediately apparent in physical health, but there will be long-term effects on mental health and cognitive development. Infants in cold homes burn calories trying not to be hypothermic and hypoglycemic rather than using their energy for growth and organ development. Children living in cold, damp homes experience higher than average rates of chronic ill health. Families with children with health conditions or disabilities who rely on electricity powering medical equipment will be even worse hit. Let's be clear, a freeze on the energy bills should be just that, a freeze, not a temporary pause that generates a future bill from the UK Government that families are asked to pay back. Energy costs in the UK are 30 per cent higher than our EU neighbours and the UK Government has all the powers to combat these soaring costs, just like the EU countries have. In the health committee, we are about to publish our report into health inequalities, and I fear that the wrong decisions made this winter by Liz Truss will be the root cause of widening health inequalities for children in 20 years' time. Presiding officer, I've lost count of the amount of people in my rural area of Aberdeenshire, thick with wind turbines instantly. Who asked me this question? Why are our fuel bills so high when we generate all this cheaper wind-generated electricity? It's a perfectly reasonable question and one that was right to be raised by Clare Armson, who talked about the unfair transmission charges. It's cheaper for EU countries to sell their electricity to our grid than it is for Scottish companies. If our energy system—I don't have time—is not working for their citizens, who is it working for? Scotland has the energy, but it now needs the powers. Presiding officer, we're all here because we want to help people. It's why we do the job, but too many people in this chamber think that it's sufficient to ask the Scottish Government to mitigate the root causes of poverty. Mitigation is a temporary fix. When the source issue remains and the people responsible for energy, welfare and every fiscal lever don't act appropriately, our mitigation gets swallowed up. It's just not enough. The Scottish child payment and fuel insecurity uplifts announced yesterday are lifelines, as is the widen eligibility of the warmer homes scheme, but how many weeks before that is swallowed up by the surging costs of fuel and the inflation of food prices? Those hard-won paydeals for workers, how long before those are cancelled out by increased household costs outwith this Parliament's control? Scotland needs the powers of a normal, independent state to tackle all of our cost-of-living problems at source to protect the people of Scotland. At a cost of £3.60 per person in Scotland, a Scottish referendum seems like a very wise use of £20 million. I believe, as all of us in this chamber do, that we are on the cusp of a national emergency if we are not already deep into one. I see it every day in my region and now we have returned to Parliament I am distinctly aware that this issue should be the primary focus of this Government going forward. The cost of feeding your family or heating your home in this country is unmanageable and in many cases it will be fatal. We have to frame the debate in those terms because that is how worrying this is. Anything less than that is not serious and it will not work. Indeed, the trus or trus who I thank for all the work and in particular Fiona who I visited in people over recess, brought home the reality of people's lives to me at this time. The trus or trus' own research has revealed that more than 2 million people across the UK have skipped meals during the past three months to keep up with other essential costs. Fiona told me that it is mothers, fathers, carers choosing not to eat so that their children can, or that it is grandparents skipping a meal to put money aside for heating their home this winter. We often hear from both Governments that Scotland and the UK are the best places to live and raise a family. That is all just PR nonsense if the reality is as stark as this for so many people. I have said this in this chamber before and I say it again. I deplore the Tory Government's attack on working-class people. They are friends of the rich and they show no interest in redistributing wealth to those who need it most. We know full well that the new Prime Minister will try to deregulate and strip taxes from the wealthiest. We also know the effect that that will inevitably have. So now more than ever we need this Government in Scotland to step up and use the powers it has to help those who must most in need. Scottish Labour has called for immediate action, including a rent freeze, a winter eviction ban and more affordable public transport, to directly support those at the sharp end. After visiting Abellor and meeting with young families in De Fries, I also want to raise wiping out school meal debt, which is a simple action that could bring great relief to many families. It is promising that some of those commitments have been made in the programme for government, but we need emergency legislation to implement those measures without further delay. I want to make an important point here. We really have to get a grasp of how long those measures have taken. My colleague Pam Duncan-Glancy has raised that. In my kindest moments, I might say that the SNP just has poor time management, but we must do this with urgency. An example, the increased child payment is very welcome, but why have 66-year-olds had to wait 21 months to claim what they were promised in 2018? Why have we diverted on emergency rent freezes? I acknowledge that the Scottish child payment was created during the pandemic as one of our seven new benefits that the Scottish Government is delivering, which is a remarkable achievement in that time. I acknowledge that widely in that sense. I also recognise that the joint programme of social security delivery in Scotland requires engagement with the DWP and that the Scottish Government has moved that pace to deliver both the Scottish child payment, its extension and its uplifting. The member knows that I do not like pats on the back to the Government. We must do more and we must do it faster. That is the ask. We have diverted on emergency rent freezes when the writing was on the wall. We even saw the really despicable of Scottish Greens going all the way out to say that it could not be done and it can be won. We must remember that proper reform is not a one-shot policy announcement. A polling increase here or there or a positive day of press attention is altering the course of people's lives for better through determined and consistent action. I look at the back benches and ask the Government, even when it is our own party, to do everything that we can. That is why Scottish Labour is calling for an emergency cost of loving act and I thank the members for the debate. As the long days of summer passed with no one in charge of the good ship Westminster, it became clear that this crisis needs emergency action akin to the pandemic response. In that response, we cannot forget that the inequality magnified by the pandemic is being underlined and reinforced by the current crisis of galloping inflation and horrific energy costs. Those who are already operating on the margins with deficit budgets now find themselves facing unimaginable poverty. We must also recognise the disproportionate impact on women and those who are facing multiple inequalities and the very gendered crisis of incomes that exists. Lamentally, food banks have become a necessary part of a UK whose welfare safety net has been hammered by a decade of Tory led austerity. We are now hearing of countless cases of those lifeline larders dealing with bear shelves as donations start to dry up, because households can no longer afford to put a few items in the collection trolleys and supermarkets to reduce their bulk buying, meaning that there is less to share out. At a time when more folk will need support to ensure that hungry bellies receive sustenance and fears rise for safety as people are turning their heat off and using camping stoves and candles indoors, I am thankful that we have a Scottish Government who is using as many avenues as possible to put money in support where it is needed most and is creating a social security safety net that is seen as the glue that binds us and not as begrudged handouts. Bringing forward the increase and the extension of the unique and lauded poverty-busting child Scottish payment will help parents by essentials for their families. Increasing the pot of discretionary housing payments and extending it to include money for energy costs is a very welcome move that will directly help those who cannot afford that most basic of human need warmth. The announcement of emergency legislation to ring forth a moratorium on evictions is also to be welcomed, as is the proposed rent phrase, which I am sure we can all agree demonstrates that the issues raised across the chamber can be listened to and deployed where appropriate. This will give a level of comfort to tenants across the country who face unaffordable rent creases and the threat of eviction during the coldest of months. It is important to note that, as a country, we have also taken the decision to divert moneys to mitigate wrong-headed UK policy choices, as outlined by Christine Graham earlier, such as the bedroom tack and the benefits cap. Our decision to introduce the baby box, extend early years, protect tuition, free tuition and free personal care, extend free bus travel to those under 22s and extend free school meals demonstrates that, with some powers, we can protect our folk despite budgetary constraints. Imagine what we could do as a normal independent country. An independent country that the Labour bench asks shows us that they seem to think that we are already. I spoke about food banks earlier, but I want to mention the close count 2 campaign that seeks to highlight and unite the work that has been done by clothing and baby banks across the country. I myself have used a clothing bank and supported countless others to do the same. Their work means that dignity is assured for families facing impossible budgetary choices. I will not repeat the asks that my party colleagues have of the UK Government, but I extend a plea to the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to right the wrong of leaving those under the age of 25 suffering the indignity of a poverty-inducing 20 per cent lower standard universal credit rate than their older peers. Their bills are no less than the rest of us, and that would be an indication that she takes reducing poverty and not just reducing overall spend seriously. My final ask is that the cost of doing business is seen as an urgent issue and the UK Government intervenes to prevent further business closures in my constituency of Carrot Cymnick and Doon Valley but also across Scotland without immediate intervention and an energy price cap for businesses, disaster looms. I have already got over 10 businesses and my constituency have shut down over the last month. That is not acceptable. Thank you. We now move to closing speeches. I call on Mark Griffin up to six minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I hope in closing that the cabinet secretary will say when the rent-freece legislation will be published and outline that legislative timeline. This morning, it has not been published and it does not feature in next week's proposed business that we will vote on because we know that the matter is urgent. The minister set out in his opening statement that it is not beyond anyone's comprehension that, regardless of a commitment from the First Minister to freeze rents yesterday, some landlords will go out and hike rents as we speak. They will be doing it as we speak, and to tenants who do not know their rights, they may well accept that hike without challenge or awareness of the looming freeze. It is important that that legislation is published, that it increases people's awareness of their rights and rights as of yesterday. That freeze was the centrepiece of yesterday's announcement, along with bringing forward the winter evictions ban and expanding the tenant grant fund eligibility. We welcome the Government's support for our proposals. Why the delay? Why did it take this summer for the Government to realise that keeping our homes running warm and safe is at the very heart of this cost of living crisis? The growing pressure over the summer has put people at breaking point. Energy, housing and food pills just keep going up. Research for yoga for the Trussell Trust found that more than 2 million people receiving universal credit have skipped a meal since spring. Citizens Advice Scotland is reporting soaring numbers of online inquiries for advice, views on their website for grant and benefits to help pay energy bills, and struggling to pay energy bills both up over 120 per cent. By March, the number of children in temporary accommodation climbed 1,835. That comes before the Bank of England increased interest rates to 1.75 per cent. That cost of living crisis is clearly a national emergency, and yet the Government has found no urgency. It spent the summer grandstand in jet setting, show voting, when instead it could have come back here. It could have shown the people of Scotland it was ready to go, it was ready to act, it's had the whole summer and said nothing. A summer that culminated with national win strikes. Strikes are an industrial dispute that the SNP banked on Wigglin out of. It took the city we're in smelling like a landfill site during the festival for the Government to finally accept its role in making sure vital workers are paid a fair wage. Yesterday, the First Minister said, we'll put as much money as possible into people's pockets through decent pay rises, but for years council workers have campaigned and rallied outside of this Parliament, protesting at this Government's budgets and successive cabinet secretaries for a finance who've washed their hands of any role in local government pay. Pay and waste collector, school cleansing and catering and other low paid local government staff has always been in the gift of this Scottish Government. It's just chosen to ignore them, but there is a pattern of behaviour through that Government in action. When the opposition parties bring forward policy suggestions and proposals it just attacks. It creates grievances over powers. I'll take John Mason. John Mason. I thank him for giving way, but when the opposition, including himself, brings forward suggestions they've seldom fund them and if we had given more to local government it would have meant less for the NHS, does he accept that? Mark Griffin. We have brought forward proposals that, amazingly, a month or two months later the Government adopted as their own. After two months of attacking my colleague Mercedes Villalba for her detailed proposals to protect tenants through the cost of living crisis, all of a sudden they are great and the Government adopted them as their own. It continues the grievance over powers in spin. It goes on to roll out all the excuses under the sun. I think I was at committee and I heard it's not competent, we've not consulted, it will be subject to legal and human rights challenge, excuses that members of the Green Party advanced but now seem to accept were absolute nonsense. Why didn't the Government use June to work with Mercedes Villalba? Instead at scaremonger saying that a plan would increase rents, it didn't say that it would work on any of those ECHR claims over the summer, it just said that the plans would force evictions, it just said no, certainly. Patrick Harvie. I'm grateful to the member for giving way and I think he will acknowledge that we didn't just say no, we went into the detail in substantial amount of detail and it was very clear even from the closing speech that, regrettably, the member removing that amendment was relying on a legal precedent that was not only decades old but related to the renting of a single property that was let out without toilets or running water that had to be installed at the tenants' own expense. That was the precedent being cited to justify a two-year blanket rent freeze. I hope that the member can accept that this Government is getting the detail right and that's what we have to do if we want the protection to actually exist in the real world. Mr Harvie is a seasoned parliamentarian. He knows the parliamentary process. He knows full well if the Government had said back in June that we accept the principle that my colleague proposed of a rent freeze that could have worked on the detail as that bill made its way through Parliament. It's not good enough to say at the very end of stage 3 that this is not competent. There was no effort whatsoever to work with my colleague to make sure that these were workable proposals that we could have had in place months ago, protecting tenants for far longer than we have now. Many thousands, Presiding Officer, will struggle to heat their homes this winter or keep a roof over their head. This issue is urgent. It should have been dealt with in June, but we expect to see the emergency legislation tabled in Parliament this week. I declare my interests. I am the honorary vice president of energy action Scotland, and I derive some income from two rental properties in which I have an interest. There has been quite a degree of consensus in this debate about the severity of the problems facing the country. We have heard about the rising costs of energy in particular and the impact on many individuals. People are genuinely fearful about the ability to meet the cost of heating and lighting their homes, among other rising costs. Importantly, it is not just individuals and households who are affected. There is also a large impact on the business sector, which Liz Smith reminded us at the very start. Many small businesses, particularly in fields such as hospitality, are currently saying horrific quotes for energy for the coming year. It is the same in the care sector. One nursing home in Fife contacted me to say that its estimate for electricity had gone up from £13,000 in the current year to £130,000 next year. At that level, the business is simply not viable and will have to close its doors with devastating consequences both for staff and residents. That is a story that is repeated right across the country. We are facing a crisis situation that requires urgent action from both of Scotland's Governments. Earlier in the year, we saw a £37 billion package of support from the UK Government, including payments of £400 to households starting in October to help with fuel bills. While it is welcome, it is clear that it does not go far enough. There were some very fair points made in the debate about those who have off-grid properties relying on bottled gas or oil, who are not impacted by that. I listened with interest in what the Prime Minister had to say about that earlier today in the House of Commons. We will hear more tomorrow from the UK Government about what additional support will be provided. As Liz Smith said earlier in the debate, it appears likely that there will be measures to cap energy costs for households. While we await details of that, it would be a very welcome move, but we also need to see support for businesses who are impacted and, indeed, other organisations. However, it is not good enough for SNP members during this debate, as we have heard, simply to say that this is all down to the UK Government. We also need to see action from the Scottish Government, a Government that, let's remind us, now has the highest budget ever in the history of devolution. If we discount the one-off additional Covid support last year, it is a budget up 10 per cent in cash terms compared to last year. Also, let's not forget in terms of the block grant, it provides an additional £2,000 for every man, woman and child in Scotland above the UK average thanks to the Barnett formula and fiscal transfers from south of the border. The Scottish Government is fond of telling us that it has a fixed budget, but that is not quite true. This is a Government that has not just a record block grant from Westminster, but extensive tax powers over income tax, over lands and buildings transaction tax, over landfill tax, over non-domestic rates, over council tax—a package of around £20 billion in tax powers. It is a Government that has powers to borrow, albeit that it has already maxed out the credit card long before the current crisis hit. Under the fiscal framework, the overall size of the budget that is available to the Government is determined by the relative performance of the Scottish economy and the Scottish tax base in relation to the UK as a whole. We know because our economy and economic growth have been lagging behind that of the UK and our tax growth has too, our budget has been shrinking as a consequence. All those things are matters that the Scottish Government could give their attention to. There is much that the Scottish Government can do to try to help the situation. Liam Kerr gave us a list of initiatives that the Government could take forward. We are also seeing water charges rise when Scottish water is directly under the control of the Government. Neil Bibby mentioned the workplace parking levy that the Government legislated for, keeping additional costs on commuters who have no alternative but to use their cars to get to their place of work. Many Scottish workers have to pay more income tax than those elsewhere in the United Kingdom, thanks to choices made by the Government. We have already seen broken promises from the Government. By now, we should have seen free-school meals in every year of primary school where the introduction of that was delayed. The much-vaunted public energy company promised five years ago, as long since it has been abandoned by the SNP, when it promised that that would make a real difference to people's bills. We see Energy Action Scotland, an organisation in which I am proud to be an honorary office bearer of, the charity at the forefront of providing vital support to those in fuel poverty. Being told just weeks ago, its entire budget support from the Scottish Government was being removed. I am pleased that that decision seems to have been reversed according to civil servants, but it would be good to hear from the minister in her summing up to this debate to confirm that Energy Action Scotland will get in the funding its needs, rather than being threatened with having that budget cut entirely. At the start of the debate, Patrick Harvie sat out on behalf of the Government on their proposals for a rent freeze. That is a move already, as Miles Briggs told us, causing a great deal of concern for private sector landlords, a large proportion of whom are not wealthy, large conglomerates or companies, but a large proportion of whom are the owners of simply one property, perhaps one that they have bought to supplement their pension and are already seeing substantial rising costs, including mortgage payments. I will give way to Mr Harvie. I am grateful. As I acknowledged in my speech, landlords are in different financial circumstances. We seek to recognise that. There are landlords who have done their best not to pass on rent increases in what have been difficult times. Does Murdo Fraser recognise that there are also those who have sought to exploit every opportunity to increase rents? What does he say to constituents of mine and those around the country who are seeing 30, 40 per cent or more rent increases notified to them at the moment? Does he not share my concern about our need to protect people from that kind of behaviour? The measure that is being proposed by Mr Harvie and by this Government will affect every single landlord in the country. Even those landlords facing rising mortgage payments, rising insurance costs and other costs will be hit with the same measure. Already letting agents are reporting that the trend of private landlords selling up and leaving the marketplace will be accelerated at a time when there is already, as we heard from Miles Briggs, a mismatch between supply and demand. We know from all the international evidence, the evidence from Sweden, Ireland and Berlin that rent controls have the inevitable consequence of reducing the supply of rented properties. At a time when there are people queuing up to try to rent properties, you are simply going to damage that sector even more. That is not just an issue for the private rented sector. As we were told earlier, it is an issue for the social rented sector, who have exactly the same issues facing them as the private rented sector. In conclusion, I would agree that there is more that the UK Government will do, and we look forward to hearing that. Rather than just sitting on the sidelines, criticising others, as this SNP Green Government is so good at, it needs to step up and do much more than it is currently doing. The measures that it has announced already go nowhere near far enough and it needs to do much more to play their part in tackling this crisis facing the country. I call on Shona Robison to wind up the debate up to nine minutes, cabinet secretary. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I think that in the main this has been a good and helpful constructive debate, but let me just deal with the last point first. At the heart of the work that I do and this Government does every day is to look at what we can do to make this country fairer and more equal, and we have looked under every stone, every opportunity. For Murdo Fraser, to describe that in the way that he did after months of inaction from the UK Government, who have been posted missing, is really quite a gall, even from Murdo Fraser. Let's get back to the facts rather than the fiction. I'm very pleased that our programme for government gives such prominence to the action that is vital to be taken right now to tackle the cost of living crisis, while also maintaining our strong, long-standing approach to social justice. It is this Government that has allocated almost £3 billion this year alone to a range of support that will contribute to mitigating the impact of the increased costs on households. On Pam Duncan Glancy's point, I don't think that people actually care about when announcements were made. What they care about is the money in their pockets. Christine Grah made a really good example of that when she highlighted the £9 prescription charges that people in England will be paying a story highlighted just today by the BBC, while we, of course, have scrapped prescription charges. It might not have been this summer, Pam Duncan Glancy, but it's money in people's pockets and money that they don't have to spend on prescriptions, and it matters. The £3 billion package also includes actions to tackle child poverty, to reduce inequalities, support financial wellbeing alongside the hugely important social security payments that are either not available anywhere else in the UK or are far more generous. I'll come on to the child payment in a moment. Yes, of course. I thank the cabinet secretary for giving way to address the point about the dates. I'm afraid to say that the cabinet secretary is missing the point. I wasn't suggesting that the money in the pockets is the bad thing. The thing that I was suggesting is that, in actual fact, to address it as something that is a new cost of living approach is not the case. It's something that the Government were already doing. A good thing, I'm not saying that it wasn't a good thing, but it was something that the Government were already doing. The date was the new announcement, and that's the point that I was making. It's all about support to households, and if you need a prescription today, it's that prescription charge not being there that matters, not when it was decided upon surely. We are supporting and will continue to support people in all areas of life. With free childcare, no tuition fees, five family benefits to help low-income households with the cost of bringing up a family, with additional support for uncayed carers, including financial support through our carers allowance supplement, and new support for fuel bills, more vital than ever. The UK Government must play its part. I know that the Tories have been talking to themselves for the entire summer, but they really need to get out of that niche room, because no one, other than them, believes that the UK Government has done what it needs to do. No one at all—probably not even people in their own party or their supporters—so we need that clear action from the UK Government, because we know that it has the levers briefly. Miles Briggs. I thank the cabinet secretary for taking this intervention. Before recess, I raised the fact that 8,635 children are in temporary accommodation in Scotland today. I made the suggestion to the cabinet secretary to introduce a ban. What has she done over the summer with that? What I have done over the summer is to make sure that Shelter and other organisations that can help us to resolve the issue of temporary accommodation are now working to tell us what further action we need to take. Further action will be taken to address temporary accommodation. However, it is ironic, is it not, that the same Miles Briggs in his contribution today wanted the focus to be on supporting those first-time buyers who are better off? That is what he said. Is it not ironic that, at the same breath, he then wants more effort put in to tackling temporary accommodation? He cannot do all of those things. On that point, Liam Kerr's assertion that we do not know how to target from a party that essentially wants to fund tax cuts before public services is a bit rich indeed. So, while we continue to do everything possible within our powers, we have made it clear time and time again the urgent action required from the UK Government. Despite a finite budget, this Government is doing all we can. The minister spoke earlier about the additional bold actions that we are taking to ensure that tenants will be secure in their homes this winter, and in his very speech, he talked about an eviction moratorium over the winter, something that seems to have been lost on some of the Labour members. That is important. Of course, as I said earlier, the actions that we have taken during our years of government, yes, over the years and they all collectively add up to substantial household support for families. If we had not done that, the crisis today would be even worse for people. One of those actions was, of course, the Scottish child payment, a vital new benefit to tackle child poverty head-on. While campaigners called for a £5 payment, we said that we would introduce a £10 payment for all under-16s, and we said that we would go further by introducing it early for under-16s, so that, within a couple of years of announcing the significant new financial support, we were getting money into the households of over 100,000 children. Again, we went further by introducing bridging payments ahead of introducing our full Scottish child payment. I am delighted that, yesterday, the programme for government confirmed that that will be from 14 November. On that day, all those currently in receipt of the payment will see it increase to £25, a 150 per cent increase within eight months, money in people's pockets. It is also the day that will open applications for eligible families with children under the age of 16. In March, I published the best start bright futures child poverty delivery plan, setting out bold action to drive progress on our national mission to tackle child poverty. The impact of the crisis makes meeting our interim statutory child poverty targets even more challenging but even more important. We estimate that 400,000 children could be eligible for the Scottish child payment when extended and based on the modelling that was undertaken in March, it is estimated to lift 50,000 children out of poverty and reduce relative child poverty by five percentage points next year. That is an astonishing goal given the crisis that we are living in. I am aware that that crisis makes that very challenging but, in those difficult circumstances, the Government will continue to prioritise efforts to tackle child poverty. Of course, it is only one of our five family payments supporting children in the early years. We know that having to apply for benefits can be a barrier and prevent some families from accessing the support that they are entitled to. That is why, of course, we will also award the best start grant early learning and school age payments automatically to eligible families in receipt of the Scottish child payment without the need to apply. We believe that social security is an investment in people and we take our responsibility to make people aware of their entitlements very seriously indeed. That is why we have a benefit take-up strategy that sets out a series of actions to ensure that people access the support that they are entitled to. We will do more of that. We are going further to help people find out what support is available. We will launch a new website by the end of this month that provides a one-place source of information for people to find out what they can be entitled to, whether it is benefits provided by the Scottish or UK Government, as well as a range of other support, how to reduce their energy and household costs and how to access reliable debt and welfare advice. I commend the work that Clare Adamson has done in her locality and I encourage others to do the same. We will continue to do what we can do in unprecedented times. However, as a Government, we are committed to making some hard decisions to ensure that we can do that. While taking this emergency action, we will continue to look to the future and build a better Scotland for all of us, making communities and households more resilient and able to flourish and succeed. However, of course, we know that we have to have the full powers of independence in the way to be able to truly achieve that for our nation. Thank you. That concludes the debate on programme for government, cost of living. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is consideration of business motion 5893, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting out a business programme. I call on George Adam to move the motion. Minister, no member has asked to speak on the motion, and the question is that motion 5893 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of business motion 5894, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, on a stage 1 timetable. 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. Once again, moved, Presiding Officer. Thank you, Minister. No member has asked to speak against the motion, therefore the question is that motion 5894 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is consideration of parliamentary bureau motion 5895, on approval of an SSI. I ask George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, to move the motion. The question on this motion will be put at decision time. Just to give you and the chamber my apologies that I should have declared at the opening point of my speech that I am an owner of rented property in the North Lanarkshire Council area. Thank you, Mr Griffin. Your point will be on the record. There is one question to be put as a result of today's business, and the question is that motion 5895, in the name of George Adam, on approval of an SSI, be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed, and we will move on to members' business.