 That concludes the First Minister's statement. The next item of business is a debate on programme for government 2023-2024. I'd be grateful if members who wished to contribute were to press their request-to-speak buttons. I now call on Douglas Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Could I begin as we all come back to Parliament to welcome colleagues, of course, but to say how good it is to see the BBC Scotland's political editor Glen Campbell in the press gallery? Glen is a formidable interviewer, but he is rightly respected by his colleagues and those he reports on, and I know I speak for every MSP from every party in wishing him and his family well in the journey ahead. Last week, I called on the First Minister to rise to the big challenges that Scotland is facing today, to ditch the discredited agenda of his predecessor and to be his own man. Yet what we've heard today is very much the same as before. Far from the bold programme for Scotland that we were promised, we're getting the same tinkering around the edges on our public services. Consultations and trials, rather than promises and delivery. Extreme green policies that will devastate our economy and rural communities, and, of course, very predictably, the overwhelming focus on the SNP's obsession with independence. In this statement that we've just heard from the First Minister and they're laughing, independence has got to mention before education, before the NHS, before the economy. Humza Yousaf has already told us that it's going to be line one, page one of the SNP manifesto, and it's right up there at the front of the programme for government. It could be so much better than this. With a £60 billion budget, the support of thousands of civil servants, this is the best that Nicola Sturgeon's prodigy can do. Where's the urgency, the ambition, the action? After 16 years of SNP government, our children get a worse education than we did. When they leave school, they will have reduced access to higher education and fewer good job opportunities. When they grow old, they'll be waiting longer for life-saving ambulances or on an NHS waiting list for essential treatment. This reheated programme for government and the proposals within it show that Humza Yousaf's Government have done nothing to reverse the decline that we have seen over 16 years of an SNP government. When Scotland needed a national government, we've once again been given a nationalist government. Instead of speaking to Scotland, Humza Yousaf would rather be marching alongside flag-waving independence diehards like he was at the weekend. He would rather be campaigning as he himself did the self-titled first activist than governing as First Minister, and this programme reflects that. Turning to the detail that we've just heard this afternoon, there are some slim positives that we'd like to focus on. We welcome the commitment to finally tackle unsafe cladding. My colleagues Graham Simpson and Miles Briggs have been campaigning for action on this for many, many months. It's right that action will now be taken to mirror the legislation that was introduced by Michael Gove in the UK Government back in March. Before the next one, I'd like to remind the chamber of my register of interest as the husband of a practicing police officer, so we also welcome the pay deal that's been reached with the police and that body-borne cameras will be introduced. In addition, on this side of the chamber, we welcome the commitment to the roll-out of childcare from nine months in line with the proposals of the UK Government that were announced in the last budget. However, that is where the praise for this programme for government from Hamza Yousaf ends, because much of the programme was committed by his predecessor. Far from relaunching his premiership, this programme digs in deeper into the mud of Nicola Sturgeon's policy failures. We were promised that this would be a plan of Hamza Yousaf's first real opportunity to show what his own priorities are. Get after half a year in office, he has literally just continued where we've been before. Instead, it's business as usual from this continuity, government and continuity First Minister. It's also a programme that's a lot of talk and very little action, so let's look at some of the talk that we heard from the First Minister. He was patting himself in the back by telling us all that he'd developed a new and stronger relationship with business. So how's that been judged, First Minister? Well, this week, the Fraser of Allander Institute found that only 9% of Scottish businesses believe that his government understands him. What a reset. 9% of businesses in Scotland think that Hamza Yousaf and his government understand him. And only 8% think that it is listening effectively to their sectors. He's not even listening now, but he's certainly not listening to businesses when 8% in that survey say that this government has closed its ears to them. There were no commitments in this programme for government to pass on the business rates relief that we've seen in England and Wales to help struggling shops, pubs and hotels. He also spoke about supporting a thriving tourism sector by shutting it down. By shutting it down, because unlike the majority of the First Minister's colleagues, I was outside listening to Ben Breakfast owners this afternoon who are saying that the legislation that's been passed that will come in if there is no further delay on 1 October is going to close them down. The short-term let's legislation is going to wreak havoc in the tourism industry across Scotland and the deaf ears on the government benches is going to see these businesses closed. I think that the First Minister should be ashamed and accept that he has got this wrong again. It was right that there was a pause for six months to look at how the legislation could be improved. His government did nothing in that time. If he will not come forward in the next week to accept the failures of this legislation and announce a further pause, then the Scottish Conservatives will force a vote on that issue next week, because we need to listen to those businesses who are going to stop, who are going to go out of business. We are listening to them on this side. He is ignoring them. Let's ensure that their voice is heard in this Parliament. I hope that colleagues on the government benches will also listen to their constituents. Just last week, Deputy Presiding Officer, the Scottish Conservatives published our own bold and ambitious plan to grow Scotland's economy, to make Scotland more competitive within the United Kingdom, deliver a national workforce plan and tackle regional imbalances through innovation and entrepreneurship. I would gladly give way to Mr Stewart. Mr Ross talks about a bold economic plan published by the Conservatives, but that plan does not include dealing with Brexit, which has stymied our economy and destroyed many people's lives. What does he have to say about that? I made it very clear, when I announced this plan last week, that we are looking not just for the coming months, the coming years but the coming decades, because we know that there are very scary warnings about the future of Scotland's economy, not from opposition parties but from the Scottish Fiscal Commission, who said that in the next 50 years Scotland, to just get the services that we have at the moment, will not have the income to deliver that. We are looking into the future. Kevin Stewart and others can look into the past, but we need to be far more positive. We need to ensure that we grow Scotland's economy, and from high-tax hums and the SNP, we will never get that with this current SNP Government. Because there were opportunities last week, and there are still opportunities now for the First Minister to take on board the practical recommendations to show that jobs and businesses really are his priority. Yet the First Minister continues to be led by the extremist Greens who do not believe in a wealthier Scotland. They want to shut down our North Sea oil and gas sector as soon as possible, despite the sector supporting tens of thousands of Scottish jobs and contributing over £9 billion to Scottish public spending. What the SNP and the Greens do not seem to realise is that it would devastate communities across the north of Scotland if we were to withdraw from the North Sea, but it would also remove the biggest source of investment and skills for the development of renewable energy projects in Scotland. The First Minister should abandon his predecessor's position, pull rank on his Green Coalition partners and back Scotland's oil, or else there will not be an SNP MP left in the north-east of Scotland after the next election. I do not hold out much hope for the SNP MPs in that area because we got one mention, Deputy Presiding Officer, of oil and gas in the First Minister's statement. Do you know how many mentions of oil and gas there are in the accompanying documents? Zero. Not one mention of this key sector for the north of Scotland, for the whole of Scotland, for the United Kingdom, in the accompanying documents to this programme for government, and I think that tells you everything you need to know about this First Minister's priorities. There was a discussion about infrastructure, so we are in a debate, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I am very keen to take an intervention from the First Minister at any point, but particularly now, because he made a very clear commitment that this Scottish Government, his Scottish Government, will fully dual the A9 from Perth to Inverness. So I say to the First Minister when. Nothing. I'll give way. I mean, this is a serious issue. The First Minister inserts this into his programme for government and claims that this is a big announcement, but there's nothing to back it up. This is a crucial infrastructure project that is absolutely vital for Perthshire and the Highlands of Scotland, indeed for connectivity across our country. We had the highest death rate on that road last year in 20 years, and the First Minister can't say when his promise will be delivered. He mentions the A96, and we've gone from the SNP saying that they would fully dual the A96 to say that there will be improvements. Now, I welcome the NERM bypass and the improvements from Inverness to NERM that's being mentioned, but the A96 goes from Inverness to Aberdeen. What about the rest of that route? Previously promised to be fully dualed, now we're only going to get improvements along the way. Nothing in the programme for government about a long-term solution for the landslides on the A83. We heard that there's going to be six new ferries delivered in the next couple of years. Well, the current couple are already six years late, so I don't hold out much hope for that either. In the time remaining, Deputy Presiding Officer, I want to look at some of the other issues that just got a fleeting mention from the First Minister. First of all, the NHS has promised that it's going to make it easier and it will be more accessible for patients to see their GPs. The first thing that would be quite good is if his health secretary, who I don't think is in the chamber today, would actually meet with GPs—sorry. Sorry. I missed Mr Matheson there. I mentioned Mr Matheson because he has refused to meet with GP campaigners in my local area. I've written to him several times. He got in touch with me again to say that he'd had a disappointing letter back from Mr Matheson. We've got campaigners trying to keep surgeries open in Burghead and Hoatman. He's not willing to meet with them either. I thought it was quite interesting that the First Minister mentioned the NHS today and what he's doing to improve the NHS. On the day that it was confirmed, there are now 820,000 Scots on an NHS waiting list—a new record—820,000. Back in March, when that number had dropped, the First Minister said that it was heartening that this waiting list was going down. It's now increased by 51,000, so I'll give way this time to the First Minister if he'll tell us what his response is to waiting number of Scots on a waiting list—820,000—up 51,000 at their record level. Is that heartening? I'm happy to do that. I'm happy to thank you for the invitation to contribute. I would say to Douglas Ross that, of course, for every single person that is waiting too long, we don't want them to wait so long. That is why, of course, increasing wages for social care workers is so important to help with the recovery of an NHS. What doesn't, of course, and what would never have helped an NHS in terms of its waiting lists and waiting times is if we had industrial action, like, of course, other parts of the UK have seen, especially where the Conservatives are in charge. I hope that Douglas Ross, with any marginal influence that he will have, will ask Steve Barclay to take up Michael Matheson's offer so that we can mediate and ensure that junior doctors in England get paid fairly just as they are here in Scotland. I can't believe that they are actually applauding that. There you have it—the response to any NHS waiting lists in Scotland being at their record level up 51,820,000 Scots on a waiting list in Scotland, and that is the dismal response that you get from Scotland's First Minister. I will rush through the last couple of things that I wanted to mention. The First Minister puts in his statement that he is willing to work with other parties. Then please work with me, work with the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour supporters, Scottish Liberal Democrats and I know SNP supporters, who backed the right to recovery bill. Yes, we saw a reduction in the number of deaths in 2022, but we are still the worst in the United Kingdom and, by a large margin, the worst in Europe. In his statement, the First Minister endorsed the bill of Gillian Mackay. He could do the same right now and say that he is backing the right to recovery bill. 100 per cent of SNP members will vote for it. First and foremost, I have not seen the detail of the bill. If Douglas Ross has published it, then I am more than happy to see the detail. When I met Douglas Ross ahead of summer, he said that it was published by summer recess and that it is not being published. He is obviously still working on the detail. What I was saying to Douglas Ross on that point of influence is that he can please ensure that the UK Government takes an evidence-based approach. Were they not willing to be radical and bold, at least devolved the powers to us so that we can take forward safer drug consumption facilities? It is very clear that the First Minister in his programme for government statement could back Gillian Mackay's bill, which is not as at an advanced stage as my current bill is, so he could surely do the same for right to recovery. The last two issues that I want to speak about is an agriculture bill. Speaking about the meeting that we had back in the summer, Humza Yousaf promised me that there was going to be an agricultural bill coming to this Parliament before the Highland show. He was telling me that this was a big show in Edinburgh that lasts a couple of days. I know that it actually lasts four days and I have been to it every year. The point is that the agriculture bill was promised before the summer recess. We have still heard no more about it. It is going to be another year. Farmers and crofters are crying out for it and I know that Rachel Hamilton is going to see more about that in her speech later on. Finally, Humza Yousaf mentioned support for the police, and I have already recognised the welcome—already welcomed—the pay deal that has been reached today. However, the comments about the police come from Humza Yousaf, someone who wanted the police to investigate a hoax video but now does not seem to want them to investigate real crimes. That is what we heard in the north-east of Scotland yesterday. This is the direction of travel from this SNP Government and justice under them. Today's statement could have delivered so much for Scotland. It had the opportunity to reset the agenda with business, economy, NHS and education in all areas that it has failed. It is continuity from a continuity, First Minister. It should be and could be so much better. Over the coming year, the Scottish Conservatives will scrutinise what comes forward and will come up and offer the real alternatives to focus on the real priorities of people across Scotland. I start with the point of consensus and echo the comments of Douglas Ross in relation to Glen Campbell. It is fantastic to see him back in his feet. We wish him and all his family all of the best. There are undoubtedly some things that we would welcome and support in today's programme for government. The acceptance of Scottish Labour's long-standing campaign to increase pay for social care staff to £12 is welcome. We would like to see the pathway to the fight for 15. We support the proposals on empty homes and second homes, even though we believe that that could go further and be stronger. We support the commitment to criminalise misogyny as well as the proposals that are set out to support those that are impacted by miscarriage. We also support the intention to improve partnership with business and work on our industrial strategy, but that must be more than rhetoric. Business will judge the Government on delivery, not on bland promises. The First Minister cannot hide from reality. This is an SNP Government that has lost its way, has no clear direction, no sense of purpose and no central mission. It also cannot escape from the fact that it is trying to clear a mess of its own making—16 years of incompetence and financial mismanagement. The truth is that Scotland needed a programme for government to match the scale of the twin crises that are hitting Scots, a cost of living crisis and an NHS crisis. It took the First Minister 22 minutes to even mention our national health service, because this package today isn't good enough, it isn't bold enough and it won't do enough to confront those challenges. Families needed a Government that was relentlessly focused on reducing the burdens on their household incomes in the middle of a cost of living crisis, but instead they get a Government that will hit them with council tax and income tax rises. Scots also needed a clear plan to bring down waiting times and reduce waiting lists to confront the NHS crisis. Instead, too many of them are left waiting in pain or being pushed further into debt by being forced to go private. We needed a new vision and a meaningful strategy to fix the long underlying failure, which is only made responding to the twin crises harder—a plan to grow Scotland's economy. Instead, what have we seen over the summer? Over the summer, you have seen a Government lurch from one scandal to the next, whether it is uncertainty on the party's finances, indulgent spending on credit cards at the taxpayer's expense or division on the backbenches from those inside the SNP who are clearly uncomfortable with the direction of travel or concerned perhaps that there is no direction at all from this First Minister and this SNP Government. The First Minister himself admitted that today was a bit of a relaunch and that things had to go well, but I have lost count of the number of fall starts and rebrands that the First Minister has attempted in the past six months. When it comes to the substance, as we have seen today, there may be an attempt to change the headline, but it cannot hide a more difficult truth. The First Minister was a continuity candidate who has now left painting the windows on a Government responsible for 16 years of failure. Anasawa calls me the continuity candidate to be helpful if he could hold on to one principle without U-turning over the course of a summer. We saw a summer of U-turns from Labour. Anasawa is now supporting the two-child limit, the bedroom tax, the rape clause. Is not the truth that the people of Scotland in the SNP have an anti-poverty, pro-growth Government, whereas what they have with Scottish Labour is simply a party that will do what head office tells them to do. I am really pleased that the First Minister made that intervention, because he would rather attack a party that has not been in government rather than look at his record in government. One in four children in poverty on the SNP's watch. Just last week, record levels of homelessness applications, record levels of children in temporary accommodation, silence on the SNP's back benches now when it comes to looking at their own record in government, so enough of the spin, enough of the cheap headlines, enough of blaming somebody else and instead focus on your failure as a Government. Again, they can laugh at the like the Scottish people are going to get their chance to make their judgment on the SNP Government, and I can't wait for them to make that judgment, as will happen in Rutherglen and Hamilton West really soon. In the last 12 months, so instead of a reset, today's statement reveals that the entire Government, out of energy without focus and now too distracted by internal squabbling, to manage more than a tinkering around the edges. In the last 12 months, there has been a lot of superficial change at the top of the Scottish Government, but while the ferry master might have changed, the boat still isn't seaworthy. It is just another tired and rehashed programme from a party that has clearly run out of ideas and nowhere is that clearer than our national health service. A former health secretary waited 22 minutes to talk about our national health service, because across Scotland, 820,000 people are languishing on NHS waiting lists. We are now two years on from when the then health secretary, Humza Yous, have published his NHS recovery plan. It promised to end long waits, grow the economy, create more capacity, but the experience for patients and staff has been the opposite. One in seven Scots on an NHS waiting list, over 5,600 nursing and midwifery vacancies, and consulting vacancies up to. That is what we have come to expect from Humza Yous and this SNP Government. Big announcements to get the headline, but not implement when actually in government. Promises to end the late discharge, back in 2015, never met and now costing the NHS £198 million a year. Commitments to end waits of over a year, lying in tatters, were 77,500 Scots, were more than 12 months for tests, appointments and treatments. Most shockingly of all, cancer treatment targets missed repeatedly since 2012. The failure to restore our NHS to be frank is a shameful failure. A catch-up plan should mean waiting lists coming down, not going up. The Scottish Labour have repeatedly called for a real NHS recovery, one that ends the cuts to primary care and prioritises mental health support that is being made available in every GP practice and surgery, one that delivers a proper catch-up in cancer with a focus on faster diagnosis and an end to long waits for treatment, a recovery that prioritises community care and paying social care staff properly because that is how we will end delayed discharge and improve hospital capacity and a real workforce plan that actually retains the skills and knowledge of experienced staff and increases the number of doctors, nurses and medical professionals in training. We could have seen this in the programme from the First Minister today if he had brought forward a new NHS recovery plan that gets services back on track and actually deals with the backlogs in diagnostics and in care. Instead, we have seen the repeated old promises and announcements that actually delays of work that was already promised years ago. Press is little to resolve either the waiting list, diagnostic delays and workforce shortages that have left our much-loved NHS on its needs. Just as it was two years ago, this programme for government is just more rhetoric whether any reality and no plan to reverse the crisis in our NHS. The utter lack of ambition could not be clearer in that gap between rhetoric and reality of the SNP's plans, not just on the NHS but also on its plans on economic growth and jobs, too. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Families across this country are facing far too many hardships. Right now, there are mothers in Scotland who are skipping meals in order to feed their children. That is the heartbreaking reality of, yes, Tory economic incompetence and failure but of also SNP inaction and incompetence, too. The Tories crashed the economy and caused the heights in interest rates, which are causing so much misery on households here, but the SNP has not done enough to help in Scotland. It is not just Labour saying that. A majority of Scots do not trust the SNP to act in Scotland's interests on the cost of living. Labour asked the Scottish Government to help with the cost of commuting by following examples from elsewhere to cap bus fares and freeze the cost of rail travel. We called for the excess cash reserves of Scottish water to be repurposed as a £100 water bill rebate, and we set out proposals for a mortgage rescue scheme to ensure that no-one lost their home because of the Tory economic chaos. However, each time the SNP ignored our asks, the steadying instead to exacerbate the pressures on households by proposing tax hikes. If the First Minister really thinks that someone earning £28,000 in our country is somehow well off and not struggling right now and so can pay higher taxes, then he is completely and utterly deluded to the reality-facing households across the country. This is a First Minister who keeps saying—you have heard already today, Deputy Presiding Officer—that tacking poverty is a central mission of his Government. We will look at his record, one in four children living in poverty in Scotland. Homelessness applications have skyrocketed to the highest record ever. Over 9,500 children are living in temporary accommodation, again the highest number ever. Just today, it was revealed that three members of the Scottish Government's Poverty and Inequality Commission have resigned to hardly a glowing advert for the First Minister and his announcements today. The SNP has lost its way. In 16 years, it has squandered the legacy of the last Labour Government, which lifted one million children out of poverty. It can laugh at lifting a million children out of poverty, if you like. Both of Scotland's Governments are distracted, divided and failing to deliver. Only Scottish Labour offers a fresh start and real solutions, as well as our proposals to help households with the cost of living. Labour has a plan to cut bills by up to £1,400, invest in Scotland's and the UK's renewable potential, deliver energy security, clean power and a publicly-owned energy company headquartered here in Scotland, while also invading 1.4 million votes. Making the most of those will require a partnership between industry and government so that we can build a thriving economy. However, today, we have had a speech that is laid in the rhetoric that is light on practical delivery. We have had a Scottish Parliament now for 24 years. I think that it is right that many have viewed our Parliament as a social policy Parliament, but it also has not been strong enough on economic policy. That has left Scottish workers being let down, workers facing the pinch and weakening the potential of our growth. That is why we have got to put economic strategy, economic growth and social policy at the heart of this Parliament if we are going to confront both the cost of living crisis and the cost of doing business crisis as well. We heard about the reset of business. In the last year, the ministers have shelled several plans that businesses have said are damaging for the economy—HPMAs, abandon advertising of Scotland's breweries and distilleries and, of course, the wasted money on the deposit return scheme. The question is how many ideas does the First Minister think will end up on the same scrap here, costing the taxpayers millions from his announcements today? That is why we stand ready to put economic growth at the heart of our politics again. We stand ready to deliver a model industrial strategy that will get people around the table and remove barriers to investment. We stand ready to deliver a green prosperity plan that will put investment at the heart of delivering clean energy superpower. We stand ready to make sure that every part of our community benefits from the benefits of a Labour Government across our country. In every community across our country deserves better. They may be let down far too long right now by two failing Governments—a morally bankrupt Tory Government and a financially illiterate and incompetent SNP Government. We deserve better than both of them. We deserve better than the cruel and out-of-touch Tories and we deserve better than a divided and distracted SNP. Scottish Labour now offers that alternative. Only Labour can put the Tories out of number 10. Only Labour can bring our country together and bring about change for people across our country. Only Labour can tackle the cost of living crisis and save our NHS. Only Labour believes that our country's best days lie ahead. It is clear that the public believe that it is time for change. We are ready to deliver the change that Scotland needs. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is my pleasure to respond to the First Minister on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Before I do, I offer our best wishes to Glen Campbell and the warmth that he has received from the Chamber as testament to the man that he is. I will come on to the detail of what we have heard from the First Minister this afternoon, but I want to start on a priority that we have heard nothing about. It is one that I think will dominate our considerations around the public sector estate for some kind of time to come. You will remember that during the last FMQs before recess, I warned the First Minister about the risks posed by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, a material that was used in public sector construction for decades. We know that roofs, walls and flooring made of that material risk the catastrophic structural failure that could occur suddenly and without warning. Scottish Liberal Democrat research revealed that it was present in at least four health boards and 37 schools across Scotland. During the summer months, when schools were closed, there was a golden opportunity to get on top of this, but those precious weeks were lost and now our children are back in class. There is still no central register of affected buildings, no strategy for the swift wholesale replacement of this material and no national fund for making it safe. Now parents are sending their children to school anxious that they might be in an unsafe building. Patients are receiving treatment unclear about what is holding up the roof above their head. I am not trying to frighten people, but we have to take this seriously and recognise the urgency of this situation. We cannot wait for tragedy to be the catalyst for meaningful government action. Many people across Scotland are still struggling to make ends meet. It is baffling then that this SNP, Green Administration, seems determined to make things harder. Even as mortgage is sore, food prices remain high and volatility continues in the global energy market, this Government has decided to hike rail fares. Last year, and to great fanfare, they announced a price freeze, but that lasted six months, with tickets now going up once again and set to rise still further. That means hard-working communities. I will give way to John Mason. I thank the member for giving way. If he is arguing for no fair increases, he is also arguing that the workers in the railway should not give any pay increase, because that is where their money comes from. There is a basic rule of economics here that if you make something cheap, you will increase demand and fill those carriages. That will pay for meaningful pay increases. I absolutely support the claim of hard-working rail workers, but it means that the decisions of this Government mean that hard-working communities are being clobbered by seat fairs, discouraging people from taking greener public transport. My party wants to see fairs cut, new options for flexible season ticketing and for the Government to work with councils to explore new lines. The fair fair's review has now been on the desk of four transport secretaries—four of them. Worse still, our Government plans to raise council tax, which could not have come at a worse time. Council tax is usally regressive. It was based on property values from 1991. That was 32 years ago. Ordinary people will be hit hard by Government plans to hike council tax, and a quarter of Scottish households will be forced to pay more. Far from scrapping council tax, as Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon promised at the start of their reign, Humza Yousaf and his green party colleagues are breathing new life into this hated tax. Those changes would see bills go up and services still cut, people paying more for less. It won't offset the SNP's green systemic underfunding of local government, which has devastated essential services but punctuated every budget for years. Those increases must be abandoned and local government finally fully properly funded. Driving down demand for energy use and fossil fuels should also be at the heart of our quest for net zero and tackling the cost of living emergency. After a summer, where we have seen fires raging from Greece to Hawaii, no one need reminders of the urgency to avoid global boiling. I now turn to the subject of our natural environment. I have raised the increasing problem of sewage in our rivers and on our beaches many times in this chamber. I am disappointed to have nothing from the First Minister on the subject in his remarks today. We don't even know the full extent of the problem, because only a small fraction of sewage outflows are monitored. We are still massively behind England here. The Government must get to grips with monitoring, publish every single sewage dump, set legally binding targets for dumping, and accelerate measures to upgrade Scotland's Victorian sewage system. It is time that this Government cleaned up its act. 16 years of SNP Government has left our public services near breaking point. We have heard a lot about that this afternoon. Nowhere more so is that true than in our national health service. It is engulfed by crisis. Just moments ago, we heard from a BMA chief that Scotland no longer has enough doctors to effectively staff our NHS. This is a service on its needs. In the NHS recovery plan, Humzae Yusif, when he was health secretary, made a personal promise to clear mental health waiting lists. Yet we are nowhere. Figures released today reveal more than two and a half thousand children and adults waiting more than a year for mental health support. More than a year, we need councillors in our schools, mental health first aiders in our workplaces, we need proper 24-7 support and a massive national recruitment programme to train more professionals in talking therapy. The health secretary must tear up his failed recovery plan and start again. This time it must include an NHS staff assembly and a burnout prevention strategy. It must properly recognise dentists and incentivise them to take on NHS patients so that everybody can be seen. And it must include provision for all those battling long Covid. I cannot believe we have yet another programme for government where they have been completely forgotten once again. Last September, almost exactly a year ago, a group of children whose lives have been devastated by this condition visited this Parliament at great cost to their own health to meet with the then health secretary, Humzae Yusif, to ask him for his help. He promised them that he would do everything he could. Yet, a year on and sitting at the head of this government, the words long Covid have barely left his lips. He has done nothing and not one mention of it across 60 pages of policy documents presented alongside his statement this afternoon. I met those children that day as well. I carry their suffering and their stories with me. The government must, without delay, establish long Covid clinics, a proper treatment pathway, whilst ensuring that clinicians are trained to diagnose and treat those affected by this terrible condition. All of that needs to be underpinned by a thriving economy. Low growth means less money for our public services, and that has been borne out by a GDP figure that was published last week, which means that we make grim reading for Scotland. In June, we heard the dreadful news that lifeline ferries have been hit by yet another six-month delay, further disrupting local economies and £20 million in costs. We know how important high-quality, flexible childcare is to hard-working families and our economy. The First Minister is right that we need to go further, but it is not clear whether the steps that he has outlined today will resolve the problems of those that I told him about at the recent poverty summit. People are unable to work due to inflexibility in childcare. In my constituency in the coming weeks, I will chair a virtual town hall meeting about the problem of the scarcity of wraparound care. I am gratified to hear about the recruitment of more child-of-minders, but I fear that it will be a stiffing plaster on a gaping wound. This is a time of great change and great challenge. Across Scotland, old certainties are crumbling and new opportunities emerging. Times like these call for us to work hard to work together in our communities with creativity, energy and a spirit of reform. Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to playing our part in creating new hope and leading the way for change in Scotland. It is time for this Government to step up and play theirs. Thank you very much. We now move to the open debate. I call first John Swinney, who will be followed by Rachel Hamilton at around six minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to speak in support of the Government's programme today. The announcement is made by the First Minister and the programme for government, particularly in relation to early learning and childcare, is especially welcome and significant. I would like to address the importance of those proposals in the efforts of the Scottish Government to grow the Scottish economy. Those provisions build on the transformation that has taken place in early learning since this Government came to power in 2007. Back then, three and four-year-olds were entitled to 470 hours of early learning and childcare in a year. The provision was increased to 600 hours in 2014 itself, a significant transformation of the provision that was available. However, after the reforms in 2021, that now stands at 1140 hours for three and four-year-olds and for eligible two-year-olds. That is a seismic change in the provision of early learning and childcare and one of the most significant public service reforms undertaken by any Government in Scotland. I thank the member for taking the intervention. Is the member concerned, then, that people from the poorest backgrounds and poorest families are struggling most to access the early learning and free childcare? That should not be the case, but what I would point out to Pam Duncan-Glancy is that there is formidable more investment and formidable more provision of early learning and childcare than when any Labour Government was in power in Scotland at any stage in the past. That is a shining example of a policy development that improves outcomes across a range of different policy areas by creating the best start for children in Scotland, boosting economic growth and tackling poverty. Firstly, it provides us with the opportunity to ensure that every child in our country is getting the best start in life through access to play-based activity, which develops essential skills, access to nutritious food, which develops the foundations of healthy living and access to support to address any issues that a child faces in their development at the earliest possible stage. Of course, Liam Kerr mentioned food there and free school meals were promised to be introduced by August 2022. The programme for government seems to suggest that it will be 2026 by the time it is introduced and even then only for a partial constituency. Can the member confirm that it will, in fact, be 2026 before we see this policy real? I will maybe come on to talk about some of the francial challenges that the Government faces in a moment as a consequence of the interventions and the support of people like Liam Kerr to the actions of Liz Truss and her associates. All of those elements are critical to ensuring the best start in life for our children, but the second key policy benefit of ELC expansion has been the positive stimulus to economic growth and opportunity. The expansion itself has created new employment opportunities, but the provision has enabled more parents to consider entering the labour market. At a time when we are still experiencing historically low levels of unemployment, which is welcome, and the labour market is very tight due to the fally of Brexit, which is very unwelcome, it is vital that we take every measure to expand the labour market. Thirdly, the expansion of early learning and childcare is part of a range of policy measures designed to combat child poverty that was boosted in recent years by the introduction of the Scottish child payment. Unique in the United Kingdom, delivered during a cost of living crisis, the Scottish child payment is quite literally saving some of our most vulnerable citizens from destitution in our society today. I support the efforts of the Government for expanding early learning and childcare and ensuring that major policy development is having a multifaceted impact on a range of policy areas. I encourage the Government, and I welcome what the First Minister had to say on this particular point, to ensure that measures that are taken forward now maximise the flexibility that is available to families to deliver that in a way that suits them to help to stimulate greater economic participation and growth. One of the best projects that I have seen of putting those aspirations into practice is the Miss, Misses project in Mary Hill in the constituency of my friend Bob Doris, where a women's empowerment organisation creates economic opportunity through childcare provision. It demonstrates how third sector partners can be involved to make this happen, listening carefully to the thoughts and the input of those most affected by those reforms. Those proposals, to expand early learning and childcare, are taking place at a time of enormous financial strain in the public finances. Reforms of this type have to be paid for. It is worth noting that we are meeting today on the first anniversary of the election of Liz Truss's leader of the Conservative party. I am reminded that the Conservatives here demanded that the Scottish Government follow the policy direction advocated by Liz Truss and look at the damage that has now done, look now at the perilous position of the public finances, look now at the very real hardship being faced by people who are wrestling with a massive impact on their lives of increases in interest rates foisted on them by the Conservative party and their folly. Look now at the damage that has been done. In this context, the Scottish Government has taken tough decisions on tax, asking those on higher incomes to pay more in taxation to enable investment in our public services and measures such as early learning and childcare expansion that boost economic growth. Recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that the 30 per cent poorest families in Scotland, in answer to Pam Duncan Glancy's point, are on average £2,000 better off each year as a result of this Government's choices, but almost unbelievably, the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland now tells us that he does not support this progressive approach to taxation. What an absurdity to face the people of Scotland at this time. There are tough choices in Government. The fact that this Government has been prepared to make them has enabled those, the expansion of early learning and childcare, which will be good for our children and good for our economy. I encourage the Parliament to give its enthusiastic to support to the programme for government, which includes those essential provisions. Over the past few years, we have seen the former First Minister launch programmes for government boasting of strength, resilience, fairness and green credentials, but we have rarely needed to look much further than the words in their titles to find the deficit between what is promised and what is delivered. The Scottish Government's delivery deficit matters to people living and working in my constituency and the borders. It matters to people in our small towns, villages and rural communities across Scotland, and they have heard all this before. We could stand here and pick apart the frenzy, flimsy policies announced in the programme for government today, but I prefer to consider how the Government intend to back up this with a real plan to deliver on what they promise. I absolutely welcome the First Minister's proposal to deliver more homes in rural areas. We need a solid plan to make rural Scotland a more attractive place to live and work. I am sure that that is what the First Minister is getting at, although I cannot see him at the moment. He will be missing my compliments, but we need to know just how it will be delivered. I am not convinced by what we have heard today that leaves us any wiser. Farmers will be disappointed that they still have no idea when the new Scottish agricultural bill will be making its way through this Parliament, setting out the framework to support our important farming industry. Given the length of time that farmers have had to wait without the ability to plan for the long term, we need to see the delivery of a practical piece of legislation. Get it on the table now, I say. Not this pitiful lack of detail keeping farmers in the dark. I would also add that it is good to hear the First Minister committing to taking action on addressing the crisis in primary care in rural areas, but those plans have been in the pipeline for years with no progress. It is time to stop promising and start delivering. In 2020, we were promised superfast broadband across rural Scotland with the R100 scheme. We are still waiting. Last year, the Government promised to improve the resilience of our ferry network. Now our island communities face more disruption than ever. The SNP ferry fiasco continues to grow arms and legs. In one of the SNP's first-ever programmes for government, it was announced that the A9 would be fully dualled by 2025. We are nowhere near that, and people's lives continue to be lost on that road. The pattern of failure is not unique to rural Scotland, but it is symptomatic of the SNP-green coalition with the central belt agenda obsession. So many of the failures have hit rural communities the hardest, and that is hard to take. The Government loves to talk about what it wants to do, but rarely discusses how it intends to do it, and when it does, it seems to delete to disaster. It rightly wants to look at the protection for our marine environment, yet when it comes to making plans to do so, it completely fails to consider the impact it would have on fishing communities. It had the opportunity to gain cross-party support to improve recycling in Scotland, but instead managed to ostracise almost all of Scottish businesses. It has continually committed to restoring 250,000 hectares of peatland, but in every year since making this commitment, it has failed to get anywhere close to those figures. A common theme in this Government's failure to deliver on promises made in recent programmes of government is the involvement of the Green Party. Throughout its catalogue of catastrophes, it has proven itself wholly unfit to govern. Humza Yousaf has doubled down on his backing for the Butehouse agreement and the Green Party's reckless agenda, supporting plans to ban fishing in almost half of Scottish waters, rejecting calls from farmers to authorise the chemical asylox to control bracken, putting a block on vital road upgrades and removing the close season for managing deer. I understand that their continued presence in government provides the SNP with a helpful scapegoat when things go wrong, but I am afraid that people living and working in rural Scotland, the dangerous influence of the Greens, coupled with the disinterest of rural policies and priorities shown by the First Minister, cannot be tolerated any more. We need a Government that delivers on its promises, but we also need a plan to be pragmatic, practical and sensible. We need to see action on Scotland's real priorities. For rural Scotland, that means delivering a practical agricultural bill as soon as possible, upgrading our roads to save lives, saving our surgeries, fixing the ferry fiasco and accelerating our 100. None of that should come as a surprise, though. It has been promised before. It is now time for this Government to get on and to deliver for the whole of Scotland. John Mason, to be followed by Mark Griffin up to six minutes. Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to speak today. I follow Rachel Hamilton, who said that the commitments were flimsy, but I have to say that I see a lot of those as very solid and exciting commitments. Presumably, if Rachel Hamilton thinks that her flimsy issue will not be opposing long-term rent controls, for example. I particularly welcome the fact that childcare is to be expanded, care workers to be paid £12 an hour. Of course, we all want to go higher on that, but it has to be affordable. I welcome the cladding remediation bill that is to come. The comment that too much land is in the hands of too few is a long-term problem for Scotland, but we need to keep making progress. I welcome the reopening of the independent living fund and rent controls, as I have already mentioned, and the fact that we can be both pro-growth and anti-poverty as a party and as a country. I hope that everyone had a good holiday during recess. I myself had 10 days in Ireland camping, you will not be surprised to hear, at different locations. It is fascinating to be in another country, especially when they speak English and I understand it, to listen to the radio programmes and reading the newspapers. Of course, they have some of the same problems that we have. For example, they cannot get enough workers to do certain jobs, but one of the challenges that they have with their finances is slightly different from the challenges that we have. They have such a large budget surplus that the question is what to do with it. If they spent it all in one go in the short term, that would probably fuel inflation. They were discussing whether they should pay off the national debt or perhaps start a sovereign wealth fund, and I have to say what a good problem that is to have. Some opposition speakers say that we should forget about independence and concentrate on the cost of living, inflation and so on. However, independence is the answer to these day-to-day problems. If Ireland can be so successful as a small independent country without a lot of the resources that we have, then absolutely so can Scotland. Of course, their situation is not exactly like ours, but it shows that freedom from London gives you agility and the powers to respond much better to challenges as they come along. Of course, one of the challenges with any programme for government these days is whether Westminster may randomly decide to veto something that it does not like. We saw that with the deposit return scheme, where officials had been conducting apparently positive discussions right into 2023 and then suddenly out of the blue Westminster presses the veto button. That makes it very difficult for any Scottish Government or the Parliament as a whole to plan ahead with certainty. Presumably any of this year's programme for government, including the budget, could be blocked by London if they take a notion to do so. Naturally, the programme for government includes the annual budget and that should be no surprise. The main uncertainty with the budget remains at a UK level as to when their autumn statement or budget might happen. Logically, the UK budget should come first, we would then build on that and then local government and other bodies would know the settlements in good time. In practice, we are left guessing to a large extent as to when the UK budget will be and what it will contain. I am sure that there will be lots of time in future to discuss the Scottish budget as and when we get to it. However, I welcome the fact that committees are keeping the budget in their thinking all the way through the year. It is probably worth stressing just now once again that, if Opposition parties would like more spending in some sector, as Rachel Hamilton has just given us in her speech, they really have the responsibility to say where the money is to come from. John Mason is completely missing the point. The delivery and the outcomes are not as good in this country as they are in others. For example, if they spend 50 per cent of GDP of public spending compared to Germany or Denmark or Sweden, the outcomes in Scotland are completely different, so your argument is entirely flawed. I think that we could go into that in more detail probably than we have time for today, but I would argue that a lot of Scottish money has been very effective and the child payment would be one example where it has created great results, so I would not agree with that. Basically speaking, if you want to duly A9 the whole way in which we are all committed to doing, then where is the money going to come from? Now, when it comes to Scotland being competitive, we should remember that competitiveness does not equate simply to low taxes. Lots of businesses and individuals are looking for quality of life, including education facilities, the environment and other factors, as well as levels of taxation. Low taxes with poorer public services will not make Scotland attractive to very many people. Speaking of businesses, of course we want Scotland to be an attractive place for businesses to start up and to grow, and that is why I especially welcome the message in today's statement that we are both anti-poverty and pro-growth. Scottish Government is keen to support businesses as much as it can, but businesses, of course, have responsibilities too. Businesses do not exist purely for the owner's benefit, they are there for the good of society and the wider community. Businesses are more than welcome to make profits, but they must not make excessive profits, and they should expect a reaction if they do that. They should also be paying the taxes that they are due to pay. I am not going to argue that every SNP policy is perfect, but I will argue that it is a lot better than what Labour has to offer. At least we are trying to reduce inequality with more progressive income tax, potential changes to council tax and the Scottish child payment. Meanwhile, Labour is to keep the two-child limit, the bedroom tax, and I understand that it is refusing to use either capital gains tax or a wealth tax to target the excessively rich. I personally am slightly disappointed about the support for the safe access zones for abortion. Absolutely the health of women is important, but the health of unborn babies is also important. More positively, I fully agree with the First Minister's comments on toxic masculinity and positive masculinity and misogyny. In conclusion, I think that we can be extremely positive about this programme for Government. Of course, all committees will be looking at it over the next 10 months, but Scotland can be successful under the devolution set-up, but we can be more successful once we are independent. I draw members' attention to my register of interests, which shows that I ceased to be the owner of a private rented property this summer. Presiding Officer, this wasn't an energetic fresh start with a new First Minister delivering his first programme for government. This was the Government saying loud and clear that they've absolutely run out of steam, they've run out of ideas and they've given up. A housing bill that is delayed, a cladding bill that the Deputy First Minister wasted two years on and their plans to tinker with the unfair, broken council tax. Where were the plans to empower communities? The urgency to protect tenants and a commitment to get on with building the homes that Scotland needs to drive up supply that will actually tackle Scotland's housing crisis. What we're being left with right now is Scotland being let down by two failing Governments, two Governments in Westminster and Holyrood, which are bad for business, bad for jobs and bad for growth. They're delivering low-growth, low-port productivity and high levels of poverty. Because, while the SNP and Tories are distracted by their own internal problems, they've lost touch with people's reality. Families cutting back on basics, unable to work because they can't get the healthcare they need, struggling to pay spiralling bills and people losing their homes in record numbers. Already, rent arrears are up 75 per cent, with an eviction ban in place. Applications, due to people defaulting on the mortgages, are up 65 per cent. The number of children in temporary accommodation is up yet again. Record levels and households with children are now waiting 502 days on average in temporary accommodation. That is a full-blown humanitarian disaster created on this Government's watch, but it still refuses to accept the housing emergencies happening right now, right out there. Is it any wonder, then, that the Government's research shows that only one in four people think they're doing enough to help people? Over half think they're not providing enough support. The year-long mortgage bombshell is every bit the Tories making, but, Presiding Officer, people want. People absolutely need help from this Government, too. The Citizens Advice report is looking up advice on facing eviction because your home has been repossessed. On their site, that has soared a massive 462 per cent this year. That's the real pain, and those are the real fears facing families right now. A year ago, Labour offered the Government a plan for a mortgage rescue scheme, and still this Government has nothing to say to the 60,000 families at higher risk of repossession and the 7,000 who could already be in arrears. Keeping people in their homes, using the powers that this Parliament has, doesn't seem to be something that this Government is interested in. The First Minister said that he wanted today to be about reducing poverty, delivering growth. So do we. However, the news from the housing regulator saying that affordable housing deliveries will fall by 15 per cent this year will do the very opposite. Next week, I'm meeting with Salmond Scotland. That's not to talk about Salmond. That's to hear about how badly wrong the basics in the housing market are, because the lack of affordable housing is stopping the Highlands and Islands becoming a northern powerhouse with workers able to live near their work, near their families and its causing island depopulation. If we ever needed an example for how bad for business, bad for jobs, bad for growth, bad for the economy that this Government is, it's the housing crisis that we're experiencing right now. Mr Griffin, we should be building as many affordable homes as we can. This Government has a proud record even though our capital budget has been slashed by Westminster Governments. However, does Mr Griffin recognise the failure of the last Labour Administration who managed in total during their term in office to build only six council houses? Kevin Stewart was a housing minister. He surely appreciates the fact that social housing comes not just from councils but also from housing associations and that the last Labour Administration built tens and tens of houses of those social housing. That intervention is absolutely symptomatic of the spin and hypocrisy that we get from this Government, rather than focusing on delivery, rather than addressing the problems that Scots face today rather than harking back to false figures from over a decade ago. Mr Griffin has just said that I provided a false figure. I can guarantee Mr Griffin that that figure of six council houses is absolutely right, all of which were built in Shetland if he wants to know the facts, not false at all. Thank you, Mr Stewart. It's not a point of order, but you've got your point on the record, Mark Griffin. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Clearly a false representation of the situation and the delivery of the last Labour Government which delivered tens and tens of thousands of social housing. However, that legacy of falling approvals will hit the economy. It will mean fewer houses for people who are desperate for them right now. The Government's latest idea, another woeful scrap of policy offered to desperate councils, tinkering with an unfair, broken council tax, epitomises absolutely the dearth of ambition that this Government has. During the cost of living crisis, it will simultaneously hammer 80,000 low-income households. It will penalise pensioners on fixed incomes, and it will hit families facing mortgages increasing by hundreds of pounds every single month. It's a policy that is the result of this Government's failure to abolish the council tax made worse by their failure to properly fund vital public services. Those services are the engines that run our local communities, but, like council staff there at break and point, it hurts in Scotland's economies, making communities and the country poorer. There was no personal commitment today from the First Minister that the staffage decade of cuts costing local services more than £6 billion since 2013-14 has come to an end. Closing libraries and swimming pools end in essential music programmes, slashing care packages and seeing workers go out and strike is not why any councillor went into local government. They want to improve the communities that we love, not to manage decline, continually cut services while charging people more for what remains. The First Minister wants to work in partnership and co-operation with councils to protect what is left and grow our economy and tackle poverty. He should give a commitment that funding cuts will stop. Ross Greer, to be followed by Bob Doris, up to six minutes. Environmental, social and economic justice are not separate concepts that require separate solutions. When the injustices can often be traced back to the same root causes, the solutions must be holistic. That is the theory underpinning green politics, the Bute House agreement and this programme for government. Despite the challenges of inflation, Brexit and the UK Government's unique combination of incompetence and outright malice, this programme confirms that we are building a fairer greener economy for Scotland. No where is that clearer than in the support given to the renewables industry. When the Scottish Greens joined the Government two years ago, one of the first tasks that we threw ourselves into was the reform of the national planning framework. One common point of feedback that we hear from businesses in the renewable sector, particularly in onshore wind, is that the glacial pace of the planning process has put them off from developing new sites in Scotland. When NPF4 was published last year, it was described as a remarkable and major step forward by Scottish renewables. Growth in renewables in Scotland is now happening at almost twice the rate in England. Our geography alone makes us a potential renewable powerhouse, but we cannot realise that potential without the support of national and local government. Reforming the planning process is one way in which the Scottish Government has done this, and today's confirmation of a sectoral deal for onshore wind is another, particularly the further improvements proposed to the planning process, halving the average time before a decision on section 12 applications from two years to one. Without the major economic levers that are still reserved to Westminster, those are the practical steps that we can take to build that greener economy for Scotland. It is also how we build a more resilient economy. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is given as a hint of the instability to come in the global energy markets as a result of the climate crisis. Electrifying critical sectors such as transport and heating and completely decarbonising our electricity supply will insulate Scotland from what will now inevitably be deeply unstable decades to come. Winterbinds have become the symbol of Scottish renewables, but a broad mix of sources is clearly needed, which is why the Scottish Greens were keen to ensure that this programme included a commitment to develop a new vision for solar. Providing certainty to businesses in that sector, as well as to other potential solar providers like local councils, will allow the sector to flourish, or at least to undo the damage and job losses of the decade lost after David Cameron slashed support for solar back in 2012. Maximising the economic benefits of the transition to net zero goes beyond jobs just in generation. We all acknowledge that Scotland has not yet fully benefited from the manufacturing and wider supply chains required for the green energy revolution, so the confirmation of a new green industrial strategy is welcome. Large-scale publicly owned energy infrastructure in particular is difficult to do without control over the energy market itself or substantial borrowing powers, but we can use planning, licensing and other powers to maximise conditionality, which ties the generating companies to maximise local supply chains and to secure a public stake in a stable and reliable long-term investment opportunity. The fair work conditions attached to public procurement contracts and grants as a result of the Scottish Greens' co-operation agreement are already ensuring that some of the lowest-paid workers have their wages boosted to at least the real living wage. That will be strengthened further by the sectoral fair work agreements announced today. The single most effective force for boosting workers' wages are workers themselves, organised through their trade unions. Using sectoral fair work agreements to expand sectoral bargaining and boost trade union membership will create that fairer and more prosperous economy. So we are giving workers direct control over their businesses by growing the number of co-operatives. The review of support provided to co-ops and social enterprises is another opportunity not only to empower workers, but also to make our economy more resilient through local ownership and profits being reinvested in the real economy. Workers will also benefit from other Scottish green policies such as the removal of peak-time rail fares from next month and the pilot programme for the four-day working week. I can attest from the experience of both our party and our parliamentary group staff that the four-day working week can absolutely result not just in no loss of productivity, but in productivity gains, because staff are happier and more motivated as a result of a better work-life balance. Removing peak-time rail fares will not just help families through the cost of living crisis. It will have wider economic benefits, particularly in areas that are experiencing labour shortages, but it is currently not worth the money for potential workers from slightly further away to fill gaps in the local workforce due to travel costs. This morning, anas Sarwar was talking about green extremism, in a line that is presumably drafted for him by his bosses in London. Let us recap what that green extremism is delivering and contrast it with Labour's offer. In government with our SNP colleagues, we are lifting 90,000 children out of poverty through policies such as the Scottish child payment and mitigation of the Tory's cruel benefit cap. Labour, on the other hand, will not support removing that cap or even abolishing the two-child cap and the rape cause. Recognising that 2,000 to 3,000 disproportionately poorer and disabled people die prematurely in Scotland every year due to air pollution, we are delivering low-emission zones in our city centres. Desperate for the votes of daily male columnists, Labour have abandoned their previous support for low-emission zones. We are honest enough to say that lifting children out of poverty and tackling the climate crisis requires those with the broadest shoulders to pay a bit more. Labour, on the other hand, think that the tax rates set by UK Tory government are just fine and, apparently, according to their shadow chancellor, cannot think of anything that they would spend increased tax revenues on, despite more than 4 million children in the UK living in poverty. If lifting children out of poverty, tackling the climate emergency and telling the wealth this that they have to pay their fair share is extremism, then the Scottish Greens are guilty as charged. We are proud to have played our part in a programme for government that will make Scotland a fairer greener nation. Thank you, Mr Greer. I now call Bob Doris to be followed by Donald Cameron. Presiding Officer, soaring inflation and the cost of living crisis, both fuelled by Westminster, continues to cut to the bone across too many of the communities that I represent. It is in that context with the rising food prices and, of course, eye-watering energy prices that our Scottish Government must do, what they have always had to do. We will continue to respond to help the nation through the Westminster fuel cost of living crisis, as well as building our own strong track record and vision. Scrapping the income threshold for best art foods is a very sensible and welcome example of this. A step that will help a further 20,000 pregnant mummies and children up to the age of three, that is on top of the 44,460 who received the benefit last year. I know how best art foods and its sister payments best art grants has benefited my constituents, so extending this is warmly welcome. As is the on-going commitment to the Scottish child payment, delivered to 316,000 children in the poorest families right across Scotland, again I see first hand the substantial difference that the Scottish child payment makes. Actually, for many families, the substantial does not cut it. I know from many private conversations that I have had with several families, the Scottish child payment is simply a lifeline right now. An additional £100 per child every four weeks. A payment does not exist anywhere else in the UK. In reality, what it really is, is a vital mitigation against a UK Government welfare system that does not support children or families on the lowest incomes, rather it penalises them. What I cannot understand is why Labour will wed themselves to that system if ever in Government at Westminster. Scotland's child payment, worth £1,300 a year per child, improves the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and has prevented 90,000 children from Scotland falling into poverty. Where Westminster policies are driving poverty, the Scottish Government is taking action to help families. I think that our approach to helping families is well at issue to today with very welcome announcements in childcare. It is vital that we continue to roll out childcare provision and I would note that 69 per cent of children in poverty live in working households. Extending childcare provision to them will not only tackle poverty, but boost our economy. It is therefore very welcome to hear that there will be a sixth early adopter councils to extend childcare for babies as young as nine months old, free childcare for them, up until school age. I would clearly wish to see how Glasgow could benefit from this. I also welcome the exhilaration of extending provision of funding childcare to two-year-olds, offering flexibility to parents as to how they can access their childcare, seeking to boost childminders' provision by 1,000. They are facing a real challenge, right now. That will be welcome and increasingly pay for childcare staff and private voluntary and independent sector nurses to at least £12 an hour. All welcome. I would also like to hear more, however, of expanding affordable breakfast club and after-school provision for school-aged children. I should pay tribute to the fantastic breakfast club at St Blaine's primary school that my seven-year-old benefits from and indeed the excellent after-school provision offered by Suberson after-school care, but that kind of provision has to be extended to as many people as possible. Today's programme for government builds on our social care commitments also, and it is hugely positive to hear today that our social care staff will see another well-deserved and merited pay award. Today's announcement of a 10 per cent uplift to ensure that at least £12 an hour is paid to those staff in direct care roles worth £2,000 a year for full-time staff. It's been a while coming, but it's absolutely essential that we deliver on-pay to this sector, and we must continue to do so. I also welcome moves in the programme for government to further protect those struggling under tenancies. I welcome the extension of the rent cap to the end of March 2024, plans to implement rent controls and plans to invest to reduce the reliance on temporary accommodation for those experiencing homelessness. We're well aware of these issues, as well as the headline commitment, of course, to deliver on this role of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Again, the bill is in vital Scottish Government work. Let us not forget that this includes the ongoing mitigation of the UK's bedroom tax, a tax brought in by Labour and rolled out by the Conservatives. It's Scottish Government mitigation to do all we can to ensure that renters can afford to stay in their own homes, despite the bedroom tax cost us £84 million each and every year. 400 million pounds all spent on the Scottish child payment mitigating the UK benefits system that does not adequately support our children. In total, the Scottish Government spends £3 billion each year trying to limit the damage caused by Westminster, whichever party is in government. Just think what more we could do if we didn't have to mitigate. Unfortunately, a whirlwind of UK Labour U-turns by Sir Keir Stammer means the need to mitigate Westminster decisions will only continue to drain Scotland's budget, irrespective of whether we have blue or red tories at Downing Street. Despite the ever-increasing financial constraints placed on our Scottish Government—yes, I thought Labour would feel deeply uncomfortable about that—they should feel ashamed. Despite the ever-increasing financial constraints placed on our Scottish Government as a consequence of mitigations, I am pleased to see today several welcome progressive steps in the programme for government, which I am happy to commend to the chamber. I now call Donald Cameron to be followed by Sera Boyack. Could we have less chat across the front benches from certain positions, please? Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Like others, I acknowledge that the First Minister has delivered his first programme for government. Although the Scottish Conservatives will robustly scrutinise that legislative agenda for the year, we will also provide constructive support where possible. I welcome the pro-growth agenda that the First Minister says is a key focus of this programme for government, but it remains to be seen whether he will actually deliver on this, given the years of sluggish growth that Scotland has recently experienced. It will not be a surprise to the First Minister that we strongly believe that there must be a renewed focus on economic growth, as Douglas Ross spoke last week about, instead of the damaging obsession on independence that this Government has previously shown. Over £1.4 million has now been spent on civil servant time and the production of the Scottish Government's independence papers. Yet, as the First Minister himself put it, during the SNP leadership contest, there are papers that sit on a website and nobody reads. It is essential that the First Minister uses his first full year in charge to get Scotland's economy moving forward again. I want to focus my remarks on the Government's plans for Scotland's culture and heritage sectors, both of which have felt the brunt of the pandemic, as well as deep cuts in recent years. It was disappointing that there was so little emphasis on culture in the programme for government. Aside from announcing a series of new strategies—well in tension, no doubt—there is little in the document that will give the culture and heritage sector confidence that their cries for help have been heard. I sense a real feeling of neglect about the sector. That comes on a day that the Edinburgh International Festival lamented the Scottish Government's approach to culture spending, making the excoriating claim that, the last time the sector were able to be competitive and ambitious rather than managing decline was 2008. It is clear that warm words will not cut it. Research published earlier this year by SPICE highlighted the level of funding cuts across the culture sector over many years, including a real-terms cut to the Creative Scotland budget since 2018-19 and a real-terms cut to Scotland's national performing companies, as well as having a devastating impact on national organisations. John Swinney? I am grateful to Mr Cameron for giving way, and I understand the significance of the points that he makes. Indeed, in my short last tenure as France Secretary, I responded to a very significant request from, for example, the King's Theatre in Edinburgh for Government funding to complete their restoration programme, which I am delighted to be able to take forward. Does Mr Cameron understand the irony of the remarks that he is making about the constraints on the public finances that are contrasted with the profile on public expenditure that the Government that he supports in the United Kingdom has taken for the past 13 years? I know that Mr Cameron looks at those issues carefully, but does he identify the irony of asking us to spend more money when he supports a United Kingdom Government that puts in place a fiscal framework that constrains this Government's expenditure? The short answer to Mr Swinney is this. The block grant funding for the Scottish Government is the highest since devolution began at around £41 billion for 2022-2025. That means that for every £100 per person that the UK Government spends in England on matters devolved to Scotland, the Scottish Government will receive around £126 per person in Scotland. It is about choices. As well as having a devastating impact on national organisations, that has a significant effect for the many grassroots local arts and culture groups across Scotland who face an uncertain future. The effect of all that was highlighted perfectly by Karen Anderson, who is chair of the workshops and artist studio provisions Scotland, a crucial organisation that works in providing studios across Scotland. She cited the Scottish Government's own performance indicators on arts and culture, and she said that they showed a year on year decrease on GVA of £79 million in real terms between 2019-2020, and that the employment in Scotland's arts, culture and creative industries was down by £10,000 on 2021. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has something to do with that, but Karen Anderson summed it up, stating that Scotland faces a cultural recession. If ever there was a greater warning to the future of Scotland's culture sector, that is it. The First Minister has to show leadership and face this challenge head on, otherwise the long-term impact will be irreversible. It is not just those sectors that face an uncertain future. Scotland's heritage sector continues to face challenges. No more is this the case in our historical sites, and it is welcome. Of course, the historic environment Scotland now receives more money than in previous years, but it has not resulted in more of Scotland's closed historical sites reopening to the public and to visitors. The number of HES-managed sites, either completely closed or subject to restrictions, has rocketed over the last year from 60 sites to 90 sites. That is almost a third of Scotland's historical sites that are impacted. That has a damaging effect on tourism, it has a knock-on reverberation on local business and it harms our international reputation as a prime tourist destination, discouraging visitors to rural Scotland in particular. In conclusion, Scotland's arts, culture and heritage sector face a number of distinct and unique challenges born from years of underfunding. While the prayer room for government acknowledges some of the issues, it does little to inspire confidence that the First Minister realises the problem to hand and whether he has a plan to address them. Decisive action has to be taken to ensure that Scotland remains a leading nation in arts, culture and heritage, and the Scottish Conservatives will play our part in making sure that that happens. This programme for government serves as a reminder of all the things that have not happened or have got worse over the past 16 years. It was briefed before today that this programme for government would take action on climate change, so we responded positively to the weekend story that the First Minister was planning around table with party leaders to work together to tackle the climate crisis. However, today, the First Minister is saying that other parties are abdicating their responsibilities on climate change. That is a bit rich, given that, just prior to recess, the net zero secretary informed Parliament that Scotland missed the 2021 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, so we urgently need to see the Scottish Government make much more progress on delivery. Audit Scotland and the UK Climate Change Committee have highlighted the lack of progress on delivering on climate targets—homes and buildings, transport and land—so we need action. I just want to respond to the First Minister, because an oil and gas at the Scottish National Party has been all over the place. In January, the Scottish Government's draft energy and just transition plan confirmed that it was consulting on whether or not there should be a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas. When Labour set out ambitious proposals to sprint to clean energy and deliver the climate leadership that we urgently need with our green prosperity plan, the energy minister accused us of turning off the taps. In the wake of the UK Government announcement at the end of July on oil and gas licences, the First Minister said that the UK Government was not taking climate change seriously and I quote, The Scottish Government continues to believe in an accelerated just transition. Our future is not in an unlimited extraction of oil and gas and then this week the energy minister called for a nuanced approach on oil and gas licences all over the place, but just one example of the lack of bold climate leadership and critically the delivery that we urgently need from this Government. If you add in the cost of living crisis, well-timed minister, last year's shocking £133 million underspend on retrofitting, it is absolutely clear that the Scottish Government has lost all credibility in being a leader in tackling climate change, particularly during the cost of living crisis. Although the First Minister talked about tackling poverty in his statement, the Government is not doing the heavy lifting to ensure that across the country we have investment to the delivery, the affordable warm homes that people urgently need. If I quote from the Scottish Government's own figures, their estimate is that this year nearly a million households, technically 980,000 households, that is 39 per cent of Scotland's households will be in fuel poverty. We urgently need action and there was nothing today that will begin to tackle that challenge. It does not need to be like this. I am grateful to the member for giving way. It is very clear that this Government is already doing far more than any other part of the UK in the financial support that people need to retrofit their homes, but will the member commit her party to supporting us and working with us on a heat in buildings bill, or does she share her party leader's attachment to the rhetoric of green extremism? The whole point is that it needs to be practical. It needs to tackle the cost of living crisis. The problem is that the two Governments are not talking to each other, be falling out when it suits them, but not delivering the policy. A comment was made earlier about community energy, which I strongly support, but you have seen local government absolutely cash trapped for 16 years. Local government is critical in delivering the project that Patrick Harvie is talking about. If you want to see community heat and power networks, if you want to deliver the co-operative opportunities in Scotland, you need to work with our councils. They need the planners in place, they need the people in place to do the risk assessment. Crucially, we need to join up the work, and that is not happening. It is practical and we know that, because it happens in other countries, it actually works as well, just not here. As Anas Sarwar said, we urgently need to change what is happening. Businesses in particular urgently need action because they are committed to investing in innovative low-carbon technologies, but they are not getting the support from the Scottish or the UK Government. Although I very much welcome the announcement of a green industrial strategy, businesses have been waiting far too long. We need to see the plans for infrastructure that urgently need to be built. We need to see the Government using its own powers and green manufacturing support for supply chains and training in the upscaling for those who have vital experience. As Anas Sarwar said, we have a credible alternative from Labour. We have led the way before when we were in power. With our green prosperity plan, we cut energy bills by up to £1400 a year, joined up thinking but bold and radical action. It would also save businesses across the UK £53 billion in their energy bills up to 2030. In Scotland, we urgently need more jobs in clean power. 50,000 jobs would come from our plans and a further 17,000 for plumbers, installers and construction workers to upgrade our homes and buildings. To implement the aspirations that Patrick Harvie has, we need to do the heavy lifting. We need to be bold and radical and our workers and communities need to benefit from a just transition with locally-owned heat and power networks. The SNP has given up on the public sector, but we would establish GB Energy, a publicly-owned energy company, generating energy and working to unlock our green energy potential, creating jobs across Scotland and the UK and getting those critical supply chains in place. We urgently need joined up thinking and tackling our climate crisis and transforming people's lives. I would be interested in hearing from the Deputy First Minister. I have been consulting on my proposed member's bill on wellbeing and sustainable development. We know from Wales that their future generation commissioner has made a huge difference, so I hope that the Scottish Government will support my bill and that extreme weather is more frequent and that disastrous health and economic impacts across the world. We need to tackle climate change, but we need action now, not just warm words. Like others, I was out and about in my constituency of Edinburgh, Northern Leith over the summer months. There is a lot to be optimistic about, but also a lot to worry about. The challenges for households, as others have articulated, are real and significant. There is deep inequality in our country. That is particularly the case when it comes to income. It is worth reminding ourselves that, in one of the richest countries in the world, when it comes to the UK, around 40 per cent of the total disposable household income in the UK went to the fifth of the individuals with the highest incomes, while only less than 10 per cent went to the fifth lowest income. So 40 per cent to the top fifth and less than 10 to the lowest. That is where we are. No wonder in such a scenario that there is anger and anxiety. Our collective challenge is to make sure that that does not turn to apathy and that hardship does not turn to hopelessness. During those challenging times in this country where the UK is a poor society with some very rich people, our constituents are looking to all of us for support and security and positive direction, a Government that is on their side. With all the challenge of the financial circumstances facing our public finances, much of which have been created by Governments in Westminster and through policy decisions outwith our control, in all of that challenge, the leadership that has been shown from the First Minister today is admirable and he has set out what I believe is a progressive and appropriate programme for government in those times. There is so much that I could touch on that will make a difference in my constituency and elsewhere, but I would like to focus on just a few things. First of all, the commitment to increases in public sector pay and today we have heard about at least 10 per cent increase for important social care workers. The increases in public sector pay not only make sure that services are sustained and keep running in those challenging times where they are not doing so elsewhere, but they also have a positive multiplier effect on reducing income inequality and providing stimulus in our economy. I also congratulate the Government on its commitments in social security, of which again there are several. Removing the income threshold for best start foods was something I was proud to work on as Minister for Social Security and I am glad to see it progress. I was also proud to work on the delivery of the Scottish child payment and I am very pleased to see another £400 million plus worth of investment. Let us all remember as Professor Danny Dorling reminded audiences here in Edinburgh in the summer months. The Scottish child payment is not only the most innovative and important anti-poverty measure in the whole of the UK but is also a measure that is mitigating against an underfunded universal credit system. It is required because the welfare state at UK level is not adequate. My point to those who are seeking governance at UK level next year is that if you are not prepared to do more with the social security system, then devolve more of it and let us get on with it. That goes for the same with taxation. If you are not prepared to do things with capital gains tax in a society as unequal as ours, then give this Parliament the powers and we will utilise them for the common good. That brings me also to measures that are taken to expand childcare and support small businesses. Most of the problems in my constituent and it will be the same for many of those in the chamber today is inward poverty. Again, think what difference we could make if we had powers over employment law here in this Parliament. Again, if those seeking governance in Westminster are not prepared to use those powers, then devolve them and we will make a bigger difference here. One area of challenge that I would like to touch on last and it is important before I conclude is that on housing. Colleagues will know that I am a representative of Edinburgh Northern Leith and here in our capital. I can say that the pressures on our housing system here are really, really significant. Shelter have called it an emergency, I would certainly call it a crisis. The actions to moderate rents that will be in the housing bill are welcome. The actions in terms of duties to prevent homelessness are very welcome because we have seen a 20 per cent increase in applications. I note that the Government has said in the year ahead that it will invest £750 million of the affordable housing supply programme. It is important to invest in other places and I note the points about rural areas. Please, if there are any projects from Edinburgh that can be prioritised, prioritise them. If there is any additional initiative that can be done with City of Edinburgh Council, then let's look at it collaboratively because we really need to take action in the serious situation that we face here in the capital. I will conclude by saying this. We are in a new term and as each of us walked through those doors, I hope that we felt that privilege again. It is an honour to be in this place. It is a serious place and we must rise to the big challenges, as one of the Opposition members stated. The Scottish Government has set out its prospectus. It is robust. It is realistic, but it is also ambitious. People out there want us to be constructive. They know how serious those times are. Let's scrutinise but not sensationalise that there has been this afternoon. Let's exchange ideas but not exaggerate conflict when it's not there. There is so much work to be done, so let's get on with it for the common good and the benefit of all of our constituents. Thank you, Ms McPherson. We will now move to closing speeches. I call on Michael Marra to close on behalf of Scottish Labour. It is a pleasure to close for Labour today and what has been, typically and rightly, a robust debate. It is a difficult time for so many of those who we are elected to represent. When speaking to the good people of Dundee and the broader northeastern, when knocking doors in Rutherglen and Hamilton west these last few weeks, they did not wait for 22 minutes to mention our NHS crisis. It is the first thing that people mention on doorsteps across Scotland, the NHS crisis and our cost of living crisis. Wives and daughters, husbands and sons are drift on waiting lists, cancer diagnosis delayed, lives lost or changed forever. Waiting lists soaring to unheard of heights, collapsing access to GPs, NHS dentistry that is little more than a myth to more and more and more. No real recovery, no real plan and no real hope. That is what a real leader would have offered today. When nothing is working as it should, people are desperate for hope and people are desperate for change. The pay packet has increasingly gone long before the end of the week. Bills are continuing to rise and everyone everywhere is paying the price of Tory economic incompetence. Anyone watching Jeremy Hunt on the Laura Coonsburg show saw him stating that cutting inflation from 10 per cent to 5 per cent puts five pence in every pound back in your pocket. Really, he is actually the real life chancellor, utterly clueless as to what inflation actually is, let alone how to deal with it. Of course, the sooner we can get a general election and get rid of this shower out of power, the better. After 16 years in government, the First Minister is now attempting to feign an interest in the economy. The fact that his predecessor has showed no interest whatsoever means that he carries a toxic legacy. The wellbeing economy was the answer back in the spring before we all went off on recess. Now it is being expunged entirely from the First Minister's speech, not a single mention in the speech, not one time. The First Minister is interested in economic growth in the way that I am interested in Dundee United winning the Champions League. I think that it would be a good thing, but I have not the faintest idea of how it would ever happen. Unashamedly, pro-growth were his words, but absolutely nothing in the speech as to how it would ever happen. No plan whatsoever. Nothing at all to say what he would do to make the growth appear. Wishing will not make it true. It requires a plan that is based in substance. There was a fleeting, certainly. I am just wondering on that point of a lack of a plan if Mr Marra missed the bit of the First Minister's speech where he announced the new sectoral deal for wind and planning reforms that will take us from having twice the rate of growth in renewables as England to something far beyond that. Did Mr Marra have missed the bit where the First Minister outlined specific plans to grow our renewables industry? Those plans will be absolutely turbocharged. We have a UK energy based in Scotland where we can deliver real jobs, the kind of plan for a publicly owned energy company that was promised by this Government years and years ago and then nothing actually happened to deliver it. I would say that there was a fleeting mention of Scotland's outstanding universities in the First Minister's speech, in the context of the economy. However, the SNP green approach to the leadership of those universities is described by the sector as managing decline. There was a single mention of our colleges at a time when FE workers are facing compulsory redundancies and Audit Scotland is damming this Government's failure to provide any leadership on skills whatsoever. Alex Cole-Hamilton rightly raised the crumbling concrete in our schools, something that is worrying parents across Scotland and rightly so. We heard earlier this afternoon the cabinet secretary attempting to disassociate the long delayed school upgrade programme from the problem at all, not a credible answer to a very serious question, a very serious issue raised in this debate. I am very grateful to Michael Marra for taking my intervention and for recognising my remarks in his speech. Does he agree with me that this problematic concrete is not limited to our school estate but is being found in our hospitals as well, which creates a much more serious problem in what to do with patients who may be on wards with problem concrete? It is an entirely very fair point, well made, that these problems extend across the public estate in Scotland. It is going to present significant challenges. We recognise financially for the Scottish Government to intervene to make sure that those things do not happen. However, we need full disclosure and as soon as possible about where the material is being used and the challenges that it faces. Continuing to refuse to answer those questions, for instance, as Dundee City Council has refused to do in my area, is untenable. Those are serious questions that need answers from the Government and our local authorities. John Swinney raised the issue of childcare and the investment that has been made by the SNP Government. Just yesterday, Paul O'Kee and MSP led a Labour round table meeting of anti-poverty organisations that stressed the issue of the lack of access for poorer families and the need to increase action in that regard. In my reading of the programme today, there are some signs of amendments to the programme that might begin to deal with some of those problems in terms of access. I hope that we recognise that it is a challenge recognised by anti-poverty organisations and that we need to see change to make sure that that happens. We need to get that right. Flexibility is key. The ability of a parent to take an extra shift in a supermarket or any place of work is absolutely critical if we are going to deal with issues of poverty. No, thank you, sir. I am running out of time. There has also been coverage of justice issues. The First Minister wants now to trial the wearing of body-worn cameras at a time when, in the north-east of Scotland, we are trialling not investigating crimes at all. When empowering, the key to this is that you have to act. However, we all know the political test that was set for the First Minister by his own admission today and that it was necessary to take the chance to define his leadership as something other than chaos and incompetence. What would be new? What would show that they had risen to the moment? It is perhaps not the problem with today's relaunch that the problems that it seeks to fix bear the clown's footprints of the First Minister's ministerial path to date. When it comes to the broken transport system, the broken justice system, the broken NHS, the truth is that the guy who broke it cannot fix it. He may have received the dreaded vote of confidence from his backbenchers today, but they all know in reality that the writing is on the wall. How many more bad results can he withstand? Today's performance has done nothing to change the mood. Far more importantly, it does nowhere near enough to improve the lives of the people of Scotland who are crying out for change. It is our privilege to live in Scotland, a country that is rich in its natural resources, landscapes and the talent of its people. We are currently world leading in some aspects of research and economic development, but we all know only too well that Scotland is nowhere near turning her full potential into reality, such as the extent of the economic challenges facing us. Just a cursory look at the Scottish Fiscal Commission's most recent statistics and the analysis of numerous independent economic groups tell us the very gloomy prognosis, that Scotland is facing long-term fiscal instability with persistent large black holes in the public finances. A serious demographic imbalance, which means that our working population as a percentage of the total population is declining faster than is the case in other economies, that our productivity and growth are both weak and that we have nothing like the money that is required to pay for the projected spending for the foreseeable future. May I say that the relevant statistics in this regard are set out at almost every evidence session of this Parliament's finance committee today included, to the extent that the status quo is simply not an option. It is not just a change to the policy focus that is required, but a radical change to the structure of the economy and its accompanying structures of government expenditure and taxation. To pretend otherwise is irresponsible, but also deeply damaging to our country. The First Minister said that there is a relentless focus on growth. I say to the First Minister that he needs to sit down with his coalition partners and tell them that, because for them economic growth does not seem to matter. Indeed, if you do not have that economic growth, you will not be able to do all the things that are being suggested for the wellbeing of the economy. Last week Douglas Ross set out our perspectives for growth within the measures that we believe can bring about the right environment in which business and industry can flourish. Those are measures that business and industry themselves have said that they want to put in place to develop an interconnected and coherent infrastructure and the right environment in which we can make the very best use of people's talents and skills, more of which in just a minute. What the public and the businesses are also telling us is that they want a tax structure that is aligned to that of the rest of the UK, so that Scotland does not lose her competitive advantage. A tax system that is designed to retain and attract skilled working people will improve productivity and maximise the potential for growth. What they do not want is a Scottish Government that is hell bent on making sure that Scotland is the highest tax part of the UK, whether that is by increasing income tax on middle and higher earners or threatening large hikes in council tax. It is interesting that the Labour Party has now changed its tune on this, because I presume that it is finally recognised that if you do not get that economic growth and you do not get better public services, then higher taxes are not going to work. I thank the member very much for giving way, but would she accept that it is not just lower taxes that attract people or businesses to Scotland, but also the quality of education and the environment, and many of the world-class universities and many other factors? Mr Mason is quite right that it is not just tax, but I am sure that Mr Mason has been speaking to businesses in his Glasgow constituency. They are all telling us that it is a big part of the fact that Scotland is no longer as competitive as it should be because it is the highest tax part of the UK. That is serious. We also desperately need a tax structure that is delivering much better public services. If you are going to pay more, you do not want to get less, because that is effectively what is happening. We need a tax structure that is delivering much greater transparency—that is a very strong message that has come from Audit Scotland over many years. That brings me to our demographic imbalance and the resulting effects on productivity and tax revenues. No country in the world is immune from those demographic pressures, but Scotland's circumstances are worse because of the fact that the size of the working population in relation to total population is declining at a faster rate. Over the next 50 years, the Scottish Fiscal Commission is telling us that Scotland's population could fall by around 400,000 as a result of the lower birth rate, and the numbers over the age of 65 will increase from 21 per cent, where it is now—I will not just now, if you do not mind—to 31 per cent in 2072. As Professor James Mitchell has said, we have higher levels of taxation but less money to spend on public services because the performance of the Scottish economy is weaker than elsewhere. To make matters worse, we have a higher percentage of people who are remote from the workforce and large numbers of people who, since Covid, have taken themselves out of the workforce. Those are people with skills that we highly value and desperately need, so it is another reason for focusing on policies that will encourage people back to the labour market. I welcome the child care policy. I will not, if you do not mind—I have a lot to conclude on. For example, how ridiculous is it that in the current funding position in higher education it is skewed against that? We have domiciled Scots desperately wanting to take up university places to study medicine, for example, but they cannot get in because of the intense competition from foreign students who are paying extra fees that make them a more attractive financial proposition for our struggle. No, it is not rubbish who ever said that. It is absolutely true. If you listen to what the University of Scotland and many of the people who work in universities, it is absolutely true. The trouble is, particularly in medicine, that they go elsewhere and they never come back to Scotland. We need those people, we need their skills because they are highly valued. I am very attracted by what people like James Withers and Sandy Beggby have said, most especially about the need for a much more holistic approach to skills and training, one that is bought into by schools, colleges, universities and businesses and a system that values skills across a whole diversity of the population and values every institution, wherever they may be and whoever they may be, delivering that training. Another aspect of the Withers reports is his reflections on the need for a change in the culture that is to deliver public sector reform, something that the finance committee has been concentrating on for a very considerable number of weeks now. Because he is clear that it is not the complexity of the change that is the problem, but the lack of clarity and direction regarding government policy. As a result, too many public sector bodies are working in their own silos, but without due regard to the bigger picture. It is my firm belief that establishing a sustainable financial position for Scotland absolutely has to be the top priority, exactly as it is for the finance committee of this Parliament. I repeat that the current position is simply not an option since it fails to deliver when it comes to making best use of our precious resources. It fails to deliver better productivity, the right environment for growth, higher tax revenues or best use of our resources are people. To continue with the current structures in the economy is failing to address the very serious concerns that have been set out by this Parliament. We desperately need to have a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in business and industry, but we desperately need it too in this Government. This year's programme for government shows how the Scottish Government will continue to support people and communities across Scotland to thrive and live more positive lives in a fairer, more eco society. The current financial situation is challenging for households, businesses and, of course, as many have said, the wider public finances. I know that this is a worrying time for many. Within this context, the Government has published an ambitious anti-poverty pro-growth programme for government that will support Scotland's progress towards the fairer, wealthier and greener Scotland that we want to see. As the First Minister said earlier, this Government will always support the people of Scotland to succeed, particularly when times are difficult. The programme for government demonstrates our commitment to prioritising, providing support to those who need it most. We will use every power at our disposal to protect the vulnerable in our society and to build strong, cohesive and vibrant communities. I want to turn to some of the points that have been made by members. I will only briefly touch on Douglas Ross's points, because there is nothing much new in what he was saying. He did talk down our education system, despite the record numbers of young people entering our higher education system, particularly from poorer backgrounds. He also complained about the lack of affordable homes despite opposing every measure to try to stem the loss of affordable homes, such as the action taken on short-term lets and second homes. Then he talked about his bold economic plan, which really equaled tax cuts. Of course, it is absolutely right that John Swinney pointed out that, on the anniversary of Liz Truss being elected into government with her disastrous mini-budget, those lessons of trussonomics have not been learned. What we are seeing is rhodonomics that, with bells and whistles on of a tax-cutting agenda, will cut public finances. We saw that with the trust's government. We saw the impact, not just on public finances, that we are still feeling now. We saw and household finances as well. The idea that Douglas Ross would put forward that proposition in the light of all that evidence seems to me quite astonishing. Douglas Ross? To the cabinet secretary for giving way, if she would go back to what I was discussing in my speech, I made a very direct plea to the First Minister to answer a point in this programme for government. He has promised that his government, of which the cabinet secretary is a deputy First Minister, will dual the E9 from Perth to Inverness. When will that happen? The First Minister laid out that today he confirmed that we have launched the procurement for the tomato and tamoy section. Is the next step in that work? You would have thought that that was something that Douglas Ross would have welcomed, and we will make further announcements in due course about the rest of the E9 dualling. I want to turn to Anna Sarwar. Before she turns to Anna Sarwar, I would like to point out that, once again today, Douglas Ross gave us a plea for folk to support his right to recovery bill, a bill that still has not been published. That seems to me not to really be a priority for the Conservatives, because their website quite clearly shows that their right to recovery section has not been updated since 1 September 2021. I wonder if the DfFM would comment on that. Before I ask the Deputy First Minister to respond, I have a point of order from Douglas Ross. I am grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think that it is important that the chamber has all of the facts. I have been going through the non-government bills unit, and I am very grateful that they have now appointed Brodys as the drafters. I can only go as quick as that process, but what would speed it up would be for the Scottish Government to say that they will back it 100%. That, of course, was not a point of order, but the member has made his point. I call again the Deputy First Minister. In the spirit of trying to be helpful, as a number of ministers, the First Minister himself has said to Douglas Ross that we want to work across this chamber to tackle what is a very serious issue, but we need to see the bill. When we see the bill, we will address whether or not there are elements within the bill or the bill that we can take forward. I want to turn to Anas Sarwar. I am a bit old-fashioned, but I think that we should wait to see the results of my elections before declaring victory of them. I do not think that it does anyone. I guess that it is a great service to the people of Rutherglen to do otherwise. Anas Sarwar says that this Government focuses too much on social policy. We make no apology for focusing on social policy that has lifted 90,000 children out of poverty. We heard a number of speeches from Labour benches talking about we need to do more, we need to go faster, but Anas Sarwar wants to keep the bedroom tax, the two-child limit. He wants to make the rape clause fairer. He wants to turn his back on progressive taxation. He wants to back off environmental policies. How does any of that help to either address poverty or the environmental crisis facing this planet? The truth is that Labour has no answers to anything other than a desperate hope that the Tories' incompetence at Westminster lets them into office without any promises of prospect of real change. That is the truth. Anas Sarwar will say and do anything in order to try and open that door. That is not about principle, it is about ditching principles in order to try and win an election, so let us just call it what it is. We will not have Labour members coming here as part of the budget process with turning their backs on wanting to raise any revenue with a myriad of calls for spending priorities, like we heard today, because we cannot have spending priorities and wanting to spend more money without having the money in order to allocate to those spending priorities. We are not here any of that from Labour. Alex Cole-Hamilton talked about the really important issue of RAC, and I just want to say this. Shirley-Anne Somerville, in her topical answer to the question, made clear the action that is being taken on RAC and the seriousness of which we take this issue. We have been working on this issue for many months. If Alex Cole-Hamilton wants to meet and hear a bit more of a detailed briefing of what is being done behind the scenes and that information being gathered from stakeholders in particular local government, I am sure that Shirley-Anne Somerville will do that. I am very grateful to the Deputy First Minister for taking my intervention. I certainly would welcome a meeting with the cabinet secretary. I am anxious that, if the Government has been working on this problem concrete for so many months, that the first time it was raised in this chamber was by an opposition leader, why has Parliament not been informed of the threat to public safety? We have been following the Institute of Structural Engineers guidance, so we have been doing the risk assessments, and we have been working with partners. There is nothing to hide here. We are all trying to work together through a very difficult challenge. Of course, we will keep Parliament updated as we gather that information, but we should be trying to reassure people. I am sure that Alex Cole-Hamilton will want to join with us in doing that. John Swinney was right to talk about the key issue of childcare and the important role of childcare in boosting economic growth. It is a single intervention that can absolutely not just tackle poverty but can help parents back into work and, indeed, to secure more hours and more secure employment. It is absolutely vital. Of course, it is at the heart of this programme for government. It builds on the work that we have done, supporting the 30 per cent of the poorest families who are better off by £2,000 due to the choices of this Government. For those who say that there is nothing in this to tackle poverty, the facts do not support that proposition. We have shown by our actions where our priorities lie. Yes, it is addressing social inequality. It is about social policy, but it is also about economic growth. On that point, Rachel Hamilton talked about the issue of R100—a really important part of our investment in our infrastructure. Despite telecoms legislation being wholly reserved, we are investing £600 million in R100 to make that change happen. On affordable housing, again, it is absolutely critical—not just in tackling poverty but in terms of economic growth and boosting growth as well. We will invest £750 million to support the delivery of affordable homes. We have already delivered 110,000 affordable homes, and we will deliver another 110,000 by 2032. We have a good record to report on affordable housing. We will also invest £60 million of that to acquire empty properties to use as affordable homes. Ross Greer was absolutely right about fair work principles attached to grants and contracts. The sectoral fair work agreements announced in today's programme for government builds on that. That is hugely important. I want to end on the point that Liz Smith made—I can just do that. Liz Smith made a number of important points, as she quite often does. She is one of the more constructive members of her benches. I know that she is quite a low bar, but I would say that she definitely is. She talked about the challenge in the public finances, and she is absolutely right. Of course, we will continue to set out that challenge, not incidentally by the real terms cut in both resource and capital budgets coming next year, but in terms of that medium-term financial strategy, we absolutely need to take the action. Part of that is about reform, part of it is about modelling the public sector in terms of the needs over the next 10 years and to make sure that it delivers in a way that is efficient and delivering for the people's priorities. We will do that, and if we can get support across the chamber to do that, we will. Of course, on tax, I am chairing the tax strategy group, working with experts to make sure that we land in the space of having a tax system that is progressive and fair. Let me end on this note of consensus. I am keen to work with anyone across the chamber. In tough times, we do not have all of the answers, and we want to work across the chamber where there are good ideas and suggestions. We will listen to them, but what we will not do is have Scotland talk down, have our public services talk down. We will continue to invest the record levels of investment in our public services because the people of Scotland deserve and expect nothing less than that. During the course of the debate earlier on this afternoon, Mr Ross, during his contribution, stated that, I mentioned Mr Matheson because he has refused to meet with GP campaigners in my local area, and I had to write to him several times on that matter. As Mr Ross says, it is important that the chamber has all of the facts on these matters. I was due to meet with the campaign group that Mr Ross refers to at 2.30 this afternoon. In fact, Mr Ross was actually invited to attend that meeting, but unfortunately, because of parliamentary business, we both had to be in the chamber, the meeting had to be cancelled last week. As a result, my office extended two further dates over the course of the next two weeks to meet with that campaign group and for Mr Ross to be able to attend that meeting. It is very clear that the comments made by Mr Ross that I had refused to meet with the campaign group is inaccurate and misleading the chamber. Given the need to make sure that comments that are made by members in the chamber are accurate, can you advise me how Mr Ross can go about sitting the record straight and removing the inaccurate accusation that he has made in his comments? Will I please deal with one point of order before I get on to any other point of order? I thank the cabinet secretary for his contribution. That is not a point of order, but the cabinet secretary has nonetheless made his point on the record. Of course, the corrective mechanism in terms of the OR is known to all members, so I do not need to repeat that. Further to that point of order, so I will go through a couple of points. First of all, the meeting has been cancelled and the alternative dates were not suitable for another Scottish Government minister, so we are now looking into October. Secondly, the health secretary is on record on the official report of this Parliament refusing to meet with the group, because when I asked him in health questions, he said that it would not be appropriate to meet. Finally, the reason I raised it today, Deputy Presiding Officer. I know that SNP members will want to hear this, because yesterday the saver surgery's Berghead and Hopeman Facebook page said this. We are very disappointed that our planned meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Michael Matheson, had to be cancelled due to his other commitment. Our community has been left without proper services for long enough and we need action now. They finished impatiently awaiting a new date. We are all impatiently awaiting that new date and the health secretary should respond immediately. Members, could I deal with that point of order before I take any other point? Could I just say at this point that also to Mr Ross that that is not point of order either? Although Mr Ross has also got his contribution on the record and I would imagine that Mr Ross would be well aware that there would be various routes by which Mr Ross could pursue the matter substantively, and if it is going to be of the same vein, I would not want to take another contribution. Just in the vein of requiring accuracy from those who make contributions in the chamber, during Rachel Hamilton's contribution, she erroneously stated that the Scottish Government had plans to ban fishing in half of Scotland's waters. I just ask, Presiding Officer, that Rachel Hamilton considers her responsibility to correct the record on that point. Could I please respond to the cabinet secretary first? The cabinet secretary will aware that that is not point of order either. We are using up members' time here. Members should know what a point of order is and what it is not. Again, the ways in which the OR can be corrected are well known to all members. If Ms Hamilton is wanting to make a point of order along the same vein, it would not be a point of order if it is the same vein and there is a way to correct the record. We are using up members' time here. Rachel Hamilton, are you wanting to make a point of order? Yes. It is really saddening to know that a cabinet secretary's such responsibility does not listen in debates. My words were green party's reckless agenda supporting a fishing ban in half of Scottish seas, so I would like the record corrected about this erroneous point of order. I thank Rachel Hamilton for her contribution. That is not a point of order either, as it has been the case for all other contributions at this stage. The ways in which the OR can be corrected are well known to all members, so I will not detain members further by repeating what that process is. I would hope now to be able to move on. I was going to say that that concluded the debate on the programme for government 2023-24. It is now time to move on to the next item of business. The next item of business is consideration of two parliamentary bureau motions. I call George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motions 10298 on committee membership and 10299 on committee substitutes. George Adam has moved. Thank you minister. The questions on those motions will be put at decision time, and in fact there is one question to be put as a result of today's business. I propose to ask a single question on two parliamentary bureau motions. Does any member object? No member objects. The question is that motions 10298 on committee membership and 10299 on substitution on committees in the name of George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau be agreed? Are we all agreed? The motions are therefore agreed and that concludes decision time, and we will now move on to members' business. Thank you.