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Meeting of the Parliament Thursday 11 January 2018 Session 5 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Information on the Scottish Parliament’s copyright policy can be found on the website - www.parliament.scot or by contacting Public Information on 0131 348 5000 Thursday 11 January 2018 CONTENTS Col. GENERAL QUESTION TIME .................................................................................................................................. 1 Taxation ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Scottish Fiscal Commission Forecasts ......................................................................................................... 2 Draft Budget 2018-19 (Equalities Spending) ................................................................................................ 5 Probationer Teacher Numbers 2018-19 ....................................................................................................... 6 National Trauma Network ............................................................................................................................. 7 FIRST MINISTER’S QUESTION TIME ..................................................................................................................... 9 Health and Social Care ................................................................................................................................. 9 National Health Service (Delays) ................................................................................................................ 12 Police Station Opening Hours .................................................................................................................... 15 Bus-fare Increases (Glasgow) .................................................................................................................... 16 Jobcentre Closures ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Pollution and Waste .................................................................................................................................... 17 National Health Service (Failures) .............................................................................................................. 19 Bankruptcy .................................................................................................................................................. 21 St John’s Hospital (Children’s Ward) .......................................................................................................... 21 European Union (Withdrawal) Bill............................................................................................................... 22 Single-use Disposable Plastic Products ..................................................................................................... 23 Small Businesses (Confidence) .................................................................................................................. 24 CARER POSITIVE EMPLOYER INITIATIVE ............................................................................................................ 27 Motion debated—[Tom Arthur]. Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP) .................................................................................................... 27 Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) .............................................................................. 30 Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab) .................................................................................................................... 31 Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) ............................................................................................................ 33 Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) .................................................................................................................. 35 Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP) ................................................................................ 36 The Minister for Public Health and Sport (Aileen Campbell) ...................................................................... 37 DEVELOPING THE YOUNG WORKFORCE ............................................................................................................ 41 Motion moved—[Jamie Hepburn]. Amendment moved—[Liz Smith]. Amendment moved—[Iain Gray]. Amendment moved—[Tavish Scott]. The Minister for Employability and Training (Jamie Hepburn) ................................................................... 41 Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) .................................................................................................... 47 Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) .................................................................................................................... 51 Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) .......................................................................................................... 54 Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 57 Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Con) ......................................................................................................... 59 James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 61 Elaine Smith (Central Scotland) (Lab) ........................................................................................................ 64 Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan) (SNP) ........................................................................................................ 66 Gordon Lindhurst (Lothian) (Con) ............................................................................................................... 69 Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP) ........................................................................ 71 Johann Lamont (Glasgow) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 73 Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP) ............................................................................................... 75 Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................... 78 Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) ............................................................................................................ 80 Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP) ...................................................................................................... 82 Tavish Scott ................................................................................................................................................ 85 Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 87 Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) .............................................................................. 89 The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (John Swinney) ...................... 93 PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTION ................................................................................................................... 98 Motion moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]. DECISION TIME ................................................................................................................................................ 99 1 11 JANUARY 2018 2 is based on a progressive approach, even people Scottish Parliament who take a lump sum from their pension will be treated in a fair and progressive fashion. Thursday 11 January 2018 Pensioners with a lower amount will also enjoy the benefits of a progressive taxation system. [The Presiding Officer opened the meeting at Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) 11:40] (SNP): Does the cabinet secretary agree that being able to set our own tax bands and rates General Question Time allows the SNP Government the flexibility to help to protect Scottish public services from damaging Taxation Tory cuts to Scotland’s budget, and that the point of devolution—which Bill Bowman has clearly 1. Bill Bowman (North East Scotland) (Con): missed—is that we do what best suits Scotland’s To ask the Scottish Government what consultation needs rather than sticking with a one-size-fits-all it undertook with Her Majesty’s Revenue & solution, which some Tories would dearly love to Customs regarding any potential negative impact impose at the behest of their bosses in London, of diverging tax bands and rates from the rest of regardless of the adverse impact on Scotland? the United Kingdom. (S5O-01634) Derek Mackay: Kenny Gibson is exactly right. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the [Interruption.] The Scottish Government is able, Constitution (Derek Mackay): The Scottish because of the powers that we have under Government and HMRC have worked closely— devolution, to take a £211 million real-terms cut to and continue to do so—to implement the income our resource budget for 2018-19 and invest in our tax powers that were devolved in the Scotland public services by delivering on the key tests that I Acts of 2012 and 2016. The Scottish income tax set out for income tax and policy. Those include implementation