Chamber and committees

Research from the work foundation at Lancaster University has found that, unless it is delayed or amended, the UK Government’s Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

“will put the rights and protection of more than 8.6 million UK workers at risk”,

with women accounting for around 6 million of those who will be most affected.

Can the First Minister advise what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the impact that the bill will have on workers in Scotland and, in particular, on women in the Scottish workforce, and can she provide any information about what assessment has been made of the impact that the bill could have on devolved responsibilities?

I have no further questions, convener.

Good morning. I will change the theme and move on. Cabinet secretary, in your opening statement, you mentioned that inflation is at a 40-year high. We are living through a severe cost of living crisis and there is a huge strain on family budgets, of which the cost of the school day is just one aspect. In response to one of my colleagues, you mentioned progress on the provision of school meals. Will you expand on how the budget will support the priority of reducing the cost of the school day for families?

Thank you. That can be a difficult issue, because it involves a range of things and it can stretch across different portfolios.

I will move on again. There is a large increase in funding for the delivery of the Promise. Will the minister elaborate on how that will support the ambitions for 2023-24?

One of the key priorities in the recovery strategy is financial security for low-income households. This morning, it was announced that inflation is still at an eye-watering 10.5 per cent, which is five times higher than the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s target. The price of basic food items, such as milk and cheese, has increased by up to 46 per cent.

Does the Deputy First Minister agree that our ability to deliver on the Covid recovery outcomes is being made much more difficult by the Tories’ economic incompetence?

I welcome the Government’s mission to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap at all levels of our education system. Will the cabinet secretary set out some detail on what measures are being taken by the Scottish Government to widen access to universities?

I thank the cabinet secretary for her previous assessment. Schools are only one part of the multifaceted infrastructure of Scotland’s education system. Further to her original response, can she say how the 2023-24 budget will protect and enhance our whole education system, from early years through to lifelong learning?

We will move to questions from Pam Duncan-Glancy.

Yes, we all received that correspondence. In the private session, I intend to allow committee members to discuss the letter and our approach to the issue and to agree next steps, such as formal consideration and how the committee will take it forward. We can certainly discuss that.

The committee will now take evidence from Social Security Scotland on its performance and operation. I welcome to the meeting David Wallace, the chief executive; James Wallace, the deputy director for finance and corporate services; and Janet Richardson, the deputy director for client services delivery. I invite David Wallace to make any opening remarks before we move on to questioning.