Equality within the 2023-24 Programme for Government (Amendment 1)
S6M-10343.1: As an amendment to motion S6M-10343 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville (Equality within the 2023-24 Programme for Government), leave out from “to build” to end and insert “, and that no real action has been set out which will reduce child poverty or mitigate the cost of living crisis for thousands of families that are struggling to make ends meet; further notes that the last UK Labour administration lifted 2 million children and pensioners out of poverty, of which 200,000 were children in Scotland, while the last decade of the Scottish National Party (SNP) administration has seen 40,000 more children, and 30,000 more pensioners slide into poverty; notes with concern that almost 9,000 children are languishing in temporary accommodation without a home to call their own because of this SNP administration’s inability to get a handle on the scale of the housing crisis facing Scotland; welcomes the UK Labour Party’s commitment to a new deal for working people within the first 100 days of a UK Labour administration, which will lift children in Scotland out of poverty by delivering a real living wage and improved working conditions, and a fundamental reform of unfair and punitive Universal Credit provisions; condemns the SNP administration’s continued failure to resolve pay disputes with education staff across local authorities in Scotland; regrets that health inequalities are exacerbated by the inertia of this SNP administration; condemns the abandonment of over 820,000 patients stuck on NHS waiting lists for tests and treatment; accepts that this SNP administration has failed to meet its targets for tackling long waits with over 77,000 patients languishing for over a year; is deeply concerned that cancer treatment targets are repeatedly missed; regrets that the mental health crisis continues unabated with almost 2,000 patients waiting for over a year for treatment, and delayed discharge remains shockingly high, costing over £193 million alone in 2022-23; acknowledges that this is largely because of the SNP administration’s failure to fix the growing crisis in social care; calls upon the SNP administration to address this crisis by immediately removing non-residential care charges and set out a workable plan for achieving a £15 an hour minimum wage for hard-working social care workers; recognises that Scotland’s NHS is facing a workforce crisis, with over 7,000 vacancies unfilled, and welcomes the fact that a Scottish Labour administration would transform the NHS to meet the needs of future generations.”

Original motion(S6M-10343):
That the Parliament notes the actions set out in the Programme for Government 2023-24 to build stronger communities, improve social justice, reduce inequalities, including in health and social care, and tackle child poverty; welcomes the investment of £5.3 billion in Scottish Government benefits in 2023-24, supporting over 1.2 million people, including £405 million for the Scottish Child Payment, which is currently helping to improve the lives of over 316,000 children; further welcomes the continued use of the Scottish Government’s fixed budget and limited powers to tackle inequality and poverty and protect people, as far as possible, from the harm inflicted by UK Government cuts and austerity, as well as the ongoing cost of living crisis; notes the continued action to tackle child poverty in key areas including parental employability, early learning and childcare, mental health, transport, and affordable housing; welcomes that 90,000 fewer children will live in relative and absolute poverty in 2023 as a result of Scottish Government policies; notes that reprehensible UK Government welfare policies, including the two-child limit and benefit cap, inflict hardship on families on the lowest incomes, with the two-child limit affecting 80,000 children in Scotland and removing £341.3 million from families in Scotland since 2017, and commends successful pay deals with NHS staff and unions that have ensured there have been no strikes in Scotland, thereby protecting patients and helping the workforce to deal with the ongoing cost of living crisis, and ensuring that people can access the social care support that they need, while recognising the valuable contribution of Scotland’s social care workforce.