I thank Liam McArthur for lodging the motion and commend him for his commitment to highlighting the issues. I am grateful for the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Scottish Government and for the contributions from all the speakers.

As Liam McArthur said, paramedics make a huge contribution to the health and social care of the people of Scotland and I value the tremendous job that they do in a wide range of circumstances.

As Stewart Stevenson said, although I do not necessarily agree with every word of Liam McArthur’s speech, I agree with his sentiments.

Student paramedics have also made a valuable contribution to our response to Covid-19, as Iain Gray said, and I thank them for the support that they have provided and continue to provide.

I whole-heartedly agree that financial support for students undertaking a degree in paramedic science is worth further consideration. That is why I have accepted an invitation from the student campaigners to engage with them directly on the issue.

A number of members talked about the bursaries and other support available elsewhere in the UK. It is important that we look at the whole package available in each part of the UK. I do not think that the Majority of members of this Parliament would want students to have to pay the £9,250 per year that English students pay for tuition fees, in exchange for a £5,000 bursary. It is important to look at the issue in the round. As part of the package that we provide to students in the allied health professions, we meet additional costs specific to training, such as those for uniform, placement and travel expenses, and the cost of health checks, but I recognise that we need to look closely at the specific issues raised by the campaign, and that is why I have agreed to meet its representatives.

Paramedics are members of the allied health professions and, at present, those students do not receive a bursary. The Government believes that there is a need to consider the support that is available for all those students as part of a system that is fair and sustainably balanced in terms of overall availability. For that reason, and as Stewart Stevenson said, we have made a commitment to undertake an education review for all allied health professions. I guess that other allied health professionals will thank the paramedic students for the efforts that they have made to raise the issue on behalf of all of them.

I can confirm that financial support for students, including paramedic science students, will form part of the review. Liam McArthur suggested that that was perhaps just warm words, but I can absolutely confirm that we have recently appointed a professional adviser to lead on that work, alongside our chief allied health professions officer and her officials, and they will engage directly with stakeholders on the structure and priorities for the review as it moves forward.

That said, Mr McArthur will understand the challenges that the present pandemic presents to our economy and our health service. As a result, the Government must give serious consideration to any further continuous commitment of financial support. We are seriously looking at that, and this is a serious process that we have started.

Jamie Halcro Johnston and Iain Gray talked about staffing numbers and increasing demand, and I reassure the Parliament that we are not standing still on increasing capacity and reducing individual workload across the Scottish Ambulance Service. We have invested almost £900 million over the past four years, and we have committed to training an additional 1,000 paramedics over the course of this parliamentary session. With that investment, the Ambulance Service has achieved more than 95 per cent shift coverage over the past three years, and the service has robust contingencies in place to deal with staff absences and ensure that patient care is not affected.

Additionally, the Ambulance Service is carrying out a review of demand and capacity at a national level. That will include a national shift review to amend rosters and to ensure that the service is working as efficiently as possible within existing resources. The review will also determine future resource requirements to ensure that the service can continue to meet the increasing demand. The Scottish Government is committed in its support of that work, which is being carried out in partnership with all three trade unions involved with the Scottish Ambulance Service.