2. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a Unison survey that reportedly shows a 31 per cent increase in the number of violent incidents against public sector workers in the last year. (S6T-01631)

All workers, including public sector workers, deserve protection from abuse and violence. The courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with assaults, and sentences all the way up to life imprisonment are available. We fully support the courts having those powers and would encourage reporting of incidents to Police Scotland.

The Unison survey that was referenced by Katy Clark highlights incidents in schools and nurseries in particular. At this stage, I declare an interest as my wife is a local authority teacher and equity officer. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has recently chaired two stages of a relationships and behaviour in schools summit to ensure that schools are safe for pupils, teachers and support staff. The third stage of that summit is due to take place later this month.

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Unison research shows that nearly 55,000 violent incidents against public sector staff were recorded last year, which is a 31 per cent increase from the previous year. However, many parts of the public sector, such as some of the big health boards, did not provide data. Does the cabinet secretary agree that all parts of the public sector need to co-operate so that we can get the best information in order to address these serious problems?

I appreciate Katy Clark’s question. Yes, that is important. Responding to freedom of information requests is a matter for each public authority. However, understanding the extent of violent incidents is an important aspect of being able to respond to the issue. It is important that information in that area is made available so that everyone can understand the extent of the problems.

The cabinet secretary specifically referred to problems in schools. The research showed that, of the 35,000 verbal and physical attacks on council staff, the majority occurred in schools, and mostly against support staff. Will he outline more fully what support is being put into schools and what resources can be made available to address the problem?

My colleague Jenny Gilruth, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, is working on the issue and, as I said in my original response, the third stage of the summit is due to take place later this month. I suspect that the conclusions of that work will be set out thereafter.

An additional point of reference for Katy Clark is that the First Minister and I will be meeting the Scottish Trades Union Congress later this week—we meet it biannually—when I expect some of those issues to be discussed in more depth.

Recently, Fife Council appeared to vote through a policy under which bullies and those who assault our teachers in schools—I share the minister’s concern on that issue—might not be punished. Is the minster supportive of that move? What impact does he think that that might have on public sector worker victims?

Obviously, we cannot tolerate abusive behaviour towards staff, support staff and other pupils, including bullying. We will continue to provide targeted education programmes for our young people on the risks of violence and on its effects as a whole.

We and partners across the education sector advocate an approach for schools and local authorities to work with pupils on the underlying reasons behind such inappropriate behaviours. We want all pupils to respect their peers and staff, and we are supporting a number of programmes to promote positive relationships and tackle indiscipline, abuse and violence. That includes good behaviour management, restorative approaches and programmes to help to develop social, emotional and behavioural skills. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills is involved in on-going work on ensuring that behaviour in schools continues to be targeted and is appropriate.