Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 8:45 pm on 20 January 2026.
Paul O'Kane
Labour
8:45,
20 January 2026
I am shocked that anyone in north-east Fife would not greet Willie Rennie at the door with an embrace of joy.
He makes a fair point about our decisions having an impact. We have heard from the trade unions at SDS and from those who work in those agencies about the concern and disruption that such decisions can cause. We need to take cognisance of that, and that has very much been put on the record this evening.
As I said, I am conscious that the bill will not make the change that we want to see right now and that some of that change is being pushed down the road. We know that the reform should be rooted in the Withers review. We agreed with the central conclusion of the Withers review on the need for structural and operational reform, which we have heard so much about throughout today’s process, as well as with the creation of the single funding body, but the bill falls short with regard to skills reform. It risks becoming that cosmetic, big-bang reorganisation that Willie Rennie spoke about, by rearranging structures without addressing underlying failures that are letting people down and holding the economy back.
Fundamentally, as we have heard from across the chamber, the bill will pass this evening, but perhaps without the necessary degree of enthusiasm or vision moving forward. As I said in my contributions on amendments, the belief on this side of the chamber is that we will see change and move things forward in this area only by having a change of Government, and that will come through in the debates that we have as part of the election, which the people of Scotland are ready for.