EDUCATION and justice were the two key themes at a lively final First Minister’s Questions before summer recess.
Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland would be safer as a result of changes to the law on electronic tagging and a presumption against prison sentences of a year or less, as the Tories pressed her on the subject.
The First Minister said the Scottish Government was looking to introduce a “smarter” justice system, amid Tory criticism at the decision not to make tampering with a tag an automatic offence.
Conservatives had demanded the change after father-of-three Craig McClelland was murdered in 2017 by an offender who had cut off his electronic tag.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson accused Sturgeon’s Government of wanting to “start emptying the jails and let lots of people who would have been in prison out on the street wearing tags instead”.
READ MORE: FMQs: Sturgeon nails James Kelly's ridiculously stupid question
Sturgeon said Tory proposals to make tampering with a tag an automatic offence did not contain “robust provisions” – as offenders could have faced further punishment if their tag had been damaged accidentally.
Instead, the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill – which was passed by 82 votes to 26 on Tuesday – will create an offence of being “unlawfully at large”.
This will mean offenders who remove a tag are recalled to prison, with the new offence applying if they then fail to do so.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard accused the Scottish Government of being “afraid” to hold Holyrood debates about its record on education.
He told MSPs there have been none since November 2, 2017.
Leonard said: “We’ve had ministerial statements, like this week’s mercy killing of the Education Bill, but not debates.
“What is it that the Government is so afraid of debating? Is it the teacher recruitment crisis? Is it the the narrowing of the curriculum? Is it the explosion of multi-level teaching?”
Leonard said funding had been cut in schools and higher education – with primary schools down £427 per pupil.
The Government is spending £1000 less per university since it came to office, he claimed.
Sturgeon disputed this, saying the “facts tell a different story” and there have been real-terms increases in by council education funding for the past two years running.
She added: “I guess Richard Leonard has a point, because we could have come to this chamber and we could have debated the 10% pay rise for teachers in our country, we could have debated the 500 more teachers in schools this year, the fact that we’ve got more teachers in primary schools now than at any time since 1980.
“The Education Secretary made a statement this week, he made a statement last week.
“It’s really not my fault if Richard Leonard can’t manage to ask questions on these statements.”
Patrick Harvie called for an immediate review of the use of temporary contracts in Scotland’s colleges.
The Scottish Greens co-convenor urged Sturgeon to take action on their use after it was reported 40 staff at Glasgow Kelvin College were told their contracts would be ripped up today.
Sturgeon told the Green MSP that colleges work independently of Government, but that she would ask Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary John Swinney to raise the issue with the colleges sector.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Kelvin College said it would be happy to meet Harvie to discuss his concerns over the use of temporary contracts.
She said: “The college can confirm that, as has historically been custom practice throughout the Scottish further education sector, it has informed its temporary lecturers of the termination of contracts at the end of the academic session.”
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