 Gweithrebo, mae'r eitem o'rwyf ddwylliannau yw bwysig. Mae'r gwaith mae o gweithio'r gweithreboi, roedd o'r ledwiol Cymru i gyfnod Jaguwn i gyffredinol. Efallai mae'r cyfnod i gwyllwg grwm, cwsifthon i gyffredinol a phwyddiol, sydd i cefnod i ddigon o ffliw sydd ar gael. 1. Jenny Marra Felly y mae Gweithreboi yn fwygweithi gyfnod i gwymoedd Cymru i gweithreboi i gweithreboi Last discuss funding for public services with Dundee City Council. The Scottish Government engages regularly with all local authorities in Scotland, including Dundee City Council, on a wide range of issues. The cabinet secretary will be aware that Dundee City Council has announced that it is to make £28 million worth of cuts over the next two years. Coupled with the £27 million worth of cuts that NHS Tayside has to face, it means that we have a £55 million black hole in our finances. Given the relatively high deprivation, deep-rooted health inequalities and low employment in my city, does the cabinet secretary believe that it is fair for his Government to ask Dundee and Tayside to make such deep cuts and what impact does it believe it will have on my community? The first point that I would make to Jenny Marra is that the Scottish Government budget has, over the last five years, reduced in real terms by 10 per cent. In that context, the Scottish Government has worked assiduously to protect and deliver public services. Indeed, for the health service, it has resulted in a real-terms increase in the budget of the health service. Of course, we have guaranteed that that will remain for the remainder of this Parliament and for the next parliamentary term. For local government, it has meant a very fair financial settlement in comparison to the significant reductions in public expenditure that have taken place for local authorities south of the border. The Government will work co-operatively with all public authorities in Scotland as we work through the implications of the spending review on 25 November to ensure that we put in place a sustainable budget that meets the needs of the people of Scotland, including those of the city of Dundee. Many thanks, question number two, Willie Coffey. To ask the Scottish Government what action the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy is taking to help to stimulate the housing market. Our planned investment of more than £1.7 billion in affordable housing over five years has significantly benefited the many house builders across Scotland who win the contracts to build those homes. Innovative funding and delivery models using charitable bonds, pension finance and guarantees have complemented our traditional affordable housing programme, such that we are well on our way to achieving our target of 30,000 affordable homes to be built by March 2016. We have also supported sustainable home ownership, with £305 million worth of investment over three years, which will help to buy Scotland's shared equity scheme, including the £30 million that will help to buy Scotland's small development scheme. Since 2007, our popular low-cost initiative for first-time buyers, the lift scheme, has helped more than 10,000 people on low to moderate incomes to get a foot on the property ladder. For 2015-16, we have allocated £70 million to our open market shared equity scheme. I thank the cabinet secretary for that very detailed answer. Could he confirm that the actions taken by the Scottish Government are helping thousands of Scots to purchase their own homes and is he further able to confirm that the number of houses sold in Scotland has reached its highest level for more than seven years? It is some achievement to see the volume of transactions continue to increase. The latest data released on 27 October assured that there were 28,019 residential properties sold, an increase of 6.5 per cent on a year ago. It is no doubt that our actions have assisted that. Since 2007, the lift shared equity scheme has helped more than 10,000 people on low to moderate incomes to get a foot on the property ladder. We also note that volumes are still, however, well below previous session levels, and we will continue to work with the industry to maintain the upward trend that we are currently experiencing. Does the cabinet secretary agree with the findings of the commission on housing and well-being that Scotland currently faces a housing supply crisis that we are building fewer houses than we have done for 70 years? Does he agree with the target that they have set, the provisional target, that we should build 23,000 homes a year in this country? The first point that I would make is that, and Mr Macintosh and I have gone over these issues many times in the past few years, when the Government's capital budget is reduced by 25 per cent, that means that there are constraints on the capital expenditure that we would like to deploy. For that reason, we have resorted to innovative funding and delivery models, which have helped us to achieve what many people thought was a very significant target to have set of 30,000 affordable homes by next March. As I said in my original answer to Mr Coffey, we are well on our way to achieving that target by that date. There is, of course, further demand—an unmet demand—for housing within Scotland. That is precisely why the First Minister has set out that if this administration is returned in the elections next May, we will commit ourselves to a target of 50,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of the next Parliament as a significant contribution to addressing the demand that is clearly illustrated for housing within Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported sustainable economic growth in town centres. Scotland's town centre first principle agreed with COSLA, together with the range of measures set out in the town centre action plan, set the conditions and underpin activity designed to tackle key issues such as empty shops, diversify town centres and, thereby, attract a range of businesses and services to locate there. We deliver the most competitive business tax environment in the UK with over two in five rateable properties in Scotland, paying zero or reduced rates under the Scottish Government small business bonus scheme alone and further relief also available under our fresh start and new start schemes. In addition, to support local authorities who remain responsible for local economic development, we have also introduced a substantial new power under the Community Empowerment Scotland Act 2015. That gives councils more control over business rates and an opportunity to tailor them to their local area and circumstance. It could be applied in order to attract new investment to our town centres. Thank you, Margaret McCulloch. In GVA Bars six annual report on Scotland's town centres, they highlight some encouraging signs of growth, but they also say, and I quote, many policies continue to discourage non-retail uses within centres unfairly. Despite our research finding that it is those uses that are lifting levels of activity in high streets. Given the emphasis on mixed-use town centres in the town centre action plan, what can the Scottish Government do to ensure that town centres thrive once again not just as a place to shop but as a place to live, learn, visit and invest? The member makes a very good point that you want a variety of uses in town centres, not only retail. That was the point to which he was eluding. I will undertake to look specifically at the report to which he referred. I think that it is useful and a constructive suggestion that she has made. I did allude to the fact that there are now powers being created for local authorities to establish a town centre investment zone using discretionary rates relief. That is one tool. Perhaps I could just add that it is relevant that, under our reforms of empty property relief, the fresh start relief scheme offers a 50 per cent rates discount for the first year of occupation of certain long-term empty premises. That has been done precisely to provide an incentive to bring back empty premises back into use and to encourage diversification of town centres. Does the minister agree with me that sometimes the significance of the small business bonus scheme is understated and not properly appreciated and that we have seen a year-on-year increase in the number of businesses taking up the discounts available with 99,000 properties across Scotland now benefiting from the scheme? I agree that under a statement of the benefits of the small business bonus scheme is a mistake that has been made. However, not by me. I have always emphasised that small businesses deserved a better deal in Scotland. When we became the administration in 2007, the cabinet secretary for France delivered that better deal. Ever since then, the number of small businesses benefiting has risen inexorably to the extent that now it is nearly 100,000. That is providing a lifeline for many businesses, including in my constituency in Inverness, in places such as the Victorian market, where, without the benefit of that reduction or elimination of business rates, I suspect that many of them would not have been able to continue in business. Our pledge is to continue the scheme. I am very grateful to Mr Mackenzie for his campaigning on the issue, as always. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Office for National Statistics regarding the implications of the European system of accounts 2010. The Scottish Government officials have been working closely with the Office for National Statistics on the implications that the introduction of the European system of accounts 2010 will have on a wide range of issues across the public sector. Have the discussions led him to believe that it will be possible to unlock the delayed capital investment, which, without a massive hit on upfront capital expenditure, and, in relation to university funding about which there is also considerable concern, have his officials had discussions about that? I believe that the University of Scotland has had so, and, of course, they have come to conclusions quite different from his own. The work in relation to the classification of NPD and hub projects is under way. We are still involved in discussions with the Office for National Statistics on this point, and we await decisions that are made by the ONS. Of course, I will advise Parliament, as I have promised, to do so when I have that information to hand. I can assure Mr Chisholm and Parliament that a tremendous amount of effort is going into resolving those issues, because I certainly want to make sure that those construction projects are able to take their course. They are essential to the strengthening of the Scottish economy, as has been demonstrated by the economic data. On the issue in relation to the classification of universities, the Scottish Government is very clear that universities are autonomous bodies. We do not believe that there is anything in the bill that we put forward that contravenes the ONS indicators of control, and the Government has set out those opinions and views very clearly to Parliament in the course of recent debates. The Deputy First Minister will be well aware of the concerns of South Ayrshire Council and other local authorities about delays caused to school building programmes. In my constituency, that affects the Air Academy and the Queen Margaret Academy. Can he tell me in Parliament when those matters will be resolved and how he intends to resolve the problem with the ONS in order to allow concerned local authorities such as South Ayrshire Council to proceed with their planned school rebuilding projects? The first thing that I would say is that, of course, there has been a very significant amount of school rebuilding and refurbishing that has been undertaken by the Government to date. We are working our way through the conditions report on schools to ensure that we have a school of state that is appropriate for the 21st century, so a great deal has been achieved in this respect already. In relation to the forward programme and the issues that we face and the subject of this question, the Government, and I assure Mr Scott on this point, is working with all energy to resolve the issues that the Office for National Statistics has raised. The European Union rules have changed since we commenced our programme and, as a consequence, we are exploring and examining the best way to respond to that. We have made proposals to the Office for National Statistics, and we await the outcome of its deliberations on those points. Finally, I can assure Mr Scott that this issue will be resolved as quickly as it possibly can be, and once resolved, I will take action to take forward the programme in the most appropriate way in the environment of the decisions that are taken by the ONS. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has collected in lands and buildings transaction tax. Land and buildings transaction tax monthly statistics published by Revenue Scotland show that £183 million was raised from the tax in the first six months of operation. Is that figure in line with higher or lower than the sum that is expected to be raised by the Scottish Government? The caveat that I would put on the figures that I have shared with Mr Fraser is that, of course, there is an unresolved issue in relation to the first six months of the financial year, given the effects of forestalling, because of the interaction between the tax that we raise and the predecessor tax that is put in place by the United Kingdom Government, and those issues become subject of the discussions with the UK Government. We estimated that land and buildings transaction tax would raise £381 million in the course of this entire financial year. The tax that is raised to date, in my view, is in line with those estimations, and we will continue to want that for the remainder of the financial year. Is the cabinet secretary able to confirm whether the land and building transaction tax in relation to the sale of properties below £330,000 will show that the doom-mongering of the Conservatives is completely and utterly without foundation? The figures that were published last week by Registers of Scotland show that house sales in the most recent quarter reached the highest volume for any quarter since April to June 2008, which is very encouraging indeed. A number of commentators have recognised the positive effect that LBTT is having on the Scottish housing market. Christine Campbell, the Managing Director for Scotland at your move, recently stated that LBTT has given the middle and lower tiers of the market a new lease of life. The recent rapid growth in Scotland is grounded in the new LBTT rates, which are stimulating demand at the bottom and the middle rungs of the property ladder, which is exactly what I intended to do as a consequence of the rates that I sent. To ask the Scottish Government whether Renfisher council or any local authority that decides to reduce its business rates would have to pay an equivalent amount to the Scottish Government. Any reduction by a council of non-domestic rates in its area under part 11 of the community empowerment Scotland in 2015 would be fully funded by that council and its reported rates receipts would not be affected? I think that the cabinet secretary just avoided giving an answer because my understanding, and he can correct me if I'm wrong, is that it will be funded by the councils but they will have to pay the Scottish Government for the amount by which they reduce business rates. Can he confirm that that is the case and if it is, does he think that it's acceptable that council services such as education and home care will have to be reduced in order to make sure that the Scottish Government doesn't lose a penny? I'm a bit surprised by Mr Henry's response to what I thought was a very clear answer. I indicated that reduction by a council of non-domestic rates in its area would be fully funded by that council and its reported rates receipts would not be affected. That's the answer that I gave Mr Henry, which clearly addresses the question that he raised with me. I'd simply point out to Mr Henry that this is a power that local authorities welcomed being granted. There was a very warm welcome given to it by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and I think that that represents the view of local authorities that want to exercise control to make their areas more attractive for investment and I would encourage local authorities to take up the opportunity that the Government has created. To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken to protect jobs at Dael and Clydebridge steel plants. I and I'm sure all members are concerned about the impact that the proposed mothballing of Tata Steel's operations at Clydebridge and Dael would have on the workforce, their families, the local communities and the steel industry in Scotland. Immediately the announcement was made, the First Minister convened a multi-agency task force of which Mr Kelly is himself a member. I chaired the first meeting on 29 October, we meet again on 13 November, given the urgency of the action needed to find an alternative operator for Tata Steel's plants at Dael and Clydebridge. The primary purpose of the task force is to find an alternative operator and the Scottish Government is determined to help secure a viable future for both plants. I thank the minister for that answer. Last week the minister told Parliament that Transport Scotland were undertaking work to identify public infrastructure projects that would be relevant to Clydebridge and Dael. That stream of work is absolutely urgent in terms of helping to secure the future of the plant. Can I ask the minister what projects Transport Scotland have identified that would be relevant, and if any other public agencies have identified projects that would be relevant to what is carried out at Clydebridge and Dael? I can confirm that Transport Scotland is carrying out a review for the purpose of ascertaining what more can be done. It is important to point out that Tata produces rails at Hainidge Works in the north-east of France and that it would not be possible for Clydebridge or Dael to provide the steel for railway tracks. However, there are possibilities in the area of shipbuilding, and on October we awarded two contracts to Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd. That is a possibility, although not in the immediate future. Just yesterday, I made a personal private visit to Dael and had a long discussion with both management and the Trade Union and Workforce. In the course of that, a useful suggestion was made that steel in bridges for road projects could be the subject of steel rolled at Dael and quenched and tempered at Clydebridge. That is being pursued. Michelle Rennie of Transport Scotland is to visit Tata to have the same discussion and to take with her experts in the procurement of that particular aspect of roadworks. All other potential aspects are, of course, being pursued by Transport Scotland, and a full report will be made to the task force a week tomorrow. Does the cabinet secretary share my disappointment that the Scottish Government has been excluded from the EU talks to discuss the industry's future? I did write to Sajid Javid on 2 November, expressing my disappointment not having given the opportunity to participate in a crucial EU-level meeting. I say that simply because I do feel that we have a strong case to make informed by the benefit of a full parliamentary statement and input from across the chamber where there was unanimous support and with a reasonable amount of knowledge garnered from the benefit of speaking to the management of trade union and individually to the workforce. However, I do not want to dwell on that in a political sense. I am pleased that an emergency competitive council to discuss the situation will be held on Monday 9 November, and I have asked that our director for economic development is included as a member of the UK delegation. I hope that that request will be exceeded to. To ask the Scottish Government what additional powers over tax it considers should be devolved. The Scottish Government believes that the Scottish Parliament should have full control over all taxes raised in Scotland. As we set out in more powers for the Scottish Parliament in October 2014 and beyond Smith more powers to the Scottish Parliament in June 2015, full fiscal autonomy remains our preferred package of powers short of independence. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Does he agree with me that recent debate on tax credits in Westminster gives a sense of urgency to devolution of those powers to this Parliament so that we can deal with the matter in a humane and sensible way? The arguments about ensuring that we can exercise the full financial responsibilities are important because they enable us to ameliorate the challenges that are faced by vulnerable people as a consequence of welfare reforms in the United Kingdom, but they would also give us the ability and the capacity to grow and to strengthen the Scottish economy, which remains for me one of the considerable weaknesses of the Smith commission proposals of not giving us sufficient powers to grow and expand the Scottish economy. That balance of powers is required to enable us to adequately and fully address the needs of the people of Scotland. Question 9, George Adam. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the roll-out of superfast broadband. The Scottish Government's Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is investing over £410 million of private and public sector funds to extend the coverage of fibre broadband to 95 per cent of Scottish premises by the end of 2017, with an interim milestone of 85 per cent coverage by March 2016. The programme is progressing through two regional projects, one led by HIE and another led by the Scottish Government. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is a key step in the Scottish Government's aim for Scotland to become a world-class digital nation by 2020. We are less than halfway through the physical roll-out, however we are already more than halfway towards our 2017 target of 750,000 homes and businesses with over 460,000 premises now having access. This is the fastest-deploying network in the United Kingdom, and we are enabling an average of 7,000 homes and businesses each week across Scotland. Without the intervention programme, only 66 per cent of Scotland's homes and businesses would have access to fibre broadband services. We have also set up community broadband Scotland to work with those communities and are likely to have superfast coverage delivered through the DSSB programme and support them to design and implement sustainable broadband solutions. George Adam I thank the cabinet secretary for that detailed answer and that a number of my constituents have contacted regarding exchange-only lines. Can the cabinet secretary outline how Digital Scotland, along with its partners, are working to deal with the issues of exchange-only lines? A number of homes and businesses throughout Scotland are connected directly to the local exchange via an exchange-only line. Those lines present a greater engineering challenge to address than those connected via roadside cabinets. However, the good news is that there are a number of solutions available under the Scottish Government's Digital Scotland programme. Those technical solutions are often complex and time-consuming and significantly more expensive than standard solutions. However, the programme will always look to deploy the solution best suited to each situation while maintaining our value for money criteria. Digital Scotland has already enabled over 80,000 exchange-only homes and businesses across Scotland, and that number is increasing every week. I have a number of supplementaries. I will try to take them if the questions and answers are brief. Lewis MacDonald Very much. The cabinet secretary will be familiar with the super-connected city's broadband voucher scheme, which the UK Government closed six months early the other week as a result, no doubt, of high demand from small and medium-sized enterprises in our major cities. I wonder what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government about the reopening or replacement of that scheme in due course. The cabinet secretary There are a number of developments in the superfast broadband programme that are currently under consideration. As I have reported to the Parliament, we have a gain-share element of the contract that has enabled us to extend the roll-out within the existing contract. We will continue to explore every opportunity to try to support the roll-out of superfast broadband. It is particularly important that businesses become engaged in the process because there is a strong platform for competitiveness in the years to come. Liam McArthur The cabinet secretary referred to the programme that is being taken forward to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and I very much welcome that. He will be aware that the target of coverage across the region is around 84 per cent, but he may also be aware that, in places such as Orkney, the coverage is likely to fall short of that around 75 per cent. Does he believe that it should be a priority for community broadband Scotland and any additional investment to bring those areas such as Orkney, which fall below the regional average, up to that regional average and beyond? Liam McArthur I recognise the importance of the issue to the constituents that Mr McArthur represents. Although I have set out that our target is to get to 95 per cent of Scottish premises by the end of 2017, that is in the digital Scotland superfast broadband programme. The remaining 5 per cent remain very much in my sight as to how we can find solutions for those individuals in premises. Community broadband Scotland has a particular role to perform in working with communities to identify the most appropriate solutions. I know that many projects are already in scope with community broadband Scotland to enable that to happen. I assure Mr McArthur and his constituents that finding solutions to the challenges for people outwith the core programme that we are rolling out remain uppermost in the minds of the Scottish Government and in the design of the programme, and we will ensure that every opportunity is taken to try to ensure that those services are delivered as speedily as possible to some of the constituents who cannot currently see where that service will be coming from. Apologies to the other members who wanted in, but I am afraid that I need to move on. Question 10, Mark Griffin. To ask the Scottish Government what support the PACE team can provide to unemployed professional footballers who are being released by their club. PACE stands for Partnership Action for Continuing Employment. It is the Scottish Government's initiative dedicated to helping individuals and employers with the advice and support that they need when faced with redundancy. That support is also available to individuals whose contracts have not been renewed, and PACE support is therefore available to unemployed professional footballers who have been released by their club. PACE offers free and impartial advice and support that is tailored to meet individual needs in local circumstances. It includes one-to-one counselling, information on rights and entitlements, benefits entitlements and tax calculation, help with job search, CV writing, application forms and covering letters, preparation for interviews, identifying learning and training opportunities, starting up a business and making the most of your money and coping with redundancy-related stress. For that answer, hundreds of young footballers per year are signed by clubs on pro-youth contracts, and it is suggested that up to 95 per cent of those young players fail to make the grade and are released. Will the minister tell me what arrangements the Scottish Government has with the SFA or the SPFL to support young people who find themselves unemployed and may not have considered an alternative career? Will the minister ask the PACE team to investigate the situation and offer support to retrain and seek alternative employment? Mr Griffin has raised a serious and relevant issue. I can assure him that he will well know that both football clubs and authorities take very seriously their responsibility to all their employees with particular regard to the fact that many of them may leave their employment at an early age, an issue that he has raised in this chamber today. I can assure the member that, because he has asked and raised it in the chamber today, I will specifically ask PACE to seek to engage both with the SPFL and the SFA specifically to check out that there is nothing more that can be done. Indeed, if there is more that can be done, I am sure that PACE will be ready to do it. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out on the possible impact on its finances of English votes for English laws. The Scottish Government is concerned that the evil procedures will exclude Scottish MPs from key decisions on bills that will affect Scottish finances through the Barnett formula. Following evidence from the Scottish Government, the Westminster Procedures Committee has highlighted Barnett consequentials as an issue to be examined in reviewing the operation of the standing orders. Now that the Commons has adopted evil procedures, effective intergovernmental co-operation on all Westminster bills is even more crucial. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. Many of my constituents share worries that the cuts by the Westminster Government to those areas of responsibility using evil will reflect on the Barnett consequentials coming to the Scottish Government. Can he tell me if there are any debates or any discussions arranged in order to address that issue? That is an issue that will be pursued through the intergovernmental machinery that exists. I think that many of those issues would be better protected if we had greater provision within the Scotland bill on the entrenchment of the procedures of the sole convention, which is the proper statutory approach for consideration of the questions in relation to the subject. I can assure Mr Kidd that the issue will be assiduously monitored by the Scottish Government as we determine the implications of the significant change to parliamentary procedures. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy last met the Chancellor of the Exchequer and what issues were discussed. I last met the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8 June 2015. We discussed matters in relation to the fiscal framework and the economy. I have also met the chief secretary to the Treasury on four occasions since June to progress negotiations on the fiscal framework for Scotland. Can the cabinet secretary draw to the UK chancellor's attention the 250,000 working families in Scotland that are due to lose at least £1,500 a year due to tax credit cuts? That is particularly relevant to my constituents, given that 60 per cent of Glasgow kids stay in households that rely on tax credits. Can the cabinet secretary double his efforts and urge the UK Government to scrap the pernicious attack on the working poor that I represent in the city of Glasgow and across Scotland? I think that the chancellor will be well aware of the difficulties created by his tax credit proposals given the decisions of the House of Lords just last week. We await the outcome of the spending view at the end of the month to determine what will be the final form of the proposals that are taking forward and the response of the United Kingdom Government. I agree with Mr Doris about the pernicious effects of those changes. Those changes will cause real hardship to some people who are working very hard to get on in life. I associate the Government with his remarks about the need to ensure that changes of this nature are not progressed by the chancellor of the Exchequer. To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with the UK Government regarding devolution of onshore coal and gas extraction licensing. All coal extraction licensing, including that for underground coal gasification, is the responsibility of the UK coal authority and therefore a reserved matter. The devolution of coal licensing has not been discussed with the UK Government at this time. If the member is referring to conventional onshore gas extraction, I can confirm that the licensing process for all onshore gas extraction is due to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament in line with the recommendations from the Smith commission. The Scottish Government continues to engage with the UK Government about the plans for devolution and the Scotland Bill 215, but there have been no recent discussions about this specific matter. John Belson, I thank the minister for his response. As the minister will be aware, I have submitted a number of written questions to the Scottish Government relating to this issue. As has been an issue, I and the large part of the Scottish public are concerned about. Will the minister tell us what consultation the Scottish Government plans to have with local authorities and community groups regarding the transfer of the licensing powers in terms of gas extraction and when those powers are expected to be transferred to the Scottish Government? I can confirm that the member has raised this matter on a number of occasions. I recognise that. We engage regularly with local authority about the discharge of all our responsibilities insofar as it affects its local interests, and there will be no exception in that particular interest. I can advise the member that I shall be meeting with Stephen Hagan, the economic development spokesperson of COSLA, in the near future. I will certainly be raising those matters with local authorities. We need to do so preparatory to the transfer of those powers whenever that comes. I am not sure that the precise date has yet been settled by the Westminster Parliament, but, hopefully, that will be the case soon. A brief supplementary in a brief answer, please, Sarah Boyack. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It is just a quick question to the minister to ask how he will ensure that the research that comes under the remit of the Scottish Government's moratorium will apply to existing projects that are currently under licence or under planning. The process of research that we set out is an extremely comprehensive programme in relation to unconventionals. Therefore, that research will cover all aspects of the issues in relation to such matters as the perspective possible impact on the environment, the impact on transport, the impact on traffic and the economic issues at their anent. There have been no planning applications so far as I am aware for hydraulic fracturing. In that respect, I do not think that there are any current applications or matters where the research would need to consider the position in Scotland. Certainly, there have been none granted. In that respect, it is difficult to quite see how that research can encompass developments that have not yet taken place. However, if I have in any way misunderstood the question that the member has asked, or if there are any other matters that she has, please do not hesitate to write to me and I will endeavour to reply as quickly as possible. To ask the Scottish Government what plans the Cabinet Secretary for Finance has to provide financial support for the creation of more businesses in the social enterprise sector in the south of Scotland. Scotland is a word leading in the support that it provides to social enterprise. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and investing in the sector as part of the development of a capable, sustainable and enterprising third sector. The Scottish Government has maintained funding of £24.5 million to the third sector in 2015-16, and the detail of our forthcoming spending plans will be set out in the Scottish budget. The social enterprise in Scotland is thriving, with 5,200 companies now a 42 per cent increase in the last 10 years and a net worth of more than £3 billion. In the cabinet secretary, we congratulated on his very personal commitment to the sector's success. Will the Scottish Government expand its commitment to social enterprises by asking local authorities in the south of Scotland to further engage with social enterprises to outsource to those enterprises and have them provide non-core local services and activities in so secure community involvement? I agree very much with Mr Brodie's suggestion. I think that there is an opportunity for us to redesign public services to involve social enterprises in a fashion that makes a real impact on the lives of individuals within Scotland, particularly in some of the isolated locations in the south of Scotland that will be represented by Mr Brodie. I would encourage all public authorities to engage constructively with social enterprises to find ways in which the sector can make a more profound contribution to our economy and to the delivery of our public services. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the cabinet secretary for finance, constitution and economy has made of the future funding formula for NHS boards. The NRAC formula is used to inform funding for NHS boards and is calculated independently. While NRAC shares are regularly subject to revision and refinement, there are no current plans to change the use of the formula in the future. We remain committed to moving all boards to be no greater than 1 per cent below NRAC parity, and this is reflected in the £420 million that is invested by the Scottish Government in parity funding since 2012-13. Very briefly, please, Nanette Mill. I thank the minister for that answer. Given the fact that NHS Grampian has been under funded per head of population in all but one year of this Parliament, what assurance can he give that the health board won't fall behind again in the foreseeable future? The Scottish Government has taken action, as I explained in my earlier answer, to address the issues where boards are more than 1 per cent below NRAC parity. That will remain our position in forthcoming years. Grampian, of course, has had a total of £29 million allocated to it in 2015-16, specifically to accelerate movement to NRAC parity. The Government will consider all of those issues as part of the budget process, which follows the UK spending review. Thank you, cabinet secretary. That concludes the question time. The next item of business is the debate on motion number 14688, in the name of Jackie Baillie on supporting Scotland's children.