 Gaw moving, we have General Questions. Question number 1, Claudia Beamish. To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is giving to enable NHS boards to offer best possible guidance and support to new mothers to encourage breastfeeding. Minister Mor erase what? We have invested more than 8.6 million from 2011 to date. This is provided directly to NHS Acidimplementation of the maternal and infant nutrition framework of which breastfeeding support is a key component. We have invested an additional £300,000 to assist NHS boards to achieve and maintain UNICEF baby friendly accreditation. Claudia Beamish. I thank the minister for that answer. As a new grant, I have seen the superb support given by the Lanarkshire breastfeeding initiative to new parents to start and sustain breastfeeding from the neonatal unit to on-going advice and encouragement at home. However, in spite of the clear scientific evidence of the benefits from protection from disease to lifelong health benefits, there is a rapid drop-off of breastfeeding once at home. Will the minister agree to meet with me and staff from the breastfeeding initiative to discuss how to further address this, including the consideration of the full implementation of the World Health Organization code to address the aggressive advertising by formula manufacturers? If she would consider that, I would be very appreciative if she could also consider my colleague Elaine Smith, who has taken a great interest in this issue, joining us as well with constituents. Minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am perfectly happy to meet both Claudia Beamish and Elaine Smith. I have met people already from the breastfeeding initiative. As the member knows, we are undertaking a strategic review of maternity and neonatal services. I hope that breastfeeding and support for breastfeeding will play a key part in that rates of initial breastfeeding are increasing, albeit slowly and too slow for my liking. However, in order to sustain breastfeeding, we need to look at what support is required, and I am happy to meet the member. Jim Hume. Thank you. What funding and support is the Scottish Government giving to NHS Bores to support perinatal mental health in the new mothers? I am not sure that that is entirely relevant. Elaine Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank the minister for agreeing to meet. I will be happy to come to that meeting. The breast's best message seems to be well understood, but the rates remain low, as we have seen from the answers given. What can the Scottish Government do perhaps to turn this on its head and inform parents of the health problems that are associated with formula feeding to ensure that they have all the necessary facts that will help them to make a properly informed choice? That could help society to move to a situation where breastfeeding becomes the norm with formula there as a backup for the relatively small number of mothers who simply cannot breastfeed. Minister. I appreciate the work that Elaine Smith has done on that, and if there was an easy answer to all of this, I am sure that we would have found it by now. The benefits of breastfeeding are explained to pregnant mothers at neonatal classes, but sometimes the societal barriers are greater than mothers seeing the benefits. There are loads of strands to this, and we need to make sure that those looking after mothers, midwives and people delivering neonatal classes have the best possible information and ways of taking this forward. To ask the Scottish Government whether all treatments approved for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium are made available by the NHS. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. The Scottish Medicines Consortium provides advice to NHS Scotland about the value for patients of every newly licensed medicine. When SMC accepts a new medicine, NHS boards are expected to make it or an equivalent SMC-accepted medicine available. NHS boards also have clinically-led processes in place to look at how medicines should be used in treatment pathways based on their available evidence. Cara Hulton. I thank the cabinet secretary for the answer. In November 2013, the Scottish Medical Council approved enzolutimide without restriction for men with incurable prostate cancer, who had had chemotherapy. Soon after prostate cancer, UK was receiving calls for men who were being denied the drug because their health board had placed a restriction of their own on its use after the drug was at her own. Prostate Cancer UK said at the time that men with incurable prostate cancer should not be expected to fight battles with the NHS for Scottish Medical Council-approved drugs. Does the cabinet secretary agree with this sentiment and will she therefore agree to implement the Scottish Cancer Coalition's call for all Scottish Medical Council drug approvals to be made binding on all NHS boards to resolve this situation and many others like it? Shona Robison. I thank Cara Hulton for her question. This is a very important question. The Scottish Government is aware of the concerns of patient groups in that they believe that the approach taken by the regional cancer networks is not consistent with the SNC advice. The SNC has advised health boards that their advice does not promote the use of enzolutimide in this setting. Although the Scottish Government appreciates the points made by the charities, it obviously would not be appropriate for the Government to direct the regional cancer networks to change their approach where they consider that this is evidence-based. However, I am sure that the regional cancer networks will review their approach as and when new evidence becomes available. I will keep a very close eye on this and I am very happy to keep Cara Hulton advised if there is any developments on that front. Gonzalo Malik. Thank you very much and good morning, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the treatment of people with hepatitis C in Glasgow. Good morning, Mr Malik. What do you want? The Scottish Government is recognised internationally as a world leader for our response to hepatitis C. As a result of our Hep C action plan, we have more than doubled the number of people starting treatment for Hep C in Scotland from 400 a year in 2007 to 1100 a year in 2013. Many of those people who are being treated and cured live in the Glasgow area. Scotland is also at the forefront of implementing new, highly effective therapies for Hep C, which are now available. The first of those new antiviral treatments was approved for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in 2014 and is now available on the NHS in Scotland. Gonzalo Malik. Thank you, Minister, for the response. Greater Glasgow and Clyde have around one-third of Scotland's hepatitis C, in fact with patients. Therefore, the massive cost of the new antifron free drugs falls disproportionately on the health board. That means that people in Glasgow have to wait until their liver is becoming seriously damaged before they are eligible for the new treatment. One of my constituents is now undergoing treatment in another part of Scotland because they have a lower level of liver damage requirement to access the new treatment. Will the Minister please look into this issue and consider giving additional funds to Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board to ensure equal access to new Hep C treatment across Scotland? If the member would like to write to me about that specific case, I am entirely pleased to look into it. Around £28 million per year is provided by the Government to support the framework, and that is additional funding. Separately, we provide NHS boards with additional funding to support the rising costs of the new drugs. Of course, it is proportionate to the number, but I am happy to take up the case of the member. Question 4, Colin Beattie. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the level of engagement undertaken by Network Rail with local constituents during the building of the border railway. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. I am delighted that we will soon see the benefit of this £294 million investment by the Scottish Government in the border railway, but I am aware that Network Rail has carried out extensive positive engagement along the route with line-side neighbours. As recently as last week, the project director for border railway and the route delivery director for Network Rail personally surveyed residents of Westfield Bank and Hardin Green. However, I am concerned that there have been instances where Network Rail's communication has not consistently reached the high standards that we would expect, while delivering a publicly funded key infrastructure project. Consequently, I have written to Mark Carn, chief executive of Network Rail, expressing my concerns about their stakeholder management and I await his response. Colin Beattie. The cabinet secretary is, of course, aware of our prior correspondence on this issue. Will the cabinet secretary confirm what steps are being taken to enhance engagement between the constituents and Network Rail and to ensure that Network Rail are taking the necessary steps to minimise any adverse effects from the railway on local residents? Cabinet secretary. I am aware of the issue, not least because of the efforts of the member to represent his constituents in this regard. He will know that Transport Scotland will now provide me with a weekly update on the issues at Hardin Green in Westfield Bank. As I have mentioned, I have written to Mark Carn already expressing disappointment at the level of stakeholder engagement. I have also mentioned the project director's personal involvement in surveying residents. Findings are being compiled and an action plan will be developed to address concerns. I know the specific concerns related to barriers, which we have, I think, got an agreed way forward on and also to some tree planting, which again I expect we will have an agreed way forward on, but it's better that these things shouldn't happen because this is going to be a tremendously successful project for the entire borders and for Scotland. We want to make sure that all those who are affected by the construction of this have the effects of that ameliorated wherever that's possible. Christine Grahame. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I can thank the cabinet secretary in the first instance for his site visit at Heriot and at Fallyhill, which has borne the brunt of the construction works and they're not having train stations. I can also personally put on the record my thanks to Craig Bowman, Stuart Mackay and Carol Davenay of Network Rail, who have engaged with me on behalf of constituents. I think the cabinet secretary has already said and I would agree with him. I hope he'll persist in ensuring that engagement with the community improves because it has taken some time to get that improvement in place. I don't think I would add to that. There was a meeting on the 1st of June with Network Rail and Transport Scotland and stakeholders. There will be a further meeting on the 17th of June. As the member says, it's as well that we can try to address these relatively minor issues in terms of the whole project, which are very important issues to the residents who are affected. If we can make sure that we can address them in the right way, then we can all look forward to a fantastic opening of the Borders Railway in September this year. Bill Kidd, to ask the Scottish Government what involvement it had in the BAE systems announcement on their plans to continue work at both the Scots and Governyards on the Clyde. It is a major player in the Scottish and UK defence industry and I am pleased that the company has decided to invest in the future of Governance Scotland shipyards. The Scottish Government maintains regular dialogue with BAE and its forward plans. BAE still has ambitions to support export opportunities as well as progressing with MOD orders, and Scottish Enterprise will continue to work closely with the company to offer support as they make this investment. Bill Kidd. I thank the cabinet secretary for that very positive reply. Would the cabinet secretary be willing, diary permitting, to accompany me on a visit to BAE systems to discuss future prospects for jobs and contracts in the BAE systems yards on the Clyde? Cabinet secretary, I would be very happy to do so. I last visited the facility at Scots on 11 February for one of the on-going updates that I have had with the company about the investment plans. There has of course been very close working with Scottish Enterprise on the different areas of support that are available to assist the company in its investment. I would be very happy to work with Mr Kidd and to accompany him to a meeting to discuss that issue with BAE. Question 6, in the name of Stuart McMillan, has been withdrawn for understandable reasons. Question 7, Kevin Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what strategy it has in place to ensure that listed buildings are preserved. Cabinet secretary, Fiona Hyslop. All owners of listed buildings have a general responsibility to maintain their property. Where owners fail to meet that responsibility, planning authorities have powers to intervene. This can include a local authority carrying out necessary work themselves and building the owner at similar powers that are retained by ministers. Last year, we saw the publication of Our Place in Time, Scotland's first-ever strategy for the historic environment. One of the key priorities set out within the strategy is for those involved in the management of our historic environment to continue to apply effective and proportionate protection and regulation with controls and incentives, and I'm confident that historic buildings will benefit as the strategy is delivered. Kevin Stewart. Thank you, and I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Broadford works in Aberdeen has the largest cluster of at-risk A-listed buildings in the UK, which are under threat because of fire-raising and vandalism attacks. Does the Government have any tools at its disposal to force the owner to develop the site that it has planning permission for? Is it possible to charge the owner for the non-domestic rates that he is currently exempt from paying? Cabinet secretary. Historic Scotland's role in listed buildings is as visors to local authorities. We are in contact with the council's planning officials, whose role is to laze with the building standards colleagues, and the owner of the site to agree what additional measures can be put in place. I understand that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service also confirmed that they have had a multi-agency site meeting on 20 May with representatives of Aberdeen City Council, and they will be presenting a range of options for consideration by the relevant planning committee in the council. The member is absolutely correct. One of the best ways to deal with vacant properties and risk to vacant properties is to make use of vacant properties, but we have to make sure that we do that collectively with owners and in conjunction with the relevant planning authority, which is Aberdeen City Council. However, I respect his important interests as a constituency member in this particular interest issue, and I assure him that we will continue to take a keen interest in the developments at Broadford. Question 8, Clare Adamson. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the measures in the Queen's speech will have on the ability to tackle poverty and inequality. Cabinet secretary, Alex Neil. The welfare benefits bill in the Queen's speech includes initial details about additional cuts in the UK welfare budget. Those include freezing working-age benefits, tax credits and child benefit for two years, lowering the benefit cap to £23,000, and removing automatic entitlement to housing support for 18 to 21-year-olds. Those three provisions alone will make it much more difficult for the Scottish Government to tackle poverty. However, the only account for a fraction of the £12 billion reduction in welfare spend that the UK Government has said will introduce. The Scottish Government will continue to mitigate the worst aspects of welfare reform, but there is a genuine limit to what we can do in the face of such severe, on-going cuts. Clare Adamson. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for his answer. In 2005, during his leadership contest for the Conservative party, the Prime Minister highlighted the need for cab referrals for food parcels as an indictment of failed Government. Given that, does the cabinet secretary agree that for David Cameron and his Government to pursue further austerity, knowing that it will see many, many more families plunged into crisis and reliant on food banks is both disgraceful and hypocritical? Presiding Officer, I entirely agree with what the member says. It is the main agency that runs food banks in Scotland. Reports are in 2014-15 more than eight times the number of people were helped than just two years ago. The most common reasons for people using food banks are benefit changes, delays and low income. The increased reliance on food banks in the further £12 billion in welfare cuts that the Tories are proposing shows that they cannot be trusted with their welfare system and that we need full powers over social security here in this Parliament so that we can establish a more equal, fair, simple and humane system for Scotland. Mike Mackenzie. To ask the Scottish Government what improvements it has made to the A82. Minister Derek Mackay. The Scottish Government is committed to improving the A82 and has invested more than £20 million recently on the Greenlark Bypass, the Pulpit Rock and Glengloy. The Pulpit Rock improvement enabled their own to open to two-way traffic for the first time in 30 years and a £2 million design commission to improve the 17km section of the A82 from Tarbot in Vararnan is also well under way. Mike Mackenzie. I thank the minister for that answer and I'm sure that he'll be pleased to hear that I've been contacted by constituents across the West Highlands and beyond who are delighted at the improvements at Pulpit Rock on Loch Lomonside, especially as he rightly says that this has been a long-standing impediment to traffic for many years and taken together with the Greenlark Bypass. Do you have a question? So does the minister agree with me that with full borrowing powers we could do much more in upgrading infrastructure across the Highlands and Islands and the rest of Scotland? Minister. Presiding Officer, of course I'm happy to be the bearer of good news and spreading joy across Scotland with infrastructure investment. The short answer to the question is yes I do and yes we could. Thank you. Before we move to next item of business, Members will wish to join me and welcome to the gallery, His Excellency Mr Euripides, Everyviades, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus. Thank you. We now move to First Minister's Questions. Question 1.