 Felly y griffwyr hefyd mafio'r cyfarffoedd iaeth e Initiflur Llywodraeth iaeth inc Material Rwy'n credu'r dyfodol o'r cymhwyllt o'r 10 oedden nhw'n gweithio. Felly, mae Gwylodol yw'r ddweud o'r plan a'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r SPA, Audit a Rhygfaith Cymru o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r sgrutiniaeth. Mae gweithio'n ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r sgrutiniaeth o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r rhaid o'r sgrutiniaeth o'r dyfodol p shrimprogram yn Aber helemaal, ENVER-S ynddi. Rydym ei newid yng nghymhysgwrs yn ei ailwyr oedd a chyrdartr embraced o'r SPA ar y decidio ydyn nhw dda, o youb i bobl an Helieu i ar hyn bod fylir o'r ddweud o'r sgrutiniaeth. Mae Ssky cultures anghmer i wych y gwahody lows Quite Trying i Dwynefoeddan a Maeß Rhwu sgwärigion Wales caf cael Dinau naut y Prifysg 단ol speritur Lulender. In addition, later this month, HMICS will begin a programme of unannounced visits to call centres until the programme is completed. Finings will be reported back to Police Scotland, the SPA and to the Scottish Government. Thanks, Bruce Crawford. I thank the cabinet secretaries for his reply. I think I understand correctly, the cabinet secretary, that Police Scotland were allocated an additional £1.4 million by the Scottish Government in order to enable them to better handle the challenges that they faced over call handling. Can the cabinet secretary please know what impact that additional funding was able to secure? What benefit it brought to police call handling operations and procedures? At the time of my statement in Parliament on the interim report from HMICS into call handling matters, I made £1.4 million immediately available to Police Scotland and this has helped to support and exhilarate the recruitment of staff to improve resilience within the call handling system specifically. In the north, Police Scotland has recruited a further 16 staff between Aberdeen and Vernais on a temporary basis. Recruiting permit staff in Dundee has seen a total of 12 successful candidates with 10 starting next month and an additional 38 staff have been recruited at Bilston Glen and Government service centres with the numbers now standing at 383. Those additional funds have supported Police Scotland and have been able to make sure that they also have enhanced IT support at their call handling centres to deal with any IT issues that may arise during the course of activity. I welcome part of the cabinet secretary's answer. I would be interested to know from him of the 16 additional staff that he mentions how many of those have been recruited to the control room and the service centre in Aberdeen for what length of period or contract in those cases and how much of the £1.4 million has been devoted to that end. Well, those are obviously specific matters for Police Scotland to respond to the recruitment of staff. 16 of the staff are between Aberdeen and Vernais and the last Police Scotland to provide them with an exact breakdown as to that provision within the Aberdeen control room. As the member will be aware from having raised this issue with me on a number of occasions in the chamber, this is an area where we are seeking to make sure that there continues to be resilience in the way in which the call handling centre in Aberdeen is operating as the change process is moving forward. As I have also outlined to the member in the past, there are now significant safeguards put in place before any further changes occur to the call handling system, including the moving of the Aberdeen call handling system to Bilstyn Glen, and those measures have been put in place to ensure that there is a consistency approach in the way in which Police Scotland is handling the matter and that the Republic continues to receive a high quality of service from Police Scotland. Could the cabinet secretary clarify how local intelligence reported through the 101 number in centralised call service centres that there is then community to local front-line police, such as the named word officers allocated to council words in the Forth Valley division, a new initiative that represents an excellent example of local policing? I am very familiar with the new approach that has been taken within Forth Valley, in which I know that the new local commander is very keen to see progress on. What I would say is that once intelligence is brought to the attention of 101, it is then assessed in terms of its priority, and that is then sent on to the local command area, where it is then prioritised within its local system to then determine how officers should then respond to that matter. However, I shall be aware that it is extremely important that we make sure that the information that is provided at a local level is provided in a timely way in order to allow the police to assess at a local level how they respond to that matter, and that is part of the work that is on-going within Police Scotland to ensure that that is happening as effectively as possible. To ask the Scottish Government how many uniformed officers have been deployed to roles previously filled by civilian staff since Police Scotland came into existence. The deployment of officers and staff is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, who are committed wherever possible to use officers and staff in roles that make the best use of their skills, training and powers. I thank the minister for his response. He will, however, appreciate the concern of many people across the country about the issue of backfilling. Derek Penman, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, said that the current push to maintain an extra 1,000 police officers is pointless unless they are performing operational roles, and the recent investigation from the Sunday Herald claimed that fewer than half of Scotland's 17,000 uniformed officers were operational. Will the Scottish Government agree to publish proper police strength statistics, breaking down officers by operational roles, so that we can have proper public information and parliamentary scrutiny and transparency around the issue? As a member may also be aware of parliamentary scrutiny on this particular issue, it is a matter that has recently been given attention by the Justice Committee and the Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson, who gave evidence to the Justice Committee just on 1 December, where he made it very clear that there is no policy of backfilling of civilian posts by police officers where there are occasions where it may be a change in the way in which they are providing a particular service. They may move operational police officers into that particular role because they have the skills in which to undertake that responsibility. Additionally, there may be occasions when there will be circumstances when civilian staff may be off on sick leave or on training, where they may use operational police officers for the purpose of providing that particular service over that period of time. However, as the Deputy Chief Constable has already outlined, there is no policy of backfilling of civilian staff posts with police officers. However, I am more than happy to give the member a breakdown of the percentage of police officers that cover a particular area. For example, 75 per cent of all police Scotland's officers are responsible for operating within local policing matters and it breaks down into other specialist fields for regional units and also for national units. However, if it helps the member to understand how Police Scotland breaks down its staff grouping within police officers, I would be more than happy to write to the member with those details. Dr Lane Murray, supplementary. Thank you, Presiding Officer. DCC Richardson and Sir Stephen House before him have reiterated that there is no policy on backfilling, but both Unison and the SPF have advised that it is happening regularly and we have now had reports of significant numbers, media reports of significant numbers of police officers not being on police duties. Do you not agree that the SPA should be measuring and monitoring regularly the situation as to whether or not police officers are fulfilling police officer functions? I recognise that it is an operational matter for the chief constable to determine how he chooses to configure his staff and how he wishes to use staff and police officers for fulfilling the responsibilities of Police Scotland. The member will also be aware that the SPA is presently undertaking a piece of work that is looking at potential future demand on policing from cybercrime, ageing population and all those types of issues and what pressures that will then place on policing going into the future. If no doubt, once they have completed that piece of work, as I mentioned to the committee just yesterday, it will then be looking at how they configure policing in the future in order to make sure that it is able to meet the demands that are being placed upon it. To ask the Scottish Government how many projects have been funded by the Cashback for Communities programme in Carrick, Cumnock and Dun Valley? We are rightly proud of our unique Cashback for Communities programme and have published information by local authority area on the Cashback website. That demonstrates that up to the end of March 2015, young people from both south and east Ayrshire, which span the member's constituency, have directly benefited from over £1.95 million of cashback investment. All cashback projects are required under the terms of their grants to focus activity and deprived areas and at disadvantaged young people. Funding for phase 3 of Cashback is committed through to the end of March 2017. Phase 4 will commence in April 2017, and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice has yet to make decisions on the next tranche funding, but I can assure the member that it will build on the success of the Cashback programme, targeting more deprived areas, reducing inequalities and obtaining maximum benefit for communities. The minister has anticipated a little of my follow-up question, but could ask him to give more detail on the plans that the Scottish Government has to further develop the fund and also to implement the recommendations of the evaluation report that was published in 2014. I am particularly concerned that any funding available is distributed in a fair and proportionate manner across the country, and I have concerns that my constituency is perhaps getting less than it should from cashback from communities. I certainly note the member's pitch for more funding for East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. The recommendations in the evaluation report are being implemented and primarily deal with the process. As I stated in my initial response to the apologies to the member, I can reassure the member that we will build on the success of the Cashback programme and that we will target more deprived areas, reducing inequalities and obtaining maximum benefit. Phase 3, as I said in my initial answer, will have to pick up additional discussions with some key partners such as Youth Link, Youth Scotland, Princess Trust and Creative Scotland to finalise details. However, all cashback partners are required to reassure the member under the terms of their grant to focus activity on areas of deprivation and disadvantage young people. Cashback funding is rightly focused in communities hit by crime and anti-social behaviour, but we have also taken the view that it is also right that all 32 local authority areas in Scotland benefit from those activities and facilities. To reassure the member that there are a number of key projects that he may be aware of that are funded through partners such as the SFA, where almost half a million pounds has been invested in those two local authorities, Youth Link, where almost again 460,000 pounds has been invested, the Scottish Rugby Union 291,000 and Linkup 211,000. There are significant areas of activity that we are working with local partners, national partners, to deliver both East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, and I hope that that benefits young people in Mr Ingram's constituency. Question 4, in the name of Graham Pearson, has been withdrawn for entirely understandable reasons. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding how it deals with incidents involving people with mental health issues. Over the last three years, the Scottish Government has engaged with a range of partner organisations, including Police Scotland, the NHS, social services and the third sector, to consider ways of improving how services respond to people who may have mental health problems and to people who present in distress. This has included several stakeholder engagement events, two of which were hosted by Police Scotland. A mental health community triage pilot with local policing and Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board was approved and implemented in January 2015. That new approach provides officers with direct access to mental health professionals who help to support decision making to improve services to vulnerable members of our community. In August last year, a similar pilot was launched in Edinburgh city, in conjunction with Lothian health board. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer, but the cabinet secretary did not provide information on the number of incidents that Police Scotland responds to in relation to potential mental health problems. Has there been any assessment carried out of what proportion of incidents the police attend that involve a person with a potential mental health issue? Does he agree with me that there is a greater scope for health professionals to be more involved in such Police Scotland responses? I will check to see whether there is central information on the very specific point that the member made reference to. However, what I can do is give him some information on the project that we have been running in Glasgow in relation to its particular impact. Over the course of a year, there were 234 incidents that were attended to. 225, which is 96 per cent, were found where the individual who appeared to have mental health issues were found to be fit and well by a CPN, and there was no need for further intervention. Of those, 86 per cent of incidents were resolved by telephone consultation between a CPN and individual concerned. The evidence shows the significant impact that it can have on police time and on individual affected people who may have mental health issues or have been presenting in distress to make sure that they get the right assistance and support as and when required. I know from the time that I spent with British Transport Police officers that they find that it is also invaluable because of the assistance that it gives them, given that very often there can be issues around train stations and railway lines, where individuals are vulnerable. We want to build on that, which is why that project has now rolled out into Edinburgh. We are also working with Police Scotland and other health boards to look at how we can roll that out into other divisions in Scotland in order to make sure that, when an individual has a mental health issue, which is a primary issue, that they get the effective support and assistance that is required in order to make sure that they get the assistance that they need at that particular point. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle knife crime in the west Scotland region. We are working with various partners to tackle knife crime, including YouthLink Scotland, who support local authorities to deliver the known eyes, better lives programme. That programme encourages young people away from carrying a knife, building their capacity and potential to make positive life choices for themselves and their families. Violent crime is at its lowest level for 41 years, and since 2006-07, crimes were handling an offensive weapon, including knives, has fallen by 67 per cent nationally. The number of crimes of handling offensive weapons, including knife crime, recorded in the most seven local authorities, which are either wholly or partially within the west of Scotland region, have decreased by 73 per cent since 2006-07. I welcome the progress that has been made so far across west Scotland. East Rymphshire, for example, now has one of the lowest rates of recorded knife crime across Scotland, with an 82 per cent fall in recorded crimes of handling offensive weapons since 2006-07. Does the minister therefore agree with me about the importance of educating young people through the initiatives that he mentioned, such as known eyes, to ensure that that welcome reduction in crime continues? Can he reassure me that there will be no let-up in tackling the scourge of knife crime? Absolutely. On the latter point, I can reassure the member that we will not let up our efforts to tackle knife crime. We have consistently said the best way to tackle violence is through education and prevention, and our £2.9 million known eyes, better lies campaign, has been a great success. The member referred to East Rymphshire with an 82 per cent fall in north Ayrshire. The decrease has been even bigger at 85 per cent. This is an opt-in national model delivery that is flexible to suit local needs. To date, 11 new local authorities have expressed an interest. Six of those are now actively involved in delivering the programme. Through no lies, better lies, we are reaching out to parents, practitioners and young people themselves to highlight that the fact that carrying an offensive weapon is completely unacceptable can have devastating personal consequences, and there is never an excuse for carrying a knife. We will continue to work tirelessly with all our partners to get that message across. Given that the Scottish Government's own data confirms that continuing reliance by judges on short and medium-term sentences for persons convicted of carrying an offensive weapon, and that clearly is a deterrent effect, will the minister confirm that such sentences for such crimes will continue to be available to judges? Clearly, of course, these sentences will still be available. I am happy to confirm that to Ms Goldie, but what we are looking at in terms of the measures on presumption to get short sentences is looking at where it is appropriate to use an alternative to a short sentence, a more effective outcome in terms of reducing re-offending, but clearly matters of violence and where a serious risk is posed to the public are matters that would clearly be taken into consideration. Sorry, Presiding Officer. I have mislead my piece of paper. I apologise. To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the consultation and the presumption again short-term sentences. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Mathes. The consultation and the proposal to strengthen the presumption again short sentences closed on 16 December. It would receive 63 responses in total, and I would like to record my thanks to everyone who took the time to submit their views on this important issue. We are carefully considering these responses, and a formal analysis will be published in the coming weeks. The analysis will inform our approach to strengthening the current presumption again short sentences, and I intend to set out our plans in due course. The consultation forms part of our wider commitment to shifting the emphasis of penal policy from ineffective short sentences to greater use of robust community sentences. The commitment is backed by an additional £4 million for community justice services in the 2016-17 draft Scottish budget. The Government must neither obstruct nor compromise the freedom of judges to impose a custodial sentence of any length where the judge considers that as how best to serve the interests of justice and the victim. Will the cabinet secretary guarantee with the same welcome clarity as his colleague Mr Wheelhouse the continuing protection of that freedom? A presumption is exactly that. It is a presumption. It will be open to sheriffs to determine those matters when the issue is led before the court. That is the case with the presumption against short sentences of three months. If a sheriff at a particular point believes that a custodial sentence is the most appropriate action that should be taken, that entirely remains open to them. Any extension of that presumption would mean that they would continue to have the powers to choose to do so. I can reassure the member that a presumption is exactly that, nothing more than a presumption, and sheriffs will still continue to have the powers to determine where they send someone on a custodial sentence should they see fit to do so. That concludes that portfolio. We will now move to portfolio questions on rural affairs, food and the environment. I apologise to those members that I have not been able to call. Question 1, Margaret Mitchell. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the NFU in Scotland. Representers of the Scottish Government meet with NFU Scotland regularly to discuss a wide variety of topics. The most recent meeting took place on Monday 21 December. Is there a way that dogfiling in agricultural land, which affects the quality of crops and the health of animals, is a major issue for farmers and that the NFU Scotland's pilot poster campaign in Dunbarton, Pentlands and Motherwell, which is illustrated by the use of fluorescent light, the extent of dog dirt on agricultural land, has half the incidence of dogfiling where the posters were displayed? However, does he agree that ultimately legislative change is required in the form of removing section 22 of the Dogfiling Scotland Act, which exempts agricultural land from the provisions of the act? To Margaret Mitchell, I appreciate that it is a very serious issue for Scotland's agricultural sector. I know the NFU and others issue regular warnings to dog owners to behave responsibly throughout the year. I am not familiar with the initiative that Margaret Mitchell mentioned. I would be interested to hear more about it. In terms of the law, I would be happy to look into the issues that she raises and get back to her in writing, as I would be interested to learn more about the potential options to address this issue. Can I ask a different supplementary question on when the cabinet secretary last met the NFU Scotland? Has he met them to talk about the impact of flooding? I am very conscious that many farms have lost top soil. It has been a huge impact as we move into 2016. Are there special measures that the cabinet secretary will be able to put in place to ensure that our farmers are able to get off to a decent start in 2016? I thank Sarah Boyack for raising the issue in the chamber as well. I am sure that, like other members, I was totally staggered and amazed by some of the sites that I have seen in Scotland's farmland. Yesterday, I drove from home in Elgin to Parliament via visits to the Ruri, Brechen and Perth. Watching the farmland on the way was an eye-opener as to the level of devastation across the country, but also including farmland. I also used the opportunity to visit a farm just outside Brechen, where I met the Sims at the King Craig farm and viewed their own fields and their arable field, where Spring barley will be sown. Hopefully, in a few months' time, it looked like a part of the river. Again, it was jaw-dropping to see that. I am in discussion with the NFU, and I will initiate further discussions with the wider sector this week to understand the scale of the impact on farmland in Scotland and what measures we could take, if any, to help mitigate the impact and work with the farmers moving forward. I have given a commitment to have those discussions. I will keep more to Fraser briefly, please. On the same issue of flooding, I wonder if the Scottish Government is able to look at the question of prioritising delayed CAP payments to those farmers who are most badly affected. In terms of CAP payments and perhaps expediting applications from farmers most affected by flooding, I have said previously, following the recent spate of flooding—forgive the pun—just a few weeks ago that any farmers with specific issues because of flooding should contact their local officers and notify them of their predicaments. We will see what we can do. I cannot make any guarantees, because every case will be different across the country, but I am conscious that that may be one option, and I would ask farmers to contact the local officers. To ask the Scottish Government what its current position is on a review of the Protection and Wilder Mammals Scotland Act 2002. I announced on 26 December that the review of the act will be led by Lord Bonomy, and it will begin to take evidence at the beginning of February. The review will investigate the operation of the act to ascertain whether it is providing a sufficient level of protection for wild mammals, while at the same time allowing effective and humane control of mammals such as foxes were necessary. I thank the minister for that answer. I obviously welcome the Scottish Government's review of the current law. I hope that the review will take evidence from Police Scotland on the difficulties of enforcing current legislation, in particular considering the role of hunt monitors and practices such as cubbing. I do not know whether the minister can give us any further reassurance on some of those points. Lord Bonomy will decide how to carry out his review, but I am sure that evidence from Police Scotland will be an important part of the process. Legislation must be enforceable to be effective, and Lord Bonomy will be able to take a view on whether the activities of hunt monitors are a factor in the enforceability of the legislation. I understand that cubbing involves the hunting of fox clubs, and it is squarely within the scope of the review. I am sure that everyone who has an interest in the protection of wild mammals will want to engage with Lord Bonomy, and I would encourage them to do so. Is the minister concerned that the evidence presented by the League Against Cruel Sports suggests that fox hunting is still going on in Scotland, and what extra resources will the Scottish Government commit to ensuring that the most current and future legislation in the area is effective and that we genuinely see an end to this cruel and outdated practice? As I said in my answer to Lord Campbell, the review will look at whether the current legislation is proving the necessary level of protection for foxes and other wild mammals, while allowing for the effective and humane control of those animals where required. That review will obviously begin this month. Written evidence will be accepted from 1 February until the end of March in Scotland. We led the way in addressing animal welfare concerns legislation in 2002, and we remain absolutely committed to ensuring the highest level of welfare for our wild mammals. We did indeed lead the way through that legislation, as the minister rightly says, but, given the minute number of investigations into breaches of the 2002 act that have resulted in a successful prosecution, what justification does the minister have for initiating the review in the first place? As I said before, we have led the way in addressing animal welfare, but we have to make sure that the current legislation is providing the necessary level of protection for foxes. We have had numerous concerns that have been raised with us, but we have to make sure that what we are doing is making sure that the current legislation in 2002 act is actually delivering the necessary level of protection that we so want to see in terms of our protection for foxes and our other wild animals. To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the European Commission. Scottish Government is in regular contact with the European Commission's direct general for agriculture and rural development on a wide range of issues, and indeed I met with them personally last month to discuss the impact of commission's greening measures on Scottish agriculture. I understand that the cabinet secretary met with counterparts ahead of the discard ban, a ban that prevents dead fish from being thrown back into the sea. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on any discussions that he has had with the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the European Commission in the respects to the discard ban and possibly the delivery of increased fishing quotas? Gil Paterson highlights that 2016 sees new discard bans in Scotland's waters coming into place in relation to discarding of good quality fish dead overboard, which is a complete waste, and for the first year, that will affect the commercial sector, the white fish sector and shell fish sector in Scotland. Clearly, that did feature part of the annual fishes negotiations a few weeks ago to look at 2016 fishing opportunities. I recall a few years ago saying to the European Commission that for the discard bans to work, there had to be a reward for the fishermen to make it practically possible to go to fish and fish all their quotas to have an increase in their quotas that reflected the fact that there were no discard bans in place, so I am pleased that that was part of the outcome of last month's negotiations. If we look at North Sea Haddock, for instance, I remember that we had a 30 per cent increase in that stock proposed, which we managed to secure, but that was topped up by a further 17 per cent in quota to account for the discard bans. It is good that we are seeing a rise in fish quotas to take account of the fact that there are now discard bans in place in Scottish waters. I ask the cabinet secretary if he is able to give us a brief update of what the greening discussions involved and whether there are any positive outcomes for us here in Scotland in Europe. I regret in terms of my conversations with the European Commission over greening measures that we made little headway in relation to trying to persuade the European Commission to accept our equivalence schemes, to escape the straight jacket of the three-crop rule, which is affecting Scotland's arable sector, which is inappropriate for Scotland. The equivalence measures that we have been proposing to the European Commission attach conditions to those that have made them unattractive to Scottish farmers. Therefore, we have no option but to try and seek further changes later this year. We welcome the fact that at least the European Commission has agreed to review the greening measures within the common agricultural policy, and we will take full advantage of that opportunity to get them changed in Scotland's favour. To ask the Scottish Government how many eligible crofters and farmers have not received any common agricultural policy basic payment by 6 January 2016. Last week, I confirmed that the Scottish Government issued basic payment and greening payments to around 3,500 farmers and crofters, totaling around £33 million of direct support. The first instalment equated to 75 per cent of farmers and crofters' basic payment value and 90 per cent of their greening values. It remains our intention to pay the first instalment to the majority of farmers and crofters this month, with final balance being paid in April and, of course, the rest of the first payments being paid in February and March. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for that reply. Does that not mean that 80 per cent of Scotland's farmers and crofters have yet to receive any cap payment promised by the Government before Christmas, despite spending £178 million on a new computer system? How many payment region reviews are still outstanding for Shetland alone? What are the implications for ELFAS and the UNB scheme payments? Will they be late too? Does the cabinet secretary understand that farmers and crofters from Shetland to Stranrair are fed up, annoyed and worried about their cash flow to pay feed bills in this flood-ridden winter that Scotland is now enduring? I very much appreciate the challenges facing crofters in Scotland, indeed the rest of the agricultural sector at the moment. I know that the chamber is familiar with the complexity of the new common agricultural policy and how we have chosen to implement it in Scotland for very good reasons. I said that we begin to make payments to crofters and farmers in Scotland before the end of last year. We have fulfilled that commitment and, yes, of course, there are a fair number of farmers and crofters still to receive their payments. The £178 million business case quoted by Tavish Scott relates to the whole of the futures programme, most of which is the IT system, which is to serve the common agricultural policy that will deliver a huge amount of investment to the sector in the coming years and equates to 4 per cent of the payments that will go out the door to Scotland's agricultural and rural sectors. That is a necessary investment to get those payments out the door. In terms of the impact on other payments, clearly I am paying close attention to that. We have said all along that there may well be an impact on the timetable for other payments and delay them perhaps for a few weeks. We will minimise that as much as possible. In terms of the voluntary couple support payments to beef farmers and sheep farmers, we are aiming for roughly the same timescale as last year as well. Farmers are suffering from adverse weather conditions and their crop yields will be affected. In your answer to earlier questions, you said that you would see what you could do. Could you expand on what those options are and will it include accelerating cap payments? In terms of the impact of flooding in agriculture, I clearly first have to understand the scale of the impact of the atrocious conditions of the last few weeks on Scottish farmland and the consequences of that. That is what we are doing just now and will do in the next few days. However, I have said to those farmers that I have met and will be saying to the official organisations in the next few days that there are issues for instance over how to repair the flood damage, some of the regulation around that. There are perhaps issues that need to be looked at to help to make it easier for the farmers to deal with the aftermath of flooding and that will also involve of course discussions with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. So until we have had those discussions it is difficult to say what options are available but I have given a pledge that we will have those discussions to help. Scottish Government, what progress it has made in the common agricultural policy convergence uplift negotiations with the UK Government? Despite only qualifying for the convergence uplift due to Scotland's low payment rate, the UK Government refused to pass on the full allocation to Scotland and what of course was a bitter blow to our farmers and crofters. The then Secretary of State did however promise to review the UK's allocation of cap funding in 2016. It is now 2016 and as such I have today written to the current Secretary of State, urging her to set out the timetable for the review as a matter of the utmost urgency and I am seeking an early discussion on its terms. I very much welcome the news that the cabinet secretary is seeking to hold the UK Government to account for its previous promises. Has the Scottish Government made an estimate of the financial loss to the Scottish economy from the loss of the funds that only came to the UK because of Scotland and, if possible, any multiplier effects that the funds would have had in our economy? It was complete larceny the fact that money that was sent to the UK Government because of Scotland's low payment rates, which allowed the UK Government to qualify for the uplift from the European Commission's common agricultural funding. Of course, that money has been denied to Scotland's farmers and crofters and rural communities. At the time, it was worth £190 million over the course of the current cap. That is a substantial amount of resource, given the number of questions that I have just received from members arguing for more investment in the agricultural sector in Scotland. That is Scotland's money. It belongs to Scotland. We only got a small percentage of it, whereas the whole of the £190 million should have come to Scotland. As Stuart Stevenson quite rightly says, that would have indeed had a multiplier effect across a rural economy and food economies at the same time. It is essential that the UK Government lives up to its words and undertakes its review immediately, with a very short timescale, with a view of delivering Scotland's money to Scotland's farmers and crofters and rural communities. Deputy Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that its obligations under the Climate Change Scotland Act 2009 are being met. We are ensuring that our obligations under the Climate Change Scotland 2009 act are met through a range of actions. We have put in place a comprehensive package of measures to meet our world-leading emission reduction targets. Scotland is now more than three quarters of the way towards achieving our 42 per cent emission reduction target in 2020. Our cabinet sub-committee on climate change underpins our commitment and, through our rule of fares, food and the environment delivery board, we are leading and co-ordinating action on climate change by our public sector partners, including on peatland restoration and forestry to protect and conserve the environment. Minister, I will understand that improving energy efficiency in homes is vital in order to tackle climate change and reduce fuel poverty. It is therefore somewhat bewildering in the light of the Paris climate change summit that the Government is proposing to cut fuel poverty and energy efficiency budgets by 13 per cent. What impact assessment was taken in relation to the budget proposal and what effect that would have on climate change targets in tackling fuel poverty? The member has said that energy efficiency is a priority for the Scottish Government. It has been designated a national infrastructure priority in recognition of its importance. As we have already said, the cornerstone of that will be Scotland's energy efficiency programme, which will provide an offer of support to all buildings in Scotland, domestic and non-domestic, to improve their energy efficiency ratings over a 15 to 20-year period. Obviously, that energy efficiency programme will provide that offer of support. Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings is key to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, tackling our fuel poverty and improving our energy security and making our economy more competitive. In terms of the energy efficiency programme itself, the detail of that programme still needs to be developed. We will be working with stakeholders over the next couple of years, because we need to undertake further modelling and analysis to understand what is possible before launching the new programme in 2017-18, once the powers have been recommended by the Smith commission are in place. 7. Mark Griffin Thank you for asking the Scottish Government how it encourages the development of new allotment sites. The Scottish Government strongly supports the development of allotments for food growing, recognising the range of benefits that it brings to both individuals and communities. We introduced last year the Community Empowerment Act, which places new duties on local authorities in respect of allotments, including a requirement to take steps to limit waiting lists and waiting times for those on such lists. We believe that those provisions will strongly encourage the development of new allotment sites and, thereby, increase access to allotments for people throughout Scotland. Thank you, minister. For that answer, I have been approached by constituents in Carmarnauld, who have said that demand for allotment sites is far outstripping supply. Funding was to be made available to local authorities for their new responsibilities under the Community Empowerment Act that the minister has just mentioned for developing allotment sites. Can the minister say how much money the Government has made available to local authorities to increase the number of allotments in the central Scotland region? I thank the member for his question, and I appreciate the sentiments behind that question. However, I am very happy for the member if he wants to write to me in terms of being able to get some more further information and detail around that. I will be very happy to take that on board. Many thanks. I apologise to those members who have been unable to call, but we have