 Mae'r adael ddafyddiadau gyda general 1 ac mae'r adael ddafydd iawn y ungrif. Maen nhw'r ddafyddion y Rhagfaldiaethau, y prôgris eich rhai a'r rhaid o'r angen sy'n aelodau rhaid o'r adael rhaid o'r rhaid o'r rhaid o'r Rhagfaldiaeth i'r rhaid o'r proseslannu gyda'r trafodaeth mwy ac y noddag a'r rhagfaldiaeth i'r ddafyddiad ddiadau ddafydd iawn yn 2017. bod gynhwys yng Nghwylwyr yn 2016, gynhwys ymdegwyd yn gwneud o'r sgwylfaeddiadau ar ôl 3, ac mae gennychol i chi'n ddigon i gyntafol yn gwneud hynny o ffysg. Eungre. I thank the minister for that helpful answer. Can she tell me if the original plan to complete all of this work by 2021 is still possible? Well, in a global sense, by global I mean Scotland-wide, the plan was to finish all of the work by 2027. There are at present active work going on in terms of three of the wheels. I have indicated that one has been completed, that two are classified as being clear for fish, and that three, as I understand it, is active work taking place, and that work is completing. I have a great deal of detail of what I understand to be seven wheels, although the member has asked about six. I am very happy to share that detailed information with him, if he wishes to speak to me after today. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the affordability for patients of using bedside televisions in hospital. across NHS Scotland, patient entertainment services are provided either free in-house or through hospedia's bedside entertainment services, which are purchased by patients voluntarily and are in addition to communal telephones and televisions. We recognise that television provides respite to many patients and the importance of technology in enabling patients to remain connected. We are currently working with NHS directors of estates to establish the feasibility of free bedside entertainment to be supplied via Wi-Fi across NHS Scotland. NHS Lothian is currently trialling free patient Wi-Fi services, including access to video streaming. If successful, we would hope to extend that within other NHS boards. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. At £9.90 a day in the Highlands, it is extremely expensive to watch television. It entered a 15-year contract, which is due to expire in June of this year. Will the cabinet secretary give me an undertaking that she will work with NHS Highlands to make sure that patient television is more affordable to allow patients to see television during the course of their stay in the hospital, which may in some cases be for long periods? I am very happy to give Mr Mountain that undertaking. He is, of course, right that the current contract that NHS Highlands has expires in July of this year. I would expect all boards on the expiration of any hospedier contracts that they have to be considering best value, but also what is the right patient-centred approach. That is a hallmark of our NHS, so I would expect Highlands to be actively giving consideration at this point to free wi-fi services, and I will undertake to work with them and to keep Mr Mountain up-to-date as we make progress. David Torrance To ask the Scottish Government how a roll-out of universal credit is impacting on local authority rent rears. Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville Universal credit has had a devastating impact on people in Scotland. As of November 2018, there were around 135,000 people in Scotland in receipt of UC, 15,000 of which were in the Fife area. COSLA evidence shows that average rears for those on universal credit are more than 2.5 times the average rears on those on housing benefit, whereas we welcome reports that the Westminster vote on universal credit-managed migration regulations will now be scaled back to a vote on a pilot scheme for 10,000 people. We will continue to call on the UK Government not to commence managed migration until the fundamental flaws with this catastrophic benefit are fixed. David Torrance Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that answer. In Fife, the level of council rent rears directly attributed to a roll-out of universal credit currently exceeds £1.1 million. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that this increase being suffered by many local authorities will have a devastating effect on planned housing programmes and the continued investment in housing stock across Scotland? David Torrance is quite right to point out to the impact that rent rears are having due to universal credit and the impact that they will then have on local authorities. The Scottish Government has introduced the council house build programme in April 2009. The first such central government support to councils in a generation and the most recent public statistics show that a total of 10,293 council homes have now been delivered, including 1,236 council homes in Fife. Council house building continues to be an integral part of the 50,000 affordable homes target over this parliamentary term, which Mr Torrance can be assured that we are determined to meet despite the additional challenges posed by UK Government welfare cuts. We will deliver on our promises on housing and on other areas in welfare despite the budget cuts coming from Westminster and the callous welfare policies administered by the Conservative Government. To ask the Scottish Government whether the European health insurance card will still be available for residents in Scotland following a no-deal Brexit or during any transition period. Under the withdrawal agreement of 8 December 2017, the current European Union regulations that apply to reciprocal healthcare, including the European health insurance card, would remain in force during the transition period. The UK Government has a responsibility for reciprocal healthcare on a UK-wide basis. The UK Government believes that the healthcare international arrangements bill could support a broad continuance of existing reciprocal rights such as European health insurance card in a no-deal scenario. However, I am obliged to point out that this is a belief on the part of the UK Government. We have seen no evidence to substantiate that, and it is therefore in my view yet another reason to remove the option of a no-deal exit from the table. Rona Mackay I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the Brexit mess that the Westminster Government has led us into is causing uncertainty at every level and that travelling abroad for leisure or business will create more worry and expense for people in Scotland who did not vote to leave the EU? I do agree with Ms Mackay that this is yet another area of uncertainty and concern for people who wish to travel overseas or travel into the European Union following Brexit in terms of either business or pleasure or education. We know that many of our fellow citizens, including ourselves, have enjoyed that ease of access. It is important that we recognise that freedom of movement applies two ways. We are concerned, quite rightly, about freedom of movement in terms of our capacity to attract the skills and the continuing contribution of those EU citizens who are currently living and working in our country. However, it also applies to our citizens freedom to move across Europe in the manner to which they have become accustomed. That is yet another example of inadequate planning, a poor approach and the madness that is Brexit. 5. Johann Lamont To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has made of the potential economic impact of a direct rail link between Glasgow city centre and Glasgow airport. The Scottish Government has not made any recent economic assessment of the impact of a direct rail link between Glasgow city centre and Glasgow airport. The Glasgow city region growth deal includes the Glasgow airport access project, which is being led by the project team from Glasgow city and Renfrewshire councils. Therefore, the responsibility for undertaking an economic impact of the project lies with that team. Johann Lamont Thank you for what I would regard as a rather disappointing response. The project has been delayed time and time again. Despite numerous assessments that have been undertaken by Glasgow city council and the airport, it demonstrates significant benefits to the wider economy of the west coast of Scotland. The project is once again at risk. Meanwhile, recent reports show that increasing levels of congestion on the motorway network are increasing journey times to and from the airport. Does the cabinet secretary acknowledge the significant economic benefits that Glasgow airport brings and that the case for a direct rail link between Glasgow city centre and the airport grows stronger every year? Can he provide assurances that Transport Scotland and other agencies will work together? Will he now commit to this project and to tell us when he would hope that it could be completed? Michael Matheson I am sorry if the member found my last response disappointing. I will try to address some of the points that she has raised. She has very much recognised the important role that Glasgow airport has to the region and to the nation's economy as a whole, and it is in all of our interests to ensure that we improve connectivity between Glasgow city centre and Glasgow airport. The work that has been taken forward at the present time, looking at the outline business case, has put forward further assessment and looking at capacity on the existing paisley corridor line are all issues that need to be addressed and looking at the possibility of the rail option. I will be chairing the next meeting of the Glasgow airport access executive steering group, which includes the leaders of Glasgow and Renfrewshire council, along with the other business partners who have an interest in this matter to look at how we can make further progress with the particular issue about improving access, particularly greater connectivity to Glasgow airport. John Mason Thank you. If one of the problems and one of the constraints is the capacity at Glasgow central high-level station, I wonder if the Government would give consideration to Glasgow crossrail and a station at Glasgow cross, which would allow some trains to come from paisley gulmer street to stop there. John Mason The member is correct in highlighting that there are challenges with any rail-based link between Glasgow airport and central station, not only with capacity issues at the station itself, but also with the paisley corridor, with approaches at both Arkelston junction and Shields junction, where there are particular constraints that should have to be overcome, which should not be overcome by the Glasgow crossrail proposal. Those are matters that have been given very due consideration as part of our overall assessment on delivering on the Glasgow city region growth deal. We are also making sure that we get the right type of improved access options from Glasgow city centre to Glasgow airport. Jamie Greene I have a huge amount of sympathy for Johann Lamont's question. There is a growing frustration that this project seems to be stalling time after time. We really need to improve connectivity between that airport and the rest to grow the west of Scotland economy. Given some of the impasses that we face around the impact that the rail link may have on other services, can the minister commit that his department will fully assist the local authorities who will approve the project to ensure that that impact is minimised, but that that project can indeed make some progress? Transport Scotland officials are already engaged with the partners who are looking at taking forward this particular proposal, but it is important that we understand the full impact that it could have on rail services in the Paisley corridor area, which could be significantly detrimental to other service users. That has to be properly understood, not just in those who are using the services from Paisley and Gilmore Street but those who are using it and accessing it from Ayrshire as well. That wider piece of work has to consider all of those matters. That is exactly what has been taken forward at the present moment. I recognise the timeframe that some people feel has been too long. However, there are significant complexities around that that have to be properly understood and considered. The meeting in which I chair later this month will give us an opportunity to look at what further progress we can make in the coming months. Can the minister advise us to the benefits to North Ayrshire of having less congestion on the A737-1 serial link that is established? Can he confirm that the work on planning the timetabling of the service is already under way, given concerns expressed to the Local Government and Communities Committee about the time that network rail will take to schedule it? Correspond with the member to give him more specific details on some of the points that he has raised. However, those are important pieces of work that are about addressing issues around congestion, improving services as well as passengers. There is a need for network rail in particular to have a very clear indication of the timeframe for taking this forward. I will provide the member with more specific details on this matter in correspondence. To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to ensure that all public bodies are fulfilling their public sector equality duty, with regard specifically to the protected characteristic of sex, as represented in the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 is largely reserved. However, a framework to help public authorities meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty has been set by Scottish Minister through regulations. The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with the requirements of the 2010 act in relation to all protected characteristics. Responsibility for oversight of compliance with the 2010 act, including compliance with the 2012 regulations, rests with the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The commission is independent and cannot be directed by Scottish ministers. Private individuals may also seek to reinforce their rights under the Equality Act in courts and tribunals. She is aware of recent research by the academic consultancy Murray Blackburn McKenzie that found only seven out of the 32 local authorities in Scotland had a clear definition of sex as a protected characteristic, while others conflated sex with gender identity, which is no definition in law, or gender reassignment, which is a completely separate protected characteristic. Many Scottish Government documents also conflate the two. That undermines the Equality Act exemptions that are designed to protect women and girls. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, to support women and girls, we need clear data on sex and would she consider issuing guidelines to ensure that every public authority in Scotland adheres to this aspect of the Equality Act 2010? The protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act 2010 relates to being a man or a woman. We accept that sex and gender are distinct concepts. The Scottish Government agrees that there is a need to have disaggregated data to allow for the impacts of policies on men and women to be demonstrated. In Scotland, there are technical guidance and non-statutory guidance on the public sector equality duty for public bodies, which is published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with the requirements of the 2010 act and with the published guidance. To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers who are employed using the attainment Scotland fund are on permanent contracts. Of the 962 full-time equivalent teachers funded through the attainment Scotland fund, 542 full-time equivalent teachers are recorded as having permanent employment status. Ross Greer I thank the Deputy First Minister for that answer. There are hundreds of teachers employed on temporary contracts under the attainment challenge fund and many local authorities 100 per cent of the attainment funded teaching posts are temporary contracts. Those contracts do not contribute towards a sustainable teaching workforce. They often prevent staff from accessing opportunities for proper career progression and CPD. Does the Deputy First Minister acknowledge that, while making a valuable contribution, attainment funded teaching posts on temporary contracts are no substitute for permanently employed core teaching posts? I certainly would encourage local authorities to employ teachers on a full-time basis. We have given absolute commitment about the funding stability around the attainment Scotland fund over the course of this parliamentary term. That is beyond dispute. In addition to that, there is regular turnover within the teaching profession and vacancies will arise, which can be filled as and when they arise. The arguments are compelling to make more and more of those posts permanent. I am pleased to see the progress that has been made with the recruitment of 962 full-time equivalent teachers through the attainment Scotland fund, which is making a contribution to the increase in teacher numbers that we saw last year of £447, which was a welcome increase in the teaching profession in Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the rail network. Since 2007, we have invested £8 billion in infrastructure and services to support Scotland's railways. We continue to demonstrate our commitment to improving rail infrastructure through the high-level output specification and rail enhancements in capital investment strategy, supported by £4.85 billion investment in control period 6. An announcement on which rail projects will form the first part of control period 6 portfolio will be made by the end of March this year. Colin Beattie The cabinet secretary will be aware of the recent reports regarding train delays and cancellations. Can he outline what specific steps are being taken to improve both the Musselborough line and the border railway in the short and long term? As I stated in the chamber earlier this week, performance on our railways has been unacceptable, and that is why I instructed Transport Scotland to serve a contractual notice on ScotRail, that it must prepare and submit a remedial plan, setting out how it plans to address the performance issues, including on the North Berwick route, which serves Musselborough and borders railway to the contractually required levels. I can assure the member that there is absolutely no lack of determination in my part to ensure that ScotRail keeps to the standards that are expected of it. I set out in the contract, and I am determined to ensure that we address that. The remedial plan will assist us in dealing with that issue. Thank you very much. That concludes topical questions.