 Dau'r unrhyw ddweud hynny, ac fyddwn i'n gofyniwr y cyfnodau ymherwydd. Rhyw unrhyw ddweud hynny, Ruth Davidson. Rwyth Davidson yw y cyfrif loyaltyad y gyfnod eu gwaith? Rhaid i'r gwlad ar gyfer ar gyfer gweithiau ymherwydd oedd y byddig yn dda i'r Does the First Minister agree with me that when young people here do choose teaching as a career, we should do everything that we can to ensure that they stay? First Minister. As we have discussed in this chamber before, Scotland, in common with many other countries, faces a challenge in teacher recruitment. That is why we are increasing the intake into initial teacher education. That is why the General Teaching Council is looking to encourage more people into teaching and look at different routes into teaching. I suspect Ruth Davidson is going to ask me next about teach first. I said before that I am open-minded to looking at ideas about how we get more young people into teaching, but we have got to make sure that those ideas work for Scottish education. We will continue to do everything that we can to make sure that we address the challenges that we face. The First Minister raises the issue of teach first. Let's have a little look at it, shall we? This week, we learned that, in the last five years, nearly 400 talented graduates have left Scotland to teach elsewhere in the UK. That is because they were attracted by the teach first programme—a very successful programme—which, despite versions operating in 40 countries around the world, still has not been allowed to set foot in Scotland. That is 400 enthusiastic young teachers who could be in our schools right now but who are not because Nicola Sturgeon says so. We have heard in recent days about the huge quality issues surrounding teacher training here. Given that, can the First Minister give me a single good reason why she is stopping new schemes, like teach first, from running here in Scotland and seeing if they can improve matters? First Minister. I have met teach first and I have discussed with it previously whether it would be possible to adapt their schemes to fit with Scottish education. We have a principle in Scottish education that people teaching in our schools should have a teaching qualification. That is a right one. When I visited not long after I became First Minister of school in London, it took part in the London challenge. We looked carefully at the London challenge and incorporated some of its learning into our own attainment challenge, but the head teacher that I spoke to in that school herself was quite sceptical about teach first—one of the things that she said about it at the time—that it was in her view. I absolutely appreciate that there will be other views about it, that it was quite short-term. There was a difficulty often in retaining those teachers. We will continue to discuss with the GTCS, the teaching profession and local authorities how we make sure that we get the brightest and best teachers into our schools. Indeed, the GTC has already been looking at different ways of bringing young people into schools. Ruth Davidson does not talk about all the fantastic graduates in Scotland who go into teaching in Scotland, and I certainly want to encourage more of them to do so. We will continue to look at all those issues as we drive forward with our determination to drive up standards in our schools and close the attainment gap between the richest and the poorest. To give me a good reason why she will not allow teach first to operate here, I spoke to a woman in London, but I am not entirely closing my mind to it, which is odd, because that is exactly the answer that the First Minister gave me on January 14th in 2016, the last time I asked her about it, almost 18 months ago, is a decision anywhere in our future here. That is a scheme that operates successfully in 40 countries but not here. I have to say that you really have to question whether the First Minister really understands the problems that we face, because we have 4,000 fewer teachers than when she came to power, and we are not recruiting nearly enough trainees to fill the gaps. We have 16 per cent of training places for English unfilled and more than a quarter of the training places for maths unfilled, and she claims that her Government is on top of that. If she is on top of it, what percentage of secondary schools say that a lack of teachers is constraining the number of subjects that she can offer? First Minister. I have been very clear about the challenges that we face in common with other challenges around teacher recruitment. That is why John Swinney has been working with the GDC to look at how we get more teachers into education, but it is also why we have been increasing the intake into initial teacher education, considerably increasing that intake. As I said in relation to teach first, we have had initial discussions about whether that programme can be adapted for the particular circumstances of education. We will continue to look at those issues in the round, and we will continue to drive forward the plans that we are taking forward. The national improvement framework, which is all ready-seeing reforms around school education, the attainment challenge, the people equity fund in particular, which, as we speak, is channeling resources into the hands of head teachers so that they can drive the improvements that they want to see in their schools. While week after week Ruth Davidson quite legitimately gets up and asks questions about this, this Government will get on with taking the action that finds the solutions. Ruth Davidson. What a lot of waffle. I am very pleased. I am very pleased that the First Minister thinks that it is legitimate for me to ask questions about our failing education system. Frankly, I think that it is my duty to ask those questions. The question that I asked her, was what proportion of our schools are constrained in the subjects that they can offer their pupils because of teacher shortages. The answer is 70 per cent. That was the figure reported to this Parliament's education committee. 70 per cent of schools who cannot offer their S4 pupils the subjects that they want to because her Government has not recruited the teachers. Instead of facing this crisis, what do we get? This week, we have seen back slapping of 10 years in power while education has been getting worse. The reality is that this is a First Minister who has presided over a teacher recruitment crisis, who has fallen asleep at the wheel on education, who has responded to bad test results and has said, let's just take Scotland out of the test, and who knocks back good ideas like teach first for reasons that even she can't explain apart from some women in London told me to call canny. We have all had enough. Isn't it time that we had a First Minister in charge who doesn't just admit the occasional mistake but does something about all of them? The international summit of teaching experts that the Deputy First Minister attended just before Easter recognised that there were teacher recruitment challenges right across the world, including in England for Ruth Davidson, to suggest that somehow this is a problem unique to Scotland, I think, is unfortunate. I also think that it's unfortunate that she, week after week, stands up here and rightly points to areas where we need to improve, but repeatedly fails to talk about the improvements that we are seeing in Scottish education. The fact that in our schools right now, our young people are coming out with record higher passes, record advanced higher passes. We have more young people now achieving national five qualifications. We have got record numbers of young people going into positive destinations. If they don't go into higher or further education, they are going into training or work. We are starting to see on a number of indicators the beginning of the closing of the gap between the richest and the poorest. I am the first to admit that there is much more to do, but Ruth Davidson should stop doing a disservice to teachers and pupils across this country by using terms such as a failing education system. We do not have a failing education system in Scotland, and Ruth Davidson should be ashamed standing up here, suggesting that we do. Question 2, Kezia Dugdale. To ask the First Minister what engagement she has planned for the rest of the week. First Minister. Engagement is to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Kezia Dugdale. Yesterday, the First Minister and I met with Brendan Cox, the husband of Joe Cox. At that meeting, the First Minister rightly agreed that there is no place for abuse of any kind in our political debate. A few weeks ago, a prominent internet blogger said of Oliver Mundell, a member of this Parliament, that he is the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner. Does the First Minister agree with me that there is absolutely no place in society for homophobia like this? First Minister. Yes, of course I do. For Kezia Dugdale to get up here, I am being serious about this and suggest that in any way, shape or form, I would condone homophobia. I think that it is deeply unfortunate. I think on those issues. It was indeed the kind of issue that we were all discussing with Brendan Cox yesterday. All of us should make very clear that that kind of language, any form of abuse of any minority or indeed of any politician of that nature is completely unacceptable. I see abuse on a daily basis being hurled at me, at my colleagues, at people on my side of the political spectrum. I do not hold Kezia Dugdale personally responsible for that, so we should all join together and say that that kind of abuse is unacceptable and at least have this as an issue on which we have consensus and not division. I very much welcome that response for the First Minister. Of course, this was a remark posted on Twitter by Stuart Campbell, who writes for the website Wings Over Scotland. In the daily record, I called out Mr Campbell for his homophobic comment. People should listen to this if they are serious about tackling homophobia and abuse in all of its forms. Mr Campbell has written to me via his lawyer to demand a £10,000 payment for and I quote, damage to reputation. Presiding Officer, I stand firmly by my comment. I have never cout out to a bully and I will not start today. A catalogue of evidence that demonstrates the bile that Stuart Campbell appears to believe is acceptable. Given that we are in a general election campaign, will the First Minister today condemn Wings Over Scotland and anyone else who poisons the political debate in our country? First Minister. I just have condemned anybody who indulges in that kind of language or that kind of abuse. I am not responsible for Stuart Campbell any more than Kezia Dugdale is responsible for people who hurl abuse at me in the name of being a supporter of the Labour Party. But you know what, Presiding Officer, let's cut to the chase about what is going on here. Kezia Dugdale is asking me about this today because she hopes that it means that I won't be able to remind her that her colleagues in Aberdeen yesterday voted for a Tory administration there. What we are seeing here today is a bit of a political smokescreen. Let me put it beyond any doubt. I condemn anybody who hurls abuse on social media or anywhere else and all of us should do that. The abuse that I see directed at me on a daily basis would make somebody's hair curdle. Some of it does come from people professing to be supporters of Kezia Dugdale's party. I do not hold her personally responsible for that. I think that we should all accept that there are people out there who will do that and we should all unite in condemning it. Presiding Officer, when my colleagues do something that I disagree with, I take action. I am asking the First Minister to do the same. I might want to wait a wee second. The comment from Wingsover Scotland was published by an individual who not only distorts her political debate but regularly spouts hatred. Yet SNP politicians continue to positively engage with him and alert their followers to his beliefs. There are a few SNP politicians who have called him out, but 44 per cent of SNP MSPs and 50 per cent of SNP MPs have actively encouraged him along. I have the list here. It includes 10 Government ministers, the finance secretary, the justice secretary and the transport minister. Social media can be a force for good, but as leaders we have a duty to stand up when it becomes an outlet for aggression, intolerance and hatred. I want to ask the First Minister a clear yes or no question. Will she today order her politicians and her own ministers to denounce and shun Wingsover Scotland once and for all? The First Minister Thousands of people on Twitter, and I am followed by hundreds of thousands of people on Twitter. Is Kezia Dugdale really trying to say—if I was to go through Kezia Dugdale's tweets or the tweets of members of her group or members of her party, and I came up with three tweets that were somehow unsavory in some way—is she really saying that she would hold herself personally responsible for that? That is absolutely ridiculous line of questioning, Presiding Officer. I unequivocally condemn abuse of any kind. I have a list here of abuse that has been hurled by me and by many people who are now Tory councillors in Scotland. I have had abuse from people who have been members of the Labour Party. I have been called a fascist and a Nazi, or my party has, by Ian Smart, who was a senior member of the Labour Party, and I did not hold Kezia Dugdale responsible. Let's cut to the chase here. This is a smoke screen being erected by Kezia Dugdale today. Her party is in disarray, in civil war, in meltdown, and as leader of the party, she is directing this at me to hide one simple fact. As leader of the Scottish Labour Party, she is not in control of her own party because she cannot stop her councillors from going into coalition with Tories up and down the country. That is why she is asking about this today, as a smoke screen to protect herself against the state of her own party. I wonder if the First Minister would join me in welcoming the Government's appeal victory against the judicial review judgment that blocked the development of offshore wind farms in the Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay, a victory that is good news for Scotland and the climate change, green energy and jobs fronts. She also joined me in encouraging the RSPB, who instigated the original action, to accept the appeal decision and resolve their concerns over seabirds by working with the developers on, for example, the sympathetic sighting of turbines. I welcome the judgment. I think that the development of offshore wind is important, not just for environmental reasons but for economic development reasons in Scotland. I hope that that now means that those developments can continue. Obviously, what happens now is a decision for the RSPB. I certainly hope that we will see an end to the court action. I also hope that the RSPB will listen to this because protecting the environment is really important. I know that it has legitimate concerns about that. I want to say very clearly to them and others with concerns that we want to make sure that we work in a way that allows the development of offshore wind for all the benefits that it brings, but it does so with the protection of the environment very much paramount. I hope that we can move forward on that basis. Andy Wightman Thank you, Presiding Officer. The First Minister may be aware that an estate agency based in Edinburgh, McEwen Fraser legal, is demanding a buyer's premium fee on the sale of property. If prospective buyers do not agree to pay this and the property is offered to the next bidder who can pay it, concerns about the practice has been raised with me by a constituent who has spent 12 years saving for his first flat and is now expected to pay a buyer's premium fee of £2,940 on a £130,000 flat. Does the First Minister agree that the buyer's premium fee is an example of unscrupulous, unethical rent-seeking sharp practice by McEwen Fraser legal? Will her Government look into the issue and assess the legality and morality of the practice, which adds further costs to the process of buying a house? Does the First Minister finally agree that the subject matter of the estate agents act 1979 should be devolved so that this Parliament has the full powers over matters relating to the acquisition of land and property? The First Minister Firstly, I am happy to look into the matter further. I certainly agree with Andy Wightman that those powers should be devolved. The regulation of estate agents is currently a reserved matter because it is covered by the Consumer Protection Reservation in the Scotland Act. I absolutely agree that fees charged by estate agents should be completely transparent and clear. I understand that the Scottish Government has recently received one complaint about charging a buyer's premium, so I will make further inquiries about the point and the case that has been raised by Andy Wightman today, and I will write to the member on the matter once I have further information. Lewis MacDonald Minister will know that NHS Grampian this week announced that it can no longer guarantee surgery within 12 weeks of diagnosis. It is not in a position to meet the targets that she has set. Will our Government therefore step up to the plate and provide NHS Grampian with the funding that it should receive under the Government's own NRAC formula, a formula that is now nearly 10 years old and has still not been delivered? The First Minister Of course, we have moved health boards much closer to parity, as it is called, than was the case when we took office under NRAC, which of course replaced the Arbuthnot formula. We continue to do that. On the specific issue that Lewis MacDonald raised, we are clear with all health boards that patients who are waiting for treatment, such as elective surgery, must be seen as quickly as possible. It is important that patients with the highest clinical priority, such as cancer patients, for example, are seen extremely quickly. We are already investing additional resources. We have also been working with NHS Grampian and other health boards about further investment, which we will announce very soon, to help boards to build up their capacity, particularly their elective capacity, to make sure that all patients are treated in a timely fashion. We see waiting times in our health service now lower than they were when this Government first took office, but we also see demand on our health service continue to rise mainly due to the ageing population, so we must continue to work with health boards and make sure that health boards have the required resources, so that they can continue to deliver the standard of service that patients deserve. Gil Paterson First Minister, my constituent Dr Kevin Parsons, who lives and bears den with his wife and two children, is due to be deported on June 11. The Glasgow University lecturer has recently been awarded £1.32 million research grant from the UK Government. That employs a further three people. The Home Office has repeatedly given Dr Parsons the wrong information that has led to this personal crisis. Dr Parsons is a Canadian national, his wife qualifies for UK citizenship and one of his children was born in the UK. Would the First Minister intervene in use for influence in this case to assist allowing Dr Parsons to remain here in Scotland and continue his valuable work? The First Minister Obviously, I do not know all the details of the case that Gil Paterson raises, but I would be very happy to look into the detail of that and see whether there is anything that the Scottish Government can do to appeal to the Home Office to see sense if indeed that is what is required. I do think that the case that Gil Paterson has outlined in terms of the details that he shared with the chamber today really do seem to illustrate the complete long-headedness of the UK Government's approach to immigration. We see today, as the Tories published their manifesto, a recommitment to an immigration target that they know is undeliverable, but they also know that, in the process of trying to deliver that target, they will do untold damage to not just the Scottish economy but the UK economy as a whole. We also see them today, reportedly publishing proposals to increase the amount of money that employers have to pay if they want to employ skilled migrants from outside the EU. As the BMA has pointed out, that includes doctors and nurses and other people working in our health service. Not only will we make it harder to recruit people into the health service, harder perhaps to recruit people into the teaching profession from outside this country, but we will also charge our public services when they are trying to do so. That really sums up the fact that the UK is pursuing an immigration policy that is damaging to the economy of the country. Of course, they are doing it as they are increasingly morphing into UKIP. That makes it all the more important that, after this general election, there are strong voices standing up to the Tories and making sure that Scotland's interests in this area and in so many other areas are properly protected. A few days ago, the Prime Minister showed how hugely in touch she is with the priorities of the country by declaring that she has always supported fox hunting and maintains a commitment to its reintroduction. Today, the Conservative manifesto promises a step backwards in reintroducing this cruel and barbaric act to parts of these islands. It was also revealed that one of Ruth Davidson's former colleagues who resigned recently is a member of a fox hunting club in Scotland claiming that she is part of her way of life. An estimated 800 foxes are killed by hunts each year in Scotland, 20 per cent of which are killed by packs of hounds rather than being shot in clear breach of the wild mammals act. The First Minister will be well aware of the huge amount of anger and concern that there is among members of the public about the issue. Does she agree with those members of the public who are contacting all parties at the moment to demand a ban on this brutal act? Does she agree with her party leader at Westminster, who says that he totally opposes fox hunting and that she does with the law in Scotland totally opposes fox hunting? First Minister, before I come on to the position of the Scottish Government, I think that it says a lot about the priorities of Theresa May and the Tories when they go out of their way to deny Parliament any say over the hugely important issues associated with Brexit and yet they are committed to giving Parliament a free vote on reintroducing fox hunting. If ever there was something that said that this is a Government that has got completely the wrong priorities then, I suspect that this is it. Obviously, when David Cameron was talking about this previously, that raised an issue about the differences between the law in England and in Scotland. At that point, we committed to looking at loopholes in the Scottish law, as Patrick Harvie will be aware. We have had Lord Bonomy look at this in detail. We are now consulting on Lord Bonomy's recommendations and considering whether changes in the law are required as a result of that. I understand the concerns of the people who are writing to us. I have always been an opponent of fox hunting and remain an opponent of fox hunting. We need to make sure that the operation of the law in Scotland is appropriate, and that is exactly what this process is intended to ensure. Patrick Harvie? I think that the very many people contacting politicians at the moment on this issue will want a clearer answer about what is proposed in Scotland. The Bonomy review was welcome, but it followed a very narrow remit that was defined by the Scottish Government, which specifically excluded consideration of a full ban. Indeed, his Lordship said that he always had in notion the mind that there must be a way of preserving fox hunting and said that he was not minded to abolish fox hunting but to find a way of maintaining it. While some of the proposals may go beyond the status quo, they would be a tantamount to proposing that the Scottish Government endorses a form of regulated fox hunting. If the Scottish Government means to consult openly on this issue, can the First Minister confirm that the consultation will include consideration of a complete ban on mounted fox hunting in Scotland and failing that, removing the exemption in the act that allows plushing of foxes to guns given the significant evidence that this activity is used as a decoy for traditional, brutal and barbaric fox hunting? First, I think that while I do understand the concerns that people are expressing and share some of those concerns, I do think that Patrick Harvie mischaracterises the position of the Scottish Government. The exemptions that are in the current law are of course exemptions that were debated and agreed by this Parliament. I appreciate before Patrick Harvie was a member of it in the first session of this Parliament when there was a member's bill brought forward and those issues were fully debated at that time. There have been concerns raised about what I am describing as loopholes and whether we need to tighten the law further. We have embarked on a process. We have had Lord Bonomy look at this in detail. We are now consulting on what Lord Bonomy has said. Given that this is a live consultation, we should allow that consultation to take its course. If Patrick Harvie wants to submit to that consultation—he may have already done so, in which case I apologise—he can submit to that consultation and argue for us to go further than we are, and that will be considered as part of that consultation. However, I think that we should go forward with this process and that is the right thing to do. However, be under no doubt at all that this Government opposes fox hunting and that is a position that we have long taken and a position that we continue to take. Willie Rennie To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the cabinet. The First Minister Matters of importance to the people of Scotland. Willie Rennie Children in Lothian waited 666 days to get important mental health treatment. For anyone, that must feel like a lifetime. For a person so young, that must feel like eternity. Why are waiting times so bad when the First Minister said that it would be a priority? It is a priority and, as Willie Rennie knows—I should say to start with—there are still some long waits for mental health treatment that are unacceptable. However, we are making progress in bringing waiting times down. We are also increasing the investment in mental health services generally and also in child and adolescent mental health services. We have seen the number of people working in those services increase as well. That is a priority and I know that it is a priority not just for this Government but for parties across the chamber. We will continue to make sure that we bring forward the investment and the other actions that are required to make sure that all young people who are coming forward for mental health treatment get that treatment and get it in a timious way. As we have said before, this is true of many of the challenges that we grapple with in the health service, but it is particularly true here. We have vastly increased demand for mental health services, which, as I have said before, we should think is a good thing because it means that the stigma is reducing, but it means that we have to equip the services to deal with that. We are seeing improvement in terms of waiting times, we are seeing improvement in terms of investment and numbers working in mental health services, and we will continue to make sure that we see that improvement continue. Willie Rennie I am afraid that we have heard that all before. Can I just quote what she said last year? When I asked the First Minister, she told me this. This is one of the most serious issues that we face as a society, but when we discussed this through the budget process, we discovered that the Government was much further behind than even we had feared. Children in Lothian are not alone. In the 10th year of her Government, the weight in the Highlands is 623 days. In 5th, 611 days, in Ersir and Arran, 448, Grampian, it is a year. The Government published independence legislation in weeks, but it took 15 whole months to get around to a mental health strategy. Those children deserve better from this Government and the First Minister. Will those children still be waiting as long next year, or is she going to do something different? The First Minister I think that Willie Rennie is completely mischaracterising the position of the Government. The facts speak for themselves. I recognise the challenge of improving these services. That is why the CAMHS workforce has increased by just under 50 per cent under the Government. Spending on mental health has increased by 42 per cent. In this year alone, spending will increase to £1 billion for the first time. We continue to take steps to ensure that mental health services get an increasing share of the overall health budget. The commitment is there and it is evidenced in the action that we are taking. Although we are seeing waiting times reduce generally, there are some long waits that we are seeking to tackle. To put that in context, there is now 82.5 per cent seen within 18 weeks, which is a 3.5 per cent increase from the last quarter. I do not pretend that we have not still got work to do here. That is a feature of the increasing demand that we are seeing. However, the investment, the workforce and the progress in reducing waiting times are also there to see. Obviously, our mental health strategy contains a range of actions that focus rightly on the prevention and early intervention to meet the mental health needs of children and young people and to step in promptly where they develop. For example, a review of the role of pastoral guidance and counselling services and a review into rejected child and adolescent mental health service referrals. Willie Rennie is right to say that this is a challenge that we need to address. What he is wrong to say is that we are not taking the action to address it, because we very definitely are. The Israeli ambassador Mark Regev is in the Scottish Parliament. Will the First Minister any representative of our Government be meeting him? If so, can she deliver a very loud and clear message that, after 50 years of Palestinian oppression, the illegal occupation of the West Bank must end, that the illegal expansion of settlements must end, that the illegal siege on Gaza must end and that it must allow free access of food, medicines and supplies into the Gaza Strip, and that he understands that, without justice, equality and freedom, there can never be peace. Fiona Hyslop will meet the Israeli ambassador later today, but during that meeting she will deliver on behalf of the Scottish Government a very strong message on justice for Palestine and for Palestinians, covering the various issues that Ana Sarwar raises. The Government has been very clear in our support for people in Gaza and the range of injustices and hardships that they suffer and have suffered for many times. I myself have led a debate in this chamber about Gaza in the past. Ultimately, of course, we remain committed to the two-state solution in Palestine, so that message will be delivered strongly by Fiona Hyslop on behalf of the Scottish Government when she meets the ambassador later today. The actions of the Labour council group in Aberdeen and reports of two further deals between Labour and Conservatives. Does the First Minister agree that the clear message to voters is that, if she votes Labour, she will get Tory? In large parts of the country, it certainly seems to be the case. This is a serious point. Labour votes in Aberdeen yesterday were used to put the Tories into administration. I think that that should say something to everybody who might be considering voting Labour in the future, that if you vote Labour, you often do not get Labour, you get the Tories, and that is the reality. Perhaps Kezia Dugdale will want to take the opportunity of just making it clear that the suspensions of the Aberdeen councillors yesterday will not miraculously be waved away after June 8. Perhaps Kezia Dugdale could tell us that at the first opportunity, because I suspect that, as soon as the general election is out of the way, we will see those Labour-Tories coalitions taking effect all over the country. That says everything that we need to know about Labour and the Tories and the alliance between the two of them. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle homelessness in Glasgow and across the country. First Minister. The Scottish Government has ensured that homeless people in Scotland have some of the strongest housing rights anywhere in the world. Our recent focus on the prevention of homelessness through initiatives such as housing options has led to consistent falls in homelessness applications, including in the city of Glasgow. However, there is more to do, particularly to address rough sleeping. We know that providing a home is not the only support that people, particularly vulnerable people, need. That is why our current priorities include strengthening the development of approaches such as housing first, currently piloted in Glasgow, which provides permanent accommodation alongside intensive peer support to help individuals with complex needs to stay in their accommodation. Sandra White I thank the First Minister for that reply, in particular the support that has been given to the homeless people in Glasgow with the various needs. I want to say to the First Minister and everyone in this Parliament that I am sure that they will all agree that it is unacceptable that a country that is rich in Scotland should have anyone dying on the streets due to homelessness. Further to that, does the First Minister share my concerns, very deep concerns, that homelessness will be exacerbated in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland with the move to universal credit, delays in payments and the UK Government's welfare changes will put more people at risk of being homeless? That is absolutely unacceptable. The First Minister Yes, I do, but before I go on to that, let me just underline how important it is to this Government to continue to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. I know that that is a key priority of what I hope will be the new administration of Glasgow City Council by the end of today, and we will work with the administration of Glasgow City Council to make sure that we do not have a position where people are sleeping rough and anybody is facing the prospect of dying on the streets of our country. That is utterly unacceptable and not a situation that I am prepared to see happen in our country. On the wider point about benefit changes, that is an important point. I was in Inverness at the end of last week visiting a food bank and talking to some people who work front line with benefit applicants in Inverness. The reason Inverness is important is because it is a part of Scotland where universal credit has already been rolled out and the experience there should send a shiver up and down our spines at the thought of universal credit being rolled out more widely. The experience there is of people's benefits being hugely delayed, people not getting the money that they are entitled to on time, often not getting all of the money that they are entitled to when they get it. I was hearing stories of people falling into rent arrears, falling into debt, all through absolutely no fault of their own. The other point that I would make is that I do not think that that is acceptable for anybody who needs social security support. Many of the people who are finding themselves in those positions are people who are working. They are working hard to try to support their families and they are being treated in this way by a Conservative Government that is rolling out these benefit changes that are clearly not fit for purpose. The roll-out of universal credit should be halted until the Tories can assure everybody that they have got it right, because the price of not doing that and of carrying on is to plunge many more people into misery and potential homelessness, and that would be unforgivable. Annie Wells Thank you, Presiding Officer. In April 3, sector organisations, including Shelter Scotland, emphasised the need once again for the Scottish Government to develop a new national homelessness strategy. Will the First Minister listen to her concerns and commit her Government to developing the strategy? The First Minister We will continue to work with organisations such as Shelter to make sure that we have not just got the right strategies in place, but we have got the right practical policies in place to back up those strategies. We already have some of the strongest rights for homeless people in Scotland and we have seen consistent falls in homelessness applications, but we do know that we have got to keep making progress and we have got a particular issue around rough sleeping. I would repeat the point that I have just made, particularly to a Conservative member of this Parliament. Any strategy that we have on homelessness and tackling homelessness or tackling poverty and lifting people out of poverty is going to continue to be undermined as long as we have a Conservative Government at Westminster that is intent on driving more and more people into poverty by cruel and callous social security cuts. I would throw the question back to the Tories. Why won't you go and tell your bosses at London to stop penalising the poor and work with us to help them instead? Pauline McNeill There is anecdotal evidence at least that rough sleeping is increasing in Scotland. Most people you talk to say now they say more people sleeping in doorways. A few things are more shocking than people dying from cold or hunger on the streets of Scotland. I know that there are many reasons why that might be the case, some of which the First Minister has already mentioned. However, in view of that First Minister, I urge you to review the current strategy on housing and rough sleeping. To review the fact that local authorities may need more resources to take that on. To review the fact that, although the figures may not bear this out, the evidence is strong enough to review the strategy that we currently have. I know that the First Minister has already agreed to look at some of the options that I raised last time, which is called housing first. I know that she is committed to this, but on all seriousness, when you have deaths as we have seen in the streets of Glasgow, is it not time to at least have another look at the strategy that you currently have? First Minister? Indeed, it would not be, which is why we are taking action to help councils to deal with those issues. On the statistics around rough sleeping, I am going to cite those statistics with a degree of caution, because I think that many of us think that there will be an underreporting in those statistics because of the nature of the issue that we are dealing with. However, the statistics on rough sleeping do not show an increase over the past three years, they show a steady state. However, as I say, I do not underestimate the fact that there might be an underreporting in those statistics. We are already taking action to strengthen the homelessness and prevention strategy group, so that we have the right strategic direction. However, we are also taking practical action, of course, where funding a post in Glasgow City Council's housing access team, for example, to make sure that we are improving liaison between the council and housing associations. Of course, we are looking to see the housing options approach that has been piloted in Glasgow extended. I think that this is something that the soon-to-be ex-moderator of the Church of Scotland raised with me when he came into office a year ago. The housing options approach is important because it recognises that, particularly for a vulnerable person—sorry, the housing first approach—you have to do more than simply provide accommodation, it is the support that goes around that. We are continuing to work with councils to make sure that we are actively addressing those issues, and we will continue to do so. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to the Scottish Retail Consortium report indicating that the shop vacancy rate rose from the period from January to April 2017. We have already taken significant steps to help the retail sector. Our town centre first principle and our town centre action plan is designed to tackle key issues such as empty shops and to improve the vibrancy of our town centres. We deliver a highly competitive business tax environment. We have lifted 100,000 properties in Scotland. I will say it again for the benefit of the Tories. We have lifted 100,000 properties in Scotland out of non-domestic rates all together. I will add for the benefit of the record that the Conservatives voted against 100,000 businesses being taken out of business rates. We have also funded relief for two-thirds of retail properties. Of course, we have given local authorities the power to further reduce rates. It is important to note that the shop vacancy rate in Scotland is lower now than it was in 2015. It remains lower than that of the UK, but we continue to want to do more to support the retail sector and get shops in our town centres occupied and providing services to the public. I thank the First Minister for her response. Shot vacancies are up, while the productivity growth in Scotland retail is lower than the rest of the UK. That is further evidence that the Scottish Government's economic policies are failing. With the business rate revolution hitting Scottish retails hard, the Government needs to get back to the day job of focusing on the economy or will it be the Scottish retail sector that will have to pay the price? We have seen an increase from January this year to April from 9 per cent to 9.2 per cent in terms of the vacancy rate. Back in 2015, the vacancy rate was 10.6 per cent, so it is lower now than it was then. We also see the Scottish Retail Consortium report highlighting that footfall in Scotland's high streets and retail parts actually grew by 3.2 per cent. The third fastest go-through rate of all of the UK's nations and regions and the fastest growth in Scotland since July 2014. Those are just a few facts to perhaps correct some of the mischaracterisations at the heart of the question. The member cites the wider economic performance in Scotland. We, like other parts of the UK, have got work to do to get our economy growing faster—something that is not going to be helped by the extreme Brexit that the Tories are pursuing. Yesterday, we saw unemployment again fall below the UK average. We saw employment in Scotland increase. We saw productivity growth in Scotland around 7 per cent over the past few years, which is completely stagnant in the rest of the UK. We will get on with the hard work of supporting our economy. Unfortunately, we face a Tory Government at Westminster that appears intent through its extreme Brexit in undermining our economy. That is the reality. The First Minister's Questions We now move on to members' business. The name of Colin Smyth on sneering. I will just take a few moments for members to change seats.