 The next item of business is consideration of business motion 8084, in the name of Joffice Patrick, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a revised business programme for today and tomorrow. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press their request to speak button now, and I call on Joffice Patrick to move motion 8084. Formally moved. Thank you very much. No member has asked to speak against the motion. The question therefore is that motion 8084 be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. Members may wish to note that decision time will be at six o'clock this evening, just to make sure that everyone is aware. The next item of business is topical questions, and we start with question number one from Sandra White. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government further to the statement issued on 16 September what its response is to the violence that took place during the independence referendum in Catalonia. The Scottish Government is very concerned about events in recent days in Catalonia. The violent scenes that were witnessed on Sunday were shocking and unnecessary, and this is a view that is shared amongst the international community. The Scottish Government is particularly disappointed by the response of the UK Government to the violent scenes. Yesterday, I wrote to the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urging the UK as a friend and ally of Spain to issue a more robust statement, unequivocally condemning the use of violence by Spanish police to suppress the peaceful expression of political views in Catalonia and communicating in the strongest possible terms our serious concerns. The Scottish Government now hopes that there is a process of dialogue that will allow both the Spanish and the Catalonian Governments to find a way forward that respects the rule of law, respects democracy and also respects the right of the people of Catalonia to decide the future of their country. Sandra White. I thank the cabinet secretary for her reply and do agree with all that she has said. Cabinet secretary mentioned the fact that she has written to the foreign secretary in Westminster. Can he ask the cabinet secretary if there are any further meetings being put forward and what would be discussed at those further meetings in regard between dialogue and has she had any correspondence with the Spanish and Catalonian Governments as well? On the latter point, there has been no correspondence, although I had a brief opportunity to speak to the Spanish consul general when he was here in this Parliament last week. The importance of dialogue, communication and mediation are absolutely essential. If you look at the comments from across the European Union, from foreign ministers from across the European Union, their message has been one of desisting on violence and progressing on dialogue. There will be responsibilities, particularly for European institutions but also for other international bodies and I think that that is the best way forward. Certainly we can express our views but we have always said that we understand that the constitutional situation and the legal situation in Spain is different. However, that is a basic issue of human rights and democracy and fundamental rights of democracy and the ability of people to express their political will and their political views without fear of violence is something that all of us, all of us as internationalists and most importantly as Democrats must uphold. Sandra White Thank you very much. I certainly agree that dialogue is essential as do the Catalonian Government as well. Cabinet Secretary, having witnessed the horrific violence by Spanish police against innocent civilians exercising a democratic right to vote, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary if she agrees with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights when he said that I am very disturbed by the violence in Catalonia on Sunday, with hundreds of people reported injured. I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure through independent and partial investigations into all acts of violence and I call on the Government of Spain to accept without delay the request by relevant UN human rights experts to visit Spain. I do indeed. I think that the intervention from the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights was welcome. I think that it was appropriate and it was also measured. It is also a reflection that abuses of human rights wherever they take place must be investigated and to respect the international perspective on that and the importance of respecting human rights as part of the UN Charter and their responsibilities therein. I think that that is one of the ways for particularly to address what has shocked so many people across the globe is the scenes of violence and very brutal violence by the Spanish police under the instruction of the Spanish authorities on people going about what all of us in this country can take for granted, which is democratic exercise of the right to vote. It is not our job to tell the people of Catalonia how to vote but they most certainly should have the right to be allowed to vote. I think that finding a way forward that respects the differences that are here where you have a clash between the rights of fundamental rights that are expressed by and desired by and should be exercised by the Catalonian people with the constitution and law of the Spanish state. These are not irreconcilable but it will take international measures and that is why I think that particularly either the EU institutions or the UN must have a responsibility to try and take this forward. Jackson Carlaw Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that whatever the thinking of the authorities and government of Spain, there was clearly little rational about it and that whatever the intentions they may have had, their actions will have proved to be wholly counterproductive? Does she agree with me that this is deeply damaging potentially to the reputation of Spain, a country for which many of us really have the fondest and most high regard? Cabinet Secretary I do indeed reflect and respect and agree with Jackson Carlaw's comments. I think that the actions by the Spanish Government has done themselves in the service and I think that they will eventually prove counterproductive and it is important that they address that and indeed engage in that dialogue that we have been discussing in my previous replies. It is absolutely essential that this situation cannot be allowed to pass and will not pass and I know that there have been diplomatic statements made but I hope that in the quietness of the private conversations that can and should be paid place, Spain can be brought to more of a common sense and respectful position than it has clearly up until down. Christina McKelvie We have seen from the violent scenes on Sunday perpetrated by the Spanish Government's civil guards. There seems to be little regard for the upholding of civil liberties and human rights. Does the Scottish Government agree with me and with article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty that we are all bound to the fundamental principles of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law and respect for human rights and that those principles should always be the foundations to which we uphold the rights of European citizens? Christina McKelvie The member is indeed correct. In this place, in this Parliament, where we are embracing the importance of human rights right across a number of committees, not least the one that the member convenes, those messages of our recognition—that is one of the aspects of article 2—are one of the strengths of the European Union now is a time when people are looking to the European Union for some leadership that expression and understanding of those rights in this context could be best served by mediation or negotiation and some involvement by the EU institutions in resolving what currently is a very intractable situation but one that must be resolved by dialogue and of peace and of democracy. Daniel Johnson What is its response to the reports that there are almost twice as many under 10s being prescribed stimulants than there were in 2010? Michael Matheson The Scottish Government has worked with a number of organisations to help to reduce the stigma faced by people with mental health problems. As this stigma has fallen, it is welcome that more people and families come forward for help with mental health problems. We believe that it is a positive sign that people feel more able to come forward to get help. The rise in prescriptions for ADHD is reflective of the general increase in demand for child and adolescent mental health services. The majority of young people with ADHD are not receiving medication as part of their treatment, instead receiving alternative support as set out in sign 112 guidelines. The most important consideration is that people with any mental illness should expect and receive the same standard of care as people with physical illness. Any prescribing is a professional clinical decision for a patient's doctor with them and should be appraised on a regular basis. Daniel Johnson Can I thank the minister for that response? I received my diagnosis of ADHD late in life at the age of 35. My diagnosis and subsequent therapy have transformed my life, but the most important element of that therapy is the medication that I take on a daily basis. My only regret is that I did not receive that diagnosis and, indeed, that therapy earlier in life. The minister will have seen the coverage in yesterday's Herald, which is part of a weekly series that it is running on Scotland's supposed over-reliance on drugs. The Royal College of Psychiatrists is clear that, if anything, we are probably under-diagnosing children with ADHD, but the rate of prescribing is roughly one-third that of the children with the most serious form of ADHD. Does the minister agree with me that such sensationalist coverage and comments from the Conservatives are unhelpful and that we should be seeking to promote understanding of this condition, not stigmatising children who take medication for ADHD and, indeed, other mental health and neurological conditions? I thank the member very much for sharing his experience of ADHD with the chamber this afternoon. He is absolutely right that more people have children and young people have ADHD than are coming forward, and fewer people are prescribed drugs and more people alternative therapies. I thank him for showing that medication has an important part to play, but I would re-emphasise that it is in consultation with the person's GP and, hopefully, that they can be reduced if that is the right thing to do. I totally agree with him on his observation of the Opposition Benches. I again thank the minister for that response, and I quite agree in the need to emphasise the importance of medication. Responding to the coverage, the Scottish ADHD Coalition stated the need for better training of our teachers and access to CAMHS. We know from the Education and Skills Committee recent work that teachers are not adequately trained in additional support needs, and while in schools across the rest of the UK there are councillors, in Scotland schools there is no guarantee for such provision. Will the minister outline what steps will be made to improve training for teachers in dealing with children with ADHD and other additional support needs? Will she meet my party's call for every school to have access to a councillor? As the member will know, and I thank him for his question, part 1 of the 40 actions in the mental health strategy is a review of PSE and schools. Some schools already provide access to school-based counselling, others utilise the skills of pastoral staff and liais with educational psychology services. We want to make sure that all children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full potential. The Additional Support for Learning Act prelaces on education authorities duties to identify, provide and review for additional support needs, but we are taking forward the PSE review as expeditiously as possible. Miles Briggs, is the minister confident that families across Scotland are always being offered access to high-quality behavioural therapists? What additional action is the Scottish Government planning to take to increase the number of behavioural therapists available to support parents and primary-age children and to reduce waiting times for that therapy? As I said in my answer to Daniel Johnson, there are access to services available through school. The Scottish Government has worked with Education Scotland to produce a psychological therapies matrix, a guide to planning and delivering evidence-based psychological therapies in Scotland. The matrix dedicates a section to ADHD. Drugs for ADHD are prescribed in line with good clinical practice under on-going supervision and where appropriate. As I said, they are used alongside other treatments such as counselling and psychological therapies. Clare Haughey, I thank Daniel Johnson for sharing his story of diagnosis and treatment. It is vitally important that those of us in the chamber break down the stigma surrounding mental illness at all ages. What has been the change in the number of CAMHS professionals under this Government and, in particular, what has been the change in the number of CAMHS psychology posts? Under this Government, the number of CAMHS psychological posts has more than doubled and the overall number of CAMHS professionals has increased by 65 per cent to almost 1,000 whole-time equivalent staff. Brian Whittle, to ask the Scottish Government, in light of the health secretary's comments in June, when she said that the country's stillbirth rates and neonatal death rates continue to decline. What is the response to the recent report by the National Records of Scotland, which suggests an increase in the rate in 2016? In my statement to Parliament in June, I highlighted the findings of the Embrace perinatal report on the 2015 data that had been published a few days previously on 22 June. The report highlighted the lowest ever stillbirth rates for Scotland and also the analysis of variation across the United Kingdom at national and health board level. The provisional 2016 data from NRS shows a rise in both stillbirth and neonatal death rates in 2016, and while that is disappointing, it is against a long-term trend of reducing rates. NRS data for the last 10 years shows that, since 2006, the stillbirth rate in Scotland has fallen by 19 per cent and the neonatal death rate by 16 per cent. That represents good news for families and good progress by the hard-working staff in maternity and neonatal units across Scotland. Brian Whittle, I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Perhaps I can ask her to explain that, given that the NRS report was available to her at the time of her statement, why she chose to use the Embrace report from 2015, given that the Embrace report does not include such statistics as multiple births and home births? First of all, the Embrace perinatal report on the 2015 data was just published a few days previously on 22 June, so it was the most recent Embrace perinatal report, which of course is the gold standard of reports that compares rates across the UK and between health boards. The provisional 2016 NRS data was first published on 8 March, but the data remains provisional for a full year because there is sometimes a delay in data being reported and sometimes the data needs cleansed. The data becomes finalised after the end of a year, next March 2018, and will feature in the Embrace perinatal surveillance report to be published next summer, which will be based on the 2016 NRS data and will provide an indication of the relative rates of stillbirth and neonatal death across the UK. I hope that that provides an explanation to Mr Whittle. Mr Whittle, in case that concludes the topical questions, we will now move on to our next