 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face covering should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The first item of business is portfolio questions and the first portfolio questions is justice and veterans. I remind members that questions 4 and 8 are grouped together and that I will take any supplementaries on these questions after both have been answered. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request to speak button or indicate so in the chat function by entering the letter R during the relevant question. Question 1, Emma Harper. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Police Scotland to implement and enforce legislation on the control of dogs. Minister Ashwigand. I'm aware that Emma Harper's protection of livestock Scotland act came into force that we can and I pay tribute to the member and all those involved in making that important legislation a reality. The Scottish Government worked with Police Scotland and others to help arrange for the commencement of that legislation and more generally Police Scotland are valued members of the Scottish Government-led dog control and dangerous dogs working group. Work carried out by this group includes a review of the control of dogs joint protocol agreement between Police Scotland and local authorities, as well as establishing a national dog control database that will assist enforcement of dog control measures. Emma Harper. I thank the minister for that response. The minister will be aware that my Dogs Protection and Livestock amendment, as she has agreed, came into force last Thursday. The act strengthens the penalties available for those who allow out-of-control dogs to worry or attack livestock and extends the powers of police and the Crown Office to investigate those offences. Can the minister outline whether any guidance has been produced for police and vets on the investigation and enforcement of the offence? Yes. I'm pleased to confirm that officials have worked closely with stakeholders to assist with the development of guidance that's being prepared for private vets on what should happen if a live dog is seized by the police and presented to a private vet for examination. I should stress that we think that this is unlikely to be a frequent occurrence. The guidance has been discussed in detail with Police Scotland, with veterinary organisations including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Veterinary Association and with the Scottish SPCA. It's close to agreements and it will be published on the Scottish Government website by the end of November. 2. Colin Beattie To ask the Scottish Government in light of reported Crown Office findings that there's been a 9% increase in reported charges with a domestic abuse identifier during the Covid-19 pandemic. What action is it taking to support victims of domestic violence? Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. We all recognise that during the coronavirus pandemic for some people, their home has not been a place of safety and sadly that, as a member mentioned, that's been reflected a 9% increase in the number of domestic abuse charges reported to the Crown Office and Fiscal Service in the last year. That's why, in the first 100 days of this Government, we directed £5 million of new funding to domestic abuse services and rape crisis centres to help cut waiting lists for special support services. That was in addition to the £5.75 million allocated last year to support front-line organisations, Covid response and recovery, so that they could respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse. Colin Beattie I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. Can I ask what steps the Scottish Government is taking to ensure more people are aware of the support that you outlined in your answer and what support will be given to local organisations to help deliver their services? I'm sure that another member will be aware of the many advertisements on TV and in the media around the issue, but we, for our part, remain committed to raising awareness of domestic abuse and we support Scotland's domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline, which is available 24-7, to support anybody with experience of domestic abuse. Later this month, we will launch a campaign to reach those most at risk and ensure that survivors are aware of the support that continues to be available. We continue to invest significant levels of funding in specialist front-line services. Our new Delivering Equally Safe Fund recently confirmed allocations to 121 projects from 112 organisations working to provide key services and to prevent gender-based violence. Four in five victims of domestic abuse are women. That truly is a shocking statistic, we all agree, but it remains true that over 10,000 incidents involve male victims of abuse. Can I ask if any of the funds that were mentioned in the previous answer by the cabinet secretary will be allocated towards charities such as Abuse Men in Scotland and other organisations who support male victims of abuse so that they get their fair and proportionate share of government support as well? The member raises an important point, and we are absolutely clear that there is no excuse for domestic abuse, regardless of the gender of the victim or the perpetrator. The victims in over 80 per cent of cases are female, but we recognise that men can be victims of domestic abuse too, perpetrated either by women or in same-sex relationships. We are funding a range of services to support male victims, and that includes providing nearly £190,000 over 2017-23 to run the respect helpline, which signposts male survivors of domestic abuse to support services. Over the same period, we are providing £5.6 million to assist, who as part of their work provide advocacy support to male survivors of domestic abuse in the west of Scotland in the Lothians. We also fund the Scottish domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline, as I mentioned, to support both male and female victims and survivors. Does the domestic abuse identifier include any evidence of increasing abuse to pets, usually dogs, which are used by perpetrators to coerce and control their partners? I cannot say that it does, and if it does, I haven't seen it, so I'm happy to go and look into that. If I have more information, I can provide to the member to write to the member with that information. 3. Michelle Thomson, who is joining us remotely. To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the consumer voice is adequately heard in the legal services regulation reform consultation. Public consultation, based on Esther Robertson's recommendations from her independent review of legal services regulation, was published on 1 October, and it will run until 24 December 2021. We have published a summary consultation as well, and that is designed to allow participants, without detailed knowledge of the current framework of regulation, to share their views and their priorities on legal services regulation reform. In parallel, we are undertaking a series of consultation focus groups to increase the opportunity for the public to respond to the consultation either in part or on whole. Details of the consultation have been shared on the Scottish Government's Twitter page, and we continue to engage with stakeholder networks such as Citizens Advice Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to amplify and to promote the consultation to ensure that we reach a wide audience as possible. The consultation is available on the Scottish Government website if anyone is interested and wants to respond to it. I thank the minister for her response and declare that I am an interested party as I have a current complaint. Section A on potential regulatory models requires strong responses from consumers, and particularly from those such as myself who have direct and recent experience of the current system, at present I believe that it is heavily biased against the consumer's interest. Firstly, will the minister meet me to hear about my experience, and secondly, will the Government issue an urgent call to ensure that consumer voices are heard and not just to lawyers and their representative bodies? I agree. A strong response from consumers, those with lived experience, is very important as ministers consider the reform. I am clear that the future framework should place consumer interests at its heart. I offer assurance to the member that the Scottish Government is actively encouraging consumers to participate in the consultation. We engaged early with the SLCC consumer panel to seek their advice on doing that. I would call on all consumers with an interest to participate in the consultation that I mentioned in my previous answer, and I would be very happy to meet the member to discuss the matter in more detail. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure the dignity, security and wellbeing of Scotland's veteran community. Last year, my predecessor presented to Parliament a response to the UK-wide veteran strategy that set out the commitments that we have made to the veterans community right through to 2028 to improve service delivery and mainstream support. Progress against that is supported through our annual update to Parliament, which I will deliver tomorrow. In addition, Scotland was first within the UK to establish an independent veterans commissioner whose recommendations have assisted and occasionally challenged our work over the last several years and ensured that our wider policies have been developed with views of the veteran sector firmly represented. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I welcome that we have doubled the funding for the veterans fund this year. I would like to ask the Scottish Government to elaborate on how interested parties can apply for support from the veterans fund. The application period for next year's Scottish veterans fund is currently open and it closes on Friday 12 November. Interested parties are able to apply for the fund via the Veterans Scotland website. This year, we are particularly welcoming bids that promote collaboration and partnership for amongst and outwith the veterans charitable sector, as well as projects with a focus on early service leavers. I would just mention that we continue to have financial support in this from the company previously known as Aberdeen Asset Management. I am not entirely sure how to pronounce their new name, but that is who they were then. To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to assist veterans in re-adjusting to civilian life. Our response to the veteran strategy sets out our ambition to make Scotland a destination of choice for service leavers and their families. We have made several commitments on how we will support veterans' transition into civilian life. That includes inputting to the MOD's holistic transition policy and working with the defence transition services. The Scottish Veterans Commissioner has also published reports on employability, skills and learning and housing, both focused on transition from military to civilian life. We accepted all of the recommendations in those reports and I have outlined to the Commissioner how we intend to take those forward. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. I have recently been contacted by a national charity Veterans First, who have highlighted that some veterans struggle to engage with support services, specifically housing services, where there are no veterans or serving officers involved and engaging in their case. What engagement is the Scottish Government having with veterans charities to ensure that the support that we are providing is accessible and fit for purpose for all our veterans? I should say that we fund Housing Options Scotland to provide housing advice and advocacy services to older and to disabled people and that includes support for the military matters project aimed specifically at helping veterans. We also commissioned the Veterans Scotland housing group to develop a pathway to prevent homelessness for veterans. They, of course, as Veterans Scotland, have regular and wide-ranging dialogue and engagement with veterans. That initiative looks at transition from the armed forces and reasons why veterans become homeless many years sometimes after leaving service. The report with its recommendations is due to be published later this year and, furthermore, we continue to fund Veterans Scotland to support their capacity to deliver leadership, communication and co-ordination across the veterans charitable sector. To ask the Scottish Government what impact its revised rules on the use of fireworks have had on anti-social behaviour complaints related to bonfire night. Can I start by paying tribute to the police officers and the firefighters who have responded to incidents of anti-social behaviour around bonfire night this year and to condemn those individuals who chose this occasion to launch attacks on them. The contribution of our emergency services at this time, their planning, their preparation alongside the work of local authorities as well and community safety partners has helped to promote safety and wellbeing in our communities. Initial data from Police Scotland suggests that complaints this year were down on previous years. Over the fourth and fifth of November, calls about fireworks were down by 20 per cent on last year, while calls about fires were down nearly a third. Data from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reflects a broadly similar experience. That is encouraging. It is likely due to the preventative activity to which I alluded and to several other factors, including the new legislation, which deals with the sale as well as the use of fireworks. I have to say, however, that the level of anti-social behaviour and disruption to our communities remains unacceptable around the time of bonfire night. I am committed to making further progress with the bill that we promised in our programme for government and which we hope to introduce to Parliament shortly. I reiterate the tribute paid by the minister to our emergency services personnel who are responding to complaints over the weekend. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has taken action to restrict the sale and use of fireworks. Bonfire night is normally great fun for families, but for some people, including veterans and people with autism or sensory issues, it can be frightening for them and for animals. I would appreciate if the minister could elaborate more on what the Scottish Government will do now to review those new restrictions and whether more needs to be done alongside the UK Government, who also has responsibility in this area. I share the member's concerns about the vulnerable groups, and that was prominent in our publicity campaigns around bonfire night this year. We are following up with our partner organisations to review the impact of the new restrictions. Initial indications on that are positive, but we understand that more is required and we have a commitment to introduce the bill to implement the firework review group's remaining recommendations. That will be coming forward shortly. As far as the UK Government is concerned, I have to say to the member that I am not that hopeful. When the issue was raised by Patricia Gibson MP, the leader of the House of Commons responded to her by quoting a nursery rhyme and telling us all to stop being killjoys. I do not think that that demonstrates quite what we are looking for. We will use all the powers that are available to us in our bid to change Scotland's culture around fireworks. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on community justice. It is worth saying that sentencing decisions are a matter for the independent courts. However, evidence shows that community sentences are more effective than short custodial sentences, and action continues to be taken to encourage a shift towards more widespread use of community sentences and other interventions where they are appropriate. Our most recent criminal proceedings stats show that 22 per cent of all convictions in 2019-20 resulted in a main penalty of community service. That is the highest proportion over the past 10 years, up from 14 per cent in 2010-11 and from 19 per cent in the previous year's statistics. Of course, there are challenges, not least the impact of the pandemic on capacity to deliver community services, and we welcome recent reports and scrutiny from Audit Scotland, the Scottish Sentencing Council and the Public Audit Committee. In addition to on-going consultation and engagement with stakeholders, those will inform the development of a revised community justice strategy next year and consideration around how best to build on progress over recent years to build further capacity and confidence in effective community-based interventions. I thank the minister for that answer. Research commissioned by the Scottish Sentencing Council found that 77 per cent of the public, believe a first-time offender, caught within decent images of a child should serve a prison sentence. In reality, such offenders are most likely to receive a community payback order, a sentence supported by only 2 per cent of the public, in a system undermined by a Government that let criminals go scot-free by cancelling a quarter of a million hours of community sentences earlier this year. Will the minister commit to reversing the Government's presumption against short prison sentences, meaning that those who commit crimes such as the possession of indecent images of children go to jail? First of all, just to say that I do not pass sentences, the Government does not do that. The sentences are delivered by the courts in this country, the independent courts in this country. I have just mentioned the fact that community sentences are more effective than the short sentences that he mentions. It is worth mentioning, as I have said to the committee this morning, that more people in the prison sector are spending more time in prison than they have done in recent years. On the subtext of the soft justice approach, to be accused of soft justice, we have 40 per cent more police officers than we do in England and Wales, that we pay them a pay rise that they do not do in England and Wales, that we have the lowest-recorded crime and living memory, that we have the lowest-recorded number of homicides, every one of which was solved, is anything but soft justice in this country. 7. Willie Rennie To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to incorporate the recent HMICS findings in relation to Police Scotland into the on-going response to the independent review into police complaints handling investigations and misconduct issues conducted by Dame Ellish Angelini. Police Scotland's response to the HMICS report is a matter for the chief constable, with a clear role also for the SPA in overseeing the implementation of the recommendations. I am aware, however, that Police Scotland intends to consider those recommendations alongside the work already under way in relation to Dame Ellish's review. The governance and reporting framework that is established by the Scottish Government plays a vital role in overseeing and providing assurance to ministers and ultimately to Parliament on progress towards implementation of Dame Ellish's recommendations across all partners. The Scottish Government published its first thematic progress report on 24 June 2021, which showcased the progress made and work is currently under way to develop the next thematic progress report, which is due for publication by the end of this year. Willie Rennie I am concerned that, a year on from the Angelini report, there are few signs of improvement. There have been more reports of sexism and we have a high proportion of ethnic minority officers leaving way more than other groups. Our research has found that only 1 per cent of top policing jobs are held by people from BAME backgrounds. Officers have little confidence in the leadership of Police Scotland to change. Does the cabinet secretary have more confidence? I have confidence in the senior police officers within Police Scotland to affect change. That is based on quite a number of conversations, meetings and reports that I have had in relation to the area, especially at the very senior level, Deputy Chief Constable level. I am absolutely convinced of the earnest intent of the senior officers. Willie Rennie is right to say that. Neither here nor there, if it does not permeate its way right down through the service, and there are very serious initiatives under way to do that. In relation to the initiatives that I mentioned in Dame Ellish's report, a number of those recommendations have already been implemented. There are some that will require legislation, which will take some more time. For example, barred an advisory list so that we do not employ people in Police Scotland that have come from other police forces, where they have conducted themselves inappropriately. The practice whereby a police officer can behave very badly and then retire their way out of an investigation, we have to legislate for that. I reassure Willie Rennie that I believe that Police Scotland is very serious about that and that the recommendations made by Dame Ellish and the points made by the inspector's report are being taken forward very seriously. In the interests of transparency, will the cabinet secretary reconsider our party's suggestion of an online action tracker so that the public can see exactly what is happening in respect of each of Dame Ellish Angelini's 111 recommendations or not happening as the case may be? In the interests of consensus, I will undertake to look at that suggestion. I am certainly more than happy to give a full account of where we are in relation to all the recommendations, some of which have been taken forward by the SPA, some of which will be taken forward by Police Scotland and some of which rest with the Government. I am happy to give a full account for that, and it may be that the member wants to publish that himself. However, if it is possible to do what he has suggested, then I would undertake to look at that and come back to the member on due course. To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure that both policing by consent and a rights-based approach to policing continue to form the core of policing practice ethos? That is an absolutely fundamental question. I think that the traditions and approach to which the member refers continue to lie at the heart of policing practice and ethos in Scotland. When trust goes, consent can go afterwards as well, so we have to be very keen to make sure that we maintain that trust and consent. The SPA has a responsibility to hold the chief constable's account for policing in Scotland, and, through its board and committee meetings, a series of checks and balances is implemented to ensure that major decisions about the policing of Scotland are made transparently and appropriately. That helps to ensure that Scottish policing is based on public consent in a way that commands respect and builds public trust and confidence. In addition, Her Majesty's inspectorate of Constability in Scotland has wide-ranging statutory powers in its inefficency of Police Scotland and the SPA. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, he should press the request-to-speak button or indicate so in the chat function by entering the letter R during the relevant question. To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allocate additional funding in its forthcoming budget to provide pay increase for front-line public sector workers. The Government is currently in the process of developing its budget for next year, and, as agreed with the Finance and Public Administration Committee, I will bring proposals to Parliament on 9 December. We have offered our progressive pay policy over recent years balancing reward and affordability, protecting the most vulnerable and supporting our front-line staffs. I recognise the achievements of our public sector workforce and, accordingly, we will look to retain our fair approach to pay going forward. I thank the cabinet secretary for the reply that true value of social care, despite the low pay that is endemic throughout the sector, has been at the forefront of caring for and protecting our loved ones who have been most vulnerable to Covid-19. Will the Government show that they are serious about investing in social care by delivering an immediate uplift to £12 per hour? The member will know that supporting our front-line workers in the social care sector was a key part of the Cabinet Secretary for Health's announcement just a few weeks ago with financial support. However, I quite agree with the member that we need to continue to recognise their efforts, including with the pay policy. That is why this year's pay policy prioritised support for those who are earning the least and also ensured that all workers in the social care sector are paid at least the living wage. We did all of that despite no consequential funding coming from the UK Government, because of course there was a pay freeze south of the border. To ask the Scottish Government when it will produce consolidated accounts for the whole public sector in Scotland. We are committed to producing additional consolidated public sector accounts covering the devolved public bodies in Scotland. I hope that the member recognises that the pandemic has impacted timescales for the production and the audit of accounts across all sectors. That affects the availability and the timeliness of information for further consolidation. However, an outline plan is being developed with Audit Scotland for a staged approach to produce additional accounts for the 2020-21 financial year. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response, but will she accept that this was promised to Parliament and the people back in 2016? It was then promised during 2018, then by March 2019, then in November 2019 it was promised in due course. By February this year, we were told that it was no longer possible to set out a timetable at all. Will the cabinet secretary accept that this is about public transparency and trust? It is about good government, open government, good democracy, open democracy. Why can't the cabinet secretary set out a timetable? When will the cabinet secretary finally address this breach of promise to Parliament and to the people and publish these whole government accounts? We already comply with all financial reporting and auditing requirements, and we are committed to developing the financial reporting to support the transparency that the member tops of. However, it is recognised by the Auditor General and by Audit Scotland that this is a complex task and that work has been done to make progress to date. The member asks for a timetable, so the first stage will be a draft account covering the Scottish Administration and reflecting the wider composition of the Scottish budget as authorised by Parliament. The aim is for that to be audited and finalised by spring 2022, and that will be followed by further work in summer 2022 to develop the wider output, including local authorities. We want to minimise the burden on public bodies. The member will know the pressures that have been on all public bodies during the pandemic. Most people understand that this is a complex issue, requiring time and capacity from all members of the Scottish public sector. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the economy of the north-east in terms of a just transition from workers away from oil and gas. This question is being responded to by Richard Lochhead, who is joining us remotely. The Scottish Government is committed to producing sectorial and regional just transition plans, and this year's programme for government includes a commitment to develop our first just transition plan for the energy sector alongside a refreshed energy strategy. We will work with communities and with those who are most impacted across Scotland, including our very highly skilled oil and gas workforce, to co-design that plan. We will also support our planning process by taking forward a 10-year, £500 million just transition fund to the north-east and Murray. Gillian Martin, I thank the minister for that answer. He will know that many of the routes to certification and accreditation for oil and gas workers over the decades have been through private companies. In the past, employers have largely picked up the tab for this training, but many workers are looking to transition into other low-emission energy sectors. Tell me that they are having to find the money themselves to retrain, and for many of these sums are simply not affordable. I would like to ask the minister what routes have been investigated using publicly funded institutions like North East Scotland College to deliver training using the expertise that they have and how the Government could support them to quickly develop courses that are accessible to people who cannot be available during the working day and need a flexibility of offer. I thank Gillian Martin for highlighting what is a crucial issue about the just transition. We are working with north-east Scotland organisations who, in turn, are working with local further and higher education institutions to make sure that the right skills are available for people who are moving out of fossil fuel sectors and into decarbonised industries. Gillian Martin will be aware that the Tribune Skills Minister is also working up proposals for a skills guarantee. We are also working with the Energy Skills Alliance, which is a newly created and cross-energy collaboration group that has been established to develop an integrated skills strategy for a net zero energy sector. One of its work streams is focusing on the development of all-energy training and standards, which will assess the fairability of skills to ensure that the workforce skills that we require are there and that people can move easily across. We are working with a number of publicly funded organisations and the further and higher education sector on this important issue. As part of the fair and managed transition to renewable energy, does the minister welcome the North Sea transitions deals? The joint government and oil and gas sector investment have up to £16 billion to reduce carbon emissions by 2030. Of course, the Scottish Government is taking action and the UK Government is as well, which we welcome. The Scottish Government has also announced, as I mentioned in response to Gillian Martin, a £500 million transition fund for the north-east and Murray over the next 10 years, and we have asked the UK Government to match that. I hope that the member will support our appeal to the UK Government to match that as well, because it is a very important issue to make sure that there are good green jobs available for people in fossil fuels as we go through the transition in the coming decades. Question number four, not lodged. Question number five, Martin Whitfield. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the employment gap for disabled people in light of the reported findings from the annual population survey 2020-21 that the employment rate for disabled people was 47.4 per cent, which was lower than that for non-disabled people. Minister Richard Lochhead. In a fairer Scotland for disabled people employment action plan published back in 2018, we committed to half the employment gap between disabled people and the rest of the working population by 2038. We are making early progress towards that. Support for disabled workers is a key element of our employability programme, such as no one left behind, and young persons guarantee and also fair staff Scotland. Working with disabled people's organisations and others, we are undertaking a refresh of the action plan due to be published in spring 2022. I am grateful to the minister for that response, yet the scheme's third annual report revealed that the FSS did not reach as many people with disabilities and health conditions as he set out that it would. It is simply not good enough. So why are the Scottish Government failing to support so many disabled people into employment through the fair start Scotland, as was intended? First start Scotland is delivering for people with a variety of circumstances and backgrounds, and there was recently an evaluation report of that. In terms of support for disabled people, clearly disabled people like many other people in our society have been impacted by Covid over the past year or two, and we are still trying to analyse exactly the scale of that impact. However, as I said to the member, this is a really important issue. Disabled people have got a lot to contribute to their economy and should be given the opportunity to work. As we refresh our action plan, we will take into account all our experience of this issue and lessons learned in the last couple of years, particularly given the impact of Covid. It is vital that we press ahead with work to remove and reduce barriers that prevent disabled people from benefiting from our economic recovery. Can the minister provide an update on the Scottish Government's latest assessment of the disability pay gap, and can he provide any further information as to what further action can be taken by the Scottish Government to help to reduce the gap? In terms of the pay gap, on average, rates of pay are lower for disabled people than non-disabled people across the whole of the UK. In 2019, the median hour will pay for disabled people in Scotland was 16.5 per cent lower than for non-disabled people. As I said, we are refreshing our fairer Scotland for disabled people employment action plan to be published in 2022. Later this year, we will also consult on proposals to expand the existing duties on public authorities to publish information on their gender pay gaps to include reporting on disability and ethnicity pay gaps to a review of the operation of the public sector equality duty in Scotland. We are taking a number of measures to tackle the barriers that many people in our society, particularly disabled people, face. Question 6. Maggie Chapman, who is joining us remotely. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the support available for co-operatives for the transition to a new economy. Minister Richard Lochhead. Co-operative business models can play a critical role in economic recovery, supporting the Scottish Government's aim to be a fairer, stronger and more democratic country and economy, and we will continue to work through co-operative development Scotland and the enterprise agencies to support growth of co-operative and other alternative business models. We will set out how we will provide tailored support for businesses with alternative ownership models, including co-operatives and social enterprises, with a view to increasing the representation in the Scottish economy. That includes considering how support for such models can be brought into mainstream activity to ensure more values-led outcomes. Maggie Chapman. I thank the minister for that response. Across many sectors from agriculture to energy, there is a recognition that inclusive and efficient co-operatives and producer organisations can play a key role in supporting small businesses and marginalised groups, including women and young people. They empower their members economically and socially and to create sustainable employment through business models that are resilient to economic and environmental shocks. There are significant opportunities here, especially in rural and periurban areas for such models, in short food supply chains, housing, energy production, tourism and others. Can the minister provide a little more detail specifically on the funding and financing options, including tax releases for co-operatives across different sectors, and what timescale we might be looking at for those? Thank you. As Maggie Chapman just outlined, that is an issue that is very aligned with the Scottish Government's fair work agenda, but it is important to say that, since its inception, co-operative development Scotland services have been delivered by Scottish Enterprise, support business growth across Scotland and assisting the creation of more co-ops and employee-owned businesses. That work includes the promotion of the co-operative model, the direct provision of business advice, particularly the start-up co-ops, and the provision of training in co-operative business skills as well. In terms of the financial incentives and tax incentives, clearly we have very limited opportunities for that in Scotland. However, if the member wishes to write to me, I will certainly speak to finance colleagues and explore what is in places now, what more might be possible. To ask the Scottish Government how the enterprise agencies support economic growth in Ershire. Will our economic recovery implementation plan committed Scottish Enterprise to work intensively with partners in Ershire to support economic recovery across the region? Last year, Scottish Enterprise spent just over £16 million in Ershire, taking into account Covid support grants. It is also contributing to projects being delivered under the Ershire growth deal and working with local authorities and business gateway to produce regional business support plans and to support regional company growth pilots. The agency continues to offer expertise and investment in strategic sites such as the Halo Enterprise and the Innovation Centre in Kilmarnock. I could go on, but in the interests of time, I will draw my comments to our close there. As she knows, Ershire still trails behind the rest of Scotland when it comes to employment figures and is one of three areas identified by the Scottish Government requiring the most support for economic recovery. Could the cabinet secretary outline what progress has been made towards identifying and supporting the important regional company growth pilots? It is a hugely important question. Just for context, it is worth noting that, over the last decade alone, Scottish Enterprise has supported 37 inward investment projects in Ershire, creating 2,330 jobs. A joint operational team involving the three Ershire councils and Scottish Enterprise has been established to develop an integrated and consistent company support landscape. It has a number of priority areas that would include community wealth building to promote local procurement, fair work and climate action, support to local businesses to implement digital transformation projects, which I know is an interest close to Willie Coffey's heart, and targeted grant funding through the Ershire Food and Drink Productivity Fund to support Ershire companies to deliver productivity improvements that result in automation and reduce carbon emissions. Understandably, all key players involved in the development of the growth pilots and regional business support plans have, over the past year, focused their efforts on delivering Covid support, but we now know that businesses and organisations are increasingly focused on economic recovery. To ask the Scottish Government what recent changes it has made to its public procurement policies, including as a result of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee report on its inquiry into construction and procurement of ferry vessels in Scotland. Will any changes to procurement policy over the last year have focused largely around Covid and driving more social, economic outcomes and best practice? Any changes to Scottish procurement policy notes and construction policy notes are published on our website. Those policy changes bear no correlation to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee report on its inquiry into construction and procurement of ferry vessels in Scotland, so there have been no recent changes to procurement legislation. Jamie Halcro Johnston I normally thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but I'm slightly disappointed to hear that. The cabinet secretary will know well that these issues just aren't about the waste of millions of pounds of public money. They are examples of communities losing out on vital lifeline services. The problems at Ferguson Marine are on-going, but we know too that Scotland has an aging ferry fleet, one that will need not only maintenance but also serious investment in replacement vessels in the coming years. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that lessons will be learned and that the failures that we have seen most notably in relation to the ferry still lying unfinished at Ferguson Marine cannot and will not happen again? I do understand the sentiment behind Jamie Halcro Johnston's question. CMAW, which is the procuring authority for new vessels, operates under the Utilities Contract Scotland Regulations 2016, which serves the same purpose as Public Contract Scotland Regulations 2015, and it also complies with the statutory and legislative requirements that are derived from the Procurement Reform Scotland Act 2014. However, in a direct answer to Jamie Halcro Johnston's question, CMAW continues to employ more robust processes following lessons learned in previous projects and output from the Wreck Committee, including employing a ship broker early in the process to provide greater understanding of the market, enhancing the level of evidence required from bidders around finance, refunds and technical abilities, and undertaking site visits at ITT stage. I hope that that gives the member some reassurance that lessons have been learned and are being learned. Thank you, cabinet secretary. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a very short pause before we move on to the next item of business.