 The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. The first portfolio is constitution, external affairs and culture, as our members wish to ask a supplementary question. I should press the request and speak buttons during the relevant question. There is quite a bit of interest in both sets of portfolios. It is a busy programme over the course of the afternoon, so the usual appeal for brevity in questions and responses. I call first Claire Baker. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting events to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the births of Robert the Bruce, which takes place on 11 July this year. I take the opportunity to welcome co-cab steward to our ministerial position. I look forward to working with her to deliver the annual £100 million increase to the culture and arts budget that this Government has committed to. Since we last held portfolio questions, we have had the very sad news of the death of Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny. I am sure that members across the chamber will join me in condemning the Russian Government for their culpability. The whole democratic world, including Scotland, should mark his bravery and inspirational leadership and remind President Putin and his henchmen that the memory of Alexei Navalny will not be erased and that there will be real consequences. In answer to Claire Baker's question about the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce, the Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, our leading public body for heritage. Historic Environment Scotland is marking the 750th anniversary of the birth of Robert the Bruce as one of the main sponsors of a programme of community led activities in Dumfries and Galloway by the Medieval Bruce Heritage Trust, which began on 10 February and will run until 14 July. It will also be Bruce-themed activities at the Carlaverick Castle jousting event on 27 July and 28 July, and I commend visits to both Stirling Castle and Bannockburn Visitors Centre as well. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. There is no denying the notable part in Scotland's history played by Robert the Bruce, and the cabinet secretary will know that his final resting place is in Dunfermline Abbey in Scotland's ancient capital and its newest city. The 750th anniversary is an opportunity for Dunfermline to maximise those links and to encourage visitors and engagement in cultural activities. How is the Scottish Government working with Fife Council visit Scotland and others to ensure that the city of Dunfermline is best placed to capitalise on events such as this historic anniversary? How is it supporting Dunfermline in maximising its culture appeal to visitors, giving its new city status? I commend Clare Baker for doing just that. She has used the opportunity of portfolio questions to highlight the importance of Dunfermline to Robert the Bruce and adds to the list of the variety of places and events that will mark the life of Robert the Bruce in this important anniversary year. I would very much like to come to Dunfermline and to visit the Abbey. I commend everybody watching those questions to do likewise as well. The Scottish Government regularly meets our authorities, whether that is a historic environment in Scotland, whether that is a visit in Scotland, and we have an on-going dialogue with local authorities. If there is anything that Clare Baker would wish me and my colleagues to be aware of, I look forward to that and underline the importance of Dunfermline to the memory of the life of Robert the Bruce. To ask the Scottish Government how it is promoting culture outside of the central belt. The Scottish Government works closely with partners to promote culture across the whole of Scotland. For example, the Youth Music Initiative offers young people across the country access to music making. Greater Scotland's funding reaches all 32 local authority areas. The regularly funded network includes organisations from the Scottish borders to the Shetland Islands, while the Culture Collective includes a creative islands network in Airgate's culture collective programme. South of Scotland Enterprise recently published a creative economy guide promoting their vibrant creative economy. Finally, the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Expo North provide innovative support, including their recent Highland heritage and film sector makes. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and can also welcome the minister into her new post. College students around Ayrshire have stated about the lack of local jobs in the culture sector. A lack of opportunities forces people to either leave where they live, commute huge distances or accept the careers that may be held back. Yet Creative Scotland did not hire anyone beyond Edinburgh or Glasgow between 2014 and 2023. The overwhelming majority of roles went to people in the capital city. Does the cabinet secretary agree that job opportunities across the public sector, including in culture, could be spread more fairly across Scotland? I am very seized of taking the opportunity to commend cultural organisations, venues and organisations right across the country, including the area that Sharon Dowie has highlighted. Those are all matters that are being considered by Creative Scotland, of course, an arms-length organisation for reasons that I think we all agree with. They are currently going through a programme in terms of regularly funded organisations, and there are most certainly organisations from the region that Sharon Dowie has highlighted. Is there more that can be done to highlight the vibrant culture and art scene right throughout Scotland? No doubt. However, as I have already given her in a very detailed answer, there are projects and organisations that are well funded throughout the country, including Rural Scotland, the south-west of Scotland, and I look forward to that continuing. A couple of brief supplementaries. First, Jackie Dunbar. At a meeting earlier this month, Aberdeen City Council has considered a report titled Culture, Delivery and Funding Review, which included analysis of Creative Scotland's grand awards to Aberdeen in comparison to other Scottish cities. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what his response is to that report? As a member is well aware under the Public Services Reform Scotland Act 2010, the Scottish Government is unable to intervene in the artistic judgment of Creative Scotland, including in relation to the multi-year funding decisions that are under way. The Scottish Government provides funding to Creative Scotland to distribute funds right across the whole of Scotland. There are three regularly funded organisations by Creative Scotland receiving a total of £0.69 million per year, which are based in Aberdeen. Other organisations serve Aberdeen but have headquarters outside the city. If there is anything that Jackie Dunbar wishes to raise to my attention or to Creative Scotland, I would be grateful if she could do that in the normal way. I encourage you to address your comments to the mic, otherwise they will not be picked up. The Scottish Government's commitment to increase culture funding by £100 million per annum in the next five years represents a considerable vote of confidence in the culture sector and its role in creating a wellbeing economy. Can the cabinet secretary give further information about how that increased funding will reach rural communities across Scotland? The commitment to additional funding, despite the challenging budget situation, does indeed signal our confidence in the Scottish culture sector and is the starting point of a journey of three phases, first, to sustain, then to develop and to innovate. All of that is under discussion with our culture and art sector colleagues to make sure that funding reaches all parts of the country and all parts of the Scottish culture and arts ecosystem. If there are members across the chamber who have particular views about where that additional resource should bring additionality to the culture and arts sector, I am extremely keen to hear that. We want to make sure that our organisations, our venues, our performers are properly funded and look forward to delivering that additional funding. We have already started that rise to an additional £100 million annual funding for culture and the arts that I hope is welcomed right across the chamber. To ask the Scottish Government what support it can offer to cultural organisations in Stirling that are facing funding challenges. The Scottish Government through Creative Scotland provides support to a number of cultural organisations and individuals in Stirling. In 2022-23 alone, Creative Scotland awarded £1.76 million through funds, including its regular, open and targeted funding, to 46 successful applications from individuals and organisations based in the Stirling area. I know that the Scottish Government understands the huge cultural significance of organisations such as the Smith Art Gallery and Creative Stirling in my constituency. Given forward focus on funding, are there avenues for any crisis funding to help meantime? As I'm sure the member will appreciate, ministers have no role in the decision making of Creative Scotland in their allocation of individual grants and support. The Scottish Government is, though, engaging closely with Creative Scotland to provide support where possible for organisations such as Creative Stirling that are facing immediate challenges, and the former Minister for Culture, Christina McKelvie, has already written to Creative Stirling with information on alternative routes of funding that they may wish to investigate. I've got a number of, hopefully, brief supplementaries. First Morse Golden. Officer, Creative Scotland's regular funding network consists of 121 organisations. However, only 12 organisations located in the north-east received funding compared to 81 in the central belt. Can the cabinet secretary highlight what measures are being considered, such as capacity building, to begin to rectify that disparity? I want to reiterate the point. I think that there is cross-party consensus about this, that Creative Scotland operates as an arms-length organisation, so it's not for me as culture secretary to tell Creative Scotland about which organisations and which part of the country should be funded. I think that the member is aware that Creative Scotland is going through a new process to deliver multi-annual year funding to regularly funded organisations. They have gone through stage 1 of that process, and they haven't yet got to stage 2 of the process, so I can't comment on the conclusions of that. No doubt they will have heard the point that the member has raised about ensuring that there is impact and support right across Scotland. I support that, and no doubt the decisions will be looked at closely by the Subject Committee. I know the point that he will have raised and will have been heard by Creative Scotland. Neil Bibby. I associate myself and my party with the cabinet secretary's remarks about the death of Alexi Navalny. All our thoughts are with his friends and his family, and they are fighting against oppression in Russia. We know that there is compelling evidence of Putin's involvement in deaths on foreign soils, and he must be brought before the international criminal court for his war crimes. I recently visited Stirling Castle and the Old Town Jail with my family, and I would commend the excellent cultural heritage organisations in Stirling. The cabinet secretary has recently given clarity on funding for the culture budget in 2024-25. Further clarity is being sought on the Government's five-year spending announcement, which is welcome. Can I ask the cabinet secretary when cultural organisations in Stirling and elsewhere can expect further clarity in future years on the Government's spending announcement? I commend Neil Bibby firstly for his comments around Alexi Navalny. On the question of funding, again, I think that a very reasonable question is put by him. He appreciates that there is a standard budget process on-going in the Scottish Government. We have already committed to the initial uplift in this financial year, in terms of this year's financial commitments, and next year an additional £25 million, which will take us to a net gain of £40 million. We then need to get into year 3 and year 4 to get us towards that £100 million additional support for culture and the arts. I appreciate people who want to know how quickly that money is going to be available. I want to make sure that it is available as quickly as possible. As soon as I am able to give further clarity on that, he and colleagues will be the first to hear that, but I think that everybody understands that we require those additional resources for the culture sector, and this Government is committed to doing just that. Thank you, and Mark Ruskell. Thank you. Craig Stirling has shown itself to be a highly innovative organisation. It is one who has met the needs of communities, but it does not benefit from siloed funding. I ask the cabinet secretary about that conversation with Creative Scotland that I know he is engaged with, about opportunities for multi-year funding and, in particular, for innovation. At the moment, organisations such as Craig Stirling will go to the wall unless they get support, unless they can survive this period of vulnerability and continue to do what they do best and to seek long-term funding. Mark Ruskell's question is very timely, because I know that Creative Scotland is very seized of introducing the multi-annual year funding, which I think that everybody agrees is going to be hugely beneficial to the cultural sector. I think that there is also an understanding that that issue of innovation, of resilience, of being able to look forward to the next year, given a significant change in public behaviour and so on, is going to be key for many cultural organisations. I have had those conversations with Creative Scotland. I know that they are giving strong consideration to how they do that as we move from the current funding situation into the new multi-annual funding approach. No doubt they will be interested in his views on making sure that that can deliver for cultural and arts organisations in Stirling, but throughout the rest of Scotland as well. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to protect the future of the screen machine mobile cinema. I thank Rhoda Grant for that question. I also thank members for their warm words in welcoming me to my portfolio. The Scottish Government will work closely with Screen Scotland, who has been exploring a number of options with regional Screen Scotland in order to help to secure a sustainable future for the service both immediately and in the long term. The work is on-going, and as I am sure that Rhoda Grant will appreciate, much of the detail is commercially sensitive. However, I welcome the funding that Screen Scotland previously provided to ensure that the service remains active until April this year, and I expect to hear a further update from them on that work at our next regular meeting. I thank the minister for that response and also welcome her to her new post. She knows that the screen machine gives rural and island communities access to cinema, which they would not otherwise have, because there is no alternative. If funding is not found to replace the screen machine and pay for its running costs, this much-loved facility will disappear, and such is the concern that the young people in Barra enlisted the support of Dame Judy Dench to highlight the issue and its importance to them. Will the Scottish Government therefore undertake to investigate every possible avenue to ensure that funding is found to save this very valuable institution? I understand the strength of feeling around this, and I know that there have been a number of MSPs that have made representations in this area. In 2023, Screen Scotland provided over £176,000 for the specific purpose of leasing the cinema bill and securing the mobile cinema service until April 2024. Following the Cabinet Secretary for Constitutional, External Affairs and Cultures meeting with regional screens Scotland, who operate the service, Scottish Government officials in Skeens Scotland have been leading work exploring all options for the immediate and long-term future of the service. In fact, I met officials just this morning, and I would be happy to write to the member with an update as soon as I have it. The screen machine is very much loved in my island community, and Barodic is the busiest venue anywhere averaging 63 seats out of a capacity of 78 per screening. It is also much missed in Cumbria, one of seven islands that on-loan friends cinema, mobile cinema is currently too large to visit. The funding landscape has changed, and we have heard the cabinet secretary talk about the additional funding that is going into the culture sector. Given the immense cultural benefits that a screen machine brings and the expected working life of a new vehicle, is its cost not more than worth it? I understand about costs, but I also understand about the values, just as the member has highlighted. The significance of Screen Scotland's screen machine's unique cultural, educational and wellbeing benefits to communities such as Kenneth Gibson's. I understand that cinema access to people will be restricted. I also understand how important it is for communities to be able to come together and to access a wide range of cultural resources that are invaluable sources of expression and foster a sense of belonging. I also agree with the member that the screen machine will have a positive environmental and cultural impact on all communities. I also welcome Cokab Stewart to her post, and I echo on behalf of my party the comments that have already been made in the chamber with reference to Alexine O'Vallny. Since 1998, the screen machine has brought the newest films to more than 40 remote locations, however, in April that will expire. With the cost of replacement vehicle of £1.4 million, a regional screen Scotland is pleading with the Scottish Government to provide half of that cost. Will the minister pledge today to stop funding its obsession with independence and instead direct funds to replace vehicle with the cornerstone of communities right across Scotland? I thank the member for his question and I refer him to my earlier answers and assure him that the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to support this very valuable service. Question 6 is not large. Question 7, Kevin Stewart. To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to Aberdeen's festivals. Since 2011, Creative Scotland has assisted 41 festivals and other cultural events in the Aberdeen city council area with total funding of £1,443,654. In the same period, event Scotland supported 79 events, excluding business events, with a total funding of £2,107,607. In addition, since 2018-19, Creative Scotland has funded Aberdeen performing arts with £333,333 every year as a regular funded organisation supporting their work in mounting the Granite Noir crime fiction festival, the Delve music festival, Climate Week North East festival, Rise Up in Light, the Blue Children's festival and the Scottish Government continues to fund tech fest. The Aberdeen science festival is part of our wider programme of support for science festivals in line with the Scottish Government's STEM education and training strategy. Tech fest received a grant of £25,000 during 2023-24. Kevin Stewart. I thank the cabinet secretary for that comprehensive answer and I welcome the support for festivals like tech fest, but what more can the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland do to help and support Aberdeen's other festivals such as the Spectralight festival and New Art to help them to grow even more? Can we ensure that there is collaboration between Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland to ensure that we get more visitors from abroad to these amazing festivals? I thank Kevin Stewart for his welcome for the broad range of festivals that have been supported in Aberdeen already and that there are additional events that have not been supported are issues that I think are best raised directly with Creative Scotland although I would welcome being copied in to such interventions. I think the encouragement for Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland to work together is a very good one, no doubt they do already. It is certainly something that I will raise with my next meetings that I hold with them to make sure that important cultural centres like Aberdeen have the maximum exposure to maximise the number of visitors to the Granite City. To ask the Scottish Government what role culture and the arts play in delivering its missions of equality, opportunity and community. The Scottish Government's missions align closely with the ambitions of the culture strategy to empower through culture, strengthen culture and transform through culture. In our recently published refreshed action plan, we have committed to launching a fair work task force to support implementation across the culture sector, supporting our opportunity ambition and our culture collective programme also supports delivery around equality and community, developing initiatives in partnership with our communities across Scotland. I thank the minister for that response and congratulate her on her new role. The Scottish Government recently announced £1.5 million of funding through the youth music initiative. Beneficiaries include the mobilised group at the Key Youth Centre in East Kilbride, which runs guitar, drum and vocal lessons for young people. I invite the minister to visit the key to see the benefits of this funding first hand. Can the minister outline what other support the Scottish Government is providing to cultural initiatives like this to benefit the people in East Kilbride? I wish to thank Collette Stevenson for highlighting the youth music initiative, and we are proud to support that programme. The impact that it has in communities across Scotland cannot be understated. I look forward to seeing the programme first hand in due course. As an example of cultural initiatives, the Scottish Government provides support for an common geoloch, the body that organises both the royal national mod and local mods, including the East Kilbride local mod, which takes place on June 8. I am sure that the minister will be aware that the Edinburgh death festival provides an accessible celebration of deaf culture, language and heritage alongside the fringe here in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, they have lost their funding from Greater Scotland, putting the whole festival at risk. Will the minister intervene to save the festival at work so hard towards the end of equality opportunity and community? I thank the member for that question, and absolutely I agree with equality and inclusion and community. He will appreciate that I have recently taken up my post and I need to take some time to familiarise myself with everything that is going on around that, and I will be happy to engage with him in the very near future. I would also like to welcome cook-ups on our new post. The Scottish Government programme for government in September 23 made commitments to renew culture by focusing on empowering communities. What update can the minister give on actions that the Scottish Government has taken since the publishing of that programme for government to improve opportunities for the community assets transfer for arts and culture organisations in Scotland's most deprived areas and as briefly as possible? I thank the member for that question. I have previously stated that I am a great advocate of community asset transfers and once again I ask respectfully for his patience while I get to grips with the portfolio and come back with a more detailed answer specific to his question. Thank you. That concludes portfolio questions on constitution, external affairs and culture. There will be a brief pause to allow front benches to change before we move on to the next portfolio. The next portfolio is justice and home affairs. Again, the member is wishing to ask a supplementary. She pressed the request-to-speak buttons during the relevant questions. Again, a lot of interest in supplementaries in this portfolio, so brevity in questions and responses would be appreciated. I call question number one, Douglas Lameston. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government when the results from Police Scotland's proportionate response to crime pilot in the northeast will be published. As I stated in the chamber yesterday, Police Scotland's northeast pilot is about ensuring a proportionate approach to policing. At a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority last week, Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham outlined some preliminary findings and stated that a full evaluation would be presented to the SPA in the near future. Any decision on publication or indeed to extend the pilot more widely is for Police Scotland with oversight and scrutiny provided by the SPA. Public confidence will, of course, be key to this process. Officers in the northeast will continue to investigate all crimes reported. That means that all reports are recorded using the Thrive model with an assessment of threat, harm, risk, investigative opportunities, vulnerability and engagement. Douglas Lameston. Cabinet Secretary, from a freedom of information request to Police Scotland, they are refusing to let the public know how many times a crime reference number is given, but no further action was taken during this northeast pilot. Does the cabinet secretary think that it is right that the police withhold this information, and can she share it with us today so that the people of the northeast can have trust in this process? The information that I am aware of further to my meeting with the chief constable last week on 8 February. I have had oversight of the preliminary findings that the chief constable Malcolm Graham outlined at the SPA meeting. The member will be aware that the chief constable emphasised to board members and observers to the board that the police in the northeast continue to assess every case and investigate all crimes with reference to the preliminary information that is available in terms of those cases where there is no proportionate lines of inquiry because there is no risk or threat or harm where the cases are reported, filed, crime reference number given and no further action unless more evidence becomes apparent. Those cases are likely to be a very small proportion of cases, and the preliminary summary says that that is less than 5 per cent of calls, and I hope that that is helpful to the member. Can I ask the cabinet secretary if the northeast pilot is the way that policing has always been carried out in England? How police Scotland has conducted the northeast pilot is broadly the same as how forces elsewhere in the United Kingdom operate. To quote the website of Gloucester Constabulary, the force states that it will, and I quote, look at the information that they have got and decide if they can investigate your report further. If they decide that they cannot investigate a report, they will contact you to explain why. The force goes on to say that its decisions are based on vulnerability, seriousness, likelihood of solving it and the best use of our resources again, broadly similar to the police Scotland's Thrive model. That is replicated across other English forces, and, like the northeast pilot, it is about that proportionate response and ensuring that individuals get a faster resolution from officers. To ask the Scottish Government what action the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service takes to ensure that information that it receives from pathology service providers is accurate and reliable. The Lord Advocate has so responsibility for deaths investigation in Scotland. During investigations, information is ingathered from external agencies, including pathology services. The crime requires to rely upon information provided to it by professionals who themselves are bound by their own standards of professionalism, codes of practice and governing bodies. Such information forms only a part of an investigation. It is considered in the context of other evidence providing a cross-check for reliability, accuracy or the need for further interrogation. I thank the minister general for that response and for clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Lord Advocate. Her office will be aware that my constituents Ann and Jerry Stark were told repeatedly by the Crown Office and Health Authorities that all tissue samples of their deceased son Richard had been returned to the family, but that was not true. Does the Crown Office accept the failings that should never have happened? Will the law officers take the opportunity to apologise to the family? Can we have more information about the urgent action that was taken since the scandal came to light last year so that all families, including the Stark family, can have full confidence in the Crown Office when it is investigating the sudden and explain death of our loved ones? I acknowledge that the issues surrounding retention of samples are of exquisite sensitivity. The importance of the accuracy of the information that is provided to relatives about that cannot be overstated. COPFS must, necessarily, rely upon the information provided and has no role in policing pathology services. Nevertheless, important work is being carried out. There are data retention agreements in place with pathology and toxicology providers in relation to reports, instrument data and samples obtained for the purposes of the Procurator Fiscal's investigation. I understand the distress and anguish of families who suffer the loss of a loved one and I extend my condolences to my constituents, Mr and Mrs Stark. There is a standing offer to the Starks and to Ms Lennon to come into the Crown Office and to meet us. I am happy to reiterate that offer, where, of course, it will then be appropriate to go into the detail of that case. I recognise the sensitivity of the issues, but I will have to require more brevity, particularly in the responses brief supplementary. Three months ago, I was grateful to meet the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General, who told me about some serious and worrying concerns about pathology services, specifically a lack of paediatric pathologists. I would be grateful to know what work has since been done to improve this vital service and ensure that every single death in Scotland is subject to proper full investigation. COPFS has a series of contracts and service-level agreements with universities, local authorities and the NHS for pathology mortuary and toxicology services across Scotland. The current pathology contract extensions are in the main in place until March 2024, and work is on-going with all pathology providers on a service redesign to streamline the nature and number of the contracts to ensure resilience and efficiency through negotiations and service co-design. We also regularly meet with pathology providers, as Mr Finlay has indicated, where the concerns were shared with them. I am mindful of my injunction to watch my time and, perhaps, we could take up this issue further. My question is to ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments by Police Scotland's chief constable that the force deals with over 100,000 mental health related incidents each year. I am grateful to police officers for all that they do to support those who are in distress or experiencing mental ill health. The Scottish Government and Scottish Police Authority established a multi-agency group to implement a comprehensive programme of work to improve pathways to support those in need to access the right service at the right time and to reduce demand on officers. We are ensuring that resources are targeted at specific programmes, for example the enhanced mental health pathway for those in distress or in need of mental health support who come into contact with Police Scotland. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for that response. The chief constable also made it clear that the volume of incidents equates to around 600 full-time officers' worth of work. That is an immense amount of resource involved in dealing with those incidents, and resource that could be better served, dealing with or even preventing crime itself. The reality is that the police are picking up the pieces of other public services that are simply not available out of hours—GPs, A&E services, mental health and social care related services, which are simply shut down at 5pm Friday and are not there until Monday morning. The status quo cannot continue and everybody knows that. What is the cabinet secretary doing right now to alleviate the pressure on police so that they do not become the first protocol for all health emergencies? I agree that the status quo cannot continue and that is why I was at pains in my original answer to stress that we are implementing in partnership a comprehensive programme of work. I am happy to write to Mr Dean with the full detail of that, but all interested stakeholders and partners, I believe that we are all facing in the same direction. Our Government has a very clear programme for government commitment following the thematic review of mental health and policing from the inspectorate. Both the inspectorate and indeed committees in this Parliament, whether it is the criminal justice committee or the public audit committee, I am sure will be holding the Government's feet to the fire on this, but there is immense will and energy into resolving that. While police officers have an absolute role and an emergency in a situation that requires further assessment, but where we must follow better and best practice is around facilitating that safe and appropriate handover to other professionals that are better placed to support those in need. I have a couple of supplementaries here. If they are not brief, I am going to intervene and they are similarly with the responses. First, Fulton MacGregor. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Not only has research attributed the declining trends in poor mental health to a decade of Tory austerity, but still the UK Government continues to slash Scotland's public service funding, massively undermining our ability to respond to those in crisis. Within this deeply challenging context, what work is the Scottish Government undertaking with Police Scotland and other partners in responding to mental health? The significant investment that the Scottish Government is making both to justice services and to mental health services is now all the more significant given the UK Government's new age of austerity. Yesterday, we passed a budget that would see £19.5 billion for health and social care portfolio. I am also very pleased to say that the resource budget for the Scottish Police Authority specifically has increased by nearly 6 per cent. That will protect front-line policing, and we are also increasing the capital budget that is available to us. It is very helpful that the Scottish Government has recognised the need for change in relation to police officers dealing with mental health crisis cases. The Police Federation said that we need a triage system that links up services to ensure that people get the help that they need and when they need it quickly. Will the cabinet secretary consider, as part of this work, a collaboration between health and justice to create a triage service to ensure that people get the help that they need while also freeing up police time? In short, that is exactly what we are currently doing with the comprehensive programme of work. That is about the interface between justice and health services. To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Police Scotland regarding the policing strategy for the safe consumption room pilot in Glasgow? The Scottish Government has had extensive engagement with Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Glasgow Health and Social Care partnership around the proposal for a safer drug consumption facility and its delivery, because the success of the pilot will depend on further extensive partnership working and the building of trust between the facility, the people who use it, local residents and the police. Those discussions have included broader aspects of how the facility will operate, including its policing. However, Police Scotland has complete operational independence in how it polices the facility, and its approach will no doubt be informed by the Lord Advocate and what she may choose to say in her statement of prosecution policy. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response. I recently visited the H17 overdose prevention facility in Copenhagen, where discreet co-operative policing model in the Vestivo district is key to the successful operation of the centre, even though a major police station is situated directly opposite it. What is the estimate, as the cabinet secretary made of international examples of policing safe consumption rooms, and how will the Government ensure that potential users of the Glasgow pilot are not deterred from engaging out of fear of contact with the police or the criminal justice system? Our policy in this matter has been informed every step of the way by best practice, by international practice. I want to put on record once again my thanks to Police Scotland, who have been partners in pursuing a public health approach to support people into treatment and recovery. They continue to have an independent role in policing. They have signed off their own policy work in this regard. I am happy to speak to the member further about this, because it is the balance of reassuring a community that they are not withdrawing from that community. They will continue to patrol the area in the same way as they do now, but neither will Police Scotland seek to place barriers to treatment of vulnerable people. It is welcome that the Scottish Government and Police Scotland continue to engage while fully responding to drug-related deaths. However, we know that the limitations will remain due to the misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the latest discussions with the UK Government to ensure that they do not block this life-saving proposal? We continue to update the UK Government colleagues on progress and the UK Minister for Policing, who received a presentation on the work by the associate medical director of Glasgow alcohol and drug recovery services at the last UK drugs ministerial meeting in November. Although the UK Government has previously made clear that it does not intend to block the plans, any U-turn on this from either the current Government or an incumbent Government would do a great disservice to this life-saving proposal. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving in collaboration with Police Scotland to the possibility of establishing a new police station within the Scottish Government's Victoria Key building. Police Scotland's 2019 estate strategy outlined plans to dispose of outdated and underused properties and to develop a modern fit for purpose estate through options, including co-location, with partner organisations. In its current consultation, Police Scotland has proposed a number of changes to the estate and are in discussion with a range of potential partners and organisations to explore alternative and better suited sites across Edinburgh that will be fit for the modern day needs of staff and the public. Of course, the management of the police estate is the responsibility of the SPA and the chief constable. Police Scotland will undertake a specific consultation on its plans for Leith police station in due course that anyone with an interest will be able to respond to. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for that answer and also for her letter of the 20th of this month. I appreciate that the individual consultation for Leith police station has not yet gone live. The current Leith police station is effective in its duties, but the building is not optimal for the 21st century and net zero considerations. Whatever happens going forward, Leith will need a police station given its high population and population growth. Victoria Key is currently underused by the Scottish Government and could be better utilised for a range of possibilities, as well as the civil service. I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary, along with Scottish Government colleagues and Police Scotland, could keep the matter of potentially having a new Leith police station at Victoria Key under consideration. As I said in my letter to Mr McPherson, Police Scotland's commitment to co-locating with other public bodies is very much in support of that single Scottish estates programme, which supports publicly funded bodies to co-locate. Police Scotland is, of course, sensitive to community concerns around changes involving police buildings. I recognise the point that Mr McPherson makes about growing population, and I am also aware that the Leith police station dates from 1827. However, the review of the police estate is driven by a desire to meet the needs of local communities such as Mr McPherson's and to ensure that officers and staff are located in areas where they are most needed and in an estate that is fit for 21st century policing. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish Prison Services work to address reported noise disturbance at HMP Stirling. As the member will understand, this remains an operational issue for the Scottish Prison Service. How I can assure Mr Ruskell that any noise reporting continues to be taken very seriously by both me and the Scottish Prison Service, and I will continue to seek updates from the chief executive Teresa Medhurst. SPS senior leaders met local representatives on 6 February, where they discussed the welcome reduction in noise over the festive period within the establishment. SPS has reaffirmed their commitment to identifying and implementing solutions. However, substantial measures will require time and significant investment in their part. Mark Ruskell, I thank the cabinet secretary for that update. As I'm sure she's aware, the local community neighbouring HMP Stirling has been deeply affected by these disturbances over the last eight months. It has been a nightmare, particularly for families with children with reported impacts on their mental health. Could I ask her then whether she will be able to report on progress made towards implementing SPS's action plan to deal with the problems? Will she agree to meet with MSPs, councils and local residents to assure them that the detailed action plan is being implemented and that people can see an end point to the misery that they have been facing over the past eight months? Let me assure Mr Ruskell that the Scottish Prison Service remains committed to delivering those meaningful improvements for the women in their care but also for the surrounding neighbours and neighbourhood. I reassure the member that the prison service remains in regular contact with residents and local elected representatives. I've also met the member and others along with the Scottish Prison Service. Members, of course, are more than welcome to keep in touch with me. I also remind MSP colleagues or local residents that they are very welcome to visit HMP Stirling, and that can be facilitated. 7. Maggie Chapman To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the plans required to address the carcinogenic nature of firefighting. The safety and wellbeing of firefighters remains a priority for both the Scottish Government and the fire service. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continues to make progress on the important issues through a specific contaminants implementation plan, which has been developed and delivered in partnership with the Fire Brigade Union. This includes the development of a recording system for staff to record exposure to contaminants, station zoning arrangements, progression of trials of health screening and changes to operating procedures. We have provided SFRS with an additional £10.3 million capital funding in the draft budget for £24.25. Whilst decisions on how the money is spent is a matter for the SFRS board, the extra funding will allow SFRS to invest in better facilities for our firefighters. 7. Maggie Chapman I thank the Minister for that response. She will be aware that, earlier this month, the European directive on carcinogens, mutagens or eprotoxic substances at work was updated to acknowledge the World Health Organization's international agency for research on cancer reports, recognising firefighter occupation as carcinogenic. The European Commission is also developing guidelines and mandatory decontamination procedures for firefighters. What assurances can she provide Scottish firefighters that they will also have their health protected in law? Will she consider establishing a joint collaboration, including the Scottish Government, the NHS, SFRS leadership team, occupational health unit and statistics unit, to progress this and the much-needed routine health monitoring for firefighters? The Scottish Fire Rescue Service has embraced the need for action. Whilst the health and safety of firefighters is primarily a matter for the SFRS as the employer, the Scottish Government is willing to listen and consider any proposals to help with the safety and wellbeing of firefighters in Scotland. I believe that legislating on this area is a complex issue with a mixture of reserved and devolved responsibility, and that that is not something that could be taken lightly. However, I can assure the chamber that I will continue to work with the service to investigate the suggested collaboration of the best course of action. The Scottish Government's commitment to the safety and wellbeing of all fire and rescue officers is welcome. More broadly, can the minister outline the steps that are being taken to ensure that the Scottish Fire Rescue Service will take action across all areas of operations and working practices to reduce exposure to contaminants? I regularly meet with the fire service board, chair and the chief officer, and central to those meetings is the safety and wellbeing of our firefighters. I have received assurances from the SFRS prioritising the issue of contaminants and is working in partnership with the FBU so that the appropriate actions can be taken across all SFRS operations, which I will set out in my answer. SFRS are currently running a pilot in east, north and south Ayrshire to test the content of the contaminants' standing operating procedure. The trial will run until 31 March, and it will help to finalise the standard operating procedure prior to its full rollout across the entire service. Thank you minister, and with apologies to those I wasn't able to call, that concludes portfolio questions on justice and home affairs. Again, there will be a brief pause to allow front benches to change before we move to the next item of business.