 The next item of business is topical questions, and at question number one, I call Russell Finlay. That's the Scottish Government. What action is it taking in response to reports of widespread violence against police officers and firefighters over the one-fire night period? Minister, I want to express my gratitude to all our emergency services for their work over the weekend. All attacks against them are totally despicable. The Scottish Government fully supports the courts using the extensive laws and powers to protect emergency workers, including the new statutory aggravation for attacks on emergency services through the Fireworks and Pyrotechnics Act. As part of the annual review of the police-led multi-agency operation moonbeam, there will be an analysis of the incidents over the weekend and a response taken. The joint report, the Scottish Community Safety Network report on antisocial behaviour, has been published today, and I have accepted the report's recommendations that we need to consider how we best develop our long-term approach to preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour. That is why I will be convening an independently chaired working group on antisocial behaviour. Russell Finlay. The scenes across Scotland have been shocking. Police officers and firefighters attacked with petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks and terrified people trapped in their own homes by gangs of rioting youths. Eight police officers are injured, and it's no exaggeration to say that lives could have been lost. Those responsible are reckless and dangerous. There needs to be punishment. There needs to be a deterrent, so does the minister agree that these criminals are old enough to know better? Minister. Thank you. Yes, I don't know the intelligence so far on the incidents. We are waiting for the police outcomes. I do know that there has been reported that some of the youths were being encouraged by adults, but with significant Scottish Government engagement, a broad range of planning and preparation is done every year by the emergency services and others to ensure that the existing laws are adhered to. However, effective preparatory work, there is always going to be a challenge and a threat for enforcement agencies once fireworks and other potential weapons fall into the hands of those with criminal minds. That is why introducing stricter measures at the point of purchase, for example via the new proxy purchase event, will help to ensure that fireworks do not end up with those who misuse them. Not all offences involving fireworks are prosecuted under fireworks misuse laws, and the most serious offenders may be prosecuted for common law offences, for example assault, culpable and reckless misconduct, and the link for fireworks may not be identified clearly in the data collected relating to those offences. Thank you. The minister did not answer, so here is the answer. These criminals are old enough to know better, but criminals know that the police are stretched to breaking point because of SNP cuts. They know that they will not be jailed. They know that there is a good chance that they will not even be prosecuted. In response to the events of the weekend, yet another report that does not even mention once the word prosecution. Will the cabinet secretary bring in meaningful punishments before those shameful scenes are repeated next year, rather than yet another SNP talking shop and report? We have increased the place funding year on year since 2016 to 2017, investing more than 11.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013. Sentencing guidelines are, of course, set by the Scottish Centre in Council, and it is totally inappropriate for politicians to interfere with the independent judicial sector. It is up to the courts to decide, and the prosecutors to decide on what action is taken against individuals that commit those crimes. In addition to what we witnessed in Edinburgh, Dumfries saw anti-social behaviour incidents involving fireworks, including fireworks being set off in the town centre, which almost hit the historical Robert Burns statue. In addition, Heath, Holland of Freezers recently experienced an increase in anti-social behaviour with windows being egged and damaged to cars. Can the minister outline how the Scottish Government is supporting Police Scotland to deal with those issues and that anti-social behaviour issues are being dealt with seriously? No excuse for the behavioural witness recently in Dumfries town centre and elsewhere, and it puts everybody at risk. I am grateful to Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire Rescue Service and partners for their swift attendance and actions at the scene to minimise the damage from the reckless use of fireworks and the irresponsible throwing of projectiles into a public area. We are committed to ensuring that the police and the local authorities have the powers and the resources to address anti-social behaviour. This includes formal warnings, the fixed penalty notices and the anti-social behaviour orders. The Scottish Government has increased police funding year on year since 2016 to 2017, with £1.45 billion being invested this year alone. There are 379 more police officers than in 2007, and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales. The pictures from Sunday night were very clear that this constituted a premeditated attack on the police. Fireworks were being found directly at police officers who were having to wear riot gear to prepare themselves. Will the minister give consideration to a full ban on the private sale of fireworks to private individuals outside of organised fireworks? Will she give serious consideration to holding meetings with authorities in Edinburgh, including the council, to Dizagassie's and other measures that need to be taken to tackle this outrageous behaviour in future years? Just on the point that Daniel Johnson raises, I understand that it is an emotive issue, and there are calls to ban firework sales from individuals, but unfortunately that is not currently within the competence of the Scottish Parliament. I am happy to meet with councils to discuss the way forward, more than happy to. Can the minister outline what actions the Scottish Government is taking to support preventative services, such as cash back for communities and the violence reduction framework, which aims to prevent such behaviours happening in the first place? The Scottish Government acknowledges that our prevention services are crucial to preventing crime in Scotland's communities. Through the violence prevention framework that was published back in May this year, we are implementing our public health approach to preventing violence from happening in the first instance. That is backed with over £2 million investment from this year's budget. We are the only Government in the United Kingdom that is reinvesting money recovered from the proceeds of the Crime Act 2002 directly back into the communities across Scotland. Our cash back for communities delivers diversionary activities for young people, most at risk at being involved in anti-social behaviour, offending and re-offending to support the communities that are most affected by crime. That might come as news to the minister, but what is really crucial is that we see an end to soft touch justice in this country. To come to this chamber and announce that we are going to have another task force, it seems like there is never any cycle of these task forces and reviews, but nothing ever actually happened. Can I ask the minister? We know that 50 people were present. I cannot change the script when I am afraid that it is the same repeat cycle from the SNP. What we know is that there were 50 people involved in this demonstration of what Pluton Police Office said was the worst violence he had ever seen. Five officers were injured. I would like to ask the minister how many arrests have there been? Thank you. There has been two arrests so far. The police are looking at intelligence, should I say, and there will be more arrests in coming days. I know that you are saying that to change the record, but as I have already said, it is up to the courts to decide and prosecute the action that is taken. It is not up to politicians and it would be totally inappropriate for the SNP in government to be trying to influence that. I do not know if the Conservatives, if they were ever in government, would be trying to influence it, but it would be totally inappropriate. Katie Clark Passed the fireworks legislation with reduced scrutiny to be in place for bonfire night last year. Delay meant that councils were not able to designate control zones this year, and the proposed licensing scheme may create a black market. Labour supported the bill because of the new offences, but does the minister not accept that the framework created by this legislation is making no difference to the problems of communities with fireworks and was a wasted opportunity? I have to disagree with Ms Clark on that. The act was brought in as preventative measures for it is not a short, quick fix. Just going through the firework control zones, the firework has been developed to support the long-term cultural change with firework. As I said, this is not going to happen quickly. A programme of work has progressed at pace to successfully commence firework control zones in line with the regional timescales on 22 June 2023. I know that my officials are engaging with all local authorities, moving forward that they might be in place for next year. We are very tight for time this afternoon. Therefore, I must move on to question 2, and I call Foisal Choudhury. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking following reform Scotland recent report NHS 2048, future-proofing Scotland's health and social care, which found that 11 NHS boards have seen waiting times for hip operation at least double from the point of decisions since 2019. It is saying that long waits of this nature are unacceptable. The pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact on the normal operation of an NHS since 2019, as it has across the world. We remain committed to radiating long waits to ensure that all people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible. We have opened two national treatment centres this year in Fife and Highland, with two further centres opening soon in Forfally and in the Golden Jubilee. Those centres will provide additional protected capacity for patients across Scotland, including for orthopedic hip surgeries, and are an integral part of the wider NHS Scotland waiting times improvement programme. However, we know that there is still more to do, which is why we have committed to invest an extra £300 million over the next three years to reduce in-patient and day-case waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients. Under the Patients' Right Scotland Act 2011, all patients have a right to receive treatment within 12 weeks of agreement with their consultant. My constituent received a hip replacement five years ago, where she waited just over the 12 weeks. She now needs her other hip replacement and agreed this with an orthopedic consultant in May 2022. She is still waiting for a surgery date. Can the cabinet secretary advice why the treatment time guarantee is simply not being made? The major reason is that we had a pandemic over a two-year period, which meant that a lot of elective procedures had to be cancelled because of the pressures that were put on NHS. That was the case not just here in Scotland or in the UK, but globally for the vast majority of healthcare systems, they had to stop carrying out elective procedures such as hip replacements, knee replacements and other types of surgery. That is why we have had a programme of work as we have come out of the pandemic to help to support our NHS from recovering. In terms of long waits, we have saw reductions of some 83 per cent in new out-patient specialities and 57 per cent in inpatient day-care specialities—now having fewer than more than 10 patients waiting two years. We have a range of other work that we are taking forward to help to reduce waiting lists further, including the additional £300 million that I have set out that we will invest for the next three years to reduce waiting lists by £100,000. I thank the cabinet secretary for the answer. My constituent, Wendy, is in the waiting list for a knee operation due to osteoarthritics. She also has a hip problem because of this condition. Her consultant advised her to proceed with non-operative measures instead of a hip replacement. The report highlighted that some health boards are reducing elective surgery to save money. Can the Scottish Government advise how it is ensuring that every person is being evaluated and treated correctly and not left in pain and without help in order to reduce elective surgery? The additional investment that we are making, as it stands at the present moment, to tackle the backlog and waiting lists that have built up during the course of the pandemic, alongside the additional investment that we have set out that we will invest over the course of the next three years, is very specifically to deal with the challenges that Mr Trowdy has highlighted, and his constituent has experienced. The length of delay that his constituent has experienced is unacceptable. I want to make sure that we take action in order to address that, which is why we are making the significant level of additional investment to help to reduce waiting lists over the course of the next three years in order to help constituents like his own to get the treatment that they require as early as possible. The minister has mentioned the new funding of £300 million, which the Scottish Government will provide over the next three years, and it is very welcome. Can the cabinet secretary say any more about how that funding will be directed to increase capacity, therefore tackling the long waits that are detailed in the reform Scotland report? We will obviously set out in the budget in the coming weeks how we will prioritise our investment over the course of the next financial year, including in the health portfolio. I can assure the member that the intention of the funding is to make sure that we build greater capacity in the NHS and to deliver greater resilience in the system to help to improve the number of patients who can be treated. That work has been taken forward by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery in partnership with our boards, and we will identify the funding that is needed for each of the boards to deliver on the programme in order to make sure that we are reducing waiting lists by the target that has been set as part of our waiting list initiative. Cabinet Secretary, last time I checked in the Highlands, there are over 2,000 people waiting for orthopedic operations. 1,000 of them are not suitable because they are too complex to go into the national treatment centre. We have hospital operating theatres closed to save money and beds are not available for the 20 orthopedic surgeons that sit around in Regmore wanting to do operations. What is your message to Highland patients? The message is very clear. We have made a very significant investment into NHS Highland by the creation of a new national treatment centre, and at the same time we are investing an additional £300 million in order to help to improve and increase capacity and also throughput within facilities like in NHS Highland. Exactly the type of action that people in the Highlands want to see us taking, despite the fact that we have a UK Government that is carrying budgets right, left and centre, including within the health service.