 Fy hoi. Na'r eivw ymddir wrth gwrs, mae na'n ei wneud am unrhyw o'r Gwylten MacGregor. With the Scottish Government on how it supports care experience for young people into higher and further education. Minister Richard Lochhead. The Scottish Government provided additional investment of over £5 million in 2018-19 and 2020 to increase the care experience bursary across further education and higher education £8,100 per year. The additional investment funding increase in the previous level of £7,625 at 8G and £4,185 in FE, providing a significant increase in the financial support that is available to care-experienced students. We are, of course, continuing to work on improvements and focus additional support funding on those students who are most in need. Fulton MacGregor I thank the minister for that response. The minister might be aware that I recently wrote to Sass on behalf of a constituent who has been told that she does not qualify for a care-experienced bussory because her period in care was not in the UK. I suspect that this is an anomaly in the system and will affect only a small number of students. Will the minister commit to looking into this matter further so that to ensure that all care-experienced children have the same and equal rights regardless of where in the world they experience being in the care of the state? Thank you for the question. I will certainly undertake to look into the circumstances outlined by Fulton MacGregor. I am sure that he will appreciate that there may well be anomalies in the system and that they should be investigated and sorted if necessary. Clearly, we have to lay down some kind of criteria as to who qualifies for student support in Scotland, but I do agree with the premise of the member's question and I do hope that he gets a satisfactory reply, but I certainly will investigate the circumstances. 2. Liam McArthur Thank you. Do you ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides for college students regarding fees encountered for starting a course and then withdrawing? The majority of colleges do not apply a fee to full-time students at higher education level who withdraw early from their course. As colleges operate independently of governments, it is ultimately the decision of individual colleges as to whether they apply charges to students who withdraw early and before the fee cut-off date of 1 December. Students are advised by the Student Awards Agency Scotland that they could be charged a fee by the institution who should do withdraw before the fee cut-off date. However, I expect institutions to take into account the personal circumstances of individual students when applying any fees. Liam McArthur I thank the minister for that helpful response. I was contacted by a constituent forced to drop out of an HNC course after a deterioration in her mental health. On returning to Orton, my constituent's mother then passed away suddenly, adding further distress to an already anxious and difficult time. Almost simultaneously, I am without warning, my constituent was informed by the college that she would face a charge of over £400 and even the threat of court action. I am in touch with the college principal who helpful has agreed to look into the matter. Does the minister believe that clearer guidance could be provided to colleges about using discretion over levying charges and such circumstances? Does the minister accept that that reflects the duty of care colleges of their students, including those who have left no option but to drop out early? Liam McArthur First, I am very sorry to hear about Mr McArthur's constituent's personal circumstances. I absolutely understand why he is raising this case. I would expect colleges to understand the reasons as to why any student may be withdrawing from a course early. It is very important that they therefore take any decision about asking for fees to be paid in the context of the circumstances that led to that withdrawal. I shall certainly ask my officials to look into the case highlighted by Mr McArthur, but I am pleased to hear that Paul Little, the principal of City of Glasgow College, is looking into the matter. I am hopeful that he will give a satisfactory response. Oliver Mundell Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can the minister clarify if Scottish Government statistics on positive destinations take into account those young people who start a college course and then withdraw after a short period of time? Well, there is a range of different circumstances that are taken into account of the statistics, so I do not think that that is a simple answer to the question, because there are different cut-off dates and different ways in which they are calculated, but I will certainly drop a note to the member just to elaborate on that point. 3. Peter Chapman To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of children in the NHS grampian area who have mental health issues are being seen within the 18-week referral to treatment target. Minister Joe FitzPatrick In the latest quarter for which statistics are available, which is January to March this year, 43.3 per cent of children and young people were referred to the grampian camps that were seen within 18 weeks. Peter Chapman I thank the minister for that answer, although I am very disappointed with it, as he rightly says in the first three months of this year, only 43 per cent of young patients were seen within 18 weeks. NHS Grampian has said that it has some of the longest waiting times. It is the lowest staff board and it is also the lowest funded health board in Scotland. The consistency of missed targets at NHS Grampian shows that there is a real problem. Can the minister stop with the excuses, accept that this is unacceptable, and tell me how the Scottish Government plans to address that? The Minister for Mental Health has been absolutely clear that this is unacceptable. That is why we have taken a range of measures to help support health boards reach the standard that 90 per cent of patients are seeing within 18 weeks. The Scottish Government is currently working with health boards, including Grampian, to agree their annual operation plans, including how they will deliver on the standard. To help boards and integration joint boards achieve that ambition, we have outlined a package of measures to do more to support positive mental health and prevent ill health, which includes a quarter of £1 billion of additional investment. That comes in addition to the £54 million that has already been invested to help boards to improve their performance against waiting-time targets by investing in workforce development, recruitment and retention and service improvement support. Our investment has allowed the CAMHS workforce to increase by 75 per cent with the number of CAMHS psychologists more than doubling under this Government. 4. Gil Paterson To ask the Scottish Government how it helps families to meet the cost of child starting school. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney We have delivered a wide range of initiatives to help families to meet the cost associated with starting school, including the pupil equity fund and improvements to both free school meals and the school clothing grant. Our best start grant has already provided more than £3.5 million to families on low incomes at key stages in their children's early years. Since 3 June, it has also provided a £250 school-age payment when a child is due to start primary school. It can be used for anything from school clubs, travel costs, days out or clothing. 4. Gil Paterson I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Cabinet secretary, I raised this with you before, and you will see a motion in my name in a similar vein on universal credit awareness. Can the Scottish Government say what it is doing to promote and inform the public on the new best start payment? We really need to make sure that those who need the support know exactly where they can get it. Cabinet secretary, Mr Paterson has made this point to me a number of times before on the awareness of measures of this type to try to support families. A co-ordinated communications plan is being implemented working with local authorities, health boards and third sector organisations that support applicants. We have also provided, as we did for the launch of the previous best start grant payments, a range of guidance, promotional materials and media content for stakeholders. We hope that that will explain the eligibility criteria and encourage applications. 5. Julian Martin To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that there is a skills base to deliver the transformational change required to address the climate emergency. We have established the Just Transition Commission, which is expertise in the labour market and skills. The advice ministers on the move to net zero economy, the commission's work plan, has identified skills as a key topic. Analysis of current and future labour requirements, including skills, will form an on-going part of its considerations. Julian Martin I thank the minister for that answer. The Just Transition Commission will be key to ensuring that Scotland's transition from burning fossil fuels to a low-carbon economy is one in which assistance will not be disadvantaged in terms of employment and will have the opportunities to gain the skills for the future. Can I ask if the Just Transition Commission will include representatives from Scotland's colleges and universities as the work continues, and what roles, skills development Scotland will play in ensuring that our workforce is ready for the transition? The commission membership was laid out in December of last year. There are representatives of academia in there, Professor Jim Skees, the chair, and Professor Karen Turner from Strathclyde University, so there are representatives of academia. Skills Development Scotland of course are our national skills agency. They undertake skills planning on across all sectors, across all areas of the country, which supports assessment of current and future skills needs. They are the Government's skills agency, and where we set out our ambitions, we expect them to respond in this area is no different. Jamie Halcro Johnston It's now been two years since the Scottish Conservatives first called for the establishment of a circular economy education and skills academy, a move that could boost skills based across to tackle climate breakdown. Now that the First Minister has declared a climate emergency, does the cabinet secretary agree that such an academy should be established as a priority? We will give consideration to all the reasonable propositions made in good faith, but I would observe that we have a well-established skills system already. We invest a considerable amount in it already. We expect that skills system to be responsive to our needs, including in this area. We will shortly be publishing our national skills action plan, which will set out how we intend to make sure that we have an ever more responsive skills system to all the requirements. I will always be willing to consider any proposition, but candidly right now we have a skills system in place, and I expect it to be responded to the task at hand. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on glass recycling rates of including glass containers in its planned deposit return scheme. As outlined through our stage 1 full business case that was published on 8 May, we anticipate that a DRS will increase glass bottle recycling rates from the existing 64 per cent towards 90 per cent. As bottles make up the bulk of glass packaging used for food and drink, that will drive up the overall glass recycling rate. The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting local authority collection arrangements for a range of packaging materials alongside DRSs under our proposed reforms of wider packaging producer responsibility arrangements. The costs to local authorities of delivering those services will in future be met by producers. Ruth Maguire I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Ardar glass is an important employer in my constituency. They have raised concerns with me that in other countries an unintended consequence of including glass in deposits was that manufacturers switched to plastics. Can the cabinet secretary provide reassurance that the matter of glass is being considered carefully with both industry and consumers being consulted? Will she join me on a visit to Ardar glass in Irvine to see first hand the contribution that they make to recycling? Ruth Maguire I am committed to working closely with industry as we progress with the implementation of our proposals. In fact, I am already meeting Ardar glass on 26 June to discuss our plans in more detail. I recognise the concerns around the inclusion of glass. However, I believe that those factors are more than offset by the significant increase in glass recycling and the reduction in carbon emissions that that will deliver. There is also the potential for the glass industry to directly benefit from the higher quality recyclable glass that we expect to capture through DRS. Maurice Golden I refer members to my register of interests. The inclusion of glass in a deposit return scheme is a risk to local authorities and key sectors such as the Scotch whisky. For example, over £3 million of funding has been withdrawn from Aberdeenshire council for their new waste collection system, and industry have warned about the viability of the supply chain. Will the cabinet secretary pledge to ensure that no council job losses are resulting from the scheme and that all resources collected via the scheme are recycled here in Scotland? I had understood that the Conservatives supported the inclusion of glass in the scheme. I just hope that, by the tone of Maurice Golden's question, they are not beginning to renaig on that support. Special advisers and officials have recently met with other glass industry interests, so we are aware of the concerns. I think that I made that very clear when I made my statement that we understand some of the issues that are around the inclusion of glass. However, I made it clear in my earlier answer to Ruth Maguire that the issues that are connected to local authority recycling are not just as straightforward as Maurice Golden suggested. We will, of course, continue to keep all the issues related to that under consideration. That is what the implementation advisory group is for. 7. Edward Mountain To ask the Scottish Government on what date it was first made aware of bullying in NHS Highland and what action it took. As the member will know from the response that he received to the same question on 23 May, a search of all records available from 1 January 2011 shows that the earliest correspondence on file relating to NHS Highland, which mentioned the term bullying, was received on 16 March 2014. That was correspondence, addressed to a trade union and copied to the Scottish Government for information only. The Scottish Government has proactively engaged with the individual concern and continued to engage to this day. Edward Mountain I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I understand that the board of NHS Highland knew of serious bullying allegations in 2010. As you have pointed out, the Scottish Government knew about bullying in March 2014. If the issue had been dealt with properly then, it would not be the crisis that it is today. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it was a serious failure by the Government that has allowed the situation to develop as it has? Cabinet secretary No, I do not agree. Despite Mr Mountain's best efforts, I think that we have handled this situation very well since the commissioning of the Stuart report, which was prompted by allegations of a culture of bullying, not individual cases, a culture of bullying. I think that we handled that swiftly. We handled it well. It was an independent report, which has been well received, I am sure to Mr Mountain's chagran, by staff and others in NHS Highland, on which we continue to act. Indeed, a week today, I will visit NHS Highland myself to understand exactly how they are progressing their action plan. I think that it behoves members, particularly those who claim to represent those in the Highlands, to get behind this report and give it their absolute support. David Stewart Thank you, Presiding Officer. Has the cabinet secretary considered the Francis review, which looked into bullying in the NHS in England? Its recommendations included early support of whistleblowers, cultural change and prevention of isolation containment. Will the cabinet secretary incorporate those recommendations into NHS Highland and beyond? I am grateful to Mr Stewart for that supplementary question. As he knows from the statement that I made on the publication of the Stuart review, I made clear that I understood well that some of what was in that report applied as lessons across our NHS. That is why one of the actions that I have taken is to bring together a leadership group from across our regulation bodies, our royal colleges, our staff and trade union representatives and our boards to meet with me over the summer to look at what more we need to do across our NHS to ensure that we have a positive working culture. That, of course, responds in many ways to the recommendations of the Francis review. Tavish Scott To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in developing coach park facilities at the Yarlsoft site in Shetland. Minister Ben Macpherson Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop explained in a letter to Tavish Scott on 2 May that discussions remain on-going regarding the proposed improvements to visitor facilities at Yarlsoft. Legitimate questions have been raised regarding best value for money for the public and taxpayers. Ministers await further advice that this position has been addressed. The cabinet secretary has asked Historic Environment Scotland to ensure that matters are expedited in so far as is within their control. Tavish Scott The Sumbra hotel, local bus businesses and the cruise line industry have been told for three years that Historic Environment Scotland and the agencies and the Government would sort out these coach park facilities, but all that we have had is endless buck passing. Why? Minister For clarity, Historic Environment Scotland is aware of the vital need that has been expressed for facilities at Yarlsoft and the need that the current provision for those facilities is not sustainable. Historic Environment Scotland has been considering their options and I have been keeping ministers informed with developments. However, as I am sure Tavish Scott is aware, there are legal sensitivities around current negotiations that relate to their proposals to improve parking and visitor facilities. As such, it would be inappropriate for me to go into any detail on those on-going discussions at this time. What is more, as would always be the case in any process of this nature, is the responsibility of ministers to ensure that best value for money can be evidenced. However, I will ensure that Historic Environment Scotland is asked to make contact with the member to further discuss those matters and to inform Tavish Scott of any updates as appropriate. Thank you very much. Apologies to Jenny Gilruth and Bill Kidd.