 Dîm mlynedd, faith accommodation, i dda, yn g unser oféig, i r 단kritau a phesol o Abbleshire. Gallwn lic dancing ond, mae bwysig i fathen y bêl regularlyn, ebird gyfair, er complaintolaidd, i butyren i so pewch am hoffir producell yn Lly créu unrhyw unrhyw, diamonds noll ar gyfer bwysig, ar diffyddiaeth yr hwn yn tergynnu ar hyn o nerwag. Wel, wnaeth ei ffordd pan tanpas o b attackedibur maes hwn yn mynd sefydlu, wedi where it included in a specific location in Berlin will be determined as soon as possible. Germany has been selected because it is at the heart of the EU with significant opportunities for enhanced collaborative working with Scotland in areas such as manufacturing. Members for As I mentioned in the first response to Ben Macpherson, Germany is consistently one of our top five export destinations. It's a critical market for our tourism industry. After the US and France, it's our third largest inward investor. Germany, as I've said, is also at the political heart of Europe, and the Berlin hub will allow Scotland to build on our existing relationships with European partners, and also, of course, vitally to increase trade and investment. Jackie Baillie The First Minister's announcement of increasing trade representation in Berlin is welcome, but can the cabinet secretary tell the chamber whether additional staff will be recruited for this purpose, or simply transferred from other responsibilities within SDI, and whether there is additional money available, and if so, how much? Jackie Baillie has referred to the statement by the First Minister, in which she said that there would be a doubling of SDI staff across the board. The hub in Germany will bring together staff from the Scottish Government, from Visit Scotland, and from Scottish Development International. Of course, that will be on the basis that SDI staff will, across the board, double in number, which should increase our presence. It's worth saying, of course, that much of this is stuff that we will be happy to do in any event, but which is increasingly important and urgent because of the forthcoming consequences of the Brexit vote. Stuart McMillan One of the Berlin successes has been a huge level of investment that went into the reintegration of the east on half of the city, including refurbishing older housing stock. Will any new trade mission have a remit to consider how such construction activity could actually benefit Scotland? Derek Mackay Well, Berlin is obviously at the heart of the EU, and it has significant opportunities for enhanced collaborative working with Scotland in areas such as manufacturing, as I have mentioned. However, we will also be exploring the potential in the priority areas that are outlined in our trade and investment strategy, including digital technology, an area that was raised at the national economic forum era this week with the First Minister, as well as high-value manufacturing, healthcare and low-carbon sector. We are being very proactive in making sure that we can increase our trade, as I said, not least to try to make up for what we foresee as the consequences of Brexit but also to increase economic prosperity, inclusive prosperity here in Scotland. Joan McAlpine Microphone, Ms McAlpine, just a second. A microphone from Ms McAlpine? Ah, it's the card. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on implementing the recommendations of the report, chronic pain services in Scotland, where are we now? Minister Maureen Watt The report to which the member refers was published in April 2014 by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and made a number of recommendations to NHS boards and the Scottish Government in order to help to plan and drive improvement in pain services across Scotland. For the suggestions made of the Scottish Government, we provided support to the national chronic pain improvement group, formerly the national chronic pain steering group, which was tasked with overseeing work to take forward the relevant recommendations. Having addressed all of those recommendations, the group came to its natural end in March 2016. Additionally, for each board to establish the servant improvement group referred to in the report, the Scottish Government made pump prime funding available from 2012 to a total of £1.3 million for a two-year period. Those groups considered those recommendations in the report directed towards NHS boards. Joan McAlpine I thank the minister for that answer and I welcome the fact that the new residential centre for chronic pain is up and running at Allander House on the Gartnaval campus, but it could perhaps be more widely publicised to the public. I know that the centre does not cater for children and that the Royal hospital for children Glasgow does not offer a residential integrated service on the par with that offered at the Bath Centre for pain services. I have a 12-year-old constituent suffering from complex regional pain syndrome who, in the view of our doctors, requires a residential course of integrated treatment that can only be provided in Bath. Can the minister give me reassurances that, where the clinical need is proven, we will continue to send a small number of cases to Bath for treatment? Maureen Watt I thank the member for her additional questions. In terms of the publicity of the national chronic pain management programme, it has been up and running at Gartnaval campus since November 2015. Since then, 121 patients have been referred from across Scotland. The community in chronic pain know about it, and the patient satisfaction of that programme has been at a very high level. In terms of the individual constituent who, unfortunately, suffers from severe chronic pain, I cannot get into patient details. However, because of the very small cohort of children fall into that category, services will still be available at Bath, if necessary. John Lamont To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to reopen rail stations at Reston and East Linton. Minister Humzaeus If the local authorities decide to proceed with the stations, I have already advised that the Scottish Government will fund 50 per cent of the construction cost for each station subject to a suitable business case. The offer of a 50 per cent contribution is significant and consistent with the percentage of funding that it offers to all other bids to the Scottish stations funds for new stations. I have informed the councils that I am considering their latest funding offer, but I remind the member and others that the Scottish stations fund is finite and that it is very competitive with a number of applications that are needed to be considered. John Lamont I thank the minister for that answer. There are sources from within Transport Scotland that suggest that Transport Scotland does not want the reopening of these stations to take place. Can the minister reassure me that this is not the case, and if it is, the political will of this Government and the desirability of reopening these stations will ensure that these views are overridden? I do not know what sources he is referring to, so I can give you directly from the Scottish Government that, of course, if the business case is there, if the councils are committed to it—which I am sure that they are—there is no lack or hesitancy from the Scottish Government whatsoever to see the opening of these stations. That is demonstrated by putting forward a contribution, a suggested contribution of 50 per cent, which is in line with other station fund bids that have come in. I am considering the latest offer from the council. I will give them a response in the next few weeks, but certainly the commitment from the Government is absolutely there. I have to say that when I first convened this meeting in my new role, I was heartened by the cross-party support that there are for these stations. A good campaign by local campaigners, cross-party support, commitment from the Government, commitment from the councils, this can happen, but there is still a gap that needs bridged in terms of funding that I will consider. Colin Beattie To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the recent ministerial visit to Munich to discuss future trade with the EU. The Government is clearing its intention to stay at the very heart of Europe, not on its fringes. The First Minister's recent announcement of a four-point plan to boost trade, including a permanent trade representation in Berlin, is testament to that. Two weeks ago, supported by SDI and David Scrimgear of the British German business network, I led a tech mission to Munich, involving four Scottish companies, Epipole, Maid Brave, Machines with Vision and Sunamp. The mission was aimed at promoting stronger economic ties between Scotland and Bavaria by exploring areas of shared interest. Under the banner of Scotland can do, I was accompanied by key partner organisations driving our innovation ecosystem, such as Women's Enterprise Scotland, the Scottish Edge Fund, We Are the Future, MBM Commercial and Fear Consultancy. My agenda included a very positive meeting with the Deputy Minister of the Government of Bavaria, Ilsa Agniar, who expressed interest in leading a return mission to Scotland next year and discussions with the Economic Ministry and the Municipal Authority in Munich. It also included a visit to the hugely impressive new IBM Watson facility in Munich, a meeting with a board member of BMW, meetings with Munich Technology Centre, with the Fraunhofer Institute to discuss their project on photonics in Glasgow and with Beirwa renewable energy. The last two being leading German companies, which are rooted in Bavaria, have invested in Scotland. Follow-up actions from those meetings are being pursued, including capitalising on the 17 twinning arrangements between towns and cities in Scotland and Bavaria. Colin Beattie? I thank the minister for his response. Does the minister agree with me that the trade hub to be established in Berlin underscores the Scottish Government's clear commitment to Europe? I think that it certainly does, Presiding Officer. I think that this mission demonstrated that there remains a lot of goodwill towards Scotland and the United Nations, specifically in Bavaria itself. Whereas I say that there are 17 existing twinning relationships, the establishment of the innovation investment hub in Berlin shows a commitment to, as the cabinet secretary has outlined in his answer to Mr McPherson, a strong commitment to building on the links between Germany and Scotland and to exploiting the very strong interest that there is in Germany in investing in Scotland and, indeed, our existing economic links. More broadly, it will provide a base in which to further develop the German tourism market and to help to raise Scotland's profile in Germany. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the report Scotland's digital future strategy for Scotland. The Scottish Government's commitment to refresh its existing digital strategy was detailed on the programme for government announcement. The refresh strategy will set out how we will take forward our digital ambitions under the vision of realising Scotland's full potential in a digital world and will demonstrate the role that digital can play in delivering this Government's priorities and ambitions for Scotland. I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. IT employs around 70,000 people in Scotland and contributes about £3 billion to our economy. The Scottish Government's own skills investment plan for the sector has identified that there could be up to 11,000 tech jobs opportunities every year until 2020. In recent conversations with business organisations in Glasgow, I have listened to numerous concerns that business is finding it difficult to fill software jobs. Is the Scottish Government confident that our schools, colleges and universities are producing people who have the right skills to fit with the needs of our business? It is a fair point that Mr Tomkins raises. We will cover the issue of skills and education, the approach on STEM, and ensuring that we are calibrating all our systems to support the public and the private sector in improving our capability as it relates to digital so that we can release the potential in our country. Of course, we have to make progress on connectivity, but skills and having the right people is absolutely critical. We will focus our attention on that when we refresh and publish our forthcoming strategy. Willie Coffey, how will digital technologies be used to improve the way in which public services are delivered and how that could help to tackle digital exclusion? There is a fantastic opportunity to redesign some of our public services, to focus on the digital first approach to be more effective and efficient. An organisation such as Revenue Scotland has been very efficient in how it has adapted and created systems around a digital first approach. We want a real customer focus, a once-for-scotland approach and a calibration of our systems to be effective and efficient and serve the needs of our citizens and to take advantage of the digital opportunities that are before us. To ask the Scottish Government what the annual value is of EU research programmes undertaken at universities in the Edinburgh area. Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville. Our higher education institutions are active partners in a large number of EU research collaborations and have secured significant funding from EU research programmes as a result. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the financial value of EU research programmes for specific institutions. However, we understand that the universities in the Edinburgh area secured over £36 million from various EU sources, including the EU Government, charities, businesses and other sources in 2014-15. The Royal Society report into the role of the EU in funding UK research identified that the UK was a net beneficiary from EU research and development funding to the tune of 3.4 billion euros in the period to 2013. Under the current EU R&D funding, total spending is expected to be 120 billion euros in the period up to 2020, and it's anticipated that Scotland will win around 120 million a year in grants under the 2020 horizon research programme. That may now be under threat following the Brexit vote. What assurances have been given by the UK Government that our universities will be compensated for any loss of research revenue? UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond provided a guarantee on 13 August that horizon research funding granted before we leave the EU will be guaranteed by the treasury after we leave. I welcome that UK Government guarantee on European funding, including horizon 2020, as far as it goes, because what it doesn't take into account is the anecdotal feedback that we are already receiving from higher education institutions about collaborations and the Scottish research impact being told to take a step back from those research projects. It also doesn't take into account any of the future framework programmes that would happen in the EU, which we would have continued to receive benefit from had we stayed in the European Union. 7. Alexander Stewart To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle cybercrime in the light of the challenges faced by Police Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to working with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to ensure that the police have more specialists such as experts in cybercrime and counter fraud and that the service has the right mix and numbers of staff for the future. Police Scotland is also developing its cybercrime infrastructure through the creation of a network of state-of-the-art hubs to ensure that knowledge and skills are maintained to a high level. Alexander Stewart The minister for her response, would she agree with the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents that criminals have evolved faster than Police Scotland exploiting advances in digital technology so that the internet is arguably the largest enabler for crime in Scotland? What can the Scottish Government do to implement such impacts? Alexander Stewart Well, I would say to the member that, of course, we are working together with Police Scotland to ensure that they have the capacity to deal with the ever-increasing challenges that cybercrime presents. Of course, we are committed to ensuring that they have the necessary resources to do that. However, I would say in terms of resources, two things. One, of course, it is the case at the moment that Police Scotland is losing around £25 million per annum through the VAT clawback on the part of the United Kingdom Government. If the member cares about Police resources for Police Scotland, he might want to get on the phone to his Westminster colleagues to get that money back to Police Scotland where it belongs. The second point that I would mention briefly is that, of course, a key player in tackling cybercrime is Europol. Police Scotland works closely with Europol on this important initiative and, indeed, other important initiatives such as child trafficking. Therefore, I would also perhaps call on the member if he could also get on the phone to his Westminster colleagues to ensure that the UK Government opts in to the new Europol regulation to ensure that Police Scotland continues to have access to the key resource in tackling cybercrime. Question 8, Linda Fabiani. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports veterans. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. Scottish Government places great importance on veterans and their families. We have established a state-of-the-art national prosthetic service, committed over £5 million from 2015 for world-class specialist mental health services, and provided almost £4 million for veterans housing. We have appointed a Scottish Veterans Commissioner, the first such position in the UK. I have also published a fresh strategy renewing our commitment, setting out priorities on healthcare, housing and jobs, and the earlier this month I announced a partnership with Standard Life, bringing our Scottish Veterans Fund to total £600,000 over three years. We want the private sector to treat veterans as an asset to bridge skills gaps, and this week I held a summit with Prince Charles to launch a new employer's network. I am sure that the cabinet secretary, like me, will welcome the one-stop shop for veterans, which has recently been established in Lanarkshire. However, I have had correspondence with veterans concerned about already established and on-going medical and respite services. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that it would be useful to arrange that a rep of his Government meets me and those concerned veterans to discuss their experiences? I would also welcome the new veterans first point Lanarkshire services, one of seven new services that are established across the country, which, of course, is based on the award-winning veterans first point Lothian model. Veterans first point Lanarkshire is building an infrastructure of support for veterans within the local community by working in partnership with national and local agency. Our commitments to veterans is absolute as we set out most recently in renewing our commitment document published earlier this year. Veterans should not be disadvantaged as a result of their service and it is vital that they receive timely access to the services and support they need wherever and whenever they need it. Last night, I attended with a convener of the cross-party group on veterans and the armed forces community, which was launched by forces in mind of their report, which said that, in relation to mental health services in Scotland, Scotland has arguably one of the most robust mental health and related health provisions for veterans in the United Kingdom. It also pointed out, as Linda Fabiani has done as well, that we have to improve those services. In that respect, I am more than happy to arrange a meeting with officials from the Scottish Government and the veterans that she mentions.