 The next item of business is topical questions. In order to get as many people in as possible, I'd be grateful for succinct questions and responses. Question number one, I call Siobhan Brown. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding lorry driver shortages and the related fuel shortages. Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney. Presiding Officer, the Scottish Government has repeatedly requested the need for urgent action to be taken regarding the shortage of HGV drivers, with the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work writing to the UK Government in July pressing this issue. That is why we have also said to the UK Government that we want them to move to a 24-month temporary worker scheme to enable us to tackle the deeper issues that are at stake here. Scottish Government officials have maintained regular dialogue with their UK Government counterparts on the issue, which has been exacerbated by Brexit. The Minister for Transport is discussing the issue today with the UK Government's parliamentary under-secretary state at the Department of Transport. Siobhan Brown. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Given the recent comments from NFUS chief executive Scott Walker, who pointed out that the whole Scottish food and drink supply chain has been highlighting the crisis and solutions needed for many weeks now, does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the sidelining of Scotland through the temporary visa scheme is yet more proof of the utter disdain in which Scotland's interests are treated by the Tory Government in Westminster? The comments by Scott Walker have been echoed by James Wethers, the chief executive of Scotland's Food and Drink, who has indicated that the measures that were announced by the United Kingdom Government at the weekend were too little and too late. We have been indicating for some considerable time—indeed, back to the whole debate around the EU referendum in 2016—that if we lost access to free movement of individuals, there would be a significant and negative impact on the Scottish economy. That is exactly what is now happening because of the options and choices that the United Kingdom Government has made. The damage that is being done to critical sectors, valuable sectors in the Scottish economy, seafood and fish processing sectors—to name just two, the agricultural sector and the bargain—are willful examples of the neglect and the decision making that has been arrived at by the United Kingdom Government. The Conservative Government has been facing repeated warnings that the immigration system would also damage another important sector in Scotland, including leaving our vital social care sector critically short of staff. While migration powers are still reserved to Westminster, can the cabinet secretary outline what urgent action needs to be taken to fix the migration system that works for all parts of the United Kingdom? That is a very substantial point in the question that Siobhan Brown asked me, because we are facing acute shortages of labour in a range of sectors in the Scottish economy. Siobhan Brown mentioned the social care sector. That is an important sector in which it is difficult to recruit the necessary numbers of staff to support the patients and the individuals that we require to support. That is because of the choices that have been made in the implementation of the Brexit agreement and particularly the abolition of free movement of individuals. We are arguing that the previous European temporary leave-to-remain scheme should be implemented immediately to allow EU citizens to stay and work in the UK for up to three years. In addition to the proposals that I set out in my earlier answer to the steps in relation to recruitment of staff, we need to have active measures that will overcome the damage done by the abolition of free movement and we need that action to be undertaken immediately by the United Kingdom Government, recognising that immigration and migration are reserved issues. The cabinet secretary will be aware that qualifying as an HGV driver is expensive, and that prevents many young people from entering the profession. Once they have qualified, they find it hard to get a job because the insurance premiums are eye-watering for young drivers. If he is looking at ways of training young people to enable them to become HGV drivers, and if he is speaking to insurance companies about their premiums, especially for smaller companies who do not have the economies of scale to make those manageable for young drivers. As Rhorogram will know, the Government has a range of financial measures in place that support the training and recruitment of individuals. The transition training fund is designed to support individuals with additional costs that can specifically support them to gain particular qualifications and to enter particular sectors. That is one of a range of options in addition to the variety of other education and training opportunities that we have available. I will take away her point in relation to insurance costs and will explore what the Government can do in that respect. Fundamentally, we have to recognise that the challenges that we face, the many challenges that we face, are about the acute shortage of labour that comes out about as a consequence of the decisions and choices that have been made around Brexit. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of staffing shortages at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in Glasgow, leading to health professionals warning about patient safety. Staffing levels in Scotland's NHS are at a record high after an increase of more than 5,000 whole-time equivalent staff in the last year. The NHS Scotland's workforce is now grown by over 20 per cent under this Government. Since March 2020, the number of nursing and midwifery staff in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has increased by 800. Nevertheless, I acknowledge the extremely challenging circumstances in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Across the NHS and across the country, a range of further interventions are now actively being taken forward and deployed within the service to support existing capacity. That includes provision of additional targeted flexibility, streamlining recruitment processes and bringing forward planned recruitment. For example, the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde advise me that they have taken steps to bring on board 670 newly-qualified nurses. Of that, 573 are already in post, and the remaining 97 will start as soon as their registration is processed and complete. I would like to place on record my thanks to those who are joining to support our NHS during this challenging period, as well as the wider workforce that has shown extraordinary commitment during the pandemic. The report from the weekend did make for grim reading, with 339 warnings of understaffing logged at the hospital since 2019, 55 near-miss incidents where there was a potential for a patient to be harmed due to staff shortages. That is apparently just the tip of the iceberg, with one clinician saying that the system that is being used to log those warnings is complex, the datex system, and the 339 figure could easily be doubled. They also state that there were two nurses for 28 patients when there should be six. Does the cabinet secretary believe that that is acceptable, and will he apologise to the staff that are working under those conditions? I will take on board the comments raised by Ms Webber and the staff. I read the article on the complexity of the datex system. The datex system provides really incredibly useful feedback for hospital management and, of course, for us in government. I would encourage staff to continue to report any issues on that system. However, I have been able to do and highlight, I hope, in my first answer to Ms Webber, where there has been a problem identified around understaffing, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has taken action. In fact, 670 newly qualified nurses, some of them already recruited some of them starting in the coming days and coming weeks. Of course, we will continue to make sure that, as we have done as a Government, this NHS has a record staffing levels. Workforce planning issues are nothing new, and Covid has brought its obvious challenges, but this has been a problem under this Government for some time. Despite the action that we have heard from there, last week the GMB union said that there was already an understaffing crisis in our ambulance service pre-Covid. In the report at the weekend, a clinician said that Nicola Sturgeon reduced the number of nursing training places a decade ago, and those people would be skilled now and be able to work now in the NHS. Warnings were given at that time. Will the cabinet secretary stop hiding behind Covid to mask the issues that were already present in the NHS and finally accept that it is the Government's lack of action that has compounded the current NHS staffing crisis? Cabinet secretary, I will deal with some of the inaccuracies from Ms Webber. In terms of NHS Scotland, we have the highest staffing levels ever in the NHS, 20 per cent increase under this Government. If I look at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, all staff is up, qualified nurses and midwives up 9.1 per cent, consultants up 46 per cent, emergency medicine consultants up 220 per cent, obstetrics and gynaecologist consultants up over 36 per cent, and GPs up over 10 per cent. Ms Webber can try all the spin in the world, but it does not detract away from the facts that exist. Under our stewardship of the NHS, we do not only have record staffing levels, but we have the best-paid staff anywhere in the UK. I will stand proudly on this Government's record of funding and staffing the NHS compared to her party's record of curring public services, not being remotely as generous as we have been to NHS staff and, of course, over a decade of austerity. Forgive me, Presiding Officer, I am not going to take lectures from the Conservatives on staffing and funding our NHS. Before I take a supplementary on this question, could I please remind members that we are very tight for time and succinct questions and responses would be appreciated? Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that NHS and other public sector staff have done a remarkable job during the pandemic, and that comments from Sue Webber MSP prior to the election suggest that public sector staff like nurses should have their pay cut by 20 per cent through salary sacrifice to match those in furlough would seriously undermine recruitment of NHS staff and other key workers? Yes, I agree incredibly, Ms Webber forgot to mention those remarks during her question. I hope that she will apologise for that. I noted that she called it a policy of salary sacrifice. I will tell you what this SNP Government will continue to ensure that NHS workers and social care workers continue to be paid—the best paid—in the rest of the UK. What Ms Webber's abhorrent comments about NHS workers shows is that there is one thing in public and another thing in private. To ask the Scottish Government for its response to reports that staff shortages and a new criminal record system in Police Scotland is risking dangerous criminals being left on the street. It is true that Police Scotland is investing in new technology that is supporting transformative change away from legacy systems and providing staff with tools that will help to improve the recording of criminal records. The programme of change has resulted in a restructuring and regrading of roles within criminal justice services division, which has the support of trade unions representing police staff. Although that change is an operational decision for the chief constable, I met with Unison earlier today and they confirmed their support for the organisational changes. However, it is vitally important that Police Scotland works closely with trade unions and affected staff to support them through this period of change. For our last year's budget, Police Scotland said that £85.7 million in capital funding would deliver significant transformative benefits in areas such as ICT, but the Scottish Government provided them with at least £30 million less than that. Is that not the real cause of those problems? No, as I have mentioned, the changes that are being taken forward by Police Scotland are part of driving forward the efficiencies that we would expect to see from a single police force. The real source of problems in terms of financing is the Tory government, which has had austerity budgets for 10 years and has not matched the funding for new police officers that we have in Scotland and has not matched the pay of police officers that we have in Scotland. That is the structural problem that undermines the ability for us to fund to a greater extent the police, but we have increased their funding last year. This year, £60 million this year, £75 million this year is a Government committee to supporting its police force, unlike the Conservatives. I know something about the integrity of police systems, having reported on Bill Johnston, an innocent man who allocated an extensive criminal record on the police computer. Mr Johnston spent more than a decade seeking justice and answers, but doors remained closed. He could not get a straight answer from your predecessor. Can the cabinet secretary give a clear undertaking today to finally provide him with the full explanation that he deserves? It is not really related to the question switcher before me, but I would say to the member that he wants to write to me with the issues that he has raised. To the extent that it is possible to do so, I will try to respond to him with the question that he has raised, but that is not part of the question before us. The question before us was about the funding and the support for the police, and we have shown that over successive years. We have more police officers here than we do elsewhere. There are 32 police officers for every 100,000 people in Scotland, and 23 for everyone in England and Wales. We are the ones that support the police in this country. It would be good if the Conservatives, instead of trying to undermine the police, the justice system and even the Lord Advocate, could get behind the justice system for once. Statistics published today show that recorded crime in Scotland remains at one of the lowest levels in nearly 50 years. Can the cabinet secretary outline how measures outlined in the programme for government will build on this good progress and help to keep Scotland safe? The programme for government lays out the fact that we have committed to protecting the police resource budget in real terms for the entirety of this Parliament. We increased the SPA's resource budget by 5.2 per cent for 2021-22 to more than £1.3 billion. That has, for the first time, eliminated Police Scotland's structural deficit since its formation. We have also committed to introducing legislation in this parliamentary term to change the way that imprisonment is used with consultation on initial proposals relating to bail and release from custody the law this autumn. That will be underpinned by investment in a substantial expansion of community justice, supporting diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing, which evidence shows is more effective at reducing offending. However, it is not just about reducing crime, we are determined to protect victims as well. This year we will launch a new funding programme to provide practical and emotional support to victims, survivors and witnesses of crimes across Scotland. That concludes topical questions. The next item of business is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on a Covid-19 update. The First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.