 The next item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions, and we'll start with question number one from Alec Rowley. To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to teachers in Fife regarding reports of over £2 million of reductions in the second rescue education budget. Despite continued UK Government real-term cuts to Scotland's resource budget, we have treated local government very fairly. This year, Fife Council's increase in spending power to support local authority day-to-day services, including secondary school education, amounts to £18.8 million, or 3 per cent, compared to 2017-18. Thank you for that answer. I'm tempted to say, meanwhile, in the real world, and I don't mean that disrespectfully. The fact is that a presentation that's being given to teachers across Fife right now shows that savings approved by Fife Council in secondary education, £4.095 million, £2.338 million, is expected to come directly out of school budgets. The reality is that teachers, with all the pressures that they've got on them, are now being asked how to work out in the secondary schools in Fife, how they're going to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds out of their working budgets. Does the cabinet secretary and Deputy First Minister think that that's acceptable? I won't even start on the cuts in primary school. How are we going to raise attainment if we're seeing the levels of cuts taking place in our front-line education in the classrooms? The first thing that I say to Mr Rowley is that I attached the greatest of importance to investment in education, which is the foundation of the Government's education approach, and particularly the focus on the Scottish attainment challenge and on pupil equity funding. I reiterate to Mr Rowley the point that I made in my earlier answer, that Fife Council's budget will be increasing by £8.8 million, spending power, as a consequence of the decisions in the Government's budget. We are, of course, being distributed directly to individual schools. Schools in Fife have been allocated over £10 million in pupil equity funding, which I know from my various visits around Fife has been used very effectively by Fife schools to meet the needs of young people. In addition to that, I have just come from a meeting of the Scottish Education Council at which the Executive Director of Education from Fife Council was present, who is leading the south-east of Scotland improvement collaborative. We heard at the Education Council this morning of the very significant plans that have been deployed by the improvement collaborative to support the enhancement of education in the school sector in Scotland. I understand the points that Mr Rowley is making. Those are decisions that Fife Council must make within the overall financial allocations that are made by the Scottish Government and other sources of money available to it. On that part of it, I think that the Scottish Government has invested significantly in local services in Fife Council. Alexander Stewart Several heads at schools in Fife have told me that they would like to spend pupil equity fund money on employing more teachers with skills in addition to support needs, but that the spending of pupil equity fund money on additional teachers is not permitted. Can the cabinet secretary clarify the situation if that is correct? Michael Russell Of course, pupil equity funding can be used to employ members of staff. I can say to Mr Stewart that I can't get the right... Yes, I can. 506 additional teachers have been employed under the Scottish attainment challenge and pupil equity funding arrangements. That provision exists around the country, so there's no reason why that shouldn't apply in Fife. I'd also be very surprised, to be honest, that schools in Fife would face that difficulty, because I can think of particular examples where additional teachers have been recruited by schools in Fife and are able to contribute to the education of young people. Ben Macpherson To ask the Scottish Government what role the educational maintenance allowance, or EMA, plays in encouraging young people to stay on at school. The education maintenance allowance programme provides a financial incentive for 16 to 19-year-olds from low-income households who are attending non-advanced learning in school, college or are on an activity agreement to stay in learning. Those who are home educated are also eligible. The EMA programme is an entitlement in Scotland, unlike the rest of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Government wants young people to be able to choose from the same learning opportunities, regardless of background or circumstance. Ben Macpherson I appreciate that answer from the cabinet secretary and welcome the fact that the SNP Government continues to recognise the importance of the EMA programme and its role in allowing our young people to make learning decisions based on their abilities and aspirations, rather than on their financial circumstances. Can the cabinet secretary outline what proportion of EMA recipients live in our most disadvantaged areas? The latest statistics on education maintenance allowance show that those living in Scotland's 20 per cent most deprived areas in 2016 increased to 36.8 per cent from 34.9 per cent in the previous year. Those figures tell us that education maintenance allowance arrangements continue to make a positive difference to those from the most disadvantaged areas in Scotland. I welcome that increase that has taken place in the most recent figures that are available. Mary Fee This morning at the Education and Skills Committee, we heard evidence that families lose access to clothing grants and tax credits when a pupil applies for education maintenance allowance. That results in families falling into poverty and debt due to the gap in processing the applications. What action will the Scottish Government take to prevent families falling further into debt as a result of applying for EMA? I will look with care at the transcript of the committee this morning to follow that evidence. It is my understanding that the decision as to whether or not other benefits are forfeited as a consequence of applying for EMA will be enshrined in individual rules pursued by individual local authorities in terms of their eligibility criteria. I will look with care at the point that Mary Fee raises, because I would be concerned if a family were to apply for an education maintenance allowance but to forfeit access to other elements of provision such as a school clothing grant because an EMA will be available to an older pupil and older pupils will be obliged by the same rules on uniform that school clothing grants are designed to try to support and to assist. If Mary Fee has particular information that she wants to draw to my attention, I will look at it carefully, because certainly that is not the policy intention that I would want to be seeing emerging from this, and I will examine the details of that to see what the Government can do to rectify it. It may be within individual decisions taken by local authorities over which I have no control. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage female pupils to consider enrolling in the STEM teaching initiative run by the University of Dundee and of the Highlands and Islands. The Scottish Government's STEM strategy includes a range of actions aimed at encouraging women and girls to take up STEM-related careers. The partnership induction model being developed by the University of Dundee supported by £240,000 worth of Scottish Government funding will contribute to that goal. The University of Dundee has more females than males across its STEM teacher education programme currently and has an action plan in place to encourage the on-going recruitment of underrepresented groups, including females, into STEM teaching. The new programme is being marketed in conjunction with four partner local authorities who will actively encourage female applicants. Rhoda Grant There is big skills shortage in engineering and very few women taking up a career in this area. Indeed, in all STEM careers, women only make up 14.4 per cent of the workforce. That will not change as it would appear that there is still a shortage of girls taking up STEM subjects in school, which are crucial to them having a career in the sector going forward. Can I ask what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that more girls choose maths and science at school? There are a number of measures that are detailed within the STEM strategy, which I had the pleasure of launching last year. Recently, at the second implementation group for that STEM strategy, we discussed some of the issues around gender imbalance. That included tackling some of the unconscious bias that goes on within society and how we can do that within school, building on the fine work of the Institute of Physics in that area. We are obviously also looking at what can be done to tackle some of the challenges around apprenticeships that is being led by my colleague Mr Hepburn. There are also further education and higher education challenges that we have through the funding councils gender action plan. There are a number of other methods that are being dealt with, particularly through the STEM strategy. For example, some of the KPIs deal specifically with the challenges around gender imbalance around schools and encouraging that take-up. If the member has further questions in relation to some of the particular aspects within the STEM strategy and how we can take that further, I would be happy to take that up with her in due course. Following the recent refresh of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's publication, Tapping All Our Talents, what measures have the Government taken to ensure that women who are qualified but not currently working in STEM have an opportunity to take up the new STEM initiative? I had the pleasure of receiving updates on all this briefly and informally when I attended UKRI reception last night where I spoke to Professor Yellowlees, who is chairing that working group from the RSE. We are having very detailed discussions between Government officials, myself and the RSE about how we can support them in terms of the data that they are looking at. I have committed to working with the RSE to look at the updated recommendations that they have, once they have refreshed that strategy and their consultation, as I understand that it is still on-going. We have a number of measures to tackle gender imbalance at the moment. Those include, for example, funding through the Equalities Budget to support Equate Scotland, an organisation that, as the member knows, works to tackle women's underrepresentation in the STEM sector. For example, through career-wise, a placement scheme exclusively for women studying STEM subjects at the universities and colleges, and also through Equate Scotland funding up to £50,000 to deliver a women returner programme. We are taking action at the moment but are very aware and helping in any way we can the RSE, and we will listen carefully to the recommendations that come from that refresh. James Kelly To ask the Scottish Government when it last met officials from South Lanarkshire Council's education resources. My officials meet regularly with officials from South Lanarkshire Council's education resources to address a range of issues. The Child Poverty Action Group told the Education Committee last month that young people face a postcode lottery in terms of their opportunities in education. That is emphasised in the South Lanarkshire Council attainment figures where those who are able to attain the standard of five national fives are just over a third running below the national average. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the objective should be to give a fair opportunity for all young children in Scotland? That is constrained by the Government policy of penalising councils through cuts, as demonstrated by the £134 per head of cuts that South Lanarkshire Council citizens have faced since 2014? I thought I was on the verge of agreeing with quite a bit of Mr Kelly until he got to the last bit. On the first bit of Mr Kelly's question, I was ever to agree with him that the whole focus of the Government's education policy, with its emphasis on the achievement of excellence and equity for all, is about ensuring that young people, regardless of their background, are able to achieve their potential within the education system. In some of the disparities that have existed within our education system for all of my lifetime are what we are trying to tackle by the focus on the attainment agenda. In relation specifically to South Lanarkshire, there are three points that I would make the first. South Lanarkshire Council's spending power has increased by £16.3 million or 3 per cent in this financial year compared to last. Secondly, schools in South Lanarkshire will be benefiting to the tune of just short of £8 million in the current financial year in pupil equity funding. What I have seen from pupil equity funding is schools being able to take specific action to address the individual issues that confront them within their own localities as a consequence of having the resources of pupil equity funding available. In all the localities that Mr Kelly will be concerned about, they have the means now available to help them to address that attainment challenge. Thirdly, in the context of having the resources available for schools, in South Lanarkshire there has been an increase in the number of teachers that are available in the South Lanarkshire schools in the latest census. There has been an increase from 3,202 to 3,282, which is a welcome indication of the priority that has been allocated to education and the increase in the number of the teaching professionals that are there to educate our young people. To ask the Scottish Government what action schools take to protect children from knife crime. All staff in schools share a responsibility for identifying the care and wellbeing needs of children and young people. Schools should establish open, positive, supportive relationships across the whole school community. Education authorities in consultation with key partners, including staff unions, should develop their own policy on knives and offensive weapons within the wider context of positive relationships, learning and behaviour. The Scottish Government is also investing significantly in various violence reduction preventative approaches with young people across Scotland as part of a wider strategy to promote positive relationships and behaviour. Since 2007, we have invested more than £14 million in violence reduction programmes for young people and we continue to expand the work undertaken with children and young people on those programmes. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response, but recent figures show that the number of pupils being excluded from school for incidents involving conventional or even improvised weapons is currently at a five-year high with an average of two exclusions per day involving a violent incident with a weapon. Given those shocking statistics, can I ask the cabinet secretary if it is his understanding that local authorities have standardised their processes on gathering knife crime data, why he thinks that there is a five-year high in incidents and what comfort can he offer parents that when they send their child to school they are sending them to a weapon-free and safe environment? The first thing that I say to Mr Greene is that I agree with the aspirations of his question that parents should be expected to send their children to weapon-free schools in a safe environment. All of the work that we undertake—yesterday I chaired a meeting of the wider stakeholder group on behaviour in schools called Sigrabus. It focuses on putting in place the mechanisms to enable positive behaviour and a positive ethos to be created within schools so that the type of policy environment that Mr Greene would expect to see is present in every school with an emphasis on removing the instances of any weapon carrying. The statistics to which Mr Greene refers are a concern to us because we have seen for some time reductions in the overall levels of exclusion, and generally in Scottish education levels of exclusion are falling, but we have seen a rise in the instance of exclusions in relation to weapons and weapon carrying. That tells us that we must ensure that we have a vigorous involvement in some of the activities such as the No Knives Better Lives campaign, which is a youth engagement programme, or whether the work of the mentors in violence prevention programme to make sure that those programmes are felt within individual schools and the positive behaviours that we would expect to see in our schools are prevalent in all of our schools. I assure Mr Greene that those considerations are very much uppermost in the mind of ministers and our stakeholders in trying to ensure that we create the environment to which he referred in his question. James Dornan Obviously, that is a very serious issue, cabinet secretary. Although it is probably harder for young people to access knives in terms of buying them, what sort of discussions has the Government had with the UK Government on restricting the online sale of knives? In the aftermath of the Bailey Gwyn tragedy, the Government considered the recommendations that came from the report that examined those circumstances. From that, the Justice Secretary made representations to the United Kingdom Government to work together to raise concerns about the online sale of knives and the need for a cohesive approach between our actions and those of the UK Government. The United Kingdom Government agreed with that approach and, in October, published a consultation on knives, corrosive substances and firearms. The consultation extended some of those proposals to Scotland and the consultation ended just before Christmas. The United Kingdom Government is currently working with our officials on preparing legislation to address the concerns about online sales of knives, because those are reserved responsibilities and we are very keen to co-operate with the United Kingdom Government and putting in place the most effective regime that we can to tackle this issue. I appreciate the detail of the cabinet secretary's answers but I would encourage some succinctness to get through some of our questions. Question 6, Rona Mackay. To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages people to consider becoming teachers in STEM subjects. Minister Shirley-Anne Somerville. We have taken a series of actions to encourage more people into teaching STEM subjects. Our teaching makes people recruitment campaign targets STEM undergraduates and career changers to consider teaching as a career. We have increased student intake targets for the STEM subjects and we are offering bursaries of up to £20,000 for up to 100 career changers to train to teach in STEM subjects. We are also supporting innovative new routes into teaching in STEM subjects. Those include the University of Strath Clyde's master's course for STEM graduates to complete an initial teacher education course alongside a master's degree. Rona Mackay. I thank the minister for that answer. In my constituency of Strath Kelvin and Bearsden, one school is only able to offer an elective computing class to third-year students due to a shortage of teachers. Does the minister agree that this subject is crucial to young people's future careers and should not be compromised where possible? I absolutely agree that digital skills are of crucial importance both for everyday life and for Scotland's future economic prosperity. Only yesterday I was at Tullial and primary school, where I heard first-hand the work that is being done in a number of schools and secondary schools to develop young people's digital skills through the digital schools awards programme. We do recognise that some councils are facing challenges in relation to STEM teacher recruitment. That is why the Government has taken a number of actions to support further improvement within teacher recruitment. Some of those I mentioned in my original answer, but there are also work, for example, on going with Aberdeen University to allow former oil and gas workers to train as teachers the bursaries that I mentioned to Rona Mackay earlier. We are also doing the work with the University of Dundee, where we are looking at highly qualified graduates and career changers specialising in science and technology-related subjects. That is an issue that the Government is determined to take more concerted action on. There are some encouraging signs that uptake in higher and advanced higher is increasing in some science subjects, but there are others where uptake is falling. What is the Scottish Government doing to improve uptake across the board? The issue around encouraging more young people, but particularly young women, to take up STEM subjects within school and then, hopefully, within an apprenticeship for their education or higher education is something that we are doing a number of strands of work on, as I mentioned earlier on in a previous answer. Most of those are detailed very specifically within the STEM strategy. We are looking to inspire, connect the work that we are doing through inspiring young people all the way through early years primary and secondary school subject choices and connect that to ensuring that the young people know about the exciting opportunities that there are for them to be able to access STEM careers at the end of that. The issue around the uptake of STEM subjects is something that the Government again is taking action on, along with the funding council and, for example, the STEM implementation group. We have the representation from COSLA and from ADES, so we are taking a whole systems approach to looking carefully at the challenges that we have around attracting more young people into STEM subjects so that they can see the opportunities that are undoubtedly out there for them. Iain Gray Can I ask the minister how many people have signed up to the career change or bursary programme? There are a number of different schemes that individuals can go on to within our different universities to look at encouraging a STEM career. Those examples, many of which have started, but others are due to start in 2018. If the member would like detailed figures about the number of those who have started a specific course, I would be happy to extend that information to him. We can then look at the progress that we are taking on to date, who has signed up, but particularly to encourage more people to take advantage of the courses that are due to take place in due course. To ask the Scottish Government whether any changes that will be introduced to the governance of education will be island-proofed. Any changes proposed will be island-proofed. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills will be aware that Cunninghsbury primary school in Shetland has a head teacher who teaches. Shetland's council advised me that it is increasingly difficult to recruit head teachers who also have to teach as part of their day-to-day responsibilities. Given that reality, not just in Shetland but in other parts of the country as well, if he plans to increase the responsibility of head teachers, how will that work in the context of island-proofing? What I want to make sure—this is a consideration that applies in any circumstance around the country, whether it is an island circumstance or a mainland circumstance—is that young people are able to have access to the strongest quality of leadership and learning and teaching in individual schools, because those two elements are the foundation of a successful education at local level. Any of the reforms that we bring forward will be about strengthening that leadership capability, ensuring that leadership has more support available to it and ensuring that that support is also available to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. Those provisions will be applied. I quite understand the different circumstances that exist in many of the schools that Mr Scott represents in his constituency. To that end, we will ensure that the steps that we take forward take due account of those considerations in the final design of our legislative proposals. Jamie Halcro Johnston Yesterday, a number of people protested outside Orkney Islands Council at a proposed cuts to support for learning budgets. The council has now decided not to proceed with those proposals. The cabinet secretary will be aware that, because of the geography and demographics, island communities are often less able to collaborate and share costs between schools for those types of services. Can I ask the cabinet secretary to outline what provision there is to ensure that budgets assigned for support for learning are sufficient to meet local needs and whether ministers have had any contact with the council over those particular proposals? There has been no dialogue with the council to my knowledge about those proposals. Obviously, those proposals are ordinarily and properly a matter for Orkney Islands Council to consider. What I would say to Mr Halcro Johnston is that he raises the point about the challenges of collaboration in the island communities. In fact, in my view, the best example of inter-authority co-operation on education policy is in fact the Northern Alliance, which includes Orkney Islands Council. That is one of the members of that group. What I detect from talking to practitioners around the north of Scotland is that they are feeling the benefit of the co-operation, particularly about the strengthening of learning and teaching, which is able to be facilitated by that co-operation across a number of different authorities. Indeed, some of the smaller, more remote local authorities are benefiting enormously from their co-operation with other authorities. There is good work going on in that respect. It is work that takes proper respect to the democratic interests and perspective of Orkney Islands Council, but it enables the council to co-operate with others to enhance educational provision for the young people of Orkney. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the EIS campaign value education value teachers, which is calling for a restorative pay rise for teachers. We value Scotland's teachers highly. We are committed to taking an active role in the current discussions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, and I would urge everyone around the table to take a constructive approach. This Government is the first anywhere in the United Kingdom to commit to lift the 1 per cent public sector pay cap, and the teachers' pay deal for 2017-18 is an example of exactly that. The truth is that, under SNP management, our teachers have seen their pay go from amongst the highest in the OECD to well below the average. Not only that, but they are now teaching some of the biggest class sizes in Europe. This Government has cut 4,000 of its colleagues and still managed to create a teacher recruitment crisis. Will the cabinet secretary accept that it is not divisive reforms that our teachers need? Do they need the pay that they deserve and the resources to do the job that they do so well under more difficult circumstances? I remind Mr Sarwar that we have been living in a period of fiscal austerity applied by United Kingdom Governments going back to when his Government was in power before the 2010 election. It is all very well for Mr Sarwar to come here and to talk about pay constraint. Pay constraint was applied by the Labour Government when it was in office because of the financial crisis that the Labour Government presided over in the aftermath of 2008. It is not easy for Mr Sarwar to come here with his simple solutions to the problem. I am committed to a substantive negotiation with the teaching profession. As I indicated in my original answer, our work in 2017 has seen us deliver a pay deal for teachers that has moved out with the pay caps that have been in place. I welcome that fact. We are committed to putting in place the support and the assistance to enhance the teaching profession because I want teaching to be an attractive career for individuals. I would close by reminding Mr Sarwar that there has been an increase in the number of teachers in our schools over the past 12 months of 543. It is a very welcome increase in the number of teachers that are in post in Scotland schools. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with COSLA regarding funding for increasing the provision of early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours per year. I suspect that I know the answer. The Scottish ministers and COSLA leaders reached a landmark agreement on a multi-year revenue and capital funding package for the expansion of early learning and childcare on 27 April. The agreement, which is the culmination of more than two years of hard work by local authorities and the Scottish Government, represents a shared understanding of the costs that are required to deliver the expansion in entitlement to funded early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours from August 2020. It is evidence of real partnership working to deliver a shared ambition and to give all of our children the best start in life. Under this agreement, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with additional recurring revenue funding of £567 million per year by 2021-22, the first full financial year of the expansion. In addition, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with capital funding of £476 million over four financial years, 2017-18 to 2021 inclusive. I congratulate the minister on her role in reaching this landmark deal and thank her for her response. The deal with local government will ensure our children get the best possible start in life, but can she outline how the expansion will deliver the flexibility that parents need to support them in work or training and whether she thinks that flexibility is already improving? I believe that the simple increase in the number of hours available to parents will make a massive difference to every family in the land. It will save £4,500 per year per child for each family. The funding follows the child model, underpinned by the national standard, will indeed be a provider-neutral means of delivering flexibility to the parents, which will absolutely transform their opportunity to work and pursue education themselves. To ask the Scottish Government when the Education Secretary last met the director of education and children services for Aberdeenshire Council. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney. I last met the director of education and children services for Aberdeenshire Council on 7 March. Mike Rumbles. Will the cabinet secretary meet the new director when he or she is appointed and discuss with him or her the overall state of staff morale in our north-east schools? Could he outline to us now, today, what specifically he can do from his perspective to help to improve staff morale? I am very happy to engage with Mr Rumbles about his perspective on those matters. When I go around schools, I meet teachers who are very positive and utterly motivated by the work that they are doing to educate young people. I was in Smithycroft secondary school in Glasgow this morning, where I have to say the staff and the leadership team were very buoyant about the conditions of Scottish education. In relation to the north-east of Scotland, we are taking a range of different measures to enhance the recruitment of teachers in the north-east of Scotland by some of the new routes into teaching that we are undertaking. We are supporting the delivery of education very directly. Aberdeenshire Council is benefiting to the tune of £3 million in pupil equity funding very directly into our schools. However, if there are particular concerns that Mr Rumbles has, I am very happy to consider those and to do what I can to address them with the director of education at Aberdeenshire Council once they are appointed after the retirement of Maria Walker. Ivan McKee To ask the Scottish Government how it enshrines the rights of young people and how it plans to further embed these. Minister Murray Todd We are committed to enhancing children's rights across all aspects of Scottish life. The Children and Young People's Scotland Act 2014 places specific duties and all ministers to consider steps that might give better or further effect to the UNCRC. Those provisions take us further than any previous Scottish Government. We continue to look for opportunities to apply the principles of the convention on an issue-by-issue basis where we consider it right and proper to do so. For example, through raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 8 to 12 and supporting Mr Finney's proposals to introduce a legislative ban on the physical punishment of children, it is very fitting that in this year of young people, a global first, we have commenced a comprehensive audit on the most effective and practical way to further embed the principles of the UNCRC into policy and legislation, including the option of full incorporation into domestic law. Ivan McKee I thank the minister for that answer. Can the minister outline what the Scottish Government's position is on the rights of young people to opt out of religious observance in schools and all the forthcoming education and governance bill enshrining their right to do so? As Mr McKee may be aware, the Scottish Government's statutory guidance on religious observance amended in March 2017, states that schools should include children and young people in any discussions about aspects of their school experience, ensuring that their views are taken into account. The law currently provides a right for parents to withdraw their children from participation in religious observance. The statutory guidance makes it clear that local authorities must ensure that pupils' views are taken into account rather than providing pupils with a direct opt-out. The Scottish Government's views that pupils' views should be supported to make their views and preferences clear. Ministers are open to exploring the best way to give effect to children's rights, as expressed under the UNCRC. However, any changes that there might be to the current statutory position would need to be subject to full consultation with all key stakeholders. Colin Beattie To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the new battle high school digital centre of excellence. John Swinney The development of a digital centre of excellence is part of the new high school that new battle is the initiative of Midlothian council. I commend the collaborative approach that has been taken by the council in seeking to ensure that young people across all Midlothian secondary schools have access to specialist digital learning and diverse range of pathways to follow into digital jobs. I am aware of the funding shortfall for the digital centre of excellence in the new school, and I have asked my officials to explore opportunities for supporting the progress of this project. Colin Beattie The cabinet secretary will be aware that the new battle high school's catchment area has too many pockets of relative deprivation. Would he agree with me that all involved in the creation of this centre should be congratulated for this groundbreaking and forward thinking initiative that will have a considerable and positive effect on the life chances of young people in the area? John Swinney I think that this is an excellent initiative by Midlothian council. It recognises the need to ensure that there are clear pathways for young people to be able to access education and then to have links into the world of work. It fits very comfortably into the developing Scotland's young workforce agenda. As I indicated in my other answer, I am very keen to see if there is any way in which we can be of assistance. Liz Smith To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with local authorities regarding the provision of music tuition in schools. The Scottish education system devolves decision making to the most appropriate level enabling local authorities to make choices to meet their local circumstances and needs. I am however very concerned about decisions by a number of local authorities to reduce access to instrumental music tuition for young people. I have asked my officials for respecting the autonomy and responsibility of local councils to assess the impact and identify ways of working with key stakeholders to ensure that instrumental music tuition remains accessible in the future. Liz Smith Thank you for that answer, cabinet secretary. I think that local authorities of all political persuasions are having great difficulty on this issue. Can I ask what the timescale is for your working group to report to Parliament because, as you rightly say, it is a very urgent matter? John Wallace There is work under way, which has been led by John Wallace, formerly the principal of the Royal Conservatory of Scotland. I am looking forward to meeting with the music education partnership to discuss their thinking on those matters. It is an issue in which the culture secretary and I are both actively involved. I do not have a specific timescale that I can offer Liz Smith today, but I can assure her that I will be happy to engage in dialogue with members of all political persuasions to ensure that this important characteristic of education in Scotland is available for young people across our country. That concludes portfolio questions. I thank all members and ministers for their contributions. We will move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion S5M-1984, in the name of Miles Briggs, on NHS financial accountability. I urge members to wish to speak in this debate to contribute to press their request to speak buttons whenever they wish, or as soon as possible. I note, for members' interests, that the Conservative Party has asked to use the new debate management flexibility to increase the number of speakers from three to four, but that means that Conservative speakers will have one minute less. They will be speaking for five minutes rather than six minute contributions. However, as that happens, we have quite a lot of time available over the afternoon, so I encourage all members to take interventions.