 1. Christine Grahame To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Borders and NHS Lothian. Can I say both ministers and Government officials meet regularly with leadership of all NHS boards, including national health service technical service, loddian and national health service boarders to discuss a range of matters, but it won't be of any surprise at all to Christine Graham and other members that the most recent discussions have focused on the extreme winter pressures that both boards have been facing. Thank you very much. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for his answer, with reference to extreme winter pressures. Of course, I welcome the announcement of £8 million for interim social care beds to ease pressure on our hospitals, and I've noticed that we've been shared between health and social care partnerships. So can I ask the cabinet secretary when we will hear progress about the division of this money between the partnerships, particularly those serving the Rodden South, Tweedale and Lauderdale, which is my constituency, which of course includes both NHS Lothian and NHS Borders? I can say that currently there's good work being done by both NHS Lothian and NHS Borders on the issue of delayed discharge. To answer her question directly, as the First Minister said earlier this week, we'll get a further update at SCORE, which she will be chairing tomorrow, and of course I'll find an appropriate way to update the member in that respect. But it is fair to say that the additional 300 beds, interim care beds that announced last week, that is on top of the 600 interim care beds that are already being used, and many of those will be in Lothian and in Borders, but it's so important that we do everything we possibly can in facilitating help our local partners to do everything they can to get those who are in hospital, who are clinically safe to be discharged, back home, because of course ultimately it is better for the individual too. So we will get an update tomorrow at SCORE. I thank you, Presiding Officer. I was recently contacted by a constituent whose 92-year-old mother who lives within NHS Lothian suffered a bad fall in her own home. She lay on a hardwood floor in a lot of pain for five hours for an ambulance to arrive. Her daughter repeatedly called for an update and was told not to move her mother, who was crying in pain, nor give her anything to drink. When the paramedics finally arrived, she was transferred to Edinburgh and Firmary for an operation for two severe breaks. Minister, these ambulance and subsequent treatment waits are inhumane, so will the SNP Government back our plan and introduce new crisis maximum waiting times and finally get a grip on the horrific waiting times across our NHS? What I would say, of course, any situation as Craig Hoy has described, where anybody gets a substandard level of service that we would expect collectively across this chamber, then I apologise for that and deeply regretful. Of course, if Craig Hoy wishes to follow up with me, I'll ensure that the Scottish Ambulance Service appropriately investigate. I'm sure he understands, I know he does, that particularly the few weeks during the festive period in the first week of January were incredibly difficult, probably the most difficult that the ambulance service has provided. I have looked at the plans that the Conservatives have brought forward. I don't see any detail, I don't see how just simply saying that there must be a 15-minute turnaround time in place actually means that that is the case. In fact, they have many similar schemes in England, but actually you'll see that ambulance is unfortunately a cure-up outside NHS Trust in England too. We're taking a range of measures to try to improve the turnaround time for ambulances, so they're not stacked outside of hospitals and that they get back out on the road and respond as quickly as possible. I have to say, seeing the most recent data from the Scottish Ambulance Service, there certainly has been improvement, particularly among those most urgent immediate life-threatening calls, but I'm happy to keep the member updated in that respect. Question 2, Brian Whittle. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment that has made of the role of local government services in improving public health and wellbeing. We recognise the important role of local government services in improving public health and wellbeing in order to ensure that people in Scotland live more years in good health. We know that prevention is key in the building blocks of good health and wellbeing, including good education, jobs, housing and communities, all of which local government services contribute to. In recognition of that, Public Health Scotland is jointly sponsored by COSLA and the Scottish Government with the aim of improving population health and combating health inequalities and their wider causes. Brian Whittle. I thank the minister for that answer. I know that he recognises that many of the solutions to Scotland's poor health record sit outside of the NHS, predominantly in council-funded community activities. Someone of the met, the minister recognises that the council financial settlement that the Government has given them is requiring councils to slash the very services that he advocates, and that will appear in the NHS poor health ledger increasing the pressure on the NHS. We have listened to councils and are increasing the resources available to local government by over £570 million in the next financial year. Local authorities also have a range of revenue-raising powers that are not available to other public services, including newly devolved powers over empty property rates relief. I agree with Mr Whittle that it would be great if there was more money available for all of our public services. I would ask him to do what the Scottish Government has done and appeal to the Treasury to loosen the purse strings, to stop austerity and to invest in our public services. Across the country, including SNP-run councils, they are at breaking point due to the very cuts that have just been discussed, made year on year on local government budgets. The minister cannot seriously expect councils to continue playing their pivotal role in improving public health and wellbeing through the provision of services such as green space, sports facilities and wider support initiatives if they continue to lose money. Will the minister commit to me today to speaking to the First Minister and Finance Secretary and ask them to listen to local government leaders, including SNP leaders, who are clearly saying that, without support from the Scottish Government, those essential services cannot be delivered? As I said in my answer to Mr Whittle, the Government has listened to local authorities to local government. That is why the resources available will increase by over £578 million in the next financial year. I would like that to be more, as would the First Minister and the Finance Secretary, but we work within a fixed budget. We have no borrowing powers, as Ms Mocken is well aware. It would be far better if austerity were to go and HM Treasury were actually to provide and resource public services in Scotland and right across these islands. That would be better for all. It would lead to better outcomes for all, but unfortunately what we have is a Tory Government that seems unwilling to invest in our public services. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the Bearns Hoos for young people within the justice system. A national Bearns Hoos governance group has been established and extensive engagement with key partners carried out. The first national standards for Bearns Hoos will be published this spring. We are developing a phrased approach to implementation and will further publish information in the coming months, along with a progress report on our Bearns Hoos project plan. We are also progressing the roll-out of the Scottish child interview model for joint investigative interviews, which will be a cornerstone of the Bearns Hoos approach to justice in Scotland. Can the minister describe the benefits of the Bearns Hoos system and detail what emerging practice developments in line with other European models will be used when creating this system, as well as its collaborative approach in justice health and children's services? Like myself, I know that Rona Mackay has a keen awareness of adverse childhood experiences. The Bearns Hoos represents a child-centred approach to delivering justice care and recovery for children who have experienced trauma. Services will be co-located, reducing the need for multiple interviews by different agencies in different locations, which we know can be re-traumatising. The national standards are based on the European promise quality standards and, as recent associate members of their Bearns Hoos network, we now have access to learning from existing best practice across member countries. Alongside partners, we will continue to draw on relevant best practice emerging in Scotland, including the Scottish child interview model, which continues to roll out at pace. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help recovery from adverse childhood experiences. We are taking a wide range of actions to prevent and mitigate the negative impact of ACEs and trauma and support the health, wellbeing and resilience of all those affected. That includes work to tackle harmful drug and alcohol use, address poverty, support mental health and reduce inequalities. The Scottish Government and COSLA have a joint ambition to develop trauma-informed and trauma-responsive workforces and services across Scotland. Since 2018, we have invested more than £6 million in a national trauma training programme. Current work is under way to support the development of trauma-informed approaches and services and settings, including in education, maternity and social work, and to support care experience children and young people. I thank the minister for that very comprehensive answer. I would like to ask a further question. Many care experience children going into adulthood will have adverse childhood experiences and will still need support. Can the minister outline how it is delivering on the promise and specifically how supporting to early adulthood is being developed? I welcome that question from Ms Martin. The Scottish Government is committed to addressing the intergenerational impact of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, and we are providing a range of support to parents, carers, children and families to help to better prevent ACEs from happening. There is a wide range of work going on. The Government is committed to delivering the promise and to ensure that we do better for care experience young people. We have to recognise that that might involve help throughout their lives. To show how important the Government sees the trauma-informed approach— Briefly, minister. In November, the Deputy First Minister led a valuable session with ministers on trauma awareness and how best to support those affected. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with North Lanarkshire Council regarding a new-build Gartcosh primary. We have been in regular contact with North Lanarkshire Council regarding a replacement for Gartcosh primary school. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I was delighted to hear the news last week, indeed just a day or so after I launched this question, that NLC have now identified landing Gartcosh on which to build the school. I fully welcome that statement from the council and I agree with him that it is a major step forward. The question of a new school has been around for some time, and it really needs to happen at the earliest opportunity. The current Gartcosh primary is 110 years old this year and is not fit for modern teaching. In addition, following massive growth in the population in the whole area, it is very much not able to deal with the current or future capacity. Sorry, Presiding Officer. That said, teachers, pupils and the parent council are doing excellent work at the school and against these challenges and circumstances. Mr MacGregor, can I have a question, please? Yes. Will the cabinet secretary join me in praising the work of the school community and will she commit to working with me in North Lanarkshire Council to ensure that the new build that this community sold? Mr MacGregor, thank you, Mr MacGregor. Mr Llywydd, I am sure that we all appreciate Fulton MacGregor's enthusiasm and passion for an issue that he has been working on for some time. I would very much like to take this opportunity to praise the continued work of Mr MacGregor and the continued work of Gartcrush school community. My officials will absolutely keep in close contact with the council to ensure that a new build at Gartcrush primary is delivered as soon as possible. To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with community housing enablers such as the community's housing trust in the Highlands and Islands region to support the delivery of its commitments regarding rural homes. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. The Scottish Government regularly meets with community housing enablers. In September, I met the community housing trust in South of Scotland community housing and recognised the vital work that is carried out by those organisations in supporting communities to deliver more affordable homes in rural and island communities. I am keen for that to continue. We have also been giving consideration to the funding arrangements of community housing trust to ensure that they can continue to support the delivery of rural homes as part of our work to develop a remote rural and island housing action plan. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The bute house agreement commits the Scottish Government to ensuring community housing trusts are adequately funded so that they can support the delivery of our enhanced rural home building plans. The community's housing trust currently has a pipeline of 600 projects, 150 of which are at risk due to the lack of capacity. What more can the Scottish Government do to ensure that trusts have the long-term support that they need to deliver on those opportunities to increase the number of rural homes? In particular, timescale is of importance here. The Scottish Government remains very keen to work with communities housing trusts to ensure that deliverable projects are implemented and to ensure that communities can access the focus support that they need at the right time. I recognise the importance of sustainable funding arrangements for those organisations to support the delivery of more homes. In a letter sent to the local government housing and planning committee in December, I set out priority work strands for the remote rural and island housing action plan, including funding arrangements to achieve that. Of course, that plan will be published in the spring. To ask the Scottish Government what work is under way to assess the impact of vapes on public health? We continue to work with stakeholders, including Public Health Scotland and Ash Scotland, to ensure that we have a broad understanding of the impact of vaping on public health. The World Health Organization states that vapes are undoubtedly harmful to health. However, given the limited time that they have been used, there is consequentially limited evidence on their long-term impact. We are working to review a range of evidence that is available, which will influence our refresh tobacco action plan due to be published on autumn later this year. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. There are many issues with vapes in terms of flavours and advertising that I think we should be tackling, and I hope that the cabinet secretary would support that. As well as being an issue for public health, we are an issue for the environment as covered by the campaign in the daily record today. Would the cabinet secretary support a ban on single-use vapes? I congratulate the daily records on their campaign and make a special mention of Laura Young, who I was reading about to colloquially describe in the daily records the vape crusader, which I thought was a fair name for her. She has done an incredible job going around the country picking up those vapes that are undoubtedly causing environmental harm. Gilliam Mackay is absolutely right. There is a public health issue that we are exploring or will explore, but I am working issue, I imagine, with my colleague the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. We together will ask stakeholders with relevant expertise to examine the evidence and assess what action the Scottish Government and other partners should take, and that will include consideration of a potential ban. Of course, I will keep the member updated. The cabinet secretary may be aware that the issue of youth vaping is something that I have taken particularly interest in. I am looking forward to a member's debate on the issue at the end of the month. I ask the cabinet secretary if the Scottish Government has conducted an assessment into advertising in the vaping industry. Yes, we should look into that issue and, as I say, there are a number of issues to consider from a public health perspective. Clearly, we know that there is evidence that young people and a number of young people who would not have considered smoking cigarettes are taking up vaping, so there is concern about the advertising, particularly on social media platforms as well as on other platforms. That should be part of the consideration that I have already referenced in my response to Gillian Mackay in relation to the stakeholders that have the expertise. They should explore and examine a range of issues in relation to vaping, as I say, including a potential ban for the disposable and single use vapes. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any racial profiling practices in Police Scotland. Police Scotland should operate at all times with fairness, integrity and respect and irrespective of ethnicity. The chief constable has made clear his commitment that Police Scotland must become an actively anti-racist organisation. In respect of stopping search, the code of practice in Scotland was developed by an independent advisory group. It was approved by the Scottish Parliament and came into force on 11 May 2017 and was reviewed in 2019 and sets out clearly the rules for when and how the police in Scotland can use stopping search. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Figures released in December show that people from minority ethnic backgrounds were up to 20 times more likely to be stopped by Police Scotland under counter-terrorism powers, but evidence tells us that far-right domestic terrorism is by far the greatest current threat and that racial profiling is both unacceptable and counterproductive. Does the cabinet secretary think that a reassessment of what a terrorism threat looks like is urgently needed in Scotland that welcomes refugees and other immigrants, and what actions does he consider necessary to ensure that we tackle racist police practices? Just to be clear first of all that Scotland welcomes people from all over the world over successive generations, migrants and refugees have contributed greatly to our society as well as bring in diversity to our communities, and racism in any form is abhorrent and wholly unacceptable. Counter-terrorism is reserved and is delivered through the UK Government Contest strategy. The Scottish Government is actively engaged with the Home Office to ensure that the recently announced review of the strategy appropriately reflects the situation, and that takes into consideration the terrorism threat throughout the UK, including Scotland. The operation of counter-terrorism in Scotland is a matter for Police Scotland taking account of the specific code of practice for counter-terrorism stop and search at the border that is issued by the Home Office. I agree with Maggie Chapman that, in relation to the threat and assessment of the threat of terrorism, Police Scotland holds perhaps the biggest piece of the jigsaw, and it looks at the issues that have been raised by Maggie Chapman on a regular basis.