 Rydyn ni yn unrhyw gweld iddyn ni wrth ar gerfodd cyfnoddiadau mae'r perffial hwn yn gweithio i gyd. Mae hynny'n i gael eich bydd amser oedd awgyn nhw i gael'r pethau, a chwylliannol hefyd yn cyddiad ddod. Ystod y Prif Weinidog yn gweld i chi'n cael ei wneud erbyn i ddodol i'r llai iechexol yn hyffordd y Llywodraeth Cymru. Felly, mae'n angen i chi'n prif揚i ynglyn grwp cy studios pe i gael'r Cymru'r soff frightened in terms of Government employees who are now all being paid the living wage and there has been an extra support put in place for 200 mesh更 fel 82e places for those who are earning less than £2100 per annum. The Scottish Government fully supports the living wage campaign. We play IANES. We do recognise the real difference that the living wage can make to the people of Scotland. I may say that this Government is the first and only Government in the UK to include the living wage in its pay policy. We have llawer dargar Tool A techniques to increase the number of employers across all sectors in Scotland. Paying the living wage and, as of today, we've surpassed the target that we set of 150 living wage-accreditied employers in Scotland. We've made further commitments in our programme for Government that include introducing a Scottish business pledge, which is making it clear that we do want companies to commit, among other things, to pay the living wage, as well as to fair work. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response. She will be aware that Scottish Labour set up a low pay commission last week because we are on a mission to abolish low pay and end exploitative zero hours contracts. We also want to pay people the living wage in public sector contracts and indeed much wider, something the SNP voted against five times in this chamber. The current government promised a living wage summit way back in September 2014. Can I ask the cabinet secretary when will it happen? A living wage summit is planned to take place before the recess. We have also, of course, got fair work convention, which will likely meet for the first time in April. That will include discussions about the living wage, but we will go further than that. I am glad that I can welcome the Labour Party to the ranks of those who are actively campaigning for the living wage. They are working very hard to play catch-up with this Government, but we welcome all hands to this particular deck. I am grateful to hear the commitment. Neil Findlay, 43,000 workers are engaged in public sector contracts yet receive less than £785 an hour. What is the fair work secretary doing about that specific point? We are working within EU law to tackle the issue of payment of the living wage. I hear the jeering that suggests that the Labour Party is not particularly interested in abiding by the law, and yet every single place where public bodies are being encouraged to promote the living wage quite clearly states that EU law will nevertheless take precedence in certain contracts. We are working extremely hard to work through that in terms of procurement policy, and we are also working with COSLA in respect of improving the quality of care in Scotland, and that means including looking at the issue of, for example, fair work and the living wage within a particular sector, which is traditionally not being particularly well remunerated. However, we are doing so and we are doing it within the law. It does not matter how many times the Labour Party tries to make an issue of that. The fact of the matter is that we are bound by the law, as it would be in government. To ask the cabinet secretary whether she will provide an update on the work of the national advisory group on developing the young workforce. I chaired an excellent inaugural meeting of the developing the young workforce national advisory group last month. Its members heard from Sir Ian Wood about the ambition set out in his report and from each other about their personal commitment to supporting young people into fulfilling jobs. We are now working with members to support their role in promoting what developing the young workforce can offer young people, teachers and employers. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response. In December last year, the cabinet secretary called for an apprentice's minimum wage of more than £3 an hour. She will undoubtedly want to welcome the rise introduced by the UK Government, raising it to £3.30. Can I ask what the cabinet secretary plans to do to arrest the 34 per cent decline in the STEM college places since they came into office, considering the importance of those places to our economy? I am already on record as welcoming the increases that were made last week in the minimum wage. I do not believe that they go far enough and I certainly do not believe that they go far enough in respect of apprentices, which is something that I have also made absolutely clear. In terms of college and the work towards STEM, the Government is working very hard with colleges, schools and employers to make sure that there is a big focus on STEM apprentices. Indeed, my colleague and myself visit many employers who are actively looking to recruit. Just last week, perhaps a week before, we met training providers on that particular issue as well. We have to move things along—that is the case—but we are working very hard to do so. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to achieve parity of esteem between academic and vocational education as recommended by the commission for developing Scotland's young workforce. The ambition of developing the young workforce Scotland's youth employment strategy is rooted in our vision that whether a young person's route to work is academic or vocational, as traditionally defined, is not significant. Our strategy sets out activity based on a rich variety of high-quality learning opportunities linked to skills, needs and employer demands and taken up by informed young people, making smart decisions about the best route for them to obtain fulfilling jobs. It is important that people value vocational subjects and the jobs that they lead to. The national minimum wage, however, does not and the minimum wage for apprentices remains astonishingly low and sends entirely the wrong message to young people. The minister clearly agrees that raising the minimum wage for apprentices is a vital part of delivering this parity of esteem and that, although the recent rise is welcome, £3.30 an hour, less than half the standard minimum wage, is nowhere near a living wage, will she continue to push the UK Government on this issue and right to ask for a living wage for our apprentices? We continue to push the UK Government on this and, indeed, I did so as recently as last week as it happens. The Scottish Government in terms of its own pay policy pays all its apprentices at the living wage rate. The member might be unaware that living wage accreditation does not actually include apprentice pay, but we, when we are talking to employers about living wage accreditation, are always encouraging them to include apprentices in that. Indeed, just this morning, the company that I visited that has just become accredited living wage has extended that policy to all its apprentices. That is an example that we would want all employers in Scotland to follow. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to open up opportunities for young people to work in civil engineering. Skills Development Scotland has been working with the Construction Industry Training Board to develop a foundation apprenticeship pathfinder for civil engineering technicians, which is to start in August 2015. Delivered in conjunction with West Lothian College, that pathfinder will allow young people to undertake relevant work-based learning during their senior phase of school. Additionally, Skills Development Scotland will shortly publish a skills investment plan for the construction sector, setting out a range of actions to attract and to retain a skilled workforce to support the continuing growth of the sector. I thank the minister for that answer. We know that attracting young women into the industry is a problem, and that has been repeated to me when I met civil engineering companies. Can the minister tell the chamber how many women have entered civil engineering apprenticeships in the past 12 months? What specific work will be undertaken to ensure the take-up of young women in those apprenticeships? In terms of the first question and the number of females entering civil engineering apprenticeships in the past 12 months, I do not have that figure to hand. I am happy to have a recent communication to the member on that. On the second question that the member asked in terms of what we are doing to encourage more women into civil engineering apprenticeships, I would point out to the member that the Foundation Apprenticeship Pathfinder programme that I mentioned a moment ago aims to tackle the gender imbalance in the sector and to encourage more young women into engineering careers. What we will see is hopefully that of the 32 young people who will be beginning in senior 5, the two-year foundation apprenticeship, 50 per cent of them will be female. Additionally, as regards the shortly-to-be-announced skills investment plan in the construction sector, a key focus of the action plan will be not just attracting young people towards opportunities in the construction sector but particularly the focus will be on how to address under-representation across the construction workforce. I will add that the member may be interested to note that I attended this very Monday. An excellent event hosted in Glasgow City Council chambers in conjunction with Network Rail where there were some 82 young women from secondary schools across Glasgow participating in an engineering year future event. I think that it was a very successful event and hopefully those kinds of events can engender enthusiasm for young women to look to the construction sector as a career. To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprenticeships it supports in the Cercodi Parliament constituency. The Scottish Government supports any apprentice aged 16 to 24 following an approved modern apprenticeship framework. Those aged 25 and above in selected key growth and enabling sectors. Our national skills development Scotland does not collect data based on parliamentary constituency level but rather by local authority area. I can therefore tell the member that in 2013-14 there were 1,927 modern apprenticeship starts in five. In the first three quarters of 2014-15 there were 1,152 modern apprenticeship starts in five. As at the end of December 2014 there was a total of 2,704 apprentices in training in five. The minister agreed that small local businesses can play an integral part in the development of apprenticeship schemes. Why someone stays seriously ensuring that they pay a living wage to their employees? Will the minister or cabinet secretary agree to visit one such small local business within my constituency? I can absolutely agree with David Torrance that small businesses can benefit tremendously from employing a modern apprentice. I am aware that there are many such businesses across five and Scotland that are providing these fantastic opportunities for young people to earn a wage while working towards an industry-recognised qualification. Of course, it has already been said by the cabinet secretary today again that as a Government we fully support the living wage campaign and encourage all employers across Scotland, regardless of size, sector or location to pay at least the living wage. I am very pleased to hear about the company to which David Torrance refers in his constituency of Cacodi. I would be delighted to take up his offer to visit this company to discuss its experience of the MA programme and to see how we can use this positive experience to encourage other small companies to get involved. I will have my private office contact David Torrance with a view to setting up such a visit. Excellent. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the Investors in Young People scheme. The latest figures from Investors in People Scotland indicate that, since its launch, the Investors in Young People accreditation scheme has been awarded to 93 employers across Scotland and around 190 are currently in discussion or working with Investors in People Scotland towards accreditation. As the member for Comaric and Irvine Valley may be particularly interested to learn, 10 of those accreditation schemes involve employers located in Ayrshire. Among them are Anco Ltd in Irvine and the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce. I thank the minister for that answer. With that positive news, the recently announced funding of £6.5 million to improve youth employment, is the minister confident that we will continue to see good progress in that area of youth employment, particularly in my constituency of Comaric and Irvine Valley? What I can say to the member is that this Government is absolutely determined to do all that we can to ensure that we continue to progress with seeing more opportunities available to our young people. What we have seen in recent labour market statistics is a continuing trend that shows that levels of youth unemployment are at their lowest for some five years, and levels of youth employment and levels of youth inactivity are performing the rest of the UK. On the specific Investors in Young People scheme, I believe that that has a role in encouraging employers to develop young people. We can see that many of the employers who have themselves achieved accreditation are reported to be actively engaged in encouraging other employers to follow. That is one measure that can help, and indeed this Government is pursuing many other measures to ensure that we give our young people all opportunities that they can expect to make their way in life in the world of work. Question 7, in the name of Roderick Campbell, has not been lodged. While we have an explanation, I regret to say that it is not a satisfactory one. Question 8, Ann-Mac Taggart. To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to 16 to 25-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training. Under this Government, we now have the highest number of young people successfully moving to a positive destination from school. Youth unemployment rates are at a five-year low, but we are still more ambitious in settling for a return to pre-recession levels. We recognise that periods of unemployment or inactivity on a young person can have a significant impact on their future life chances. That is why tackling youth unemployment and increasing young people's participation in learning, training and employment remains a priority. With our national and local partners, we will continue to deliver programmes that are based on the principles of early intervention, such as the opportunities for all commitment, the Youth Employment Scotland Fund, Community Jobs Scotland and expanding our modern apprenticeship programme. Thank the cabinet secretary for her response and asking further what specific measures can be implemented in order to lower and reduce the percentage of young people in Glasgow leaving school and not pursuing additional education, employment or training. That is a very good issue to raise, because it means that there has to be a partnership between colleges, schools and indeed parents, as well as employers. It is part and parcel of how we want to approach in regional areas. There is a Glasgow invest in young people group, and I hope that the member will engage directly with them. It was set up about a month ago, and I think that it would be helpful if she talked directly to them. The important thing is that we actually get people talking in the early years of secondary school about where they are intending to go, instead of them just falling out of school with no real constructive approach to what is happening. That is where we are focusing as much of our effort as we possibly can. We have a very good record in Scotland in terms of inactivity rates and law and employment rates, as opposed to the rest of the UK, but we still have a lot to do and a lot more can be done. 9. Chuck Brody Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase training and apprenticeship provision in the care industry. Mr Hannibal Ewing The Government has committed to increase our target for modern apprenticeship starts from 25,000 each year to 30,000 by 2020. Increasing the overall number of starts will offer more choice to people considering a career in the care industry in particular and the wider economy in general. The availability of modern apprenticeship opportunities is reliant on demand from employers. In recognition of the importance of the sector to the economy from care in early years straight through to free personal care for the elderly, funding will be available through Skills Development Scotland for apprentices aged 25 and above following the health and social care modern apprenticeship framework. Chuck Brody Can I thank the minister for her answer? The integration of healthcare and social care and future demographics will demand high quality, high performance outcomes from the care sector. Can she tell me what recent discussions she has had with, as the Government and its agencies has had, with training providers in the sector with those eventual outcomes in mind? I would say to the member that it is important to note that obviously a key success of the programme is that it is responsive to employer demands and therefore it is important that it meets the needs and standards of the sector. There are now seven individual apprenticeship frameworks available in health and social care that have been developed by the Scottish Social Services Council, providing clear work-based routes for the sector from SCQF level 6 to 10. That includes the recently approved professional apprenticeship and care services leadership and management at SCQF level 10, providing a progression route for employees in this important area. In line with the recommendations from the commission for developing Scotland's young workforce, Skills Development Scotland is undertaking research to identify future demand to support the expansion of the modern apprenticeship programme. The Scottish Social Services Council employers, together with training providers, operating in the care sector were consulted on this work. The SSSC was also surveyed in relation to demand to inform the M.A. contracting strategy for 2015-16, and the SDS has also met them recently to discuss M.A. quality assurance. Additionally, the member may find it of interest to note that the SDS also attends the NHS modern apprenticeship network, which aims to promote modern apprenticeships in the sector, as well as encouraging health boards to recruit modern apprentices. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards achieving the target of at least 150 living wage-accredited employers in Scotland as set out in the programme for government. As Bob Dorris now knows, given my earlier answer, we reached the target today. This morning, I visited CMS windows in Cumbernauld, who are indeed the 150th living wage-accredited employer in Scotland. They already have a strong record on recruitment and youth employment, and they are setting a strong example to other employers and showing that ensuring staff are paid fairly is no barrier to business growth. I will now work with the poverty aligns to set even more stretching targets for accreditation. I look forward to seeing a lot more organisations committed to pay the living wage in the future. That is fantastic news, cabinet secretary, but I am contacting the poverty aligns to draw to their attention that no large supermarket chain or small convenience store has yet got themselves accredited as living wage employers. In Glasgow region, the sector employs over 3,000 workers. Some of the lowest-paid workers are likely to work in that sector. Does the cabinet secretary support my representation of the poverty aligns for them to engage with the sector to support them to work towards paying at least a living wage to all their staff and to work constructively with organisations such as the Scottish Grocer's Federation in doing so? The short answer to that would be yes. We work constantly with poverty aligns and with those sectors where there are very significant challenges in getting to living wage status simply because we are starting from such a low base. However, there are many more employers paying the living wage than are accredited, and this Government is about making sure that people understand that accreditation is the gold star that they can get for paying the living wage. Many thanks. We now move to portfolio questions on social justice, communities and pensioners' rights. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the content of the report, Severe Poverty in Scotland in relation to severe or extreme poverty among children. Last week, we published Severe Poverty in Scotland. We showed that in 2012-13, 710,000 people were living in severe or extreme poverty after housing costs. That included half a million working-age adults, 150,000 children and 60,000 pensioners. That is a disgrace, but, as I said last week, it is an inevitable result of the UK's failed austerity agenda and welfare cuts that are slashing incomes for some of our poorest households. Although we know that employment significantly reduces the risk of severe or extreme poverty, inward poverty nevertheless remains a problem. That is why we are committed to supporting people into fairly paid work and are doing what we can to mitigate the impact of welfare reform. That includes investing around £296 million from 2013-14 to 2015-16 to limit the damage of the cuts and the changes. However, we cannot fully mitigate all the effects. With the growing rate of evidence, including the reports commissioned from the Sheffield-Tallam University by the Westminster Welfare Reform Committee, which is titled, welfare reform hitting poorest people hardest, and the cumulative impact of welfare reform in households in Scotland with the continuing austerity following George Osborne's budget, which Ed Balls has said he would not reverse, does the cabinet secretary share my concerns that this budget will have a devastating impact on the vulnerable people in Scotland and only push more people, particularly children, into poverty? I do. We have long voiced concerns that the UK Government's austerity agenda is hitting the most vulnerable people hardest. The cumulative impact of Westminster's welfare reforms alone could result in the Scottish welfare bill being cut by around £6 billion over the six years to 2016, yet George Osborne would go further, as would Ed Balls. The Scottish Government is doing what it can with the resources and powers that it has to help those affected. That includes investing around £296 million, as I said earlier, to limit the damage over the two-year period hence of the UK Government's reforms. We cannot fully mitigate all the effects of welfare changes, but we are doing our best. The best mitigation would be to transfer all the welfare powers to this Parliament. To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with representatives of religious organisations who are denied pension credit as they are fully maintained by their order. This Government is aware of the issues in relation to pension credit and those fully maintained by their religious order. As a member will be aware, all aspects of the state pension and pension credit are reserved to the UK Government. Concerns about eligibility are other issues that need to be taken up with UK ministers. I thank the minister for the answer. I have a letter from the cabinet secretary, John Swinney, dated 20 February, saying that in order to understand the specific issue that you have raised—this is previous correspondence from myself—I have asked my officials to arrange to meet with representatives of the groups affected to discuss their concerns and the potential next steps. I did not hear in the answer what meetings had taken place between Scottish Government officials and the orders affected, but the minister may be able to help me in this. Everyone in the UK who is between the ages of 65 and 80 is entitled to receive pension credit, apart from two classes of people—prisoners and members of religious orders who are fully maintained by their order. In practice, this means that a very small number of people are affected by this particular loophole, in my opinion. Can the minister tell me whether she believes that it is correct and fair that people who reach the age of pension—the age of 65 or 66—are not entitled to any support from the state between that age and the age of 80 because they have joined an enclosed religious order? Does she believe that the UK Government should tackle the matter? Will she take the matter up with the UK Government as a matter of urgency? I am certainly willing to take the matter up with the UK Government and address the issues. We have had contact before with the UK Government on how it intends to address this. We recognise that there is an issue there and a problem there, and I am certainly willing to take it up today. I give that commitment. I will raise the matter with the UK Government and pass on my response to the member. To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to planning authorities regarding the provision or expansion of primary healthcare facilities as a consequence of residential development. We have issued general guidance to planning authorities and the use of planning obligations to support development delivery. We will publish guidance on planning for infrastructure, including healthcare facilities later this year. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for his answer. Concerns have been raised with me that, often when large-scale developments are proposed, there is not prior consultation between developers and health boards and primary care providers such as GP practices about the implications of those developments in terms of the impact on existing facilities and the space requirements in those developments in relation to the construction of new facilities, with often not enough space being allocated for sufficient facilities to be developed. Is that something that the cabinet secretary is aware of, and is it something that he will look to build into the work that he is doing ahead of the guidance that he is hoping to publish in due course? I am both aware of the problem and of his health secretary as well as the social justice secretary, and we are looking at how we can deal with that. At the present time, there are no such specific requirements for prior discussion and consultation with health boards and GP practices during the pre-application process, but my view is that, as key agencies, health boards should be actively engaged in the preparation of strategic and local development plans. Early engagement is essential if the impact of development in healthcare facilities is to be properly planned and where appropriate paid for through the use of planning obligations. To ask the Scottish Government what the budget priorities are for the social justice communities and pensioners rights portfolio in 2015-16. The budget priorities for the social justice communities and pensioners rights portfolio in 2015-16 includes work to tackle poverty and inequality, progress equality and deliver more and better housing, and to take forward delivery of new social security powers for Scotland. What is the budget for the pensioners rights part of the portfolio? I am happy to give a breakdown of the entire budget, and the included in pensioners rights is part of the equality budget, which is £20 million next year. Can I ask the minister if he shares Labour's support for the Scotland Against the Care Tax campaign, which is campaigning against the 12 per cent rise in care charges imposed across Scotland last year? If so, what priority will he give addressing the needs of this campaign in his budget? Presiding Officer, this matter is under discussion between my colleague, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being, as well as other cabinet colleagues, because we do accept that there is an issue to be addressed here. If I may say so, the worst area for this has been Glasgow, where the Labour-controlled Glasgow City Council has jacked up care charges to an astronomical level. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on poverty of five council decisions to abolish social care charges. Minister Margaret Burgess. Local authorities have autonomy to set her wave charges for non-residential social care within the context of COSLA's charging guidance. The Scottish Government has not conducted any assessment of the impact of five council decisions on charging for social care. However, as part of our programme for government, we outlined a commitment to ensuring all new and revised Scottish Government policies will be subject to a poverty impact assessment. Labour-led Fife Council last year abolished housing support charges for its own sheltered housing tenants. As of yesterday, it is the case that housing associations sheltered housing tenants in Fife, some 101 at present, will no longer pay housing support charges. Fife Council is managing this despite the on-going cuts that it has to make. What is the cabinet secretary's position on the possibility of other councils following the lead of Fife Council in reversing charges to one of the most vulnerable groups in society? As I said to the member in my previous answer, local authorities have the autonomy to set her wave charges for non-residential social care, including housing support charges. The Scottish Government is in continual dialogue with COSLA about uniformity of charges and when they should be applied. That is a consultation that continues. We all want to see if there are charges, we want to ensure that they are affordable and that the services are provided or have a high quality in the services that are required. However, we continually, as the cabinet secretary said a few minutes ago, all of those issues are under discussion. To ask the cabinet secretary what steps the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that the planning process for projects is as streamlined as possible. We continue to work in partnership with our stakeholders to deliver a range of co-ordinated actions to streamline planning. That includes the planning performance framework, e-planning, improvement projects and legislation. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. I ask him if he agrees with me that in order to ensure that we continue to see a diverse range of projects going through the planning process across all our communities here in Scotland, the process should be streamlined, easy to participate in and encourage continued development of our communities—something that I am sure we would all want to see. I totally agree with the member. As he knows, we have made a number of reforms to the planning process in recent years, but I believe that further reform may be necessary in different aspects to achieve a better and more streamlined planning system, and we are working with stakeholders on a series of ideas and recommendations that they have made to us. To ask the Scottish Government how it will spend £14 million announced in the budget for low-cost home energy efficiency loans. The interest-free loan scheme will be used to provide financial assistance to private sector households looking to install energy efficiency measures through the provision of a Government-backed loan. It will support our efforts to tackle fuel poverty, improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock, reduce carbon emissions and support the green economy. That funding is part of our record, £114 million funding commitment in 2015-16, and it forms part of our £0.5 billion allocation to fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes since 2009. Details of the loan scheme will be announced shortly. I thank the minister and I very much welcome this improvement for household energy efficiency. I will see how it rolls out. Since it has an important role to play in our efforts to address fuel poverty and climate change emissions, can the minister tell me what plans the Scottish Government has to build in future on this welcome investment so as to make sure that even more people are taken out of fuel poverty? We will certainly intend to evaluate the effectiveness of the loan scheme in both tackling fuel poverty and improving the energy efficiency of housing stock. In due course, consider if schemes like that have a long-term role to play. However, our commitment to tackling fuel poverty is there and remains and improving energy efficiency also. It is evident from the over half a billion pounds that we have allocated to this since 2009 and is further emphasised by our record £114 million budget in this financial year. Consideration of any future schemes will take account of broader priorities on sustainability and fuel poverty and in the context of the future spending review. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle poverty. We are committed to tackling the long-term drivers of poverty through early intervention and prevention. That is why building a fairer Scotland and tackling inequality was one of the three key aims of the programme for government. As part of that programme, we are promoting the living wage across all sectors, delivering on our commitment to 600 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. In addition, we are providing 25,000 modern apprenticeship places every year and are investing around £296 million from 2013-14 to 2015-16 to help those affected by the UK Government's welfare reforms. We have also made a commitment to ensuring that all new and revised Scottish Government policies will be subject to a poverty impact assessment and to appointing an independent adviser in poverty and inequality to advise on further actions needed to tackle poverty and hold the Government to account on its performance. The Minister is correct yesterday that the Scottish Government's own wealth and assets survey emphasised just how extreme inequality is in our country. In response, it did indeed announce that it would appoint an independent adviser on poverty and inequality to raise awareness of the realities of living in poverty. Does the minister not think that those who live in poverty are well aware of the realities of it and what they need is more support? Yesterday, Labour announced plans for a £175 million Scottish anti-poverty fund in the next Parliament over and above those measures that the minister elaborated. Will she support that measure? The Scottish Government is tackling the drivers of poverty and the prevention of poverty, and simply not just going to move mitigation from one budget within the Scottish Parliament to mitigating it in another way. We want to address poverty, deal with poverty and the drivers of poverty not just mitigate it, and that is what our plans are set out to do. That is why the First Minister announced in the programme of government that there will be a poverty adviser to look across the whole of Government policies to ensure that everything that this Government does, the poverty aspect, is looked at and we are addressing it across all portfolios of government. What I would say to Ken Macintosh is that we are dealing with it, and we have been tackling it. Sorry to Ken Macintosh to Ian Gray, but we are tackling this matter and we will continue to tackle it and not just jump in something that came up yesterday by mitigating from one way and mitigating in another way. We want to do more than mitigating. We want to address it. What action is it taking to increase the number of housing completions? The Scottish Government has set a five-year target to deliver 30,000 affordable homes and have backed us up with plans to spend over £1.7 billion over the lifetime of this Parliament. We are continuing to work creatively with our partners and use innovative ways to deliver more affordable homes. We are supporting a wide range of action to boost the supply of housing, working in partnership with homes for Scotland and industry to support private sector recovery and growth. The minister for her response is that 10,000 fewer houses were completed in 2014 than in 2007, when the Government came to power. There is another downside, Deputy Presiding Officer. Residential development is often concentrated in traditional communities, like my own, placing impossible pressure on infrastructure. What in theory is sustainable development is in practice anything but what plans does the Scottish Government have for a housing policy based on diffusion to spread more development among more communities and mitigate the current oppressive overload on infrastructure in some communities? The local authorities are the strategic housing provider, and their plans show where they are looking at the houses and how they should spread out in their local authority area. They are responsible for saying what kind of houses are required and where the houses will be built. Further to what Annick Goldie said a few moments ago, we have completed 901 more homes in the year to September 2014 and the year to September 2013. We are building more homes per head of population across all sectors and tenures in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. I think that that is something that should be welcomed. The next item of business is a statement by Fergus Ewing on Scotland's energy future, achieving security of supply and a balanced energy mix.