 am they not against when farms have some of their own. That ends General Questions. We now move to First Ministry's questions. Order. Question number one, Kezia Dugdale. To ask the First Minister, what engagements she has planned for the rest of the day. Engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Let's end the old Westminster way of doing things, which has caused misery for for Scotland's most vulnerable. We have the opportunity to chart a different economic path, one that benefits the whole of society. Not my words, Presiding Officer, but the words of Michelle Thomson in the SNP's general election manifesto. Words that ring somewhat hollow now that we know the Crown Office is investigating the economic path that the SNP MP went down herself. Just eight months after her lawyer was struck off for his involvement in her property deals, Michelle Thomson was selected to be an SNP candidate for Edinburgh West. Can the First Minister tell Parliament if anybody in the SNP, whether it is Nicola Sturgeon herself, SNP politicians or SNP officials at any level, were aware of Michelle Thomson's allegations before they were printed in the Sunday Times? I recognise that there is a lot of interest in the issue, but I remind all members that questions to the First Minister should relate to matters that are within her general responsibility. That is not a matter of what the First Minister is obliged to respond. I am more than happy to respond. As I said yesterday, the SNP did not have prior knowledge of any of those issues. As I said yesterday, serious issues have been raised here, and I acknowledge that serious issues, which, if they were to be proven, would be issues of significant concern. It is also important to stress, Presiding Officer, that Michelle Thomson maintains that all of her business dealings were within the law and that she strongly denies any wrongdoing. That might be an unfashionable view, but politicians, just like anyone else in our society, are entitled to a presumption of innocence. I would have thought that a political party that has spent this week advocating a kinder politics would perhaps have been the first to acknowledge that fact. There is now a police investigation under way into those matters. It is important that that investigation is allowed to proceed without anyone seeking to prejudge its outcome. Michelle Thomson has decided to step aside from the SNP while that investigation is undertaken. I think that that was the right thing for her to have opted to do. I think that it is now incumbent on the rest of us to allow that investigation to proceed and to proceed to a conclusion. Kezia Dugdale. The First Minister is right, and I am not prejudging anything, but I am asking her— No, no, no, no, no. Order. No, no, no. We need to look at the facts here, Presiding Officer. The facts are undisputed. A tribunal issues a damning verdict. That is a fact. A lawyer was struck off. That is a fact. The Crown Office was made aware of concerns. That is a fact. Vulnerable families lost out. It is the First Minister saying that no one, at any level in the SNP, knew about the nature of Michelle Thomson's business dealings. Does that mean that nobody asked her? Kezia Dugdale is right when she says that it is a fact that there has been a solicitor's discipline tribunal. She is also right to say that it is a fact that a solicitor has been struck off. Neither of those things proves the guilt of anything, of any other person. I simply make the point that I made earlier on. However, tempting it is for all of us in the hurly-burly of politics to seek to prejudge issues, politicians like everyone else are entitled to a presumption of innocence. Now, I have said yesterday—I have said again today—that the SNP had no prior knowledge of those issues. Of course, as I have already said, Michelle Thomson denies any wrongdoing, therefore, presumably, she would maintain that there was nothing for her to have brought to the attention of the SNP. Our vetting procedures as a party are robust, but we keep them under review, as I would hope every political party does. However, I would also put forward—again, I think that this is something that I would expect all political parties to acknowledge—that, while we make all reasonable checks and ask reasonable questions, by definition it is not reasonable to expect that matters of which we have no knowledge can be investigated. What is also ridiculous, I think, to suggest of any political party, Presiding Officer, the SNP, or anybody else, is that any party would knowingly allow a candidate to go forward for selection, knowing that there were serious problems about the integrity of that individual candidate. Let me repeat that there is a police investigation into aspects of those matters under way. I, as the leader of the SNP, and indeed as First Minister, will always act in a way that I think is appropriate, but I will be driven in doing so, Presiding Officer, by facts, not by insinuation. Presiding Officer, I am not asking the First Minister to comment on the specifics of a live investigation. No, no. Order. I accept that, of course, criminal matters are for the police, but this is also a moral matter, and I would expect her to comment on that. What we have here is vulnerable families losing out for the financial gain of others. Vulnerable people are being taken advantage of as their homes are snapped up at knock-down prices. Does she agree with me that profiteering from vulnerable families is just plain wrong? Kezia Dugdale, although she disagrees with me as she is entitled to do on a whole range of issues, I hope that she would accept that my commitment to social justice and my commitment to helping vulnerable people like hers is beyond any question. If there are matters that are proven to have been done wrong, then those will be serious issues that the SNP will respond to. I repeat again that we are dealing with an individual who denies wrongdoing, who denies any breach of the law and who denies that she has acted improperly. I do not have access—neither, incidentally, does Kezia Dugdale—to all of the information and the circumstances that the police will be able to access. That is why it is important for all of us to allow the police to do their job. There is a police investigation under way. I think that it is appropriate that that investigation is thorough, robust and comes to a conclusion. The rest of us should be prepared to allow it to do so. Kezia Dugdale. I just asked the First Minister whether she thought that profiteering from vulnerable people was right or wrong. This is a First Minister that claims that nobody in the SNP knew anything about this, and I will take her word for that. I will take her word. But now she does know that she knows that an elected representative in her party acted in a way that is unacceptable. This is someone that the SNP did know. Fiona Hyslop, already in trouble herself, spoke of Mrs Thompson's knowledge of business and passion to make Scotland a better place. Angela Constance is on record celebrating Michelle Thompson's compassion. Alex Neil said that Michelle Thompson demonstrated commitment to how business can be used to support social justice, and this is the First Minister who made her shadow business secretary. The First Minister has spent two days running away from Michelle Thompson as fast as she can, but it is not the case that, for the last two years, Michelle Thompson has been right at the heart of everything that the SNP stands for. One fact that Kezia Dugdale has omitted from that long list of mud-slinging there was that today, following the issues that are coming to light, Michelle Thompson is currently not a member of the SNP, because she took the decision while those investigations are under way to relinquish the party whip. As a result of the SNP rules, that means that her party membership is also suspended. That was the right and responsible thing for her to have done in the circumstances. I have no intention, on a serious matter, on a matter that I recognise is serious, to get into a party political exchange over this. However, I will simply point out that it has not always been the case that Labour politicians have been accused of serious offences that they have found themselves outside the party while those investigations have been undertaken. I repeat what I said earlier on. I have very onerous responsibilities as First Minister and I have responsibilities as leader of the SNP. I will always seek to discharge those responsibilities to the very best of my ability, but I will discharge those responsibilities on the basis of the facts before me. I will do that in this case and I will do it in every other case. That is the responsible and appropriate way for me to proceed. To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. First Minister. No plans in the near future. Ruth Davidson. Let's try going through all of this again. We already know that the Crown Office and Police Scotland were asked whether they would investigate this case in July of last year. We know that the Law Society raised it with the Crown Office in December. We know that journalists have been investigating it all summer, and we know that the police were called in nearly three months ago. Yet the First Minister is asking us to believe that nobody in the SNP, the party of government, from the constituency in Edinburgh West, right up to the chief executive and the leader herself, knew anything about this until they read it in the paper almost two weeks ago. Does the First Minister think that this sounds believable, or is it the case that somebody somewhere turned a blind eye? I do think that the reasonable people listening to the answers that I'm giving today will opt to believe that that is the case. Why? Because I would not stand here and say it was the case if it wasn't the case. Ruth Davidson says that we all knew that the Law Society was investigating that the Crown Office was investigating that journalists were investigating all summer. Did she know any of that before the Sunday Times published those stories? I certainly didn't know those things until they came to light in the media. If Ruth Davidson is saying that everybody knew this, then presumably she would have known, but unless she's saying so, I'll take it that she didn't. The fact of the matter is that we had no prior knowledge of those issues. We now do know about the allegations that have been made, and I stress the word allegations. There is now, as is entirely appropriate, a police investigation into those allegations. I'm happy and keen to see that investigation be thorough and robust, and I will take whatever action at the conclusion of that. The facts determine that it is necessary and appropriate, and I think that it would be fitting for all politicians to take exactly the same approach. Ruth Davidson? The First Minister is in charge when it suits her, but when the wheel comes off she is constantly surprised by what's going on. She's surprised by tea in the park, she's surprised by Government loans to SNP donors, and now she's surprised by this. What the First Minister can't have missed were the sort of business practices that Michelle Thompson was involved in and boasted about in public view on her own website. Since the First Minister says that she's read the papers, she must also have read the responses from the vulnerable people who are hurt and who are angry at the way in which they've been treated in order to profit the First Minister's former business spokesperson. This morning, Michelle Thompson's solicitor said that she wants to come back into front-line politics as quickly as possible. Today, the First Minister has mentioned the police investigation a number of time. Let's put the police investigation to one side for a moment. On the basics of ethics and integrity alone, does the First Minister welcome Michelle Thompson back to her front bench? For the so-called party of law in order to stand up in a parliamentary chamber and say on extremely serious matters, let's just put the question of a police investigation to one side. Frankly, beggars belief. I'm in no doubt whatsoever in my mind that if the allegations—again, I stress the word allegations—are proven to be correct, then that will represent behaviour that I find completely unacceptable. However, I am not going to judge the outcome on the basis of somebody who maintains their innocence and an investigation that has not yet concluded. It would be incredibly unfair and inappropriate for me to do that. I put it in this chamber and, indeed, to the public that it is unfair and unacceptable for any politician to ask me to do that. However, when we have all of the facts, when the investigation is concluded, I will take whatever decisions and whatever actions I deem necessary. Those decisions will be driven by facts, not by insinuation and the attempts of opposition parties to stir up political trouble and difficulty. That's the way I'll continue to proceed and I think it's the appropriate thing to do. To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the cabinet. Matters of importance to the people of Scotland. Last week, the First Minister told me that GPs were happy with her plans for primary care, but look at what the chair of the Royal College of GPs said this week. The Scottish Government needs to act urgently. It's stalled, sitting fallow. The Government needs to stop prevaricating and deliver immediate action, not more promises for tomorrow. GPs are far from happy. This morning, Shona Robison addressed the GP conference. What new and immediate action did she commit to? I can give Willie Rennie some more up-to-date information about the views of GPs. As he rather said, Shona Robison has been making announcements today. Here's what Dr Alan McDevitt, chair of the BMA's Scottish GP committee, has said today. The removal of the co-off system is a significant step towards our vision for the future of general practice in Scotland. This bold move by the cabinet secretary is part of the reinvigoration of general practice in Scotland. It will have a positive effect on practices by reducing workload and bureaucracy, allowing GPs to focus on the complex care needs of their patients. That's the views of GPs, or at least the GP representative of Shona Robison's announcement this morning. I could also read out a lot of quotes from social media this morning of GPs in England listening to that announcement and wishing they could come to Scotland to practice instead. Willie Rennie? She talks about the co-off, but that's going to be two years away. That's hardly immediate action. This is what is happening today. NHS Fife told me that it is having to step in to save metal practice. Yesterday, we learned of pressures in Aberdeen for GPs at night-time, and Dumfries and Galloway NHS issued a recruitment warning. The First Minister said that she was doing everything that she could, but 99 per cent of GPs said that it was not enough. The truth is that the Scottish Government has been caught napping. Ministers say that everything is fine. Everyone else says that it is not. It's like the police all over again. I am trying to shake the Government and the First Minister out of her denial. When will she open her eyes? When will she end the denial? The First Minister? Willie Rennie says that I say that everything is fine, and I don't say that. That's why I was able last week to list a long list of initiatives back by resources that Shona Robison and the Government were taking, but the bulk of the answer that I gave to his first question were not actually my own words at all. They were the words of Dr Allan McDevitt, who is the chair of the BMA's Scottish GP committee. We are working closely and constructively with GPs to deal with recruitment challenges, to deal with the pressures that come from the changing demographics of our country, changing patterns of technology and how healthcare is delivered, to make sure that we have a system and a model of primary care that is fit for practice, not just now but into the years that lie ahead. We are determined that that is backed by a modern fit for practice GP contract. I think that that is exactly the action that people would expect the Government working with GPs today. We will continue to do it, and as we do, I have no doubt that Willie Rennie will continue to cart from the sidelines. Question 4, Christina McKelvie. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government is making in implementing the so-called Claire's Law. I think that it is right that people in relationships should have the opportunity to seek the facts about their partner's background if, for example, they have concerns that their partner has a history of violence. The disclosure scheme for domestic abuse in Scotland, otherwise known as Claire's Law, has proven successful in the pilot areas of Ayrshire and Aberdeen. I was delighted to announce in July the decision to roll that scheme out across the country. The scheme, as of today, will therefore be available across Scotland. That means that anyone who feels that they may be at risk of domestic abuse will have the right to ask for information about their partner. I think that that sends a strong and unequivocal message that abuse is unacceptable and that we are committed to action that can help to reduce the risk of further harm. Christina McKelvie. I thank the First Minister for that answer on that very, very welcome roll-out today. Would she agree with me and the many organisations that have campaigned for this that Police Scotland's disclosure scheme for domestic abuse is vital, absolutely vital, to defeat the scourge of domestic violence in Scotland? Yes, I absolutely agree with that. I hope that everybody would agree with that. We want to stop domestic abuse in all of its forms and this scheme enables us, gives us another very important tool to help to do that. Put simply, this scheme does have the ability to save lives, but it is not the only thing that we need to do to combat domestic abuse. That is why we are also taking forward a range of other measures to prevent and eradicate domestic abuse. In March, I announced another £20 million over the next three years to step up our work to tackle violence against women and girls. That money will be used to drive innovation and improvement within the justice system, tackle perpetrators of domestic abuse and increase public awareness. I think that the collection of initiatives that this Government is taking, I hope, backed by cross-party support, will help us in the years to come to make sure that we are not just taking a stand against domestic abuse, we are reducing the impact of domestic abuse in our communities. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I too welcome the rolling out of Claire's law. However, I am disappointed that the lack of progress made on the delivery of Equally Safe. The strategic board for implementation was supposed to have reported six months ago, but it is yet to meet, and it will be sad that the first Parliament led by a female First Minister was to go down in history as the one that I had done least to tackle violence against women. Can I ask the First Minister if she will take the opportunity to make progress on the implementation of Equally Safe this afternoon by backing my amendments to the human trafficking bill? I have to say that I found aspects of that question by Rhoda Grant deeply depressing, because this is an issue on which I am a politician. I am as capable of any politician in this chamber, perhaps more capable than some of being party political on a variety of issues, but this is an issue that we should not be party political on, Presiding Officer. Given that I have just stood here and announced today the start of the complete roll-out of a pioneering innovative scheme to help to reduce domestic violence, given that I have just talked again about the additional £20 million resources that I decided to invest in measures to reduce domestic violence, to come up with a comment like that, I think, is not worthy of the member, but she does raise an important point about Equally Safe, and she will be aware that we are making progress in taking forward the commitments in Equally Safe. I am happy to write to her with a detailed report. She will see some reference to this in the programme for government that was published just a few weeks ago. This is an issue where not just am I determined—I think that everybody across this chamber is determined to see real progress—so, for goodness sake, whatever else we may divide on, let's get together and say that we are going to tackle and eradicate domestic abuse in this country. Can I welcome the creers law and the other initiatives that the First Minister announced in her first answer? Can I tell her at the cross-party group on men's violence against women last night that there was some discussion about the specific offence of domestic abuse that was in the consultation paper? Can she tell us why there has been a delay in introducing such a law and can she give a categorical guarantee that such a law will be introduced in due course? I think that anybody who has listened to my comments in this will have a very strong sense of my commitment to doing this. There hasn't been a delay in introducing this. What we have done is consult on the general principle. We are now moving forward to consult on the specific wording of a new offence of domestic abuse. The reason why we are doing that is because there are differences of opinion as Malcolm Chisholm, given the sterling work that he has done in the issue over a long number of years, will know. On something as important as this, the view is that it is vital that we get it right. I believe that a specific offence of domestic abuse will allow us to capture more aspects of domestic abuse than the current law enables us to do. I am absolutely committed to doing this, but I am committed to doing it properly so that it has the desired effect of helping the many women who currently suffer abuse in forms that the current law is not well suited to dealing with. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the findings in Unison Scotland's college staff survey report learning the hard way. The progress that we have made in recent years through college reform is largely due to the commitment and professionalism of college staff across Scotland. I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all our college staff for the role that they play in the success of our colleges. Our priority is to build on that, ensuring that staff continue to be well led and well supported. Clearly, it is very important to understand properly the views expressed by staff, generally and in particular through staff surveys, like the one that Iain Gray has commented on. The education secretary will discuss the survey findings at her next meeting with Unison Scotland and will commit to taking forward whatever needs to be done in order to address the concerns expressed in that survey. Presiding Officer, I do not think that the findings of this survey are hard to understand. 90 per cent of staff think that colleges are underfunded, 64 per cent think that college services have declined, 77 per cent do not expect them to improve in the next year, and 69 per cent blame the Scottish Government. Rather than expressing our gratitude to our hardworking college staff, does the First Minister not think that she should apologise? I will continue to take the view and the approach that I think is right to work with our college staff to make sure that our colleges continue to deliver excellent education for our young people. As I have said previously in this chamber, when we look at resource budgets in cash terms, this Government is spending more than Labour did when it was in office. We will continue to make sure that we give priority in our spending decisions to education, given the importance that we attach to it. I would also point out, as I have done many times before, that in every one of the last three years, we have not just met but exceeded our target to maintain the number of full-time equivalent places. The number of full-time students under 25 is increased by 15 per cent, full-time students over 25 up by 25 per cent. The number of women studying full-time courses is up by 15 per cent. Of course, we are also investing heavily in the college estate, more than £530 million in college estates since 2007. Those are the commitments that we will make to make sure that we have a quality college education sector. The staff who work in that sector are vital to that, so we will continue to listen to them, to respond to them and to work with them to deliver even further improvements. The First Minister was reported in Audit Scotland's report on Scotland's Colleges 2015 earlier this year that the SFA had met students as part of its six-month post-merger evaluations to discuss issues such as changes to learning and teaching, enrolment and access to colleges, and feedback indicated that there had been little adverse effect on students. Is the First Minister aware of whether that remains the position? I am certainly aware of the Auditor General's report, which was published back in April. It is, I think, the most current evidence-based assessment of the state of the sector, and it draws on surveys and other feedback indicating that our reforms have had no adverse impact on students. I would say that it is backed up by the evidence that shows that more full-time students are achieving recognised qualifications. The number of students achieving HNCs and HNDs has increased by over 20 per cent since 2007. There has been a 34 per cent increase in students progressing from college to university with advanced standing since 2009-10. The proof of the pudding in that respect is in the eating. We have a college sector now that is enabling more young people to get the qualifications that they need, either to go further in education or to go successfully into the workplace, which is perhaps one of the reasons why we are seeing youth unemployment at the much lower levels now than it has been in the past. To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to increase business innovation. I was placed in house on Monday this week that a new innovation fund totalling £78 million will be available to stimulate business innovation. The fund will comprise £31 million of European regional development fund money, which will be matched by £47 million of funding from Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council. It will enable a range of key activities aimed at increasing the number and level of companies investing in innovation in order to stimulate greater business university collaboration. It will also supplement the work of our innovation centres, with a particular aim to shorten development cycles for SMEs that will create new products and services. Thank you First Minister for that answer. Can she advise how that will work alongside the progress that is being made on the can-do strategy? Does she agree that it is important that we do not just see Scotland as an attractive place to do business, but we also see it as an attractive place to start businesses as well? Absolutely. I want Scotland to be seen as a great place, the best in the UK, to do business, to set up businesses, to expand businesses and to invest in businesses. Mark McDonald raises a very important component of our strategy. Scotland can do, which is a title that I love, is our route map to becoming a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation. I know that Labour does not like the idea of Scotland can do, but I do like it a lot. It is launched in November 2013. We have invested in entrepreneurial talent. We have expanded our range of business innovation support tools. We are also building a £124 million network of innovation centres that will allow industry to make the best use of our world-class university research and expertise, and we will showcase Scotland's fantastic capacity for innovation through our plan network of innovation investment hubs in Dublin, Brussels and London. In every sense, we are a Government putting our confidence in Scotland, which is probably why Scotland is putting its confidence in this Government. Thank you, Presiding Officer. How much of the £78 million announced on Monday is new money? As Gavin Brown would have been aware if he had listened to my answer, the announcement that I made on Monday is a combination of money from the European Regional Development Fund and money from our enterprise agencies and from the Scottish Funding Council. It is additional money that will augment the work that those agencies continue to do. The estimate is that it will allow our enterprise agencies to work with an additional 1,000 companies to help and support them to become more innovative. The message that we want to send out is that if there are big ideas out there in our companies, we want to help those companies to bring them to fruition. Thank you. That ends First Minister's questions. We are now moving to members' business. Members who leave the chamber should do so quickly and quietly.