 The first item of business today is general questions. We start with question number one from John Scott. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government when the revised Scottish wide area network project will be completed and delivered in full. Cabinet Secretary, Derek Mackay. The Scottish wide area network SWAN is an on-going programme of work. The contract awarded in February 2014 allows public sector organisations to become SWAN members until February 2020. From February 2020, no new members can join, but existing members can add and revise services until February 2023, by which time the programme will be delivered. SWAN will remain operational until the last member's contract has expired no later than February 2026. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer, and he will, I believe, be all too aware of the shortcomings of both the contract with Calpita and the delivery of IT services thus far, and with the low broadband speeds being delivered. He will also be aware that the day after this question was lodged, an additional £110,000 was allocated to provide extra bandwidth in the service locally. Can the cabinet secretary tell us when this service will be fully delivered in Ayrshire, why the original contract was so unambitious in terms of broadband speeds, why have delivery dates not been met thus far, have financial penalties been levied or alternative contracts have been considered, and is NHS Ayrshire and Arran all the Scottish Government paying for the potential cost overruns of the apparently struggling project? I think that I might have some difficulties in getting you to indulge me in giving a full and comprehensive answer to that extent, but I would endeavour to get that information to Mr Scott, and I am happy to arrange a briefing on which we can go over all those issues and complexities at the way forward so that that information can be shared with the member and indeed anyone else who is interested in the network. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh report, Standards Informing Delivery of Care in Rural Surgery. Cabinet Secretary Shona Robison, we welcome the report as a useful contribution to discussion on the sustainability of rural surgical services. The report highlights a number of recommendations that are consistent with the direction of travel for NHS Scotland set out in the national clinical strategy. Kate Forbes. Thank the cabinet secretary. The cabinet secretary will be aware of difficulties of recruitment of surgeons to rural general hospitals. What is the Government doing to enhance surgical training and recruitment to ensure an appropriate standard of care to patients in rural hospitals? In the short to medium term, there are a range of actions already being taken to support NHS boards to recruit in remote and rural areas and also to encourage those who trained or worked in NHS Scotland to return and work in the health service and to encourage others to come and work here from elsewhere. For example, we are supporting the development of flexible networks between rural and urban hospitals such as Ragemore and Caithness General. This is to help to maintain and enhance skills where patient numbers are small. We need to make sure that the skills are maintained by those surgeons. The longer-term solution lies in implementing recommendations from the shape of training report to achieve a better balance between general and specialist medical skills. Working with the surgical colleges, proposals are well advanced for a revised training curriculum that will equip trainees with the competencies to deliver elective and emergency general surgery. I think that that will be very good news for our rural general hospitals. Miles Briggs. One of the issues that has been raised at the health committee is, in some cases, people are not going to rural parts of Scotland because their partner can't find work, for example, on broadband connections. Is this an area that the Government will also look into so that we can make sure that rural practices and rural surgery become a very attractive career option in the future? Miles Briggs makes an important point. The Government has done a lot around broadband, particularly for remote and rural areas. He is right because the infrastructure that is particularly in primary care requires to deliver some of our enhanced services. Looking at the use of technology within rural healthcare requires the infrastructure to be there to help to deliver that. On the issue of partners, that is again an important issue. I know that boards have worked hard to try to help the partner of the person coming to work within the health service to also find employment and to offer other incentives, whether that is accommodation or other supports, particularly when someone is going to be new to the area. Those are important issues that surround trying to make sure that we can retain and recruit to our rural areas. Monica Lennon. Does the cabinet secretary agree with the concerns from the British Medical Association that the erosion of supporting professional activity times in consultant contracts for some areas across Scotland is partly to blame for the chronic shortage of staff and unfilled vacancies that we are currently seeing in rural areas and across the country? If so, will the Government therefore commit to reprioritising the implementation of the A2 contract across all health boards as a matter of urgency to make sure that consultants can develop the level of expertise that a world-class health service requires and ensure that Scotland can continue to attract and retain the best talents? That is an issue that has been raised by the British Medical Association with me directly. I would say to the member that the area where that is more of an issue is Greater Glasgow and Clyde, not a rural health board area. Greater Glasgow and Clyde is the board that has the most 911 contracts. We will continue to discuss with Greater Glasgow and Clyde, particularly when a new chief executive is appointed there. That should be one of the issues that we would expect them to take forward with the consultant workforce in that area. To ask the Scottish Government how many people are registered with an NHS dentist and how that compares to 2007. At 30 September 2016, 4,924,974 people registered with an NHS dentist in Scotland. The equivalent figure for 2007 was 2,669,990. The cabinet secretary will recognise that there remains an inequality between deprived and affluent areas in Scotland. Therefore, what steps does the Scottish Government take to help to address child dental health inequalities? I say to Gil Paterson that we are continuing to make progress in reducing oral health inequalities in children. For example, comparing the two years to September 2016 with the two years to September 2007, there has been an increase of 36 per cent in the number of children in the most deprived areas attending their dentist. However, we recognise that more work needs to be done, which is why I have decided to expand our flagship child smile programme. As announced in the fairer Scotland action plan, we will be expanding the programme to those nursery and primary 1 and 2 children in the 20 per cent most deprived areas across Scotland. The programme provides additional oral health interventions such as fluoride varnish application for children from the most deprived areas of Scotland. I think that that will help to make a real difference. Maurice Golden Thank you, Presiding Officer. While an increase to dental registrations is to be welcomed, it is important to note that the 2016 dental report says that because of a change to lifetime registration, the registration rate has become less informative in measuring patient access to dental services. The trend for patients actually seeing a dentist, the participation rate has, and I quote, being falling across all NHS boards, and patients in the most deprived areas are least likely to have seen a dentist in the previous two years. What steps is the SNP Government taking to ensure that people of all ages aren't just registering but are actually being treated by a dentist? NHS Dentistry and the Transformation in Dentistry of Scotland is a success story that we should be immensely proud of. Let me take those questions. Figures show a significant increase over the last decade in the number of people attending their dentist. Under this Government, attendance has risen from £2.5 million in the two years to March 2007 to £3.5 million in the two years to September 2016, so there are more people attending their dentist. Dentists have put considerable work into encouraging regular attendance. To give one example, dentists have access to the NHS mail system, which allows them to text message patients an appointment reminder, which has been shown to improve attendance. We should also remember the very important role that the public has to play in ensuring that they and, importantly, their children attend regularly for appointments. It should be noted and I would be welcomed that access to NHS dentistry in Scotland is at an all-time high. There is more capacity than ever before to accommodate the needs of patients. I would have thought that that is something that people across the whole of this chamber should welcome. I declare an interest that I used to be a practising NHS dentist and my wife continues to practise in the NHS as a dentist. I congratulate the cabinet secretary for the spin of the week on the dental figures when, in actual fact, she is not comparing like for like figures, because the reality is that in April 2006 you were registered for 36 months, but now you have lifetime registration. What is more important is to look at the participation rates and looking at the proportion of people who access NHS dentistry. If you look at the proportion of people who participate in September 2006, 99 per cent of adults participated with a dentist that was registered and 100 per cent of registered children participated at a dentist. That is now 69 per cent of adults and 86 per cent of children. So, while there is much to welcome, can the cabinet secretary still recognise the challenges in dentistry and perhaps give the figures a check-up of their own? I have never heard such a half empty glass question in this chamber. NHS dentistry is a success story. Given his clinical experience, he would have realised that lifetime registration is a good thing, because it keeps people registered for their lifetime with a dentist. Let me give him a couple of figures that even he surely cannot complain about. The number of primary 1 children with no obvious decay experience rising from 54 per cent in 2006 to 69 per cent in 2016. The number of primary 7 children with no obvious decay rising from 59 per cent in 2007 to 75 per cent in 2015. Even Anasawa surely must welcome those figures. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider removing the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. There should be no doubt that under this Government, High will remain firmly in place at the heart of the Highlands and Islands economy. We have repeatedly committed to maintain the dedicated support that is locally based, managed and directed by High. Phase 2 of the Enterprise and Skills review will look to deliver for businesses and individuals in the Highlands and Islands. Additional access and support from national services is part of a more coherent system. Scottish ministers have asked Professor Lorne Crairor, the chair of High, to lead a governance review, working with all four Enterprise and Skills agencies, their existing boards and other experts in developing the detailed scope, potential structures and functions for the new board. In addition, as I have said on a number of occasions, I am happy to meet representatives from all parties to discuss the way forward as we consider how best to ensure that High is the best place to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. The very simple ask that I make of the cabinet secretary today is to retain a fully autonomous board for the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, based in the Highlands and Islands, full responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation. For the cabinet secretary to change his mind on this issue, at the 11th hour, would be a strength, not a weakness, and show the Scottish Government is listening to the wave of public opinion in the Highlands and Islands? To underline the point that has been made previously, that a number of people who have expressed concerns, whether that is the council leaders of the various Northern authorities that all of whom I met with yesterday, with Jim Hunter, who has already been mentioned by a number of parties in previous statements, by SNP MSPs who have been the ones that have asked for meetings to discuss their concerns and take the issues forward. I am continuing to listen to that, but we do await the report from Professor Lorne Crairor, currently the chair of high, who will look at the different issues, as well as the fact of what else can be done to strengthen the work of high. Whether it is in terms of internationalisation, whether it is in terms of more powers in relation to skills, whether it is in more powers in relation to exports, driving up exports, it is very important that we build on the success of high. Just as we are asking the rest of the agencies within this review to see how we can improve things further, to take Scotland from the third decile in terms of the OECD's league tables to the first, it is very important that high also looks at itself along with us to see how we can improve the services that we provide to individuals and companies across the Highlands. Will the cabinet secretary confirm, as he did before in this chamber, that following the conclusion of the governance review that any decision on the future of the high board will be brought back to this chamber, and will he reiterate again his support for the continuation of local decision making? As Gail Ross mentioned, I said during the recent debate on the Highlands and Islands Enterprise that I am more than happy to come back to the chamber once the governance review is complete. I would again reiterate that the future of high is secure. Highlands and Islands Enterprise will continue to be locally based, managed and erected, providing dedicated support to the local economy. 5. Jamie Greene To ask the Scottish Government what its responses to the recent figures suggesting that Scottish exports to the rest of the UK were four times that of exports to the EU. Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown, the Scottish Government welcomes the latest export figures for Scotland. It shows that excluding oil and gas, our total international exports increased by £1 billion in a year—a subject that I would have thought for some commendation. Trade with the rest of the UK is hugely important to Scotland's economy and increased by 4.8 billion pounds in 2015, worth noting that trade with the rest of the EU also increased by 4.4 per cent over that period. In line with our trade and investment strategy, we continue to work with our partners to grow Scottish exports to our key markets. That includes, of course, the UK and the EU, and to support our businesses to exploit opportunities in new international markets. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. In a recent PQ to the Scottish Government around the trading values and export numbers, I note in the response that the Government is well aware of the importance of those markets to the Scottish economy. In evidence to the economy committee last year, expert witness Professor Mackay said, and I quote, The UK will be Scotland's most important trading relationship and trading partner, and anything that comes between that will have a challenging impact on the Scottish economy. Will the cabinet secretary join me in acknowledging that those figures are accurate, that the UK market is worth protecting and put to bed any alternative myths around the importance of the UK domestic market? All those things are evident from the answer that I have just given to Jamie Greene. I have recognised the size of the trade. It is also worth recognising the size of the trade that the rest of the UK has with Scotland going the other way. Scotland is a very important market to the rest of the UK. However, if you look at, for example, the history of the Irish Republic in terms of the exports that it had, it managed to achieve substantial advances in terms of its international exports. I am not sure whether that should be a problem for members on the Tory side. We want to increase exports to everywhere, whether it is the rest of the UK, whether it is the rest of the EU or around the world. That should be a subject of some consensus between us. It is also worth saying that a 4.4 per cent increase in the year that I mentioned both in terms of the UK is a good thing, but both in terms of the EU, which you do not hear much about from that side of the chamber, is also a good thing for Scotland. Perhaps it will be worth emphasising that positive outcome that we can build on that, rather than the constant denigration that we hear from the party opposite in terms of Scotland's economic performance. Question 6, Adam Tomkins. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve levels of innovative activity in the Scottish economy. Minister Paul Wheelhouse. Boosting innovation is critical to driving inclusive economic growth. We are working with our agencies and stakeholders to develop a more innovative and entrepreneurial culture to encourage and support more businesses to become innovation active and to increase levels of research and development supported by our network of innovation centres and interface, which facilitates collaboration between businesses and academia. The innovation action plan, which was published on 11 January, set out some immediate steps to make a difference to our innovation performance, such as the use of public sector to catalyse innovation in projects such as CIFTech, the world's first cross-public sector technology accelerator and to complement the manufacturing action plan, which was published in February of last year, which sets out our proposal for a national manufacturing institute for Scotland. Adam Tomkins. Part of that answer that I was able to hear, I could not hear all of it, because of the chorus of approval that greeted the arrival of the Greens in the chamber. As the minister will know, the number of patent applications filed is used to measure the levels of innovative activity in the Scottish economy. The figures from SPICE show that the number of patents filed per 10,000 head of population in Scotland for 2015 is well below the UK average. The UK Government's newly published industrial strategy recognises the need to build on research strengths in businesses, as well as universities. In light of those figures, will the Scottish Government commit to doing the same? To give some encouragement to Mr Tomkins, I would indicate that the recent surveys that we have had around innovation, UK innovation survey 2015, which is UK-wide and is on the same basis in Scotland, has shown that Scotland has had an increase in enterprises with innovation-active approach to 50.4 per cent, which is still by a slight behind the UK average but is catching up and is a substantial increase of over 7 per cent. We are also seeing great opportunities out of the industrial strategy, and we will work closely with the industry to try to maximise those, but just to the point about patents, which is a very important issue, not to lose sight of the fact that we have seen a substantial increase between 2014-15, which is our last published data, and the data that we are seeing from Scottish Enterprise from 649 to 1,200 innovation-active businesses. The work that SE and High are doing to increase innovation in our business community is, I believe, working, and we will hopefully see progress in due course.