 Slyw good morning. We begin with general questions, and we start with question number one from Ben Macpherson. To ask the Scottish Government what impact UK government welfare reform as part of the austerity agenda is having on homelessness and rough sleeping in Scotland. Minister, Kevin Stewart. The UK government's welfare cuts have increased the financial pressures on households and i ddisgwynol rhaglion o trwyhoedd oeddaeth a chardywydd? Pwblwn ni'n credu rhoi ddweud o ddisgwynol rhaglion o ddweud o gwnaeth Gwsiddorol yn gwybodaeth i ddweud o sydd cyfnodiodd o'r ddisgwynol rhaglion o ddweud o gwnaethef ac oeddaeth sydd yn cyfieithio'u ddweud a unrhyw ddependio ai'n credu'r sgwrs ar ei cyfweld, a chimdeithasio ddwybodol rhaglion o ddweud o fwedd, sagi, elef o ddweud o ddweud o ddweud, £100 million a year by the end of the decade, which impact on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society. Every year, we spend over £100 million to help to relieve the worst impact of UK Government welfare cuts and support those on low incomes, including mitigating the bedroom tax, which helps over 70,000 households in Scotland to sustain their tenancies. We also support people on crisis through the Scottish welfare fund. We have strong homelessness rights in Scotland and a focus on preventing homelessness. I would prefer if we were able to use that £100 million to enable us to invest in our priorities, including tackling homelessness. The Deputy First Minister and I are an inspirational 8,000 other people to part in the social bite sleep in the park initiative to help end homelessness in rough sleeping in our country and to help to alleviate the difficulties that the UK Government's policies are causing for people. In order to support initiatives like the sleep in the park initiative and in contrast to the UK Government's policies, can the minister provide an update on the proactive and purposeful action that the Scottish Government is taking to tackle homelessness in rough sleeping in Scotland in partnership with local authorities, the third sector and others? As Mr McPherson knows, the Scottish Government established this homelessness in rough sleeping action group, which is a short-life action group involving the third sector, housing associations, academia and local authorities. I am pleased to say that, since the group was established in October, it has moved quickly to recommend actions to minimise rough sleeping this winter. Those actions will increase emergency accommodation and increase outreach provision for people who are at risk of rough sleeping and will be crucial in supporting and protecting people this winter. The Scottish Government accepted all the recommendations of the group and we are moving rapidly to implementation, backed with a total funding package of £328,000, including £262,000 from the Scottish Government and £66,000 from Social Bite, the Simon community, Govenn Law Centre and Crisis. We continue to work with local authorities and other partners through the homelessness prevention and strategy group and the regional housing options hubs to support councils in the prevention of homelessness and the discharge of their duties towards homeless people. Glasgow has had a higher rate of adults claiming out-of-work benefits than any other Scottish city and it has a higher rate of adults claiming incapacity benefits. Does the cabinet secretary share my concerns about the role of universal credit scheduled for Glasgow next year, given the impact on housing and the impact that we already know that universal credit has had on tenants? Yes, I share Ms McNeill's concerns. Many have warned the UK Government about the role of universal credit, which in my opinion has been somewhat shambolic. I was very pleased to see the Church of Scotland this week criticising the UK Government for the role of universal credit. On top of that, we have also seen the benefit cap, which has a major impact in families right across Scotland and beyond. I really do think that the UK Government should have a real rethink about their welfare reform policies, about their social security cuts and end austerity so that we can protect the most vulnerable people in our society. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce diagnostic waiting times for children with autism. Minister Maureen Watt integration joint boards are responsible for the strategic planning and decision making for all services delegated to them, including diagnostic services for artistic people in line with their statutory obligations and Scottish Government policy. Health and social care partnerships are responsible for the delivery of local services based on the planning decision by integrated joint boards and are therefore responsible for the implementation of local autism strategies and actions plans. However, improving diagnostic services remains a Scottish Government priority for the Scottish strategy for autism. It is recognised that waiting times are too high across children and adult diagnostic services, and that is why the Scottish Government is investing in an improvement programme to work with health and social care partnerships to reduce waiting times for autism assessments. Dean Lockhart I thank the minister for that response. Last week, one of my constituents received confirmation that her 11-year-old son, who was first referred to the autism community assessment pathway in October 2016, will not have his first appointment until next year. The reason is that the children's health service in Fife has been unable to recruit for any of its advertised posts. I am sure that the minister will agree that having to wait for more than a year and a half to see a specialist is unacceptable. Notwithstanding the steps that the minister has outlined, how can she provide assurance to my constituents that the specialist required will actually be recruited? I am disappointed to hear of your constituents' case and that they have to wait so long for an autism diagnosis. It highlights to me the fragility of many of our mental health services across the country. We are investing more—we have 150 million extra in mental health services and the health improvement teams are working with a range of health boards and social care partnerships across the country to make sure that in the future they have sustainable services. 3. Murdo Fraser To ask the Scottish Government how its draft budget will grow the Scottish economy. The draft budget delivers over £4 billion of infrastructure, a 64 per cent uplift in the economy jobs and fair work portfolio, a new £150 million building Scotland fund, procurement for a £600 million investment in our R100 programme, £2.4 billion in our enterprise and skills bodies and the most attractive system of business rates in the UK. Those major investments will underpin our focus on innovation, infrastructure and investment, internationalisation and inclusive growth. Murdo Fraser Can I thank the cabinet secretary for his response and take the opportunity to wish him a very happy Christmas? In the finance and constitution committee yesterday, we heard evidence from the Scottish Fiscal Commission on their forecast for Scottish economic growth over the next four years, which lag far behind the rest of the UK, as the cabinet secretary will know. Perhaps more worryingly, the forecast for productivity in Scotland also lag far behind the rest of the UK. What specific measures in the cabinet secretary's draft budget will deliver improvements in productivity? Can I also wish Murdo Fraser a very merry Christmas and a happy new year when it comes as well? Murdo Fraser is the nicest thing that Murdo Fraser has ever said to me in the chamber, but it is nice that the festive season is having its effect and even Murdo Fraser. However, I do not have enough time in general questions to cover all the range of actions that will make a difference on economic growth, but I am convinced that the investments that we are putting in place in creating the right competitive environment for businesses, in supporting innovation and internationalisation, in addressing skills issues and supporting businesses to upskill and grow and take advantage of digital potential, will ensure that our economy performs more strongly. SFC forecasts are absolutely critical to the Government, but there is a range of other forecasts that are far more positive about Scotland's economic prospects. The cabinet secretary mentions the range of non-domestic rates reliefs that he has in place. Is it not the case that there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of this rather blunt approach and that we would be far better off focusing that kind of initiative on those businesses that do achieve some of the social and economic priorities of the Scottish Government whether around paying the real living wage, investing in skills or meeting the priorities in the business pledge? If I can be specific around one point on that small business bonus, the Government has committed to undertake a review to ensure that we can maximise the economic and social benefits of that particular scheme. It is true to say that it has been a lifeline to our businesses and supported many communities, but we want to make sure that we can do even more with the reliefs and financial support that we provide to our business community. That multi-disciplinary goal setting is in place for stroke patients as soon as possible as part of their rehabilitation. We expect health boards to take forward the actions in priority 7, transition to the community in priority 8, supported self-management and living with stroke in our stroke improvement plan 24 team, which includes an action for goal setting to ensure that appropriate care is provided for those individuals in need. The Scottish stroke improvement team supports managed clinical networks to evaluate board performance, identify areas of concern and work with them to implement local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care across Scotland. That support includes visiting all boards at least once per year to review stroke care with board representatives to assess performance, to highlight achievements and good practice and to formulate an improvement plan for areas of concern where necessary. Alexander Stewart I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The 2017 Scottish stroke improvement programme report shows that multi-disciplinary goal setting has only been fully implemented in three health boards. Does the cabinet secretary agree that this is insufficient for stroke survivors and that they should not have to recover and deal with a post-cord lottery? We know that early assessment and the provision of rehabilitation within the first few days following an acute stroke by multi-disciplinary working does achieve the best outcome for the person. That is why, of course, in my initial answer, I referred to the assessment of boards' performance and, more importantly, the improvement plans that they are then expected to take forward. That is something that we will ensure continues to ensure that stroke services are improved across the whole of Scotland in every board area. Emma Harper Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what information is available to people who have experienced a stroke to ensure that they are aware of the services that they should receive in the community. The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS boards and the third sector to ensure that stroke patients and their families have access to the right care and support. The Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland interactive self-management website, Self Help for Stroke, funded by the Scottish Government, can be used by anyone affected by stroke. Stroke services have or are in the process of implementing a person-centred approach, including goal-setting and providing a range of self-management approaches. Question 5, Jamie Halcro Johnston. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to reduce waiting times in NHS Grampian. The Scottish Government is working closely with the colleagues in NHS Grampian to support improvements around key performance targets. NHS Grampian has received more than £8 million this year to improve all parts of the patient pathway, outpatient consultation, diagnostic tests and inpatient and day case treatment. A number of initiatives are under way to support sustainable improvements, including additional theatre sessions being delivered across a range of specialties from January 2018. We have also allocated more than £1.3 million to NHS Grampian to support resilience across unscheduled care pathways over winter. Jamie Halcro Johnston. I wrote to the cabinet secretary some months ago about the case of my constituent who has been waiting almost a year for cardiac surgery. The cabinet secretary to her credit agreed that that was unacceptable. However, we now know that recent figures show that only 33 per cent of patients for child and adolescent mental health services were being seen within the 18-week target. By far the worst record in Scotland and far below the national figure of 73 per cent. Will the cabinet secretary agree that that, too, is unacceptable and make clear in what timeframe she expects waiting times in Grampian to reach national waiting times targets? Of course, as I laid out, the NHS Grampian has been supported to make improvements in waiting times across all specialties. As Maureen Watt responded to an earlier question, we have a huge programme of work across CAMHS investment in CAMHS, more staffing and improvement plans for each board to take forward to improve their waiting times for CAMHS. We know that some boards have further to travel in making those improvements, but we will continue to work with NHS Grampian and others to make sure that that happens. Of course, investment is hugely important and we have made our commitment in order to fund the NHS. I can say that, if the Tory tax plans were followed in 2018-19, then Grampian would receive £49.5 million less than it will receive under our budget. Perhaps a member might want to support our budget to ensure that NHS Grampian gets the support that it requires and the resources that it requires. Gillian Martin, on the other hand, significantly increases the pressure on our accident and emergency departments. Can the cabinet secretary outline what additional steps have been taken to help winter planning and support people to transfer through the system over the winter months? The combination of flu-like illness, norovirus and orthopedic trauma has caused significant pressures on both A and E services and on the ambulance service in response to those increase in cases. However, we have invested £22.4 million this year, a record level in any year to support unscheduled care and winter resilience across health and social care services. However, this is a challenging time. Winter is always challenging, but particularly the last couple of weeks have been particularly challenging. I would just want to put on record my thanks to all the staff who are working so hard in those challenging circumstances. Liam McArthur Thank you very much. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the capacity issues in NHS Grampian are having an impact on patients in the islands. She will also be aware that NHS Orkney is looking at developing relationships with other health boards to address those long waiting times. Will the cabinet secretary ensure that NHS Orkney is able to redeploy the full amount of the resource that is currently paid to NHS Grampian to deliver the services? I am certainly happy to discuss that further with Liam McArthur. What is important is that patients in NHS Orkney get access to prompt treatment now. Traditionally, as Liam McArthur has said, that has been provided by NHS Grampian. However, of course, we have our national hospital in the Golden Jubilee, which provides a number of fantastic services for patients across the whole of Scotland. I am very happy to write to Liam McArthur with further details, but if he wants to have a meeting to discuss it further, I would be happy to sit down with him and discuss it. Mark Griffin To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set targets for income maximisation and help to reduce the overall amount of benefits that go unclaimed. Minister Jeane Freeman Income maximisation is a key element of the Child Poverty Scotland Act in terms of the delivery plan that we will publish in April 2018. Income targets are already at the heart of that, and income maximisation will be an important element of action taken. We already fund a range of welfare advice services from the fairer Scotland budget to support people to maximise income and support uptake of benefits. Over the course of this parliamentary term, we will continue to deliver a programme of activity to increase uptake of social security by encouraging people to exercise their rights and claim the benefits that they are entitled to. I am grateful to Citizens Advice Scotland and Young Scot for their engagement with us on that. As the member knows with Mr Rowley's support, we have discussed a joint approach on that with COSLA, and I look forward to progressing that further in the coming months. Mark Griffin I thank the minister for that answer. The minister has also agreed to a duty on the new social security agency, but the minister has said before that she wants to place the emphasis on that devolved Scottish system. Surely there should be an approach of no wrong door in Scotland, and it is in the interest of the Government and the agency to set a target to increase uptake of benefits across all areas, reserved, devolved and local. Minister As Mr Griffin well knows, I may make two points. First of all, you can only set a target on the uptake of benefits if you have a baseline to start from. As he well knows and members across his chamber know, unfortunately the UK Government's DWP does not collect that data, so we are a bit stuck in setting the baseline from which we might then move on to a target. Can I also make the point gently, given that this is our last day before the festive recess, that perhaps our colleagues in the Labour benches would be better to turn their attention to the UK Government's failure to mount a benefit uptake campaign than to simply presume that this Scottish Government will continue to pick up for the mess and the gaps that the UK Government's policies continue to cause our citizens across Scotland? That may be a more effective way to join with us and make sure that our Conservative colleagues here in Holyrood and those at Westminster understand the damage that they are causing and the responsibility that they have to make redress.