 Can I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus? The first item of business is portfolio questions and the first portfolio is health and social care. I remind members that questions 2 and 8 are grouped together and that I will take any supplementaries on these questions after both have been answered. If a member is to request the supplementary question, they should request, press their request to speak button or indicate so in the chatroom by entering the letter R during the relevant question. To get as many questions in as possible, I would obviously prefer to short the sync questions and answers to match. I call question number one, Brian Whittle. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on the commitments in its programme for government to tackle the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drinks. We are committed to taking bold population-wide approaches to reduce the significant harms of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drinks, which is why we will introduce a public health bill during the course of this session. We are in the process of developing an updated tobacco action plan to reduce smoking rates to 5 per cent or under by 2024. We are also driving forward our alcohol framework, which contains 20 actions to reduce alcohol-related harms and embeds the WHO's focus on tackling the affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol. Brian Whittle. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I think that a healthy diet from an early age is a major contributor to tackling inequality in the stubborn attainment gap, as I am sure the cabinet secretary would agree in. Given that there is such a disparity across the country in food provision within our schools, and with so much public procurement purse going towards importing inferior foods despite the high-quality food produced by non-farmers, does the cabinet secretary agree that it is time that the Scottish Government's public procurement policy ensures that produce available through the central excel contract, whatever possible, is of high-quality homegrown food to the betterment of our children's health and wellbeing? I agree with much of what Brian Whittle was saying and the importance of not just the availability of healthy food, but it is a relative price compared to unhealthy food. As well, I am more than happy to have these conversations with my colleagues and Government, particularly Ivan McKee, who I know leads on many of these matters. I am sure that when we introduce that public health bill, which is a programme for government commitment, we will engage widely with colleagues right across the chamber, and I am sure that Brian Whittle will want to be part of those conversations. However, I am happy to take away constructive suggestions that Brian Whittle makes. I thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Scottish Government has committed to half childhood obesity by 2030. Can the minister outline what steps the Government is taking to make community sport more inclusive, accessible and affordable for families who cannot afford the expensive costs of participating in sport to ensure that sport plays its rightful role in meeting the targets that the Government has set out? I thank Karen Mocken for again what is a really important intervention and contribution. In terms of some of the commitments that we made in the PFG to help to get us towards that target of having childhood obesity by 2030, we committed 650,000. That has been available to help health boards and local partners support services, which encourage and reinforce good nutrition, healthy eating habits, but also, importantly, physical activity for children under five and their families. It goes back to the point that was made by Brian Whittle earlier in terms of early intervention in that regard. We fund some of that funding and go towards physical activity for children under five. However, I will write to Ms Mocken with further detail of what we are doing to make sport as inclusive as possible, particularly for those who may find difficulty in participating because of the financial barriers. According to research conducted by the Alcohol Alliance UK in 2020, more than 70 per cent of alcohol labels do not include the low-risk drinking guidelines despite the industry reaching a voluntary agreement with the UK Government to do so. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government's own research has indicated that only 17 per cent of people in Scotland are aware of the chief medical officer's low-risk drinking guidelines. People deserve to know what they are consuming and a way of the harm. Will the cabinet secretary consider mandating nutrition and health information on alcohol labels to enable people to make informed choices? Yes, we are always happy to look at constructive suggestions that come from any part of the chamber. I should say that I also have good for nations discussions with the other health ministers on those issues. Of course, I have had recent discussions with Minister Ed Argar in relation to the health and care bill that he is introducing, but touches upon devolved competencies. We have not got an agreement on the LCM on that, but some of that does stray into the issues that Gillian Mackay raises. I am happy to look at any suggestions that are made, including the one that Ms Mackay makes. On alcohol, we have been a strong supporter of minimum unit pricing. The evidence is pretty clear that it has had a significant impact, but the value of the £0.50 rate has been eroded by inflation in recent years. When will the minister increase the minimum unit pricing beyond £0.50? He will know that we keep that under review. I do not think that the points that Willie Rennie is making are unreasonable at all. We will keep that under review. Forgive me, I do not have to hand when that next review is absolutely due, but we will keep that under regular review and I will write to Mr Rennie once we have undertaken that review and, of course, what the outcome of that review is. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to ensure that patients have access to dental treatment. I have recently written to the profession about our plans for the recovery of NHS Dental Services. That letter detailed a package of new improvements to support NHS dental teams in tackling the backlog of care, including enhanced examinations for all patients, both children and adults. That builds on recent funding announcements of £7.5 million for new dental drills and £5 million for ventilation improvement. Our commitment as a Government is to build back NHS dentistry and ensure that NHS dental teams are focused on tackling the significant backlog in patient care. That is our immediate focus. It is on recovery, followed by further reform once we have the sector-stabilised reform at this stage, which would be a disruption. The purpose of the successful measures that we have introduced has been to ensure that NHS dental services emerge well-placed to care for the oral health of the whole population and can be returned to increase patient-facing contacts as a wider public health position allows. BDA Scotland says that foreign 10 Scottish dentists could quit the NHS if Scottish Government Covid payments are withdrawn. The cabinet secretary further says that it could be remembered as the man who killed dentistry in Scotland. I am sure that they would be relieved that they were going to get a reply to their October 15 letter, but does he intend to sit down with them and discuss some of those serious concerns? BDA will be in a meeting that I am hosting later on this afternoon, actually, with a number of staff side representatives that I have engaged with the BDA before. I do not recognise the claims in relation to some of what the BDA has suggested. Of course, I am keen to learn more about their survey results, but we have invested in the dental sector quite significantly in the course of the pandemic. For example, we have provided £50 million of financial support payments in addition to in between £30 million and £35 million for free PPE. That is on top of the figures that I mentioned previously around the £7.5 million for new dental drills and the £5 million for ventilation improvements. We are funding the dental sector as best we possibly can. We are not going to withdraw the emergency support payments all of a sudden. We are looking to do that in April next year, so it allows time to move from the emergency payments that we have currently to a more sustainable model for funding. I am happy to engage with the BDA on this issue to discuss it further. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government what its responses to claims by the British Dental Association Scotland that, quote, plans to return NHS practices to pre-Covid models of work may devastate dental services. I have recently written to the profession about our plans for recovery. If that letter is not publicly available, I will put that letter into space so that members can look at it for themselves. Our commitment as a Government is, as I have said, to build back NHS dentistry to recover and then, of course, to also look at reform, but the wholesale reform of the dental sector at this stage would be severely disruptive. I will not rehearse and re-emphasise everything that I have said in terms of the investment that we have made, but it has been substantial, and that is an order to support the sector during this difficult time. Liam McArthur I plan to ask about the Government's commitment to maintaining support for practices in rural and island areas, yet David Macaul of BDA Scotland has warned of a potential mass exodus of NHS dental services across Scotland. Will the health secretary now withdraw his proposals and think again? Given how badly those negotiations have gone, does he still have confidence in his chief dental officer? Cabinet Secretary? Yes, of course. I have great respect and confidence in Tom Fenniss, our chief dental officer. What I would say to Liam McArthur is that I do not recognise some of the claims being made by the British Dental Association. I am keen to try to test those with them further, but clearly they have done a survey. I am very clear my response to Russell Finlay and to Liam McArthur that I want to sit down with the BDA. My door will be open to them for further negotiation. I will just re-emphasise the point. The emergency payments were not dropping them off the edge of a cliff next week, next month or even this year. We are talking about potentially moving to a position of withdrawing those emergency payments at 1 April next year. We are, I would hope, certainly—we can never be sure about those things—but hopefully we will be out of the grips of the emergency phase of the pandemic. However, given that the BDA have said what they have said, given the questions that have been asked by both Russell Finlay and Liam McArthur, I can confirm that I will continue my engagement with the BDA to get to a position where we can all agree to the future recovery of the dental sector. Many of my Argyll and Bute constituents who live on islands have to travel to the mainland for dental treatment, which can be expensive, while those islands that have dental practices can struggle to get necessary staff. Could the cabinet secretary provide an update on the work that the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that patients in island communities have access to affordable dental treatment? I can thank Jenny Minto for a question, which if I have to declare an interest necessarily because I have two cousins that own a dental practice in one of the islands in Jenny Minto's constituency. I hear from Jenny Minto very regularly, as she can imagine, on all matters related to islands and dentistry. However, I can confirm that the Scottish Government is looking closely at the issue of access to NHS dental services in remote and rural areas. We have done over the course of our time in Government. The Scottish Dental Access Initiative grants are available in those areas of Scotland where there are access challenges. Those grants provide practices with capital funding to support new practice builds or, indeed, the extension of existing premises subject to NHS care. Currently, we are conducting a review of the areas within Scotland that qualify for that support. We also have in place a range of recruitment and retention incentives that pay up to £25,000 over a two-year period to newly qualify dentists who decide to practice in areas with access challenges. Payments are also made to dentists who return to the workforce after a break of five years or more. We are currently considering new areas to be included for those incentives. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of patients being given appointments for Covid-19 booster vaccine with six months of the second dose of the vaccine. We are unable to have their booster at the appointed time. Covid-19 booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the JCVI provided advice, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of the primary vaccine course. People in Scotland are currently being invited for their autumn-winter vaccinations and today, before the JCVI advice inviting those eligible for boosters in the same priority as the initial vaccination programme. Those who are eligible can receive their Covid-19 booster and flu vaccine at the same appointment. We are maximising co-administration where possible. Those who completed their primary course of the Covid-19 vaccine less than six months ago were only offered the flu vaccine and asked to make a follow-up appointment in some cases for their Covid-19 booster from a given date. Following updated advice to support operational flexibility, in some cases those attending for their flu vaccine can now be offered a booster from five months. The Covid-19 booster vaccine will help to extend the protection against severe Covid-19 disease gained from the first two doses, specifically against hospitalisation and death over this winter period. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but I have been contacted by dozens of constituents who are finding, navigating the system, confusing if not impossible. Let me give him the example of just one, my mother-in-law. She has been waiting weeks past the six-month point for her Covid booster. She has been calling the helpline every single day to no avail until today, and I checked with her. She received a letter today offering an appointment at 7am tomorrow morning. She can make that appointment, which is different to the situation for her flu jab. She was offering an appointment in Gorebridge, which is two buses away and a two-hour round journey for a woman who lives by herself and is over the age of 70. She is not alone. Mr Johnson, could we please come to a question, thank you. The situation is confusing, lacking info and a helpline that does not help. Does the cabinet secretary think that this is good enough, and if not, what is he going to do to fix it? A couple of points for me. First of all, we are administering a record number of flu and booster vaccines in our autumn-winter programme. I appreciate that, in some areas, that has not worked as well as it should. I do not know whether Mr Johnson was present in the Parliament in chamber for my statement yesterday in response to his colleague Jackie Baillie. I acknowledge the fact that, when you administer close to half a million flu and booster vaccines, there are cases where it does not work well. My offer to every single member is that, if there are particular issues that are not being resolved by the health board, I am more than happy for them to come to me. In terms of the case that he raises about his own mother-in-law, I am sorry to hear about the difficulties that she had. I am pleased that she is able to make that appointment tomorrow, but I would not expect people to receive a letter for an appointment with less than 24 hours to go. However, I reiterate the point that I made yesterday—our booster programme, our flu, our autumn-winter vaccination programme—is going at some incredible place. There have been some glitches, particularly in areas of Lothian. If I can help any members to resolve those issues, I am more than happy for them to contact me directly. Before I call the next question, I remind members that I am looking for succinct questions. I remind the cabinet secretary that we are also looking for succinct answers. Question 4, Bill Kidd. To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken and will take to support the mental and physical health for ethnic minority women who are victims of domestic abuse. It is my turn, Presiding Officer. We continue to invest significant levels of funding in specialist front-line services. Our new delivering equally safe fund recently confirmed allocations to 13 projects, specifically supporting minority ethnic women who have experienced domestic abuse and gender-based violence. Following our mental health and transition recovery plan, we commissioned research from the improvement service to help us to better understand and address the mental health and wellbeing needs of women and girls who are experiencing gender-based violence. That has included engagement with minority ethnic groups, and a final report with recommendations will be published this winter. I thank the minister for that response. Annie Eso is an organisation working in my Annie's land constituency, which supports women in these difficult circumstances, and it has reported that the domestic abuse of women in ethnic minority communities often goes unreported in Scotland due to religious or cultural reasons. What measures are in place or can be put in place to ensure that these women are able to access the support that they have outlined? Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on victims. We continue to encourage all those who experience the crimes to report it and seek support. We remain committed to raising awareness of domestic abuse, and later this month we will launch a campaign to reach those who are most at risk and ensure that survivors are aware of the support that continues to be available. We support Scotland's domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline, which is there to support anyone with experience of domestic abuse. The helpline is available 24-7 and offers translation services for service users who prefer a language other than English. I launched at Sahalia here in Edinburgh the community's mental health and wellbeing fund, which seeks to promote the mental health and wellbeing of communities with a particular focus on at-risk groups locally. That includes ethnic minority women. The Government is also funding research exploring South Asian women's end-to-end experiences of criminal justice in the context of domestic abuse, including seeking support during and following domestic abuse. We expect that the report to be published in December 2022. 1 quarter of cases in the share of court are domestic abuse cases, but one of the main barriers to victims of domestic abuse taking the abuse of the court is the cost, as well as access to a lawyer who specialises in domestic abuse. Can I ask the minister if he has or if he will have discussions with the cabinet secretary for justice and the minister for justice on how he can improve access to legal aid, as well as ensuring that women can access a lawyer who specialises in domestic abuse? Presiding Officer, as Ms McNeill has rightly pointed out, that is more of a matter for my justice colleagues. I, of course, have conversations with them on a regular basis and will pick up with them the points that Ms McNeill has made. What I should say to the chamber is that I am sure that we are all extremely supportive of Scotland's equally safe strategy, and we want to make sure that women and girls who face domestic abuse have all the recourse that they possibly can. To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to NHS boards that are currently experiencing pressures ahead of the winter. I updated the Parliament on 5 October on how we are supporting the NHS and social care services to alleviate winter pressures, including providing £300 million to help to get people the care that they need as quickly as possible over the course of the winter period. Yesterday, I announced an additional winter funding of £10 million for health boards to reduce the time that people need to spend in hospitals so that others can be admitted more quickly. That funding will be targeted towards enhancing local teams through winter. For example, the deployment of expert physio and occupational therapy staff at A&E units to help to triage people best treated elsewhere. Patients and GPs are raising a high level of concerns around the roll-out of the Covid vaccine boosters and the take-up of flu vaccinations at a time when health boards are grappling with additional staff shortages and increasing resignations. In my own region, GPs in all this and Invergordon have now notified NHS Highland that they will be handing back their contract from early next year. Will the Scottish Government do to support GPs and health boards with those issues and to alleviate pressure on hospitals before they face the even greater pressure that will happen in the winter? There is a significant amount of investment that has gone into our health board areas but, in fact, increased funding into primary care to help with some of the pressures that they are facing. However, I cannot divorce the fact that I cannot divorce the pandemic from the current pressures that we are facing. The indirect and direct pressures of the pandemic are clearly being felt right across the NHS from primary care to acute settings right into social care as well. That is why the winter package seeks to address all those areas—the £300 million that I mentioned, including giving additional £28 million from memory to primary care. I speak to health boards, as you can imagine, on a regular basis. I speak to colleagues such as the BMA and others who represent doctors about the challenges that they are facing. The Government will leave no stone unturned and will look for help and assistance wherever we can possibly get it, including, as we have done with the armed forces, where we are helping with our vaccination programme. I am grateful to them for that. Yesterday, the cabinet secretary stated that, facing those challenges, health and care staff on the front line continue to give their all to keep us safe, and he wanted to take that opportunity to reiterate his appreciation and gratitude for their enduring efforts. That, along with the £10 million that he announced, will not and cannot help those staff today, tomorrow or over the coming weeks. Last-minute redeployment of nurses and allied health professionals between departments in hospitals or different hospitals in the same board is very common and has been for some time. Now that is to include physiotherapists and occupational therapists to A&E departments to help triage and treat patients who would otherwise have to see nursing staff. However, those specialist roles have very different levels of expertise. What support and training are the Scottish Government providing to upskill healthcare professionals who are redeployed to A&E departments from clinical services elsewhere to keep patients and staff as safe as possible? We will be aware that there are physios present in acute settings. They are very skilled at what they do, and their level of skill and training that they will bring to emergency departments will help to ensure that those who come into A&E departments with musculoskeletal conditions, for example, can be treated in a way that is best appropriate. However, of course, we will continue to work with health boards that are around the skilling that is required. I would say to Ms Weber that I am grateful for her question, because it gives me another opportunity to thank our health and social care staff for all that they do for us. That is why we have record numbers of staff in Scotland, but also the best-paid staff in any other country in the UK when it comes to NHS and social care staff. 6. What measures are in place to support people who have experienced long-term mental or physical harm as a result of NHS negligence or misdiagnosis? The Scottish Government expects NHS Scotland to provide high-quality healthcare that is safe, effective and person-centred. When unintended or unexpected harm occurs, the relevant healthcare provider will provide appropriate medical support and care that addresses the needs of the patient for as long as it is required. An individual can make a complaint against a healthcare provider and can consider seeking compensation where that is appropriate. Legal advice and assistance can be sought through the Law Society of Scotland, and legal aid is available to those who have passed the financial criteria. Compensation payments for clinical negligence take into account both physical and psychological harm that may be caused. My constituent has suffered psychological and physical abuse as a result of the historic treatment of children with type 1 diabetes at the Cruichan home in Ballernol. Can I ask that the cabinet secretary urges the health board to meet my constituents so that they can get the redress and closure that they so desperately deserve? I do not know the details of the case that Jim Fairlie mentioned, but I would expect health boards to be engaging. If that is not happening, then of course I am happy offline to get the details from Jim Fairlie and do what I can to encourage that engagement. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to ensure that Covid-19 vaccine trial volunteers have the same access to public events and travel as other people. All clinical trial participants who are part of a currently non-approved vaccine or are on a blinded study were sent a paper record of vaccination certificate in September to use in place of the app. The certificates are fully equivalent to the digital version and can be used for access to domestic venues and will also permit smoother and bound entry to the UK. At the moment, the app does not cover clinical trials, we are working to include participant data for use in the app. On 2 September, the First Minister stated that nobody participating in vaccine trials and I quote, will be disadvantaged in any way. This position has been repeated at least five times. However, Dr Roy Sosa, the leader of the NOVAX trial, tells me that there is no question that the trialist for this vaccine has been disadvantaged. Will the cabinet secretary give me an assurance that when the MHRA approves NOVAX vaccine, likely within weeks, that people participating in this trial will have their vaccine status recognised on the Scottish vaccine passport within a month? Of course, when or if that vaccine is approved by the MHRA, of course we will work as quickly as we possibly can to make sure that our app is able to register that vaccine. I know that my officials are working hard on that in the case that any of the non-approved vaccines are approved by the MHRA, so, of course, we will do that as quickly as we possibly can. We will now move to portfolio questions on social justice, housing and local government. I remind members that questions 2 and 6 are grouped together and that I will take any supplementaries on those questions after both have been answered. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request to speak button or indicate so in the chat function by entering the letter R during the relevant question. To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it takes local government decision making into account when considering proposals previously rejected by a local authority. Officials unsuccessfully tried to obtain clarification from Mr Greene's office on what proposals he is referring to in that question. In the absence of that clarification, I have assumed that Mr Greene is referring to planning decision making, which is the responsibility of the planning minister, Mr Arthur. The Government is committed to seeing the right developments in the right places, and as Mr Greene knows, the right to appeal certain decisions by planning authorities is an important part of the planning system, and independent reporters make the final decision on the vast majority of appeals. Independent planning reporters take full account of the planning authority's position alongside that of other parties involved, including members of the local community. I thank the minister for that response. He may be aware, and if he is not, let me explain that North Ayrshire Council unanimously cross-party rejected a local wind farm proposal recently. That decision has been referred to ministers. I suspect that no comment will be offered on that specific case, but, given that, last year, half of all local government decisions called in by ministers were overturned, what confidence should the people of North Ayrshire have that local decision making and views are ever truly respected by this Government, whichever minister chooses to answer it? Of course, we, as a Parliament, passed a bill on this matter in 2019, but I need to make very clear to Mr Greene and the chamber as a whole that ministers cannot comment on live planning issues under the ministerial code, and that is right and proper. I appreciate that Mr Greene has raised a specific issue, but I encourage him to contact the minister for planning, and we will certainly make Mr Arthur aware of the issues that have been raised today. I am sure that, if Mr Arthur were here, he would wish to state to Mr Greene that, in the last financial year, reporters issued 135 planning appeal decisions, granting planning permission to almost 50 per cent of occasions. In the same period, local planning authorities in Scotland decided approximately 25,000 planning applications, granting planning permission in 94.5 per cent of cases. The Tories both rejected third-party right of appeal and supported the right of appeal for developers when this Parliament passed the 2019 Planning Scotland Act. Although I believe that the Rick Hill Windhouse Farm development in my constituency, which is what this is about, should not be approved, does the minister agree that independent reporters should be able to look afresh at this proposal, and that the Scottish ministers should be accused of interference by Tory MSPs about rich, given that Westminster bosses continued meddling in devolved matters? I reiterate, Deputy Prime Minister, that ministers cannot comment on live planning issues. However, I note the points that Mr Gibson has made about the process of the Planning Scotland Act 2019, that the considerations around equal right of appeal and the right of appeal for developers were considered as part of that process. The Conservatives rejected the equal right of appeal voting alongside the Government and voted for the maintenance of a developer right of appeal. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to encourage more affordable homes to be built in remote and rural areas. We recognise that good-quality affordable housing is essential to help attract and retain people in Scotland's remote and rural communities. We have committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 70 per cent will be available for social rent, and 10 per cent will be in our remote, rural and island communities. We will develop a remote, rural and island action plan to deliver that, plus investing £3.44 billion in this parliamentary term towards the delivery of more affordable homes across Scotland, with £30 million of that investment to support the continuation of rural and island housing fund. South of Scotland community housing was funded after a study by Shelter identified a shortfall in rural housing supply in Dumfries and Galloway, providing technical and professional support to 35 communities and landowners. It helps to deliver affordable homes that specifically address local needs. Community Land Scotland and Scottish Land Commission have praised their remarkable work and we would like to see them upgrade their operations, but the charity now finds itself in precarious position after the Scottish Government stopped its revenue funding in March 2020. Given its proven track record towards rural housing delivery, I am sure that the minister agrees that this is a ludicrous situation that finds its core funding has been halted. What assurances can the minister give that its immediate future will not be in doubt? What I want to do is to write to the member on the specifics of the South of Scotland organisation. I would say that we want to work with third sector partners, RSLs and social enterprises, housing co-operatives, to help us to deliver what is a very ambitious programme across Scotland, including in remote and rural Scotland. I am happy to write to the member on the specifics of the organisation that he referred to. I draw members' attention to my register of interests as owner of a rental property in North Lanarkshire Council. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to report from Falkirk Council that states that the average cost of building a new affordable home is set to rise to £240,000 from £144,823 in 2014. Current pressures on materials and supplies are contributing to rising construction costs. We are working closely with industry through the construction leadership forum to address the factors behind that. We have also set up a short-life working group and working at pace with industry on what solutions Scotland can offer to those global challenges. We operate a flexible grant programme. Local authorities and registered social landlords should apply for the grant funding that they need to deliver affordable housing projects taking into account their planned level of borrowing and being satisfied that tenants' rents remain affordable. Even with the housing infrastructure fund now only available to RSLs and local authorities for affordable housing, the proposed urban social rent benchmarks are set at £78,000 and £71,500. That will leave them considerably short. Homes for Scotland advise new homes on brownfield land are often commissionally unviable for any housing tenure due to infrastructure constraints. Will the cabinet secretary say if the support for regenerating brownfield sites for developments of all tenure goes far enough or if the Government has any plans to give further support? I recognise those issues and we are keeping them under review in terms of the benchmarks. I am sure that the member will be aware of the work that has been going on with local government and the housing association movement as well. In terms of the new set of benchmarks, they will be adjusted to account for inflation on an annual basis. As I said earlier, we need to keep those matters under review. The cost pressures, we do not know how short-term or long-term they will be. As I said in my initial answer, we are working through them and with the housing sector in order to make sure that we keep the momentum of the affordable housing supply programme going at pace. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Highlands and Islands face distinct challenges when it comes to housing. Will the cabinet secretary elaborate on the ways in which the Scottish Government is showing flexibility in its support for a sustainable and affordable housing strategy in Scotland's Highlands and Islands? The Scottish Government housing staff work closely with local authorities and other stakeholders to respond to specific local challenges and to local identified housing priorities. The affordable housing supply programme has flexibility to award grants at levels that recognise the development challenges that face rural and island communities. Support is available, as I said in an earlier answer, through the rural and island housing funds backed up by £30 million of investment over this Parliament. Together, the funds have supported the delivery of 6,000 affordable homes across rural and island Scotland over the last Parliament. We remain committed to the housing action plan. I had a fantastic visit to Fort Augustus, where I saw 12 fantastic affordable homes being delivered for local people. Thank you. Notwithstanding what the cabinet secretary said, figures last month revealed that 900 people in Orkneyad, of a population of less than 22,000, are on the housing waiting list facing average weights of over two years. With Covid prompting inward migration and rapidly increasing costs, alongside the proposed removal of local connection from homelessness legislation, does the cabinet secretary really believe that the Government is doing enough to assist island authorities like Orkney Islands Council to ensure that there is sufficient affordable housing to meet the rising demand? I have laid out the scope of what we are doing today on the enormous occasions of the 100,000 homes that are already delivered and the ambition for 110,000 affordable homes going forward. We need to make sure that those are equitably spread, and that is why we are bringing forward a specific plan for rural and island Scotland. That will give an opportunity for members, like Liam McArthur and local community organisations, housing providers in Orkney and elsewhere, to input into that plan in order to address the specific needs of that local area. However, I think that the scale of our ambition would be quite hard to dispute. As others have said, the issues in the Highlands and Islands are particularly bad with people moving up to the area because of Covid and buying by-to-let. Can I ask if she has given any thought to the Hebride and Housing Partnerships initiative to sell houses to local people who will live and work in the area only? I know that there have been quite a number of innovative ways of retaining housing stock in local areas such as Bonds, for example, where, if a local person family purchased a property that remains in the local community going forward, those things are not easy and there is not one single solution. Obviously, we are addressing issues regarding short-term lets and secondary letting. Councils already have the powers to introduce control areas, so all those areas and powers that local authorities have need to be used according to the needs of a local area. However, if the member wants to write to me with more detail of the issue that she raised, I would be happy to give her a more detailed response. To ask the Scottish Government how its housing strategy ensures that all new affordable housing is built to be as energy efficient as possible. All new homes delivered through the affordable housing supply programme meet Scottish building regulations that set high levels of energy efficiency. We are currently consulting on improvements to those energy standards for introduction next year and we are strongly focused on reducing overall energy demand in new homes. We will also aim for all new homes delivered by registered social landlords and local authorities to be zero-emissions homes by 2026, which, among other things, will mean greater use of off-site construction in the social mounted sector to deliver high-quality and energy efficient homes. Given the on-going rise in energy costs and the impact that will have on many of our most vulnerable people, it is vital that we do what we can to limit the amount of energies that houses require. I would like to add a little more detail on how we ensure that social landlords in particular focus on energy efficiency from the start of the process for all new builds. Of course, the Scottish Government recognises the impact of fuel costs on tenants and the need for new homes to be designed to be as energy efficient as possible. For social landlords, the affordable housing supply programme supports the delivery of high-quality energy efficient homes and provides additional funding where homes are built to higher levels of energy efficiency than set out in the current building regulations. That makes homes even more affordable to heat. As I said in my first answer, we are reviewing the energy standards through the building regs to deliver further improvements in the energy efficiency and emissions reduction for all new homes. Following the recent review of investment benchmarks, additional funding is also available to social landlords through the affordable housing supply programme to install zero emissions at point of use heating systems. Does the minister acknowledge that there will be unintended consequences for households living in fuel poverty in off-grid, mainly remote and rural communities as a result of the decision to halt all installations of energy-efficient oil and LPG heating systems? Many properties in rural and remote Scotland, 20 per cent in fact, are by the Scottish Government's own research identified as not being technically suitable for renewable technologies such as air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps. What impact assessment was undertaken before he made the announcement? No one who had already been given the offer of an LPG or equivalent system has had that offer withdrawn. In fact, all those who were in the pipeline had had commitments made, and those commitments were honoured. Right now, especially while COC is meeting in Glasgow, all of us should be conscious. Simply continuing with some of the most polluting heating systems available to us is really not an option if we want to support householders in all parts of the country to reduce their emissions. We are continuing to provide a wide range of interventions for those who might previously have been offered LPG systems and will be committed to continuing to review and improve the offer that is available. To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to introduce a system of nationwide rent controls. Minister Patrick Harvie. The Scottish Government has committed to delivering a new deal for tenants and to consult on the options and deliver legislation to implement effective national system of rent controls with appropriate mechanisms to allow local authorities to introduce local measures by the end of 2025. We will be setting out proposals for taking this work forward in our forthcoming rented sector strategy, which we aim to publish for full public consultation by the end of this calendar year. Pauline McNeill. I introduced my fair rents bill in the last Parliament that had widespread support, including from the minister, Patrick Harvie, himself. One of the key aspects to the bill was that private rents should not be able to be raised more than CPI plus one. I was pleased that David Alexander from the firm, DG Alexander, suggested in a press release recently that a system where annual rent rises for sitting tenants were capped in inflation plus one or two per cent could be workable. I ask the minister whether we have to wait until 2025 to see some action at least to protect tenants who are seen exorbitant rents across Scotland. I do wholeheartedly welcome the proposals, but does the minister agree that we need to do something before 2025, otherwise tenants will basically be priced out of their homes? We have a very full programme of work well before 2025. I commend Pauline McNeill for her work on this issue in the last session. I hope that she will work constructively with the Scottish Government to take forward our full new deal for tenants under the rented sector strategy. Some of that work under the rented sector strategy will be implemented earlier. Some of it, including the models of rent control, need proper work to examine the range of options that exist, including those that were put forward in Pauline McNeill's bill. However, there are other options as well—other models that we need to examine to get the system right. We have already gone through a process in Scotland of designing and adopting a system of rent controls that did not work. Rent pressure zones have never been used, never been affected, never changed anyone's rent. Let's make sure that we spend the time and consult openly to get the model right. I hope that we will be able to work constructively with colleagues across the board. It seems to be a technical problem, so I think that we hopefully got the gist of the minister's response. Can the minister hear us? Yes, I can hear you fine. Can you hear me? I can hear you now. I think that you froze for a moment, but we will move on to a supplementary from Alexander Stewart. The effects of rent control policies elsewhere when they were introduced around the world is a very mixed picture. In Sweden, they have led to reportedly a second-hand market of sub-let properties. Here in Scotland, several industry experts have warned that rent controls are not the answers to Scotland's housing crisis. Can the minister therefore ask what analysis has been carried out as to the potential benefits as well as the potential pitfalls of the proposed rent control system? I thank the member for that question. I hope that he will acknowledge that some of the work that we intend to do in developing models and consulting on proposals is intended to do exactly what he is asking for, looking at all the range of potential benefits and some unintended consequences, how to avoid those. I think that there are those in the private rented sector who wouldn't have the instinctive recoil against the principle of rent controls that some might think. I also hope that the member will acknowledge that simply continuing with a situation where some people in some parts of the private rented sector are being price-gouged is not acceptable. We need to deal with the unacceptable levels of rent increases that some people have been living with. I welcome the minister's assurance that reforming the private rented sector remains high on the agenda. Could the minister provide any more detail on the Scottish Government's work on constructing a new deal for tenants? As I have said, our forthcoming rented sector strategy will be setting out our ambitious proposals to deliver a new deal for tenants. That will be a commitment in the Scottish Government and Scottish Greens co-operation agreement in August this year. It will include plans for a new housing regulator for the private rented sector, introducing enhanced and new rights for tenants, for example giving people the ability to decorate their homes, to keep pets, and some things that speak to the dignity of people living in their homes, as well as restrictions on winter evictions and a range of other measures. I look forward to being able to publish this. I hope to have constructive engagements with members across the chamber on the detail. Question 5, Miles Briggs. To the Scottish Government, what support it plans to provide to first-time buyers? First-time buyers can access a variety of support, including the help to buy smaller developer schemes and the low-cost initiative for first-time buyers lift. In addition, the first-time buyer relief for land and buildings transaction tax means that an estimated 8 out of 10 first-time buyers continue to pay no tax at all. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer, but the fact is that the help to buy scheme has been now shut off to first-time buyers in Scotland, unlike in England. That has resulted in the fact now that young Scots are increasingly being denied the dream of getting onto the property ladder. House builders are saying that first-time buyers are now not presenting across Scotland. What support do ministers plan to provide to first-time buyers going forward in the budget? Will the cabinet secretary also look to restore the help to buy scheme in full? First of all, some context to the fact that there was a 66.5% cut to the Scottish Government financial transactions budget in 2021-22 arising from the UK Government's spending review and that then meant difficult choices had to be made. We chose to target the limited support available to low-income buyers who are the most marginal by maintaining the lift scheme. It should note that the UK Government does not run an equivalent scheme for low-income purchasers. Being more targeted in that support for first-time buyers is important, given that the evaluation showed that 72 per cent of first-home fund buyers and 80 per cent of help to buy buyers would have been able to purchase a property that met their needs without Scottish Government financial assistance. That is the independent evaluation of that. If Miles Briggs and the Conservatives are saying that they want to shift money away from helping those on lower to moderate incomes to purchase a property to those who have more resources at their disposal, then he should bring forward proposals in the budget and tell us where that money is going to come from in order to support those who, as I have just demonstrated with those figures, would be able to purchase a house without Scottish Government assistance. To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that welfare entitlements and other benefits, such as council tax exemptions, are taken up by care experience young people. We are committed to maximising the take-up of Scottish benefits among all those who are eligible and our approach to that is set out in our latest benefit take-up strategy. We are aware of the additional challenges care experience young people often face in accessing entitlements and Social Security Scotland is engaging with a range of corporate parents to raise awareness of devolved benefits among this group in line with their corporate parenting action plan. Local authorities have a duty to promote the entitlements that they administer, including council tax reduction, and have a statutory responsibility under the Children and Young People Scotland Act 2014 to provide continuing care to eligible care leavers. I have heard from care experience young people that there are issues around claiming for council tax exemptions for those who leave care between the ages of 16 and 18, even if they leave care during this period and then return. Can the minister advise, if apologies, whether the Scottish Government will seek to address the disparity? In the interest of time, I think that Gillian Mackay raises an important point, and I would be keen to take that up with her in correspondence after today's session. Before moving on to the next item of business, I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face covering should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the hybrid campus.