 We have General Questions. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on securing decommissioning jobs for Dundee. The Government's—regarding its £10 million investment in the Port of Dundee that's equipped in the surrounding area in a strong position to maximise the economic and employment benefits that decommissioning… …and indeed the offshore win can deliver for Scotland— …the oil and gas strategy, which was published on the 8th, set out of how Scotland can play a leading role of a global decommissioning market, while at the same time recognising that all efforts must be taken to avoid premature cessation of production in the North Sea. With the latest industry estimates suggesting that around £50 billion will be spent on decommissioning in the North Sea over the next four decades, we must ensure that the decommissioning process is managed effectively and that the Scottish supply chain can capitalise on the value of these projects. The cabinet secretary will have also noted the comments from Charles Hammond, the chief executive, saying that public investment is also needed. To that end, the city deal for Dundee, the first minister said to me in response last week that the city deal is under discussion. Can he give me an update on how his discussions are progressing with the UK Government on a city deal for Dundee? The first part of the answer to that is that when the city deal develops, we will take forward the discussions with the UK Government as we do on all of those questions. As we did on Glasgow and Aberdeen, we will continue those discussions as the detail emerges. A city deal that emerges will be part of a long-standing series of support that the Scottish Government has given to the city of Dundee through the substantial investment in the V&A, the long-term commitment to the development of the waterfront. Indeed, I was delighted to see the progress update just the other day in media reports of the success of the waterfront developments and the opening up of much of the much-transformed infrastructure of the city to the wider public. The Government will maintain strong support to the city of Dundee as it always has done. 2. Alasdor MacKinnis, the question has been withdrawn for understandable reasons. 3. Claudia Beamish, to ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing from its international development fund to assist with medical and humanitarian aid in Syria. In October 2015, the Scottish Government provided £300,000 to support humanity and assistance to refugees arriving in mainland Europe. The majority of our support went to British Red Cross and Mercy Corps. A contribution was also given to two smaller Scottish-based charities, Edinburgh Direct Aid and Glasgow the Caring City. In January this year, we donated a further £70,000 to support British Red Cross's medical response in Lesbos. In previous years, the Scottish Government has donated £200,000 in 2013 to the Disasters Emergency Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to those who most in need both within Syria and in refugee camps in the neighbouring area. I thank the minister for that answer and really wanted an update that is valued. However, I wondered the degree to which it is possible for the Scottish Government to identify or whether the Scottish Government has identified Scottish charities that are able to work in Syria or in the wider Middle East in relation to those people who are civilians who are afflicted within Syria now, and what relations and discussions have gone on with the UK Government in relation to how the Scottish Government and the UK Government can work together about this? I really thank the member for bringing the issue to the chamber, because often it can be forgotten everything else that is going on. We are in the 50-year of that conflict, 4.6 million sitting in refugee, more than 10 million internally displaced as well, so I thank the member for bringing it up. I should give credit where credit is due also to the UK Government, the response in terms of financial contributions and aid to that region is among the second best in the world. In terms of identifying Scottish-based charities, there are a number that do come to us with proposals. Recently, I am always very open minded where we have potential funding to give to help in that area and that region, because it is a disastrous situation, a humanitarian situation or a crisis that we are more than willing to help. Proposals do come away, so I can promise the member that they will be viewed very sympathetically and with an open mind. To ask the Scottish Government how many responses it received to its consultation on the comprehensive review of the planning system that closed on 1 December. The independent planning review panel received 392 responses to their call for written evidence. All of the responses are available to view online. One of the contributors to the consultation is the Edinburgh Southwest Communities Forum, which represents seven community councils in my constituency. They have submitted a detailed 12-page submission that has a number of innovative ideas from low-cost rate of appeal to statutory compensation to communities from developers. Given the level of interest in the issue, are there any other ways that individuals and communities can engage in the independent review before it reports later this year? The Scottish Government is hosting an online discussion forum on behalf of the independent panel. That will run until 29 February, and comments are welcome from any interested parties. That will be used to inform the review panel's thinking in addition to the formal written and oral evidence. In addition, I understand that the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils is giving oral evidence to the independent panel today. I am aware that, literally, hundreds of my constituents are appalled at the decision of one Scottish Government reporter against the unanimous view of the council's planning committee to allow the demolition of a much-loved restaurant at Cannon Mills in order for it to be replaced by an unattractive building that blocks a beautiful vista down the water of Leith. Will the cabinet secretary do everything possible to reverse that decision? More generally, does he not think that it is time to abolish the developer's right of appeal in circumstances where a council planning committee has been unanimous? On the latter point, that is a matter for a review by the independent review panel. It is those kinds of issues that they are reviewing, and I hope that the member will have submitted either written or oral evidence to that effect if that is what he would like to see happening. As far as the reporter's decision is concerned, it is not possible for me to reverse that decision. To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet Orkney Islands councils and what issues will be discussed. On Monday, I, along with my ministerial colleague Derek Mackay, met the leader and chief executive of Orkney Islands council as part of the latest island areas ministerial working group meeting. The minister for transport and islands also met representatives of the council on Tuesday to discuss ferry's issues. I thank the minister very much for that answer. Yesterday, the finance secretary delighted in telling the chamber that every council in Scotland had accepted his plan to remove £500 million from their budget. Does the minister accept that this was only achieved by strong-arming councils with threats of penalties and sanctions tactics that one senior independent councillor in Orkney described as quote, reprehensible bully boy tactics? Does he agree with the leader of Orkney Islands council Stephen Heddle that quote, local government is a separate tier of democracy and should be afforded the respect to carry forward their own decision making, rather than being threatened with a fine of £1.7 million? I would certainly take the view that it is far better when asking local government to take forward key priorities such as living wage for every social care worker, protecting the council tax freeze, maintaining the pupil-teacher ratio that we put money on the table to fund that as we have. When we take into account the £250 million, the overall reduction in funding overall for local government is less than 1 per cent of total estimated expenditure. In light of the cuts that have been happening to the Scottish Government's budget since 2010, in part from a coalition government that he supported, I think that that has been a very good deal for local government. It is challenging but it is fair. In respect of the freezing of the council tax, I note that, during the time before the freeze, the council tax in the Orkney Islands increased by 116 per cent, compared with 62 per cent for the Scottish average. Therefore, I think that the people of Orkney will probably be welcoming Scottish Government action as well. Thank you. What actions has the Scottish Government taken to capitalise on Orkney's successful use of renewable energy and what steps have been taken to decarbonise the base load for Orkney? The subject of the interconnector in particular for Orkney to the rest of Scotland to be able to export the renewable energy has been the subject of some debate in the islands areas ministerial working group. There are discussions about that vis-à-vis the islands deal. I have also just this week had meetings about building standards with developers in Orkney to discuss how we may be able to respond to calls for a different approach on building standards in Orkney on the basis of the large amount of renewable energy that is being generated, but we are very supportive of the amazing work that has been done in Orkney. It is very much a leader in the field of renewable energy and something that the whole of Scotland should be proud of. To ask the Scottish Government how many Da Vinci surgical systems for the treatment of prostate cancer there are in Scotland. There is currently one robot to provide robot assisted surgery for prostate cancer located in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow is finalising a robot assisted prostate ectomy service, which is expected to be in place by April 2016. A £1 million capital contribution from the Scottish Government has been committed for each robot. NHS Lothian has also been offered £1 million capital to support the introduction of a robot assisted surgery service in the south-east of Scotland within the next two years. Presiding Officer, a constituent from Wesson All recently underwent surgery in Aberdeen where the Da Vinci robotic keyhole procedure was used. Three days after surgery for prostate cancer he walked two miles and he was off painkillers after four days. Clearly this is a transformable effect for patients. What plans does the cabinet secretary have to increase the numbers of Da Vinci systems across Scotland to match the coverage in England and Wales? First of all, I am pleased to hear about the patients experience that David Stewart highlighted. Boards are aware of the need to move away from providing open radical prostate ectomy and working towards making minimally invasive radical prostate ectomy the norm. The west of Scotland boards are developing their plans to introduce a robot around the summer of this year. As I said in my initial answer, NHS Lothian has also been offered £1 million capital to support the introduction of a robot assisted surgery service in the south-east of Scotland within the next two years. Progress is being made and I am very happy to keep David Stewart updated on that progress. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the economic impact in Scotland of the recent flotation of the Clyde'sdale bank. Clyde'sdale bank has an established presence in Scotland as a bank servicing personal and business customers and as a substantial employer. We would expect the Clyde'sdale bank to continue to have a similar presence in Scotland following the recent flotation of shares on the stock market. I thank the cabinet secretary for the reply and I wonder if he agrees with me that it is important to have independent Scottish companies headquartered in Scotland as this has a positive impact on the quality of jobs in the wider economy. I agree with John Mason in that respect. Where we have headquarters functions located within Scotland, it is clear that they knock on effects in terms of the quality of employment in supporting organisations, in the professional services and in the wider community to create strong opportunities for other organisations within the Scottish market. Obviously, it has been particularly significant that Clyde'sdale bank has been one of those companies with that strong presence in principally the city of Glasgow but also the city of Edinburgh. We look forward to working with Clyde'sdale bank as we always have to support the company in ensuring that it makes a strong economic contribution to Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the renewable sector. The Scottish Government provides a wide range of support for the renewable sector. That includes support for renewables projects and related technology development, a planning system that supports the transition to a low-carbon economy and strong partnerships with industry, academia and the Scottish agencies, such as through the Renewables Industry Advisory Group. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the Beatrice offshore wind farm and how a tendering process is progressing? The cabinet secretary will be aware that BiFab, based at the Fife Renewables Centre within my constituency, is linking to win a share of our contracts, which is vital to future employment within my constituency. The Beatrice offshore wind farm project is a partnership form between SSE renewables, Copenhagen infrastructure partners and Repsol. The project was consented by Marine Scotland in March 2014 and granted an investment contract by the United Kingdom Government in May 2014. Mr Ewing and officials from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, have been working closely with all Scottish offshore wind farm developers to ensure that the Scottish supply chain is used, and that has been the case in relation to the Beatrice project. There has been further dialogue with the company, Scottish and Southern Energy, about the use of the supply chain within Scotland, and they have assured the Scottish Government that they are committed to providing opportunities for Scottish businesses to tender for such activity. It is, of course, essential that the contracts and the tenders that are returned are competitive to be taken forward. Any contracts awarded from Beatrice would depend on a positive final investment decision that has yet to be taken on. How many of the 750 renewables jobs that the SNP promised to Dundee have been delivered? The issue that we have faced with the renewables industry and the development of the offshore sector has been that the framework in which companies have been developing their propositions has taken longer to materialise, and changes in the United Kingdom Government arrangements for those things have made that more challenging. In addition to the fact, it is clear to anyone that is looking dispassionately at the issue that investment by renewables companies has been more challenging to secure and more challenging for those companies to commit to because of the changing environment. I can assure Jenny Marra that she has questioned the Government on the issue before. The whole issue of pursuing jobs in the renewables industry for the city of Dundee has been an absolute priority for the Scottish Government, and it will remain an absolute priority as does other investment for Dundee, which, as I said in my earlier answer, has been formidable from the Government within the city of Dundee, and I expect further investment to be delivered for the city of Dundee into the bargain. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle childhood obesity. The Government is committed to tackling Scotland's issue with obesity through our strategy of preventing overweight and obesity in Scotland, a route map towards healthy weight. We recognise that there is no simple solution under pursuing actions across a broad front. One that makes it easier for children to be more active, for example, is where we have increased children doing two hours or two periods of PE from less than 10 per cent in 2004-05 to 98 per cent in 2015, and to what they eat with our provision of free school meals. I welcome the reply from the minister, but it is disappointing that Fife and Tayside in particular still have a very high number, a stubbornly high number of children who are at risk of obesity while their class is overweight. The Scottish Government Food Commission has expressed support for a specific children's food policy that takes a much more strategic approach towards children's diets. Does the minister agree that this approach is necessary if we are to achieve long-term cultural change? I agree that we need to fund the child healthy weight intervention programme. We will continue to fund that programme through the outcomes framework, which will provide greater local flexibility on decisions on how to maximise the value from that resource against clearly defined outcomes, and with a focus on delivering strategic priorities such as reducing health inequalities. Given that breastfed children are much less likely to present as a base, can the minister give an update on the Government's strategy to support and promote breastfeeding? I continue to take a keen interest in that. In fact, I am visiting another breastfeeding initiative in the west of Scotland in the next few weeks. We are clearly making progress, but it is very slow progress on persuading more women to start breastfeeding. Thank you. Before we move to the next site of business, members will wish to join me in the welcome to the gallery Mr Atan Nae, the UK Shady Affair for Israel. We now move to First Minister's questions.