 The next item of business is topical questions in order to get in as many members as possible. Short and succinct questions and responses would be appreciated. At question number one, I call Jackie Baillie. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to avoid industrial action by junior doctors in light of the decision in favour of action by almost 97 per cent of BMA Scotland members who voted. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. I have begun direct negotiations with BMA Scotland junior doctors committee, which commenced on the 20th of April. Talks are progressing and we are scheduled to meet again on the 11th of May. I agreed with all parties that negotiations are held in confidence and as such I cannot provide any further details at the moment. I will, however, continue to do all I can to avoid industrial action in the NHS, which will be in no one's interest, but I have been clear that the BMA's ask for a 35 per cent pay uplift is simply unaffordable. I will, of course, update Parliament when negotiations have concluded. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. The outcome of the ballot was overwhelming, indicating the strength of feeling from our hard-working junior doctors. Pay has been eroded by a staggering 23.5 per cent in real terms since 2008 for newly qualified doctors. A recent BMA survey showed that 44 per cent of junior doctors are actively thinking about leaving the profession and going to New Zealand or indeed Australia. There are even junior doctors relying on universal credit to cover childcare and energy bills. Will the cabinet secretary therefore commit to tabling a credible pay offer in the wake of the clear mandate for strike action? I recognise the strength of feeling among junior doctors. The outcome of their ballot, published on Friday last week, demonstrates the scale of the concern that they have. I have got into this negotiation process in a very open and genuine way with the junior doctors to seek to address what are both short, medium and long-term issues that I believe need to be addressed. I want NHS Scotland to be a place of choice for junior doctors in working through their career, and I am determined to do everything that I can to try and achieve that. I will not be drawn into giving details around the pay negotiations, not in a sense that I am being disrespectful to Parliament, but I went into the process of assuring that I would act in a confidential basis while those negotiations were still taking place, and I intend to keep that commitment that I gave to the junior doctors committee at the BMA. However, the member can be absolutely assured that I would do everything in my power to try and help to avert the risk of industrial action by junior doctors in NHS Scotland. I very much welcome the fact that the cabinet secretary is engaging with junior doctors and their representatives, and I wish those negotiations well. He will understand that with one in seven patients currently on waiting lists and the worst ever performance in tackling cancer on record, the Scottish Government simply must avoid strike action, which will make matters worse. I think that he will agree with me that warm words will not cut it. The First Minister in his first week in office announced spending of £61 million, so we know that where there is the political will, there is a way. If the cabinet secretary, however, is unable to negotiate a settlement, can he outline the contingency plans that he has in place to cover the proposed 72-hour period of industrial action? We, as a Government, have a very strong strike record in that we are the only part of the UK that has not experienced industrial action within our national health service. The reason for that is because we have engaged in meaningful engagement with trade unions and their representatives in order to address concerns that have been raised with us. If I look at the issue of junior doctors in itself, we only have to look at the existing statistics in terms of recruitment into NHS Scotland. We have now filled more posts in 2022 than any other year since records began back in 2013. It is clearly still a very attractive place for junior doctors to work, but clearly there are serious concerns that we need to address, and I am determined to do that. I have already asked health boards to put contingency plans in place, should we be in a situation where, unfortunately, industrial action does take place because it will be very disruptive. The nature of what those contingency plans will be is dependent upon any derogations that are agreed with the junior doctors' committee when they are or if they are taking industrial action, but I want to make sure that we both have the plans in place and in the time that it is available to us everything that I can possible to try and avert the risk of industrial action in NHS Scotland by junior doctors. I am keen to take supplementaries, and I would ask again if we can have concise questions and responses. I call Clare Haughey. I welcome that the Scottish Government will continue to do everything that it can to achieve a deal with junior doctors to ensure that Scotland continues to avoid industrial action in our NHS. Meanwhile, it is concerning that Labour Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting recently said that he does not support the junior doctor strike. The Westminster Tory's proposed anti-strike legislation is a barefaced attack on workers and their right to demand better pay. As such, can the cabinet secretary affirm that the Scottish Government will continue to support the right to strike? Does he agree with me that the only way to protect workers' rights, just like her European neighbours do, is for Scotland to escape Westminster control? I am aware of the comments that were made by Wes Streeting, which I find are deeply surprising from a Labour politician, but I think that that is a reflection of the fact that Labour at Westminster is just a pale limitation of the Tories at these days. However, in relation to the anti-trad union legislation that has been taken forward by the UK Government, we have already raised our concerns. The powers that they are also seeking to take through that legislation to reach into devolved areas is unacceptable. However, my focus here is to make sure that we do everything possible to avert the risk of industrial action, so we do not have the same challenges that we have witnessed with seven days of industrial action in NHS England, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of procedures and appointments having to be cancelled. I will do with them within my powers to try and avert this action, but I can assure members that, should industrial action be taken, we will have continuous arrangements in place. I have been there as a junior doctor struggling against the system. Many junior doctors now are experiencing burnout. I recently visited a university hospital and saw the difference that access to good nutritious food can make to concentration levels and to preventing fatigue and burnout, but that is not replicated across the country. Conditions matter, as does pay. Night shift staff across Scotland do not have access to hot nutritious food at night, so will the cabinet secretary commit to mandating the provision of hot nutritious food, not from a vending machine, for night staff across all health boards in Scotland? I recognise the concerns that the member has raised. It is not the first time that they have been raised with me, and I will obviously give them due consideration. However, the member is also right to highlight that it is important that we recognise that some staff do feel burned out, that conditions do matter, which is why it is all the more important for a Government to engage with junior doctors in an open and in a sincere way in order to try and address their concerns. I would hope that Governments across the whole of the UK would do that with junior doctors in order to reduce the risk of further industrial action taking place even where the member's party is in control in England, given that they have already had seven days of disruption. However, I can assure the member that I will do everything I can for that reason that we are responsible for here in Scotland, and that is why we have undertaken detailed open dialogue in negotiations with junior doctors with a means to try to address their concerns. I can assure the member that that is the approach that this Government will take in stark contrast to the approach that his colleagues and Westminster have been taking to date. The cabinet secretary, his predecessor at now, First Minister, Humsie Yusif, used to put great sore in the statement that we have just heard from him, in that there has not been strike action in Scotland where there has been in England. That will soon end given the distance between the pay claim and the Government's position. If we are moving to a period of strike action, can I ask the cabinet secretary what discussions he has had with NHS England about lessons learned from the period of disruption there and steps to mitigate strike action if and when it happens? On trying to resolve this matter, I have not looked to NHS England for much in the way of lessons, given the seven days of industrial action that they have already experienced. I am determined to try and resolve this issue in the short, medium and long term. I am determined to do everything that I can to try and achieve that. As I have mentioned already in my comments in this chamber, I have already asked NHS boards to put continuous arrangements in place should industrial action occur. However, I will do everything that I can to try to avoid that so that we do not have the same type of disruption—very significant disruption—with hundreds of thousands of appointments and procedures being cancelled, as was the case in NHS England. Question 2, Russell Findlay. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding reports that a new contract has been awarded by the Scottish Police Authority, valued at around £663,000 for the provision of additional forensic testing in relation to suspected cases of spiking. Cabinet Secretary, Angela Constance. Presiding Officer, the act of spiking is utterly abhorrent and we remain absolutely committed to working with partners, including Police Scotland, health services and third sector organisations, to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls. It is absolutely appropriate that Police Scotland should take whatever operational decisions that they consider appropriate to have in place additional capacity for spiking cases should it be required. Russell Findlay. Thank you. Police Scotland's increased testing will be welcomed by victims who have been failed for far too long. I commend Jess Insall, who is campaigned in this issue after being spiked during a night out in Glasgow. It took 34 hours before Jess was tested and 10 months to get the result, which is far too long, with spiking time as critical, but that is just part of the problem. My proposed new bill would ensure that spiking is recorded as a specific criminal offence and that the Police, NHS and licensed venues would deal with cases more consistently and efficiently. Therefore, I would like to ask the cabinet secretary if she would be willing, at least in principle, to back those important measures. We will always listen to views on the need for a standalone offence. However, spiking can already be prosecuted in Scotland. Section 11 of the Sexual Offences Scotland Act 2009 has an offence referred to as administering a substance for sexual purposes. Depending upon the individual facts and circumstances, the common law offence of assault can also apply. The Government will, of course, await further details on the proposed member's bill and how that will interact with the measures that are already in place. I assure him that that will always be given a fair hearing. The points about the process, the end-to-end journey and the times for testing and results are matters that we will continue to look at very closely, because we need to improve the experience for people who have been a victim of such an offence. Now, every time I talk about spiking, more people come forward with their stories in pubs and clubs, university campuses, it appears to be endemic, and to some it seems to even be viewed as a terrifying rite of passage. The cabinet secretary referred to the legislation that can be used just now, but in the past three years there have only been seven convictions for administering a substance for sexual purposes. Predators know that the law is failing to protect young people, so in the spirit of cross-party co-operation, perhaps the cabinet secretary would agree to join me in a meeting with spiking victims and others. I am always happy to meet with the member and others from across the chamber. I would look forward to seeing the detail of the member's proposed bill. He may be interested to know that the most recent Police Scotland statistics published last December reported that from October 21 to 22 that there were 601 recorded crimes relating to spiking, and if I can give the member reassurance that we do continue to work with all partners, not just across the justice system but also victims organisation and prosecution, in addition to representatives from colleges and universities and the night-time economy sector to see what further steps we can take to tackle this very important issue. That concludes topical questions. We will move on to the next item in a moment.