 We have general questions. Question 1, Willie Coffey. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met East Ayrshire Council and what matters were discussed. Minister, Margaret Burgess. Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of all Scottish local authorities, including East Ayrshire Council, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for people of Scotland. In light of the Scottish Government's commitment to undertake an inquiry into historical child abuse, does the minister welcome the progress made to implement the standards for residential childcare, recognising the clear link between a qualified workforce, safe care and better outcomes for looked after children in East Ayrshire and elsewhere in Scotland? I welcome the progress that has been made so far to implement the residential childcare level 9 qualification, which was introduced by Eileen Campbell in 2014. The qualification will be phased in from 2016 with an expectation that all existing workers will be qualified to that level within 10 years. We are working actively with the Centre for Excellence for looked after children and Scottish Social Services Council to make it happen. There is broad support for the initiative, which recognises the very positive impact that a qualified workforce will have on outcomes for our looked after children. To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the recent ministerial meeting with member organisations of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland. I met representatives of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland on 18 June 2015 at that meeting. I reiterated that I welcome proposals from the Neurological Alliance as to how they can be involved in improving services for people with a neurological condition. I have asked that officials follow up that offer with the Neurological Alliance. The cabinet secretary this morning was saying that she wanted to put the voluntary sector centre stage. Why is he ignoring the views of every single neurological voluntary organisation in Scotland from MND Scotland, to the cabinet secretary and the First Minister's respect very much, and all the others, including the MS Therapy Centre in my constituency, of which I am patron. It is not just them, but won't you listen as well to the Scottish Neurosciences Council and the Managed Service Network for Neurosurgery, which has praised the neurological voices group established by the Neurological Alliance. Why will he not use a mere £35,000 of the £210,000 that I am sure he will mention in his next answer? Why doesn't he use £35,000 of that to maintain the Neurological Alliance, or does he want Scotland to be the only country in the United Kingdom that does not have a neurological alliance? Minister? Let me be clear that I do not want Scotland to be the only country in the United Kingdom that does not have a neurological alliance. I think that the first point I would make is that the Scottish Government has not withdrawn funding from the neurological alliance, the funding that had been agreed, ended, except that may be a moot point, but the point is that the funding of this nature is for a specific time period, and that time period has ended. However, as Malcolm Chisholm has pointed out, £210,000 has been set aside to support work that will improve outcomes for people with neurological condition. That is a significant increase in similar funding from last year, which I would have presumed with thought by members across the chamber. I did not hear Malcolm Chisholm welcome that significant increase in funding. That is in addition to the range of other funding. We have the Scottish Government's regular conversation with members of the neurological community to ensure that any funding is spent to best effect. The money is currently available for projects that support improving outcomes for people with neurological condition. Neurological Alliance can potentially benefit by that, and that is exactly what I committed to my officials discussing with them in due course. To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed Police Scotland's professional standards with the chief constable. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. I meet regularly with the chief constable to discuss a range of issues regarding Police Scotland. Professional standards are a matter for the designated deputy chief constable. I thank the minister for his reply. Following reports that the chief constable of Police Scotland criticised the ruling of a sheriff relating to the trial of a police officer last year, does the cabinet secretary agree with me that he should respect the independent role of Scotland's judiciary? Cabinet Secretary? While any matter regarding a complaint about the chief constable would be an issue that would have to be investigated by the Scottish Police Authority's complaint and conduct sub-committee, and if the members are aware of any concerns that have been raised regarding the chief constable's conduct in that matter, that would be the appropriate body for investigating this issue. John Scott. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the low morale in Police Scotland at this time. Has he discussed this with the chief constable and how is it proposed that this will be addressed, recognising the importance of a highly motivated police force to the people of Scotland? Yes, I have discussed it with the chief constable just in the last half an hour. One of the pieces of work that Police Scotland is taking forward is a survey of its staff's views on how Police Scotland is performing in areas where it can be improved. Once it has the results of that survey, it will be taking forward work to look at how it can improve in addressing some of the issues and concerns that have been raised by its staff. I am sure that the member will also recognise that any major organisation that goes through a significant period of restructuring will have an impact on morale among its staff. Police Scotland and the chief constable are very clear with me that they are determined to address that. The first survey of its type in Police Scotland, which will be published later this year, will assist them in taking that work forward. Question 4, Clare Baker. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address food poverty in Mid Scotland and Fife. Minister, Margaret Burgess. The Scottish Government is doing what it can with the resources and powers that it has to tackle poverty and food poverty. We are investing around £296 million from 2013-14 to 2015-16 in anti-poverty measures to mitigate the impact of welfare reform, which the Trussell Trust has suggested is a contributory factor in the increasing demand for food banks. That includes our £1 million emergency food action plan to help combat food poverty in Scotland. The funding supports 26 projects across 17 local authorities including Fife and Mid Scotland. Clare Baker. Can I thank the minister for that response? Today's poverty and Scotland statistics show that 22 per cent of children in Scotland remain in relative poverty after housing costs. That is 210,000 children. Many of these families are seeking support from food banks. It is a year, as the minister said, since the Scottish Government launched their emergency food fund. Can the minister say how much she did measure in Mid Scotland in Fife? Can she say how much support went to organisations in Fife? Also, can she say how much money is available to the fund in this coming year? Minister? What I can say in Fife that there are two projects that I am aware of in Fife and Mid Lothian who received funding from the fund Eastnuke Recovery Group initiative, received funding, and in Clickmanisher there was funding awarded to the gate. I think that we recognise that food poverty. We want to address the issues that cause food poverty. The report from the Trust recommends that the actions that we require to take to reduce poverty is to increase people's benefits and to increase people's income. That is what we are proposing to do. That is why we have launched the consultation on the new social security powers and on the fairer Scotland consultation, which is a nationwide consultation, to look at how we can address the issues because we cannot just mitigate, mitigate, mitigate. Question 5, Nigel Dawn. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to establish a national network of halting and permanent sites for the gypsy traveller community. Minister, Margaret Burgess. Local authorities are responsible for taking decisions about the provision of gypsy traveller sites in their areas based on their assessment of local accommodation needs. We therefore have no plans for the Scottish Government to establish a national network of sites. Nigel Dawn. I am grateful for the minister for her response, but she will understand as I do that councils find it difficult to establish sites because there are a few places that are already in public ownership. Councilers are naturally reluctant to support or approve sites as travellers are always perceived as bad neighbours, even though of course we all know many of them cause a little trouble. I would be grateful if the Government could use its national planning powers instead of doing so to provide a national network of halting and permanent sites, because that might enable it to happen. Minister. The Government's position is that decisions about the provision of gypsy traveller sites are best made with those with local knowledge and local accountability. The decision on whether to provide a gypsy traveller site is therefore one for the relevant local authority. Local authorities could choose to work together to create a national network of sites. The Government has expanded planning aid Scotland to carry out a project on planning and the gypsy traveller community. It has now produced guides for councillors and council officials on gypsy travellers and the planning system. Those guides are useful documents that have information on the gypsy traveller community and the legal duties of local authorities. Question 6, James Baxter. To ask the Scottish Government what action the police is taking in light of reported increases of vandalism in Fife. We take any reported increases in vandalism very seriously indeed in any reports of that nature would be a source of concern. However, according to Police Scotland, real progress is being made in Fife. The latest figures show that crimes of vandalism in Fife in 2014-15 have reduced by 11 per cent over the previous year. While I am aware of local reports of vandalism in Fife, for example, Craigton Country Park and Burnt Island, I am aware that over the first 80 days of this year vandalism charges in Fife fell by 4.5 per cent. As with other areas in the country, Police Scotland has developed a partnership approach with local community groups to develop a range of interventions and to reduce the impact caused by antisocial behaviour and vandalism in communities. Police Scotland are using proactive intelligence to tackle vandalism in Fife and are using high visibility patrols in identified hotspots, are deploying mobile CCTVs and dome-hot cameras and are reacting as quickly as possible to reports of vandalism or antisocial behaviour. James Baxter. I thank the minister for that response. There is concern in Fife from police officers about the balance of their redistribution across community functions, local response teams and national specialist teams. This is coupled with the fact that recent figures reported to the SPA show police controllers are taking up to three minutes to answer 999 calls and up to 11 minutes for more routine calls. Does the Scottish Government recognise that local control over resources is essential for quick and effective responses to crimes such as vandalism? I do identify that the effect of vandalism is very much locally felt in communities across Scotland where it occurs and clearly the importance of having good local ward level plans for policing operations is something that is recognised by Police Scotland and I believe in Fife the development of local ward plans is well advanced. I would say in terms of the calls issue that James Baxter raises, we should not lose sight of the fact that 10 calls are answered within 10 seconds while the majority of 101 calls are answered within 40 seconds. We recognise that there have been challenges in delivering the 101 service and I know that Jane Baxter is conscious of that as is Alex Rowley and other members but we are doing what we can to tackle and Police Scotland are taking this issue very seriously and I will be happy to engage with Jane Baxter if there are particular issues in Fife that she wants me to take forward. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the council tax reduction scheme in Glasgow on low incomes. Minister Margaret Burgess The Scottish Government's latest council tax reduction statistical publication showed that there were over 97,000 council tax reduction recipients in Glasgow in March 2015. Our commitment in partnership with local government to mitigate the 10 per cent cut in funding from the UK Government to council tax benefits successor arrangements has meant that over 35 per cent of all chargeable dwellings in Glasgow received a reduction in their council tax liability through the council tax reduction scheme in March 2015. James Dahlman I thank the minister for that answer. In light of the deeper cuts coming from this heartless Tory government how will the Scottish Government continue to ensure those people who suffer most from increasing austerity including many of my constituents are supported and protected from further cuts to their income? Minister It is right to highlight the further cuts that are still coming. Additional cuts to the welfare budget suggest freezing working age benefits, tax credits and child benefit for two years, lowering the benefit cap and removing automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds. That only accounts for a fraction of the £12 billion reduction in welfare spend that the UK Government has said it will introduce and make it much more difficult for the Scottish Government to tackle poverty. We are committed to creating a fairer Scotland ensuring people are provided with the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty through fairly paid work and will continue to mitigate the worst aspects of welfare reform. However, there is a genuine limit to what we can do in the face of such severe cuts. Richard Baker Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Grampian for children and adolescents who need to access all services. Jamie Hepburn I have spoken to the chief executive of NHS Grampian to obtain assurances that the health board are doing all they can to achieve the target. As a result of that discussion, I have written to the board asking for a detailed recovery plan by 3 July. NHS Grampian have done significant work in service redesign to increase their capacity to meet the campus target on a sustainable basis. As a result of redesigning NHS Grampian has already identified where they need to increase capacity. Given the lower unit in Aberdein was providing important services for young people with mental health needs, concerns have been expressed to me over its closure. Can the minister assure me that young people affected by the closure of the units will be asked for their views on whether the service redesign is working and will the redesign be affected by the reduction nationally in the number of beds available for young people who require mental health treatment? Minister First, I should point out that we are increasing the number of beds in the specialist state in terms of the specific point that Richard Baker has taken up. I would generally agree that it is important that we hear the voice of service users now undertake to raise that specific point directly with NHS Grampian and I will refer back to Richard Baker on that point. Does the minister agree with me that workforce levels for mental health services are at record levels in Scotland with the child and adolescent mental health services workforce having risen by 45% since 2008? Is the Scottish Government commitment to 100 million funding to improve mental health services in the next five years is very welcome in the north-east and across Scotland? Minister I can confirm that the CAMHS workforce has increased from 645.3 whole-time equivalent in September 2008 to 980.6 whole-time equivalent in March 2015. That is an increase of 51%. That is up from the December figure of 942.4 whole-time equivalent. I can certainly agree that the additional 100 million pounds that we have invested over the next five years in mental health services is indeed very welcome. Question 9, Chick Brody. I am done to consider exploration for oil in the Clyde and in the Atlantic Basin. Minister, Fergus Ewing. I am done to consider exploration for oil and gas as a reserve matter. The primary levers for promoting exploration of oil reserves are reserved to the UK Government. However, we welcome the work being led by Aberdeen University exploring the potential for commercial or production west of Scotland and involving a range of international energy companies including OMV, DONG, JX Nippon and Statoil. Indeed, I discussed their work at a recent natural environment research council conference in Edinburgh. The Scottish Government has argued strongly that the UK's new fiscal regime should incentivise exploration and we will continue to work both with industry and with the UK Government to achieve that goal. Chick Brody. The minister will know that after the years of investigation I hold an outline BP production licence for drilling south of Arn issued in 1983. I would also hold a copy of a statement last year from the Secretary of State for Defence at the time, Michael Heseltine, saying that he had stopped the drilling for special defence circumstances. Will the minister seek to ensure that the full report of the team, currently analysing the opportunities for oil and the Clyde in the Atlantic Basin, does not suffer the same fate of denial as happened to the McCrone report in the 1970s? Minister. My partner's answer is yes. I am aware that Mr Brody is known for doing his own exploration work, as it were. Of course, when people first said there was oil in the North Sea, everybody scoffed particularly down in London Government, they said there wasn't any and then they said it would run out in the 90s. Then they said it would run out in the Noctis and then it would run out in the last decade but it didn't. Minister, if they have been wrong as many times as they have been before, including the OBR's estimate, the oil right now would be $102 a barrel, then of course to answer the question. Thank you minister. We do need to explore every opportunity so to do. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board and what matters will be discussed. Minister is on Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all health boards including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss matters of importance to local people. George Adam. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the accident emergency department at the hospital in Paisley? Minister. The member will be aware when the RAHNE department wasn't recovering as quickly as possible from the pressures of Windsor. We deployed an expert support team from 16 February for a two-week period and the support team agreed a number of interventions which have borne fruit for the hospital. The team continues to laze with local staff and monitor progress but I can say to the member that the most recent published data for the week ending the 14th of June shows that the RAHNE has seen 91.2% of people within the four hour target. That reflects the hard work of all staff in the hospital. The challenge now is to sustain and improve that performance even further. Thank you, that ends General Questions. Before we move to the next site of business members will wish to join me in the gallery, His Excellency Dr Martin, I thinker the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Austria.