 I have selected an urgent question, which will be taken as the first item of business today, and as a consequence, decision time, I'm afraid, will be pushed back to 5.15. We are already a little bit tight for time. Our first question is from Liam Kerr. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I say I'm grateful for the acceptance of the question. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reported reform of firefighters' pay and conditions. Minister Annabelle Ewing. Yesterday, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued a letter to staff setting out a proposal on the possible future transformation of the service. Under those proposals, there will be no compulsory redundancies. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that formal negotiations will be conducted through agreed collective bargaining arrangements. The Scottish Government in the 2018-19 draft budget has increased the spending capacity of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service by £15.5 million. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been exploring for some time now how best to develop a service to meet new and emerging risks, including how transformation could see the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service do more for the people of Scotland. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will be issuing a formal consultation on the future transformation proposals within the next three weeks. In conclusion, I would say at this stage that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has indicated that its proposed reward package would be for a new, expanded role for firefighters, which, of course, is still to be negotiated and agreed with unions. I welcome the FBU's willingness to engage with the service. Diolch yn fawr, convener. I thank the minister for that answer. The public will understand the rationale for changing the fire service, but, as I have said before in this chamber, it will have legitimate concerns that this is a way to implement cuts by the back door. The chief fire officer has told firefighters that there will be a small reduction in whole-time firefighter posts. Can the minister confirm exactly how many full-time equivalent posts will be lost? Can she explain how the service is expected to respond more quickly with fewer firefighters, given that the average time taken to respond to house fires has increased in almost every council in Scotland? I would say to the member that the decisions about allocation of resources are an operational matter, obviously, for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as the employer. What is to be embarked upon is a discussion with the FBU about the transformation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and a new and expanded role for firefighters. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that there will be no compulsory redundancies, as has been the case since the establishment of the single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. I would say in terms of resources that, of course, in terms of the press coverage that we have seen in this morning's papers, what the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is looking at is in terms of a reward for the new expanded role, potential pay increases of up to 20 per cent. Finally, of course, if the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were able to get back the almost £50 million in VAT that Mr Kerr's Tory colleagues in the House of Commons have refused, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service access to, then, of course, over the year since the establishment of the single Fire and Rescue Service, they would have had more resources available for each community in Scotland. The minister for some of that replied, Presiding Officer. It was, of course, the Scottish Conservatives who won the VAT refund for our fire service, worth £10 million a year. If we could stop the grievance politics and answer my further questions, there are aspects of reform that we can welcome. In particular, I praise Scottish Fire and Rescue for their successful trials of responding to cardiac arrests. I understand that a number of lives have been saved, thanks to this effort. However, the Fire Brigades Union has said that their members have been given no specific detail about the roles that they will be expected to take on. We understand, for example, that firefighters will take on youth and social prevention work and inspection and enforcement responsibilities. Can the minister outline the specific duties included in his definition? In talking about the pay rise, will the Government publish the methodology that has been used to calculate the proposed pay rise? Presiding Officer, I am not entirely sure if Mr Kerr is therefore saying that the position of the Tories in Scotland is that they would be again seeing firefighters gain a reward for what they were being asked to do, which is an expanded new role for firefighters at the length and breadth of Scotland. It seems that the Conservative Party is not very enthusiastic about that, a point that will not be lost on the firefighters throughout the length and breadth of Scotland. As regards the operational detail about the new expanded role, of course that is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to discuss with the FBU in the context of the formal process, and that is what I understand is about to happen. Finally, I would say about the key question about resources. It is, of course, not surprising that the member did not like the bit about the VAT, but the fact of the matter is that, although we saw Highways England and academy schools be allowed to reclaim VAT, that was precluded by the Tories in Westminster for years and years. In those years, the fire service in Scotland has lost almost £50 million. What I would suggest to the member is that, instead of perhaps being less and supportive about the transformation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with increased reward for our firefighters, he might want to fight for the money back to Scotland on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Can the minister give a guarantee that those taking on enhanced responsibilities as a result of the new contract will be given comprehensive training and the resources to effectively carry out their new role? I would say to Gillian Martin that, obviously, those are matters for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, but I am encouraged to note that training is deemed to be crucially important and will play a very vital role in the transformation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Of course, as I said, there have been no compulsory redundancies since the establishment of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed that the proposals that they are putting forward do not involve any compulsory redundancies. Daniel Johnson to be followed by Liam McArthur. The Scottish Government has been intimately involved in not just the finances and strategies of this transformation project, but the details, too, according to a Freedom of Information request that was received by the Scottish Labour Party. Can the minister therefore confirm that she was aware ahead of yesterday's announcements about the scale of reductions in firefighters, stations and units? If that is the case, why didn't she feel that, given the scale of the change, it was not worth revealing that to Parliament directly? Finally, does she share my concerns and those of the FBU that they hadn't received prior sight of the details and that national pay and bargaining mechanisms have effectively been bypassed? On the last point, I just wish to clarify that, of course, I heard Chris McLoan the head of the FBU in Scotland on GMS this morning, on this morning's radio, and I was concerned to note that due process had not been followed. However, I was also very encouraged at the same time to note the FBU's willingness, nonetheless, to engage in discussion with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and that was right and proper. Yes, the Scottish Government is aware that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been engaged in looking at how we can transform the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service so that it meets the new and emerging risks of 21st century Scotland, and we will continue to offer any support in that process so that we can. I would stress, of course, that the SFRS is the employer, and it is in charge of operational matters. It will be, as an employer, getting on to discuss the detail of the proposals with the FBU. Liam McArthur, to be filled by John Finnie. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Simply relying on the goodwill and hard work of staff on the front line to get by is not a long-term sustainable strategy, and it is an important part of protecting fire service to pay workers properly and to prevent their living standards from falling. Can I follow on from Daniel Johnson's question and ask if the minister was informed specifically of the offer before it went directly to staff, and how does the enhance role envisage for staff in relation to terrorism, medical emergencies and community engagement differ from what they already do? Is that to any extent formalising or recognising existing practices? Well, I had no knowledge of the letter being sent yesterday, and the first I heard of it was when we all heard of it, so that is the answer to the first question. On the issue of the expanded role, to an extent it will be the case in terms of, for example, the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest work that has been going on in some fire stations in Scotland on the basis of a pilot. However, the proposals would involve expanding that emergency responders aspect of the new expanded role across the country and also looking at an expanded role with regard to terrorism, environmental risk and other matters, including prevention. This is the hub of the discussion that will be taking place as between the employer, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the FBU in the context of the collective bargaining arrangements, which are very important. I would hope that the member would do what he could to support that process. John Finnie I welcome the minister's comments about collective bargaining. As a former full-time official of the staff association, I would have been raging if the employer had bypassed agreed procedures. That is not an operational matter. Will you direct the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to adhere to the collective bargaining procedures, not only for the benefit of future negotiations for the fire service, but for the clear message that it would send to others in the public sector? I am happy to reiterate what I said in answer to Mr Johnson, which was that when I heard Chris McLoan, the head of the FBU in Scotland, on the radio this morning, I was concerned, indeed, to hear what he had to say on the matter. However, I was equally encouraged that, nonetheless, the FBU stands willing to get round the table and engage in discussions about the transformation of the service. As I stated in my opening answer, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that formal negotiations will be conducted through agreed collective bargaining arrangements. I hope that that gives the member the assurance that he was seeking. John Finnie I thank the minister for taking that urgent question. Members who still have questions to ask—there are a number of outstanding questions—there will be other opportunities later in the week, if you wish to raise it again. We turn now to portfolio questions on communities, social security and equalities.