 Felly, mae'n riso rwy'n ei wneud iawn, a ydych yn dweud jabon sy'n ddiw ar y ddechrau. Yn ni'n dweud, mae'r ddweud ar'ンプr iawn i ddweud i ddweud. Rwy'n ei ddweud i ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o fynd i pryd organisations i ddweud o'r ddweud. Rwy'n ei ddweud i ddweud i ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o campanynadau sy'n bwysigio i ddweud o hynny'r cydymuno'r gydaen nhw? I thank the First Minister and members of this chamber over the last 24 hours for your comments about Alex Johnson. We are all in mourning right now, but I do have to tell the chamber that Alex wouldn't want me to talk about him, he'd want me to get stuck into the record of this Government. So this week, the latest set of programme for international student assessment figures were released. After a decade of SNP control of Scottish education, they are the worst set of results ever recorded. Just to pre-empt the usual excuses, who does the First Minister blame for this? Is it the Labour Party or is it us? First Minister. First Lady, can I also take the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Alex Johnson? In his passing, the Scottish Parliament has lost one of its great personalities. He will be sorely missed across this chamber and my thoughts, all of our thoughts today are with Linda, the rest of his family and indeed with all of his colleagues. I take responsibility on behalf of the Scottish Government for the performance of Scottish education. If anybody thinks that I'm going to stand here today and give any excuses, they're wrong. There's lots of other evidence that I could cite about Scottish education, but I'm not going to do that today because the results of the PISA survey earlier this week are not where I want us to be. They're not good enough and I am determined that we take the action that will lead to improvement. The only thing that I will say about them and it's a contextual point and I say it simply because it's a fact. This survey was drawn from a sample carried out almost two years ago, March 2015. I say that because that is around the same time that we had the SSLN survey that prompted the programme of reform that is now under way. The programme of reform in education that we are taking forward is firmly based on the advice that the OECD gave us in its review of curriculum for excellence back in 2015. I'm determined that we move forward with that reform and I'm determined that that will lead to the improvements in Scottish education that all of us want to see. The answer there was the same as the answer always seems to be. Don't worry, bear with us, give us a bit more time and it'll all be fine. It's a stuck record and we've heard it all before. Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop in 2009 responded to falling standards. We are determined to reverse that trend. Minister for Learning, Alasdair Allyn, in 2013 in response to falling standards, I am confident that we will see continued progress in future years. Last year, Angela Constance, in response to falling literacy standards, promised that she was the one after all of the previous education ministers who would sort things out. Well, that went well. We've had ten years' worth of promises by education secretary after SNP education secretary. How does the First Minister mark the result of their efforts? We actually have a record number of exam passes in Scottish education. That is simply a statement of fact. We also have a higher number of young people, percentage of young people going into positive destinations than was the case previously. I come back to the point that I made earlier. The PISA survey results are not good enough and I want to see them improve. What we did last year was ask the OECD to carry out a review of curriculum for excellence. That review was published round about this time last year in December 2015. The report that the OECD published told us to focus on a number of things. First, it said that we had to focus on closing the attainment gap, so we have established the attainment fund. That is already working in schools across our country. Secondly, it told us to put in place a measurement system. We established the national improvement framework. An initial data at school level from the national improvement framework will be published next week. Of course, from next year it will be informed by new standardised assessment, which we are also introducing. Thirdly, it told us to simplify the curriculum. John Swinney has been taking action to strip away the bureaucracy, reduce teacher workload and allow them to focus on what they are doing. It said to put schools at the heart of the system, so we have the governance review now looking at how we empower schools. Last, it said to improve leadership in our schools. We are taking forward a new programme of developing headteachers through the Scottish Council for Educational Leadership. Those are hard, concrete and tangible actions. I know that the Opposition will want to criticise for the PISA survey. I can have no complaint about that, but what I think is most important now is that we all get behind those reforms, because those are reforms that will lead to the improvements that we want to see in Scottish education. Not even an attempt from the First Minister to defend her minister's performance there, not even an attempt. On those benches, we have been warning about the states of our education system for years. The First Minister talks of a governance review that is to come, but we still await the details. Given the evidence of this week, I think that it has to go deeper. The single biggest education reform under this SNP Government has been curriculum for excellence. Nobody here can simply brush aside the fact that, since it has come in, standards have fallen. I am telling the First Minister today that our on-going support for curriculum for excellence cannot be taken for granted. I believe that this entire project should be put on probation. There is a simple question that I ask, and I ask it in all sincerity. If standards are going down because of it, why are we sticking by it? The principles behind the curriculum for excellence are absolutely right. There is unanimous agreement within the Parliament that it is the right way, as it is within the teaching professions, and we have to accept that this is something that can work. Those are not my words. Those are the words of the Tory education spokesperson, Liz Smith, on 7 December. In other words, just a couple of days ago. I believe that curriculum for excellence is the right way forward. Indeed, Ruth Davidson has rightly and understandably quoted today the PISA survey, a survey carried out by the OECD. We asked the OECD, the very same organisation, to review curriculum for excellence. It has said that curriculum for excellence is the right thing to do, but it has given us advice that I have narrated in my previous answer about how we improve it and how we improve standards in our schools. We will continue to take forward that action, because that is what the parents and pupils of the country have a right to expect us to do. Ruth Davidson. That was a pretty selective summary of what the First Minister wants us to believe, the OECD report says. Let me read out what the OECD report actually says. It says that we emphasised that this summary is not an evaluation of curriculum for excellence itself, and indeed the evidence is not available for such an evaluation. We have had all the while from this Government bland platitudes, and all the while those platitudes have been coming, standards have gone down. We have gone backwards in reading, backwards in science, backwards in maths. This week, the SNP, the First Minister's colleagues, told us that despite all the challenges that we face right now, what would be good for Scotland is a constitutional crisis. What is not another constitutional crisis that we need is a Government that faces up to its failures and tackles them head on. I asked the First Minister what is more important, picking yet another fight over the constitution or picking a fight to improve our schools. I have to say that it may have escaped Ruth Davidson's notice, but the entire UK faces a constitutional crisis right now. It has been played out in the Supreme Court this very day, as it has been all week, and it is a constitutional crisis created by the European obsession, the Brexit obsession of the Conservatives. I will leave Ruth Davidson to the politics today. I want to get back to the important matter of Scottish education. I noticed that Ruth Davidson did not comment on the quote from Liz Smith from earlier this week, where she said that the principles behind curriculum for excellence are, in a quote again, absolutely right. That is the view of the Tory education spokesperson. It is also my view, and it is the view of most people across this chamber. What we now need to do is focus on implementing the recommendations of the OECD, making sure that we invest, as we are doing, through the attainment fund in raising attainment, making sure that we have much more data available at school level about the performance of our schools, making sure that we are taking away bureaucracy, husbands.preasuringras. It's the hard actions that this government will look to on at which are taking forward because that is what parents across this country have a right to expect us to do and we will do it. Question 2, Kezia D liar. Thank you. It's indeed a somber day for Parliament, so on behalf of Scottish Labour let me extend our condolences to the family and friends of Alex Johnston. He had a reputation as a proud and devoted family man. hoffith, a great character and as a politician respected widely y cynllunau ar y cwylwch chi. Can I ask the First Minister what engagement she has planned for the rest of the week? First Minister. I will have engagement to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Kezia Dugdale. Across Scotland, every day, every week, thousands of children attend football training sessions. Young boys and girls desperate to emulate their sporting heroes. In recent days, we have discovered that our national game is not so beautiful. has become a meshed in society's shame—child sex abuse. Once again, trusted people who were expected to nurture and care for our children have been found to be abusing them. Former footballers have found the courage to come forward and disclose how they have suffered at the hands of pedophile coaches. Will the First Minister agree with me that those survivors of abuse deserve to have their courage matched by justice? Yes, of course I do. The allegations of abuse that are surfacing now in relation to football are extremely serious and they sicken all of us. The inquiries that must now take place into those allegations of abuse are first and foremost police inquiries in order that anyone who has been the victim of abuse gets the justice that they so rightly deserve. What is being alleged is criminal behaviour, and it is criminal behaviour of the most serious kind. The SFA and the NSPCC have, of course, established a dedicated advice line for anyone with concerns relating to abuse in football, and all agencies are committed to working with the police to ensure that any allegations are thoroughly and properly investigated so that we can have a situation where anyone who has suffered abuse does get access to justice. We are all horrified by child sex abuse, and we all hope that current regulations ensure that such abuse could not happen now. However, that is no comfort to those ex-footballers. It did happen to them, yet they will not be able to bring their cases to the Scottish child abuse inquiry because they were not in care when they were abused. That is true for all those who suffered abuse in youth clubs, in parishes or other sports clubs. Survivor groups have asked that the inquiry's remit be extended to all situations where a duty of care existed. Labour has backed that call, and the growing tide of revelations from footballers adds to that demand. Will the First Minister reconsider the inquiry's remit? First Minister. First, as I said in my previous answer, the inquiry must now take place into the allegations that are being made about football, our first and foremost police inquiries. What is being alleged is criminal behaviour, and the police must investigate thoroughly and robustly. I can turn to the question about the child abuse public inquiry. I understand the motivations of those who now call for the remit of that inquiry to be extended. Kezia Dugdale is right to say that some survivor's groups have called for that to happen. It is equally true to say that others have said that they do not wish to see it extended in that way. The Government has given this issue the most careful consideration. The inquiry, which is already the most wide-ranging public inquiry ever held in Scotland, deliberately focuses on in-care abuse that took place in institutions or other settings that had legal responsibility for the long-term care of children in place of their parents. To widen the remit of that inquiry would mean that it would take perhaps many, many years at longer to conclude its investigations and would risk becoming completely unwieldy. We would be at risk, I think, of breaking our word to the survivors of in-care abuse. My view is that we should allow that inquiry to get on with its job and we should allow the police to get on with their job of investigating allegations of abuse in football. As the police inquiries take their course, if it does emerge that there are wider systemic issues to be addressed, then, of course, we would consider very seriously how that should be taken forward. Kezia Dugdale said also that I understand that all abuse is criminal. There are practical concerns about inquiries. I get that, but this is about a fundamental principle and she should look to Australia to see how it can be done, because survivors of child abuse deserve justice and the wait for an inquiry has already been too long. This inquiry holds out the promise of justice, but in restricting just who and what will be investigated, it will deny that justice. As it currently stands, the inquiry is excluding the vast majority of people who were abused. First Minister, how can that be right? Please think again. The Government has considered this issue very carefully. John Swinney made a statement on this very matter just a couple of weeks ago. It is something that we take very seriously and we have to balance a number of issues. I think that we owe it to survivors of in-care abuse to have an inquiry that can reasonably quickly give them the answers that they want to ensure that we learn the lessons that they want to be learned so that we can say that that type of in-care abuse will never be allowed to happen again in Scotland. Of course, we should look at experience in other countries. We should also perhaps look at the experience in England right now about what could happen in an inquiry if the remit becomes too unwieldy. We have to take those issues into account and come to a balanced conclusion. That is what we are seeking to do. All abuse, any abuse, no matter who is the victim of the abuse and where that abuse occurs, is serious and must be properly and fully investigated. However, there is a distinction in terms of in-care abuse, where the institution where the abuse happened was in the place of the parent of the child and had legal responsibility for the long-term care of the child. We will continue to take all those issues very seriously and through all our actions, whether it is through the public inquiry or through the action that we fully support in terms of the SFA action and the action that the police will rightly take to make sure that anybody who is the victim of abuse, no matter where it happens, gets access to justice because they deserve that justice. To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the greater Glasgow health board regarding the movement of staff for a minor injury unit at York Hill hospital in my constituency, which could lead to the potential closure of the unit, raising great concerns that there will be no minor injury unit in the west of Glasgow and that constituents will need to go to Stalpill in the north or the southern general in the south. The health secretary had discussions this morning with the chair of Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board about this very issue. I know that the health board has announced that they plan to move some staff from the minor injuries unit at York hill to the Queen Elizabeth hospital as part of their overall plans for the winter period. As I say, the health secretary has spoken to the chair of the board this morning. He has given assurances that that move is temporary to make sure that they are making best use of their expert nursing staff to help as many people as possible. However, the health secretary would be more than happy to discuss the issue in more detail with the member and to have further discussions as required with the health board. Mary Fee. To ask the First Minister what her responses to the announcement on Tuesday of 270 job losses at Doosan Babcock in Renfrewshire. How will her Government assist the local economy as the latest announcement follows on from the recent announcements that Shivas and Scottish Enterprise are both moving out of Paisley? First Minister. In terms of Shivas, the business minister met Shivas Brothers in Renfrewshire Council and are convening around table discussion in February to discuss the best way forward following that announcement, including the option of a task force, which I previously discussed with Renfrewshire Council. In terms of Doosan Babcock, we are extremely concerned to hear that they intend to enter into consultation with staff on potential job losses at their Renfrewshire site. I know that this will be a difficult time for the workers at that site. Scottish Enterprise is already in contact with the company and will continue to engage with them throughout the consultation period to explore all possible options to support the business and protect jobs. I would encourage the company to do all they can to avoid redundancies. Of course, in the unfortunate event that any redundancies do proceed, we will make sure that the support of PACE, the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, is there to help the workers affected, and we will do everything that we can to help in these circumstances. Pantic Harvie May I associate the Scottish Green Party with the remarks made about Alex Johnson? We have all enjoyed many debates with Alex over the years and enjoyed them not least when we disagreed, which, let's face it, was probably most of the time, but he always took that role in the spirit of good humour and respect, and we will miss him. Can I ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet? The Cabinet will next meet on Tuesday. Pantic Harvie In February this year, I described Donald Trump as an arrogant and racist bully and as a dangerous extremist. To be honest, I could have said much worse. The First Minister said that she would probably use more diplomatic language, but she thought that her views on Donald Trump were not materially different to my own. Now, like others around the world, we need to work out how to deal with the reality that he will be the US president without denying what kind of person he truly is. As he fills his team with powerful economic elites, white nationalist, misogynist, homophobes and now climate deniers, we must consider how our relationship with the US is going to have to change. Does the First Minister agree that the appointment of Scott Pruitt, a climate denier who has helped the fossil fuel industry to undermine climate policy to lead the EPA, is a sad and dangerous decision, as Bernie Sanders put it? It is dangerous not just to US domestic policy but to the global climate agenda. The First Minister I think that we should challenge the views of anybody who denies the science around climate change. It is really important that, in this Parliament, where we have shown a lead in years gone by, we continue to take a lead in arguing the case for the action that is necessary to tackle climate change. Patrick Harvie asked me when the cabinet would next meet. When the cabinet last met on Tuesday, we had a substantive discussion about our climate change plan, led by Roseanna Cunningham, and about our plans for further legislation to toughen our targets around carbon emissions and tackling climate change. We should continue to lead by example. All of us, whether it is on climate change or anything else, should stick up for our principles. We should also seek to work at protecting the relationship between the peoples of Scotland and the United States of America. As I said previously, it is an important relationship that is a long-standing relationship of culture, family ties and business. I will continue to do what I can to make sure that that relationship goes from strength to strength. Patrick Harvie. I look forward, as I am sure that we all do, to the results of that cabinet discussion. The First Minister, just at the weekend, gave a more detailed speech on climate policy than I can remember her giving before. We all look forward to more progress on that at a domestic level. However, the relationship with the United States, which the First Minister rightly says is important, if it is going to be of value to us all, to them and to us, surely it has to be with those state and city Governments who want the United States to continue to be a progressive force on climate change and who are willing to resist the dangerous policies of the Trump regime once it comes into power. There is a range of regional climate change initiatives, individual state Governments and networks of city mayors who are active on that agenda. What actions is the Scottish Government taking to make contact with those people who will be genuinely useful allies in an agenda on climate change both around the world and helping them to resist the actions of the Trump Government? We are very active in working with other states and regions. In fact, the committee of states and regions is the accurate title. We worked very closely with it. In fact, this time last year, probably exactly this time last year, I was in Paris for the climate change talks, taking part in discussions with that group. Within that group, I should say that Scotland is seen as a leader. Patrick Harvie makes a very important point and a very accurate point that in the United States much of the action that is required to tackle climate change comes not from the federal Government but from state Governments. A couple of weeks ago, when I, with many of us, were at the Scottish Business Awards dinner that was being addressed at that time by Leonardo DiCaprio, I had the opportunity to meet with the man who now runs the Leonardo DiCaprio climate change foundation, but previously was the climate change adviser to Governor Schwarzenegger in California. Some of the work that California is doing around clean green energy and many other aspects of this agenda should give all of us a lot of cause for optimism. We will continue to work with the American administration on those issues and other issues, but also with states in America, but also with states and other regions across Europe and the wider world. As we do so, we will continue to make sure that we are taking the action here that gives us genuine credibility as a world leader. Presiding Officer, he was a mischievous, humorous and engaging man. I know that the whole chamber will miss Alex Johnston. To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the cabinet. Matters of importance to the people of Scotland. Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Estonia, Canada, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Slovenia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Norway, Austria, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Russia and France. Scotland used to have one of the best education systems in the world. Now we have dropped beside behind all of those countries. After 10 years of SNP rule, we are not even as good as England anymore. Scotland's children and teachers have still not had a proper explanation. So can the First Minister tell them what has gone wrong? I am not going to rise to the bait on the politics of this issue today, because I think that it is too important to all of us. As I said in response to an earlier question, I can point to much in Scottish education that shows improvement, whether that is exam passes, whether that is positive destinations or whether that is the evidence that is not yet going far or fast enough around the narrowing of the attainment gap. As I said in response to earlier questions, the outcome of the PISA survey is not where I want Scottish education to be. It is not good enough. That is why I am not going to rise to the bait on the politics. I am going to continue to focus the Government I lead on taking the action that will change the position. That is why all of the action that I ran through in response to Ruth Davidson is so important, because that is what is going to make the difference in Scottish education. Out of all of what I talked about earlier on, perhaps the most important thing in terms of holding this Government to account, as well as making sure that we see the improvements, is the data in which we will publish starting next week. For the first time, we will publish data not just at local authority level but on a school-by-school basis. From next year, that will be informed by standardised assessments. Standardised assessments have to say that Willie Rennie has opposed at every single turn so far in this chamber. We will continue to focus on taking the action that needs to be taken. We are serious about seeing the improvements that are made, and I hope that all of Parliament will get behind us, because some of what we are going to do over the next period will be controversial. Some of it will run into real resistance, and at that point it will be interesting to see whether those in the opposition parties are behind us on those things or not. Willie Rennie. You know when the First Minister accuses other parties of politics, it is because she has absolutely no answers, and there has been no answers again today. Children have been denied the explanation as to why we are where we are, why we are behind all of those countries. They deserve an explanation, and complacency has been oozing out of ministers for a whole decade. Keith Brown said that we are now in an era in which the performance of Scotland's teachers will finally be matched by the performance of Scotland's government. Angela Constance, the Government's record is far superior and the ever-modest Mike Russell. He delivered a speech entitled Scottish education from good to great. All of that, while they presided over the worst results ever, yet they still, still all sit round the cabinet table, blocking the transformational investment that our education needs. They prefer the reintroduction of that to right school league tables, the centralisation of education and 20,000 pages of guidance. So will the First Minister overrule all of these ministers and invest the £500 million for education in the budget next week? Here is the real nub of the matter. Investment in education is important, that is why we have established the attainment fund, £750 million of investment, making sure that investment gets to the areas of greatest need. But if Willie Rennie cares to go and read the OECD report from December 2015, the one that we asked him to commission, then what he will find in chapter 8 of that report is this observation, that while investment is important, of course it is important, it is not in itself enough. It makes the point that the difference in PISA scores between different countries is less to do with variation in investment and more to do with differences in policy and practice. That is why, yes, we will invest, but we will also make sure that we are carrying forward the reforms to our school system that are required to be made. I have to say this so far that every single one of those reforms that we have brought forward and we have heard some of that there have been opposed by Willie Rennie. The proof of the pudding of this is coming. It is going to be as we bring forward the reforms that are necessary in our schools, will we have the support of this chamber, will we have the support of Opposition who are good at the rhetoric around this, but will we have the support when we come to do in the tough things in Scottish education that need to be done? We will find out that sooner rather than later. Some supplementaries. The first one from Jackson Carlaw. My constituent, Elaine Holmes, has been an absolutely outstanding leader of the campaign arising from the transvaginal mesh implant scandal. She and so many other Scottish women have been full of anticipation ahead of the publication of the report arising from the review commissioned by the former Cabinet Secretary, Alex Neil. They are, however, dismayed that just weeks before the publication, the independent chairman of that review has resigned and been replaced by a serving senior health board medical practitioner amid suggestions that has been undue influence on either the conclusions or the recommendations arising from that review. Can the First Minister give an assurance that there has been no interference, no pressure and there will be none? Can she couple that with a comment regarding a letter that I received from Shona Robison in which she accepted that counterfeit material may well have been inserted into women, but saying that the MHRA, a body who has a UK body who has singularly failed Scottish women and women throughout the rest of the UK, has said that because there have been no adverse incidents so far, no further action is required. Surely, it is not the Scottish Government's position that the fitting of counterfeit material is acceptable and, if not, what next? The First Minister I would also take the opportunity of paying credit to the women who have so bravely brought those issues to the fore. It is absolutely the case that there is no undue influence, nor will there be any undue influence in this inquiry. I am aware of the resignation of the chair and unfortunate development. I, in response to this question, will make sure that I look into all of those issues personally and I will either write to Jackson Carlaw or have the health secretary do so so that we can give assurance that this inquiry will conclude and whatever recommendations and findings it publishes will be taken forward. In relation to the second part of his question, no, that is not the position of the Scottish Government. The MHRA, of course, is an independent regulatory body. It is a reserved matter, not under the responsibility of this Parliament, but the issues that are raised here are serious issues. They are extremely painful issues for the women concerned and we want to make sure that this inquiry concludes properly and that any lessons or any actions for the Scottish Government are taken forward, as people would expect. As I say, I will make sure that we respond in full to give the even more detailed assurance around that that Jackson Carlaw is looking for. Neil Findlay. This week's construction union, UCAT, has exposed contractors on the fourth crossing project who are ripping off workers and undercutting the pay of joiners and other tradesmen by up to five pounds an hour. They have also exposed health and safety breaches, a culture of harassment, failure to pay holiday pay, the use of umbrella companies and workers being allowed on-site without appropriate safety accreditation. Will the First Minister meet with me and representatives from UCAT to address those issues and ensure that this iconic bridge is not built on the back of exploited workers? The kind of practices that the member outlines, if they are indeed practices that have been undertaken, are completely unacceptable and the Scottish Government would not tolerate that kind of behaviour. I am more than happy to ask the Cabinet Secretary to discuss those matters with the member so that we can ensure that we are taking forward whatever action is necessary. The member is right that the bridge, which is nearing completion, is an iconic structure. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to every worker who has worked hard on that bridge, but we owe them more than a debt of gratitude. We owe them the fact that we will always take seriously any allegations like those that are made, and the assurance that I will give the chamber is that we will very much do that. Question 5, Kate Forbes. To ask the First Minister how much the Scottish Government has allocated to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency in this parliamentary session. This year, we have allocated £113 million, and by the end of this Parliament we will have committed over £1 billion to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland's homes and to tackle fuel poverty. Figures released on Tuesday of this week showed that almost 100,000 fewer households were living in fuel poverty in 2015 compared to 2014, and while that is welcome news, we know that there is a great deal more work still to be done. Half of that reduction incidentally is due to lower energy prices during that time, which is why we have continually called on the UK Government to do more in response to above-inflation energy price increases in recent years. I welcome those findings that rural fuel poverty has fallen partly due to the falling price of domestic fuels, but energy prices, as the First Minister has said, are higher in the Highlands and Islands despite multiple requests to UK Governments to do something about that, and that remains a major driver for household fuel poverty. What more can the First Minister do to help low-income households with their fuel bills? There are particular issues in rural areas, and many of those issues were looked at by the working group that concluded recently. We will continue to take action firstly to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. That is why the Scottish Government investment that I spoke about is so important. We will continue to work with the energy companies to make sure that there is fair treatment, particularly for those in low income. For example, I do not think that it is acceptable that some of the most vulnerable consumers, particularly those in pre-payment metres, should be paying more. The Cabinet Secretary for Communities is convening a meeting with utility companies next week to challenge them to help low-income consumers to get a better deal on their fuel bills. We will continue to take action across a range of those issues to make sure that we continue to see the trend that we have seen in the most recent figures continue, which is a reduction of the people in Scotland living in fuel poverty. Andy Wightman I met recently with Diab Sander, the chair of the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force, and he was keen to promote the energy carer scheme, a scheme of high-quality, in-home, locally-delivered holistic support and bringing verifiable, affordable warmth improvements to cold, vulnerable fuel poor households living in any part of remote rural Scotland. Can I ask the First Minister what proportion of any investment that the Government is going to be putting into tackling fuel poverty will be spent on energy carer schemes? Responding to the report that Andy Wightman cites in full at the start of next year, in which response we will lay out the actions that we are going to take in response to all of its recommendations, I think that Andy Wightman does raise an important issue. It is, of course, areas like that that we want to address with the funding that we are committed to, but more detail of our approach to that and the other issues raised in the working group's report will be set out at the start of the year by the community secretary. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on increasing the sentences imposed for causing death by dangerous driving. Those who drive dangerously and kill people ruin lives, not just of those who die, but of their families and friends as well. The UK Government is currently consulting on whether courts should have increased powers to deal with such offenders, while increasing available penalties can never compensate for the loss of a family member or friend. Increasing penalties may help to discourage people from driving dangerously in the first place. Of course, this area of law is not devolved in Scotland and I would encourage all those with views in this important area to respond to the UK Government's consultation. I thank the First Minister for her response. Whilst there is a review on going, is the Scottish Government aware of the Falkirk Herald's campaign Drive for Justice and will it support the campaign's aims of increased sentences for the worst offenders, longer driving bans for those who risk causing death and serious injury in the loophole that exists where a drink driver often gets a shorter sentence if they flee the scene of the accident and a review of the number of drivers who cause death whilst driving and are charged with the lesser offence of careless driving? I would endorse the Falkirk Herald's campaign. It is very important to raise awareness of the dangers associated with anybody driving a car dangerously. It is also perfectly legitimate to campaign for tougher sentences, although, of course, sentencing is always a matter for the courts for anybody who kills somebody while driving dangerously. Some of the issues that the member has raised as part of the Falkirk Herald's campaign are, of course, the issues that are being looked at in the UK Government's consultation, which is why I would encourage everybody—not just in this Parliament but across the country—to respond to that consultation. I do think that there is a strong case for toughening up the sentences that are available to the courts in these circumstances, and I hope very much that that will be the direction of travel that the UK Government takes once they have had the opportunity to consider the responses to the consultation. Question 7, Jackie Baillie. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recent revised growth forecast by the Ernst and Young Scottish item club. First Minister. The EY item club's recent growth forecast for Scotland signals a weaker outlook for the Scottish economy than forecast in June prior to the EU referendum. The report is clear that the EU referendum result has had an immediate impact on economic and business confidence in Scotland from which slower growth is expected over the next couple of years. That is why the Government's immediate focus is on seeking to safeguard Scotland's place in Europe and our membership of the single market to protect us from the negative economic impacts of Brexit, which I think are becoming clearer by the day. Given that now every economic forecaster has revised their growth projections downward and growth is expected to be even slower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, will the First Minister order a review of the economic strategy that was published in March 2015 and the inward investment strategy that was published in March 2016, both of which were before Brexit to reflect the challenging market conditions for our businesses? Jackie Baillie raises reasonable points. We keep our economic strategy under review on an on-going basis, as I think people would expect us to do. We are looking particularly closely at some of the aspects of the economic strategy in light of Brexit, and our budget next week will set out our plans to ensure that Scotland is a competitive place to do business and that we are absolutely focusing on growth in our economy. Of course, the skills and enterprise review is also very much about making sure that all of our agencies working in this area are working in a co-ordinated and comprehensive way to take forward the economic strategy. We will continue to review and keep under consideration that strategy so that we have the right measures in place. The economy secretary will be very happy to discuss it with any member of the chamber in more detail. Murdo Fraser, how will making Scotland the most highly taxed part of the United Kingdom help our economy to grow? I intend to make sure that we have fair and balanced taxation for individuals and for companies in this country. One of the things that we are dealing with and imposed on is by the Tories is not just Brexit but, of course, deep cuts to public spending that impacts on this Government's budget. We will balance all of those things in our budget. We will make sure that we are focusing on growth but also on protecting our public services and protecting the most vulnerable in our society, because the Conservatives' policies are hitting the most vulnerable and making it harder to protect public services. The finance secretary next week will set out our budget, and that will be a budget that is in the interests of Scotland in all of those areas. 8. Christine Grahame Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government can take in light of Age Scotland's campaign to tackle loneliness during the festive season. First Minister. It is amazing that dealing with loneliness and isolation can be incredibly difficult, but at this time of year it is especially heartbreaking to think that many of our older neighbours will spend Christmas alone. That is why, on Monday of this week, I helped to launch Age Scotland's festive campaign. No one should have no one at Christmas. I would encourage people throughout Scotland to reach out to older people in their local communities. We are developing a national strategy to help to tackle the problems of loneliness and isolation. We have invested £0.5 million in a specific social isolation and loneliness fund, and our £20 million in power in communities fund currently supports seven projects that tackle social isolation that is experienced by older people. 1. Christine Grahame I thank the First Minister for her answer. Of course, we cannot leave everything to Government when personal neighbourly contact is important, but will that national strategy that the First Minister refers to consider the isolation that is experienced by older people who may have a concessionary bus pass but no transport, let alone buses, particularly in our rural areas such as in my constituency, borders and Midlothian, knowing that loneliness has serious implications for physical and mental health, money that is spent here could be money saved to the NHS as well as giving older people a better quality of life? Will that therefore have a place in that strategy? 1. Christine Grahame Christine Grahame raises a very pertinent point about the power of preventative spending. If we invest perhaps small amounts of money in tackling some of those problems, then we save even more money for the NHS local authorities and other services. She also raises very important points about those living in rural areas. For those living in rural areas, those issues of isolation are often more acute. In developing the national strategy that I spoke about, I can give Christine Grahame and the chamber an assurance that we will consider all those issues across Government so that we are as effectively as possible tackling those issues. 1. Christine Grahame That concludes First Minister's Questions. I thank all the party leaders for their thoughtful and touching remarks following the death of Alex Johnson, our colleague. As a mark of respect, our flags will be flang at half mass today. There will be an opportunity for members to pay their own tributes and mark of respects in a motion of condolence when that is scheduled. There will also be a book of condolence available after First Minister's Questions today in room P102. I know that members and staff will wish to add their names.