 Y First Item of Business is general questions about how a housing minister aims to improve the transparency, accessibility and reporting of home adaptation funding. Integration joint boards are responsible for the planning and delivery of adaptations. o dechrau'r lleidigfawr murd iaith ac i gydagolad o gydagolad. Mae'r gair iaith rhaid i ganddufu iaith o gyfasgwaith ac i gydagolad i gydagolad. Felly, mae'n rhaid i ddechrau'r gydagolad i i i gydagoladul ac i gydagoladu i i Isaac 전 Ddinsol i gydagolad, ond i sicr eu sicr yna sphysgolbu yn cyntafoliaid agwl Comen �org sefylltiadol o gydagolad, ond roi fod igylch yn gallu i gynghredu i gydagoladau i gydagoladau i gydagoladau. The Scottish Government publishes a range of information on expenditure on adaptations. Kezia Dugdale. I thank the minister for that answer. He is aware that the Scottish Government cash for home adaptations has been frozen for seven years. Now that it has been absorbed into the IGBs, it is almost impossible to track the money in terms of the number of adaptations that take place or indeed the money that is spent. Given the clear link between the need for home adaptations and the demands on social care, does he agree that this urgently needs sorted out and we need to be able to follow the money and when can we expect to do that? I agree that we need to look at this in more depth and that is why the review that I talked about is taking place. Obviously the Scottish Government has provided £10 million a year over a number of years directly to RSLs for adaptations but primarily this is additional money. Primarily all of that rests with the IGBs. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeane Freeman and I want to make sure that this is done right, is as open and transparent as it possibly can be and that is why we agreed to undertake the review and I am sure that I will come back to Parliament or Ms Freeman will come back to Parliament with more in depth on that once that is completed. Graham Simpson to be followed by Stuart McMillan. Thanks, Kezia Dugdale is absolutely right. It is virtually impossible to follow the money under the current system and that needs to be sorted out but she mentioned that money for adaptations has been frozen at £10 million for seven years. That is a real terms decrease of over £1 million. Doesn't the minister not think that it is time to increase that amount? Minister. As I said to Ms Dugdale in my answer to her, this is additional money. The primary responsibility for the budgeting of adaptations rests with integrated joint boards. They are the ones who should be ensuring that people's needs are met in this particular area. In the last year that we have figures for, 2016-17, the total reported spend by IGBs was £38.413 million. I want to make sure that people know where the money is being spent. That is why we have agreed to undertake the review and that is why we have gone ahead with it. That is the right thing to do. Stuart McMillan. I would be grateful if the minister could inform me if he had any discussions with the Scottish War Blinded, who has various numbers of grants and funds available to help particularly people from the armed forces community who are blind and visually impaired. Minister. I am aware of the excellent work of the Scottish War Blinded and other veterans charities in supporting and delivering services to disabled veterans across Scotland. The Government's housing voluntary sector grant supports third sector organisations that are committed to helping disabled people to live independently at home. For example, Housing Options Scotland operates military matters that focus on housing matters that affect service personnel, veterans and their families. Jeremy Balfour. To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Transport Scotland requires disabled people to renew their national entitlement card every three years, including when they have a disability that is permanent or progressive. Renews during the grounds of disability as documentary evidence is required to show that the person remains eligible to access the scheme. While there are some conditions that will be permanent, in the majority of cases circumstances can change. I appreciate that renewal may be an inconvenience for those with a condition. However, those measures are designed to ensure that only those people who are eligible have access to the scheme. Stuart McMillan. When we are Transport Scotland about the policy, we said that it was to ensure fairness for all disabled people who are treated fairly. However, how does a costly, demeaning and unnecessarily process fit with the Scottish Government's ethos of treating people with dignity and respect? The member will be aware that the scheme does not operate on a condition-specific basis. Therefore, it has to operate in anechro fashion for the 1.4 million people who have access to the existing national entitlement card, which is to ensure that it is only applied to those who are entitled to it. The member should also be aware, because he certainly did not reflect that in his supplementary question, that the renewal process is a simplified process, which is very different from the re-application process in order to reduce the burden for individuals who are seeking to have a renewal of their card. The process has been simplified in order to make it much easier for those who are seeking renewal. Kenneth Gibson. I have a constituent born with disability so severe that, throughout her life, she has been incapable of work or forming meaningful relationships. Her sibling deals with other things for her, yet the UK Tory Government has subjected her to nine employment support allowance work capability assessments over the years. Even at 62, she was summoned to appear at job centre plus in air many miles from her home for another. In this light, does the cabinet secretary agree that it takes a shocking lack of self-awareness for Tory MSPs to come to the chamber and complain about national entitlement card renewal terms? That question is rather wider than marked, so it is a very brief response, Mr Minister. I think that it is an utter disgrace that constituents such as Kenneth Gibson have been put through such a degrading process. The process that was used by the DWP is in no way similar to the process that we use for the national entitlement card, which is a simplified process in order to make sure that it is a dignified process for those who are applying for it. To ask the Scottish Government what information it can provide regarding the findings of Police Scotland's recent visit to Vietnam. Since 2014, Vietnamese nationals have been the most frequently reported potential victims of trafficking through the national ferro mechanism in Scotland. Labour exploitation was the most common exploitation type for both adults and children, but experience of multiple exploitation appears common in transit and on arrival. The national human trafficking unit was invited by every child protected against trafficking to participate in a two-part best practice exchange with Vietnam. Police Scotland met representatives from the Vietnamese police. The Ministry of Public Security discussed options for collaborative work in furtherance of the recently signed MOU between the UK Government and the Vietnamese Government. Jenny Marra Children arrive in Scotland from Vietnam on their own with no parent or anyone to look after them. Traffic is here to be exploited sexually for their labour in nail bars and in cannabis farms in Scotland. Unaccompanied children are extremely vulnerable. That is why the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act provided that the Scottish guardianship service would step in to give those children legal protection. Three and a half years on, the Scottish Government has not yet enacted that provision. Vietnamese and other traffic children still do not have a Scottish legal guardian that this Government promised them. Why is this, cabinet secretary? If you commit today to enacting section 11, will you also please meet me to discuss the scope of section 11? As there are concerns that the Government will interpret it too narrowly and the will of Parliament to protect vulnerable children will not be fully realised by your Government? Can I first recognise the work that Jenny Marra has done in the interests that she has taken in this issue? We are very proud of breaking that legislation on independent child trafficking and guardian, which will take forward in section 11. What I would say to Jenny Marra is that I will meet her and the Minister for Children and Early Years will be happy to meet her, who is leading on this particular section of the act. I have some issue with the characterisation of the support. There is support available for unaccompanied children. It is through the Scottish guardianship service. I have visited that service, which is provided by the Scottish Refugee Council in Aberlour. Of course, it gets £300,000 of Scottish Government funding. That has worked with almost 400 young people since the inception in 2010. Let us not make the assumption that there is no support there for young people. That point that Jenny Marra raises is a very valid one. She asked me to meet her because she has issues in and around the scope of section 11. It has taken a bit longer to draft the consultation, but that consultation will be ready to go out in section 11 in spring. If she wishes to meet me or the Minister for Children and Early Years, once that consultation has gone out or before that, we will be happy to have that conversation. 4. Alison Harris To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce abuse against elderly people. I thank Alison Harris for that question. Abuse in her communities is unacceptable. No person should ever be subject to any form of abuse. We have made the ill treatment and willful neglect of adults receiving health and social care of criminal offence and are currently consulting on the hate crime legislation, including the introduction of a statutory sentencing aggravation of age-related hostility. I thank you for that answer. Recently, in my region, several elderly people were abused by a member of staff at a care home facility. That ranged from degrading humiliation to physical abuse. No one should have to go through that, and elderly people are particularly vulnerable. However, the culprit was only sentenced to 90 hours of unpaid work. Does the minister agree with me that crimes like that should be treated more seriously? Absolutely. That is the reason why, in my opening remarks, I explained to Alison Harris that we are currently consulting on an age-related hostility aggravation in the hate crime legislation. She will know that the Care Commission has done some work around that. Also that everyone in Scotland has a right to a safe, compassionate, high-quality care that meets their needs and respects their rights. In respect of those rights, we have to look at what Lord Bracadale has recommended in his work that he has done for us and consult on that. I encourage every member in here to encourage their local people to get involved in that consultation so that we can take forward some of the issues that older people face when it comes to vulnerability, hostility and the hate crime around their age. David Stewart will be well aware that action and elder abuse gave evidence to the Justice Committee in February. They believe that the real reason older people are targeted is due to the perceived vulnerability. Is Scotland meeting its international human rights commitments towards older people? Finally, should there be a specific offence of elder abuse? I thank David Stewart for that question and it ties into the answer to the last question. Vulnerability is a very clear theme that we are working on through Lord Bracadale's recommendations. He recognised that older people can be targeted and perpetrators can target them because of the perception of their age and vulnerability. Vulnerability is a very clear aspect in where we are looking at. The consultation is looked at age-related hostility, and it is about age and vulnerability. We are very happy to hear any other comments that he has on that, but we are taking that forward with a serious mind. Neil Findlay To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the Scottish Prison Service carries out of prisoners when they are first convicted. Every person who is received into a Scottish prison, whether on remand or conviction, is subject to a multi-tiered assessment process. They will get a reception risk assessment conducted by SPS staff. That identifies immediate requirements and risks relating to social care, self-harm and addictions. They will get a healthcare assessment, which is carried out by NHS professionals. For those who are serving more than seven days, they will get a further core screen, which is conducted. Individuals are also asked if they have children or dependents and whether they have served in the military. Neil Findlay The prison population is very disproportionately made up of people who, on conviction, are in poverty, experience and addiction or homelessness, yet the Scottish Prison Service, nor the Scottish Government, can tell us how many people were in those circumstances prior to going to prison. How can we possibly address those very serious issues when we have no idea of the extent of the problem? I thank Neil Findlay for raising the question again. I take some issue with the characterisation, but I think that the general point that Neil Findlay is making is a very valid one. There are a lot of people in our prisons who have addictions, who have issues around their housing situation, who have issues around their mental health. Frankly, when it comes to those issues, if they were addressed, they would probably not be veering into the criminal justice system at all. We have a shared responsibility, and of course the Government takes that responsibility on looking at interventions before they get into the criminal justice system to deal with those issues. The second point that Neil Findlay raises is that we need to get better at the information sharing between social work, between the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, between the Scottish Prison Service and other agencies. To give him the reassurance, I have asked for a meeting of those agencies and, indeed, for our justice board, which makes up those stakeholders and many more, to examine that information sharing. The more information that we have in an individual, the better our interventions can be, the better our interventions, the more chance there is of rehabilitation, the more chance there is of rehabilitation, the less chance there is of victims and of crime. Therefore, we have safer communities for all. Liam McArthur The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport has acknowledged that mental health checks in our prisons are essential, yet only two mental health professionals have been added to the prison workforce since more were promised in March 2017. In the meantime, both the prison population and self-harm incidents have soared. Is the Cabinet Secretary concerned that we may have seen a decrease per head in access to mental health services in our prisons and how many of the 800 extra-mental health workers will be allocated to the prison estate? Liam McArthur I thank Liam McArthur for raising the question and again for his interest in the issue. I will try to give him a couple of reassurances. The first is to say that the processes that the Scottish Parliament has in relation to identifying practices of self-harm has greatly improved. In 2017, there was a further quality assurance process and it would be fair to say that some of the rising numbers that we see are actually because the reporting mechanism is a lot better perhaps than in previous years. However, that is not to say that there are not issues in around self-harm in our prison. We are dealing with often very complex issues and complex individuals. Myself, the health secretary and the Minister for Mental Health have a regular conversation about the needs in prisons. It is, of course, as he will know, a mental health review taking place, which will look at mental health provision in prisons. However, what I would say to him is that it is a specific issue of our young people. He will be aware that there is a review on going in-pollment in relation to the mental health provision therein. Of course, I will report to Parliament once that review has been completed. Clare Baker To ask the Scottish Government when it last met ScotRail and what issues were discussed. Michael Matheson I last met Alex Hynes, managing director of ScotRail Alliance on 23 January. I will meet him on 24 April. My officials remain in regular and constantly he is on with ScotRail about a full range of operational issues that are required to be delivered by ScotRail. Clare Baker The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport may be aware of the packed public meeting in Kirkcaldy a few weeks ago, organised by Lesley Laird MP with Alex Hynes from ScotRail, where five travellers strongly expressed their frustration and their anger with delayed, cancelled and overcrowded trains. Commuters were told at this meeting not to expect the peak-time service to return to normal until at least December. Does the cabinet secretary accept that five commuters are being badly let down by this appalling service? Will he work with ScotRail to deliver a cut in fares until services return to normal in recognition of the unacceptable service that fifers are experiencing? Michael Matheson The member will be aware that we have raised concerns with ScotRail regarding its performance on the five-circle and on other parts of the network in Scotland, which is why we triggered the issue of a remedial notice that was issued to ScotRail on 24 December, which now requires it to bring forward a remedial plan that has been submitted to the Scottish Government to transport Scotland to be considered. We are now at the very advanced stages of entering that into an remedial agreement. That is specifically about addressing the concerns that her constituents and others who have experienced disruption with ScotRail's performance that those issues are addressed on a consistent, on-going basis. A key part of that is about making sure that they get access to the rolling stock, which will help to improve performance, including additional capacity on routes such as Fife, which has been delayed because of failures by Wabtec to have the refurbishment work carried out and the delays that were caused by Hitachi in the delivery of the new 385 trains, all of which have had a systematic impact on the process. However, notwithstanding that, it is important that we make sure that ScotRail has been held to account through the contract that it has with us for providing rail services. That is exactly what the remedial plan is about doing, and we will publish details of that in the coming days. Annabelle Ewing Thank you, Presiding Officer. The cabinet secretary will indeed be aware from my regular correspondence with him that my constituents—I have to say this quite frankly—are absolutely fed up with ScotRail's five-circle service. Has the cabinet secretary in fact received any up-to-date information from ScotRail, who is responsible for this mess, that would indicate that there is indeed any light at the end of the tunnel? I fully recognise the frustration that our constituents have over a consistent period of time of poor performance across the five-circle service. As I mentioned in my earlier response, that is one of the reasons why we triggered the issuing of remedial notice to ScotRail in order to develop a remedial plan, not to address the very issues that our constituents are experiencing. We are now at the very advanced stage of entering into that remedial agreement with ScotRail in order to make sure that it is effectively implemented and addresses the types of concerns that our constituents have, and we will announce more details of that in the coming days. Thank you very much, and that concludes general questions. Before we move on to First Minister's questions, I invite members to join me in welcoming to our gallery Talat Zafari MP, president of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia.