 That concludes General Questions. The next item of business is First Ministers Questions. At question number one, I call Douglas Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I start with how we are now regularly starting to do these proceedings by wishing Steve Clark and the team the very best tonight. It is a major game, as the Scottish National Men's Team are now just two matches away from potentially qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. I know the whole Parliament will wish them well, the players on the pitch, the manager, the team around them and of course the outstanding tartan army who will be roaring them on to victory tonight and we wish them all the very best. Can I ask the First Minister in the middle of the cost of living crisis with so many families struggling, why is her Government allocating another £20 million for an independence referendum? First Minister, can I also begin by taking the opportunity to wish Steve Clark and the team every success at Hamden this evening? I'll be there, cheering on Scotland. We all want Scotland to win and to qualify for the first World Cup we would be at in a long, long time. That said, I think I can speak for everybody at Hamden this evening when I say that no matter how strongly we will be supporting Scotland, a bit of all of our hearts will be with Ukraine as we continue to stand in solidarity with Ukraine in this hour of need. Just as the tartan army this evening will, as it always does, belt out flour of Scotland, I hope that we also stand and show real passion for the Ukraine national anthem as well this evening. Good luck to Steve and to the team. Can I also take the opportunity to thank Douglas Ross warmly for giving me the opportunity today to set out exactly why giving the people of Scotland an opportunity to choose a better future is so important at this particular moment in time? The resource spending review that Kate Forbes set out yesterday in many ways sets out the very heavy price that people across Scotland are paying right now for continued Westminster decision making. UK Government decisions have cut our budget this year by more than 5 per cent in real terms. They will constrain growth in our budget over the next four years to 2 per cent while inflation is close to 10 per cent. Inflation in the UK, of course, which, thanks to the folly of Brexit, is the highest of any G7 country. Every year right now, the Scottish Government is having to invest more than £700 million mitigating the impact of Westminster policies that Scotland did not vote for—the bedroom tax, the rape clause, the removal of universal credit, plunging more people into poverty. I think that £20 million, 0.05 per cent, one-half of one-tenth of one per cent of the entire Scottish Government budget, to give the people of this country the opportunity to choose a better future is and will be a really good investment. The First Minister's answer never once mentioned the cost of living crisis that Scots are facing right now. Never once even attempted to address that issue. She gets very excited, very animated speaking about independence and dividing her country all over again, but not a single word to the people struggling right now who do not understand by her Government prioritising another independent referendum, because spending £20 million on a divisive referendum in the middle of a cost of living crisis is shameful. Nicola Sturgeon's eye is off the ball all over again. She is obsessing about independence when people across Scotland overwhelmingly want the focus— Let's look at that in £20 million. That could pay for more police officers, more teachers, more nurses. It could pay for more support for people facing rising energy bills and higher costs of living. The First Minister's answer is yes. She is obsessing about independence when people across Scotland overwhelmingly want the focus to be on the issues that matter to them. Let's look at that in £20 million. That could pay for more police officers, more teachers and more nurses. It could pay for more support for people facing rising energy bills and higher costs of living. Charging ahead with a plan to divide us is a wrong priority when now more than ever we need to pull together using the strength and security that we get as part of the United Kingdom to see us through the cost of living crisis just like it saw us through the Covid pandemic. First Minister, just how much worse does the cost of living crisis have to get for individuals right across Scotland before you will divert money away from an independence referendum? Douglas Ross stood up and said, I didn't mention the cost of living crisis. Can I suggest that Douglas Ross might want to consider what it is that is causing the cost of living crisis? It is soaring inflation. As I said in my answer, inflation that in the UK, thanks in large part to the utter folly of Brexit imposed upon Scotland by Tory Governments, is the highest of any G7 country. That is part of the price of Westminster government. It is a Tory created cost of living crisis. How much worse does it have to get before the Conservatives take it seriously and provide real proper help to people across this country? Douglas Ross stands here and asks me about £20 million, as I said, one half of one tenth of one per cent of the entire Scottish budget to give the people of this country the option of a better future. Douglas Ross never stands here, as he should and apologises for the fact that this Government every year is required to invest more than £700 million to mitigate Tory policies that we in Scotland do not vote for. That is to mitigate the awful rape clause imposed on Scotland by the Tories. That is to mitigate the awful bedroom tax imposed on Scotland by the Tories. That is to mitigate the poverty that Tory policies are plunging so many people into. To mitigate the austerity that we heard the Glasgow Centre for Population Health Research say has caused a stalling in improved life expectancy in Scotland and across the UK. I think that £20 million to give Scotland the choice of a better future, a Tory free future, is a good investment. If we look at the opinion poll, I suspect that Scotland is well on the way back to being Tory free anyway. Can we say this? Let's remind ourselves that, thanks to this Government, we have more police officers in Scotland. Thanks to this Government, we have more primary school teachers at any time since 1980, so I will get on with the job of delivering for Scotland. Yes, I hope that freeing Scotland from continued Westminster Tory government. The First Minister now just makes it up as she goes along. She is saying that the UK Government is doing nothing to help people. £37 billion investment in this country to help those who are struggling. 8 million people of the lowest earners across Scotland will get at least £1,200 in additional support announced by the Chancellor just last week. Despite what the First Minister tried to say in her first answer, we know that her Government has received the biggest block grant from the UK Government ever. They have squandered it. The spending review shows the real cost of the SNP's failures for the Scottish public. A fortune wasted on ferries, on bi-fa, on presswick airport, failures at Queen Elizabeth hospital, the list goes on and on and on. The consequences of those failures for our country are devastating. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that the next few years will mean, and I quote from them, really big cuts in planned spending on public services. First Minister, because of your Government's failures, we are facing severe cuts to budgets for the police, prisons, schools, councils, rural affairs, enterprise, tourism and higher education. Scotland is paying the price for Nicola Sturgeon's mistakes. The spending review was damning. Doesn't that all show that we are facing the worst financial outlook from a Scottish Government since devolution? First Minister, let's first look at the help that was announced by the Chancellor last week. I'll say in passing that it is deeply regrettable that it took yet again the party-gate crisis that Boris Johnson wanted to divert attention from for the Chancellor to lift a single finger. If you take the universal support, the £400 welcome, though that is, it is a fraction of the projected increase in energy costs that families across the country are facing. You take the support for the lowest-income families, again, very welcome, but it doesn't even come close to putting back the £1,000 taken out of the pockets of the lowest-income families given the clawback of the universal credit £20 a week. There is much, much more needs to be done from the UK Government. Secondly, on the Scottish Government's block grant, it wouldn't be better if we had responsibility for raising our own revenue rather than having to rely on a block grant from someone else. Douglas Ross says that it is the biggest ever. This year, Scotland's budget, because of Westminster Tory decisions, is reduced in real terms by 5.2 per cent. If that is the biggest ever, I am not sure that is much for the Tories to crow about. Next, Douglas Ross says that spending money to save BiFab, to save Ferguson's, to save Presswick Airport is wasted money. I think that says everything that we need to know about the Tory approach to jobs. They don't care about people's jobs. Yesterday, finally, Kate Forbes set out ambitious plans to back our priorities of tackling child poverty, of protecting public services, of moving to net zero and supporting the economy. Do I wish that we had more money to allocate? Yes, I do. However, this Government's budget is largely determined by decisions taken by the Tories. Therefore, everything that Douglas Ross has just said actually makes the argument, doesn't detract from the argument, it makes the argument for this Parliament, this country becoming independent. Stop running from your failures and start to own them. This blaming the Westminster bogeyman doesn't cut it with the public who are struggling because your decisions are devastating for the people of Scotland. The SNP, the Scottish Government are the ones running our finances into the ground. All that we have heard from the First Minister today is that they have cash for another referendum, but cuts for Scotland's public services. The most damaging cuts are going to be on Scotland's young people. The First Minister used to grandstand and said that she would close the attainment gap between rich and poor. How is that going, First Minister? She promised to make education her number one priority. How is that going, First Minister? The Scottish public were told to judge her on education, while she's failed and now she's given up even trying. The education budget is being slashed to the bone. The First Minister likes to talk about Scotland's future. Will we want money invested in Scotland's future, but on schools not on separation? First Minister, why put £20 million behind your push for another referendum when it could be spent on delivering opportunities for our young people across Scotland? First Minister, it is a fact that the size of this Parliament's budget is largely decided by decisions taken at Westminster. If Douglas Ross does not like the outcome of that, perhaps he should have a word with his bosses at Westminster or better still support this Parliament and this country having full financial responsibility. Y First Minister asked me how is the work to close the attainment gap in education going. I'm delighted to give him a progress report on that today and he doesn't have to take my word for it. Let me quote the commissioner for fair access just yesterday talking about the progress in closing the attainment gap in access to university. What the commissioner said is that the work of the Scottish Government has been, and I am quoting, an unambiguous success. Scotland is now leading the UK. So there's your progress report on education. Of course, Presiding Officer, we know the real reason for all of Douglas Ross' bluster today. Y First Minister, if I may stop you a moment. I have already asked for members to resist the urge to make a contribution when it is not their turn to speak. I would be grateful if you could bear that in mind. Y First Minister, if spending £20 million wins this country a better future, a future where we don't have to spend £700 million mitigating Tory policies, then yes, that is a good investment. The reason for Douglas Ross' bluster is that we know that the Tories and Douglas Ross are not very popular among the Scottish people, but we now know, as of this week, that Douglas Ross has never been less popular with Conservative voters. He's now, for the first time, got negative approval ratings. Douglas Ross is in the unenviable position, Presiding Officer, of the only Tory who is less popular among Conservative voters than Douglas Ross is Boris Johnson. No wonder that he's in a bit of a state today. Y First Minister, if any other country in the world supports Ukraine, I would support them too. However, as they are playing us, I will cheer on Scotland and the Tartan army. I wish Steve Clark, Andy Robertson and the entire Scotland men's football team all the very best for tonight that they can take us to a World Cup. Presiding Officer, can the First Minister tell the chamber how many people were on an NHS waiting list a year into an SNP Government, pre-pandemic in March 2020, and how many Scots are on an NHS waiting list now? I'll provide the precise figures. I don't have them to hand. What I do know is that there are more people on NHS waiting lists now, post-pandemic, than will have been the case at many points over recent years. That is the case not only in Scotland but across the UK and across much of the world because of the pressures of Covid. I also know that, before the pandemic, there was significant progress being made in reducing waiting times. If we take out patients, for example, before the pandemic, the number waiting for a first outpatient appointment had reduced by 21.3 per cent. Over the same period, the number waiting for over 12 weeks for an outpatient appointment had fallen by more than 30 per cent. More appointments had been carried out in terms of the inpatient treatment time guarantee and the number waiting over six weeks for one of the eight diagnostic tests were down 25 per cent. That is the progress that was being made that has been clearly set back by the pandemic, which is why our recovery plan and the significant additional investment going into the NHS is so important. The First Minister needs to send me the stats that I have for her right here. The answer that the First Minister was looking for was that there were over 260,000 people on an NHS waiting list a year into an SNP Government. That had risen to almost 420,000 on a waiting list pre-pandemic in March 2020. Today, that stands at over 708,000 people, one in eight Scots on an NHS waiting list. The First Minister references the recovery plan or catch-up plan. Surely catch-up means that the number waiting would go down instead of going up, but there are nearly 60,000 more people on an NHS waiting list compared to when the Government announced the catch-up plan back in August. Let me try another one. How many people were waiting over a year for inpatient treatment when the First Minister took office and how many people are waiting over a year today? There are more people waiting over a year today, and I think that most people understand that that is because of the impact of the pandemic. In fact, the latest quarterly figures show an increase in people seen inpatients, outpatients and diagnostic procedures compared to the previous quarter, which again shows the impact of the improvement and catch-up work that is being done. Of course, we are still in a much better position, but we are still in a pandemic. Since the recovery plan was published, we have had another wave of the pandemic. I think that people understand the impact that that is having on our NHS, but they also see the increased number of people working in our NHS, they see the increased investment in our NHS, and they will start to see the increase in numbers seen. However, regardless of what party is in Government across the UK, SNP in Scotland, the Tories in England and Labour in Wales, the NHS is facing the same challenges. On many of those measures, the NHS in Scotland is doing better than the other UK nations. I have already referenced to the First Minister that the figures are going up since the catch-up plan, not coming down in terms of those all waiting lists. As is typical when the First Minister is struggling, she wants to talk about Wales. I remind her that she is paid to care about the people of Scotland because she is Scotland's First Minister. Here is the answer that the First Minister could not give or does not want to give. Let us remember that there is a legal guarantee of treatment for treatment within 12 weeks. The number of people waiting over a year when Nicola Sturgeon took office was 21. As of today, that number is over 30,000 of our fellow Scots waiting over a year—not the legal 12 weeks waiting over a year—for inpatient treatment, like a hip replacement, a knee replacement or a heart operation. Let us look at Nicola Sturgeon's record on the NHS. She has broken her own treatment time law 490,000 times. She has cut over 4,000 beds out of our NHS. On her watch, we now have record vacancies for nurses and midwives. We are 6,000 nurses and midwives short. This is a litany of failures—a black hole in our public finances, railways that do not run, ferries that do not sail and soaring waiting lists in our NHS. Which one is Nicola Sturgeon most ashamed of? I am proud of the work that this Government does to support the NHS. I am proud of the fact that there are thousands more people working in our NHS and I am proud of the fact that the NHS budget has increased by about 90 per cent in cash terms since this Government took office. Anna Sarwar must be literally the only person in the country, perhaps the only person on the planet that does not understand or is not willing to understand the impact of a global pandemic on health services in Scotland and around the world. We were seeing significant improvements before the pandemic. The pandemic, when we literally had to pause surgery and other treatments in the NHS, has clearly set that back. Now we are investing and introducing the initiatives to catch up on that progress. Anna Sarwar also mentions beds. I know that he does not like comparisons to Wales when they do not suit him. However, there are a college of emergency medicine who were talking about bed numbers this week and said important things. He also pointed out that Scotland has a higher number of beds per head of population than Wales and England. Yes, we have lots of work to do, but we have a better foundation to build on than where Labour is in government in the rest of the UK. We will now move to constituency and general supplementaries, and I call Eleanor Wittam. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I ask for the First Minister's response to the research that she referenced earlier, published by Glasgow University in the Glasgow Centre for Population Health yesterday, which has suggested that people across the UK are dying younger as a result of UK government austerity? It is appalling and it displays and gives evidence for what I think many of us have suspected is the case over some time now. What the researchers at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health found is, and I am quoting here, that austerity is highly likely to be the most substantial causal contributor to the solved mortality trend seen in Scotland and across the UK. It is down to Tory austerity. Tory austerity was kicked off by Labour under the last Labour government, and we now see the impact of that on people across the country, which is another reason for wanting to get a better future for Scotland. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, there is an inequality across my region when it comes to supporting children with complex needs during the summer. Robin Holland from the National Autistic Society Scotland has said that the lack of services heaps further pressure on families and risks pushing them to breaking point. The availability of short-time break services should not be wholly reliant on where autistic children live. What action is the Scottish Government putting in place to rectify this postcode lottery for which autistic children have to endure? I agree with the member that children with autism should have access to good services, regardless of where they live in Scotland. Of course, we would expect to see local authorities ensure that that is the case. Our duty, which is one that we take seriously, is to support local authorities financially and in other ways. I am happy to ask the education secretary to look at the situation in the region that the member represents and write to him in greater detail. I hope that all local authorities take the responsibility to support children to catch up their education very seriously. This morning, we learned that the number of people suffering from long Covid has risen to 155,000. That is almost one in 30 Scots. Last weekend, Dr Kevin Dean told BBC Scotland that the need for long Covid clinics was absolute and it was urgent. We cannot not do this, he said. His intervention destroys the baffling arguments from SNP and green benches that clinics would somehow get in the way of support. Presiding Officer, the First Minister is devoting twice as much money to her referendum as she is to this awful condition. What does she have to say to the 155,000 sufferers, many of whom are children, and will she revisit the issue of long Covid clinics today? The first thing that I would say is that Alec Cole-Hamilton should not certainly misrepresent my position here. I have not said that clinics get in the way of other support. The argument that I have made that I will continue to make is that there is a range of support that health boards need to put in place and long Covid clinics may well be part of that and that is for health boards to consider. We will continue to provide funding for health boards and support for health boards, including research support to enable clinicians and others to continue to develop their understanding of long Covid and the impact that it has. That is something that we do take seriously and we will continue to take seriously. Given that Alec Cole-Hamilton is right to point this out, the significant numbers of people who are living with long Covid and who are likely to continue to do so for much time to come. Last May, the SNP Government pledged a replacement for the Erasmus scheme to ensure that over 15,000 students every year from across Scotland have the chance to experience life, learning and culture abroad. The First Minister has described the removal of the scheme as cultural vandalism. The Welsh Labour replacement scheme starts this September. I know that the First Minister is very keen on the comparison. The spending review yesterday confirms that the SNP scheme will not open until 2026. Five years after the promise was made, how can the First Minister justify this astonishing delay to the 75,000 Scots who will miss out forever? I am not sure if that was a leadership bid that was being launched by Michael Marra, or if it was an entirely inadvertent attempt to undermine his leader, who has just told me that we should never talk about Wales in this chamber. Perhaps Michael Marra will want to clarify that in the future. I can say this unashamedly. We have, and we will continue to look at the example in Wales. We remain committed to an alternative to Erasmus, and we will set out further details of that in due course. I tell you what else I am committed to. That is to see Scotland rejoin the European Union as an independent nation, so that we do not have to have a second best alternative to Erasmus. We can be back in the actual Erasmus scheme benefitting young people for generations to come. There are eight higher and further education institutes, nine including the Open University, in my constituency of Glasgow Kelvin. As a former teacher, access to higher education and increasing opportunities is a cause that is close to my heart. The schools and colleges are finishing this year's national qualifications exam diet. Can I ask the First Minister for her response to the report published yesterday by the Commissioner for Fair Access? It is, of course, this Government's ambition that every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of going to university, so I very much welcome Sir Peter Scott's recognition of the excellent progress that has been made. Indeed, I appreciate his role in delivering that outcome. Let me acknowledge, since this was his final report yesterday, that I want to acknowledge my thanks for his commitment during his time as commissioner in progressing access to higher education for those from the most deprived areas. The number of entrants on full-time first-year courses from the 20 per cent most deprived communities has increased 39 per cent since Sir Peter Scott took on his role, and the Scottish Government will consider all of his recommendations carefully and respond in due course. University of Scotland has warned that eight of Scotland's universities are set to receive cuts to research funding this year, with four high-performing research institutions facing a decrease of greater than £1 million from August. Can I ask the First Minister, with 85 per cent of Scottish research being rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, why is her Government cutting funding to this vital work? First, we will continue to support fair access to our universities, and we will continue to support the world-leading research that happens in our universities. It is a bit galling to hear a Conservative member stand here and talk about the threats to university research when the biggest threat and the reality for universities has been that Brexit has damaged their research potential. Perhaps the Conservatives want to look to themselves before they start raising questions for others on university research. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I recently raised with the First Minister the case of a constituent who had waited seven months to be diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. We now hear from the ICBP and Cancer Research UK that almost two-fifth of cancer in Scotland are only being diagnosed at A&D. I hear this week from Miloma UK that in the case of Miloma, this can be up to the third. How can the Scottish Government reassure my constituents that they will not be made to wait dangerously long for cancer diagnosis? We are already investing in early diagnostic centres for cancer, and we have the detect cancer early programme that we have invested in for some time and continue to invest in. I absolutely agree with the member that early diagnosis for all cancers is vital, and it is really important that we do everything to support that. We also encourage people who have symptoms that could be indicative of cancer to come forward to see a doctor as quickly as possible. We will continue to do everything possible to support that early access, because we know that the earlier somebody is diagnosed, the better chances they have of survival and recovery. The First Minister will be aware of the long-running campaign to prevent Yorkshire theme park operators from England from developing what they described as a luxury tourist resort on the banks of Loch Oman at Baloch. Our successful campaign to defeat their first applications saw records of 60,000 objections lodged, citing damage to ancient woodland, risk to protected species, strain on local roads, access to local residents and a range of other concerns. Sadly, from England or back, having just lodged a new application, does the First Minister agree that our national parks are for all of us and that it would be unacceptable for one of the most accessible locations on Loch Lomond to be closed off to all but the select few who will pay to stay at this resort? Obviously, Loch Lomond and the Trossacks national park authority is responsible for considering planning applications within the national park and therefore it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specifics of any planning application and indeed not helpful for me to do so. I do, however, note that any development must comply with Scottish planning policy and the local development plan for the national park and that any development must also be in keeping with the park authority statutory aims. It is for the park authority to fully consider the application and assess the balance between the impact of the proposed development on the environment with any potential benefits. 3. Stuart McMillan To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is regarding the impact on Scotland to the energy profits levy, commonly referred to as a windfall tax on the oil and gas sector to help support families that are struggling with the cost of the living crisis. After months of delay, the UK Government belatedly conceded the need for a windfall tax to help those struggling to make ends meet action that the Scottish Government had been urging them to take. However, we have also made the point that oil and gas companies are not alone in profiting from recent global events and that a windfall tax should apply to all companies posting significantly higher profits. The Chancellor's failure to implement this fairly now means that the Scottish industry is carrying a disproportionate burden of funding what is a UK-wide response. It also means that the support available is still far too limited. By widening out and using the fiscal headroom available, the Chancellor could have gone beyond one of measures and introduced long-term strategies such as, for example, introducing an equivalent of the Scottish child payment. I thank the First Minister for that reply. The First Minister gave with me that the limited actions last week by the times that Richelist Chancellor Rishis Sunak, although welcome, do not go anywhere near far enough, the Tory cost of the living crisis is real for millions across these islands, the food prices going up, which the ONS reported on this week, energy costs going up and expected to rise again in the autumn and at the same time the UK Government's Department for Work and Pensions have underpaid claimants by almost £3 billion. Does the First Minister give with me that the one thing that the windfall tax shows is the strength of the Scottish economy, as 90 per cent of the revenue raised in the levy will be drawn from the profits made in Scotland, meaning that, not for the first time, Scotland's resources are bankrolling the rest of the UK and demonstrating how much stronger position we would be in as an independent country? In fact, I may go as far as to say that the broad shoulders of Scotland are helping all of the UK at this time, but Stuart McMillan is absolutely right. He is absolutely right, firstly, and this is extremely serious, to say that the help announced by the Chancellor, welcome, though it was, does not go nearly far enough, given the inflationary cost of living pressures that people are facing right now, and I hope we see and hear very quickly further action from the Chancellor. He is also right to say that Scotland's economy, industry and resources are bearing a disproportionate burden to prop up the UK Government's policies. We called for a windfall tax, but I think that it would be better to see one that is fair and that applies to all companies that are benefiting from excess profits from current global events or from the pandemic. I think that the Chancellor has missed a trick with this watered down levy and, of course, left Scottish industry to put the bill for the whole of the UK, not for the first time. Liam Kerr. Energy profits levy will also encourage investment in and the development of new fields, like cambo. Does the First Minister agree that a growing and prosperous North Sea oil and gas sector is just what we need to support tens of thousands of jobs and fund the type of interventions to cut energy bills that she is just welcome? My position on cambo is well known, but what I think we need to see, of course, is greater investment in renewables. Scotland's potential in oil and gas over the past five decades is matched now, of course, by our potential in renewable energy, not least offshore wind. The Scottish Government is investing in that, and I think that it would be far better to see the UK Government follow suit. Murdo Fraser. To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government plans to address the reported potential spending gap of £3.5 billion in its budget by 2026-27. Of course, the spending review is balanced each year, so it is simply not true to claim that there is a £3.5 billion gap in our spending plans. What the spending review does show, however, is that in the face of rising inflation, our spending power will be significantly smaller in real terms than what was forecast just a few months ago. What makes matters significantly worse is that the Tory Government is denying Scotland both the powers and the resources to properly address that. Murdo Fraser. The Finance Secretary confirmed yesterday that the Scottish Government's budget is today around £7 billion higher than was being forecast just four years ago. That £7 billion extra from the UK Treasury that the Scottish Government was not expecting just four years ago. At the same time, both SPICE and the Institute for Fiscal Studies are telling us that we will see real terms cuts, thanks to the Scottish National Party Government's choices, real terms cuts of 8 per cent and more in the years ahead to education, to policing, to justice, to enterprise, to universities, to tourism, to trade promotion and to local government. How on earth did the Scottish National Party Government manage to turn an extra £7 billion from Westminster into such savage cuts? Murdo Fraser should probably think twice about quoting the IFS, since it had to take to Twitter this week to correct things that he was saying on social media. The facts are deeply uncomfortable and inconvenient for the Conservatives, but they continue to be the facts. This year, and I believe that those are Scottish Fiscal Commission figures, the Scottish budget in real terms is 5.2 per cent less than it was last year. Over the four years of the spending review, we will grow projected to grow in real terms by 2 per cent at a time when inflation is hitched. That is the reality. It is also the reality and the fact that the size of the Scottish Government's budget is largely determined by decisions taken at Westminster. If he wants the Scottish Government to have a bigger budget, I will say the same to him as I said to Douglas Ross. Either have a word with your bosses at Westminster or better still back this Parliament having full fiscal and financial control over our own budgets. To ask the First Minister what her position is on whether Scotland's census 2022 has been a credible exercise. Yes, it has. NRS is confident that the national return rate and coverage across the country, coupled with the normal planned post-collection quality control and assurance work, will provide credible high quality outputs. As I have said previously, NRS is working with a number of statisticians and experts in census and administrative data to help steer the work over the next few months. The support and advice from the steering group will help NRS to produce a high quality census dataset, one that will ultimately provide them with the right statistical output that they need to inform future service planning. When I asked the First Minister about the problems with this year's census last month, she said that questions would need to be asked, including about the credibility of this census. We clearly now need answers about the timing of the census, how it was conducted, resourced and its accessibility. However, now we know the response rate. Does the First Minister agree with my concerns that people on lower incomes will now be doubly hit, given the importance of census data in targeting resources to invest in communities and tackling inequalities, and given the lower rates of return in disadvantaged communities across Scotland, and what action will she take to ensure that people will not miss out? Of course, we will review experience and ensure that any lessons that are required to be learned are learned. I think that it is important to repeat that, but it is also the case that there is normal planned work that always follows the census, which is about the assurance of the credibility of the exercise. The SNRS is now focused on that planned post-collection quality control and assurance work. That includes the census coverage survey, which is the second largest social research exercise in Scotland after the census itself. That involves door-to-door interviews with a sample of around one and a half per cent of the Scottish population, about 50,000 households. That survey, alongside the use of other data, builds on the census returns so that the census outputs are representative of the whole of Scotland's population. That addresses the concern about those in our more deprived communities. An expert steering group of experts has been established by the Registrar General to help steer that work, and it is important that it now gets on with it. Latest SNRS numbers show that well over 1.5 million census field force address visits took place across Scotland in the lead-up to the deadline, demonstrating a vast mobilisation and an incredible effort on the doorstep. I met with some census field force last Friday morning in air and spent some time knocking on the doors and discussing the challenges that have faced in recent weeks. Can the First Minister join me in expressing immense gratitude to those field staff who endured that the return rate was as high and the data as sound as possible? I thank Siobhan Brown for her question, and I'm glad that he and she did take up the Registrar General's offer to meet with the very hard-working census field force. Over 1.66 million field force address visits took place, including some multiple visits, with field staff providing advice and support, leaving calling cards, providing paper forms to householders and supporting doorstep data capture. I want to add my thanks to the hundreds of field staff who have worked tirelessly over the past few months, mobilising across the country and providing invaluable support to the people of Scotland. Let me also take the opportunity to thank the nearly 2.3 million households who have completed the census. 6. Julian Mackay To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the finding of the Royal College of Emergence Medicine report's beds in the NHS, but since 2010, 4,227 hospital beds have been taken out of active service in NHS Scotland. We are committed to ensuring that the NHS has the right number of beds and staff to meet the needs of people across Scotland. We will continue to work with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and other front-line staff with the aim of reducing unnecessary lengths of stay and avoiding unnecessary admissions to help increase capacity in hospital for those people who require it. The Royal College acknowledges that bed numbers prior to the pandemic have reduced, and I am quoting, largely because of shortened hospital stay and the very real need to reduce the length of time that people stay in hospital and provide care for them in as homely or at home and environment as possible. The report examines bed reductions not only in Scotland but across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and finds that Scotland has the higher number of beds per head of population with 3.6 beds per 1,000 population compared to just 3.3 in Wales and just 2.2 in England. One of the biggest issues facing hospitals is staffing pressures, and Brexit has worsened matters. Dr John Paul Lowry, vice-chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said yesterday that across the whole acute system we have lost staff members who would have come to work in the UK or who have had to leave the UK because of the situation with Brexit. Does the First Minister agree with me that, at a time when the NHS is faced and continues to face unprecedented pressure, Brexit, which Scotland overwhelmingly rejected, has made those pressures so much worse? Can she outline how the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are working together to address the situation? Yes, I very much agree with that. Before I address the issue of staff shortages, let me just complete my answer in terms of bed numbers. It is important and a big responsibility of Government working with health boards to ensure that we have an appropriate number of beds in the national health service. Felly Mackay is absolutely right to say that one of the biggest challenges facing health and social care is staff shortages. Indeed, Dr Lowry described the situation as, and I am quoting again, a real problem and a real challenge. We should be in no doubt that Brexit has put unnecessary and harmful obstacles in the way of potential new members of staff joining from the European Union, particularly in relation to social care roles. We are working with NHS boards to support international recruitment to try and overcome the barriers that Brexit has put in our way. We are also investing £11 million in international recruitment over the course of this Parliament. Indeed, that has already delivered 191 internationally recruited nurses in the past year, with a pipeline of many more due to join. The average number of available staffed hospital beds in NHS Scotland is at its lowest level in a decade, decreasing by 10%. In NHS Grampian, the number of available staff beds has fallen by nearly 30%. That's a shocking figure. First Minister, what urgent steps will this Government take to restore beds in our NHS and boost capacity for patients in the north-east? Of course, as the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said, reducing bed numbers is largely because of shortened hospital stay. If you look at the average length of stay for hip replacements, that's fallen from just under 14 days to six and a half days. The average length of stay for knee replacements has fallen from 12.2 days to 5.7 days. Of course, for cataracts, which used to involve a hospital stay, they are now done on a day-case basis. It's important that we ensure that there is an appropriate number of beds in our NHS and we will continue to do that. Of course, as I've already said, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine also pointed out that Scotland has a higher number of beds per head of population than in Wales or in England, where the member's party is in government. There are big challenges in Scotland, but that suggests that this Government is getting to grips with those challenges better than we may see elsewhere. As the First Minister already knows, delayed discharge rates are soaring, with an increase of 8 per cent in March of this year, that's one in 10 beds occupied by people ready to be discharged. This is a result of continued failure by this Government to properly fund social care in Scotland and support the workforce. Does the First Minister accept that, if her Government was serious about freeing up bed capacity in our NHS, she would properly fund social care and show that she values social care workers and unpaid carers by committing to a proper workforce plan, decent terms and conditions and a wage of at least £15 an hour? I agree with much of the sentiment behind that question. It is vital that we have a good quality system of social care, because not only is that right for its own sake, that helps to reduce pressure on our national health service and that is crucial in terms of getting delayed discharges down. Of course, we are investing significantly in trying to reduce delayed discharges. We are also investing in hospital at home, for example. In terms of the social care workforce, to whom we owe an enormous debt of gratitude, there have been two pay increases for the social care workforce over the past year. Of course, all of us want to see that go further still. As I have just said in response to Gillian Mackay, that is also about underlying staff shortages that have been deeply exacerbated by Brexit, so we need to focus on how we overcome that as well as the other challenges that we continue to focus on.