 Thank you. That concludes General Questions. We're going to turn now to First Minister's questions number one, Ruth Davidson. Ruth Davidson 3. I'm not alone in having received correspondence in recent days from parents at St Ambrose and Buchanan High Schools in Cope Bridge, concerned about the environmental safety of the site. Teachers are currently out on strike and there are further reports in today's press detailing concerns raised a decade ago before the schools were built. I would like to examine some of the practical issues with the First Minister today. Will the Scottish Government confirm that its review will be wide enough in scope to examine all the evidence that is coming to light from the time that the school building was planned right through to the present day? First Minister. I thank Ruth Davidson for raising the issue. If I may take a bit of time to address some of the serious concerns that have been raised, I fully understand the concerns of all parents, staff and pupils at the school. As the Government is determined to do everything necessary to allay those concerns, address any issues and re-establish confidence. That is why we have established the expert review team to carry out a thorough independent investigation. The answer to Ruth Davidson's question is yes. It will have the ability to look into any relevant matter. The review team visited the school yesterday. It will conclude its work before the end of the summer holidays. It will be for the review team to consider what further tests of pupils, staff and indeed the site itself are required. We are lazing closely with the local council and the health board and will continue to do so. The Deputy First Minister and I will meet with officials later today to get an early update on the work that has been done. Indeed, the Deputy First Minister will meet with parents next week. Ruth Davidson. I thank the First Minister for that response. It is important that we put on record that both the council and the NHS board are insisting that the site is safe. The First Minister will know that confidence among parents is low and that many feel their concerns are not being taken seriously. As Professor Andrew Waterston of Stirling University has said, trust, transparency and good communication should be the key to dealing with those issues. The Buchanan High School case almost looks like a case study in how not to deal with the public. The teaching unions at the school have asked for updated testing to be carried out to give people further assurances, but they say that that request is currently being denied. I think that it is a sensible idea. Is this something that the First Minister might be able to address? First Minister. Yes, I am more than happy to address that point specifically. Let me say first of all and say this very directly to parents at the school that their concerns are being taken by me and by this Government extremely seriously. We will not rest until we have ensured that all issues have been properly investigated, and that any issues that are identified are redressed and that every single parent of a child at St Ambrose or Buchanan High has confidence in sending their children to school. As I said in response to my initial answer, testing will be for the review team to decide what further tests of pupils are required, staff at the school or the site itself. Anything that the review team considers as necessary should happen. I and the Deputy First Minister have been very clear about that. Aside from that, any parent with concerns should discuss those concerns with their GP. The Government is already liaising with NHS Lanarkshire to ensure that there are resources in place to deal with any consequent increase in demand for NHS services. As I said a moment ago, the DfFM and I will meet with officials later to have an early update on this work and to look at whether there are further actions that are required to be taken at this stage. The intention is to get to a position where we assure parents about the safety of the school that their children go to. Finally, just to reiterate a point that Ruth Davidson rightly made, it is the view of the NHS board and the local authority that the school is safe for pupils to attend, but it is not enough for us to say that. We have a duty to convince and to assure parents of that, and that is what we are determined to do. Ruth Davidson I thank the First Minister for addressing the issue of the review team looking again at environmental tests. Another way of restoring trust is to give parents clear assurances that their children have not been affected in any way, but parents have been telling us that they are finding it difficult to get any medical tests carried out and, in some cases, are paying privately to put their minds at rest. Can the First Minister and the health secretary look into this matter to see if parents are able to access tests that might reassure them that their children are well and that the school is indeed safe? The First Minister As I indicated in my previous answer, we are already taking steps to do that. Scottish Government officials are liaising with NHS Lanarkshire to make sure that there is an understanding of the increased demand of the requests that are being made and the ability to respond to that and to put in place the resources that are required to deal with that. The view of the local health board is that there is no need for population testing, but that is something that we want the review team to look at. If they come to a different conclusion, any recommendation will be implemented. In the meantime, concerned parents should have the ability to discuss that with their GP and to take informed decisions. We are working to make sure that the health service locally is able to deal with and respond to any requests of that nature. Ruth Davidson I had been asked to raise this today because trust between parents and staff at the school and the local government and health authorities is breaking down. I very much hope that the assurances that are given by the First Minister today will seek to restore that trust. What is worrying is that concerns were raised as far back as 2009 when plans for the school were first proposed. I hope that the on-going review to which the First Minister refers and is due to be published over the summer will give the local community the assurances that they need. If it does not, does the First Minister agree with me and with the local community that a full independent inquiry may be required in order to help those excellent schools to come back together? The First Minister I take those points in turn. First, I am aware that, rightly or wrongly, there is an issue of trust on the part of parents and what they are being told. That is exactly why we took the decision last week to establish the independent review in order to address very directly those issues. I hope that, through the process of the review, we can do exactly that. Issues around planning, what happened and what information was available in 2010. Of course that was part of the planning process, which was the responsibility of the local authority. I know certain reports that were issued and considered then. My understanding is that the local authority took full account of that, but those are issues that are required to be looked at in terms of the independent review. That is exactly what should happen. In terms of the last part of the question, I want to make sure that the independent review process that we set up last week does what we want it to do. It gets to the heart of any issues and reassures parents. I am not going to rule anything out beyond that. I said at the outset that we will not rest until we have got to the heart of those issues, addressed any concerns, allayed the concerns of parents and re-established confidence and that we will do whatever it takes to do that. I hope that that can be done through the independent review. I hope that all members will support it as it gets on with its work in the weeks ahead. In 2013, the First Minister said that we set up the Scottish welfare fund to ensure that we are doing everything that we can for the most vulnerable across Scotland—everything that we can. Can the First Minister tell us how much is in the Scottish welfare fund this year compared to 2013, when it was first launched? We fund the Scottish welfare fund, if memory serves me correctly, to the tune of around £38 million a year. We have, indeed, since 2013, through the welfare fund, seen more than 600,000 crisis grants being awarded. Again, from 2013 to December 2018, 240 almost community care grants were awarded. We will continue to do what we can to provide support for individuals and families in need through the welfare fund, through the money that we spend on mitigating the impact of Conservative Government welfare cuts. As Richard Leonard and I have spoken about previously, much of the driver of increased poverty in our country right now comes from those welfare cuts. It becomes more urgent with every day that passes that we join together to get those powers out of the hands of the Tories and into the hands of this Parliament. Richard Leonard. The answer to the question that I asked is not a penny more. It was £33 million in 2013. Don't just take my word for it. A new report out today called The Scottish Welfare Fund Strengthening the Safety Net by the A Menu for Change campaign concludes that, and I quote, "...the overall Scottish welfare fund budget, including both the administration budget and programme budget, has remained unchanged since 2013-14 when it was introduced. This represents a real-terms cut. In fact, the Scottish Welfare Fund has suffered a real-terms cut of £3.5 million since it was introduced. Just last month, the Scottish Fiscal Commission revealed that the Scottish Government has no plans to change the level of funding over the next six years. At this rate, by 2025, that would mean a real-terms cut in the Scottish Welfare Fund of more than £7 million. Remember, this is a fund that helps some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland. At a time of rising poverty, what is the First Minister's justification for year-on-year cuts to the Scottish Welfare Fund? First Minister. Of course, in the period in advance of us setting the budget for the year that we are now in, Richard Leonard and the Scottish Labour Party did not raise the issue of the Scottish Welfare Fund with the finance secretary on even one single occasion. In fact, the only submission that was made to the finance secretary was from Alec Rowley to his credit. He made a submission and he suggested that we had an across-the-board cut in budgets of 3 per cent in order to protect local government services. We have protected the welfare fund in the face of cuts to our budget from the Scottish Government. In addition to the welfare fund, we are investing £125 million in this year to mitigate welfare cuts coming at it from the Tories. We are investing £350 million in our council tax reduction scheme, £64 million in discretionary housing payments to mitigate the bedroom tax imposed on us by the Tories, an additional £2 million in our fair food fund, £1.5 million in our financial health check service and a whole range of other initiatives, including the best start grant to help families in poverty. We will continue to do that because that is our obligation. The sooner this Parliament is able to attack poverty at source and take the reasons that are causing the increase in poverty out of the hands of Westminster and into the hands of this Parliament, the better. The sooner Richard Leonard supports that, the better for families all over our country. The First Minister is defending her Government's decision to freeze the fund over which they have got responsibility. Do not just listen to me, Oxfam. The poverty alliance, the child poverty action group, all recommend today increasing the fund. Although the Government has reformed the formula, it does not address what this report today calls fundamental under resourcing. In fact, it is so fundamentally under resourced that local authorities do not even advertise the fund for fear of being unable to cope with demand. This is the fund which hands out crisis grants to families in emergency situations. Will the First Minister do everything that she can? Will she listen to this report? Will she provide additional lifeline support? Will she, at the very least, and finally increase in real terms the Scottish welfare fund provision? We have protected the Scottish welfare fund in the face of cuts to our budget from the Conservatives. I stand to be corrected if I am getting this wrong, but I am not even sure that Labour and Wales have a national welfare fund, so perhaps they should look to their own record where they are in Government, but let me make a genuine offer again to Richard Leonard. Every penny of the Scottish budget this year is accounted for, so if Richard Leonard wants us to give more money to the Scottish welfare fund this year, then if later today or tomorrow or even next week he wants to bring to me proposals about where we take that money from within the already allocated Scottish budget, I will listen to that and I am prepared to have that discussion, but we never hear that from Richard Leonard and that is the problem. We will continue to protect the poorest. Next week, of course, there will be a statement setting out our plans on the income supplement, which I look forward to setting out to this Parliament, but I say again that Richard Leonard will have little or zero credibility on those issues for as long as he is prepared to defend the powers that determine all of those things, not lying in this Parliament but lying in the hands of a Conservative Government at Westminster. We have got a number of constituency supplementaries. The first is from Clare Adamson to be followed by David Stewart. Clare Adamson, you will be aware of the redundancies that are announced at Liberty Steel Dail Works in my Motherwell Mosher constituency. Our thoughts are with the 18 workers affected and their families. Can the First Minister outline what support can be given to those facing redundancy? Does she also share my disappointment in the UK Government who have failed to listen and failed to act to support the steel industry in the UK? Clare Adamson, for raising the issue of huge importance in her constituency, it is concerning that Liberty Steel has made redundancies at the DL plate mill as Brexit uncertainty impacts on its orders. That will be an anxious time for employees and the Scottish Government has offered support to those who are facing redundancy through our PACE initiative. As our actions show—I think that Clare Adamson is right to say that they stand in stark contrast to the inaction of the Tory Government when it comes to the steel industry—this Government is committed to a sustainable future for the steel sector and to helping the industry to compete in global markets. Going forward, the firm has said that it does have confidence in the underlying health of the plant and hopes to begin recruitment again when the market improves and the Government will do everything it can to support them in that endeavour. David Stewart will be followed by Richard Lyle. The First Minister will be well aware of an alleged data breach by NHS Highland, which exposed confidential names and email addresses of 37 people living with HIV. Although the board welcomes the apology, does the First Minister share my view that confidentiality is a core principle of the NHS and that the decision to disclose HIV status is a matter for individuals themselves and theirs alone? I agree very strongly with that, and I would agree strongly with the sentiments behind David Stewart's question. The safety of patient data is of the utmost importance, and as required, this incident has been reported to the information commissioner. That happened within 24 hours. NHS Highland has taken steps rightly to apologise to patients and to respond directly and speedily to any concerns raised. A formal internal review of the incident is being conducted to understand any failings, and clearly there have been failings, and to consider any steps to make sure that that does not happen in the future. Richard Lyle will be followed by Liam Kerr. The First Minister has recently been reported that an official has received a substantial redundancy payment of between £400,000 and £800,000 to leave North Lanarkshire Council. I therefore ask the First Minister's view on the matter, since this labour authority continually suggests that it does not receive enough funding from her Government and what can be done, if anything, to stop the excessive payments that are being paid to local authority officials to leave their posts early. I understand that Audit Scotland has said that it is aware of the payment and that it will be looking at it as part of its annual audit work. That is only proper given the apparent scale of the settlement, and it is understandable that questions are being raised by Richard Lyle and others. Although the Scottish Government has no direct role in the matter, I am very clear that there is a duty on all bodies to ensure that public money is spent appropriately and to be able to justify the decisions that they take. Although Audit Scotland will be looking at the matter, I am sure that the Accounts Commission will also be giving it consideration. Liam Kerr will be followed by James Kelly. First Minister, on Monday, employees at textiles company Donan Low in Forfer discovered that 55 jobs are to go. The employer says that other countries are much more competitive to do business in. This has been a real shock to the community. What is the Scottish Government's response to that? What will they do to support those affected? First Minister. I thank the member for raising this issue. Any job losses are deeply regrettable and that is the case in the case of this company in Forfer as well. The Scottish Government, as we do in all situations like this, will first and foremost laze with the company to see whether there is any action that we can take to avert the need for redundancies. If that does not prove possible, our PACE initiative will work with affected employees to help them into alternative employment. I am very happy to ask the employment secretary to write to the member to update on the actions that we are taking in this particular case. James Kelly is to be followed by Shona Robison. I draw the First Minister's attention to the consultation that has been run by Glasgow Life, proposing the closure of six public golf courses in Glasgow, including the popular courses at Linn Park in Little Hill. Given the success of the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships and the legacy of increased sporting participation, it is indeed astonishing that the SNP Glasgow City Council is proposing the closure of these popular sport facilities. Does the First Minister agree with me that the proposals should be ditched and replaced with a strategy to increase participation at golf courses and get more young and older people out on to the courses and enjoying the popular sport? First Minister. Before I come on to the specific issue, I say as a general aside that the current administration of Glasgow City Council is having to raise the revenue to pay the equal pay claims for female employees that the last Labour administration shamefully failed to do over so many years. Therefore, I think that sometimes a little bit of self-reflection and humility on the part of Labour members before they raise issues like this would be very appropriate. On the issue, it is vitally important that we have a range of sports facilities available in the city of Glasgow and across the country. It is for Glasgow life to carry out a proper consultation and to listen genuinely to the views of local people and then to make those decisions. I trust the administration of this city council to take a range of decisions much better than their predecessors of the Labour Party. Shona Robison will be followed by Neil Bibby. The First Minister will be aware of the importance of Scotland's space industry, its potential for growth and our expertise in satellite technology. Does she therefore share my disappointment with the decision by the Natural Environment Research Council, overseen by the UK Government, to withdraw funding for Scotland's only satellite receiving centre at Dundee University, which has been praised for its work done by NASA and others, now bringing the future of the centre into question? Is she aware that discussions between the university collide space and others with a commercial interest in maintaining the station appear to have reached an impasse? Therefore, will she ask her minister to work with the parties involved in the hope of finding a way ahead that could safeguard the future of this centre, which has faithfully served the space community for over 50 years? I thank Shona Robison for raising the issue and I agree wholeheartedly with her about the huge potential of the space and satellite industry in Scotland. Indeed, we already have a very visible presence in the space sector. Globally, more small satellites are manufactured in Glasgow than any other place in Europe, and almost a fifth of the UK space sector jobs are resting here in Scotland. I share her concerns about the implications of the National Environment Research Council decision to cut funding to the station. I am also aware of the apparent impasse in discussions with commercial parties. The Scottish Enterprise is engaged to find a way forward that preserves the assets of the satellite receiving centre and retains the related expertise in Scotland. I am somewhat constrained in what I can say and what we can disclose in terms of the content of on-going commercial discussions, but I will ask the relevant minister to look into the matter further and write to the member with an update as soon as possible. Neil Bibby, to be followed by Christine Grahame. Since its restoration 45 years ago, the historic paddle steamer of the Waverley, a symbol of Scotland, has sailed every summer on the clay coast and beyond until now. Expensive boiler repairs, like into open heart surgery, have put the Waverley's future in doubt. That is why Jackie Baillie and many others are supporting a £2.3 million boiler refit appeal. Given the need to preserve the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world, given the tourism that the Waverley brings to towns and villages across the west coast, and given that next year is the Scottish Government's year of coasts and waters, can the First Minister assure us that Government support is available to help with those repairs and save the Waverley? First Minister. I thank Neil Bibby for raising the issue. The Waverley, of course, is a tremendous asset and a great national treasure, and we should all want to see it preserved and continue for many years to come. I know that there is a fundraising campaign under way, and I certainly undertake today that the Scottish Government will be happy to speak to those involved in that and to those involved in efforts to fix the Waverley to make sure that the Government is doing everything that we can to support their efforts. The relevant minister would be very happy to write to the member to update on progress in due course. Christine Grahame Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, NHS Borders, even with a £10.1 million bail-out from the Scottish Government with other anticipators, is making cuts. The gynaecological ward has already closed, and the switchboard covering 20 wards, pharmacy and so on, is on a so-called hit list, called possibly being processed from Edinburgh. I can see the possibility of serious concerns for healthcare in the Borders general hospital if this were to happen with the lack of local knowledge and so on. The health secretary is well aware of the issues arising from the board's failures, which led to those bail-outs. Can I ask if there is more that can be done? The First Minister The health secretary will continue to work with the board to make sure that those issues are being addressed. This year, the Government is investing in excess of £207 million in NHS Borders. The medium-term financial framework for health and social care sets out the approach that we are taking, both to further increase investment and deliver sustainable services across the country. The health secretary, as I said, will engage with Borders to reiterate our expectation that within the three-year flexibility to open to them, they work towards a sustainable financial position, but also ensuring that there is no detrimental impact on the quality and safety of patient care. I know that the health secretary would be happy to discuss the matter further with Christine Grahame. In 2014, after months of refusal, Alex Salmond eventually agreed to introduce free nursery education for two-year-olds in poverty. Five years later, only one-third of those children are getting this foundation. Why is this First Minister failing these children? The First Minister I do not accept that. There is the availability of childcare across Scotland for vulnerable two-year-olds, in addition to the provision for three- and four-year-olds. We continue to encourage parents who want to make use of that to do so. Our job is to make sure that that provision is there as well as doing that. We are currently working with local authorities and investing significant sums of money in local authorities to transform childcare to double the provision that is currently available by the end of this Parliament. That is one of the big success stories of this Parliament, and it is one that we should both be proud of and continue to work to build upon as this Government is determined to do. That is simply not good enough. This is supposed to be the Government's most transformative infrastructure project, but there is a new report this morning by the charity Save the Children. They are not impressed. In page after page of evidence, they say that those children are missing out and that that could jeopardise closing the poverty-related attainment gap. In England, 70 per cent of two-year-olds in poverty are receiving free nursery education. That is double the rate in Scotland. It is unbelievable that the Conservative Government is able to reach more children in poverty than the SNP. It has been five years. Does the First Minister not think that she should have made more progress by now? It is good to see Willie Rennie back to his usual role of defending a Conservative Government. This Government is doing significantly more in expanding early years education and childcare than the Government's south of the border, and that will continue to be the case. We will look carefully at the Save the Children report and, of course, we will continue to work with them and other organisations to make sure that the roll-out of the expanded hours goes effectively. There is a higher target for two-year-olds as part of the expansion, but we will continue to work with local authorities to make sure that for two-year-olds, for three-year-olds and for four-year-olds, Scotland will be leading the way of any part of the UK when it comes to giving our children the very best start in life. We have some further supplementaries. The first is from Jamie Greene. Given that yesterday, the SNP voted against exempting police officers, care assistants, volunteers, firefighters, shift workers and those in low incomes from having to pay a workplace parking levy, does the First Minister still agree with her party colleagues who call this a progressive tax on the elite? The First Minister? We are giving councils a discretionary power. That is the empowerment of local councils that the Tories used to demand of us. No council has to use that power. Councils that do decide to use that power will require to do a full consultation. Part of that consultation will be to look at the exemptions that they apply in their local areas. However, I am quite interested in the position of Jamie Greene, who has stood up here, as he has done many times in recent weeks, in opposed workplace parking levy. The reason that I am interested in this is because a report from the Rural Economy and Welfare Committee, which is chaired by the Conservative Edward Mountain, earlier in this Parliament said this. As far as I am aware, it was a unanimous report. The committee is of the view that demand management measures, like workplace parking levies, have potential to make a significant emissions reduction contribution. It calls on the Scottish Government to consider whether those measures should have greater prominence in the final climate change plan. I mention this, Presiding Officer, because one Jamie Greene is a member of that committee. Kezia Dugdale, to be followed by Julian Martin. First Minister, despite the limited progress that has been made, this country still has a care system, where over 60 per cent of our children do not attain even one national five qualification. Where care experience young people are around ten times less likely to go on to higher education and where, in every age group and at every level, they are behind their peers in literacy and in numeracy. Those statistics embarrass me. They should embarrass Scotland. If they embarrass the First Minister, what is she going to do about it? I am grateful to Kezia Dugdale for raising this issue. It is an issue very close to my heart. I have made very clear that I consider not just a political commitment but a personal commitment to improve the outcomes of young people who grow up in care. I attended the Who Care Scotland event on Friday of last week to talk to them about the actions that they think we should be taking now, while the independent care review is under way. I gave a commitment to them that we would do exactly that. We have already taken action, for example, on the care-experienced bursary, and we will continue to do exactly that. The outcomes are not good enough, not just here in terms of school qualifications but university access and a whole range of other indicators. There is work to do, and it is an issue that I and the Government take incredibly seriously. I would say to Kezia Dugdale—I know that she will recognise this—that, although there is a gap that she has described there, the recent statistics show that gap is now closing. The responsibility for us is to make sure that we continue to do the work to close that gap even further and, ultimately, as soon as we can, to completely eradicate that gap, and that is what we are very focused on achieving. The First Minister will share the heartbreak of many in this chamber who watched last night's Scotland match. However, my goodness, our women's team has done us proud at our first world cup in 21 years. Will the First Minister join me in congratulating them for this fantastic achievement, and will she also set out how we can build on that success, raise the profile of the women's game in Scotland and get more girls into sport? Everyone who watched the match last night will have experienced the roller coaster emotions and the heartbreak of the final result, but, in recent weeks, we have also watched a young, talented national team taking us to our first world cup in 21 years, entertaining us with some brilliant football, score five great goals and, most importantly of all, we have seen them inspire the country and inspire the next generation of wee girls and wee boys who dream of pulling on the Scotland shirt. We will do everything we can to support further development of the women's game. I spoke to Shelly Kerr just a wee while ago and said to her what I will say publicly to the chamber and to the team directly now, and I am sure that I say it on behalf of all of us. They are feeling very, very sore this morning, but to all of them you should be very, very proud of your achievements. You have done Scotland proud and you will be back stronger than ever in the future. I'm Murdo Fraser. Yesterday, the banking group CYBG announced that it would be dropping the Clyde Stale Bank brand after 175 years. Does the First Minister share my concern about the loss of this historic and iconic Scottish brand? While CYBG is saying that they intend to continue issuing Clyde Stale Bank notes despite the rebrand, she is worried, as I am, that this important part of Scottish banking heritage could well be under threat in the longer term. Well, this is obviously not a decision for the Scottish Government, it is a decision for CYBG. All of us want to see important Scottish brands preserved. I hope that the Clyde Stale Bank will give thought to that as they make the changes that they have announced in terms of the Clyde Stale Bank bank notes. The branding there can continue for the future as well. We will continue, as we do with all banks and all companies, to discuss those issues with them, raise any concerns that we have and support them as much as we can as they take the decisions that they consider to be right for their own business interests. Question 4, Ruth Maguire. Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is marking Refugee Week. Scottish Government is delighted to support Refugee Festival Scotland, which begins today on World Refugee Day. The community secretary will be visiting an exhibition in Glasgow, designed and produced by refugees and hearing from those involved in the festival. The festival is co-ordinated by the Scottish Refugee Council and provides an opportunity for refugees to tell their stories and for us to recognise their courage, strength and resilience, and it gives us the opportunity to recognise the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world make to life here in Scotland. Of course, we have also got to remember that refugees have sought sanctuary from war, terrorism and torture, and I'm proud that they are welcomed here and can begin to rebuild their lives. I would like to thank all those involved in supporting refugees across our country. Thank the First Minister for that answer. People in Scotland should feel proud that we've lived up to our global responsibility to find homes for thousands of refugees. However, because of the callous Tory government, we still have lock change evictions by circle, children and pregnant women behind barbed wire at Dungavel and a hostile environment that persecutes instead of protecting vulnerable people. In a few weeks, we'll have a new Prime Minister. What should their priority be when it comes to fixing this broken system? Of course, the policies and the implications of those policies that Ruth Maguire has just narrated to the chamber should shame the Conservative Government at Westminster. I hope that a new Prime Minister will think again fundamentally and very quickly. I would certainly call on the incoming Prime Minister to immediately overhaul the current failed asylum system. We urgently need a new process that is based on some very important and basic principles—fairness, dignity and respect for human rights—and one that doesn't leave people at risk of destitution or homelessness with other public services having to pick up the pieces. We need to see a 20-day time limit on immigration detention and a ban on the detention of children and pregnant women. An action that could be taken today by the current Prime Minister and the current Home Secretary is to ensure that local authorities who voluntarily accept asylum dispersal are provided with adequate funding to support people to rebuild their lives and communities from the very first day of their arrival. The First Minister is right about those policy levers being at Westminster, but the responsibility to support people who are currently being failed in our communities lies with us as well. Hundreds of asylum seekers in Glasgow, while we celebrate the refugee festival, will be facing the threat of mass evictions and destitution. Does the First Minister agree that what she needs now in the coming weeks is not just a restatement of the existing Government commitment to provide with the City Council emergency accommodation? She needs that emergency accommodation to be available and she needs it now. When will it be and what can the First Minister tell us about the work that is on going? The Scottish Government will continue to work with Glasgow City Council or any other council in this situation to make sure that the support that asylum seekers need is there, and that is an on-going obligation and responsibility. That includes, of course, access to accommodation. The point that I made a moment ago—I know that this is one that Patrick Harvie will agree with—is that it is essential that it is understood by the UK Government, where local authorities voluntarily accept asylum dispersal, which we encourage local authorities to do. They must get from the UK Government the adequate funding that they need to support those people. Let us absolutely live up to our responsibilities, but let us also continue to press the UK Government to live up to its responsibilities as well. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed and treated as early as possible. We are committed to raising awareness of Lyme disease and supporting those affected with what is a complex infection. We have a multidisciplinary expert group dedicated to Lyme disease, which is part of the Scottish health protection network. The chief medical officer wrote last week to all NHS Scotland health boards and GP practices to highlight the important role that they play not only in the early diagnosis and management of Lyme disease cases, but also in promoting awareness of ticks and tick-borne infections among their patients. Brian Whittle I thank the First Minister for that answer. In Petitions Committee, we have heard evidence from those with lived experience and the chronic debilitating effects of the disease that say that their illnesses are not even being acknowledged. What can the Scottish Government do for those patients who are bitten by a tick, infected with Lyme disease and multiple unidentified co-infections, miss their early treatment window because of that lack of recognition and develop the chronic disease? The First Minister My initial answer set out what the Scottish Government is doing. Early awareness or awareness in order to aid prevention is vital here. That is why one of the focuses of the multidisciplinary group will be to look at that. Also making sure that clinicians, front-line clinicians, clinicians have the information that they need to diagnose and detect, and therefore treat the illness. Of course, the letter that the chief medical officer wrote last week was designed to raise that awareness and to make sure that those working particularly GPs across our health service have the information and the awareness that they need to ensure firstly prevention but also early diagnosis and access to treatment of those affected. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the Scottish Government's plans to sell presswick airport. Since the Scottish Government purchased presswick airport, we have been very clear that our intention is to return the business to the private sector when the time is right. The team at presswick has continued to engage with potential buyers and investors to discuss proposals for developing the business under new ownership. Good progress continues to be made by the airport to increase revenue, deliver operating efficiencies and pursue opportunities for the future. In light of that progress, the airport has now placed an advert in the official journal of the European Union inviting expressions of interest. Any proposals submitted, of course, would be considered carefully before any decision was taken to diverse our shareholding or any part of it. In the weeks ahead, it is very important that we protect the integrity of that process. Given that there are over 300 direct jobs at presswick airport and thousands more indirect jobs, all crucial to the Ayrshire economy, can the First Minister assure those workers that there will be no sale to any company that does not guarantee to secure and grow those jobs and ensure that there will be full consultation with the trade unions before any sale goes ahead? Will she also give an assurance to the taxpayer that any sale will be subject to agreement that the £40 million plus that has been loaned to presswick airport will be paid back in full by any new owner should one be found? I hope that the member will appreciate that I am not going to go into too much speculative detail about any bids that might come in and what consideration will be given to them. It is important that we protect the integrity of this process and any decisions that would be taken, of course, have to be in the overall interests of presswick airport and those who work in it. I would certainly say that I would fully expect engagement with trade unions. Given that the purpose for the Scottish Government to bring presswick airport into public ownership was to protect jobs, clearly there will be a key consideration for the team at presswick in the future. The eligibility questionnaire that was published in the official journal also sets out some prime objectives for bidders and maintaining presswick as an operational airport is one of those prime objectives. The interests of the local economy, the interests of the workers at the airport and, of course, the interests of the taxpayer will all be factors that have to be taken into account before any future decisions are taken. Thank you very much, and that concludes First Minister's questions. We are going to move on shortly to members' business in the name of Pauline McNeill on the first anniversary of the Glasgow School of Artfire. Before that, we will just have a short suspension to allow members, the ministers to change seats and new members to come into the gallery.