 Good morning. We begin this morning's business with general questions. Question number 1 from Colin Smyth. To ask the Scottish Government when the full membership of the interim board for the South of Scotland enterprise agency will be announced. Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown. Membership of the South of Scotland economic partnership was announced on the 17th of January. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, although he did promise that the new board would be up and running by the end of last year. I do very much welcome the fact that he has now at last announced the new membership. I am sure that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that my question was being asked today. Does the cabinet secretary share the concerns of stakeholders, particularly within the business community and the third sector locally, that there has not been consultation with them on who the members of the new interim board should be? Will he give an assurance on what it comes to appointing the members of the full agency that that will be something that will be led by the stakeholders in the south of Scotland and not something that will be imposed from Edinburgh? Does he also accept the concerns that are being felt by a number of stakeholders in the local area that the £10 million budget that he has announced, which is about 15 per cent of the budget of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Agency, will not deliver the transformational economic chains that we really need in the south of Scotland? I think that we should be willing to let Colin Smyth go along, and his own little bubble that convinces him that the announcement was due to the question that he asked. In relation to the £10 million that is referred to, what did Labour do? Did Labour ever establish such an agency? Did they ever put £10 million in the south of Scotland? Absolutely I can also mention as well the tweet that Mr Smyth put out, attacking the board for its membership and the allegation that those are somehow SNP appointees. How biased are we if we have appointed people like Lord Thurso, Wendy Alexander, Susan Deacon—absolute nonsense? I wonder how Colin Smyth, as a local MSP, expects to have any kind of productive relationship with his vitally important board going forward if he is going to attack them on the day that they are appointed. That board will make a big difference. It will lead to the establishment of the substantive body, which we will bring forward legislation for them this year. That partnership, which has now been established and the £10 million that we will have to spend, is far more than a Labour party ever did in Dumfries and Galloway or the rest of the Scottish Borders. I am pleased to see so many women on the interim board. The cabinet secretary will be aware that one of the economic challenges for the south of Scotland is encouraging young people to stay and move to live and work in the area. How will the board seek to address that? I agree that securing diversity on the partnership was very important. We are ambitious for the partnership. It has an opportunity to bring a fresh approach to tackling the challenges and opportunities of the south of Scotland. The partnership will deliver a prioritised work plan tailored to the needs of the area and informed by the views of people across the area. As I have mentioned, we have announced £10 million in additional resources to support it in its activities. As part of its engagement, the partnership will want to seek the views of young people to shape its work. We want to see a south of Scotland with a thriving economy where young people have opportunities to develop skills, take up apprenticeships and have good quality jobs. We want to see the south as an attractive place to live and work. I know that Professor Griggs, the chair of the partnership, would be happy to meet the member to discuss the work of the partnership. I am encouraged by the wide breadth of knowledge and expertise that is appointed to the south of Scotland economic partnership. However, there seems to be a lack of tech focus. Can the cabinet secretary outline whether and how the board will help to feed into and improve south of Scotland connectivity and what role the enterprise will have in that regard? I think that there is substantial technical expertise within the body. I know that the member will have perhaps just seen the announcement of the names and that maybe it would repay some further investigation to find out some of the technical expertise that underlies that. However, I would make the point that—I am grateful for the member's statement about the quality of the people on the board. I think that that is the right approach to take. I think that there are some exceptional people on that board. However, it is also true to say, as I have mentioned, that we are bringing forward this year the proposals for the substantive body. That will allow us, of course, to have a chance to see the work of the current members, but also to think about the future composition of that board. We have acted quite quickly on that as we have been asked to do by other parties in this chamber, but I can assure the member that the engagement that she seeks to see happen, not least in relation to connectivity—for that reason, I am very pleased, for example, that we have holliers represented among some membership on the board as well—that will be taken forward by the board as part of its priorities work plan. However, I am happy to discuss that further with the member if she feels that it is not progressing in the way that she would like to see. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the R100 superfast broadband programme will have on rural areas. The R100 superfast broadband programme will make rural Scotland one of the most digitally connected places anywhere in Europe, underpinning and enabling future economic growth. It is the only universal superfast broadband programme in the UK, and I believe that it demonstrates the Scottish Government's ambition to make Scotland a world-class digital nation. I very much welcome what the cabinet secretary has just said. Given that the Scottish Government is seeking to make broadband speed universally available that is three times as fast as that which the UK Government is planning to deliver, can the cabinet secretary identify any particular benefits of that higher speed in Scotland that will have in rural areas? Well, Mr Stevenson is correct, Presiding Officer. The UK Government might consider that 10 megabits per second are adequate for homes and business. I certainly do not, and that is why we have stipulated in our programme that we will seek to deliver 30 megabits per second for every home and business in the country by the end of 2021. The digital sector is now worth more than £4,000 million to the Scottish economy. Research shows that public investment in broadband returns around £20 in net economic impact for every £1 of public investment by our investment of £600 million to deliver that universal 100 per cent access to superfast broadband. I believe that we will see created in Scotland a digital infrastructure that allows businesses across the country, particularly in rural and remote areas, to modernise, digitalise, innovate and grow. I welcome the £600 million promise for the R100 programme, which will be spent in the years 2019 to 2021. However, I find it exceptionally disappointing that the budget for digital connectivity this year has been slashed from £136 million to £58.5 million, and that will obviously impact on rural premises in north-east Scotland, which are desperately needing a decent broadband speed now. How can the cabinet secretary justify slashing this year's budget when so much remains to be done? The £600 million is the largest investment in the UK in any single broadband project ever. The money will be used when it is required and not before it is required. That is how you do Government. Incidentally, if Mr Chapman and the Tories want to have any vestige of ability to claim that they are standing up for Scotland, I would suggest that what they do is apply their attention to the fact that the UK's contribution to the £600 million for broadband provision, which is a reserve function, is just a measly 3 per cent to the Tories' support. I think that we will have a prolonged period of radio, broadband and mobile silence from the Scottish Tories on this issue. Not one has got the backbone to stand up for Scotland. Mike Rumbles Can the cabinet secretary tell us when residents in rural Aberdeinshire, for instance, who are receiving regularly about seven or eight megabits per second, might find out when, how they can find out when they will reach those 30 megabits per second, which is promised? When will they be able to find out? Thank you, Mr Rumbles, for a perfectly reasonable question. There are two answers to that. First of all, during 2018, provision of new broadband access will continue to be provided under our highly successful two digital superfast broadband contracts at an investment of £400 million and there will be further commercial investment during the year. The details of the contracts that we will be awarding under R100 in respect of three segments in Scotland—North, Central and South—will, of course, become available as soon as possible after the contracts have been awarded. Plainly, we will have to deal with the tendering process, go through that in accordance with the competitive dialogue process to get best value for money for the taxpayer and keep Mr Mackay as happy as he can be. We also have to take care to get it right. That is what we will be doing in one of the most complex tender exercises that has been in Scotland. Once we complete that, we will provide information as soon as we can to communities throughout Scotland who understandably wish to know when they themselves, each person, each business, will have access. However, we will provide that access by the end of 2021, and that is a pledge that only this Government is making. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards meeting waiting time targets in NHS Grampian. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with colleagues in NHS Grampian on a daily basis to monitor the extent of winter pressures and to make sure that capacity is managed so that the board continues to deliver safe and effective care to support improvements around all key performance targets. NHS Grampian has received more than £8 million this year to improve all parts of the patient pathway, outpatient consultation diagnostic tests and inpatient and day case treatment. A number of initiatives are already under way to support sustainable improvements, including additional theatre sessions being delivered across a range of specialties. We have allocated more than £1.3 million to NHS Grampian to support resilience across unscheduled care pathways over winter. Last year, I raised the case of my Murray constituent who had been waiting for heart surgery in NHS Grampian. Thankfully, my constituent's surgery was scheduled for this week, 16 months after the original GP referral. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will join me in wishing him well. However, figures show that over 2,000 people a month are still waiting for too-long treatment in NHS Grampian, which has a knock-on effect on island health boards who send patients to Grampian for treatment. Will the cabinet secretary assure us that she will continue to assist NHS Grampian to improve waiting times and ensure that no one else has to wait this long for treatment? I wish the constituent that Jamie Halcro Johnston referred to wish him a speedy recovery from his procedure. I can say to the member that we are working very closely with NHS Grampian and all boards to make the improvements that need to be seen. That is against a backdrop of increasing demand for services, although we are putting record levels of resources in. Of course, the budget that is forthcoming sees a further big increase in funding for the NHS, all of which will help to make improvements in the treatment and care of patients. In addition to that, he will be aware that we have also launched a new access collaborative programme that is being taken forward by Professor Derek Bell, which will make similar improvements as we have seen to unscheduled care, which is leading to our A&E departments in Scotland being the best performance across the UK for two and a half years. That was through a collaborative programme that is now being replicated for elective care. I think that that will make a big difference—investment but also reform—so that we can make sure that patients are getting timely access to treatment. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the failure of NHS Grampian to meet treatment standards is not because of the efforts of NHS staff who continue to go above and beyond, but it is the responsibility of the cabinet secretary and the Scottish Government who have failed to adequately staff our wards and have failed to give the resources and support that our NHS staff need? What I would say to Anasawa is that NHS Grampian, like other boards, has been trying to recruit staff. The funding is there for the staff, but they have had difficulties recruiting staff. They have had difficulties, for example recruiting theatre nurses. I do not know what Anasawa thinks can be done if the money is there for the posts. They go out and try to recruit but have difficulty recruiting. It is not just the Scottish issue or the UK issue. It is an international issue of the shortages in some of those specialties. NHS Grampian is working hard to ensure that they continue to deliver safe patient care and make the improvements that they are trying to improve. I will just end on that note. It is a bit rich for Anasawa to come here demanding additional resources for the NHS when his party is not putting forward additional resources for the NHS. That is not your priority in the budget, as was laid out very clearly yesterday. It does seem a bit rich to come here demanding more money when your own budget proposals, well, such as they are, do not actually prioritise the NHS at all. It is a bit rich. Question 4, Richard Lochhead. Can I ask the Scottish Government if it will provide an update on progress towards the expansion of Scottish Ambulance Service provision in Murray? The Scottish Ambulance Service has been working in partnership with NHS Grampian to put additional ambulance resources in place in Murray. Discussions are on-going to look at what ambulance resources are required in Murray in the medium to long-term. In a business case, it is anticipated to be ready by the end of this month, and that will be jointly reviewed by both organisations. Richard Lochhead, I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. I am sure that she wants to join me in paying tribute to the Scottish Ambulance Service for the role that they have played in dealing with the winter pressures in NHS over the past few weeks. As the cabinet secretary will know from a recent meeting with ambulance workers in Elgin, for which they were very, very grateful, the service has had to cope with its own pressures in Murray over the last few years. As the cabinet secretary said, there has been some recognition of that with additional resources. However, outstanding issues remain in terms of an additional new emergency ambulance to be based in Elgin and the on-call situation in Duffton to be addressed as well. I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary could keep a close eye on that and put pressure on the Scottish Ambulance Service to expedite those long-standing decisions. First of all, I pay tribute to the Scottish Ambulance Service along with Richard Lochhead. He has done an amazing job over the past few weeks in particular in dealing with winter pressures. I had a very productive meeting with many of the front-line staff in Elgin and pay tribute to Richard Lochhead himself for raising those issues on a consistent basis. As he will be aware, a number of initiatives are under way to help to address those issues. I will be keeping a very close eye on them and I would be very happy to keep Richard Lochhead informed of those developments as they go forward. To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers pharmacies should play in supporting the health of the communities that they serve. Community pharmacy plays an important role in the provision of NHS pharmaceutical care, providing highly accessible services for people both in-hours and out-of-hours. We want more people to use their community pharmacy as a first port of call for the treatment of self-limiting illnesses and medicine-related matters and also for on-going self-management support for people with long-term conditions. Ruth Gwine? Would the cabinet secretary agree with me that folk can both receive help for themselves quicker and help to relieve pressures on hospital staff during the busy winter period by making use of the excellent advice and treatment that is available from community pharmacists? Yes, absolutely. Part of the communication strategy this winter has been very much to highlight the role of community pharmacy. The member might be aware that last year, our strategy for achieving excellence in pharmaceutical care was published in August. It emphasises that the pharmacy team in NHS Scotland is an important part of the workforce with specialist skills and much-needed expertise in medicines. They will also form part of the multidisciplinary team on the back of the new GP contract once agreed. We are very keen to promote the role of community pharmacy. Jenny Gilruth To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support the 70th anniversary of Glenrothes. The Scottish Government welcomes the planned programme event, which is due to take place in Glenrothes over 2018, being organised by local groups in Fife Council to celebrate this important date. While no specific Scottish Government activity is planned in favour of locally developed and known celebrations, those local events will link to wider Scottish Government initiatives such as the year of young people. Jenny Gilruth I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. This week, Glenrothes lost a true community champion in David Nelson. I hope that the cabinet secretary will join me in sending condolences to David's wife, Maureen, and to her family. Can the cabinet secretary assure me that she will discuss with Fife Council the ways in which the 70th anniversary can be celebrated properly and is she aware of any funding that community groups may be able to access? Jenny Gilruth Anniversaries of town should not just be about the physical place and it is as it is the people that make the place. People like David Nelson, the Glenrothes community champion, extend my condolences to Mr Nelson's family. I would be happy to discuss with Ms Gilruth and Fife Council how any national activity of funding can align with the Glenrothes 70th anniversary this year, and I understand that Edinburgh International Book Festival is already planning to do so. Thank you very much. That concludes General Questions. We move on now to