 Good morning. The first item of business today is general questions. We start with question number one from Joan Lamont. Thank you very much. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Glasgow City Council has increased charges for childcare, Minister Muri Todd. The statutory early learning and childcare entitlement for 600 hours per year, around 16 hours per week, is fully funded by the Scottish Government and free to families at the point of access. generosity tells us to choose an additional wraparound hours, which some parents pay for. I understand that Glasgow City Council has its own policy on when and how much to charge parents depending on different factors that the council is continuing to subsidise the cost of these hours. For our part, the Scottish Government will fully fund the expansion to 1140 hours, reducing the need for wraparound hours and has helped Glasgow and all councils for the real terms increase in its revenue budget next year to enable it to continue to support services. That was very interesting, but I do not think that it really answered the question that I asked. I have been contacted by a constituent who reports that her costs for childcare have been increased by £190 a month without consultation and without any consideration for the immediate impact that that would have on her family budget. Do you share my concern that many families in Glasgow are being affected by this decision? That it is a direct contradiction to a commitment to early affordable childcare. While it is a matter for Glasgow City Council, what is the minister's view of this decision? Does it reflect a lack of commitment to affordable childcare or a lack of resources from the Scottish Government to deliver it? Is she willing to meet with parents to discuss her view, as expressed in the committee yesterday, that the increase in Glasgow is, quote, fairly priced compared to alternatives? Minister Marito? Yes, indeed. I am more than happy to meet the people that you mentioned there. That is a matter for the local authority. We in the Scottish Government have a track record of fully funding the previous expansion from 4.75 to 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare, and we will fully fund the expansion to 11.40 hours. The expansion to 11.40 hours will make a significant contribution to Scottish families. We estimate that it will save families £4,500 a year. In addition, we will implement a pilot deposit guarantee scheme aimed at reducing the burden of up-front childcare costs for families later this year. Glasgow is one of the pilot sites. George Adam. Would the minister agree with me that there is still a challenge for some parents in securing affordable and flexible early learning and childcare and outline how the Scottish Government will help to reduce the barriers to participating in the labour market with some parents' face? I would agree, and that challenge is a major part of why we are expanding the system to 11.40 hours to help parents to meet the costs and to secure the childcare that they need. As I said already, the expansion to 11.40 hours will make a significant contribution to Scottish families, and we think that it will save each family around £4,500 a year. As well as that saving, it will enable the parents in that family to go on to training or work more hours, which will also improve the family finances. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is in the provision of more direct rail services between Ayrshire and Edinburgh. Minister Humza Yousaf. A direct service is currently available between Ayr and Edinburgh, offering five services per day, but the introduction of an additional direct service between Ayrshire and Edinburgh has been investigated by ScotRail. However, it was not considered feasible to operate a through service between Kilmarnock and Edinburgh, frankly, because of the detrimental impact that it would have on other services. Willie Coffey. I thank the minister for that answer. He will be aware that under current arrangements, it takes over two hours to get from stations in Ayrshire to Edinburgh, all of which involve changing trains and or stations. There are no direct services, as the minister said, for journeys of only 65 miles or so. Does the minister agree that this is a significant impairment for people from Ayrshire who may wish to make use of the many job opportunities in Scotland's capital but who want to continue to live in Ayrshire, and that real direct express rail services could be a huge boost for the people of Ayrshire? Minister. I have no doubt at all that the logic of what the member is saying is that he should continue to engage with ScotRail on that. He will understand that any increase in a service in one part of the network may have a detrimental effect or impact potentially on another. Working around some of the very real challenges that they face on the timetable is something that I would encourage Willie Coffey to do. On perhaps improvements to the line and so on and so forth, the member will probably be aware that we now have a local rail development fund. Therefore, for example, if the local authority and indeed the regional transport partnership want to look at improvements on the line that could help to improve the service in the future, I would encourage them to apply for that funding. My door is always open to Willie Coffey and other members to have a conversation about what is the art of the possible. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the introduction of the direct service between Ayr and Edinburgh and say how much it is valued by my constituents and support Willie Coffey in everything that he says for his. I ask if there are any plans to increase the frequency of the service between Ayr and Edinburgh and perhaps increase the capacity of the trains as having travelled on it myself. I know that they can be overcrowded by the time they get to Edinburgh. Minister, in terms of the latter point, he will be aware that we are working hard in order to get the introduction of the 385s. Of course, there will also be coming in May the high-speed trains as well across the network. That will allow rolling stock to be cascaded across the network and free up more capacity and have more additional capacity across the network. How does that impact the service that he is talking about? I will go back and send him and Willie Coffey a note in terms of capacity. Of course, my offer that I made to Willie Coffey is one that is open to him. I am more than happy to discuss with him where improvements can be made. Of course, those matters should also be directed towards ScotRail as operational matters should be directed towards ScotRail. If they have not met Willie Coffey and John Scott and have not met Alex Hines, I would encourage them to do so. There are some real challenges around increasing the frequency of services because of the full timetable that is run, but, again, the art of the possible should be explored wherever it possibly can. Neil Bibby I would also like to see more direct train services from Ayrshire, but also in Verklyde and Renfrewshire to Edinburgh. Currently, there are only a small number of direct trains from Ayr to Edinburgh, which go via car stairs. It is more like round rail than cross rail. Progressing the long-awaited Glasgow cross rail scheme would make it both quicker and easier for my constituents to travel for business or leisure to our capital city and for people travelling to the west. I urge the minister again to give serious consideration to the significant benefits of the Glasgow cross rail scheme to better improve connectivity. I know about the ScotRail scheme well. He will know that, in 2008, it was considered as part of the strategic transport projects review, but it concluded for a number of reasons that it was not going to be progressed. What I said previously to Willie Coffey was that we have a rail development fund there. If Glasgow City Council and some of the other local authorities plus SPT, the original transport partnership, want to bid for that fund in order to explore whether cross rail could be progressed as feasible, financially viable and will make an improvement to the rail services around Glasgow, then, of course, that opportunity exists and I would encourage him to have that conversation with the city council and SPT. John Mason Thank you. To follow on Neil Bibby's point, one of the pinch points is Glasgow Central Station and, by using cross rail, the minister would agree that that would take pressure off Glasgow Central Station and would make quicker services, which would please Willie Coffey. He is absolutely right. He knows that Glasgow Central is our busiest station. He knows that there are some capacity issues already at Glasgow Central. He knows also what I have just said to Neil Bibby that cross rail was explored before, but for a variety of reasons it was not progressed. Now, there is an opportunity with a local rail development fund, there is an opportunity with the next control period kicking in, of course control period six between 2019 and 2024 for investment decisions to be made. If the council, if SPT, if other players and partners and stakeholders wish to re-explore cross rail, then there are opportunities to do that, so I would encourage them to have those conversations. Pauline McNeill To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend concessionary travel for all 16 to 18-year-olds. Minister Humza Yousaf The national concessionary travel scheme for young people provides discounts on bus and rail travel in Scotland for all young people living in Scotland aged 16 to 18. Using the Young Scot smart card, the scheme offers a one-third discount of the adult single fare and area-registered bus service in Scotland, one-third of most rail journeys in Scotland and a 50 per cent discount on rail season tickets. Eligible island residents also receive vouchers for four free ferry journeys a year. In addition, the Scottish Government is discussing with our partners and other key stakeholders the best way to introduce free bus travel for young modern apprentices and young carers in receipt of the planned Young Carers grant, as well as three months free bus travel for the recipients of the proposed job grant for those aged between 16 and 24, once those benefits come into force. Pauline McNeill Thank you. I welcome the progress that has been made, but it does not go far enough. 78 per cent of 16 to 18s are in education and only 6 per cent are in full-time education. Does the minister recognise that there is a certain unfairness in turning 16, but for peak fares on buses, trains and ferries, your fare doubles because the concessionary fares may relate to off-peak in most cases? Many earn as low as £4.50 an hour if you do earn at all. In view of that, would the minister consider that we should go further, we should have a much deeper policy for young people of that age group? Would he consider a short-term scheme, free or reduced fares on buses or trains for a period of three years, so that we could assess the benefits and uptake of free transport or better fares for that age group? If Pauline McNeill has a detailed and costed proposal, I would be happy to look at that. If she has a costed proposal and she can bring forward where that money would be found from and from which budget it would come from, I am more than happy to have that conversation with Pauline McNeill. It would be great to have Scottish Labour support on the measures that we are taking forward in relation to and we hope to take forward on young modern apprentices, but also for those discounts that will bring in for those in receipt of a young carers grant and jobs grant. I do not think that they are incidental or small changes or significant changes aimed towards the most vulnerable young people that we have in society. I am sure that we will have our support for that for any pilot scheme that she is wanting us to explore. Of course, I will have that conversation with her, but I would emphasise that such a scheme I would like to see some detail on that and some cost attached to it, because clearly it would have to be found from somewhere. Christine Grahame With reference to Transport Scotland's consultation on concessionary bus travel for 16 to 18-year-olds, it also references the current concessionary bus travel for pensioners. Will the minister confirm that it only costs the public purse if and when the pass is used, and will he take that into consideration when he responds to that consultation? Yes, I will. The consultation was extraordinarily popular with almost 3,000 members of the public, more than 100 organisations offering their views. We are considering all those views that have been expressed in that consultation and will shortly, in the coming few weeks, be able to give more information on how we intend to proceed on that. However, the benefits of the national concessionary travel scheme, of course—we understand them—is why we have been funding the scheme for all the time that we have, of course, been in government. I hope that other members will help us to come to a sustainable solution for that concessionary travel scheme, but also to support us on the fact that we wish to widen it out to young, modern apprentices and others, too. Ash Denham To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support mental health in the workplace. Minister Morian Watt Supporting the mental health of employees in the workplace is extremely important both for the individual and the organisation. It can lead to reduced sickness absence, improved productivity and lower staff turnover. Employers have a duty of care towards their employees and should take appropriate steps to ensure that mental health and wellbeing is protected and promoted. Our 10-year mental health strategy aims to improve uptake of and access to a range of services aimed at improving mental health in the workplace. We fund the healthy working lives programme in NHS Health Scotland, 1.6 million in 2017-18, to provide advice and support to employers on the measures that they can take. That support includes a free and confidential advice line and free training courses to equip employers with the skills and knowledge that they require. Ash Denham Could the minister explain how the Government plans to encourage as many organisations and individuals as possible to take part in the current engagement process of the draft suicide prevention action plan? We are seeking views and themes on the draft actions for possible inclusion in the new suicide prevention action plan, aimed at continuing the downward trend in suicides in Scotland. We published our engagement paper on this on 8 March and notified a wide range of organisations and individuals by email as well as issuing a press release. We invite individuals and organisations to submit their comments on the engagement paper by 30 April through our citizen space website. To support discussion by interested organisations and individuals, a number of public engagement events have been arranged by NHS Scotland, and details of those are available online. Those have proved popular, and if there is sufficient interest, Health Scotland will consider arranging more. Jamie Halcro Johnston Can the minister outline what work is being undertaken by NHS Health Scotland to support mental health in the workplace in Scotland's island communities, and what is it doing to engage particularly with small and medium-sized businesses? As I said in my previous answer, the measures and the support that is available through NHS Scotland online are available, of course, to everyone throughout Scotland, and the free training courses are available throughout Scotland. Access to mental health support for young people has been spoken about many times in this chamber. We are all aware of the poor statistics, particularly around access to CAMHS. That is why Scottish Labour has pledged to ring-fence mental health budgets, guaranteed access to mental health support in every workplace, college and school, and develop mental health training for staff in schools and workplaces. We know what needs to be done and are committed to doing it. Why does the minister and our Government not know what needs to be done? We too know what needs to be done. Just this morning, the member might be interested to know that I was at Kilmarnock College giving a quarter of a million pounds to NHS Scotland to help them to develop more mental health, help and advice in our colleges and universities. To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses saw their non-domestic rates bill increase as a result of the 2017 revaluation. Derek Mackay The purpose of our revaluation is to redistribute the tax burden among non-domestic properties to reflect changes in property rental markets. Following the 2017 revaluation, at least 69 per cent of non-domestic properties paid less or no more in rates than they had done previously. The impact of release and appeals, of course, will increase that percentage further. Daniel Johnson I thank the minister for that answer. I would also like to remind the chamber of my register of interest, given that I am a director and shareholder of a business with retail interests in Edinburgh. Many businesses face large increases following the rates revaluation and are struggling as a result. I know of at least two in my constituency that are closed as a direct result of the increase in their rates bill. I know of others, leaf and bean in my constituency, who are worried about the future of their business, given the increases. The latest statistics show that there has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of businesses that are appealing the revaluation, which takes it to a third of all businesses that are appealing their rates bill. Does the minister believe that businesses are desperate following the large increases, or worse, that they have no confidence in the calculations that have been made on their rates bill? Derek Mackay I think that it is Daniel Johnston and the Labour Party that are desperate on this and a whole host of other matters. The serious issue here, the serious issue here, the serious... Okay, okay, order, Mr Johnson. I know that Mr Johnston has not been a supporter of the many interventions that this Government has made. I think that that is why the Labour Party's position in terms of non-domestic rates is in sharp contrast to the lobbying that Daniel Johnston has undertaken on this matter. In fact, it is this Government bearing in mind, of course, that revaluation in terms of what the assessors do and the valuations are independent of Government. It is this Government that has taken the relief package to £720 million. It is this Government that has expanded reliefs, including small business bonus, lifting 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. It is this Government that increased and capped any increases for a range of businesses. It is this Government that reduced the poundage measure. It is this Government that is committed to more frequent and quicker evaluations of business rates. It is this Government that has delivered the growth accelerator. It is this Government that has empowered local authorities, and it is this Government that is implementing Barclay. That is what this Government is doing to support businesses across Scotland in the face of Labour and Tory Opposition. According to the Scottish Government's own statistics, at the end of February, 73,577 businesses had appealed their 2017 valuation. Of those, more than 73,000 were still waiting on a decision. Just 0.7 per cent, by the end of February, had the issue resolved. Those delays are causing a great deal of concern to businesses, particularly small businesses that are run by individuals. Is there anything more that the Scottish Government can do to try to speed up the process? I think that that is a very fair question. Of course, recognising that assessors and the valuation joint board and assessors organisation are independent of Government, and it is for them to work through their work programme. I have met them specifically before, during and after the Barclay recommendations to ensure that they are fully resourced to be able to deliver that. It is normal state of affairs that appeals do take some time. However, for businesses—I want to raise awareness of that—it might be in some stress, but any can apply. There is a process that can expedite appeal hearings, and I would encourage those who are going through the systems to use that if they feel that it is appropriate. I think that drawing attention to that is important, all the more reason to support the Barclay reforms as they relate to assessors. That is why I am particularly enthusiastic that assessors have come to me with the implementation plan of the recommendations that relate to them. I hope that it can be helped in the future when we have more frequent and quicker implementation and appeals and specific reforms around appeals for valuations into the future.