 Rhaiddiw i'r cyfrifigiau, General Questions, question one, Annabelle Goldie. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the criticism by Dr Neil McKagney from the Centre for Drugs Misuse research that the Government's methadone programme is, and I quote, literally a black hole into which people are disappearing. Minister, I'll wheelhouse. We would strongly disagree with these statements as we regard them as ill-founded and ill-judged, And we wish to highlight the importance of methadone as a treatment for individuals suffering from opioid dependency. Methadone has a strong evidence base behind it as a therapeutic treatment for those with an addiction. We do acknowledge that there is a need for improved data capturing around its use, we are working with partners to address this, and specifically to identify the flows of individuals moving on to Metatone programme and those coming off of Methadone. One of the overwhelming messages I have taken from my early days in this new role is that very many people can build achieve recovery from a drug addiction and it is critical that we mewn cynfodol, maen nhw i gynghwyl ger sydd gyda'u cael ei ddoch chi uchydig i'u gyd? Llyfr am y gallYr Rhys Gw5rch, rydyn ni'n ddau i'r arfer, yn ystafellu rhai o'r amser ymwynt iawn. Rydyn ni'n mynd i dda i ddweud wyliau peiriau eraill y byddiol i'r aelodau mewn pryscribu sydd bydd iawn i'r pryscribu sydd y gallwch yn gwneud rwyínau beth gyda yn maen nhw oedd i'n hwnnw ddweud agedir. Diolch i'r peiriau a'r plantaug mai dweud drwy ynghylch I think that the cost was estimated to be £12 million a year to the public purse. That figure seems to have risen, according to recent data, to £17.8 million a year. Would the minister agree that we really can do better? We can do better for our patients in Scotland, we can do better for those who are on methadone and we can do an awful lot better to give these patients a sense of hope if we only start recording the relevant data? I certainly acknowledge the point that Annabelle Goldie makes about the need for improved data since my initial question. I think that it's important that we understand that this is very much a person-centric approach. We need to tailor the response for the individual and what suits them. Methadone clearly has an important role to play as a number of different potential measures in a package of measures that are available to help tackle problem drug use. We need to understand the impact that is happening on individuals, hence the importance of tackling the CHI data and making sure that we have the quality of data. We need to understand what is happening to individuals, how long they are on a methadone programme and how successful it is in helping them. I think that it's important to stress that methadone has an important place in the armory of tools that are available to medical practitioners. It is prescribed on the basis of medical recommendations for individuals to suit their needs. We will work closely with all those in the Parliament who have an interest in ensuring that we achieve recovery. I'm happy to work with Annabelle Goldie. I know her long-standing interest in the issue and I'm happy to listen to the point that she raises. Adam Ingram To ask the Scottish Government what lessons the NHS in Scotland can learn from the freedom to speak up review about having an open and honest reporting culture. We are clear that all staff should have the confidence to speak up and know that their whistleblowing concerns will be treated seriously and investigated properly. Work is already underway to develop a robust package of measures that complement existing policies and support staff to raise any concerns that they have. We welcome Sir Robert Francis' freedom to speak up review, which will inform our thinking. We have recently consulted on introducing a duty of candor across health and social care. Adam Ingram I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer and will she, as the Francis review recommends, review the law to prevent the discrimination and victimisation like that suffered by my constituent, Dr Secumoy Daz, forcing him to take NHS Ayrton and Arran to an expensive employment tribunal to prove his case? Adam Ingram First of all, I'm not going to discuss individual cases but what I can tell him is that the Scottish Government has fully supported the UK Government's commitment to legislate to protect whistleblowers who are applying for NHS jobs, protect them from discrimination. Officials in the Scottish Government have worked closely with their relevant English legal counterparts to ensure that NHS Scotland employers are included in this UK-wide legislation. I'm happy to keep Adam Ingram updated on the progress of that. Neil Findlay In addition to having an open and honest reporting culture within our NHS, can the minister state with complete confidence that the NHS in Scotland does not operate a blacklist which prevents staff who have raised serious concerns about services from gaining employment elsewhere within our NHS? As I have just said to Adam Ingram, that is why we are fully supporting the commitment to legislate to protect whistleblowers who are applying for NHS jobs from discrimination and we are taking that forward with the UK Government. I'm very clear that what we need here is a cultural change in the NHS, which is why we have also brought forward the duty of candour because that is about creating a culture where people feel able to speak up about their concerns. We also have the whistleblowing helpline that has been in position for quite some time now and is an opportunity for staff to raise any concerns, but I think that the duty of candour will add to that by helping to create an open and transparent system within the NHS and encouraging people to speak out about any concerns that they have. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects minimum unit pricing of alcohol to be implemented. Minimum unit pricing of alcohol was passed unopposed by the chamber and would have been in place now for two years if it was not for the legal challenge led by the Scottish Whiskey Association. Over that time, we would have seen over 100 fewer deaths, over 3,000 fewer hospital admissions and around 7,000 fewer crimes. The case is currently before the Court of Justice of the European Union before returning to the Court of Session for a judgement. We are as frustrated as many others in the chamber about the delays caused by the legal challenge. We remain fully committed to the implementation of minimum unit pricing. I firmly believe that it is legal and that it would be the most effective way to tackle alcohol misuse as part of a package of measures and would bring significant health and social benefits. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. It is now some two years since minimum unit pricing was passed by the Scottish Parliament, but there has been no further discussion regarding alcohol in the chamber of this Scottish Parliament in a debate since. Given that Scotland's relationship with alcohol was cited at the time as a huge moral challenge by the former First Minister, given that the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour have made detailed proposals and submissions for further actions to tackle alcohol abuse, what further plans do the Scottish Government ministers have? When might we hear what those are and why has there been no further policy-led discussion of alcohol in this chamber since? I am very surprised that Jackson Carlaw has said that, because minimum unit pricing is just one of over 40 measures in our framework for action that seeks to reduce consumption, supports families and communities, encourages more positive attitudes and positive choices and improves treatment and support services. We have seen some improvement in alcohol-related harms with deaths in hospital admissions having reduced in recent years because of those actions, but they are still far too high and that is why there is more that we need to do. Considerable progress has been made on implementing key aspects of the alcohol framework, including a record investment in tackling alcohol misuse of over £278 million since 2008, delivery of over £477,000, alcohol brief interventions by NHS Scotland, the establishment of 30 alcohol and drug partnerships, the ban of the quantity discounts in off-sales that encourage customers to buy more than they might have, we have placed restrictions on where material promoting alcohol may be displayed and we have run a campaign to promote the availability of a smaller wine measure and on the on-trade. I hope that Jackson Carlaw feels that that is a comprehensive list of actions, real action being taken by this Government to tackle alcohol misuse. Action speaks louder than words, Mr Carlaw. Richard Simpson. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer and certainly welcome the brief interventions programme, which is a very welcome one, but I wonder if she would take a look at the fact that today I launched the alcohol bill, which I consulted on starting in 2012, which does indeed have 12 further measures to improve Scotland's relationship with alcohol. As her predecessor said quite clearly, minimum unit pricing and price is clearly very important, but it cannot be a magic bullet. I hope that the Government will support the legislation as it goes through, because it will improve Scotland's relationship with alcohol. As has been said on many occasions, we are always happy to look at any further measures, and I am happy to meet Richard Simpson to discuss that further. Richard Simpson just said that minimum unit pricing is important, and price is important. It is just a pity that Labour then has spent most of the years opposing minimum unit pricing in this place. It is good to hear that there is a change of heart from Richard Simpson on that, because I think that tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland is something that should unite us across this chamber. As I said to Richard Simpson and I will say to Jackson Carlaw, I am happy to look and discuss any further measures that others from across this chamber may bring. I hope that others will recognise the substantial work that this Government has done to tackle alcohol misuse in our society. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how Glasgow Colleges regional boards plans for an integrated city by curriculum could impact on students and staff. The Glasgow Colleges regional board is responsible for planning college provision that meets the needs of learners and employers. The Scottish funding council advises that the Glasgow curriculum plan is based on a comprehensive analysis of those needs. Following stakeholder consultation in the autumn, the regional board agreed that local communities and those furthest from employment should remain the focus for colleges. Individual colleges are now discussing their plans with their staff and students. The Scottish funding council will work with the regional board and the colleges to ensure that the right learning is delivered in the right place, making best use of the Glasgow East state and staff. The cabinet secretary for that answer. Both myself and Sandra White, MSP, recently met EIS representatives concerning new curriculum plans, made disadvantage students who would normally study at Glasgow Colleges out with the city centre. There are also concerns about staff being transferred to post city of Glasgow college on poorer pay and conditions. Will the cabinet secretary agree to meet both myself and Sandra White to discuss how those concerns can be addressed in more detail? I am happy to confirm to the member that I am happy to meet him and Sandra White. He will be aware that staffing matters are, of course, for colleges to determine. Nonetheless, the Government would expect to pay arrangements to apply. I can also confirm that the Glasgow curriculum plan proposes a 2.5 per cent increase in activity in community locations, including access-level courses, supporting more students who live in the most deprived areas and those with low or no qualifications and those furthest away from the labour market. To ask the Scottish Government how successful it has been in implementing the extension of 600 hours of free early education to eligible two-year-olds. The Scottish Government has worked very closely with local authorities to ensure that places for the estimated number of additional two-year-olds were available from autumn 2014. As of the annual census in September 2014, reported in December 2014, 5,774 two-year-olds were registered for a funded early learning and childcare place. Is the minister aware that a recent freedom of information request to all local authorities in Scotland found that around 40 per cent of eligible two-year-olds were not taken up in term one? Given that this is a flagship policy and given how important it is that we intervene early to ensure that most vulnerable children get the best start, what further action will be taken to ensure that this policy is being delivered effectively on the ground? Given that this comes on top of the thousands of three- and four-year-olds who have missed out on their 600 hours, can the minister tell me if Nicola Sturgeon has yet met the fair funding for kids campaign, as for the thousands of parents who are missing out on free childcare, the clock has ticked and we have seen very little action to sort this mess out? I am afraid that I do not quite understand where Kara Hilton gets her statistics from. On the September census, 10 per cent of all two-year-olds had taken up their uptake within the first month of eligibility. That is 10 per cent against a target of 15 per cent, so two thirds within the first month had taken up their eligibility to that. We are not happy to stop there. We have been marketing, we have been working with health visitors, we have been working with the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure that we get that final third of our vulnerable two-year-olds to take up their funded places. Yes, the First Minister has already met the fair funding for kids and I know that she has offered to meet them again. Minister, in a parliamentary answer that I received on 20 March, which I have here, it tells me that the details of the funding model by which the Scottish Government was able to predict a cost of £881 million for the 30 hours of nursery care has not yet been published. Can the minister advise me when it will be published? The eligibility is under working benefits. It has also been extended to those who are looked after under a kinship care order or guardianship. That is the criteria that we are using at the moment. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the provision of PE in schools. Ensuring that all pupils receive at least two hours of quality PE per week in primary schools and two periods in secondary schools in S1 to S4 has been a long-standing commitment of the Scottish Government. Schools have made remarkable progress with latest statistics showing 96 per cent of schools are meeting the PE target, up from 89 per cent in 2013 and up from less than 10 per cent in 2004-5. The Scottish Government is investing £11.6 million in PE over 2012-13 to 2015-16 in a programme jointly managed by Sport Scotland and Education Scotland. That includes £6.8 million directly to local authorities from Sport Scotland to support the delivery of the PE target and to improve the quality of PE and an additional £4.8 million to Education Scotland to deliver a programme of national initiatives to support opportunities for teachers. A recent report from the Youth Sports Trust has shown that pupils attending independent schools get an average of 5.4 hours of sport per week, 300 per cent more than state pupils, with a not surprising outcome that at the last Olympics 37 per cent of all British medal winners were educated out with the state sector. Given the clear advantages from greater physical activity for those in school, what work in the Scottish Government do to raise standards and ensure that all state schools are at least meeting the two-hour or two-period target? As I have just indicated, this Government can be very proud of the fact that we have moved a set to very close indeed to meeting the targets that were set around two hours and two periods. Indeed, the figures are up from some 10 per cent in 2004. If there are a small minority of schools that are still to meet the target, it is because of unusual circumstances around building and staff recruitment. However, all that has been said, the member refers in addition to PE to the issue of physical activity. It should be said that 75 per cent of children in Scotland are now meeting the targets that have been set for the availability of physical activity in addition to PE. To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to prevent the further deterioration in the state of Scotland's roads. The Government plans to invest over £690 million in the coming year to ensure that a strategic road network remains safe, efficient and effective. This builds on the significant road investment of more than £6 billion since 2007 and to ensure that we continue to make best use of available resources. I have asked all 33 road authorities in Scotland to consider new ways of collaborating to improve the delivery of maintenance services. I thank the minister for his answer and I am quite encouraged to every year that we have this period at the end of the winter when there is a great deal of work to be done to bring our roads up to standard. In relation to his discussions with local authorities and their road responsibilities, what power does the minister have to impose a minimum standard so that we can begin to reverse the decline from which we appear to suffer? I am sure that local authorities and COSLA are interested in improving the condition of our roads and that is why they are engaging positively with the review group that we have. As well as the financial freedom that they have in the £10.8 billion settlement, the new resources that are committed by the Scottish Government and I am convinced that we will continue to work in partnership to open up the opportunities to improve the legacy that we inherited from the previous Labour Liberal Executive and then the previous Tory Government. The continued investment from the SNP Government will help to make that difference. We now move to First Minister's Questions.