 We don't care about what the matter is so. Clare Baker. On behalf of the Scottish Government, when it last met NHS Fife, what issues were discussed? Shona Robison. Ministers and Government officials meet regularly with representatives of NHS Fife to discuss matters of importance to local people. Claire Baker. The Cabinet Secretary is well aware of the pressures that are facing NHS Fife, including red bullking a brewches of waiting-time guarantees. In 2013, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health said that he wanted to accelerate the pace of change towards seven-day services. Labour have this week called for £100 million from budget consequentials to create a front-line fund to take forward this ambition by easing the pressure on front-line staff and providing better patient care. Will she support it? I say to Clare Baker that we are already taking significant action. The £100 million for tackling delayed discharge, which is a better phrase in bed blocking, will make a huge difference to the partnerships going forward from 1 April. Fife will get its share of that resource. That is in addition, of course, to NHS Fife's uplift through the NRAC allocation, which I'm sure the member would want to welcome, which means that Fife's total budget uplift next year will be £19.5 million. In terms of seven-day services, I'm not sure if the member is aware, but a task force that we established is looking at seven-day services and has been over the last year. I would suggest that it's better to wait for the recommendations and the information coming out of that expert group. Those are people who know what they're talking about and will inform us in terms of how we develop seven-day services. I would suggest that we should wait and see what they have to say. Roger Campbell Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, you may be aware that, in the year to December, NHS Fife has made use of the integrated community assessment support service extended to more than 2,000 people. Can you confirm whether you'll encouraged for the use of that scheme, both in Fife and elsewhere? Ruth Davidson Yes, I would. I think that it's a good model. I think that it provides an opportunity for the integrated partnerships going forward to look at some of the things that have already been successful, whether that's in Fife or elsewhere. I think that we should recognise that integration from 1 April provides the biggest reform that we have seen in our public services for a generation, but it's only going to be as good as the plans that those partnerships bring forward. I would hope that the type of service that Roger Campbell has described would feature not just in Fife's integrated partnership plan but elsewhere in Scotland as well. Graham Pearson To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in setting up the energy jobs task force. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney Presiding Officer, the First Minister announced the establishment of the energy jobs task force on Wednesday 14 January in Aberdeen, where she was meeting key stakeholders in the oil and gas industry. The task force will be chaired by Lina Wilson, the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, and the first meeting will take place later this month. Graham Pearson I'm grateful for that reply. In the third quarter of 2014, refined petroleum, chemicals and pharmaceuticals fell by 2 per cent. Since then, the price of oil has fallen significantly. We also appreciate the efforts that have been described this morning as the Government considering any other actions to help the people in this vital industry. Cabinet Secretary Presiding Officer, the Government is taking a number of steps as have been shared with Parliament on a number of occasions to support the developments in the oil and gas sector. Mr Ewing is in fact in Aberdeen today meeting companies as he has done persistently during his term in office as the energy minister, and he will continue that direct dialogue with individual companies. The Government has set out a range of interventions that we are taking to support innovation. Indeed, I was discussing the oil and gas innovation centre, which has been funded by the Scottish funding council at the Government's request. Just the other evening at an event in Parliament, we are supporting the internationalisation of business activities into the bargain. Crucially, the industry that is required to be addressed is the fiscal regime in the North Sea sector. That is an issue on which the Government has made representations to the UK Government. Mark McDonald As the cabinet secretary rightly outlines, the fiscal regime is critical in supporting the industry and ensuring that jobs can be protected, particularly through, for example, exploration activity being augmented by tax credits, which the Government has made a strong submission on. There was backing today from the Institute of Directors at the Devolution and Further Powers Committee that action should be taken here and now and not wait until the budget. Can I ask if the cabinet secretary has received any communication from the Treasury since the Scottish Government made its submission in relation to support for the oil and gas sector? First of all, I very much welcome the contribution that has been made to the debate by the Institute of Directors. I thought that it was a particularly thoughtful and focused intervention in the debate to address the issue about which the oil and gas sector is most concerned, and that is to secure an improvement in the fiscal regime. The Scottish Government will continue to raise the issues, particularly about exploration tax credits, but also about the level of the supplementary charge that we believe is too high, and about the encouragement of an investment allowance with the United Kingdom Government. We will, of course, advise the Parliament of any response that we hear from the UK Government, but I stress the point that the First Minister made in her previous comments that we need to see action on this question before the budget in March. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote training and skills development in the road-haulage industry. Skills Development Scotland offers a range of services for both individuals and employers. SDS can offer employers a contribution to the cost of training through the freight logistics modern apprenticeship framework. Additionally, Transport Scotland does work in partnership with freight industry stakeholders, and it is best to meet the industry's needs over a whole range of issues. It has facilitated discussion between the freight trade associations and Skills Development Scotland on training and skills development. Is she aware that there is currently a shortage of drivers for heavy goods vehicles? There are companies that want to recruit young people but do not have the funds and support to train them, and there are young people who would relish the opportunity to work in this sector. Therefore, what more can the Scottish Government do to ensure that its modern apprenticeship scheme is properly aligned with the needs of the logistics sector, that schools and careers guidance are fully engaged in making young people aware of the opportunities that exist? Will she meet me and other interested MSPs to discuss a skills academy to bring together education and training providers and the industry to address the needs of the sector? I am aware that the industry is currently reporting a shortage of HDV drivers. It may be compounded by an ageing workforce. However, I am pleased to hear that there are companies in Scotland that want to recruit and train young people. There is a minimum age for HDV drivers, but we are keen to do what we can to increase the modern apprenticeship opportunities for young people in the important sector. It is worth remembering that the SDS can make contributions to the cost of training. I know that Transport Scotland officials have already met the Rhodology Association to discuss the issue. Of course, I would be happy to meet the member and, indeed, any others interested in this to discuss how we can ensure that young people are aware of and can access the opportunities that the industry presents. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but it appeared from a meeting that we had just the other evening in this building that the heavy goods transport industry is in a critical situation regarding recruitment. I would ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that SDS engages with the Rhodology industry as a matter of urgency in order to encourage easier entry of new skilled drivers into the industry. I indicated in my earlier answer that Transport Scotland officials are already engaged in this conversation, and they will continue to discuss any issues of concern with the freight trade associations, working in partnership with officials from inside my portfolio and from Skills Development Scotland to help to meet their current and future skills needs. I know that a meeting is taking place between the RHA and SDS in February to explore the issue further. To ask the Scottish Government how the £15.2 million allocated to NHS Grampian for 2015-16 will benefit patient care. NHS Grampian has welcomed the additional £15.2 million from the Scottish Government. It is currently working up plans on how best to use this extra funding for the benefit of its patients. I have been following the news this week of a highly successful scheme pioneered by the Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit, where the suicide rate among patients has fallen by 75 per cent within four years. Are there any plans to implement any strategies that would specifically target suicide rates in Grampian? I am more than happy to look into that research in more detail. I think that we should always look at emerging findings from elsewhere. However, meantime, NHS Grampian works in partnership with Murray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils, Police Scotland and third sector partners on suicide prevention strategies and plans. There are well-established initiatives in place across Grampian in a range of community settings following the strategy used in choose life, which has been very successful. Indeed, other countries have looked at adopting the choose life strategy. The essence of it being that they work collaboratively with partners to reduce suicidal behaviour by reviewing data and understanding trends, providing support to those affected, and working with local community planning partnerships to raise awareness of suicide behaviour and awareness training. I agree that, in relation to the wider question on Stuart Stevenson supplementary, the importance of mental health services delivered at Cormill hospital in Aberdeen. Will she agree that, as part of her conversations with NHS Grampian on the use of additional funds to address the very clear pressures that they face in delivering services at Cormill? Of course, at the annual review, the issue of mental health services came up and was well discussed. I would expect NHS Grampian to look across all of their services how they make the improvements that they need to make, how they meet the targets and the standards that we would expect them to meet. I have to say, though, that that job has been made a lot easier by the acceleration of the NRAC funding, which has resulted in over £49 million of an uplift to NHS Grampian next year. I would hope that that is something that the member would welcome. Jenny Marra To ask the Scottish Government when a community justice centre, as recommended by the commission on women offenders, will open in Dundee, given that Dundee has the highest percentage of female problem drug use in Scotland. Following the publication of the commission on women offenders report in 2012, the Scottish Government officials worked with community justice leaders in Dundee to help them develop a local service for women who offend, as we have done right across the country. The team in Dundee decided not to establish a justice centre for women. They decided instead that developing their dedicated women offenders team, which had already been praised by the commission as an example of good practice, was the right thing to do to deliver the best services for women in Dundee. We supported that decision and provided more than £237,000 in grant funding since 2013 to expand the women offenders team in the city. The team provides a broad range of services for women involved in the criminal justice system, in line with the commission's recommendations. Jenny Marra Thank you, cabinet secretary, for his answer. Can I ask him if he is going to consider Labour's call to reconsider the super prison in Inverclyde, given that the Angelini commission did recommend services and rehabilitation much closer to the communities? John Swinney As I outlined to the Justice Committee on 16 December, a proposal has been put to me by the Scottish Prison Service, and I am considering that matter at the present time. I will make an announcement in due course. Richard Baker To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on the introduction of its revised business rates incentivisation scheme. John Swinney Presiding Officer, I announced the introduction of the revised agreed business rates incentivisation scheme as part of my parliamentary statement on the 2015-16 local government finance settlement on 11 December. Richard Baker Under a new brisk scheme, Aberdeen has been set a far higher target rate for business rate collections, some £50 million higher, even though, with the fall of oil prices, income from rates must be expected to decrease locally. How can this scheme be judged to have worked in any way for Aberdeen if it fails to allow more funds raised in the city to be invested in a local economy at the very time that it is needed most? Given events in the energy industry, will he consider revising the target? The process of arriving at the business rates incentivisation scheme was a joint piece of work between the Scottish Government and local authorities in Scotland. There was a joint group between the Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that formulated recommendations that were accepted by both ministers and leaders of local government in Scotland. We will continue to review the scheme as it takes its course. We have set targets for 2014-15 and 2015-16. Of course, the Government will continue to review all those matters as we proceed in the period going forward. Gavin Brown, you were about to enter financial year 2015-16. Has a business rates incentivisation scheme for 2013-14 been sorted out yet? What I said to Parliament was that we were unable to reach agreement about the application of the business rates incentivisation scheme in 2013-14, so the scheme would not apply in that year. We have secured agreement for 2014-15 and 2015-16, and I would have thought that that would have been a welcome to Mr Brown. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the most recent homelessness statistics. The Scottish Government welcomes the reduction in homelessness shown in the most recent statistics for the second quarter of 2014-15. The 3 per cent reduction in applications follows a trend of falling numbers seen in recent years, and we have seen a fall of 36 per cent since 2008-2009. That is mainly due to the on-going focus on prevention by local authorities and their partners. The Scottish Government is continuing to support that, alongside taking steps to increase housing supply. I thank the minister for her response. While the reported fall in the number of homelessness applications is to be very much welcome, does the minister recognise that overall homelessness statistics are worrying trends that require to be addressed? For instance, given that it is the case that the longer families have lived in temporary accommodation, the more likely they were to attribute their worsening health to their accommodation. Can she tell the chamber what specifically she is doing to address that issue? Also, given that homeless children are two to three times more likely to be absent from school and are three to four times more likely to have mental health problems, does she share my concern for the impact that the picture of lengthening stays will have on the almost 5,000 children now living longer in temporary accommodation? What I would say to the member is that I am concerned about any homeless family in Scotland, and that is why we are working hard with our partners to increase the supply of housing in Scotland and reduce the length of time that households are in temporary accommodation. However, most households in temporary accommodation are waiting for settled accommodation, and I think that the shelter report showed that the average is around 18 weeks. We are taking steps to improve the quality of information that we hold in the length of time that people spend in temporary accommodation to better inform our approach in the future. We have started a consultation with the chief housing officers in this regard, and we are expecting a response by the end of January. However, it is worth noting that the vast majority of temporary accommodation for homeless households will be of a good quality, well-managed social housing, and it is not always the picture that we are hearing. Households are rarely placed in poor quality temporary accommodation, and the unsuitable accommodation of order covers accommodation for children, pregnant women, and we have just strengthened that to ensure the wind and water type. To ask the Scottish Government how it is planning to meet any increase in demand for NHS services over the next five years. NHS boards are responsible for planning and delivering services to meet the needs of their local population now and in the future. Our 2020 vision sets out a clear strategic direction on how we expect health and social care services to be delivered in the years ahead, and the Scottish Government is working closely with the NHS to make this happen. One area where the demand for NHS services is expanding dramatically is my home village of Bishopson, an area of urban expansion with 2,500 new houses to be built, of which approximately 300 are now up and occupied while the building work continues. Bishopson is one small health centre, creaking at the seams. There is anecdotal evidence that people are going direct to A and E, the very thing that we all want to avoid. To date, not one sod has been cut to create a new health centre. There seems no health board plan for a new health centre. Will the cabinet secretary investigate, intervene and revert to me with proposals for resolving this intolerable situation? I am more than happy to write to Annabelle Goldie about the specifics and some of the plans for Bishopson. On a general note, it is very important that the shift in the balance of care from the acute to the primary care sector happens. It needs to happen more quickly, and that requires investment in local services. That is an issue that we will be discussing later this afternoon in the 2020 vision, and as we take forward the plans over the next few months.