 Iain Gray. To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the day. Engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Iain Gray. Presiding Officer, it's the end of term and we sometimes reach for a little levity and I'm famous for levity. So I was tempted to ask the First Minister what she's doing to save the macaroni pie. I would never get four bites out of that. Or there's the oil and gas report, slipped out half an hour ago on the last day of term, nothing funny about the figures contained in that. But it is also the end of school term and all over Scotland, careful childcare arrangements made by families are coming to a crashing halt. I think that in a modern 21st century country like Scotland, parents should expect affordable, accessible, high-quality childcare all year round for children of all ages. Can the First Minister explain why we don't have that? Well, there's a clutch of issues to be going on with. Let me firstly deal with the important matter of the Macaroni pie. I do think that that can't be left to the sidelines today. I've got a confession to make. I am not a lover of the Macaroni pie. However, my father is, and I got a stern talking to on the telephone last night from my father who told me that he expected me to join the campaign to save the Macaroni pie, so I've always been an obedient and loyal daughter and this occasion is no different. The second point raised by Iain Gray, the oil and gas bulletin was actually published two hours ago—perhaps Iain Gray is a slow reader, I don't know—he's certainly not done much for his reputation for levity today, but let me turn to what I think is the serious and important issue raised by Iain Gray today. Can I start by welcoming very warmly the report that's been published today by the Commission for Child Care Reform? The Government will certainly be studying that report very carefully and, if there are ideas or suggestions in it that we think are worth taking forward them, we will certainly do so. However, this Government has, as Iain Gray is aware, already increased by almost half the number of hours of free early learning and childcare that are available to three and four-year-olds. We have plans in the next Parliament to double that provision again from 16 hours a week to 30 hours a week. However, yes, I accept that there are issues about flexibility, and there are issues about wraparound care. That's why the recent legislation that we passed put an onus on local authorities to consult parents about those precise issues. We will continue to work hard to improve the provision of childcare. Why will we do that, Presiding Officer? Because it's right for children and it's also right for parents who want to work. Finally, in passing, I would say that the commitment that we've made to 30 hours a week over the life of the next Parliament, if we are re-elected, is in excess of what Labour promised at the UK election or indeed what the Tories promised at the UK election. We will continue to lead not just by example but by practice and getting on with the job. Iain Gray. Well, Presiding Officer, when it comes to levity, I know I'm a stand-in, but we should probably both admit that neither of us are stand-ups, that's for sure. The trouble with the free nursery hours is, of course, that thousands of parents can't access their childcare entitlement, and the First Minister knows that she's met the fair funding for kids campaign twice, but she's done nothing to fix that problem. However, there is a bigger problem. The commission reports today and it says that we have seen a focus on early learning for preschool children at the expense of broader childcare provision. Indeed, the head of the childcare alliance says that in Scotland in 2015, far too many families are finding that, instead of working for them, the childcare settlement is making their lives more difficult and less secure. The First Minister may welcome the report, but in many ways it is damming of her childcare policy. Is she listening, but more importantly, will she act? First Minister? Firstly, I suggest to Ian Gray, just by way of an introductory comment here to my answer, that before he criticises the commitment or the provision by this Government to childcare, he should simply reflect on the fact that what we are providing today is double what we inherited from the last Labour administration. I don't suggest that there is not work to do and we are committed to doing it, but it is far in advance of anything that the last Labour Government managed to introduce themselves. In the spirit of honesty and self-reflection that is shone through that BBC documentary, The Fall of Labour the other night, I think that they should perhaps reflect on their own record. I know that this is an issue for parents. I have spoken to parents in my constituency about fair funding for our kids. I suggest to Ian Gray that he familiarises himself with the Children and Young People Act, which has done two things in particular that are relevant to this question. Put on local authorities the obligation to consult about flexibility with parents, but also the obligation to consult with parents on early learning and childcare beyond the mandatory hours and on out-of-school care, so that that can be better integrated with mandatory early learning and childcare. We will continue to take forward this important programme of work, and perhaps Labour might want to support us instead of just throwing brickbats from the sideline as has become their want. I understand that the Scottish Government has asked local government to consult parents, but the childcare commission has spent 15 months consulting parents and providers, and parents are not going to say anything different. Let me try to explain. After 16 years, the chamber is full of grandparents, including you and me, but in Scotland more grandparents have to fill childcare gaps for free than anywhere else in the UK. Today is the very day that grannies and grandpas are mobilised to fill the school holiday hole in childcare provision right across the country. That plus friends, neighbours, juggling family holidays, flexible hours if you are allowed them, holiday clubs if you can afford them. No amount of free preschool hours helps that. What the report says is that that is squeezing other wraparound care out. The only thing that will help is modern, flexible all-year-round, all-age affordable childcare, so will the First Minister change her childcare focus and deliver what parents actually need. Not what our Government has decided they should get. In everything that I have said, I have recognised the challenges that parents face. That is why we are working to improve the provision of childcare. To do so by extending the number of hours during term time, I accept, but also looking at how we integrate that better with more wraparound care. The obligation that is now on local authorities to look at flexibility, to look at that integration is resulting in local authorities starting to consider different ways of providing childcare. I was talking to a local authority nursery headteacher just a few weeks ago who is looking actively at how they extend their provision longer into the holiday period. Those are issues that are actively being taken forward. Iain Gray wants to make comparisons with the rest of the UK. I will point out that, albeit that childcare is expensive—we understand that—Scotland has got lower costs for almost all types of childcare than the rest of the UK, and costs are rising more slowly. However, there is no doubt that childcare is expensive. That is why we will continue to get on with the job of improving it. Labour should reflect on the fact that, if it had all the answers, why did it not implement some of those answers when it was in government? Secondly, why didn't they just a month or so ago at the UK general election propose any of those ideas that Iain Gray is putting forward? I will leave Labour to moan on the sidelines. As First Minister of this Government, we will get on with the job of improving childcare for children and parents across the country. Iain Gray. The First Minister dismisses the cost of childcare in a sentence. The truth is that we have some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Childcare is not working for families, but it is failing low-income families in particular for them. That is not an inconvenience. It is a year-round, insurmountable barrier to getting into work and out of hardship. They know what they need. They need after-school clubs, holiday childcare, full-time nursery places that are available, accessible and affordable. They need to know that childcare will not cost them more than 10 per cent of their income, and that is Scottish Labour's commitment as well as the childcare commission report. They need to know that childcare will not disappear when their child is five on 1 July. I know that the First Minister cannot deliver that by tomorrow, but she can commit to it today. After eight years of SNP government, is that really too much for parents to ask? One of the problems for Iain Gray is that he might not want to listen to the answers that I am given, because they get in the way of his preprepared script for the questions, but people out there, I assume, will be listening to the answers that I am given. Firstly, I did not dismiss concerns about the cost of childcare. I said explicitly that childcare is too expensive. I simply corrected a point that he made about UK comparisons. Secondly, I have said that for this Scottish Government is a work in progress. We are, yes, increasing the provision of free childcare so that it does not cost any percentage of a family's budget. They get the same hours of childcare free of charge as primary school children spend in primary school. Secondly, I have also said that we are working to deal with that issue of integration and wraparound care. That is a job that we are getting on with doing, because I know how much it matters to parents, to grandparents and perhaps most importantly of all to children across the country. Yet again, we have the divide in this chamber. The opposition just raised the moans and the winches and the problems. This Government gets on with finding the solutions and doing the hard work of fixing things. To ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Secretary of State for Scotland. I have no plans in the near future. This week, the Federation of Small Business reported that one of every three of its members worried that they cannot recruit enough skilled staff to grow their business. It is one of their biggest concerns and now outweighs tax, utility costs or access to finance. We know that this Government has decimated Scotland's colleges, the bedrocks of skills training. The excuse has always been that they would make up for the cuts to part-time places with an increase in full-time ones. In the last five years, how many part-time places has she cut and how many full-time replacements have there been? Ruth Davidson, if she is serious about this point of making sure that our small businesses and indeed our businesses of any size have access to the skilled labour that they need, then she would be supporting the college reform programme. That college reform programme is precisely about making sure that young people or people of any age going through our college system are coming out of that college system with the skills, training and qualifications that better equip them for the jobs market. The other point that I would make to Ruth Davidson about this is that the issue about skills is an important one. The Scottish Government, both Angela Constance and Roseanna Cunningham, is a fair work secretary at the Deputy First Minister. The finance secretary works closely with businesses and business organisations to make sure that we can deal with skills shortages where they exist. Of course, any issue of skills shortages arises from the fact that we have rising employment in Scotland. We have fallen rates of economic inactivity. Those are challenges that, yes, we must address, but they are challenges from a recovering economy. I will continue to make sure that this Government, through our education system, is equipping young people for the jobs that are out there for them. If Ruth Davidson were serious about this, she would get behind that. Ruth Davidson was not a hard question. I only asked for two numbers, but I am not surprised that those specific numbers are ones that the First Minister did not want to give. For the five years to 2013-14, the Government has cut 150,000 part-time places and replaced them with just 9,000 full-time ones. That is a ratio of 15 to 1. Part-time courses help carers, they help single mothers, they help those returning from maternity leave, and they help part-time workers. It is worse than that. For the first time, we now know what those cuts mean for individual communities. Yesterday, MSPs were told that there has been a cut of more than 18,000 college places in Fife, nearly 28,000 across Aberdeenshire, here in Edinburgh, a drop of nearly 16,000, and most shamefully of all, in the First Minister's own backyard, more than 30,000 fewer college places for the young people of Glasgow than when this SNP Government came to office. We already knew that the numbers had been cut, but we now know that the communities have been hit hardest by those cuts, and we also know that our small businesses are increasingly worried about a skills gap opening up. The SNP's approach to colleges is failing students and failing Scotland's business. What will the First Minister do to turn it around? If everything was as disastrous as Ruth Davidson is making out, then presumably Scotland would not right now have the lowest levels of youth unemployment that we have seen in six years and the highest levels of female employment that we have seen ever in Scotland, that is the reality of the reform. Let me remind Ruth Davidson of some facts that she may find inconvenient. We promised, as a Government, that we would maintain 116,000 full-time college places. As I accepted a couple of weeks ago to Kezia Dugdale, we did not quite deliver on that commitment. Instead, we have delivered 119,636 full-time college places. The number of women studying full-time courses has increased by 15 per cent. We have more recognised qualifications being achieved, 14,000 more students successfully completing full-time courses, leading to recognised qualifications than was the case in 2009. Here is the view of somebody that we all respect, somebody that the Opposition is usually keen to quote when his words suit their purposes. Sir Ian Wood, colleges have come on immensely. They are re-energised and are reinventing themselves as larger units with greater potential. They are recognising their opportunity to enhance the focus on employability of students. Where part-time courses are still appropriate, we support them. That is why we have invested in additional £6.6 million in 2014-15 for part-time places that are often favoured by women. We are getting on with the job of making sure that we have a young population that is equipped to take up the jobs that are being created in our economy. It is the kind of thing that Tories used to support until they seem to have completely lost their way. Stewart Stevenson, I believe that the First Minister will be aware of the loss by young seafood of probably the biggest fish processing contract in the UK, affecting jobs in Frisaba and indeed in Grimsby as well. The council in Aberdeensia has indicated that it will work to mitigate the effects of that. The chief executive has indicated to me that he will give every support to government initiatives. He would be very welcome if the First Minister can indicate that the Government will support every effort to mitigate the effects of job losses in Frisaba. I certainly share the member's concern about recent developments in respect of young seafood and the potential impact that that might have on employees, on their families and, of course, on the surrounding areas. I can confirm that the Minister for Business and, indeed, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs have and will continue to offer immediate support to the company. Scottish Enterprise is also in contact with the company to support the business and to discuss what can be done to minimise any negative impact on jobs. Of course, in the unfortunate event of job losses, we have already made the offer of support through our PACE initiative, which helps in redundancy situations and helps those who are affected by redundancy. I can reassure the member that the Government will do everything within our power to help the company through this difficult time. Sandra White Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The First Minister will be aware of the deportation of the city of Glasgow student Majid Ali to Pakistan, where his whereabouts are unknown and has not been heard from since. Can he ask, therefore, if the First Minister shares my concerns over his safety and will the Scottish Government endeavour to find out exactly what has happened to Majid Ali? The First Minister I certainly share the member's concern and that of Mr Ali's friends about his safety since his removal from the United Kingdom. It is very worrying that nobody has heard from him more than two weeks since he left the UK. The Minister for Europe and International Development wrote to the Home Secretary on 10 June seeking urgent clarification on Mr Ali's situation and assurances about his safety to date. No reply has been received and I now intend to write to the Prime Minister. Although asylum is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government is clear that all claims for asylum must be thoroughly and fairly assessed and that people must only be returned to their countries of origin if their safety can be guaranteed. The First Minister Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's responses to the finding by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research that, in 2014-15, Police Scotland's use of stop-and-search remained unduly high. First Minister Firstly, it is important to set the report in context. It says that, in a quote at national level, the trends seem encouraging. In 2014-15, the overall number of recorded searches fell by 34 per cent. Alison MacKinnis will be aware that the Justice Secretary has set up an independent advisory group chaired by John Scott QC to examine the use of stop-and-search in Scotland. This group, which has met twice already, will make its recommendations by August. The Justice Secretary looks forward to working constructively with members to take forward the group's recommendations. In addition to that, Police Scotland is now implementing a detailed improvement plan on stop-and-search, which will result in better training, data recording and governance. Alison MacKinnis I thank the First Minister for her response. Well, search numbers may be down, but they are still far too high. People in Glasgow are five times more likely to be stopped in search than people in London. Searches fall disproportionately on young people. Last year, the number of searches on 16-year-olds in Glasgow was greater than the total number of 16-year-olds in that city. I know that the FM wants to wait for her advisory group, but the independent review of the Fife pilot says that consensual stop-and-search should cease now. Will she back this academic's recommendation and call on Police Scotland today to put an end to this discredited practice? Alison MacKinnis First Minister, as the member will be aware, there is already a presumption against consensual stop-and-search, and there is no consensual stop-and-search for young people. I think that it is important to wait for the outcome of the advisory group, otherwise there would be little point in establishing the advisory group. However, I think that Alison MacKinnis, who I will pay tribute to her, I think has a very consistent record on those issues, and I respect her views on this. However, as I am sure she will, I think that she should recognise the trends that this report sets out. In the first two full years of Police Scotland, the number of searches has fallen by almost 38 per cent and by 34 per cent in the most recent year. The number of consensual searches has fallen by 40 per cent. The number of searches on 16-year-olds has fallen by 39 per cent. Of course, as I said, there is an end already to consensual stop-and-search for under-12s and that presumption against it for everyone else. I think that the right things have been done. There is a determination to learn the right lessons, but it is important now to give the advisory group the opportunity to do their job and then all of us collectively can take forward their recommendations. The First Minister, aware of figures from Police Scotland, published or given to me last week, which revealed that there were seven and a half thousand stop-and-searchs in East Renfisher last year alone. That is more than 20 every day. Does she believe—the reason I asked the question is a young man who has stopped several times in his car and once, just recently out walking, all without foundation—that all of those seven and a half thousand searches in the most law-abiding area in Scotland are intelligence-led? Does she share my concern that this is potentially damaging relations between the police and our young people? I do believe—I think that I have made this view clear—that that relationship between the police and our young people is a vitally important one. The approach to stop-and-search, amongst many other things, will be one of the factors that helps to ensure that that relationship is a good one. I also know from experience in my constituency that people want to see the police being visible and tackling crime and disorder in communities. Of course, there is always an important balance to be struck. Again, I say to Ken Macintosh the same as I have just said to Alison McInnes. The trends around stop-and-search are very, very clear, and they are all downward. The statistics that I read out to Alison McInnes are important and significant statistics—significant drops in the use of stop-and-search. Of course, now, an end to consensual stop-and-search of under-12s and a presumption against consensual stop-and-searchs for everybody else. The presumption is that it is only where there are statutory grounds that stop-and-searchs happen. That is the right approach. If the advisory group, as I expect, will make recommendations about further changes to policy, we will take those recommendations forward. To ask the First Minister what analysis the Scottish Government will make of the impact on food bank usage as a result of Scotland's share of the further £12 billion in welfare reductions announced by the UK Government. We continue to be very concerned about the rising demand for food banks. The Scottish Government has invested nearly £300 million from 2013-14 to this year to mitigate the worst impacts of the UK Government's welfare cuts. That includes £1 million specifically for our emergency food action plan to help combat food poverty in Scotland. There is no doubt in my mind that the UK Government's welfare cuts have led to the dramatic increase that we have seen in food bank use. Of course, we have yet to hear the details of where and on whom the Conservatives' £12 billion welfare acts in the future will fall. However, as we have seen from past experience, Tory benefit cuts tend to fall on the most vulnerable and disproportionately on disabled people and on women. The Scottish Government will continue to do everything that we can to mitigate that impact. The information that was published this morning highlights the high level of child poverty even before the additional £12 billion of welfare cuts came from Westminster. Does the First Minister agree that the extra cuts will push more children and their families into a position of poverty, and that the Conservative Government will be responsible for and that the pressures placed upon food banks and food share organisations will only increase at a time when the level of emergency food across the UK, provided by the Trussel Trust food banks in Scotland, was the second highest in the entire UK? I agree with that. Figures that have been published this morning show that poverty in Scotland, particularly child poverty in Scotland, remains far too high. We know that there has been an eight-fold increase in emergency food aid given to families over a three-year period. That suggests that there is a real pressure on family incomes due to welfare cuts and benefit changes. The Prime Minister seemed to indicate on Monday that tax credits would form a key element of their proposed £12 billion cuts, further cuts to the welfare budget. Tax credits are a vital support for many low-income families, particularly families with children. Cuts of that magnitude will have a significant impact on families and poverty levels in this country and will push more people into relying on services such as food banks. Along with many other things, powerfully illustrates why the powers over social security should be in the hands of the Scottish Parliament, not in the hands of a Tory Government at Westminster. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the concerns expressed by trade unions and others regarding the budget reductions that local authorities are facing. The outcome of the 2011 spending review and the budget review of 2013 confirmed that local government's revenue funding and capital share would be maintained on a like-for-like basis with extra money being made available for new duties. Despite the significant cuts imposed on this Parliament's budget by Westminster, the total share of the Scottish Government's budget allocated to local government, excluding health spending, has risen on a like-for-like basis since we took office in 2007. The impact of the 2015 UK spending review on the Scottish budget, as well as the financial settlement that the Scottish Government in turn reaches with local government, will of course determine future budgets. Since this Government came to power, 50,000 people have lost their jobs and councils across Scotland, the equivalent of the entire engineering sector. The poorest communities are suffering the greatest loss of services. Libraries have closed, homecares have been privatised, education services are cut and the costs of burials are up. If those job losses had occurred in the whisky or bioscience sectors, there would rightly be a national outcry that would be calls for action and a task force set up in response. Why does the crisis of employment in local government not merit a similar or indeed any response from the First Minister? Not for the first time Neil Findlay seems to live in a parallel universe. I cannot help thinking if only UK Labour had had the guts to stand up against Tory austerity. We might not have another Tory Government looking pitiful, pitiful site. Order. I know they do not like it. Instead, we have the pitiful site of a UK Labour leadership contest being dominated by the question of whether they are going to admit to spending too much during the good years. We will continue to stand up against Tory austerity. We will continue to do everything that we can to protect our vital public services, such as the national health service and such. However, while Scottish Labour still takes the view that it is better to allow our finances to be run by a Tory Government at Westminster than to be run by this Government here in Scotland, it will have absolutely zero credibility on these issues. Will the First Minister ask whether the Scottish Government's approach to regulation and licensing of the taxi market is focused on the best interests of consumers? The principal reason for licensing taxis in private hire cars is to ensure the safety of passengers. That is why, through the Air Weapons and Licensing Bill, we are seeking to tighten up regulation and enforcement, as well as bring greater consistency between the taxi and private hire regimes. We have undertaken a thorough process of consultation and engagement to arrive at what I think is a balanced package of measures. Those include allowing local licensing authorities to test private hire car drivers and to limit private hire car numbers, where there is over provision. The bill also creates the role of a civic licensing standards officer, which will provide support and reassurance to the public, as well as being an invaluable addition to the existing enforcement arrangements. I thank the First Minister for her reply, but does she consider that consumer protection for passengers of private hire vehicles can be achieved through customer awareness, as well as background checks of drivers? While its preference for local knowledge or satellite navigation should be left for the consumers to decide for themselves. The proposals that we have put forward to strengthen enforcement and to change the licensing regime are important, and I think that they are right. However, I will agree with Cameron Buchanan, as I think that there is a role for customer awareness as well in this area, as in any other areas. We want customers to be as educated and aware as possible so that they can make informed decisions about the services that they use. I agree with that, but I think that the legislative provisions that we are proposing are the right ones. I will take Dr Simpson first, Mr Kelly. In answer to a question by Richard Baker, Jamie Hepburn Minister for mental health said, the number of places for children and adolescents for mental health services had increased, but in answer to a question to me last year, the Government said that there would be 48 beds in 2015. On transfer from York hill to southern general, the beds have been cut. There are now only 42 beds in Scotland against what Labour planned in 2006, which was 56. Will she afford the Minister an opportunity to correct the record at an early opportunity? As Dr Simpson-Wales knows that the Presiding Officers are not responsible for the answers that we are giving, Mr Kelly. I wish to make a point of order in relation to the publication of the oil and gas bulletin. The bulletin has been asked for months across the chamber and has now been released on the last day of the session. It has profound implications for the Scottish economy with projected North Sea oil tax receipts at £40 billion less than the white paper. I note that the First Minister said that the publication was made two hours ago. That is not a coincidence, because it was published after the deadline for the merging of emergency questions. I have your point of order. The publication timing of the oil and gas report is not a matter for me, Presiding Officer. It is a matter for the Government. First Minister, is there something that you wish to say? I wish to respond to the point of order, Presiding Officer. The oil and gas bulletin. No, it is not for the First Minister to respond to the point of order. It is for me that ends First Minister's questions. We are now moving to members' business, members who leave the chamber. We should do so quickly and quietly.