 Mert hynny wrth meddwl i ddarparu cyfnodig dod o adeiladau cyfnodig yn cymdeithasyn a cyr dysg yst restart. 1. David Stewart I thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government when it last met European Commission officials and what was discussed. 1. Jonathan Watt Discussions between the European Commission and the Scottish Government take place regularly at both ministerial and official level. Routine discussions have continued since the EU referendum to ensure the effect of continuation of EU-related business and to underline the Scottish Government's commitment to working with the European Commission. Only yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform attended the EU Environment Council in Brussels, attended by the EU Commission. Presiding Officer, the Cabinet Secretary will be well aware that the EU emissions trading scheme is the world's largest scheme for trading emissions and alignment systems and is a key weapon in fighting climate change. At the next meeting with the European Commission and indeed UK officials, will the minister raise ETS, which raises billions of euros to help the industry innovate and invest in clean technologies and is an essential, it remains a key part of the Scottish climate change plan? Clearly, clean technologies and the opportunities and investments that can be afforded by our partnership with colleagues across the European Union is one of the vital factors as to why we have to make sure that we can have some kind of continuing positive relationship with the EU and in relation to standards. That's clearly important in terms of climate justice and tackling climate change. In terms of my meetings with the European Commission, I would attend the Education and Culture Council in particular and also in relation to the EU referendum. It would be my colleagues in other portfolios, whether it's the energy portfolio or indeed the climate change portfolio that would take forward these matters, but I will relay them to the relevant ministers. When the minister or whichever minister meets with the European Commission, is there any confusion from the commission? Do they ask why, indeed, we have so many European ministers in the Scottish Government? Every minister in the Scottish Government not only has responsibility for our international profile but also for the economy. Every single one of our ministers, when they engage with the European Commission, are advancing the economic cause and interests of Scotland. In relation to my activities, I particularly focus on the bilateral discussions with the EU capitals and with the institutions. It's very important that we don't descend into parochial and inward-looking approaches, which I think that some people in the chamber would like us to see. I hope that Neil Findlay isn't one of them. 2. George Adam To ask the Scottish Government how the historic environment can promote culture in towns and cities. The historic environment promotes culture in our towns and cities in many ways. It's intrinsic to our sense of place and strong cultural identity. It tells the story of our shared past and offers creative inspiration. As the physical embodiment of our cultural traditions, a well-managed historic environment helps to present a positive image of Scotland around the globe, attracting UK and international visitors and investors. As the backdrop to our daily lives, it supports all forms of cultural activity, providing venues for a wide range of cultural events and meeting places, which are such a feature of Scotland's community life, from folk music to amateur dramatic literary societies. In every way, the historic environment is at the heart of our flourishing and dynamic cultural life. George Adam I thank the cabinet secretary for answering. The cabinet secretary will know that Paisley has a very high number of listed buildings. Does he agree that that is an asset that is important to promotion of culture and, although challenging, is one of the many strengths that Paisley has in being named as UK city of culture in 2021? George Adam continues in his campaign for the city of Paisley. I recognise that Paisley has one of the highest number of listed buildings in the country. Paisley Abbey is certainly one of our finest examples of medieval churches, but it is also about the rich heritage of Victorian buildings and the very important textile and economic history of our country, which is well illustrated by the cultural connections and the building heritage and the built environment heritage that has passed on from courts and clerks, for example. Building that into the bid is a very wise thing for the city of Paisley to do. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. I declare an interest as the convener of the cross-party group on towns and town centres. Given her own roots, the cabinet secretary will be well aware of a significant and important cultural history of air going back to the 11th and 12th centuries and before, and she will know the need to promote and raise awareness of the tourism potential that exists in air based on its cultural heritage. What contact has her office had with South Ayrshire Council in recent years on that and is there help that she might be able to provide in future to support tourism growth and cultural development in all the air town centres? I attended a very important visit to South Ayrshire where they were developing their cultural place partnership with Creative Scotland. A lot of that was about the contemporary culture, but it then delved into the wider, deeper history of air. I am very interested, in particular in our most recent contact with air, in relation to the archaeology that is currently being undertaken with the demolition of some of the buildings that are around the town centre of air. I think that the story that it will tell of the medieval past of air will be fascinating and will help to enhance what is already a very strong history story about air that can attract visitors from near and far. I welcome the preservation and enhancement of our historic urban environment, but the true measure of success for such projects in promoting cultural enrichment must surely take account of both the public's ability to access, share and participate in cultural capital and, also, and critically, for a resulting and sustained long-tail dividend. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that this is the case? I am very proud as part of the budget that was just passed last week, which was opposed by the Conservatives. We managed to maintain free access to our museums and galleries, which is very important. In the fantastic results that we have seen this week in terms of visitor attendances and our key attractions. Of the top six, I think that five of them had free access, which was very important. The other being Edinburgh Castle. That is a very important part of what we do is making sure that people have access to their story, their buildings and their places. Lewis MacDonald, the cabinet secretary will be aware that both Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdein City Council have recently pledged over £1 million towards the revitalisation of landmark buildings in Union Street. Does she agree that that offers the potential for transformation of Aberdein city centre over the next five years, and is it a model that other cities could also follow? I am very keen that, in some of the agreements that are being made, particularly in relation to city deals, heritage, tourism and culture are at the heart of that. The transformation of city centres and town centres is very important. Indeed, the cars, projects and funding from Historic Environment has been very important in that. Dalkeith, Kilmarnock have all benefited from that, but in terms of the investment, I know in the music hall for example, in Aberdein that has been something that I have had a keen interest in and has had support from government agencies and, indeed, from Creative Scotland to Historic Environment Scotland, they have been very critical in some of that funding. Therefore, we work very hard to deliver that, and I think that it is really important, and I am delighted that the support is there from Aberdein City Council as well. To ask the Scottish Government how successful it considers Celtic Connections 2017 has been for Glasgow and Scotland. Celtic Connections has grown since 1994. It is the largest winter music festival that is kind in the UK. In 2017, it hosted 2,375 artists, 1,800 hours of music on 26 stages throughout Glasgow, 110,000 tickets, and 80 per cent of shows were sold out, breaking all previous records. An independent impact study conducted on behalf of Celtic Connections found that it generated over £7 million from visitors in Scotland, providing a benefit of more than £4 million across Scotland. Success and cultural highlights for 2017 included Labanda, Europa, inspiring women, the Canada 150th anniversary and a very successful Brazilian music showcase. John Mason. I thank her for that answer and very much agree with the points that she makes. Some people feel that the definition of Celtic has become wider and wider. Does she think that that is a good thing to be very inclusive, or does the definition of Celtic music need to be narrower? I am the culture secretary. In terms of decisions about what is the curatorial excellence of any cultural activity, I think that is for the festivals and indeed the galleries and museums themselves. What I would say is that internationalist outlook in the fusion, particularly of whether it is Indian traditional musicians and our own or indeed Brazilian, as I have just mentioned, is very important. Next year, in the 25th anniversary of Celtic Connections, I am sure that John Mason and others will be delighted to know that the partner country for next year will be Ireland, and I think that that is about as Celtic as you can get. Annie Wells. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It has been well documented in the media that a teen who parks this festival will be taking place in Glasgow this summer. Can I ask what discussion the Scottish Government has had with organisers and Police Scotland about managing the potential impact of antisocial behaviour on local residents? Cabinet Secretary. That is not a matter of the responsibility from myself as Cabinet Secretary, but I think that in terms of any major festival, the authority concern that will be taking forward those discussions with Transport Scotland but also with Police Scotland. It is very much part and parcel of our event management across Scotland that these agencies work together in order to deliver a great experience for people, and I am sure that the festival will be of great economic benefit to the city. Graham Dey. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in negotiations with the UK Government regarding the freedom of movement of agricultural and horticultural workers post Brexit. Presiding Officer, we are aware that the UK's forthcoming exit of the EU has created significant uncertainty within the agricultural sector. We need to ensure the continued protection of the rights of all workers employed in Scotland's rural economy, limiting free movement of people and has the potential to seriously harm Scotland's long-term economic future. There have been discussions and exchanges with the UK Government on freedom of movement, including those in the joint ministerial committee on European negotiations, which I attend alongside representatives of the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. Within those discussions, I have consistently raised the importance of freedom of movement to Scotland in terms of contributing to sustainable economic growth, mitigating the effects of demographic change and enriching our culture and communities. The First Minister has also repeatedly called on the Prime Minister to guarantee EU nationals' right to remain in the UK. Unfortunately, despite our consistent representations of the UK Government on this issue, the Prime Minister still refuses to deliver that guarantee, despite having the power to do so. The Scottish Government appreciates the importance of obtaining a guaranteed right to remain for EU nationals and will continue to strongly support that. Graham Dey. I thank the minister for that answer. Can I ask him further what it is about this Tory Government that it seems so incapable of grasping the impact of this uncertainty on the businesses, the economy, just as important as the individual's concern, or is it that it just does not care? Minister. I would hesitate to speculate about the motivations of the present Tory Government. They are a mystery to most people, but the Tory obsession with immigration and the Scottish Tory's determination to become born again Brexiteers are working against the interests of the rural sector, against the interests of our economy and against the interests of fair treatment of citizens of Europe who are living here. Surely it is time for them to reflect upon it and having reflected to act. I refer members to my register of interests. The minister will be aware that farmers north and south of the tweed will be looking carefully at the issue of agricultural workers. Does he agree with me that the UK's Brexit approach should be based on economic issues across sectors and not geography? I think that Mr Chapman is right to say that the economic focus is of great importance. The economic importance of freedom of movement and the economic importance of migration is very great indeed in Scotland, where he, to travel westwards to my constituency, he would see a constituency that is losing population from the rural areas in which there is a shortage of labour that needs to be replaced by European migration. 90 per cent of the growth in population in Scotland in the next 20 years is anticipated to come from European migration. I would hope that Mr Chapman would stand up for the people who elected him, the people of Scotland and stand up for Scotland, but I keep hoping that from Scottish Tories, Presiding Officer, and I never hear it. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to acknowledge and commemorate the role of the founding director of the Edinburgh International Festival, Rudolph Bing, in its 70th anniversary year. In recognition of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Edinburgh's festivals, the Scottish Government is providing an additional £300,000 of funding through the Edinburgh Festival's Expo Fund. Each festival will develop its own celebrations of the anniversary and its specific expo funded projects, with the Edinburgh International Festival announcing its programme on 15 March, and it intends to mark Rudolph Bing as the founding director in 1947. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for that response. Rudolph Bing, of course, was a Jew and tonight in Edinburgh city chambers there will be a reception to commemorate and celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Jewish community here in Edinburgh. She will be aware of the International Shalom Festival, which brings together Israelis of all religions for an evening of culture and performance at the Edinburgh Festival. Because of the minority but vocal protests that were faced last year, many venues are reluctant to host the Shalom Festival this year. In the light of that, what support can the Scottish Government give to ensure that the Shalom Festival is able to continue in this 70th anniversary year of the Edinburgh Festival, founded by a Scottish Jew? Every festival is responsible for how they support those who come. Some are curated, some are not. In terms of the festival that he is talking about, I will be interested to see the details of which festival is being celebrated as part of it. However, it is very important that we send out a message to all communities that we are an inclusive and open society and in celebrating those who contribute today and in the past. We should also be mindful of how we conduct ourselves will be understood across the world. The director of the Edinburgh International Festival has previously stated that the poisonous rhetoric of Brexit talks could seriously damage the festival. Unfortunately, it is something that Jackson Carlaw's UK Government colleagues bear responsibility for. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the interests of our culture and creative industries are best served by protecting Scotland's strong relationship with the EU? Our festivals are testament to the importance of that international reach. In terms of our culture and creative industries that are in Scotland, freedom of movement is absolutely vital. It is an economic interest of this country, but in terms of the culture and creativity of those connections, that is irreplaceable. If the destruction to that or even the threat of destruction to that causes harm to our culture and creative life, the manifest of that will not be just experienced by those in the current day, it will be experienced for generations to come. That is how serious freedom of movement is to this country. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in securing additional funding for BBC Alba. The Scottish Government has made strong, clear and consistent representations to the BBC in order to secure additional funding for BBC Alba. The BBC announced on 22 February that it would cover the £1.2 million cost of Gaelic programmes that BBC Alba to date has funded, releasing welcome funds for BBC Alba. Separately, it will support weekend news coverage. We look forward to receiving further details from the BBC in order to understand more fully what the implications and benefits of the recent announcement will be. We will continue to press the BBC to deliver more for Gaelic broadcasting so that we can move towards parity with the resources afforded to S4C. I thank the cabinet secretary for her reply and I certainly join her in welcoming the extra £1.2 million for BBC Alba. That said, the cabinet secretary may be aware of concerns in the Gaelic community following last week's new channel announcement that the creation of the channel could result in a detrimental impact on funding for BBC Alba. With the commitment given last week of up to 7.2 hours fresh in-house programming for BBC Alba per week, the BBC investment announced last week falls well short of what BBC Alba needs to ensure that it can sustain its historic success and continue to be an effective contributor to the revitalisation of Gaelic. The cabinet secretary has given a commitment to impress upon the BBC the need for a 10-hours-per-week in-house contribution, and I urge her to continue to do that. I think that the case for BBC Alba is well made. Indeed, I think that it has been fairly instructional on how a BBC programme-making can help to develop and support the creative industries. We will have a debate on that later on on this very matter, but it is essential that 10-hours-per-week of in-house contributions to BBC Alba is secured. That is not what has been secured to date, and it is something that we will continue to support and continue to make the case for. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in developing links with Qatar. The Scottish Government remains open to opportunities to engage with Qatar through diplomatic, economic, educational and cultural ties. In addition, the Scottish Development and International Middle East Office, based at the British Embassy in Dubai, works closely with companies from countries in the Gulf region, including Qatar, who are looking to invest, relocate, partner or expand in Scotland. Scotland has a strong and enduring commitment to securing democracy, the rule of law and human rights across the world. As a good global citizen, the Scottish Government takes this seriously when exploring links with any country. We expect all states to comply with international human rights law and we use our international engagement as an opportunity to promote respect for and understanding of human rights. The Scottish Government previously dispatched the former First Minister and the current Transport Secretary to Qatar to build cultural links and to flog public service infrastructure to the Qatari sovereign wealth fund. Can the minister now tell me what investments have been made in our public infrastructure and in our cultural sector by the Qataris at the same time as building workers lose their lives on world-cut projects in Qatar? Let me address directly the points that were made about human rights, since that is legitimately what the question is about. I think that it is important to say and he mentions him that my distinguished predecessor, Humza Yousaf, has raised specifically the issue of migrant worker rights with the ambassador of Qatari, who did so on 10 March 2015. Humza Yousaf also met with Amnesty International regarding Qatari human rights and was briefed by them. He has raised similar issues at the festival of literature that took place in the Emirates in 2015. Specifically on the issue of construction, I know that Humza Yousaf spoke with the Qatari authorities regarding specifically human rights and the world cup. Indeed, that is something that the Scottish Government has continued to keep an eye on. That concludes our questions on culture. We move on to justice and the law officers. I start with question 1 from Lewis MacDonald. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent update report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland on call handling in Police Scotland. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson. The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the HMICS update report on call handling and notes the considerable progress made by Police Scotland since November 2015's HMICS independent assurance review on the same subject. We expect the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to give careful consideration to the findings of the update report and to continue working closely with HMICS as it seeks to further strengthen its approach to police call handling. Lewis MacDonald. Thank you very much. Given that the report says that limited progress has been made in improving the functionality and accuracy of the gazetteer used by control room staff and that nearly a quarter of all notable incidents were because the wrong location was chosen by the service advisor, what further action will the cabinet secretary now take to address those issues? Will he, for example, reconsider at this stage his plans to close the control rooms in Aberdein and Inverness, which can only lead to an increase in such incidents? As the member will recognise, the report overall does show very good progress that has been made by Police Scotland in the way in which they are taking forward reforms around call handling in only last week. The chief inspector of HMICS gave evidence to the sub-committee of the Justice Committee on Policing, in which he praised the work that has been taken for by police call handling staff and the service in taking forward this area of reform work. He has identified an area where there is an issue around stability of the gazetteer system. There is a practical issue here and a practical issue is that we have three emergency services that have historically all used separate gazetteer systems for the very same purpose. Our ambulance services had one, our fire services had one and our police services had one. One of the areas of work that is being considered is the use of a single gazetteer system that would be used for all of our emergency services, which would ensure that it was most up-to-date as possible. That is an area of work that we would expect to continue to see progress being made on. However, overall, from the assurance review, we are now in a situation where, of the 30 recommendations, 16 have been discharged, 12 have been partially discharged and only two remain open. The issue around the intended changes in Aberdeen and Inverness are areas of work where there is still progress being made. The assurance review group met only yesterday to consider the on-going changes at Aberdeen, and there will be further work taken followed over the coming weeks, but it demonstrated that very good progress is being made in the change and transfer in Aberdeen. The SPA will consider that further at its next board meeting on 22 March. I do not have good news for the member in his call for the call centre changes in Aberdeen and Inverness to remain open. Obviously, Inverness is changing for another purpose under Police Scotland in a way in which it is going to be operating, but what I can give them an assurance is that good progress has been made and the assurance review work that I directed and expect HMICS to continue to make progress on will continue to be reviewed and monitored as we move forward with this. Peter Chapman Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the completion rate of community payback orders. The delivering community payback orders and ensuring completion of those orders is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. The national outcomes and standards for social work services in the criminal justice system contains guidance on the procedures involved and the actions that social work case managers can take in cases where the individual is failing to complete their order. That can include returning the case to court. The Government is committed to supporting local authorities in delivering robust community sentences and funding for criminal justice social work remains at record levels. We also invested an additional £4 million in community services in 2016-17, and that additional funding continues in the Scottish budget for this coming year. From 1 April, our new model for community justice will come into effect. Statutory community justice partners will jointly plan and deliver services to prevent further offending and support those who have offended to reintegrate into communities. A new public body, Community Justice Scotland, will provide national leadership in this area and report to ministers on performance across Scotland that will promote improvement in the delivery and impact of community justice services, including prevention, early intervention and community sentences. Peter Chapman I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. However, the fact is that nearly a third of orders were not completed in 2015-16, and completion rates have fallen for two years in a row. More needs to be done to reverse this worrying trend, especially as it has emerged that CPOs are being handed out for serious sex offences. Will the Government commit to an urgent review of the system of community payback orders to ensure that criminals do not start treating them with contempt? The member clearly is not aware that there was a full review of community payback orders back in 2015, which was published in looking at the way in which CPOs were operating. In the view of that review, it identified that there was a broad degree of confidence about how community payback orders were being taken forward. In fact, I will quote from the review where it says that sheriffs appeared to have broad confidence in CPOs in terms of monitoring of progress and appropriate use of breaches. There has already been a review of community payback orders. In relation to matters regarding completion rates, the member is obviously not aware that completion rates for community sentencing has increased over recent years from around 62 per cent back in 2006-07 up to just over 68 per cent in the last year or so. We are continuing to look at what further measures can be done in order to make sure that the benefits of CPOs are taken forward, and we will always look at other measures that can add value to them, including ensuring greater levels of completion rates. I welcome much of what the cabinet secretary said. He will be aware that the latest statistics show that, in terms of re-offending, community payback orders have the lowest levels of re-offending. By contrast, those serving sentences below three months have the highest rates of re-offending. On that basis, will the cabinet secretary update Parliament on when we will be moving to raise the minimum sentence to 12 months to reduce the levels of re-offending? The member makes an important point. The evidence base demonstrates that community payback orders and community sentencing are much more effective than short-term prison sentences. The evidence shows that someone who receives a community disposal is much less likely to go on to re-offending compared to someone who receives a short-term sentence of six months or less. Actually, someone who receives a sentence of six months or less is almost twice as likely to go on and re-offending someone who completed a CPO. As the member will be aware, I am very clear that we need to make sure that we use the evidence that demonstrates the benefits of CPOs, not just in the issue of reducing re-offending, but also the benefits that are then provided to local communities through CPOs. We know that, in the last annual report of CPO provision, there were some 1.8 million hours of unpaid work provided in local communities across Scotland through the scheme. On his point about the presumption against short sentences, I know that that is a matter that the member has considerable interest in, as I have, but I will intend to update Parliament in due course on that particular matter following some further work that is currently being carried out. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that 30 per cent of sheriff courts are failing to reach the 26-week target from caution or charge to verdict. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would just remind members of my entry in the register of entries wherein they will note that I am a member of the Law Society of Scotland. Hold a current practicing certificate, but I am not currently practicing in response to Mr Tomkins' question the 26-week indicator from caution to charge to verdict covers activity not just on the part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, but obviously also of Police Scotland and the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service. When, in fact, we compared the period December 2014 to November 2015 with December 2015 to November 2016, national performance has increased from 64.2 per cent to 66.1 per cent. I would also say that, in recent years, the reporting and detection of crimes, particularly domestic abuse and sexual offences, has increased, reflecting proactive policing and prosecution and greater victim confidence to report crimes. Those cases have not only increased in volume, but are more complex cases, often requiring more court time. This has placed additional pressure on the Crown, the courts and the wider justice system, and we have and continue to respond to those pressures and additional resources have been made available. Adam Tomkins I thank the minister for that answer, but almost half of Scotland's 40 sheriff courts are performing worse now than they were a year ago, including Glasgow and Strathkelven, with only 53.3 per cent of cases concluded within the target 26-week period. Solicitors working at the sharp end of our criminal justice system cite court closures for a backlog of cases and an increase in the number of adjournments. Could the minister tell my constituents seeking access to justice what action the Scottish Government is taking to remedy the situation? The First Minister What I would say to the member is that the methodology that he has applied or his press office has applied to interpreting and analysing the actual stats collected by the independent Scottish Court of Tribunal Service seems a wee bit less than robust, if I may say so. What we need to do is compare not just a one-month static figure with another month in a different year, but to look at the figures on a year-by-year basis. If we do that, we will indeed see that there has been an overall improvement of 1.9 per cent between 14.15 and 15.16 per cent on the issue of adjournments and the possible effect of court closures. I would say that I do not agree with the member. He should bear in mind the independent data that is collected by the SCTS, which shows that there has been an increase in the overall number of cases, but at the same time the number of cases that have been reduced as a result have been adjourned in the year 1516 was 5.6 per cent and, in the previous year, it was 6.3 per cent, so that, in fact, represents a reduction. The minister touched on the increased reporting and detection of crimes, particularly domestic abuse and sexual offences. I recall and welcomed the funding announcement by the First Minister through the Violence Against Women funding stream that assists in the development of measures to tackle all forms of violence against women. Is that funding helping to improve domestic abuse court performance? The member is right to highlight the additional funding that the Scottish Government has made available to deal specifically with the increased caseload that we have seen in terms of domestic abuse. We have made available the sum of £2.4 million in each year of 1516-1617, and that will be the case also for 1718. Indeed, we can see that this is having a very significant impact on the time within which trials have been proceeding. There is a current, agreed 10 to 12-week period, and from April 2017 the aim is to offer domestic abuse trials within 8 to 10 weeks. We are very optimistic that that will be achieved on the basis that already 95 per cent of courts are meeting this accelerated timescale. In light of the inquiry carried out by the Justice Committee into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and the many issues that we have heard regarding performance and the serious concerns that have been raised, does the minister believe that a £4 million cut to the COPFS budget this year will improve quick and access to justice? I know that the Justice Committee has been looking into the operation of the Crown Procurator Fiscal Service in some great death, and we await in due course the report of the Justice Committee. A number of figures have been bandied about at the committee, but what I would say to the member, as the member well knows, is that the operation of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is a matter for ultimately the Lord President, and they monitor very carefully the performance of the courts. I believe, in fact, on a monthly basis by the justice system planning group, a subgroup of the national justice board. What we are seeing in fact is an improvement, as I have already indicated, in terms of domestic abuse and in terms of the general position of the performance of summary criminal trials. We are seeing an improvement. I think that that is down to the great work that is being conducted by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the time taken to conclude cases in the courts. As I stated in my earlier response to his colleague, the Scottish Government recognises that the reporting and prosecution of certain categories of crime have increased. Criminal investigations have also become more complex, and that is reflected in the number of court cases that are proceeding to evidence-led trials. Over the last five years, there has been a 38 per cent increase in evidence-led trials. However, even allowing for that, the evidence shows an improving picture, as in January 2017, 95 per cent of sheriff courts are offering trials within the optimum 16 weeks compared to only 50 per cent in April 2014. With the help of additional funding from the Scottish Government, the percentage of cases fully disposed within 20 weeks has increased from 58 per cent in 2014-15 to 67 per cent in 2016-17. It is quite clear that improvement has been made, but there is always more that can be done. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Pressure on Scotland's courts is not a new issue. In 2015, Audit Scotland published a report highlighting the difficulties to the face, and the situation seems to be getting worse. This is after the Scottish Government ignored warnings from opposition parties and slashed the number of courts across the country, including Cacubrie Sheriff Court in my constituency. Can the cabinet secretary indicate whether the Scottish Court and Tribunal service has successfully implemented Audit Scotland's recommendations to improve Scotland's court system? I would say to the member that, if he looks back at the record of those proceedings at question time today, he will see the various statistics that I have referred to that come from the Scottish Court and Tribunal service in terms of data that they have collected and reviewed on a monthly basis, and he will see that the improvements that have been made. The member mentioned Cacubrie Sheriff Court. That was closed, I think, some three years ago, and it is important to remember that, at that time, it was dealing with, on average, two summary criminal trials per month. Obviously, Dumfries is now receiving court, and there has been no impact on Dumfries Sheriff Court following the transfer of this business. Clare Haughey. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I would like to refer members to my register of interests. I am a registered mental health nurse. While I am, of course, very interested in the time taken to conclude cases in court, I have a particular interest in drug courts. Can the minister please advise what the position is here? What I would say to the member is that what we have seen in Glasgow is a very successful dedicated drugs court, and what we are doing across Scotland is setting up problem-solving courts in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and recently in Forfer to look at the bigger picture. Therefore, I would say that what we are looking at is looking at the particular position of that individual, and the individual will vary, obviously, from case to case. Therefore, in those circumstances, it is the outcome for the individual that is the key important determinant, and perhaps not the actual time of the proceedings that court themselves. Question 5, Daniel Johnson. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the implementation of section 179 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Scotland Act 2010 regarding disabled access. Section 179 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Scotland Act 2010 requires individuals applying for a liquor premises licence to provide a disability access and facilities statement along with their application. The statement is to contain information about disabled access to the premises and the facilities and any other provisions that are available to aid the use of the premises by disabled people. Failure to provide a statement is not a ground for refusing an application, but means that the premises application would be incomplete and could not be considered by the licensing board. The provision does not interfere with the existing duty under equality law to make reasonable adjustment to make sure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get the standard that is usually offered to non-disabled people. Section 179 cannot be commenced in isolation. It is also necessary to update secondary legislation to provide the necessary statutory forms alongside providing guidance to applicants. We intend to complete this work within the remainder of this year. I thank the minister for that answer. In 2010, an amendment was passed with cross-party support following BARD, a campaign run by Mark Cooper in association with Capability Scotland, provided that licensed premises must provide the information that he outlined. Unfortunately, the Government has yet to enact the law. The Government has stated that it would do so by the end of this Parliament, but that would obviously be a delay over the decade, so I welcome the commitment that he makes today. Will he, therefore, act without delay, ensure that it is enacted within this year, and would he agree with me that, for many disabled people, a beer delayed is a beer denied? On that point, it is important to recognise that, although there was cross-party support for this amendment, it does not require a licence holder to commit to any amendments or alterations to their premises. It is about a factual basis of information that has to be provided at the time when an application for a liquor licence is being made. As the member will recognise, there has been a significant amount of new regulations that have been taken forward around licence premises in Scotland, including the introduction of licensing for scrap metal companies and air weapons as well. We try to take those forward on a phased basis in order to ensure that we manage that process for those who are required to have a licence or to apply for a licence. I can say to the member that there are some secondary legislation issues that have to accompany that particular provision, and we will seek to try to make progress on that in over the course of this year. I will try to make sure that that work is taken forward as early as possible, but at this stage I cannot give him a final date as to when that process will be completed. I will now move on to the next item of business. I will give members a few seconds to change seats.