 Fy hwnnw, mae ar datblygu gymunedolio cyfnodau yng nghyngfaeth drosrwynt neud o gyfnodau Ysbytydd Rhywodraeth mewn wneud. Gymunedolion yng nghymru rwy'n cwestiynau Ysbytydd Rhywodraeth wedi'u cyfnodau ddegl militio busnes yn fwy ysbytyd. Ysbytydd Rhywodraeth dwy i ddisbytyd a chweinwch i chi'n gwybodio os y prif leysgr— o'r sprwyng am gyflwyff yng Nghymryd ysbytyd mewn cyfrif wavelengths ysbytyd. Ysbytydd'n hynny'n gweld digud. this week it emerged that for the month of August alone five thousand patients spent more than half a day to be seen in A&E departments across the country. Weights of more than 12 hours for emergency treatment are completely unacceptable yet that is what is faced by thousands of Scots at hospitals right across the country. Is that this Government is presiding over the worst ever A and E waiting times in Scotland? So, First Minister, do you believe that the plans outlined by the Health Secretary on Tuesday will end those appalling waits? First Minister? Well, firstly, performance in our accident emergency departments is not good enough. I have been candid about that as has the Health Secretary. eu fawr dyfodol yn wneud i gael iawn gwahanol yw'r fawr, fe wnaeth mae'r fawr wedi'i gael llawer pan hefydol i gael iawn gwahanol. Felly, mae'n i gael i ddim yn fawr drwy'r fawr neu eu fawr. Z станu efo'r gael iawn gwahanol i'r fawr i'u gael i'w gael iawn gwahanol, ac mae'n i gael i greu wneud i gael gwahanol i gael weithio, mae'n i gael i gael i'r newid wrth ag nôl a'r in A&E departments. A A&E departments remain the best performing anywhere in the United Kingdom, which is down to the dedication and hard work of those in our national health service. Of course, staff numbers are at a record high across the NHS and investment is at a record high. So, while I am not complacent, the health secretary is not complacent, yes, we do believe that the measures that he set out in terms of the recovery plan update and indeed the winter plan will make a positive difference. Finally, Presiding Officer, it is frankly Beggar's belief that Douglas Ross stands here today and talks about the national health service because I think his concern for the national health service today is even less convincing than it normally is because, of course, he spent much of the last week arguing for us to take millions of pounds and put that into the pockets of the richest people in our society, regardless of the impact that we have on our national health service. Douglas Ross. First Minister, please don't ever question my commitment to our national health service when it was just over—when it was just over a year ago, I had to follow my wife in an ambulance as she gave birth. When it was just over a year ago that I had to see my infant child on oxygen and fed through a tube in Aberdeen Sick Kids hospital, don't make political points out of this when politicians are raising serious issues because, just like last year, when the UK Armed Forces had to step in to help, we are seeing this crisis spread throughout Scotland's NHS. Long waiting times in A&E have a knock-on effect on the rest of our health system. A freedom of information request that we've received shows that ambulances are queuing up outside hospitals because of the crisis inside A&E. In Glasgow earlier this year, one ambulance was stuck outside the hospital for more than 13 hours because the patient couldn't be admitted. 13 hours stuck outside. The Press and Journal revealed today that, in just the last month, ambulance turnaround times at Aberdeen royal infirmary were at a record high. This is critical time when ambulance could be deployed to help other patients. So First Minister, if you could answer about Scotland's NHS and Scotland's ambulances, can you tell us what your Government is doing to prevent ambulances being held up outside hospitals? Of course £45 million for the Scottish Ambulance Service was part of the winter plan that was announced, and that is about Scotland's NHS. I have enormous sympathy for the personal experience of Douglas Ross, as I do for the personal experience of anyone on the NHS, but I am sorry. I think that it is reasonable to question the commitment to the NHS of anybody who argues for millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to go to cutting taxes for the richest in our society rather than being invested in the national health service. It is because of this Government's commitment to the national health service that we do not shy away from the difficulties that it is facing, largely because of the Covid pandemic that has placed the burdens on health services across the world. That is why we are investing in our national health service, instead of giving tax cuts to the richest in our society. That is why we are supporting greater recruitment in our national health service. Staffing numbers are at an all-time high. Of course, why we are seeking a fair pay deal with those who work in our national health service because they do deserve it. We will continue to do the hard work to support our national health service in tough times as well as in good times. Finally, we will take no lessons from the UK Government, who are doing real damage to the national health service. Our NHS faces challenges, but on many waiting times and on many other measurements, Scotland's national health service is the best-performing in the UK, and that is down to the dedication of those who work within it. The First Minister has been busy all week on Twitter and responding to events elsewhere, but people actually turned to First Minister's question time to hear the First Minister and her Government being challenged and hopefully hear responses, but there has been absolutely nothing. So let me go back to the topic that I am focusing on today, even if the First Minister will not in her responses. Because in the FOI that I mentioned, it was also revealed that the unacceptable time people are waiting for ambulances to even arrive is getting worse and worse. Amber incidents involve patients who need an ambulance within 19 minutes. They've called, they need someone within 19 minutes, and we found one individual in our FOI from Ayrshawn and Arryn who was categorised as an amber incident who waited more than 32 hours. 32 hours is more than 100 times longer than the weight he was supposed to have of 19 minutes, and the situation is also dire for those facing the most serious incidents. They are categorised as purple incidents. They are so serious that the target response time is eight minutes, but this summer one purple incident patient in the Lothians waited more than two hours for an ambulance. Another in Glasgow waited more than an hour and a half. Others have waited close to an hour in Lanarkshire, 4th valley, in Highlands, in Ayrshire, in Shetland. Those are the most critical incidents and people's lives are on the line. They are waiting for hours when the response should be in minutes. So First Minister, can you honestly stand there and tell us that these incidents are not jeopardising people's lives? First Minister, I will continue to be entirely candid that instances like that are not acceptable. Our NHS is under extreme pressure, which is why it is so important that we continue to take the steps that we are taking to support it. Douglas Ross is just plain wrong as anybody listening to this will know to say that I did not address the issues about Scotland's NHS in my previous answers. I spoke about the £45 million of additional investment into the Scottish Ambulance Service to help specifically with winter pressures. I spoke about record investment, I spoke about record numbers of staff looking in particular at the staffing of the Scottish Ambulance Service up under this SNP Government by 67.3 per cent. So that is the reality. Any instance such as those narrated by Douglas Ross is clearly unacceptable, but our ambulance crews responded to over 68 per cent of their highest priority calls in under 10 minutes and over 99 per cent of their highest priority calls in under 30 minutes. That is what the dedication of our paramedics and our ambulance technicians are delivering. We will continue to support our national health service in the ways that I have outlined. It is not possible to separate those issues from the overall funding of our national health service, which, like the overall funding of Scotland's budget, is dependent on decisions taken by the Government at Westminster. We have already had the U-turn in terms of tax cuts for the richest 1 per cent of people in the country, which Douglas Ross, this time last week, wanted this Government to emulate, which would have taken millions of pounds out of the budget of our public services. We had last week the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England saying that the spending cuts that are coming down the track from the Tory UK Government could mean the end of the national health service as we know it. That is the reality. This Government will continue to prioritise the national health service, but we are doing that in the face of a Tory Government that seems intent on destroying the national health service. We would all benefit across Scotland if Nicola Sturgeon spent more of our Thursday morning practising her responses to the issues that really matter to people in Scotland rather than political attacks. The First Minister has to accept and must see that the situation is appalling in our NHS with ambulance waiting times, and it is happening all over the country. The First Minister said that I was narrating cases. Let us look at a case that we both should know about. On Monday, the First Minister and I were both emailed by a 78-year-old man explaining what recently happened to his 73-year-old wife. This was on Monday and we both got this email. His 73-year-old wife fell in their garden and broke her hip. She was in agony, but was told that a broken hip does not constitute a priority to receiving anbulance. They waited for hours for that ambulance to come to take them to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, but it never arrived. After four and a half hours outside in the garden, in agony, in pain, in distress, from ten to three in the afternoon to half past seven at night, they eventually gave up and called a taxi. The 78-year-old man had to get help from his neighbours to lift his wife into the taxi to eventually get her to hospital. A line in this email we both received, First Minister says. She endured even more severe pain getting into the taxi, but by this time we were getting desperate. First Minister, the email also says from this gentleman that your government should, and I quote him, hang your heads in shame. He's right, isn't he? First Minister. He's absolutely right that experiences are not acceptable and nobody will ever hear me say otherwise. Our health service, including our ambulance service, is under the most extreme pressure that most of us can ever remember, and I do believe that most people understand the reasons for that. I also believe that most people understand the support that is being given to the national health service, and it is right and proper that that is the case. Record staffing levels in our NHS, record investment, the winter plan that the health secretary set out in this chamber earlier this week. We will continue to get on with the very serious responsibility of supporting the recovery of our national health service. We will always respond to instances where people's experiences are not what they should be, and we will not shy away from that. However, this Government prioritises and supports the national health service, and we will continue to do so each and every single day. The Scottish Government's failure to get to grips with the NHS waiting times is costing lives. In February, my colleague Foisal Chowdhury raised the case of Anne Sinclair, who was waiting for cancer treatment. Anne, a previous cancer survivor, waited seven months for a diagnosis, at which point she was told that she had an aggressive form of cancer. She was then forced to wait more than five months for treatment. We know that the sooner you are diagnosed and the sooner you start treatment, the more likely you are to survive. Anne tragically died this summer. Her last words to her son Ricky were, keep fighting, tell my story, we need to stop this happening to anyone else. I love you. First Minister, in February you said Anne's case was unacceptable. A word you have used at least six times already this afternoon. If it is unacceptable, why is it still happening to others? First Minister. First I want to convey my sincere condolences to Anne's loved ones, to her family and her friends. Obviously, I do not know all the circumstances of her situation, but I do know what was narrated to me in the chamber previously. It is the case that individual experiences where the treatment or the care on the NHS is not what all of us expect. That is unacceptable and I am never going to stop saying that. That does not change the fact that for the overwhelming majority of people in this country, the NHS delivers an outstanding service. Cancer is a clinical priority. Cancer should always be a clinical priority. We have two key waiting times standards on the NHS for cancer care for the 31-day treatment and the 62-day target. More people now than has been the case before are being seen on those urgent pathways. We continue to invest in cancer services and we continue to invest in the early diagnosis of cancer. Those issues are a priority. I will never shy away from the serious challenges and pressures on our national health service. That is why it is so incumbent on Government to support the national health service with the investment and the other forms of support that it needs, and we will always do that. For the sake of patients like Anne and, of course, the many other patients who depend on the national health service each and every day. Anne's case is not an isolated one or an individual one. Here is another. A 56-year-old man in Western Bartonshire first went to his doctor with back pain in autumn 2020. He was prescribed pain killers and told to visit a physio. Six months later, he was passing blood and being violently sick. He called an ambulance but was told twice that they would not attend because his condition was not life-threatening. So he got himself to A&E and eventually had a CT scan. It showed a large tumour that had spread to his spine. He died a year after first seeking help from the NHS. This demonstrates a systemic failure and what happens when services and staff are pushed to breaking point. First Minister, do you accept that your failure to get to grips with the NHS crisis is costing lives? I take my responsibility to the NHS seriously every single day. The pressures on our NHS are well known. That is why the support that we are giving to our NHS is so important. That is the case across all conditions and all specialties in our national health service, but perhaps even more particularly the case when it comes to cancer care. I mentioned the two targets earlier on. In terms of the 31-day target, which to explain to people is the time from a decision taken to treat to the first treatment happening, more than 95 per cent of patients are seen within that target. The 62-day target, which is the whole referral to treatment, is much more challenging. Almost eight out of ten are seen within that target, and more people are being seen through that urgent pathway than has ever been the case before. The reason I spent time talking about that is that it is important for people to understand that for the vast majority, our NHS on cancer care and on everything else delivers an outstanding service of clinical care. Clearly that is not the case for everyone, particularly now given the pressures faced. That is why the responsibility I have, the health secretary and the whole Government have to make sure that we are supporting the NHS is such a vital one and one that we take so incredibly seriously. Anna Sarwar A failure to get to grips with the NHS crisis is costing lives. Let's look at the facts. In the past year, 3,393 people waited more than the 62-day standard for urgent cancer treatment, a standard not met in 10 years and getting worse. That means lives lost. The worst A and E waiting times on record. In one month alone, 13,000 patients waited over eight hours. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine have warned that that means lives lost. This is a systemic failure on the SNP's watch. Staff are being failed. Patients are being let down. Lives are being lost. How many more families have to suffer? How many more tragic stories do we have to bring to this Parliament before Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf do their jobs? On the 62-day cancer target, if we look at the most recent quarter, more patients were treated on that 62-day pathway than was the case before the pandemic. In the last year that we have full-year figures for, more people were treated on that 62-day pathway than I think in any year since 2011. Our national health service, because of the investment, because of the recruitment of staff, is doing more in many censies than it was before. Demand is increasing, which is why we have to continue to increase that support. Whether it is on cancer care, accident emergency or ambulance service response times, as we have just been talking about, yes, there are very significant challenges. Those challenges are often experienced by patients and they are felt every day by the staff who work in the front line of our national health service. This is a Government committee to supporting our national health service. There has never been a more difficult time to do so, but there has also never been a more important time to do so, and that is why we continue to take that responsibility so seriously. I move to constituency and general supplementaries, and I call Cocab Stewart. I would like to ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some ethnic minority teaching professionals have experienced racist online abuse after sharing their plans for more diversity in Scottish education at the Scottish Learning Festival. Will the First Minister join me in condemning the racist abuse that was faced by St Albot's primary in her constituency and the racist graffiti that has been found on Glasgow University campus in my constituency? Will she further agree with me that anti-racist education is important for ensuring a more diverse and inclusive Scotland? I wholeheartedly agree with that, and I'm sure that the whole chamber wholeheartedly agrees with that. No one should ever experience racism, and all of us have a duty to stand firmly in solidarity with anyone who does and against those who are racist. The vile racist abuse that was directed at teaching professionals, staff and children on the back of the Scottish Learning Festival should be condemned, and I do condemn it. Let me make comments, particularly given how close to my own heart it is the experience of pupils at St Albot's primary in my constituency of Pollock Shields. St Albot's is a school that I know very well. It's a fantastic school with a fantastic head teacher, fantastic teachers and utterly outstanding young people. I was privileged on Friday to visit that school, as I have been so many times in the past. Racism always sickens me, but there is nothing that turns my stomach more than the idea of adults, whether they're from Scotland or anywhere else in the world, that can look at a photograph of beautiful, clever children and only see the colour of their skin. It is despicable, it is disgusting, it has no place in Scotland, and I hope that all of us unite in utter condemnation of vile racist everywhere. Graham Simpson Thank you. The First Minister will know that next week is Baby Loss Awareness Week. I have a fantastic charity in my region, Baby Loss Retreat, which helps people who've lost babies. I opened their shop in Airdrie recently. Heather Denham of East Kilbride works for them after being helped by them and she's in the public gallery today. Heather has an eight-year-old son, but she's lost three other children. In April last year she went for her 20-week scan and found her baby daughter had no heartbeat. Heather had to give birth to Little Georgia and then lay her to rest a few days later. But because Georgia was born at less than 24 weeks, she has no birth certificate. Heather told me, one of my children has a birth certificate, the other does not. My daughter does not exist in the eyes of the law and it breaks my heart every single day. I've held two children in my arms so they should both exist in the eyes of the law. The UK government has launched a new initiative which will provide parents with a pregnancy loss certificate if their baby is born before 24 weeks. My question for the First Minister is, will she ensure that the same happens here? Yes, I will. Baby loss awareness week is a very important event every year. It's an event that I always mark personally as well as First Minister for very personal reasons. I absolutely understand the feelings and sentiments that have been narrated in the chamber today. I know from personal experience how awful it is to lose a baby very early on and I know how deep the desire is to have that lost baby recognised in a whole variety of ways. I do think that the suggestion around pregnancy loss certificates is an important one and I will give the undertaking that we will look very seriously at that in Scotland too. In recent hours reports have emerged that the centre for the moving image, the charity that runs the Belmont cinema in Aberdeen and the film house in Edinburgh has gone into receivership. The film house is an important institution located in Edinburgh central but is an important institution for the whole of the city and indeed the whole of the country, hosting the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which is the oldest continuously running film festival in the world. I ask the First Minister what efforts the Government will be making, will she ask ministers to engage with Aberdeen and Edinburgh City Council so that they can coordinate our approach and what business and cultural support funds can be made available in order to save this vitally important cultural institution? I thank Daniel Johnson for raising the issue. The news that has emerged publicly this morning is of huge concern and I know many people in Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be profoundly upset about it. These are really important cultural organisations and all of us want to see them, if at all possible, go from strength to strength. The Scottish Government will engage to consider whether there is any support that we can bring to bear. I will ask Angus Robertson to engage with Aberdeen and Edinburgh City Councils and ensure that Creative Scotland, which of course takes funding decisions independently of ministers, engages with those organisations as well. Obviously, I cannot give any commitment standing here right now and I cannot go into any more detail ahead of that engagement but I can say that we recognise the importance of those organisations and we will do everything possible to support them at this difficult time. Michelle Thomson. Yesterday, the First Minister will have seen the truly shocking findings by Glasgow University and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, published in the journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, that 19,299 excess deaths in Scotland were likely to have been caused by UK Government economic policy. The academics also report that this translates into 300,000 deaths across the UK, deaths that lie squarely at the door of the Tories. Does the First Minister therefore agree that it is essential for the protection of our population's health that Scotland must escape Westminster control in the Tories for good and that this can only be guaranteed with independence? First Minister. Yes, I do. This study that was published this week by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health was shocking and really lays bare the real impact of austerity, the impact on people's lives quite literally as we saw in this report. Of course, this was the report into the impact of past Tory austerity. We now face unfortunately a new period of Tory austerity. We have seen in recent days the estimate of what spending cuts will be and we know the impact that will have on our public services and on people's lives. We are watching a debate in the Conservative Party, a quite grotesque debate, about whether or not it is right to cut the incomes of people on benefits, the lowest-paid people in our society. If we want to chart a different course in Scotland, if we want to apply the values of respect and dignity in Scotland, as I believe most of us across this chamber do, then we are not going to be able to do that as long as we are tied to Westminster governance. It is one of many, many reasons why this country needs to be independent and why I believe this country will be independent. Last weekend, it was reported that the Scottish Government's capital spending review intends to cut 14 per cent—that is over £17 million from the funding for energy efficiency measures for those in fuel poverty. Of course, it is right that we focus on immediate measures to help families through the cost of living crisis, but investment in efficiency upgrades will reduce their heating bills and energy use in the long run. The Scottish Government declined to confirm or deny those cuts, so I wonder if the First Minister might now confirm whether the cuts will go ahead and set out. We have an emergency budget review under way right now. The Deputy First Minister will report the outcome of that to Parliament following the recess. I wish we weren't having to undertake an emergency budget review. We are having to do that because of the actions of the UK Conservative Government. We have an effectively fixed budget. We have very limited powers to borrow, and therefore, given that our budget is being eroded by soaring inflation, and given that we are facing cuts—even more cuts coming down the track from Westminster—there are some very difficult decisions that we have to contemplate, but we will take those decisions applying our values and seek to protect those who need our protection most. However, if Tory members do not want us to have to face some of those choices—and I wish we did not have to face those choices—then perhaps, instead of kowtowing to their masters in London over tax cuts to the rich, they could start standing up for Scotland and demanding fair budget treatment for this Parliament. Paul Sweeney Last week, Plaidus ceased production at the McVitties factory in Toul Cross, ending 205 years of biscuit making in Glasgow and terminating the connection of an iconic Scottish brand with our country. Workers faced the humiliation of having to walk out of their last shifts, while the state-of-the-art machinery they worked on was being dismantled around them to be shipped to other factories in England. Some of that machinery was funded by almost £1 million in Scottish enterprise grants, so as the Government raised concerns with Plaidus management about their blatant asset stripping of the Glasgow factory. What steps are they taking to secure this factory and its assets for future manufacturing use? Scottish Enterprise will consider all of those issues. I, like the member, was extremely disappointed with the tireless efforts. I think that everybody would recognise that those efforts were tireless of the Plaidus action group were not able to secure the future of the Toul Cross site and its skilled workforce. That was not for the want of trying. My thoughts are with the staff and their families, who are now, of course, facing a redundancy situation, and the Scottish Government will support them in every way possible. I hope that the member will accept that the Scottish Government did everything possible to try to reach a different outcome. I think that we all regret that that was not possible. To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to curb the reported sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teenagers. We are greatly concerned by reports of young people obtaining e-cigarettes or vaping products. Simply the only place for vaping should be as a possible aid to help existing smokers quit using tobacco. Underpinning our concern is a clear evidence that shows vaping products are not harm-free. This is married with our concern about the involvement and influence of the tobacco industry with vaping. Last week, we published our consultation analysis on proposed restrictions on vaping products and the Public Health Minister is aiming to bring forward the new regulations in the new year. I thank the First Minister for her answer. A recent consultation titled tightening rules in advertising and promoting vaping products produced polarized views. However, with major Scottish football clubs signing partnerships with vaping companies and reports of TikTok influencers platforming these products to young people online, we need decisive action to control this crisis before it spirals out of control. Can the First Minister confirm if further considerations have been given to stricter regulations around the sale and marketing of e-cigarette products, both online and offline, together with the development of an effective, clear, educational public health message that addresses the new epidemic of nicotine addiction in children and young people? Yes, I agree with the sentiments of that question. We are considering the outcome of the consultation carefully. We have not ruled anything out at this stage. Any action that we seek to take will be building on the regulations that are already in place that restricts the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under-18s. We recognise the vital importance of having a clear public health message for young people around the potential dangers of vaping, which is why we are working with Young Scot and the children's Parliament to bring their voices into our work to develop a refreshed tobacco action plan. We are determined to create a smoke-free Scotland where nicotine addiction is a thing of the past. Can I ask the First Minister if data collected from the local schools survey on the question of youth vaping will be collected and considered in the Scottish Government's tobacco action plan, which is due to be published next year? Yes, it will be. We have a stated ambition to create a tobacco-free generation in Scotland by 2034, and we will therefore consider how such a survey on vaping can help to deliver that ambition. To ask the First Minister what discussions she has had with the UK Government about new investment zones for Scotland. The Secretary of State for levelling up wrote to the Deputy First Minister proposing official discussions on how investment zones might work in Scotland. We have agreed to exploratory discussions, but we have also emphasised that any model would require partnership working between the Scottish and UK Governments that it must reflect the Scottish economic policy and governance landscape, and must respect the devolution settlement, particularly as it relates to planning and environmental protection. We still await further information on the UK's proposals. I welcome the positivity of the First Minister's response and I welcome the proposal to create investment zones in Scotland as one part of an ambitious plan to grow our economy, to incentivise businesses to invest, to build and to create high-quality jobs. I also welcome the reported constructive talks that have just been mentioned between the Scottish ministers and the British Government. For my constituents, the people of central Scotland and for people and businesses right across Scotland, the success of this policy will depend on Scotland's two Governments working co-operatively together for the common good. That common good is to work together to attract new investment, new infrastructure and new high-skill and high-paid jobs. I have read that there could be as many as five or more investment zones created in Scotland. Will the First Minister set aside constitutional division, be ambitious for Scotland and work in partnership with the UK Government to bring the benefits of investment zones not only to the people of central Scotland but to other parts of Scotland as well? It is good to hear a Tory take a break from crashing the economy to talk about supporting the economy. That is certainly a refreshing change, although I am not convinced that it will be a long-standing one. Can I say to the Tories that anybody who is really serious about growing the economy needs to tackle the anti-growth coalition within the Conservative party—the ones that took Scotland out of the European Union and the single market—and the ones who are exacerbating skill shortages through their obsession with immigration? Perhaps it would support the economy to start there. On investment zones, I am not sure if Stephen Kerr listened to what I said. We have agreed to exploratory discussions, but we have to be satisfied that those are in Scotland's interests. Crucially, we do not have any detail yet of the UK Government's proposals. I know that the Scottish Tories just do anything that UK Tories ask them to do, but this Government actually acts in the interests of the Scottish people. That will be true on investment zones, as it is on everything else. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, Poverty in Scotland 2022. The report is a sad reminder of the pressures that low-income households are facing and why this Government's actions to tackle poverty are so important. We have allocated almost £3 billion this year to help to mitigate the impact of increasing costs on households. Of course, that is from within our fixed budget, which is £1.7 billion less than it was in December due to inflation. We are taking a range of actions, including increasing our unique Scottish child payment to £25 per week. That is in sharp contrast to a UK Government plunging the UK into economic turmoil. We have seen, over the past week and indeed the past 12 years, why it is so vital that this Parliament has the full powers to be able to tackle poverty and the cost of living and support those most in need. I thank the First Minister for that answer, but the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report highlighted the particular pressures facing families in Scotland with the disabled person in them, noting that three out of four have experienced negative impact of poverty on their mental health and even higher numbers have had to cut back on essential spending. Another report published this week by Inclusion Scotland made the very stark statement that there will be avoidable deaths of disabled people this winter without targeted action. Scottish Labour have pushed and pushed the Scottish Government to do something for disabled people during this cost of living crisis, and so far we have been ignored. What urgent action will this Government do to take steps, step in and alleviate the pressures facing disabled people this winter? Firstly, it is the case that poverty impacts disproportionately on certain groups in our society, and that undoubtedly includes disabled groups. The £3 billion that I spoke about of course will be of benefit in many respects, the fuel and security fund as one example to those living with disabilities. We will continue within the fixed budget that we have and within the limited powers that we have to do as much as we can to mitigate against the cost of living crisis and the impact that it has. Of course, so many of those powers and the access to resources lie out with the hands of this Parliament, and that is the fundamental problem. It is not enough to have partial powers over welfare. It is not enough to have partial resources. We need full powers in this Parliament, and I hope that we may yet see the day where Labour argues for those powers not to be with Tory Governments at Westminster but to be in the hands of this democratically elected Parliament. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, if you have got all this power, why are you taking away money from disabled people in regard to employment by cutting the budget for £53 million this year? Can you tell the Scottish people, and particularly disabled people, why is it harder for a disabled person in Scotland to get a job when it is anywhere else in the United Kingdom? I think that firstly it is really important to stress that the budget for employability is increasing. It is not increasing by as much as we would like it to because of the choices we are being forced to make because our budget is shrinking as a result of the economic incompetence and financial decisions of the UK Government. So if anybody in this Parliament doesn't like the decisions we are making and we don't want to be in a position of having to make these decisions, then they can come and argue how else we should balance our budget and protect those most in need. I would say particularly to Conservatives if you don't like these decisions then start arguing with your colleagues at Westminster to stop cutting the budget of this Parliament so that some of these decisions are not necessarily in the first place. Question number six, Jamie Greene. Thank you. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to reduce deaths in custody, including suicides, in light of reports of a 60 per cent year-on-year increase. First Minister, first and foremost my thoughts are with everyone who has lost a loved one in prison custody. The safety and wellbeing of those in prison is a priority and we recognise that we need to do more to support positive health outcomes for vulnerable people in prisons. The prison health and social care needs assessment, which we published last month and work undertaken in response to the independent death and custody review, are key steps in our commitment to achieving that. All front-line staff are trained in the SPS prevention of suicide strategy, which provides a person-centred care pathway for those at risk of suicide and promotes a supportive environment where people can ask for help. Individuals are screened upon arrival at prison and when needed the SPS and the NHS work together to support the individual and review them regularly. Jamie Greene. The First Minister is right, we do need to do more because in my hand is a one-page roll call and it's a tragic one-page piece of paper because it lists every single death in prison last year, their name, their age and their cause of death. I won't name the names on this list that I respect for the families involved and the risk of retraumatisation but they shouldn't be forgotten. HNP Addie Will, a 26-year-old man, took his own life nine months into his sentence. HNP Kilmarnock, a 29-year-old man, four months into his sentence, found hanging. HNP Greenock, a 27-year-old man, found hanging 15 months into his sentence and HNP Pullmont, a 20-year-old man, also found dead. He wasn't even convicted, he was on remand and these are just the tragic suicides in prisons. Where do I start with the overdoses, First Minister? It is a lamb. Opioid overdoses, multi-drug intoxication, are killing people in our prisons on a weekly basis, 53 of them on this list last year alone. 10 years ago there were 21 names on this list, that's still too many but it's doubled in 10 years. I only want to ask this to the First Minister, why are so many people still taking their lives in custody? Despite years of promises to get a grip on this, why are so many drugs still getting into our prisons and killing people? I warn, this has to stop or next year this list will be two pages long and the year after that it will be three pages long. When will this end, First Minister? First Minister, every death from suicide is a tragedy no matter where that takes place, which is why this is not specifically about prisons but it's why the Scottish Government in Cosla knew suicide prevention strategy that was launched last week is so important. Clearly there are particular issues in prisons which is why the work that I set out in my original answer is so important. The prevention of suicide in prison strategy aims to care for those at risk of suicide by providing a specific pathway based on an individual's specific needs and of course there should always be the promotion of a supportive environment where people in custody are able to ask for help, so we will continue to take forward all of that work. Finally, this is also one of the reasons, not the only reason, but one of the many reasons why this Government has made it a priority to try to reduce the number of people, particularly the number of vulnerable people who are in our prisons in the first place by reducing short-term sentences for example, by increasing community rehabilitation options and often the Conservatives come here and oppose all of these things. So can I say in the interest of consensus that as we take forward this important debate we do that in the context of a proper debate about criminal justice in the whole because we do send too many people in the first place in Scotland to prison and we need to tackle that as well as making sure we tackle the conditions inside our prisons. Research from Glasgow University showed that in more than nine out of 10 fatal accident inquiries sheriffs make no recommendations to improve practice but when families were involved sheriffs were three times more likely to make findings based on lessons learned from their deaths but only 31 per cent of families are represented at fatal accident inquiries. This is an issue that my colleague Katie Clark raised with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice where we are asking you First Minister to consider whether all families in their next of kin for family members who have died in custody should have access to non-means tested legal aid funding throughout the process of the investigation. I'm sure the First Minister appreciates that many families who've lost someone in custody do feel intimidated by the process, they feel helpless and I think it's important to make sure that they get representation where that's needed. First Minister. I think these are important and legitimate issues to raise. A fatal accident inquiry of course is an independent judicial process. It's mandatory for all deaths in custody unless the circumstances of the death have been explained through a criminal trial or other inquiry. The current process in place for fatal accident inquiries as enacted in legislation in 2016 follows upon an in-depth review of the system so there have been a number of improvements made in relation to the system of fatal accident inquiries since the introduction of the legislation. Clearly the point Pauline McNeill raises as an important one about legal aid and the ability of families to engage with inquiries. I will certainly take that away and consider whether there is further action that it would be appropriate for the Scottish Government to take. Thank you, that concludes First Minister's questions. The next item of business is a member's business debate in the name of Mark Ruskell and there will be a short suspension to allow those leaving the chamber and public gallery to do so.