 Diolch i'r Mwrth入et. Q1 Kezia Dugdale. To ask the First Minister what engagement she has planned for the rest of the day. First Minister. With your permission, Presiding Officer, I would like to begin today with a few brief words about the late Charles Kennedy. Although he is not a member of this chamber, I know that we were all deeply saddened to learn of his passing earlier this week. Charles was a very special human being, a talented and gifted politician, but also a thoroughly decent man. His contribution to Scottish anti-UK politics was immense. He will be remembered for many things, not least his opposition to the war in Iraq and for the historic success of his party under his leadership. I know that I will be speaking on behalf of all of us in this chamber when I say that our thoughts are very much with Charles's family, in particular his young son, his friends and, of course, his colleagues on the Liberal Democrats benches. Later today, Presiding Officer, I will have engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Kezia Dugdale. Thank you, Presiding Officer. On behalf of those benches, we share that sadness in the sentiments of the First Minister. Charles Kennedy was undoubtedly a very principled man and a well-loved politician, and he will be sorely missed in Scottish and British public life. He was also, of course, a great European, and earlier this week the First Minister was in Brussels, rightly making the case for the UK remaining in the European Union. 300,000 Scottish jobs are linked to our EU membership, and our education system must equip young Scots with the skills to take advantage of those opportunities. The ability to speak other languages is key for young Scots when competing for jobs across Europe, and that is why, in 2012, we were proud to support the SNP Government when it introduced the 1 plus 2 language initiative. Can the First Minister tell us how that is going? I am happy to ask the education secretary to write to the member to give her a full progress report on the developments on the 1 plus 2 language programme, because it is an important issue to raise. I hope that we will be able to strike some agreement across the chamber on that, first, traditionally in Scotland and, indeed, across the UK, we have not been as good as we should be in learning modern languages. In many other countries, across the continent, we have put us to shame in that respect. Secondly, it is important that we equip our young people with the ability to compete in the modern world. That includes—it is not exclusively about it—the ability to speak modern languages. One of the discussions that I was having in Europe on Tuesday of this week was about the changes in terms of the increase, in the speaking of some modern languages—Spanish, for example, overtaking German and French now. We must make sure that our curriculum is keeping up with that so that we are equipping our young people. Lastly, on the issue of European Union membership, I was making the case for Scotland's continuing membership in Brussels on Tuesday. I was also making the point that it would be unacceptable for Scotland to be taken out of the European Union against our will. The Labour First Minister of Wales, Carolyn Jones, agreed with me on that point yesterday. I hope that Kezia Dugdale will take the opportunity to do so as well today. Kezia Dugdale said yesterday that I very much look forward to working with the First Minister in terms of making the positive case for Europe in our place in it. I asked specifically about European languages and the reality is that it is not going very well at all. A paper published by Dr James Scott is in the current Scottish Languages review has the evidence, and Dr Scott's published research shows that in the first year of the new national exams, the number of people sitting French and German fell by 37 per cent. The numbers passing fell by more than 40 per cent—almost half. That is appalling, Presiding Officer. A 40 per cent drop in S4 peoples getting a qualification in one of the key European languages. It is not just Europe either. In 2012, to great fanfare, the SNP Government set a target of doubling the number of school students gaining qualifications in the Chinese language. Can the First Minister tell us how that is going? First Minister? I will look very carefully at the research that Kezia Dugdale has cited today. I will do that for two reasons. Firstly, because it is important that I do that, it is important that we look carefully and follow the lessons of any research that is published. The second reason that I will do that is the last time that Kezia Dugdale quoted research to me at First Minister's questions about exam passes, she mixed up, I assume inadvertently, entries for exams and the number of candidates sitting exams. What she will know is that one of the express objectives of curriculum for excellence was to reduce the number of subjects that candidates sit at exam levels. I will study very carefully the research that she cites. I said in my initial answer that it is important that we continue to make progress around modern languages. It is important that we do that in order that our young people are passing exams in modern languages. It is also important that we start earlier. One of the objectives of curriculum for excellence is to ensure that we are equipping our young people, not waiting to secondary school to do that, but to start in primary school for the range of challenges that they meet in the modern world. As a Government, we are determined that we continue to do that. We are determined that we do that for the language that traditionally has been important to speak, but also increasingly for the languages in future it is important to speak like Chinese. I would hope that we would get support across the chamber as we continue to focus exactly on those matters. Keisah Dugdale The First Minister suggested that I had misrepresented the work of Dr James Scott. I am afraid that that is not the case. She should phone him herself if she would like to check that. I spoke to Dr James Scott again this morning. The numbers that I am using today are accurate and are in his published paper, which is funded by the Scottish Government. He should be very careful with how he presents what I am saying. What the First Minister cannot quite bring herself to say is that there has been no progress made at all. In fact, things are getting worse. The number of candidates sitting in the new Chinese national exam fell by over a third last year. What is worse is that the number of young Scots who passed that exam has dropped by 42 per cent. We know that the SNP Government is failing when it comes to European languages and we know that Scotland is going backwards when it comes to Chinese. Hopefully, the SNP Government would be doing better when it comes to Gaelic. Can the First Minister tell us whether the number of Gaelic learners gaining level 3 for five qualifications went up or down last year? In respect of the research by Dr James Scott, I will look at the figures that Kezia Dugdale is citing today. It is important to stress this point to the chamber the last time that Kezia Dugdale cited the research of Dr James Scott. She said that that research showed that the number of candidates gaining level 3 to 5 qualifications was down by almost 102,000. Actually, at all levels, there are only around about 150,000 candidates in every year. She mixed up, she confused the number of candidates with the number of entries, and those candidates, of course, are presented for multiple exams. That is the reason why I want her to be of scepticism. Kezia Dugdale is raising an important issue. That is why I am going to treat the issue seriously. It is important that we ensure that young people are equipped with the skills that they need to compete in the modern economy. That is why, through our attainment challenge, we are putting such a focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. It is why it is important to focus on exams and skills and knowledge in modern languages. That is exactly why the new curriculum for excellence curriculum has been introduced. It is why we have the new national exam system in place. That is the foundation on which we are now building to ensure that we focus on areas where we need improvement to equip our young people for the future. We will continue to focus on doing that, Presiding Officer. I would say to Kezia Dugdale that I noticed that her rival for the leadership of the Labour Party—I do not know if he is in the chamber—said yesterday that he found that the continual SNP bashing of the Labour Party was making him begin to despair. I think that today he will be finding it hard not to put his head in his hands. Kezia Dugdale, Mr Dugdale. Presiding Officer, I am here asking what is happening in our schools. The First Minister is here asking what is happening in the Scottish Labour Party. Say it all. Here is the answer. In the first year of the new national exams, the number of Gallic learners fell by 21 per cent. The number of pupils who passed that fell by more than a quarter. Dr Scott's analysis describes the decline in Gallic under the SNP as significant, given all the money that has been invested in this area. In a lecture based on his paper, he expressed fears for some modern languages disappearing from our schools altogether. Teachers and head teachers have warned ministers of chaos with the new exams. I have repeatedly raised problems with the new exams. Thousands of pupils have signed a petition telling ministers that there is a problem with the new exams. As we speak, EISs are in Perth deciding on whether to boycott the new exams altogether. After more than eight years in Government, when is the First Minister going to take her head out of the sand and clean up this mess? I assume that that was not Kezia Dugdale endorsing a boycott of the new exams. I certainly hope that she will clarify that matter. Secondly, Kezia Dugdale raised last week an issue of concern with the higher maths exam. The feeling on the part of many students understandably so that that exam was too difficult in terms of how they had been taught for that. I gave a lengthy and detailed explanation last week of how the Scottish Qualifications Authority deal with those situations to make sure that no young person is disadvantaged because of that. To make a leap from that, as Kezia Dugdale has just done, to describe the new exams system as being in chaos, I think that she is deeply, deeply irresponsible and does a great disservice to young people and to teachers across our country who are working so hard for those exams. To come back to the point about languages, I will, as I said in my first answer to Kezia Dugdale, study carefully the figures that she cited to me today. I will be particularly looking to see and I am giving her the benefit of the doubt to say that this is not what she has done, that she has not made the same mix-up that she made the last time between candidates and numbers of entries. Finally, as First Minister, as leader of this Government, we will continue to focus on making sure that we have an education system that is providing the education, the skills and the training that our young people need. We will not be diverted from that objective. That is our responsibility. I would like to add the sympathies of myself and of my party to those that were expressed by others here today on the death of Charles Kennedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with his son Donald and the wider Kennedy family. I would also like to ask the First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. I have no plans in the near future. Ruth Davidson. Staff working in Scotland's NHS are under pressure like never before. More patients are coming through the doors and the cracks are beginning to show in hospitals across the country. This week, the NHS workforce statistics were published and they uncovered staff sickness levels across Scotland at a seven-year high. Worst affected is the Scottish Ambulance Service, where more than 7 per cent of staff are off at any one time. That is four times the average sickness rate outside the public sector. It is clear that health workers are struggling to cope in an increasingly strained environment, and the figures show that the problem is getting worse. What will the First Minister do to help? First Minister. First Lady, can I take the opportunity to, as I always do when talking about the NHS, to thank NHS staff working right across the country to deliver quality health services for people in every part of our country? Making sure that we keep levels of sickness absence in the NHS to a minimum has always been and was all through the time I was health secretary a key priority for health boards and trade unions within the health service worked very hard with health boards to try to support staff to do that. The specific question that Ruth Davidson asked me was, what do we as government do to help? Perhaps the most important thing that we have done as a government is to ensure that the number of people working in our health service to deal with the rising demand for health services because of our ageing population is increasing. The statistics that were published on Tuesday that Ruth Davidson has quoted from also showed that there are now 10,500 more people working in our NHS than was the case when this Government took office. We will continue to ensure record funding of our health service. We will continue to ensure that there are record staffing numbers in our health service. It is because of that that we have a health service now that is delivering historically low waiting times. That is a credit, not to this Government. That is a credit to the staff who are working so hard to achieve it. I thank the First Minister for her reply, but the fact is that this week's figures published by her Government only show part of the picture. Despite her answer, staff shortages are a real issue. In fact, the Scottish Conservatives wrote to NHS boards across the country to ask how often staffing concerns had been formally raised by doctors and nurses. The answer was in their thousands. In Dumfriesen Galloway alone, just in the last year, there have been 4,000 separate incidents of staff saying that there weren't enough people to do the job. Doctors and nurses so worried about patient care that they formally raised that with their managers. It is no wonder that staff's sickness levels are on the rise. Here are two things that the Scottish Conservatives would do to help. We will hire 1,000 more front-line nurses and midwives by asking people who can afford it to pay a contribution to the prescriptions, and we also promise to pass on every penny of the extra health money that is coming to Scotland as a result of UK Government decisions, which is £800 million by 2020. Can the First Minister right here, right now, commit to both of those things? We have protected the revenue budget of the health service and we have already. I gave this commitment last year that we will continue to protect the revenue budget of the health service each and every year of the next Parliament if this Government is re-elected. First, any member of staff in the health service who has concerns about any aspect of the delivery of healthcare is right to raise that with health managers, and health managers have a duty to respond and to address those concerns. I think that that is the first important point to make. Ruth Davidson mentioned Dumfriesen Galloway NHS. Let me just give her some of the figures about staffing and staffing increases in NHS Dumfriesen Galloway between September 2006 and March 2015. All staff up 6.3 per cent, consultants up 21.9 per cent, emergency medicine consultants up 407 per cent, qualified nurses and midwives up 3.6 per cent, allied health professionals up 16.2 per cent. That is the increase in staff numbers. Does that mean that I believe that our staff are not working under pressure? Of course it does not, because we also have rising demand because of the changing demographics of our country. That is why it is so important that I give the commitment, as First Minister, to continue to protect the health budget. It is why it is so important that I continue to give the commitment to continue to support staff and ensure that staffing numbers increase. It is why we welcomed, as we do, so positively the report from the Royal Colleges and the RCN today. Incidentally, at its last sentence, calling on politicians to stop political point scoring on the NHS and to come together to make sure that we support our NHS in meeting the challenges of the future, I intend to do that. I hope that others make that choice too. To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government can provide to Airdrie Savings Bank and its employees, given its recent decision to close half of its branches, one of which is in my constituency and with whom I bank. I was obviously concerned to learn of developments in relation to Airdrie Savings Bank and the impact that it will have on the employees, affected their families and, of course, customers. I understand that the bank is seeking to modernise its service delivery and develop a long-term business model to allow its approach of community-based banking to continue. I can confirm that we are working with the bank to support its long-term business model through the financial sector jobs task force. Together with PACE, we will offer all possible support to any staff affected by this announcement. Airdrie Savings Bank has assured us that it will continue to offer services to all customers whose branches will close, and appropriate arrangements will be made to enable customers to access their accounts. Mike McKenzie The First Minister was aware of the importance of the onshore wind sector to the economy of the Highlands and Islands. It is therefore very concerning that the UK Government plans to end onshore wind farm subsidies. Does the First Minister agree with me that, at the very least, the Scottish Government and this Parliament should be consulted on the UK Government's wrong-headed plans? The First Minister Yes, I do agree with that. I am rather dismayed to hear a member of the Conservative Party say no, that we should not be consulted on these matters. It is very concerning that changes to UK energy policy are coming out in a piecemeal way via the media instead of through proper engagement with this Government and indeed with this Parliament and with the energy industry. Onshore wind, built in the right places, has an important role to play in helping to keep the lights on across these islands, and it can do so at a competitive cost to consumers. Indeed, it can do so at a cheaper cost than the UK Government's plans for new nuclear power. I urge the UK Government to engage constructively on this issue and not to turn its back on a key industry. Liam McArthur Thank you, Presiding Officer. I firstly thank Nicola Sturgeon, Kezia Dugliel and Ruth Davidson for the very generous remarks about my late colleague, friend and fellow Liberal Charles Kennedy. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on reports that teachers are working 11 hours each week on top of their contracted hours. The First Minister Teachers in Scotland are hardworking professionals and they always go the extra mile for the good of our young people and I and we all should thank them for that. However, we do not want to see unacceptable burdens placed on them and that is why we are safeguarding posts for the next year by providing £51 million in funding to maintain teacher numbers. That will ensure that we continue to meet our aim of having the right number of teachers with the right skills in all of our schools. We are also working closely with teachers representatives, including the EIS, local authorities and other partners, to ensure that teacher workload is balanced and that will include taking forward the recommendations of the ministerial-led working group and tackling bureaucracy, which identifies some specific areas where changes need to be made. Liam McArthur I thank the First Minister for that answer. The EIS survey found that fewer than one in 10 teachers are satisfied with their workload. Only a third would recommend teaching as a career. With class-sized promises not met, teacher numbers down and pupil-teacher ratios up, does the First Minister agree with EIS that scape voting teachers for a situation that she herself has accepted is not good enough is appropriate? What specific assurances can the First Minister offer today that things will improve over the next 335 days, given that they have not in the last eight years? The First Minister First Minister, I do not believe that anybody should seek to scape vote teachers. I will never do that. This Government will never do that. Our teachers do a fantastic job, and all of us should thank them for the work that they do on behalf of our young people. The fact that we support teachers is evidenced and illustrated by the commitment that we made this year, backed by £51 million in funding, to maintain teacher numbers because we recognise the importance of having the right number of teachers with the right skills in all of our schools. The issue of workload is an important one. That is why Alasdair Allan has been chairing the working group on tackling bureaucracy. The group's membership includes teachers' associations, local authority representative groups, the National Parent Forum, Education Scotland and the SQA, published its first report in November 2013 and made a number of recommendations. Its follow-up report was published in March this year, and the recommendations will be taken forward as well. We will continue to work with teachers to make sure that they are not working under undue workloads and that we are tackling bureaucracy, but we are also maintaining the number of teachers in our schools to provide excellent education for our children. George Adam Thank you, Presiding Officer. On that point, can the First Minister confirm what specific actions are now being progressed following the publication of the report of the working group chaired by the Minister for Learning and Schools on tackling bureaucracy? The First Minister The follow-up report, which was published in March this year, was praised by the EIS, and it concluded that progress had been made in tackling bureaucracy, but it was still more that we needed to do. A number of key actions from the report are being taken forward. For example, Education Scotland working with teacher associations and the Association of Directors of Education to design and deliver workshops providing practical guidance and good practice examples of what to do to reduce bureaucracy, and that will build on the success of events held last year. Also, the SQA and local authorities are continuing to streamline the verification procedures for the new qualifications. So important work has been done, and we will continue to do that work to make sure that we reduce unnecessary bureaucracy that can be, if we are not careful about it, a burden on our teachers. Question 4, Kevin Stewart. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to inclusion Scotland's research, suggesting that disabled people are experiencing stress, fear and isolation because of welfare reform. This research backs up the findings of the Scottish Government's own welfare tracking study, which was published on Monday of this week. It found that the UK Government's programme of welfare cuts is negatively affecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. It is completely unacceptable in my view that disabled people are finding the process of applying for benefits so difficult and distressing. Of course, all of this is before the further £12 billion of cuts proposed by the UK Government take effect. The Scottish Government will continue to strongly oppose further cuts to the welfare budget, and we will continue to argue for this Parliament to have responsibility for decisions over social security. Kevin Stewart. As we have seen from the Inclusion Scotland report, disabled people are already concerned about the cuts in the way that they are treated by the DWP's systems and processes. Does the First Minister share my deep concern about the further cuts that are to come to the social security budget and how that will impact disabled people? Does she concur that the UK Government must explain and outline which group of people they plan to push into poverty next with their proposed £12 billion of further cuts to the social security budget? I think that there is an obligation on the UK Government to provide more clarity than it has done about who is going to be hit by the further cut of £12 billion, but what I would much prefer is if the UK Government dropped its plans to cut welfare by a further £12 billion. I very much share the member's concerns that the UK Government's austerity agenda is already having a very, very damaging effect on vulnerable people in Scotland. The lack of clarification about the further cut is important because it increases the anxiety that disabled and vulnerable people already feel. If you are living with a disability, there are already many challenges that you have to overcome in life. You should not have to be living with the worry of a UK Government taking a further axe to the benefit that you depend on. We will continue to oppose those cuts and, as I said in my initial answer, we will continue to argue that the right place for those decisions to be made is not in the Westminster Parliament, it is here in our Scottish Parliament. The First Minister shared my concern that negative attitudes to the unemployed and to the poor are not reserved to Westminster, unfortunately, but all too common amongst our own society. Would she pledge her support for the Stick Your Labels campaign, which aims to tackle stigma and prejudice against the poor and disabled in our country? Yes, I would thoroughly endorse that view put forward very constructively by Ken Macintosh there. I think that it is important that we challenge negative stigma and negative attitudes. Vulnerable people in our society did not cause the recession, they did not cause the deficit and they do not deserve to pay the price of getting the deficit down. They deserve our support, they deserve our respect and they deserve a helping hand from all of us not having their lives made more difficult. We have to challenge those attitudes wherever they exist. I would never stand here and say that there are not those attitudes here in Scotland. If we all unite and tackle and address and confront those attitudes, then we will be doing a great service to vulnerable people across our country. Alex Johnson I would first admit that there is fear about benefit changes, but anyone who has been knocking on doors over the past few months will realise that that fear is rather more widespread than the actual experience, particularly in relation to the universal credit, which is only now being introduced on a pilot basis in certain parts of Scotland and yet has the potential for massive improvement in the conditions of many people who are dependent on benefits. However, hostility to the introduction of that scheme is widespread through little experience. First Minister I think that if Alex Johnson really thinks that the fears that people have about further benefit cuts are somehow disproportionate to the reality, then he has just proven how out of touch he and his party are in Scotland. I would invite openly, Alex Johnson, to come and knock some doors in my constituency on the south side of Glasgow. Come to one of my surgeries where people with mental health problems, people with disabilities, people struggling hard, working hard to support families are at the end of their tether. Coming to my office for food bank vouchers because they are living with the consequences of the cuts imposed by the Government that he supports. If he is not finding that where he is knocking doors, come and knock doors where I knock doors and he will find a very different picture. Question 5, Malcolm Chisholm. To ask the First Minister whether it will speak out about human rights abuses in Qatar prior to the Scotland versus Qatar football match tomorrow. First Minister Scotland has a very strong commitment to securing democracy, the rule of law and fundamental human rights across the world. Scottish ministers share the concern of many about the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and we condemn human rights abuses in the strongest possible terms. We sought to engage constructively with Qatar on human rights. For example, we have offered to share Scotland's experiences in hosting major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games to help to embed human rights and save working practices into the preparation and staging of the Qatar World Cup. On that point, I would say one final thing. If the allegations of corruption around the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar are found to be well founded, then there is a very strong case for rerunning that competition. Malcolm Chisholm. Does the First Minister share the widespread concerns in Scotland about the decision of the SFA to arrange this picture tomorrow? Given that hundreds of workers have already died constructing football stadiums for the 2022 World Cup and that thousands more are facing forced labour and exploitation, will the Scottish Government, all the ministers and the Scottish Government speak out loudly and clearly against the appalling human rights abuses in Qatar? The First Minister. Yes, we will do that. I respect the views of those who think that tomorrow's match should not go ahead, but I hope that those who hold that view will accept that the other view that sport can be a good way to engage and highlight human rights abuses is also a legitimate one, particularly when that alternative view is held by organisations like Amnesty International. The decision on the match is one for the SFA and I respect the decision to go ahead with that match, just as I respect the decision of any fans who choose not to attend it. What I would say is that, instead of us in Scotland arguing over one football match, I think that we should unite behind those two demands. Firstly, that FIFA gets its house in order, that allegations of corruption are investigated robustly and that anyone found guilty is brought to justice. Secondly, that human rights are respected and upheld in every single part of the world without exception. Those are the issues that really matter and let us speak with one voice on both of them. Alison Johnstone. Thank you. Can the First Minister indicate if there is any co-ordination or liaison between the Scottish Government and governing bodies that would perhaps make sure that in future there is an established criteria or a policy developed that would stop inappropriate fixtures being agreed in the first instance? I am happy to explore how those things can be dealt with better so that some of what we are now grappling with can be avoided in future. Many governing bodies, and I believe, although I do not have the particular provision in front of me just now, I believe that this includes FIFA, have very strict rules on government not interfering in the decisions that are taken about sporting events. However, there is no doubt what is alleged and I stress to have been happening in and around FIFA is appalling. It is bringing the reputation of a game that so many people across this country and so many people across the world love and adore. It is absolutely essential that those allegations are dealt with, that anybody found guilty is brought to justice and FIFA gets its house in order so that we can all go back to enjoying the wonderful spectacle of sport that we enjoy during World Cups. Christina McKelvie. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I draw the First Minister's attention to the actions of the STUC, who, along with other groups of campaign, tirelessly to improve workers' rights in Qatar and intend to highlight the issue with fans at tomorrow evening's games? Does the First Minister support the STUC's actions? Yes, I do. I very strongly support STUC's actions. It is a way in which those who hold the view that sport can be a good way to engage can illustrate that. If a match is taking place, it, as well as being a sporting occasion, provides the opportunity to highlight concerns around human rights abuses or other issues of importance. I think that STUC is to be commended for the action that they plan to take tomorrow night and I am sure that they will have the support, not just of me but of the many fans who will attend that game. Question number six in the name of Stuart McMillan has been withdrawn for understandable reasons, so that ends First Minister's questions. Members should leave the chamber, should leave quickly and quietly.