 I'm glad that the Deputy First Minister has warmed us up. The First Minister and others do not need to follow that example. We turn now to First Minister's questions. Question 1, Ruth Davidson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister what engagement she has planned for the rest of the day. First Minister. Forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Ruth Davidson. Presiding Officer, today in Scotland, in an S2 class of 30 pupils on average, five can't write properly. That is double the number just four years ago. When the First Minister sees statistics like these, does she feel embarrassed, ashamed or both? First Minister. Actually, what I feel is utterly determined to carry on with the changes we are making in Scottish education so that we continue to see the improvements in attainment and progress in closing the attainment gap. Ruth Davidson points to the S2 performance in writing in the SSLN study published this week. I'm not going to try in any way to diminish the significance of those findings, but it is important to say this. That study, which is a sample study, measures S2 pupils against the standard that they are expected to reach in S3. What we know now from the much more comprehensive data that we are publishing through the national improvement framework, which we will continue to publish on an annual basis and which will become informed by the new standardised assessments, is that we see over 80 per cent of pupils in S3 meeting the standard that they are required to meet. We will continue to take forward the measures that have been guided by OECD recommendations. For example, our new attainment fund, which, as the Deputy First Minister has just said, is directing resources to headteachers. The new benchmarks for literacy and numeracy that have been put in place are backed by a range of targeted programmes from the attainment challenge, the book bug, the play-talk read programme in the early years, the read-write count in early primary and the reading challenge. We will continue to take forward the new detailed measurement system through the national improvement framework, which will track progress, not just by way of a sample survey, but by using data on every pupil in primary 1, 4, 7 and S3 broken down by local authority and schools. In answer to Ruth Davidson's question, I feel determined to continue to get on with these reforms to make improvements for pupils right across our country. Ruth Davidson. Ten years and five out of every 30 pupils can't write properly. Presiding Officer, we like to pride ourselves in Scotland that our education system was the best in the world, and after ten years of this SNP government, we can do so no longer. Last week, I stood here and raised the fact that teacher training places are not being filled. Yesterday, we learned about the standards of that training. On the time spent on literacy, one trainee said that it would be a single week, one week. Another said that she and her fellow trainees don't—I will quote this directly—have the sufficient skills and numeracy to be able to teach it to 11-year-olds at a reasonable standard. We have not enough trainee teachers coming through, and the ones who are aren't being taught properly. That's not their fault, but if they are not getting the proper instruction, what chance do they have of teaching our children? First Minister. First Lady, as I said last week, the Government does not ignore the challenges that we face in Scottish education. Equally, we should not do a disservice to pupils and to teachers across the country. As I have just said, more than 80 per cent of S3 pupils, according to the comprehensive data that we publish, are meeting the required standards in writing. We are also seeing annual increases in the proportion of school leavers reaching the national 5 level. We are seeing the gap between the richest and the poorest closing. We are seeing a record number of advanced higher passes, a record number of higher passes in the past few years. Let me turn also to the question of teacher education. In terms of entry into initial education, we have increased the intake into teacher education as part of the work that we are doing to make sure that there are the required numbers of teachers coming into our schools. In terms of the content of teacher education, which is the substance of the question that Ruth Davidson asked and has been under discussion at the education committee this week, there are a couple of points to make first before I talk about the action that we have been taking. First, it is universities in partnership with the GDC that decide the content and the structure of initial teacher education. Here is a fact that Ruth Davidson will not like to hear, because it says something good about Scottish education. The recently published complete university guide rated four of Scottish universities in the top seven across the UK for teacher education. However, we have recognised that we need to do more about teacher education, which is why I am surprised that Ruth Davidson does not seem to know this from the content of her question. In our delivery plan that was published last year, we committed to a review of Scotland's initial teacher education courses. The report of that review will be published in the next few weeks. On that, as well as on the other issues, this is the situation, Presiding Officer. We have good performance across education in Scotland, but there are areas where we have recognised that we need to do better, and this Government is getting on with the job of taking the action that will deliver those improvements. Ruth Davidson. Here is a fact for the First Minister. Bright young trainees are starting their careers in Scotland without the tools that they need to do the job. That is not me saying it, that is what they told this Parliament just yesterday. As the education secretary acknowledged this week, we need inspections to flag up issues in our schools, but the number of inspections has gone down under the SNP. Why has it gone down? One, we do not have enough inspectors, and the ones that we do have are being dragged off the job to sort out the complete mess that is curriculum for excellence. Does this sound like a system that is in any way functioning properly? She has just said about curriculum for excellence. Not only does Ruth Davidson go against what her party has said previously about curriculum for excellence, she goes against the judgment of the OECD when they did a review of curriculum for excellence and said that that was a reform that they welcomed, but they pointed out the areas where we had to further improve to deal with the challenges that we face. What we have in education is good performance, and we have a range of international experts who have said that. We have a number of challenges, not least the ones that the SSLN survey has highlighted this week, but we have a programme of reform that is getting on with making the changes backed by significant additional investment in our schools that are about delivering improvement. I think that it is important that this Parliament scrutinises that on an on-going basis. With the Deputy First Minister, I am going to stay focused in taking forward this reform programme. As I said last week, what we often find in this chamber is Opposition parties calling for us to make changes, but as soon as we make any of those changes and as soon as some people might think that they disagree with them, we find Opposition parties running for cover. That Government will continue to focus on making the reforms and making the changes that we think are required to drive the improvements that we are determined to see. The First Minister talked about what a range of international experts had said about curriculum for excellence. She did not actually say what they said, so let me read out one of them, Professor Lindsay Paterson. Here is what he says about curriculum for excellence. Curriculum for excellence has ignored the need for deep knowledge with the dismaying consequences that we now see. Every week, we stand up here and hear jargon about cross-curricular this and joined up that, but it is not much help if we have children in our country that can add up, that can't write and can't read. Last week, the First Minister accused me of being obsessed about the constitution. Here is her record in this place. Since last year, this Government has spent more time debating the constitution than debating education, health, transport and justice combined. We have had enough. After 10 years, don't the people of Scotland deserve a Government that will for once focus on their priorities and not on hers? First Minister. Let me share some of the views. Page 13 of the OECD review of Scottish education states this. The curriculum for excellence is an important reform, putting in place a coherent 3 to 18 curriculum. It rests on a very contemporary view of knowledge and skills and on widely accepted tenets of what makes for powerful learning. The deputy director of the OECD directorate for education and skills, we applaud Scotland for having the foresight and the patience to put such an ambitious reform as curriculum for excellence in place. That is the support. Backed up by the International Council of Education Advisers, who said that we have been deeply impressed with the schools that we have visited during our program. We have been very impressed with the schools that we have visited during our program. We have been very impressed with the schools that we have visited during our program. We will continue to build on the strengths of Scottish education and make sure that we drive the improvements through the action that I have been talking about. The attainment fund putting £120 million into the hands of head teachers. The attainment challenge driving improvements in literacy and numeracy and the new national improvement framework making sure that we don't just have to rely on a sample SSLN survey, we have comprehensive data on every pupil in these particular school years. We will continue to take forward that programme of reform. Let me turn to the issue of priorities. When Ruth Davidson talks about the time spent in this chamber debating the constitution, what she is trying to distract attention from is that that has been time. That has been time debating the implications of Brexit. The Brexit disaster that the Tory party is leading this country into. Secondly, on priorities, over the past week the Scottish Tories have churned out press release after press release after press release. In all of those press releases we have seen health mentioned once, we have seen education mentioned 12 times, we have seen me, the SNP or independence mentioned a grand total of 153 times. I will get on with the job of improving education but I will take no lectures on priorities from Ruth Davidson or the Tories. To ask the First Minister what engagement she has planned for the rest of the week. Engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Scotland's nurses need a pay rise. Since 2010, they have seen a real-terms cut in their wages of £3,400. Our NHS staff are underresourced and underpaid. The Labour Party will always argue for better wages because it means better performance. The reality of today's NHS is that nurses are more likely to leave the profession because the work just isn't paying as well as it should. The results are hundreds of millions of pounds spent on agency staff. Why did the SNP vote against scrapping the pay cap last night? First Minister. We are not just for people working in our NHS but for public sector workers generally. We have had a period of pay restraint and the reasons for that pay restraint were first the financial crash and then the long period of austerity started under Labour and continued under the Tories. The reason for that pay restraint and no Government, certainly not this Government enjoys having that kind of pay restraint but the reason was to protect jobs in the public sector and protect investment in areas of the public sector like our NHS. As I have said previously, we are seeing more investment in our NHS today under this Government than we would if Labour had been in Government because they didn't even pledge as much as we did. I think that this is an issue that we are required to look very carefully at now that inflation is rising again. With the NHS of course it is the independent pay review body that makes recommendations in the Health Secretary yesterday committed to working with the health unions to jointly commission work that we would then submit to the pay review body for its deliberations for the next year. We have taken action to make sure that we are treating workers in our NHS as fairly as possible. Unlike Governments elsewhere in the UK we have targeted low pay and we have also made sure that we have always accepted recommendations of the pay review body and made sure that people working in our NHS are denied the progression that they have sometimes been denied elsewhere. As a result of that while I do not deny for a second the real pressure that people working in our NHS are under, as a result of that in Scotland every entry level NHS support staff workers is paid more than £1,000 a year than the English counterparts. A band 5 nurse which is the level for a newly qualified nurse is paid £300 a year more than somebody doing the same job in England and crucially paid £312 a year more than a nurse doing the same job in Wales. Now why do I mention Wales? Because Labour is in Government in Wales and they haven't even done as much as we've done to protect the pay of nurses. So we will continue to make sure that we work with our trade unions to get fairness for our nurses and for public sector workers. There is no escaping the reality that whilst they might be £300 better off than in England, they are £3,400 worse off than they should have been under her Government. The brutal reality of a decade of SNP has seen them make a complete and utter mismanagement of our NHS. Take a look at today's Times. The Times newspaper today reports a £400 million contract for private doctors to work in our NHS that went out to tender on 1 May. The brutal truth is that our hospitals have to turn to private sector because they don't have enough doctors in the first place. Labour can reveal today that the number of consultant posts that have remained vacant for six months or more has increased six-fold since 2011. That's the reality of the complete and utter mess she has made of our NHS. So tell me, First Minister, why can the SNP find £400 million for private health companies but it can't find the money to pay our NHS nurses? First Minister. I'll take no lessons on private sector involvement in our NHS from the Labour Party who signed PFI contracts in our NHS. It continues to drain the budgets. The reality is that reliance on the private sector had reduced under this Government and that is right and proper. Let's go back to the important issue of pay not just in the NHS but in the public sector. I absolutely understand why workers across our public sector think that the 1 per cent pay cap has now to be lifted and we'll continue to talk to trade unions. I was talking to civil service trade unions about the issue earlier this week and we'll continue to make sure that the evidence that we submit to the pay review body for the NHS properly reflects the circumstances in the economy today. We've had pay restraint because we have had an extremely tight public spending environment and we have had to make sure that we protect jobs in the public sector and protect investment in our national health service. The other thing that Kezia Dugdale would not want to mention is the fact that we have also in Scotland had a policy of no compulsory redundancies in the public sector so we look at the NHS. We see, I think, 12,000 compulsory redundancies in the NHS, 20,000 south of the border, none here in Scotland. I am not standing here saying that it is easy for anybody working in our NHS. Because of the action that we have taken to make sure that we target extra resources at low-pay people, make sure that people working in our NHS get access to progression and because of that actually 60 per cent of agenda for change staff will actually have been paid more than the 1 per cent uplift when their progression and action in low pay is taken into account. I don't think that it is at all fair for Kezia Dugdale simply to dismiss the fact that we have done more than any other Government in the UK to try to help public sector workers in this difficult time and we will continue to do exactly that because the difference is this Government stands on the side of public sector workers in the NHS and elsewhere too. Two things come from that, Presiding Officer. First of all, in all of that answer, she is actually asking us to be grateful that she is not sacking nurses because of our compulsory redundancy policy. Secondly, there is a clear difference between our two parties because, while I have a progressive plan to protect our public services and stop the cuts, all she has a plan is to see the private sector profit from Scotland's sick, that is the reality. The Times report also tells us that the amount of private money going into the NHS has doubled in the last two years alone under her watch. Let's look at those facts. Our hospitals don't have enough nurses. Those nurses don't have enough money in their pocket. Our hospitals don't have enough doctors but there's enough money for private health firms. Is this what the NHS looks like when the Government is more interested in running a referendum than running the NHS? Let's look at private sector spend. Private sector spend fell last year in NHS Scotland. It represents 0.7 per cent of the Scottish Government's total health resource budget. In comparison, in a trend started under the last Labour Government, the NHS in England spends 7.6 per cent of its budget on the private sector. We will continue to make sure that we are investing in the public NHS, not the private sector. Interestingly, one of the first things I did when I was health secretary was scrap the private contract for the running of Strachathrow hospital that was introduced by the last Labour administration. For Labour, all those things that they pontificate about in opposition are things they failed to do when they had the opportunity in Government. Lastly, I don't expect anybody working across our public sector to be grateful to any Government because they are dealing with extremely tough times, and I recognise that, particularly for people working at the front line of the NHS. However, I would expect opposition parties to recognise that, in those tough times, this Government has done more in public sector pay than any other Government across the UK. That is why Agenda for Change staff are paid more in Scotland than they are in England, and it is why newly-qualified nurses are paid more in Scotland than they are in England and in Labour-governed Wales. We will continue to take the right action in our NHS, which is meaning that we have record funding in our NHS and we have record numbers of staff working in our NHS as well. I am conscious that we have taken a lot of time for the first two questions. Serious issues, though they are, and there are a number of members who wish to get in today and a lot of questions. If we can ask all members to help make progress, two constituency questions, the first is from John Finnie. First Minister, North West Highland Geopark won its UNESCO status in 2015. That was after 10 years of hard work by local communities. That status has assessed every four years, and it is next due to be assessed in 2019. Until now, the Scottish Government has provided core funding to the Geopark. This year, the Scottish Government took the decision not to supply core funding. The Geopark has put up a crowd funder, which closes on Monday. As far as that has only raised £12,767, 18 per cent of the total that is required. Given the effort that has gone into achieving that UNESCO status, it would be a disaster if that status was lost. First Minister, would you agree to have your officials examine options for providing the modest financial support to allow the West Highland Geopark to work to retain its UNESCO status? First Minister. I thank John Finnie for raising this issue. I am familiar with Geopark and the UNESCO status that it has got. I absolutely agree that that is extremely important. As I recall, the Scottish Government provided initial core funding, but that was with a view to Geopark then becoming sustainable. I am, though, happy to ask officials to have a look at this again and to consider whether there is anything further that the Scottish Government can do to help. I will make sure that we report back to John Finnie once we have had the opportunity to look at it. Jamie Greene. Our Gowan bowling and tennis club in Greenock is a 175-year-old club offering vital sporting facilities to the people of Inverclyde. However, changes to water and surge charge exemption rules has left them facing a bill of up to £2,000 per annum, which they fear could drive up membership costs or even force them to close doors. I am afraid that they are not the only ones. What comfort can the First Minister provide charities, clubs, village halls and sporting groups right across Scotland that the Government will seriously look at the charges? Will she commit to a full and open review into this policy? First Minister. It is not too long, of course, since we had a full review of the situation around charities with water rates or exemptions from water rates. I remember it well because at the time I was the minister in charge of taking forward the recommendations from that review. I remember well that we tried to put in place a system that was as fair as possible to as many charities across the country as possible. The test for exemptions are based on the income of charities and capital that charities hold. Therefore, there will always be some charitable organisations that do not get exemptions because they have income or capital that are above those thresholds. The point that I would make, I should say, I am more than happy to have the relevant minister look at the particular organisation that has been cited here. I am looking in the wrong direction at Roseanna Cunningham to look at the particular organisation to make sure that the rules are being applied appropriately. However, the genuine point that I would make is that I think that all members would recognise that with any system of exemptions like this there will always be some organisations that do not qualify for the exemptions. I know that that will be very difficult for organisations who are in that position. I will ask Roseanna Cunningham to look at this particular case and report back to the member in due course. Question 3, Willie Rennie. To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet. First Minister. Matters of importance to people of Scotland. Willie Rennie. Yet again we have heard about the poor statistics on education. The mother of a 15-year-old schoolboy said to me yesterday that she is worried her son could be one of those statistics. He is struggling with reading and writing. She is anxious about his future and she is also angry with the SNP how we have been in charge for the whole of her son's education. What has the First Minister got to say to that mother and her son? First Minister. I am concerned to learn of any parent anywhere in the country who has concerns of that nature about their child's education. I would repeat again how seriously I and this Government take the challenges that we face in education. I will not repeat as I did with Ruth Davidson all of the strengths of Scottish education and I do think that it is unfair to teachers working hard across the country not to recognise those strengths and to recognise some of the real improvements that we are making. One of the ones that I did not mention earlier on was the improvements in attainment of pupils with additional support needs, for example. It is because we recognise some of the challenges that we are taking, the action that we are taking. I do not know the school that the parent quoted by Willie Rennie goes to, but it is very likely that the headteacher of that school now has in his or her own hands significant additional resources to invest in the specific areas that that headteacher thinks are required to improve attainment. It is exactly that kind of action that we are determined to continue to drive forward. Willie Rennie says that many of the reforms that we are taking forward are reforms that he is opposing. I think that it is absolutely right that members bring concerns to this chamber, but we also then have to be prepared to do the difficult things that are required to see the improvements that we all want to see. Willie Rennie. I am afraid that that is just more promises to improve school education at some point in the future. It will not help that school boy now. He could be part of a lost generation. He has been at school for a decade. Every single day of that, the SNP education secretaries have been in charge and they still sit round the cabinet table today. These are the education secretaries that rejected a pupil premium for six whole years. Even though it raised attainment in England, they delayed nursery education for two-year-olds, rejected a penny-on-income tax for education, and cut thousands of places from our colleges. When the First Minister and her ministers have got it so wrong for years, why on earth should that mother and her 15-year-old son ever trust them again? First Minister. Firstly, those are important issues and important challenges that we have got to face. I would say to Willie Rennie, I do think that it does a real disservice to use language like a lost generation. I think that that is pretty disgraceful. Secondly, Willie Rennie talks about investments that he thinks we should have made years ago. I would simply remind Willie Rennie that those years gone past are exactly the years that the Liberal Democrats were in a Westminster coalition with the Tories cutting Scotland's budget year after year after year. The last point that I would make is the most important point. Willie Rennie says that the young man and the parent that he talks about, what good will this do now? The money that I am talking about is in the hands of headteachers, is in the hands of these headteachers right now. I have spoken to headteachers in my constituency who are already talking about the initiatives that they are taking forward with this investment. The additional investment direct to headteachers, the extra investment elsewhere in our attainment fund, but also the measures that we are taking forward to ensure that we can track the progress as a result of those measures. Willie Rennie repeatedly stands up in this chamber and opposes the things that we are trying to do to make sure that we can see those improvements and make sure that we can be accountable to every parent across this country as well as to this chamber. We will get on with doing the things that need to be done, even sometimes when they are difficult and they do not get the support of the Liberal Democrats. I would like to squeeze in a few topical supplementaries, the first of many wells. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Last night, BBC Scotland broadcast a shocking documentary on the human trafficking trade. It provided clear evidence that young girls are being trafficked from Slovakia to Govan Hill in Glasgow where they are forced into sham marriages to local men. This is a scandal and a human tragedy, which is going on right under our noses here in Scotland right now. Can the First Minister set out what her Government will do to support girls who arrive here in such appalling circumstances and what measures can be taken to crack down on traffickers who indulge in this evil trade? First Minister. This is an extremely important issue. It is, as Annie Wells is right to say, both a terrible crime and that is what human trafficking is. It is also a global problem, but it is important that we take robust steps to tackle it, both in cracking down on the crimes that are being committed, but, as Annie Wells also points to, making sure that we are supporting the victims. In terms of tackling the crime, the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act that was passed by this Parliament in 2015 gives both police and prosecutors enhanced powers to detect and prosecute those who are responsible for human trafficking. Police Scotland also uses joint investigation teams, which are established under European law, to work with Romanian and Slovakian police in this area. It is vital that Police Scotland continues to do, as it does already, to work closely with UK immigration, Europol and other nations. Police forces in order to investigate human trafficking offences and bring those responsible to justice. We will continue to make sure that our police force has the powers and the resources to investigate and tackle what are evil crimes against those individuals. The second important point is how we support victims of human trafficking. We continue to support what is invaluable work of organisations that offer assistance to victims. In 2017-18, the Government will provide grant funding of £800,000 to specific organisations that support adult victims of human trafficking. That is an increase on previous funding. We will also continue to work with them to improve the support that is available to prevent re-trafficking. I do not have time to go into all of that. I would be happy to write to the member with more detail of the work that we are doing. We should all agree that the crime of human trafficking is evil. We have to bring those responsible to justice but also provide the support that victims need. The Government will continue to focus on doing exactly that. Richard Lochhead As the First Minister may be aware, there is huge disappointment and some shock following the decision by the Crown Office after a prolonged police investigation. I am told nine separate court hearings to drop the case relating to the alleged illegal killing of a hen harrier in the cabruch in my constituency back in 2013. The Crown Office appears to have taken the view that video footage supplied by the RSPB was inadmissible despite such evidence being accepted in the past. Notwithstanding the progress made by ministers in recent years tackling wildlife crime, will the First Minister acknowledge that this case represents a serious crime against a threatened species? Given that wildlife crime is very difficult to detect because most often it takes place in remote areas, the law and the approach of the Crown Office must take into account such factors. The First Minister should be willing to investigate this case with a view to ensuring that the justice system does not miss any opportunity to hold those who illegally kill such species to account. The First Minister. I agree very much with Richard Lochhead. As Richard Lochhead well understands decisions about the prosecution of crime, of course, are decisions for the Crown Office and the law officers act in that respect independently of ministers. However, I think that it is important that we take wildlife crime very seriously, indeed particularly in cases where, as Richard Lochhead has highlighted today, it is a threatened species. I am happy to ask the relevant minister, Roseanna Cunningham, again, to meet with Richard Lochhead to look at what more we can do, particularly taking into account his point about often these crimes taking place in remote areas and therefore they are more difficult to detect. However, it is important that we make sure that the policy framework, the law around this and although, as I say, it is independent of ministers, the decisions that are taken by the Crown Office are doing everything possible to crack down on these kinds of crime. I can assure Richard Lochhead that we will continue to do everything that we can to make sure that that is the case. Rhoda Grant College lecturers have been forced out and strike for the fourth day in this current dispute, impacting on them, their families and on their students' education and exams. Can I ask how many days lecturers will need to strike before the First Minister intervenes to ensure that the pay deal is honoured and does she agree with me that preparation time is essential in order to enable high-quality learning? The First Minister Yes, I agree with that last point. I want to see this dispute settled. I do not want to see college lecturers on strike. It is not in their interests. It is certainly not in the interests of college students across the country. As members will be aware and I won't go into all the detail of this, we have moved to a position of national bargaining and these discussions are about the harmonisation not just of pay but of terms and conditions moving to a new national pay scale which will see a significant pay rise for the vast majority of college lecturers and that is agreed. The discussions now are about how different college by college terms and conditions are replaced with a national system. Now talks are continuing and I would encourage both sides to go the extra mile including and perhaps especially the employers in their position to go the extra mile to reach an agreement. I would say in terms of the point about government intervention and I take this very seriously because ministers I have to say have been speaking regularly with both sides in this dispute trying to make sure we are doing everything to encourage them to move towards a resolution. The move to national bargaining was something that the union's rightly long campaign for and it's something that I'm delighted to say this government has delivered but if we have a situation in which a Government has to step in and intervene then that's not the success of national bargaining that would be the failure of national bargaining so ministers will continue to discuss with both sides we will do everything we can to bring this dispute to a settlement talks are on-going formally and informally I think today and certainly tomorrow and I would hope we would see a resolution of this because that's in the interests of college lecturers and also college students that reassures the member that the government will continue to make sure that we are doing everything possible to bring that about thank you there are four more questions if we can get through them all maybe question 4 Claire Hockey thank you Presiding Officer and I'd like to refer members to my register of interests to ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is marking mental health awareness week First Minister how welcome the opportunity to highlight mental health awareness week it is important that we all do what we can to highlight mental health awareness and reduce stigma around mental health to mark the week the minister for mental health met with parents of children with experience of mental health services in 4th valley and last night he spoke at an event to discuss mental health stigma within the workplace we will hold the first meeting of a bi-annual stakeholder forum on 23 June that is a specific commitment in our new mental health strategy because we know that working with stakeholders will be key to building on the actions of the strategy in the years ahead I thank the First Minister for that answer in my opinion one of the most important actions outlined in the recent mental health strategy is a commitment to introduce a managed clinical network for perinatal mental health can the First Minister outline how the network is being progressed and how it will help mothers experiencing mental health problems First Minister progress is being made in that regard and I'm happy to confirm that just this week the lead clinician for the managed clinical network for perinatal mental health has been successfully appointed Scottish Government officials attended the maternal mental health Scotland annual conference on Monday and heard first hand from mothers their experiences in asking for and getting the right help and I would expect the new network to help us get it right for parents and their children by driving up standards of care through integration of services and more collaboration Christian Five, Alison Harris Rask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government has had discussions with SEPA to encourage it to have staff based in Grangemouth on a regular basis First Minister The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to support its delivery of regulatory and other services as well as the management of the SEPA estate SEPA staff are present in Grangemouth on a regular basis as part of their duties to deliver regulatory functions but I understand that following discussion with the community council and local elected members SEPA has now agreed to consider the benefits and costs of establishing a Grangemouth site that can support the wider Stirling-based area team Alison Harris I thank the First Minister for that and I welcome the fact that SEPA is now going to have those discussions for Grangemouth First Minister It doesn't really require an answer We want a question Question 6, Pauline McNeill To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to better resource planning authorities and planning fees for major applications from 1 June 2017 First Minister We need a planning system that supports both businesses and communities to deliver high quality development on the ground There has been a general understanding that fee levels are too low and in many instances they are not in proportion to the work involved in processing planning applications We have always been clear that fees and performance go hand in hand Therefore we are increasing the maximum fee for major planning applications to improve performance The Government will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that planning services deliver for Scotland's communities Pauline McNeill The First Minister will be aware that the national view of planning fees that she has mentioned that maximum fees have risen from 30,000 to 125,000 It is a welcome resource for local authorities Many planning authorities have done an excellent job despite cuts to pay personnel Organisations such as homes for Scotland RTPI and smaller building firms We simply want to make sure that there is a corresponding improvement in the service for those fees Would the First Minister recognise that those costs could be prohibitive if there is not a dramatic improvement in waiting times In particular, I am looking at the figures for house building where there is an average weight of 48 weeks I know that the Government has a strong interest in this planning to build 50,000 houses I would just like to know what the First Minister can do to ensure that those additional costs are spent on improving the planning system I think that I will make two quick points Firstly, it is important to stress that the maximum fee and the fee increase only applies to major applications which account for less than 1 per cent of all applications so that it would not impact on our plans to deliver 50,000 affordable homes The second point is important The fee increase is deliberately about giving councils resources to improve performance Improving planning performance and doing it on a consistent basis across the country is one of the things that we can do to boost economic growth in Scotland It is vital that those increases lead to that improvement I should say that we are seeing improvements in waiting times but there is more that can be done here and I hope that the increase with the actions that we will take forward from our wider review of planning will help with that very much in the period ahead Question 7, Kenneth Gibson To ask the First Minister in light of the local government elections where the Scottish Government will act to randomise the ordering of candidates by surname on ballot papers at future elections First Minister If somebody's surname starts with an S then I can see the attraction in it Can I begin by congratulating all councils that were elected last week I'm sure everybody across the chamber will join me in wishing them well in their roles to support our local communities Following the successful electronic count last week, randomised ordering of candidates surnames is one of the innovations that the Scottish Government will consider for future local government elections I should say that no decisions have been taken but it's one of the changes that will be subject to consideration I thank the First Minister for that answer The SNP randomises its own internal SNP ballot so it seems only reasonable for the SNP Government to introduce such a measure in local elections The single transferable voting system produces results heavily biased in relation to surnames regardless of vote management strategies that parties use to try and steer voters from one candidate to a party colleague In Glasgow, 40 of the 43 contests where two or more candidates for the same party stood the individual within each party whose surname is closest to the beginning of the alphabet received the highest number of their party's votes Glasgow City Council is thus populated by a wien of Aitkins, Balfours, Cullins and Dockarties Does the First Minister agree therefore that after three elections fought under the single transferable voting system there is clearly something wrong when one's surname can prove such a decisive factor in whether one is elected and she should not agree that if this is not addressed the very credibility of the single transferable vote system is at stake First Minister I think that has to count as a classic Kenny Gibson question Can I say just before I address the substance of Kenny Gibson's question I'm absolutely delighted that there was an Aitkin elected in Glasgow because Councillor Susan Aitkin of course is set to be the new SNP leader of Glasgow City Council and I'm delighted about that but on the serious issue it's important that no candidate in any election is at an unfair disadvantage I think that we would all agree with that and that's why we have already said that we'll examine the particular issue that Kenny Gibson has raised but it's also important with any changes to how we do elections that we build consensus around that it's not for anyone party to decide on those changes so as we look at that we will be looking carefully at opinion not just across the parties but across Scotland as well so as we do have this consideration over the next few years I would encourage everybody not just in this chamber but across Scotland to contribute to it so we can build maximum consensus as we go forward Thank you very much that concludes First Minister's questions Point of order, Murdo Fraser Point of order in relation to the selection of questions for First Minister's questions question 3 is allocated weekly as an open question to a leader of the Scottish Government to account Given that the Scottish Green Party is now effectively a wholly unsubsidiary of the Scottish National Party is it still appropriate for the Green Party leader to be granted an opposition question in this manner? Thank you Mr Fraser I think that the chamber's reaction told you that that is a political point not a point of order We'll move on to members' business at the name of Gail Ross James Sears