 I would remind members off the Covid-related measures that are in place, and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The first item of business is general questions in order to get in as many people as possible. I would appreciate short and succinct questions and responses. 3. Evelyn Twitch Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that people visiting Rural Scotland, ond y Lachlóman a Llock Ffllachys National Park, yn fawr o'r code gwaith y outdoor Scottish access. Nectar Scott is the primary agency that is responsible for promoting the access code, and it works with key partners on awareness raising. For example, last year, Nectar Scott's traditional and social media activity saw over 15 million impressions, i'r cyffin nhw'n defnyddio caelwiydd o'i gwelio rydwg wedi cyfnodol rydw i'r pethelio yn Daerys Cymru, ond gan ymdilydd y Gŷn yng Ngheilgrifennol o'r Gŷn, gan yng nghymru o'r unrhyw ddod i gyfan hynny arweinio, ac wrth gwrs mae'n cyntafi â'r Gŷn mewn strategi johnibl ac yn ychydig i'r newid arno i ymddilydd i 2022. Felly cwp yn clywed. I think that the minister for that answer has been a notable increase in visitors to rural areas across Scotland, including rural Stirling. While most people enjoy the outdoors in a respectful manner, some do not. Can the minister advise how we can encourage the public to treat rural Scotland with more respect? The member is absolutely correct. The pandemic did see an increase in people spending time in our natural world, enjoying its restorative benefits for our physical and mental health, which is perhaps a glimmer of light in an otherwise very dark and difficult situation. However, Ms Peed is also right that this access must be taken with care, and I would reiterate that with rights come responsibilities, and the statutory right of access is of responsible access. Last year, I mentioned our visitor management strategy. Through that work, we saw a much improved response to countryside challenges, some of which the member has mentioned. Out of that, the centrality and the importance of rangers and the face-to-face work that they do was very clear. I am pleased to say that the Scottish Government is considering what we might do for the coming season, and I expect to announce that very shortly. Cabinet Secretary, I look forward to our meeting next week to discuss this issue, but the access code is nearly 20 years old now, and given the huge demands on the countryside, which became even more apparent during the pandemic, is it time for an update and relaunch? I know that this question has been considered. From my understanding, it is that there is not concrete evidence that revision is required. We have been dealing with different circumstances over the past couple of years, but I believe that education and communication are the key ways in which we will continue to strike that really important balance between a responsible access right and an understanding that our countryside is a living and working one. Education and communication are the keys to that, but I look forward to discussing it with you further. The Scottish outdoor access code also covers access to inland waters. In the context of Loch Lomond, can the minister advise whether she will consider robust restrictions on jet skis in the forthcoming review of by-laws, given the antisocial and often dangerous behaviour experienced as a result of irresponsible jet ski users last summer? I thank the member for a really important question. The national park has got really good track record of utilising by-laws to respond to some of their concerns, for example, with camping. Something like 4 per cent around the Loch is now within a by-law. Of course, it is for local authorities and access forums to develop the plans for a by-law, and of course Scottish ministers will consider them on their merits when they are presented to us. As we move into lambing season, it is particularly important that livestock are not disturbed. How will the Scottish Government support livestock owners to ensure that the outdoor access code is adhered to on their land? The Dogs Protection of Livestock Scotland Act 2021 came into force on 5 November 2021, which strengthened the law around livestock worrying by increasing the maximum penalties for offences. Police Scotland, farming and crofting stakeholders are combining their efforts to address those crimes and behaviours. For example, the Scottish partnership against rural crime, which is chaired by Police Scotland, is launching the livestock attack and distress campaign with the slogan, Your Dog, Your Responsibility. It is intended to educate dog owners about the new legislation through the lambing season in particular. I think that the small minority who do not treat livestock with respect and care can and must be held responsible and the consequences must reflect the severity of the issue. Question 2, Fulton MacGregor. Excuse me, Mr MacGregor. Oh, that's it. You're on now. Thank you. It's all right now. To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place to assist GPs in certifying power of attorney documents. Vacation of power of attorney documents is a private matter between GPs and their patients. GPs may charge fees for providing the service at their discretion and they're not required to provide it within the current contract. Fulton MacGregor. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. My office in the local citizens advice bureau in Coatbridge has been dealing with a significant number of cases recently where people, many who cannot perhaps afford legal fees, are struggling to get a GP to complete the certification documents, often citing the busyness of GP surgeries. We all know that GP surgeries have been extremely busy during the pandemic and continue to do a fantastic job as we work out of the pandemic, but I would therefore ask if there's any further support that can be provided to help GPs to fill the very important task or certifying power of attorney documents for those who need them. First and foremost, I'll explore if there's anything more that we can do in relation to this. It should be said that there is guidance that the BMA has provided in relation to what fees can be charged in regard to this particular matter. I'll also have a conversation with Ash Regan on the eligibility for legal aid in that regard, and I'll come back to the member in more detail. Paul O'Kane. In the course of the pandemic, people who have learning disabilities and organisations that support them raise concerns about the use of blanket do not resuscitate orders and confusion about the role of power of attorney in supporting and protecting people who have a learning disability. What further support can be given to GPs and other organisations to support in particular people who have a learning disability to ensure that their human rights are protected and we never again see a situation like we did regarding blanket DNR? Can I say to the member that we will look to explore what more we can do, particularly as we recover on NHSNO? It's an issue that Paul O'Kane and members have raised to me before, and I think that all of us recognise that our constituents are still saying that they would like to see more face-to-face access with their GPs. Of course, we will look and work with GPs to restore that face-to-face access, and while we still have telephone, video consultation and I know how important that face-to-face access can be, particularly for those who may have a learning disability. So what we will look to do is continue to make sure that those with a learning disability forgive me and their families understand fully what their rights are, so I'll take that away and see what more we can do with a third sector partner in terms of that communication. To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding has been provided to restore and enhance rural health services. Our NHS recovery plan sets out key ambitions and actions to be developed and delivered now and over the next five years in order to address the backlog in care and meet the on-going healthcare needs for people right across Scotland, of course, including those in rural areas. The Scottish Government also remains committed to the recommendations that are set out in Sir Lewis Richie's shaping our future together report, which aims to enhance primary care access across remote, rural and island communities. This year's PFG committed to delivering in this Parliament a national centre for remote and rural health and social care. Scoping work is under way, with an expectation that this will be operational by spring 2023. Community group, the old Lewis Development Trust, my constituents, who are stepping up to the market and planning to build a new GP surgery, which can be caused in the excess of £400,000. The new surgery was identified by the health board in 2015, and although it has contributed nothing financially to the new development, it is my understanding that NHS Dumfries and Galloway has been told by the Scottish Government that it must carry out full auctions appraisals outlined in the Scottish Capital Investment Manual for guidance. This is, of course, for NHS projects. However, two similar projects, Staff and Community Trust in Isles Sky and a new medical centre in Fort Augustus, do not have to follow such guidelines. Can I ask the health secretary to investigate why this is the case in such a discrepancy in Dumfries and Galloway? I will. He will forgive me that I do not have the absolute details of the issue that he raises at hand, but I will take a look at it and I will come back to the member in full detail. Question 4, Liam McArthur. I thank you to ask the Scottish Government what work is being done by Sport Scotland and Creative Scotland to provide opportunities for children and young people. Minister Marie Todd. Sport Scotland works across clubs, communities and education to provide opportunities for children and young people to take part in sport. We are working with Sport Scotland to increase the operational and staffing budget for active schools to drive and sustain the programme's inclusion work with a focus on poverty, additional support needs and care experience for young people. Via Creative Scotland, the Youth Music Initiative provides a years-free music making to every child before they leave primary school. Creative Scotland also supports the nurturing talent fund, which gives small grants to young people to undertake cultural and creative projects. Liam McArthur. Thank you and I thank the minister for her response. In the discussion that I had recently with a headteacher in Orkney, I was reminded of how much children and young people have missed out over the past two years and how important the return to routine in our schools is in rebuilding confidence, reassurance and a sense of normality. The headteacher also talked about the need over the coming months to create wow moments, things for pupils to really look forward to. I am not sure that she was angling for a visit from the local MSP, but would the minister agree to consult with Creative Scotland, Sport Scotland and other such bodies, about the role that they might play in facilitating visits to schools across Scotland by those from the world of music, theatre, film, sport and so on in order to create such genuine wow moments? Certainly, I will. I could not agree more that our children and young people need those wow moments to recover from the harm that the pandemic has caused them and be more than supportive of exploring it. Last year's Get Into Summer programme was a brilliant initiative that aims to create opportunities to socialise, to play, to reconnect. It was in place right across all 32 local authorities. Sport and physical activity and cultural opportunities, which improve wellbeing, were right at the heart of it. We intend to build Get Into Summer 2021 this year to deliver a summer 22 offer for children and families in low-income households, and that will provide co-ordinated access to food, childcare and rich-experience activities. Brian Whittle I know that the minister agrees with me that children having access to sport, music, art and drama can have such a significant impact throughout the rest of their lives. She also recognises that Covid has such a negative impact on that. Does she agree with me that it will take significant input from the Government to redress that balance and what steps will the Government put in place to ensure that our children have access to all those essential services? I absolutely agree with Brian Whittle. Our work on adverse childhood experiences has shown us pre-pandemic just how important rich, cultural and sporting experiences are and how protective that can be against adversity and how that protection can last a lifetime. I have absolutely no doubt that we will use that learning to invest going forward. Everyone's responsibility is not simply Government, but Government certainly. In my portfolio, we are doubling the investment over the course of this Parliament in sport and physical activity, and I hope that we will see the benefit in the future. Jamie Greene To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a mix of energy sources, including renewables, could facilitate a reduction in energy prices for consumers. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. Scotland has had the good fortune to be blessed with huge and varied renewable energy generation capabilities. Unfortunately, Scotland's ability to take full advantage of those resources has been curtailed by an unfair transmission charging regime that has directly disincentivised investment in generation in Scotland. Renewable energy presents better value for customers than nuclear energy and does not present the same safety and environmental concerns. The latest contract for difference auction delivered offshore wind at £39.65 per megawatt, our substantially below the £92.50 award for Hinkley Point. Jamie Greene The only thing that is putting off investment in Scotland is the minister's moratorium on even the exploration of new nuclear energy that is putting companies off right now from investing in Scotland. The reality is that renewables do not account for 100 per cent of energy. In fact, today 30 per cent of it is coming from fossil fuels. A fusion power facility using less than one ton of fuel could create as much energy as 10 billion tonnes of fossil fuels. So I ask quite simply why won't the Government drop this ideological opposition to nuclear fusion? Why won't it work with companies to support a sustainable energy source that will actually drive down consumers' bills once and for all? Let me address the point directly in relation to fusion power. The reality is that fusion power is at a very early stage of development and at the very earliest it potentially would be deployed in 2040, not something that is going to add to our energy mix in the short to medium term in a substantial way in any shape or form. It is misleading to try and give the impression that fusion energy, in some way, is part of the solution to the very significant challenges that we have in the energy market today. However, the reality is that nuclear energy is one of the most expensive forms of energy generation that it can pursue. That is why, at the present moment, it is actually forcing consumer prices up because of the cost associated with nuclear power. What we need to do in Scotland is to maximise our renewable potential. Will that be in wind and marine, but also in storage around battery and hydrogen, and to make use of pump storage alongside making use of CCUS, if the UK Government can get its act together and support the Scottish cluster? To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action that it is taking to prepare for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Scotland. Tomorrow, I will chair the first meeting of the community integration partnership, which will bring together key partners across Scotland. I will also meet tomorrow with the international non-governmental organisations of Scotland to discuss how they might contribute to the UK Government community sponsorship route, given their experience from the Syrian refugee resettlement scheme. That will build on the incredible partnership work that is already under way. I want to thank Scottish Government officials, who are meeting daily and sometimes hourly, and their partners in local government, public and private and third sectors for their work over recent weeks. We continue to work closely with the Home Office, COSLA, local authorities and other partners to provide people with the safety and security that they need to rebuild their lives. The UK Government proposals remain insufficient, given the urgency and gravity of the situation, and we will continue to urge the UK Government to follow the examples of Ireland and countries across the EU and to waive visa requirements for all Ukrainians and develop a comprehensive resettlement programme to ensure that Ukrainian citizens can provide with the safety and security that they need to rebuild their lives. I thank the minister for that answer. Further to the statement that was made yesterday by the First Minister, can he confirm that work is going on to ensure that the Ukrainian people who will come here will have access to GP, dental services, childcare and even language support services, to add to the warmth of the Scottish welcome that they will surely get when they arrive in Scotland? Yes, and I thank Willie Coffey for his interest and raising those critical issues. We are engaging with a wide range of partners to ensure that wraparound support is in place for all displaced people arriving in Scotland. As the people who come here from Ukraine have a right to work, benefit and public funds will be ensuring that people are aware of and get access to such services such as those Mr Coffey mentions, we are rapidly working to establish welcome hubs which will help to triage people and find out what support they need. Multi-agency teams are lining up support, which will cover a range of areas from healthcare to clothes and food, welcome packs and information leaflets translated into Ukrainian about how to access support, including social security, will also be provided and translators on hand to help. Scotland is a long history of welcoming and supporting people displaced and asylum seekers, and we stand right to support the people from Ukraine, as we have other countries as well. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to Ukrainian communities in Scotland. Scotland has a proud history of welcoming refugees and people seeking sanctuary from war and violence. The Scottish Government and Scotland's local authorities have made clear to the UK Government that we stand ready to offer refuge and sanctuary where necessary for those who may be displaced. I look forward to chairing the first community integration partnership meeting tomorrow, which will consider how to ensure that we are effectively supporting Ukrainian communities in Scotland, and we will build on the work already under way. We will continue to engage with our Ukrainian communities as we work to ensure that all those arriving in Scotland, as well as those already here, receive the support that they need. I was pleased to meet with the acting consul general, Yefhian Markovsky, when he was in Parliament yesterday to discuss those matters directly. Fiona Hyslop. The minister will no doubt agree that it will be so important for Ukrainians seeking refuge from war to connect with the Ukrainian community here in Scotland and to be supported by local community support hubs. Can the minister confirm what measures have been taken and at what pace to set up Ukrainian support hubs across communities in Scotland? Perhaps, as the Ukrainian and Polish consul generals have suggested, with cities and towns twinning with other cities and towns in Ukraine so that communities can be together. Will the minister join me in thanking all the Scottish families who have offered their homes for support and refuge? Fiona Hyslop raises very important issues around twinning, which has been explored. We very much welcome the generous office of people to open their homes and their hearts to the people of Ukraine. I will absolutely join Fiona Hyslop in thanking families for offering their homes their time making donations and for the messages of solidarity and support. As the First Minister said in Parliament yesterday, our priority is to ensure that we are ready to welcome displaced people from Ukraine to Scotland by the weekend when the first visa, I hope, will start to be issued. The welcome hubs that we are establishing will provide a warm welcome safety and any immediate assistance. We will also be funding the Scottish Refugee Council to provide support for the Ukrainian family scheme and humanitarian sponsorship pathway in Scotland, which includes planning for increased protection and integration support.