 I wish everyone the next item of business in this afternoon is portfolio questions and in order to get as many people in as possible, I would be grateful for our short, succinct questions and indeed answers, we now move to portfolio questions, which is questions on social justice, communities and pensioner rights question 1 Liz Smith. Thank you debut, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with third sector organisations cael ei gwithio i gael gynhyrchu i gynhyrchu i ddynch gennymau sydd yn gynghyd infuaredd. The minister mark Obiagi. In a challenging funding environment the Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of a capable, sustainable and enterprising third sector. We recognise the pressures faced by the third sector at a time when it has a key role to play in helping drive forward public sector reform and prevention and will continue to invest in supporting third sector capacity and sustainability. The Cabinet Secretary will join the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance at a meeting with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and other third sector leaders on 11 November to discuss the spending review. We will continue to work collaboratively with the sector on a strategic approach to social enterprise and with a wide range of stakeholders, including big Scotland and independent funders, to explore opportunities to maximise the resources available to support the work of the sector. I ask the question on account of concerns that have been expressed by groups such as Perth Autism support, which have found it very difficult to access the community innovation fund despite their belief that they are actually fulfilling the relevant criteria when they support 400 families in the Perth and Cynrosary area affected by autism and when that support is actually not available through other statutory partners. Could I ask the minister to look at this as it is obviously a very serious concern for the families affected and the groups doing their level best to help them? In our Scottish landscape, there are, in fact, two community innovation funds. I am assuming that the one that is being referred to is the one from the NHS Tayside. The fund in question was developed in response to the consultation, which showed that people were concerned not just with health but with wider environmental factors and groups were invited to apply for a share of funds on that basis to establish projects to take action to affect everyday lives of people in communities under those headings. That is an important fund that has recently been relaunched and I would be happy to look at how NHS Tayside is operating and the concerns that the member highlights. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that charities with social welfare objectives should make ethical investment decisions that are consistent with those objectives rather than seek to maximise income at all costs. Minister Margaret Burgess. The legislative framework for Scotland's charities is the Charities and Trustees Investment Scotland Act 2005. The act sets out the general duty of care that charity trustees must follow, which includes a requirement that the charity trustees act in the interests of the charity and seek to ensure that the charity acts consistently with its purposes. The trustees of a charity are free to make decisions for their charity as long as they are within the powers of the law and the terms of their governing document. The Scottish Government expects trustees to select investments that are right for their charity. That means taking account of how suitable any investment is for the charity and to take advice where appropriate from someone experienced in investment matters. I thank the minister for that answer, but given that some charities seem to think that they are obliged to achieve the maximum income possible when they dispose of assets or make investment decisions, will the Government issue guidance, making it clear that it is perfectly proper for charities, especially charities with social welfare objectives, to take account of community benefit and community harm when disposing of assets and making investment decisions? I will certainly discuss that with my colleague Fergus Ewing, who is responsible for the charities and how they operate. Clearly, that is clear that they are not required to make those investments, and that is clear in the charities act. However, I will discuss with my colleague to see if there is anything that the Scottish Government can do to make that clearer to charities. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of local government budget reductions on poverty rates. Despite the significant cuts that Westminster has imposed on this Parliament's budget, the Scottish Government has protected the funding that it provides to local authorities. The local government finance settlements have been maintained over the period 2012-16, with extra money for additional responsibilities, and as a result, the total settlement in 2015-16 now amounts to over £10.85 billion. I am grateful for that reply. Does the Government agree that cuts made to local government finance plus the centralised council tax freeze has forced up carecharges on some of the most vulnerable, elderly and disabled people in Scotland? Will the minister indicate support from my colleague Siobhan MacMachan's bill, which seeks to address this growing problem? First, it should be said that local government in Scotland does very well financially and has done much better than English local authorities, according to any independent analysis of how the two Governments have responded to the same financial pressures. As my colleague Shona Robison has said on the issue of carecharging at the Public Petitions Committee, we are looking at the budgets ahead in discussions with COSLA extensively on this and have taken some early steps to address some of the issues that have been highlighted. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Shona Robison, has met with campaigners on this on a number of occasions and will continue to have that discussion, both with campaigners and with COSLA. Does the minister agree with me that the UK Government's policies for the next five years, particularly in relation to cuts in welfare, will push more households, especially those households with carers and people with long-term conditions, and especially our children into further poverty? I completely agree that we have the evidence in front of us on the tax credits as just one example that, next year, if they do somehow go ahead following a fiat of the Westminster Constitution, they would cost the families that are affected £1,500 a year on average and they would affect a quarter of a million. What we are not talking about here is that having been stopped, it has simply been delayed. Even Ruth Davidson has joined in the criticism of those measures, and I would hope that we could have those powers here so that we could choose a different way on child and family poverty. Does the minister accept the conclusions of the recent report from SPICE, which found that, although the UK Conservatives have passed on a 3 per cent cut to Scottish Government funding, the SNP ministers have, in turn, passed on a 6 per cent cut to local government finance? What impact has the cuts had on vulnerable, elderly and disabled citizens in local areas? I would not agree that the Dell reduction of the Scottish budget has been around 10 per cent, but I would perhaps agree with another point in the SPICE report, which highlights that the council tax freeze, which I cannot remember if Labour are in favour of or against it this week, has been overfunded by an estimated £165 million. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Fife Council and what issues were discussed. The Scottish Government engages regularly with Fife Council and all other local authorities in Scotland on a wide range of issues. Housing will play an important part in the successful delivery of integrated health and social care. Fife Council is investing significantly in affordable housing, but the complex needs of, for example, suitable retirement housing that might require some kind of care element is what will be needed in the future if the joined-up social care agenda is going to work. What discussions is the minister and the whole team having with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being to support the role of local government in delivering integrated social and healthcare? The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being herself met the chair of NHS Fife and the leader of Fife Council to discuss delayed discharges, but the wider operation of integration joint word on 8 October is an area that we pay particular attention to, in part because of the importance of delayed discharge, but also because this is a key part of public sector reform that we want to get right. I would be happy to have discussions with the member if there are specific obstacles or specific issues about that programme that need to be highlighted and addressed. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards achieving its target that no person will live in fuel poverty by November 2016. The Scottish Government is committed to eradicating fuel poverty as far as is reasonably practicable by November 2016 and is making available a record budget of £119 million this year to help achieve that. However, the major challenge is to meeting the target at household incomes and rising fuel prices over which we have no control. I thank the minister for that answer. Winter deaths in Scotland last year were at their highest for 15 years. Figures show that, far from reaching our achieving fuel poverty target, fuel poverty peaked in 2013 with almost a million houses or four in ten of all households in Scotland living in fuel poverty, with 252,000 of those in extreme fuel poverty. Does the minister agree with Theresa Fife of the RCN saying that it is indefensible that cold, hard-to-heat homes continue to leave the most vulnerable in our society at the mercy of cold weather each winter? What assurances will the minister give that the target is now going to be back on track and will be met by November 2016? As I said in my original answer, we are spending a record amount of £119 million this year on dealing with fuel poverty, but that is against a background of very substantial cuts in welfare benefits and the impact that that has had, as well as the impact of the recession over the last five years in terms of the increase in unemployment, which is fortunately beginning trend-wise to come down again, and also the impact on the standard of living, particularly the incomes of low-paid people. That is why fuel poverty has been a much greater challenge in recent times than it had been prior to the recession. Could the cabinet secretary provide an estimate of how many people would be in fuel poverty if the cost of fuel had increased in line with inflation since 2011? Presiding Officer, our initial estimate is that if the cost of fuel had increased in line with inflation since mid-2011, there would have been 743,000 households in fuel poverty in 2013. That is equivalent to a fuel poverty rate of 30.9 per cent, which is 2.3 percentage points lower than the fuel poverty rate in mid-2011, and would have been 9 percentage points lower than the fuel poverty rate for 2013. I am just happy to have that information ready to hand. Well done. Liam McArthur Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am looking for the same level of spontaneity. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the remarks of Norrie Kerr from Energy Action Scotland that the likelihood of us hitting that target by November next year is slim to vanishing. Does he not accept that it may be valuable at this stage to reappraise that target so that everybody involved in this sector can read double efforts and focus on an achievable target, not just for next year, but for the medium to longer term? Presiding Officer, we have well over a year to go before the target has to be met, and any reassessment will be done much nearer the time once we know the situation after the spending review on 25 November and then after the budget next year, because all of those decisions will impact on the level of fuel poverty in Scotland. If I may say so, if the reductions in tax credits go ahead, that further will aggravate the fuel poverty problem in Scotland, and it is a great pity that the Liberal Democrats sustain the Tories in power for five years because it is a result of the measures introduced in some cases by Liberal Democrat ministers. That is the reason why fuel poverty is so high in Scotland today. Neil Findlay Given his tremendous powers of recall, I wonder if he could tell us the five years prior to the ones that he has just read out. Presiding Officer, to save your time, I will write to the member. To ask the Scottish Government how town centres could benefit from business rates being set by local authorities. The Scottish Government is committed to giving communities real control over their own futures. This substantial new power delivered under the Community Empowerment Scotland Act 2015 will give councils more control over business rates and an opportunity to tailor them to their local area. With those new flexibilities, councils could, for example, use their local knowledge to attract new investment into town centres and help to create vibrant communities where people want to live, socialise and do business. Thank the minister for his answer. When I first opened up my office in Paisley's Johnson Street, there were many empty shops, but we now have almost full occupancy. Although I would like to claim credit, I cannot do not believe that it is all my doing. Does the minister agree with me that policies such as the small business bonus and the devolution of business rates to a local level will encourage businesses to open in our town centres? Yes. The benefits of the small business bonus scheme are very clear, having reduced or removed business rates bills for more than two in every five rateable properties in Scotland. The FSB has commented that the small business bonus continues to give most Scottish model firms a competitive advantage over counterparts in other parts of the UK. However, with the newly devolved power for councils to reduce rates bills, councils could use their powers as they choose, whether for town centres or other localities, for individual properties, particular growth sectors, etc. I really look forward to some further innovative thinking in that regard. The ball is in the court of the local authorities that have had this power decentralised to them, and the Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with any councils that are interested in using this power to explore further opportunities. Town centres can indeed benefit from locally set up business rates as long as they are lowered to incentivise businesses to set up and prosper in the area. However, will the Scottish Government specifically assess how business rates being set by local authorities could benefit the local consumers? We will be producing some factual guidance on the power that councils will be able to use. We will keep it broadly under review as we do any power, but it is a power to vary business rates downwards, which I am sure the member would applaud, which will probably only assist businesses, and which we have very high hopes for when councils apply it creatively. We do not want to stifle their innovation of it, so a few years down the line it would be appropriate to consider that again, but this is very much a ball that is in the court of local authorities, and I trust them to use it very well. To ask the Scottish Government how many council tenants it estimates would have exercised their right to buy, but will no longer be able to after 1 August next year. The Scottish Government estimates over a 10-year period that up to 15,500 houses will not be sold as a result of ending right to buy in 1 August 2016. Those homes will be kept within current stock to the benefit of tenants and local communities across Scotland. I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have expressed an interest in buying their homes have had this right to postpone because the local council has designated their homes as part of a pressure area. Since the Scottish Government has moved to end the right to buy policy for all council and housing association tenants in Scotland on 1 August next year, those constituents have now discovered that having already expressed an interest in buying their homes has now been totally removed. What advice would the minister give to those tenants who clearly want to own their homes and who now have no other route to achieve that aspiration? What it would say when local authorities create pressure areas because of the supply of housing stock in their area and can continue to extend that, so in any case those tenants could have had that extension of the pressure area continued year on year on year so that they would not have had the right to buy in any case. However, I can say to the member that the Scottish Government has a number of other schemes in place to help people on to the housing market. We have our open market shared equity schemes for people who want to move into owner occupancy. We also had the help to buy scheme, which the First Minister announced will continue with the help to buy scheme for those who want to purchase a new home. I would also say that our abolition of right to buy was a very popular measure among tenants, among all housing associations and housing professionals and has allowed local authorities given them the confidence to build council houses now without losing them to their stock. There are other measures in place for those who want to buy their homes. To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for carers allowance when it is devolved. The Scottish Government recognises the vital role that carers fulfil by caring for their family, friends and neighbours and they make a tremendous contribution to our society. The support that they receive in the form of carers allowance is the lowest of all working-age benefits. Our view is that it is simply not fair. I am delighted that the First Minister announced recently that when powers over carers allowance are devolved, an SNP Government will begin to increase carers allowance so that it is paid at the same level as jobseekers allowance. That will give carers around £600 more a year. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I declare my interest as my wife as a recipient of carers allowance. However, I welcome the announcement from the First Minister. The Cabinet Secretary agree with me that it would be welcome if, either the autumn statement or the upcoming budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer were to take the position that carers should have carers allowance uprated. Does he agree that, given over the many years that SNP members, including my late colleague Brian Adam, have been raising this with the UK Government, it has failed to happen? It is more likely that we will have to wait for this Government and this Parliament to have the powers before carers get the equality that they deserve. I wholeheartedly agree with every point that Matt MacDonald makes. We now move to the second set of portfolio questions on fair work skills and training. The Scottish Government, when the Long Anis task force and PACE team were reporting the interventions that they have made with the workers and apprentices affected by the power station's closure. The Scottish Government's PACE team has been in discussions with Scottish Power and supply chain companies to offer PACE support and is implementing tailored programmes of support for affected workers where the offer of support has been accepted. I can confirm that there are no apprentices at Long Anis. Long Anis power station is going to remain fully operational until 31 March next year. However, a resource centre is being established to provide direct support on-site for employees of Scottish Power and for employees of on-site contractors. That will be in place from mid-November 2015. In addition to the range of PACE support that will be provided, plans are also being developed for a jobs fair to be held on-site in January 2016. We monitor the impact of our PACE interventions on affected employees and regular progress reports are provided in the Long Anis task force chaired by the Minister for Business. The next meeting of the Long Anis task force is scheduled to be held early in 2016, and I will ensure that the member receives a copy of the PACE update from that. Can I thank the minister for that response? I think that it is extremely useful. Can the minister clarify how much financial and staffing resource has been invested to engage with the workers at Long Anis? Particularly given that I understand that over 50 per cent of them are over 50, to ensure that we can tailor that assistance and retain their skills in Scotland's energy sector, and to make sure that we can make the economic transition that we need to make in terms of renewables and green energy in Fife in particular. Information on how much is being spent on the resourcing of the PACE involvement. We are conscious of the age range of the employees and the significant number who are over 50, which is why so much work is being done in respect of employee support. There is a draft economic recovery plan being considered. That was looked at on 29 September, which is when the task force last met. The meeting of the task force in January 2016 is to allow officials to progress a variety of work in that intervening period. For example, there has been another meeting directly affecting employee support just on 20 October. The support will continue to be put in place for affected employees. We are cognisant of the fact that the age range is as high as it is, as I indicated, that is evident in the fact that there are no apprentices, so that is a factor in what is being looked at. In terms of the support that is being provided for those who are going to be made redundant as a result of the longannate closure, will the report also include the support that has been given to those in the supply chain, such as those at Hunterston in my constituency? As the member might have, if he had been listening to my initial answer, will know that I am not actually on the task force. They are currently looking at a variety of different options. They are working very closely with the contractors as well as with Scottish Power directly, and all those who are directly affected by the closures, regardless of where they might be, will be taken into consideration. I am absolutely sure, but I would advise the member to take up perhaps with Fergus Ewing more directly if he has very specific concerns around detailed aspects of that. That might be useful. To ask the Scottish Government how it is reducing youth unemployment in west Scotland. The Government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives that are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in the west Scotland constituency. Those include supporting over 10,000 modern apprenticeship starts in the last three years, supporting 621 young people through community jobs Scotland in the last three years, and the allocation of funding to support 329 young people with particular barriers to employment and at the same time to support employers to recruit modern apprentices from July 2015 to March 2016 through the Scotland's Employer Recruitment Incentive, just as a point of information. I would point out that that information was collected, obviously, at the local authority level, for including Inverclyde, Westin Bartonshire, Eastin Bartonshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire. Can I thank the minister for that detailed answer? Is the minister aware that Renfrewshire Council has reduced youth unemployment in the last three years from 10.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent, now below the Scottish average, but stands at 2.6 per cent? Will the Scottish Government take any lessons from the excellent work of my colleagues in Renfrewshire Council and its business partners to replicate those successes across west Scotland? I thank the member for her information about the work of the local authority that she referred to, and obviously we welcome any initiative from whoever it comes from that will help to ensure that young people have access to a job, because I think that's what everyone across the chamber wishes to see. I would just also, in terms of us exchanging help for information, point out that I was recently able to launch at West College Scotland the West region developing Scotland's young workforce regional grouping, which of course is to be a bridge as between employers and schools in particular. That's a very significant development for the west of Scotland, and I'm sure that we all wish to see the regional group have continued success in its work to get young people into the world of work. To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers colleges play in providing skills and training opportunities for people in west Scotland? West College is Scotland's second largest regional college, delivering education and training to 30,000 students around 500 modern apprenticeships and providing 12,000 hours of learning to 3,000 school pupils from their three main campus areas. The college works closely with industry partners to ensure that each curriculum sector is aligned to both local and national industry skills development opportunities for students are a priority, including work placement and industry-related skills development. Recently, I've heard from a number of people who are concerned about the widely felt impact of college cuts on skills and training opportunities. The cabinet secretary will be aware that her Government's cuts have resulted in the college budget being slashed by over 100 million pounds in real terms since Labour was last in power. Will the cabinet secretary therefore give students and staff a commitment that there will not be another? Real terms cut to the college budget next year? If not, given that the importance she places on colleges providing skills and training opportunities, will she lobby the finance secretary against further real terms cuts? I'm in regular conversations with the finance secretary about a very great many things, as the member might be aware, but I simply don't recognise the caricature that he's painting about college funding. We are investing more in colleges than Labour ever did—a college resource budget of £526 million in 2015-16, while above Labour's highest level in 2006-07. We have invested over £530 million in college estates in that same period of time, and that is £230 million more in cash terms and during Labour's time in office. Will the cabinet secretary admit that, in order to reach that figure, she's ignoring inflation, capital and the last year of the Labour administration? One could argue that Labour is just as keen to ignore any and all of those things when it suits them. We have invested record amounts of money into college funding. We are making huge dividends in terms of the refocusing of the way that the college system works in Scotland. We have far more full-time equivalent students, as the members know perfectly well. The work that colleges are doing is now focused on employment and education, which is where it should be focused. Question 5, Linda Fabiani. Task the Scottish Government when it last discussed the trade union bill with the UK Government. I discussed the trade union bill with Nick Boles, Minister for Skills, on 8 October in a telephone conversation. That was followed up by my letter of 12 October, highlighting my concern that the bill that is currently drafted leaves far too much scope for abuse in the future. That legislation is an unwarranted ideological attack on the recognised rights of trade unions. The proposals that it sets out are completely out of step with the partnership approach that is taken by this Government. There is a real risk that this could undermine what we are trying to achieve in Scotland. We, along with the STUC and many others, consider the bill to be highly regressive. I have asked the UK Government to completely exclude Scotland from it. Linda Fabiani, again? That is very nice of you, Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and ask that next time she meets the UK Government, she tells them about Graham Smith, general secretary of the STUC, addressing the SNP conference and saying quite clearly that this bill should be of concern not just to unions and their members but to anyone concerned about democracy, human rights and civil liberties. Does she agree with me that all of those in Scotland who care about these things should join in opposition to this blatant attack to the rights of the people in Scotland? Of course I agree with all of that and I would have anticipated that at least my colleagues on the left over here might have agreed as well, particularly given the comments by Graham Smith. I am sure that they agree with him regardless of the platform on which he chooses to express them. I have made it clear on several occasions that I believe that the trade union bill proposals have the potential to undermine the effective engagement of trade unions across Scottish workplaces and in particular across the Scottish public sector. The proposals are in stark contrast with the work that we are trying to do, work that we set out through the working together review response and the fair work convention, where we are trying to build a stronger, more collaborative approach to the relationship between unions, employees and employers. Our strategy reflects that of many of the most successful European countries. I believe that that is the only way in which we will be able to maintain the integrity of our more progressive approach of working in partnership with unions. I hope that everybody else here would encourage every person who is in a workplace to join a trade union, and that would be the best response to what is now emanating from Westminster. To ask the Scottish Government in which month the evaluation of the Youth Employment Scotland Fund will be completed and whether it will publish the full evaluation. The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by end December 2015 and will subsequently be published in full thereafter. Why did the Scottish Government not evaluate the fund before replacing it? First of all, in terms of where we are with the evaluation, after an initial delay into the procurement process, which I think that the member may be aware of, the contractor now in place has reported that they have been having difficulties in receiving responses from some local authorities, so that has impacted on the timescale that dictates when we will receive the evaluation. In terms of the direct question that the member asked, I suspect that he is referring to perhaps the recently launched Scotland's Employee Recruitment Incentive programme, but I am not entirely sure, because we have proceeded with that Scotland's Employee Recruitment Incentive programme picking up lessons of good practice from where we have been to ensure that we have a more straightforward, easy to operate, simple, flexible scheme that will focus on helping those with the most challenges to obtain a work experience and a job and to focus on micro and small businesses in order to provide them with the support that they may need in order to meet the cost of taking on somebody in those circumstances and also that it would be support provided for a duration of a longer period than the Youth Employment Scotland Fund. I am not entirely sure if that addresses the member's question. I am trying to be helpful, but the question was rather vague in its terms. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Investment in cities regarding the impact of public sector procurement on employment policy. Regular discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities on those issues. I am particularly conscious of the significant role that public sector procurement can play in promoting fair work, which is why I have been pleased to work with the Cabinet Secretary on the development of the statutory guidance that addresses fair work practices through public procurement. That is an important step forward, in particular as a way of encouraging more organisations to pay the living wage. It is through cross-government activities such as this that we are helping to create and nurture a culture of fair work that will ensure that work improves people's lives and strengthens businesses so that everyone shares the benefits of a stronger, growing and more inclusive economy. On 16 October this year, BAM more awarded £170 million contract to upgrade the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. How can it be that companies who are blacklisted workers are, one after another, being awarded multi-million-pound contracts and clear defiance of Scottish Government procurement guidance that says that they must take appropriate remedial action, which would include owning up, apologising and paying compensation, and proving that they have self-cleansed by employing some of the very people who they are blacklisted in the first place? It is estimated that the AWPR will generate over £6 billion additional income for the north-east, and I think that the member needs to remember that 14,000 jobs are expected to be generated along with that. It is anticipated that around 1,500 employees will work on this project. Forgive me, cabinet secretary, for your point of order from Mr Finlay. Deputy Presiding Officer, I never mentioned the AWPR and my question. Not a point of order. Please continue. My apologies, as far as I'm coming up. Right. I'm sorry if I've addressed the wrong issue. The principle is the same, but the issue is one about if it's the network rail upgrade, the BAM contract. I think that the member needs to be aware that we have no authority over network rail procurement in the first place. It effectively remains an arms-length body of the UK Department for Transport with no direct accountability to the Scottish Government. Network rail also retains full operational and commercial responsibility for managing the railway infrastructure within defined regulatory and control frameworks, including all procurement activities related to their regulated infrastructure programme. Presiding Officer, I can't be responsible for an organisation over which I'm not responsible. Point of order, Mr Finlay. I wonder if I may be of help to the minister, Presiding Officer. The contract was awarded by Transport Scotland. That is not a point of order nonetheless. As you will be well aware, Mr Finlay, the answers that ministers choose to give are a matter entirely for the ministers. Question 8, Willie Coffey. Thank you very much to ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting young people into employment in the Comarnock and Irvine Valley constituency. The Government has invested in a wide range of employment initiatives that are directly helping to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people in Comarnock and Irvine Valley within the East Ayrshire local authority area. Some of those activities include over the last three years, supporting over the 1900 modern apprenticeship starts, and in the last three years, supporting 138 young people through Community Jobs Scotland. To support the allocation of funding for 77 young people who face particular challenges in terms of employment and to support small employers to recruit MAs from the period of July 2015 to March 2016 through the Scotland's Employment and Recruitment Incentive. I thank the minister for that answer. She will be aware that, since 2008, the number of school leavers and positive destinations in Comarnock and Irvine Valley has increased by 4.7 per cent, but the number of school leavers in employment has increased by 4.2 per cent, which are both welcome, if still slightly below the Scottish average. Can she outline what further measures the Government might be taking to close this gap, and in particular, how we can assist youngsters with a disability to overcome their own particular barriers to employment? I know that the member takes a keen interest in the key issue of youth employment. What I can say is that the Government will do all that it can to ensure that young people can access the world of work and find sustainable employment. As I am sure members will be aware, we have set a very ambitious target to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021. Although we have made considerable progress in terms of some of the initiatives that are referred to in my first response, we recognise that there is more work always to be done. With respect to the specific issue of young people with a disability, we have embarked on a number of initiatives, including the CERI project, which I referred to a moment ago in answer to Mr Brown. In addition to the general approach of that employment recruitment incentive, at the same time, there is a specific additional in-work support package available to support access for disabled young people. We will continue to proceed with such initiatives to ensure that young disabled people have access to employment. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government whether it is on target to create 30,000 apprenticeships a year by 2020. We currently are on target to deliver 30,000 new modern apprenticeship opportunities each year by 2020. In 2015-16, we have increased the number of opportunities to 25,500. Thank you for that response, Minister. I welcome the fact that last year's target was met, and I appreciate the new target that you have told us about. However, I have a concern that there appears to be a significant gender gap, gender imbalance and very low numbers of people with disabilities undertaking apprenticeships. Can I simply ask what the Minister might take to help to address that imbalance? We are taking a number of initiatives to look at gender segregation, gender balance and access on the part of, for example, people with disabilities to the modern apprenticeship programme. There are a range of activities that I can write in detail to the member because I think that I am running out of time, but I would say also that we expect to see published in a reasonably near term the equality action plan that we had promised to produce, and we will propose a number of initiatives in that as well. We now move on to the next item of business, as that concludes questions.