 Thank you. Before we move to business today, I would like to say a few words to the chamber. Members will wish to know that I have this morning written to Speaker Bercow, Lord Fowler and to the mayor of London, on behalf of the Scottish Parliament. I wanted to convey our sympathy and our solidarity with fellow parliamentarians, and to express our sense of loss, at the loss of life and cruel suffering inflicted on so many innocent individuals and their families yesterday. Flags are flying at half-mast at Holyrood today and we observed a one minute silence this morning as a mark of respect to those affected by the tragic events. This morning, the Parliament's corporate body received a briefing from Police Scotland. I want to reassure members that there is no change to the threat level, no intelligence to suggest a specific threat to Scotland, Edinburgh or Holyrood. However, as a precautionary y gallwn hyfforddon maen nhw dym ni eu bod yn dwi'i ddefnyddio gyffredinol yma. The corporate body, in discussion with Police Scotland and the Security Services, will continue to keep our security arrangements under review as we always do. I convened a meeting of the parliamentary bureau this morning and a motion will be put to Parliament later today, proposing that the debate on Scotland's choice be rescheduled for next Tuesday. This change has the support of all business managers. Gwyn i'r bwysig oedd yn agnuredd a gyda'r bwysig ar y syster parlymynion eu wneud mewn westin. Felly mydym ni'n hoffa i gwaith o'r ddweud o'r cyffredinethio ar y ddyn nhw o gOM, oed Dyna wnaeth ymydd i'r unig o'ch bwysigbeth, yn ymglw prophetaidd y ffordd i'r ddyn nhw, ein cynhyrch yng nghymru â'r pwysigbeth yn y pwysigbeth ichon o Gwyliaf, a'r byw gyffredig yw'r defnyddio a wnaed i'r blaidr iawn, oedd yn leiwch ar hyn o'i wneud ei cwylio. Rwynt i mi fydda, mae'n wneud ei wneud i'ch bwysigbeth, a gwylio'r difnyddio y pwyntio, sydd oedd o'r pwyntio agor gwbl yn yn yn ei wneud. The question is that we agree. Motion 4845, in the name of Jovis Patrick. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. We move now to general questions, and we start with question number one from John Mason. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle violence against women in prostitution. Minister Annabelle Ewing. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I would wish to associate myself and my colleagues with your remarks this morning. To respond to Mr Mason's question, The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, including women in prostitution. The Scottish Government supports a range of measures that can help to reduce the harm caused by prostitution and encourages the enforcement of existing laws against those who seek to exploit others through prostitution. The question of how to deal with prostitution in the longer term and whether any specific approach can or does reduce the inherent harm associated with it is very complex and policy decisions should be evidence-based. That is why we commissioned research in 2015 to consider the reliability of the evidence-based internationally on the impacts of the criminalisation of the purchase of sex and research that explored the available knowledge and evidence of prostitution in Scotland. That research was published by the Scottish Government on 24 February of this year to help to further inform the debate. We look forward to hearing views on the findings of the research around what is a highly complex and contested area. John Mason. I thank the minister for that answer. I have now heard a number of survivors of prostitution speaking about their experiences and I have to say that it has been very moving, not least last Friday at the SNP conference. Even survivors who were working in a brothel in Edinburgh, who were tacitly approved, were continued to be abused by pimps and others. Will the minister agree to meet some of the survivors of prostitution and hear their experiences? I thank the member for his supplementary question. It is important that we listen to the views of everybody involved, including the views of sex workers from both sides of the debate, those in favour of criminalisation and those opposed. I would be happy to meet former and current sex workers to listen to their views on the findings of the research and to listen to their experiences in order to help to inform future policy considerations. Rhoda Grant I welcome the policy decision on commercial sexual exploitation, taken by the SNP conference at the weekend, which is very similar to the stance of the Scottish Labour Party. Both policy positions are in line with Equally Safe, the Scottish Government's violence against women strategy, endorsed by this Parliament. However, we need to take action now to stop this exploitation happening. I am glad that the minister has accepted to meet survivors to learn about the devastating effects that that has had on them. I had asked the First Minister and, indeed, the Cabinet Secretary to do that some time ago, will that meeting now take place and will it put a plan of action in place that will deal with commercial sexual exploitation and promote equality? Rhoda Grant I recognise Rhoda Grant's long standing interest in the subject. I would say to the member that work has been on-going on this matter for some time. I would advise that the immediate next steps that we plan to take are to allow all-interested stakeholders, including current sex workers and those who have exited prostitution, to digest the detailed research that we did publish on 24 February, just about four weeks ago. We then plan to engage further with those stakeholders to obtain their views on that published research. I can say to Rhoda Grant that I have asked officials to hold meetings after the Easter recess with key stakeholders and to try to understand what their current views are and if their views have changed at all further to the published research. In terms of the meetings that I am happy to have with current and former sex workers, I will ensure that officials put those in place in the weeks to come. Asaewa To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reopen the Yorkhill minor injuries unit and, if so, on what date it will do so. The planning and provision of local services is the responsibility of NHS boards and integrated partnerships in line with national policies and frameworks. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has confirmed that the closure of the minor injuries unit at Yorkhill is a temporary measure to ensure that there is robust, unscheduled care that is covered across the city. After a meeting of the acute services committee this week, the board will be carrying out a review to determine the best location for a replacement service for the west of Glasgow to best meet the needs of local people. Anasawa The minor injuries unit closed two days before Christmas and with no notice to local people except a sign at the entrance. At that time, the local public were reassured that this was just a temporary measure to cover the peak during winter. That was confirmed by the First Minister's questions. However, as of today, the minor injuries unit has still not reopened. I now have a letter from the chief executive of the health board, who states that, due to the continued pressures at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital, the minor injuries unit service will remain closed. During the review period, we should review whether we should have a minor injuries unit service at Yorkhill at all, so that the service will remain closed as well. Again, that has been done with no consultation with the public. There has been no information at all to the public, no consultation, no going through of due process of service reform. That simply is unacceptable, is it, cabinet secretary? Let me reiterate what I said in my answer. I hope that Anasawa was listening to that indeed this is a temporary measure. Yes, it has been taken to help to provide unscheduled care across the city. However, as I said in my initial answer, the acute services committee this week has agreed to review where the best location in the west of Glasgow should be for a minor injury service. As Anasawa should know if he paid attention to the detail, the Yorkhill unit was always an interim step as part of the migration of services in Glasgow in recent years. It may be that there is a better permanent location for a minor injuries unit that would better serve the people of the west of Glasgow. I would have thought that Anasawa would agree that that piece of work should go on. Of course, in terms of consultation with local people, it should be that Greater Glasgow and Clyde should be discussing with local people where the best location in the west of Glasgow should be, and I would certainly be encouraging them to do so. Sandra White Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The cabinet secretary mentioned the review that was being carried out. Can the cabinet secretary confirm if NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde look at this review and are looking at other sites such as Gattonnavel, as well as Yorkhill for minor injury units in the west of the city? Yes, and considering where the west of Glasgow service should be provided, the board will need to go through a process to identify the most appropriate location for the service that will look at both Gattonnavel and Yorkhill to assess which would meet the best meets the needs of local people. I have asked that the board to keep the member informed on timing and process, and I would certainly encourage her to engage further with the board on this, and to ensure that the views of local people that Sandra White represents are conveyed to the board in terms of what that best location should be. Annie Wells Thank you, Presiding Officer. There have been reports that Yorkhill closure was due to staff shortages over Christmas. Between December 2011 and December 2016, nursing and midwifery vacancies in Glasgow rose from 0.3 per cent to 3.4 per cent, which equates to 541 vacant posts. What will the cabinet secretary do to ensure that there are enough nurses in Glasgow to provide urgent care? Shirley-Anne Somerville I can say to the member that, in terms of the workforce growth over the last 10 years, qualified nurses and midwives in Glasgow are up 5.5 per cent, or 597 whole-time equivalent. However, what I would also say to the member is that clearly demand has also increased. It is very important that, in terms of how services are delivered, they are delivered in the best way to meet not just the current demands but the future demands as well. If we look at the demands on unscheduled care, those have grown not just in Greater Glasgow and Clyde but across the rest of Scotland as well. It is very important that services continue to meet those demands, which is why, in terms of the west of the city, it is very important that, in terms of that minor injury service and potentially services that would go around that could provide a very important part of that unscheduled care service. I hope that that is something that the member would support. Again, if she wants to meet with the board to discuss that in more detail, then I am sure that they would be willing to do that. Graham Simpson To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments by the divisional commander of British Transport Police in Scotland that its proposed merger with Police Scotland risks reducing the effectiveness of railway policing. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson Police Scotland has confirmed to the Scottish Parliament that its intention would be to maintain a specialist railway policing function within the broader Police Scotland structure. That will retain the skills, knowledge and experience that BTP officers and staff have built and embed railway policing within the wider local specialist and national resource of Police Scotland. Graham Simpson The Justice Committee has heard that up to 40 per cent of British Transport Police officers could leave the surface if this merger goes ahead. A huge concern to operators like Virgin and Cross Country and indeed all of us. British Transport Police Federation chairman Nigel Goodband told their conference in Cardiff yesterday that plans are driven by nationalistic jingoism and amount to a childish wish from the SNP to play with their own train set, not based on any evidence. Expert after expert says the BTP isn't broken and Chief Superintendent John McBride, who I referred to in my question, told MSPs that when other police are involved in rail incidents it takes 50 per cent longer to investigate and get trains moving again. Does the minister dismiss the views of Mr McBride and others, or is he going to listen? We have engaged extensively with the British Transport Police Federation and others within railway policing on a whole variety of issues relating to the intention to integrate railway policing in Scotland into Police Scotland. As I mentioned earlier on to the member, Police Scotland has been very clear about its intention on maintaining a specialist railway policing function within Police Scotland and introducing it under a single strategic command structure, which will allow us to ensure that we maintain that specialist resource, making sure that the railway services and passengers receive the quality of service that they require and that they believe is necessary, but at the same time increasing their capacity to be able to draw upon national resource, specialist resource in a way that they are not able to do to the same extent at the present moment. In addition to that, not to provide reassurance to the staff within the BTP, we have made it very clear to the British Transport Police Federation and to the staff unions that we have offered a triple lock, which guarantees security of job, security of pay and security of their pension conditions. We will continue to work with them as we take this legislation forward within the Scottish Parliament to provide them with the reassurance that they require and also the reassurance that the public require about the way in which specialist railway policing will continue to be delivered if Parliament supports our legislation. Rona Mackay Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins of Police Scotland and Chief Constable Crowther of British Transport Police both told the Justice Committee that Police Scotland does indeed have the specialisms and resources that it needs to take over policing of railways in Scotland. Does the minister agree and would you like to reiterate your earlier comments? Assistant Chief Constable Higgins and his evidence to the Justice Committee was very clear about the ability of Police Scotland to be able to deliver specialist policing in a range of areas. For example, we already have specialist police delivery, specialist functions at the present time, whether it be airports or ports, whether it be in underwater or whether it be in other areas such as firearms. There is no doubt that the assurances that ACC Higgins has provided has demonstrated a commitment to making sure that we maintain the specialist function of railway policing due to integration of BTP into Police Scotland to be agreed by this Parliament. Neil Bibby Presiding Officer, I know whatever differences we have in the chamber. I know we all want to pay tribute to the work of all our brave police officers wherever they are and our thoughts will be with PC Keith Palmer. Major rail unions have warned that they are prepared to consider industrial action if the Scottish Government pushes ahead with the railway policing bill and the break-up of the British Transport Police. Is the Justice Secretary prepared to risk yet more disruption on Scotland's railways for a merger that workers do not want, that the public do not need, and that those who represent British Transport Police officers have said that they are supported by no logic, no reason and no evidence? What I can assure the member of is that both myself and my colleague Cymru Cymru will continue to engage with the variety of stakeholders who have an interest in how policing is delivered on our railways, including the unions, and to provide them with the assurance that they are looking for around how policing will be delivered should integration be agreed by this Parliament. To provide them with the assurance that they will continue to receive the level of service that they expect and is provided at the present moment. It will be for this Parliament to decide whether integration takes place or not, whether it is choosing to approve legislation or not. It will be for the Labour Party to set out their position in that matter, but ultimately it will be for Parliament to decide on where integration takes place or not. To ask the Scottish Government what its timetable is for proceeding with the results of the consultation on increasing the number of organ donations. The independent analysis of the consultation on increasing the number of organ and tissue donations will be submitted to the Scottish Government in May this year. A decision informed by the outcome of the consultation will be made shortly after that. I welcome the minister's previous comments that there is a presumption in favour of a move to an opt-out system of organ donation. Given that is the case, does the minister agree that there would need to be a major public awareness and education campaign around an opt-out system, that there would understandably be along lead-in time before that system was up and running and saving lives, so swift action is essential as a result? I take on board the comments that the member raises and absolutely the crucial thing about making sure that this is right is to take the time to properly consider the consultation responses. There have been 836 consultation responses to this consultation. We have also alongside the work on the soft opt-out, which we did set out our presumption for a soft opt-out in the consultation. There has been a significant amount of work to increase the rate of donors. We have some of the highest rate of donors per million of population than any other part of the UK. We have the highest ever number of deceased donors this financial year. Alongside the work that we are doing, the careful work that needs to be taken forward relating to this exercise, the soft opt-out, we have also alongside that significant work that is on going to increase the rate of donors to make sure that we have this proceeded with the sensitivity that it requires and we will take the time to go through the consultation responses and make sure that we keep the member and the rest of the Parliament updated on the progress on the legislation. Can the minister please advise as to how many people are currently awaiting a transplant in Scotland and how many people died whilst waiting for a transplant in the last year for which figures were available? I can get back to the member in some of the detail that he seeks. However, the active transplant waiting list has decreased by 20 per cent. We have also got, since 2008, the number of donors in Scotland has increased by 131 per cent as well. Moreover, in response to Mark Griffin's question, we have the highest rate of donors per million of population in any other country in the UK. Alongside the careful work that we have taken on the presumption of the soft opt-out for the legislation that we consulted on, we also have a significant number of other areas of work that we are taking forward to ensure that people get transplants when they need it and that we increase the number of donors.