 Does 뒷odunk nhw fawr i'w cyfeirliau o rhan o'r ph personnes a yw rhan o Won research centre for their work in delivering professional learning programmes for teachers in both secondary and primary schools, looking in particular to develop the confidence of primary teachers to teach science topics. We are also supporting the raising aspirations in science education programme that places leaders of primary science in 10 local authorities to further boost the teaching of science in schools. Ruth Maguire I thank the minister for that answer. Next week I am attending a girls with grit event at Ayrshire College, an initiative to support women and girls studying or working in the STEM sector. Could the minister elaborate on what the Scottish Government is doing to address the under-representation of women and girls in STEM subjects and careers? I add my support to the event that the member is going to. It is fantastic to see events such as this happening across the country to inspire women and girls into STEM careers through positive role models and the information about the jobs and careers that are out there. The Scottish Government will continue to encourage that work through the developing the young workforce, through our work in the Scottish Funding Council and SDS, and we are also tackling gender stereotyping in STEM within schools through our improving the gender balance project, again looking at innovative ways to raise awareness of gender bias with parents, families and teachers. Dean Lockhart Can I ask the minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to encourage people into STEM teaching, given that more than one in four maths teacher training places are unfilled? As the member will know about, we are aware that the cabinet secretary has launched a series of initiatives for new routes into teaching. The marketing project, which took place in inspiring new teachers, was specifically built around STEM subjects in particular. That is something that the Government is very aware of the challenge to recruit teachers into STEM. It is taking action to do so, and we will continue to look at new initiatives to take that forward. Daniel Johnson In figures released towards the end of last year, it was revealed that lab technicians have been cut by a quarter since 2007, lab assistants have been cut by almost half by 2007, leading to some saying that the practical science is no longer feasible in a safe way. What is the minister's reaction to that, and how does that support the teaching of science? Those are decisions that are obviously taken by every local authority in turn, and it is for local authorities to answer for the decisions that they take at a local level. I recognise the importance of lab technicians and the support in schools. That is exactly why the funding around SERC also involves lab technicians and the support staff around that. My members, I am the PLO to the cabinet secretary to ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school principal teachers and faculty heads there are. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney In September 2016, there were 5,328 principal teachers in publicly funded secondary schools in Scotland. That is contained in the teacher census publication, which is available online. Data on faculty heads is not collected by the Scottish Government. Does the Deputy First Minister agree with me that certain local authorities have used CFE as a rationale to justify a reduction in middle management teacher numbers, for example, through the creation of faculty heads as opposed to principal teachers? As the Scottish Government will publish its next steps document on the governance of schools tomorrow, will the Deputy First Minister give serious consideration to head teachers and schools being free to decide their own management structures, including how many principal teachers they have and whether they wish to continue with the drift towards faculty heads? Cabinet Secretary John Swinney It is important that we have very clear and attractive routes for progression in the teaching profession. The issue around the number of principal teachers and the opportunities for progression was discussed recently at the education committee, in which I expressed my view that it was important that there should be attractive routes in place. I will, of course, reflect on the points that have been raised today as we consider the conclusions of the Government's review, on which I will make a statement to Parliament tomorrow and set out the proposals that the Government is going to bring forward. Liz Smith Thank you. Cabinet Secretary, just in light of your answer to Jenny Gilruthan, in light of the evidence that we have taken at committee, would it be appropriate for a decision to be made about whose prime responsibility, whether it is principal teachers in departments or faculties, or the principal teacher of the school, to decide on teacher training placements, because that is a very big issue for schools? I am not sure what particular distinction Liz Smith invites me to make on that point, and she wishes to give me some specific further information on that point. I will, of course, reflect on it. However, I think that having had a discussion just this morning with the teachers panel that I recruited to consider issues in relation to initial teacher education, the importance of the joint participation of colleges of education and schools in the delivery of effective initial teacher education and opportunities for aspiring teachers to enhance their teaching capability is at the heart of the arrangements that we have to put in place. I see that as a joint responsibility of schools and colleges of education. We have to make sure that it operates effectively to deliver a strong learning experience for the development of new teachers in Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers the arms industry should have in education. Schools are encouraged to develop external partnerships, the range of employers to help them to develop young people's skills for the workplace and to make learning stimulating and relevant. It is for teachers and local authorities to determine which external partnerships to build in relation to relevance and appropriateness. It is also for them to determine how to involve those partnerships in learning and teaching and how to use them to support young people to gain work and life skills, capability and confidence. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. He will be aware because I have already written to him of a teaching resource that is available to teachers in Scotland, where they encourage pupils in a dragon's den-style scenario to role play being arms dealers. It encourages children to develop their numeracy skills by calculating the rounds per minute of a machine gun. They can improve their literacy skills by learning words like flamethrower and bayonet. The advantages are recalling the benefit of weapons. They are asked to come up with a battle plan and talk about what problem their weapon solves and they are to create a judgment on what weapon would have been the most effective. Given that the use of weapons is to end human life, does the cabinet secretary believe that it is appropriate to ask 12-year-olds to role play arms dealers? I think that it is important that teachers exercise professional judgment on the appropriateness of materials that are used in the classroom. That is the point that we rely on teachers to consider. Obviously, there are very strong judgments that have to be made about the issues that Mr Greer raises, but they are fundamentally for individual teachers to determine whether there is an appropriateness in the material that is being considered and is being used to illustrate the curriculum in every respect. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that pupils from deprived backgrounds gain more national 5 qualifications. We are undertaking a range of activity to raise standards for all and to close the attainment gap. One of the measures of success for this will be young people from deprived communities gaining more national qualifications. Our investment of £750 million during this Parliament through the attainment Scotland fund will provide targeted support for children and young people at primary and secondary schools in the most deprived areas in a range of local authorities. That includes £120 million pupil equity funding in 2017-18 allocated directly to schools. Through developing the young workforce, more young people are able to access a wider range of qualifications that better reflect their different needs and career aspirations. That has resulted in an increase in the number of school leavers attaining vocational qualifications at SCQF5 or above. Dean Lockhart I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. He will be aware that the average percentage of secondary school pupils from deprived backgrounds achieving five or more awards at level 5 or higher is 39 per cent. In 5 in Clackmannanshire, the average percentage has consistently been below the Scottish average for five years. Figures show that in 5 the figure is just 37 per cent and in Clackmannanshire it is further down at 34 per cent. Can the cabinet secretary therefore explain why we see an attainment gap in Scotland that is not only based on deprivation but is now also based on postcode? I would imagine if Mr Lockhart looked at the detail that there is a relationship between postcode and the existence of deprivation unless I am missing something in his question. At SCQF level 5 or better, 53.3 per cent of young people achieved one or more awards in 2007-08 when this Government came to office. In 2014-15, that figure was not 53.3 per cent but 74 per cent—a significant increase in the level of qualifications that is able to be achieved by young people from the most deprived backgrounds. That is young people from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. That is evidence of rising attainment among young people from deprived backgrounds. The interventions that the Government is making is designed to improve that performance further and to make sure that young people, regardless of their background, are able to fulfil their potential. I wonder what reassurances the cabinet secretary can give to parents who cannot afford private tuition for their children out with the school day? They will not be unfairly disadvantaged by the changes that he has made to national 5 qualifications and those changes will not exacerbate the attainment gap. I would give this reassurance that the course content for national 5 has not changed as a consequence of any changes that I have made. The assessment arrangements have changed, yes, but not the course content. The circumstances that Monica Lennon suggests might prevail, I do not think that they will prevail. I come back to the point that I made in my answer to Dean Lockhart, that the increase in the number of young people achieving one or more awards by SCQF level 5 or better has increased significantly under the Government's term in office, and I am determined to increase that further. To ask the Scottish Government what funding will be made available to local authorities to increase the availability of childcare. The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £650 million since 2014 to fund the expansion to 600 hours. We are committed to fully funding the almost doubling of the entitlement to 1,140 hours per year by 2020. We have provided additional funding to local authorities in 2017-18 to support the first phase of capacity building required for the expansion to 1,140 hours. That includes £21 million of additional revenue to invest in the first phase of workforce expansion, both increasing the size of the workforce and equipping existing staff with new skills, and £30 million of additional capital funding to allow local authorities to invest in infrastructure developments that will expand capacity. In the Government's plan to expand childcare, can the minister set out clearly what will be the role of registered childminders and what percentage of the budget it expects to be spent on childcare with registered childminders? I have been keen throughout the process to ensure that registered childminders have a role to play in the expansion. We are currently in discussion with local authorities regarding what their plans are going to be in terms of the expansion, and we expect them to report back to us in September in relation to their plans. I have made very clear in terms of the statement that I gave to Parliament and the direction that we are taking in terms of the funding following the child model that registered childminders should be viewed as being an integral part of that. I could not give the member specific percentages at this stage, because that will be dependent on local capacity and what the plans from local authorities come back to us with. However, I am in regular discussion with the Scottish Childminders Association and the local authorities in relation to that specific area of work. I wonder if the minister could outline to me how much funding the Scottish Government provided to local authorities for the increase to $600 and how much of that was spent on the expansion and what discussions have taken place with councils since the publication of the financial review to address any issues. As I have said previously in the chamber, the Scottish Government recognises that we have fully funded the expansion, and that was evidenced by the financial return, which showed the £650 million of investment since 2014, but demonstrated that not all that money had made it to be spent on early learning and childcare across Scotland. Our focus now is to ensure that we continue discussion and dialogue with local authorities, and that is something that I have continued to do. We have a leader's forum, which met for the first time in November 2016. I have been in regular dialogue with COSLA, and I look forward to striking up a relationship with the new education spokesperson for COSLA when they are appointed, hopefully later on this month. Will the minister agree with me that many parents no longer work for the standard Monday to Friday 9 to 5, and that often nurseries are closed too early and are not open at weekends? Will he dialogue with COSLA and other local authorities to see whether nurseries could be expanded to meet parents' needs and not be closed at weekends and later into the evening? I think that it is important that we ensure that flexibility is an integral part of the offering. That is something that I made clear in my statement and I have made clear in my discussions with local authorities. I also believe that flexibility works in both directions. I recently addressed a family-friendly working conference in Victoria Quay, in which I made the point that, as well as seeing the flexibility of approach from early learning and childcare providers, we also need to see an approach from employers that is about flexibility and understanding the needs of those employees who have family commitments and seeing how that can be worked in in terms of the employer side of things. Flexibility is a key part of that, but flexibility works in both directions. Fulton MacGregor Thank you, Presiding Officer. Given the increase in funding for early years to local authorities, what is the minister's view on the labour Tory run North Lanarkshire Council closing all of its baby rooms and what impact does he believe that that will have on the most vulnerable babies in North Lanarkshire? I think that it is important that local authorities, when they are taking the decisions that they must take in terms of their priorities, think carefully about the impact of decisions that they take. I recognise the concerns that Fulton MacGregor has raised, and I know that he has been raised with me by him previously outside of this chamber. I think that local authorities need to think very carefully about the importance of early interventions of funding to support early years and funding to support families, and they must take decisions based on those priorities. Iain Gray To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills last met the EIS. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills I last met members of the EIS Executive on 13 December 2016, and I will have my next six monthly meeting with them on 21 June 2017. I also met representatives of the EIS alongside other teacher organisations at the assessment and national qualifications group on 27 April, and I met EIS-failer representatives on 14 May. I participated with EIS representatives in the international summit on the teaching profession in late March. Iain Gray Well, I think that regular meeting in June is timuous because, at its AGM last week, the EIS rejected the Government's Teach First proposal, threatened to withdraw co-operation with the Government's new tests and school leak tables, and sanctioned a ballot on industrial action over pay and working. This week, the EIS survey showed that 86 per cent of teachers are telling us that their workload has increased in the last year, not decreased, as the cabinet secretary has claimed. Does the cabinet secretary understand that he has completely lost the confidence of the teaching profession? Cabinet Secretary? Well, it is just another cheerful Iain Gray afternoon once again. Well, what I am talking about is the characterisation by Mr Gray of this, because let me just go through the different, let me go through the litany of misery that Mr Gray brings to this chamber. The First is on Teach First. The Government is introducing new routes into teaching, which must be certificated by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and must have an academic partner involved. There is no commitment from the Government to any proposal involving Teach First, but Teach First must be free to bid for any projects, but it must have an academic partner. The second point is about school league tables. This Government is not producing school league tables. Thirdly, on pay, I answered questions yesterday on pay, one from Mr Gray, which set out the fact that I acknowledge the strain that public sector workers have experienced from pay constraint. The Government acknowledges that and we have set out that we intend to address those issues as we continue our negotiations. Finally, on the issue of workload, the Government has put in place measures to tackle the bureaucracy that is imposed on schools by local authorities, by simplifying guidance that is available to teachers, by putting in place the benchmarks that have simplified the curriculum, which I have given clear curricular advice to members of the teaching profession, the evidence that is coming to the Government, and the evidence that is coming to the Government through the inspection arrangements that are put in place indicates from the teaching profession that workload is reducing as a consequence of the reforms that the Government is putting in place. Of course, the EIS is free to publish the survey evidence that it wishes, but I am also free to put into Parliament evidence that members of Parliament should take seriously. I think that, given that the Cabinet Secretary does not like the tone when we discuss education, perhaps because he does not like what he is hearing from both the EIS and the teachers themselves. I could remind him that his Government has had 10 years to address the issue of teacher workloads. Does he not agree that it is the poor delivery of the curriculum for excellence that is increasing teacher workloads? If Mr Greene had been following the reforms that I have put in place, we have set out the guidance that is giving clarity to the teaching profession around the delivery of curriculum for excellence, which has drawn together all the various other bits of guidance that were requested by the teaching profession to be put in place, which the Government, its local authority partners and the professional associations all signed up to over the years. The measures that we have put in place in the course of the last 12 months are designed to simplify the delivery of curriculum for excellence and to ensure that teachers have available to them the appropriate guidance and resources that can enable them in their task. To ask the Scottish Government when a minister last met representatives of teachers and what issues were discussed. Ministers regularly meet representatives of the teacher organisations to discuss matters relating to education in Scotland. This morning, the minister for childcare in early years met representatives of the union voice. Cabinet Secretary is evidently aware of the surveys conducted by the EIS, NES, UWT and others, confirming the evidence presented to the education committee that there are significant systemic problems in education, problems that are having a massive impact on teachers and young people alike. If I can just say to the cabinet secretary, it is no good shooting the messenger, you need to listen to the message. In particular, as has been indicated, the cabinet secretary is aware of the recent EIS survey highlighting the alarming and deteriorating situation for teachers with a massive impact on the ability to recruit and retain our teachers. I ask the cabinet secretary to be serious in looking at what that survey says in his response or will he criticise the EIS for generating negative media coverage, unlike the rest of us talking down teachers and Scottish education? John Lamont makes a superb job of summing up my opinions of our contribution to the debate. The Government has taken a number of steps at the request of the professional associations, and let me just go through them for the benefit of Parliament. At the request of the professional associations, there are a number of steps to reduce teacher workload. We have put in place the clarity around the delivery of curriculum for excellence, which is requested by the professional associations. We have removed at the requested professional associations the unit assessments for national 5, and we will do so for hires. We have put in place the clarity that is required around the achievement of levels and benchmarks at every stage, which is requested of me by teachers when I met them in the staff rooms of the country. We have also gone back to local authorities to reinforce work that local authorities committed that they would do to reduce the administrative workload of teachers. We have gone back to do that, and we intend to follow that up. Of course, I regularly am involved in dialogue with the teaching profession about all of those issues, but it is important that Parliament recognises the steps that the Government has taken to address the issues of teacher workload, and we will continue to do so. Very much, cabinet secretary. Can you just clarify, please, the evidence that workload is reducing, as you said just a moment ago there, as a consequence of the measures that you are taking, and how are you measuring that this is having a positive and practical effect? I set out in my response to Johann Lamont a number of steps that have been taken by the Government to reduce workload at the request of the professional associations. I will, of course, continue my dialogue with the professional associations to tackle the issue of teacher workload, because I want to ensure that the profession has the opportunity to focus on enhancing, learning and teaching, which will close the attainment gap and deliver excellence and equity for all in Scottish education. However, we have taken a number of steps at the request of the professional associations to tackle workload, and I will continue to engage in that dialogue to ensure that that is the case in the period ahead. There is no place in Scotland for any sort of discrimination, prejudice or bullying in schools or elsewhere, and that includes Islamophobia. The Government is clear that schools should be peaceful and safe environments that have a positive influence on children and young people by promoting inclusion and equality in challenging discrimination. That is why all young people in Scotland experience religious and moral education as part of curriculum for excellence, helping them to understand the world's major religions and allowing them to be challenged by different beliefs and values, as well as developing their own capacity for moral judgment. We have also established and funded respect me, our national anti-bullying service, and are working with a range of stakeholders, including the Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee, to refresh our national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people. I thank the cabinet secretary for that comprehensive and reassuring answer. If the cabinet secretary has seen the recent report entitled Islamophobia in Edinburgh schools by Samina Deane, which was released on 2 June at Anandale Street Mosque, and does the cabinet secretary share my concerns about its content? Will he agree to meet with me, Samina Deane and the Imam of Anandale Street Mosque and potentially other stakeholders, to discuss the report's findings and how to tackle Islamophobia in our schools? First of all, I welcome the material that Ben Macpherson has drawn to my attention, and I will certainly look at the material that he has raised with me. The Government finds it completely unacceptable that any individuals would experience Islamophobia, and we have to ensure that we take the steps within our education system to ensure that our approach to the tackling of bullying in this respect is comprehensive and effective. I would be very happy to hear further from Mr Macpherson on the material and on the questions, and I look forward to exploring in detail the material that he has drawn to my attention. Statistics released last week showed that cases of religiously aggravated crimes have increased by 14 per cent over the last year. In Edinburgh, funding has been made available by the Scottish Government in collaboration with the council and police to eradicate Islamophobia at local level through the shared visions project. Are there plans to extend such projects beyond Edinburgh to cities such as Glasgow? Obviously, the Government will look with great care at the steps that are taken across my portfolio and across that of the justice secretary and the equality secretary to ensure that we have in place all of the necessary interventions and programmes to tackle the issues of discrimination and the Government reviews on an on-going basis the projects and proposals that we fund to ensure that we can deliver on our ambitions in this respect. To ask the Scottish Government what impact it considers negative media coverage of the education system that could have on pupils and teachers. The Government does not control media coverage. I strive to present a balanced assessment of our education system and I encourage others to do likewise. The number of our young people leaving school for a positive destination is at a record high of 93.3 per cent. Success in national qualifications is well documented. In every school that I visit I meet confident and engage young people who have a huge contribution to make to society. It stands to reason that if those messages do not get across, then the perception of Scottish education will be undermined. In my constituency of Stathkelvin and Bears, we are fortunate to have excellent schools that produce record-breaking exam results. St Nydian's Hankirk and Tillich has just won the raising attainment and numeracy award. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the Opposition parties in this chamber talk down and misrepresent Scotland's education system? It is hard-working pupils and teachers far too much and that the extra money being given directly to head teachers will allow all pupils to reach their potential. It was my pleasure to attend the Scottish education awards last Wednesday and there were at that event a whole range of tremendous achievements within our education service. I should also point out that I can get a word in edwys from the muttering over here in the Labour benches, but the award ceremony was a joint venture between Education Scotland and the Daily Record and it was a celebration of the achievements in Scottish education. I was my pleasure to present to St Nydian's High School in Rona Mackay's constituency the raising attainment award as an illustration of the achievements that are being made in our schools day and daily. I encourage members of Parliament to reflect in Parliament the strength and the achievements that they see in the schools in their own constituencies because wherever I go in Scottish education I see plenty of achievement, plenty of it worth celebrating and it would be nice if some Opposition members on the chamber could come in here and celebrate it just once in interrupting their miserable routine in Parliament. Presiding Officer, this question rather reflects the cabinet secretary's clear belief that he should be immune from criticism. Did the cabinet secretary, his ministers, advisers, officials or parliamentary liaison officer have any role whatsoever in inspiring, suggesting, encouraging or drafting that ridiculous question from Ms Mackay? If so, she should be embarrassed. Question 10 has been withdrawn. Question 11, Maurice Corry. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is adequate funding for local authorities to ensure that all pupils have access to necessary learning equipment. Cabinet Secretary, authorities spent £4.9 billion on education in 2015-16, a real-time increase of 2 per cent on the previous year. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities. All education authorities have a duty under the Education Scotland Act 1980 to provide learning materials to enable children and young people to learn and to succeed at school. Maurice Corry. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. However, a Times Educational Supplement Scotland investigation recently revealed that the charges at public-private partnership and private finance initiative scheme schools on repairing school infrastructure is diverting money away from the basic classroom resources such as jotters, pens and pencils. In fact, there are even examples of teachers being forced to delve into their own pockets to cover the shortfall, in some cases, up to the sum of £300 in my region of West Scotland. What action will the cabinet secretary take to ensure that schools are not being shortchanged and forced to resort to these desperate measures? That was quite an extraordinary question from Mr Corry. As a representative and supporter of a Government since 2010 that has championed austerity and reducing public expenditure, Mr Corry has the nerve to come to this chamber and complain to me about costs in schools when the party he supports has savaged public expenditure. It is an absurd question for Mr Corry to have the nerve to ask me in Parliament. As for PFI PPP, this lot put lots of schemes in place, but the originators of PFI were the Conservative Party and, of course, years later, we are now wrestling with the consequences of the mistakes of the Conservative and the Labour parties. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with Skills Development Scotland to address the reported shortage of HGV drivers. Skills Development Scotland, working with key partners, including the Rhodology Association, commissioned a review of the labour market issues relating to the shortage of drivers within the Scottish Transport Network. That review provided a number of recommendations aimed at tackling the current skills supply and demand issues relating to HGV drivers. In response to those, a stakeholder group aimed at addressing skills shortages in the area has been established and will meet for the first time this month. In addition, the Rhodology Association through the Transition Training Fund will deliver 250 HGV new jobstarts to tackle the driver skills shortage. Angus MacDonald I thank the minister for his reply. He will be aware that haulage contractors in my constituency and throughout Scotland are clearly now paying the apprenticeship levy and are legitimately calling for value for money from the levy. Will the minister ensure that a fair share of funding from the apprenticeship levy is allocated to address the serious driver shortage in the haulage industry? I remind all members in the chamber that the apprenticeship levy was the creation and inspired by the UK Government, not introduced by this administration. What we did, unlike the UK Government, is that we went out and consulted widely on how we should respond. We have committed the entirety of the hypothecated allocation through that levy through the Scottish Block Grant for Skills and Employability training. Right now, there is the possibility for those involved in the heavy goods industry to benefit by certain frameworks offered through Skills Development Scotland for modern apprenticeships. If they want to meet with the UK Government to discuss what more we can do, then I will be very willing to do so. I would make the point that, through the transition training fund, we have already demonstrated our willingness to do what we can to support this industry. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards implementing the recommendations of the commission for developing Scotland's young workforce. We are making excellent progress with the developing the young workforce agenda. That includes creating new vocational learning options, enabling young people to learn in a range of settings such as college in their senior phase of school, embedding employer engagement education, offering careers advice in early point of school and introducing new standards for careers guidance and work experience. We have established 18 regional developing one workforce employer groups across the country to focus on school industry partnerships, work inspiration, work placement, recruitment and equalities, and we are opening up new apprenticeship opportunities for young people through an increase in modern apprenticeships and foundation and graduate-level apprenticeships. Does the minister agree that there is really great work going on in the Highlands and Islands to get our young people into employment, such as the Science Skills Academy, which is part of the city region deal? Can he outline what the Government is providing to develop young people's skills in rural areas? Yes. My work is taking place in the Highlands area. I was just earlier this week, and it was my pleasure to go and address the developing young workforce regional group in West Highland in Fort William, along with the Lochaber Chamber of Commerce. It was very clear to me that a great range of work is happening there, in conjunction with the local college, where a lot of remote learning is carried forward, as is always helpful in rural settings. Of course, this year, we will, in the provision of our modern apprenticeship support, be providing a rural supplement for those training providers who are based in rural communities. I welcome the developing the workforce strategy, and I particularly welcome the fact that we have clear milestones every year. I think that that really helps in being able to look at where you are going and where you are getting to. However, one of the things that I noticed is that this year, you are looking at the gender imbalance and trying to implement the Scottish funding council plan. At the moment, there are only one in 10 young women who are on construction and engineering courses. If you succeed in doing that, what will happen to those courses, such as mechanics, that are currently oversubscribed in some areas and are filled by young men? Is there going to be more money to enable the gender balance, or are young men going to find their places reduced? It allows me a chance to welcome the member to the chamber. It is the first time that I have had the opportunity to interact with her in this format. She can rest assured that this Government has a great commitment to all young people who want to take part in modern apprenticeships. That is why we are expanding the number of modern apprenticeship starts. Last year, we had a target of 26,000 such starts. Last year, Presiding Officer, we exceeded that. As we have done every year, there were 26,262 such starts. This year, we have set a target of 27,000. There will be 30,000 such opportunities by the end of the parliamentary session. Michelle Leir Balantyne can rest assured that there will be plenty of opportunities for Scotland's young people, regardless of their gender. I have information that the Blackburn Local Employment Scheme in West Lothian has operated for 30 years, getting young people into work, training and self-employment as being mothballed, because this Government did not lift a finger to help that project after 30 years of operation. Is the commitment that this Government gives to the young workforce? We have a serious and strong commitment to Scotland's young workforce. Just demonstrated by today's labour market statistics that show that youth unemployment is down to 8.8 per cent amongst the lowest in the EU down from the last quarter. I am aware of the particular local situation that Mr Finlay has referred to. I reiterate the point that has been made to him. Any contract with any training provider is provided on the basis of specific delivery in a contractual arrangement of the Skills Development Scotland that is not co-affunding. He should understand that by now, but he has continued concerns. He can of course raise that with this Government, and I would utterly reject the characterisation that we have not responded to his concerns. That concludes portfolio questions. The next item of business is a debate on motion 6045, in the name of Keith Brown, on Scotland's economy opportunities for growth. I would ask members who wish to speak in this debate to press their request to speak buttons now.