 The First portfolio questions is to justice and the law officers. In order to get as many people in as possible, we will be grateful for short questions and answers wherever possible. Question 1, Margaret Mac Doogle. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the business cases that were prepared in advance of the establishment of Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The Outline business case is prepared for the reform of the police and fire service that was published in September 2011 and is available on the Scottish Government website. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Would it not have been better to have a fully fleshed out business case published at the outset rather than just having an outline given the situation that we are now in with the Police Scotland? The Outline business case is set out in considerable detail both the financial and non-financial benefits that would come from police reform. It was also used to inform the financial memorandum that went alongside the police and fire reform legislation as well. As the Scottish Government also indicated to the Public Audit Committee, it was important that we also move forward with the reform in order to realise the savings as early as possible, given the financial budget cuts that we were experiencing from the UK Government. It is also worth keeping in mind the views of the auditor general in this matter when he stated that, given the stage of police reform, it is my view that the financial strategy is the more important document for the SPA and Police Scotland to now focus its time, effort and resources into developing. That is exactly what Police Scotland is doing as part of the corporate strategy that was produced last March and the work that it is now taking forward in its financial planning for the long term, which will of course be informed by the conference of spending review when it is published later this year. It is before the time of the cabinet secretary, but he might be aware that we were promised a detailed business case. There is no doubt that, given the events of the last two years, such a detailed business case would have been helpful, and we would know where we stand in terms of the savings. My understanding is that, in response to a request from the Public Audit Committee, which goes back to December 2013, the response from the Scottish Government was, in reference to the work that Police Scotland was undertaking in relation to its corporate strategy, which includes its long-term financial planning within Police Scotland. It was also the Government's view that to delay the reform of the Police and Fire Service in order to develop a full business case would have actually limited the time in which some of the financial savings could have been achieved given the financial pressures that existed at that particular time. As I mentioned, the Auditor General has stated that the priority in moving forward at this stage in reform is the financial strategy. That is the work that Police and Fire Service are undertaking work on now, which of course will be informed by the conference of spending review when it is published later this year. Many thanks. Question 2, John Finland. To the Scottish Government, when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice last met the chief constable and what he discussed? I regularly meet with the chief constable and other senior officers from Police Scotland to discuss matters relating to policing and public safety. I last met the chief constable on 9 September. Many thanks. John Finland. Can I thank the cabinet secretary for that response? Stephen House recently said in a newspaper article dated 28 August that he could pull together an option that would completely balance the budget but questioned if that would be politically acceptable for the Scottish Government and the SPA. Can the cabinet secretary tell us what the chief constable meant by that and specifically what measures he is considering that might not be politically acceptable? To be frank, he would have to ask a chief constable because he has not shared that information with me. Is the cabinet secretary concerned about the high level of assaults and police officers that are reported by the Scottish Police Federation together with its comments that many of those prosecution charges appear to be downgraded or dropped? Can he confirm that he has or intends to discuss that with the chief constable and the Lord Advocate? It is important that we consider those matters. Of course, the Lord Advocate is here to hear the member's concerns on that issue. If the member fails, there is an issue that she wishes to pursue further. I would be more than happy to meet with her to discuss that matter in more detail. Does the cabinet secretary agree that one of the chief constables' greatest achievement has been the continued decrease in knife crime, with the recently increased crime statistics disclosing that crimes of handling offensive weapons have seen a decrease of 67 per cent since 2006-07? It is worth keeping in mind that we have recorded crime in Scotland at a 40-year loan. Rodd Campbell makes an important point in relation to the significant rock that we saw in crimes of handling offensive weapons. We should not also lose sight of the fact of the correlation that it has with incidents of homicide in Scotland, where we saw a reduction. However, there is absolutely no doubt that we have saw significant progress in recent years. One of the statistics that I think is very telling on the progress that we have made in issues relating to offensive weapons is that statistics last week showed that the number of young people under 19 convicted of handling an offensive weapon fell from 812 in 2006-07 down to 165 in 2013-14. That is a very significant drop of nearly 80 per cent. I think that that reflects the very proactive work that Police Scotland has been undertaking and the legacy forces in the past to make sure that we underline the risks and concerns around carrying offensive weapons and that those reductions demonstrate the progress that has been made. Excellent. Many thanks. Neil Findlay. The chief constable discussed the disappearance of coins worth over £1 million from the national museum that it transpires. It may have occurred at a time when management opened the museum without adequate staffing as staff were in strike over weekend allowances. Does the cabinet secretary know if Police Scotland were involved in any risk assessment of a decision that has apparently resulted in national treasures being nicked? No, our conversation did not involve those matters. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the next steps and the process of the investigation into the death of Sheikhou Bayou. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner has now submitted an interim report to the Crown and, as a result of that, further inquiries have been instructed. There remains further work to be done by Perk, particularly in relation to the cause of death before their investigation is complete. The family of Sheikhou Bayou have been kept advised throughout the investigative process, and together with a legal adviser met with me and Crown Office officials on two occasions, the last being on 26 August 2015, that meeting gave me the opportunity to update the family and progress made to date the further work that requires to be carried out and also to listen to and respond to a number of issues that they raised. I have reassured the family of my undertaking previously given that the inquiry will be thorough and will be completed as soon as possible. Would the Lord Advocate agree that it is important that the investigation is thorough, completed as quickly as possible and retains the confidence of the family of Sheikhou Bayou? Would he care to comment on the role of police investigations and review commissioner in the investigation? I thank the member for the supplementary question. Yes, I would wholeheartedly agree that the investigation must retain the confidence of the family of Sheikhou Bayou, regardless of the outcome of the investigation that can fail to sympathise with the family for their loss. Having met the family on two occasions, I know the effect that this tragedy has had on them, and they have borne their loss with great dignity. They are right to demand answers on a thorough and partial and objective investigation is what they deserve. It is my job and the job of Perk to deliver a thorough and partial and objective investigation delivered expeditiously without compromising thoroughness, and I am confident that that can be delivered. I know that Kate Frame, the head of Perk and Sir Stephen House, the chief constable, have recently met the family, and I welcome that. I know that they are positive and welcome for this on behalf of the family. I also note that Kate Frame has stated publicly that she has listened to the concerns of the family and will involve them in the appointment of experts for the further work that has to be done in attempting to establish a cause of death. I welcome that in full confidence in Perk that that will be done. Finally, as I have confirmed to the family and in correspondence, regardless of the decision on criminal proceedings, there will be a fatal accident inquiry. A fatal accident inquiry will allow all the evidence to be presented in a court, open to the public and the media, to be rigorously tested by all parties represented at the FAI, including the family, and will allow the sheriff to make findings, in fact, and recommendations in relation to Sheikhu's death in a judgment that will be available to all. I have met the Lord Advocate and corresponded with him on this, and I thank him for his willingness to do so. Can I ask the Lord Advocate to investigate why it took more than a month for officers who were involved in the incident to speak to Perk? The cabinet secretary has repeatedly said that he does not believe that it is due to a lack of powers on behalf of Perk. Does the Lord Advocate then think that this time delay was acceptable, and does he understand the reasons why that happened and why it took so long? I think that that is a matter that Perk is looking into and forms part of their interim report, as indicated. We still wait for a final report. There are evidential reasons for that. I do not think that it would be appropriate, given that it is a live inquiry, to go into that at this stage, but I am aware of the member's concern about the issue. I am certainly aware of the family's concern about the issue, and it will be certainly addressed going forward. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects net financial savings from the closure of local courts. The final phase of court closures was completed in January 2015, and by the end of 2014-15, the closures had already delivered net annual recurring cash savings to the Scottish courts and tribunal service of more than £600,000 and time-releasing savings of over £100,000. That also resulted in a reduction in outstanding backlog maintenance by over £2.8 million, and Scottish courts and tribunal service are on track to deliver the estimated savings, given during the public consultation process. Those savings are being reinvested by SCTS, allowing targeted investment in a smaller estate to improve both facilities and technology. The SCTS focus is on building a stronger court service that improves access to justice, reduces delays in costs and maximises the use of technology to improve services. The truth is that, in Haddington, which is closed in January, many months have passed, the court is still on the Scottish court services' books, and the commensurate maintenance costs continue to be a cost against the court service. The truth is that any savings, if at all, already made, and any savings that can be made, will be dwarfed by lost business in Haddington High Street, extra costs incurred by police, social work and individual citizens trying to access justice. The justice secretary has made something of a reputation by reversing the daft or decisions of his predecessor. Will the minister not ask his colleague to reverse that? It is worth stressing that, as Mr Gray knows, these are operational matters of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals service, but I recognise the points that Mr Gray has made. I heard them myself in the course of the debate around the future of Haddington's chef court, but I would say to Mr Gray that we are still working with the local authority on legal issues in relation to the buildings. I hear the point that he makes about savings in terms of maintenance, but that is clearly a long-term decision for the future shape of the delivery of court services in Scotland, and the intent is to dispose of the premises and to move on. I reassure the member that the court business that is transferred from Haddington is, based on the evidence that I have seen, being dealt with efficiently in the Adamous chef court. Can the minister outline any measures that have been introduced by the Scottish Government to help to deal with any additional pressures that might have been put on the remaining courts? That is a very fair point that Gordon MacDonald raises, Presiding Officer. The cases that have been dealt with in relation to domestic abuse and areas around sexual crimes have led to increase in activity in the Adamous chef court and other chef courts. The Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Court and Tribunal Service have given additional resources of £1.47 million to provide sufficient cover to ensure that the human resources are there. It is worth stressing that that would have happened, even without the court closure. It is not as a consequence of court closures but as a result of the efforts that are being made by Police Scotland and the Crown to encourage women and others to report cases of domestic abuse and ensure that those cases can be dealt with in our courts. I reassure the member that resources when they are required are being provided. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Police Scotland's restructuring and centralisation of the firearms licensing function. The Scottish Police Authority approved Police Scotland's proposal for the restructuring of the firearms licensing section at its meeting on 27 August. Such decisions are rightly for the police and the authority. However, Scottish ministers have received and assurance that public safety remains a fundamental part of their considerations. Until now, dedicated firearms inquiry officers carried out in-depth inquiries into licence applications. Their key role being to identify applicants who may pose a risk to public safety or indeed to themselves. The new centralised model involves the substantial loss of civilian expertise and the transfer of functions to police officers who are to do that on a part-time and ad hoc basis as part of their other duties. I would ask the cabinet secretary to address two areas of concern. Firstly, when there are spikes in police activity in major events or major incidents, will the firearms work be sidelined? Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I understand that the training being offered to police constables taking over the role is at best minimal. A few days in the classroom is no substitute for decades of experience. Is the cabinet secretary absolutely confident that the new arrangements and training provision will not compromise public safety? As I said to the member in my earlier response, we have assurances from Police Scotland that public safety remains a central focus of the way in which they are handling firearms certificate applications, and they have assured us that that is the objective. One of the aims of moving to a much more streamlined and central approach to that is to make sure that there is a consistency of approach in the way in which that is handled across the country, because there were different approaches and the eight different legacy forces in dealing with those types of issues. I understand that, since the turn of this year, there have been some 350 police officers who have gone through a specific training programme in order to train them in undertaking the work around firearm certificate applications, renewals and additional administration staff for being provided to support that work. It is worth noting, though, that training is not just a one-off, it is part of an on-going training programme that those officers will undertake in order to make sure that their skills are sufficient for the role in which they are undertaking. It is important to recognise that it is about getting a more consistent approach and a much more effective and flexible approach. Of course, the issue around spikes when there are other demands on police time. Given that public safety continues to be a key part of how they are delivering the firearm certificate process, I would expect that to continue to be and maintained as a priority when it comes to dealing with those issues. How much additional resources and plans to spend on the police control room and service centre in Aberdein in the current financial year? On 3 September, I announced that the Scottish Government will immediately make available £1.4 million to Police Scotland to support implementation of the recommendations arising from the HMICS interim report on call handling. It is for Police Scotland, with the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority, to decide on how this money should be allocated to the various activities that are required to implement the HMICS recommendations. The cabinet secretary confirmed that almost half of the highly trained call handlers have left the service centre in Aberdein since the beginning of last year. Does he accept that the report requires him to replace those staff? Will he explain whether the provision that he has made assumes that they will be replaced by recruiting and training civilian staff for the police service by taking police officers off the front line to answer calls or by using our recruitment agency to fill positions on a temporary basis and on a casual basis? Police Scotland is currently reviewing its plans for the handover to the call centres, including the changes that were proposed in Aberdein in order to evaluate how they can most effectively deal with the recommendations that have been made by HMICS. I understand that Police Scotland intends to exhilarate the recruitment of between 70 to 75 staff in order to support that transfer process. In the meantime, while they are recruiting additional staff for both the Government Motherwell Centre and for Bilston Glen and staffing up the new Dundee control centre, both the Inverness and Aberdein centres will remain in place. It will only be after they have completed that transition planning, which has been considered by HMICS that they will consider whether that actual final transfer date will be completed within the existing timeframes that have been set. However, as HMICS has also outlined, there needs to be a very thorough transition plan put in place, which will be considered both by the SPA and by HMICS before the final transition takes place involving the staff at Dundee and Aberdein. Many thanks, and that concludes portfolio questions to the justice and law officers. I regret not being able to call more people. We now move to the next set of portfolio questions, which is rural affairs, food and the environment. I call on question 1 to James Dornan, Mr Dornan. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on discussions that has had regarding the reported decline in the B population. The Secretary for Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead, when you are ready, Mr Lochhead. We are working closely with the honey bee sector on a strategy that aims to achieve a sustainable and healthy population of managed honey bees. Indeed, in recent years, we have seen an increase in managed stocks in Scotland. James Dornan, I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. As well as Mark O'Gee and ICA are the owner of the battlefield rest, a local restaurant, installing bee hives in their roofs, I was recently presented with a petition put together by five-year-old Conrad House, a pupil at Meryl East School, who managed to get over 150 signatures from friends, family and neighbours for his petition, bringing his attention to the importance of bees for the food chain. Will the cabinet secretary join with me in welcoming that recognition by my constituents of all ages of the role bees play, and would the cabinet secretary accept my invitation to come to my constituency to meet Conrad and his family to discuss the petition further? Thank you. I am delighted to hear that restaurants in battlefields are installing bee hives on their roofs, as indeed has the Scottish Parliament, with the Deputy Presiding Officer sitting here. I think that there is a raising awareness across Scotland and indeed the world of the role of bees play in delivering food security, given that I understand that a third of our food relies on pollinators. That is why I also congratulate young Conrad, Mr Dornan's constituent, who has carried out very good work highlighting the importance of our bee populations and, of course, has been doing that in his local community and gathering support for saving bees in his area. I know that we tried to set up a meeting previously, but I was unavailable when Conrad handed in the petition that he put together. Of course, I would be happy and indeed delighted to meet him if the opportunity arises and if I should be visiting Mr Dornan's constituency in the near future, and I will ensure that that is arranged. In the meantime, I am sure that we all congratulate Conrad and all other young people in Scotland who are taking such a close interest in bee health. As before, brief questions and answers will be welcomed. The University of Stirling and the University of Sussex conducted research into planting wildflowers rather than grass on roundabouts and verges. That resulted in a spectacular increase in bumble bees and hoverflies, so I am asking what the Scottish Government might do to support further initiatives like that to help increase and sustain our bee population. The initiative that is highlighted by the member illustrates the increasing work that is taking place across Scotland by a number of organisations and academic institutions to promote bee health, and that is why the Government is supporting a bee health strategy. If there is more that we should be doing, I would like to hear about such projects that perhaps require support moving forward, but there are a number of support mechanisms in place already. To ask the Scottish Government what input is agriculture, food and rural community directorate has into the work of Community Broadband Scotland. Both the Agriculture, Food and Rural Communities Directorate and the Digital Directorate helped to shape the design of the broadband scheme that has been delivered by Community Broadband Scotland under the Scottish Rural Development programme from 2014 to 2020. The broadband scheme was launched by the First Minister in Oben on 24 August. Obviously, broadband is essential for rural and island communities and businesses, only yesterday that internet and iron mic constituency was down for most of the day. Whilst next summer 97 per cent of iron will receive superfast broadband, the 150 or so people in Macri will not, as things stand. What steps will the cabinet secretary and his colleagues take to ensure that Macri is included in iron superfast broadband roll-out? Kenneth Gibson quite rightly highlights the importance of broadband to rural communities and rural development, and it is great news that so many people in iron are benefiting from the latest investment. Of course, the purpose of Community Broadband Scotland and the broadband scheme, which is a separate scheme worth £9 million through the rural development programme, is to reach out to those communities who may not benefit from the wider programme and the more harder to reach areas. That is a significant investment. The broadband scheme refers to bringing various communities together to find their own solution and to support that, and broadband Scotland is for individual community schemes. I hope that Mr Gibson's constituents are able to take advantage of those two significant funds so that all people on their island communities are able to connect to fast broadband. Does the Scottish Government intend to carry out an assessment of the number of online applicants for the single-farm payment that is forced to use library and college broadband facilities due to slow broadband speeds or total lack of access to broadband? Can the cabinet secretary give reassurance that the Scottish Government will give appropriate support in the future to those who are affected? In terms of farmers and crofters applying for their online applications for their farm payments, extraditional support was made available at local regional offices for those who could not have adequate broadband for their homes. Although I am willing to send the statistics of those who applied online for the new system to the member, if I recall correctly, the figure of overall applications online was at least the same, if not higher than the old system, despite all the doom and gloom expressed by many people. It is certainly the way forward and we are giving adequate support, I believe, to ensuring that people are able to access broadband to apply online for their farm payments. Minister's answer in terms of the online applications that are being increasingly asked of by crofters and farmers, what is he going to do with community broadband Scotland to reach the areas that Kenny Gibson was mentioning, given that there are still many, many parts of the Houndslands where no such broadband is available at all? As Tavish Scott will be aware, for many, many years there was enormous frustration in Scotland's rural communities over the lack of progress over broadband. Therefore, the substantial investment that has been made available over the last couple of years, which is making a huge difference to mainland and island communities, is very much welcome. That is why we also set up the specific funds community broadband Scotland to target those harder to reach areas that would not benefit directly from the main investment. That is why we are working hard with the new broadband scheme, which is worth £9 million, as well as the existing community broadband scheme, to allow bespoke solutions to be found in our rural and island communities. To ask the Scottish Government how the growth of Japanese knotweed is controlled. Scottish Natural Heritage is the lead agency for advising on managing Japanese knotweed in Scotland. Much of that control work is undertaken by owners of land in which the plant occurs, and SNH encourages and coordinates action by other groups or bodies. For example, the Tweet invasives project has been delivering comprehensive control of Japanese knotweed across the Tweet catchment since 2003. Scottish Natural Heritage also has advice on their website for householders, much of which focuses on long-term solutions that people can carry out for themselves. In Scotland, there is little prospect of eradication at present, but our strategy is to use public funds that are appropriate to control the plant in priority areas and to encourage landowners or householders to tackle the issue by providing them with good advice on control methods. It may surprise the minister that many of my constituents have Japanese knotweed growing and land around their own properties unchecked that it is potential to cause serious damage. Should it not be the case that the owner of the land of Japanese knotweed, because in many cases the situation is that when a Japanese knotweed appears, no-one seems to own the land, is growing, should it not be the case that where a Japanese knotweed is growing they deal with the weed before it causes serious damage to private property? I have great sympathy for those whose property is being affected by Japanese knotweed. I acknowledge that it can cause damage to property, although I would caution that some of the stories of its destructive force appear to be a little bit exaggerated. In that sense, what I am referring to is that the GB non-native species secretariat, for example, has no evidence that it has ever been recorded growing through concrete, a claim that seems to be a favourite in some parts of the press. It is important to note that Japanese knotweed can be controlled and there is advice available and companies providing that service. There may also be recourse in the courts for people whose property is damaged by spreading on to their property from elsewhere. However, I do not think that it is practical or reasonable to be able to expect every landowner in Scotland to be able to clear their land of Japanese knotweed, because although it would be extremely costly, it is also very unlikely to be able to eradicate the plant. Minister, you may well be aware that mortgage lenders have refused to lend on the basis of Japanese knotwees in the vicinity of certain households. Local authorities currently have no powers of enforcement leaving it for the landowner to do. Does the minister think that that should change and we should give local authorities power to enforce eradication? The council of mortgage lenders state on their website that lenders determine their individual policies on the issue and they take into account a range of factors when considering whether to lend. I have no reason to believe that this is not an accurate representation. I also understand that some contractors can offer guarantees that some lenders will accept but ultimately lenders do determine their own policies and enter into a dialogue with them about what assurances they will accept is the way to find solutions. I do think that to make sure that we are taking a sensible approach to the entire issue, I have asked the Scottish Biodiversity Committee to prioritise species that we need to take action on, and specifically Japanese knotweed is being assessed along with other plants that you might also have some concerns about, such as giant hogweed and also Himalayan balsam. However, I cannot emphasise enough that we need to be a lot more organised and strategic in dealing with those problems. I think that we simply cannot afford to carry out control when that effort will be wasted. I am confident that this prioritisation will help us to do just that. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address the reported concerns at NFU Scotland regarding the effect of low prices on the farming industry. We are supporting a number of initiatives to mitigate the pressures that are currently faced by our farmers and crofters, and I have written to farming ministers elsewhere in the UK to stress the need for urgent steps to safeguard the industry. I do believe that there is an unprecedented opportunity for UK ministers to agree a list of commitments, for instance, that supermarkets and the food service sectors can sign up to support our food producers. The aid package, of course, proposed by Commissioner Hogan, is appreciated at European level, and we are currently assessing what the package means for Scotland. I think that the minister has his answer. Low prices obviously have an effect on farmers' cash flow. Can the minister therefore confirm that all single farm payments due in December will be made in December? I very much appreciate that the current low prices and other factors facing our agricultural sector cause cash flow issues, and that is why we are working flat out to do our best to try and ensure that payments begin in the formal payment window, which is before the end of December, and we will continue to work flat out to try and achieve that. Of course, it is a brand new system, it is very complex. Other UK Administrations are facing the same obstacles that we face here in Scotland, but I recognise the importance of giving this my full attention to help our farmers with their cash flow problems. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I certainly hope that we will see those payments before December, but in the meantime, in relation to the dairy crisis, what work has the cabinet secretary been doing to accelerate the implementation of the dairy action plan, in particular in relation to work to support dairy farmers, to have new dairy products so that they can have fresh milk used and gain good money for it? A lot of our dairy farmers are now facing financial difficulties through lack of action. I wrote to the minister about this last month, if you yet to receive a response. I would use this opportunity to say to members and, of course, the people of Scotland and consumers that we should get behind Scottish produce and help our farmers and food producers in their out-of-needs. Not only that, our food service companies and our retailers should do a lot more to show loyalty to our home producers and to get behind them, as I said, in their out-of-needs. In terms of specific help for the dairy sector, clearly there are a number of different levels of which we are attempting to help our dairy farmers. Firstly, there is a dairy action plan that Sarah Boyack mentioned. We have already offered support to the Campbellton Creamery and First Milk to help to provide it with a viable future. We are also working, as I said, with our retailers to try to increase sourcing of Scottish dairy produce. We are launching the international dairy brand for Scotland at the Inuga event in Cologne next month and taking a number of other measures as well. However, I urge other UK ministers and particularly Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for DEFRA, to inject a lot more urgency into this situation. If we can persuade jointly the food service companies in the UK and retailers to source a lot more home produce, that will help greatly in the short term of the industry. That is something that we can do quickly if only we have a lot more political will from Liz Truss. The minister mentioned below prices, and he will be aware that the first store lamb prices in the far north, including in Shetland, have been around £5 a head below last year's averages. Would he undertake to use some of the £500 million package that he mentioned from Commissioner Hogan to assist those crofters and farmers, particularly where additional freight costs have been brought to bear because they have had to bring in more fodder as a result of the poor summer? I wish that the €500 million package from Commissioner Hogan was just for Scotland, but unfortunately that is not the situation. It is very likely to be frank. It will only make a modest contribution to helping us here in Scotland to tackle the issues facing Scottish agriculture. I say that. Staviskot makes two good points. First, we have to discuss with the industry how to target any aid that comes to Scotland. Secondly, we have to recognise that the current problems face not only dairy farmers but the sheep sector as well. The Scottish Government would make great pains to persuade Europe of that as well as the UK Government. I also am making the points to the UK Government given how Scotland gets a very raw deal over the overall EU farming budget and how the UK Government kept the uplift that was given to the UK because of Scotland's low payments. It is absolutely vital that we get a fair share of the aid that comes to the UK to help to tackle this crisis. It would be a complete travesty if, once again, Scotland did not get its fair share and we were let down by the UK Government who failed to recognise the importance of agriculture to Scotland and the case that we have for a good share of that aid package. Many thanks. Question 5, Rob Gibson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scotland's rural college regarding plans to close the Inverness Veterinary Laboratory since the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee met on 2 September this year. There has been contact at official level between Scotland's rural college, the SRUC and the Scottish Government staff since the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee on 2 September, and I congratulate the committee on taking evidence on the subject of which Rob Gibson, of course, is chair. SRUC provided an update on their appearance at the committee and outlined their initial plans for veterinary surveillance. The Scottish Government now awaits a more detailed update from them on their proposals on the change to the network of veterinary disease surveillance centres and the future of their own private business. Rob Gibson. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. Does he agree that nothing should be done by the SRUC to undermine the services or the excellent skills offered by the staff at Drummond Hill Vet Lab Inverness? I ask the cabinet secretary to seek agreement from the SRUC to stop any move of work such as serology from Inverness to Edinburgh planned for October until a final decision by ministers on the SAC plans to retrench into Edinburgh and close the Inverness site. Given the importance of having a proper and robust veterinary disease surveillance system in Scotland, I urge the SRUC, as I am sure they are doing, to heed seriously all the concerns that are being expressed to them by their proposals. The Scottish Government, of course, funds part of its work and we have a strategic management board that will oversee its proposals and, of course, will continue to oversee their amended proposals, as we expect to receive shortly. The point of the management board is to reassure ministers that any use system that is put in place with any changes is adequate for Scotland's needs. In terms of the serology work, that is a private commercial business that the college runs for its scheme members. As such, the Scottish Government has no influence on how that particular scheme operates. On that subject, I urge the SRUC to heed the concerns that are being expressed about that service, as well as to ensure that they give an adequate response to MSPs and stakeholders on that issue. The cabinet secretary is aware that the Oachon-Croove facility in my constituency is also under threat from SRUC's proposals. That was also raised at the committee's meeting. Can he update Parliament in any discussions that the Government officials might have had with Glasgow vet school? In addition to Oachon-Croove, providing a very important facility to local farmers is also a key facility in the training of Scotland's vets. In terms of disease prevention, it has played a crucial role in the past. Whilst I await the formal amended proposals from the SRUC, I know from my officials that conversations are taking place between the Glasgow vet school and the SRUC in response to some of the concerns that are expressed by local stakeholders and, indeed, Adam Ingram, MSP and others. Clearly, until I see the final amended proposals, I am unable to give any further details to Parliament, but I will keep a close eye on that. I urge Adam Ingram and others to continue to make their representations. Many thanks. My abject apologies to members whose questions I have not been able to call. We have to now move on to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion.