 The first item of business today is general questions. We start with question number one from Finlay Carson. To ask the Scottish Government what the scope is of the recently announced report on developing the A75 and A77. Minister Humza Yousaf. The south-west Scotland transport study will consider the rationale for improvements to road to rail and public transport, and indeed acts of travel in the key strategic corridors, including the A75, the A77 and the railway corridors to Stranraig and Callyw via Cwmarnock and Dumfries, and we'll have a particular focus on the access to the ports at Cairnryan. It will examine the case for change in relation to transport infrastructure investment. In 2016, while visiting my constituency, the Deputy First Minister pledged further investment in the A75. Indeed, the environment minister at the time declared that in an election pledge there was a clear demonstration of the S&P's commitment to the region. Only last year, the Deputy First Minister said that, to grow the economy and new jobs, we need to improve further the region's transport infrastructure. Yesterday, the transport minister announced to the chamber that the Scottish Government intended to honour the commitments and promises in our manifesto. When will the Government honour that clear commitment to Calyw via Cwmarnock and Dumfries and provide not just another report but substantial investment in the A75 and the A77 that is desperately needed? The Deputy First Minister asked about substantial investment. We have invested £50 million in the A75 in six new schemes, £35 million in four schemes in the A77, and we are going to be investing in the Mabel bypass. Does the member not have even a tad bit of shame that he comes to this chamber week on week, demanding that we spend more while cutting tax to the wealthiest and, in the meantime, when they find time in between making a complete pigsear of Brexit, his Government is robbing this Scottish Government to the tune of £500 million over the next two years? 2. Gordon Lindhurst To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the non-domestic rate system is fair to businesses. We are doing everything in our powers to support our businesses. This year, we have reduced a non-domestic rates poundage by 3.7 per cent and funded the most competitive package of rates relief available anywhere in the UK. It is worth around £660 million, including the small business bonus scheme, which will lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. We have also gone beyond the recent Barclay review recommendations with new measures to drive investment. In addition to the growth accelerator, which will mean that businesses pay no rates increases for the first year on new and improved properties, we will ensure that every new-build property does not pay a penny in rates until it is occupied for the first time. Further details will be confirmed in the draft budget next week. Gordon Lindhurst I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The Scottish Government has dealt with only 0.2 per cent of appeals from the non-domestic rates re-evaluations earlier this year. That is just £161 million of the £5 billion worth of appealed re-evaluations in 2017. Does the cabinet secretary have any estimates on the number of businesses that are going to the wall whilst waiting on their appeal to be heard? It really is quite incredible. Gordon Lindhurst—I think that pretty much every other Tory member in the chamber—is totally ignorant of the facts when it comes to non-domestic rates. The Scottish Government does not determine the appeals of business rates. There is a separate and independent due process for that. It is the case that many businesses do appeal the valuation and material considerations are taken into account, but it is an independent process for a reason. I tell you what I will not do. Let us follow what the UK Government has done in this regard, which is to charge for appeals that has caused such consternation south of the border. I do not always quote the Scottish Property Federation or the Scottish Retail Consortium when it comes to non-domestic rates, but it is right when it says that the Scottish Government is ahead of the curve when it comes to reforming our business rates regime. Can the cabinet secretary give assurances to the businesses that qualify for and benefit from the small business bonus scheme, which currently has over 100,000 Scottish businesses, to ensure that we have vibrant town centres and to encourage an environment for start-ups, so that the scheme will continue? I can absolutely confirm that the small business bonus will continue. It is on course to lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. Of course, although opposition politicians pretend to care for their town centres, it is the Government that delivers to give them that lifeline in those challenging times. What is more, not only will our package support those properties, I am going to write out to other small businesses who I think might be eligible for the small business bonus. We take the right decisions, we fund our promises and we reach out to support our communities and our business community as well, while the opposition carp from the sidelines. 3. Elaine Smith Thank you, Presiding Officer. I ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders. The Scottish Government's role is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards to allow them to deliver services, taking account of national guidance set out by the British Thyroid Association. A clinician's prime duty is to do no harm and in making a diagnosis we expect clinicians to take account of all the evidence presented to them. That will include test results but also to consider each patient's symptoms, circumstances and experiences. We expect all clinicians to demonstrate a patient-centred approach through full engagement and shared decision making on mutually agreed outcomes. That approach is at the heart of all the Scottish Government's policies and in particular the chief medical officer's report on realising realistic medicine. 2. Elaine Smith Thank you and I thank the cabinet secretary for that encouraging response. I was pleased that, in response to my recent debate, there was a commitment to help thyroid sufferers and indeed there has been good news in NHS England as T3 is not being removed from the prescribed medicines list after a successful patient-led campaign. However, we do need a clear answer on T3 here in Scotland, so can the cabinet secretary confirm that GPs and health boards will continue to prescribe this life-saving medicine? 3. Elaine Smith Of course, as T3 is still licensed, it can continue to be prescribed on the NHS and there are no plans to remove T3 from NHS Scotland. Obviously, formularies are set and agreed by local boards based on recommendations from local clinicians, clinical expert groups, the latest clinical evidence and any recommendations that come via the SNP. Of course, it is recognised and I should have paid recognition to Elaine Smith's work on this over a long period of time, but it is recognised that a small proportion of patients do not tolerate T4, which is obviously the mainly prescribed drug, and that T3 use is available as an option and where the clinician is satisfied that this is the safest and most clinically effective treatment option for the individual patient concerned. That is the way that things have been done and that is the way that matters should continue to be done. 4. Joan McAlpine To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Irish Government regarding continuing free trade and free movement of people between Scotland and Ireland after Brexit. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Irish Government on EU matters. The First Minister met the T-shirt in Dublin on October 5. There was contact at the British Irish Council on 10 November. Last Friday, Fiona Hyslop met the Irish Foreign Minister, the Tarnist chair in Dublin, and I met the Irish Foreign Minister in Cambridge in September on the margins of the British Irish Association. The best outcome for Scotland, which is what people voted for, is continued EU membership. However, short of that, it is essential for jobs, living standards and our economy that we retain our place in the single market and the customs union. That will ensure that the damage from Brexit is minimised and we can deepen the very close economic and social ties between Ireland and EU member and Scotland to ensure a continued freedom of movement between our two countries. I thank the minister for that answer. Does the Government agree that the UK Government's reliance on a shabby deal with the DUP to keep afloat is now risking hundreds of thousands of jobs right across these islands, and it is really time for the Tories to put the public good before their own political survival? I think that we always have to be very careful when talking about the circumstance in Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government has been a long-term supporter of peace in Northern Ireland, and particularly of the Good Friday Agreement. Quite clearly, any actions that damage or imperil the Good Friday Agreement and the balance of powers within Northern Ireland are not helpful, and in that regard, the arrangement with the DUP is clearly a disruptive force in this, but we do seek to try and ensure the very best for Ireland in north and south and to ensure that the difficulties of the past are not returned to and that we do that responsibly and carefully. 5. Rhoda Grant To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the situation with people affected by the Salvis and Riddle case. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Fergus Ewing The Supreme Court published its judgment in the Salvis and Riddle case in April 2013. The case is now ended. I have to assume that the member is referring to the litigation that has followed on from the Supreme Court decision. Both tenant farmers and landlords are currently engaged in live litigation against Scottish ministers. If that is correct, it is not possible for me to provide an update. I refer the member to rules of standing order rule 7.5 sub-udike sections 1 and 2. Therefore, I am constrained in what I may say about any matter that is the subject of current litigation. 2. Rhoda Grant The Scottish Government had promises to deal favourably with tenants caught up with the Salvis and Riddle case. However, it has not, and that means that the tenants were required to sue the Government. Even when they won their case, the Scottish Government has continued to lay payment and compensation. That is bad enough, but the Scottish Government has obtained a ruling to pursue families of tenants for court costs. When will the Scottish Government honour its commitment to tenants who have already lost their homes and businesses and compensate them fully and order them to allow them to make a fresh start? I think that most of that question is related to a live case. Does the minister wish to make a very brief comment? He may do. The question is almost entirely out of order. Although I cannot talk about any matter that is subject to current litigation, I am able to say that tripartite mediation was previously offered by the Scottish Government on the basis that, if any party wishes to submit a compensation claim against the Scottish Government as part of that process, the Scottish Government would step outside the mediation to consider and, if liability was accepted, it could continue to be part of that process. No parties took up that offer before the tenant farmers lodged their case in court against Scottish ministers, including their associated compensation claims. We have also facilitated, aside from the court action, and we have funded a Scottish Government mediation service between tenant farmers and their landlords to provide a forum for tenant farmers and landlords who wish to engage to discuss and explore the resolution of issues between them. The mediation service lasts until 2018, and we have, Presiding Officer, made up to £13,000, excluding VAT, available for the costs associated with undertaking mediation between those landlords and tenant farmers. I would just conclude by pointing out to the member something of which I suspect she is extremely well aware that the Salverson Riddle case arose because of a flaw in the law, the law that was passed by the previous Labour Liberal Administration, and a flaw in the law that the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association pointed out was such that this administration has effectively been left to pick up the pieces. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Fife. The Scottish Government meets regularly with NHS Fife to discuss matters of interest to the people of Fife. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The cabinet secretary will be aware that leaving mouth and parts of Glynottus in my constituency are among some of the most disadvantaged in Scotland. Does she agree with me that the number one priority for NHS Fife and for Fife's health and social care partnership should be providing services that directly tackle health inequalities? I certainly agree that NHS Fife and Fife's health and social care partnerships should be working with partners across Fife to tackle both health inequalities and their underlying causes. For its part, the Scottish Government is focused on addressing the underlying causes, ending poverty, fair wages, supporting families and improving our physical and social environments. We continue to protect the most vulnerable and those on low incomes. To this end, we are investing more than £100 million every year to mitigate the worst impacts of the UK Government's welfare cuts. We are funding things like the Lynx Workers programme, which is right on the front line of the battle against health and inequalities. We have committed to increasing the number of Lynx workers supporting general practices in Scotland. There are now a total of 53 in posts with more being recruited next year, and I am sure that the people of Fife will also benefit from those Lynx workers. Alexander Stewart In September, more than 1,150 people in NHS Fife waited over 18 weeks for treatment, the highest number on record. How will the cabinet secretary ensure that upward trend is reversed as soon as possible? Alexander Stewart should recognise that, despite some of those challenges, NHS Fife's performance on waiting times has been very commendable. Indeed, the work that it has done to improve some of its waiting times is being looked at elsewhere. In Scotland, of course, he will be aware of the £50 million that has been deployed this financial year to make improvements to waiting times of which NHS Fife has received £3.4 million, and the work that is going on led by Professor Derek Bell to reform the way elective capacity is organised to make sure that we can meet the demands and expectations of the population, not just here and now, but into the future as well. Mike Rumbles To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been on NHS Grampian's patient service record of the figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, which suggests that the board's NRAC funding targets have not been met since 2009, leading to a £165.6 million discrepancy over the period. Shona Robison Well, as I explained last week, NHS Grampian was 3.7 per cent behind its target funding allocation when the NRAC formula was introduced in 2009-10. In a position that I may add that we inherited, the Scottish Government has invested significantly in supporting the boards that are behind parity, and since 2015-16, NHS Grampian has received additional funding of £47 million for the specific purpose of accelerating NRAC parity. We expect all health boards, including NHS Grampian, to meet and maintain national performance targets and standards from the resources provided, as with all boards, we continue to work with NHS Grampian to ensure that public money is being used effectively to deliver better services, better care and better value. Mike Rumbles Now, is the cabinet secretary aware that in the past year—I hope that she is aware—that NHS Grampian, there have been 3,471 fewer planned operations than in the previous year, with the second worst waiting times in Scotland, hundreds of operations have been cancelled for non-clinical reasons, and specialist services to treat veterans have now been withdrawn because of a lack of funding from the board? Is she also aware that the NRAC formula only aims to give NHS Grampian 90 per cent of the funding of the average health board per head of population? It is the lowest in the country. Is she satisfied with this state of affairs? Jeane Freeman We are working very hard with NHS Grampian to make the improvements. Of course, NHS Grampian has received a share of the £50 million in order to make those improvements and are working hard across the whole of the north region to look at how elective capacity is better organised. Mike Rumbles fundamentally misunderstands how the NRAC formula works. The Scottish Government is supporting all boards that are behind parity and is committed in additional £884 million over a six-year period to those NHS boards below their NRAC parity levels. All boards are now within 1 per cent of parity. Given the year-to-year movements in the NRAC target allocations, it would not have been possible to move NHS Grampian or any other board below parity to absolute parity, as that would have had an equivalent reduction in funding for those other boards, including Shetland and Orkney that are above parity. I do not imagine that his Lib Dem colleagues would have wanted me to take that action. The NRAC formula works in a way of gradual movement of those boards below parity. That is a sensible and responsible way in order to allocate funding to the NHS boards. Alexander Burnett Thank you, Presiding Officer. Recently, it has been reported that NHS Grampian spent over £10,000 on a trip to recruit nurses from Australia and commissioned a US delegation to help reduce waiting times. All the while, the health board is having to make £75 million of savings by 2020. Does the cabinet secretary admit that her Government's failure to put in place proper workforce planning has left NHS Grampian understaffed and struggling to meet waiting-time targets? Roseanna Cymru Of course, NHS England has no workforce plan, as Jeremy Hunt revealed just a few weeks ago. I will take no lectures from the Tories about workforce planning. We have expanded our nurse training places to 2,600. I encourage all boards to look at innovative ways of recruiting nurses rather than criticising them for doing so, but let me end on this note. The biggest impact on recruitment in Scotland for nurses, care staff and others is the absolutely reckless Brexit approach that is being taken by the UK Government. Do not come here and lecture us about recruitment to the NHS. The First Minister Thank you. That concludes general questions. Before we turn to First Minister's questions, I am sure that members would wish to join me in welcoming to our gallery the Honourable Dr Darryl Plickas, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.