 The first item of business is today's portfolio questions and the first portfolio is Neil Affairs, Land Reform and Islands. I remind those members who would wish to ask a supplementary to please present the request-and-speak buttons during the relevant question or to enter the letters RTS in the chat function during the relevant question. At question number one I call Pauline McNeill. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect the welfare of bees in Scotland. The Scottish Government takes the welfare of bees very seriously and works in partnership with NatureScot, SRUC, the national bee unit, SASA and expert stakeholders to ensure that. In 2022, we updated our honey bee health strategy, which aims to address the challenges facing honey bees and beekeepers and achieve a sustainable, environmentally balanced and healthy population of honey bees in Scotland for pollination as well as for honey production. This strategy is supported by our pollinator strategy, which sets out how Scotland can continue to be a place where pollinators thrive, along with actions that are needed to help to achieve that objective. Many pesticides are known to harm bees and other pollinators. The pesticides used in seed treatments have been banned in the UK since 2018, due to harmful effects on bee populations. The UK, for the fourth year in a row, granted emergency approval for the use of these pesticides on sugar crops in England. Last year, environmental groups expressed concern that these pesticides could return to Scotland if a proposed reintroduction of sugar beet crops goes ahead. Could the minister confirm that there are no pesticides used in Scotland that would harm bees and other pollinators, and there are no plans to introduce them either? I want to offer the member some assurance on that front that these are pesticides that we currently do not use in Scotland, and we intend to continue with that as well, and not on either use. Of course, I would be happy to follow up on that. I know that the minister would be happy to do that as well, but I would just want to give her with that assurance. Despite the honeyd words of Queen Bee, Pauline McNeill, one of the biggest risks to animal welfare is Brexit, the buzz is that Labour, after waxing and waning, has been pollinated by Tory Brexit policies that do nothing to remove the sting of losing scientific collaboration through a lack of a substantive EU veterinary agreement. Does the cabinet secretary agree that if Labour care for the welfare of worker bees should join our calls to rejoin the EU instead of simply droning on it? Before I call the cabinet secretary, I would just assume that Mr Gibson's language was indeed intended to be entirely complementary to Ms McNeill's. I probably would not surprise the member that I absolutely agree with the sentiments that he set out there, because we are extremely concerned not only about the impact of Brexit on our businesses in the agrifood sector, but also because of the way in which the UK Government chose to implement it. Only now are we seeing the beginnings of border checks on a variety of goods from the EU this year. That exchange of research and intelligence is vital to effective border controls, which have a really important role to play in our biosecurity for bees and in so many other respects. The only way that we could look to have achieved that was through a well-negotiated veterinary and phytosanitary agreement. If that could go some way to ameliorate the situation that we are currently in, but from the approach that the UK Government is taking, it is not looking likely. There remains a lack of knowledge among many people on exactly which bees need help. It is a wild bees, such as the species that I champion, the bilberry bumble bee, that are in trouble, not honey bees. In fact, there are some situations in which honey bees can be a risk to wild bees as they compete for flowers and pass on diseases. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we need to do more to regulate the use of managed bees by, for example, taking precautions to avoid hives being placed in protected areas that are important to rare species? It is a really important point that the member has raised today. He is absolutely right, because from the emerging scientific evidence that we are seeing, it shows that managed pollinators, even when native as honey bees are in Scotland, could potentially have that detrimental effect on wild pollinators in fragile ecosystems. That is why it is really important for us to try to understand the potential risks that are caused by competition, changes in plant communities and disease cross-transmission, which results from the use of managed honey bees and pollinators under Scottish conditions. However, the relevant scientific evidence that we need to try to address that is not currently widely available, and it is that research, education and open dialogue with everyone who is involved in this and our key stakeholders will be key to us fully understanding and then trying to mitigate against some of those risks. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plan to diversify land ownership in Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to an on-going programme of land reform based on the principles set out in the land rights and responsibilities statement, and those include bringing about a more diverse pattern of land ownership in tenure and giving citizens more opportunities to own lease and have access to land. Our forthcoming land reform bill will build on that record of success in diversifying land ownership, particularly in terms of the steady growth that we have seen in community ownership. Among other important reforms, the bill will include new measures to regulate the market and large-scale land holdings through the introduction of a public interest test and the requirements for community bodies to receive prior notification of sales or the transfer of such holdings. Can I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply? Community ownership of land has flatlined since 2016-17. Only 16 hectares of land went into community ownership in 2021-22. Less than 3 per cent of Scotland's land is in community ownership, and the patterns of private land ownership remain highly concentrated. Those are not my words, but the hard-hitting conclusions of Dr Josh Doble of Community Land Scotland. The Government's record on land ownership is dismal from scrapping the dedicated land fund to feathering the nests of the wealthiest landowners, the biggest land speculators and some of the worst carbon polluters. Why won't the cabinet secretary think big and act radical, break up the private land monopolies, halt the extraction of wealth and spread the common ownership of our land? I would categorically refute the assertions that the member has made in his response to me there, some of which are factually inaccurate. The member referred to scrapping of the land fund, which is not the case. We have not scrapped the land fund in Scotland because we recognise what a vital tool that is to enable communities to take ownership. I would also like to set out that the Government has driven forward the land reform agenda. Again, we have the proposals to continue on our land reform journey by bringing forward a bill that will help with the diversity of land ownership that the member talks about and which we recognise as being so hugely important. There are a range of powers and processes that are key to diversifying land ownership, and how that land is utilised to provide infrastructure development and regeneration projects that are in the public interest. How does the Scottish Government intend to deliver its commitment to reform and modernise the compulsory purchase system in Scotland so that it is clearer, fairer and faster for all parties? The member is absolutely right. We have a number of powers available to us when it comes to community ownership across various pieces of legislation, but we also have other tools there, such as compulsory purchase, as the member outlined. The Government has committed to taking forward reform in relation to compulsory purchase orders. That is where I can advise the Parliament today that the Minister for Local Government, Empowerment and Planning has appointed an advisory group to support the process. That group comprises experts and practitioners. It will be co-chaired by Roseanna Cunningham and the Scottish Government's chief planner. It will then be tasked with identifying opportunities for reform, which will inform our approach to legislation in the future. The first meeting of that new group is set to take place next month. Achieving net zero licence significant action in areas including tree planting, restoration of peatland and improving biodiversity, all of which are acknowledged to be best achieved through delivery at scale and over a long term. What measures is the cabinet secretary proposing to address the potential challenges that he is creating by having a larger number of smaller landowners to co-ordinate, as well as the potential gaps in expertise, funding and succession planning among new individuals and organisations taking ownership of more pieces of land? I would not necessarily agree with what the member has set out there, because what is also important, as well as some of the large-scale tree planting, peatland restoration that the member talks about, is about the integrated land uses that we can have and supporting, as we are trying to do, various changes that we have made in relation to the forestry grant scheme and encouraging more of that planting at a smaller scale, because all that collectively makes a difference. For me, it is not a case of the either or, but it is how we can encourage that in smaller businesses, on farms and crofts and encourage that, whether it is peatland restoration, whether it is tree planting, stitching that into the fabric of our landscape, as well as what work can be done, whether that is co-operatively at a large landscape scale. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what work the Scottish Government has done to evaluate what powers it has to implement a land value tax and how much revenue such a tax could potentially raise? I would be happy to set that out. Of course, in 2017, the Scottish Government had asked the Scottish Land Commission to look at the potential for introducing a form of value-based tax, land value-based tax in Scotland. One of the key findings that it had as an outcome of that work was that, although the theoretical case for the introduction of a land value tax is really strong, there is the lack of that empirical evidence that land value taxes have actually delivered the benefits that are attributed to them. It also went on to outline that, to date, no country has ever replaced the existing taxes on land and property with a single tax, and most people accept the idea that a single tax is not practical at the moment. However, we remain committed to exploring options that, of course—I know that we have other proposals coming forward in relation to other methods of tax that we should be considering. I want to provide the member with that assurance that, of course, we are looking to consider those options further and ensure that we are delivering on our commitments to a fair and progressive approach to taxation. To ask the Scottish Government how proposed UKI immigration rule changes will potentially affect overseas workers in the agricultural sector in Scotland, in light of the recent letter from the Scotland in Food and Drink and Industry partners to the Home Secretary. The UK Government's arbitrary decision to reduce net migration is ultimately really short-sighted, and it will dramatically constrain Scotland's Scottish employers' ability to recruit the skills that they need from overseas. Migrant workers play a hugely vital role across the breadth of our economy, including the food and drink industry, and those changes could cause irreparable damage to the food supply chain, as well as the wider sustainability of our rural economy. Only independence would give Scotland the opportunity to devise a humane, principled approach to migration that is needs-based and delivers the positive outcomes for our communities, our public services and for our economy. As the newly published addressing depopulation plan indicates, the lack of people and the lack of powers to be able to attract people to come and live and work in rural, as well as urban areas like my own constituency, is an urgent one. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what the Scottish Government's understanding is on whether the Labour Party's policy intends in giving Scotland control over migration powers? We just want to say that it is important to highlight that we had recently published our addressing depopulation action plan, which had just taken place last week. That ultimately sets out our strategic approach to managing what is a very complex challenge, and that is about including support in communities to be sustainable now, as well as into the future through talent attraction and migration. Also this year, we are going to be launching a talent attraction and migration service, which is then going to enable employers to use the immigration system effectively and efficiently to help to meet the labour and skills needs that we know we have, as well as for people to access good quality information to help them to move to Scotland and settle in our communities, too. I do wish, though, that we had Labour's support for our efforts here, but, as we all know, just like the current Tory Westminster Government, Labour does not support fully devolving migration powers to Scotland, preventing us from developing policy that better meets Scotland's needs and interests, and only independence will give us the powers that we need to do that. Question 4, Willie Coffey. I ask the Scottish Government what role the Scottish Land Commission will play in tackling the legacy of vacant and derelict land, including in relation to examining the issue of empty and derelict buildings within an urban setting. The Scottish Land Commission convened the national task force on vacant and derelict land, which reported its findings and recommendations in 2020. Action on those recommendations is being progressed by many organisations. The Scottish Land Commission have published a range of analysis, guidance and advice, and, as set out in their 2023-25 programme of work, the Scottish Land Commission are currently reviewing progress against the recommendations in order to maintain that momentum and to understand where continued focus is required. Through their good practice programme, they continue to provide that advice and signposting to support action on vacant and derelict land. Willie Coffey. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. She will be acutely aware of the long-standing problem that we have in Scotland of vacant and derelict land and buildings that blight the appearance of our countryside, cities, towns and villages, with most of those being owned by absentee private owners who, by their inaction, have shown they could not care less about the impact that it has on our local communities. Does the cabinet secretary agree that more needs to be done to tackle this problem and that local councils need more than the rarely used immunity powers, which are not effective at dealing with these important issues? The member raises a really important issue there, and I am sure that we can all empathise with that and see similar situations across our own constituencies too. As the member has outlined, planning authorities do have the powers to serve immunity notices to require land and property owners to clean up land, which, due to the state of it, is having a detrimental impact on the amenity of the area. They can then require a land owner to carry out work or repairs to improve their property, where the appearance of the property is having that negative impact on the street scene. Local authorities also have direct action powers to make the necessary improvements themselves and then bill the owner for the work. I know that there has been difficulty in recouping some of those costs in the past, but through the most recent planning act, we are introducing new powers to allow authorities to place charging orders on properties to ensure that they at least get those costs back at some point. We are also about to launch a public consultation to explore the options and opportunities for improving the resources that are available to our planning authorities to really strengthen their capacity to take this work on. If urban communities are not included in the promised land reform bill, they will have to wait a decade for change and they will continue to be held to ransom by the dead hand of land bankers. Will the minister be bold to deal with those vested interests and empower both rural and urban communities in the land reform bill? I am sure that the member can appreciate that I cannot set out to do the exact measures that are going to be brought forward as part of the land reform bill, but I would heart back to some of the important measures that we consulted on and highlight the recommendations that we have put forward for consultation. The proposals were based on the recommendations that we have had from the Scottish Land Commission and some of the key issues that needed to be addressed. As I highlighted in the response to a previous question, this Government has a strong track record when it comes to land reform. We are committed to going further, which is why we are bringing forward the land reform bill, and I look forward to introducing that to the Scottish Parliament. I apologise to the chamber that I need to leave early to attend the committee meeting. To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its response to its consultation on the licensing of activities involving animals. Thank you. The Scottish Government published analysis of the response to the consultation in the licensing of activities involving animals on 16 February 2024. Can I thank the minister for that response and welcome him to his new position? The Greyhound Board of Great Britain's own data revealed that over 22,000 dogs were injured and more than 800 killed within a five-year period across the UK. The jaw-dropping figure shows that, as long as Greyhounds race around oval tracks at high speeds, they will continue to get seriously harmed or killed. Does the minister agree then with the views of thousands of respondents and key organisations, including the Scottish SSPCA and the Dogs Trust, that the licensing of tracks would fail to address the inherent risks of greyhound racing? I note that the consultation analysis showed that many respondents believe that greyhound racing should be completely prohibited rather than being licensed. We will consider the issue further, as Mr Ruskell's bill, to prohibit greyhound racing to progress. 6. Alistair Allyn To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent figures published by the Crofting Commission, showing an increase in the number of new entrants between March 22 and March 23. I am delighted to see that, once again, the Crofting Commission is reporting a high number of new entrants into crofting. Each of the 510 new crofters in 2022-23 represent a new or continuing member of the local community, highlighting the invaluable role that crofting plays in supporting population retention in rural and island areas. It is also encouraging to see that almost half of those new crofters are women, and just under a third are aged 40 or younger. That is positive news for the sector and is critical to its future. I welcome the minister to his new role and thank him for his response. Can he outline how the Scottish Government intends to build on that progress by further expanding access to those who are looking to begin crofting, such as by ensuring that abandoned crofts become available for others to use? We are encouraging opportunities for new crofters. It is a key action in our national development plan for crofting. In 2023, the Scottish Land Matching Service Crofting Resource was launched, which links prospective crofters to available crofting opportunities, and, as of last week, 195 people were looking for a croft in this way. The commission also launched its Croft Succession project in Euston Barra and Sutherland to encourage succession planning and living succession, which will help to create further opportunities for new entrants. We continue to provide over £40 million worth of funding each year to crofters through various schemes, including the Crofting Agricultural Grant scheme and the Croft House Grant. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting communities to sustainably manage and reduce deer numbers. Effective deer management is vital to tackle the twin climate and biodiversity crises. Our consultation on managing deer for climate and nature, published on 5 January, seeks views on our proposals for new deer legislation. I think that it is important that local stockers are able to contribute to deer management and also that the benefits of venison as a healthy and nutritious food are available to communities. We are piloting projects that increase community involvement in deer management by providing £80,000 to create new venison larders and working with NatureScot to support community deer management at Craigmeggy. Community models of deer management are common in many European countries and have recently been piloted in Scotland. Can the minister provide an update on that pilot, any lessons that have been learned and say whether there is scope to roll out community-based models on publicly owned land throughout Scotland and incentivise communities to participate in this vital work? The Craigmeggy pilot provides local residents with opportunities to develop deer management skills and, once qualified, free access to stock deer on the reserve. We have already seen a successful reduction in deer numbers there and participants have given enthusiastic feedback on the pilot's benefits. I am keen that we learn from this and support more community-led deer management schemes, which is why I am pleased that a proposal is also being developed within the Cairngorms to increase deer management in the national park. The proposal includes trialling new incentives and providing support for local venison. I welcome the minister's answer to Colin Beattie. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation Scotland has a flagship policy that calls on the Scottish Government to allow trained local deer stalkers to carry out deer management in publicly owned land. It will enable sustainable food source to be harvested, processed and consumed locally, protect the environment, drive and improve economic productivity and enhance community knowledge of deer impacts and benefits. Will the minister implement BASC's community deer management proposals as part of the significant challenges to deer legislation this session? I am pleased with the results of the pilot scheme on the community-led deer management that is in place. I am excited about the work that is undergoing in the Cairngorms national park and I look forward to expanding the programme so that we can have more community benefits from our deer management plans. To ask the Scottish Government what financial and advisory support is available to farmers to better manage land and rivers, including to prevent flooding. The Agri environment climate scheme, which the Scottish Government reopened last week, offers support to managed land and rivers. That includes more than £4 million available to fund irrigation lagoons to improve water quality and drainage in rural areas. Additionally, the farm advisory service offers a range of support on water and land management through events, peer-to-peer groups, videos, podcasts and technical notes. There is advice line support and there is also up to £1,000 of bespoke consultancy advice available to all registered agricultural businesses in Scotland. After Christmas, I met the families who have been flooded out of their homes in Cooper. I promised that I would do everything that I could to prevent it happening again. I am told by experts that part of the solution is to help farmers to cope with extreme weather events from climate change through additional investment in fields and rivers. However, the Agri scheme that the minister has talked about is not primarily about flooding and dealing with those issues, and the riverbank fund, which she did not mention, is about repairing rather than adapting. Is the minister going to establish a new fund that will really help farmers and landowners to deal with the effects of flooding, so that I can go back to my residents in Cooper and tell them that I have done everything that I possibly can? First of all, I think that the member raises a hugely important point. Of course, I was so sorry to hear about the impact on his constituents and having experienced similar events in my constituency as well, knowing just how devastating the impact of those flooding events can be. I appreciate what the member has said in relation to the Agri scheme and in relation to the floodbank repair scheme. I am not in a position today to commit to a new fund in relation to that, because, obviously, that is not necessarily something that sits within my own portfolio and involves working with other colleagues across Government, particularly Mary McCallan in her role, too. However, what we have committed to in one action that we will be taking forward is having a discussion with our regulators and farmers. That started from a commitment that was about water scarcity in the summer last year, but, of course, with the events that we have seen over the winter, we know that we need to consider those issues more in the round and consider some of the flooding events that we have seen, too. So there is a commitment for that work to happen and to take place, and I believe that we have a meeting in relation to that, which is due to take place next month, because I think that it is from that starting that conversation that we can then let to develop the solution. I would like to squeeze in a brief supplementary from Rachel Hamilton. Cabinet Secretary, as Willie Rennie says, in the past few years, parts of Scotland have been devastated by extreme weather and flooding, and it has exposed the inability of the SNP to deal with the flooding in Scotland and leaving rural communities behind. So what lessons has the Scottish Government learned from the adverse weather? Does the Cabinet Secretary support a regional catchment management approach to mitigate flood risk, and would she consider that natural flood management interventions should replace traditional prevention schemes as an objective through the lens of the agricultural bill? First of all, to state that I am really disappointed in the comments that have been outlined there, some of the events, and as I was outlining them, I am not responsible to Willie Rennie there, that I have experienced and seen firsthand in my constituency, causing utter devastation on a scale that nobody could have predicted or seen, and that no scheme could have potentially prevented just given the sheer scale of the river levels and the water levels that we had seen during that time. Now, as I have outlined, it is vital that we look at those issues in the round. We are getting warmer summers with less water, we are experiencing, with increasing frequency, these type of storm events. So we need to look at that as a whole, as well as looking at what we can do at a catchment scale across each of those issues. But that is where the discussion that I have outlined that is due to take place is going to be critical in starting to address that and then determining how we move forward. Thank you, cabinet secretary. That concludes portfolio questions on rural affairs, land reform and islands. There will be a very brief pause to allow front-bench teams to change position for the next portfolio questions. The next portfolio this afternoon is NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. At question number one, I call Bob Doris. In the first instance, I apologise to myself in the chamber that, after this question, I have to leave to attend a parliamentary committee meeting. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding financial redress for regional measures survivors in Scotland in light of the recommendations contained within the Hughes report. We continue to review the Hughes report and any implications for patients in Scotland. It is clear that the scheme of redress envisaged would involve a very substantial financial commitment and this needs to be considered carefully. I and the Scottish Government recognise the pain and upset that women affected by mesh continue to endure. We remain committed to providing healthcare support focused on their needs, including a choice of surgeon for mesh removal where that is what the women want. I thank the minister for that answer. I have been contacted by the general measures survivors in my constituency keen for the Scottish Government to consider potential financial redress for them in the light of the Hughes report recommending a £20,000 interim scheme payment in England by 2025. There is also scope for potential further payments also, all significantly above the £1,000 one-off payments made so far here in Scotland. While I appreciate the report that is specific to England, given the clear pain in suffering endured by survivors, does the minister agree with me that the report should still be appropriately considered by the Scottish Government, including the area of appropriate financial redress and in doing so will the Scottish Government meaningful engage with mesh survivors as part of their considerations? I thank Bob Doris for that question and yes, I do agree. We will, of course, review the report carefully and I will wish to hear the views of women in Scotland who have been so badly affected. We have often engaged with affected women to guide the development of NHS mesh services and direct government support and I am happy to commit that we will continue to seek ways to do that in the future. In all fairness, the UK Government itself has not responded to the report, so we do not know what its view will be. In credit, the Scottish Government did make an immediate payment of £1,000 and has paid for women to go to the United States to have mesh removed. However, the Scottish Government itself was committed to a further redress scheme in principle on the back of the Cumberlage report. I wonder if the minister at least would be prepared to say that it would be unconscionable for women in Scotland to be in any way disadvantaged in comparison to women anywhere else in respect of a compensation scheme that might finally emerge. We were at the forefront internationally of responding in mesh and it would be a great detriment if we were now to find ourselves falling behind. I thank Jackson Carlaw for his question and also recognise the work that he has done and along with members across the chamber for women in this situation. As Jackson Carlaw has pointed out, the UK Government has yet to respond and we are reviewing implications for patients in Scotland, but it would not be responsible for me to make commitment now without knowing the position of the UK Government. However, absolutely recognise what Jackson Carlaw has suggested. One of the recommendations of the Hughes report is to improve access to disability benefits for transvaginal mesh survivors. Will the Scottish Government advise on what action is being taken on the accessibility of claiming social security benefits for those adversely affected by transvaginal mesh, but also to those adversely affected by her ear mesh? Of course, the minister recently met some of my constituents who are directly affected. I thank Katie Clark for her question and recognise the work that she has been done to support people with her near mesh implants with regard to her specific question. If she would not mind, I would like to check and come back with a written response to her. To ask the Scottish Government how is tackling NHS waiting times for conditions affecting children, adolescents and young adults. A range of initiatives are in place to support health boards to increase productivity and capacity and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign. The centre for sustainable delivery is working with boards to accelerate the implementation of high impact changes, including active clinical referral treatment and patient initiated review, freeing up additional capacity in the NHS system. We are also working with health boards on detailed annual plans to demonstrate how waiting lists will be managed to see reductions, improved productivity and clear evidence on how that will help to free additional capacity. Finally, we are developing a once-for-scotland pathways, harnessing all opportunities to deliver patient care in the right place and closer to home, and that includes maximising day case procedures to avoid any unnecessary stays in hospital. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I have a young constriction who has suffered from tonsillitis more than 14 times in the last 12 to 18 months. It is becoming more frequent and has recently been recurring every two weeks. Her education is constantly disrupted with days off school and she is concerned about how that will impact her end of the year grade. My constriction has been told that the waiting time for tonsillctonomy is 22 months. What actions will the cabinet secretary take to ensure that my constriction does not miss out on any more valuable school time? What is the Scottish Government doing to reduce the waiting times for this procedure for children and young people? I thank Pam Goswell for her narration of the situation that impacted her constriction and my thoughts are with her and her family in terms of the situation that they are in and making sure that they receive the treatment that they should do. The Scottish Government commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to play a central role in working with health boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity and their programmes have developed strong clinically-led specialty delivery groups, including one for ear, nose and throat, which promote multidisciplinary team working and support local adoption of service improvement programmes. We know that there is more to do, but we are making progress. Since the introduction of our long waits target in July 2022, ENT waits over two years have reduced by 93 per cent for new outpatient appointments and by 54 per cent for inpatient and day case patients. However, I will be happy to follow up Pam Goswell if she wants to provide more detail. I am pleased that the Conservative member for West Scotland raises waiting times for children and young people. As long waits for children, that is the lesson that mental health services come up regularly in my casework. Indeed, the Government has never met their CAMHS waiting time target. Does the cabinet secretary accept that there may be a link between repeatedly freezing and then reducing the mental health budget in year and the Government having never met this waiting time target? I am pleased that progress is being made on long waits, although it is clearly unacceptable for child and adolescent mental health services to continue to experience long waits. However, there has been positive improvement in CAMHS waiting times over the last year. Thirteen out of fourteen CAMHS services have now effectively eliminated their long waits. Services are continuing to respond well to high demand for CAMHS with one in two children's starting treatment within 10 weeks. Overall, CAMHS waiting lists decreased by 36 per cent in the last year and children waiting over 52 weeks decreased by 88 per cent in the same period. I accept that it would be unacceptable for children to wait any longer than necessary, but the investments that we are making alongside our health board partners and IJBs are clearly making a difference in driving down those waits. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress in delivering the actions and aims contained in the framework for chronic pain service delivery. In November 2023, we published a progress report that outlined progress to date on delivery of actions and aims outlined in the framework for pain management service delivery. At that time, we also published a revised implementation plan with updated actions following a period of stakeholder engagement. Good progress has been made in delivering on the actions in the plan. That has been achieved with the support of the newly established stakeholder networks and governance arrangements. Work includes delivery of improved access to information, increasing the knowledge of healthcare professionals via a dedicated chronic pain knowledge hub and developing new ways to access specialist care. Chronic pain is a considerable healthcare concern, causing physical and emotional stress to suffer and their families. Equivalent early access to pain management services is vital, so what action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that healthcare professionals across all levels of care have an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of available pain management options? We recognise the need to further promote awareness and understanding of chronic pain and its impact among the healthcare workforce. We are making it easier for healthcare professionals at all levels to access and navigate high-quality, up-to-date information and resources to improve the quality of care. We have established a national pain education group that is developing a national chronic pain knowledge hub, as I mentioned, for healthcare professionals, service managers and other delivery partners. In addition, the group is developing a pain-informed care toolkit for healthcare professionals to promote care in all settings. Is the former convener of the MSK and Arthritis CPG I know how important timely access to orthopedic surgeries can be for the mental and physical health of those with arthritis and chronic pain. Now with the Scottish Government halting development of a new treatment centre in air that was set to treat around 3,000 orthopedic patients a year, patients now face an even longer wait. Can the minister commit today that patients with chronic pain waiting for orthopedic surgery will have access to whatever physical and mental health support they need as they are forced to endure even longer waiting times for a lasting solution? I thank the member for his question. I would like to reiterate the fact that we have a national care service setting up in the Golden Jubilee hospital, which will be nationwide to support people across Scotland and speed up operations in orthopedics. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that women in Wictonshire have the choice to give birth as close to home as possible. We expect all NHS boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close as home as practical, balanced with ensuring the safety of mother and baby. NHS Dumfries and Galloway has been consulting on two options for maternity care in Wictonshire. The consultation closed on 11 February 2024, with feedback being carried out by an independent third sector organisation. The board will receive a report on the consultation by the end of March and following internal governance processes. That is expected to be presented at a meeting of the integrated joint board in June 2024. In recent correspondence, the Scottish Government made it clear in its expectations that all women at all times receive high-quality and person-centred maternity care tailored to their needs, with quality and safety for mothers and babies central to that decision making. If that is the case, why are mothers to be in Wictonshire with no underlying health issues and who do not want to give birth at home still haven't travelled 75 miles to give birth in Dumfries despite a recent review that recommended the return of maternity-led births and midwife-led births in the west of my constituency in perfectly suitable birthing suite lying in Morthbald and Stranraer? As I explained, NHS Dumfries and Galloway decided upon this review and that the integrated joint board will be deciding on the options in June this year. That is when the decision will be made. It is a local decision that is made by the health board. With my support to facilitate members of Galloway community hospital action group, constituents Dr Angela Armstrong, Dr Gordon Baird and former charge nurse Janice Mail, they recently gave evidence to the health committee as part of our health and remote and rural areas inquiry. Their evidence included the current situation regarding maternity services in Wictonshire. NHS Dumfries and Galloway leadership recently stated that a key challenge in improving the situation is recruitment of midwives. Can the minister commit to looking closely at the outcome of the health committee report when we publish it and in particular how we can improve recruitment? I thank Emma Harper for her question and I think she raises an incredibly important point about recruitment in rural areas. I am very happy to look at the report once the committee delivers it. Midwives in Wictonshire and across the south of Scotland region are facing increasing pressures in their workload due to rapidly growing pieces of work. The pressure is intensified in the region due to the travel distances between the towns and villages. Like the member before me, if the Scottish Government is truly going to ensure women in Wictonshire and other rural areas have choice of where to give birth, they have to tackle recruitment and retention. Can the minister give us any timescale in which she may be able to look at that issue for that particular area? I do believe that retention is a major issue within the midwife profession. I thank Carol Mocken for her question and, given that I represent a rural constituency, I recognise the points that both Carol Mocken and Emma Harper have raised. I cannot give a specific date but I know that we are working at pace with regard to that review and I am happy to inform the member when I do know when that is likely to happen. Thank you very much to ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve access to NHS dentistry and the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency. We introduced major NHS dental payment reform on 1 November 2023, which includes a new fee structure designed to make it more attractive for dentists to provide NHS services, and this has generally been well received by the sector. I acknowledge that access remains challenging in certain areas, including Inverclyde, which is why we have made tailored funding available, including grants of up to £100,000 for opening a new or extending an existing practice in the area, as well as golden hullow payments of up to £37,500 for a new trainee dentist practising in the area. I thank the minister for that reply and I welcome the additional investment that the Scottish Government has put in. The minister will be aware that I have been raising issues regarding NHS dentistry in Inverclyde since 2021. That includes two constituents who recently contacted me to say that they have been unable to register at an NHS dentist. Despite the fact that they have registered as an NHS patient, they have struggled to get an appointment for years, but they could have one if they were willing to pay. In addition to what she said, what discussions she had with local dentists and what additional incentives are being offered to dentists to increase their NHS patient register, and to ensure that NHS patients are not being left for years without being able to see a dentist? As Stuart McMillan knows, I hope to visit a dentist within his constituency to hear directly from him. However, I and my officials often meet dentists to discuss the situation, but, as I have indicated to the member, the Scottish Government introduced dental payment reform in November. That remains the most meaningful intervention that we can make to incentivise dentists in increasing their NHS activity and providing care to registered patients. I have been assured by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that unregistered patients can continue to access urgent and emergency dental care via public dental service clinics. The health board also has a dedicated dental helpline, which provides advice on the local practises accepting new NHS patients, as well as general advice and support on oral health. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the pain management task force. The pain management task force was established in June 2022 to oversee the implementation of the framework for pain management service delivery in Scotland. The task force uses programme and risk management methodologies to ensure successful delivery and prioritisation of the framework's aims. The task force meets bi-monthly to discuss progress and issues relating to the delivery of actions in the implementation plan. The group last met on 14 February. We are currently recruiting additional members with lived experience of chronic pain to join the task force. Membership in minutes from the task force meetings are available on the Scottish Government website. Can the minister say when chronic pain patients with lived experience will be notified to become part of the task force and indicate roughly how many patients will be consulted? I recognise the points that Rona Mackay has made. The call for volunteers closed on 16 February. It was shared widely with the stakeholder groups and through social media. We received over 30 applications and the process is under way to appoint a person with lived experience to the pain management task force by the end of March. The new member will be supported through an onboarding process to prepare for the next task force meeting in April. As part of the delivery of the plan, we will continue to engage widely with people with lived experience to understand what questions still need answered and the best engagement plan to do this. Pain management, chronic pain management services in NHS Highland are suffering a hiatus after the withdrawal of a well-respected senior consultant who personally took a strong interest in this area. Will the minister be willing to meet me and possibly other Highland MSPs who I know share broad concerns on this issue to see that NHS Highland takes steps that do deal with people who suffer from chronic pain, some of whom have tremendous difficulty, including attempted suicides and impossibility of conducting any sort of normal life? I thank Fergus Ewing for the question and recognise the concerns that he has. I met last year with members from my constituency who live with chronic pain and recognise the importance of them getting the right support at the right time to help them to live with their condition. I would be very happy to meet the member and any others who wish to discuss Highland's situation. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to GP practices to help them to transition to a telephone appointment queuing system. GP practices are contracted to provide general medical services by their local health board rather than the Scottish Government, but practice partners are responsible for designing their own patient appointment and consultation arrangements to meet their service obligations. However, I expect satisfactory systems to be in place for the benefit of all patients and telephony is an essential and critical component of a general practice's ability to deliver its contracted service to patients. We are therefore developing advanced telephony guidance that will be provided to health boards and general practice this year. I thank the cabinet secretary for that helpful answer. Would constituents contact me about general practice's difficulty in getting through to book an appointment is the most common concern raised? Lags medical group is keen to move to a much more efficient telecom system, but it is 18 months left on its existing contract. Therefore, can the primary care budget or any other budget contribute to helping practices to buy out existing contracts when necessary to speed up the transition to more efficient patient-friendly telephone queuing systems? I thank Kenneth Gibson for his question. There is currently no primary care budget to help practices to buy out existing telephone contracts, but we will keep that under review. I will be happy to hear more information about the situation that Kenneth Gibson has come forward with in relation to Lags medical group in order that that review is informed by the information that he has available to him. I take this opportunity to welcome the cabinet secretary to his new role. Technology has a key role to play in expanding capacity and reducing costs across the health and social care sector. What work has been done to identify technologies, particularly those that are developed by Scottish businesses, that can be rolled out at scale across the service? I thank Ivan McKee for his question and for his kind words, and I agree with him, not least because it is informed by both my and Mr McKee's previous Government experience. We have seen recent success in technology implementation across health and social care. I must actively prepare for what is next, including working with Scottish SMEs. Our digital health and care strategy commits to ensuring that we have a pipeline of innovation to help to address the challenges that our sector faces. Scotland's innovation centres and NHS innovation hubs work alongside Scottish businesses and innovators to support clinical validation and testing environments for new products and services. Finally, our accelerated national innovation adoption approach also supports our NHS in partnership with industry to fast-track clinically-proven innovation on a once-for-scotland basis. I am more than happy to discuss this further with Ivan McKee, given his clear interest. I take this opportunity to welcome the cabinet secretary to his new role. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support access to health and social care services in Glasgow. The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of work to support access to health and social care services across Scotland, including in Glasgow. We are delivering on our programme for government commitment to increase social care spending by 25 per cent over this Parliament, two years ahead of our original target. We are also committed to building a national care service to improve the quality and consistency of community health and community care across Scotland. Despite that investment, many people in Glasgow, disabled people, are being asked to pay more for their social care, and in some cases it is 75 per cent more. I am particularly worried about that because the impact it is having on their poverty and cost to living, but more concerned it is happening without additional financial assessment. My constituents tell me that those increased costs are eating up around three quarters of their benefits during the cost of living crisis. What action can he take to ensure that proper financial reassessments take place? Can he tell us whether his Government still believes in the policy to end care charges and when does he think that those taxes on care will finally be ended? I recognise the situation that has been faced by people across Scotland, and disabled people in particular are disproportionately impacted by the cost of living crisis that is affecting the people across the UK. We have taken steps across government, not just in my portfolio, but in the likes of social security in order to provide as much support as we can given the limited powers that we have available to us. In terms of the help that is available through social care services, I have been more than happy to write to Pam Duncan Glancy to respond directly to the questions that she has raised. Thank you, cabinet secretary, and I am mindful of the business to come this afternoon. That concludes NHS recovery, health and social care portfolio questions. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.