 Fyelodwch. The first item of business today is an urgent question. Clare Bailor. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service plans to close fire stations and reduce fire fighter numbers. Minister Annabelle Ewing. The Firefighter just play a vital role in protecting our communities and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continues to deliver the high standard of service that is required to keep Scotland safe. Since the establishment of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2013, there have been no compulsory redundancies and front-line services have been protected with no closure of any fire stations in Scotland. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is currently exploring how it should develop to meet the new and emerging risks that are facing our communities, including how transformation of service delivery could see the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service do more for the people of Scotland. No decisions have been made on what that transformation would look like and the transformation process will involve liaison and discussion with staff, partners and the public. The Scottish Government has increased the overall operational budget for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service this year by £21.7 million to support investment in equipment and resources. I am in regular discussion with the chief fire officer and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service chair on the Scottish Government's funding of the service next year and beyond. Clare Baker. When the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was created, we were promised that front-line services would be protected. These leaked papers today show that that is not the case. The minister may claim to have increased her budget, but she knows full well that since 2013, £53 million has been cut in real terms, including a real terms cut to the resource budget last year. There are 700 fewer firefighters since 2013, and there are 60 to 100 on-call pumps unavailable each day. Today, we have learnt that stations are to be closed and front-line firefighter numbers are to be cut. Can the minister seriously still claim to this chamber that her Government is protecting front-line services? I would reiterate what I said in my first response, and I am not sure that the points were not picked up. There have been no compulsory redundancies, and there have been no station closures. Indeed, it may interest the member to note that some 100 new firefighters have been recruited in this past year. The member referred to the single service reforms, and of course, in the 2013 single service reforms, it was anticipated that savings would be part of that package. The member refers generically to budget-resourcing issues, and, of course, discussions are on-going in terms of this year's budget. That would be the normal procedure and would be expected to take place. Of course, it is not a help that Scotland's budget over the years 2010-11 to 2019-20 has faced cuts from the UK Government of some £2.9 billion cuts. I hear the Tories groaning, but it is also not a help that we see £10 million annually taken out of the budget of our Scottish Fire and Rescue Service by the UK Tory Government at Westminster. I would have thought that the member might wish to get behind the growing calls for the £10 million taken out per annum, £50 million by the end of 2017-18, which would have supported calls to get that money back from the UK Government, and in that regard it is disappointing to note that only one Labour MSP has signed Ben Macpherson's parliamentary motion calling on that very thing to happen. Only one Labour MSP has signed that, and that Labour MSP was not Claire Baker. That is a really disappointing response from the minister on a serious issue. First, I support the calls for the VAT exemption, but can the Scottish Government guarantee that that resource, if it was to come to Scotland, would go to the fire service, which would mean an uplift in the fire service budget, and that it does not excuse the decisions that have been made by the Scottish Government in recent years that have led to the significant cuts that we see in the fire service. The minister should also accept that there has been a reduction in the number of firefighters. It is an insult to firefighters to refuse to acknowledge that. We have heard from the Government that operational decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the fire and rescue service, yet those operational decisions are made in light of the budget that is set by this Government. First transformation has been forced through by a squeeze on resources rather than a response to the evaluation of risks and the buck stops with the justice team. The leaked document today claims that the service is facing the greatest financial challenges that it has seen in decades. The chief fire officer admits that the current model is unsustainable and could not last beyond the end of this financial year. Audit Scotland has previously warned of a £33 million budget cut, so what discussions has the cabinet secretary or the minister had with the chief fire officer about the document that has been leaked today? Does she endorse its content? Obviously, if Ms Baker supports the calls that are growing across the piece, including from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for the UK Government to allow the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to reclaim the vat, she might wish to sign Ben Macpherson's motion, as at least one of her Labour colleagues has managed to do. The member raised the issue of risk evaluation and responding to that. Of course, she may have heard the chief fire officer on GMS this morning, where he talked of, for example, the need to look at how we tackle the problem of our retained duty system, whereby we have seen that on-call systems such as that in Scotland, in the UK as a whole and, indeed, across the world are under pressure because of our changing lifestyles. Therefore, we need to look at those issues. We cannot pretend that those issues do not exist. We need to look at those issues to see how we find solutions. That is what the discussions around the transformation process are intended to do. Of course, we have increased, as I said, the budget for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service operation resource that was available over the last year by £21.7 million. If I were to conclude by quoting the chief fire officer this morning from this radio programme on GMS, where he said that we have had tremendous support from the Scottish Government as we have gone through the initial stages of our reform journey to create the single fire and rescue service for Scotland, we understand that there are financial pressures out there and we are working very, very closely with the Scottish Government at this moment in time on the redesign of the fire and rescue service and also to ensure that it is properly and sufficiently funded. That is what the chief fire officer said this morning. I have regular discussions with the chief fire officer and I will continue to do so, Presiding Officer. Liam Kerr, the latest SFRS performance review outlines targets to reduce special service casualties and reduce dwelling fires missed, yet response times have been steadily growing across Scotland in the last five years. The minister may call this transformation, but we know that that is code for cuts. How can the minister reassure the public that our fire services performance will not suffer further as a result of cuts to firefighters and stations? I am quite taken aback by the brass neck, if I may use that word. I am not sure if that is entirely a parliamentary word, so I am getting the nod there from the Tory front bench's comments, because we were just on the issue of that uniquely across the United Kingdom. The only territorial fire service that is subject to that is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. I would have thought that the member might be more inclined to seek to ensure that our fire service is not being deprived of the sum of £10 million per annum—£50 million—by the end of 2017-18, uniquely across the UK, where we have seen the rules that changed in regard to academy schools, highways for England and various other bodies, but not for some reason for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. I would rather have thought that the member would be best served to do perhaps what his 13 Tory MP colleagues have been doing in the House of Commons, which is writing to the Chancellor to seek an end to the in-effect discriminatory treatment of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, as far as those rules are concerned. He perhaps could start by signing Ben Macpherson's motion, calling on the UK Government to do exactly that, because not one Scottish Tory MSP has signed the motion and sought to stand up for our Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. What a disgrace! Liam McArthur Given the loss of around 1,000 fire officers since 2010 and 700, as Clare Baker said, since the centralisation of the fire and rescue services in 2012-13, given the reports of what appears to be an over £23 million shortfall Scottish fire and rescue services budget, how does the Minister square that with the former Justice Secretary view that the people who work in our fire and rescue services are, quote, one of our most important assets and we need to protect them? Yes, I thank the member for his question and I would reiterate that, of course, over the past year we have seen a very successful recruitment drive where we have had some 100 new firefighters recruited and I think that that is an excellent example of how determined the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are to ensure that their service is the best that it can be and delivers for the people of Scotland. We have, as I say, increased the budget over the last year. The operation resource that is available to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has increased by £21.7 million. It does not help to operate within the budgetary constraints that I have already referred to in terms of the general budgetary constraints that this Government is subject to as a result of Westminster cuts amounting to £2.9 billion over 10 years, nor does it help that we have uniquely seen the taking away of that from our Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the service being unable to recover that that. Those are issues that we have to tackle with and we have to resolve. In the meantime, as we continue to do that, we are in regular discussion, as I said, with the chief fire officer, with the chair of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and, of course, discussions continue in advance of our draft budget. John Finnie Minister, you alluded to lifestyles there and the challenges that the changing lifestyles, indeed social patterns, have caused for the recruitment of the retained fire service, not just in the Highlands and Islands but across Scotland. If there is to be a transition to a different model, can you give an assurance that you will adequately fund that transition to ensure that there is no part of Scotland that does not have adequate fire cover? What I can say to the member is that in looking at the transformation that requires to be done, to meet the new risks emerging in communities the length and breadth of Scotland and the new realities of life, including the issue that the member refers to, it is certainly clear that that transformation can only work if the resources are available to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to ensure that it can deliver the service that we all expect from it. We will move on to portfolio questions. I would note that there are a number of speakers to get a chance to ask questions, but there will be other opportunities, hopefully later in the week. Portfolio questions now on communities, social security and equalities.