 Yn ystafell i fynd i gael y cyfnodau, Stephen Kerr? Mae Gweithdoedd yn cydwylliant i'r parlymyn gynlluniaeth sy'n ei ddod i'r cyfnodau. Mae gynnyddio yn fawr i gael y cyfnodau, ac mae'n gwybodaeth i'r parlymyn gan gweithio'r cyfnodau. S&P ministers a MSPs have been repeating the claim made by the First Minister on 29 September that 98.8 per cent of our energy was from renewable sources. The First Minister corrected her incorrect claim quietly in the official record, but it remained inaccurate. I sought clarification from the chairman of the UK statistics authority who has written to me, and he states that the First Minister's clarification is incorrect. The First Minister will no doubt seek to clarify that her clarification was wrong. The figures are for the record 63.1 per cent. Now, whether the First Minister misled Parliament on purpose or otherwise is a matter for her conscience, but she has a responsibility, as we all do, to be accurate. When ministers say things to the Parliament that are untrue, correcting the official record behind the scenes on the quiet is not enough. Furthermore, the official record should not be treated by ministers like a 1984 Ministry of Proof, giving ministers a get-out-of-jail card for mistaken or misleading statements. Once the misleading statement is made, it is in the public domain, through Parliament, TV and through its archives, and the way that we all use the videos of these sessions. I very much doubt that many people check that everything that was said in this chamber reflects the official record. It has been said in the past that if you tell a lie big enough and repeat it often enough, people will believe it. The truth is important, despite the heckling from the SNP benches. The truth is important. What powers do you have to compel ministers, especially the First Minister, to come to this chamber and clarify in person verbally when they have made a mistake? What powers does this Parliament have to allow oral statements to this chamber to correct mistakes and misleading information? We must find a way to avoid the perception that lies are being told for political ends. I thank Mr Kerr for his point of order. I remind all Members that we have a duty to treat one another with courtesy and respect at all times. I would certainly prefer it if we did not have suggestions that Members were treating one another in the way that Mr Kerr describes. Mr Kerr will be aware, as will all Members, that Members have a personal responsibility for ensuring that their contributions and proceedings are accurate. In the event that a member becomes aware that they have provided inaccurate information, they can seek to make use of the existing correction mechanism. Mr Kerr was asking what powers the Parliament might have, but the Parliament has previously agreed what steps are appropriate to make other Members aware when a correction has been made. Corrections 2 are highlighted in the Business Bulletin and on the Parliament's website to ensure transparency around the use of the mechanism. The procedure 2 allows a member to seek to make a statement to the Parliament if they realise that a significant error has been made. The decision on whether or not to seek to make such a statement is a matter for the member concerned. We will now move to topical questions, and at question 1 I call Katie Clark. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of misuse of fireworks and pyrotechnics on bonfire night. The disorder and thuggery that occurred on and around bonfire night involving not just fireworks and pyrotechnics but bricks and even petrol bombs was sickening. I give my heartfelt thanks to our emergency services for their dedication and bravery in working in appalling situations to keep our communities as safe as possible. I welcome the fact that Police Scotland has made clear that investigations are on-going and that it aims to bring culprits to justice. I urge any member of the public with relevant information to get in touch with the police, either directly or anonymously, through crime stoppers. I warmly welcome the minister to her new role and associate myself with the comments that she has made regarding the emergency services. Between 2016 and 2020 there were only four solemn and 16 summary firework convictions and no firework convictions whatsoever in 2020 2021. Given the way that the Scottish Government has constructed its proposed licensing scheme, it makes it even more important that there are convictions. How will the minister ensure that there are convictions arising from this year's events? I thank Katie Clark for her question and her welcome. There is no equivocation on the part of the Scottish Government where there is offending of the type that has been seen over recent days. We will fully support Police Scotland in pursuing investigations and where sufficient evidence is obtained using their powers appropriately to make arrests and bring charges. As regards to convictions, it is difficult to get an entirely comprehensive picture because of the range of common law and statutory offences that may be relevant. As regards the matter for the courts, it would be wrong for ministers to criticise or second-guess the sentences that the courts impose as only they have all the weighted evidence in front of them. However, I am clear that the sentences and powers of the courts in this area, under a range of common law as well as statutory provisions, are extensive and I will be keeping a close eye on how things develop. Katie Clark. The criminal justice committee considered the recent fireworks legislation. There was considerable discussion about how people might bypass the licensing system by buying online or on the black market. Will the minister take steps to find out where the fireworks, which were misused, came from, whether they were bought in a shop online or obtained elsewhere? Once there has been a full investigation into the full circumstances of this year's events, will she ensure that there is a full report to Parliament? At this point in time, we are not aware of any clear evidence to suggest that there is a lot of black market sales and that it is a widespread issue. We know that there is the isolated incidents involving the supply of illicit fireworks products. Enforcement agencies have well-established processes in place to tackle black market sales. There is a big multi-agency planning that is carried out every year that involves Police Scotland trading standards and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to identify and tackle emerging issues. We will and I plan to work closely with enforcement bodies to monitor illicit fireworks sales in Scotland. As part of this, the Scottish Government has funded trading standards to undertake a fireworks enforcement engagement project with retailers building on the success of similar projects last year. That is something that I will keep a close eye on and bring back to Parliament. Gordon MacDonald Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is important that we acknowledge the appalling behaviour by some over the bonfire weekend, including the incident in the city hall park area of my constituency. However, we should also note that the number of calls that police received related to such behaviour was down from 581 last year to 483 this year, a 17 per cent reduction. That is in mind, can I ask the Scottish Government what work was carried out by the Scottish Government and partners in preparation for the bonfire night period? The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Constitution I welcome the year-on-year reduction in incident numbers. The 17 per cent reduction is very welcome. It is absolutely imperative that we make sure that the bonfire night does not happen the way that it did because it was intolerable. We support the vast amount of multi-agency partnership work that is undertaken by our emergency services, local authorities and wider community safety partners in preparation for the bonfire night period. On the bonfire night itself, I attended the operation Moonbeam Gold Command Room in Bilston-Glen to witness the effectiveness of the partnership working and see the scale of the challenge faced as it unfolded in real time. I cannot praise them enough. Planning in preparation for the bonfire night includes prevention and diversionary work in local communities by a range of partners, particularly in the areas that are affected most by fireworks where we have serious multiple deprivation. With partners, the Scottish Government also launched our three long-standing national public awareness raising campaigns to ensure that we do enhance the messaging on the new proxy supply offence. Again, we have funded training standards colleagues so that they are better able to promote and enforce the new legislation around sales. A constituent of mine wrote to me yesterday to express their concern about the disgraceful scenes across Edinburgh at the weekend after violence erupted and police were injured in petrol bomb attacks. A substantial number of youth terrorised residents by throwing fireworks at innocent car drivers, in scenery devices at emergency response vehicles, police vehicles were attacked and officers suffered facial and eye injuries. This behaviour was utterly disgraceful and cannot be repeated. The SNP rushed through the fireworks bill in June, but it has done nothing to address community safety concerns. Will the minister commit to reversing the SNP budget cuts to the police to ensure that our officers have the resources to tackle the type of disorder and keep our communities safe? I associate myself with Sue Webber's comments on the intolerable behaviour that we see. At this point in time, we only have a resource spending review in front of us and we do not have a budget set, but I will definitely keep a close eye on that because our communities cannot endure what was seen last weekend. We need to make sure that we have enough resources in place to do that early intervention and prevention work that we need to do in our communities where there is multiple deprivation and we do see a rise in those types of cases. I will come back to the member on this issue. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate the threat of avian influenza outbreaks among domestic poultry populations in light of its impact on wild bird populations in Scotland. The Scottish Government has already taken steps to mitigate the threat of avian influenza in the wider domestic populations through the introduction of national avian influenza prevention zone on 17 October. That made it a legal requirement for all birdkeepers to follow strict biosecurity measures to help to detect their flocks. That was in response to a risk assessment and follows the worst outbreak of the disease on record. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Birds do not stop at borders between Scotland and England, so as long as that is the case, nor will avian flu. The same threat that exists south of the border that the UK Government have acted decisively to mitigate exists here in Scotland Am i'n myth, the largest outbreak of avian influenza the UK has ever seen over 200 cases and many culls according to an FOI from the ferret since October 2021. Why is the cabinet secretary just monitoring when England is acting decisively? I do not think that that is a fair assessment of the situation at all and I hope the member would appreciate that we take decisions and we base our decisions on the best available scientific advice and expertise that we have within the Scottish Government and through our chief veterinary officer. I know that the member is referring to the mandatory housing order that was implemented in England this week but any decision to require mandatory housing has to be based on risk to improve animal health and welfare concerns. That kind of decision has to be based on the balance between the positive and negative impacts that housing otherwise free-range birds might have and this is not a simple or a light undertaking. As the member is aware and as the chamber will be aware, the situation is being kept under constant review and the decision on whether a housing order is introduced is a matter for Scotland's chief veterinary officer and it follows that analysis of a wide range of available evidence. The NFUS have labelled the Scottish Government's response as wholly inadequate and as we speak more outbreaks are being confirmed across the country in Aberdeenshire, in Orkney and reported sightings of wild birds in distress in my own constituency of the Scottish borders. Evidence shows that housing flocks reduces the risk of birds being infected, birds on no respecters of borders, so the Scottish Government must explain the basis for its decision given the importance to businesses approaching the hugely significant Christmas market and the on-going devastating loss of wild birds on the coast and in our countryside. Firstly I want to emphasise that I completely appreciate the member's concern here and I've heard those calls from the NFUS and had those discussions as well and I completely understand just how concerning this must be for poultry keepers in Scotland given the sheer number of challenges that the industry as a whole faces at the moment together with this. Now, as I've said in my previous response, this isn't a simple light or light undertaking and it needs to be based on scientific analysis and the evidence that we have at the moment. So the member talked about the number of outbreaks that we're seeing across the UK. There are a number of outbreaks in England. I believe the last number was 107 that we've seen there. We've seen six in Scotland. The CVOs in Wales and Northern Ireland also have not taken the decision not to introduce a mandatory housing order. Now, the types of consideration or the issues that we have to give consideration to when that decision is taking is looking at the numbers, the geographical distribution of poultry cases, the epidemiological reports on risk pathways, risk assessments on disease risk level, alongside case numbers and the geographical distribution of wild bird findings as well. Those are just some of the considerations that the CVO and her team have to look at when making those decisions. I hope that the member can appreciate again that I depend on that advice from the chief veterinary officer and on that expertise and the scientific analysis that's undertaken when we're looking to make these decisions. Emma Roddick. Thank you, Presiding Officer. This is clearly a worrying time for poultry farmers. My understanding though is that keeping birds indoors is not a silver bullet for combating avian influenza. The recent comments of the chief veterinary officer give us assurance that Scotland's approach to this situation is being led by the evidence. Can the cabinet secretary set out some detail on how other methods to prevent direct and indirect contact between flocks and wild birds could help to protect poultry from this disease? The Scottish Government has published some guidance that has been developed jointly with DEFRA and Welsh Government on our Gov.Scot webpages with guidance on bi-security and preventing welfare impacts in poultry and captive birds and advice for all captive birds and poultry keepers. That includes game birds, waterfile and pet birds. It also has published an avian influenza prevention zone self-assessment checklist. It's also important to emphasise some of the key requirements that we'd be asking or looking for keepers to follow. Some of that includes checking the integrity of buildings where birds are kept for any defects that could potentially allow water ingress or other contamination, fencing off or netting any ponds, standing water, a waterlogged land in the range to prevent access by poultry or other captive birds, and also using a Government-approved disinfectant at the correct concentrations. All of that advice, which has been developed jointly, is available on our webpages, and I would encourage keepers to look at that. The impact on the poultry sector of the worst of our avian flu outbreak has been devastating with more than 90,000 hens alone culled, with new cases still emerging. That number will rise as will death among wild birds. If the Cabinet Secretary has rolled out introducing a house-in-order at this time, we need to see robust implementation and monitoring of biosecurity standards. However, there have also been worrying reports in England that avian flu has been found in game birds such as pheasants, reared in activity and then released into the wild for hunting. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the likely number of pheasants that have died of avian flu and whether their release has had any impact on spreading the deadly disease? I would be happy to get back to the member with further information on that, but I would just come back to the initial point that he made about the difference that excellent biosecurity measures make in this type of situation as well. Again, we have not ruled out a mandatory housing order. We are continuing to monitor this situation every day. That could well change and we could well look to implement that, but, again, we need to base that on the analysis and the evidence that we have.