 The next item of business is consideration of business motion 1312, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting out a change to today's business. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request to speak button now. I call on George Adam to move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and formally moved. Thank you. No member has asked to speak against the motion. Therefore, the question is that motion 1312 be agreed. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next item of business is topical questions. As ever, I would like to get in as many people as possible and succinct questions and responses. It would be very helpful, as I call question number one, Emma Harper. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the impact of the increase in wholesale gas prices on food and energy availability in Scotland, particularly ahead of winter. Cabinet Secretary, Marie Gougeon. Scottish Government ministers and officials are in regular contact with the whole of the food and drink sector. The current assessment based on our discussions is that, while availability has stabilised, there has been a reduction in the choice of products. The Scottish Government will continue to maintain regular contact with the sector, including on the availability of carbon dioxide, which has significant impacts on food production and animal welfare. When it comes to the security of gas supply, that is a reserved matter and one in which the Scottish Government has no formal functions. The UK gas system is subject to regular assessments of security of supply through national grids, twice-yearly, outlinked publications, the biennial European gas risk assessment and other ad hoc assessments. The Scottish Government works closely with national grid, as well as with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of GEM and Scotland's gas distribution network operator, to ensure that the supply of gas to Scottish consumers remain resilient and that Scottish circumstances and priorities are taken fully into account. Emma Harper. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. As she says, CO2 is essential as a component in food supply chain. It is used in our abattoirs and to vacuum pack food products and to provide the ffizz for beer, cider and soft drinks. James Withers from Food and Drink Scotland told me that he is extremely concerned, as it is estimated that Scottish pork and poultry producers only have between five and 15 days left of CO2. In addition, Scottish small and micro breweries cannot access CO2 supplies. Without an urgent resolution, I understand that it is likely that livestock will be backed up on farms, potentially causing animal welfare issues, and that many small breweries will be out of business. Given these serious food supply chain concerns, can the cabinet secretary outline what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government and the industry requiring restarting fertiliser production, which is essential in the whole food supply chain? The member is absolutely right in raising all the concerns that she has, because that is critical. As the member mentioned, the risk of a shortage of carbon dioxide has major implications for food production, as well as animal welfare, because it is used in packaging when it extends shelf life. The lack of use of it will lead to increased spoilage and waste. In relation to animal welfare, as Emma Harper highlighted, CO2 is used for slaughter with the pig plant and the poultry plant at Cuperangus, both reliant on gas for slaughter. At this current point, we understand that both plants either have supplies for the time being or have alternative methods that they can use. In the longer term, we need to find more resilient supplies of gas for our industry, but I would say to the member and to the chamber that I am expecting to speak to Deputy Minister Victoria Prentis later on today about a range of issues. In particular, given the latest issues that we are facing, we will add a long-term and sustainable solution of CO2 supply to the list of issues that we will be discussing. I would be grateful if both the member and the cabinet secretary could ensure that questions and answers were shorter, please. I will try to be brief. The regulator of GEMS price cap, cap surprise of the maximum suppliers, can charge customers on their standard variable tariffs. That has been set to rise by 12 per cent by the end of 1 October. Those who use repayment meters, typically the most vulnerable in our society, are likely to see an average of their energy bills rise by £1,309 a year. On top of the UK Government's cruel cut of the £20 per week universal credit, I ask the cabinet secretary to outline what action the Scottish Government is taking to help prevent fuel poverty. Will she join me in calling the UK Government to stop penalising some of the most vulnerable people in our society during a global pandemic? The member is absolutely right, and I am happy to join her in that call, because the cut that we have seen to universal credit will only go to exacerbate the extreme situation that a lot of people are facing right now. About a third of people live in fuel poverty, and about a quarter of people live in extreme fuel poverty. Issues that we are facing right now will only go to exacerbate that, and the actions by the UK Government will do nothing to resolve it and indeed make that situation even more precarious. In relation to what we are doing to tackle fuel poverty, by the end of this year we will have allocated over £1 billion since 2009 to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. That will include £114 million spent this year alone, and in addition to that, we are continuing to fund Home Energy Scotland to provide free and impartial advice on how to reduce bills and make homes warmer and cheaper to heat. The Scottish Government will continue to do what we can, as we always do, to mitigate against the worst of the cuts that we see from the UK Government and Westminster. With the shortage of CO2 required for the humane slaughter of pigs and the suspension of the Chinese licence due to Covid, Scottish Pig Producers are facing the perfect storm. QPL Breakin has currently on a three-day week with farmers choosing to divert their pigs to the north of England. Can I ask what the Scottish Government's position is on the reinstatement of the Chinese licence to help Breakin to return to full capacity and will she extend the Pig Producers fund deadline beyond 26 September? Acutely aware of the issues that the member has just raised, the QPPL plant is within my constituency and my officials have been engaging closely with QPPL to try and resolve the issues that they are facing. I personally engage with them and I will continue to do so. The member rightly raises the hardship fund, which was announced earlier on this month, and we will continue to do all that we can to support our vital pig industry. As the minister has already said that she is meeting with the UK Government, she will also be aware that, with one or two factories closing, that can cripple the supplies of our CO2 across the country, which the food and drink sector and the NHS absolutely rely on. Is this something that the minister will be discussing with the UK Government and with her own Scottish Government's food resilience group? Can the minister set out what the discussions will be to ensure greater long-term resilience for the CO2 supply chain? I want to assure the member and assure other members across the chamber that we are working across Government on this, because, as has been highlighted in some of the questions that we have seen today, we can see the impacts not just within the food and drink sector, but in relation to fuel poverty and social security, too. We are working across Government to do what we can to try and resolve some of those issues. As I said in a previous response to Emma Harper, I will be meeting with the Deputy Minister for Victoria and Princess this evening. We will be discussing a range of issues, including the CO2, not least, of course, the labour shortages, which are also a critical issue, not just for our food and drink sector, but right across the society in Scotland at the moment. Willie Rennie We have already heard about welfare issues and food shortages as a result of the CO2 shortage. Will the minister consider intervening and prioritising CO2 supplies for the food sector? The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Tourism Of course, as I previously stated, we will be doing everything we can to try and resolve this situation. Again, this is one where not all the levers of this are within our control. I believe that the business secretary and the UK Government has been engaging with CF Industries, the fertilizer supplier, in an attempt to find a resolution to that. We would, of course, encourage those discussions, because this is absolutely critical now in relation to keeping our food and drink supply chains going and to keep the food on ourselves. Of course, we will be doing all that we can to try and help in this situation. Liam McArthur I ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research, stating that no recommendations to improve practice are made in nine out of 10 fatal accident inquiries into deaths in prison. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown Any death in custody is a tragedy. As I set out in Parliament during portfolio questions last week, the Scottish Government takes very seriously the issue of deaths in custody. We have commissioned an independent review of how deaths in custody are handled, as I indicated in response to a question from Pauline McNeill last week. We will consider carefully any recommendations that the independent review makes when it reports this year whether to improve the safety of prisoners or how deaths in custody are responded to. Death in custody, as a member knows, is subject to a mandatory fatal accident inquiry unless the circumstances of the death have been explained through a criminal trial or other inquiry. The presiding sheriff will consider the evidence led by all parties and determine whether any reasonable precautions were identified which might have resulted in the death being avoided or any defects in any system of working which contributed to the death. Where no matters have been identified at the inquiry which might realistically prevent other deaths in similar circumstances, there will be no basis for the sheriff to make any recommendations. In 2020-21 there were 61 fatal accident inquiries that were held, including any FAI relating to a death in custody. There were 18 recommendations made and eight of the inquiries held. With recommendations are made, the priority is to ensure that those are acted upon. Liam McArthur In 2018, Katie Allen and William Lindsay tragically died in Pullman. Almost three years on, the fatal accident inquiries into their deaths are still outstanding. Lessons are still to be learned. The research from Glasgow University shows that even when FAIs conclude, improvements are unlikely to follow. Two weeks ago, Jack Mackenzie died in Pullman, a waiting trial. He was 20. Does the cabinet secretary still believe that the fatal accident inquiry is working properly? As a member knows, the fatal accident inquiry system that we now have was debated and agreed upon in 2016. It has also been subsequently debated by the justice committee, who looked at those issues in depth and did not recommend, for example, mandatory time limits in terms of fatal accident inquiries. There is always a case that we can look to improve the situation. We have allocated new funding to the law officers to ensure that the FAIs where they are held can be conducted more quickly. The member will also know that there are very often other inquiries that have to take place prior to an FAI taking place. We will look to make any further improvements that we can. I, for my part, am more than willing to listen to any representations that are made by the justice committee. In the meantime, we believe that the FAI system is one that works, albeit that we should all seek to improve it. Cabinet Secretary, it is not just death and custody where fatal accidents inquiries fail. The whole system is in need of reform. Research by Scottish Liberal Democrats in 2019 found decade-long delays to investigations. The Scottish Government and the Lord Advocate promised resources, improvements and response, but reports of decade-long delays keep on coming. Why does the cabinet secretary believe that more of the same is enough? I have just said to the member that I believe that more has to be done. I have also mentioned the fact that no resources were made available and we have seen reductions in the length of inquiries. There has also been an increase in the number of inquiries over the course of recent years. As that happens, as the pressures can build up, it is up to the Scottish Government to make sure that we look at this afresh. Although it is not just down to the Scottish Government, we have to, of course, listen to what the Justice Committee, who have examined the issues in depth, has to say as well, but we will continue to look at this seriously, as we know the heartbreak it can cause to people of some of whom Liam McArthur has highlighted when a system is delayed, albeit that it may be delayed for very legitimate purposes. The bottom line, Cabinet Secretary, is that fatal accident inquiries are simply taking both too long to commence and too long to conclude. The average time is nearly three years. That is up from two in just one year. It is a shocking statistic. Those benches support the introduction of a statutory maximum timescale for fatal accident inquiries. Why does the cabinet secretary not? As I understand it, his party did not support that back in 2016 when it was previously discussed. It may be that there is a reason for them having changed their views and, of course, I am happy to listen to any representations on that, but he will also know that, if I can just finish before Mr Kerr starts shouting again from a centre position, he does that on a regular basis. Of course, it is the case that those are conducted independently of the Scottish Government by the Lord Advocate. I am not aware that other parties, including the Conservative party, want to change that. If they want to change that, of course they can bring that forward. It is the case where it is not working as effectively as they could. Of course, we and the law officers want to do all that we can to make sure that it is done as timeously as possible. We have seen improvements in recent years, partly due to the resources that have been allocated to it. However, if there are other suggestions, we should keep an open mind in relation to those.