 The next item of business is consideration of two business motions. Motion 10976, setting out a revised business programme for Thursday, and motion 10975, on stage 2 of the UK withdrawal from the European Union legal continuity Scotland bill. If any member objects to the questions that have been put, please say so now. I call on Joe Fitzpatrick, on behalf of the Bureau, to move the motions. Firmly moved. Thank you very much. No one objects, so the question is that motions 10976 and 10975 be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. Point of order, Graham Simpson. I didn't wish to object to the motions, but it throws up a potential problem. If the amendments are not dealt with tonight and we continue tomorrow morning, that could potentially and will clash with committee meetings. Those of us who have put down amendments clearly take that very seriously. We would want to move those amendments, but people like myself also have committee responsibilities, which are as important. I really rise. You will probably tell me that it is not a point of order, but it is nevertheless an important point. I will ask what your advice is on that. First, I will assure you that it is a point of order. Not only that, it is quite an important one. I am sure that you are not the only member who will find themselves in this situation. It has happened many times in the past where members are attending one committee but wish to be present at another to move amendments. The standing orders allow members a choice in those circumstances. It is a choice, however. Rule 12.2A on committee substitutes allows another member to attend committees in place of the member. Rule 9.10.14 says that any member present may move an amendment where the member who lodged it does not do so. I thank Mr Simpson for raising that point of order, and I hope that all the members who find themselves in that situation think about how to proceed should the situation arise. We now move to the next item of business, which is double-gold questions, and our first question is from Alexander Stewart. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effect of the Scottish income tax rate on military personnel. Scottish Government's income tax policy means that everyone who earns less than £26,000 will pay less tax than they would for the same income elsewhere in the UK, the lowest rate of tax in the UK. Everyone who earns less than £33,000 will pay less tax in 2018-19 than they did in 2017-18 for a given wage. Military personnel who are resident in Scotland for income tax purposes pay income tax at the same rates as all other Scottish tax payers. The definition of a Scottish tax payers is determined by UK, not Scottish legislation, and is implemented by revenue and customs. We are fully committed to supporting the armed forces community. Service provision varies in different parts of the UK and Scotland, and continues to be a very attractive place to live, work and do business, with access to many services that are not available elsewhere in the UK, such as free school meals, personal care, prescriptions and eye tests, and in many cases, university tuition. Alexander Stewart I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The issue here is that the military personnel devote their lives to service and will be posted where that takes them. Those based in Scotland earning more than £26,000 will now pay more for those who are based elsewhere in the UK. That is 70 per cent of men and women in the service in Scotland. Can I ask the cabinet secretary before the decision was taken to raise income tax for those service personnel? Was there any discussion, consultation or engagement with the MOD? Derek Mackay First of all, I notice that Alexander Stewart has completely ignored the fact that for those on the lowest wages in the military who earn up to £26,000, they will pay less under our proposals. Perhaps it would be refreshing to see the Tories concerned about lower paid people for once rather than those on higher incomes. I wrote to the Secretary of State for Defence nearly five weeks ago on the issue. I have yet to receive a responsive first response that I got was a press release issued by the Secretary of State having a go at the Scottish Government. That is no way to have the dialogue that Alexander Stewart says he is interested in, but if it is the case, the Conservatives are genuinely concerned about the pay of the armed forces. Why have they not lifted the public sector pay cap? That is the easiest way to deal with the question of public sector pay within the armed forces. I have listed all the different ways in which Scotland is an extremely attractive place for armed forces personnel to be in terms of free prescriptions. It is also true to say that, on average, council tax in Scotland is around more than £400 less in Scotland than it is in the rest of the UK. Those are all reasons why, unlike the Conservatives, we want to attract people in the armed forces to come to Scotland, and perhaps we would not have the recruitment crisis and the failure of the UK Government to complete its pledge to have 12,500 personnel in Scotland by 2020 if they were to look after the armed forces across the whole of the UK. Alexander Stewart. I am thankful that the UK Government is now going to act, and the Defence Secretary, Gareth Williamson, has said that he will urgently review the situation after pressure from Scottish Conservative MPs. It is surely good news that the men and women who keep us safe will now face no financial penalty for being based in Scotland. Will the cabinet secretary join me in overwhelmingly welcoming this? The letter that I sent to the Secretary of State for Defence said that we were perfectly willing to discuss that. We also made it very clear that we will not counter any move by the UK Government, which disadvantages the lower pay, those below £26,000, who should also factor in some of the concerns of Alexander Stewart as well. We have said that we were willing to discuss that, but if he asked a question about parity between armed forces personnel and welcomes what he says is the action—it is not action as I understand it—it is a review, but if there is action to be taken by the UK Government, will they take action to protect the interests of the 10,000 or so service personnel elsewhere in the UK who will pay a higher rate than they would do here in Scotland? Are they going to be even handed? We will wait and see what the review brings out. It is very important that we take the action that we have taken. We have got the fairest tax policy, I believe, the most progressive in the whole of the UK. We are looking after those and the lowest incomes. We are doing some of the work that the UK Government should be doing to attract people to come into the armed forces in the first place, instead of the recruitment crisis, going back to the failure of any Conservative MSP in Scotland to talk about the basic review and to challenge the Government, even when many of their English counterparts, even when the wife of one of the Ministry of Defence Ministers, is challenging the UK Government on a closure of a base in her constituency. It is not a word from the Conservatives about the base closures that are happening in Scotland. It is the Scottish Government that is a friend of the armed forces in Scotland and not the Tory party. Christine Grahame Thank you, Presiding Officer. Does the minister agree with me that if we follow the logic of the Conservative argument and make a special case not to increase the tax on some of those higher earners in the armed forces, would it then follow this should prohibit their access to things like free prescriptions and tuition fees that are already referred to? Or will he, like me, agree that those serving in our armed forces deserve all the benefits of living in Scotland for which we all collectively pay? John Swinney I agree with Christine Grahame that the Scottish Government has always been clear in its ambition that income tax should be fair and progressive. I think that there is substantial support in the armed forces for the same position as well. We will also do that while supporting the delivery of vital public services and enabling investment in the economy. We firmly believe that everybody living in Scotland should be treated equally and fairly in the benefits that they receive and the contributions that they make. I can say that the people that I talked to in the armed forces in Scotland are very happy in Scotland. They wanted to come here, they are happy to be here and men stay here after they have finished their services in the armed forces. Graham Day I agree with me that this is utter hypocrisy on the part of the Tories, whose concern for the financial wellbeing of service personnel is laid bare by their overseeing of £1,000 real-terms cutting wages since 2010 and introducing childcare changes that will leave servicemen and women who move within the services or join the armed forces in the future £456 a year worse off. Graham Day I agree with Graham Day. The UK Government should follow the lead that the Scottish Government has taken and match the commitment that we have made in providing a progressive approach to public sector pay, which protects those in the lowest incomes and delivers a fair deal for public sector workers in Scotland. It is interesting that not a single Conservative MSP or MP in Scotland has called for the UK Government to lift the public sector pay cap for our armed forces personnel. Clare Baker To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Youth Theatre regarding its future. Minister Marie Todd The Scottish Government officials met the Scottish Youth Theatre yesterday, on Monday 12 March, to begin looking at immediate options for the theatre to continue operations. The Scottish Youth Theatre is due to meet the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs later this week to continue the discussions. Clare Baker There is clear support for the theatre with more than 37,000 people signing the online petition, and former students are preparing to stage a peaceful demonstration in George Square today. Yet the Scottish Youth Theatre has been here before. Four years ago, the Scottish Government had to put together a package to secure the theatre's short-term future. Can the minister provide details of the rescue package four years ago, to outline the possibility of that being awarded again, and say if any consideration is being given to any transitional arrangements to end the current uncertainty? Clare Baker I agree that there is a great deal of concern around the country and there is a great deal of concern around this chamber for the youth theatre. Everybody recognises the value of the work that they do. I, as an education minister, am absolutely committed to ensuring that our young people have the opportunity to develop their creative side. It is very important for their emotional development, it is very important for their intellectual development. Recognising that creative Scotland is legally at arm's length from the Scottish Government, and we cannot intervene in their creative decisions. As I have said to you already, Government officials have met yesterday. The Cabinet Secretary will meet with them tomorrow, and I am sure that everybody will be working together to find a solution for them. Clare Baker I appreciate the minister's perhaps unable this afternoon to provide the details of the grant that was given four years ago from the Scottish Government to the Scottish Youth Theatre, but perhaps she could write to me with the details of that. Creative Scotland and its regular funding announcement has come under significant criticism in recent weeks. Their performing arts are in a precarious position as options for support is dwindling, as local authorities come under significant pressure to deliver services, and commercial support for the sector is contracting. The five national performing companies are currently directly supported by government and receive in the region of £23 million a year, while 108 to four organisations competed for the pot of £33 million of regular funding from Creative Scotland. An argument is being made that the Scottish Youth Theatre should be given a status equal to the national companies. Will the minister give a commitment to exploring that option? The minister will be one of the options that will be explored by the cabinet secretary when she meets the Scottish Youth Theatre tomorrow. The case has been put for a number of years that that might be a solution going forward, and the cabinet secretary is likely to explore that with him tomorrow. Sandra White Thank you very much. I am pleased to hear that the cabinet secretary will certainly explore that as a national theatre. Janet Archer, the director of Creative Scotland, made a statement that said that awards are made on merit. I cannot think of any better award to be made rather than the Scottish Youth Theatre for the work that it does. I am concerned that Creative Scotland is under pressure and I am only pursuing other avenues of funding for Scottish Youth Theatre. I would like an explanation as to why that was not offered at the outset, given the outstanding contribution of Scottish Youth Theatre. If I could possibly also find out why the Scottish Youth Theatre in 2014 did not receive RFA funding and have not received it now. As the First Minister indicated at questions last Thursday, the Scottish Government cannot dictate which organisations are offered funding by Creative Scotland. It is for Creative Scotland to explain who has been offered what and when. Creative Scotland, as part of its overall funding announcements in January, stated that the other funding routes were available to organisations unsuccessful in regular funding applications. We recognise that the potential closure of the Scottish Youth Theatre is of concern to many people, including right across the chamber. That is why we are exploring all the options that are available with the theatre and Creative Scotland. I am sure that the minister is deeply concerned about the recent funding decisions that are made with regard to the Scottish Youth Theatre, which stands to jeopardise the year of young people this year. It has an objective that includes providing opportunities for young people to express themselves through culture, sport and other activities. How will the Scottish Government ensure that the decisions that are made with regard to the Scottish Youth Theatre promote and not jeopardise the objectives and ambitions of the year of young people? Absolutely. We are in the year of young people. Arts, culture and theatre within that are very important to young people in Scotland, to the wellbeing of the young people of our nation and to the emotional and intellectual development of our young people. We want to make sure that theatre and youth theatre in particular can flourish not just this year in the year of young people but generally in Scotland. The Scottish Youth Theatre does fantastic work and it is the desire of all members for it to be able to continue to do so. There are absolutely always difficult decisions to be taken about funding and funding for Creative Scotland and for culture and the arts generally increased this year in the budget that we have just passed. Many organisations will be getting regular funding that they previously did not get and we have managed to mitigate the impact of cuts in lottery funding. Difficult decisions just cannot be completely escaped though, but we are absolutely determined to look at all options to protect if we can the work that Scottish Youth Theatre does and to support as far as we can a healthy, vibrant cultural sector right across Scotland this year, the year of young people and beyond. I am pleased that the Scottish Government is engaging actively at official and cabinet level on the issue. It is fairly clear that the Scottish Youth Theatre understands some of the issues that it faces in relation to the last funding round and the scale of change in governance, as well as addressing issues such as inclusivity and removing financial barriers to participating in their programmes. Those changes have been under way, but it should also be clear to all of us that they will be unable to complete that process of change and improvement unless they have the confidence of a long-term future ahead of them. Does the minister agree that what is required is not just a stopgap, not just something that lets them stumble on for a few more months, but gives them the sense of clarity that they can continue with their programme of improvement, transformation and becoming a better Scottish Youth Theatre, not just continuing with a Scottish Youth Theatre? I agree with much of what Patrick Harvie has said. The Scottish Youth Theatre has confirmed to Creative Scotland that it is not seeking a reversal of the decision on the RFO application. I understand that it has said publicly that it recognises that the application could have been better. The Government absolutely values the importance to Scotland of youth arts provision, which is why we are working with the Scottish Youth Theatre and Creative Scotland to look at all the options for young people to continue to benefit from what the Scottish Youth Theatre has to offer. I apologise to Mr McAlpine, but we have run out of time for any further topical questions on that. We will move now to the next item of business.