 maen nhw gyda'r cymdeithasol y cyflawn iawn nefyd. Fawn y cyflawniaeth, Ydw Llywodraeth Cymru yn filydd, a'r cyfuniau gyda'r cyflawn iawn hefyd yn gweinolín gwheithraff y Gwasanaeth Cymru, ond mae'n ddweud â'r cyfan dechrau o ffordd iawn hefyd fel y cyflawn iawn hefyd. Foes y Gymru bod ddaw'r cyfeleidadau i lawnt i'r gwasanaethau i lawnt i'r gymhonoedd, a'i fflawn i ni'n ddweud â'r cyfan i lawnt i uned, backgrounds going to university, and we've seen violent crime on the increase. Does she wonder why the people of Scotland question her priorities? First Minister, we're seeing an increase in young people from our most deprived communities going to university. That's very clear from the most recent UCAS statistics. It's also the case that despite the significant challenges that are faced by our national health service, our national health service is performing brilliantly. Those are the words used by Ruth Davidson just two days ago. If Ruth Davidson wants me to give some highlights from the day job, I would be absolutely delighted to indulge her. Let me take her through the last 24 hours or so that I've been engaged in. I've announced that the Scottish Government investment of £5 million in a new sub-sea engineering centre of excellence in Montrose. I've set out the next steps in the creation of the new National Manufacturing Institute. I've had separate discussions with three major inward investors to Scotland in areas of energy, tourism and low-carbon technology. Let's widen it out to the Government overall. We've extended the scheme to tackle period poverty with £1.5 million of investment. We've announced an end to child burial fees. We've led the way in action to tackle plastic use. We've passed a new islands bill. We've confirmed funding for the Stirling-Clackmannanshire growth deal. Actually, with more money than the UK Government is putting into it. Or maybe Ruth Davidson would like to hear something about the last 10 days or so. We've announced additional investment in Clyde Gateway to create new jobs. We've announced a new £100 minimum school clothing grant, which will help 120,000 families across the country. We've announced an additional £50 million to tackle waiting times. We've published the NHS safe staffing bill, published the new climate change bill. We've announced £7 million investment in projects to help fishing fleets and coastal communities. We've announced a new £7.5 million innovation fund for new approaches to tackling child poverty. Would you like me to go on, or is that enough for you? I'm not sure what Ruth Davidson has been doing for the last few days, but that's what the Scottish Government has been doing. Ruth Davidson. As far as the country can see, the only result of the last 10 days activity is restarting the independence debate. Restarting the independence debate is that she's had to firefight against her own supporters who are fighting amongst themselves, which I'm not sure is what she intended. The truth is that we have a First Minister whose prime concern seems to be appeasing her own independence army rather than governing Scotland. They don't like it, but it's true. We already know that we've had some of the worst NHS waiting times ever. We already know that access to education is being restricted, so let me ask her about another area of responsibility that deserves her attention too. On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied does she think that rural Scotland is with the actions that her Government has taken? First Minister. What the country can see are all the initiatives that I've just outlined in this chamber. The question for Ruth Davidson, I guess, is this. If she doesn't want us to be talking about independence, why is she using her weekly opportunity at First Minister's questions to raise the topic of independence? Isn't it the case that Ruth Davidson loves nothing more than talking about the Constitution because she's got nothing else to talk about? She just doesn't want the positive case for independence to be heard. Ruth Davidson asked me about rural communities. I hope that she was listening to the long list of initiatives that I outlined. She would have heard one of the things that I talked about was the £7 million investment in projects to help fishing, fleets and coastal communities. We're working hard to ensure delivery of cap payments, having already made loans to most farmers. We will continue to deliver for rural communities across Scotland. Yesterday, in this chamber, we passed the island's bill to help our island communities. We will continue to deliver for rural communities, urban communities and all communities across Scotland. The First Minister just mentioned cap payments. That was bold. Let me tell her what farmers are saying. Jim Walker, the former head of the NFUS, made his feelings clear yesterday. They might not want to hear what Jim Walker has to say. One second, Ms Davidson. There is too much noise in the chamber today. Let's hear the questions and the answers. Ruth Davidson. Let's listen to what Jim Walker has to say, shall we? Three years on from this Government's botched farm payment system, nearly a half of Scotland's farmers are still waiting to be paid what they're owed. Mr Walker says that this is a national scandal of epic proportions and taxpayers in Scotland are footing an ever-increasing bill. He says that the First Minister is presiding over the biggest funding scandal in modern Scottish history. Perhaps, rather than pulling us all back to theoretical debates about what currency the country might use, shouldn't the First Minister concentrate a bit more on paying Scotland's farmers the actual currency that they're owed? Let's just run through some of the facts. We've made basic payment scheme loan payments to 13,577 businesses. That's worth over £314 million, and loan payments were made before the cap payment window even opened on 1 December last year. Nearly 75 per cent of farmers have received 90 per cent of the support that they're entitled to under the basic payment scheme. In terms of the actual basic payments, we've paid £217 million, with 63 per cent of businesses now paid. Of course, we're working hard to meet the target by the end of June this year. Perhaps the most pressing question is facing farmers not just in Scotland but right across the UK. Given that her UK Government colleagues cannot answer it, perhaps Ruth Davidson can answer it today. What is going to happen to cap payments after the Tories drag us out of the European Union? Ruth Davidson has been guaranteed, but let me tell her what Jamocca is saying. Let me answer her directly with this. Enough is enough. Let's call a halt to this pantomime. Why should suppliers and farmers bankroll a sector amongst ourselves while our own Government sits on our money? This is the responsibility of the First Minister, who is ultimately responsible for the proper use of public funds on our behalf. It's not just Scotland's farmers that are being let down. Here is the reality of this Government's record. This week alone, we have learned that 17,000 people in just a single month are waiting beyond the six-week deadline for diagnostic tests, including cancer. It has become harder for young people from our poorest communities to get a place at university. We have communities right across Scotland suffering from writing anti-social behaviour and violent crime. Those are the important issues that the people of Scotland really care about. Why is it that they only fault getting any of the First Minister's attention? They aren't patients, they aren't students, they aren't victims of crime, but they are her own independent supporters? First Minister? Just because Ruth Davidson wishes that that was the case, I'm afraid it doesn't make it true. Ruth Davidson knows that she's wrong on access to higher education. The most up-to-date statistics on access to university shows that there's been a 12 per cent increase in 18-year-olds from our most deprived communities going to university. Of all ages, that increase is 13 per cent. The figures published this week show that more care experience young people are going into higher education, they show improved retention rates for young people from our deprived communities going to university. On the national health service, we are putting more money into the national health service. This is in the week when Ruth Davidson admitted that the biggest risk to her health service was the preference of the Tories for tax cuts over investment in our public services. Perhaps this is a good moment to remind Ruth Davidson that, if we had taken her advice when we passed our budget for this financial year and given tax cuts to the rich, instead of investing in our national health service, we'd have £500 million less to spend. That's equivalent to 12,000 nurses in our national health service, so we'll continue to invest while the Tories continue to do all the damage that at least Ruth Davidson has a degree to admit to this week. Radiology services in Scotland are in need of resuscitation. This matters because, when radiology fails, the health service fails. We are now witnessing a national radiology service that is starting to crumble. Not my words, the words this week of Dr Grant Baxter, the head of the Royal College of Radiologists in Scotland. First Minister, is Dr Baxter wrong? We will continue to work with clinicians like Dr Baxter to address the challenges that our national health service is facing. If we look at the statistics published this week in terms of diagnostic tests—there are eight diagnostic tests, four of them are in radiology—we're seeing their performance of over 90 per cent in terms of meeting the target. Endoscopy tests' performance is not as good as that, which is why the health secretary has outlined further action this week. We know that our NHS is facing significant extra demand. We're seeing the demand, for example, for out-patient appointments up by 10 per cent in the last decade. That is not unique to Scotland. It is a challenge that health services across the world are facing. That is why we are taking action to invest more in our health service. We are investing record sums, and we will invest an additional £2 billion over this Parliament. Of course, the health secretary announced £50 million of additional funding just this week to help tackle waiting times. We're also taking steps to reform our health service, to shift the balance of care and to do more to recruit into key specialties. We will continue to take that action that is needed, and we are determined to continue to take it. The action that is being taken isn't working. Dr Baxter goes on to say that waiting times continually increase largely due to imaging backlogs. Cancers go undiagnosed. Patience cannot be treated as their scans are not reported on time. Patience, anxiety and worry over pending scan reports can last for weeks and months. Those are real lives, First Minister. It is the fear of having to wait for a cancer diagnosis, the anxiety and the trauma of a longer-than-necessary wait for treatment, the difference between early and late diagnosis. The Government has a target that patients should not wait longer than six weeks for these tests, yet just two days ago it was revealed that one in five patients is now waiting too long. So can Nicola Sturgeon tell the chamber what that figure was when she became First Minister? As I have already said, there are challenges around diagnostic tests, but I would encourage Richard Leonard to look at the detail of that. In terms of the four radiology tests, performance is above 90 per cent. When it comes to scopes, performance is not as good as we want it to be, which is why this week the health secretary has announced action that bowel cancer UK has described as an important announcement that is a step in the right direction. We have also invested an additional £5 million to support access to diagnostics for suspected cancer patients. Of course, boards assure the Scottish Government that, where somebody is suspected of having cancer, they are treated with priority and within six weeks. In fact, the vast majority of cancer patients are seen within two to three weeks. The 62-day standard for cancer is an important one, and once a decision has been made to treat, the average wait for cancer treatment is only six days. Where there are issues, and we are very frank where those issues are, the Government will continue to take the action to address them. The overall trend, if you look at inpatient and day-case waiting times over the decade that the SNP has been in government, the numbers seen overall are up, but the numbers waiting more than 12 weeks down by 30 per cent, and the numbers waiting more than 18 weeks down by 43 per cent. We will continue to invest and carry out the reforms to how our health service delivers care that will mean that patients are treated in the way that they deserve to be. One in 13 patients waited too long when Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister. Today, it is one in five. That is a 171 per cent increase in patients waiting too long, patients waiting for diagnostic tests and investigations, including for cancer. That is what the people of Scotland want the First Minister to focus on, not promoting another divisive referendum, not taking to Twitter to defend the decade of cuts and austerity that would come with leaving the UK. Presiding Officer, there are serious problems in our national health service, and they are growing. Labour raises them in this parliament week after week, but the SNP is expending more energy on its cuts commission than cutting NHS waiting times. When is the First Minister going to stop putting nationalism before the national health service? I think that Richard Leonard has just shown his true colours. It is interesting, is it not, Presiding Officer, that the only people to have mentioned independence in this chamber today are the better-together parties, which I think speaks volumes. This is the week in which the health secretary has announced extra action, action that has been welcomed by Bill Cancer UK. It is the week in which the health secretary has announced the investment of an additional £50 million to tackling waiting times. When we did similar last year, that had an impact on outpatient waiting times. The recent statistics this week show improvement in outpatient waiting times, and we are obviously going to target this investment on inpatient waiting times. We will continue to take the action on health, on education across the whole range of issues that I have spoken about today, and we will leave the better-together parties to speak about whatever they want. The First Minister will agree with me that it is great news that the Stirling-Clack city region deal heads of terms were signed in Stirling this morning. The total package of £95.2 million includes an additional £5 million from the Scottish Government for infrastructure projects at Callan and Caldean. The UK Government has overpromised and underdelivered that, given that the Scottish Government will invest £50 million in real terms over 10 years, while the UK Government will only invest £40 million over 15 years once the notional £5 million valuation for the MOD4 side is discounted. First Minister. First, I think that it is very welcome that the Stirling-Clack Manusure deal has been agreed today. It will be good for that area and credit to Bruce Crawford and others who have campaigned so hard for it. We were hoping to see a UK Government investment of £50 million. That is what we were prepared to commit. That is what the Scottish Government has committed, so it is disappointing that the UK Government has committed to significantly less than that. In fact, if you look at the Scottish Government's overall commitment to city growth deals now, it stands at £1.3 billion, compared with just £1 billion for the UK Government. We will continue to encourage the UK Government to do more, but we will not hold back in giving those cities and regions the investment that they deserve. Neil Bibby. The First Minister is aware of my constituent, Denzel Darko, who faces the prospect of deportation and huge uncertainty about his future. He is a young man who has built his life in Paisley, once a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, a Commonwealth Games baton bearer, and a student nurse who wants to work in our NHS, but who is also the victim of bogus migration targets and the hostile environment policy of the Home Office. He is someone who has contributed a huge amount to this country and who wants to stay in Scotland and the UK so that he can contribute even more. Given the reaction of so many people in my community and across the country, it is clear that people want him to stay here too. Can I ask the First Minister to take the opportunity to make clear to the Home Office the impact that immigration policies are having on young people in Denzel's position? Does the First Minister agree with me that there can be no justification for driving a young man like Denzel away from the place that he calls home? I think that the complete lack of support that the Tories have just shown for a young man who has Scotland as his home and who wants to continue to have Scotland as its home says everything that we need to know about the Conservative Party today. Shame on them. I am aware of the case of Denzel. I have met Denzel in the past. He is a fine young man. He is an absolute credit to Scotland and it is outrageous, scandalous and a disgrace that he has threatened with deportation. We should be trying to attract more young people of his calibre to Scotland, not chasing them away. He wants to be a nurse in our national health service. How many times do the Tories stand up in this chamber and complain about matters in our national health service? How many times do they stand up and complain about staffing shortages in our health service? We still have the Tories wanting to deport a young man who wants to contribute to our national health service. Ruth Davidson is saying that she said that she did not agree with the targets, but she wants Scotland to remain locked into these immigration targets that are so damaging to our economy and our society. The immigration policies of the Tories are disgraceful. I will do everything that I can to make the case for Denzel, Darku, to argue that case. I am sure that Neil Bibby, as the MSP who has taken up the case, will do. I think that what we need is more than action in one case. What we need is a change to immigration policy, a more humane policy and one that recognises the needs of our country. It is that that all of us should be campaigning and arguing for. Andy Wightman To ask the First Minister whether her Government will bring forward legislation to enable the City of Edinburgh to become a normal European city by having the power to introduce a visitor levy or tax. We will continue to consider the issues in the context of our budget planning. I would encourage the member to discuss this, as I am sure he has in the past, with the finance secretary. It is not currently a proposal that the Scottish Government is putting forward, but, of course, we will continue to listen to representations made. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what additional support the Scottish Government might be able to provide to hard-pressed police in Ayrshire following up to 2,000 young people arriving mostly by train at Trun on Bank holiday Monday and causing alcohol-related disturbances on the beach. The First Minister First, it is regrettable if young people behave in a way that causes antisocial behaviour or disturbance to local communities. The fantastic bank holiday Monday that was enjoyed across Scotland was a fantastic thing, and many individuals and families took the time to enjoy that in a thoroughly positive way. Of course, we are investing in the police service. In this financial year, the resource budget of the police service is increasing in real terms. Of course, unlike the situation south of the border, we have maintained police numbers. In England, we have seen 20,000 police officers lost from the service, so we will continue to invest in our police service and continue to support them in the fantastic work that they do. When Nicola Sturgeon announced a legally binding treatment time guarantee, she said that there would be a straightforward system of redress on the rare occasions when things go wrong. It was rare that things went wrong at first—that is true. Only five patients waited longer than 12 weeks. It is not rare any more. There are now 13,005 patients waiting now. The First Minister will recognise those words. Those are the exact words that I used exactly one year ago when I questioned the First Minister. Not much has changed, except the number of patients waiting has gone up yet again—more people waiting for longer, letting down patients and letting down staff. A year ago, the First Minister promised me things would get better. Just when is that going to happen? The figures that were published this week are not good enough, as far as I am concerned, although, when we look at the treatment time guarantee, since that was introduced, 1.6 million patients have received their treatment within the required timeframe. However, the figures are not good enough. Outpatient waiting times have seen an improvement because of the investment in the work that has been undertaken. The additional investment that was announced this week will help us to drive further improvements around inpatient waiting times. Willie Rennie raises a serious issue. We know that the NHS is facing significantly increased demand. If we look and compare now to 2007, we see 10 per cent more new outpatient attendancies a year, we see a 10 per cent increase in inpatient attendancies. That is why we are doing the hard work to prepare our NHS for the future. We are investing record sums. The NHS budget is up by £4 billion already under this Government and will go up by £2 billion further. Per head, NHS funding in Scotland is 8 per cent higher than it is in England. I have already spoken about the £50 million announced this week for waiting times. Willie Rennie has called for much of this action to shift the balance of care, to do more in social care, to do more in community settings, to invest more in mental health, so we will continue to do the hard work. It is not only Scotland that is facing those challenges. Governments across the world are facing those challenges. That is why we have to do the hard work to make sure that we are preparing our NHS for the future. As I said earlier on, when we look at the longer-term trend over the past 10 years, the numbers waiting more than 12 weeks and the numbers waiting more than 18 weeks for inpatient and day-care treatment are down significantly. However, we do face challenges and that is why we are taking all of the action that I have already outlined today. Willie Rennie The First Minister talks about extra money. It was announced this week, even though patients were crying out for it months ago. While patients were waiting in pain and anxiety for treatment, the Government was holding back the money until the newspaper headlines got too bad for the First Minister to bear. That money is to treat patients not to cover for the Government's failures in the NHS. Waiting times are the worst ever. The waiting time guarantee means nothing—failure after failure—and the First Minister has still not answered my question. Five people were waiting, then 13,000 people were waiting. Now 16,000 people are waiting. It is supposed to be zero. It is the law. It is guaranteed. When is the First Minister going to obey her own law? Willie Rennie's wrong in what he says about NHS funding. The funding that is given to NHS boards is increasing, but of course it makes sense that we have the ability, if NHS boards face particular challenges, to have the funding to target those particular challenges. That is a sensible way of proceeding, and we will continue to take that action. If you look at the £50 million that was invested last year, particularly to deal with some of the challenges around outpatient waiting times, since last September, we have seen a reduction of 23 per cent in the numbers waiting more than the target for outpatient consultations. Of course, seeing more people in outpatients adds pressure to inpatient treatment, which is why this funding now allows health boards to target inpatient waiting times. We will continue to do the hard work that is required. As I have said many times before in this chamber, the health services in countries across the UK and across the world are facing the challenges of an ageing population. That does not just mean that the numbers seeking treatment are going up, but the complexity of cases is increasing as well. The investment that we are putting in, plus the reform work that we are doing, is all about making sure that the NHS is supported during a difficult period of transition, and we will continue to get on with that work. Does the First Minister share my concerns for the safety of communities, following the release of Audit Scotland's recent report into the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which found serious concerns about the cost of maintaining the service's vehicles, equipment and properties, and warned of an increased risk of our engines breaking down? Will the Government be following the Audit Scotland's call for an annual investment of £80.4 million so that the service's assets can be brought up to satisfactory standards? I think that it is important not to be irresponsible in characterising the Audit Scotland report this morning. Overall, it is an extremely positive report about the progress that has been made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. In terms of the figure around the capital backlog, it is important to say that that includes some expenditure that is certainly desirable but not essential. This point is particularly important. Fire service assets must comply with stringent safety requirements. There is no suggestion whatsoever that equipment is unsafe. Of course, in the budget for this year, the Scottish Government increased the spending capacity of the Scottish Fire Service by £15.5 million. In the last financial year, we increased capital funding by almost £22 million and maintained that increase in this year's budget. Since the single fire service was launched in 2014, the fire service itself has invested more than £94 million in property, vehicle fleet and other assets. We will continue to support the fire service to make those investments and to ensure that it has the funding that it needs. Again, in response to Ruth Davidson, we should remember that if we had followed the Conservatives' recommendations on our budget for this year, we would have £500 million less to spend. The Tories cannot continually argue for tax cuts that would reduce our spending power and then come to this chamber and ask us to spend more on every single area of our responsibility. It is not credible and it is why the Tories are not and probably never will be credible either. Johann Lamont The First Minister has set a target that 16 per cent of those starting the first full-time degree by 2021 will be from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. Given that the Scottish Funding Council figures released yesterday and I know that the First Minister will not dispute those figures, she shows that, from 2015-16 to 2016-17, participation fell by 0.2 per cent across Scotland, with individual institutions showing a bigger fall. What action will the First Minister take to understand why progress appears to be stalling? Will she consider reviewing the targets to include young people such as a constituent of mine, who is from a very low-income family but does not live within the most deprived areas and, as a consequence, does not benefit from current Scottish Government action? The First Minister I do not dispute the figures, but it is important to understand the figures. I hope that people will listen to this because it is important. As Johann Lamont rightly said, those are figures for 2016-17. They predate the widening access commission recommendations. They justify the decision to set up the widening access commission. The reason why it is wrong to look just at those figures is that we have more up-to-date figures. We have the UCAS figures for 2017-18. Just to be clear, 2017-18 comes after 2016-17. The 20 figures show this. The UCAS has described it as an increase. There is an increase of 12 per cent among 18-year-olds from our most deprived communities going to Scottish universities, and an increase of 13 per cent when we look at all ages from our most deprived communities going to universities. That is progress. It is not enough progress, that is why we have set the targets that Johann Lamont mentioned, but it is progress. For members in the opposition parties to try to contort the figures to suggest that it is not progress, it is a bit rich. Johann Lamont raises a serious issue about how we measure deprivation. The commissioning on widening access's report was very clear on the value of SIMD as a measure of deprivation, and it recommended that we continue to use that for tracking and monitoring targets on fair access. However, we recognise the limitations of the Scottish index of multiple deprivation and why we are open to ways in which other measures can be used. Somebody from a sedentary position has shouted why we are not doing anything about it. We established a working group to look exactly at that question, how we refine the measurement to deal with some of the concerns that have been raised. We are making progress in this area, and given the very legitimate concerns that have been raised by people across the chamber and further afield, I would have thought that, even though people can rightly say that we need to see further progress, people would welcome the progress that is already being made. Christine Grahame Thank you. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on suggestions by the RBS chief executive that post offices are the best solution to replace local banks that have closed. First Minister. Communities across Scotland stand to be adversely affected by the on-going programme of bank branch closures. There is not and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution to maintaining access to banking services in affected areas. Post offices provide many essential services, including basic banking transactions and are a lifeline for many communities, but there are significant limitations on the range of services that they are able to offer, particularly for small businesses. Many customers also remain concerned over levels of privacy available in post office premises. I would encourage banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, to listen to the needs and concerns of their customers and ensure that practical solutions are put in place to allow all communities in Scotland to access essential banking services. Christine Grahame I thank the First Minister for her answer. It shouldn't be news to Ross McHugh and MD of RBS, but post offices have closed right, left and centre in my constituency, in places such as Erleston, Innerlead and Newton Grange, and the RBS closes its branch in Penicook next month. Does the First Minister agree with me that the comment by him that RBS's piggyback on post offices was not only insulting but ill-informed? Does she agree with me that, heading a company with 72 per cent public ownership, he should get out and about starting with my invitation to him to come round Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale to chat with my constituents and small businesses to see what they think of his closures and his grand solution? The First Minister I am sure that most people would be delighted to accept Christine Grahame's invitation to visit her beautiful constituency. I recognise and share many of the concerns that Christine Grahame has expressed. This is an issue that I have discussed personally over recent times with RBS. I am meeting the chair of RBS later this afternoon, and no doubt this is an issue that we will discuss then as well. We do recognise the importance of post offices to local communities, but we have made it clear to both the UK Government and post office limited that they have a responsibility to ensure that existing services are maintained rather than reduced. We also continue to fund Citizens Advice Scotland research into post office outreach services. They have a role to play, but I share Christine Grahame's view that they cannot necessarily provide all the services locally that people want to see. I say to all banks, including RBS, that they have an obligation to listen and to address the concerns that their customers have on their ability to access those services in Christine Grahame's constituency and, indeed, in other constituencies across the country. To ask the First Minister what action she is taking to tackle human trafficking in Scotland. The long-term increase in recorded sexual crime in Scotland and in the rest of the UK is due to a range of factors, including victims having more confidence to come forward to report to police what has happened to them. We will shortly be publishing the first annual progress report on implementation of our trafficking and exploitation strategy. That report will set out the wide range of action taken since publication of the strategy last May. This week, we heard again from the very Reverend Dr John Chalmers how Roma children and young women in Govan Hill are being sold in select slavery by gangsters, while others live eight to ten to a room working 12-hour days for pittance in return. Obviously, you did publish your strategy on trafficking and exploitation a year ago. Could you give us some highlights of an assessment of how this strategy is working in practice and if it is achieving everything that it is aimed at and when we can hope to put an end to this human tragedy? Firstly, I am obviously very well aware of concerns that are raised about Govan Hill. It is an issue that I speak to the police regularly about and my message, firstly, is that people should come forward and report to the police any concerns that they have. I know that the police rigorously investigate and have investigated all concerns that have come forward to them. More generally, in terms of the strategy, as I said in my original answer, we will shortly be publishing the first annual progress report on implementation of the strategy, which will set out the range of actions that have been taken since publication and will also look at the further action that requires to be taken. However, the areas that we have been focusing on, for example, working to raise awareness and strengthen the protection for victims of trafficking—we have also increased funding for victims of trafficking—and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act, which was passed by the Parliament in 2015, strengthens the legal protections and the police powers that are available to tackle that. We will continue to take those actions. The member described it as a human tragedy. Any individual who is trafficked or subject to exploitation in that way is a human tragedy. We must treat it as such, and the Scottish Government will continue to do so extremely seriously. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will call an independence referendum before the end of the current parliamentary session, in light of the report by the Sustainable Growth Commission. My goodness, the Opposition party is just hate talking about independence, do not they? As I have said before, when we have greater clarity on the Brexit outcome, I will set out my views on the best way forward for Scotland. I welcome the report of the Sustainable Growth Commission. Crucially, it allows us to focus on how we can build a better, more prosperous and fairer country, instead of just managing the consequences of Tory austerity and the decline of Brexit, which I know is Labour's preference, but it is certainly not mine. Jackie Baillie I know just how much the First Minister likes talking about independence. It is fair to say that the growth commission report has caused deep splits in the SNP. Oh yes, Alex Bell. The First Minister clearly does not like hearing this, so I will wait until they are ready. Alex Bell, who helped to write the SNP's independence white paper, says that the commission report will mean spending cuts and no economic freedom. Kenny MacAskill, former SNP justice secretary, says that the acceptance of so many aspects of neoliberal doctrine in the report are a step too far. Given that all the candidates for the SNP deputy leadership have said that they expect a referendum within this term of Parliament, with Keith Brown even telling us that it could be 12 months away, let me ask the First Minister if the growth commission report is a device for bringing forward the referendum or is it a vehicle to convince her party members to delay? The First Minister Well, I have got some analysis here that I am going to share with the chamber and hopefully it will be of embarrassment to the Tories, hopefully it will be of interest to Labour. If the spending recommendations of the growth commission had been applied over the past 10 years, the £2.6 billion real terms cuts imposed on the budget of the Scottish Government by Tory Governments at Westminster would have been completely wiped out. It would have eradicated austerity in Scotland. That is the reality. The growth commission report is welcome. It allows us to focus on how to build a better Scotland. It shows that even if independence does not lead to faster growth, the deficit that is created by Westminster can be turned around without austerity, the report is explicit in its rejection of austerity and its recommendation for real terms spending growth. As I have said, if that approach had been taken, we would not have had to put up with the cuts that we have done over the past 10 years. The really important bit of the report is that it sets out how the powers of independence can enable us to make our economy even more successful and match the success of other small countries, powers to grow our population, powers to close the gender pay gap, powers to tailor our economic policies to our needs, not the needs of London and the south-east of England. I know Labour's preference is just to leave us with Tory rule, austerity and the decline of Brexit. Will I leave Labour to argue that with the Tories? I am going to argue for a better alternative. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have a question of my own. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will take urgent action to ensure that appropriate life-saving drugs are made available to people with cystic fibrosis. The Scottish Government and NHS officials will be meeting the pharmaceutical company Vertex next month to continue to encourage them to make a fresh SMC submission for the drug or camby. The health secretary has continued to strongly encourage the manufacturer to bring forward that submission as quickly as possible at a fair price. In addition, I know that Alec Neill will be aware, because I think that this is what kicked off when he was health secretary. A new process, known as PAX Tier 2, goes live across Scotland from tomorrow. That provides clinicians with the ability to make requests to the local health board for medicines not yet approved by the SMC on an individual patient basis. I thank the First Minister for that question for that answer. I particularly welcome the fact that from tomorrow CF patients will be able to submit individual patient requests for the new drug or camby. However, I express to the First Minister that there is concern, still, as expressed by Professor Gordon MacGregor in the daily record on Monday, about the lack of the general availability of or camby. Therefore, I ask the First Minister if, in order to make or camby generally available without having to go through an individual request, which, of course, is not always successful, will the First Minister do all she can to ensure that that happens, including if necessary, in reinvesting the rebates money from the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, PPRS, as done in a previous occasion to ensure that CF patients get the life-saving drugs, like Caila Daco in the past, that they need. The First Minister Yes, I agree with all that. As Alex Neil is right to say, or camby is not currently routinely available in the NHS anywhere in the UK, although I understand that in the Republic of Ireland, as I said, in my opening answer, Government officials and NHS officials will meet with the pharmaceutical company next month. We want them to bring forward a submission as quickly as possible at a fair price. In terms of the question about the PPRS, we will continue to ensure that any rebate from the PPRS is invested in new medicines, as we have done in the past. Negotiations are about to start again, but it is the UK Government that leads those negotiations with UK pharmaceutical companies. Lastly, we will continue to implement the reforms that I have spoken about previously in the chamber, of which the PACS tier 2 initiative is one of. We have seen significantly increased access to new medicines due to those reforms in recent years. We will continue with the reforms and ensure that any rebate is invested, and we will encourage pharmaceutical companies to bring forward new medicines at fair prices so that people across Scotland who need those medicines can have best access to them. Thank you very much, and that concludes First Minister's question time. We will move on to members' business in the name of Miles Briggs shortly on improving Edinburgh City's bypass, but I am just going to have a short suspension for a few moments to allow those in the gallery who wish to leave and our new guests to arrive. Short suspension.