 The next item of business is First Minister's Questions, and at question number one I call Douglas Ross. Thank you, Presiding Officer. This morning, Scotland's Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, said this to the Parliament's Public Audit Committee about the £300 million estimate the SNP say it will cost to build two ferries. This is a direct quote from the Auditor General. It would be folly to suggest that is a reliable figure that will be spent to deliver the vessels at this stage. So will the First Minister continue to defend his Government's estimate for these ferries, or does he agree with the Auditor General? That would be folly. But what I would say, and of course I was listening to the evidence this morning, and I'll read the rest of the evidence later on today. Douglas Ross will be aware of course that the figure that was provided to the Public Audit Committee on 22 December last year from the CEO of Ferguson's Marine, that is made up of a number of different factors. The Scottish Government is now reviewing those projections based on independent advice, that process of due diligence, which is of course important in any procurement of course, in any programme of this size or this scale, but particularly given the cost overruns, even more important in the case of Ferguson's Marine. That process of due diligence is to conclude within the next few weeks. Regardless of that, I repeat what has been said before when this question rightly has been raised by members of the Opposition. It is unacceptable that we have had these cost overruns, the fact that we have had the delays to both 801 and 802. Once again, as First Minister, two island communities for those cost overruns and for those delays, we are focused on getting those vessels complete so that island communities will see the benefit of those vessels. I think that even the Mike operator had given up on that answer and switched it off, because there is absolutely nothing there. Only a party that bought a campervan for £100 could think that paying hundreds of millions of pounds for two massively delayed ferries is a good deal. We all know from the scandal engulfing the SNP that they really struggle with finances, but that is getting ridiculous. Will the First Minister stop the secrecy and be honest for a change? How much higher is the real cost to taxpayers going to be to deliver those two ferries? I am not sure that I have taken too many lessons on financial literacy from the party of Quassie Cartang and Liz Truss. On the important issue that Douglas Ross is absolutely right to raise in this chamber, I have said that there is rightly a process of due diligence under way. That process will conclude in the next few weeks. Of course, we will make known what the result was of that due diligence. I will never shy away from saying rightly that the cost overruns and the delays in relation to those two vessels are unacceptable. The island communities are frankly frustrated and angry at those cost overruns and delays. I completely accept their frustration and anger. Therefore, we will continue to invest in Ferguson's marines and do what we can to get those vessels ready in relation to the updated timescales. However, due diligence is important, and that is due to be complete in the next few weeks. The Auditor General knows that the £300 million figure is folly, but it seems that the First Minister does not. He does not have a clue about the actual cost that it is going to be for taxpayers here in Scotland. The bill for those vessels so far is already three times more than the original contract, but it gets worse what we heard this morning. The First Minister said that he was listening to the evidence, so he will have heard the Auditor General reveal this morning that the bonus system for highly-paid executives at Ferguson Marine is still in place. The two ferries are not fit to sail, the cost keeps spiralling out of control and islanders continue to be left without vital lifeline services. So, First Minister, what on earth could those bonuses possibly be for? Again, I will not disagree with Douglas Ross or neither with the Auditor General, who, of course, made it clear that the section 22 report earlier this year should not have been paid. I agree. If Douglas Ross will listen to the answer, I will give him genuinely an answer to the question that he is absolutely right to be. Members, we will hear the First Minister. Now, the former Deputy First Minister made it clear that his anger—we share that anger, I share that anger—at the fact that the bonuses have been paid. The bonuses that are being paid of course relate to a decision made by the remuneration committee of Ferguson's Marines without consultation with the Government in November 2022. Those bonuses, I have asked if they cannot be paid. Of course, the advice coming back is that they are a contractual obligation. Now, for future bonuses, for any future discussion or consideration of bonuses, I have made it clear that there should not be bonuses paid in relation to vessels 801 and 802. That has been made clear. The chair of Ferguson's Marines will take forward that work. It is my expectation, the Government's expectation, and the chair of Ferguson's Marines knows this absolutely well that there should not be bonuses paid in 2023-24, the current financial year that we are in, in relation to this year and in relation to vessels 801 and 802. Douglas Ross. On every front, the SNP is engulfed in scandal, secrecy and a shameful waste of money. They are groaning about a waste of money when the First Minister has just accepted how much this is going to cost taxpayers. This week, the SNP's ex-treasurer Colin Beattie said that it was not me-gulf when he was asked about the notorious camper van before abruptly changing his mind, and Hamza Yousaf has said that he is not sure if Scottish Government ministers are using burner phones. That is what the First Minister said. This is all starting to look like an episode of Line of Duty, but it is also a massive distraction preventing the SNP from getting on and delivering these vital services to island communities. The problem for the First Minister is that he has been personally involved in the ferry scandal from the very beginning. He was there at the SNP conference in 2015, beaming beside the disgraced Derek Mackay when the contract was announced. In 2016, he was behind Nicola Sturgeon, hoping that one day he would be the First Minister to launch a ship with painted-on windows, and he was the transport minister inspecting the yards for years. We found a picture of the First Minister when he was a transport minister visiting one of the yards. He was there that day to mark the halfway point in the build of the ferries. The only problem for Hamza Yousaf is that that picture was taken at the halfway point, according to him, in December 2016, more than six years ago. That was not a halfway point. It was not even the start of the Sorry Saga. How is the First Minister, who got us into this mess, going to fix it? Before the First Minister responds, I will remind all members that we do not use props in the chamber. It is just a sign of Douglas Ross's real desperation, pathetic schoolboy tactics and inability to raise the game. I agree with the Opposition when they rightly state the anger of island communities that those ferries have not been completed. I give an absolute commitment and an absolute guarantee to those island communities that we are focused. Of course, Ferguson's marines will receive the resources that are required on the back of that due diligence that is being done in relation to the cost. There are things that we should apologise for, and we will apologise for, as the Government. What we will not apologise for is saving hundreds of jobs in Port Glasgow at Ferguson's marines, and Douglas Ross is shaking his head. I am not surprised. First Minister, if you will just give me a moment. People are gathered here to hear questions. Put to the First Minister to hear the First Minister respond. Can we please ensure that that is possible? The reason why Douglas Ross was shaking his head when I was mentioning the fact that we have saved hundreds of jobs at Port Glasgow at Ferguson's marines is because he belongs to a party that decimated communities up and down Scotland and left workers on the scrap heap. He, of course, decided in his question to take a swipe at the SNP. I remind him that this week the SNP released its membership numbers. I am pleased that we have seen an increase in our membership numbers over the past few weeks. The Tonys, of course, demanded that we release our membership figures. We have done that. Of course, Douglas Ross does not practice what he preaches. He has not released his membership figures. There is a word for people that do not practice what they preach. They are called hypocrites, Presiding Officer. Question 2, Anna Sarwar. Presiding Officer, I know that the First Minister has spent the past few weeks thinking about financial mismanagement and the criminal justice system, so today I would like to ask him about the overspend in the project to replace Barlinnie prison. The issue of financial mismanagement is not just about how the SNP runs its party, but about how it governs our country. This Government's failure in managing the public finances has cost the taxpayer more than £3.7 billion. That is the result of failed interventions, waste and incompetence. Earlier this week it was reported that the cost of building a new prison to replace Barlinnie has spiralled from £100 million to £400 million. Can the First Minister confirm that the project is running over budget, what he expects the final cost to be and whether the new prison will be operational as planned in September 2026? This is an important issue raised by Anna Sarwar. We are looking at the cost overruns. We are seeing what can be done to mitigate those cost overruns. We all agree that Barlinnie is not in the condition that any of us would like it to be in. We are exploring what can be done. Can I just say to Anna Sarwar that he does the debate of disservice when he talks about the figure that he used over £3 billion of wastage that he describes? In reference to that, I have seen the Labour press release. It talks about decisions that are for the Crown, for example the Rangers' prosecution. That is not a decision for the SNP Government. That is an independent decision for the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service, so it does a fact of disservice to the debate to include figures like that. We are interrogating the figures in relation to Barlinnie. Of course, construction costs have increased for a whole number of reasons, partly to do with the UK Government's complete mismanagement of the economy, but also to do with some global factors. We know that the war against Ukraine, the illegal invasion by Russia, has affected construction costs as well. To give him a direct answer to his question, those cost overruns are being interrogated, and we will do everything that we can to bring them down. It is interesting that the First Minister wants to dispute £60 million out of £3.7 billion of waste under this SNP Government. I am sorry that blaming Ukraine or the wider economic crisis or inflation on this crisis is not going to work. This is a 300 per cent increase in costs at a time when inflation is running at 10 per cent. Even an SNP treasure can tell you that those figures do not add up, because Scotland's prison estate is in a dire condition. At Greenock prison, the chief inspector of prisons is threatening to bring in the health and safety executive because of the state of the building. In Inverness, the prison inspector has said that the prison is not fit for purpose. That prison was due to be replaced at an original cost of £52 million. That cost has now risen to almost £140 million. In fact, in all five major capital programmes in the criminal justice system, all are running over budget. If the First Minister truly believes in transparency, will he commit to opening up the books and will he welcome an Audit Scotland review into those projects so that we can understand why costs are running out of control? First Minister? Again, any sensible suggestions around the cost of overruns that I am happy to take away and to explore. However, it is astonishing that Anna Sauer seems to suggest that these global factors, as well as domestic factors, in relation to inflation do not have any bearing on construction costs. That is the reality. Of course, what has not helped our economy, what has not helped the economy at all, is a hard Brexit, which is now supported by the Scottish Labour Party, quite unbelievably. Anna Sauer is, of course, right to stand up here and to question the cost, be it of HMP, Barlinnianadid, the other prisons and other infrastructure projects. It is absolutely correct to do so, and they will be interrogated. You can vet your bottom dollar that they will be interrogated, because we are absolutely in really challenging financial circumstances. Again, no thanks to the UK Government. However, what I would say to Anna Sauer, when his party was in charge of course of its PFI projects, is that we are still having to pay a quarter of a billion in PFI payments because of the Scottish Labour Party. That certainly does not help our budget in any way, shape or form. The First Minister talked about desperation earlier on. It is really, really desperate to say that a 300 per cent increase in the cost of Barlinnianadid prison is due to somehow global factors around Ukraine and perhaps even Vladimir Putin. It is also desperate, 16 years into an SNP Government, to talk about decisions that are made by a Government when the First Minister was 12 years old. Mr Sauer changed the record and took responsibility for a change. I would be grateful when Mr Sauer is putting his question if we could hear it and if members could resist the temptation to make comment at that point. I can understand why they are frustrated, Prime Minister, so I will maybe give them a bit of slack this week and maybe in future weeks as well, because right across the public sector project after project is running out of control. In health, the new Baird family hospital in Aberdeen, initial budget £163 million, now £244 million. In education, a new college campus in Dunfermlyn, initial budget £86 million, new budget £119 million. Of course, in transport, replacement ferries for lifelines routes, initial budget £97 million, now running close to £300 million. While families across Scotland are working out how to make ends meet, this SNP Government and this First Minister's incompetence is allowing millions of pounds to disappear. This is a Government that has been in power for 16 years and has lost grip on taxpayers' money and weakened every institution in our country. Scotland can no longer afford this chaotic, dysfunctional SNP Government. It is arrogant, incompetent and out of touch. Can we have a question, Mr Sauer? Is it any wonder that people are concluding that it is time for change? When it comes to the important issues of inequality and poverty, that will be and continues to be a defining mission for this Government. That is why, of course, we have invested in that game-changing Scottish child payment, which we know has lifted many hundreds of thousands out of poverty. When it comes to the fuel and security fund, that was one of the first announcements—in fact, the first announcement that I made as First Minister, not just to double it, but to triple it—our Social Security Scotland. We have seven benefits that are available only in Scotland—a social security system that is based on fairness, dignity and compassion. That is, of course, our focus when it comes to tackling inequality. Anna Sauer says that we are desperate talking about decisions made by the last Labour Government. I agree with him. It was many, many, many moons ago and for good reason. Jackie Baillie was very briefly in government at that point. However, it is important to say that the reason why we are still talking about it is because we are still paying for it, and Labour mortgaged our future. The Scottish Labour Party did not just mortgage our future, but it mortgaged our children's future as well. The fact that we are having to pay hundreds of millions in PFI payments 16 years on is undoubtedly the reason why Anna Sauer does not want us to talk about it. However, the important issues around the construction of our prisons and infrastructure projects that I take seriously and that this Government takes seriously and I can give them an absolute promise that we are doing everything that we can to bring those costs down. Question 3 Alex Cole-Hamilton Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, to ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. I'm very grateful for that reply. It's enough to fill 19,000 olympic-sized swimming pools. That's how much sewage we know was dumped into our rivers last year by Scotland's government-owned water company. I say no because only one in 20 discharge pipes are monitored, but in addition to this, new Liberal Democrat research that we are publishing today reveals over 400 sewage dumps in the vicinity of some of Scotland's best beaches last year. From Peterhead to St Andrew's, those award-winning beaches should be protected and pristine. They draw tourists, families and wild swimmers, but, like so many other things, on the First Minister's desk right now, this absolutely stinks. Will the First Minister now instruct the monitoring of all sewage discharges in Scotland? What will he do to help Scottish Water to get a handle on this? Otherwise, how many swimming pools of poo is he content to see put on our best-loved beaches? The serious issue in Alasgolhamdon, of course, is right to raise it. I would say, of course, that our beaches—he mentions a number of them in his question to me—are world-class tourist destinations. I don't want to see a single sewage dump where it is absolutely unnecessary. I will take up the issue personally with Scottish Water. I know that my cabinet secretary is doing that directly with Scottish Water. He is right to raise the issue. I will look at it personally, and I will raise it personally with Scottish Water and come back to the member in due course. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to alcohol-focused Scotland's emergency call to urgently take action to prevent further deaths and reduce harm from alcohol. First and foremost, my deepest sympathy—and I suspect the deepest sympathy of all of the chamber—goes to those who have been affected by the loss of a loved one through alcohol. We remain absolutely determined to reduce alcohol-related harm. That is why we have introduced initiatives such as our world-leading minimum unit pricing. Recent research estimates that it has saved hundreds of lives. As outlined last week, I am absolutely committed to reviewing the current level of minimum unit pricing, alongside other on-going works such as the upcoming UK alcohol treatment guidelines, development of alcohol treatment targets for April 2024, and the expansion of our residential rehab capacity by 50 per cent by the end of this parliamentary session. Last year, 106.8 million was made available to alcohol and drugs partnerships to support local and national initiatives. We will carefully consider the points that have been raised by alcohol-focused Scotland and the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol due to meet with them and other stakeholders in the coming weeks to discuss our approach to tackling alcohol harm. I thank the First Minister for his answer, and I know that he will agree that on-going alcohol emergency requires a public health-led policy response to save even more lives and reduce health inequalities. With that in mind, I appreciate the update on the development of alcohol treatment targets. Are you able to say anything about the alcohol brief interventions? That is an important point that is raised by the First Minister in relation to alcohol brief interventions. We may absolutely be committed to our ABI delivery programme, which has been in place for 10 years. We have seen excellent progress and sustained delivery of the national ABI programme across Scotland today. I congratulate local partners on the fantastic achievement of that. The alcohol framework makes a commitment to reviewing the evidence on current delivery of ABIs to ensure that they are carried out in the most effective manner. We are working with Public Health Scotland to review the evidence and the current delivery of alcohol brief interventions to determine how the system could better meet the needs of individuals. I will update the member in due course once that review has been complete. We know from national records of Scotland and alcohol-focused Scotland that alcohol-specific death rates in Scotland's most deprived areas are over five times higher than in the least deprived areas. Similarly, with hospital stays linked to alcohol, we see rates six times as high in our most deprived communities compared with our most affluent. There is a clear need for improved access to alcohol-related support services in our most deprived areas, which are being badly let down by this Government. The alcohol-related and wider health inequalities that exist in our country are both deep and divisive. His predecessor did little to address them. How can the country have any confidence that he will do any better? I do not agree with that final point, of course. It was my predecessor when she was health secretary that introduced minimum unit pricing for alcohol. Of course, it was successive health secretaries at the time that made sure that we pushed ahead in the face of considerable opposition, our minimum unit pricing for alcohol. My understanding is that there was considerable opposition from Scottish Labour to minimum unit pricing of alcohol. When Carol Mocken talks about saving lives, it is worth saying that research about minimum unit pricing of alcohol has shown us that more than 150 lives a year have been saved. The MUP has also resulted in 411 fewer hospital admissions. We are also encouraged to see that research. I am happy to share a copy with Carol Mocken because it is directly related to her question that the policy is having an effect in Scotland's most deprived areas, which experience higher death rates and levels of harm from problem alcohol usage. I am happy to give Carol Mocken further detail of what more can be done, but I am confident in saying that this Government is taking action on alcohol-related harm, particularly in areas of highest deprivation. The University of Glasgow found a correlation between the minimum unit pricing and the 13.4 per cent reduction in deaths. However, the 50-pence rate was set over a decade ago, and inflation has been raging since. We need a change to catch up. Will the First Minister bring forward that review of minimum unit pricing, up-rate it from 50 pence and bring forward legislation to tie it to inflation to save lives in the future? I pay credit to Willie Rennie. I know that he has raised this issue many times when I was health secretary, he raised the issue with me a few times as well. He makes a really important point about the research. Willie Rennie will of course know, because he was in Parliament at the time, that there was robust legal challenge in relation to minimum unit pricing. We are ensuring that, when it comes to review of minimum unit pricing, we have robust evidence in place if there ever was to be another legal challenge to a potential increase in the minimum unit pricing. It is so important that we have that robust evidence base to determine and support any decision on a change in the level of MUP. The conclusion of the review of the level of MUP will be concluded in late 2023. Willie Rennie has asked me to look to see if that can be brought forward. Of course, I will do that. I will have that discussion, but I will go back to my first point. Of course, it is so important that we have a robust evidence in place for any decision that is made in relation to minimum unit pricing. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to new police Scotland statistics, showing that the number of recorded rights has increased to its highest level in six years. Let me say first and foremost that it is abhorrent that women continue to face violence and rape. We will continue to take robust action to tackle sexual offending through Scotland's equally safe strategy, focused on prevention, on improving support and modernising the law. It is vitally important that anyone who faces sexual violence, rape in particular, has a confidence and support to report those crimes and that the justice system responds. Jamie Greene will be well aware. In fact, I heard him on the radio this morning speaking about the victims' witnesses and justice reform Scotland bill introduced to Parliament this week. That will further strengthen the response of the justice system, putting victims and witnesses crucially at the very heart of the justice system. It also proposes to implement the significant reforms that were recommended by Lady Dorian in her report to improve the management of sexual offences, including a specialist court for sexual offending. I thank the First Minister and echo many of the comments that he has made. We should also, as Parliament, commend the bravery of those who come forward to report the horrific crime, but it is a dangerous assumption to make that a rise in recorded cases is simply a by-product of more people coming forward and not an underlying rise in the levels of crime of this nature itself. That sort of qualitative work I would expect the Government to already be doing in this regard. The real problem, Presiding Officer, is that the entire system from end to end is letting victims of crime down, from the initial reporting experience to the lengthy delays in getting trials to come to pass up to four years in some cases, is horrendous. The court experience itself is re-traumatising. Even if a conviction is secured and we all know that conversion rates are notoriously low in Scotland, the victim of that crime faces the injustice of watching the perpetrator dished out a lenient sentence relative to the gravity of the crime that was committed against that victim. What I would say to the First Minister, the former justice secretary himself, is that he will make a personal commitment today to those victims of this horrific crime, that he will undertake a route and branch review of how this country handles and processes cases of rape. Will he undertake a review into why those figures are at such high levels in Scotland? Will he commit to working with victims organisations and victims themselves to finally put them at the heart of this justice system? Far too many women have been let down by the system and that's got to change. First Minister, I thank Jamie Greene for what was a really important question. In many of the points, I agree with some, perhaps I will try to address and come back to him in writing in further detail. What I would say is that he's right, we don't make an assumption that the rising case is simply down to greater reporting and greater awareness. It's fair to say that in terms of non-recent cases, historical cases, we have seen a rise in the reporting and that's not just the case in Scotland, we know that that's the case right across the UK and I suspect in many jurisdictions right across the world. There has been a focus on trying to raise awareness of reporting cases of rape and sexual offenses in particular. There's also been a greater consistency in approach in the use of specialist police officers in this regard as well. In terms of a few of the points that Jamie Greene raises and I think he is absolutely right to raise them, there is the entire purpose, of course, of the victims, witnesses and justice reform bill that has been introduced. It is putting victims and witnesses at the heart of our justice system. I say that I have the great pleasure of meeting a number of families and activists, campaigners, victims, witnesses, survivors yesterday at a meeting to discuss the bill. I say great pleasure because out of the most horrific circumstances and enormous tragedy they have been at the heart of campaigning through their bravery, through their courage for better reform to the justice system and the bill that we have introduced, I think that it's fair to say that by any objective measure it's bold, it's ambitious, probably the biggest change that we will see in our justice system if the bill has passed. In decades some might even say longer than that. What I would say to Jamie Greene is that he's asked for a root and branch review of sexual offences and rape cases. Of course, that review was done by Lady Dorian. Of course, many of the recommendations or many of the clauses within the bill are a direct result of that work done by Lady Dorian. We will continue to invest in the justice system to continue to bring those court backlogs down and they are, of course, falling. What I would say to Jamie Greene is that, as a Constance Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, who is leading the bill, she will be engaging with every single Opposition member, as you would expect her to. Of course, we will take the bill forward in an open-minded and constructive way so that we can take, hopefully, all of this Parliament through the justice reforms together. The alarming statistics on rape are a further indication of ingrained levels of violence against women and misogyny across our society. Scottish Labour has been on our consultation with the full involvement of Government officials to tackle violence against women, but sadly it has confirmed existing research that young girls have been subjected to a rape culture in schools and the cross-university campuses. In many receiving unwanted sexual images of becoming too normalised behaviour, I hope that the First Minister will agree with me that we need to tackle the root cause of the problem in our society by talking directly to boys and young men in all our schools and their campuses to talk about their attitude to women and girls. I cannot agree more with Pauline McNeill's question and the statements that she makes when I was Justice Secretary. Again, I have the pleasure of seeing a programme being delivered in a school not too far away from this Parliament, which was directly talking to young boys, particularly on the issue of consent. It was a really engaging session that was had there. Pauline McNeill is absolutely right. We have to tackle the root cause, and the root cause, unfortunately, is predatory men. We have to intervene as early as we possibly can, and I support everything that Pauline McNeill said in her question. We have, as a Government, supported and will continue to support Emily's test. I know that Pauline McNeill is very aware of the fantastic work that is done by Fiona Drey and Emily's family. Again, it is a terrible, horrific tragedy to use that tragedy to make sure that nobody else has to suffer what Emily had to suffer. We have supported Emily's test to create its groundbreaking gender-based violence chart. I think that it is the only initiative of its kind in the UK. To Pauline McNeill, if I heard her correctly, I believe that she said that the Scottish Labour Party was undertaking its own consultation when that is ready to be published. If she wouldn't mind sharing that with me personally, but, of course, with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, I'd be very interested in the results of that consultation. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that published NHS waiting times for treatment are accurate. Published statistics are collated and quality-assured by Public Health Scotland. They are published as part of the full release of national statistics each quarter. National statistics status means that the official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality of public value. The UK statistics authority has designated PHS stats as national statistics, therefore signifying their compliance with the code of practice for statistics. There are, of course, one in seven Scots on waiting lists currently, and senior clinicians have warned that the waiting time statistics published on NHS inform are both inaccurate and misleading. I wrote to the UK statistics authority in October last year, they agreed and asked the Scottish Government to make changes. Six months later, and very little has changed, clinicians are still up in arms about the stats being skewed. The Scottish Government continues to use median waiting times and mixes emergency and elective care. Will the First Minister now stop pulling the wool over people's eyes, rectify that misleading data and tell us, did he publish the stats whilst knowing about the criticism of their flaws? No, we did not. Of course, we read the letter, received the letter from the statistics authority, and, of course, I engage with the Scottish Society of Orthopedic Consultants. I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Health will continue to meet the same organisation. It is incorrect for Jackie Baillie to suggest that changes were not made, so she is right. Of course, we received that letter in October 2022. We then worked with Public Health Scotland and NHS 24 to review and address those key points that were made following the recommendations from the Office of Statistics Regulations. We made a number of changes, including, for example, highlighting both the strength and, indeed, the limitations that the data showed on the website. There are also additional links for the full release of national statistics on the PHS website. That provides further information on the distribution of waiting times for patients who have completed their waits, but also those who are still waiting. On the criticism from the Scottish Committee for Orthopedics and Trauma Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care will continue to meet them. Can I commend them and their members and all those who are working in NHS Scotland for the fact that, despite significant on-going pressure, we have seen that the number of outpatients waiting longer than two years for a new outpatient appointment has reduced by 50 per cent since September 2022 and by more than 60 per cent since June 2022. First Minister may be aware that South Lanarkshire Council has recently increased the cost to local youth teams and clubs who hire football pitches, swimming pools and halls by up to 114 per cent. I have spoken with many from across rather than constituency who fear they cannot afford this and are worried that the clubs may have to fold. Does the First Minister agree with me that the Labour Administration at South Lanarkshire Council should be focusing on increasing uptake of sports and physical activity, that temporarily suspending the increase isn't good enough and that instead they should be scrapping the damaging price increases without further delay? Before the First Minister responds, can I remind members of the requirement that questions should relate to matters for which the Scottish Government has general responsibility? If you can answer in that light, First Minister? While it is clearly for local administrations to determine their own priorities, but, like Clare Hawking, I am appalled at the actions of Labour-led authority in South Lanarkshire. I saw a protest taking place by young people, suggesting that it was time for Joe Fagan, the leader of South Lanarkshire Council, to go. I have to say that those young people have, frankly, a very good judgment indeed. While families are facing on-going eye-watering hikes and food and energy bills having to cut back on other expenditure, that is not the right time to ramp up those charges and potentially deny children and young people in constituencies, like Rutherglen, the chance to take part in sports. I can already hope that the council sees sense and turns this temporary reprieve into a permanent one. On Friday last week, Tayside Aviation, based on Dundee, went into administration with the immediate loss of 22 jobs. Tayside Aviation partnered with a number of universities, providing degree courses in pilot training. Students on those courses, some of them are my constituents, now face an uncertain future, not able to complete their degrees and having lost thousands of pounds in fees paid upfront to Tayside Aviation, which may not be recoverable. Some students have student loans now to repay, but nothing to show for the money. So how can the Scottish Government help my constituents caught in this desperate situation? That is a very important issue, and Murdo Fraser is right to raise it here. I am very saddened to hear of the job losses at Tayside Aviation. Of course, my thoughts are with the workers that have been affected, their families and rightly so with the students as well. I appreciate that this position has put students in great difficulty. I understand their concerns about money that they have paid for lessons, and anybody who has impacted should, of course, contact the joint administrators. Further information, including links to the joint administrator's insolvency portal, are on the Tayside Aviation website. We are actively taking steps to understand how that will impact students funded by the Scottish Government. University students should have been contacted directly by their university, and we are also engaging with Middlesex University, who are delivery partners for that course. I should have said in terms of the workers as well that our PACE team stand ready to be able to offer any assistance that they can. We will continue to examine and explore this issue to see what we can do to minimise the impact on the students in particular, and I will report back to Murdo Fraser in due course. Last week, yes, Recycling Fife entered administration as a result of cash flow difficulties stemming from its inability to operate at full capacity. Only opened in September last year is a state-of-the-art recycling centre and now 60 jobs are on the brink. It received £520,000 from the Circular Economy Investment Fund, administered by Zeroway Scotland, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish Government. Can I ask what discussions the Scottish Government has had to determine why, after less than a year, this important facility has collapsed and has been unable to operate at full capacity? What support is the Scottish Government offering to the employees? I am concerned about the difficulty that yes, recycling finds itself in and, of course, my thoughts with those 60 staff members who are working at the company and the facility in Glenrothes. There will be a very difficult time for the staff and, indeed, for their families. To give her some reassurance, Scottish Enterprise is engaging with the administrator and will provide all possible assistance to help to maintain jobs at the site. In the unfortunate event that any individual should be facing redundancy, the Scottish Government will provide support through PACE, the partnership action for continuing employment. PACE has, I understand, reached out to the administrator to offer support to the affected staff. I can confirm that a local PACE team has provided information on the support that is available for employees and has requested to meet with the administrator. I hope that, through providing skills, developing and employment support, PACE will aim to minimise the time that an individual is affected by redundancy or out of work. However, I will take everything that Claire Baker has said away and see whether there is anything further that we can do in relation to a very difficult situation at recycling in Glenrothes. Will the First Minister welcome the announcement this week of a planned investment by quantum energy partners to a value of £300 million in my constituency? An investment that will focus on a site in Ardexer that will develop a work in offshore wind and also oil decommissioning and which will bring massive benefits, possibly for the remainder of the century in terms of employment in the renewable energy field. Does he agree that this development strengthens yet further the case for the dualling of the A96? A case that is supported by more than 90 per cent of the readers of the excellent press and journal, The Authentic Voice of the North, and will he expedite at long last the delivery of the dualling of the section from Inverness to Aldern, including the Nairn bypass? I welcome the news of that very important investment. Indeed, decommissioning is integral to the pursuit of an orderly, managed transition to net zero and has the potential to create significant benefits and opportunities for people right across Scotland. Since 2017, through our own decommissioning challenge fund, the Scottish Government has invested £12 million to support innovation and build capacity in the decommissioning sector. Turning to roads, we remain absolutely committed to improving the A96. The current plan is, of course, to fully dual the routes, but we are currently undertaking a review, as the member knows of this corridor, with the outcomes expected this summer for consultation. In addition, we remain absolutely committed to dualling the Inverness to Nairn. The section, including the Nairn bypass, will complete the statutory process for that as soon as possible. First Minister, last night, for the second time, the screening of the documentary adult human female at Edinburgh University had to be cancelled as protesters blockaded entrances to the venue. Women were shut out and discussion about women's rights was shut down. Do you agree that freedom of speech should be defended in our academic institutions? Will you join me in urging Edinburgh University to ensure that the event can take place? I agree with Tess White about the importance of freedom of speech and more so in our educational institutions, such as our universities, that there should be a safe space for debate, discussion robust as that may well be. Of course, I have not seen the film in question, the adult human female film. I do not know the contents of it. My understanding is that there was a protest against the film taking place, and then there was a separate protest that ended up denying those who wanted to see the film access to the screening. Of course, it is a matter for Edinburgh University. I will not look to intervene in that sense, but I have made it perfectly clear in relation to my stance on freedom of speech, particularly within universities. I see that as no conflict with the other stance that I am very proud of, which is supporting trans rights. I am unequivocal about that, but we should ensure that universities and society more generally are a place where we can have that even robust exchange of ideas. I am sure that Edinburgh University has heard what I have had to say and what Tess White has had to say, but it is really important that this is ultimately a decision for Edinburgh University to take. The next item of business is a member's business debate in the name of Ariane Burgess. There will be a short suspension now to allow those leaving the chamber and public gallery to do so before the debate begins.