 That concludes on topical questions. The next item of business is First Minister's Questions. Question number one I call Doug Intellis Ross. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The public have rightly been outraged that a double rapist changed their gender, after being charged by the police. This week, Justice Secretary Keith Brown was asked if that rapist should now be considered a woman. This is what Keith Brown said. I think that is the case. We have to accept people identify, as in this case, as women. Does the First Minister agree with her justice secretary? First Minister, I think that rapist should be considered a rapist. That is what I think. That individual has been convicted of rapes and that therefore is the terminology. I am not going to get into the individual circumstances of that particular individual's claims to be a woman, because I do not have enough information about that, but the individual has been convicted of serious sex offences and that is the relevant consideration in terms of which prison they should be accommodated in. In addition to that, those issues have obviously had great public and media attention in recent days, but those issues are not new nor have the arrangements within the prison service for dealing with transgender prisoners changed in any way. As the chair of the Scottish Prison Officers Association said this week, the Scottish Prison Service has been making risk-based decisions about the accommodation of trans prisoners for many years, and indeed they have been doing that effectively and safely. The risk assessment processes and the cases that have been reported in recent days were under way. It is not the case that any decision had been taken to allow either of those to serve their sentences in women's prisons. However, given the nature of the coverage and the potential for that to cause concern, the reality for that to cause concern amongst women prisoners and the general population, and indeed to cause distress in the trans community, the overwhelming majority of whom, like the overwhelming majority of the general population, never commit any offences, led us to clarify the matter and put it beyond out. The position now, of course, pending the review that was already under way, is that no transgender prisoner with a history of violence, including sexual violence against women, will be housed in or transferred to a woman's prison. I think that that is what is important, and I think that it is that clarity that matters to the public. Douglas Ross. The First Minister's final words here were about clarity. I think that that answer was anything but clear. Her Justice Secretary is very clear that he thinks that a double rapist is a woman. He has enough information to come to that conclusion. The First Minister says that she doesn't have enough information to come to that conclusion. I want to look at an area where we agree that trans people are not the problem here, but here is where we disagree. When a man rapes two women, we don't think that he should be considered a woman just because he says so. We should call out criminals like this who are abusing the system. They are not trans people, they are dangerous and violent men. Adam Graham, who wants to be known as Isla Bryson, raped two women. He is an abusive man seeking to exploit loopholes in the Government's current policy. Nicola Sturgeon's answer to me was that she wants to call a rapist a rapist, but can she just give me a clear answer to my question, not what she wants to answer, but what I want to ask her is this double rapist a woman. That individual claims to be a woman. What I said is that I don't have information about whether those claims have validity or not. Douglas Ross and I are disagreeing here because what I think is relevant in this case is not whether the individual is a man or claims to be a woman or is trans. What is relevant is that the individual is a rapist. That is how the individual should be described and that should be the main consideration in deciding how the individual is dealt with. That is why the individual is in a male prison, not in the female prison, so those are the issues that matter. Douglas Ross also talks about current policy. I accept that he hasn't done this today, but I have read many things in recent days that have tried to conflate the situation in prisons with the legislation passed overwhelmingly by this Parliament before Christmas. Of course, the two are not connected and they wouldn't be connected even if that legislation was enforced, which it is not. The current policy, which is in my understanding, broadly similar to the approach that he has taken in other jurisdictions, has been in place in the Scottish Prison Service since 2014. As the chair of the Prison Officers Association said himself this week, the prison service has been taking risk-based decisions about transgender prisoners for many years and they have been doing that safely and effectively. That is what they should continue to do, albeit with the presumptions that were set out for clarity at the weekend. Douglas Ross. The First Minister is right. I haven't mentioned the GRR Bill at all. I'm speaking about the current Scottish Government policy. I have in front of me here, which states that it is the view of the Scottish Government that trans women are women. It's the view of her justice secretary that a double rapist is a woman. I'm not sure what the First Minister's view on that is, because she says that there's no disagreement between herself and I on this. There is a massive disagreement. I believe a double rapist. Anyone who rapes a woman is a man. They cannot be considered anything else. That all matters for very good reasons. It matters because what happens when violent criminals like Adam Graham get out of prison? Under Nicola Sturgeon's current Government policies, the ones that I've just spoken about that she raised, he is considered a woman. That means sex offenders like him can keep forcing their way into women's spaces. Adam Graham was already able to access a beauty class after raping two women. 21-year-old Rachel Ferguson was in that class with him and told a newspaper this. It really scares me to look back and realise that he was watching me with no clothes on after being charged with this. It makes me feel physically sick and violated. This is a fundamental question about women's safety. I refuse to trust the word of a rapist. Why does the First Minister? I don't and nothing I have said suggests that I do. Can I set out the reality here? I think that it is important that in rightly dealing with and me answering questions about this individual case, very serious individual case, we also remember and it does bear repetition that transwomen are a very tiny proportion of our society, but the overwhelming number of them never commit any offences of any description, just like it is true for the overwhelming majority of the general population. In dealing with individuals like this, who have to be dealt with very seriously, it is important that we don't inadvertently undermine the rights of the law-abiding majority of trans people in our country. I think that that is an important principle that we mustn't lose sight of, but rapists should be dealt with as rapists. I don't think that there is any disagreement on that and I don't think that it does service to the victims of crime to suggest that we somehow do disagree on that issue. In terms of access to single sex spaces, it is also the case that under current law, under the current equality act, as legislation reserved to the UK Parliament, there are provisions to exclude transwomen from single sex spaces. Those exemptions can be applied whether or not a transwomen has a gender recognition certificate. It is important that, as we discuss these important issues, we do so firstly, Camly, and I recognise that we are having a calm exchange right now, but that we also do it without misrepresenting even inadvertently the position, because I don't think that that does a service to the trans community more generally, but I don't think that it does a service to the victims of male violence against women and it doesn't do any service to the population at large. The final point I would remind Douglas Ross of, which is a point that I have made before and I don't stand here pretending to speak for them, but organisations such as Rape Crisis Scotland, such as Scottish Women's Aid, those are organisations that deal day and daily with women who have been the victims of male violence against them, not only were they supportive of the legislation, but they deal with these issues and they deal with the situation around transwomen each and every day, and I think all of us could do with listening more to them, because they add in many respects the experts in their field. Douglas Ross. We are having a calm to be and I think that that is right for this sensitive issue, but I am feeling frustrated as I was last week that I've asked the First Minister repeatedly for an answer that she refuses to give. Under law, a rapist has to be a man. Her Justice Secretary thinks this rapist is a woman and I just like in my final opportunity to the First Minister to get a clear answer, Adam Graham, the stubble rapist, a man or a woman. Now, let's remember, in court, this man lied. He was telling people he didn't rape two women, but under Nicola Sturgeon's policy, he's believed when he claims to be a woman, so he can keep on demanding access to women's spaces. He can keep forcing victims to call him she. He can keep terrifying and traumatising women. I know there's murmurings from the SNP benches, so I would ask them and the First Minister to listen to the words of one of Adam Graham's victims. This survivor was raped by him and said this on Sunday. I don't believe a word. I don't believe he's truly transgender. I feel as if he's made a mockery out of them using it. As far as I'm concerned, that was to make things easier for himself. I'm sure he's faking it. This brave woman summed up the feeling of the majority of people in Scotland when she said this. You've got genuine cases where people are desperate to get reassignment for the right reasons because they've been born into that body, not because they've raped two people and decided that that's an easy way out. Why are you giving rapists an easy way out? I think that that does a disservice to victims of crime. I say a number of things because they are all extremely important. The quote that Douglas Ross narrated there, my feeling is that that is almost certainly the case, which is why the key factor in this case is not the individual's claim to be a woman, the key and only important factor in this case is that the individual has been convicted of rape. The individual is a rapist and that is the factor that should be the deciding one in decisions about how that prisoner is now treated. Indeed, that is what is happening in terms of where the prisoner is. Secondly, Douglas Ross has on more than one occasion today used the terminology of forcing access to women's only spaces. Those are important considerations, but that language ignores the exemptions under the current equality law, a law that even if this Parliament wanted to, couldn't change. Exemptions that enable trans women to be excluded from single sex spaces where the tests in that legislation are met and to be excluded regardless of whether or not they have a gender recognition certificate. The other thing that Douglas Ross's questions ignore is the fact that for any sex offenders on release of prison, there are monitoring arrangements, the well-established MAPPA arrangements to ensure that any continuing risk posed by individuals regardless of gender are properly managed. It is really important that we look seriously at all of these issues, but that, in doing so, we bear in mind two things. Firstly, as I've said, we do not further stigmatise trans people generally, and I think that that is important. Secondly, we don't cause undue concern amongst the public. If there are issues to be addressed, we address them, but we do that in a way that is not just calm but doesn't misrepresent the situation because that is in nobody's interest. If all of us come at these debates in that spirit, then we can work our way through all of these issues, respecting the rights of those whose rights deserve to be respected, but also protecting the public and women in particular from men who want to and do commit violent acts against them. Question 2, Anna Sarwar. For the past 15 years, this Government has short-changed local councils. It didn't matter if the Scottish Government's budget went up or down, local authorities had their budgets cut, and now they are at financial breaking point. Two of Scotland's most senior councillors said this week that council services faced being either significantly reduced, cut or stopped altogether. Local authorities will have to consider cutting pupil support staff, libraries, youth work and other vital services. Are these councillors wrong? First Minister, councillors are not wrong to say that we live in times of real financial difficulty and constraint. That is true of the Scottish Government and it is absolutely true of councils across our country. This time every year, I think I made this comment a couple of weeks ago, we hear these kind of questions as councils look at options put before them. Often, these options are not taken forward, but it is important that all councils look carefully at how they balance their budgets but do that in a way that also fulfills their priorities. In the budget for the financial year about to start, Parliament will debate the budget at stage 1 this afternoon. We are proposing an increase in the resources available to local government of over £570 million. That is a real-terms increase of £160 million. Times are difficult for local government but within the constrained financial resources that we have, resources increased by decisions. We are also taking and proposing to Parliament to ask those who earn the most to pay a bit more. We are treating local government as fairly as we possibly can. The final point that I would make, Presiding Officer, and it is an invitation to Anna Sarwar and to anyone across the chamber. If there is a proposition to give more money as we go through this budget process to local government, by all means come and make that suggestion, but tell us where in the budget we should take that money from. That is the only grown-up and mature way to come to budget deliberations. Why are those councillors considering budget cuts? They are considering cuts because of decisions made by this Government. £6 billion of core budget cuts since 2013-14. Those words that I quoted were the words of SNP councillors Shona Morrison and Katie Hagman, the president and resource spokesperson of COSLA. Two SNP councillors are brave enough to say out loud what this SNP Government knows is the truth. Council Hagman also said that councils are left with little choice other than to potentially raise council tax, raise our fees and charges, or cut or potentially even stop our vital services that we are currently providing. When asked if council tax may have to rise by as much as 10 per cent she said, all options are very much on the table. The public are being asked to foot the bill for public services that are getting worse by the week because this Government underfunded councils for 15 years. First Minister, why are people across Scotland being asked to pay more for less? That is not the case, but let me repeat the offer that I have made to Anasar where we will, as a Parliament, debate the budget for next year at stage 1 this afternoon. The budget proposals will then go through the other stages before the budget is passed by Parliament as a whole. We have put forward a balanced budget. We have allocated all the resources that we have at our disposal. Within that budget, we are increasing local government resources by over half a billion pounds. If Anasarwar is saying that he thinks local government should get more money than that, then let him bring forward that proposal. Also, tell us, because there is no unallocated pot of cash, tell us where we should take the extra money from. Should it be from the national health service? Should it be from the police? Should it be from the central government education budgets? Those are real questions. If Anasarwar is standing here arguing for a bigger increase for local government, which is legitimate, he has a right to do that. If he wants to be taken seriously, he also has to say where that money should come from. I am waiting. I am open to any suggestion that Anasarwar wants to make. What the First Minister wants to ignore is all the waste that this Government is doing, the vanity projects, the money hidden behind the sofa with the deals for the Greens, all the cuts that they have had right across this country. She knows that she has taken the decisions that have slashed county budgets, because for 15 years the SNP has under-founded councils. Even when her ministers had more money to spend, and now people across Scotland are facing the double whammy of increased income taxes and hikes in council tax. That means that taxes will go up, not just for the richest, but almost every household in Scotland, but services will still be cut. Now a leaked COSLA document reveals potential job losses on a massive scale. They estimate that over 7,000 jobs will be lost. 7,000. This is what council leaders in her own party say. This budget settlement will have a detrimental impact on vital local services. It will lead to the loss of jobs both within local authorities and within the local companies who supply goods and services to councils. After 15 years of command and control, things have gone so bad that many of Nicola Sturgeon's own colleagues are no longer willing to blindly follow the orders. Her MPs have lost faith in the strategy. Her councillors have lost faith in her decisions. And now her MSPs face a choice. Will they vote through these cuts, or will they finally stand up for their local communities? First Minister, the problem for Anna Sarwar is the Scottish people that matters to why I am standing here and he is sitting over there. Anna Sarwar has just demonstrated there, I think, that he does not yet deserve to be taken seriously in these exchanges, because it is absolutely correct to say that these are really difficult times for local government because they are for central government when it comes to the allocation of resources. We have put a draft budget before Parliament, and I stress that word, draft budget. Parliament is about to debate it. So if there is, and all of the resources we have, are allocated within that draft budget, so if it is Anna Sarwar's proposition that he would like to see more money go to local government, then that is a legitimate proposal to make. But he has to say where he wants us to take that money from, because it would have to come from the national health service or the police budget or other budgets. So Anna Sarwar has the opportunity, and I will wait to hear whether this proposition comes from Labour this afternoon. If he wants us to increase the allocation to local government, he has to see us reduce the allocation to some other part of our budget. So let us know where he thinks that should come from, and then perhaps we can have a proper grown-up discussion other than the one that he has just had us have this afternoon. Question number three, Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. When we are told to run from danger, our emergency workers run towards it. Last week, Edinburgh firefighter Barry Martin did just that and paid the ultimate price for us so doing. I hope that the First Minister will join me in paying tribute to Barry and support our efforts to see him posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest award for civilian gallantry. To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. First Minister. The Cabinet will meet on Tuesday. Presiding Officer, can I also take the opportunity to convey my deepest condolences to the family, the friends and the colleagues of firefighter Barry Martin. He typifies the bravery and the courage of all of our emergency service workers, but in particular our firefighters. I have written to firefighter Martin's family, but the thoughts of everyone across the chamber are very much with them at this time. I hope that, at this horrendously sad time for them, they will take some comfort from the love that has been expressed from all who knew and worked with Barry. Alex Cole-Hamilton. I am particularly grateful for that reply. Can I remind the chamber that my wife is a primary school teacher and a member of the EIS? Presiding Officer, after the disruption of the pandemic, we have calculated that Scotland's school pupils have now lost over 2 million days of education due to strike action. That will double if an agreement is not reached. Today it is Dundee and Argyll and Bute. Tomorrow it is South Lanarkshire and the Western Isles. Teachers care deeply about their pupils and the gates are the last thing that they want to do. The last pay offer was made to them back in November and there has been nothing new since. This generation of young people has had it harder than any other and life qualifying exams are coming over the horizon. Waiting for teachers to buckle or inflation to fall is not a strategy. Can I ask the First Minister what will she do personally to keep those school gates open? First Minister. First, I agree that no one, and I certainly do not want to see any further disruption to children's education. Alex Cole-Hamilton is right to point to the disruption that Covid caused to children and young people. I also share and echo the respect that he has expressed for our teachers. I very much hope that we will reach a resolution and a pay agreement soon that avoids further disruption, but it is important that that continues to be discussed and negotiated through the mechanisms that are in place. The final thing I would say, and I have said this before, the Government is not simply digging its heels in. Any resolution has to be fair and it has to be affordable. I think that we can point to the fact that we do not simply dig our heels in to other pay negotiations where we have managed to reach resolutions that have avoided industrial action in other public services. So we will continue to seek that fair and affordable resolution with teachers that continues to reward them for the excellent work that they do. Question 4, Christine Grahame. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with COSLA with regard to proposals in some local authorities to reduce teacher numbers, given its commitment to increase teacher numbers by 3,500 by end of the current parliamentary session. I am very firmly of the view that a reduction in teacher numbers would not be in keeping with our commitment to raise attainment and close the attainment gap in our schools. Indeed, as Christine Grahame has set out, this Government is committed to recruiting additional teachers and classroom assistants. We have provided an additional £145.5 million in this year's budgets, specifically to recruit additional teachers. That funding will also be included in next year's budget for councils as part of our on-going commitments on teacher numbers. Deputy First Minister and the Education Secretary met local government representatives on Tuesday to discuss how we best deliver on this commitment and also protect learning hours. The Education Secretary will set out further steps to the Scottish Parliament over the coming days. Christine Grahame. I thank the First Minister for her answer. As a former secretary teacher myself this time ago, I have a huge regard for the commitment of the profession and, indeed, benefited as someone from a working-class background to state education through to university. But context is all. Budgets are under severe pressure as a result of 10 per cent inflation at Scottish and local government level with the same pressures in Wales and England where teachers are on strike. The issue of funding for education is not a Scottish Government problem. It is a UK-wide one and a direct consequence of raging inflation which Anas Sarwar in his exchange with the First Minister sidesteped. Is it not time, First Minister, that Rishi Sunak ditched his current policy of austerity to tackle their own self-inflicted inflation in peace funding to this Government and Wales while they're at it, dealing with the fallout of a decade of failed Tory policies exacerbated by Brexit? Thank you. A revolving door of place Tory councillors in one year and who could forget Liz Truss? First Minister. Christine Grahame is absolutely correct and the discomfort on the Conservative benches was palpable while she was speaking. I also detected a bit of discomfort on the Labour benches. I'm not quite so sure why that should be the case. But the fact of the matter is the budget that this Government works within is constrained by decisions taken by UK Governments who still hold most of the financial levers. But within that we are doing everything we can to protect public services and secure the fairest possible pay deals for those who work within our public services. But Christine Grahame is right. This Parliament, this Government would be able to do so much more if Rishi Sunak loosened the purse strings started to negotiate fair pay deals with public sector workers in England and increased funding to the devolved Administrations and surely that's something all of us across this chamber should unite to call forth. Stephen Perth. Well, what we have heard is a bizarre question followed by a bizarre answer. This is a bizarre situation. The only Nicola Sturgeon could have concocted the SNP Government now reportedly threatening to sanction local councils because of SNP underfunding. The First Minister is forcing councils to choose between deep cuts to local services or above inflation tax increases or how exactly does she expect them to pay for her commitment to increase teacher numbers. First Minister. It's only a couple of weeks that the member's leader in this Parliament was saying that the Government had to ensure there was no reductions to teacher numbers and that the Tory should make up their minds which side they are on. But if Stephen Kerr wants this Government to allocate more resources to local government or to any other part of the public service, then either he, like I challenged Anna Sarwar to do earlier on, has to tell us where that money should come from or perhaps they should call on their bosses at Westminster to deliver more funding for the devolved Administrations. Finally, we should probably drop their call for tax cuts for the richest in our society. I saw Liz Smith just this morning say that one of the priorities for the Scottish Government in our budget should be to narrow the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK. That tax gap is because we are asking those who earn the most to pay a bit more, which obviously means that the Tories still want to see tax cuts for the richest which would reduce funding for public services. There is no consistency or principle whatsoever coming from the Tory Benches. Question 5, Jeremy Balfour. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what schemes the Scottish Government has in place to support disabled people with the energy cost of running life-saving and independent living equipment at home. High energy prices along with the wider cost of living crisis are causing challenges for many people right now. We provide a range of disability benefits to help disabled people and those with long-term conditions. The child winter heating assistance and carers allowance supplement are providing financial support available only in Scotland, as does our new winter heating payment, which will begin in a few weeks time. We've also doubled the fuel and security fund to £20 million and some patients using hemo dialysis or oxygen equipment at home are already accessing financial support. It is, of course, deeply regrettable that the UK Government is cutting the support provided to her press families from the end of March. I hope they will reverse this decision and I hope members across the chamber will call on them to do so and continue to provide the assistance that households so badly need at this time. Jeremy Balfour. First Minister, given the cost of running life-saving equipment such as our ventilator can reach £750 a month, does the First Minister agree that the energy cost of treating the health and human rights of disabled people at risk? Will the Scottish Government commit to an urgent meeting with my stakeholders to discuss urgent action to support families to run life-saving and independent living equipment? First Minister. I'm happy to ask the relevant Minister to take part in such a meeting and we'd be happy to discuss what more the Scottish Government can do. I do agree with Jeremy Balfour about the impact of sky-high energy costs, which is why I think the UK Government that holds the levers here really has to do much more to help people with the impact of those sky-high energy costs. This Government is doing everything we can within our powers and resources. I've pointed to the range of disability benefits that we provide and also in particular the doubling of the fuel and security fund to £20 million which will help some of those dealing with the kind of impacts that Jeremy Balfour sets out. We will continue to look at what more we can do, but it really does need to be the UK Government here that acts to deal with the root causes of rising energy prices but also takes action now to help those dealing with the impact of them. Paul O'Kane. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We know that the cost of living crisis is being felt most acutely by those with caring responsibilities or those in receipt of care. The Scottish Government commissioned the independent review of adult social care, which included a recommendation to scrap non-residential care charges, but we know that action has not been forthcoming to deliver that recommendation. The removal of non-residential social care charges would overnight improve the lives of over 100,000 people in Scotland by relieving the financial pressure on their households. I will ask the First Minister why has she failed to listen to the experts like Derek Feely and scrap non-residential care charges? The commitment that we gave on that and I agree that this is an important issue was to achieve that over the course of this parliamentary term and we are currently looking to see how quickly that might be possible within the financial constraints that we are talking about. I absolutely recognise how important an issue this is but we have to deal within the budgets that we have. I repeat again what I said to Anas Sarwar earlier on. If any member wants to propose additional funding for any line in that budget then they are of course entitled to do so but they have to accompany that with an explanation of where they think those additional resources should come from. That is the hard part of setting budgets and oppositions who want to propose extra money for parts of the budget really cannot escape that responsibility. Question 6, Monica Lennon. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to research commissioned by Citizens Vice Scotland reportedly finding that people are struggling to afford everyday goods including period and hygiene products and energy costs associated with showering, bathing and laundry due to the cost of living crisis. First Minister. We remain very concerned about the hardship that people are facing right now due to the cost of living crisis which of course is not yet abating. The majority of the key policy levers are of course held by the UK Government including those related to energy bills. We will continue to press the UK Government to use all of the levers at their disposal to tackle this emergency on the scale that is required. In the meantime we will continue to do all we can to help households within the limited budgets and powers that we have. We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year on initiatives to help people with the cost of living crisis and that includes £1 billion that provides services and support that is not available anywhere else in the UK. As I said in response to the previous question we have also doubled the fuel and security fund to £20 million this year and recently announced £2.4 million for action to help tackle food insecurity. Monica Lennon. Minister for her response. I will follow up on two points on levers that we do have here. Since the period products act took legal effects last August I think we have all been hugely impressed by the work being done by council schools and others to make free period products widely available. Along with period dignity campaigners I am keen to meet with the social justice cabinet secretary to discuss ways to build on this success so that we can raise more awareness and help the people highlighted in this Citizens Advice Scotland survey. Secondly, we all know that rip-off energy bills are exploiting people and putting their lives at risk. The whole rotten system needs to be dismantled but in the meantime people do need urgent support. Can the First Minister guarantee that everyone who is due the winter heating payment in Scotland will receive it this month? First Minister Social Security Scotland is taking forward the roll-out of benefits and of course it is always the priority to make sure that people get benefits to which they are entitled as quickly as possible. In terms of wider issues around energy bills I have covered that in response to a previous question but it is important that we continue to consider everything we can do but the key levers here do lie with the UK Government on the issue of period poverty. I think that all of us across this chamber in Monica Lennon clearly was a key person that should be proud of the progress around tackling period poverty. She is right to point to the progress that has been made but she is also right to say that we should collectively look at how we now build on that so I know that the Social Justice Secretary would be happy to meet with her and campaigners to discuss exactly how we take that forward and I hope on this. If perhaps not on many other issues that we discuss in this chamber we can build some real consensus on the future. We move to constituency in general supplementaries and I call Natalie Doff. Thank you, Presiding Officer. New analysis by the International Monetary Fund has found that the UK is set to be the only major economy to shrink in 2023 with all other developed nations experiencing growth even sanctioned hit Russia. This on top of everything else will severely impact on devolved nations and our responsibilities. Why does the First Minister think that the UK is performing so poorly compared to other economies? Could it be the perfect storm of Westminster economic incompetence and a disastrous Brexit that Scotland didn't vote for? Natalie Dawn is absolutely right and again there is real discomfort perhaps not surprisingly from the Tory branches. Perhaps they have just seen that another consequence of Tory economic and financial incompetence and mismanagement is that interest rates have just been increased yet again by the Bank of England which has real implications for people. The forecast by the IMF is deeply worrying but it should come as no surprise. The Scottish Government and others in Scotland have repeatedly warned that Brexit and particularly the hard Brexit chosen by the UK Government would be devastating to the economy of Scotland and to the UK as a whole. The economic impacts are already being felt. Britain's GDP was 5.5 per cent lower by the second quarter of 2022 than it would have been had Brexit not occurred. The consequences of this economic incompetence are devastating for businesses and for individuals alike and thanks to Brexit the UK is facing a worse cost of living crisis than elsewhere. That's the reality and I think it's time that the UK Government and indeed the main opposition to the UK level woke up to that fact and abandoned the disaster that has been Brexit. Thank you First Minister. I call Megan Gallagher. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The British Heart Foundation are here in Parliament today to raise awareness of the importance of learning CPR. My constituent, Stephanie Bain, had to perform CPR on her five-week-old baby after he stopped breathing in his cot. Neither Stephanie or her partner could perform CPR on a baby and I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for them and their family. The family is now urging parents to learn vital first-aid skills that could save the lives of their young children. My office has been in touch with Stephanie and I am pleased that Finlay is now doing well. I've also reached out to the British Heart Foundation to encourage them to create digital content showing parents how to perform CPR on children under the age of one. First Minister, as February is heart month, we'll use support the campaign so that everyone, especially parents, has access to CPR training as it does save lives. First Minister. Yes, I will. I'm very happy to give my support to that campaign. Let me also welcome the British Heart Foundation to Parliament today and commend the organisation for the excellent work that it does. The work that it does, I know, has an impact on families across Scotland and we're very grateful to them for that. I think it is important that we work to raise awareness of and education and training about CPR. I understand that the British Heart Foundation itself has an online tool about CPR Revive R and that's important but there is clearly more work we can all do collectively and I'm happy to give my support to that and to consider what more the Scottish Government can do to support these efforts. Foisal childry. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The Mirhouse Millennium Centre in my region is facing financial difficulty and several meetings have now been held to address their concern about the lack of future core funding which could mean the risk of closure. When community centres are not funded properly, it is not just the centre who loses out. The families who depend on them for support and help particularly during the cost of living crisis are left without a lifeline. Will the First Minister increase funding to local authorities to ensure that they have the necessary funds to support essential community centres such as the Mirhouse Millennium Centre? I know from my own constituency the importance of community centres and community facilities more generally so I certainly agree with the sentiment being expressed. Clearly the individual issue raised is one for the local council. In terms of the central request will the Scottish Government increase further the allocation to local councils? I said earlier on the draft budget already proposes an increase in resources to local government of more than half a billion pounds. As I said to the member's leader some moments ago if Labour want to further increase that allocation then they are entitled to put forward that proposition but they need to point to the line in the budget where they think we should take that money from. We will await this afternoon and for the remainder of the budget process to see whether any balanced proposals in that regard come from the Labour benches but I will not be holding my breath based on the experience of past years. Julian Martin This week marks the third anniversary of Brexit and last night in the BBC we heard Dr Dono MacAskill of Scottish Care outline the devastating impact that is having on our social care centre. Dr MacAskill said we have lost thousands of front-line staff because of Brexit and an immovable visa system and immigration system from Westminster. Does the First Minister agree with Dr MacAskill? If so, what does she think needs to happen to secure a better future for the sectors? First Minister Yes, I do agree with Donald MacAskill and I think his comments last night were very clear when he did say that we have lost thousands of front-line staff in nursing and in direct social care because of Brexit and because of the visa and immigration system from Westminster. Of course, the wider cost crisis also has an impact. We need as a country, in my view, to find a way back to Europe. We need as a country to find a way of ensuring that we have an immigration system that is not just humane but meets our social and economic needs. It is clear and it is becoming clearer every day that Scotland will not find either of those things as part of the Westminster system of Government. The route to both of them is through Scotland becoming an independent country. Maurice Golden Thank you, Presiding Officer. Incredibly, there is still no operational blueprint for deposit return despite the scheme launching in just a few months time. No wonder businesses are tearing their hair out. Retailers are investing a quarter of a billion pounds in the scheme this year alone, but they are being forced to take a best guess at how it is going to work. The Scottish Retail Consortium is now calling for a complete operational blueprint to be released by the end of the month. Can the First Minister confirm that will happen, yes or no? The First Minister Circularity Scotland continues to work with businesses as they finalise operational delivery plans ahead of the launch in August and is developing and constructing the logistical network that will support the effective operation of the scheme. I will ask Lorna Slater, the relevant minister to write further to the member to set out further details of the steps being taken between now and launch in August. Pam Duncan-Glancy. Last night it was confirmed that the Government cannot guarantee that the winter heating payments will be paid this month. As the First Minister has just said in response to my colleague they have said that it is DWP data that is the issue. Ministers set the deadline for the DWP to share that necessary data of 31 January. The minister confirmed in committee that the payments would be made in February and they did. Can I ask the First Minister has the Government failed to properly plan for the delivery of this payment? Have they underestimated the time needed to properly execute the policy? Will our constituents get it this month or will the winter heating payment end up being the Scottish summer payment paid too late to keep people warm this winter? We will continue as we have done with all benefits to ensure that people who are entitled to these benefits get the money timeously. We did receive the data from the DWP and payments will be made to the 415,000 people eligible for the payment automatically over the course of February and March. Arian Burgess. Apologies. I meant to unpress my button and not call this question. Apologies, Presiding Officer. That concludes First Minister's questions. There will be a brief pause while the gallery clears before we move on to members' business.