 The next item of business is topical questions, and at question number one, I call Carol Mawkin. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that during freezing temperatures in December, ambulances were called out to 800 people with hypothermia. Cabinet Secretary, Humza Yousaf. We share concerns that the vulnerable, especially older people, will struggle to keep warm this winter. We are committed to doing everything that we can in our power to address the energy cost crisis, which is why we announced in our budget statement on 15 December last year that we will be allocating a further £20 million to the fuel and security fund to ensure that it can continue to provide support to those in the greatest need in 2023-24. This falls on from our decision earlier this year as part of the emergency budget review to double our fund to £20 million for the current financial year. Those additional monies have been distributed to our three current fuel and security fund delivery partners, so the immediate crisis support reaches those in the ground without delay. The UK Government's current energy price cap of £2,500 per annum on average due to rise to £3,000 from next April still leaves energy costs at an unsustainable level for far too many households. I would encourage anybody still struggling with their energy bills to contact Energy Advice Scotland who will be able to help. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I am sure that the Government understands that there are people in this country who are switching off their heating almost entirely throughout the winter so far due to fear that they simply cannot afford it. It is clear that the Tories are the architects of this dreadful cost-of-living crisis and the sooner that they are replaced with a UK Labour Government, the better. However, it is important to focus on what we can do in this Parliament. I am aware of the fuel and security fund and it was increased to deal with the challenges faced by our most vulnerable. I ask if the Government will review the fund and assess whether the money available for families and older people from our community are actually getting to people. We have heard from constituents that perhaps that is not happening in good time and whether it is close to enough when we have seen the lowest temperatures recorded since 2010 in parts of Scotland. Cabinet secretary. Can I say that Karen Walker is absolutely right? Of course, the Conservatives are the architects of the cost crisis that we are seeing that is affecting so many people. Of course, the cost crisis is of course a public health crisis. I am not sure why we are hearing groans from the Conservative benches but they are responsible for the public health crisis that so many households face over a decade of austerity. Of course, my colleague Shona Robison, who sat here to my left, is working hard in relation to the fuel and security fund and other funds that are available. It is not the only one. Karen Walker will know that we are making progress in relation to the winter heating payment as well as the pension age winter payment. Where eligibility criteria can be looked at to see where that can be expanded, this Government will always keep an open mind so that we can help as many families as we possibly can. I am sure that Karen Walker will agree with me that instead of mitigating the constant austerity and cost crisis that are enabled by the Conservative Government, far better we have the power in our hands to take the necessary measures to save families from the impacts of the current cost crisis. Thank you for that answer, cabinet secretary. I reiterate my agreement that the Tories at Westminster have created the cost of living crisis. My point would be that they will pay for that at the ballot box next year and that will help some of the crisis. Follying yesterday's briefing from the First Minister and the cabinet secretary it is clear, if it was not already, that SNP has lost control of the health service with record numbers waiting more than 12 hours at accident emergency. Crucially, nurses and social care work is feeling the strain of poor pay and underfunding of services and patients are suffering as a consequence of that. Our NHS is our proudest possession. Staff and patients are concerned. How can the cabinet secretary be confident in the slightest that the measures again drop to dangerously low-level vulnerable individuals suffering from hypothermia while even being able to receive treatment and attention as quickly as they need it? Cabinet secretary. To Karen Watkins, our NHS is our most prized and valuable asset and I pay tribute to every single health and social care worker who is providing exceptional care in these most challenging times. Of course, I will say more in the ministerial statement due straight after topicals. To Karen Watkins, I disagree that we are not investing in our health service. We are. Frontline health spending is higher here in Scotland than other parts of the UK. Our record £19 billion for £23.24 in terms of staffing. We have record staffing levels and we care about our staff, we value our staff and that is why I say to Karen Watkins that through our meaningful dialogue that is why we are the only part of the country, Scotland is the only part of the UK where we have not had nurses or indeed ambulance drivers on strike. That is very different to Labour run Wales, of course. There is much interest in this afternoon's business, of course, as ever, and concise questions and responses enable more members' voices to be heard. I call Emma Harper. Concerns have been raised that a cold winter coupled with the Tory-created energy crisis would mean that large numbers of people would experience hypothermia or other serious issues linked to low body temperature. Does the cabinet secretary have concerns that unless the Tory Government takes real action to put money back in people's pockets, such as matching the Scottish child payment and properly supporting those in low incomes every winter, we're only going to see the number of people experienced in hypothermia grow as more people face a choice between heating and eating? Cabinet Secretary. I'm astonished, Presiding Officer, that in response to Emma Harper's very reasonable and rational question, I have complete denial from the Conservative benches about the real harm that they are causing people up and down this country through their complete mismanagement of the economy. This cost crisis is something that they are responsible for and they should be hanging their heads in shame over, Presiding Officer. I couldn't agree more with Emma Harper. I do share her concerns. A series of UK government welfare reforms have eroded the real terms value of reserved benefits. I'm deeply concerned about the UK Government's welfare policies as the rising costs of essentials are far harder for those on the lowest incomes. We've repeatedly called for additional funding to increase social security benefits to support low-income households this winter, including a £25 per week uplift to universal credit and means-tested legacy benefits as well as an end to the benefit cap in two-child limit. Question 2, Stephen Kerr. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to mitigate the impact of recent teachers' strikes on children's education. Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville. The best way of mitigating this impact is to avoid industrial action. Strikes in our schools are in no-one's interest, least of all for pupils, parents and carers who have already faced significant disruption over the past three years. I remain absolutely committed to working closely with our union and local government partners to try to reach a deal on teachers' pay, which must be fair and affordable for all concerned. I am in regular dialogue with the unions in Cosland and spoke with them as recently as Friday 6 January. As Mr Kerr will be aware, the provision of education in Scotland is in the responsibility of local authorities. However, I have previously made clear that wherever strikes do occur, local authorities should undertake individual school risk assessments based on the availability of staff with schools remaining open to learning provided wherever that is possible. Stephen Kerr. I am not very sure that I had a single answer in that long statement from the cabinet secretary. I am not sure that I had anything either that brings any comfort to Scotland's parents, carers or indeed the most important people, the pupils, especially those in their senior phase preparing for their important exams. She is right that the obvious mitigation is to end a dispute, but the dispute has been going on before last April. The cabinet secretary has said in the media... You are the Government. Excuse me, Mr Kerr. You may be a shabby Government, but you are the Government. Mr Kerr, can I ask you to sit down please? I have just advised all members that I am chairing this session and I would be grateful if we could hear the member when he is speaking. The cabinet secretary has said in the media that there is room for negotiation. There is scope for a settlement. What is in scope? When will the strikes end? And was the cabinet secretary in the negotiating room yesterday? Cabinet secretary. Well, the meetings that were on yesterday was a meeting of the SNCT which Government ministers do not attend, but Government officials were there. I was, as I say, in the room of trade unions and with COSLA on Friday. There have been a number of constructive talks recently. I would like to thank trade union colleagues and COSLA for that, particularly on Friday and Monday. If Mr Kerr will forgive me, I am not going to go into the detail of that. That is not just a decision of the Scottish Government, but I do not think that trade union colleagues would also thank me if we went into the details of private negotiations. That is not the way to settle a very detailed settlement that we will need to come to, but we are, of course, looking at considering all options to resolve this dispute, looking at the scope where there is compromise, but I would come back to the fact that I have stated to trade union colleagues on a number of occasions that the Scottish Government has a fixed budget. It is already allocated for this year and it has been eroded by inflation, no thanks in particular to the UK Government on that aspect, so we will work very closely to ensure that we are doing everything we can to resolve the dispute, but it would be fair to say that negotiations will have to continue as there remains some distance between us at this time. Stephen Kerr. I think, again, Scotland's parents and carers and pupils will be astonished why on earth was not the Cabinet Secretary even in the room. How on earth can there be a negotiation or a resolution if the Cabinet Secretary does not even negotiate? Exactly, this is typical. Teachers are on strike for the first time in 40 years because this SNP Government have repeatedly let them down. They do not want to strike, but she is letting teachers down, she is letting pupils down. I have one more question to ask, obviously. Let me see if I can get a specific answer. Can I ask the Cabinet Secretary to set out one practical idea she and her Government have to help pupils to catch up and avoid them falling further behind? Cabinet Secretary, the first answer. I gave some of the details in my first answer. There are, of course, a number of areas where, because of the impacts of Covid, we have East Scotland, and we have a number of remote learning initiatives. There are assisted by national agencies, but the responsibility for remote learning also lies quite rightly with the schools. Quite frankly, on the day where UK Government ministers are standing up in Westminster and bringing in anti-trade union law legislation, I will take no lectures from Mr Kerr or any other Conservative member of this Parliament saying that we should be doing more to settle disputes because we know what happens when the Tories are in power. We are seeing that at Westminster. You compare that to what we have done up here in Scotland, where we are having constructive discussions. That is the way how you solve disputes. Quite frankly, Mr Kerr's questions today show a lack of understanding of how the SNCT works, a lack of understanding about negotiations and dispute resolutions, and I will take no lessons from him because of that, but particularly because of the anti-trade union legislation that was brought through once again by the Conservatives at Westminster. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her update. Strikes are, of course, in no-one's best interest, but industrial action is an essential part of a fair and just society and economy with deep roots in Scotland's industrial history. Can I ask the Cabinet Secretary if she shares, and I think that she does, my incredulousness at the brass neck of the Tories, who, as she has stated, are trying to pass new anti-trade union laws, laws that the SNP will take absolutely no truck with. Cabinet Secretary. Once again, I think that Cocab Stewart lays out quite correctly the real concerns that we should all have about some of the legislation that is being proposed by the UK Government when it comes to trade unions. I have enormous respect for the role of trade unions in our society. Their role is a very important one and I would commend also the role of the teaching unions and the professional associations and, indeed, the sense of feeling of their members as we go through that. I listen to that and take that on board exceptionally carefully. But I think that Cocab Stewart is once again quite right to point out as she puts at the brass neck of the Tories Conservatives, bringing such a question to Parliament on a day when they're actually introducing anti-trade union legislation. Michael Marra. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The last pay offer sent to teaching unions was quite literally at the last minute. Yet that offer had sat on the desk of the Cabinet Secretary for three and a half weeks. That was seven weeks ago. With schools closed across the country and many more days of strikes to come, when will the Cabinet Secretary sanction a new offer? I would go back to the point where I've already stated that the Government has a fixed budget that's already allocated and has been eroded by inflation. So, while it is quite easy for Mr Marra to stand up in the chamber and simply suggest that the Government should come up with a new offer, he needs to understand the implications of that and the fact that the money would have to be found elsewhere in the education budget to be able to deal with that. So, when people are demanding that the Government sort it and simply put a new offer on the table, then they have to understand and realise and take some responsibility for the implications that that will have. But, as I've said before, there are constructive talks that have been happening over the past few days. I look forward to those to continuing over the weeks ahead and look forward to the further discussions that I will be having with trade union colleagues and with COSLA to see if this dispute can be brought to resolution as speedily as possible because this is not in the best interests of Scotland's children and young people. Willie Rennie. The Cabinet Secretary says she'll take no lessons today. The trouble is that no pupils in the whole of Scotland are getting any lessons today so that this Government cannot resolve. The education secretary does seem to be very chilled out and relaxed. Teachers are on strike. Pupils are going without an education, but she is incredibly relaxed and taken no action to resolve the strike. I just want to follow up on what Michael Marra had just asked. Is the cabinet secretary saying that there is going to be no new offer to teachers? I have said and what I will say once again is that there are constructive talks on going and we are open to considering options that will resolve the dispute looking at the scope to see where there is compromise. There will have to be compromise not just from the Scottish Government but from all resolved in this dispute. We will of course look very carefully to see what can be done and we will of course leave no stone unturned to try and do that as quickly as possible. No-one wants to see strike action in our schools and I appreciate that it also includes our teachers, but the start financial reality that the Government is in does make that exceptionally difficult but we will continue to do everything we can to bring this to a speedy resolution with COSLA and with colleagues in the trade unions. That concludes topical questions.