 morning, we've general questions. Question 1, Rob Gibson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how it proposed a land commission, will identify land owners and plan diversity of ownership. Cabinet Secretary Richard Moschhead The structure, role and remit of the proposed Scottish land commission is currently of course out for consultation. However, the commission will play a key role in ensuring our package of proposals achieves our desired outcome of greater diversity of land ownership in Scotland. The set of proposals that were published last week are far reaching the bill and the measures that we have already taken over the past few years and have the potential to transform Scotland's concentrated pattern of land ownership. Some specific measures to encourage that greater diversity are, of course, enabling Scottish ministers to intervene with the scale of land ownership or decisions by land owners, are a barrier to local development, and also, of course, improving the existing community right-to-buy and introducing a new right-to-buy as part of the current community empowerment bill. We have extended Scottish land funds, and we will be increasing it to £10 million per year from 2016 to 2020. So our land must benefit the many, not the few, and our proposals will do just that. I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. The EU is proposing a fourth money laundering directive that could reveal beneficial ownership of Scottish trusts, including landed property. Do you think that that would be a means for us to find out about ultimate beneficial owners and, indeed, a register that those entities, estates and properties had to contribute to? Cabinet secretary? I certainly hope so. A central theme of the land reform review group's report was the need, of course, for better information, transparency and accountability of land ownership. We have already, as a Government committee, completed the land register within 10 years with public sector land being registered within five years. Of course, our consultation asks how we can improve further the information that we hold on land ownership and how to make it more transparent, if possible. It is fair to say that the action that is being taken in Europe, combined with the measures that I have just outlined, has been taken here in Scotland to improve transparency and accountability of land ownership, will shine a light into the darkest recesses of land ownership. That will be great for the future of democratising land, how it is used, how it is managed and the benefits that it can deliver for Scotland in the future. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Citizens Advice Scotland report working at the edge childcare. Minister Aileen Campbell, I welcome the Citizens Advice Scotland report of last week, which raised concerns about the cost of childcare and articulated the challenges that parents face. We know and understand that childcare costs are a considerable outlay for families, and that is why, through the Children and Young People's Scotland Act 2014, we are investing £329 million in this financial year and next to expand funded early learning and childcare for three and fours to six hundred hours. That represents an increase of 45 per cent since 2007, an increase which will save families up to £700 per year per child. We have made clear our wish to go further. The First Minister has outlined this Government's ambition, if re-elected, to deliver an increase in early learning and childcare provision for three and fours and eligible twos from 16 hours a week to 30 hours a week by the end of the next parliamentary session. I thank the minister for that answer. The Citizens Advice Scotland report found that nearly one in four councils report that they do not feel that there is enough childcare for working parents. Therefore, what more can the Scottish Government do in conjunction with councils to increase the provision of childcare across Scotland and to address the specific concerns that include the need for summer holiday childcare for school-aged children and to address the need in areas such as Edinburgh, where school finishes at lunchtime on a Friday, as both of those situations present a real difficulty for working parents on low incomes who do struggle to pay for increased childcare on Fridays during term time and struggle to pay for childcare during the summer months? Regarding the asymmetric school week, local authority schools have to be open for 190 days each year, but it is up to the council to decide the length and the structure of the individual school day week or year to take account of local circumstances. Any proposals to change the school week would be subject to consultation involving schools, parents and the wider community. However, we absolutely appreciate that the need for childcare does not stop when a child starts school and that finding affordable and flexible provision can be a challenge for parents. That is why the act has introduced a duty on local authorities to consult locally on out-of-school care, which will broaden the scope for consultation and planning beyond early learning and childcare in order to meet the needs of all families. Local authorities in terms of early learning and childcare are looking at ways to reconfigure services to provide the flexibility that is needed and requested through the legislation. That includes, for instance, bleeding the hours of 600 hours into the summer holidays. The key, though, is listening and responding to parents' needs. In addition, I have asked the earlier task force to look at what more we can do on out-of-school care and Professor Imran Siraj's on-going workforce review. We will also look at out-of-school care, as well as early learning and childcare. We look forward to receiving her report in the spring of next year, but, if the member wants to raise those concerns directly with me, I am happy to meet him. I am sure that my colleague Alasdair Allen on the specific issue of asymmetric school weeks will be happy as well. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to Unison's campaign to bring ancillary services in-house at Hairmire's hospital in East Cwbride. The provision of soft facilities management services such as cleaning and catering play a key role in the delivery of clinical services in NHS Scotland. The Scottish Government therefore believed that NHS Scotland should be responsible for the direct delivery of those services wherever possible. The Hairmire's contract requires the benchmarking of soft facilities management services every seven years. The next benchmarking exercise is currently under way. In order to satisfy myself that NHS Lanarkshire has explored all the options available to it, I have now commissioned the Scottish Futures Trust to undertake an independent review of the situation and provide a report to my officials. I have requested that NHS Lanarkshire do not proceed until I have received this report and considered its findings. Linda Fabiani. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can I impress upon her the concerns that people in East Cwbride have about the recent report into Hairmire's hospital about cleanliness and the fact that the vast majority of people in East Cwbride believe that those services should come back in-house? Can I ask that due consideration is given to the information and the findings that unison and associated bodies have about the subject? Linda Fabiani. It has been made very clear to NHS Lanarkshire that the findings of the report into cleanliness standards has to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We are reassured that action has and is being taken to do that. On the concerns raised by unison, I am well aware of those. Yesterday I met Lillian Mather, who is the employee director of NHS Lanarkshire, to inform her of the action that I have taken and set out in my first answer. We then need to allow that to take its course. Elaine Smith. I have also been contacted by a number of my constituents on this issue. I wonder if we could just be clear. Will the minister encourage a bidding process that allows public sector bids to enable the services to be brought back in-house at Hairmire's and at Wishaw rather than just allowing the roll-on of the contracts? I am sure that Elaine Smith will understand that there are a number of legal issues to be explored here, which is why I have asked the Scottish Features Trust to undertake the review of the situation and to look at all the options and make sure that NHS Lanarkshire has explored all the options available to it. Those situations are not easy in the light of the contracts that are in place. However, I hope that I have made clear to Elaine Smith through my previous answer to Linda Fabiani that the reason that I have asked the Scottish Features Trust to look at this is to look at whether there are any options that NHS Lanarkshire could take. We have to await the review that is going to be undertaken, and I have urged Scottish Features Trust to do that as quickly as possible. John Pentland. To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to NHS Lanarkshire with recruiting staff for emergency and general medicine services. The Scottish Government works with all NHS boards, including NHS Lanarkshire and key stakeholders, to support their efforts in staff recruitment, both from Scotland and elsewhere in the UK and from outwith those areas. The Scottish Government is supporting NHS Lanarkshire in aligning its staff to meet patient demand and in implementing a number of site-specific actions. John Pentland. John Pentland. For that answer, it is the Cabinet Secretary aware that, in addition to Lanarkshire's fragile A&E departments where NHS board continuity planning means closing one of them, our out-of-hours GP service has been reduced from five centres to three, two or in several occasions one centre staff by one GP and four nurse practitioners for the whole of Lanarkshire even before Christmas holidays are taken into account. What is the Government going to do to address the shortage of on-call GPs, which has to the pressure of A&E departments? The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Sport and Sport, and I reassure the member that Lanarkshire has rightly prepared contingency plans. It is working hard to make sure that it resolves some of the issues that the member has outlined. I should also say to the member that some of the recruitment difficulties that NHS Lanarkshire is facing are not unique to NHS Lanarkshire. There are challenges within some of the specialisms that are well known, not least in emergency medicine. I can say to him that, in terms of NHS Lanarkshire, the workforce is up by more than 11 per cent since 2006. GP numbers have increased by more than 7 per cent in the area. Although there are challenges, and I absolutely recognise them, and we are in close contact with NHS Lanarkshire to support them to overcome those challenges, we have a record number of staff, and it is about making sure that we help NHS Lanarkshire to work through the issues that we identify. 5. Willie Coffey To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to boost the economy in East Ayrshire. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney The Scottish Government is committed to supporting sustainable economic growth across Scotland, including in East Ayrshire. We work closely with a wide range of delivery partners, including Scottish Enterprise and East Ayrshire Council, using all available levers to deliver growth. Recent boosts to the East Ayrshire economy include an award of £1.3 million from the Scottish Government's regeneration capital grant fund to East Ayrshire Council for the Comarant Town Centre business hub. That complements specific business support, including three regional selective assistance awards in 2014, worth more than £2.3 million and creating 485 jobs. Willie Coffey I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. He will know that in East Ayrshire unemployment rates are currently 10.5 per cent compared with the Scottish figure of 7.1. While Scotland's unemployment rates are improving, ours in East Ayrshire has been worsening since the agile left in 2009. Given that East Ayrshire is proposing a £10 million investment today in economic development, could the cabinet secretary give me some encouragement that this might be matched by the Scottish Government? Cabinet Secretary I welcome the commitment of East Ayrshire Council to economic development. It highlights an example of good practice, where a local authority is investing to support business growth. In the statement that I will give to Parliament later on this afternoon, I will have more to say about the issues in connection with business encouragement by local authorities in their localities. On the question of additional funding for the East Ayrshire economy, through the work that the Government takes forward with Scottish Enterprise, we are focused on supporting projects that will deliver economic benefit and supporting companies that have the potential to deliver economic growth. That will remain the focus of all discussions that we have with partners in connection with supporting the East Ayrshire economy. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with pension fund administrators regarding investment opportunities to support capital infrastructure projects. The Scottish Futures Trust directly engages with pension funds and a number of third parties acting on the behalf with regard to financing opportunities into Scottish infrastructure projects. As part of that engagement, they have had recent discussions with Aviva, MNG, Prudential, Alliance, Legal in General and Standard Life. The local government and regeneration committee recently, the Deputy First Minister, indicated a level of frustration with the approach that is taken by pension funds regarding the opportunities to support capital projects that would secure a return on investment, present a more ethical investment than, for example, tobacco and would support local employment. Does the cabinet secretary have any plans to approach pension fund administrators, particularly in the public sector, in respect of future opportunities to support capital projects in their areas? I am well aware of previous efforts to have pension funds for, for example, local authorities use those funds towards infrastructure projects in their own area. In particular, Edinburgh City Council looked at the issue in relation to the purchase of Edinburgh Airport previously and other authorities have done the same. We have no immediate plans to try and pressurise local government pension fund authorities and their pension committees to use pension fund money to invest in infrastructure projects because investment decisions are made by local government pension fund pension committees. Ministers have not intervened in the past. It is a matter for local authorities. There are changes coming to the pension committees in April of next year, which will ensure that those committees are 50-50 in terms of local authority representation. We believe that this is a decision that should remain with the local authorities and the members that they have on the pension committees and, in light of their fiduciary duties. 7. Claudia Beamish To us, the Scottish Government, what action it is taking to improve public transport in South Scotland? It is part of our commitment to improve transport connectivity for local communities and businesses. The Scottish Government has provided more than £113,000 to third sector organisations for community transport services in South Scotland. We have also funded £353 million in the Borders railway to ensure that local people can connect directly to our capital city and the wider Scottish rail network. In addition, more than £1 billion has been invested annually across Scotland in public transport, including local bus services and other sustainable transport options such as cycling. 8. Claudia Beamish I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. As he will be aware, revised timetables for the Lanarkshire services to Glasgow and beyond begin operation at the end of this week. A number of constituents have contacted me to highlight their concerns on the impact of these changes on work, training, health appointments and leisure. ScotRail have told me that formal consultation on the changes took place in June, yet the first I was aware of these changes was in an email in mid-November. I am deeply concerned at the lack of public engagement on these proposals. Can the cabinet secretary clarify for me, please, those are my constituents who are responsible for ensuring that adequate public engagement on timetable changes is made and provide assurances that steps will be taken to allow concerned constituents to make their views on those changes known as part of the next timetable consultation? To clarify for the member, it is the responsibility of ScotRail. They are the ones that propose the timetable changes. I will, of course, check to make sure that they went through the proper procedures when the consultation took place in the middle of last year. This issue has also been raised with the transport minister and the local member, Aileen Campbell, as well. It has been looked at by the transport minister. I am confident that he did go through the correct procedures, but we will check that. I would say to the member if he would like to meet with the transport minister, I am sure that he should be happy to have a discussion with him about those issues as well. To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in relation to Palamas' wave power since it went into administration. Palamas has been unable to find sufficient private investment to avoid administration despite efforts by the Scottish Government and the enterprise bodies over the last year. Our immediate concern is the impact of redundancies on staff and their families. Support for affected employees is through the partnership action for continuing employment pace initiative. The PACE national team spoke to the administrator's KPMG on Friday 5 December and again on Tuesday 9 December. No redundancies are likely this week and KPMG have undertaken to inform the national pace team if their services are required. Ewing has also spoken to the administrator directly. Palamas continues to trade while a buyer is sought. Bids for the assets of the company were invited by Tuesday morning and are now being evaluated by KPMG. In its operations to date, we believe that Palamas has raised a total of £95 million worth of funding. The vast majority of that, approximately £70 million, is from private sources. Administration arose because private funders withdrew their further support. Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have been the last remaining funders in Palamas for some time, but our legal obligations under EU law prevent us from continuing as sole funders of the company. The Scottish Government is now establishing Wave Energy Scotland to continue our support for Wave Energy. I thank Fergus Ewing for having given me a meeting about the subject. Does the cabinet secretary agree that there would be a tragedy if wave power development no longer took place in Scotland, which is one possible outcome of recent developments? Will he do everything possible to ensure that the expertise that is built up in Palamas is retained in Scotland for wave power development? First of all, I agree wholeheartedly with what Malcolm Chisholm has said. I also thank Malcolm Chisholm for the way in which he has pursued this particular issue. The Government and its agencies over a sustained period of time have given significant support to the development of wave power in Scotland. I think that that has been clear from the policy agenda of the Government and also from our financial decisions, but we have reached the point, as I indicated in my answer, where the public sector would be the sole remaining funders of the company and in EU law that we are prevented from acting in such a fashion.