 Io i, Minister Tham乎t. Dwi'r cwmwysh場 dros y pepper paeth i hefyd a'r eraill y F какоеsywedd iawn i'r Cymru'r Llywodraeth! Dylai fod morch ac y First Minister oedd eich gwyfnod ddod. Felly, yw'r sefydliad o'r ddaeth perfa swyddfa Michael Matheson' cyllid y rai o'r gwneud mewn cyfelfigio gwyllgor i diddygiadol o hyfforddiadol. Ac mae'n ffurthwyr ei bwysig, mae'n bwysig i'r disfglu iddyn nhw, mae'n bwysig i'i ddefnyddio, mae'n ddiwedd i'u i'r ffable' wedi ysgol, i settings o gynnig ond yr unrhyw i chi sy'n hasu bobl eich sonor mwy o'r rwnsion. Rwy fyddwn ni'n meddwl i'n ffordd i chi i'r dweud i gael y sydd gwaith a'u gweithio'n bwysigol. Rwy'n meddwl i chi'n meddwl i chi'n meddwl i chi i'ch dweud i chi'r dweud i'ch dweud i chi gael y bwysigol. Rwy'n meddwl i chi'ch dweuddiaeth gyda'r siarad o bobleth ni i chi i'ch dweud i chi'ch dweud i chi'ch dweudio. melodiliau unidir at styem, beyond doubt wherever that claim is fraud. First Minister said that that was a legitimate expense. Does he still believe that? First Minister. Finding information from Michael Matheson, when he found out to his family, Pieridge Boys after he was told of the use of the iPad, which Michael Matheson, of course, laid out in full on a personal statement last week, Michael took the immediate decision to pay back the full amount. Michael Matheson has made mistakes in the handling of the issue. That is something that he has admitted to. What I thought was a very emotional statement to this chamber, he gave the reasons why, because he wanted to protect his teenage boys from frankly the harsh political and public scrutiny that often comes with the roles that we occupy, but on discovering from his teenage boys what happened, he agreed to immediately pay back the full amount. Let me read a quote from an STV interview. I'm sorry, it was a big mistake. It's something that shouldn't have happened, but I'm ultimately the only person responsible for that. This was a big mistake by me for which I'm deeply sorry. I know how badly I performed here and how much I've let people down. For that, I'm very sorry. Forgive me, this was a quote from Douglas Ross when he failed to declare £28,000 of income. The point here is that we didn't call for Douglas Ross to quit. We accepted of course the point that he had made an honest mistake. The hypocrisy that people will see through is that Douglas Ross says that it's fine for him to make an honest mistake, but not fine for Michael Matheson to make an honest mistake. We will not get distracted by Douglas Ross's political opportunism that health secretary is getting on with the job of ensuring that health service recovers through what will be a difficult winter. Let's be very clear. My apology, which was full and frank, was about not declaring something. Michael Matheson tried to dupe the taxpayer out of £11,000. He wanted the taxpayer to pay, and isn't that the reason why the First Minister couldn't answer my question? Since he didn't, let's put it there again. The First Minister previously said that it was a legitimate expense claim. Does he still believe that? Michael Matheson did claim that £11,000 from the taxpayer and promised Parliament that it was for constituency work, but his story has changed. We're supposed to believe that he didn't understand why he had been billed so much, that he was clueless. Michael Matheson supposedly didn't know anything about it, but he was certain that it was the taxpayer's problem and their bill to pay. First Minister, if he had no idea what the bill was for, why on earth did he claim taxpayers to pay it? First, the motivations for Michael's actions last week before his personal statement. I'm not sure why I'm being sold. First Minister, can I ask you to show you a seat? Mr Ross, Mr Swinney, I would expect better behaviour from both of you. We need to hear the answers from the First Minister. We need to hear the questions as well. First Minister, please resume. Well, they clearly don't want to hear the answers. That is the exact point that you can hear. They really don't want to hear the answers. Again, Michael Matheson, in what I would say—it was a very emotional personal statement to this chamber—laid out in full detail the handling of the issue in relation to the expenses in relation to his iPad. He was clear that he should have handled it better. I agree with that. He, of course, on discovery of the fact that his iPad had been used by his teenage boys, agreed immediately to pay back the full amount. As a father of two children, including a teenager myself, I can understand the motivation to protect your family, but I agree with others in this chamber that it should not have been handled in this way. Michael Matheson, of course, admitted to that. What Michael Matheson, after making that personal statement, has been getting on with is the job of health secretary. That is why, on Monday, he chaired Fort Valley's annual review. That is why this week he has announced £42 million for an extra 153 doctor training places, the largest expansion on record. That is why he visited Glasgow Caledonian University's school for life and health sciences. That is why he met this week the Royal College of Nursing, because as much as Douglas Ross, as much as the Conservatives, wanted to distract him, what I have got is a health secretary that is getting on with the job. I am going to have to require brief questions and responses. Douglas Ross. We have a health secretary who claimed £11,000 from the taxpayer and a First Minister who will not simply answer whether that is a legitimate claim to make or not. Michael Matheson is taking the public for fools. He supposedly found out on Thursday, two weeks ago, what really happened. He apparently learned at that stage that there was personal use of the iPad and other people had incurred the data costs. However, the following Monday, Michael Matheson was asked point blank if there was any personal use of the iPad. He said no. He was asked directly if anyone else had used it. He said no. First Minister, was the health secretary telling the truth when he gave those answers? Again, I will say for the third time that Michael Matheson accepts and admits and admitted to this chamber that he made mistakes in the handling. Douglas Ross is shouting to me, why? Michael Matheson once again addressed that because he did what he did to protect his teenage boys. Did he make mistakes? Absolutely. Has he admitted that? Absolutely. Has he agreed to pay back the full amount? Absolutely. Isn't it telling, Presiding Officer, that Douglas Ross wants to talk about the health secretary? What he does not want to talk about is the savage cuts the UK Government have unleashed on the health service through yesterday's autumn statement. Let me read. If you want to listen to those in the health service, let us hear from the RCN's chief nurse, Professor Nicola Ranger. She said that the autumn statement is short-sighted, that the NHS faces a multi-billion-pound deficit. They do not want to hear from nurses, Presiding Officer. They want to try to distract. They want to try to deflect. They want to try to dodge away from the fact that their autumn statement has led to savage cuts to the health service. We will not let them forget, Presiding Officer. The only person deflecting here is Humza Yousaf, who cannot give honest answers. If everything to do with Michael Matheson was an honest mistake, why have there been so many dishonest statements about it? While Michael Matheson's story has unraveled, Humza Yousaf, himself, has been caught up in it. He was told by Michael Matheson last Tuesday what actually happened and the personal use, but the following day, last Wednesday, Humza Yousaf told the press and the public, and I quote, for me, the matter is now closed. He continued that Michael Matheson had, and this is a quote from the First Minister, taken the decision given the honest mistake that has been made in relation to the updating of the SIM card, and he stuck to the same story that he knew was false. This morning, the Deputy First Minister was further embroiled into this scandal. She was asked if, on a point of principle, ministers in the Scottish Government always tell the Parliament and the public the truth. She refused to answer that question, so let me ask Humza Yousaf if Government ministers need to be honest. Why is Michael Matheson still in a job? I will say for the fourth time that Michael Matheson admits to making mistakes in the handling of this issue, and it is astonishing that Douglas Ross thinks that the party of Boris Johnson, a man that Douglas Ross described as honest, can lecture anybody about standards in public life. Isn't it really telling here that we have a corporate body that has said today, just before the First Minister's question, that, in the interests of fairness to all, and to avoid prejudicing its investigation, the SPCB will, as of now, not comment on any matters that could be a bearing on this process or provide a running comment. I think that it is right that we let the SPCB get on with the job that it has got to do, and Michael Matheson will get on with the job of ensuring that he supports the health service through what will be a difficult winter. Honesty and integrity from members of both our Governments is essential for faith in public life to be restored. This morning on the BBC, the Deputy First Minister was asked twice, do ministers in the Scottish Government always tell Parliament and the public the truth? The answer should have been an unequivocal and simple yes, but instead the Deputy First Minister's answer was that they only aim to do so. People have known for a long time that this Government has a problem with the truth, but is this now the official Government position? First Minister, we should all be telling the truth in our interactions, wherever they are and wherever they occur. I will say once again what I said four times to Douglas Ross already, that Michael Matheson, of course, admits to mistakes. He admits to mistakes in relation to the handling of this entire episode, but when Michael Matheson found out late on Thursday night, not last week but the week before, that his family had used the iPad, he took the immediate decision the next day to pay back the full amount. In a personal statement to this Parliament, he admitted not just the mistakes that he made, but he admitted the reasons for those mistakes. He has undoubtedly reflected on that, and now what he has done this week is get on with the job as health secretary and ensure that he is supporting our NHS through what will be an incredibly difficult winter indeed. I am so pleased that the First Minister said that we should always be telling the truth, because in the short time of the use of his being, the record of this Parliament has had to be corrected three times because of wrong information that he has told this chamber. Once he was in response to the serious issue of the Covid inquiry and deleted WhatsApp messages, another was in response to me in this chamber when the First Minister gave an inaccurate answer about Scotland's renewables. Instead of immediately correcting the record, he took up hours of civil service time to try and spare his blushes. We know that Labour now has the full unredacted emails between the First Minister's office and officials. They show that when civil servants pointed out that he was wrong, he rejected their advice. Instead, his advisers had civil servants spend a month trying to cover up with a new line, including manufacturing statistics, to fit his answers. First Minister, if these are the lengths that you will go to hide the truth on a simple mistake, should anyone be surprised that you will not sack Michael Matheson for knowingly misleading the public? There is a reason why the people of Scotland, time and time and time again, have elected us to be the Government of Scotland. That is the reason why Anna Sauer and the Conservative Party sit here in opposition. Can you resume your seat? There is far too much baracking and background noise as the First Minister is responding to the questions. Let's hear the First Minister. Anna Sauer is shouting that she has not elected me. I remind him that I have one election to this Parliament. In fact, the seat that I represent was held by a Labour MSP until I won it. I will not take any lectures from Anna Sauer about how she will win an election if that is okay. On the issue that Anna Sauer points to, when it comes to Scotland's energy potential, yes, of course, there is an encompassing on any of us, whether it is a Government minister or whether it is a backbencher to correct the record if any inaccurate statement has been made. I take that responsibility very seriously. What I will not apologise for is the fact that we have an incredible renewables potential here in Scotland, a potential that we will invest in and we will unleash that full potential for the workforce going forward. While we will talk up our energy potential, I know that Anna Sauer is only interested in talking it down. Anna Sauer, the people of Scotland have only had one opportunity to pass judgment on Humza Yousaf's First Minister. That was a Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election when there was a 20 per cent swing to Labour and Labour getting double the vote that the SNP got. So I will give you lessons on how to win an election. First Minister, come the next general election because this is a gross breach of the relationship between ministers and officials, a gross breach, but not for the First Minister and the Government. This behaviour has become enormous for them. However, it is also a gross breach between ministers and the public when a minister can knowingly mislead them. That is why Scottish Labour has long called for a clean-up Holyrood act to sweep away the culture of secrecy and cover-up that the SNP has allowed to thrive. The salmon inquiry, the ferry scandal, the failures at the Queen Elizabeth in Glasgow and the sick kids in Edinburgh deleted Covid WhatsApp messages and now the Deputy First Minister is now saying that they only aim to tell the truth. Under the SNP, Trust and Faith in Scotland's institutions has been lost. Is it not the case, as represented by the good people of Rutherglen, Hamilton West, that this is a Government that is running out of road, desperate to save their jobs and willing to say anything to cling on to power? It is clearly not the case because we have re-elected time and time and time again by the people of Scotland to run our public services here in Scotland. In terms of freedom of information act, I am more than happy to provide a written response about the improvements that we have made in relation to responding back, because we take our obligations very, very seriously. Anna Sauer talks about trust and values. I am sorry, but I do not know what the values are of Sarkir Starmer when it comes to the UK Labour Party. Actually, I take that back. I do know what the values of Sarkir Starmer are. The values of Sarkir Starmer are to make sure that he retains the two-child limit, to make sure that he retains the bedroom tax, to make sure that he retains the rape clause. Something, of course, Anna Sauer disagreed with and now suddenly agrees with, so we know what our values are and nobody from London, nobody from party headquarters will tell us otherwise. Question 3, Edward Mountain. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I remind members of my register of interest that I own a house and I am a private landlord. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government's policy to require households to replace their fossil fuel boilers with heat pumps or other green energy systems in off-gas properties by 2025 and in on-gas areas from 2030 is still going ahead. First Minister. Our 2021 heat and building strategy committed to introducing legislation to phase out the need to install new or replacement fossil fuel boilers. We will consult very shortly on detailed proposals for a heat and buildings bill to ask everyone across Scotland to help us design and deliver this in the best way possible. That consultation will provide more detail on when and how the proposed changes will take effect. Moving to clean heating systems will tackle climate change and reduce the exposure of homes and businesses to volatile fossil fuel prices. Our 2021 strategy also set out the need for the UK Government to take urgent action. That includes rebalancing gas and electricity prices and making sure that energy companies themselves are playing their part in delivering this vital transition. Let me be clear, Presiding Officer. We simply cannot meet our legal targets in tackling climate change if we do not end our use of gas boilers. I thank the First Minister for that attempted answer. I am not sure that I am any clearer whether those targets will be met. It appears that we will have to wait. First Minister, I am sure that you will agree with me that it is absolutely vital that we reach that zero. In order to do so, we need to take the public with us. Does the First Minister therefore acknowledge, as some of his SNP MSPs do, that the unrealistic and poorly thought-out policies set by his Green Party colleagues in government, such as this one, and the DRS scheme are causing more damage in reaching that zero than they are in achieving it? We get to the crux of the Conservatives' issue in the very face of a climate crisis that engulfed many parts of our planet in flames, has flooded many other parts of our planet in the recent weeks and months at home and abroad. We have a Conservative party that tells us that they are not climate skeptics, they are not climate change deniers, but oppose every single measure that this Government brings forward to tackle climate change. Every time we bring forward a sensible proposal that is necessary to meet our targets and we all voted for those targets, they are opposed by the Conservatives. The Conservatives have to decide what side they are on. Are they on the side trying to protect and save this planet, or are they on the side of climate deniers and climate skeptics? They have chosen to make climate change shamefully, a culture war election issues. Tories are not just bad for Scotland, not just bad for the UK, but it seems to be bad for a planet, too. We all agree that there is an acute housing shortage in this country, yet homes for Scotland, Cala Homes, Taylor Woodrow and Persimmon, all major housebuilders, have all warned repeatedly that the heat pump targets, especially for new builds, have had the effect of forcing up costs of house building so that fewer homes are being built in Scotland. If the First Minister wants to tackle the housing shortage, will he consign that the Green Party has baked pie-in-the-sky policy in the bin, where it belongs, alongside deposit return and highly-protected marine areas? Will he recycle his green ministers to the backbenches where they belong and then meet with industry and real experts, actual experts, to work out a plan to solve the problem? Perhaps the applause from the Conservative benches might demonstrate to Feig ashewing that his proposals are not the most sensible that he is suggesting that we bring forward. I do not believe that we can simply put our head in the sand and ignore the scale of the climate crisis that we are facing. Yes, house building and house construction is facing challenge. Just look at sky-high rocketing inflation caused by the Conservative Government. Let us tackle some of those high construction costs. We have several, not just targets but significant investment in house building over the course of this Parliament and beyond. When it comes to ensuring that we replace gas boilers, we will not consign that policy at all to the dustbin of history. In fact, history will judge very poorly those who are climate skeptics or indeed climate deniers in the face of a climate crisis that is harming our planet. Mark Ruskell While UK Government sinks into another culture war cheered on by climate change deniers and naysayers, here in Scotland we are realising our ambitions on heat transition. From next April all new buildings will need to meet our new standards for clean heating and our package of funding support for households is the most generous in the entire of the UK. Does the First Minister agree with me that our upcoming budget must drive forward pioneering work in tackling fuel poverty and in power households and businesses to make the move to clean heating? Yes, I do agree that when it comes to transitioning from direct emissions heating systems to zero emissions heating systems, Government has a significant role to play through legislation and its budget. However, let us be equally clear that this will require private investment, too. There is barely going to be a Government in the world that will be able to self-finance that transition to net zero entirely on its own. That is why the good work being done by the GreenHeat task force is work that we have seen in the report and are looking forward to acting upon. Mark Ruskell is absolutely right. We have to make sure that we take the public with us. That is why we have such generous grants available, the most generous in the UK in terms of funding support for households. I go back to the very point that I have made to everybody who has asked on this question that none of us can deny in the face of our existential threat the scale of the climate crisis none of us can deny that action is needed and to accelerate that action as quickly as we possibly can. On 14 September, the First Minister told the chamber that the climate change plan would be published before Christmas. Despite the cabinet secretary for net zeros' assertations that was down to the UK Government, Chris Stark, the chief executive of the climate change committee, said that there was only minor impacts on the Scottish plan and potentially positive impacts from the UK-wide strategy to accelerate good infrastructure, but there were reasons to go faster. When will the climate change plan be published? We will publish the plan before the statutory target. We aimed to do it a year before the statutory target of when to publish that plan. The UK Government's rollback on its climate ambitions—many of its U-turns—are not just bad for those living in the rest of the UK. They clearly will have an impact on Scotland, and it is right that we look to explore in detail what those impacts are. It is, frankly, shameful that, in an issue of this existential crisis, that that has been turned into an election issue, a cultural issue, by the Conservatives. Wouldn't it be far better that we had an element of consensus on the fact that all of us have to pick up the pace, urgently accelerate the work of tackling the climate crisis, and if we don't, our current generations and our future generations simply won't forgive us? To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government is providing to households that are experiencing the pressure of increased energy bills in light of citizen advice Scotland's launching, it's worried this winter awareness campaign. Energy bills remain significantly higher than two years ago due to a volatile energy market, and the UK Government's complete and utter failure to act. Campaigns such as Citizen Advice Scotland worried this winter, together with our current Home Energy Scotland campaign, which will drive vital referrals to HES's warmer homes programme, are extremely important indeed. I have consistently called on the UK Government to fully utilise the fiscal and policy levers at their disposal to introduce measures like a social tariff as a means to target support to those who need it the most, which, unfortunately, they failed to do in the Chancellor's autumn statement, leaving those in businesses and communities already facing fuel poverty to suffer even more so. I thank the First Minister who will be aware that energy costs are a particular worry in our island communities who experience disproportionately high levels of fuel poverty. In yesterday's autumn statement, the Chancellor rejected the SNP calls for a £400 energy rebate, but with energy prices set to rise again by 5 per cent, can the First Minister assure my constituents that the Scottish Government will continue to support people struggling with their energy bills while the UK Government so evidently ignores them? We can reassure them on that point. With energy bills rising again in January, it is unacceptable that the UK Government's autumn statement completely failed to deliver support for those who need it the most. The Government has provided an additional £1 million this year through the island's cost crisis emergency fund to support islanders facing high fuel, food and energy costs in order to help meet the cost of living pressures. While we continue to help people to make their homes warmer and easier to heat through our heat and energy efficiency support schemes and support those in fuel crisis through our fuel and security fund, the powers to make a real difference do, unfortunately, remain with the UK Government. It is frankly only when we have the powers in control of the Scottish Parliament and indeed the Scottish Government through independence that we can unleash the full potential of our energy rich nation, Presiding Officer. Given the impact of fuel poverty in the 38 per cent of households who experience fuel poverty in the 30 per cent with extreme fuel poverty, what lessons has this First Minister learned from the failure to deliver £133 million of investment to make people's homes energy efficient and mean that they can afford to heat their homes? What will happen for next year, how many homes are going to get that energy retrofitting in place? We have taken action to help with fuel poverty. One of the first acts that I did as First Minister was to ensure that we can just double the fuel and security fund, but we tripled the fuel and security fund. We relaunched the warmer homes Scotland scheme from 2 October with more funding and help for household households to receive a climate friendly heating system. In year 2022-23, we delivered measures in almost five and a half thousand households, a record number of installs through warmer homes at Scotland. As I said, we have already agreed to triple the fuel and security fund. We also have, of course, the child winter heating payment. I am more than happy to ensure that the cabinet secretary writes to Sarah Boyack with full details of how we are supporting those who are facing fuel poverty this winter. However, instead of having to mitigate the failures of a Westminster Government, how much better would it be if we had the powers in our own hands? To ask the First Minister what work has been done to support the expanding role of the GP surgery. Since 2018, we have significantly expanded the range of healthcare professional supporting GP practices across Scotland. There are now over 4,730 primary care multidisciplinary team members working in areas such as pharmacy, physiotherapy, phlebotomy and other disciplines. That means that the average practice now has access to more than five MDT members alongside GPs and their practice teams. Through our £190 million PCIF primary care improvement fund, we are enabling those vital teams to free up practice time so that GPs can focus on more complex community care and reduce referrals into secondary care, ensuring that more people get the right care in the right place at the right time. I thank the First Minister for that response. Indeed, the expanding role of GP surgeries is critical to help to prevent acute hospitals and A&E departments from being overwhelmed. However, they cannot recruit and retain the various MDT members that the First Minister has made reference to. Conson surgery in my region has contacted me to express their concern in the disparity in pay that is developing between GP surgery staff and NHS staff. There is now a two-tier NHS pay scale. Staff there are frustrated and demoralised. GP staff were uplifted less than their agenda for change NHS colleagues. Will the First Minister find the investment to ensure that an uplift can be agreed to support the expanding GP practices that continue to struggle? We are being asked to provide more funding for fairer pay at a time when the UK Government next year will give us a paltry just under £11 million in health consequentials. That represents 0.06 per cent of our health budget here in Scotland. When it comes to the health consequentials that they are giving this year, remarkably, they are not recurring for next year. What we will do and concentrate on is making sure that our NHS staff are the best paid anywhere in the UK in terms of those who work in GP practices. We will be well aware, of course, about the independent recommendations of the DDRB. We will continue to work with our GP practices right across the country to ensure that we do everything that we can to not only recruit, which we have done, but also retain GP practice staff. I say to Sue Webber that this Government has an excellent track record when it comes to fair pay in our NHS, in stark contrast to the UK Government. GPs in Glasgow tell me that they are firefighting but are still being expected to do more with less. The mental health and wellbeing strategy is making more demands on GPs, but with little detail on additional capacity or resource. Does the First Minister acknowledge the pressure that GP practices are under and agree with them that the mental health strategy is simply not deliverable without further support? Of course, we seek to support and invest in mental health services. We have a good again track record of doing so over the years. I am more than happy to ensure that the finance secretary engages with the Labour party and any political party in relation to what more we can do in the upcoming budget. Mental health has always been an essential part of general practice with mental health issues, a common feature of consultations and the mental health and wellbeing strategy, which was referenced by Paul Sweeney, acknowledges the need to increase mental health capacity within general practice. I say to Paul Sweeney that we have a good track record of investment health service. Of course, the financial year is taking it to £19 billion, so we are more than willing to work with those right across the chamber to see what further we can do. However, I would say to Paul Sweeney that, in the face of significant financial constraints, those who are suggesting that we spend more money in particular areas will have to say where that money comes from. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the autumn statement. The first time, of course, the autumn statement has been raised. I am not surprised that the Conservative members did not want to go and need it, because they are just as embarrassed as they absolutely should be on such a dismal autumn statement. It is deeply disappointing that the Chancellor has failed to provide the funding that devolved Governments need in the autumn statement. That makes the challenge of our budget next year even more severe. Yet, again, the Conservatives have completely failed to take action to support struggling households, businesses and public services, and to miss the opportunity to invest in the services that people rely on and infrastructure that is so vital to our economy. The increase to the minimum wage falls short of the real living wage, and despite the cut to national insurance, hard-working people are still seeing their living standards fall. We are once again at the mercy of poor UK Government decisions that compound the pressure on our public finances and increase the misery that is faced by struggling households. Would it not be far better that we did not have to mitigate, that we did not have to wait for autumn statements from a UK Government and an unelected UK Government, but instead that we had the powers in our own hands? I thank the First Minister for that answer. The First Minister will be aware that the £25 billion in election bribes that the autumn statement contains is less than half the £55 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that the Tories imposed after the disastrous trust-money budget last year. Does he share my astonishment that, at a time of high inflation, the shockingly low extra £11 million for Scotland's NHS is barely a 2,000th of its annual budget, that capital budgets will be severely cut next year impacting on essential infrastructure and that Scotland's public services will inevitably pay the price of yet another abysmal Tory budget? I absolutely agree with Kenny Gibson. Yesterday's autumn statement provided the very worst-case scenario to Scotland's finances. At a time when we needed investment in infrastructure to help to grow the economy and in public services that so many people rely on instead ended up with a cut in national assurance that will deprive those vital services of the much-needed funds that they require. As a result of the UK Government's disastrous handling of the economy, projected growth is just 0.7 per cent next year. Inflation is still running at more than twice the Government's target. We needed an autumn statement that grew the economy and invested in public services and protected the most vulnerable in our society. Instead, we had proposed sanctions that will penalise those very people. As we develop Scotland's budget next month, we will do so in line with our missions of equality, community and opportunity. I remind the UK Government when it did its disastrous mini-budget last time. It was the Conservatives who demanded that we copied and followed suit. Thank goodness that we ignored the London people of Scotland. What the autumn statement did, of course, First Minister, was to tell small businesses in England and Wales that they will benefit for another year for a 75 per cent discount on business rates. Can I ask again if the Scottish Government will ensure that that is also the case for small businesses in Scotland? Of course, First Minister. Of course, we have a very good track record of when it comes to supporting our businesses—a small business bonus scheme. We have a very generous business support package, so we will consider, of course, the consequentials that come our way. We will consider what more we can do to support businesses, Presiding Officer. However, I would say to Liz Smith that, for the small relief that they are giving to businesses, it will be minuscule in comparison to the damage that her party has inflicted upon business through Brexit. The disaster of Brexit being felt by businesses up and down this country will not be undone by the paltry sums that were given by the chancellor yesterday. It is welcome that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement to exchange 50 of the hostages held in Gaza for a four-day pause in fighting, but much more work is needed to secure a ceasefire and prevent a further loss of innocent life. Could the First Minister advise what the Scottish Government's responses to this development, given that the Parliament has now expressed its view on a ceasefire? I commend members right across the chamber for what I thought was a very good debate in relation to the ceasefire. I was pleased that the Parliament backed by a majority of a ceasefire to be called. I also say that I know that the four-day pause will be much welcome relief to those in Gaza who have suffered complete nutter devastation over the past six and a half weeks. I thank, in particular, those who have been involved in helping to negotiate that four-day pause in the United States, Egypt and, in particular, Qatar, who have been at the centre of those negotiations. I think that all of us will say that we welcome that four-day pause, but we want it not to be a four-day pause but a permanent ceasefire. I urge the UK Government to use whatever influence it has alongside the international community to ensure that, after four days, the bombing of innocent men, women and children does not just resume, but that we have peace and not only that, that they all strive towards a long-term peace that must be predicated on a two-state solution. First Minister, Old Meldrum dental practice and Laws dental in Canustee have told patients that they have no choice but to ditch NHS treatment because of increasing costs, and the recent changes enacted by this SNP-green Government. Far from protecting dental treatment for NHS patients, we are seeing an exodus of dentists from the NHS because of the Government's actions. Will the First Minister commit to finding a better working structure for dentistry to ensure its long-term sustainability? First Minister, we have invested in NHS dental services, and we have recently agreed some additional NHS dental reforms. The purpose of those reforms, and the exact point of those reforms, is to incentivise NHS dentistry. That has seen some increased fees for dentists, which I am happy to ensure that the health secretary writes to test right with the full details of that. In addition to that, it is fair to say that NHS registration in Scotland is significantly higher than the rest of the UK, with more than 95 per cent of the population registered with an NHS dentist. That is not to take away from the important points that test right does raise. We do know on the back of the pandemic that there have been and continue to be challenges for our dental sector right across Scotland and right across the UK. I will ensure that the health secretary writes in detail to test right about what we are doing to support NHS dentistry in Scotland. Constituents working in modern languages at the University of Aberdeen have contacted me about university management's plans to withdraw honours degrees in languages, cultures and societies. Given the Scottish Government's commitment to improving language learning in schools and the existing shortage of language teachers in the north-east region, does the First Minister agree with me that Scotland cannot afford for Aberdeen to lose those languages degrees? I agree with much of what Mercedes Villalba says, that learning an additional language is a great skill for any person to have. The news that Mercedes Villalba gives to this Parliament is of concern, and it is ultimately a matter for the university that it is appropriate that they make those decisions. However, I will ensure that the Cabinet Secretary for Education and the Minister for Further and Higher Education does engage with Mercedes Villalba and see what support we are able to offer. Workers in Grangemouth, in my constituency of Falkirk East, are fearful of their future after the announcement from Petro Ineos this week to move from a refinery to an import facility. Although I have an urgent question later today, will the First Minister take this chance to confirm that he will do all in his power to protect this vital industrial asset and workers jobs? I will give that absolute confirmation. I thank Michelle Thomson for raising the issue. As she says, there is an urgent question, I believe, later this afternoon. Neil Gray and I both met Petro Ineos earlier this morning. Neil Gray then went on to meet the trade unions as well, and I believe that he has offered a briefing for all MSPs right across the chamber tomorrow. We will absolutely engage with the owners of Grangemouth. We will, of course, engage, as we have been doing with trade unions. We will engage with the UK Government and we will do everything we possibly can to secure a sustainable future for Grangemouth refinery. In my conversations with Petro Ineos, it was very, very clear that there are a whole range of factors that have to be addressed, some of those domestic, but undoubtedly many of them global too. However, I can give an absolute assurance to Michelle Thomson that we will work with everybody to ensure that there is a sustainable future for Grangemouth and moving forward. On Tuesday, Shona Robison, the finance secretary, failed to guarantee to farmers that £28 million of ring-fence funding will be returned to the Scottish agricultural budget. Furthermore, £45 million is being cut from that rural budget. First Minister, why are you abandoning rural communities and farmers? First Minister, astonishing from the party of Brexit, talking about abandoning our farmers. The party that has inflicted the biggest self-harm, the most dangerous self-harm, our society, our economy has ever seen and for what. I do not think that Rachel Hamilton or the Conservatives have an ounce of credibility when it comes to standing up for our farmers. We will continue to invest in our agricultural community. We will continue to invest in our farmers. What we will do is ensure that they do not have to suffer any more pain that has been inflicted upon them by the Conservatives' hard Brexit. Today's carers' rights day, in which we should all express our appreciation for what unpaid carers do. The state of caring report was also published today making harwin reading, in particular 51 per cent of carers who are struggling financially haven't had a break. Can the First Minister tell us why his carer strategy last year was so thin on respite commitments? Does he agree with calls, including from this side of the chamber, for at least two weeks of respite to support carers who are in such need? More than happy to look into that suggestion being made by Paul O'Kane. I want to start exactly where he did, which is to thank all of our carers for the incredible work that they do, but every single carer I meet will rightly challenge the Government to say that it is not just warm words, they need to see action. That is why this Government has acted and I am more than happy for the Cabinet Secretary to write to Paul O'Kane in detail around the measures that we have taken and are going to be taking to support carers right now and into the future as well. In terms of his suggestion on respite, that is one that we will give consideration to. That concludes First Minister's questions. The next item of business will be a member's business debate in the name of Martin Whitfield of Peace pause to allow the benches to change.