 Thank you very much. We now move on to topical questions. We'll start with question number one from Jon Finnie. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of institutional racism in Police Scotland. Cabinet Secretary and Michael Matheson, Police Scotland's evidence to the Justice Sub-Committee in policing highlights the positive action that it's taking to support our race equality framework for 2016-2030. For example, in the introduction of a new training and mentoring programme, yw'r curfodol ar y ffordd yr ysgrifoheddu atoedd yn ôl i'r cyr Gruffwysau. Rwyf yn 10% deisbu o cyfan ac yn ei gynhyrchu peirglwydl. Felly, mae'n mynd i'r grwm hyn, mae'r rhannu gwneud i'r cyfriedd gyda i gyffredinol o'r rai cyfion, a'r rhannu cyffredinol ac i'r cyffredinol, holder y cyfion, ac i'r cyffredinol i'r cyffredinol i'r cyffredinol ac i'r cyffredinol i'r cyffredinol i'r cyffredinol i'r cyffredinol. a'r instants across the country. There is also an extensive and detailed programme of training in place to support understanding of and effective response to equality and diversity issues. As Police Scotland itself acknowledges, there are areas for improvement in the way that it serves and represents minority ethnic communities, but I do not doubt that it is determination to do so. I will continue to receive updates on progress being made. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the McPherson report was seen as a very pivotal watershed moment, and it has always been the holy grail for many to have the police admit to institutional racism. What has given rise to this question today is Courses report from the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights. The start facts are that only 1 per cent of officers and police staff come from a BMA background. That has relatively unchanged since 2013. The proportion of BMA police officers has never risen above 1 per cent, and officers and staff continue to leave in high proportions. That could be construed as being institutional failings. Setting aside recruitment, can you advise what you are doing to establish why staff leave in higher proportions and what you are doing to ensure that BMA staff are retained? The member raises an important issue. As I outlined in my response that the Police Scotland is already taking forward work in order to recruit more individuals from the BMA communities and that progress has been made in that, and the recent intake into Police Scotland demonstrates the significant progress that it has achieved over the course of the work that it has been taking forward. Part of the work that we are doing as a Government is through the race equality framework, which sets out key priorities, themed areas with set goals that it must take forward in order to address issues of racial equality. That is a framework that we have taken forward over the next 15 years. Within that, there are a number of specific goals that are set for Police Scotland to take forward, part of which is being more reflective of the communities that they serve. In the Police Scotland response to the sub-committees' call for evidence on that, they set out the actions that they are taking. For example, the positive action team has been established in order to support the greater recruitment of police officers into the police service. That has helped to improve the uptake, as I mentioned in my earlier remarks, alongside that. They are also making sure that they have a mentoring programme in place, so that those individuals from BMA communities who join the police service have someone who can support them once they have entered into the service as well. It is important to recognise—I am sure that the member will want to acknowledge—that Police Scotland is putting in place a number of different programmes and initiatives in order to improve representation and to improve retention of those individuals from BMA communities coming into the service. That has been driven by the race equality framework, which was published in March last year, and sets out key objectives for Police Scotland to take forward, which they are committed to doing in the work that they have already started on. John Finnie. I thank the cabinet secretary and, of course, I applaud the work that has been done with recruitment and the positive action. Indeed, the commission was involved in the equality framework, which I rightly say that the cabinet secretary goes to 2030. Of course, we have had laudable statements from senior police officers and the staff associations. I note that organisational culture is part of the training that takes place. However, it is evident that that is not always resulting in positive action on the front line. Again, that has to be seen as an institutional failure. The coalition has asked for four key improvements in the police service that I am sure you are aware of. Those relate to a more representative, a more responsive, a more collaborative, a more accessible—and that is particularly with regard to the issues of transparency police service—and they seem entirely reasonable to me. What will you do to ensure that those improvements take place, please, cabinet secretary? The four key areas that have been highlighted by CRER are all valid issues. I know that Police Scotland will give active consideration to those particular matters. I am updated on the progress that they are making against the objectives that have been set out in the race equality framework on a regular basis. I will continue to engage with them on that particular initiative. I will, of course, also be interested in the outcome from the sub-committee on policing's investigation into the issue and the report that comes from the sub-committee on the matter. I can also say to the member that we have also been working with Police Scotland to help to support work that they can take forward within the organisation. For example, we provide funding support to supporting ethnic minority policing. Police employees through Simpera within the organisation, which is for Scottish Police Muslin and the Scottish Police Muslin Association, as well. What the Police Scotland is also doing at the present moment is that they are also conducting an internal review into their procedures and the way in which they take forward matters relating to hate crime. That sits very closely with the work that we are doing presently in the review of hate crime legislation in Scotland to make sure that we have the right legislation in place and to ensure that Police Scotland has the right type of response in the organisation. Alongside that, Police Scotland is also providing training around diversity and equality, again, which feeds out of the race equality framework. As part of the race equality framework, there are regular updates on the progress that is being made. I can assure the member about actions that are being taken, and that we have a process in place that allows us to measure the progress that Police Scotland is making against those matters. I am regularly updated on the actions that they are taking. I am determined to make sure that Police Scotland does everything possible that it can in this particular area. I am also confident that the executive team within Police Scotland is determined to do that as well. Three more brief questions if we can. Liam Kerr. The cabinet secretary talks of recruitment into the force, but none of the current executive team that he mentions is from a BME background. A number of BME officers in senior roles is less than the force in general. Does the cabinet secretary believe that that is acceptable? Can he outline any steps that he has taken in his time in office to encourage the promotion to senior level of BME officers into Police Scotland and ensure representation at the top level? The short answer is no, it is not acceptable, but part of the challenge has been historically in Scotland that there has been a poor approach to succession planning within the organisation to ensure that individuals who could progress to senior ranks are encouraged and supported to do so. However, the Scottish Police Authority is now taking proactive action to support that. I am sure that the member will recognise that in order to get to the senior ranks within the Police Service and in particular to get into the executive team, officers have to have a considerable level of experience. It will take time in order to recruit more individuals into that particular force from a BME background or from other genders, because at present time it is largely dominated by male officers, with the exception of DCC Rose Fitzpatrick. The service recognises that it needs to take more action on that. I have been working with it to encourage it to do so, and a key part of that is effective succession planning, making sure that those who have the skills and the talents within the organisation that are being encouraged to do so and the Scottish Police Authority are working with it to ensure that that type of succession planning is now being taken forward on an on-going basis. Claire Baker Thank you, Presiding Officer. The coalition raises many important concerns. Will the cabinet secretary commit to reviewing the way in which we record police incidents and regularly publish data concerning the engagement of the BME community with Police Scotland to ensure transparency and greater accountability? The four key areas that have been highlighted by CRER are all valid areas that Police Scotland can take further action on and they are already committed to engaging on the four points that have been highlighted. I also refer the member to the submission that has been made by Police Scotland to the Subcommittee on Policing, highlighting the extensive range of work that is already undertaking in this particular field. That also has to be recognised. As I mentioned, there is already an internal review within Police Scotland into both the policy and the procedures that they have around the recording and dealing with hate crime matters. As I have mentioned, that sits very closely with the review that we have into hate crime legislation in Scotland. However, where there are areas in which we can strengthen transparency and accountability around this area, I am always prepared to ensure that that action is taken. Of course, we will welcome the final report from the Subcommittee on Policing to consider what further measures they believe are necessary in order to help to support further progress in this particular area. Can the cabinet secretary provide any detail on how much confidence the Scottish public across all sections has in their local police force? The confidence in policing in Scotland in general is high. The most recent data that we have is from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, which found that the majority of adults had confidence in the police force in Scotland. Additional developmental analysis, which was based on combining data from three large household surveys, found that people from ethnic minorities reported a higher level of confidence in policing within their local area. Overall, confidence in the police service in Scotland remains high, but Police Scotland has also recognised that it needs to take further action forward to make sure that they are engaging effectively with minority communities, and that is a key part of the developmental and improvement work that they have already started to take forward. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that Childline has recorded a record number of young people expressing suicidal thoughts in the last year. We welcome an increase in young people seeking help with suicidal thoughts. It illustrates that the stigma and discrimination long associated with mental health is decreasing and provides more opportunity to deliver the support that is required. We take the mental health of our young people very seriously and we want every child and young person to have appropriate access to emotional and wellbeing mental support. All public services that come into contact with children and young people have a role to play in supporting their mental health and wellbeing. We have commenced a national review of personal and social education in schools. The review includes consideration of the role of guidance and counselling in local authority schools. We have also invested additional funds in child and adolescent mental health services in recent years and are putting in an additional £150 million into mental health over five years, some of which will be used to improve prevention of mental ill health and to improve treatment in CAMHS. I commend all those who volunteer as childline counsellors who are making a real difference to children and young people's lives. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. ISD Scotland published a report in September about how long children and young people will wait for mental health services provided by the NHS in Scotland. It found that, in the quarter ending June of this year, one in five children did not begin their treatment at CAMHS services within the 18-week target. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what action is the Scottish Government taking to improve this figure and to ensure that no child is allowed to slip through the net or miss out on the treatment that might save their life? As the member might know, we were the first administration to introduce targets for waiting times for CAMHS and 90 per cent targets for 18-weeks referral to treatment. While some boards are making real progress on reducing their waiting times, we are not yet seeing the consistency that I would like towards meeting the targets and sustaining those targets. However, the member might want to know that 29 people waited more than 53 weeks to start treatment in the second quarter of 2017. An improvement from the previous quarter, which was 74, and an improvement from the same quarter in 2016, where there are 151 young people waiting. Down to 21 from 151 in that same quarter of the previous year. We are making progress, but there is still work to do. Thank you. It is good to hear that some progress is being made. You mentioned in your first response about teachers taking on some of the workload in terms of helping young people with mental health issues. Can you just tell us a little bit about how you are going to train teachers to deal with this very important issue? Given that it is often very difficult to get teachers out of the classrooms and out of school to receive training, how are you going to schedule that in? As I said in my first answer, we have already commenced the review of personal and social education in schools. I should say to the member that it is not just teachers who are involved in this, it is everyone who is involved in schools. Education Scotland is, for example, rolling out Scotland's mental health first aid training for children and young people to all local authorities. Some of the extra money has been used to train staff within the whole secondary school communities to increase their confidence about approaching pupils who think that they might be struggling with a mental health problem. Good examples are the North Ayrshire Council, for example, who are using the Cabinet Secretary's attainment fund to fund Place to Be, which is participating in a research project to deliver targeted counselling services in a limited number of schools and then see what the impact is on that and see whether we should roll it out. There is work on going. Like others around the chamber, I welcome the news from the Mental Welfare Commission that the number of young people being treated in non-specialised wars has fallen dramatically, and I congratulate you for that. Can I ask the Scottish Government what investment it is making to increase the mental health workforce? As the member has pointed out, mental health is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we have shown that by our increased investment of £150 million. That investment includes £54 million to support the reduction in waiting times, including £4.6 million to his, to work with boards, to improve service capacity, to increase the supply and training of the workforce, and £10 million to support new ways of improving mental health in primary care, and £15 million to support better access to CAMHS and innovation. It is a great deal of work to help to improve the waiting-time targets and make sure that our young people get the help as quickly as possible. I thank members, and that concludes topical questions. Given the earlier technical difficulty with our sound system, I am minded to take a motion without notice under rule 1124 to move decision time to 5.15. I wonder what the Minister for Parliament moved such a motion. I put the question to the chamber that we moved decision time to 5.15. Are we all agreed? We are all agreed. Decision time is now 5.15.