 Good morning. We have General Questions question 1, Bill Kidd. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is and the impact on employment in Glasgow of the city council's plans for its city building subsidiary. Cabinet Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham. The Scottish Government would encourage Glasgow City Council and city building to communicate clearly with interested parties about their workforce plans and, of course, to engage with unions during any process of change. Bill Kidd. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Given that city building is the largest apprentice employer in Scotland and RSBI, the blind craft industries, is the largest supported workshop in Europe and both working with returning war heroes and people with disabilities as well as contributing £5 million per year to Glasgow's finances, can the minister see any mileage at all in the dismantling of this successful organisation? Cabinet Secretary. Roseanna Cunningham. The Scottish Government applaud all employers who support imprentices, including city building with over 300 apprentices. The Scottish Government is also firmly committed to equality for disabled people, including the right to work on an equal basis with others and is striving to create a Scotland that is fair and inclusive to all. The councils are separate entities independent from the Scottish Government. It is for Glasgow City Council and city building to make the business case for any change to current arrangements. As city building is based in my constituency, I have a particular interest in its operation. It was set up in order to ensure the future of the jobs that had previously been maintenance jobs attached to the city council housing at the time of stock transfer. Of course, Mr Kidd is absolutely right to focus on RSBI, on RSBI particularly since the closure of the remploy factory, which was almost next door. Does the minister agree that if the funding settlement to Glasgow was as it should be, Glasgow City Council would be able to do even more with city building and to make sure that there were even more apprentices employed by that organisation going forward? Cabinet Secretary. I think that the member must be aware that the outcome of the spending review 2011 and the budget review 2013 confirmed that local government's revenue funding and capital share was maintained on a like-with-like basis with extra money for new duties. That meant that the total settlement has increased to more than £10.85 billion in 2015-16. The decisions that Glasgow City Council make are for Glasgow to make themselves. Does the cabinet secretary agree that any potential restructuring of city building and Glasgow City Council should involve positive and constructive engagement with trade unions at the outset and that it should not be done as an afterthought and should not be presented with a ffata-complete? Cabinet Secretary. The Scottish Government puts great value on the importance of effective engagement with trade unions and always expects and encourages employers to do so in a respectful manner. Willie Coffey Thank you to ask the Scottish Government how many people have graduated in computer science from Scottish universities this year, broken down by gender. Minister Alice Rallon The latest higher education statistics agency figures show that 3,150 students graduated in computer science from Scottish universities in 2013-14, a 10.5 per cent increase since 2007-08. Of the 3,150 students who graduated in 2013-14, 2,525 were male and 6,125 were female, which is a split of 80 per cent male and 20 per cent female. The Scottish Government is committed to addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEM, that is science, technology, engineering and maths, subject courses and careers. That includes computer science and other IT-related courses. Willie Coffey I thank the minister for that answer. As he will know, the software industry in Scotland is needing about 10,000 new entrants every year to keep pace with demand. The European Commission itself predicts a shortage of nearly a million by the year 2020. What additional measures can the Government consider to improve the position here in Scotland, particularly in schools and particularly amongst females? Minister The member is right to say that there is a skills shortage in this area that the industry is crying out for new people and that there is a message going out from this Government as well as from industry that we want to recruit more young women on to courses both for computer science and for ICT. The Scottish Government is doing a number of things on this front, not least the fact that there are initiatives such as code clan, which works with industry as an industry led academy and the fact that dragonfly is a programme that promotes engineering and science careers among, specifically, S2 girls. All those and other measures are designed to make it clear, as is being made clear in primary school, that there are no boys' jobs and girls' jobs in Scotland and that very much applies to computing science as other science subjects. Johann Lamont It is asked the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure Investment and Cities last met Glasgow City Council on what issues were discussed. Derek Mackay Minister and officials regularly meet Glasgow City Council on a variety of portfolio issues. The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities last met Glasgow City Council leader on 28 October at the Scottish Cities Alliance leadership group meeting, where the agenda spanned a range of issues, including empowering Scotland cities, infrastructure investment and plans to refresh the agenda for cities. The cabinet secretary is due to meet Councillor Macavite again tomorrow at the city's convention in Perth. Johann Lamont The cabinet secretary has been rightly proud of and has taken credit for the fact that the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in my constituency was delivered on time and on budget. By one of the ministers, he can clarify what discussions has the cabinet secretary had with Glasgow City Council about the impact of this building on local infrastructure and in particular local people. While it is for the independent reporter to consider the nature of any parking scheme, would the minister agree that it would be unjust if local people and the people of Glasgow have to pay to mitigate the impact of a project that serves people right across the country? If he would convey to the cabinet secretary my wish to meet him since he has not responded to my correspondence in order to discuss those matters of real concern to my constituents. On the subject of a major development, there are matters that would be captured within planning consents that were considered by the planning authority at the time. It relates to transport, which will be for transport partners to consider further. There is a separate matter of the reporter's hearing, which of course is impartial, not appropriate for ministers to intervene. There are local transport responsibilities, regional transport responsibilities and national transport responsibilities, all of which the Government has engaged appropriately. For example, on the fast link connection to the hospital, Government has been involved and I was involved in trying to ensure that the project was completed. There are other discussions being held with the city council, for example on city deal tax incremental finance and other transport projects, as appropriate where the cabinet secretary has engaged, but in terms of requests for a meeting and raising filler issues, I am more than happy to convey that to the cabinet secretary and the spirit that has been conveyed by Johann Lamont. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve fertility services in west Scotland. Minister Moray Mott. NHS IVF services for patients of health boards in the west of Scotland are provided by the assisted conception unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. A new state of the art unit was formally opened on 23 February this year by the cabinet secretary for health and wellbeing. The unit provides a calm and supportive environment for patients, benefits from a multimillion pound investment enabling the delivery of the latest innovative assisted conception technologies in modern purpose built accommodation. Along with funding support from the Scottish Government of £18 million over the last four financial years, the additional capacity in the unit has meant all eligible patients now start treatment at the unit and indeed across Scotland within 12 months. The Scottish Government funded the purchase of embryoscopes for the four assisted conception units in Scotland, which help with the selection of the best embryos to help improve IVF success rates and importantly increase the use of single embryo transfer to reduce the multiple birth rate. Mary Fee. Can I thank the minister for that comprehensive answer? I welcome the investment that has been made by the Scottish Government in recent years to tackle the postcode lottery facing couples waiting IVF treatment. After successful IVF treatment, new parents face a bill of £500 six months after the birth of a child conceived through IVF for the storage of any remaining frozen embryos. Can the minister tell me how many times health boards have passed this bill on to debt collection agencies if not paid in the time expected by the health board? Minister, on that specific question that Mary Fee asks, no, I don't know the answer to the question. I respect her involvement in this issue. She's asked a number of written questions and, indeed, submitted a number of motions on that. The national infertility group does collect data. I'm not sure that it collects data on that, but I will get back to the member. James Donahue. To ask the Scottish Government what winter preparedness programmes it has put in place to protect vulnerable people. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. The Scottish Government supports a number of initiatives designed to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities throughout the winter period, including the ready for winter campaign that was launched on 9 November. NHS boards and their partners have robust winter plans in place to ensure that all patient services will be delivered and maintained throughout the winter period. NHS boards have processes in place to identify patients who are at high risk of admission to hospital this winter, including the very frail and those suffering from long-term conditions. The seasonal flu programme, launched on 1 October, offers free seasonal flu vaccination to more than 2 million people, including vulnerable groups. Tackling fuel poverty remains a priority for this Government. This year, a record budget of £119 million is being made available for fuel poverty and energy efficiency, helping vulnerable groups to stay warm this winter. James Donahue. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. It's clear that the Scottish Government has put in place a number of programmes to help the people over the difficult winter months, but the cabinet secretary gave me an indication of how many people in my constituency and across Glasgow have benefited and will benefit from those schemes. I can certainly write to James Donahue with more detail around the specifics of his constituency. I could say that the Home Energy Efficiency programme for Scotland is delivering for 2013-14. In that year, there was 34,000 energy efficiency measures that were installed across Scotland through that scheme. Of those 34,000 measures, almost 3,700 were delivered in Glasgow, which is 13 per cent of the Scotland total. I do not have the figures particularly for his constituency, but it will give a sense of direct support for some of the most vulnerable people. I am very happy to write to James Donahue with some of the other mechanisms that are taking place, particularly in the health service, to support the most vulnerable people in the city of Glasgow. Richard Simpson. I thank the cabinet secretary for the reply that she has given so far. Given that there are 252,000 households still in extreme fuel poverty and around a million households in fuel poverty, that is four in ten of all households in Scotland, I appreciate the challenges facing the Government in this regard, but I wonder if she would at least publish the figures for all constituencies and not just Mr Donahue's as to the input from the Government in order to tackle this problem in moving towards their target of zero by November next year. I can certainly look at what the level of information available is on fuel poverty measures. If that is available on a perced constituency basis, there is no problem with providing that. I would just reiterate the point that fuel poverty remains very much a priority for this Government. This year, there has been a record budget of £119 million being made available for fuel poverty and energy efficiency measures. Of course, the focus around that scheme in winter is particularly important, but, as I said, I will look at whether the level of information that Richard Simpson asked for, if it is available, that will be provided. Richard Baker. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the energy industry in the north-east. We are supporting the energy industry in the north-east through a wide variety of measures within our devolved powers. For example, we have set up the energy jobs task force, which is co-ordinating action between government, the wider public sector industry bodies and trade unions to support jobs in the north-east and the north-east oil and gas industry. We are supporting investment in the low-carbon projects, as an example being the district heating loan fund. This fund has supported a range of projects, including a £1 million loan in February 2015 to Aberdeen Heaton Power for the continued expansion of the network in the city. Richard Baker. Given the concerning jobs figures in the north-east yesterday, with a claimant count in Aberdeen rising by 39 per cent, would the cabinet secretary agree that a renewed strategy to support the energy industry in the north-east is required, and that, while the appointment of Bob Keillor as chair of the Scottish Enterprise presents an opportunity for a fresh focus on policies to support the sector, the success of the Aberdeen city region deal bid will be crucial to secure the future of the energy industry in the north-east, which is so important to Scotland as a whole? First of all, I welcome the comments that Richard Baker has made in relation to the appointment of Bob Keillor as the chairman of the Scottish Enterprise. I am absolutely delighted that Mr Keillor has been appointed and I think that he will bring tremendous expertise, not just in the oil and gas sector but across his wide business experience to the leadership of the Scottish Enterprise, with an intimate knowledge of the north-east of Scotland. I very much welcome Mr Baker's remarks in that respect. We remain very focused on the employment position in the north-east of Scotland. The employment data is concerning, given the degree of increase in the claimant count that has taken place, which is why the energy jobs task force is focused on supporting companies and why a lot of our efforts on internationalisation and on innovation work will concentrate on developments in the north-east. Obviously, the Government is determined to make sure that we broaden our energy propositions, which is why we are pressing so hard for there to be a more stable approach to renewable energy policy development within the United Kingdom, which has been singularly absent in the past few months. To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to the commission for school reforms challenge paper. The First Minister and I are meeting with the chair of the commission, Keir Bloomer, this afternoon to discuss the challenge paper. One of the weaknesses of Scottish Government policy in closing the attainment gap highlighted in the paper is the targeting of resources. Given that most of the poorest children do not go to schools in the poorest areas, they miss out on intended support. My constituency of East Lothian, for example, is receiving not one penny of the Scottish Government's attainment fund. Labour's fair start fund proposal would see every primary school in my constituency receive support for those children facing barriers to attainment. Will the minister and the cabinet secretary undertake to re-examine the targeting of future funding when they meet the authors of the commission report? One matter on which Mr Gray and I agree, I suspect, is on this. Is it acceptable that for somebody in Scotland's most affluent communities is it acceptable that they are twice as likely to come out of school with at least one hire as someone from Scotland's most deprived communities? No, it is not acceptable. Neither was it acceptable the situation that we inherited when it was almost four times the ratio in question. On the question of resources, and they have been raised, it is important to say that the £5 billion that the Government and local authorities invest in schools is increasingly targeted on the priority of closing the attainment gap. On the local authorities' concern, it is important to say, too, that the Government is investing outwith the seven local authorities that were initially named. The point has been raised about the attainment challenge that Labour proposed. I do not intend to try to offer much advice to Labour on the writing of its manifesto, but I point to the fact that the attainment challenge needs a bit of work done on it, given that it has costed it £72 million. All the available evidence suggests that that is an £87 million investment to implement that policy in preschool and primary and £131 million across all schools. While Labour is working out of that, the Government will get on with the task that is important, which is making Scotland's education system fairer for all. Cresnate Malcolm Tism. Progressive is making with the recruitment of additional specialist nurses. So far this year alone, the Government has invested more than £2.4 million to improve access to specialist nursing and care, including the appointment of additional specialist nurses. NHS boards are on track to appoint at least one additional whole-time equivalent specialist nurse by 31 December. NHS motor neuron disease specialist nurses are now paid from the public purse, and NHS boards who employ those nurses are in the process of recruiting additional nurses, which will fulfil our pledge to double their number. Briefly, Mr Tysolm. I agree that there is little or nothing more appreciated by patients with chronic or rare diseases than the availability of a specialist nurse. Will she closely monitor the use of this money by health boards and also ensure that it is a priority in the forthcoming spending review? Yes, I can reassure Malcolm Tism. We are indeed monitoring that, and we will ensure that it is a priority going forward. Thank you. We now move to First Minister's question number one.