 Good afternoon everyone and the first item in business this afternoon is portfolio questions and then in order to get as many people in as possible, I prefer short and succinct questions and indeed answers. Question 1, Alison McInnes. Thank you very much to ask the Scottish Government, what factors it considers when designating seal haulout sites? Minister Elien Macleodd. In designating seal haulout sites, the Scottish Government uses a methodology developed by scientists from the sea mammal research unit at the University of St Andrews. That involves consideration of several factors, including the relative proportion of the regional population of each seal species that regularly use a site, the persistence of the use of a site over time, whether the use of a site is increasing or decreasing over time, and whether or not a particular site is a significant breeding site for grey seals. The minister will perhaps be aware of the increasingly large seal haul-out on the estuary of the river Ithan in my north-east region. I know from correspondence with the cabinet secretary that the Scottish Government is discussing with stakeholders and its statutory advisers whether the scientific evidence wants it being granted designated status prior to the five-year nationwide review. I wonder if the minister could provide an update on those discussions and what local circumstances are being taken into consideration, and when does she expect a decision to be made on whether to give seals on the Isam protected status? Can I thank Alison McInnes for her supplementary? I am aware that she has already written to the cabinet secretary back in March about the issue. The issue has already had a response from Mr Lockhead. The Scottish Government is currently preparing a public consultation on the possible designation of the site, which I hope to publish in the summer of this year. The site is a relatively new one for grey seals, and it was identified as important too late in the original designation process to be included in the original list of 194 seal haul-out sites designated in September last year. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that more people can buy local and eat Scottish produce. The Scottish Government knows that we have a fantastic range of fine food and drink right in our doorstep in supporting initiatives such as Sourcing for Growth, which links Scottish food producers with manufacturers, think local, which provides support to local food companies and tastes our best, which requires 40 per cent of local produce to be used. We are showing our commitment to ensuring that the best of Scotland's food is available and promoted for our people and our visitors from around the world. I would like to say that I am a member of the representatives in the north-east region, and I know how much the cabinet secretary, Richard Lockhead, enjoyed testing the fantastic local produce at the Scottish Seafood Association Food Store last Friday, at the Skipper Expo in Aberdeen. As an active member of the association in previous life, I was delighted to see that the store was a result of a co-operation between the on-show and the off-shore fishing sector, with the backing of the Scottish Fish Producers Association and of the Broken Brace Coastal Hotel. What I would like from the minister is with the upcoming test of Grampian, will the minister ensure that in the year of food and drink the successes are replicated throughout Scotland so that as many people as possible have the opportunity to buy local and eat Scottish fish? Of course, the year of food and drink offers a wonderful opportunity to promote Scotland's food and drink to our people and our visitors through a dedicated £282,000 fund. Scotland's natural larder is being showcased throughout 2015 at 47 events, the length and breadth of the country. A test of Grampian and other events such as SeaFest, Lossy Mouse and a Broad Sea Festival and Scotland's Salmon Festival are being supported through the fund, providing a number of opportunities for people to buy and eat Scottish fish. What I would also like to highlight to the member is that as part of the year of food and drink, the month of October has the theme of sustainable shores, with the focus very much on promoting our fishing, seafood and salmon with sustainability at its core. The minister will know that the cabinet secretary attended the fantastic food and drink awards last week, and from South Scotland there were a number of nominees, including Erington cheese and Canapé among those. In addition to the concerns expressed by Naresh and, indeed, by Christian Allard about local links and networks, what can the Scottish Government do specifically to support more rural employment and skills development in producer and supplier chains? The Government is supporting a number of local food projects, such as the Sourcing for Growth, which I mentioned earlier. There is also the Think Local. We have our taste in our best, which encourages tourism businesses across the country to use fresh seasonal Scottish produce, showcasing our high-quality produce to visit us from home and abroad. We also have our market-driven supply chain, and our food processing co-operation and marketing grant scheme. A grant to 175 projects is worth up to £47 million to assist the construction of buildings and purchase of equipment, market research and product development, and to aid co-operation and collaboration in the food chain. A new capital-only scheme opened in May with a non-capital element opening in the autumn. The new capital-only scheme will plough 70 million pounds into food and drink processing in Scotland as part of the new Scottish road development programme, and our £47 million investment that levered in £114 million private sector funding and safeguarded or created about 8,500 jobs. Of course, all that is being fed back into the local economy. Question 3, John Mason. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to reduce the use of barbed wire in the vicinity of cattle in order to protect the quality of hides for leather production. The Scottish Government considers the measures to protect the quality of hides a commercial matter between the leather industry and its suppliers, and we would encourage tanneries, abattoirs and farmers to agree and apply their own standards. John Mason. I thank the minister. She may be aware that Andrew Muirhead is one of the world's leading producers of leather and are based in my constituency and they produce leather for the likes of aircraft seats, but they and UK Leather Federation have told me that across the EU they reckon some 800 million euros is lost each year because of damaged hide, and yet in some countries in Germany only 6 per cent of hides were damaged, whereas in the UK it was 70 to 90 per cent, so is there no way that the Government could do something to help the industry? The member raises an important issue on behalf of his constituent, and certainly the Scottish Government would urge Andrew Muirhead and Sons and other leather manufacturers to discuss this important issue with the National Farmers Union of Scotland in the first instance. I am aware that other countries such as Ireland have had some success replacing barbed wire with electric fences incentivised by market demand for high-quality hides. If the member would like any further and more detailed information, I would certainly recommend that he may be helpful for him to also write directly to the cabinet secretary. To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to farmers markets. In 2012, the Scottish Government announced £2.5 million support for the Think Local initiative to be delivered over three years. The initiative, which runs until the end of this financial year, provides targeted support to local food producers and suppliers, including farmers markets, local food retail and local food events. As part of the Think Local, the community food fund allows food and drink producer groups, networks and community organisations to apply for up to £25,000 to establish farmers markets that celebrate and promote food and drink throughout the year. The Scottish Government has also pledged over £4 million to support food education in 2010 to 2016, and that will ensure that pupils understand about the food journey from plough to plate and is supporting the Royal Highland Education Trust to facilitate pupil farm visits and farmer markets in schools. Thanks to minister for her reply, Heddington farmers market in my constituency is a well-established farmers market. Indeed, it has been providing a great outlet for local produce for around 15 years from Falco German bread to Bellhaven smoked trout, black and gold oils and fantasy farm vegetables, but it does have to constantly keep up and refresh its promotional and development activities to grow and thrive. I appreciate the grants that the minister referred to for starting up farmers markets, but can she indicate what specific support an established market like Heddington might be able to access from Scottish Government funds? As I already said in my original answer, there is a local fund that has £2.2 million to help to champion local food, particularly around adding value and supporting SMEs and using the community food fund to promote food tourism and the farmers markets. Heddington farmers market is to be commended. What I will say to the members is that the Scottish Government refreshed its national food and drink policy in order for food to be a key part of what makes the people of Scotland proud of their country in terms of food that is tasty to eat, nutritious, environmentally sustainable and available to all. Of course, one priority area under this work of becoming a good food nation is to support the local food movement and, in particular, its socioeconomic contribution to Scotland. We believe that Scotland's larder has a lot to offer and that access to Scottish food should be an integral part of our lives. As such, we are in the process of reviewing the local food initiatives to date and we will consider how best to continue to support promoting local food from 2016 onwards. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to report on the outcome of its consultation on the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. The cabinet secretary plans to issue a report on the consultation of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board by 30 September this year. Mark Griffin? I thank the minister for that answer given that the legislation governing the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board specifies the need for periodic reviews to ensure that it is delivering appropriate minimum rates of pay and other conditions of services for agricultural workers. Why is the Scottish Government consulting on the potential abolition of the board at all? The Scottish Government is asking whether the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board should continue as it does now, be retained as an advisory body or be removed so that arrangements for agricultural workers are determined under the general employment law. The functions of non-departmental public bodies, which is what the Agricultural Wages Board is, are normally reviewed periodically and the last review involving the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board was concluded in 2008. The current review was announced as part of the Scottish Government's 2011 agricultural manifesto. That made a commitment to review the function of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board during the current Parliament. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the fishing for litter project. The Scottish Government has provided support and funding for the duration of the Kimo fishing for litter Scotland project that recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. There are now 15 Scottish harbours participating and to date the project has removed over 800 tonnes of litter from our marine environment. I thank the minister for her reply. It is extremely encouraging to see such a large number of boats and harbours participating in the Scottish scheme. However, there are other players in the North Sea who must play their part. What discussions has the Scottish Government had with offshore wind farm developers to ensure that we sign up to a fishing for litter initiative? Considering the five coastline has a potential for hundreds of offshore wind farms. The Scottish Government has not discussed fishing for litter support directly with offshore wind farm developers but Marine Scotland provides financial support to Kimo's fishing for litter project. The Fishing for Litter Scotland project continues to raise awareness of the significant detrimental impact of marine litter with and to seek to additional funding from marine industries and society in general. A sea green wind energy limited and Beatrice offshore wind farms limited currently fund the Kimo fishing for litter project. I am pleased that the Scottish Government and other funders have been able to continue financial support for Kimo's work in co-ordinating and promoting the important initiative. I commend the many Scottish fishmen who have helped to collect the 800 tonnes of litter. Is the minister committed to funding the scheme for the next five years and can she provide information on how much of the waste land it has recycled? I can say to the members that Marine Scotland has funded the project for 10 years, including a £40,000 contribution in 2015-16. On the second part of his question, which was rather detailed, I would say to the member if he wishes to have a more detailed response, he would be better if he writes to the cabinet secretary and I am sure that he will make sure that he is supplied with as full a response as possible. I just wanted to point out to the minister that I did amid Kimo last week and I did write to the companies that are sponsoring funding Kimo just now. Two of them are from Rhino Moraynergym and one is from Orangasio. I wonder if the minister would like to do the same thing and write to Orangasio UK and different companies to see if they could help. I have been more than happy to speak to the cabinet secretary and ensure that we take that forward. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what the take-up has been for the agri-environment climate scheme. There are currently, as of Monday 1 June, 386 draft agri-environment of climate scheme applications and 45 submitted agri-environment of climate change scheme applications. The minister will be well aware that Alan Bowie, the president of NFU Scotland, has raised concerns about the take-up of the scheme because of two factors, the complex online application scheme and the overlap with the basic payment scheme. I appreciate the deadline for the basic payment scheme as it extended to 15 June, but would the minister listen to the pleas from farmers and crofters and extend the AECS deadline beyond 12 June, even at this 11th hour? An extension to the application window will put our ability to meet the deadlines for approving and issuing contracts in jeopardy, as well as potentially impacting on the work that rural payments and inspections division are doing to ensure that pillar 1 payments go out as early as possible. We will keep the situation under review, but any shift in that deadline would have serious repercussions for the rest of the CEP delivery. We anticipate that most of the draft applications will be submitted by the deadline on 12 June, but one thing that we have said is that we will allow supporting documentation such as a farm environment assessment to be submitted up until 30 June. The futures programme is on track to receive all single application forms for rural payments and services by 15 June 2015. The Scottish Government is working hard in this transition year to implement the very complex common agricultural policy. As of this morning, 3 June, a total of 12,389 single application forms have been received. 7,675 have been received online through our new online system, rural payments and services and 4,714 received on paper. With two weeks to go to the close of the extended application window, we have received just over half of the expected applications. The rate of submission remains ahead of the comparable point in 2014, when we received 67 per cent of all single application forms in the final two weeks. As such, we are on track to receive estimated 22,000 single application forms by the closing date of 15 June. However, we will continue to monitor the situation very closely. Alex Ferguson, Stuart Davidson. I thank the minister for the encouraging news that was ahead of progress last year. Being parochial, can the minister tell us what the response has been in the north-east of Scotland and what the area is likely to benefit from significant funding? As of 2 June, ARPD has received 1,842 single application forms from the north-east business or 19 per cent of the total received. That is about half of the total anticipated with around two weeks of the application window remaining. With regard to funding, the latest analysis indicates that the north-east of Scotland will account for about £94 million of the direct payment budget, or £68 million at the current exchange rate at the end of the transition period. That is the highest share of any of Scotland's regions. For the agri-environment climate scheme, the region accounts for 19 per cent of applications currently in the system, the highest total after the south-east of Scotland at 20 per cent. Thank you. With respect to the minister, the late rush of last year's application forms was using a system that was easy to understand and use it friendly. As we heard on the rural affairs committee this morning, this one is anything but. On 24 March, I asked the cabinet secretary whether he prepared to issue pre-populated paper forms to Scotland's farmers if it became necessary to do so. His answer was somewhat non-committal. I now understand that various agents and others were advised just on Monday that pre-populated forms are now available at department offices around the country. Can the minister confirm that this is the case? How will the Scottish Government make that information known to Scotland's farming population at large? With just two weeks to go before the final deadline, why has it taken so long to put that in place when those forms have been sitting in department offices for weeks? Of course, our top priority is to ensure that the new system works well, enabling the cap payments to be made in time to farmers and crofters across Scotland. The very fact that we extended the deadline by one month to 15 June to allow customers to get used to the system and new rules of the cap, which is the line with the flexibility that has been offered by the EU, will continue to urge our farmers and crofters not to delay registering for rural payments and services and submitting their application form as soon as it is finalised. Obviously, we have a much more complex policy this year as well as the new online system. We are very happy to come back to the detail of the question that was raised by the member in response from the cabinet secretary. I just want to echo the concern that was raised at the Rural Affairs Committee this morning. The scheme was described as appalling a nightmare to operate, and there is clear worry amongst our farmers and our crofters about their ability to finish the forms properly. Will the minister look at the official report and address the issue of a telephone hotline, better consistent guidance and really get the advice out there to enable the thousands of farmers and crofters who have yet to submit? We are very happy to also be looking at the official report from the Racky Affairs Committee this morning, as I am aware that the Racky Committee was taking evidence around the implementation of the cap. If farmers and crofters are needing help with their single application form or they are encountering any issues, then support is available from the RPED local area offices, where blank paper forms continue to be available on request. Where necessary, pre-populated paper forms can also be made available. We are still aiming to be ready for payments to start from December, as planned. Many thanks, and we now move to portfolio questions to the justice and law officers. Question 1, Angus MacDonald. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of fiscal work orders. The use of fiscal work orders was piloted in seven local authority areas. A valuation of the four initial pilot sites published in December 2010 found them to be fair, efficient and effective. The valuation was also found that fiscal work orders filled a gap in the criminal justice system by providing an alternative for those offenders for whom a fine was either not the most appropriate or effective disposal. As a result of the successful pilots and in response to a specific recommendation from the Angelini commission on women offenders, fiscal work orders will roll out across Scotland from 1 April 2015. A national implementation group consisting of representatives from a range of organisations involved in the oversight and delivery of fiscal work orders has been established to oversee the national roll-out. That group will have a key role to play in assessing the impact and effectiveness of those orders as numbers increase over time. Is the Scottish Government undertaking monitoring of fiscal work orders to ensure demand does not exceed capacity in each community justice authority area? If it does, is there a provision for the Scottish Government to provide a financial uplift to CJAs to allow them to meet demand? As it stands at the present moment, we have provided community justice authorities with an extra half a million pounds in this financial year in order to assist in supporting the national roll-out of fiscal work orders. That is a matter that has already been taken forward with the local CJAs. In relation to the work that we are undertaking to monitor this matter, we have asked all local authorities to provide us with bi-monthly monitoring information on the operational delivery of fiscal work orders in their area between the months of June and December. That information will include the number and any additional resources that may be required in relation to the delivery of fiscal work orders. The monitoring of that information will then be taken forward by the national implementation body. If there are any further funding issues or other issues that are identified as part of that monitoring exercise, we have already given a commitment that we will consider those as we move forward. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Audit Scotland report, which estimates that there may be a £42.7 million gap in the funding of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2019-20. The challenge of bringing together eight legacy fire services represented one of the biggest public sector reforms in a generation. In its recent positive report, Audit Scotland confirms that the fire reform process has been a huge success. In its report, Audit Scotland said in a quote, that the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service managed the 2013 merger of the eight fire and rescue services effectively and the merger followed good practice. The Auditor General for Scotland also said that this achievement provides a valuable opportunity to share the lessons of how that was done with other public bodies going through a merger process. Audit Scotland singled out the especially effective local engagement with the communities throughout the reform process, which has had no adverse impact on the public and that the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has allowed the performance of the service to improve over time. The policy aims of the Police and Fire Reform Act were to protect and improve local services while not cutting front line services. However, the chief officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Alasdair Hayes, stated in evidence to the Public Audit Committee on 27 May that there had already been a reduction from approximately 4,000 whole-time firefighters to 3,850 since the creation of the single service and that, if SFRS is to take the amount of money indicated in the Audit Scotland report out of the budget, SFRS would have to look at a further reduction in the number of whole-time firefighters across Scotland. Does the minister have any plans to avert that possibility? Does he believe that there should be a minimum number of whole-time firefighters in Scotland as there are for police officers? In my original answer, I recognise the challenge that SFRS has had to go through in terms of implementing the Fire and Rescue Service reform. What I am celebrating in the first answer is the fact that it has been done largely successfully and without any adverse impact in the public, so I am sure that Dr Murray would be pleased to hear. However, we do recognise that there is a challenge going forward. We have to address, as I am sure that the member is aware, issues with VAT, which we were all aware of at the time of the Police and Fire Reform Act, but we had been objecting to the UK Government position in that and continued to do so. There are also other impotitions in terms of the impact on employer national insurance contributions or the changes in the single-tier pension that is impacting on the Fire and Rescue Service as well. There are a number of external budget pressures that the Fire and Rescue Service is having to cope with, but it is important to stress to date that there have been no compulsory redundancies. We have no station closures in Scotland. We contrast that with the position in England where Fire and Rescue Service reform has not been implemented. Across England and Wales, 39 station closures and 4,700 firefighters are lost. We need to see that in the context. The service is doing the best it can to cope with budget pressures and will continue to deliver a good-quality service to the public. There has been no adverse impact on the public safety so far. Before I call Roderick Campbell, brief questions and answers will be welcome. Does the minister agree with the comments made by HM chief inspector of Fire and Rescue, Stephen Torrie, when he said that Scotland would have been in a far, far worse situation without reform? Roderick Campbell is losing quite. I just mentioned in relation to Dr Murray, absolutely correct. I agree with Mr Torrie's further comments in which he said that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has done a pretty remarkable job of bringing in reform, maintaining business as usual and making progress. It is impressive to see how SFRS has coped, as I say, with the responding to budget pressures caused by steep cuts to Scotland's block grant and achieving reform savings in each of the years since it was created. As I reiterate the point about the contrast with what is happening in England with 4,700 firefighters being lost and station closures across England and Wales, we should be grateful that we have not had to receive that so far in Scotland. The minister failed to answer the two very specific questions that Elaine Murray asked him, and I hope that he will reflect on that and revert to her in writing. However, he mentioned VAT liability, and that was a problem that was wholly created by the Scottish Government's failure to take the advice that was given to him by the Treasury. Notwithstanding, the minister will have our support in hoping that the UK Government will now move to bail out the Scottish Government for the mess that it created. Mr Henry appears to have a short memory. His party voted for the very act that brought in single fire and rescue service in Scotland. It is a bit rich for Mr Henry now to claim that he has some distance between that decision. I welcome his support for tackling the VAT issue with the UK Government. I think that that is something that we hopefully can have common cause on, and I look forward to working with Dr Murray and Mr Henry on tackling that, as with the cabinet secretary in relation to Police Scotland. I apologise to Dr Murray for missing out on the point about the establishment number that she is looking for an answer on. I welcome back to Dr Murray on that point in more detail, bringing in mind the Presiding Officer's comments. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that there is an adequate joined-up approach to tackling antisocial behaviour. The answer to Mr Rowley is yes. We have a national strategy in place that is based on prevention, early intervention and diversionary activities. That is having a positive impact in communities across Scotland, including in the member's constituency, where school-based police officers undertake diversionary work to ensure that young people are guided away from antisocial behaviour. We are making progress, and last year, antisocial behaviour reported by members of the public decreased by almost 14 per cent in Scotland as a whole. Partnership working has been central to achieving that reduction, and it has been particularly impressed with the partnerships that have developed between Police Scotland and the communities across the country, which have been identifying ears of concern to allow the deployment of appropriate resources to proactively prevent antisocial behaviour. The minister for his response depends on how he defines antisocial behaviour, but my concern is that too many of my constituents have reported to me the difficulty in getting the police to be able to respond. I am told that the Cow and Beath constituency is now covered by the Dunfermline district, and you could basically have a police officer in King Cardin being called out for antisocial behaviour in Cow and Beath and the journey itself to get there. Often police do not come in numbers because there are not enough numbers there. Is he satisfied that Police Scotland is continuing to do the excellent job that was done previously by the police force in Fife in tackling antisocial behaviour? I take the matter very seriously that Mr Rowley mentions, and I will happily look into the issue that he raises in relation to his constituents. In general, we know that across Scotland and indeed in Fife I know work has advanced in developing local ward level plans for policing based on local priorities and how to tackle particular issues that have been flagged up. I have dealt with that in relation to Clare Baker and had a query in relation to codbite thefts and antisocial behaviour in relation to codbite. I think that that is a useful approach that is being deployed at a local level, but I am happy to look at the matter. I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary himself looks at the issue that he raises in relation to problems in Cow and Beath. Margaret Mitchell, briefly please. Given the instance of not just antisocial behaviour but criminal offences such as vandalism, dishonesty and violence involving children under the age of 10, does the minister consider that parenting orders have the potential to make a positive impact in tackling the issue? Can he indicate how many of those orders have been issued in Scotland to date? I apologise for providing offence. I do not have the answer to the specific question that Margaret Mitchell raised, but we can happily come back in correspondence about the number of parenting orders. However, I recognise the importance of involving families in ensuring that we have an understanding of the issues that relate to children and their welfare and making sure that they have enough diversionary positive activities to keep them out of harm's way and keep them away from those individuals that may wish to distract them into crime. Certainly, diversion of people away from crime is a very important plank of the Government's activity in relation to keeping children safe and reducing crime at a local level. To ask the Scottish Government how the cashback for communities scheme has contributed to supporting sport and physical activity opportunities for young people in the Glasgow region. We are rightly proud of our unique cashback for communities programme. Up to the end of March 2014, Glasgow's young people and their communities have directly benefited from over £5.3 million of cashback investment. Over 160,000 activities and opportunities have helped to develop important life skills through a wide range of sporting, cultural, youth work and youth employability schemes. Glasgow continues to benefit under phase 3 of the cashback funding, given the extensive range of different programmes being delivered in Glasgow. I would be more than happy to write to the member with the details of them, rather than to try to list them here this afternoon. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and I look forward to the list. Communities that suffer from significant crime often also have significant levels of deprivation, which can make access to sport and physical activity opportunities more challenging and less affordable. Those communities also have significant health inequalities, an issue that is a key cross-government priority. Will the cabinet secretary therefore consider working with ministerial colleagues to refocus a larger share of future proceeds of crime cash in such communities, areas such as Springburn, Royston and Possil Park, which could benefit my constituents that I represent? The member raises a very valid point. All cashback projects are required under the terms of their grant to focus activity in deprived areas of need, using the communities that are identified through the Scottish index of multiple deprivation. As the member may be aware, projects that are being funded through the proceeds of crime arrangements at the present moment have their funding and provisions committed through until the end of March 2017. Phase 4 of the cashback programme will commence in April 2017, and decisions will obviously be taken near the time to focus on that particular tranche, but I certainly think that the point that the member has been raised is a valid point that we should give further consideration to. I can assure the member that that will be part of our thinking on how we can further improve the operation of cashback. To ask the Scottish Government how Police Scotland is held to account and on what occasion Scottish ministers have intervened in relation to policy issues. The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 establishes the role of the Scottish Police Authority in holding the chief constable to account for the policing of Scotland. Scrutiny of policing in Scotland has never been higher. The Scottish Police Authority, who manages the inspectorate of constabulary in Scotland, Audit Scotland, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and 32 local authority scrutiny boards all have a key role. This Parliament also plays an important role, and we have seen that effectively undertaken over the past two years. Scottish ministers determine the strategic priorities for the policing of Scotland and ensure that those are delivered alongside with key commitments within the programme for government. It is appropriate that a strong relationship between Police Scotland, the SPA and the Scottish Government is maintained. In order to support this, a framework of strategic engagement is in place that sets out how we engage on policing issues and on how we can ensure effective decisions are being made. I did not hear in that response any specific answers about the occasions in which ministers have intervened and would be interested to know when Scottish ministers have met with the chief constable to discuss policy issues, either on a formal basis or an informal basis. However, I think that the minister is living in his own little world when he says that scrutiny has never been more effective. The SPA has singularly failed to hold Police Scotland to account. Are police stopping search or just two of the examples? If the SPA is failing, why then is the Scottish Government sitting back and allowing that to happen? I meet the chief constable on a very regular basis each month to discuss a whole range of issues around policing. That is a matter for public record where we will consider issues that are a matter of concern. I must confess that I do think that Hugh Henry does live in some strange parallel universe to think that, prior to the introduction of the Scottish Police Authority, in some way the eight forces that I had across Scotland were under detailed scrutiny, the facts of the matter were that they were not under any great detailed scrutiny. Policing is now under greater level of scrutiny than it has ever been. That is not to say that it is perfect but that it is under much greater level of scrutiny. For example, on the issue of armed fire officers, that is a matter that was investigated by HMICS. They made a range of recommendations that have been taken forward by Police Scotland, as is the case with the SPA and its investigation into it. It says that we sit back and do nothing of those matters. On the issue of stop and search, is this Government set up the independent group under John Scott to look at that very issue in order to address the concerns that have been raised? I think that if there is anybody living in a strange, bizarre wee world, it is Hugh Henry. Many thanks. Question 6, Willie Coffey. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government how the justice system supports families of victims of fatal accidents. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service recognised that nearest relatives in cases where a loved one has died require support and information about the circumstances surrounding the death. The Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit is a team of dedicated specialists in COPFS who carry out investigations into reported deaths and who liaise with the nearest relatives to provide information. I recognise that more needs to be done to explain to families what communication they can expect from COPFS. Last week, I advised Justice Committee members that I had requested that COPFS prepare a milestone charter for that purpose. That charter will outline what families can expect from COPFS in terms of the timing of investigations and our decision-making. It will set out clearly how and when we will communicate with families outlining the key milestones in the investigation and when information will be provided to them. Willie Coffey. Solicitor General, for that answer, she will be aware of the case of my constituent, Alison Hume, who died in the Galston mineshaft accident in 2008. Since then, the family has had little or no support from any formal agency to help them get answers to the many questions and to find closure. Will the Solicitor General give further consideration as to how best to provide support for families of victims of fatal accidents either by extending the scope of organisations such as victim support or by supporting local organisations such as Halo and Ayrshire, who provide that type of support, free of charge? As I indicated in my earlier answer, I am committed to improving the communication around information and decision-making by the use of the new milestone charter. Through the Victim Information and Advice Service, which includes an officer dedicated to work within the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit, we can assist families by providing them with information not just about our work but by referring them to third sector support organisations who can support them through the trauma of their loss, as well as victim support. There are a number of organisations such as Break and Skid, which provide valuable focused support to families in certain circumstances such as homicides and road traffic deaths. I recognise, however, that there may be no single organisation that aims to provide comprehensive emotional and psychological support in all cases where someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly. I am sorry that the family of Ms Hume has suffered such a lack of support since her death and, if it would assist, I would be happy to meet them to hear of their experience and their concerns and to discuss where the potential gaps are and to listen to what they think needs to be put in place to help other families to deal with such a loss. That concludes portfolio questions. We now move to the next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 13313 in the name of Liz Smith in Scotland's universities.