 persecuted for the nation. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the future use of Lukas armie station. Throughout recent conventions andechach, Scottish ministers have repeatedly pressed the UK ministers at the Ministry of Defence to offer support to communities affected by their decisions, The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism has recently pressed the case of businesses that continue to be affected by changes at Lucas. In relation to the future use of Lucas station, we have not been engaged in any discussion by the UK Government. I have repeatedly requested meetings with the Secretary of State for Defence, including in relation to the UK Government's strategic defence and security review, but again I have not yet been afforded that opportunity. Despite that, I intend to meet with other ministers involved in the SDSR in the coming weeks. I thank the minister for that answer. Does he agree with me that the runway at Lucas is a valuable asset and that the return of maritime patrol aircraft as speculated about in the press to this part of Scotland would not only enhance security but also benefit the local economy, sections of which continue to struggle following the departure of the RAF and the delayed arrival of the army? I do welcome the fact that the runway at Lucas has been maintained despite the end to routine RAF operations. Members of the Parliament will clearly recall the widespread changes caused by the last strategic defence and security review and the upset and upheaval that it created for communities, including at Lucas, Kinloss and many other locations around Scotland. They will also recall the efforts led by the Scottish Government but with a remarkable degree of cross-party consensus to protect the military footprint in Scotland against a backdrop of disproportionate decline over many years. Our ambition remains to see the conventional military footprint in Scotland protected and enhanced. In our view, the UK Government has repeatedly made poor defence decisions for Scotland, leaving major capability gaps. We therefore strongly support the location of any new maritime patrol aircraft capability in Scotland and I will continue to press for engagement with the Secretary of State for Defence and with the onset of the new SDSR, we will seek to discuss the issue with him among other issues. 2. Richard Lyle Thank you, Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what its position is on enshrining the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Scots law. Minister Eileen Campbell Swatish ministers have an established record in promoting and safeguarding children's rights. Indeed, our Children and Young People Act 2014 places specific duties on all ministers to consider steps that can better give effect to the UNCRC and to promote public awareness and understanding of children's rights. Those provisions take us further than any previous Scottish Government. We remain committed to enhancing children's rights in all aspects of Scottish life and look for opportunities to apply the principles of the convention on an issue-by-issue basis where we consider it right and proper to do so. 3. Richard Lyle I thank the minister for her answer. I know that all of us are committed to protecting the realisation of the rights of children and young people here in Scotland. Can I therefore ask the Scottish Government what role they believe organisations that work to promote engagement and participation with children and young people have to work in a rights-based context that helps to further realise those important rights? I thank Richard Lyle for his question and the supplementary and also recognise his commitment to the UNCRC. Our ambition to make rights real for children and young people across Scotland can only be achieved by working in partnership. Organisations that work to promote children and young people's engagement and participation have a crucial role to play in that. That is why we currently fund organisations such as the Youth Parliament, Young Scot and the Children's Parliament and others to help us to hear the views of young people in the development of our policy. 3. Patricia Ferguson To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to young people in Glasgow, Maryhill and Springburn. Cabinet Secretary, Angela Constance. Join on regional funding of £105 million. Glasgow-Kelvin College is delivering a range of courses for some 16,000 students from across the northeast of the city and beyond. The college has also provided 20 different vocational programmes for senior-faced pupils from local communities. That includes its successful engineering scholarship programme and targeted courses for some of the most vulnerable young people from the Maryhill and Springburn communities. We have also awarded Glasgow City Council funding of approximately £18.4 million through the Scotland School for the Future programme. That includes funding of £4.2 million for the new Garahall primary school, which opened to pupils in January 2015 and £6.1 million for phase 1 of the Clyde campus, which is expected to open in spring 2017. Patricia Ferguson I thank the minister for that answer, but, of course, Glasgow-Kelvin, like many other colleges in Glasgow, has had the number of places for students in recent years. The Scottish Government's decision to slash bursaries by 36 per cent will have a disproportionate effect on the ability of young people in constituencies like mine to make their way successfully through university and college. Scottish Labour has pledged to increase the top rate of taxation to provide a fair start fund to help those young people. What will the Scottish Government do? I am pleased to report, as Ms Ferguson knows, that the Scottish Government has met its manifesto commitment to exceed 116,000 full-time equivalent college places. I am pleased to report that, in terms of student support for Glasgow-Kelvin College, that, over our term of office, student support for that particular college has went up by 17 per cent. Mr Swinney, in due course, will lay out the Government's spending plans, including our plans for taxation, in due course, as is entirely appropriate. The Parliament will be the first to know, First Minister. To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it has received following its decision to increase the discount scheme from 40 per cent to 50 per cent. Our decision to increase the discount available under the scheme from 40 per cent to 50 per cent has been welcomed by the communities that benefit from the scheme, as well as their local representatives. We have also invited local authorities to produce a costied and legally compliant business case for the inclusion of business travel and scheme for further consideration. If you could comment on any further measures that he is taking or able to take to improve the fortunes of Scotland's islands. There is now a record of sustained investment in good news for Scotland's islands. That includes the ferry fares freeze, the investment in new ferries currently being procured, returning commercial shipbuilding to the Clyde, as well as the increase in subsidy to support travel to Scotland's islands and other remote areas. All of those measures have been welcomed. The work through the island's air ministerial working group continues as well in production of an action plan, outlining a range of actions to support island living. There has been a view that we should go further on the air discount scheme in terms of having reduced the budget that has been accused of. In financial year 2007-08, the budget was £5.6 million on the projected budget for £16.17 is £8.6 million, which shows increase in sustained investment and supporting a scheme that is well worth while for the islands, and fully appreciated. Scottish Government is clear that all motorists should drive responsibly and is committed to improving road safety in all of Scotland. In order to achieve that, we are working with road safety partners on a range of educational, enforcement and engineering measures that are relevant to Central Scotland and Scotland more generally. The Government will be aware of the recent publication of DVLA postcode motoring conviction rates, which show that the highest-liq conviction rates in Scotland are in Central Scotland, particularly in some NL postcode areas. While that is only one part of very, very complex jigsaw, does it cause the Government concern and how can conviction rates be reduced in those areas? The Scottish Government is resolute that all drivers should act responsibly and within the law. That is why we are to take comprehensive action to deter risk-taking behaviour and defending. Through a range of high-profile publicity campaigns that promote safe, legal driving and road safety education resources that are linked to curriculum for excellence for children aged from 3 to 18, we are helping to foster responsible habits on roads that last a lifetime across the country, but I am also happy to look further at regional and local variations. To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies are in place to address NHS staffing shortages during the winter. All NHS boards have agreed robust winter plans to be in place, which include details on workforce and logistical plans to deal with the increases in demand commonly seen over the winter period. NHS Lancashire's winter plan indicates that it has invested £1.2 million in acute care in the last year. That funding will help to provide additional capacity across the board, including an eating bed ward in Monklands staffed by consultant locums. That funding will also support surge capacity to open a further 16 beds in Monklands, which includes beds for patients from the wishaw catchment if required. Enhanced ambulatory care will be provided across all acute sites with emergency department advanced nurse practitioners available to support medical staffing. Government Secretary, Lancashire vacancy rates are often higher in some time to double the national average. Lancashire has nearly 11 per cent of consultant posts unfilled, 6.5 per cent for the six months or more, and higher in acute and emergency medicine, which is why these plans exist for critical shortfall. We direct in 99 call patients and move in staff to other emergency departments. Lancashire also has a shortfall in community nursing with 73 vacancies, a quarter of the Scottish total. Does the cabinet secretary not agree that this will exacerbate acute sector problem by delaying discharge of patients and increasing re-admissions? With the winter adding to these staffing pressures, what does the cabinet secretary do to address the shortage of community nurses? John Hentland asked a number of questions there. I will try to deal with them in order. On delayed discharge, we have a very clear focus on tackling delayed discharge, making sure that, in advance in preparation for winter, absolutely everything is done to ensure that those patients who should not be in hospital are timely discharged. That requires the partnerships to be working well between North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire. I am keeping a very close eye on the partnership working. On staffing overall, NHS Lanarkshire staffing has gone up by almost 12.7 per cent. There has been an increase in the number of A and E consultants within NHS Lanarkshire, and that is important in terms of the number of staff working in NHS Lanarkshire overall. That has increased by nearly 13 per cent under this Government, as I have just outlined. Although there are challenges—and I accept that there are challenges—there are more staff than ever before, what we need to ensure for winter is that the plans are robust and that they will give the public the reassurance and assurance that they will—their local services—not just in health but in social care—are robust enough to deal with the winter pressures. I am happy to write to John Pentland with a bit more of the detail. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of the national standards for community engagement. Good progress is being made by the Scottish Community Development Centre and What Works Scotland in the review of the national standards for community engagement. Following extensive consultation since June 2015, we expect that live testing of the new standards will start at the end of this year, and a fully revised and refreshed national standards for community engagement will be launched in summer 2016. Does the minister agree with me that national standards for community engagement are important as we increasingly look to involve communities in the design, delivery and review of services, whether that is at local or national level? Yes, I wholeheartedly agree and this is the impetus that was behind the community empowerment act. We intend to use the powers in the community empowerment act to embed the national standards once refreshed and once the relevant parts of the act have been commenced. I welcome the cross-party support that continues to be behind this agenda. I welcome to some. Good is the original standards. Does the minister agree that strength and community standards are essential for the community empowerment bill? Can he tell us not just the date of publication of the review of the standards but also the commencement date for the community empowerment bill and the guidance that is necessary for that to take place? As the community empowerment act is about working in partnership, we have been working in partnership with the interested organisations so that that can be genuinely co-produced. Our anticipated commencement date for the relevant provisions is the summer of next year, by which time guidance will have been developed, the national standards will have been refreshed and we will be able to go live with a whole series of improvements in those areas. I hope that the member will welcome that progress when it comes. Question 8, Graham Pearson. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the flooding incidents in the area in the last two winters, what its position is on the flood prevention measures on New Cymru. We are continuing to implement the Flood Risk Management Scotland Act 2009, which will help responsible local authorities to work to reduce flood risk across Scotland. As part of the process, SEPA will publish its first ever flood risk management strategies on 22 December. Graham Pearson. I thank the minister for that reply. The constituents who live in the area, particularly Connell bridge and the Ligod, have had two miserable winters as a result of flooding. Will the minister take steps to assure herself that all has been done that it is physically possible to do to provide a happier winter for the people who live in the area? I recognise that Graham Pearson has taken a particular interest in the flooding problems that have affected New Cymru. He has organised a series of public meetings, bringing the community together with representatives of SEPA East Asia Council and TransServe to discuss the potential solution. As the member knows, flood protection schemes are primarily a matter for local authorities. I understand that East Asia Council has been developing plans for a large-scale flood protection scheme for New Cymru, which will be included in the Ayrshire flood risk management strategy. I also understand that East Asia Council has provided property-level protection to all houses that were affected by the events of December 2013 and that the council allocated £600,000 in December 2014 to design and construct flood protection works for the legate area of New Cymru, which is programmed to be completed by the summer of 2016. New Cymru, just to give you my reassurance, is very much part and parcel of the national flood risk management planning process, and it will be considered accordingly. To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to address domestic abuse incidents in the north-east. The Scottish Government is working closely with its partners in the statutory and third sector to address domestic abuse in the north-east and across the whole of Scotland. We are investing more than £700,000 in services across the north-east to support women and children who have experienced or are at risk of domestic abuse. Nationally, the First Minister announced an additional £20 million from justice to invest in a range of measures to strengthen our efforts to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls and to better support victims of violence and sexual assault. We have introduced the abusive behaviour and sexual harm bill to Parliament, which, along with our planned consultation on a specific offence of domestic abuse, will seek to strengthen the law in this area. I very much welcome the 700,000 that the minister made as aware was available in the north-east. However, given that nationally almost half of incidents reported do not result in a conviction, is there more that can be done beyond what is currently planned that may help more successful prosecutions? As a Government, we are absolutely clear that there is no excuse for domestic abuse and the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to doing everything that it possibly can to tackle this issue. Our partners in Police Scotland and the Crown Office have taken forward a range of work in this area. Police Scotland has established a national domestic abuse task force to target the most prolific perpetrators. The Crown Office has a dedicated national prosecutor for domestic abuse, and this was also introduced a consistent and robust approach to prosecution of domestic abuse. For example, in 2013-14, core action was taken by prosecutors in 85 per cent of domestic abuse cases that were reported by the police. Question 10, Linda Fabiani. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to receive the results of the national review of GP out-of-hours service. I commissioned Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie to chair a national review of primary care out-of-hours services in February of this year. He will be presenting his final report of findings and recommendations to me early this month. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I remind her of the disappointment in my constituency of East Kilbride about the out-of-hours service being taken away on an interim basis by NHS Lanarkshire. She is aware that NHS Lanarkshire has pledged to review that situation following the result of the national review. Can she assure me that the criteria used for public consultation will be meaningful so that all voices can be heard in that local review? Yes, I can assure Linda Fabiani of all those. NHS Lanarkshire has said, as is quite right, that it will review the interim arrangements in the light of Sir Lewis Ritchie's report on findings and recommendations. I will ensure that that happens and the point about local engagement is a good one. That should also happen.