 That concludes General Questions. The name of the next item of business is First Minister's Questions. At question number one, Douglas Ross. Thank you very much, Presiding officer. This week's health stats show that two in three patients attending accident and emergency at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University hospital were not seen within the target time. In just one week more than a thousand people at the Queen Elizabeth alone were not treated within four years... four hours. All over Scotland the number of people waiting beyond the target time was over 9,500. It is the worst ever performance in Scotland's A&E departments. So what specific actions is the First Minister taking to prevent people waiting hours on end at accident and emergency departments over Christmas? First Minister, specifically in relation to the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow, obviously it faces the same challenges as other hospital sites do. The performance there, as it is in hospitals across Scotland, is not where we want it to be and certainly not where patients have a right to expect it to be. That said, the most recent statistics show that performance at the Queen Elizabeth had improved. However, we know that performance will fluctuate, and indeed for the national picture as well as for individual sites, the monthly figures give a clear depiction of performance. In terms of the Queen Elizabeth specifically through the overall unscheduled care collaborative, that hospital has a range of actions under way, including opening additional wards on site, reconfiguring their surgical and medical capacity balance. They are also working to improve performance in the minor injuries flow for patients who need care but not necessarily admission to hospital, and they are optimising their discharge process by rolling out discharge without delay with the potential to see an additional two to three discharges per ward per day. So there is intensive work under way at that hospital, and indeed that reflects some of the work that is under way across Scotland. This situation, of course, is of concern to me to the Government, and we are working hard to address it supporting the health service. Of course it is not unique to Scotland. We are seeing the same pressures in health services in all parts of the UK and indeed further afield, but we will continue to take the steps to support the NHS to address these issues here in Scotland. Douglas Ross. I know that the First Minister was focusing on the Queen Elizabeth hospital, which is asking about it, but I was also saying that these are the worst statistics on record for A&E departments across Scotland. I think that people watching this would like to hear what the First Minister plans to do across Scotland at this critical period we are leading up to over the Christmas holidays. Let's look at other departments within our hospitals beyond A&E because the First Minister did mention discharges. The number of beds occupied because of delayed discharge is also at its worst-ever level. In the most recent month of data, 1,900 beds every single day were taken up at Scotland's hospitals by patients who had medically been cleared to leave. They could safely go home, but instead they are occupying beds. The First Minister, if the Scottish Government had kept its promise to end delayed discharge, wouldn't we have 1,900 extra beds to treat patients right now? First Minister. First, I want to, as quickly as I can, go through all of these points. First, yes, I did concentrate on the Queen Elizabeth university hospital in my previous answer. For the simple reason, Douglas Ross asked me about the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. However, I also referred to the urgent and unscheduled care collaborative. That is a national initiative that is backed by £50 million of investment that is supporting the implementation across Scotland of a range of measures to drive down weights in our accident and emergency units. They include offering where appropriate alternatives to hospitals such as hospital at home, directing people to more appropriate urgent care settings, scheduling urgent appointments to avoid long weights in accident and emergency. The examples that I gave in relation to the Queen Elizabeth university hospital, as I said, reflect that wider national work. I also made the point, and I think that it is worth repeating at this point, that although these are very serious issues in Scotland and that this Government is extremely focused on addressing, they are not unique to Scotland. If you look at the situation in England right now, more than 10 per cent of patients going to ENA are waiting over 12 hours. This is an issue that health services across the UK and much of the world are facing right now, and we continue to focus on them. Turning briefly to delayed discharges. Of course, again, this is a problem replicated across all health services in the UK right now. Of course, not all delays are in the acute sector, and it is important to point out that in terms of the most recent year for which we have data, 97 per cent of all patients are discharged without delay, but we are taking significant steps, working with health boards and integrated joint boards to target investment this year. That includes investment-enhanced care at home to increase the hourly rate of pay for those who work in social care, to support interim care arrangements and investment-enhanced multidisciplinary teams. There is a brief ministerial assurance. I will be as brief as possible. This is important stuff. Serious questions have been asked, and I am seeking to give detailed answers. The final point that I want to make is that a ministerial—I would have thought having raised these really serious issues—the Conservatives would actually want the information that answers the questions. Even if they don't, I suspect that people watching at home do. The final point is that we have established a ministerial assurance group to provide advice on the deployment of options that support the resilience of the health and social care system in response to winter pressures. That group is currently meeting weekly. I think that the concerns from these benches were the First Minister, apparently disrespecting the Presiding Officer, who is asking to focus on the issues. Perhaps the First Minister would have more time to focus on the issues about the questions on Scotland's NHS if she didn't try to throw the blame elsewhere around the United Kingdom, because the unique issue here is that Nicola Sturgeon and her Government are in sole control of the NHS here in Scotland. I have asked about the problems in RANE. I have asked about the issues with delayed discharge. Let's look at another issue that is happening in a part of our NHS where patients are really struggling to get treatment—our GP practices. This week, Dr Andrew Buist of BMA Scotland said this. My real fear is that we are at a tipping point, and what we are going to see is areas of Scotland that are under doctored. He continues, and that is more likely to happen in areas of higher deprivation, and the care of those patients is going to suffer. The First Minister is doctors right that if you are poorer, you will receive a second rate healthcare service in Scotland's NHS. A great deal of what this Government does in the health service and, more generally, of course, is designed to tackle and address inequalities, not least the steps that we are taking through our social security system to lift people out of poverty and, indeed, to mitigate the actions of a Tory Government at Westminster that is pushing so many more people into poverty. On the NHS, I was giving, as I think is right and proper, detailed information about the actions that this Government is taking to address challenges that our NHS is facing. I was making the point, and I think that it is an important point to make, that those challenges are not unique to Scotland. They are not even unique to the United Kingdom right now, but if Douglas Ross wants to say that this is all specifically about this SNP Government, then okay, notwithstanding the challenges that our NHS is facing, A and E units in Scotland are the best in forming anywhere in the UK. Delayed discharges, while far too high, are lower than they are in England and Wales. On GPs, which I am going to come on to the question about GPs, there are more headcount GPs per 100,000 population in Scotland than the rest of the UK by some considerable distance. If Douglas Ross is saying that the challenges in our health service are all about the SNP, then he has to recognise the relative performance of our NHS compared to other parts of the UK. On GPs, again, we are working to increase the numbers in our national health service. We have record numbers across many different clinical areas already in our health service. We are working to increase the number of GPs. We have already increased headcount by 277, and that positive progress, working with the GP profession, will continue. Of course, we are recruiting and supporting the recruitment of other professionals to support multidisciplinary teams in primary care. The final point that I would make, Presiding Officer, is this. It is easy and it is entirely legitimate in this session or any session of First Minister's questions to state the problems in our national health service, but the job of government is to take the actions to support the NHS to address these issues, and that is the responsibility that the people of Scotland trust this government to do. Douglas Ross. I think it's shameful that the First Minister dedicates more of her time attacking the NHS in other parts of the United Kingdom than focusing on what she can do here in Scotland, because it is absolutely clear that more has been done to tackle the crisis in Scotland's NHS. There is a crisis in our A&E departments. There is a crisis with delayed discharges. There is a crisis at GP practices. All of this adds up to healthcare that does not deliver for patients. For cancer patients, the situation can then be between life and death. We have received a freedom of information response from a Scottish health board on this issue. It shows that a patient has waited more than six months to start treatment for breast cancer. Another patient has waited 18 months to start treatment for prostate cancer, and worst of all, someone has waited two years to start their treatment for cancer. First Minister, that is not good enough. Lives are at risk. The longer someone waits to start treatment for cancer, the less likely they are to beat cancer. What action will the First Minister and her Government take to tackle these appalling waiting times? First Minister, there are a few areas of the NHS more important than cancer care for the reasons that Douglas Ross has set out. He has cited individual cases. As always, I am very willing to look at the particular circumstances of individual cases, but it remains the case, even with all of the challenges of the pandemic, that the median waiting time for a patient with cancer to start treatment once a decision to treat has been made is measured in days, not weeks and certainly not months. I am trying to answer serious questions in a detailed fashion. What I started saying is that there will be individual cases, sometimes where the clinical circumstances mean that it takes longer, and sometimes yes, where failings in the NHS mean that it takes longer. The point that I am making is that for the vast majority of patients that is not the case, and the median waiting time to start cancer treatment is measured in days in this country, and that is down to the hard work of those on the front line. Douglas Ross started his last question by saying that I spent more time attacking the health service elsewhere than I did talking about the Scottish health service. A, I have not attacked the health service anywhere. Secondly, I think that anybody reviewing the official report of this session will see that that is just factually inaccurate. In fact, the Conservatives were getting impatient because they seem to think that I was taking too long going into detail about the unscheduled care collaborative earlier on. When Douglas Ross puts it to me that the problems in our national health service are unique to Scotland and they are worse in Scotland because of this Government, it is reasonable for me to point out that that is not the case. Despite the challenges that nobody here is shying away from, our NHS performs better than its counterparts in England and Wales. The only reason I am saying that is because Douglas Ross is putting the counter to me. Finally, it is really important that we continue to support record investment in our national health service. It is not that long ago—here we are measuring in weeks—that Douglas Ross was demanding that I cut taxes for the richest people in our country. Had I followed his advice, we would have had to take investment out of our national health service, which is why few people will take Douglas Ross or the Conservatives seriously when it comes to trust on the national health service. Question 2, Anna Sarlaw. Child and adolescent mental health services are in crisis and they have been since long before the pandemic. Too many children and young people are having referrals rejected and too many are waiting too long for treatment. Does the First Minister know how many referrals to CAMHS have been rejected in the past year and how many children have waited more than a year for their first appointment? I am certainly very happy to give the precise figures to Anna Sarwar later on rejected referrals. However, while there are challenges in child and adolescent mental health services, as there are and I have just been reflecting across the national health service, we have in recent months been seeing some very positive changes in waiting lists, actually the most positive changes for over half a decade. The overall CAMHS waiting list has decreased in the latest quarter by 1,398 children since the previous quarter. Children waiting over 18 weeks have decreased by 658 since the previous quarter and children waiting over 52 weeks have decreased by 281. That marks the first time that there has been a decrease in all three waiting lists since September 2016, so there is significant work still to do, not least to continue our progress in community mental health services for children and young people. However, progress has been made particularly to tackle the longest waits and I think that that is something that should be welcomed. 8,873 children and young people have had their referrals to CAMHS rejected in the past year, 8,873. 1,248 had now been waiting more than a year for their first appointment. The First Minister quotes statistics on those who have had their first appointment, but even those who have had a first appointment are still not getting the treatment they need. Here is just one example. Charlie is a primary 7 pupil. He was referred to CAMHS in January 2020. In April 2020 he had a video consultation with a doctor from CAMHS, so it would have dropped off the list referred to by the First Minister. But this is the last time he heard from CAMHS. He's had no diagnosis and without treatment Charlie has become withdrawn and doesn't like to spend time with other children. His mother found a video he had posted to TikTok where he asked if anyone felt like they wanted to die because they were so different. Charlie's mum told the CAMHS service but they said that it would make no difference to his waiting time. They told her that it could be another two years before Charlie receives the support that he needs. This is not good enough. Charlie is not alone. There are thousands of children like him. First Minister, how have you let it get so bad? Before I come on to the general issue again, let me say that Charlie's experience is not acceptable. I don't know all of the particular circumstances of Charlie's case. As always, when individual cases are raised I am willing to look into those. It is the case that there are waits for childhood adolescent mental health services that are too long, but it is also the case that there is significant action being taken to reduce those long waits. Anasarwar did not respond to the information that I gave him in my previous answer, but it is really important. Nobody is denying that there is a significant issue here, but we are now seeing decreases in the numbers of children waiting over 18 weeks, the numbers waiting over 52 weeks as well, and the overall waiting list is also decreasing. Does that say that there is not still a challenge? No, it does not, but it does say that the significant investment, the increase in the workforce, is now having an impact where we need to see it and we need to continue that. In terms of rejected referrals, we have already accepted all of the recommendations in the audit of rejected referrals that was published in 2018 and we continue to act on them. One in every two referrals to CAMHS is actually seen within 10 weeks. Of course, health boards have a duty to prioritise those that need to be seen most quickly. Obviously, where any experience does not match that, we have a duty to look into that and learn from it. Finally, we are also seeing a significant increase in those who are accessing community support for mental health services, which is an important part of that. Local authorities report that, in the first six months of this year, more than 38,000 children are accessed and hands community-based mental health support services. That is important so that we can ensure that those who need specialist services get it more quickly. The First Minister is just not listening. If you get a first appointment that is a telephone call but your diagnosis does not happen and your treatment does not start but you fall off a list, that is not a measure of success, that is a measure of failure and demonstrates your gaming system. That was a problem that is long before Covid. When Charlie's mother phoned CAMHS, they said that they were still waiting and working through cases from 2018. That will be cases where they had their first appointment but it will also be cases where treatment has not started and a diagnosis has not happened. This Government has never met its CAMHS waiting time. According to Public Health Scotland, a quarter of all deaths of five to 24-year-olds in our country are from suicide. A quarter. In the words of Charlie's mum, our children are being failed and no one is doing anything about it. We can fix this. Will the First Minister first reverse the cuts to mental health in primary care? Second, guarantee funding for schools-based counselling? Third, commit to increasing the proportion of the NHS budget being spent on mental health so that it reaches 11 per cent the same level as England and Wales. Fourth, create a new referral and triad system for mental health so that no one is rejected. Finally, record and publish the true waiting time from referral to diagnosis and the start of treatment so that no child, like Charlie, is left abandoned. First Minister. I'll say again because it is important that experiences like Charlie's are not acceptable and I don't know all of the circumstances so I'm willing to look into that. I'm not standing here and saying that Charlie will be the only young person far from it in the country that has that kind of experience. Nor is it right to say that the progress I have narrated today is somehow unimportant because that is the progress that requires to be made to ensure that there are far fewer experiences like Charlie's. In terms of funding, under this Government, mental health spending has almost doubled in cash terms since we took office and we will continue to support record expenditure across our national health service and ensure appropriate expenditure for mental health services. Of course, as I said earlier on, we are also shifting more treatment into the community so one of the most important things that has been done backed by investment is the recruitment of councillors across our secondary schools. These are really important issues but issues again that while it is right and proper to come to this chamber and state the challenge, our job, as I have demonstrated today is to get on with the work of addressing these challenges and as I have set out, we've seen a fall in the waiting list for access to CAMHS and that's down to the investment in the actions that are being taken and that's why it's so important that we continue with it. Thank you. I'll go to question number three and we'll take constituency in general supplementaries after question number six. Alex Cole-Hamilton. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. First Minister. Presiding Officer, the Cabinet will next meet on Tuesday. Can I advise the chamber one of the matters that the Cabinet will discuss on Tuesday is on-going monitoring of the Strep A situation. Sadly, as we know, a number of children in England and Wales have died from invasive group A Strep infections and our thoughts will be with their families. While increased levels of infection have been seen in Scotland, current numbers are not particularly exceeding previous spikes and we have had so far no deaths of children. However, a total of 13 invasive group A Strep cases and children under 10 were reported to Public Health Scotland between the start of October and December 5. The majority of those are mild, of course, and can be treated with penicillin. However, there is no room for complacency and we will continue to monitor the situation very closely. Alex Cole-Hamilton. I'm grateful for that reply and I'm gratified to hear that the Cabinet will be discussing the Strep A outbreak. Can I ask that she comes back to Parliament before Christmas with a statement on the progress on that issue? What we've just heard from Anas Sarwar is devastating. Charlie is by no means alone, not by a long shot and the situation is desperate. When Humza Yousaf launched the NHS recovery plan last year, the mental health treatment target was missed for one in five children. It's now one in three. Young people are battling the long shadow of lockdown, anxiety and depression without support. Nicola Sturgeon is trying to persuade this chamber of progress, but £38 million has just been cut from this year's mental health budget. That is money that could have been spent on cutting waiting times, training staff and putting more councillors in our schools. That cut will lead to more delays. Presiding Officer, you only get one childhood and waiting month after month after month for help can shatter those formative years. The NHS recovery plan promised the eradication of mental health waiting lists by March. That was always a bold target, but it is barely 100 days away and things are moving backwards. Can I ask the First Minister if that target is missed? Will she continue to stand by this beleaguered health secretary? Mental health spending has doubled under this Government. That is a fact. The number of people working in CAMHS has also doubled under this Government up by 110 per cent to be precise. There are significant challenges in waiting times for CAMHS and we take that extremely seriously. It is right to point to progress because it is progress that that investment and the increase in the workforce is designed to achieve. We have seen a 14.4 per cent decrease in the number of children and young people on the waiting list compared to the last quarter. We are seeing a decrease in the number waiting over 18 weeks and the number waiting over 52 weeks. As I said earlier, that is the first time since 2016 that there has been a decrease in all three waiting list measures. Does that mean that we do not have more work to do? Of course it does not. There are significant challenges, but there is real progress being made because of the actions, the focus and the determination of this Government to support the work of those on the front line, and that will continue. Question 4, Paul McLennan. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the roll-out of the child disability payment. First Minister. We know that caring for a child who is disabled or has a long-term condition can result in extra costs from buying specialist equipment to taking part in activities. That is why child disability payment is a vital benefit that helps parents to support their children to live their lives to the fullest possible. I am very pleased that in its first year almost £60 million has been paid to the families of nearly 44,000 children and young people. Child disability payment is the first disability benefit anywhere in the UK where applicants are able to apply online, by phone, by post and face-to-face. That demonstrates our commitment to improving access to social security and ensuring people receive the assistance to which they are entitled. Paul McLennan. I thank the First Minister for that answer. With increasing financial pressures on families in Scotland right now, it is even more important than ever that people get all the benefits they are entitled for. Can the First Minister outline how our constituents can apply for child disability payment and check what extra financial support they might be entitled through from the Scottish Government? First Minister. It is important that we take steps to raise awareness of all of the help that is available and encourage as many people as possible who are eligible to apply for assistance. As I said in my original answer, for child disability payment, applicants can apply online, by phone, by post or face-to-face. I would encourage anyone who thinks that they might be eligible for any of our benefits to get in touch with Social Security Scotland staff who are available to answer queries about benefits, help complete application forms and of course there are local delivery officers available across the country so that this can be done face-to-face and we are absolutely committed to making sure that everyone gets the financial support that they are entitled to as shown through our benefit take-up strategy. Pam Duncan-Glancy. Thank you, Presiding Officer. When setting up Social Security in Scotland, the Scottish Government said that one of the things that we would do would be to get decisions right the first time round, recognising the distress that redeterminations can cause. Figures show that of redeterminations requested for child disability payment 86 per cent of cases was not right the first time round. We were promised a fairer system here so what can the First Minister do to address this issue and bring certainty to people who need Social Security that they won't need to jump through hoops to get it? First Minister. Feedback from applications where the first decision is not made correctly the first time is part of the process of making sure that system is improved on an on-going basis and that is work that I know that Social Security Scotland takes very seriously and focuses very hard on. For all the issues that she absolutely rightly brings to this chamber about the operation of the social security system, particularly as it affects people with disabilities, I am absolutely certain that Pam Duncan-Glancy, and I hope I'm not wrong here, would share my view that we do already have a fairer system in Scotland around these things than elsewhere in the UK, but we have an obligation to continue to improve that experience so that, A, people are getting all the help that they are entitled to and secondly, they are getting that as easily as possible and with as little bureaucracy as possible and where decisions are taken correctly in the first instance. Question 5, Edward Mountain. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister how many single-crewed ambulances responding to an emergency have been deployed in the last six months. Between June and November this year there were 1,429 instances when the Scottish Ambulance Service single-crewed ambulance shifts across Scotland. To put that in context, it represents 1.72 per cent of the total number of shifts in that period. In addition to that, of course, there will be paramedic cars or motorbikes which are routinely single-crewed. Those are used to support the Ambulance Service multi-vehicle response to serious incidents as well as being used by advanced paramedics to support patients with less serious conditions in the community. Single-crewed ambulance shifts only happen in exceptional circumstances that can't be avoided such as short notice staff absences or a significant unforeseen increase in demand. Edward Mountain. Thank you for that answer. That's really concerning because in simple terms single-crewed ambulances cannot transport patients to hospitals. In the highlands where journey times can be over two hours that means there is a significant danger to life. In 2008, First Minister, when you were the Cabinet Secretary for Health you said the Scottish Government's policy is clear traditional accident and emergency ambulances should be double-crewed with at least one member being a paramedic unless there are exceptional circumstances. In too many instances you went on to say, particularly in the highlands that policy is not living up to the practice. It is clear after 14 years of inactivity you have failed. Will you explain to my constituents why you have failed and when single-crewed ambulances will be consigned to history? First Minister I'm genuinely not sure that Edward Mountain listened to the answer to the first question. The commitment that was made in 2008 which I remember very well because I was health secretary at the time and at that time the instance of single-crewing was significant particularly in rural areas and the commitment we made then to supporting the ambulance service with funding to eliminate the requirement for rostered single-crewing particularly in remote and rural parts achieved with single-crewing now only taking place in exceptional circumstances that cannot be avoided. 1.72% of shifts were single-crewed in the six months that I have been asked about and have talked about today, less than 2%. Let me explain to Mr Mountain's constituents why that is the case. If there is at the last minute a situation where a member of staff is ill and doesn't turn up to work as happens in any walk of life the only alternative to single-crewing would be not to have a crew at all and not to have the ambulance on shift so it is only in those exceptional circumstances and less than 2% effectively in any national health service it does amount to eliminating single-crewing and health boards, sorry, the Scottish ambulance service continues to work to minimise that figure as much as possible. Will the Scottish Government provide an update on whether it will instruct Scottish Water to freeze water rates for 2023-24 to help with the cost of living crisis? Decisions on the levels of water charges are matters for Scottish Water's board. Their decision must be taken with due regard to the principles of charging for water services set by Scottish Ministers including the key principle of affordability. The board took a responsible view and held charges to a real terms freeze, we expect them to again take a proportionate position balancing affordability with critical investment needs to protect the quality of our drinking water and the environment. Of course the average water charge in Scotland remains lower than the average charge in England and Wales but we are committed to supporting people facing any issues with paying their water bills which is why as part of our overall package of cost of living measures we have increased the reduction scheme discount from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. Jackie Baillie. Last year inflation was running at about 4 per cent under the formula agreed by Scottish Water and this Government water rates are charged at CPI plus 2 per cent. Last year the Scottish Government intervened and held water rates down which is welcome but this year inflation is at 11 per cent the cost of water bills are set to increase by an eye watering 13 per cent. With an acute cost of living crisis the worst in many decades will the Scottish Government freeze water bills for the next financial year. First Minister you have the power to do this, you intervened last year the question is do you have the political will? First Minister. This is obviously a matter for Scottish Water's board. As I said in my original answer the board of Scottish Water took a responsible decision last year and we would expect them to do the same this year and to recognise absolutely the cost of living pressures which remain very intense and acute but we also expect and require Scottish Water to discharge other responsibilities to make sure we have a well maintained water system so that the quality of our water services is high and it is mindful of its wider obligations to the environment. If we didn't have proper investment in our water infrastructure and the quality of our drinking water declined as a result, I'm sure Jackie Baillie would be one of the first pointing fingers at this Government. We'll continue to take the responsible decisions on this issue across the range of other ways we are supporting people through the cost of living crisis. The actions and the decisions of this Government that continues to see us retain very high levels of trust from the Scottish people. We move to general and constituency supplementaries and I call Kenneth Gibson. Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility said that the last three Westminster Tory Government's fiscal policy U-turns have cost taxpayers more than £40 billion of extra debt in just six months. That's £600 for every man, woman and child in the UK and 2,000 times the estimated cost of an independence referendum that the Tories keep moaning about. Does the First Minister believe that it's acceptable for the people of Scotland to continue paying the price of Westminster's economic incompetence? First Minister. No, it's not acceptable. The cost of Tory fiscal and economic incompetence epitomised in the disastrous decisions in the many-bit budget. Remember the decisions that initially the Conservatives here in Scotland wanted this Government to replicate. Those decisions coupled, of course, with the disaster of Brexit that unfolds on a daily basis. The cost of all of that has been paid by individuals, businesses and households right across Scotland right now. There is an alternative to that and it is to make this Parliament responsible for the decisions that are so badly being so badly mishandled at Westminster. I think there is a growing desire on the part of people of Scotland to become independent and to build a much better alternative to what we have right now. Donald Cameron. At the weekend, the Sunday post revealed that in the last 15 years almost £100 million has been spent on short-term repairs to the A83 Rest and Be Thankful. Meanwhile, communities across our gael remain exasperated by the lack of action since Transport Scotland announced its preferred permanent route last year. Will the First Minister now instruct Transport Scotland to select this route and make it a top priority to deliver and end, once and for all, the misery that closures of this road cause? First Minister. I'm assuming the member is not suggesting that the investments in temporary repairs shouldn't have been made. That would be my first point. Secondly, as I'm sure the member knows in relation to the Rest and Be Thankful, a preferred route corridor for a permanent solution was announced back in 2021. Root option designs within the preferred corridor are being progressed and we're working towards announcing a preferred route for the long-term solution by spring next year. Foyl Chowdry. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The First Minister will be aware of the tragic death of our Ishaq Roshdale due to mouldy housing. I currently have constituents contacting me about issues such as mould and substandard temporary housing that could pose a similar threat to human life, particularly for small children. Those issues seem alarmingly common across the local authority boundaries in a variety of different housing stock. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that similar tragedies are not going to happen in Scotland? First Minister. The Scottish Government continues to invest significantly in housing both in terms of our target for new affordable housing but also as the member alludes to our existing housing stock. I will ask the cabinet secretary to write to the member in more detail about the actions that we are taking and any lessons that do require to be learnt here in Scotland from the very tragic case that the member has highlighted today. Julia Mackay. Yesterday we saw the very welcome ruling from the Supreme Court on the Safe Access Zones Bill in Northern Ireland. The judgment was unanimous and unequivocal and I believe gives a clear way forward for safe access zones here in Scotland. Would the First Minister join me in congratulating Clare Bailey and her team on this victory and would the First Minister give her response to the ruling and what she believes that this now means for Scotland? First Minister. I would congratulate Clare Bailey but also thank her for the advice to the Scottish Government. She attended the summit that we held earlier this year and that Julia Mackay also attended. I was very pleased yesterday to see that the Supreme Court has protected the rights of women to access abortion services without fear of harassment or intimidation in Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government is currently considering very carefully the detail of that judgment and we look forward to working with Julia Mackay on how we can progress quickly for taking her bill forward. We are absolutely committed to supporting Julia Mackay with the development of a bill to safeguard access for women in Scotland to access healthcare facilities that provide abortion services and to do so without fear, harassment or intimidation. Natalie Dawn. Recent analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland has found that half of Scots are being forced to cut back on household spending. The main levers to address this crisis reside in Westminster, an institution that cannot be trusted to concern itself with the plight of ordinary people. Can I ask the First Minister what conversation she has had with the Prime Minister regarding the inadequacy of the UK Government response to the crisis that they created? First Minister. When I met with the Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago, I urged him as the Scottish Government does more generally on a regular basis to take more action to help people who are really struggling with the basic necessities of life because of this cost-of-living crisis. It continues to affect the livelihoods and the lives and increasingly the health and wellbeing of people across the country. The key policy levers are held by the UK Government, so we will continue to press them to use all levers at its disposal to tackle this emergency. That includes access to borrowing, providing benefits and support to households. We will also continue to take action ourselves. We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to help. Of course, we have increased the Scottish child payment by 150 per cent in less than eight months to £25 per eligible child per week. Russell Findlay. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Rhys Bonner describes a gentle giant by his mum's death. He was found out in marshland in Glasgow in 2019. Police Scotland said that his death was fully investigated, but his family disagreed. Last week, three and a half years since losing her son, some of Steph's complaints were upheld with Perk asking Police Scotland to conduct new inquiries and provide more information. Steph tells me that she is tormented by a process that she describes as cruel. First Minister, it has been two years since the Angelini report laid bare the SNP's broken police complaint system. How many more families have to suffer before you or your justice secretary fixes it? First Minister. In terms of the police complaint system, we are taking forward recommendations from the Angelini report, and indeed we will legislate in respect of those recommendations. In terms of the specific case, it would not be right or appropriate for me to comment in detail on that, but of course the police are expected to respond to any recommendations or actions that they are instructed to take by Perk, and I would expect that to be the case here. That broader reform of the complaint system is on-going and under way, and the justice secretary will keep Parliament updated as appropriate. Jamie Greene. The BBC reported this week that the backlog of community payback orders has reached 700,000. That is on top of the quarter of a million that were written off during the pandemic. The justice secretary told the BBC that she is pretty much business as usual. With respect, First Minister, if you are a victim of crime, this is anything but business as usual, and that includes a domestic abuse victim who saw her offender walk free from court with unpaid hours as a sentence. She was punched in the face, she was chucked through a glass door and she is scarred and traumatised for life. The justice system is letting people down, it is letting women down and community payback orders are not even being served, First Minister. When will this end and when will the community justice system serve justice for victims of crime? Obviously, the kind of individual cases that Jamie Greene has narrated are always difficult and unacceptable for the individuals concerned. More generally, however, as I often say here because it is absolutely right that I do so, court decisions are for courts and not for ministers or any politicians to intervene in decisions of our justice system where a community payback order is issued, of course. The offender has to serve that community payback order and that remains the case. More generally, of course, our community justice system performs well which will be one of the reasons why we continue to see levels of crime in this country at historically low levels to reduce as well. We continue to support the justice system to recover from the pandemic and to catch up on backlogs in all different aspects of the system. Thank you. That concludes First Minister's questions. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I would like to seek your guidance on the procedures surrounding the correcting of the official report. I have here a letter from Joe Chote, who is the chair of the UK Statistics Authority. After I alerted the authority, it has investigated the SNP and Green Government's claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's potential offshore wind resource. Sir Robert confirms that these figures are in fact a mash-up of several different studies that are more than 20 years old. He confirms that the Scottish Government's calculations exclude countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland, which have large offshore wind potential. He confirms that the figures give an inflated picture and were always inaccurate. The letter specifically says that on 15 November, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater, Scottish Greens, acknowledged in Holyrood that the figure was outdated but not that it was poorly constructed. In other words, it was never true. Michael Matheson, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, has even written to me this morning to say that the figure is dated, not true, and it is still on SNP leaflets going through people's doors. The authority is now contacting the Scottish National Party and a number of nationalist parliamentarians directly about this. I fully believe that the Scottish National Party and the SNP support the expansion of Scotland's renewable sector. I cannot believe that Michael Matheson is leaving the chamber at this stage. I find that very disrespectful. I fully support the expansion of Scotland's renewable sector but the strong case for that is undermined when the Scottish Government and the SNP in particular use figures that are completely fictitious. The Parliament's guidance states that corrections can only be accepted within 20 working days. Can I therefore seek your guidance on whether you have been approached by Lorna Slater, Presiding Officer, about her statement to Parliament on 15 November? Do you, Presiding Officer, expect a correction to be lodged before the 20-day deadline expires next Tuesday because I am concerned that Parliament has been misled? Can I respond to Mr Cole-Hamilton? It is of paramount importance that members, including ministers, give accurate and truthful information to the Parliament, correcting any errors at the earliest opportunity. If a member has a question about the factual accuracy of another member's contribution, they should raise it with that member. The chamber and the member will be aware that the Parliament has previously agreed a corrections mechanism and how that mechanism operates. To answer your question, I have not been approached by the minister, but it is entirely a matter for members to decide whether and how to use the corrections procedure. As ministers have said, that figure is no longer appropriate to use because it is out of date. I think that Alex Cole-Hamilton would want me to put a complete picture before this chamber. There are statements that he did not include in his point of order. I will give two. Scotland has a major role to play in this with an estimated 25% of Europe's offshore wind potential. That was a statement from Lib Dem Minister Michael Moore. Secondly, we have more offshore wind power than the rest of the world combined. That was Lib Dem leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton. If it is the case that Alex Cole-Hamilton is so distressed at the use of that figure by Scottish Government ministers, perhaps in the interests of completeness, he would also refer to his own colleagues who used exactly the same figure. The fact of the matter is that we have massive renewable potential and that is what Alex Cole-Hamilton doesn't like. Thank you, First Minister. That was not a point of order. Your comments are, however, on the record. A point of order, Alex Cole-Hamilton. I seek your clarification on the correction of the official report because I believe that the First Minister has once again trotted out the suggestion that, while that statistic is no longer accurate, the UK Statistic Authority wrote to me yesterday to say that it was never accurate. Frankly, I find that broadside attack on me personally beneath it. Mr Cole-Hamilton, I have responded to your point of order. Members should make themselves aware as to how the corrections mechanism operates. Thank you. We will shortly move on to members' business.