 I move to the next item of business, which is topical questions. We have three questions today, and we have a great deal of interest, so I would be very grateful for short questions and succinct responses. I call question number one, Sandesh Gulhane. To ask the Scottish Government in light of the disturbing events at Euro 2020 with a player experiencing a cardiac arrest on pitch, whether it will be considered to subsidise automated external defibrillators' purchases for amateur sports grams. The incident at Euro 2020 is a stark reminder of the importance of prompt CPR and access to defibrillation to improve a person's chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Our thoughts go out to Christian Erickson, his family and his teammates. I am sure that I speak for everyone in this chamber and all over Scotland when I say that we are very relieved that the prompt action taken has saved his life and he is now recovering well. The Scottish Government working with our partners in the Save a Life for Scotland partnership launched an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strategy in 2015. Since then, more than 640,000 people in Scotland have been trained with the skills to perform CPR. In 2015, only one in 20 people survived a cardiac arrest. That has now increased to one in 10 people surviving. In March this year, our Save a Life for Scotland partnership published an updated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strategy that sets out a number of actions across the chain of survival, including actions to improve bystandered CPR and defibrillation rates. Part of the programme is to ensure mapping, maintenance and accessibility of defibrillators. The provision of life-saving equipment such as defibrillators is the responsibility of individual sporting governing bodies. Sport Scotland is working very closely with Save a Life Scotland to share the life-saving skill of CPR throughout community hubs. Thank you for the answer. I would like to join you and everyone in wishing Christian Ericsson and his family a speedy recovery in my prayers. CPR saved his life, knowing how to perform CPR saved lives. The more people in Scotland that know how to do CPR, the better. Of note, the British Heart Foundation has an excellent hands-only CPR resource on the internet. How will the Scottish Government encourage more people to learn CPR, as we have already heard some of the response? Ensure those school leavers who miss training due to Covid receive it, and can we ensure that it is a course that is put on university and for public employers to do? I agree with him that one of the things that we need to do is absolutely improve people's awareness of CPR and their confidence in performing it. As I stated, we have way surpassed the target that we had, so we thought that we would manage to train 500,000 people. We have delivered already more than 640,790 people who have been equipped with CPR skills to date by the Save a Life for Scotland partners. Our collective aim is to increase that further to a million by 2026. You will also be aware that, in 2019, all 32 local authorities committed to a systematic and sustainable model of CPR learning that would result in every secondary school pupil leaving school with CPR skills. I have absolutely no doubt that Covid will have impacted on that in the final years as children leave school, but I also have great confidence that this particular incident that we are discussing right now will remind people and focus attention on the need for absolutely every single one of us to learn CPR. When somebody has a cardiac arrest need us to call for help, dial 999 and perform CPR. I would like to press a little bit about whether we would be looking to subsidise the automatic defibrillators for amateur sports grounds. The reason for that is because cost is really the reason that they are not able to provide it. That actually helps so much because 200,000 per 100,000 per year of competitive athletes between the age of 14 and 35 will suffer from events like this. The policies for having equipment such as defibrillators are managed by the individual governing bodies, and that is likely linked to advice from their own medical practitioners. Similarly to governing bodies, Sport Scotland does not provide local authorities leisure trusts with advice and provisions on life-saving equipment. That would be determined by the individual organisation, so it is a slightly complex landscape out there. Many clubs use community facilities or schools. What we have done, which I think is an excellent first step and will bear fruit on this, is work with the University of Edinburgh resuscitation research group, which undertook a public access defibrillator modelling analysis project in 2018, funded by the Scottish Government. That will be a data-led analysis of where defibrillators should be located, including looking at high-risk neighbourhoods. Importantly, as part of the distribution of defibrillators, there will be a training package alongside to help people to be able to use them. You and I know that they are very straightforward to use. The defibrillator tells you what to do, but to raise confidence in the competence of using defibrillators in the community. To ask the minister if the Scottish Government would consider supporting rural communities by providing centralised purchasing of defibrillators and on-going materials to reduce communities' need for fundrais to cover VAT. I thank the member for his question. It leads on very nicely from the question from Dr Gullin. The recently-refleshed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strategy makes a very clear commitment to addressing inequalities in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes, including those facing rural communities. To do that, the Save a Life for Scotland partnership continues to work really closely with communities to co-create solutions to improve outcomes from hospital cardiac arrests across Scotland. Lots of existing charity schemes subsidise the cost of buying defibrillators for communities and organisations. Importantly, those schemes, as I said, often provide training on the use of the defibrillator, its upkeep and how to perform CPR. They also have existing infrastructure and local knowledge to assist communities in the effective placement and management of defibrillators. VAT on defibrillators is a reserved matter for the UK Government. 2. Alexander Stewart To ask the Scottish Government what it responses to a recent survey that recorded that more than 2,000 incidents of racism have been reported in schools over the past three years. Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for racism in our schools and is committed to addressing and tackling all forms of bullying, including bullying on the grounds of race. In 2019, we implemented a national approach to recording and the monitoring of bullying in Scottish schools, which was developed in partnership with COSLA, local authorities and teaching unions. The national approach enables schools and local authorities to monitor all reported incidents of racist bullying and to take all appropriate actions. Diversity and equality are at the heart of policies that underpin education in Scotland, and we are working with key anti-racist organisations to address how schools can be further supported. The race, equality and anti-racism in education programme is leading work to strengthen support for schools in tackling racist incidents and racist bullying while enhancing professional learning and leadership, diversifying the education workforce and reforming the curriculum. Data from show racism the red car consultation shows that 48 per cent of teachers being aware of a pupil or pupils experiencing negative attitudes related to skin colour, 38 per cent relative to religion, 37 per cent relative to nationality, while 61 per cent of teachers expressed a lack of confidence in educating pupils on anti-racism, with only 24 per cent receiving training on the subject. Those are serious worrying statistics. Given that 85 per cent of responses said that tailored anti-racism workshops would be beneficial for all concerned, what urgent action can the Government put in place to ensure that that happens? That is a very important issue in one that the Government takes very seriously. As I have mentioned, the race, equality and anti-racism in education programme is leading the work. That very much does include, as one of its four strands, school leadership and professional learning, to ensure that Scotland's educators are confident and empowered to promote that equality and foster good relations, and, very importantly, to identify and prevent and proactively deal with racism if they see examples of that. It is very important that we ensure that that school leadership and professional learning are further developed, and that we are also in tandem with that to ensure that we are increasing the diversity in the teaching profession as a whole so that a teaching profession does more reflect the Scottish population just as we wish to see in this Parliament too. Alexander Stewart I thank the cabinet secretary for the response. Show Racism on the Red Cards chair has written to the Scottish Government to call for anti-racism inclusion within the national curriculum following announcements of a similar move in Wales earlier this year. Given that 93 per cent of respondents said that anti-racism must be included within the curriculum, can the cabinet secretary confirm that the Scottish Government will seriously consider their request in order to further protect children from harm? The work that is happening with the race equality and anti-racism programme, because one of the other, one of the four strands within that is curriculum reform, and that is being looked at very closely to ensure that the curriculum is inclusive, that it recognises, for example, Scotland's colonial past and respects the identities of young people and supports them within their journey, within schools. We are again looking very, very seriously at this. There is work on going on this to ensure that our curriculum does give confidence to our learners, just as we spoke about an original answer about giving confidence to our teachers to be able to be confident to discuss this issue, tackle the issue when they see it, and for everyone in our schools to reach the potential that they have without being blighted by any racist activity towards them or anyone else within their classroom settings. Government has previously backed and agreed to implement the incredible work of the time for inclusive education initiative, which aims to combat homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools with LGBT inclusive education. In addition to the things that the cabinet secretary has already outlined in relation to some of this, will the Government back a similar programme to tackle racism and disdabilism in schools? When it comes to racism and indeed any forms of bullying within schools, this is something that the Government is looking at very closely. I think that very importantly, it is working with young people themselves to ensure that when we are looking at what the solutions to this might be and how we could tackle this problem, we are working jointly with young people. That is why I will be meeting with young people, particularly on the issue around racism, very soon to follow up on meetings that have already been had by the Deputy First Minister when he was education secretary and with the Minister for Older People and Equalities to ensure that we are learning from their experiences and that they are part of ensuring that we are developing the right solutions to that, and that is an approach that we would take on any type of bullying and harassment that is happening within schools. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I refer members to my register of interests as a member of the GMB trade union. To ask the Scottish Government what is the responses to the allegation made by Jim Coll in the Herald on Sunday that £25 million of public money was wasted on the forced nationalisation of Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd? In the absence of a workable commercial solution, the administrators of Ferguson's concluded that bringing the yard into public ownership was the best option. By taking control of the business, we were able to save Ferguson's from the risk of administration, lift the threat of redundancy that was hanging over the staff and protect the local economy—all objectives that I am sure the member supports. I certainly share the objectives of saving, preserving industrial growth on the Clyde and, of course, the skilled jobs that go with it. However, on 31 May 2017, Ferguson Marine's chairman met the First Minister at Bute House, and then on 5 June 2018, he met the former Cabinet Secretary for Finance to beg the Government to force their public body, Caledonian maritime assets limited, to take part in a dispute resolution process over the failing ferry contract. Commodore Luke Van Beek was appointed by the Scottish Government on 9 November 2017 to find a solution. The Government was given a report by Burners Coralet 3 keys in January 2018. A further report by HKA consultants was put to ministers in January 2019. All three of those expert independent consultants were highly critical of CMAL's management of the ferry contract. Why did ministers ignore their independent advisers and refuse to intervene at any stage of that long process to oblige CMAL to participate in a dispute resolution process? That was a failure that is led directly to the disastrous outcome that we see at Ferguson's today, surely? Throughout this whole process, our commitment has been to ensure that those vessels are delivered. The rural economy committee has completed a very detailed scrutiny of those issues. Ministers have considered, responded to the committee's findings. We remain committed to transparency and have cooperated at every stage of the parliamentary inquiry. We have proactively published large volumes of information on our website and evidence was provided to the inquiry as and when requested concerning the details that have been touched on by the member. Right now, our intention—and we stand firm on this—is to ensure that the vessels are completed, that the workforce is saved and that the yard has a viable future. We all share our commitment to financial transparency and the decision-making processes behind that. However, when Ferguson Marine fell into administration in August 2019, as a direct result of ministers' negligence in instructing CMAL to undertake arbitration, it had the contractual right to claim a £25 million cash refund guarantee in the form of an insurance bond from specialist marine insurers, HCC International, which would have seen the insurance company take control of the shipyard. Instead, Scottish ministers chose to forfeit that £25 million and buy the shipyard outright at a further cost of £7.5 million. If that £32 million forced acquisition was not an alleged misuse of public funds attempted to cover up for the failures of CMAL and ministers that caused the collapse of the shipyard, as asserted by the previous management of Ferguson Marine, will the Government agree to release all correspondence between the Government, HCC and CMAL? The member has effectively rewritten history on two occasions in that question. When it comes to the £25 million that he has referred to, it is totally incorrect to assert, as was in some media reporting, that £25 million has been lost to the public purse. Judgment was made in Scottish Courts on 21 May 2021. That claim is on-going, so I am restricted on what I can say. However, as is already widely known, and it is widely known because ministers have proactively published extensive information to aid the parliamentary inquiry that has already taken place, as is widely known, agreement was reached with HSE 1 to release them from a performance bond that they had provided for Ferguson's. The commitment right now, having seen the parliamentary inquiry, proceed with extensive provision of information by ministers, transparently and proactively provided. The commitment right now is to ensure that there are vessels delivered for the communities that rely on them, to ensure that the workforce is protected and to ensure that there is a viable future for the yard. I would hope that all members would join me in trying to secure those objectives. I call Stuart McMillan to be followed by Edward Mountain. The cabinet secretary will be very much aware of the progress that has been made in the yard in addition to some of the challenges that remain, but does she accept that taking the yard into public ownership was the only decision that would have saved the yard, the jobs of my constituents there and also provide the yard with an opportunity to build ships for many years to come? As the member said, of course there are challenges, but without a shadow of a doubt, our efforts saved Ferguson Marine from closure. Our actions rescued more than 300 jobs, ensured that the two vessels under construction will be completed and secured a future for the yard. That future includes the continuation of an apprentice programme crucial to the future of the yard and to the shipbuilding industry in Scotland, including the support for the local economy, which Stuart McMillan represents. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The catastrophic mismanagement of the ferries contract identified by the Wreck Committee seems to continue to grow arms and legs. Tim Hare was appointed by the Scottish Government and has been paid in excess of £790,000 per annum. That is more than two and a half times the combined annual salaries of the Prime Minister and the First Minister. Who authorised that and why? Edward Mountain will know more about Ferguson Marine than many because of the inquiry that was conducted by the Rural Economy and Welfare Committee, again an inquiry to which we submitted extensive transparent information. When it comes to our investment in the yard, our investment in the yard is indicative of the importance that we place on that yard. It is indicative of the importance that we place on the communities that rely on lifeline ferry vessels. In terms of the turnaround director specifically, a benchmarking exercise was conducted as part of the recruitment process to identify market rates. The turnaround director's agreed fee was well within the benchmark and consistent with market rates, which reflect the highly specialised nature of a role that requires senior-level experience. However, I come back to this point that our investment in the yard is indicative of the importance on which we place Ferguson Marine and our commitment to delivering those two vessels. Colleagues, that concludes topical questions.