 Mae'r ddeallu'r ddau i'w ddyminu'r ddeall ac mae'n dweud i'r ffraoroi'n ddymeptio'r eich ddaf. Ysgolwyddon yw'r prif, mae'n ddod i ddim yn gwneud hynny oedd Eurus Cwmysgolol. Gwyddoch chi'n ddigon i'n ddymestio'r ddau i'r ddod i'r ddod i gynnwys. H Secreditw아ni g pakodd gothau cyfrétref am y swydd plankai nifer y fadesolaid am eich aa blaenau bod yn d Antonine Caffercaer yn deall iawn? A gafodd ar y Celfwr, cların i chi yn調ôn pe matters dan i chi'n gwneud y dyma? Rwy'n f stuffson, sy'n mynd i'ch gyfrétref, hwnnw'n r formulaer chi'n dweud dr 이상 pwyddyn ni'n gwneud rÙl hun resw mewn gwholu sy'n gweld celfwr, ac nid i am gwneud hynny bob beth gyda'n weithio wildeig guit diwyd ar gyfer rydyn ni I'll be seeking urgent talks with the UK Government about the announcement being made today by HMRC, which would appear to put significant numbers of jobs in Scotland at risk. In addition to that, I will have engagements to take forward the Government's programme for Scotland. Kezia Dugdale. The First Minister has urged people in Scotland to judge her Government on its record. Let's do just that. This Government established a single police force. We supported that plan, but urged the Government to ensure that reform was implemented properly. The report that was published on Tuesday into call handling in the wake of the M9 crash makes clear that that didn't happen. It concluded that there were major weaknesses in the roll-out of the new call handling system. Back in April 2013, just weeks after the creation of the single police force, the then Justice Minister, Kerry McCaskill, said that there had been a smooth transition. Would the First Minister say today that there has been a smooth transition to a single police force? Obviously, as Kezia Dugdale is aware and as all members are aware, the report that was published this week was commissioned by the Scottish Government, by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, to make sure that we were seeking and getting assurances about the operation of Police Scotland call centres and also making sure that we were identifying so that we can learn any lessons. That is what has happened in terms of the publication of the report. The report this week makes 30 different recommendations. As the chamber heard the Justice Secretary say earlier this week, each and every one of those recommendations has been accepted by and will be implemented by Police Scotland. The review did highlight a number of issues around governance, change management and performance. All of those issues are being and will continue to be addressed. It is also important to note that Kerry Dugdale and those in the Labour benches may not particularly want to hear this, but I think that people watching at home will want to hear this. The report also records the progress that has been made since the review started and also gives some very important, important assurances on a number of key points. First, staff levels are stable at the call centres in Govan, Motherwell and Bilstone Glen. Secondly, the grading, prioritisation and the dispatch for emergency and high-priority calls is working well. Thirdly, risk invulnerability assessment is strong and staff training has improved. Those are just some of the assurances that Her Majesty's Inspector has given. We will continue to make sure that Police Scotland, overseen by the Scottish Police Authority, continues to make sure that the services that are being provided for the public are of the very high standard that people expect. There is simply no escaping the fact that this report is a damning assessment of the Government's record on policing. Calls across the country diverted elsewhere, not enough staff at Bilstone Glen, which resulted in low levels of performance, IT problems affecting day-to-day operations, a lack of governance of major changes leaving risks unidentified and an overtime bill that has gone through the roof. The day after Lamarabelle died, the Justice Minister, Michael Matheson, was on the television telling us that there were no systemic failings in the call handling process. We now know that simply wasn't true. Following the publication of the report, does the First Minister now concede that there were in fact systemic failings? First Minister, this is a serious point, and I hope that people will listen to it. I again today want to put on record my condolences to the families of both Lamarabelle and John Ew. I am sure that I am in the same position as everybody else in this chamber when I say that not a single day goes by that my heart does not go out to both of these families for the loss that they have suffered and for the dreadful circumstances in which that loss occurred. However, as the chamber will be aware, the circumstances of that particular case are still under investigation by Perk. The HMICS report was not into the particular circumstances of that case, and that is a point that has been made clear in the report. The report that was published this week is into the wider issues around call centres. I would say absolutely frankly to Kezia Dugdale that I am not trying to escape any facts here. I want to make sure that our public services, wherever they are, are performing to the highest standards. It is right for anybody to point in this report to some of the weaknesses and issues that were identified. However, if there is to be any sense of balance at all in this debate, it is also appropriate to point to the many things that the inspector says have been dealt with, addressed and improved, and to the key assurances that he gives the Scottish public about the operation of call centres. We will continue to make sure that any issues that require to be addressed are addressed and that the public can have confidence in the services that their police are providing. It is simply astonishing that, even now, with all of that evidence, the First Minister cannot accept that there are systemic failings in Police Scotland. There is a wider reality here. This is an SNP Government that has been pretty timid, because when it comes to our schools and hospitals, they are happy to manage the status quo. The single police force is the one major area of public service reform that they have undertaken, and they have got it wrong. What was the response of the justice minister this week? It is all Westminster's fault. The fact is that the justice secretary is bang to rights on police failings. He cannot lay the blame anywhere else. Can I ask the First Minister that she still has full confidence in her justice minister? Yes, I do, but this is a really serious issue. Order! Order! Let us hear the First Minister, please. I accept absolutely and unreservedly everything that is in the HMICS report. We accept, as does Police Scotland, all of the 30 recommendations. For Kezia Dugdale, to say, as I think she did, that I absolutely refuse to accept what has been found to be the case, is either a deliberate distortion of what I said, or perhaps she was so busy reading our script for the next question that she forgot to listen to the answer that I gave in the question before. Order! I simply pointed out— Order! I simply pointed out— Order! I simply pointed out— Mr Bibby and Mr MacDonald be quiet. I simply pointed out, Presiding Officer, and again it is a serious point that the particular circumstances of the tragic M9 case are still under review by the Police Independent Review Commission, and I think that that is something that all of us in this chamber issued respect. On the issue of wider public service reform, let me just mention briefly some of the major reforms that are under way under this SNP Government right now. I'm not sure if Kezia Dugdale is just completely unaware of health and social care integration. The biggest reform in our health and social care services, perhaps since the health service, was established more than 60 years ago. Fire service reform, a reform that was vital to delivering well and performing excellently. The attainment challenge that we have just been talking about this Government, recognising the challenge that our public services face and not shying away for a second in equipping our public services for the future. I repeat, Presiding Officer, I am more than happy to allow the Scottish people to judge my Government on its record. Perhaps that is why we see today that 58 per cent of people in Scotland intend to vote for us again next year. Kezia Dugdale, Ms Dugdale, Ms Dugdale. I think that the people of Scotland want to hear a bit less about the polls and a bit more about what she is going to do to support the police. Because, Presiding Officer, the last few months have been some of the worst in the history of policing in Scotland. The resignation of the chief constable and the police authority chair, morale at rock bottom, a third of staff preparing to leave the force, civilian staff numbers cut, bogus figures over stop and search, a lack of transparency on armed policing, a 20 per cent increase in housebreaking here in Edinburgh, controversy over deaths in police custody, allegations of spying on journalists and a £25 million budget overspend. Judge me on my record, says the First Minister. What's her verdict on that record? It's not my verdict that counts. It's actually not Kezia Dugdale's verdict that counts. It's the verdict of the Scottish people that counts. We know at this stage what the verdict of the Scottish people is. But there was one fact in that long list that Kezia Dugdale forgot to mention. I'm going to be charitable to her and just accept that she forgot to mention it. Here's the fact that Kezia Dugdale forgot to mention crime in Scotland at a 41-year low. That's down to the dedication of police officers and police service staff working hard around this country. Kezia Dugdale is right to hold this Government to account. I don't deny that for a second, but it's her miserable approach that denies anything good about this country that sees her and her party languishing in the opinion poll. To ask the First Minister when she'll next meet the Prime Minister. On the 14 December. The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary into the M9 tragedy made several criticisms about the staffing levels in call centres. As we've heard this afternoon, the report raised many serious issues that require considered examination. However, following its publication, the justice minister toured the TV studios and blamed Westminster cuts. Can the First Minister tell us, chamber, what was the cash increase in her overall budget last year and what was the cash decrease in the amount that she chose to allocate to policing? The point that the justice secretary was making and one of the points that the justice secretary was making is this one. Because Police Scotland is the only police service in the entirety of the UK that has to pay that, it's paying in the region of £25 million a year. One moment, First Minister. Mr Wheelhouse and Mr McMahon stopped shouting across the chamber at each other. As usual, we've got the Labour benches jumping to the defence of the UK Tory government. £25 million a year is being paid by Police Scotland on that. That wouldn't have to be if Police Scotland was being treated in the same way as other police services. We'll continue to make that point because when it comes down to it, Presiding Officer, we will always stand up for the interests of Scotland and people and public services in Scotland in stark contrast to the parties on each of the sides of me today. However, going back to the report, this is a serious issue and a serious report into that serious issue. That is why we are accepting all 30 recommendations. It is why we have made sure that the Scottish Police Authority has already started to put right the things that were wrong, which the report recognises. We will continue to get on with that job of making sure that where any weaknesses are identified, they are rectified so that the public has the confidence that they deserve to have in their police service. Ruth Davidson The figures that the First Minister was looking for, the ones that answered the question that I asked, are as follows. Her overall budget went up from last year to this by £661 million, and the sum that the Scottish Government chose to spend on policing in that same period went down by £6 million. The Scottish Government sets its own spending priorities, and clearly policing is not one of those priorities, and you cannot blame Westminster for that. The First Minister has sole responsibility for health, sole responsibility for education, for policing and for much else in our society, and she is about to get huge new powers over tax and welfare. This is a Government that is always quick to claim credit for every bit of good news but passes the buck when something goes wrong, as it did in this case. The Scottish Government chose to create a single police force. Its budget this year went up by over £600 million, and it chose to cut the police budget as well. Is it not time that the First Minister accepted responsibility for that and did not send her ministers out to the TV to point the finger of blame somewhere else? I am sure that the official report will reflect that. The first person to mention Westminster today was Kezia Dugdale—not me, actually—but on the issue of the police was— Order! Order! We did choose to create a single police service. Interestingly, both Labour and the Conservatives went into the 2011 election pledging to create a single police service, but they do not like to be reminded of that. In terms of the Scottish Government budget, there have been real terms cuts in the Scottish budget by 10 per cent. That is the reality. One of the points of creating a single police service, of course, was to cut out unnecessary expenditure. For example, £1.5 million is being saved because we do not have the duplication of eight chief constables across the country. We will continue to take the decisions that are the right decisions to make sure that all of our public services are on the strong footing that they need to be to face up to the challenges of the future. For those of us who are living and working in the Highlands and Islands, Loganair is the only provider of scheduled air services. They are a genuine lifeline for many businesses, for patients travelling to hospital appointments, as well as the wider public. Yesterday, yet another Loganair flight was forced to make an emergency landing the second in less than a week. I know that the transport minister takes this very seriously, but given the lifeline nature of these services, will the First Minister now agree to make direct representations to the airline? Will she agree to meet with the chief executive Loganair to reiterate the need to get the current problems sorted? Will she stress again that regaining public confidence in the reliability and safety of these services must be the number one priority? I agree absolutely with Liam McArthur. The services that are provided by Loganair are, as he has just described, lifeline services. They are absolutely vital to those who live in our island communities. There are real concerns about performance. Yesterday's emergency landing caused considerable concern, not least for those who were on that plane. As he alluded to himself, Derek Mackay is discussing those concerns and issues with Loganair. We will continue to do so and demand that those issues are rectified. I would be very happy to ask Derek Mackay to keep Liam McArthur fully appraised. I am more than happy to directly make the views of the Scottish Government known to the chief executive of the company, because we expect the highest standards for people who rely on those services. To ask the First Minister what the impact would be on the Scottish Government's budget if the provisional agreement by the Treasury and the UK Government's environment, local government and transport departments to reduce their budgets by 30 per cent over the next four years is carried out. It is quite clear that the Chancellor is intent on making cuts, not out of necessity but out of choice. The UK Government has already cut Scotland's discretionary spending power by 10 per cent in real terms since 2010 and has made it clear that the cuts will continue until at least 2020. The cuts to public services and welfare are having the greatest impact on the most vulnerable in our society. The Scottish Government will continue to do everything that we can to mitigate those cuts, but it is essential that the Chancellor uses the forthcoming spending review to abandon his austerity politics and support renewed investment in all of our public services. I thank the First Minister for that answer. Does she agree that Scotland will always be at a disadvantage in any budgetary negotiations with Westminster as long as the UK Government retains the whip hand and that only a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between governments through an economic agreement such as exists between Spain and the Basque country will allow Scotland to fully and successfully develop distinctive economic and social policies without fear of UK-imposed cuts? I think that Kenny Gibson makes an extremely important point. The negotiations over the fiscal framework that are under way right now are absolutely critical to making the powers promised by the UK Government a practical reality. The Deputy First Minister has already made it clear that that frameworks have to establish a fair, sustainable and satisfactory fiscal settlement between Scotland and the rest of the UK. I agree that financial matters need to be discussed between the Scottish and the UK Governments on the basis of an equal footing with each Government treating the other with mutual respect to reach a joint agreement. That is what we are seeking to achieve and I hope that we have the backing of the full Parliament in seeking to do so. In the House of Commons this week, SNP MPs proposed an amendment to the Scotland Bill to introduce full fiscal autonomy for Scotland. What assessment did the Scottish Government do of the impact on its budget had that amendment been carried? That is another opportunity for me to make the case that it will always be better for Scotland, for this Parliament and for this Government to have our hands on the levers of political and economic control so that we can build a better country. I do not think that that is the most significant thing that happened in the House of Commons this week. I think that the most significant thing was watching Labour trip through the lobbies with the Tories to vote down the devolution of tax credits. Question 4, Linda Fabiani. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government considers needs to be taken to fully realise the objectives of the Equal Pay Act 1970. First Minister. On Monday we marked Equal Pay Day, the point in the year where many women are essentially working for nothing for the rest of the year because women on average continue to earn less than men. I think that it is a complete and utter disgrace that despite the Equal Pay Act being passed 45 years ago in the year I was born, in fact, we still do not have Equal Pay in this country. The Scottish Government is seeking to lead by example. We have made tackling the gender pay gap a priority in our programme for government. We are also working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to tackle pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination. We are continuing to promote fair work practices and to extend childcare. I would take the opportunity to call in all organisations and all businesses to take action on this issue so that we can once and for all end pay inequality in Scotland. Linda Fabiani. Thank you. Does the First Minister agree that local authorities that have had the same political power in office for years, such as South Lanarkshire Council, have no excuse at all not to have settled Equal Pay claims on a fair and equitable basis? Does she realise that some of those claims date back for many, many years and continue to cause stress and strife amongst hard-working constituents in East Kilbride and elsewhere? Ministers have repeatedly made it clear and let me do so again unequivocally today, that delays by councils in settling Equal Pay claims are completely unacceptable. Many of those claims, as Linda Fabiani has just said, go back to 2006 or even further in some cases. There can be absolutely no justification for taking so long to resolve this issue. There has been some recent progress, such as the settlement of claims against Fife Council, but much more work needs to be done. Equal pay cases need to be progressed with urgency and commitment so that those affected receive their legal entitlements. The Minister for Local Government has written to all 32 Scottish local authorities to reiterate the Government's desire to see more and faster progress and to seek information on the number of claims settled and still outstanding for each council. Often, apprenticeships are the first step in career progression. In 2013, analysis from the Harriet Watt University showed that Scotland is the only part of the UK where the number of female starts is persistently lower than the male starts. Why over the last three years have the number of women starting apprenticeships and the proportion of female starts continued to fall? I am not sure that that is quite relevant, but have you wished to answer that first? I am happy to answer it because it is an important point. I am happy to provide the most up-to-date figures to the member, but we are working to and increasing the number of women going into modern apprenticeships. That is just one of many things that we need to do to get more women into the labour market, to get more women into jobs, to get more women into full-time high-quality jobs. Amongst the job figures that we saw yesterday, we saw an increase in full-time work over the past year, so those are important issues. I am absolutely determined and committed to making sure that we advance gender equality in all its forms. To ask the First Minister for what reason, the publication of the findings of the review of paediatric services in Lothian has been delayed? We are advised by NHS Lothian that the Royal College of Paediatric and Children's Health has advised them that not all their independent expert review team would be able to begin their work before January. It was originally envisaged that this work would begin this month in November. We support, as a Government, whatever steps need to be taken to ensure that a full and thorough review is carried out. Neil Findlay? Of course, I am really sure that the Government played no part at all in kicking yet another important review into touch till after the election. Just to be straight with the people of West Lothian, will the First Minister give a guarantee that the current level of service, including 24-7 inpatient services, will be retained and there will be no downgrade of paediatric services at St John's hospital? Maybe she can chuck away her script and give a straight answer for the first time. The only person who is talking about closure of those services, as far as I can tell, is Neil Findlay. What we want to do is make sure that there is a sustainable service in place. That is why it is right for NHS Lothian to instruct this thorough review. I was the health secretary that inherited a position from the last Labour Government that had St John's hospital possibly in terminal decline. It was this Government that reversed that, turned that around and means that St John's hospital is a thriving local hospital today. To ask the First Minister what impacts the proposals in the trade union bill could have on Scottish Government's commitment to fair work. On Tuesday, the Parliament made very clear its opposition to what is a draconian trade union bill, a bill that threatens the fundamental rights of workers to organise, to bargain collectively and, if necessary, to withdraw their labour. That is an unacceptable threat not just to trade unions but to Scotland's strong track record of industrial relations and this Government's approach to fair work. That is why we have requested that Scotland is exempted from the trade union bill in its entirety, and I hope that we continue to get the support of Parliament in doing so. Does the First Minister agree that it is a disgrace that the Tory Government is pushing through this bill, which will have a major impact on devolved services and workers across the country without any proper engagement with the Scottish Parliament or Scottish Government? Yes, I do. I think that this was an issue that was raised explicitly by the fair work secretary in the debate earlier this week. It is absolutely vital that the Parliament can fully consider whether it consents to the application of the bill's provisions in Scotland. That is why Roseanna Cunningham has asked our legal advisers to explore several possible bases for a legislative consent memorandum and motion. We have never before been in the position where both the UK and Scottish Governments have not had an agreement on issues of legislative consent, which can illustrate the disgraceful lack of dialogue from the UK Government on the issue. However, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this is a bill that, if it was implemented in Scotland, would have significant implications for our devolved responsibilities. If the UK Government is not willing to exempt Scotland from its provisions, it is absolutely essential that we see a legislative consent motion so that this Parliament, if it so chooses, as I hope it would, can deny its consent to a draconian set of measures attacking our trade unions.