 The next item of business is a statement by Shona Robison on Scottish Government's provision of information to the Covid-19 inquiries. The Deputy First Minister will take questions at the end of her statement and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Shona Robison, Deputy First Minister. Presiding Officer, the loss and trauma experienced by people across Scotland throughout the Covid-19 pandemic cannot be overstated. We remember all those who have lost their lives or had them permanently changed. It is my hope that through the Scottish Government's co-operation with both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 public inquiries that we can help to provide some answers and some relief. I know that the chamber will appreciate that we would not normally make a statement regarding engagement with public inquiries while their proceedings are live. However, as the minister responsible for Covid-19 inquiries, I am making this statement to address issues raised by the UK inquiry at the preliminary hearing on 26 October and to give our reassurances on our commitment for a full response. In order to ensure that the inquiries can take forward their necessary work without undue speculation, I hope that the chamber will also appreciate that we do not intend to provide a running commentary on the work of either inquiry. The Scottish Government established the first public inquiry in the UK to examine the response to Covid-19 in December 2021 ahead of the UK Government commencing the UK-wide public inquiry. It is important to note that both inquiries have made all their requests to witnesses in confidence and those requests are not public. All those receiving requests, including the Scottish Government, have been told by the inquiries not to share their content. It is entirely up to and wholly a matter for the independent inquiry chairs to determine where appropriate whether to publish the material they receive. The Scottish Government is obliged to comply with this requirement and, as such, I will not and cannot provide precise details on any of the requests that the Scottish Government has received to date, including specific information on what has been asked of individuals who have received requests from the inquiries. How can I discuss in detail what materials individuals have or have not provided? Let me say from the offset, where there has been any lack of clarity from the Scottish Government about the material to be provided to the inquiries, then I do apologise to the families bereaved by Covid for any distress caused. That certainly was not our intention. The First Minister has reached out to the representatives of the Scottish Covid bereaved and offered a meeting to provide further reassurances where we can. What I can assure those families in this chamber is that the Scottish Government has and will work tirelessly to provide the UK inquiry with the materials that it has requested. The material provided to the inquiry to date includes emails, messages, submissions and advice to ministers on papers from key decision making meetings, including the Scottish Cabinet. In total, more than 19,000 documents have already been provided to the UK inquiry and this figure continues to grow. The initial requests received from the UK inquiry focused on decision making. As we have stated previously, it is not the culture within the Scottish Government to routinely use systems such as WhatsApp for decision making. Decisions are routinely made in minute meetings or through formal submissions to ministers. All relevant records of both of those have been provided to both inquiries already. The UK inquiry asked in June for summaries of all WhatsApp and similar groups related to co-ordination, logistics and day-to-day communication, greatly expanding the scope of what the Scottish Government needed to collate and process accordingly. The request was followed in September by a request for the actual messages exchanged within those groups. In examining the messages collated, it was clear that a number of them were of a particularly personal nature, including photos of individuals' children and personal medical details. In order to reconcile our obligations as data controller for the contents of the messages with our desire to co-operate fully within the inquiry, the Scottish Government wrote to the UK inquiry on 5 October requesting a section 21 notice to provide the necessary legal basis for providing the information within the messages. The Scottish Government received a section 21 notice yesterday and I can confirm that work is well under way to fully comply in accordance with the timetable set by the UK inquiry. This will mean that all requested messages held will be shared in full and unredacted by 6 November. In addition to the hundreds of messages already handed over to the UK inquiry, the notice will allow us to share over 14,000 mainly WhatsApp messages from various groups and individuals over the period of the pandemic, mostly concerning routine co-ordination of work and meetings by officials. I can confirm that messages from ministers and former ministers are included, but I have not seen them nor should I, as that is for the inquiry. We will, of course, continue to fully co-operate with both inquiries and will share any additional messages should more become available or further material be requested. Following questions in Parliament last week, I would also like to highlight that the First Minister has asked the permanent secretary to ensure that all steps are being taken to meet the inquiry's request and for the Solicitor General to satisfy herself that the Scottish Government has met all its legal obligations. It will be for individuals to explain to the inquiries any actions they have taken in relation to records retention. As the First Minister recently stated, should either Covid inquiry want more information, then we expect every minister pass on present and every Government official to comply. I can confirm that the First Minister will, when submitting his final statement for module 2A in the coming days, hand over WhatsApp messages unredacted to the inquiry. Presiding Officer, I would now like to offer some insight and reassurance regarding the handling and retention of records, including but not limited to informal communications by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has clear record management policy, including transcribing and storing salient information from informal communications such as evidence of decision making to a centralised record system. The Scottish Government's duty to create and retain records has remained consistent throughout the period looked at by the inquiries, and we have complied with that. The Scottish Government has maintained a detailed record and evidence of key decisions taken during the pandemic. Our policies fully comply with our legislative obligations under the Public Records Scotland Act 2011 and other legal obligations. The Scottish Government's records management policy makes clear what must be recorded in the official record, as it is not practical, cost effective or necessary for any organisation to retain every single exchange that everyone working within that organisation creates. To be crystal clear, there has never been a need for material without business value to be retained as part of the corporate record. Colleagues exchanging pleasantries, chatting electronically about inconsequential or personal matters while working from home during lockdown should not be retained. No Government, no organisation of any size routinely retains that material because it has no business use. It should also be noted that there are clear legal requirements not to retain data and particularly personal data for which there is no legitimate purpose. Prior to the development of a dedicated mobile messaging policy in November 2021, the retention of mobile messages was covered in the Scottish Government's record management policy. The records management policy continues to apply to all records. The guidance has always been clear that, regardless of the platform, information relevant to the corporate record must be saved. The mobile messaging policy drafted by civil servants is intended to ensure responsible and effective use of messaging applications. It is consistent with and supplements the established records management policy. The policy covers a range of applications that are used on mobile devices, including but not limited to WhatsApp. The policy does not prohibit the use of messaging applications but requires people to consider the benefits and risks of using these apps and to ensure that any usage is compliant with records management responsibilities and data protection requirements. The policy encourages consideration of security and privacy when using mobile messaging apps, including whether the application allows for the automatic deletion of messages after a set period to address the risk of messages being misused if a mobile device is lost or compromised. Let me be clear, however, that, contrary to some reports, there is not and has not ever been a requirement for any official, let alone ministers, to auto delete messages without ensuring that relevant information from them is captured and saved appropriately first. The Scottish Inquiry wrote to the Scottish Government's permanent secretary on 5 August 2022, requesting that all material of potential relevance to the inquiry be retained. The UK Inquiry to date has not written to the Scottish Government with a specific request for record retention. However, the UK Government wrote to permanent secretaries in each devolved administration in June 2021, February 2022 and October 2022, asking that material of potential relevance to the inquiry should not be destroyed. Those requests were cascaded through the Scottish Government and the significance and importance of storing material of potential relevance was made known to all relevant staff, as was the instruction that this material should be saved on the official record. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Scottish Government has consistently acted in line with its records management policies and relevant legal obligations with regards to the collating and storing of corporate information. Before closing, I note my gratitude to those working in the UK and Scottish Covid-19 inquiries. I am conscious of the immense responsibility that they hold and the enormity of the tasks that they face in understanding and distilling the events of the pandemic and the lessons that can be taken away. We all stand to benefit from the work that they take forward on our behalf, and I am pleased with the constructive relationship that has developed between both inquiries and Scottish Government officials, including in the context of challenging deadlines and detailed scrutiny. I am happy to reiterate the Scottish Government's pledge to continue the highest standard of co-operation already established with both public inquiries. Those affected by the pandemic, particularly those who bore some form of loss, have placed a great deal of trust in the Scottish Government. Not just to take on the challenges that Covid-19 posed, but also to be open and accountable about our performance. That trust is of the most importance to me and to the Scottish Government, and we will continue to work to make sure that we are acting accordingly. The Deputy First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 30 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business. I will be grateful if members who wish to put a question were to press their request-to-speak buttons. The UK and Scottish Covid inquiries were set up to give answers to thousands of families who lost loved ones during the pandemic and everyone who suffered. They must be at the forefront of our thoughts today. I also want to state at this point that the Scottish Conservatives believe that it should be the First Minister delivering this statement today and being held accountable in this Parliament today. With respect to evidence to the inquiries, Nicola Sturgeon, who is in the chamber today, promised in August 2021 that nothing would be off limits, including WhatsApp messages. However, the stench of secrecy from this Government is overpowering. At the weekend, it was revealed that Nicola Sturgeon had manually deleted messages. It has also been revealed that Scotland's most senior clinician, Jason Leach, deleted WhatsApp messages on a daily basis. So, while today the Deputy First Minister has said that the SNP Government will now provide 14,000 WhatsApp messages almost a year after they were originally asked for, does that figure include all messages from Nicola Sturgeon, from Jason Leach and any others who had deleted messages? If so, how were they recovered? If not, how does the Deputy First Minister defend this cover-up? We know that in June 2021 the Scottish Government was told not to destroy any communication relating to the pandemic. So, can the Deputy First Minister tell us if any messages were destroyed after that date? If they were, does the Deputy First Minister accept that any SNP minister or former minister, including Nicola Sturgeon, would have broken the law if they had done so? Finally, many of the issues that are causing concern just now relate to disappearing messages. We have seen correspondence that suggests that the Deputy First Minister herself has had disappearing messages turned on on her WhatsApp account. Is that true, and does she still have disappearing messages turned on on her WhatsApp account? Where I do agree with Douglas Ross is that the families are at the forefront of this. That is why it is important that we give as much information as is possible to give. That is why 19,000 documents have already been given. I need to explain again something that I explained in my statement. That is the first tranche of queries and asks from the inquiry related to decision making. That was the response of the 19,000 documents to that request. It was then in June that the inquiry came back asking for groups of WhatsApp messages, what the title of those groups were and who were members of those groups. It was then September when they came asking for those individual messages. It is not correct to say that it has been a year since that request was made. It has only been just over a month. We then had to ask for the section 21 order because of the nature of those messages. That order came in yesterday and those 14,000 WhatsApp messages will be given to the inquiry by the deadline of 6 November. I said in my statement very clearly that I cannot say who those messages are from and what the content is because I am not allowed to. I do not see them. That is a confidential set of information requests. Deputy First Minister, can I just ask members to ensure that we can all hear the Deputy First Minister? That is the confidential nature of what the inquiry has asked for. If I were to breach that and ask for information from officials that do not share that information with anyone, that would be a breach of the confidential requirements of the inquiry itself. I do not know who those 14,000 messages are from other than they include ministers, former ministers and officials. The only person that I know of that will provide those WhatsApp messages as the First Minister himself because he has publicly stated so. Beyond that, I do not know who those 14,000 WhatsApp messages relate to. If those messages are published, that is in the gift of the inquiry itself and they will decide whether or not any of those messages are released. In terms of the disappearing messages, let me say this. In terms of my use of WhatsApp with my private office, for example, any decision around I ask for information or I ask for something to be taken forward, that is then recorded on the system because otherwise it would not happen. So it is recorded on the system. Other messages like do I want a coffee or what is my time of arrival, we would not hold on to those messages because that would not comply with the data management policy. So I hope that I have managed to give Douglas Ross the answers to his questions that he has. Thank you. I call Jackie Baillie. Presiding Officer, evidence being taken at the UK Covid inquiry today demonstrates why transparency in government is just so important. People were discharged to care homes without testing, too many people died and people lost their livelihoods. So we absolutely need to understand why decisions were taken and what happened so we can learn lessons for the future. Both families were promised nothing less than full co-operation by the Scottish Government with both the UK and Scottish inquiries, yet they have been treated with disrespect. Promise transparency and a guarantee from the First Minister that all messages would be handed over, but instead the Government and individual ministers have so far failed to deliver. Messages from those closest to the decision making have been destroyed on an industrial scale. What we have seen instead is what can only be construed as deliberate and co-ordinated with holding of information. A public inquiry was talked about in May 2020. Why did ministers not retain evidence from then? The Deputy First Minister points to individual responsibility to co-operate with the inquiry. Surely it is the collective responsibility of the Scottish Government to ensure that its own procedures are followed, not least by the former First Minister and former Deputy First Minister. Does she agree with me that it is inconceivable that a former First Minister would not understand the importance of that evidence? Finally, all the 70 people in the 137 WhatsApp groups, ministers, special advisers and civil servants, have been issued with individual section 21 notices or was this to the Scottish Government? Does that include the First Minister and Deputy First Minister? Can she confirm that she will be able to comply fully and have not destroyed any evidence? Let me agree with Jackie Baillie first of all that in the midst of all this are families who have lost loved ones and have been profoundly affected. Many of us have families affected ourselves. It is not in my interest or the Scottish Government's interest to not provide that information. We have already provided 19,000 documents about decision making and at least 14,000 WhatsApp messages will be provided by 6 November. The section 21 order covers all those messages because of the nature of the sensitivity of some of that personal information that is required. As I said in my statement, the permanent secretary and the Solicitor General have also been asked for reassurance in terms of the policy being followed. Ultimately, it is the requirement of each individual to comply with the policy. The recommendations and requirements were made very clear to everybody concerned. The inquiry itself can, of course, interrogate the information provided to individuals in the course of the hearings if they consider it relevant to do so. For the Scottish Government's purposes, I have set out in great detail in my statement what the management of information policy was and the requirement and the clarity to ministers and officials of their requirement to follow that policy. I call Jackie Dunbart to be followed by Megan Gallagher. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I take this opportunity to put on record my condolences to the families who have been bereaved? I hope that the inquiries can provide the answers that they so desperately need. I am grateful that the First Minister has committed to handing over whatever the Covid inquiry asks for, in contrast to the Prime Minister's attempts earlier this year to block Baroness Hallot's request for information. Given the concerns that the representatives of bereaved family members have highlighted, can the Deputy First Minister give an assurance that the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to provide maximum transparency? As I said in my statement that the Scottish Government is wholly committed to co-operating with both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 public inquiries and will continue to fully comply with all requests for information that we receive. On a couple of occasions now, that is why the Scottish Government has already provided more than 19,000 records to the UK Covid-19 inquiry and we are providing more than 14,000 messages by 6 November now that the inquiry has provided a legally compliant way for us to be able to do that. We will continue to work with both inquiries to ensure that we respond fully to any future requests that come in beyond the information already provided. Last week, the SNP Government told the Covid inquiry in reference to WhatsApp messages that relevant information would be recorded in the Scottish Government's electronic records and document management system. Deputy First Minister, the public deserve to know the truth. How many WhatsApps were saved through the Scottish Government's electronic records and document management process in relation to the pandemic? Have any of those messages been subsequently deleted from that record and will the Covid inquiry be given full access to those records? I went through in quite some detail in my statement how the records policy works. That is the responsibility of the official, the minister and indeed the minister's private office to make sure that anything that is material that is discussed on WhatsApp is recorded on the record. As I said in my statement, WhatsApp is not routinely used for Government decision making. You can see why. Anything that is about a decision has to go in the system, otherwise it will not be acted upon, so it is not routinely used for decision making. I have set out clearly the expectation of every single person that was required to follow that policy. I have set out how that was communicated. Ultimately, it is the requirement of each individual to comply with the policy that was clearly set out. As I said in my previous answer, the inquiry itself can interrogate the information provided to them by any individual in the course of the hearings if they choose to do so. The Finance Committee recently held an inquiry into Government decision making. I wonder if the Deputy First Minister would agree with what I think was the committee's feelings that there does need to be space for informal chats and sharing ideas. Can she say how we get the balance right between formal discussions that should be properly recorded and informal discussions that need not be? John Mason makes a reasonable point that free and open discussions between ministers and officials in both formal and informal manners are a key part of the functioning of Government and other organisations. They help to ensure the generation of ideas and solutions are a very quick way of communicating, but if any decision or anything that is pertinent to the organisation is discussed, that should be recorded on the information management system. The Scottish Government already has record management policies that are extensive and that ensure that any discussions with corporate value, particularly those around policy decisions, are transcribed and stored in the corporate record appropriately. That is how WhatsApp or any other teams or any other platform should be used. As I said in my statement, the Permanent Secretary and the Solicitor General are making sure and assuring the First Minister and the Scottish Government that that is the case and that that is fully understood by everyone in the organisation going forward. Daniel Johnson to be followed by Audrey Nicholl. Do not destroy notices were issued to ministers and officials on August 2022. In her answers so far, the Deputy First Minister has been clear that it is a matter of individual responsibility as to whether they comply or not. So can the Deputy First Minister tell the chamber how many individuals have complied and how many individuals have yet to comply? As I said clearly in my statement, I have no sight of any of that information because it would be against the enquiries rules for me to have any of that. Let's hear the Deputy First Minister. This is really important and it's important that the chamber understands this point. Rule 9 requests come from the inquiry to the individual. No one is sighted on the content of that and no one is sighted on what the response is. That is completely confidential. It would be quite wrong of me to ask to see those... I would be grateful if members could allow us all to hear the Deputy First Minister respond and that can be difficult when others are talking at the same time. This is actually a very serious matter, a very serious matter. Members, it's a very serious matter and it's very important that people understand the nature of an inquiry. The inquiry itself is the guardian of the information of what they request from whom and what they receive back. That is confidential. I will have no sight of that so I do not know for example how... Many ministers, past or present, are included in those 14,000 WhatsApp messages because I have no sight of that. I have no sight of who they are and what the content is. And neither should I because if I was to that would be a breach of the inquiry rules. That is how an inquiry works and I think perhaps it might be helpful for us to circulate some information exactly about how the inquiry works because if people don't understand that basic concept then we have a problem about the confidential nature of the information being provided. Before I move to the next question, members will appreciate that there is a great deal of interest in the statement. There are many members wishing to put questions so we will require concise questions and responses. I call Audrey Nicholl to be followed by Alex Cole-Hamilton. The First Minister was clear last week as the Deputy First Minister has been clear today that the Scottish Government decisions were not routinely made over WhatsApp, which is very welcome. We know that this hasn't necessarily been the case elsewhere in the UK. Can the Deputy First Minister provide an update regarding steps being taken to reinforce this practice across government? The Scottish Government has internal practices to ensure that all record keeping around decision making follows those internal policies that are referred to in some detail in my statement, as well as legal requirements for information management. The record management policy is available to all staff on the Scottish Government's internet as well as being available to the public on gov.scot. We will of course reinforce those practices following the statement from today going forward with an all staff communication to be issued reminding officials of their responsibilities to ensure that good record keeping practices are maintained. That applies to ministers as well. The interaction between ministers and their private office is making sure that any decision making is recorded is a really important interaction within government. That is what I reiterated in my statement earlier. Alex Cole-Hamilton to be followed by Emma Harper. Thousands of grieving families are looking to these inquiries for answers. UK Government WhatsApp shows minute by minute what was really going on behind the scenes and how decisions were made. It shows that the discussions behind an order were often as important as the order itself. Did those life and death judgments ever hinge around Nicola Sturgeon's desire just to be different from Boris? We may never know, because messages deleted at the very top of the Scottish Government erased the process by which ministers weighed the politics and the science behind the decisions required of them. If anyone else had acted in such a conspiratorial way, the SNP would now be in uproar. This will all come out in the wash. The Deputy First Minister, if she personally believes those grieving families will ever see the correspondence of most importance to them, that being all relevant messages to and from Nicola Sturgeon. I agree with Alex Cole-Hamilton that families are looking for answers, and he is right about the context of some of that decision making. That is why the 14,000 WhatsApp messages that I referred to in my statement, and that will grow without a doubt, are so important. Some of that will provide the context of the environment that decisions were being made in. The inquiry will see all of that. It will see the First Minister's WhatsApp messages, which he will provide as part of his final statement to the inquiry. What I do not know is what the inquiry itself will put in the public domain, because that is a matter for the inquiry. There might put all of it in the public domain, but none of it might be put in the public domain. That is for the inquiry because the information is there information in terms of what it was requested, what it holds and what it will release. That is for the inquiry, not for the Scottish Government. Emma Harper will be followed by Murdo Fraser. A substantial number of people will be involved in Government decision making processes. What engagement has been undertaken with civil servants to ensure that their views inform robust decision making processes? All civil servants receive training to ensure that ministers are receiving the best possible advice. That includes training in using data and evidence and working with partners and communities so that advice coming to ministers has the relevant information and different views and perspectives. The civil service also regularly works with external experts too, who can peer review information and ensure that ministers receive high quality advice on which to base decisions. The advice, as I said earlier, is then stored within the corporate record in line with our records management policy. That is the crucial part of how decisions are recorded. I have made that point a number of times because the importance of it cannot be understated. Murdo Fraser will be followed by Willie Coffey. The First Minister said yesterday that there was a policy of deleting social media messages after 30 days. In her statement, the Deputy First Minister has told us that policy was introduced in November 2021 after the height of the pandemic was over. Can the Deputy First Minister confirm that anyone in the Scottish Government, whether a minister or a civil servant who deleted messages before that date, would be in breach of the Government's records management policy? The records management policy, as I have set out in detail in my statement, is very clear. It is very clear that WhatsApp is not routinely used as a decision making tool, but any decision made, whether it is on WhatsApp or any other platform, had to be recorded on the official management system. That has always been the case. Nothing has changed in relation to that. The issue that I pointed out in my statement around the deletion of messages is about being able to distinguish between messages about cups of coffee or when someone is arriving at an event from important information that is about decision making or has corporate value. That is a distinction made, because no organisation in the world will retain every single WhatsApp conversation between every individual and its organisation. It just wouldn't. The policy is clear about what has to be retained and where it has to be retained. That has always been the policy. I could not be clearer about that. In relation to the messages that will be handed over, some of that will be in the category of chit chat on WhatsApp. Some of it will be more pertaining to the context of decisions that were being made at the time. All that information that the Scottish Government holds will be given to the inquiry by 6 November. Any other information that is requested beyond that will do its best to provide the inquiry with any additional information requested. Willie Coffey to be followed by Gillian Mackay. Can the Deputy First Minister provide any further information about steps that are being taken to ensure that there is a comprehensive understanding of the Scottish Government's record management policy across Government, including any further guidance on the use of messaging or other apps for any relevant purposes? Senior officials have issued a number of emails to staff, reminding them of their obligation to understand and adhere to the Scottish Government's record management policy. Detailed advice on the policy and others related to it are available to all staff via their intranet. The Scottish Government's senior information risk owner is also preparing a further all-staff communication to be issued to direct officials towards this information to make sure that everyone is reminded about the key aspects of the Scottish Government's records management policy. Gillian Mackay to be followed by Michelle Thomson. It is critical that, in this important discussion, we are all clear exactly how and where Scottish Government decisions are made and how those decisions are recorded and acted upon. Can the Deputy First Minister clarify whether decisions were made on WhatsApp during the Covid pandemic and what safeguards were in place to ensure that good governance standards were adhered to during the height of the crisis? Let me be clear again that WhatsApp is not routinely used as a decision making tool. The reason for that is that, if a minister wants a decision to be acted upon, it has to go into the system to be acted upon. That is why any decision communicating, for example, to a private office from a minister will then be transcribed into the system so that it can be acted upon. If there were any decisions made, that would be the process to make sure that it would be put into the system. That would happen not just in terms of WhatsApp messages, but if there was a communication, a conversation, a phone call that had to then be followed up by action, that would be recorded into the management system to make sure that that was then acted upon. Michelle Thomson, to be followed by Katie Clark. The independence of the inquiry's paramount. However, the need to gather accurate reflective detail can lead to long timescales for any inquiry. Can the Deputy First Minister set any expectations as to timescales for those relatives desperate for answers? I very much understand the desire to see the findings and lessons learned from both inquiries as soon as possible. This is a key underpinning of the Scottish Government's desire as well. Section 17 of the 2005 Inquiries Act gives an inquiry chair alone, rather than ministers, responsibility for deciding how an inquiry should operate. Therefore, operational matters such as the timetabling and timescales of the inquiry's work are for the chair to decide entirely independent of government. Katie Clark, to be followed by Alistair Allen. The Deputy First Minister has not made clear whether the Scottish Government complied with its own policy, which is that salient WhatsApp messages should be saved at least on the centralised record system. Can the Deputy First Minister confirm that this is normally what happens and confirm whether it happened in relation to Covid messages, and can she confirm whether Covid records policy was reviewed on receipt of the do not destroy notices? On that final point, any further information and requirements would have been cascaded through the organisation to make sure that everyone was fully aware of their need to comply. As I have said throughout my statement and then the follow-up questions, the guidance has always been really clear about what should be transcribed from WhatsApp messages is ultimately the requirement of each individual to comply with the policy. As I have said, if there is any concerns from the inquiry, once they have all the information in front of them that they feel that has not been the case, then of course they can interrogate the information provided to them by individuals or not provided to them by individuals in the course of the hearings if they consider it relevant to do so. Anything that the Scottish Government was asked for, that we had, has either already been handed over in the 19,000 documents or will be handed over in the 14,000 WhatsApp messages now. We have the section 21 legal underpinning in place to be able to do so. Can the Deputy First Minister advise what steps have been taken or indeed changes made to maximise transparency in terms of the Scottish Government's records, management, policy and processes? The Scottish Government continually acts to make sure that its own policies and processes are fully understood. In aid of this, the Scottish Government's records management policy is available to officials, as I said earlier, on the staff internet and to the public via gov.scot. I am also happy to confirm that the Scottish Government has published its mobile messaging policy on gov.scot this afternoon to make sure that the wider public can see that. I would like to declare my interests as a practising NHS GP, which I performed during the pandemic. The current First Minister told reporters that government policy was that they should delete WhatsApp messages, but in response to my question in December 2022 about whether WhatsApp messages are covered by FOIs, George Adam said all recorded information that is held by ministers or officials including WhatsApp that relate to the business of Scottish Government is subject to FOI requests. Deputy First Minister, how can I FOI messages that are deleted? In some ways, the member answered his own question because he said that relating to the business of the Scottish Government is the key point here. Anything contained on WhatsApp or Teams or anything else relating to the business of the Scottish Government should be transcribed. The deletion issue, as I set out my statement, is about all the other information not relating to the business of the Scottish Government, which no organisation would keep. We meet our legal obligations in regard to the deletion of that information that does not relate to the business of the Scottish Government. It is clear that the advice and policy and the legalities are that organisations should not hold on to information that does not relate to the business of the organisation concerned. How many individuals involved in government have failed to comply with the Scottish Government's internal processes, including the Scottish Government records management policy, since February 2021? As I have said already to a number of questions, only the inquiry knows what they asked for and what has been provided. I have no oversight of what the inquiry has asked for because that is direct to the individual through a rule 9 order and that information goes back to them. In terms of the wider ask of the inquiry about what the Scottish Government holds more generally, all the information asked for by the inquiry, held by the Scottish Government, has been provided in relation to decision making, 19,000 documents already provided. That wider ask about all communication on WhatsApp and other message platforms is being provided through the over 14,000 messages that will be provided by the 6 November timeframe. The Deputy First Minister cannot confirm whether or not the former First Minister manually deleted her WhatsApp messages as was reported in the press at the weekend. Would the Deputy First Minister agree that it would be in order for the former First Minister to make a personal statement of this Parliament as to whether or not she deleted her WhatsApp messages as has been reported? I have made clear throughout my statement and throughout all the answers to all the questions that I cannot comment on on any individual because I do not know what they have been asked for. I do not know what they have provided and I do not know any of that information because I should not know. Members, let us hear the Deputy First Minister. Let us conduct our business in an orderly manner. It is a confidential matter between the inquiry and the individual concerned about what was asked for and what was provided. I imagine that if I were to suddenly be asking for all that information to be given to me then members across this chamber would be asking me why I was breaching the rules of the independent inquiry. The rules are clear. It is confidential information that no one other than the inquiry, the person concerned and indeed the group of officials who are working completely independent of ministers to provide that information and those are clear channels of communication. I think that the chair of the inquiry would take a very dim view if we were to do anything other than that. On the ministerial statement, the next item of business is consideration of two parliamentary bureau motions. I asked George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motions 11043 on committee membership and 11044 on substitution on committees. The question on those motions will be put at decision time and there are four questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that amendment 11027.1 in the name of Rachel Hamilton, which seeks to amend motion 11027 in the name of Paul MacLennan on rural and islands housing action plan be agreed. Are we all agreed? The Parliament is not agreed, therefore we will have a short suspension to allow members to access digital voting.