 Rhywun â'r wneud, sut rôl am staffau ar y rôl mewn gwreidydd i ddylu'r ysgrifetio mwyaf yn cael eu cyflogaeth o'r hollifiedd ym Llywodraeth Cymru? Rwyf yn ni i. Rwyf yn ni i, pan rydw i chi'n gydagêl i ysgrifetio mewn gweld 7.21 oed. Aelogau iawn yn dar corporation yw y cyflei arbennig yn cyflion. Rydw i'n ddweud chi'n gofyn yn gwybod arall oesbydd gydag ein cyflei, was unable to respond. Numbers are important, the whole picture is necessary to understand those numbers. That's why I asked the UK Statistics Authority to investigate the First Minister's selective use of per cent difference. I was concerned with how the First Minister had presented Covid rates in the UK, so I'm grateful to Sir David Nordraith for yw'r gydanc ar gyfer y cyfnodau. Felly, ydych chi'n gwybod i'r rhai yn ymddangos yn Scotland, yn cyd-dweithio 5.47 a 4.49 yn y llwyg. Felly, rwy'n gwybod i'r First Minister yw'r oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd o'r 1.20 o'r oedd o'r Scotland a England, neu oedd o'r perffentag oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd. Rwy'n gwybod i'w perffentag oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd o'r oedd, numws diemherd yntau agoes y lllywodraeth o bobl wedi bwyparafol o'r hyfr Brexit, am地 lleolaeth i departyriau a added kolosByddig nominalau sy'n gwybod, gan symbydd의p ei nebu denu experiencedd hwnnw ar fullerdd dyoeth. Felly bydd wiredd iddussioni yn cyfnodhaf menwyd Margaret Seebet gan dwiadwch i g squeezingkarol wornan hyffredd y llyfr niwr, captive authorities could not useful provide us the sections of the letter, from the Statistics Authority to make our political points again. The approach is in my not about trying to prove the more cautious approach that is taken by the First Minister did not work. How could it be as I have always been in favour of caution throughout the pandemic? On being straight with the people I am sorry it has not been ready to take up precious time in this chamber. Can I seek your advice on how backbenchers without the unique platform of the First Minister can respond or seek remedy, if singled out in any ministerial statement in future? The advance notice that he intended to raise an issue, and I would say that, however, it is not a matter for me as chair to rule on the content of members' contributions. If any member wishes to correct their own contribution or request a correction of another member's contribution, there is an official report corrections mechanism available. I would now move on to the next item of business, which is portfolio questions. The first portfolio questions is justice and veterans. I would point out to members that questions three and six are grouped together and questions five and eight are grouped together. Therefore, I will take supplementaries on those questions after the grouped questions have been answered. If a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request to speak button during the relevant question, or by entering R in the chat function. To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the reported repair backlog in Scottish Fire and Rescue Service properties. Minister Ash Regan, who is joining us remotely. Doing more to keep our community safe and to deliver positive outcomes for the people of Scotland is a priority for this Government. That is why we have increased the SFRS resource budget in recent years to invest in service modernisation and this is a programme for government commitment. We have provided additional capital in the year over the last two years and decisions on the allocation of its budget are obviously a matter for SFRS themselves. They are currently looking to modernise the service. It provides to ensure that the right assets are available at the right time and place to deal with current and future risks that are facing our communities. I thank the minister for that answer. The Fire Brigade Union says that some of Scotland's fire stations are no longer fit for purpose or meet the expectations and demands of a 21st century. The example of the modernisation of Greenock fire station in my region in 2008 says that the Scottish Government must urgently take forward further modernisation of the estate on a multi-agency basis. I can ask the minister to investigate and report on which fire stations are no longer fit for purpose and what further plans there are to modernise the fire and rescue state in the west of Scotland to address the Fire Brigade Union's concerns. I thank the member for raising an important point. I stress that, in the budget, as with the ones over the previous years, it has included an uplift for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service this year. In the draft budget, it is for £9.5 million. That is additional spending that is available to them. That demonstrates that the Scottish Government is continuing to invest in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and considers it to be extremely important. On the member's specific question, I think that we all recognise that we have a number of ageing fire stations that are within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The service themselves are well aware of the state of their assets and they currently have a plan in place in order to address that. Those decisions on how they spend their budget are obviously for the SFRS themselves. However, the health and safety of firefighters, while they are protecting the public in any emergency situation, is obviously of the highest priority. I know that the minister did not answer the member's question. I can help her with that answer. Fourteen fire stations in Scotland currently have flat roofs that have been identified by the service as in poor or worse condition and at risk of collapsing. Fourteen stations over half of them are identified as poor or worse condition in the fire services state. How have things got so bad in the Scottish Fire Service? Don't our firefighters deserve better? I did answer the question because I said that the fire service is perfectly aware of the fire stations and that maintenance needs to be taken forward on a number of them. I did answer the question. Much of the capital backlog, which this would be part of, was inherited from local authorities when the national service was formed in 2013. There is a plan that SFRS has in place in order to carry out the maintenance. The member is right to say that 14 stations have been identified as having roof panels that are defective and that they need to be replaced. SFRS has carried out remedial action to ensure that those buildings are safe to use. Decisions on the future of these stations will form part of a wider review that SFRS is carrying out on its assets. If they are seeking a supplementary price during the relevant question, it would be very helpful. I move to question number two, Gordon MacDonald. To ask the Scottish Government what lessons it has learned from the pilot schemes introduced at the three sheriff courts in Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley, to modernise summary courts. Work on the summary case management pilot courts in Paisley, Hamilton and Dundee were suspended in March 2020 because of the pandemic. In the meantime, the Scottish courts and tribunal service led multi-agency work streams that have been progressing this work and have been utilising the early progress made in the limited time frame when the pilot courts were in operation and the positive feedback from the pre-intermediate diet meeting procedure introduced in December 2020 to determine when and in what format the EPR that sees evidence and procedure review pilots might be restarted later this year. Further details will be available once the group makes its recommendations. Can the cabinet secretary provide any further information on when the scheme could be rolled out across the country and what impact that will have on the efficiency of the summary court system? I think that it is probably too early to make any determinations about the next stages given the suspension of the pilots that I mentioned in March 2020 because of the pandemic. What is important now though is that the work stream focuses on ensuring that the circumstances are right to enable the piloting of the summary criminal model to recommence later this year and also that appropriate measurement criteria is agreed and in place to enable a full evaluation to be completed at their conclusion. As I outlined in my original answer, the scheme is a Scottish courts and tribunial service-led multi-agency work stream and it will be very much for the operational partners to make any determinations about next steps. If the reform is implemented, it will have a consequence for legal aid and it is just one of the areas under question with legal aid. Will the justice secretary make a full parliamentary statement on the future of legal aid, particularly summary criminal legal aid? I am not in charge of the business of the Parliament. It will be for the Parliament to decide and there will be a discussion between the appropriate bodies within the Parliament. However, the issue of legal aid is a very alive one, as Willie Rennie knows, both in terms of criminal and in terms of civil legal aid. We are involved in discussions through the minister and myself, with the Law Society and others, and we will continue those discussions and respond to requests for any statements. I remind members of my register of interests that I am a member of the Law Society of Scotland and I ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported criticisms expressed by the legal sector concerning the proposals outlined in the legal services regulation reform consultation. Consultation was based on the recommendations of an independent review of legal services regulation, established as a result of calls for regulatory reform by the legal sector and others. Additional alternative proposals in the consultation were developed collaboratively with stakeholders representing the legal sector and the consumer review. The purpose of the consultation is to open debate and a wide range of views have been gathered. We are carefully considering the responses to the consultation and the Scottish Government supports a strong and independent legal profession that upholds the rule of law, regardless of any reform that might be taken forward. Numerous legal professionals, including Lord Carlaway, Lord President of the Court of Session, have raised concerns about the elements of what is proposed by the Scottish Government amounts to political interference with the independence of the judiciary. That is an extraordinary intervention from Scotland's most senior judge. How did the Scottish National Party Government end up in a situation where the judiciary is criticising them for potential political interference in the independent legal system? I would not agree with the member's characterisation to start with, but as I said in my previous answer, the Scottish Government consulted following calls for reform from within the legal sector itself and from the competition and markets authority. The proposals considered what changes might be required to the statutory framework for the regulation of legal services to protect consumer interests and promote a flourishing legal sector. The fact that we are asking for views on that does not necessarily follow that any particular course of action may be taken. I would also like to point out to the member and to the chamber that, in England and Wales, the legal services board acts as the overarching legal services regulator and is accountable to Parliament through the Lord Chancellor. That being said, the Scottish Government is committed to working collaboratively with the legal sector. I believe that I have shown that and to those representing the consumer interests in taking forward the reforms. We are carefully considering all the views before we take any action. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for legal services regulation reform. The Scottish Government committed, in our most recent programme for government, to launch a public consultation on legal services regulation reform to consider what changes might be required to the statutory framework to protect consumer interests and to promote a flourishing legal sector. Delivering on that commitment, the consultation was published on 1 October last year and closed quite recently on 24 December last year. The proposals that were consulted were developed collaboratively with stakeholders representing the legal sector and the consumer view. The Scottish Government is carefully considering the responses to the consultation. A consultation analysis report will be published later on this year. I wonder if the minister would take this opportunity to comment on what the judiciary of Scotland has said is a flawed consultation and the legal profession regulates itself, which it states is in fact incorrect. Moreover, the judiciary indicating its previous attempts to raise this with the Scottish Government have been ignored. They have gone to say that political regulation is simply not appropriate under any circumstances and, as I said already, is a clear threat to the separation of powers. It is quite a serious accusation that the Roberton report does not seem to understand the whole premise of the regulation in the first place. Since the judiciary raised this in 2019, I appreciate that this is the conclusions drawn by the Roberton report, which surely the Government would want to address. It is what seems on the face of it right now a poor relationship that has been brought about by this report. Will the Scottish Government consider that it is time to rerun this consultation? The public consultation saw the views on the role of the Lord President and the court of session in what would be any new regulatory framework. Without predetermining the results of the consideration of our responses, it may be that the responses indicate that there should be no or there should be very little change to that role. That is perfectly legitimate, obviously. The review made proposals that were designed to lead to improvements to things such as transparency, accountability and how legal services are regulated and how the legal complaint system operates in Scotland. As I said in my previous answer in England and Wales, the independent oversight regulator, the legal services board, is accountable to Parliament through the Lord Chancellor. My constituent has a recent direct experience of law society processes. Despite being awarded expenses in her favour by the SSDT, she subsequently had to go to the court of session to ensure that payment was made by the law society. My constituent is now trying to establish who made decisions to withhold payment and on what basis. I will write to the minister with the detail. Does the minister agree that, A, the situation talks to an issue of culture as well as process at the heart of the law society? B, in the light of the review under way, will she consider ensuring that freedom of information requests are included in any legislation? I thank the member for raising that today. I would be happy to look into that situation that the member has just raised. If she does write to me, I will look at that carefully. The recent consultation on legal services regulation did seek views on reform of the legal complaints process and on freedom of information in respect of those regulatory functions. We are carefully considering all those points as part of our wider reforms. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Sentencing Council's Sentencing Young People guideline, which is due to come into force on 26 January 2022. The guideline has been prepared by the independent Scottish Sentencing Council, which I think was agreed unanimously by the members of this chamber in terms of its establishment. That includes members comprising the judiciary, prosecutors, the police, academics and victims interests. The guideline, of course, is a matter for the council itself and for the High Court to approve. I support the council in progressing their work in this area, which complements the Scottish Government's vision for youth justice, published in June 2021, with a focus on early and effective intervention, opportunities to divert young people from prosecution and improved experiences for those who enter the criminal justice system. The new guidelines are misleading and title is referred to under 25s. People in their 20s are clearly responsible for their actions and should be punished appropriately if they commit a crime. Yet the guidelines effectively state that people as old as 24 should receive a lesser punishment for committing exactly the same crime as people aged 25 are over. Does the cabinet secretary think that it is right that 24-year-olds can receive less punishment than a 25-year-old for committing the same crime under those new guidelines? I think that what the member says, if she has an objection too, is well addressed to the Sentencing Council, who proposed those guidelines. I have said that I would support them. It is independent. It may be the case that the Conservatives that are supported now do not like one of its recommendations, so they now want to have a go at it, which they are entitled to do. However, it is not, as has been said by Conservatives elsewhere, soft justice. It is allowing to take into account other factors when the courts, which are independent of the Government, consider what they intend to do in relation to a young person before them. It has been described by Ian Smith of Keegan Smith Defence as huge progress and smart justice leading to fewer victims. This is the Sentencing Council's decision to make. It has been approved by the High Court. I will certainly support it in support efforts to make sure that it is adopted where the Government has a role in that. However, it is independent, as are the courts. I should say that this is really not about another facet of this facile attack on soft justice by the Tories. This is about proper smart justice being administered, not least with the benefit of scientific and expert evidence—not mine, but the Sentencing Council and the people that they rely on. The continued attempt to label this smart justice as soft justice really means that the Tories are content to have the darkness when they do not take into account other factors—a really substandard justice—and we will oppose that. Thank you, Presiding Officer. While Sentencing decisions from the courts must take into account the seriousness of a crime and its impact on victims, does the cabinet secretary agree with me more generally, in particular for young people, that rehabilitation is more effective in the long run in terms of reducing, re-offending and building safer communities? That makes a very important point, which is what we are all trying to achieve, is to reduce the number of victims in the presence of crime in society. If rehabilitation helps to achieve that, surely we should all support that. Sentencing, as I have said, is an individual case and is rightly a matter for the court. All that has been said in the guidelines is that the court should be able to take into account all the facts and circumstances of the case. The court will consider the Sentencing guideline on the sentencing of young people, which places rehabilitation at the heart of their consideration. However, as the Sentencing Council has made clear, the guidance also allows for other considerations, including punishment, of course. More generally, rehabilitation has to be a key factor for the operation of justice. Although there is more to do, I am pleased that the reconviction rate is 11 per cent lower for the most recent cohort of people who have committed offences for 2018-19 when compared to 2009-10. 5. Siobhan Brown, who is joining us remotely. Tell us the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to tackle the reported increase in cases of cybercrime and extortion. The Scottish Government works closely with Police Scotland and other cyber-Scotland partners, including the National Cyber Security Centre, to protect the public and organisations from cyber threats. We also work closely with Police Scotland and partners on the Serious Organised Crime Task Force to oversee what is being carried out to reduce the harm caused by Serious Organised Crime in Scotland. Sharing intelligence and experience is key to responding to cyber threats, particularly when it comes to ransomware attacks that seek to extort victims. The Scottish Government, along with Police Scotland, are active members of the UK Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership, which we encourage all eligible organisations in Scotland to join. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. In my air constituency, in recent months, there has been an increase in extortion, particularly with elderly constituents who have fallen prey to scammers and giving them personal bank details and some of them losing four-figure amounts. Those scammers are sophisticated and continually evolving to prey on the vulnerable. Can the cabinet secretary advise how many people in Scotland have been charged with cybercrime in the past five years? The member is right to draw attention to the real effects of those crimes, which I was involved in in a previous role in terms of consumer protection. In 2019-20, 485 people were preceded against for a main charge of fraud with a conviction rate of 85 per cent. During that same period, 42 people were preceded for a main charge of threats and extortion with a conviction rate of 79 per cent. Those figures include crime committed online and offline. Fraud, of course, is committed by a broad range of criminals from domestic loan actors to complex international organised crime groups. While victims may be in Scotland, the criminals' target to name could often operate out with Scotland and be challenging to identify and to prosecute. Question 8 is from David Torrance, who is joining us remotely. To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to tackle cybercrime. As I mentioned, the Government works closely with Police Scotland to tackle cybercrime in a number of ways, including the Cyber Scotland Partners on Serious Organised Crime Task Force. That seeks to identify threats to share intelligence and to oversee work carried out to reduce the threat of cybercrime in Scotland. The Cyber Crime Scotland partnership that is worth mentioning celebrates its first-year anniversary during Cyber Scotland week 2020, which takes place during the week commencing 28 February. This year's theme is learning for life online and will have dozens of events aimed at all audiences and organisations from school age to pension age. Of course, it has been a particular target of these scammers to target older people, so we encourage everyone to get involved in the week and to take advantage of the learning resources that are available. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can I ask the cabinet secretary how the 2022-23 budget assures Police Scotland to have access to appropriate resources to tackle cybercrime? I have mentioned elsewhere the uplift in the budget, both to deal with those issues but also to deal with the backlog that we continue to have because of Covid. However, it will be an operational matter for Police Scotland to deal with that through some of the methods that I have mentioned already and also for the SBA, the Scottish Police Authority. However, there will be conjoined working with other partners. I have also mentioned the UK who has the responsibility for online security in that sense. We will work with all the partners, including the UK Government, to ensure that, through the police that we bear down on this horrendous crime that affects many people in a very profound way. The state can go after those criminals stolen money using proceeds of crime laws, but millions of pounds of confiscation orders remain unpaid. The cabinet secretary just mentioned what he calls smart justice, so when is he going to get smart about fixing proceeds of crime laws on behalf of crime victims? I think that the question really is for the police and the justice authorities, which have got the responsibility in relation to that. I am satisfied that they are making real progress with what is relatively new legislation in terms of getting the money from those criminals. Sometimes, because of the very fact that they are criminals, it can be difficult to extract those funds, but the police are making, as are other justice agencies, every effort to make sure that we can get back the proceeds of the criminals who have made their money from crimes that have been perpetrated, and also to make sure that we can funnel back into anti-crime initiatives or to help victims. To ask the Scottish Government how many people whose biological sex is male are currently in women's prisons in Scotland. The Scottish Prison Service has advised that there were five transgender women located in the women's estate in Scotland as at 21 January. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, because the Scottish Prison Service would not give me that answer when I asked in September, but I am glad that the answer is there. However, I wonder whether the cabinet secretary does not think that female offenders, many of whom have suffered violence and sexual assault previously, should be entitled to a single sex prison. The practice that has been undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service, which has come with other prison services throughout the UK, is to adapt a process that seeks to make sure that the rights and the safety of everyone in prison is looked at when those issues are taken into account. They do that in a very structured way and in a very sensitive way, but the member will also know, because he mentioned the fact that he previously corresponded with the prison service, that they are undergoing a review now to look at that, both in terms of how they collect further information that will help to provide the information that John Mason sought to have before and which he has now. Of course, that information, which is very particular to the day on which it is asked, will be provided more regularly. I hope that that will help John Mason, but it is the case that the SPS does in a very sensitive way judge people's rights and the safety of all the prisoners within their care on a regular basis, not least in relation to transgender prisoners. I thank the cabinet secretary for the comments that he has just outlined, highlighting the rights and welfare of prisoners being paramount. I must say that there is a very shrill anti-trans dog whistle in John Mason's question, which is deeply troubling, especially with the rises in transphobic hate crimes that we are seeing reported. Can the cabinet secretary confirm what systems and protections are in place to deal with violence in prisons, regardless of who the perpetrator is, and also how we can reduce the number of women in prisons for nonviolent crime? Before the cabinet secretary's answer, I am sure that the member did not want to suggest that John Mason was by asking his question during any of those things. His question was on the business bulletin and obviously had been selected as that question. I thank the question from Maggie Chapman to ensure that people are protected from crimes of different types while in prison. There are a whole host of things that are undertaken by the prison service in relation to that, not least when they are first admitted to prison, which will take into account, for example, people who might be involved with or allied to serious organised crime groups, where, because of the nature of the crime that they have committed, they may be under undue threats. At that point, the assessment has made us to which establishment, to which unit within the establishment, whether it is a single cell facility that they have put in, and many other factors as well. However, that is not something that the prison service is new to doing. They do it, of course, for every prisoner, and they will continue to do that and continue to review their process to make sure that they can safeguard the care and safety of all prisoners in their custody. Thank you, cabinet secretary. We will now move on to the next portfolio questions, which is finance and the economy. Again, if any member wishes to request a supplementary question, could they please press the request to speak button or indicate? So, in the chat function by entering the letter R during the relevant question. I call question number 1, Evelyn Tweet, who is joining us remotely. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what actions they are taking to address reported labour shortages. Minister Richard Lochhead, who is joining us remotely. The Scottish Government recognises that employers across many sectors are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining workers with some directly linking labour shortages to the end of freedom of movement in Europe. Brexit, of course, has had a particular impact on the labour market due to EU nationals leaving the UK in large numbers with the resultant loss of skills, making the situation even more difficult for the sectors that have relied on EU talent. We are also aware, however, that challenges in attracting skilled workers into a number of sectors predate these events, and we will invest an additional £500 million over the course of this Parliament to support new jobs and reskill people for the good, fair and green jobs of the future. Evelyn Tweet. I thank the minister for that answer. A number of businesses within my Stirling constituency, including hospitality, social care and public transport providers, have contacted me to say that they are struggling to recruit and retain staff with Brexit and the UK Government's immigration policies being major difficulties. It is clear that the UK Government's immigration policy simply does not work for Scotland. Can the minister advise what steps the Scottish Government is taking to press the UK Government to create an immigration policy that works for us? Does he agree that if the UK Government is not willing to act that the powers over immigration should be in Scotland's hands? Evelyn Tweet highlights a massive issue impacting on the labour market both in Stirling and, indeed, replicated across the whole of Scotland. It is clear, as the member says, that the UK Government's immigration system is failing to meet the needs of our communities, our public services and our economy as well. I can tell the member that the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture wrote to the Home Secretary in September that setting out constructive proposals for changes to the immigration system, like a 24-month temporary workers' visa to address needs of all sectors, a full review of the costs of the immigration system that are disproportionate and a significant barrier for employers and individuals, and for a proper review of the role and function of the shortage occupation list, and to ask for a formal role for Scottish ministers and this Parliament in determining what roles should be on the Scottish shortage occupation list. I agree with the member that we do not have a positive response from the UK Government. Not only will that damage Scotland's economy and many of the sectors directly affected even more, but it will make the case for those powers to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament to allow us to address Scotland's distinctive needs and particularly the distinctive needs of our labour markets. I have a number of supplementaries, which I will take first from Liz Smith. Minister, notwithstanding your previous answer, there are concerns among some Scottish employers that there are people out there who would be available for work but who are not willing to actually take some of the jobs in the market. Can I ask what the Scottish Government is doing to address that particular aspect? It is certainly an issue that Liz Smith raises, which the Government wants to address as well in terms of encouraging people into the labour market. There are so many initiatives that I cannot go through them all just now, but I will say that, under the no one left behind policy of the Scottish Government working with local employment partnerships across Scotland, we are doing our best to break down the barriers that some people have to keep them at a distance in the labour market so that they can get back into work. That is meeting with some success, but there is a long way to go. Clearly, we do not have full powers of employment in those schemes, but we are doing that for those people who are at some distance in the labour market. We are doing what we can. The most recent statistics published, which I believe will take us up to November 2021, show a slight decline in activity in the labour market. That is a step forward, but we will continue to work on that and work with the no one left behind initiatives. Today, RCN Scotland published its employment survey. It found that a staggering 61 per cent of nursing staff in Scotland are thinking of leaving their posts. Some of their key reasons for thinking of leaving include feeling undervalued, feeling under too much pressure, and 67 per cent say that they are too busy to provide the level of care that they would like. Given that our NHS is already in crisis, what does the minister plan to do to retain staff and to avoid further labour shortages among our NHS? First of all, we all recognise that our nurses in Scotland have been through a very, very challenging time over the last couple of years of Covid. I know that we all want to pay tribute to them for all their dedication, professionalism and hard work. I know that the health secretary is devoting a lot of resources and time to addressing the issues raised by Jackie Baillie. Clearly, we want to ensure that we continue to attract record numbers of staff in NHS in Scotland and addressing some of the other issues that the member highlights. Brexit is indeed making skilled migration into Scotland difficult and we have increasingly acute labour shortages. Nevertheless, at a time of record vacancies, we also have a claimant count of 145,000 unemployed people in Scotland. What further steps have been taken to upskill people who are currently unemployed, to help them with their term to work and to ensure a wider dispersal of government jobs to areas of higher unemployment? I thank Kenneth Gibson for the question and, of course, the recent labour market statistics that was published in the last few days showed that employment has increased in Scotland, unemployment has decreased, youth unemployment has decreased and there has also been a slight decline in activity as well. That is progress, but clearly, as the member said, there is a long way to go. The Scottish Government is investing in the coming year £35 million in our no-one-left-behind approach, which I do believe demonstrates our commitment to providing persons-centred and place-based, which is a point that Kenneth Gibson raised, employability support to those who are at risk of long-term unemployment. We clearly have limited powers in terms of some of those schemes that were set earlier on in terms of employment law, but we are making the most of the resources that we are putting into the system and I hope that the trend of a decline in activity in the labour market does continue. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the latest Scottish wholesale food and drink resilience fund. Will the member know that the First Minister announced on 17 December that funding would be made available to food and drink wholesalers who were affected by hospitality cancellations in December? We have been working with the Scottish wholesale association to finalise the funding criteria and will ensure that information is publicised widely as soon as we can so that nobody misses the detail. I would expect that to be in the coming days. I can confirm that I am also making available additional discretionary funding in recognition of the food and drink wholesale sector's ineligibility for non-domestic rates relief and to help to compensate for the adverse impacts that were felt by businesses during the first part of 2021. That will bring the total amount of funding available to the sector to £15 million. I thank the cabinet secretary for that helpful answer. Access to this fund will provide a lifeline for many wholesale businesses that were severely impacted by the Omicron variant just as they were beginning their recovery and looking forward to the festive season. One such business, in my constituency, is experiencing the added uncertainty of eligibility arising from having been unable to apply for previous business support. Can the cabinet secretary provide an assurance that funding will be forthcoming as a matter of urgency and that all eligible applications will be considered, regardless of having received funding during the previous round? I can confirm that. I commend the member's representation of the business in her constituency both in speaking to me, in writing to me and now having raised the question. I can confirm that the fund will be open to all food and drink wholesale businesses throughout Scotland who meet the eligibility criteria. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional Covid-19 support funding for bed and breakfast and guest house operators. The emerging Omicron variant of the virus and the reality that there are finite funds available for financial support for businesses has meant that we have had to make difficult choices. We have prioritised support for those businesses that are most severely impacted by cancellations due to public health advice and the introduction of restrictions. There are no immediate plans to widen support to B&B and guest house operators, but I understand and regret that this sector has also been affected. We recognise that this is a challenging time for many businesses across Scotland and will continue to make the case to the UK Government for additional comprehensive financial support. The trouble for the minister's answer is that bed and breakfast and guest house operators in England have received support. Similar businesses in Scotland have been hit hard by restrictions, but, as the minister has referred to, have been excluded completely from support. Does the minister understand that those businesses may not survive? Will he reconsider support for the backbone of the tourism and hospitality sector in Scotland? It will be aware that different choices are made in different parts of the UK in terms of when and what support to give to different sectors. We are talking about B&B hardship fund, for example, which took place in Scotland and was not available south of the border for small accommodation providers paying council tax fund, which again took place and supported eligible B&B and guest houses in Scotland that was not available south of the border. To compare like for like—he is not comparing like for like because I say that different decisions have been made at different times in respect of how funds should be used most appropriately in each of the four nations, and as I said, there have been several examples where bed and breakfast have received funding in Scotland that was not available in other parts of the UK. Minister, I do not accept your answer and I agree with Willie Rennie with the festive period losses and a burdensome and costly S&P licensing scheme that has just been implemented. The rural economy is facing a perfect storm. Please tell us why self-caterers are not deserving of Covid mitigation funds for the regulations that were put in place in Scotland at the time. Do you agree with Councillor Gordon Adam of Highland Council, who is concerned that your S&P Government short-term licensing regulation will affect the income of thousands of businesses across the rural Scotland and how will you mitigate the loss to their businesses? Minister, I think that that has taken the subject slightly wider, but please respond as you see. Happy to answer that. I know Rachel Hamlin has a particular interest in these matters and I think that this is the number that I'm at least to when she's raised this year's short-term lecture. She'll be aware that that legislation is in place. I support it, I think that it makes perfect sense that accommodation providers should be required to comply to standards and should be licensed to ensure that that is indeed the case. I think that many of the comments that have been made by her in regards to the impact of that on the sector are inaccurate and misguided and I believe that it's absolutely the right thing to do to ensure that guests who are taking a bill themselves of those services can be assured that there is a high standard of safety and the licensing regime ensures that. I seek your guidance on the assertions that my comments were misguided and inaccurate. I would like to quote something that I didn't say within this. The BNB Alliance Chairman, Sinclair Williamson, has said that if businesses like ours fail, then it has a knock-on effect. Ms Hamilton, can I advise you that that is not a point of order? I am not responsible, the chair is not responsible for the content of members' statements in the chamber and as I had already said at the beginning of the session this afternoon there are ways in which a member can seek to correct or request a correction to other members' contributions that they feel need to be corrected through the official report corrections mechanism, which the member will be aware is available. To return to portfolio questions, I would advise that question number four has been withdrawn and I call question number five Richard Leonard. To ask the Scottish Government what it considers its financial exposure to be in relation to its arrangements with Gupta family group alliance and its related companies. The Lacharbor guarantee between the Scottish Government and companies belonging to the GFG Alliance, which the cross-party finance committee approved in 2016, has helped to secure the future of aluminium and renewable energy production in Lacharbor. Combined, smelter, hydroelectric power and station understates businesses are now operating profitably and have created 40 new jobs since 2016, increasing direct employment in the complex to 200 jobs while supporting a valuable supply chain with hundreds of associated jobs. Something that I am sure the member welcomes very much. The Scottish Government's contingent liability is protected by a series of cross guarantees and by a comprehensive security package covering the noted Lacharbor businesses. The net present value of the remaining guaranteed revenue stream is £284.2 million, while in contrast, the companies of value of the business assets at Fort William at £438 million in their 2019 accounts. Richard Leonard. Can I thank the minister for that answer? In his statement to Parliament on 15 December, he described that as an evolving situation. The Auditor General last month reported that the financial exposure of public money of our money to GFG and its constituent parts on one deal alone, the power purchase agreement at Lacharbor, had risen from £37 million to £161 million. Now that the Gupta supply chain banker Greensill capital has gone bust, now that GFG itself is under serious fraud office investigation for fraudulent trading and money laundering, with auditors resigning, finance directors leaving, accounting deadlines changing with a corporate structure that is described as opaque, it is clearly in the public interest and the interests of the GFG workforce that the Scottish Government published details of all the deals that it has done with GFG and all of its subsidiary companies. Will the minister agree to do that today? I am well aware that Richard Leonard wants to make as much of this as possible, but the reality is much more straightforward. The deal at Lacharbor, as I said, was approved by the cross-party finance committee back in 2016. It is a deal that ensures that there is more than adequate cover from the value of the assets from any exposure to the Scottish Government, and that is precisely because in case where there was a situation where GFG Alliance was unable to continue to operate that plant, the protection of the public costs was ensured and the options were available to be able to continue that business. That is exactly why we have those guarantees in place. The note in the consolidated accounts for 2021 was merely a technical assessment taking into account some risk factors, a technical assessment of a range of credit risk scenarios, which is a requirement of accounting standards, but it does not take away from the fact that, based on Treasury Green Book analysis and analysis undertaken by independent auditors, the value of the assets far exceeds, as I have already said, the value of any liability to the Scottish Government. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its proposals on green ports as part of the wider investment to support a green recovery. We are determined to ensure that the roll-out of the UK Government's report programme in Scotland should deliver businesses, communities and workers and make a strong contribution to a green and fair recovery. That is why we developed the green port model with a strong focus on a just transition to net zero and fair work, including payment of the real living wage. I can inform the member and the chamber that we have been in active discussions for the past few weeks with the UK Government on a joint approach that will deliver a full package of reserved and evolving incentives to Scottish ports that apply to green ports. Those discussions have been poised so far and we hope to set out the way forward very soon. I note the minister's comment on positive discussions and I wonder if he could expand a bit further on that. As I said, the discussions have been very constructive so far. I am hopeful that agreement is farmed with more details than in the very near future. England has two free ports up and running and named eight. Teaside alone is expected to create 18,000 jobs in the next five years. Yesterday, it was announced that a Welsh free port deal could be imminent. When will the Scottish Government put the grievance, division and grandstanding aside and start working to deliver the free ports that would help the green recovery and secure jobs for the people of Scotland? I am afraid that the member is completely misguided and accurate in what he is saying. The Scottish Government only heard about the details of the English free port offer when the bid prospectus was released. The UK Government had not brought us into the discussions on that earlier. We were very clear that we will not do something that takes part in a race to the bottom, where environmental standards, worker standards, payment of wages and so on is reduced in that race to the bottom. We are very clear about the fair working agenda and its centrality to Scottish economic recovery. We are very clear, as I am sure that he should be, with regard to the transition to net zero and the importance of that, in having those requirements absolutely central to any green port operation in Scotland. We negotiated through the course of last year in good faith with the UK Government, but they made it very clear that they were not willing to engage in a process whereby payment of the real living wage was a part of the requirements and where net zero requirements were part of the offer. They have since returned to the table. I am glad to say on the basis of our requirements for taking green ports forward. As a consequence of moving forward with those discussions, I recognise the economic benefits of it, but I also recognise that treatment work is fairly looking at the environment and moving towards a net zero and absolutely central to our agenda and those are red lines for us. I will take a supplementary from Paul Sweeney, who is joining us remotely. If we could have a succinct supplementary and minister as a succinct answer. Thank you, Paul Sweeney. Thank you, DP. To ask the minister, in light of the green ports project, what key industrial care abilities will be developed in Scotland to ensure that we build up a winter by manufacturing base in Scotland? The member makes a hugely important point. He will know that it is something that is spent on my life in manufacturing these issues. It is absolutely very important to me and I am very passionate about it. As he is, as he will know, the Scotland process requires very strong supplier development commitments for the Scottish supply chain as part of the bids. The work that has been taken forward has been taken forward and a neg to provide manufacturing capability for offshore winters is hugely welcome. The work that is on-going through our supply chain development programme identifies Scottish businesses in the supply chain that are capable of supplying components for offshore wind manufacturing facilities is hugely essential to what we are doing. We are very focused on that. We are looking for businesses where we can work with them and help them to get investment and skills in the capability and capacity to be a part of those supply chains. We will continue that work. I would be delighted to sit down and discuss this in more detail with them so that we will both see a very strong interest in it. Question 7, Fulton MacGregor. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has made available for those business sectors that were impacted by Covid-19 restrictions required to control the Omicron wave of infections. The Scottish Government has made available funding of £375 million to support businesses effect by the necessary public health restrictions to control Omicron. That funding has been targeted at sectors that are most affected by those measures, including hospitality, leisure, culture, sport, tourism and industries that support them, and payments to businesses are now under way. Fulton MacGregor. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response and I want to welcome the financial support that has been given. She knows that I have contacted her previously in the pandemic about nightclubs that I have got a couple in my constituency and about financial arrangements for them. How much money from that fund will be going to individual nightclubs as part of the on-going support? I commend the member for his consistent advocacy on behalf of nightclubs throughout the pandemic. The £5 million nightclub closure fund provides a one-off payment to support eligible nightclubs that are required to close. That is categorised in three ways. £25,000 for premises with a rateable value of up to and including £40,000 and £35,000 for premises with a rateable value of up to £75,000 and £55,000 for premises with a rateable value of £75,000 and one or above. Nightclubs that have previously received support were contacted by the Scottish Government and are asked to complete an application. Those applications are being processed and payments will be made as soon as possible. Nightclubs that have not previously received support have also been contacted and asked to complete an application in any nightclub business that has not been contacted to detect if they are eligible on the Find Business Support page and then contact the Scottish Government using the details that are provided. Cabinet Secretary, it is on that point that many businesses in Glasgow have had no income or half their income over that period of restrictions. Will they welcome the funding? Have they not seen it in their bank accounts? It is really getting serious because they are getting ready to open. I wonder whether the Cabinet Secretary could look at whether or not anything can be done. I think that the fear is to be straight about it, is that the fear that councils are dragging their feet. I hope that the Cabinet Secretary would agree that those businesses should see this money in their bank accounts as soon as possible. I agree with the member that the important part is that that payment is made into business bank accounts as quickly as possible. Yesterday, I wrote to all chief executives of organisations that are distributing the funding, local authorities, enterprise agencies, Visit Scotland and others, to encourage them to accelerate payments and to monitor them on a daily basis. A lot of the payments are being made and a lot of payments are being made without an application as well, so that it gets into accounts quickly. However, I understand that we need to do everything possible to ensure that businesses see that payment. For local authorities, it is allocated in its draft budget to help to tackle homelessness. In the 2022-23 draft budget, we have maintained £23.5 million allocated to local authorities for homelessness prevention and response measures. In addition, we have provided a further £10 million from the Ending Homelessness Together fund. That includes £8 million for local authorities to support rapid rehousing transition plans, which help to move people as quickly as possible into settled accommodation. There will also be further support for local authorities within the remaining £2 million of the fund, for example, to support housing option hubs. The detail of how the spend will be allocated is still to be finalised. I thank the minister for that answer, but due to administrative decisions taken some years ago, Edinburgh City Council is losing out on vital resources to help address homelessness here in the capital. Last year, for example, Glasgow City Council was able to recover £8.8 million through the health mobilisation plan arrangements, which is administered through its IJB. I ask the minister whether or not the Scottish Government ministers will agree to review the spending allocation to tackle homelessness so that capital does not miss out on the equivalent of £9.3 million of funding due to this administrative issue. I am aware that SNP and Labour leaders of the city have written to him on this issue. I thank the member for his question. If I have been corresponded and addressed to me, I have yet to see if it is so far. However, what I will undertake to do is to write to the member to provide a full response to what is quite a detailed question, and if he is content with that, I will be, as I say, happy to write to him in due course.