 We turn now to topical questions. I start with question number one from Jamie Greene. To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure the safety of all front-line police officers. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. I'm sure that everyone in this chamber is sorry, as I was, to hear that police officers, PC, Lora, Sails and PC Kenny MacKenzie were seriously injured in an incident in Greenock on Friday. I'm pleased to hear that they are now recovering at home. This incident is a stark reminder of the risks that our police officers face and of their bravery and dedication in serving our communities. Both I and the First Minister have written to PC sales and PC Mackenzie to express this Government's personal thanks to them for their service and dedication to their community. The people of Scotland are very fortunate to be served by them and officers like them who, day in and day out, put the needs of others first. The equipment provided to police officers is an operational matter for the interim chief constable, who takes into account the latest risk and threat assessment. In line with current approved standard operating guidance, all front-line officers are equipped with handcuffs, power spray, a baton and body armour. Following consultation, Police Scotland announced that it will enhance its capability to respond to incidents involving violence and bladed weapons, by training a further 520 police officers to use taser. The specially trained officers will be based at divisional level and have access to taser located at 27 police stations across Scotland. While it is not possible to eliminate all the risks in front-line policing, I will continue to support the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to ensure that appropriate measures are being taken to keep our police officers safe. I thank the cabinet secretary for his comments and also add our own thoughts to those as we pay tribute to PC's, Laura Sears and Kenny MacKenzie who were caught up in the events in Greenock last week. We do wish them a speedy recovery from their injuries and our thoughts with them and their families at this time. It is also worth pointing out the job that all our police men and women do on a daily basis, putting the safety of the public often before the safety of themselves. That is something that everyone in this chamber I am sure can get behind. Given the events of last week, can the cabinet secretary outline, if he would consider looking at the provision of protective kit and equipment that is available to all police officers to ensure that it is 100 per cent truly fit for purpose, and will he commit to ensuring that every measure at his disposal is available to him will be taken to ensure the on-going safety of front-line officers, in particular those responding to call-outs or those dealing with incidents where there is a significant risk of harm to the officers? I, like all members in this chamber, take the safety of police officers very seriously, and it is in all of our interest to make sure that they have the appropriate equipment that they require. That is why the interim chief constable, who has operational responsibility for this, keeps the provision of protective measures for police officers under constant review and is reflected in the recent decision that was made to extend the provision of TASR, especially trained TASR officers to be deployed at a local policing divisional level in order to be deployed to incidents where they consider that to be appropriate and to provide and enhance additional safety to officers in those areas. That is something that I wholly support and it is something that I believe that the majority of members in this chamber support as well. Alongside that, the member may be aware that, in the last two years or so, Police Scotland has also increased its firearms capability in order to ensure that we have a greater level of firearms capability deployed at any given time across the country, something that I support because firearms officers can also be deployed to support other incidents where officers are at greater risk. I believe that that provides a greater level of safety overall by having both the STO officers and the additional firearms capability alongside that. Of course, it is an operational decision on how to deploy officers at a local level and, in particular, in responding to call-outs. No doubt, Police Scotland will want to look at that particular incident and to identify whether there are other measures that could be taken in the future. However, as I mentioned in my own response, there are risks associated with response policing and it will never be possible to eliminate all those. However, it is important that we always look at whether there are further measures that could be taken in order to enhance police officers' safety. Once again, I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. There are many comments there to welcome and to share. However, it is also worth pointing out that there is a trend here to look at not just in how we combat those types of incidents but a wider strategy around that type of crime. We have seen rises in specific types of violent crime, including serious assaults, violent robbery and an increase of crimes, including where there is handling a bladed weapon involved. There is also a very specific rise in the use of weapons and violent crimes in West Central Scotland. That includes the air of underclad, which the incident last week took place in. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what analysis his department has done around the causes of the rise in that particular type of crime and what his Government's strategy is to address those types of crimes so that we see those numbers start to come down again rather than on the increases that they are at the moment? The member will be aware that violent crime in Scotland overall has dropped significantly, and that is something that we should all welcome. It has come about through very concerted efforts on the part of our police and other public sector bodies working in partnership with third sector organisations to do much more to target the underlying causes that drive that type of offending behaviour. Violent crime overall is down in Scotland and is down by significant levels. The recent increase in the number of weapons that the member made reference to was because of a change in recording practices. As was stated by Police Scotland at the time when the management information data was published, it was because of what happened previously, the instance where an incident was recorded, but if an incident occurred but a weapon was not used but was found at location, it was not necessarily being recorded. We have not saw a marked increase in the way that the member may be considering the case, but there has been a change in recording practices. However, where there is an increase in any crimes relating to use of weapons or violence, there is a very clear approach for Police Scotland to take in terms of local policing and how it manages that. The partners that they work with collectively, there is also the violence reduction unit that we have within Police Scotland that is a very extensive programme in helping to support local communities in targeting areas where violent crime is occurring through the mentors and violence prevention programme, the no nice and better life programme. Last week, I just extended the navigator programme into the Queen Elizabeth hospital and into Crosshouse hospital. Again, a programme that is about to help to introduce the risk of violence in our communities. There is still much more that we need to do, although we have made good progress. Where there are areas, where there has been a particular increase, for whatever reason that may be, it is important that, at local policing level, proactive action has been taken by the police, but the other agencies that can support them, such as the violence reduction unit and the other third sector organisations that we support, are there to help to support them in a system in addressing some of the underlying causes that may drive that type of behaviour. Thank you. There are three members who wish to ask supplementaries. I urge all members to ask just a single supplementary rather than multiple questions and plead to the minister to keep his answers as concise as possible. Stuart McMillan Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to put on record my sincere gratitude to PC Mackenzie and PC Sayre. I also wrote to them to offer them my wishes for them with their speedy recovery. I also want to thank Chief Inspector Liz Harvie for her regular updates over the weekend with this terrible incident that happened in my constituency. I would like to ask the cabinet secretary if he can guarantee that the level of support from Police Scotland to both the police officers and their families will be absolute and that no story will be left unturned to ensure that the officers have the best possible recovery for their health and, hopefully, they may be able to return to the line of duty at some point in the future. Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, I am aware that both ACC Higgins and Chief Superintendent for local policing within the Inverclyde area, Chief Superintendent Gordon Croson, visited the officers on Friday in hospital and have been in contact with them on a regular basis and their family. Police Scotland is very clear about the support that is available therefore. In particular, the support that is provided through Trim, the trauma risk management process, which can provide support and assistance to those who have experienced trauma traumatic events. It is a process that line managers highlight to the staff and which they can self-refer into. There is also psychological debriefing in our therapies, which are available to the service, but, as the service has made very clear following the incident, it will provide all the necessary support that is required by both officers and the additional support that may be required by their families to address any issues that come from this particular incident. Neil Bibby I also pay tribute to PCSare and Mackenzie. The cabinet secretary should be aware that K division covering Renfrewshire and Inverclyde has seen a significant number of serious and violent assaults. I know that the local police division have and will continue to carry out a number of operations to tackle the culture of knife carrying that has not been seen in other divisions. Can I therefore ask the cabinet secretary what he will do to ensure that the police in K division have the resources that they need to tackle violent crime in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde and to keep themselves and the public safe? The deployment of officers into different divisions is a matter for the chief constable. It is an operational policing issue. We make sure that there is a range of support services there that can assist the police in dealing with issues relating to violent crime in the way that I just mentioned to Jamie Greene through a range of support mechanisms through the violence reduction unit, the known ice better lives programme, the mentors in violence prevention programme, which operates in schools, the work that we do with the menace against violence, and again educating young people about the risks associated with knife crime as well. Although there have been recent challenges in K division, I would expect from an operational policing point of view to be taken into account on whether it needs to deploy any additional resources, but also the support services that we fund at a national level are there to assist local police divisions as and when that is appropriate. I am sorry, but I am going much time this afternoon, sorry, but I am squeezed. Question 2, Bob Doris. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what proposals it is considering to tackle child obesity. Thank you. Our guiding ambition is to have child obesity in Scotland by 2030. I will publish a new diet and healthy weight delivery plan this summer. This will include a range of measures to encourage children to develop healthy food habits that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, including legislation to reduce junk food marketing. As Deputy First Minister yesterday launched a consultation on proposed amendments to the school food regulations. While we already have very high and internationally admired nutritional standards for our school meals, we want to go further. The proposals that we are putting forward are based on the latest scientific and expert advice as well as the views of local authorities, schools and catering staff. Going forward, school food and drink policies and lunch menus should be developed in collaboration with pupils and parents to ensure that everyone is clear about the role that they can play in supporting them. Bob Doris. Thank you for that answer. By and from students, staff and parents will be essential. Can the minister outline how people will be encouraged to feed into the consultation on healthier school food and how the Scottish Government will seek to ensure that any steps taken will be proportionate to deliver beneficial outcomes? Absolutely. Everybody has a role to play. Everybody has a role to play in ensuring that children and young people can feel empowered to make positive health choices. That is one of the reasons why the consultation is so important. It does not just seek the views and opinions of one group of people, but it is absolutely about reaching out to parents, caterers and staff to local authorities, pupils and young people themselves. Everybody has a buy and an option to contribute to the consultation, which closes at the end of August to make sure that we can strengthen the already very robust and internationally lauded regulations that we have in school to make them go further and to make them even better. It is absolutely part of the implementation of that. I will also include the input from many of the groups that Mr Doris describes. Bob Doris. Thanks minister. Sometimes what happens outside the school grounds is just as significant as inside the school canteen. How would the Scottish Government seek to address the wider issue, something that I certainly see in my constituency, of many students having easy access to fast food outlets and close proximity to their schools, outlets that often offer the most unhealthiest food of all? Minister. Again, that food environment that encourages poor health choices is something that we want to look at. We are absolutely committed to making it as easy as possible for everyone to make healthier choices. One of the levers that is available to us is the planning system. We have commissioned research on how that can be best used alongside other measures to create a healthier food environment, in particular around schools that Bob Doris talked about. The final report will be published soon, and we will be considering its implications when we review the national planning framework and the Scottish planning policy. It was certainly one of the things that we went out to consultation on around our diet and healthy weight strategy, which we will be publishing this summer. Miles Briggs. The Scottish Conservatives undertook a freedom of information request last year, asking the health boards over the past three years how many referrals had there been to weight management referral classes. The eight boards that responded to us said that there was over 5,000. Can I ask the minister what work has been undertaken to realise the additional capacity in those referrals to weight management courses for children when some of those children were reported between the ages of two and four? In that, it reiterates and underlines the importance that we need to have a whole system approach to tackling the challenge of diet and obesity. That is why it is important that the Deputy First Minister has set out a consultation on what we can do within the school environment. Of course, there are opportunities with the expansion of early learning and childcare to make sure that, for those early years and the early moments of a child's life, that they are supported as well. With the forthcoming diet and obesity strategy, which also looks at the increasing capacity around weight management solutions to people's weight loss, we can make sure that that is all joined up. That is not going to be one single solution to tackle the challenge of obesity. It has to make sure that all assistance is joined up so that we can make the impact that everybody in the Parliament agrees that we need to make in Scotland. On top of diet, we know that access to and participation in sport and physical activity plays a vital role in tackling obesity, and we must do everything that we can to support physical activity uptake, particularly in young people. Yet, in the past few weeks, we have seen SNP councillors impose charges on access to swimming in Glasgow and Dundundee, impacting most on those who are least able to afford to pay. The active healthy lives budget this year has had a real terms cut imposed by this Government, and, because of cuts imposed on local authority budgets by the SNP, revenue spending on sport facilities and on parts and community spaces has been reducing every year since 2014. Given that, perhaps the minister would like to take this opportunity of explaining to the chamber how budget cuts and the introduction of charges for children for swimming by SNP councillors will help to reduce obesity levels. I think that what Mary Fee has chosen to do is ignore all the fantastic great work that has gone on right across the country, delivered by a range of partners, delivered in schools. The fact is that this Government inherited PE that has been delivered, which we have managed to ensure two hours of PE that has been delivered by 98 per cent of schools. That is a huge difference from what we inherited from her colleagues when they left government. It fails to acknowledge the active schools legacy, which is absolutely ensuring that every child, regardless of income or background, gets the opportunity to participate in sports. It also fails to recognise the fact that we have ambitions to make Scotland the first daily mile nation. I am not sure if the daily mile is something that Mary Fee knows about or does, but certainly the daily mile, with evidence behind it, is showing that it has an impact on children's lives and life opportunities, and again it is ensuring that physical activity is embedded in children's lives. Although Mary Fee wants to paint a doom and gloom picture, there are huge reasons to feel optimistic, because children and young people across Scotland, through the actions of this Government, are getting access to opportunity to participate in sport and activity, and they are also getting encouraged to do that. I would certainly point to the briefing that we had around the celebration of Team Scotland's success in the Gold Coast from Sport Scotland, which shows that that work is paying real dividends across many parts of the country.