 I remind members of the Covid-related measures that are in place and that face coverings should be worn when moving around the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. The first item of business is general questions. In order to get as many people in as possible, I would prefer short and succinct questions and answers to match. Question 1 has been withdrawn. Question 2, I call Graeme Simpson. To ask the Scottish Government what the latest estimate is of the public cost of procuring the ferries, MV, Glen Sannock and Hull 802. Cabinet Secretary, Kate Forbes. The turnaround director of Ferdinand Marine updated the net zero energy and transport committee on the delivery timetable and budget for vessels 801 and 802 on 30 September 2021. The cost to complete the vessels remains the same as was reported in the turnaround director's December 2019 report to Parliament between £110.3 million and £114.3 million. Graeme Simpson. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The turnaround director, Tim Hare, said in that same letter that Ferguson uses seven different data systems that don't talk to each other. In other words, no one knows what anyone else is doing. Is there any wonder that those vessels are so late and so over budget? SeaMals just ordered a small, slow, second-hand ferry from Norway, the diesel-powered MV Uppner, at an overall cost of £9 million. It was for sale at under £6 million. Can the cabinet secretary explain what that gap is for? Is it just for livery? Why are we going for gas-guzzling cast-offs and not going for the same kind of eco-friendly ferries that the Norwegians are buying? I confess to having constituency interests as much as having Government interests in the vessel that has just been procured because it frees up the MV Karoussk to go back to the service for which it was designed between Malig and Armadale, which has been met with great celebration in the communities of Slate and Malig. It is important that the Government looks at all options for ensuring that our lifeline vessels are secure and resilient. I am sure that the member would join me in that. That is where, when it comes to the future of the fleet, there is £580 million committed over the next few years to ensure that we do invest in ferry infrastructure right across the west coast. As the cabinet secretary knows, vessel A02 is intended to serve both Lachmadi and Tarburt. However, there have been calls from the communities in the north-east and Haras for each area to have a dedicated vessel. What consideration is the Scottish Government giving to this question that has been raised now for some years? How actively he represents his constituency on these matters. Consideration of vessel replacement and deployment options is an on-going process. I know that my colleague Graham Day was pleased to meet members of the north-east and Haras communities during his recent visit to the Outer Hebrides. I understand that the future option of an additional vessel on these routes, at least during peak summer, has been identified for further assessment as part of the work on the island's connectivity plan and its investment programme. I hope that that work will continue at pace. I am sure that the member will have the opportunity to represent his constituents on those issues. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the only way for the future of shipbuilding in Port Glasgow and Graham Cymru Clyde to continue was for the yard to be taken into polyglonorship? The Tory's record of hammering shipbuilding communities is there for all to see that nobody should listen to the Tories when it comes to saving shipbuilding jobs. The member is right in reminding the chamber that it was the effort to this Government that saved Ferguson Marine from closure, saved more than 300 jobs supporting the communities of Inverclyde in the face of a decade of conservative cuts and ultimately ensured that too much needed vessels will be completed and that the yard has a future. We are investing in the future. We are supporting the yard to be more efficient, to be more competitive and ultimately able to win contracts on the merits of their success. We will always back the shipbuilding industry in Scotland delivering for Inverclyde but also for our island communities that rely on those lifeline services. Question 3, Karen Adam. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the problem of gulls in urban areas in north-east and Moray. The Scottish Government supports gull management in Moray in north-east Scotland through Nature Scott and others whose role it is to provide advice regarding gull management and as the licensing authority to licence gull management where necessary. Moray council, I understand, has extended its voluntary nest and egg removal pilot and similar schemes are available to local authorities across Scotland. I recently held a meeting to discuss the issues that had arisen due to the prevalence of urban gulls in Bampshire and Buckingham coast. During the meeting, it was drawn to my attention that the most recent relevant Scottish Government research on the biodiversity of urban gulls is from 2006. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update to research on urban gulls and their management in Scotland. I was aware of the public meeting that the member undertook. I understand that Nature Scott was represented and spoke to some of your constituents. I heard that it went very well. A current UK seabird census, which was organised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, includes aims to estimate the populations of species that breed in urban environments. The findings of that research will help me and officials to inform future policy in dealing with urban gull populations. 4. Michelle Thomson To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish the James Hutton Institute report on the impact on human health and the environment arising from the spreading of sewage sludge on land. I am pleased to inform the member that I intend to publish the report this month. Michelle Thomson My constituents in Falkirk East are anxious to see the publication of the report. The spreading of sewage sludge has been raised as a concern to my predecessor, Angus MacDonald, now to me. The smell and inconvenience generates multiple complaints, but it is a potential risk to human health that is most concerning. The Cabinet Minister confirm if the Scottish Government considers the risk to human and animal health of sewage sludge when it uses the soil conditioner and advises what recent assessment it has undertaken on the viral, heavy metal and bacterial loads in sewage sludge. I am absolutely aware of the concerns of the member's constituents and of the member and the Government's take matters of human health and environmental quality very seriously. Indeed, a full review of the legislation and guidance relevant to the storage and spreading of sludge was undertaken in 2016. That more recent piece of work, which I referred to and which is going to be published this month, will help us carefully to consider the situation as of 2021. The spreading of sewage sludge on land is a long-established practice and is an effective way of recovering value and avoiding waste. The practice is very tightly regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, although separately issues of order, which I know some of the concerns of the member's constituents, are the responsibility of local authority. I can just assure the member that SIPA will never hesitate to take enforcement against anyone who is not complying with the current regulations for storage and spreading. 5. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Swedish national system of collective rent bargaining through a national union of tenants would help to address any housing issues in Scotland. Minister Patrick Harvie, we are considering a wide range of information and evidence on rent controls and other issues that will be part of our new deal for tenants. That will include examining international comparisons between Sweden and other countries. That will help to inform our thinking as we progress policy development in this important area of work. I thank the minister for that response and please to note the work that is on-going. It is clear that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that we have the right data from the right people and places so that we adopt appropriate mechanisms to set and review rent levels. I am keen to ensure that tenants will play a central role in these discussions. Their voices and concerns must be at the heart of their new deal. We need to hear from those with lived experience. Can I ask the minister how will tenants' voices be involved in shaping this strategy? Will he join me in Dundee to speak to members of living rent and hear about their experiences of a tenants union? Absolutely. I think that the basic process of this question is really important. Tenants' voices need not only to be heard but also to be effective. We have begun work on gathering tenants' views through partnership working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I know that, around the country, there are other examples. Glasgow City Council, for example, is working to ensure that tenants' voices are heard in its deliberations. I recently met Living Rent, one of the first stakeholder groups that I met when I took on this role. Living Rent has done extraordinary work on making sure that tenants' voices are both heard and effective. I would be very happy to meet local groups in Dundee and elsewhere. I encourage the member to contact my office to arrange that. The pandemic has caused a sharp rise in rent arrears, which now stands at over £3 million in Dundee and nearly £8 million in Aberdeen. Support for landlords was prioritised, which received around 14 times more in financial support than tenants. When will the Scottish Government start to support tenants facing rent arrears, given that no money has yet been paid out from its £10 million tenant hardship grant fund? I am grateful to the member. I think that she is probably aware that this was debated long and hard across a range of different political parties during the last session as we developed the emergency legislation. A wide range of views were expressed about the prioritisation of support. We now only recently have the tenant hardship loan fund replaced with a grant fund. I hope that the member is willing to let the system be operational before she judges whether it is a success or not. It is only just commending to replace the loan fund. Many voices, mine and others, including from the Labour Party, quite rightly criticise the idea that loans alone will meet the needs of tenants. That is why a grant fund has been agreed by the Scottish Government and put in place. Can I ask the minister what he thinks the Scottish Government can learn from our neighbours across Europe in its approach to fair and socially just housing? There is a great deal to learn from neighbours in other European countries. A crucial part of our work on developing policies in this area, rent controls and the wider new deal for tenants, will be to listen to and learn from the experience from countries such as the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Germany, and to carefully listen to and consider their experience. That could include looking at the role of tenants unions and an important way of shifting power in the relationship between landlord and tenants. Tenants unions could play a much bigger role in that in Scotland. We are also working with academia to consider alternative approaches to rent control that could be considered in the Scottish context. I thank the member for her interest. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent comments from cancer research UK regarding cancer survival rates in Scotland. Despite the recent pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, cancer remains a priority. Our NHS staff have worked incredibly hard over the last year to ensure that the majority of cancer treatment and care have continued. We have treated more patients within the 62 days standard this quarter compared to the same time in both 2019 and 2020. Over the next five years, we will invest £40 million to support cancer services focusing on the most challenged cancer pathways. We are investing £20 million to support our detect cancer early programme to improve public awareness of the signs of cancer. Additionally, the £114.5 million cancer plan will roll out innovative treatments to improve services and ensure that access to care is equitable across Scotland. The charity says, and I quote, that far too many people are waiting far too long for treatment, and again quoting chronic shortages in staff and equipment predate Covid. They also say that cancer survival rates could start going back for the first time. Another charity, breast cancer now says that over 1,000 Scottish women are living with undiagnosed breast cancer. Cancer research wants a firm commitment to tackle staff shortages in investment and equipment. Minister, will you today meet those commitments to ensure that no one waits too long for the vital treatment that they need? Early diagnosis is absolutely vital. We have invested in the NHS work for staffing levels in Scotland's NHS. I have reached a new record high after an increase of 5,000 whole-time equivalent staff in the last year. Since 2006, there has been an 87.7 per cent increase in consultant oncologists and a 57.4 per cent increase in consultant radiologists. Our NHS recovery plan commits more than £1 billion of targeted investment for the recovery and renewal of our health service. As well as investing in the workforce, we are investing in new technologies and we are making sure that those technologies are available around the country. We have invested £5.6 million this year to support additional mobile MRI scanners, 3CT scanners, which are operational throughout Scotland, and we have invested in mobile units located in NHS Highland and NHS Tayside to increase capacity. We are working really hard on the issue and I expect that we will meet demand as the charity is requesting. The minister will be aware that uptake of cervical screening tests in Scotland's most deprived areas is 63 per cent compared to 74 per cent in the least deprived. That is totally unacceptable health inequality that leaves women from deprived areas at greater risk of developing serious health conditions. I would like to ask the minister today what the Scottish Government is doing to encourage more women from deprived areas to attend their appointments. Will the minister outline today a timescale for when the Scottish Government expects to have closed that alarming gap? I thank the member for that question. The member draws attention to an issue that impacts on screening more generally, not just in cervical cancer screening, in that there is an inequality in terms of uptake of those screening offers, which are so vital. Cervical cancer is largely preventable and it is so vital to encourage people to come along and get their cervical screening in order to prevent cancer before it has even happened. We have a programme in place to improve access to screening, where there is a whole variety of work, some specific work on cervical screening is to help people who cannot leave their house, for example, to access screening to look at the barriers that are in place for each individual who is not accepting the offer on screening and to ensure that we take away those barriers and that they can access it. I can update you in writing after this session on all the range of work that we are doing, but it is something that we are really focused on improving because we recognise the impact that that can have on citizens in Scotland. Question 7, Christine Grahame. To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is giving to maintain bus services in Midlothian South Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency. The Scottish Government has supported bus operators to maintain services through the Covid support grant and the Covid support grant restart, while use by customers has been depressed due to the impacts of the pandemic. Up to £210 million in emergency funding has been made available since June 2020 to support services across Scotland, including the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency. Christine Grahame, thank you, not an easy constituency to name. I am aware that, despite that additional support from the Scottish Government to bus companies, Covid has had a substantial and continuing impact on services with some being cut. However, as we enter Covid recovery, if the Scottish Government will prioritise when its funding providers are being conditional on the turn of some direct services, such as the Board of General Hospital, the Royal Edinburgh and Ashleigh Ainsley serving my constituents both as patients and as employees. I thank the member for that follow-up question. I am sure that it reflects concerns that are felt in her constituency and elsewhere. It is a condition of our Covid funding that participating operators plan services and keeping them under review in consultation with their transport authorities, having regard to services that are required to minimise public transport connectivity disadvantages, including for island and rural communities. Similar requirements would continue under any recovery funding for bus. However, demand for bus services is only currently at 65 per cent of pre-Covid levels on average across Scotland. It will take some time to return to pre-Covid levels. Bus operators and local transport authorities will have to make decisions about where to deploy services to meet current and, hopefully, growing passenger demand, which may be different from the pre-pandemic travel patterns.