 Gwelch chi i ddweud. Mae'r first item of business is general questions. Question number one from Bill Kidd. Thank you very much to ask the Scottish Government what the impact might be on NHS staffing levels in Scotland from the reported drop in the number of EU citizens applying to live and work in the UK. Cabinet secretary, Jean Freeman. Data from the ONS reveals that EU migration has fallen by 85,000 since the 2016 referendum. With just under 6 per cent of our medical workforce, 5 per cent of nurses and midwives, 10 per cent of dentists and 5.5 per cent of adult social care staff from the EU EEA, this decline is of significant concern. Cartailing free movement of EU nationals in the UK as a result of Brexit will have potentially serious consequences for the recruitment and retention of health and social care workers in Scotland. Bill Kidd. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Does the cabinet secretary agree that this issue underlines the difficulty that Brexit poses in unduly causing the loss of our qualified and skilled individuals from our dedicated public services workforce? Yes, indeed I do. Further to that, it is important to say, as my colleague Mr Russell said yesterday, that it is important to emphasise yet again that it is in our interests to attract people from across the EU to visit work and study and live in Scotland, and that freedom of movement is not a burden at all for us but a boon and something that we should not celebrate its ending. In addition, the UK Government's current approach on immigration will not serve Scotland well. The majority of jobs in the social care sector are likely to fall below the estimated threshold, with current average salaries indicating that between 30 and 40 per cent of those roles will earn less than that threshold, and that that in itself not only in terms of the EU nationals and the ending of freedom of movement which will damage our health and social care service at a time of anticipated additional demand, in addition, the immigration proposals from the UK Government will not assist us at all and simply underline not only should we not be leaving the European Union, but immigration policies should be in the hands of this Parliament. 2. Keith Brown To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Stirling and Cluckmaninshire city region deal. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. The Scottish Government shares the frustration of regional partners in having the Stirling and Cluckmaninshire deal finalised. I wrote to the returning secretary of state for Scotland on 19 December following the election, urging Mr Jack to agree to sign this deal on 22 January, the date being held by regional partners for signing the deal. I have yet to receive a response from Mr Jack, though my officials continue to engage in pursuit of this date. Keith Brown I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer and note that, as he will be aware, as part of the heads of terms, Cluckmaninshire was allocated £8 million capital fund by the UK Government, which they stated had to be fully committed to projects within a year. A year ago, the local decision making body, the Cluckmaninshire commission, submitted their preferred projects to the UK Government and I have been waiting for a final decision ever since. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that it is completely unacceptable that, particularly as we head towards the full deal sign-off, the council and local organisations are still waiting to find out how the funding will be allocated, leaving them unable to progress with the in-depth business cases that will be required to be used to access those funds? Keith Brown I fully agree with Keith Brown on this matter. It is entirely unacceptable. Regional partners are eager to develop their full business case in order to make sure that they can deliver economic growth across Cluckmaninshire and sterling as part of the deal. As has been stated, the UK Government has set aside the £8 million aspect of the deal, which is for capital investment projects. Cluckmaninshire Council and other regional partners have fully engaged with the UK Government as fully as one could expect. As yet, even though we are reaching the final days in preparation for the signing of the deal, the UK Government has not conveyed any decisions on the issue. That is unacceptable. My officials will continue to work with regional partners on the matter and we will continue to pursue the UK Government on the details of the fund. Mark Ruskell Given that only a fifth of the city deal funding across Scotland is supporting transport priorities, how will the cabinet secretary ensure that spending supports both the climate emergency and inclusive economic growth opportunities? In particular, will he rule out supporting the viewforth link road through the deal, while rolling in support for sterling alloa done firm in railway opening? Keith Brown Funding through city deals and growth deals is only one aspect of investing in infrastructure and other projects in local authority and regional authority areas. We have a whole range of different funding streams that provide a whole range of activities to help to reduce the use of transport, whether it be through active travel or other alternative means. For example, in the sterling and Cluckmaninshire deal, £7 million of additional active travel funding is being provided to help to support the greater use of walking and cycling and to encourage the use of low-carbon transport. An additional £17 million is being provided for Scotland's international environment centre in order to provide a space to conduct current aid research into tackling global environmental challenges. The sterling and Cluckmaninshire deal is a very good example of taking forward measures to tackle climate change, but that sits alongside the wider measures that we take forward outwith city deals and growth deals specifically. Dean Lockhart Does the cabinet secretary welcome the plans for a UK Government-funded international tartan innovation centre to be located in the centre of sterling as part of the city regional deal, a centre that will showcase the unique history of tartan and greatly benefit the local economy in sterling? Of course, I welcome investment that has been made by the UK Government. I like the £17 million that has been invested by the Scottish Government into the Scottish Environment Centre, the digital district, the regional digital hub programme and the culture tourism and heritage investments of some £15 million that has also been made by the Scottish Government. Having said that, I would like the UK Government to get round to signing the deal. Despite repeated attempts to try to get the UK Government to come to a finalised agreement on the deal, we have not been able to make progress on the matter. I hope that the member will encourage his colleagues at Westminster to get their act together and to get the deal signed so that partners can get on with delivering it. Angus MacDonald To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the Falkirk and Grangemouth investment zone with the UK Government. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson I discussed the Falkirk growth deal with the UK Government during a call with the Secretary of State for Scotland on 19 September. I then wrote to Mr Jack in October urging him to provide clarity on the UK Government's intended investment in the deal. I have yet to receive a response. Next week, I will participate in a Falkirk and Grangemouth investment zone conference hosted by Falkirk Council. I will take the opportunity to reinforce the Scottish Government's commitment to a growth deal for Falkirk and press the UK Government to confirm its intended level of investment in the deal. Angus MacDonald It is disappointing to hear that Alasdor Jack has not responded. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the clear wish of the Falkirk Council administration to see this move forward at a pace as we all do. He will also be aware of Falkirk Council's climate emergency declaration and its ambition for Grangemouth to be a zero-carbon town by 2030. Given that Grangemouth is home to some of Scotland's highest CO2 emitting industries, does the cabinet secretary agree that Falkirk Council should be given every assistance to that goal and that the Falkirk and Grangemouth investment zone deal must take cognisance of the need to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045? I have been encouraged by the submission put forward by Falkirk Council and its partners in relation to the proposed deal. While we are not in a position to commit to individual projects at this stage, we could potentially be transformational in terms of its impact on reducing emissions and officials will continue to work with the local partners in developing those proposals. The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the energy intensive industries to build on the considerable existing strengths of the industry across Scotland and also to highlight that the industrial decarbonisation route is one that also presents significant economic investment opportunities. We will continue to co-ordinate activity across partners and we will continue to engage with Scottish Enterprise and Falkirk Council in pursuing the skills and expertise that is also required to go alongside the important element of the Grangemouth industrial cluster. I can assure the member that we will continue to do everything that we can to make progress on this issue and I will continue to engage with Falkirk Council and other partners as we look to make progress on the deal. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independent review of the issues at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital. The independent review of Queen Elizabeth University hospital, which is co-chaired by doctors Andrew Fraser and Brian Montgomery, remains on track to deliver its report by spring 2020. The review has heard evidence from whistleblowers and a wide range of staff and will now hear evidence from hospital managers and contractors. Although Lord Brody will determine the proceedings of the public inquiry and how to gather evidence, I anticipate that the inquiry team will be able to consider the review's published findings as a key piece of evidence for their work. During the Christmas recess, it was revealed that the Scottish Government were informed of Millie contracting Stenotrophilmonus at the time in 2017, that the health board failed to report Millie's death to the Procurator Fiscal, and more recently that the health board had been issued with a notification of a contravention letter and an improvement notice by the health and safety executive in relation to the ventilation system and failing to protect high-risk patients who are vulnerable to infections. There is a connection to this and the water supply. Parents, staff and the public do not trust the board, so we are looking to you, Cabinet Secretary. Can you take this opportunity to respond to those revelations as to what steps are being taken? Cabinet Secretary. As Mr Sarwar knows, one of the principle steps that are being taken is the escalation of the board to level 4, which involves the direct intervention and leadership of the Scottish Government under the leadership of Professor Fiona McQueen, our chief nursing officer. I met the oversight board this morning to update them or to have their update on the progress of the work that they are undertaking in three critical areas, looking at the immediate issues in terms of infection prevention and control, which will involve that detailed case-by-case review from 2015 to date as well as the second work stream, which involves the direct engagement of parents and families and has those individuals on its work and the third one on technical issues. That oversight board and the work that it is undertaking is specifically in response to the escalation to level 4 that I informed Parliament of and the issues around which it has been escalated to level 4. Alongside that, of course, runs in parallel the independent inquiry that Mr Sarwar has asked about independent review and then the public inquiry. On the first, in terms of the work of the oversight board, I have, as I said, in December an intention to report and make a statement to this Parliament by the end of this month on the progress that has been made there and the engagement and involvement of families in all of those matters. The independent review, as I have said, is on track to report in the spring, and again in the coming weeks I intend to be back to the Parliament, advising all of the terms of the remit of the public inquiry and its stand-up date, having first, as I have already committed, consulted with families on that remit and consulted with party spokespeople on that remit. All of that work is under way. I completely appreciate the level of significant interest, understandably and rightly, that those families under wider public have in this matter. I can assure the chamber and Mr Sarwar in particular that I continue to be involved in a daily basis on understanding and driving the work that we need to drive in order to both receive answers to many of those questions but to ensure that, going forward, all the necessary steps are being taken to ensure that infection prevention and control across that campus but particularly for those most vulnerable groups is of the standard that we require it to be. Miles Briggs. Can the cabinet secretary confirm if all reports have now been shared with the Scottish Government and all the reviews that have been undertaken? Given that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have announced that they are taking legal action against a contractor, what advice have Scottish ministers given to the board on that issue and what advice are they giving to NHS Lothian as well given the sick kids in this city? Cabinet Secretary. I can confirm that all the reports that we are aware of have now been shared with the Scottish Government and that includes the ACOM report not yet published but is the basis on which the board, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, received legal advice that it is now progressing. I have told the board that the legal advice now needs to advise them on how quickly they can publish that ACOM report so that it is public and if there are any aspects of it that require to be retained because they may otherwise have implications for their success or otherwise of their core action, they should be clear about what those parts are. I would hope to understand that from the board in the coming weeks so that that report can be published. At that point, I believe that all relevant reports and pieces of information are in the public domain and are known to the Scottish Government and therefore to the oversight board. In terms of the legal advice that Greater Glasgow and Clyde received on whether or not there were grounds for a potential core action on particular aspects of matters, that is entirely for the board as the contract holder to receive and the Scottish Government has no locus in providing that legal advice or in intervening in it, although, of course, we require to be made aware of it. In terms of how that may then impact or not on NHS Lothian and its contract, I know that the board of NHS Lothian is aware of the issues in Glasgow and its own view and seek its own legal advice again as the holders of the contract. At that point, I am not aware from NHS Lothian of any particular decisions that they may have made in that regard, but I would expect to be aware and again for that to be in the public domain. Thank you. Question 5 has not been lodged. Question 6, Johann Lamont. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Glasgow City Council has received appropriate support from the Ending Homelessness Together fund. Minister Kevin Stewart. We have set aside £32.5 million of the Government's £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund to support local authorities with the implementation of their rapid rehousing transition plans and housing first. Glasgow City Council received £301,000 to develop its rapid rehousing transition plan in 2018-19. It has received £1,332,000 to implement its plan in 2019-20. In 2020-21, we planned to award Glasgow £1.237 million towards the implementation of its transition plan. Confirmation of the funding is subject to the outcome of the Scottish Government's spending review and parliamentary approval of the 2020-21 budget. That funding is in addition to the budget that is available to local authorities to support homelessness. We will continue to work with all councils on our shared goal of ending homelessness and supporting people right across Scotland. Johann Lamont. That was a long response, but it did not answer my question. The minister will, I am sure, be aware that a report from Glasgow City Council has highlighted that it has received funding for its rapid rehousing transition planning, but that funding is, quote, significantly less than what we bid for to enable us to meet all the targets set out in the plan and recommended writing to the Scottish Government in relation to future funding arrangements. Does the minister recognise that, without sufficient funding, the homelessness crisis in Glasgow cannot be tackled effectively? Will the minister respond to this request? Will he accept that the persistent and disproportionate cuts to Glasgow City Council have had a massive impact on its ability to support vulnerable people? What representations has he made as the housing minister to the finance secretary to ensure that local services are fully funded and to ensure that the Scottish Government's policy on homelessness is more than lip service? Minister. Our policy to tackle homelessness here in Scotland is much more than lip service. I would point out to the member that we put in place the £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund before receiving the Harsag recommendations about what was required to tackle homelessness here in Scotland. We put the money where it was required and we will continue to do so. In terms of rapid rehousing transition monies, I took soundings from local authorities across Scotland and that is why the initial £15 million that was put into that became £24 million. That money is to allow local authorities to transform their services. That is additional money beyond the monies that they should already be spending on homelessness services. I hope that local authorities, including Glasgow, will take advantage of that additional money, transform services and help to end homelessness here in Scotland.