 Rwy'n eu cymdeithasol o'r cyflawnwyr ymdweithio y Plwyfer, ac rwy'n meddwloddiodd, Douglas Ross. Felly, wrth ei gweld fy mwy fawr o eich cyfan, rydym yn fawr i chi, neu eu byddu i'i thanky ac yn burgu'i ffordd, ac rhyw gwaith am ferfyrdd ac yn fawr, David Hill. David died pliwyd a'r sgwrddfyrdd hwn eich arcindigol mewn y teimlo all selectau'n iel i'ch hefyd i'r gweithio i'u gweithio. Rwy'n ech yn ffawr i'w mynd i'u i'u rстановiaid, Rodger a Sharren. yn gwneud an diffwysu'r rhaglenen ni—aibodd a rwyfprithu'n dddangos gael aernod, ond mae wnawn i'i feddwl hwnnw oedd yn dwyliadol fawr yn gwneud o'r ddweud a'r ddeirio'r byd ac i dweud i y fyddwch y festive a'r yll майn oedd yn ei gydag i'r lleid ymarfer a'r ysgolwyd hwnnw oedd yn gweithio'r ddevwyd ac i dweud i'r fyddwch ysgolwyd yn dweud mae'n ddweud. Felly, yesterday, the Damning Audit Scotland report was published into the SNP Government's failure to build to Lifeline ferries. Kate Forbes was put forward to responding in this chamber and to the media, but could not say who made the key decision to sign off this disastrous contract. So First Minister can you give a straight answer where your four finance secretary could not, which minister gave the greenlight for those very contracts against expert advice? STWART was doing what he loved most. I hope that in time it will be some comfort to his loved ones. I had contact personally with David's dad on Sunday and obviously offered all possible help that the Scottish Government can provide. My thoughts are with Roger, with Sharon and with David's wider family and friends and, of course, all his colleagues on the Conservative benches. To turn to the substance of the question, before I come directly to that bodyw yoedd gennymau bwysigio i ddechrau i'w ddechrau, dwi'n gwneud, gan agrwyffnig sydd jen nhw yn beth yn ddechrau, wedi gweld atweithio, beth yn gwneud a gennymau yn gwneud, gan gwneud peirio i ddechrau, yn hyfyrgoi'r ddechrau, yn dda'n mynd i gyd, yn sylwg mwy o'r rhan o gyflawn. Mae'n dylech â'r hyn i gylech ar hynny. Roedd bwysigio i ddechrau i ddechrau i ddechrau. ffair, dar campus. Mae cyfleidion o'r caelrestyn, maen nhw i Lywodraeth gan gwybodaeth gyda bwyllfa oherwydd pwyllgor gyda Llywodraethol yn ddilyn yng ngyfnodol. Pry 2019, nidw i'l gydag yma'r ysgolwydfa i ymgweld lleoledd a ffwrdd lleoledd a venud hynny ffwrdd o'r ysgolwyddiad ar yfnodol. Felly mae'r oedd am oponol yn ballasau mewn gweld o'i lliw o'r yr hyn o'r eich at the end of 2019, further problems have been identified, the cabling problem being the most significant and of course there was additional delay because of Covid but we remain focused on the delivery of the ferries and of course the actions that the Scottish Government have taken have helped to secure jobs, the last remaining commercial shipbuilder on the Clyde and I think that that is important. Turning to the specific question briefly, who was transport Minister at the time in question is of course a matter of public record. That was Derek Mackay, but of course this is a government and this may be alien to the conservatives I understand but this is a government that operates by collective responsibility and ultimately as with any decisions whether I am personally involved in them or not responsibility stops with me and in terms of the documents around that particular decision many of these documents have been in the public domain for some time they clearly narrate the issues with the lack of a full refund guarantee but they also clearly narrate the mitigations that were put in place to reduce that risk now these are documents that are in the public domain and available for anybody to review. The finance secretary couldn't tell this Parliament or the media asking yesterday who was to blame but 24 hours later the SNP's spin machine has spun into action and it's the fault of the disgraced ex finance minister so let me get this absolutely straight the First Minister is claiming she had no involvement the audit Scotland report confirms that SNP ministers were aware of the huge risk with this project but carried on regardless the government the government she leads willingly decided to charge ahead against expert advice the First Minister is now trying to blame Derek Mackay and it all just seems very convenient that the person getting the blame is no longer here it was the First Minister's government her cabinet her decision so let me ask again so so let me ask again while she is saying the transport minister took the decision what input to that decision did the First Minister have through the government she leads? I'm genuinely not sure if Douglas Ross listened to a single word that I said it was him who asked who the individual minister it was I did not volunteer at that information it is a matter of public record who the transport minister was at the time of that decision it is a matter of public record that that was Derek Mackay but here's the bit of course that I know doesn't suit the script that Douglas Ross prepared before he came into the chamber but here's what I went on to say and I'm going to repeat it again just to be absolutely clear this is a government that operates by collective responsibility and I am responsible ultimately for all decisions that the government takes the buck stops with me I have never tried to shy away from that on any issue I know that's not how things are done in the Conservative government at Westminster but that is how things are done here so perhaps Douglas Ross might want to reflect before his next question on what I'm actually saying here I am ultimately responsible for all decisions of the Scottish government that's why of course I am standing here asking the questions but on the substance of this issue and as I said the documents are available in the public domain and the issues around in particular because this was a concern that Seamall had expressed about the lack of a full refund guarantee those concerns are set out in these documents but so too are the actions that were taken to mitigate these risks and of course government then comes to a decision on the balance of risk and of course the documents expressed the view that the current deal that has been negotiated with FML is the best deal that can be achieved given the financial restrictions the yard is operating under so there were three key changes made and actually this is all set out in the Audit Scotland report an increase in the final payment so that more money was being withheld that Seamall would take ownership of all equipment machinery materials as they arrived at the shipyard and FML would require all major suppliers to offer a full refund guarantee these are the changes that reduce the risk and of course underpin the decision that the government arrived at but I come back to the central point here I am not defending the cost overrun is the delay around the construction of these ferries it is completely unacceptable but at all points the motivation of this government has been to save jobs save the shipyard and make sure that these ferries albeit late and that is a matter of deep regret can be delivered and that's what we continue to focus on the first minister says she takes ultimate responsibility then throws an ex minister a disgraced smp ex minister under the bus so if we're looking if we are looking at ultimate responsibility from the first minister can she tell us why a key safeguard was removed that could have saved Scottish taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds can she tell us with her ultimate responsibility why they started building the ferries when they didn't even have a design agreed with her ultimate responsibility can she tell us why ferries and marines were given the contract in the first place and with her ultimate responsibility can she tell us why there is not going to be a public inquiry into this whole scandal because because we need this public inquiry because Audit Scotland tried to get answers but they couldn't they said and I quote there is no documented evidence to confirm why Scottish government ministers were willing to accept the risk of awarding a contract to ferries and marines despite sea miles concerns we consider that there should have been a proper record of this important decision first minister this is one of the most reckless decisions ever taken by a Scottish government so far costing a quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers money first minister why can't the body in scotland charged with scrutinising public spending get a shred of evidence to justify your government's decision first minister who has read Audit Scotland's report could reach that particular conclusion but i'll come back to that but can I say this first of all if Douglas Ross thinks it is unimportant who the individual minister was and that as I agree with the buck stops with me why was his first question asking me who the individual minister was clearly he must have thought that was important I was not intending to come here and do anything other than accept full responsibility coming on to the questions and let me answer them one by one so on the decision to proceed and the lack of the full builders refund guarantee that's what I've already run through that decision was clearly taken on the balance of risks seamale had concerns about that but a range of actions had been taken and I set out exactly what those actions were to mitigate those risks and the conclusion in this is in documentation that is publicly available that the deal negotiated was the best one that could have been achieved in those circumstances now the second question I think that Douglas Ross asked me was why was the contract awarded to FML when it was the most expensive again that question is actually answered in the audit Scotland report the review of course found that it was the most expensive I think if memory serves me correctly that was known at the time but seamale also assessed the bid as being of the highest quality so overall it achieved the highest combined cost and quality score of the seven bids that was the decision taken at the time and of course ministers are not involved in procurement decisions and lastly on the question of a public inquiry we of course have had a parliamentary committee look into this issue we've now had a major audit Scotland review but as audit Scotland itself recommends at page seven I think on completion of the vessels there should be a formal review of what went wrong with a view to learning lessons so the Scottish Government will consider what form that further review should take we will consider that carefully and of course we will report to Parliament in due course Douglas Ross is ridiculous we are fortunate in Scotland to have two governments and there's only one of them currently building ships in Scotland that actually sailed and that is because of this First Minister's record in government so let's look again Fergs and Marine was the most expensive bidder yet as the First Minister has just said was chosen on the basis of quality chosen on the basis of quality when ferries are two and a half times over budget hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money has already been wasted there is a five year delay at least and there's still 175 faults with the ferries that are still being built this is one of the worst public spending disasters since devolution and who messed up who knows in smp seeks at scotland because all all the evidence is gone audit scotland couldn't get to the bottom of a number of points the only scraps of paper we have left about this disastrous decision are the old smp press releases that claim they were saving Scottish shipbuilding so First Minister can I ask when you visited the ferries in 2016 were they painted on windows not a sign that your decision was an absolute shocker Douglas Ross has demonstrated there is that he has not spent much time actually reading the hundreds of pages of documents that are in the public domain there is one issue where audit scotland refers to a lack of documentation I think that is a matter that the government needs to reflect on seriously and well but there are hundreds of pages of documents I've referred to many of them already and they would bear some attention I think from Douglas Ross I said candidly the outset I think this is a deeply regrettable situation at the time I visited the yard of course it was in private ownership assurances were given there about the completion of work and the problems that have led to cost overruns delays and worst of all a negative impact on our island communities is deeply regrettable at every step at the motivation of the government has been to secure employment to secure the shipyard and to get these ferries completed and that is what we will continue to focus on we will learn the lessons in the audit scotland report we will make sure that all of the recommendations in it are taken forward but Douglas Ross may think it is unimportant to have saved 300 jobs and a shipyard I actually think these things matter and that is why we will now focus on making sure that that yard it has a positive future question number two Anna Sarlaw. Presiding Officer can I start like others have by paying tribute to David Hill and send my particular condolences of course to his family and friends but also recognise the wonderful tribute that Jamie Greene who employed and paid to David and my consultants to Jamie Greene and in particular all our conservative colleagues in this parliament. David was someone that was respected across the political spectrum and he had friends not just that were MSPs but let's not forget the many staff the work in and around this parliament building too. Yesterday faced with the biggest fault in living standards since rationing the chancellor failed to present a spring statement that would make life easier for millions of families he failed to introduce a windfall tax he failed to put more money in people's pockets and he raised the tax burden on millions of families across the UK he must have been taking lessons on missed opportunities from this First Minister in her government's budget the First Minister had the opportunity to tackle the cost of living crisis but just like the Tories they failed giving households less than four pound a week in a council tax rebate copying rysi syniac's policy just won't cut it will the First Minister accept that the action she has taken so far is not enough to confront this crisis First Minister well in the Scottish Government's budget of course we doubled the Scottish child payments game changing for families with children living in poverty memory says me correctly Presiding Officer the Labour Party shamefully voted against that measure in the Scottish budget in terms of yesterday's spring statement i think it showed a callous disregard for the misery that people are already facing and the misery that is going only to get much much worse household incomes are about to suffer their biggest fall in more than 60 years the resolution foundation has estimated that an additional an additional 1.3 million people across the UK including half a million children will be pushed into poverty there was nothing to help the poor and those on the lowest incomes and i think it was shameful i think the most shameful thing about the chancellor's announcements yesterday is that he squiddled away money for pre-election bribes money that could be spent right now to help those in desperate circumstances his actions yesterday in that regard were disgusting in terms of the Scottish government's actions and we have limited powers and we have limited resources but due to our wider long-standing policies people here already pay less on average in council tax less in water bills less in rail fares of course people in Scotland compared to south of the border pay nothing for prescriptions for ites for university tuition additional action in addition to the payment through the council tax the 150 pounds payment we have taken the decision to operate devolved benefits by six percent and it's the failure south of the border to do that that's having the biggest impact on low income families we've introduced as i've already said the scottish child payment we're investing in the Scottish welfare fund we're increasing the fuel insecurity fund so we will continue to do everything that we possibly can within our powers and resources but anybody who is serious about helping the lowest paid would be arguing for demanding powers and resources to be taken out of the hands of ritchie sunak i ni's tight and put into the hands of this parliament we welcome the doubling of the scottish child payment but it's a plan that predates the cost of living crisis over 270 000 children aren't going to benefit and poverty campaigners say it needs to go further and the first minister wants to obsess about power she doesn't have she's been in government for 15 years she has power use that power to change people's life that's what the job is for so let's look at what she's done with the power she has copied ritchie sunak's council tax rebate failed to target support to those most in need increase rail fares and put a water charges for scottish households we have published detailed plans on how to confront this crisis but so far the smp has not listened so here's another meaningful action they could take scottish water is owned by the scottish government they are currently sitting on a cash mountain of 428 million pounds so scottish labour is calling for not just the freezing of water charges but a 100 pound rebate for every household in scotland does the first minister believe that this money is better off in scottish waters bank account or in struggling families accounts first minister said that everything that we can reasonably do to help but anasarwar said that the scottish child payment doubling of course predated the cost of living crisis that's of course one of the reasons why this afternoon this very day in this parliament shona robison will deliver a statement accompanying our updated tackling child poverty delivery plan setting out the further actions that this government is going to take to lift children out of poverty rather than doing as the UK government is doing pushing more children into poverty i'm surprised that anasarwar didn't seem to know that yes my party's been in government for some time that's why in scotland people don't pay for prescriptions they don't pay for itests they don't pay to go to university it's why we've got lower council tax on average than in england and in labour run wales it's why more people pay no council tax at all because we retain the council tax reduction scheme and of course we are using our powers the doubling of the scottish child payment is the principal example of that so we will continue to look at what more we can do anasarwar is right to continue to press us to do more but he'd have more credibility if he didn't also back the retention of these powers over welfare over public spending in the hands of bodys johnson and rysi sunak and till he changes that position i don't know that many people across scotland are going to take him seriously anasarwar that is simply not good enough people are struggling right now and as per usual the first minister wants to make this a constitution debate i hate to break it to her see whether you voted yes or no your bills are still going up and you need help from this government so the first minister can take action to tackle the cost of living crisis and let's look at the stories over the last week the tragic stories from across the country people stealing fuel canisters in the highlands families turning down fresh vegetables from food banks because they can't afford to turn on the gas quicker and people digging up their gardens to grow up their grow their own food because they can't afford to buy it that's why labour has set out the actions both government should take a windfall tax and oil and gas giants to reduce bills by 600 pounds the 200 pound as a grant not a loan and here in scotland a 400 pound support payment to support struggling families a 100 pound rebate on water bills and a freeze on water charges and rail fares that is real help supporting families with over 1000 pounds a contrast to this government's flagship cost of living policy which would give families less than four pound a week when will the first minister understand she has to do better than this first minister policy is a scottish child payment which anasarwar and his colleagues of course voted against when the budget came before this parliament we will continue to look at everything and anything we can do within the powers and resources that we have shona robison will set out further actions when she delivers her statement this afternoon and there is real misery there is a wave of human misery being experienced right now it's only going to get worse on that anasarwar and i do not disagree and we will continue to do everything we can but i'm afraid there is a real issue at the heart of this if you look at the joseph roundy foundation analysis published this morning those in the lowest income diesel are going to see their household incomes cut by almost six percent the main reason for that is the failure to operate benefits by more than 3.1 percent where we have control of benefits here we've upgraded them by six percent now the reason we can't do that for the main benefits like universal credit for example is because we do not have the power and i'm afraid and it's the same reason why we cannot impose a windfall tax to help with energy costs it's the same reason why energy costs may remain reserved because when it came to a choice between yes and no anasarwar encouraged people to vote no and because people voted no these powers remain in the hands of boris johnson and rishi sunak and until anasarwar addresses that issue then we are always going to be limited in this parliament in terms of what we can do when is he going to wake up and realise that now move to supplementary so i call marie mcnear thank you resign officer a constituent of mine is a victim of historic forced adoption who's concerns about confidentiality of victims responding to the sconzi's government consultation she explains that filling in the responses is quite difficult for victims as it brings up a lot of emotion and it has a bigger impact on people filling it in this could have a significant impact on the responses given an effectiveness of the consultation what assurances can the first minister give my constituent and all victims of forced adoption that any information they give will be confidential and it will not be identifiable from their responses first minister this is a really important issue i also recognise it's an extremely sensitive issue so i want to thank everybody who has responded to the consultation so far and i appreciate that it takes a lot of courage to share deeply distressing stories like this we are offering a private space for people to come forward to share experiences in complete confidentiality and i would like to reassure the member's constituent that participants can take part entirely anonymously and no data that could identify an individual will be retained we also have a dedicated helpline in collaboration with health in mind to provide interim support to individuals who want to make a contribution the closing date for responses is the 20th of april and following this day all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence murdo Fraser thank you Presiding Officer over the past decade no fewer than four women have died whilst patients on the Morden ward at Murray royal hospital in Perth while suffering acute mental health disorders today the courier newspaper reports that a fifth patient died on the ward in the same period but their death and the circumstances have never been made public first minister these patients were in hospital to keep them free from harm but they and their families have been failed why is this happening and what is being done to stop it first minister these are very serious issues and where lessons need to be learned they are learned by health boards and where necessary by the government i am not aware of the detail of the case reported in the courier today i will ensure that i become aware of that detail and i'm happy to write to murdo Fraser when i have had the opportunity to do so Jackie Baillie Presiding Officer our glass is the 24 seven helpline supporting older people and their families dealing with abuse and neglect this is the first service of its kind that has just launched in Scotland as a result of a 46 rise in elder abuse calls during the pandemic elder abuse is an undersupported and under reported area and given the shocking statistics the hourglass helpline will be a very welcome resource our glass is funded by the home office to provide a service in england will the first minister agree to meet our glass and consider providing support for this valuable service in scotland first minister services like our glass are very important elder abuse is awful and of course the pressures of the pandemic i think are understood by all of us i'm certainly very happy to have the health secretary meet with or talk to our glass to see what the Scottish government can do to support them thank you minister officer my constituents family have thankfully safely made it to Glasgow from Kiev including a 68 year old relative traveling body cranium passport they have asked me whether they're relatively qualified for the stationary travel scheme something that i hope the first minister can confirm but more widely the first minister what steps the scottish government taking to assist those arriving in scotland from Ukraine or indeed elsewhere to access all the services and settlements they should have the right to receive at such a difficult time first minister well i'm certainly very relieved and pleased to hear that bob doris's constituents family have made it safely to Glasgow i know they will receive a warm welcome here i'd be happy to provide any detailed information on the support services that are available given their particular circumstances obviously we have a proud history of welcoming displaced people and a wealth of experience from previous schemes we are working with a range of partners to ensure that wraparound support is in place for all displaced people that are arriving here in scotland the those who come from Ukraine will have a right to work they will have access to social security benefits and public funds and we will be working to make sure people are aware of that and get access to all of those services we are standing ready to welcome i hope significant numbers of people fleeing the situation in Ukraine we were pleased that our super sponsor scheme that we had proposed to the UK government went live on friday and we have multi agency efforts in place to provide support what we need now is to see visas begin to be granted in significant numbers so that we can get more people to Scotland and give them the support that they need and on this issue finally let me take the opportunity to welcome i'm sure on behalf of all of us the denipro kids who arrived in scotland last night i know they would all rather be at home in Ukraine but while they're here i think it's something all of us want to do to make sure that they are surrounded by love care and support Megan Gallacher can i just check miss gallacher is your card in spare with bear with us a second there you go thank you thank you Presiding Officer and can i refer members to my register of interests as i am a serving councillor in North Lanarkshire on the 24th of febru the first minister gave a commitment to explore christian graeum suggestion that local authorities should not investigate their own complaints and relate in cases relating to child protection therefore does the first minister agree that an independent national whistleblowing officer should be established for public bodies and does she agree that those who cover up child protection issues should be reported to police scotland immediately first minister i did give the commitment to christian graeum as the member rightly says that was just a few weeks ago so i hope she will accept that the consideration of these issues is still under way and i will make sure as part of that consideration the proposal she's made today are properly considered question number three Pam Gossel your presiding officer to ask the first minister what the scotland is doing to ensure that perpetrators of domestic abuse do not go on to re-offend first minister domestic abuse is an insidious and dreadful crime it has a devastating impact on victims and it is vital that perpetrators are fully held to account in partnership with key stakeholders we are implementing equally safe which is scotland's strategy to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls this aims to prevent violence from occurring in the first place build the capability and capacity of mainstream and specialist services to support survivors and those at risk and also strengthen the justice response to victims and perpetrators as a tangible example of that we have committed to expanding the availability of the accredited caledonian system to ensure that more male perpetrators of domestic abuse are directed to services that help challenge harmful behaviours, reduce re-offending and improve the lives of women and children. Pam Gossel thank the first minister for that response growing up as a very young child i watched victims of domestic abuse come to my mum's shop on her girl's feet for help but not enough has changed half of the 65,000 domestic violence incidents reported in 2021 2021 we're committed by re-offenders clearly whatever the government is doing right now isn't working we need to work together to provide a true deterrent for the horrible abuse so can i ask the first minister will her government commit to do more on this issue and back my proposals to create a domestic abuse register first minister i mean these are really serious issues and i want to ensure that we take them very seriously on the specific issue of an offender register obviously we keep the law under continual review we're always keen and willing to explore any options to reduce crime and re-offending so we would be very keen to understand the detail of that proposal and give it due consideration of course all registered sex offenders are already placed on the sex offender register and as such must register with the police as part of those requirements but appreciate that will not incorporate all perpetrators of domestic violence so these things need careful consideration and i certainly undertake to give it that on the broader issues it is definitely the case and i think this is something that should be welcomed that more people now feel able to come forward when they are victims of domestic abuse or sexual violence and that is to be encouraged obviously sentences for perpetrators are matters for courts and i think it's important that we all recognise that but there is a range of work underway to ensure better support for victims to ensure that those who do commit these dreadful crimes do face up to the consequences of their actions and the Caledonian system that i referred to earlier as an important part of that we're also doing more to invest in the support services that victims need and get so much benefit from so there's a range of work underway but on this issue i will remain the government will remain open-minded to any further proposals that are put forward question number four full to mcgregor thank you very much sir to ask the first minister what work is being done to extend the warren scots welcome to ukrainians arriving in the uk first minister well we're all all continue to be horrified by the illegal war in ukraine we are ready to extend the warmest of scottish welcomes to those fleeing the war we've been working rapidly with a range of partners to ensure that displaced ukrainians arrived at a place of safety and security we've established welcome hubs a key entry point to support people with what they need immediately on arrival as well as to assess their medium to longer term needs we're working with COSA to provide accommodation as well as exploring all viable public and private sector housing options and of course offers from the public who have generously offered to open their own homes full to mcgregor yeah i thank the first minister for that response and for the on-going work at the scottish government in this area and i would also like to take this opportunity briefly because i know start taking gradually my good friend and colleague neal gray on his recent appointment as minister for ukrainian refugees i think that this is also a very fitting appointment because of course our two constituencies have a richly feared history making up the wider muntlands area and we've both been deeply touched over recent weeks by the feared magnitude of response of people in both court bridging christian and their drain shots to this crisis and their tremendous willingness to support those seeking refuge can you therefore ask the first minister after the stress and trauma of escaping an illegal war how will the scottish government ensure that the welcome hubs that she mentioned support displaced people from ukraine to find peace and safety here in scotland first minister the welcome hubs are a really important initial part of what we want to offer so they will assess immediate needs they will take a multi agency approach assess those needs provide wraparound support and that will include having trained staff on call to support people who are experienced in trauma the welcome hubs will also be able to begin the assessment of longer term needs including of course accommodation requirements we now have the supersponsor route in place which is in addition to the homes through ukraine route and of course the family route we have the support ready to be provided here the bit in the middle is getting the visa applications granted so that people can start arriving in numbers i'll get an update later today but yesterday the update i had was that there had been over a thousand applications made through the supersponsor scheme and just under a thousand i think in terms of individual matching obviously we're still improving data flows so there will be some uncertainty around those figures what we need to see though is a significant to speeding up of the granting of visa applications in order as i say that we can see people come here and start to access the support that we have ready for them on that multi agency basis question number five foysel chowdry thank you Presiding Officer to ask the first minister what action the Scottish government is taking to ensure that people are able to register with NHS dental practice and receive NHS dental treatment in the week of the Covid-19 pandemic first minister it is obviously a priority to ensure that patients are able to access NHS dental care of course we've committed to abolishing dental charges in the lifetime of this parliament which will help remove at least one of the barriers to accessing high quality NHS dental services to support patient care and access we recently announced revised payment arrangements for dentists from the first of april which will more closely link payments to the number of patients being seen and treatments provided this multiplier funding arrangement will see additional investment in dentistry increased by almost 17 million pounds in the first quarter of the new financial year and that comes on top of the 9 per cent planned increase in the budget for NHS dental services in the coming financial year and of course the support given during the pandemic of 50 million pounds financial support for the sector and a further 35 million pounds of PPE foysel chowdry i thank the first minister for that answer many constituents have expressed to me that due to the total lack of NHS provision in their areas they are left with untreated dental pain and conditions often missing check-ups that can spot life-threatening conditions such as oral cancers does the first minister realise that she is increasingly not even overseeing a two-tier system for many people across scotland dentistry is effectively privatised already first minister no we continue to support NHS dentistry in fact we are investing more proportionately than we're seeing south of the border by about 40 percent we have about 40 percent more dentists per header population per hundred thousand of the population than elsewhere in the uk there are significant challenges because of the pandemic that is why we financially supported dentists during the pandemic and why we're taking action now to further support dentists the payment the multiplier funding arrangement that i referred to in my earlier answer is extremely important it's been welcomed by many dentists i think the bda have also welcomed the introduction of this so that recognises the importance of linking payments to numbers of patients and to the treatment that is being provided so we will continue to ensure that we support NHS dentistry and that people have access to and of course as i also said earlier on removing dental charges will also take away one of the barriers that traditionally some people have experienced Stephen Kerr thank you as of course i had my own experience with dental problems last week and i'm not directly blaming the first minister for that but Douglas Douglas Thane from the Scottish Dental Association said that decades of underfunding by the Scottish Government has cleared as created a toxic environment as dentists battle rising costs and inadequate fees paid by health boards so can't the first minister see that her current approach is endangering dental provision for those who need it most across scotland first minister well i know i said earlier on that the buck stops with me i'm afraid that doesn't include Stephen Kerr's teeth problems i'm just hoping the glue is working better today but i think i'm going to move on because these are these are two important issues for such levity and these are important issues there are more dentists so if i look you know where Stephen Kerr's party is in government the number of dentists per hundred thousand of the population was 39.9 in scotland it's 55.6 40 percent higher for this financial year our government investing in core community dental services is 40 percent higher that doesn't remove all of the difficulties but it does show the foundation we have in place here which is why the additional investment i'm speaking about is so important because it recognises these additional problems caused by the pandemic so we will continue to focus on supporting NHS dentists in order that people across the country can have the access to them that they have every right to expect question number six arian Burgess to ask the first minister what the Scottish government's response is to the spring statement first minister well yesterday's spring statement was a missed opportunity on the part of the chancellor to give families and businesses the support they need now in the face of rising costs it did show callous disregard for the poorest in our society despite the largest annual fall in living standards since the 1950s as confirmed by the OBR the chancellor's decisions will mainly assist the better off and provide no real help to those in low incomes with ever more households left facing poverty in contrast the Scottish government within our very limited powers and resources in this regard is taking a range of targeted steps including of course doubling the Scottish child payment up rating our devolved social security benefits by six percent and extending our fuel insecurity fund harian Burgess brexit and the volatile costs of oil and gas are playing a massive role in the cost of living crisis and there was no recognition of this Tory legacy in the chancellor's statement what's worse there was nothing in his statement to help those struggling the most with the rising costs with the office of budget responsibility warning about the biggest annual fall in living standards since their records began what can the Scottish government do to build on what we have already delivered to tackle the cost of living like free bus travel for young people free school meals for primary school children and as you've just said doubling the child Scottish child payment first minister well i think it's absolutely right to point out the impact of the chancellor's statement yesterday on the poorest in our society the joseph roundy ground tree foundation has published analysis this morning that i would recommend every member of this parliament looks at carefully the richest decile will see their incomes fall by less than two percent the poorest decile will see their incomes fall by almost six percent and that is principally down to the failure to properly upgrade benefits and given that the chancellor had access to more money the decision not to do that is disgusting and completely indefensible and i've already set out today the actions that the Scottish government is taking we will continue to look at further actions we can take and of course as i said earlier on shona robison will set out when she delivers the tackling child poverty delivery plan later today some further actions that the Scottish government will take christine graham thank you very much presiding officer further to the woefully inadequate spring budget from the chancellor of the chequered and the fierce of fierce cost of living hike does the first minister agree that for those on fixed incomes such as pensioners many of whom became housebound in these covid years during which heating costs will be devastating and with one of the worst state pensions uk state pensions they've got the worst in europe and that anasawa for example has to wake up to the position that without the power over pensions and other benefits mitigation has its limitations first minister well christine graham is absolutely 100 percent right we can't use powers that we don't hold in this parliament where we do hold powers we are using those powers so taking action game changing action to lift children out of poverty we don't have control over pensions but it is the case that there are people we we tend to talk about the invidious choices that in these circumstances people face between eating or heating their homes there will be some people in the face of this cost of living crisis we cannot afford to do either that is the reality this government will do everything we can within the powers and resources we have but as long as so many of these levers lie with a conservative government at Westminster we're going to see more of what we saw in the spring statement yesterday anybody who really cares about this it would not just be arguing for they'd be demanding these powers to be taken away from rishi sunak in bodys johnson and put into the hands of this parliament as quickly as possible millions of workers are facing a cost of living crisis that they didn't create the people's assembly have been organising mass demonstrations up and down the country to make it clear that workers can't pay and they won't pay for this crisis and campaigners are calling for the introduction of a wealth tax on the richest one percent which would raise 14 billion pounds a year to help tackle the cost of living crisis and invest in public services does the first minister back this call first minister yeah i do think we should see those who can afford it contribute the most but just like a windfall tax a wealth tax is not something this government has the power to do so if Labour want to see these things happen in scotland then they can't just talk about the ends they want to see they have to actually equip this parliament and this government with the means to do something about it it's called making this parliament independent that'll take a general supplementary from leon mccarthur thank you the scottish government has informed orney islands council that the islands connectivity plan will exclude lifeline internal ferry services in both orney and shetland can the first minister please explain why her national islands plan does not appear to include the needs of all scotland's islands first minister we have been discussing with the island authorities for some time the inter-island ferry services we will continue to do that and i'll ask the transport minister to engage with leon mccarthur in more detail about what further steps we're able to take thank you that concludes first minister's questions there'll be a short pause before members business