 We have general questions. Question 1 from James Kelly has been withdrawn. I have an explanation that I'm satisfied with. Question 2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the implementation of the Town Centre First principle. Minister, Mark Obbayadge. We will produce an update on progress with the Town Centre Action plan in due course. Datgym Sesame will include an update on the implementation of the town centre first principle, as well as the other wide-ranging actions stemming from the plan. capacidad d' anedsQué Given that there is all parties supporting Don Ferman for the relocation of Fifte High culturally to Don Fel Fan tum centre, there is Doctors Won't Security simplistic but he agree with me that Fifte College must examine this option and should publish all the details of the business case relating to each site is being considered before any decision is made. The Town Centre first principle applies to public bodies, and the principle requests that decisions are taken that put the health of town centres at the heart of decision making. The principle recognises that town centres are not always the most suitable location for services but asks that they are considered first and for transparency in the decision making process. There can be reasons not to locate in town centres, but I would emphasise that there must be good reasons and explained. Margaret McCulloch Thank you, Presiding Officer. As the convener of the cross-party group for towns and town centres, I was at an event where you attended last Wednesday for Scotland's town's partnerships and you said you would be happy to meet with anybody regarding town centres. Would you meet with the council, who are active in trying to keep the college in them and discuss it with them? Michael Matheson I would be happy to meet with Fife Council on issues of town centre regeneration or any other issues that they wish to raise. I last met them some months ago on another issue, and I would always be happy to meet local authority to discuss matters of importance to them. Kenneth Gibson To ask the Scottish Government how the instance of naïve crime in North Ayrshire compares now with 2007. Michael Matheson The number of crimes of handling offensive weapons, which include naïve crime recorded in North Ayrshire, has decreased by a massive 85 per cent since 2006-07. This success is down to the local partnership, making a real difference and shows that we are going in the right direction for North Ayrshire. We are making progress on other parts of Scotland too. Violent crime is at its lowest level for 41 years, and since 2006-07, the number of crimes for handling an offensive weapon has fallen by 67 per cent nationally. Kenneth Gibson I thank the Justice Secretary for that encouraging answer. Although there is no room for complacency, it is reassuring for the people of North Ayrshire to know that under this SNP Government naïve crime in North Ayrshire has fallen by a whopping 85 per cent. Can the Justice Secretary tell us what part of the No Knives Better Lives campaign has played in educating young people about the risks and consequences of carrying a knife? Cabinet Secretary The No Knives Better Lives programme has been delivered and developed locally in North Ayrshire since 2012. Partners include youth services, Education Police Scotland, ACE, voluntary groups, NHS, youth justice and care leisure. The partnership has been key in developing the foundation and creating a positive shift around carrying weapons such as knives in the area of North Ayrshire. There is also a dedicated team of campus officers delivering the No Knives Better Lives workshops in schools and colleges across Ayrshire. Ayrshire community, education and sports have visited some 32 primary schools and three secondary schools, as well as visited six problematic areas, and they are continuing to provide programmes in schools in warning about the risks of carrying offensive weapons. 4. Lewis MacDonald To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been lost at Young's seafood processing plant in Fraserborough and how many remain at risk. Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney Presiding Officer, when Young's seafood commenced the consultation process regarding its site in Fraserborough in July, the company employed 580 people. At the end of October, the company employed 534 people. The reduction of 46 was fully attributable to resignations. Since the end of October, 15 employees have been issued with notice of redundancy and left the business in November. The company has informed its joint consultative group that they expect to issue 152 employees with notice of redundancy in January and based on present employee numbers to issue further 130 employees with a notice in May. That would leave the company with 238 employees post May 2016, and the final numbers will be dependent upon transition decisions and customer demand. In July, staff force, the temporary employment labour agency, had 377 agency placers with the company, which reduced to 210 by the end of October 2015. For that answer, the cabinet secretary will be aware of reports that some of Sainsbury-Scotland salmon is now being processed in Poland and other countries because the company that has failed to deliver one Sainsbury-Scotland salmon supply contract has failed to deliver. Will ministers look into those reports and meet Sainsbury-Scotland as a matter of urgency? Will they stand up for the hundreds of North East workers facing redundancy early in the new year and press Sainsbury-Scotland to give those workers hope for the future instead of exporting their jobs? As Mr MacDonald will know, the Scottish Government at all times acts to protect employment within Scotland, and we have been actively involved in all the discussions about trying to preserve and protect employment within Fraserborough. I certainly will ensure that the reports to which Mr MacDonald refers are looked into and that any relevant issues are raised with Sainsbury. The rural affairs and fisheries sector, Richard Lochhead, regularly engages with the supermarkets as part of his wider responsibilities on supporting the development of the food sector in Scotland. Of course, Mr Lochhead has been very successful at encouraging supermarkets to produce and retail produce from Scotland, which has a significant benefit on the sustainability of many companies in Scotland. I can see no good reason why companies cannot see the advantage of working with a plant such as Young's at Fraserborough. I would like to know whether the task force that is in place is looking at relocating and helping phone jobs for the vibrant community of small and medium food processes, based in Fraserborough and in Peterhead, making sure that we have the sustainability that we require for those fishing communities. Mr Allard makes a very strong point in that there has been an emergence in recent years of a whole range of small and medium-sized food operators within Scotland. It is in fact one of the great strengths of the food and drink sector that has been advanced in the promotional work by the rural affairs secretary. The task force will undoubtedly look at the opportunity that Mr Allard raises, and the difficulties that are faced by the workforce at Young's will undoubtedly provide an opportunity to address some of those difficulties by the other employment opportunities that will exist in other processes. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing and what funds it has allocated to make care more attractive career choice for men and young people. Cabinet Secretary, Donna Robison? Recruitment and retention in the development of career pathways in the social services sector is a key area of action within the vision and strategy for social services that was published earlier this year. The SSC has produced a number of different resources to support those looking to recruit staff and for those looking at a career in the care sector. A key resource is the ambassadors for careers in care scheme. These ambassadors are staff who currently work in the sector who attend events, visit schools and careers fairs to promote careers in the sector, and there are currently 100 of those. Finally, earlier this year, we provided funding of £10 million per year as part of a tripartite arrangement with local authorities and providers of care worth £20 million to improve the quality of care and care homes for older people as part of our wider approach to tackle issues of recruitment and retention in the sector. Rhoda Grant? I wrote to the cabinet secretary last month asking her to meet my constituents who are GMB members and have real concerns about pay conditions and job security of care workers, issues that make careers in caring very unattractive. She turned down that request saying that she was too busy to meet them. How on earth is the cabinet secretary going to deal with the crisis in the care service if she will not even listen to the views of the people who are working at the co-face? I certainly listen to the views of those at the co-face. I regularly meet staff from not just the health side but the care side. We continue to discuss with COSLA and the sector what more can be done to improve pay and conditions in the sector. I am certainly more than willing to look at the requests for a meeting with the GMB, but Rhoda Grant should be assured that that is a key priority for us. I am very happy to engage with staff on the front line as I continue to do. Alex Rowley? Does the minister recognise that low pay is a major barrier for recruitment and retention in the sector? Is she willing to look at the Government's role in introducing a living wage across the care sector? Does that seem to be the correct way to move forward? I am sure that Alex Rowley is already aware that we have and continue to give this issue our full attention. Some progress has been made, so the guidance that was published on 6 October makes clear that the Scottish Government sees the payment of the living wage to be a significant indicator of an employer's commitment to fair work practices. It is one of the clearest ways that an employer can demonstrate that it takes a positive approach to the workforce. In addition to the £20 million deal with the care home sector, we continue to discuss with the sector and the care at home sector with COSLA what progress we can make towards the living wage as quickly as possible. We must protect capacity within the sector and make sure that the progress that we make can be at a pace that also protects the capacity within the sector. Those discussions are on-going and I am happy to keep the member updated as we move forward with them. In the name of Patricia Ferguson, has not been lodged, the member has provided an explanation that I am satisfied with. To ask the Scottish Government whether, in the lighter reported evidence of injury to working dogs, it will revoke the ban on tail docking in breeds that have traditionally been docked for their own protection and safety. As the member will be aware, I recently wrote to the rural affairs committee explaining that the case has been made to the Government that it could be possible to introduce a tightly defined exemption regime in Scotland that would allow vets to exercise their professional judgment to docked specific breeds. As such, the Government has indicated a willingness to formally consult to ascertain whether there is wider support for such a course of action, and I will shortly write to the rural affairs committee to clarify our proposed course of action. The minister will be fully aware that there are divided opinions on this matter, but those who are involved in hunting in Scotland are also only too aware of the injuries that can occur to working dogs, particularly during this season. With MSPs now being inundated with photographs of injuries that have taken place, will the minister undertake to make as many moves as possible to ensure that this change is made in order to avoid this problem in the future? I am very well aware that there is divided opinion in Scotland on this very sensitive issue. We believe that there is a possible case to allow docking of spaniels, for instance, and hunt point receivers that are likely to be used as working dogs only and allow removal of the end of the third tail only, as the research evidence found that there was no additional benefit in reducing injury by shortening tails more than that. However, we have to strike that balance between protecting the welfare of puppies and adult working dogs. Those are very difficult issues. If we proceed to consultation, as I indicated, it will be a genuine consultation with Alex Johnston and other members. Most important, of course, the relevant communities will have the opportunity to have that debate and submit their views and will take forward that issue in a serious manner. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that planning applications and their associated documents are easy to understand. The larger or more complex the planning proposal, the greater the complexity and volume of information that is submitted is likely to be. Consequently, some planning applications may be more difficult to understand than others. It is all too common to think that placing a lot of documents in a corner of a local authorities website counts as transparency. It does not, especially when some residents have to hire planning experts to analyse those documents. What assurances can the Scottish Government give that the community's desire for open planning processes will be met with genuine clarity rather than just a box-ticking exercise? I would emphasise the importance that we do place on engagement very early. One of the core values is set out that it should be inclusive, engaging all interests as early and effectively as possible. That is picked up in our guidance and on planning application procedures through Circular 3 2013. Planning advice note 3 2010 on community engagement also recognises the variety of methods of engagement, the importance of the approach adopted sitting the scale and impact of the project, the people participating, the particular situation and applicants for national and major developments must comply with requirements for pre-application consultation with communities. That includes a public event, newspaper advertising and details of how to make written submission to the applicant. Planning authorities can require additional consultation measures in such cases. The current review of the Scottish planning system has identified community engagement and streamlining all processes as two of its six key issues. The independent review panel's call for evidence closes on 1 December, so if the member has not already responded, perhaps he would like to. 9. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with universities regarding the Higher Education Governance Scotland Bill. The Scottish Government officials have met representatives of our universities on several occasions in the past few months. I myself met key higher education stakeholders, including Universities Scotland and the Rector of the University of Edinburgh on 4 November, to discuss the Higher Education Governance Scotland Bill. I also met Ann Richards, Vice-Chair of Court at the University of Edinburgh on 2 November, to discuss the bill also. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the size of the Senate in our universities should be proportionate to the size of the university itself? As such, a one-size-fits-all approach does not meet the needs of institutions such as the world-leading university of Edinburgh. Given that, will she, in the spirit of reasonableness for which she is renowned, agree to look again at the issue? The 2012 von Prinsinskie review of higher education governance recommended that anacademic board should feature no more than 120 members. The recommendations in that wide-ranging report have informed the provisions that are in the bill. However, I remain open-minded on the final form of the provisions that are currently in the bill. The Scottish Government, as Mr Eadie knows, is considering the evidence put to the Education and Culture Committee on that very specific point. Therefore, I can reassure Mr Eadie that we will consider the matter very carefully. Thank you. Can I ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates any public order issues arising from so-called Black Friday events being run by retailers? The sessions at Christmas are not new and are an important part of the retail offering at this time of year. However, the importation of the concept of Black Friday from beyond our shores and the height that goes with it is a new phenomenon. As the member will be aware, it resulted in some very irresponsible behaviour and quite disgraceful scenes last year, including scenes of physical violence towards staff and other shoppers. While it is not for the Scottish Government to dictate the practices of retailers in terms of how and when they choose to promote certain products, we fully expect that retailers will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the safety of their staff and customers and to encourage responsible behaviour. I am confident that retailers are fully aware of the events of last year and that every effort will be made to ensure that those are not repeated. Patrick Harvie. I am pleased to see that some retailers have decided not to participate in these events this year, but others are going ahead in this recent innovation that does seem deliberately designed to whip customers up into a frenzy of aggression and, in some cases, violence. Will the Scottish Government hold retailers accountable if any issues do arise in relation to public order or public safety as a result of this very deliberate new innovation? I would certainly repeat the point that retailers have a responsibility to look after the safety of their staff and their customers. However, I commend the work of us as the trade union representing shop workers, the work on freedom from fear campaign, which is very welcome, and we had recently a debate that celebrated the respect for shop workers week. The Scottish Business Resilience Centre is also doing important work with Police Scotland to ensure to a violence reduction handbook that 20,000 copies have been issued to retailers across Scotland to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities to their staff and their customers and to encourage good practice. That has been widely shared. I believe that Scottish Retail Consortium also recognised the value of advice from Police Scotland that is taking this issue very seriously this year. I give the member the assurance that I will keep an eye on it, but I do believe that the retail sector is taking the responsibilities very seriously. Thank you. Before we move to the next item of business, members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery Mr Amdol Kudos Bejenjo, Speaker of the Pakistani Provincial Assembly of Balochstan. We now move to First Minister's Questions. Question number one.