 Gw destroydd y hpaniaeth y siarad exclusion ar yr aeth yn ei ddygu. You ready? You are ready? You are ready? You ready? You are ready? You ready? You ready? You ready? You ready? You ready? You ready? at Airstation hotel. Connections were also improved to make it easier for passengers to interchange at Kilmarnock on to services running to Dumfries and Carlisle. ScotRail will continue to monitor how passengers use the services and keep the timetable under review to best meet local needs. Willie Coffey. I thank the minister for that answer and particularly welcome the reduced peak time fares that came into effect this week, which will help thousands of my constituents and more across Scotland, in sharp contrast to the shambolic U-turns on rail service commitments down south. Could the minister give an indication of any further improvements to the service that we might expect over the coming years, particularly in electrification and rolling stock and any planned improvements to the railway station at Kilmarnock? Full electrification of the line to Barhead is under way with completion planned for December 23. No date has yet been set for electrification and the associated change of rolling stock of the line from Barhead to Kilmarnock and Dumfries. It will be considered for future electrification in line with the decarbonisation action plan. I am pleased that the member has recognised the Scottish Government's funding support for the removal of peak fares, which reduces the return from Kilmarnock to Glasgow from £12.80 to £8.10. Ross Greer, I refer members to my register of interests in particularly a small financial donation from the RMT union. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to any proposals to increase the frequency of services on the MoGai rail line. The MoGai railway line has served well with two trains per hour throughout the day, which increases to four trains per hour in peak times. That is sufficient to support demand on this route, but ScotRail monitors passenger numbers continuously to best match resources to where they are needed. Ross Greer, I thank the minister for that answer. The argument for not restating more frequent pre-pandemic timetables on a number of rail lines is that passenger numbers still have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. I am delighted that the trial removal of peak time fares for six months began earlier this week. It was a key green priority in this year's budget and has been long campaigned for by rail unions like Aslef. A constituent of mine on the MoGai line, who commutes to Edinburgh, could save up to £2,000 during this pilot period. Removing peak time fares will support people through the cost of living crisis, help out our climate targets and drive up rail use to the point where I hope more frequent services can be reconsidered. So can I ask the minister if she has any early indications of how the first few days of the pilot have gone and what the Scottish Government and ScotRail would consider a success six months from now? Minister. I too want to thank the rail unions for their campaigning, and, yes, that is indeed a bold initiative from the Scottish Government. The first of its kind in the UK intended to trial if it will encourage people to travel by train instead of car. We expect that it will take at least four weeks for any changes to travel patterns to be established, but ScotRail is monitoring services and passenger numbers closely and I am looking forward to seeing and hearing how this is benefiting the people of Scotland. We will assess using standard techniques whether it represents value for money at the end of the pilot before any decisions on its future taken. That will involve looking at how changes in behaviour of existing customers and the travel passions of new users will have impacted on reducing car use and comparing that to the final cost of the pilot to the Scottish Government and other transport operators. Of course, it is also providing financial savings to many commuters facing rising costs at this time. In the first six months after its nationalisation by the Scottish National Party's Government last year, ScotRail accumulated over 9,000 complaints for poor train services. Rail lines are vital for the local growth and access to services, especially when cities become more hostile to cars. Can the minister offer any concrete assurances to people of the communities such as Mulgai as to when they can expect this mismanagement to end? I think that there is a certain lack of self-awareness when it comes to mismanagement of the railways. With the cancellation of NHS2, which was never going to support Scotland anyway, it is betraying the north of England, ScotRail has one of the best performance in terms of customer satisfaction. We do not have any rail strikes on ScotRail-run trains and none of our rail ticket offices are closing. In respect to the constituents of the Mulgai area, I think that much prefer railways run by this Scottish Government than the Conservatives in England. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the UK Government regarding the potential impact of net zero policy in Scotland ahead of the announcement by the UK Government of its decision to delay key net zero targets. Despite the far-reaching implications of the announcement and delivery of climate ambitions generally across the four nations of the UK, it is linked. The Scottish Government was given absolutely no notice of the Prime Minister's announcement, which was extremely disappointing and more disappointing given that I was in attendance at an interim ministerial group meeting on net zero with UK ministers and the Committee on Climate Change just six days before the UK Prime Minister's announcement. The decision to renaig on the UK's key net zero commitments is an unforgivable betrayal of current and future generations, but the SNP will continue to lead on climate action, Presiding Officer, and we will insulate Scotland from repeated failures of UK Governments. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Given the undoubted detrimental impact that decisions will have on Scotland's ability to meet its net zero targets, does she agree with me that this complete lack of consultation or respect in the approach from the UK Government exposes the utter hypocrisy of the Tories and their calls for the Scottish Government to work? I quote directly from Donald Cameron's amendment in Tuesday's debate, collaboratively and constructively with the UK Government, and is yet another example of a complete lack of respect for the devolved Administrations. Does she agree with me that you would think that the Scottish Conservatives would want to apologise and condemn the lack of consultation and respect if they truly wanted to see collaborative and constructive working between the two Governments? Clearly, if the UK Government is prepared to make announcements as serious as this, with no consultation and with no notice, despite having met the Scottish ministers a matter of days before, the current arrangements for co-operation are not working. I would add to that, frankly, that the United Kingdom is not working. It is certainly not united, and it is not working for Scotland. I have written with my ministerial counterparts in the Welsh Government to Michael Gove highlighting the weakness of the current arrangements and calling for greater collaboration across all UK nations in agreeing a pathway to net zero. I have called for a Four Nations summit on reaching net zero to be chaired by the Committee on Climate Change, and I await a response from Michael Gove in that regard. Cabinet Secretary, I agree that Scotland needs to lead the way and we need co-operative work, but given that most of the powers to decarbonise our homes lie in the Scottish Government's powers, how confident are you that the Scottish Government will meet its target of 124,000 low-carbon heating systems being installed in people's homes by 2026, given that, by May this year, only 11,341 homes had zero emission heating, and that funding for solar panels has been removed from Scottish Government grant funding? I have been quite clear on two things. First, there is no doubt that the UK is reneging on those key areas, including in heating buildings, as Sarah Boyack rightly refers to as being a really critical part of the net zero journey. There is no doubt that that will have an impact on Scotland. We are currently assessing it, both the flat emissions reduction impact but equally those that I have to consider in terms of affordability, in terms of supply chain availability, in terms of the internal market act, which the Parliament did not wish to see imposed on us. However, at the same time as doing that, the SNP and the Greens in government will continue to do everything that we can and strain every sinew in pursuing our ambitious plans to decarbonise our economy and our society. I cannot pretend that the UK Government's actions will not have an impact on that, but I commit to continuing to do everything that we can in Scotland to tackle climate change. To ask the Scottish Government in light of reports that the V&A Dundee has generated £304 million for the Scottish economy over the last five years, whether it will be pursuing any further joint projects with UK institutions. The Scottish Government has long been a supporter of V&A Dundee. I recognise the V&A Dundee's important work and positive impact that it is making in supporting the city, the wider region and Scotland. The Scottish Government would welcome exploration of further joint projects with notable institutions subject to robust business cases. Obviously, the UK Government has earmarked £140 million for Scottish towns as a part of its levelling up fund. Will the minister agree that those efforts demonstrate the great value to Scotland of the shared United Kingdom? I am sure that you would remind me that I should be answering questions about the V&A rather than UK Government announcements that bypass the Scottish Parliament. I know that the Tory front bench does not like hearing that. The Scottish Government intends to continue to provide support to V&A Dundee to enable it to continue to deliver, including on its ambition, a Scotland's national design centre, and exact funding levels will be confirmed during the budget process. Cabinet Secretary, well-joined arts projects with the UK have helped to generate economic income. It is impossible to ignore the economic and cultural impact of lost opportunities within the EU. Can the minister therefore provide some detail regarding the cost of Brexit on opportunities for the arts and culture secretary in Scotland? Specifically, in relation to the V&A in Dundee, Brexit has had an impact, especially on European Union citizens who might be able to work at the V&A Dundee. Of course, we know that within the artistic community and the wider cultural community there are all kinds of issues relating to the freedom of movement as an issue. I am keen that we make sure that we fully embrace the opportunity of the V&A's outstanding tartan exhibition and the ambition that that should tour internationally. I will be looking closely at how we can work with the V&A to make sure that that happens. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to implement the anti-racist curriculum principles that were published in June. I was delighted to support the publication of the principles in June. The Scottish Government is leading a national group working with Education Scotland, the SQA, COSLA and local authorities to promote and embed those principles into policies and practice at all levels of education. To achieve that, we are investing in the development of new curriculum resources for teachers in school-level pilot activity, working with intercultural youth Scotland and in a leadership and professional learning programme through Education Scotland's national building racial literacy programme. The programme for government set out plans to further advance inclusive education in our schools, including promotion of a decolonised curriculum and recognition of Scotland's role in the transatlantic slave trade. I thank the cabinet secretary for the answer. The teaching slavery in schools programme has been designed to support educators that are committed to developing a new and sensitive approaches to developing an inclusive curriculum. Given the goals outlined in the curriculum reform principles, can the cabinet secretary advice if the Scottish Government has considered creating a specific programme for teachers to address Scotland's colonial past in the curriculum? I thank the member for his supplementary question. I think that he raises a hugely important point, particularly in relation to curriculum reform. As we move forward, I know that he has been a keen champion for equality and inclusion in our education system and I would commit to working with him to that end in the suggestion that he has promoted today. More broadly, we have supported professional learning in terms of anti-racist learning programmes. We have supported the building racial literacy project since December 22. That is an award-winning programme that is making a real difference in our schools, and from next month it will support more than 400 educators from all over the country. I am more than happy to engage with Foisal Childry on that point, because I think that as we move forward in relation to curriculum reform, there is an opportunity to better embed that practice right across the school curriculum. To ask the Scottish Government what its timeframe is for the implementation of the strategic framework for Scotland's early learning and school-age childcare profession. The programme for government 2324 set out major new commitments on childcare, including how we will test what an all-age childcare system will look like for Scotland in six councils. We will work closely with those communities, our partners and providers, to consider how the early learning and school-age childcare workforce can support these systems and what they will need to do so. That will include consideration of regulatory issues, qualifications and professional development, which will take time to do fully and is why we will now set out our plans in 2024. In the meantime, we will continue to work with the framework steering group and other partners to implement a range of support for the profession. Action already taken includes development of a range of new learning resources, the PVG fee waiver scheme for all new entrants to the sector, and we are working on a new national portal for professional learning. Gordon MacDonald I thank the minister for that answer and I welcome the continued support from the Scottish Government to an early years and childcare sector. However, in the past few months, two breakfasts and after-school clubs in my constituency are facing closure due to recruitment and retention of staff, particularly those who require a degree-level qualification. Would the minister consider any changes to regulatory compliance such as degree qualified peripatetic roles, which might go some way in addressing the recruitment problems faced by the sector? I thank Gordon MacDonald who raises an important question, because I know from on-going discussions with stakeholders that there is a lack of consensus on the type and the level of qualification that is most appropriate for the school-age childcare workforce. I also recognise that to meet the needs of children and families, we need a workforce that brings diverse experience from across the childcare, youth work and activity sectors. As we build our new system of school-age childcare, we will seek to understand the possibility of recognising and developing a wider range of school-age childcare relevant qualifications, as well as the value of other complementary qualifications and skills. We are also working to understand more about the impacts of different staffing models and where possible we will use our early adopter communities, including in rural areas, to test them. Work and mistake holders, including regulatory bodies and other key partners, will ensure that the regulation framework is fit for purpose, that it supports quality of provision and supports a diverse and sustainable workforce. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the delivery of public services by local authorities such as Midlothian and Eastlothian, where the population growth has been higher than forecast, having risen by 16.1 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively between 2011 and 2022. The annual local government settlement is distributed in full using the needs-based formula, which is discussed and agreed each year with COSLA on behalf of all their local authority members. The formula uses the most up-to-date information for the full range of indicators, including population. The 2024-25 local government settlement will utilise the latest population census published on 14 September. The 2023-24 local government finance settlement provides Eastlothian Council with an additional £8.1 million for vital day-to-day services. Midlothian Council has an additional £6.7 million compared to 2022-23. The current funding model, which allocates a larger share of resources to areas that experience population decline, presents a challenge to regions where the population is steadily increasing. Following the signing of the Verity House agreement, the minister can confirm that the needs of areas facing significant population growth have been considered in discussions with COSLA over a new fiscal framework. The settlement is distributed using a range of indicators, including population. All else being equal means that councils with growing populations therefore receive more funding over time than those with declining populations. However, in order to ensure stability in funding for local services, the formula agreed with COSLA caps changes on budget from one year to the next. Ministers are clear that we are open to considering changes in the funding formula, but any changes to the current model would need to come through COSLA as is proper. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Can I add my concerns to those of my colleague Colin Beatias? I represent Midlothian South with substantial population growth in Gorebridge, Penicook and Newton Grange. Can I welcome the minister's answer? I appreciate it's to do with COSLA agreeing this, but the distribution model does need revisited. I'm not sure there's much I can add to my previous answer, but I'll reassure the member that we are working within our population strategy to support our local government partners to cope with increasing population, as well as declining population across Scotland. Thank you. That concludes General Questions. The next item of business is First Minister's Questions, at question number one, I call Douglas Ross.