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Corenhaeg, r box Always na dwi'n meddwl gyda llawer i ddeu lltherscyng Machine Darbyn ddatblyg c Tyson.akhur y gwelio gyda rhywun o gy � ses y Ddechrau Gyda, i gynnyrch will begins a gyda cepic pan ers sefyddu i Da i Giarthon Dodd, I will point es i hynny Gall bydd y cyfan y ddisgwyl eich Mottheishwyr i nylland dr polers uwch chwaiton pobلفio ar cre Menu sfrifau iau, completed agol provisions пис ond beth gyda Elmstone. chac function by entering the letter R during the relevant question and again we will get through more questions and answers if we could have succinct questions and succinct answers please. Question number one, Lewis Smith. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what revenue it estimates it will receive from land and buildings transaction tax in 2021-22. Minister Tom Arthur. The Scottish Fiscal Commission is the independent body responsible for forecasting revenues for the fully devolved taxes. In Scotland's economic and fiscal forecasts, published on 28 January of this year, the SFC forecasts that the Scottish Government will receive £586 million in revenue for the land and building transaction tax in 2021-22. Lewis Smith. Could I thank the minister for that response? Would he agree, however, that for many young first-time buyers in areas of very high house prices, where there are many properties over the £250,000 rate at which the LBTT kicks in, this on top of other taxes that they are paying is quite prohibitive. Can I ask the Scottish Government if it has plans to introduce some regional schemes where there can be more targeted support for aspirational families, or at least plans that provide tangible support through mortgage assistance? I thank the member for her question. The Scottish Government provides support through the first-time buyer relief, which effectively raises the nil band from £145,000 to £175,000, which effectively means that 8 out of 10 of first buyers do not pay any tax. With regard to the regional scheme, I recognise that this is an area that the Conservative Party has some interest in. I would be hoping to receive more information on what Lewis Smith's proposals would be, but I would caution that LBTT is a national tax, and we would have to be cautious about introducing unnecessary complexity into the system during such a localised methodology. To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that money invested in the economic recovery by way of grants, loans and other funding will support fair work practices and climate obligations for any companies that receive such support. I add my welcome to Lorna Slater to Parliament and say to her that fair work is central to our economic recovery and renewal, and through fair work first we are applying fair work criteria to public sector grants, contracts and other funding wherever possible and where it is relevant to do so. We continue to consider how we can use all our levers to support a green recovery and expect those accessing financial support to publicly align with Scottish Government values, particularly those relating to our climate and environmental ambitions. Securing the full range of employment powers, we would enable the Scottish Government to fully implement policies that best meet Scotland's distinct needs, enabling us to create more good green jobs with fair work at their heart and a more prosperous Scotland. In order to support a green recovery, will the minister commit to ensuring that investment money, whether as grants, loans or other funding, will come with conditions to ensure that this money goes not only to businesses that support fair work, which I approve your support of, but also to support a sustainable economy? For example, only to go to companies that pay living wages, who do not use zero-hour contracts or tax havens and who have plans to achieve emissions that are in line with our national targets, as agreed by this Parliament? How would the minister follow up to ensure that any applicable conditions were being met? I generally agree with the principles outlined by Lorna Slater. Much of what she says relates to the fair work agenda that is being implemented by the Scottish Government at the moment. Indeed, as part of our first 100 days commitments, we are reviewing fair work first criteria to oppose, for instance, unfair, fire and rehire tactics and promote flexible and family-friendly working. We are also working with the Poverty Alliance in building on the living wage employer accreditation, which was referred to by the member. We can also introduce a living hour scheme for Scotland in the first 100 days of this new Government. I want to assure the member that we are exploring every possibility to ensure that our grants and support for businesses and organisations across Scotland are aligned with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament's values. I am indeed going to call Paul Sweeney for a supplementary question. Will the Government commit further to the question by Lorna Slater to making trade union recognition for large companies with more than 250 employees a precondition of applying for further Government support? In terms of the fair work agenda, those are issues that are already reflected in the principles that we promote as part of our grants and so on and so forth. The fair work first criteria has already been applied to £619.8 million worth of contracts awarded by the Scottish Government. Employers' relationships with trade unions and workers' voices are part of the fair work agenda. We are exploring further ways in which we can promote those principles. As a new minister in this portfolio, I am keen to make sure that we leave no stone unturned. To ask the Scottish Government what support it will make available to businesses in light of the continuation of the current Covid-19 restrictions. We recognise the impact that deviating from the route map has had on businesses across Scotland, perhaps more so in certain areas than others. That is precisely why we have provided additional financial support to those businesses in areas where it is necessary to, unfortunately, retain restrictions for an additional period. We will continue to prioritise business support as much as we can within our limited resources and we will continue to press the United Kingdom Government for additional funding that we have made available for businesses because there has not been additional consequentials for business support since the election. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer and I know from speaking to many businesses in my own constituency that the support already made available by the Scottish Government has been an absolute lifeline. Although some restrictions remain in place, understandable concerns have been raised about the UK treasuries' failure to announce an extension to the furlough scheme, which is due to be scaled back from 1 July. Can the cabinet secretary provide reassurance that she is doing everything that she can to press the UK Government to extend the furlough scheme in order to give businesses in Scotland the financial support needed until our economy can fully reopen? I agree with Audrie Nicolle. We have consistently called for furlough funding to remain in place for as long as it is needed. We have been here before, last October, when the chancellor re-announced support plans almost five times before finally confirming that he would extend furlough. It is absolutely essential that the UK Government commits to the furlough scheme. We have called on them also to change the rules that require contributions to the costs of the scheme from 1 July and that currently exclude people who have started a new job since the second of March from being furloughed. People who have been required to stop working to protect others should be supported as much as possible. To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the business sector regarding the current Covid-19 regulations. Welcome Pam Gosolf to her place. I think that this is the first time that we have had an exchange in the Parliament. We have engaged extensively with businesses and their representative organisations during the pandemic. I do not think that a single workday has probably gone by without some form of engagement. Officials counted that between March and December 2020 more than 820 engagements took place. There is a regular weekly programme of engagement that continues with business leaders, including the CBI, the FSB, the Institute of Directors, the chambers, the SCDI, the Scottish Financial Enterprise, the Scottish Retail Consortium, the Scottish Tourism Alliance and the Scottish Food and Drink. Immediately after I was sworn in, the first thing that I did was meet with that group to discuss a range of priority issues. I also discussed the latest restrictions with them yesterday. Pam Gosolf, I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Cabinet secretary, one sector that has been complaining bitterly about its current circumstances is those providing contact services such as beauty therapy and spa treatments. They have lost out on the availability of business restart grants because they have been classified as non-essential retail, which is an inaccuracy that needs to be urgently addressed. Will the cabinet secretary agree to ensure that those services are properly reclassified in the future? I think that there is some misunderstanding about the restart scheme. Separately from that, we are one of the only places in the UK that actually put in place a specific funding stream for close contact services, for mobile close contact services, to try and reach what is a predominantly self-employed sector with additional support. We provided the smaller restart grant, in line with what the rest of the UK did for those businesses that were able to open before others and reserved the larger restart grants, in line with the rest of the UK for those businesses that we started later on. That remains our position, and I have no intention of changing that. Willie Rennie? The cabinet secretary will be aware that there is a lobby outside Parliament today from the travel industry. They cannot understand, although they have effectively been shut down by the restrictions, that they have received very little financial support in return for months. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the level of restrictions should match the level of financial support that is made available by the Government? I know that Willie Rennie has been an advocate for the travel industry for a number of months. Of course, he will recall the fact that we put in place a specific fund for travel agents, as well as for the inbound tour sector and the wider tourism sector that relies on international travel. I think that we were one of the few places that did that. However, I absolutely understand that some sectors are being impacted for longer because of a lack of international travel. I know that the sector, more than anything else, wants the restrictions to be lifted, which we intend to do on a foreign nations basis as far as possible. In the meantime, looking at additional support is very challenging because of a lack of additional consequential funding, but Ivan McKee, the Minister for Tourism, has written to the UK Government specifically on the issue of the travel industry's need for additional business support to look at whether additional consequentials could be made available to support that sector. Presiding Officer, today is a day of action at the airport. Sadly, the route from Aberdeen to Manchester is now to close. Is the Government prepared to meet with the airports to discuss a plan so that jobs can be saved? The Cabinet Secretary for Transport has met regularly with the airport sector and the wider aviation sector since the pandemic hit last March. We remain in close contact with them. We, of course, were again one of the few parts, if not the only part of the UK, to extend non-domestic rates relief to the airport industry in light of the challenges that they face. We will continue to keep in close contact with them. I know that, ultimately, what they want to see is a removal of restrictions. We want to do that on a foreignation basis when it is safe to do so, when we see that the vaccination programme is making good progress across the world. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the economic recovery of town centres. Presiding Officer, I will shortly be setting out plans for a Scotland loves local loyalty car scheme and a £10 million Scotland loves local programme to help to revitalise town centres hit by the pandemic. We are working with COSLA and partners to respond to the ambitious vision for our town centres and the recommendations to deliver it set out in the recent town centre review report, A New Future for Scotland's Town Centres. All of that is underpinned by our £325 million place-based investment programme, which will accelerate our ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods and town centre revitalisation. While the pandemic has accelerated the collapse of many large retailers in our town centres, including Cercodiant on Ferman, that was already a feature of high streets across Scotland. They are owned by private companies and private investors, but we do lead a public sector response to the challenge that we are facing. The minister mentioned in some projects, but what is there to incentivise the repurposing of large units to support local authorities in their efforts to invest in changing town centres, which will need a significant investment and for the public to have a stake in the decisions that impact on their high streets and their environment? I thank Clare Baker for her supplementary point. She raises a lot of important points. What I would highlight is that all ideas are live and relate to our response to the town centre review. That is due to be published later in the year. I would also draw the member's attention to our retail strategy, which is also due for publication later in the year. Finally, as planning minister, I will lay a draft of the national planning framework for in Parliament later in the year in the autumn. I am keen within the portfolio to ensure that all of those areas align. In particular, I recognise the point that I think that it is implicit in what the member makes, which is the need to ensure more community ownership in our town centres and, indeed, as the minister responsible for social entrepreneurship and employee ownership, which is an area that I would be very happy to engage with Clare Baker and any member further on. MTown centre properties are being repurposed into spaces to house artist studios, venues and workshops, including Fire Station Creative in Dunfermline and Creative Sterling's hub. Can I ask how the Culture, Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund has directly supported those types of initiatives and what further support can be offered to provide a viable future for our town centres? On the specific question that the member raises, I do not have that detail in front of me, although I will be happy to write to the member. I think that the member raises a very important point. It is absolutely correct that we recognise that we have a duty to support the cultural sector in recovery, but I think that the cultural sector has a massive role to play in supporting town centres in recovery. Again, that is an area that I would be very keen to take forward with the member and any other interested member in this chamber. Does the minister agree that high street retailers operate at a severe disadvantage relative to online businesses in terms of paying rates, for example? Given that taxing online retailers is reserved, is the Scottish Government urging its UK counterparts to enact such a policy, actively pursuing any revenues that should then accrue to Scotland and, ultimately, the devolution of such a power? We recognise the concerns that are raised regarding a level playing field for all, and the Government is committed to supporting all businesses, including those that deliver online services. For that reason, we have committed to exploring the introduction of a new national digital sales tax in our recent manifesto, and we will be looking into that complex area. 5. To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it will provide to the hospitality sector to mitigate against the impact of Covid-19 restrictions. Thank you for the question. The finance sector announced on 2 June up to £12 million additional funding for the 14 local authorities that are remaining in level 2. Should restrictions continue to the end of June, payments will be processed on a weekly basis. That included £4.5 million for the events and wedding sectors, and up to £7.4 million to support hospitality businesses, with grants of between £350 and £525 per week for businesses that are required to modify their operations in level 2. In the short term, the minister refers to today's announcement that hospitality premises showing euro matches that go into extra time can open a bit longer will be welcomed by those businesses that receive the support, but it still excludes far too many others. Even when restrictions are lifted on August 9, that will not be enough for many small hospitality businesses. Does the minister accept that what we need is a proper recovery plan for small businesses, including hospitality that covers long-term support, reform of business rates that penalise hospitality and other measures to help to get those local firms back on their feet? I will never all be aware that we are keen to do what we can to support the sector. I have met various stakeholder groups in the sector over the past two or three weeks to discuss those very issues. As funds become available through consequentials from the UK Government, we will ensure that the sector is supported to the best of our ability. As the member rightly identifies, recovery from the pandemic is hugely important. That is why we are putting significant focus on our economic transformation strategy that we are working through the details of at the moment. We will address the issues of how we build this sector and sectors across the economy to not only recover from the pandemic, but to transform the economy in Scotland to the economy that we want to see. Thank you. While hospitality is now open, there are still facing many restrictions and lower customer football and significant barriers to trading. Can the minister indicate what analysis of the Scottish Government has conducted into the levels of operating loss faced by businesses in the sector? Can he advise of any Scottish Government analysis on the proportion of that loss, covered by supports, grants and loans that the Scottish Government has provided? The first point to make clear is that the purpose of the support that we provide cannot cover the losses for every business across the sector. It is indicated that we pass on the consequentials that come from the UK Government. That total of £3.6 billion has been used to support businesses through the course of the pandemic. On analysis of the impact on the sector and across the wider economy, we are engaging in discussions with the national services sector, which is our best place to understand the levels of debt that has been suffered by businesses across the economy, to look at that, not only at a macro level across the economy but also to conduct sector analysis to understand the differential impact across specific sectors of the economy. Emma Harper I welcomed the announcement yesterday from the First Minister regarding changes to wedding guidance. Weddings are key to the hospitality sector, and I have been contacted by wedding venues in the south of Scotland regarding whether a specific route map out of Covid-19 could be created for the wedding sector to meet the diversity of weddings and wedding venues. Is this something that the minister could consider and could he outline if that would be possible and potential timeframes for it to be established? A number of changes were announced yesterday that will benefit the wedding sector from 28 June when wedding safflars will no longer be included in the numerical cap. Focused entertainment will also be allowed, provided guests are all seated at the sections. Those are being key asks from the sector, as the member knows. Wedding reception guidance service update on 22 June is out clearly what those changes mean for weddings. When we move beyond level zero, almost all Covid restrictions will be removed for businesses and individuals. That will mean that weddings can take place with dance and singing as before the pandemic. Some baseline measures will remain, including good hygiene and surface cleaning, and continued compliance with test and protect. More guidance on those baseline measures will be provided prior to moving the lot beyond level zero. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the growth of jobs that will support a greener economy. We are committed to ensuring that our transition to net zero creates new opportunities for people across the country, and our £100 million green jobs fund is supporting green employment and creating opportunities for individuals to retrain and upscale in new and high growth areas. We are also investing £26 million to develop the energy transition zone in Aberdeen, which is expected to directly support 2,500 green jobs by 2030 alongside the further 10,000 transition-related jobs. We are continuing to deliver on that ambition, which will be key to achieving the changes that we need to meet our climate change targets and deliver a just transition. I thank the minister for that response. By 2030, at least 60 per cent of North Sea oil and gas platforms will be decommissioned and more than 1,500 wind turbines will be at the end of their life. The Scottish Government's analysis shows that decommissioning could support over 18,000 green jobs. Can the minister confirm that all of that work will be carried out here in Scotland? The reason why we are creating a £100 million green jobs fund, as well as the energy transition fund, which has indicated benefiting the north-east and Aberdeen in particular significantly already, is because we want Scotland to gain the maximum economic benefits from the just transition between now and 2045 or between now and 2030, as the member highlights. I am confident that we will create a lot more green jobs for Scotland. It is going to require our herculean effort, but for the sake of the planet and for Scotland's economy and our people, we will make substantial progress. However, we have to work collaboratively with the local agencies and all the institutions in Aberdeen and academia and everyone else, and I am sure that we will do that. Question 8, Jackson Carlaw. That was a good one. Time was up, Presiding Officer, but thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement that the UK-Australia free trade agreement will remove tariffs of up to 5 per cent on Scotch whisky. We are, of course, keen to see all Scottish exports increase in line with our vision for trade. However, any potential gain for Scotch whisky is more than offset by the cost of the deal to our farming communities. That is why it is vital that the UK Government is involved. The Scottish Government and other devolved administrations in these trade discussions to make sure that trade agreements are in the best interests of everyone across Scotland. It is well known that the deal has been celebrated in Canberra but concealed in London. As we heard last week from the shillian deputy prime minister, the big winners are Australian producers. Jackson Carlaw. Can I thank Ivan McKee for that response? When he gets time to get off his high horse, can I ask him to focus on the aspect that I asked about, which is the opportunity for Scotch whisky? Australia was our eighth biggest market last year with £113 million to the Scotch whisky industry. What specific conversations has he had since the announcement of the agreement with the Scotch whisky industry about how the Scottish Government can work with them to ensure that we maximise the opportunity? Assuming that he is not bothered to do that, can he commit to doing that in the weeks ahead? I have an on-going discussion with the SWAs. Jackson Carlaw should know about how we maximise the opportunities for all Scotch products, including Scotch whisky globally. I have engaged extensively with them around the challenges that they have seen with regard to US tariffs, and the Scotch whisky industry has got a representative on my trade board, so I do not lecture me about engagement with the Scotch whisky industry. This is something that we do on an on-going and regular basis, but the key point about the trade deal is that the UK Government has not published its impact assessment in full. The reason for that is the significant negative impact that the trade deal in its entirety has for the Scottish economy and for our farming communities. That is why it is important that the UK Government needs to engage with the devolved administrations to make sure that Scottish interests are taken into account in those trade deals. Does the minister agree that no free trade deal is ever completely free and that Australia deal comes at particularly high costs for Scotland, including in terms of lowering standards for consumers? We know that trade deals involve trade offs, but the Scottish Government has had no involvement at all in those decisions. We have argued consistently that any trade agreement must protect a food, welfare and environmental standards, and that any imports must be produced to equivalent standards to Scottish production. It would be unacceptable if our current high standards suffered as a result of that deal, and it is vital that the UK Government share the full detail of what has been agreed with Australia. Thank you minister. That concludes the portfolio questions on finance and economy. I move to portfolio questions on education and skills. If, during the relevant question, a member wishes to request a supplementary question, they should press the request-to-speak button or indicate our in-the-chat function. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to provide secure, sustainable and long term post-Covid-19 pandemic skills and training opportunities. Skills is a key priority for this Government. Last week, we made one of our first 100 days commitments announcing a further £20 million for upskilling and retraining through our national transition training fund. We are investing across the whole skill system, including our colleges and universities, to deliver learning opportunities to equip our workforce for the jobs of the future. In addition to over £2 billion allocated for post-school provision in 2021-22, we have committed an additional £500 million in this Parliament to support skills and employment. The minister will be aware of the latest numbers showing that fair start Scotland scheme has resulted in only 9 per cent of participants remaining in employment after 26 weeks. This low level of employment under the scheme has been a feature of the scheme since it was introduced three years ago before the pandemic. Does the minister acknowledge those disappointing results in terms of employment from the fair start scheme, and what steps will he take to improve the performance of that scheme? I am sure that Richard Lochhead, my minister's colleague, who has responsibility for that scheme, will be delighted to provide an update to Mr Lochhead. What I am always struck by is the Tories' unwillingness to recognise the fundamentally different approach that we have taken with employability programmes by comparison to them in Government, where they coerce and compel some of the most vulnerable people in our society to take part in employability programmes at the threat of losing their benefit entitlement. That is not the approach that we will ever take, and it is the approach that I am proud of. To ask the Scottish Government when the national qualifications group agreed on the appeals process for the 2021 national qualifications and whether the decision was unanimous. I did not quite catch that question, Presiding Officer. I thought that you moved on to question number two. I apologise for that and will perhaps take on question number one, the supplementary from Collette Stevenson. This is going well, who has not pressed, so we will now move on to question number two, Paul Sweeney. To ask the Scottish Government whether demonstrated attainment from the 2020-21 school year will be used in determining learner grades. This Government's absolute priority has been and remains to ensure that our young people are kept safe and are able to achieve fair and credible grades in spite of the most challenging of school years. The professional judgments of teachers and lecturers based on what learners have demonstrated that they have attained is at the heart of this year's approach. Learners' grades this year will be judged by their teachers based on the evidence of their work. If a learner demonstrates that they deserve a certain grade, then that is what they shall receive. Teachers and pupils have been contacting me in distress and under pressure due to what one teacher called exams by stealth. One pupil who contacted me likened the approach from the SQA to gaslighting. Those concerns have been compounded by the elimination of last year's results from the historic grade boundaries. It feels to me that the Government is about to fail the most disadvantaged pupils again in an unforgivable dereliction of duty. Most shameful of all, they appear to be trying to shift the blame on to teachers. There is no room for teacher judgment. Estimate grades must be evidence-based, so will the cabinet secretary now do what must be done to avoid the mistakes of last year and agree that we need to scrap pre-moderation, allow teachers to professionally determine grades without constraints and introduce a no-determine appeals process? The model that we have in the alternative certification model has been co-produced with the national qualifications 21 group, which includes teachers representation on that. It is specifically asked as part of that process that this was about demonstrated attainment, so that is directly against what teachers representatives asked for as part of that process. We have worked very carefully with stakeholders, including teachers, but also with young people as we have moved through that process. I appreciate that there has been a difference of opinion around part of the appeals process and there is a question on that later, which I will perhaps leave the details on that for, Presiding Officer, but I certainly remain committed to ensuring that young people have faith, as they absolutely should do, in a fair, incredible process that has been worked with stakeholders and the SQA to deliver that for them. As the cabinet secretary, when she became aware, local authorities were excluding 2020 exam results when using historical data to moderate grades this year. If she was aware that the SQA discussed the use of statistical analysis with local authority directors of education ahead of quality assurance models being designed and adopted. I appreciate a great deal of speculation around historical data being used, but I would once again say that it is part of a quality assurance process that can be undertaken by local authorities that helps to identify patterns and trends that can be used for local quality assurance to prompt discussions around attainment and achievement. That historical data is important because it can support teachers and head teachers to be confident about their judgment based against the national standard. The important aspect of that, as always, is to ensure that young people themselves know that if their demonstrated attainment has demonstrated a grade, then that is the grade that they will get. Historical data is not being used as an algorithm to change their grades either by the school or by the SQA. Following the OACD's report proposal that Scotland's assessment system needed to match the 21st century curriculum, what is the education secretary's response to the call from Maureen MacKenna, one of Scotland's leading educationists and Glasgow's council's executive director of education, for a big debate on whether teachers' continuous assessments should play an on-going greater role in pupils' final grades and qualifications in the future? As I mentioned in my statement yesterday, there are no decisions that have been taken around what any reform of the qualifications or assessment approach would look like in the future. That is because we have the second OACD report on a comparative analysis of assessment qualifications approaches due by the end of August. When that comes through, I will absolutely commit to engaging with stakeholders, including Maureen MacKenna, if she wishes to do so, to discuss future plans for senior phase qualifications in awards. To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for students impacted by Covid-19. I understand the significant impact that the pandemic has had on students. As a result of this, many students are facing financial difficulties with accommodation, associated costs or challenges in getting jobs. In direct response to that, we have now committed an additional £20 million to help to alleviate the financial pressures that many students face over the summer period. Its support provided to students over the course of the pandemic has been substantial, with more than £96 million being provided via hardship funds, digital access, mental health support and support for student associations. The Covid pandemic has severely impacted many students and it has magnified the financial burdens that some students face during the summer. As the SNP continues to prioritise improving the attainment gap in Scotland to providing this summer support to students, it is a really positive step towards achieving this. Many students find themselves in debt over the summer months and not all have the capability to find work, sustain their accommodation or take-up training or volunteer opportunities relevant to their degree, as they simply cannot afford to do so. That puts some students at a disadvantage to their peers that can, based on their financial situation rather than their actual learning ability, provide an update on the timescale for the review of any future summer support for students taking place, as was outlined in the plan for the first 100 days of Government. Minister? Ms Dawn has rightly laid out that this is a commitment that we have made in the first 100 days to commence. The review of summer support will, of course, be engaging with the relevant stakeholders across the sector to help inform the review, considering all the relevant factors when making any decisions. I have already had dialogue with the national union of students, and we touched on a range of matters on the subject, including, of course, engaging with them. We are committed to beginning that review in the first 100-day period, then, when it is concluded, we will respond and look forward to updating Parliament on that in due course. Question 4, Alex Rowley. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the NASUWT Scotland survey, which suggests that 53 per cent of teachers have considered leaving the profession in the last year feeling demoralised, unsupported and unrecognised. We recognise the pressure on teachers and appreciate the extraordinary contribution in the most challenging of circumstances. We have already committed over £400 million to education recovery and introduced a support package for schools on mental health support for staff. We are committed to supporting the employment of an additional 3,500 teachers in classroom assistance and reducing teachers' weekly class contact time by 1.5 hours to reduce workload and enable more time for planning. We will continue to put the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff at the forefront of our recovery plans and work constructively with all stakeholders, including the NASUWT. Alex Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome that answer and I wish the cabinet secretary well in addressing the crisis that we have within education. The EISI notice has put forward a proposal at its conference where it talks about reducing class sizes over a period of time, but it has put in specific timelines in and over nine years getting those classes right across Scotland down to at least 20. Does the cabinet secretary support that? Does she support the principle that we have to get more resources into the classroom? Will she put a timeline on when we will start to see new teachers coming into the classroom as well as a massive increase in teacher assistance? We are absolutely determined to move very quickly on the number of teachers and classroom assistance. That is why we moved, as part of our Covid recovery work, to already deliver additional teachers and classroom assistance. Once again, on top of that, another first 100 days commitment of this parliamentary term will be to fund councils to increase teacher numbers by 1,000 in classroom assistance by 500. I absolutely appreciate the points that Alex Rowley has made in his supplementary question and the need for the Scottish Government and our agencies to ensure that we are supporting teachers at that time. I hope that I can provide him with reassurance that that is something that I take very seriously and something that we are moving very quickly to do. I would like to ask the Scottish Government its views on the link between improving teacher morale, support and recognition in relation to the comments in the WECD curriculum for excellence report. The report states that I need to provide dedicated time to lead plans to support curriculum for excellence at the school level. That supports what I am hearing locally from teachers in the University of Wales constituency. They are telling me that increased planning time improves the quality of lessons that are delivered to our children. While the teacher workload was not raised by the WECD team, Scottish teachers have been in high-est rates of class contracts across OECD countries. The report states that the WECD is at the end of the year. For all teachers, there is a curriculum planning for the monistown district achievement in support of moderation. Will the Scottish Government commit today to prioritising a reasonable reduction in class contact time for Scotland's teachers? As I mentioned, as part of my answer to Alec Rowley, we have committed to reducing teachers' class contact time by one and a half hours per week. That was in the manifesto that we stood on. We are proud to deliver on that. We are, of course, investing in more teachers. That will ensure that we are supporting the WECD's recommendation around dedicated time for school staff to lead to plan and support the curriculum. We have begun those discussions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers on how the reduction in class contact time can be most effectively achieved. I certainly hope that we can do that in the very near future. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to schools to enable them to hold modified sports events that can be attended by parents and carers. We know that end-of-year events such as sport days are important to children and young people as well as to many parents and carers. In light of current clinical advice, it is also important that we keep schools as safe as possible until the end of term. As always, that involves balancing competing risks and priorities. Our guidance for schools continues to reflect public health expert advice to minimise the number of contacts that children and staff have. That means that class sports days are able to go ahead and be enjoyed, but that spectator's attendance must be via digital means such as school secure online platforms. The cabinet secretary will be aware that Orkney has been in level 0 for some time, yet parents have been prevented from attending sports days at schools and nurseries across the county. At a time when fan zones were being given to go ahead by ministers, the curve on attending sports days has caused understandable anger and confusion. Why was more not done to help facilities, perhaps smaller scale events, that would allow parents to attend? Can it really be said that a risk-based approach is being taken where guidance is applied uniformly across the country? I thank Liam McArthur for that question. I appreciate that this has been an issue that has concerned many members across the chamber. I absolutely recognise the importance of events to mark the end of a key stage in a child or a young person's life and that very careful consideration has been given to it. The current guidance has been considered very recently, once again, by the Covid education recovery group and by the advisory subgroup on education and children's issues. We are not able to recommend changes to the position at that time, but I understand that many schools have made plans within the guidance. One of the reasons that we have not been able to suggest and propose a change in that is that we know that, if cases are identified within an education setting, they can often disrupt the whole setting, with perhaps many children and young people and teachers having to self-isolate. Of course, many early years establishments run right throughout the summer. That is the reason for the decision around educational establishments and our absolute priority that we have in keeping early-year centres schools open as much as possible and not requiring staff or students and pupils to self-isolate. Last week, I raised concerns in relation to parents and guardians who are still unable to attend their child's nursery and school graduation or sports days. If the Scottish Government will produce the evidence that states that it is not safe for parents to attend before parliamentary recess, given that the First Minister assured members that that would be made available? Certainly, I am happy to ensure that the member is directed to the advice that we have and the guidance that has come out and the minutes of the education recovery group. I think that I have stated the reasons for the decision of that group and of the advisory subgroup on education and children's issues, not to recommend to ministers a change in that guidance. I will not rehearse that again, but it is something that we will keep under review to see if changes can be made for the new academic year. A key issue in holding school events is Covid testing levels. Does the Government believe that the low number of Covid testing in schools has led to more disruption to young people's education? I thank Michael Marr for that question, because it is something that I have kept a very close eye on. We do believe that there is an under-reporting of Covid testing levels within schools, both from pupils and staff, because there is an under-reporting of when a person gets a negative test. We have discussed that at great length at the education recovery group. That is one of the reasons why both the unions and Public Health Scotland and other members of the groups think that we are looking at a lower level of results coming through than perhaps is what is happening in the area. It is something that we have been keen to press. I thank the unions for their work to encourage their staff to take that up and for ADES and others within local authorities to encourage that and to ensure that we are keeping that right up until the summer holidays. We are already looking at what needs to be done to ensure that testing is high as we would like it to be as we move into the next academic year. It is something that I am keeping an exceptionally close eye on, because I would also like to see the figures be higher than they are. Question 6, Paul O'Kane, and I apologise for the earlier confusion. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I knew that two Pauls in the Labour group would get confusing at some point, but I asked the Scottish Government when the national qualifications group agreed on the appeals process for the 2021 national qualifications and whether the decision was unanimous. The alternative certification model for this year has been co-produced by the national qualifications 2021 group to deliver the best possible approach under the circumstances to ensure that learners' hard work is recognised fairly. On the approach to appeals, there has been a range of views expressed following what was an extensive consultation on draft proposals. As has been apparent, some group members do not support the approach being taken while others do. Jim Thule is the general secretary of school leader Scotland, for example, is clear that SLSs are fully behind the model as the best approach possible and fully behind the approach being taken on appeals. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and I know what she says about some members of the group. However, the Government has said that a rights-respecting approach is at the heart of our recovery from the pandemic, so it is therefore disappointing and frustrating that Cameron Garrett from the Scottish Youth Parliament, who was the only young person on the national qualifications group, has said that young people have been ignored in the formulation of the process. The views of young people and of upholding their rights should be among our top priorities in this Parliament. Can the minister set out if there were any other dissenting views within the national qualifications 21 group regarding appeals? As I said in my original answer, there were a number of thoughts on the appeals process and the different parts of the appeals process, so it is not a binary choice on the issue. There were a great deal of different thoughts about different areas on it. One of the things that I looked at as I reassured myself about what was happening on was that there was a fair and credible process. I appreciate that Cameron and others in the Scottish Youth Parliament wanted a no detriment right, where the grades could not go down. I do not think that that is fair and credible, because I do not think that it is fair on the young people who perhaps have not put in a repeal, because what we are having is somebody who is looking at that appeal, not looking at the whole evidence, but looking at part of that evidence. Therefore, I do not think that that is fair for all learners. I absolutely appreciate that, on this occasion, I took a different view to the young people who were represented on that. I can reassure them that I listened very carefully to that. They were not ignored. There was a genuine difference of opinion on that, but I look forward to working with Cameron and others as we move forward with the policies that we have on education. As I said yesterday, I am determined to put them at the heart of that. It may not necessarily mean that we will agree on every occasion, but they will absolutely be at the heart of the policymaking that we have in education in the Government. I will take questions 7 and 8 if we can approach both the questions and the answers on the part of the questioners and the cabinet secretary with some brevity. To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for future investment in the school estate. Officials are currently preparing options for my consideration regarding phase 3 of the £2 billion learning estate investment programme. I expect to make an announcement later this year on the timescales for phase 3. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. All over our Gailan bute, we have excellent schools and they are fantastic places to learn. However, in the islands of Islay, Mull and Tyree, our high school estate needs upgrading. Our teachers are the best and our children's school staff deserve a building that mirrors the excellence that is taught inside. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the quality of teaching must be mirrored by the quality of the buildings and funding should be forthcoming? I am determined that Scotland's pupils have access to high-quality up-to-date facilities that school communities can be proud of. I can reassure any bid for funding from our Gailan bute council through phase 3 of the learning estate investment programme. We will, of course, be given careful consideration. Question 8, Willie Rennie. The Scottish Government whether funding allocations earmatt to new and existing teaching posts will be made permanent to enable local authorities to award a greater number of permanent contracts. We are working closely with COSLA regarding the employment of teachers for the next academic year. As employers, local authorities are currently undertaking an assessment of staff requirements to support education recovery. As employers, the recruitment and deployment of teachers and other support staff in local authority schools is a matter for individual councils. Our education system is reliant on the hard work and dedication of our teachers, and I recognise the effort and resilience that they have shown to support learners during this pandemic. I am firmly off the view that we will need all possible teaching resources at our disposal to support education recovery, and I would expect employment opportunities to be available. Cabinet secretary, I completely dodged my question. I was asking whether I should be prepared to make the funding permanent so that the teaching posts could be made permanent. If the funding is temporary, it is a no-brainer that you are going to get temporary posts as well, so will she change the policy and allow local authorities to make these teaching posts permanent? The teaching profession, as we have already heard, is utterly depressed. It has been treated very poorly by this Government. Is it going to change its ways? Cabinet secretary, I will say to Willie Rennie exactly what the First Minister said to Willie Rennie as he raised this issue a few weeks ago. She said, and I will reiterate once again that we need all possible teaching resources at our disposal as we move to education recovery. We are taking the Covid education recovery as a Government exceptionally seriously, and that is why I would expect permanent employment opportunities to be the priority of the local authorities, as does the First Minister.


It's time. It's time. It's time. For what? For what? We want to know who's who on the curious crew today. So Bella, would you help us meet everybody? Hi, Justice. What's your name? Levi. Hi, Levi. Hi, Grace. Hi, Jonah. Hi, Bella. What's your name? Dorothy. Hi, Dora. What's my name? Help her tell her name. Do you remember? Somebody help. What's the little puppet's name? Jeanette. Hi, Jeanette. And she can ask this big, big person, big word over there. What's your name? I'm George. Everybody say hi to George. Hi, George. Yeah, he's kind of shy, but thank you for including him, Bella. That was so nice. Okay, so we're gonna find out. So our two friends, Jeanette and George, are always curious. And sometimes between shows, they ask me questions. So I write verses about what they're thinking about. We're gonna start with the verse about the zebra, and then we have a new verse. Okay? Remember, giraffe looked over at zebra. Giraffe looked over at zebra, and said, Why do I have spots? Why do you have stripes? And we were just struck and said, We come in all types, but we all share one big sky. Oh, yeah. Share one big sky. Share one big sky. Give the world a big high five. Yeah, we're different and we know it, but we all get along. Because we can all share, and we can all care. We're different, but we all belong. Okay, we have sung this verse many, many times, but we never stopped to talk about it. So I'm interested in how zebra answered. Giraffe just shrugged. So what was the question? What did giraffe want to know? The zebra had stripes. Yes, and what did the zebra say back? Or what did he not say? Or what did he do? We all share one big sky. But we all can share the sky. Even though we're all different, we all belong. We all belong. So those good answers? You feel happy about that? Yeah. All right, I just thought I'd check in. Does it matter? Just shrugged and gave a high five? Is it okay just to shrug it off? Yeah. Okay, you can say yes or no. Yeah? All right, just checking in. Okay, so now the next verse is going to say, giraffe looked over at the black and white sign. Black lives matter. He read out loud. How can we live? So we all stand proud underneath this one big sky. Okay, here we go. Oh yeah. Giraffe looked over at the black and white sign. Black lives matter. He read out loud. How can we live? So we can all stand proud underneath this one big sky. Oh yeah, here we go. Share one big sky. Share one big sky. Give the world a big high five. Yeah, we're different and we know it, but we all get along. Because we can all share and we can all care. We're different, but we all belong. All right. So what was this verse about? Anybody? Lily? It was about half different things than spots. Okay. All right. Gracie, thank you, Lily. This verse was particularly about what's happening in society these days, like black lives matter and different people being, like I guess treated differently because of the color of their skin. And yeah, it's just like these days they have like these black lives matter sign, which they totally do. Like everyone's lives matter. Every person's life has worse and value. It's not just life is something we're given that we can use. It's given. Life is something we're given, which will take us, that's very nice, thoughtful. Anybody else want to say anything about these two verses? Okay. All right. So this time I've written a new song about what makes us have spots or stripes or lighter or darker or something in between kinds of appearances on our skin or our fur or whatever, right? And there's something in this song is going to say our parents and grandparents gave us their DNA. Anybody have a clue what that's about? I'm going to guess that probably the older folks might have an idea. Did you want to give it a try? It seems like our parents gave us their DNA. Maybe that's like their culture or maybe they're like life or something. Maybe they're like illnesses or something. I don't know. Okay. A lot of things is in our DNA, Gracie. The DNA.  One of the things that DNA gives us is the same kind of skin like our parents. There we go. Yeah. Well, I think the DNA is, we learned in the fifth grade that it's part of our chromosomes. It's part of your cells in your body.  That all depends on the DNA. Lots of attributes. Lots of attributes. Like everything about you is different. Partly because of your DNA. There you go. And DNA is short. Those letters are short for this really long word. Except in the order it just goes say it carefully. Everybody, go ahead. DNA. There you go. DNA. And I can have to admit that I didn't look it up. Would you like me to look up that big word really quickly? No. I think. Yes, no, maybe so. Yeah, I think. How about I'm going to let, would one of you like to look it up while we're, okay, Grace, you just see if you can find out while we sing this song, okay? He said, help us with the song too. And even if you find it later, then we'll find out what that DNA stands for. But you have exactly said, I like to think of DNA. It's kind of like, like inside of a seed, it knows how to grow to be either a flower or a fruit or something. Same thing with DNA. It makes us who we are. Here we go. Let's give this, we were just learning this. What makes a person a person? What makes a person a friend? What makes a person meet black or brown or tan? Friendships come in every shade of skin. Our instant grandparents gave us their DNA. It happened long ago. We didn't. Whatever skin we're in, that we wear the love and wisdom from our ancestors back then. What makes a person a person? What makes a person a friend? What makes a person be black or brown or tan? Friendships come in every shade of skin. We've chosen and changed every day. Our feelings they come. It's always closest to us every minute, every day.  It's closest to you. What makes a person a person? What makes a person a friend? What makes a person be black or brown or tan? Friendships come in every shade of skin. Many shades of earth, darker or lighter, or somewhere in between. Every single person is a person of worth. So many different people makes it interesting. Last time. How about you do the rhythm on your laps? What makes a person a person? What makes a person a friend? What makes a person be black or brown or tan? Friendships come in every shade of skin. All right. Now Grace, do you have something to share with us? Yes. It's a really long word. It's a really long word that most of us would never remember. So that's why it gave it kind of a nickname. A little short name DNA. All right. Thank you for looking that up. For those who might have been curious what that stood for. Okay. Now would everybody choose a friend from up front? Choose one and bring it back. Here, I'll take Janette now. She's done her part. Lily, can you please hand me the tiger? How about, okay, so here's your challenge. We're going to sing it. It has a lot of yeah, exactly. But if they repeat, easy words actually. And as you hear, look at what you chose. Look at your animal and see what you've got. Okay.  Sing it with me if you can, but I'll keep it going. A tiger skunk and a zebra belong to the same club. The others wanted to join so much, but they said no way above because you gotta have stripes to join the club. You gotta have stripes to join the club. You gotta have stripes to join the club. You gotta have stripes have stripes. The others wanted to join so much. They bought some paint at a shop. They painted themselves. And when it dried, they painted stripes on top because they had to have stripes to join the club. They had to have stripes to join the club. They had to have stripes to join the club. They had to have stripes have stripes. They others joined the club and they became best friends just like family can. Then one hot day they went swimming, but when the others jumped again, it washed away all their stripes one by one. It washed away all their stripes one by one. It washed away all their stripes one by one. It washed away all their stripes. No stripes. The tigers skunk and the zebra, they could not believe their eyes. The leopards, the others looked themselves over and then they started to cry. We don't have any stripes. We just have spots. We don't have any stripes. We just have spots. We don't have any stripes. We just have spots. We don't have any stripes. No stripes. The tigers skunk and the zebra, they saw what they had done. They told the others they changed their club. Now it's open to everyone. You don't have to have stripes to join our club. You don't have to have stripes to join our club. You don't have to have stripes to join our club. You don't have to have stripes of stripes. You don't have to have stripes. You can be yourself. You don't have to have stripes. You can be yourself. You don't have to have stripes. You to be yourself. You don't have to have stripes. No stripes. All right. So what did those animals find out? Yes, to be something you own. Gracie? Change yourself in any way. Be something if you want to join something or like be a friend with someone. You don't have to change yourself or do anything. You can just be yourself. Oh boy. You all are really getting it. Yes. If you want to join a club, you don't just have to be someone else. You can still be yourself and then after they might see what they did and then they can say you can join a club. That's very important, Belly. You notice that they, some people have said, no, you have to be the same as us to be part of it, but when they got to know each other, they realized what they had done and they said, hey, when I know you, I really, really am glad to know you. And I noticed when we were singing that when they just sort of had their club and the others were watching, everybody is kind of just kind of going along. Not happy, not sad, just kind of blah. But then when they all got together, what happened? Happy. You guys were spontaneously. You were just up and happy and it was just very much more fun. Now I have a question. Here comes another friend, maybe from another part of the world. Can this cat play? Yeah. Does she have stripes? No. Does she have spots? No. But can she play? Yes. Yes. All right. Because these are the stripes. So you can find something alike and something different. And now she's really happy. All right. Okay. So what if you were with some friends and say you were all having a good time, but somebody new came to the playground and your friends said, oh gosh, we don't know them. So don't play because I don't know them yet. What might you say or do? Maybe, maybe. Okay, Lily, what might you say? If you're not going to play with them, I am because if they probably don't have any friends here and so I'm going to be their new friends and stuff. So you could tell your friend that? So even though you're not playing with them, I'm gonna, I can't tell you what to do. Oh, wow. All right. Levi, what would you do in that situation? I would have played with them because they're new, as Lily said, and they probably don't have much friends. And they need to feel welcome. Wow. And have any of you ever been in that position being the one that's newer with the group? I have been newer. Wait, Jonah. Oh, I'm sorry. Levi, you finished. I have been newer, but I didn't, no one was like, don't play with them, he's a nail. Everybody was friendlier? Yeah, great. I'm glad to hear that. See, when I came member of a specific term, I joined an Osaka team and I didn't know anybody and I'm usually nice though. I'm glad to hear that. And Jonah, did you say that happened for you?  That's what you can do. Even if you haven't actually had it, you can listen to your heart and you can go, that could be me. If that was me, I sure would like it if somebody would speak up. So this is a song I sing for. A song lives within me. I speak up for a voice lives within me. We're going to just do maybe, let's do three verses so we can get on to another song. Let's do, I sing for a song lives within me. I speak up for a voice lives within me. And what should the last one be? I am me for I live within me. I am me for I live within me. All right, that's great. Can I do the high part? Yes. And Grace knows the high part. Some of you sing with me and if some of you have a higher voice and want to go with her, you can. I sing for a song lives within me. I sing for a song. I sing and let the song in you. I speak up. I speak up for a voice lives within me. I speak up for a voice lives within me. I speak up and wants to join with the voice in you. I am me. I am me for I live within me. I am me. That's funny. Wants to join with the me in you. What a funny verse, but it worked, huh? Yeah. We make it work. Okay, awesome. All right. Well, the last song that I would love to teach you was written by a friend of mine. She's called Culture Queen. And her other name that her family calls her is Jessica, Jessica Smith. But Culture Queen is her performing name. She's a performer. I like the me I see. I am who I'm supposed to be. I like the me I see. I know who I'm supposed to be. Though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. Though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see. So I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see. So I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see. So I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like my hair, it's supposed to be there. I like my eyes, I can see the world wide.  I like my lips, I can give you a kiss. I like my lips, I can give you a kiss. I like the me I see, so I'm who I'm supposed to be. I like the me I see, though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like my skin, I feel comfortable within.  I like my tummy, I like my knees, I can bend as I please. I like my feet, I can dance to the beat. I like the me I see, I am who I'm supposed to be. I like the me I see, though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. Say, I like the me I see, I am who I'm supposed to be. Say, though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. Won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see, though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see, though we're different from another, won't compare myself to others. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see, so I'll stick to others. I like the me I see. I like the me I see. So I'll stick to be in me. So I'll stick to be in me. I like the me I see. I like the me I see. So I'll stick to be in me. So I'll stick to be in me. Okay, so the mystery box. I was like, do it. So it's good you asked. That's, you know what you did? You know what you did? We sang our song about keep asking questions. So she kept asking. Okay, so this is a new has come and the thing that's special about butterflies is and the skin on the butterfly. What does it look like when it's when it's just a young butterfly? Yes. Oh, look, he said the predator would be frightened away. That's part of its look. See the eyes underneath. That makes it look like a bigger animal to scare the predators. So what I was thinking when I got it is when he's he or she was little, and she was just a little crawling what? Like a caterpillar above just on the ground. Didn't know inside. As life went along, all those life experiences and woke up one day able to do something it had never been able to do before. So let's all sing with a butterfly one last time. I like the me I see I am who I'm supposed to be though I'm different from another one compare myself to others. Now wave to everybody. I like the me I see so else I like the me I see so I'll stick to being me.


This video is brought to you by Magic Spoon. Stick around for an amazing offer. Boy oh boy, is today gonna be great. Hey, I know. Let's start off right with some tunes. And that was Driver's License by the very talented Olivia Rodrigo. I'm your boy, hot ding-a-dang-do! And I'm DJ Devious Tax Accounting, and you're listening to San Antonio's own 94.1 The Wauza! Man, I love the Wauza! It's been a long, hard week for you guys out there, but I know exactly what's gonna make your day better. Yeah, another song. That's right, DJ DTA. It's time for some prank call! But hey, wait. Alright, he's alive, he's alive. Hello, sir? Sir, this is a pilot doodoo from Wauza Lawn Care Service, and we are just calling to confirm your order for 4.20 pounds of fertilizer this afternoon. Uh, no, sorry. You must have the wrong number. I did not order any fertilizer. Well, the guy's already in root, so good luck with the 4.20 pounds of manure dumped on your lawn! I mean, I am a gardener, so sure. Yeah, I'll take it. This saves me a lot of time and money, actually. Uh...awkward. Well, that didn't go so well, people, but don't you worry. We're gonna try again right after this commercial break. Stick around. I will, boss. And that's been Good For You by Olivia Rodrigo, and you know what? Good for her. Call your man out! Anyways, my name's Sally Belch-Wilson, and this has been 103.5 The Sewer, playing punk, grunge, and everything else your dad said you couldn't listen to as a kid. And you know what else your dad said you couldn't do as a kid? A lot of things, really. Make fun of strangers, but you wanna know what that's what we're gonna do right here right now in The Sewer! Danny, get another prank on the line! Not again! Hey, is this like Tammy? Yes, it is. May I ask who is speaking? Yeah, about that. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but I'm a vet tech with the Grungy Boy Animal Health Clinic, and your iguana has an acute case of feline leukemia. What? I don't have an iguana? Not for long. That's kind of what I'm getting at. But that's not even funny. That's just mean. You know, this is my fault. I just can't trust local. Let's go bigger. And that was our classical choral rendition of Olivia Rodrigo's deja vu. Quite the emotional experience, wasn't it? And in just a few moments, folks, we here at NBR are going to bring you our special field report on peanut butter baby bumpers. That's right. Peanut butter baby bumpers. Alright, well, boring. But honestly, at this point, that's an improvement. But first, let's get up to a little good old-fashioned mischief, shall we? Yes. Hi, hello. Is this Archibald? It most certainly is. Well, this is Lana Elroy-Mick Stevenson, and I'm afraid I'm calling to let you know that your subscription to The New Yorker is about to expire. That can't be. I paid for the next decade in advance. This is an outrage. Alright, you know what? No. No. Just no. I'm done. Yo, this is hot-niggity-dang-dog, and DJ Fraud with fries, and you're live on Bright Cause Live!  Here's the situation, friends.     But we all tolerate it.  All I ask for is 30 minutes a day while I drive to work to disassociate a little and listen to forgettable pop music with some teenager melodically harassing her ex over and over again about their breakup. But no. You can't give me that. Instead, you somehow think I'm tuning in every morning to listen to you call us, the modern society, who by the way have not answered our phone in so long that we don't even remember what our ringer sounds like, to listen to you try and push us over the edge. But guess what? We're already there. Teetering. Our jobs do that to us, okay? That is exactly what I turned to the radio to try to escape.  Literally, every day. And you should be ashamed. Or that's what I would say if this weren't a prank call. You should have seen the look on your faces. That's right. 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Log entry the catch scarlet Queen Philip Connie master Physician three degrees 44 minutes south 158 degrees 13 minutes west Wind fresh sky fair remarks Departed Christmas Island. It's after interruption of holiday plans reason for interruption the 15th llama and the wise guy from the East the name Christmas was given to the island by its Discoverer Captain James Cook who dropped the first civilized anchor off its west shore on Christmas Eve 1777 celebrated the holiday and left on the second day of the new year We raised the outline of its palm groves just two days short of 170 years later And slipped into its sheltered lagoon to see what we could do to set the scene for our own celebration It wasn't much we could arrange for a state-side rotor grove your style Christmas scene But with memories and the ache of homesickness to be fought by activity The crewman worked a change on the deck of the scarlet Queen an awning went up over number two holes Reeds was sliced out of lengths of spare horses The Christmas tree materialized out of the shaft of an ore to which will last branches from pandanus time My son said it was draped with light lines some dipped in red paint summons light We were buried so deeply in the new yuletide atmosphere that it was only by chance that my Chief mate Gallagher lifted his head to see the stranger standing in through the reef paddock Wasn't quite a liner but almost It was a trim luxurious power yacht the luri with a fortune and bright work shining in the setting sun It knows into anchorage a few yards off our starboard beam and a man in a white linen suit stepped to the boat deck rail We'd almost forgotten christmas Until we heard the cry of a baby in one of his cabins And then the hail Mutual continues the voyage of the scarlet queen written by gildowd and bob tollman and starring elliott louis Scarlet queen protest ship to plow the seas bound for uncharted adventure Every week a complete entry in the log and every week a league further In the voyage of the scarlet queen Major gregory us good the mgcb the british usage uh companion of the box. Welcome aboard. Thank you, sir This is my chief officer. Mr. Gallagher glad to know you my honor, sir and you captain carney Well made gentlemen indeed a pleasant surprise to find you and your company here. Thanks come on in the camera I'd like to obvious some hospitality made That hail of yours about the three amissaries from the orient threw us a little out of trap I should be surprised, sir if it had not started you Well, let us see it was a mere phrase gentlemen in the spirit of the season and that was a baby We heard wasn't it? Yes. It so happens that I do have a child aboard So now major red. Oh, oh, yeah, I'll get it.  I am transporting them to the homeland Thank you seasons greeting to your boat and the you know, I do No, uh more pleasant subject gentlemen If I might beg another portion of that, uh, case to spirit sure help yourself A friendly cup gentlemen from time immemorial the cement of comrade ship and the dispeller of loneliness He cemented comrade ship and dispelled loneliness right down to the bottom of the bottle before dark And left after insisting that gallagher and I have dinner with him aboard his yacht We put our dinghy over the side at about 6 30 Stoked it across the few yards of water between the ships and climbed the polished accommodation ladder to the equally polished deck And into the salon.  Yeah, we ought to have you for our song, but uh It is a dismal croak gentlemen, but could you hear the feeling behind it? Yeah, this door The first thing I noticed as we went in was the chinese girl standing beside a box like crib She was quite beautiful her coloring delicate her face less moon shapes than the usual Her whole physical attitude the way she held herself Somehow a little non-oriental She looked at us and so waiting half fearfully for us to start something This gentleman is the mother shin yang singy, but the introduction must remain silent since the poor girl speaks no English That don't seem to be stopping the sprout here. He sounds like he's got the makings of a good chief mate Many little chap is he not come come little fellow smile for your new friends Look at that jipper with my finger He thinks it's a hat yet.   There's no cause for fear Hey, you know then gentlemen, I've seen two refreshments for with which to wet your appetite Hey, and then we should see what vaguely fair will be set before us by my pet treatment The chinese girl was still standing there as we left. We didn't see her for the rest of the night The cocktails were refreshing the dinner was not vaguely and the magazines we browsed through afterwards were recent Little after ten red and I shoved off and rode back to the queen Guy was bright with moonlight and star film The phosphorescence swirled off the blade of the oars He's quite a host jipper. Yeah Looks out quite a spread. Yeah What's the matter you sound like you got indigestion from I just thinking it over red I wonder why the hearty major is lying Lying why should he that's what I say? I don't know what makes you think he is Magazine I ran across red On child care in english. Oh, yeah, I guess it's their party. Come on. Let's hit the sack The next day brought more visitors to our lagoon First it was a trim gaff rig schooner that stood in through the passage and dropped anchor just a stern of the luri Few hours later a lugger put her hooked down off our stern I had realized the christmas island was so popular But we had affairs of our own to keep our minds on Just after sunset nielson came into the cabin to bring me the latest developer That's what I have a word with your captain. Yeah, how things going nielson. Yeah, but pretty good We were even getting some presents under their christmas tree and more of them was showing up every few minutes a little earlier I think I thought they decided tomorrow would be the day for the present Well, that's what I come to talk to you about captain with all the work They did getting things rigged up and with those presents burning holes in their seabags They don't want to with no longer they they get carried away and they want to have the party tonight They got carried away nielson. How about you? Oh me? Well Yeah, I think it would be better tonight I think by golly. I put my presents under the tree first You tell them and they can do anything they want though. Yeah, and you and the chief will be there A typhoon couldn't keep us away here nielson keys to the liquor stores and don't be shy Or you'll be spending the night running back after more. Thank you captain. They won't be shy tonight Oh nielson keep the man out of sight for about 15 minutes. Were you? Mr. Gallagher and I got some packages to get out there under that tree. Aye. Aye, sir By golly, this will be a good one We were in the cabin with 10 minutes to go before we met the crew at the tree Changed to fresh jumpers and dungarees Red was humming happily and he was making a stab at shining his seagulls We didn't hear it until red stopped humming Yeah, I hear it Let's quit kidding ourselves red. He's aboard. He's on deck. Come on There was no place else to go It was the chinese girl wet clothes clinging to her her dripping child squirming angrily in her arms Will you please help us? How'd you get here to swim? There was no other way I had to get land away from him Could you find something dry to wrap him?  He'll stop crying when he's dry I'm telling you skipper. This one does it. I'm finding a new girl Here's a towel for you. Thank you Captain I I didn't know where to turn And after seeing the way you acted with my son on major osgood ship I knew he was lying when he told me you were trying to take land away from me Wait a minute. Yeah, that sounds a little funny to me too He told me to pretend that I didn't speak english so that you wouldn't try to talk to me Why shouldn't we talk to you because he didn't want you to know the truth I didn't know the truth until those two ships arrived today Two Tibetan officials came on them and after the major told them about my son I heard them bidding for him And now I know that either one would kill him to keep the other ones from scaring him You need a drink No, I don't You've got to believe me My son was lotus born lotus born. How's that work? He has a small birthmark on his back that he shaped exactly like a lotus blossom with seven petals Grant yeah, it's here. All right skipper right between his shoulder blades Okay, what's the rest of it? It makes of him a very special baby Major osgood told me that lin must go to Tibet to take the place of the 14th suga lama Who died during the same hour in which my son was born If it were ordained I was willing to give up my son But I didn't know that he'd be bargained over as a political pawn by two power crazy officials Where was your son born in san francisco? Major osgood's brother was the doctor who delivered him Then while the major kept us in hiding he sent a man named grind to Tibet It all sounded like the grand dreams that every mother has for her son But now it's nothing Don't kill him. I know they will no, I don't think they will I don't think they'll lay a finger on your son as long as he's on this ship But they'll be here after him If you knew what it meant to them Either one would have the power to rule the buddhist world if he could take lin with him They'll do anything to get him. Look, there's a cabin right through that passageway small, but it's private I hear some clothes about eight sizes too big for you, but they're dry You'll feel better when you get into them. Now go on. We'll take care of the kids All right captain con How do you like this much great? We can't talk a little charlie here to the wolves, can we? No Not till he gets some hair on his chest anyway, and now look at him The thankless little brat he gets us into this mess and now he goes to sleep red I'll match it to see who goes forward to tell the crew.  I'll put that in my log major. What do you want? At first, uh, I would like to present to you my associate mr. William grind happy to meet you captain Oh, I agree captain events have a mere fraction of an hour ago taken a distressing turn Now what happened my charge is a cum lay Chinese girl and her infant son have disappeared sir lock stock and barrel Why'd you come here? Well, just on a chance first captain, but uh, maybe we were right You got the marks of wet feet on your deck here. I told you have sir leading directly to your cabin Yeah, I just took a dip And have you heard or laid eyes upon this upon my disappearing passengers in the first place I haven't had time to look or listen The second place I don't Well now there's a strangely familiar sound Uh-huh. Yeah, captain I suggest that we retire to your cabin where we may discuss this like gentlemen Well, sir Well, I don't see why not come on But you could forget any ideas you might have about taking the kid off this ship We decided he didn't want to be a llama. You are aware of the styling truth Then sir, surely you just would you intimate that he will be denied the honor glory and homage which are Is just oh, what are you handing me? Well the find of the century, sir It is destiny destiny that is rushing him headlong toward his rightful position as the 15th suga llama Who sir who I ask would dare to stand in the way of destiny. Who sir? I wouldn't take it easy with that desk Yeah, you made a mistake over your sacrilegious statement captain. Uh, mr. Grimes quiet the child away from them Grimes Listen may do your soul does mother this bilge up to a point You've evidently sold your emissaries from the orient on it Maybe you've even sold yourself, but I don't buy so easily and the mother lost interest when your two politicians started fighting over The kid like it was a pork barrel bill being shoved through congress that I must say is an odd reaction Since she herself would be a no bird and held in the reverence. You were clean Not so odd when it looked like the bargaining would end with the kid being knocked off by one of your boys So the other one couldn't have him. Yes, you are the pessimistic one captain I will admit that the emissaries coming from rival prelates did become somewhat feverish in their bargain while we're on the subject of that bargaining Who was the highest bidder going to pay? Who was going to collect? Well It may surprise you to learn that I was oh it doesn't Why else would you bring two men from rival prelates to your little auction the kids staying on this ship and you are leaving Not so fast corny. You are of course assuming that you have the right to interfere in a matter Which is most definitely none of your affair. Yeah, since the boy was born in the states and this is an american ship Is that enough major? Yes, it's enough I ask one small favor captain more in desperation and in the hope of any show of generosity from you It may indeed save my life as well as that mr. Graham I beg of you sir allow me to bring to this cabin my two Clients so that they may at least view the infant if they do not see him, sir Their anger will no doubt reach extremes fatal to me as well as to my associate mr. Graham All right major. I'll give it a try but i'm gonna have some armed crewmen in needless precaution captain I assure you that our arrival will be in the spirit of the evening, sir That's a peace honor and goodwill toward men By the time he got back with them, we had the cabin ready for the audience We had the child bedded down in my bunk with his mother sitting beside him And two crewmen heavy with weapons standing on each side of the cabin The two Tibetans were draped in long roads and wore the black skullcaps of their station The first was thin with an angular face and snapping black eyes I would like to present you a fair line doing the emissary from suga captain carney It is with honor that I greet you captain welcome a boy This then is the child the second was older heavier with a set face that looked as though it had forgotten how to smile I would like to present rahima kashkar the emissary from shigati captain carney. I greet you from the heart captain Welcome a boy. I would see the child without further waste of time The two robed figures bent silently over the sleeping boy Moved him with gentle hands lifted the blanket so that they could see the lotus mark on his back They stood still silent for almost a minute Then turned toward me we would be honored to take the child now and make our decision as to which of us he was Wait a minute I thought you knew nobody's taking a child But words are those the boy belongs to us but these men understood. I thought you told them no Tell him god captain. What could I tell them save the two sir stand defiantly before them in the very act of kidnapping the child What were the doubts the major took with his hands our payment We will take the child by force if we move out with us to Tibet We have fulfilled our bargain to you major. I do have fulfilled my obligations I have brought you to the child from now on gentlemen your negotiations are with the captain.  You will not be successful captain We are well armed. We will not permit you to go until we have the child We got more threats of armed boarding parties from the Tibetans as we helped them over the side I pulled the crew the rest of the way out of their party mood armed them In the faint light of the westing moon we watched the oriental crews join forces on the lugger All in all it was a great christmas eve And the poor little guy who was causing it all slept peacefully through it on my phone Well, what do we do just sit here? We can't sail out. They'll swarm all over as if we start to move What a holiday If we can hold out until the moon drops behind the pond and we get some shadow out here I'm going to try something anyway. There was I think the way to spring this trap is through the major, but I gotta have something to bargain with Red if we can get our heaviest horse around his anchor cable and secure it Is sure I think I'll have it. You think it can be done? Listen, I changed to baby tonight after that anything's a breeze 40 minutes later. It was dark enough for us to go to work With only a few yards between us and the lorry. I was able to make the whole swim underwater But I found something better than the anchor cable to use Groping down the curve of the lorry steel bow for depth my hand hit a metal ring welded to the hull to be used for bracing a dry dock I slipped my line through it Headed back toward the queen 15 minutes later red had the other end of the horse is secured and the lorry was moored neatly to shore I went into the cabin for dry clothes Shot at a radio message down on a blank And rode over to the lorry Grimes met me at the top of the ladder with a tomson sub held ready at his hip and ushered me into the Salon Well, sir a visit that I must confess is quite unexpected the christmas spirit major give and receive I don't follow you sir. You're well. It's simple I have you to thank for being bottled up now. You have me to thank for the same thing With me if the Tibetans with you it's a stout horse from your ship's bottom to a palm tree assure Mr. Grimes, if you please hand me your weapon or it wants to stern and test the captain's integrity Don't take your eyes off them major never fear. I shan't You were an extraordinary fellow captain to go to such length. Oh, here. Here's a radio message I sent earlier tonight for the island officials on fanning a hundred or so miles north You accused me of kidnapping the youngsters. So I've accused you of the same thing Yeah Why actually captain, this is no more than a shield force cap. Am I to take your word that you made this? No, no, you don't have to take my word. Why don't you wait for the patrol boat? It'll be in tomorrow This situation yeah, what do you suggest major? Does it view you the ship's making sternway captain? I know it isn't yes, sir Perhaps you have a suggestion as to how we might extricate ourselves from this deadlock Have you now yeah give and receive You call your Tibetans off the boy in me and I'll call the arresting officers off of you Discaraging thoughts sir since I would be forced to return to them the payment already received you couldn't spend it in prison anyway Now that was unnecessarily cruel rejoinness, sir Assuming that my actions were as per your suggestion. How then would you proceed? Oh, it's simple radio them that the first message was based upon for the information tell them to ignore it What would your story be? I presume that I would be forced to tell the truth That actually the boys by no means metaphysically fitted to become the sugai lama. I figured it much Yeah, he was born at least four days before the lama's death someone tampered with his birth records Well, sir. Oh mr. Graham. Oh, we're caught fast. All right major Now I must be fast nor a dry dark hook. It's too deep to reach You've seen only one small portion of our dilemma mr. Graham Go fetch the chess we so recently received from the emissaries for our very freedom We are forced to return them what you're going to give them back Yes, an ancient spirit of christmas to give is to receive if you please mr. Graham It would be wise of you never to forget that He stopped at the queen on his way back from his visit with the Tibetans a sadly deflated major His clothes torn his face bruised his hands raised specifically We told him we'd cast off the hawzer and that the lorry was free to sneak away in the darkness He climbed back to his small boat. Goodbye gentlemen and sad paradox I feel driven to wish a merry christmas to y'all Thank you, my dear. Many of them Captain could I have a word? Yeah, sure nielson. What is it? Well captain? It's 2 a.m. But but the men have been waiting and they wondered if it would be all right You really want to have that party now nielson? That's right captain. They there was awful disappoint Turn them loose nielson. We missed christmas evil. We got 22 hours of christmas day ahead of us Yes, it is nothing like an early start. Well, we got that no mistake. Let's see. We can make of it. Hey It's a deck of every last minute And come out sing them a carol What had proved I guess was that time is relative and that christmas is christmas even on christmas island The lorry and the other ships moved out And the men were like kids again packages were ripped open gifts compared The cook spread slightly stale from the long wait was wolfed down the bottles moved The lagoon began to echo to the same carols the saint march choir was singing Ours weren't good But they were loud Brightly shone the moon that night so the cross was crowed Burned a fair man came inside All that one of our number enjoyed them and he was a loud minority I wonder if he'd ever realize what this particular christmas meant to him But when I looked at his mother cradling him in her arms, I knew he would The joy that shone from her face was different from ours I Couldn't help but think That her feelings must have burned pretty much like those of the other mother The way she held her tiny son and looked not at us Not at our jewelry christmas tree not at the island of the sky But beyond Into a clear but unknown future Looking at her I felt for just a moment But I really understood the holiday we were celebrating The rest is for 24 hours after the party During which a cutter arrived from Fanning Island to pick up Sheen Yang's sing and her son and get them headed back toward the state By three that afternoon we nosed out through the reef and into the southeast trade The men moved to their station slowly Looking out over the stern at the island And remembering a laugh for a song and the meaning of good comradeship The block snapped taut the reeds groaned under the hatties The big mainsail felled out in the breeze the jib shut up The mizzen twang into work And the scarlet queen seemed to shake herself a little Before she got balanced between wind and water dropped her port rail and settled down into her car Then her rigging sang and her deck started to glisten with the spray She kicked into the wind that swept across her. That's a nice little breeze. Gipper, are we getting all of it? Yeah, I don't think we're missing a whiff. You know, I've been feeling kind of ashamed, Gipper. About what, Rad? About that Christmas party. Always great, and we all knocked ourselves out and got a lot of presents, but We didn't do one thing for our queen here. All right. No, no, not even a new penance. Not one piece of new line. Oh, no. No, well, I'll bet you didn't even give her a thought. The blazes, I didn't. That's why I don't feel guilty like you do. I don't know. Well, think it over. All the things that happened aboard her. She was Christmas. Her whole works. Are you going to top that? Would a wasp do? Right, a Christmas toast. Here, Gipper. To the queen of the Scarlet Queen. After you, mate. After you. Log entry. The catch, Scarlet Queen. 5.30 p.m. Wind fresh. Sky fair. Sea calm with long crosswell. Carrying full sail. Ship secure for night. Signed Phillip Carney. Master. The voyage of the Scarlet Queen has come to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.


Okay, Joseph from Houston, Texas writes, we have an interim CEO who wants to throw his hat into the ring cowboy hat, I should say, into the ring of leadership. Can you tell us if this is appropriate. Someone on our team says it is not. You're the interim queen. What say you. It's totally inappropriate. It happens. I do know that it happens and I also will tell you Joseph, every single interim gig opportunity position that I have held the board always asked me to stay for the full position. So this is a conversation that professional interim leaders are very versed in navigating. So that might be your difference. I don't know who you placed as your interim CEO. I do know that there are people that take on that title of an interim CEO, but they are not truly trained in this arena, if you will. So therefore the bright shiny object comes swimming on by and they're like, hey, I think this is great. And I'm just going to stay maybe I've gotten comfortable. I've really gotten to know the culture, everything feels, you know, just really nice. But here's the difference and why I say no is this individual who has been serving as your interim CEO now has a leg up on the relationships on the organization, their knowledge of the organization at large. And so I do not think that it is a play or sorry, a fair playing field. And so in that case, every time I start an interim, you know, opportunity, I always tell my client and it's actually in my contract that I am here for the short term for that temporary succession and have no desire intent to stay on or to put my hat in the ring as you say, for that full position.


It's that time again. We have something very special for today's video game storytime advent calendar, a world exclusive thanks to a little bit of genuine journalism on our part. Ever wondered why papyrus and sands from Undertale are skeletons? They're actually a reference to the popular webcomic Helvetica, which, as you might have guessed, is about a skeleton that's named after a font. A couple of years ago, we had the privilege of interviewing the extremely talented JN Wiedel, creator of Helvetica, who has also worked on a variety of other projects you may have heard of, such as the Sonic Mania Adventures animations. When we spoke to them, they were kind enough to explain how and why Toby Fox designed papyrus and sands. Toby and I have become friends through our mutual interest slash involvement in Homestuck. The details on this are muddy in my memory, but sometime in 2013, Toby was like, I'm making a game. And I was like, oh cool, I'm excited. I didn't know what to expect. Well, I remember when the demo dropped and sands and papyrus were included in it as a gesture from Toby to me. They were created as a joke on my character Helvetica. For context, Helvetica, the font, is well utilized by graphic designers because of its uniformity and crispness. Comic sands and papyrus, however, are very disliked and looked down upon. A lot of graphic designers who are just starting out often go overboard in their hate of these fonts. Hello, well. So, in a way, sands and papyrus were kind of like cheap knockoffs of Helvetica. Of course, they became so much more. The full interview that JN Wiedel gave us is absolutely fascinating, but we had to put it to one side and never quite finished our video on their contributions to Undertale. Perhaps we'll try and get it done for the release of Delta Roon Chapter 2, whenever that happens. In the meantime, we'll see you tomorrow for the next tiny advent calendar video. We'll be covering the origin of Waluigi and why he and Wario don't have girlfriends.