Stw-on i gael gwybodaeth y First-Minist pew polynom i dd gennymu ffasglwg, ac ni dim yn mwy bod, yn nodi'r dcyclwyddiant, o'r adyapus cyfarfxon y gyharfod yng Nghymru? F proud i gael gwybodaeth tighteroedd yn chredig o. Ond mae wrth gwrs, ond lleiwhwn i'r ffordd drewfynol, wrth fynd i'r ffordd, drws, wrth fynd, o'r ffordd, nghymru ymddangos i'n gwybod a ddigonwys. Diolch yn fawr. Ac mae'n cael ei ddechrau i'r Gwyrdynion Llywodraethau. Mae'r ddweud i chi wedi gyrchwp o'r gwrs, ddim yn gweithio i'r ddweud. Dyma i chi'r ddweud i ddweud i'r ddweud o'r gwybod. Ond rhawn, nid i ddim yn gwneud, gyda'r wyf ni, I First Minister, i ddesgrifennu'r arferwadau sefydliau'r iawn. Last week, at First Minister's Questions, Jackson Carlaw ddim yn gychegwyaeth i'r cyflwyno cy Cambesol. I have done so. The Parliamentary Bureau discussed this earlier this week. Last week, Richard Leonard ddim yn gyfryd mwy fferyll o'r gwir Bwyrluddol, i'r the advisers on the ministerial code. I have done that. In addition, the Scottish Government will establish a review. I can tell the chamber today that will be externally led. I will have no role in that, any role I would have performed in the establishment of that. I have asked the Deputy First Minister to perform instead. Of course there is an on-going police inquiry. I will answer any question to the fullest extent possible. My Government will co-operate fully with all and any inquiries. Other members in the chamber now need to recognise that, having asked for those investigations, they are also now obliged to respect those investigations. Jackson Carlaw. She can't hide behind an inquiry and likely forthcoming police inquiry without answering the obvious questions who knew what, when and how. Those are not my words. Those are the words of Nicola Sturgeon in 2007, when, as Deputy First Minister, she was demanding answers of Wendy Alexander over donations to the Labour Party. By Nicola Sturgeon's own definition, we have both the right and the responsibility to ask questions now. First Minister, we also have the right to answers too. Since we last discussed this at First Minister's Questions, we have learned that there were other contacts beyond those that the First Minister revealed to Parliament last week. We have learned that her chief of staff met a former aide of Mr Sammons not once but twice prior to the first meeting in April 2. It has been reported at one of those meetings that the First Minister's chief of staff, to quote Mr Sammons' team, tipped them off. She said that she suspected that an investigation was under way. Two inquiries will get to the bottom of all this, but surely the First Minister does not need an inquiry to realise that, if that is indeed what happened, it was just plain wrong. First Minister. If Jackson Carlaw takes the view now that respecting inquiries that have been established constitutes hiding behind them, then it begs the question, why did Jackson Carlaw ask for such an inquiry to be set up last week? That was his challenge to me last week. Support a parliamentary inquiry, I have done that. The challenge from the other side of the chamber was to refer myself to the advisers on the ministerial code. I have done that as well. There will be a Government review of the process and, of course, there is an on-going police inquiry. I have set out an account of the decisions that I took. I have also corrected inaccurate claims that have appeared in the media. Beyond that, it is time to respect those inquiries. The inquiries that Opposition members have called for and the inquiries that I and my Government have supported, I think that that is the right thing to do. The inquiries that I have spoken about, as well as the work of the information commissioner, which the Scottish Government is fully co-operating with, is fair to say that the decision-making processes involved in the matter may turn out to be the most scrutinised of any decision-making processes in the lifetime of this Parliament. That is right and proper. It strikes me that you cannot call for inquiries and then refuse to respect the work of those inquiries. I will respect the work of those inquiries. The question is, will others across the chamber? Jackson Carlaw. As I have pointed out, First Minister, that is precisely what you did. The problem is that you seem quite happy for advisers to you to be briefing the media on those questions as they are arising, but reluctant to answer them here in Parliament. The problem here is that we have two completely contradictory versions of events. In Mr Salmond's version, the First Minister's team knew about the complaint before 2 April. In the First Minister's version, she and her team were completely in the dark until they all met at her house on that date. Both simply cannot be right. Will the First Minister put it on the record today—this is something that I think needs to be clarified now—that, contrary to what is being alleged, neither her chief of staff nor, indeed, any other Government special adviser had any knowledge of a complaint before 2 April? First Minister. I have already set out the account of when I first became aware that we have corrected inaccurate claims in the media this week relating to my chief of staff. That has all been done. The issue now—Jasin Carlaw said, and perhaps this is a point that I can go somewhere to agreeing with him on, that there are differing accounts of that. That is why it is important now to allow the scrutiny of the inquiries that have been established. Having called for those inquiries, having got the agreement of myself, my Government, my party to support the establishment of those inquiries and to co-operate fully with them, I think that it is incumbent on all of us now to respect those processes. That is what I am going to do. I think that the question for Jackson Carlaw is whether he is really interested in getting to the heart of those matters, or does he simply want to continue to make party political points over them? Jackson Carlaw. I am interested in asking questions about the matters that have arisen since I last questioned the First Minister last week. Clearly, I am concerned that her advisers are briefing the media in response to inquiries of this nature, but she seems reluctant to respond to inquiries here in the chamber. If nothing else, that has shown why the parliamentary inquiry, which we did request, is necessary and why we must all hope that it can begin as soon as possible, because numerous questions beyond those that I have asked today are outstanding. What did the First Minister and Mr Salmond discuss? What did the First Minister continue to meet the former First Minister as late as July last year, despite subsequently telling us that she could not get involved? Did the permanent secretary approve of that final meeting in advance, or was she only informed of it afterwards? All of us are asking what on earth did she think that she was doing. The First Minister will have to answer those questions sooner or later. For the avoidance of doubt, will the First Minister confirm today that she will make herself available personally to appear before the parliamentary inquiry, not just as she did in her answer to me last week, saying that she would be prepared to supply information to it, but that she will be prepared to appear personally before that inquiry? Does she accept that this tawdry business and her handling of it in the last seven days has fundamentally undermined trust in her Government? First Minister, I heard Jackson Carlaw correctly when he asked, am I prepared to personally appear before an inquiry? Yes, I am. As First Minister, I do not consider it optional for me as to whether I appear before parliamentary committees. That is a part of my job and a part of my responsibility. I cannot believe that Jackson Carlaw would have doubted that for a single second. The question that Jackson Carlaw has posed today—I understand why he is posing them, but those are exactly the questions that various inquiries will now look at. I simply say to him again that it is incumbent on all of us to respect those inquiries. I think perhaps more than anything right now, given that at the heart of this whole issue are women who brought forward complaints, it is incumbent on all of us to respect the on-going police inquiry into that. I would call on everybody to do that. Jackson Carlaw said—he wanted to ask me what on earth I thought I was doing. I think I know what Jackson Carlaw is doing today in raising this issue, notwithstanding the fact that I have opened myself to complete scrutiny on all of those issues. I think Jackson Carlaw is trying to avoid talking about the mess of the Brexit negotiations that his party is making. He talked about a tawdry affair. The tawdry thing that is happening in Scotland right now is that we are being taken out of the European Union against our will by the Tory Government. Our country faces untold damage because of the chaos and mess that his party is presiding over. What on earth do the Tories think they are doing? That is the tawdry business, and that is what people in Scotland want to hear answers about. Richard Leonard The establishment this week of a special committee of inquiry into the Government's handling of serious allegations—serious allegations made against Alex Salmond—is an unprecedented step but a necessary one. It is the right thing to do to rebuild trust and confidence in a system that has been badly dented. What also counts is how we conduct ourselves—MSPs, Parliament and Government. Is the First Minister willing to accept that her Government has not conducted itself in a fit and proper way this week by using vocabulary such as vendetta and smear in connection with this case? The First Minister I have corrected inaccurate claims that were made, and I think that that is important. As I said last week, I believe I and I believe that my Government have acted appropriately in that matter. However, as I said at the weekend when I took the decision to refer myself to the independent advisers, I also believe that it is important to convince the Parliament and the wider public of that. I therefore agree with Richard Leonard about the reason for the importance, not just of the parliamentary inquiry but of the decision that I took as well. Those are the processes that I think are now necessary. I hope that Richard Leonard will agree with me on the point that I have made to Jackson Carlaw that it is also important for all of us now to respect the work and the decisions that those inquiries take. We all understand that it is very difficult for the First Minister's party, but that cannot be allowed to overshadow the very serious question of how the First Minister's Government has handled those grave allegations. The First Minister told me last week that, if there is a parliamentary inquiry, we will of course make all appropriate information available. Can she confirm today that all appropriate information includes not only all internal Government correspondence but also all internal SNP correspondence? The First Minister's inquiries will be able to request whatever material they want, and I undertake today that we will provide whatever material the inquiries request. That is the meaning of full, thorough, open inquiries. It will not be for me to decide what material the parliamentary inquiry, when it gets under way, wants to request. My commitment is that the Government I will co-operate fully with that, and I think that that is appropriate. Richard Leonard talks about difficulties. None of that has gotten the way of me, the Government, my party, doing the right thing this week in agreeing to and supporting the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry. It has not gotten the way of me doing what I consider to be the right thing in the referral to the advisers on the ministerial code. I think that this is a point that Richard Leonard has made, and it is a point that I agree with at the heart of this. It is the part that is more important. It is the part that leads me mostly to regret the error in the Government's process that was made. The heart of this are women who brought forward complaints. It is important that we respect the processes in the investigation of those complaints. That means that all of us respect the fact that, as well as the inquiries that we have been talking about today, there is also an on-going police inquiry. I hope that all of us will respect that and how we conduct ourselves over the time to come. Richard Leonard. The First Minister is right. We should not forget that two women have been badly failed by the system, and they are entitled to answers, which is why the parliamentary inquiry must be as thorough as possible. That means applying and following the seven Nolan principles of public life—openness, honesty, leadership, selflessness, accountability, integrity and objectivity. The committee must meet in public. There should be no limit on how long it sits for and how many sittings it has. I hope that the First Minister will agree to that when she replies. There is a further issue, Presiding Officer. According to parliamentary precedent, the position of committee chair is due to be offered to the SNP, but this is an unprecedented situation. This inquiry is about restoring trust and confidence. Will the First Minister's party do the right thing? Will it step aside and ensure that an MSP from another party chairs this inquiry? The First Minister. I think that Richard Leonard, with respect, misunderstands my role in the establishment of this inquiry. It is not me that is establishing the inquiry. It is not me that is deciding who conducts the inquiry, when it sits, how long it sits, what its remit is, who chairs it, who is on the inquiry. Those are decisions for the parliamentary bureau. What I am making very clear is that I will respect whatever decisions the parliamentary bureau makes around that. There would be something deeply wrong if, having supported an inquiry into those matters, I then started to try to dictate. Even if it was in responding to questions from Richard Leonard, I started to dictate the terms on which that inquiry was to be conducted. Those are matters for Parliament. The commitment that I give Parliament is that I and my Government will co-operate fully whatever the terms Parliament decides on. We have a number of constituency supplementaries. The first is from Mark McDonald. Stony Wood Mill, in my constituency, has been producing paper for 250 years and employs nearly 500 people. This week, the business was placed into administration after a takeover deal collapsed. These are clearly worrying times for the workforce and their families. I have spoken with the company and with union representatives and will continue that dialogue this week. The resolve to secure the future of the business is strong and is shared by all. Scottish Government has indicated that they and their agencies stand ready to support the business. Can I ask the First Minister if a task force will be established as it has been in other areas, bringing together agencies and stakeholders to look at how best to support the business and help to generate investment, find a new buyer, safeguard highly skilled jobs and secure a positive future for a vital employer in Aberdeen? I thank Mark McDonald for raising this important issue. I was also very concerned to learn of the situation with Argyll Wiggins, which is based in Aberdeen. I can tell the chamber that the Minister for Business has already spoken directly with the managing director of the company and the general manager of the Stony Wood Mill and communicated our full support. He also spoke to Unite Union this morning. Our focus at this stage is on supporting the business to find a new buyer and on doing all we can to try to minimise the impact on the workforce. Scottish Enterprise has been in contact with the management to support the company in its plans to try to secure a new buyer. In response to the specific question about a task force, we look at whether that kind of approach is appropriate in all of those circumstances. I will ask the Minister for Business to consider that specifically and to correspond or to discuss directly with Mark McDonald how best to bring all the key individuals and organisations together to make sure that we have the best possible response. BBC's social highlighted the practice of gaming by a so-called male pick-up act artist in Glasgow, including footage on Maryhill Road. Although I make no further comment of that specific matter, given that it is now subject to a police investigation, does the First Minister agree with me that this would be a timely opportunity to encourage the public to participate in the Scottish Government's hate crime consultation, which is currently seeking, among other things, the public's views on recommendations around potential changes to the law on gender hostility and the stirring up of hatred? I thank Bob Doris for raising the issue. I am sure that everybody in the chamber would, like me, have been shocked and appalled by the BBC's investigation into so-called gaming. I watched the BBC's social film and can say that I was utterly sickened by what I saw. It did indeed, as Bob Doris says, highlight why there is such a clear need for action to be taken to tackle gender-based prejudice and gender-based violence. Lord Bracadale's view in his report on hate crime was that there are patterns of offending, which relate particularly to hatred, based on prejudice towards the victims' gender and which should be addressed through reformed hate crime legislation. The current consultation seeks views on how best to tackle misogyny and gender-based prejudice in Scotland, and I would certainly encourage everyone who has an interest in this area, which should be all of us, to make their views known through the consultation process, which runs until 24 February. The First Minister will be aware of the plight of young people who attended the new school Butterstone, who were forced out of their specialist boarding school two months ago and have been completely out of the education system in the eight weeks since. What message can she give to the families that are now faced with alternative options, which fall way short of what the new school was providing? How can councils be better resourced to ensure that there is enough specialist and mainstream provision for pupils with extreme special needs? I thank Mark Ruskell for raising the issue. As I know he and others are aware, the decision to close the school was one taken by the board of the school. It is a sad event and I have no doubt about the impact that it will have on the whole community, but especially on young people who attended the school. Since board made its decision, all seven local authorities have been working closely with families to identify the appropriate care and support for young people who attended the school. Every family has been offered support in education by the local authority, and for most of the young people, alternative places or interim provision have now been agreed. Of course, the work recognises that challenging individual circumstances of each child or young person have to be taken into account, and that is why local authorities are working closely with families involved. The Deputy First Minister met parents and staff in November last year and listened to the concerns that they have, and he will continue to receive regular updates on progress, and I am sure that we will be happy to liaison and discuss again with parents and staff if that would be considered helpful. Jamie Greene, to be followed by Neil Bibby. I have been contacted by the concerned family of a 90-year-old lady who lives alone on the Isle of Arran. They have asked that I do not name her publicly in the chamber today, but I am happy to provide details in private. She suffers from macular degeneration, memory loss and mobility issues. Her family requested social care at home, and it was told that that is not possible due to staff shortages on the island, despite having been assessed as requiring it several times a day. Are you confident that this is an example of a Government that is delivering its flagship policy of free personal care people in Scotland? Whatever happened to the commitment to island-proof access to public services? Jamie Greene will appreciate that. I do not know the details of this individual case, but it certainly raises concerns in my mind, and I know with the health secretary as well. I completely understand why he has not named the individual, but if he wants to pass, as he indicated, he would, the details to me and to Gene Freeman. I can give an undertaking that we will look into that as quickly as possible and then reply to him. I do not want to assume that that suggests that there are wider issues here, but if there are any wider issues that the case suggests that are in play here, that is something that the health secretary will discuss with the local health board and the local authorities. We are very happy to look into that and take whatever action is considered necessary. At a time when council budgets are under pressure and teachers are raising concerns about workload, SNP-led Renfrewshire Council will this afternoon consider increasing primaries to class sizes from 25 to 30. Is this not another example of the impact Scottish Government cuts are having on local communities, including in the finance secretary's own back yard? What does that say about the First Minister's statements both that local councils are getting a fair funding deal and that education is her number one priority? In the draft budget, we offer to local government a real-terms increase in the funding that they have for day-to-day services like education. We also have seen in the last couple of years a rise in the number of teachers working in our schools. Obviously, we will have discussions and votes in this chamber on the budget over the next few weeks. I repeat the offer that I have previously made to Richard Leonard to Neil Bibby. If Neil Bibby's view is that the Government should be making additional resources available to local government, then we are very happy to listen to suggestions from Labour about where those resources should come from. There are no unallocated resources in the draft budget, but we remain happy to discuss with other parties, and, if Labour ever gets round to bringing forward any constructive suggestions, we will be happy to engage with those. To listen to the opening questions from Labour and the Conservatives, we would be forgiven for thinking that the country was not facing the biggest political crisis for generations. Perhaps that tells us something about why a Parliament dominated by those two parties has brought us to a situation in which the word omni shambles sounds like timid understatement. I recognise the First Minister's position that extending or revoking article 50 is necessary and that a people's vote is necessary. Those options clearly must be taken, and both Maze deal and No Deal have clearly been rejected. The UK Government must be under pressure to accept that, but the First Minister has also said for a long time that the case for Scottish independence depends on a material change of circumstances. Given the level of chaos, there is no single aspect of those circumstances that has not changed beyond recognition since 2016. The First Minister has spoken to the Prime Minister this week. Can she confirm? Did she explicitly raise independence during that discussion and make the case for Scotland's right to decide about our own future in that conversation with the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister is very well aware of my views on independence. I support independence and I think that sooner Scotland is independent, the better for all of us. On the issue of Brexit, Patrick Harvie is absolutely right. The Prime Minister right now is in the process of driving the whole of the UK off of a cliff edge. Right now, Jeremy Corbyn is sitting in the passenger seat of that car, taking the UK off that cliff edge. It is disgraceful the way in which both the Government at Westminster and the official opposition have failed to stop this catastrophe developing. Obviously, there is some water to go under the Brexit bridge over the next few weeks. I think that the case for independence and support for independence grows with every day that passes. I think that it is essential, given the catastrophe that Scotland faces to our economy, to our society, to living standards, to prospects for the next generation, to our reputation in the world, that that option of independence must be open to people in Scotland. When people in Scotland have the ability to choose independence, I believe that the country will ought to be an independent country. Patrick Harvie. It is extraordinary that, two and a half years since the EU referendum, there is no more clarity within the mind of the UK Government about the future than there was at the start of this process. With just 10 weeks to go until the UK Government's self-imposed Brexit deadline, for which they are completely unprepared, surely nobody except the disaster capitalists of the Brexit extremists can think that the time can be simply allowed to tick away. At the very least, extension of the process is surely inevitable now. Yesterday, the First Minister said that she will have more to say about the timing of an independence vote in the coming weeks. In the face of this incompetent misrule from Westminster, that clarity is absolutely needed. Can the First Minister confirm that that timing of information in the next few weeks will be the case even if article 50 is extended? Yes. I will expand on that because I enjoy talking about those things. Patrick Harvie is absolutely right when he says that extension of article 50 is essential now. Theresa May has wasted time. It seems to me that her tactic has been to run down the clock to try to hope that she can panic people into backing her deal, the one that was rejected in a historic defeat in the House of Commons this week. It seems to me that Jeremy Corbyn is quite happy to almost collude with her in doing that. That cannot be allowed to happen. Article 50 should be extended. Across the UK, the issue of EU membership should go back to the electorate. Of course, it could be that the extension of article 50 is simply a reprieve from Brexit and not a solution for Brexit. Yes, there is water to go under the bridge in the next matter of weeks. When it is done so, I will make my views on the timing of a choice on independence clear. It is then, of course, for all of us who support independence—that certainly includes me and Patrick Harvie—to get out there and make the case. I believe that that case has been strengthened by what has happened in the past two and a half years. If we get out and make that case, people in Scotland will choose to be an independent country and we can get on with building a better future than the one offered to us by the chaos and incompetence of Westminster. A further couple of supplementaries. The first is Julian Martin. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We know that today's amaze proposed deal is finished. A confidence vote to force a general election has failed and a no deal Brexit is unthinkable. For any progress to be made to the end of Brexit's stalemate, does the First Minister agree that we need a second EU referendum and call on Labour to join us in that demand? First Minister. It is time for Jeremy Corbyn and Labour to get off the fence that they have been sitting on for so long on this. Labour's position was that they wanted to try and have a general election, first to force a general election. There was the debate and vote of no confidence in the Government yesterday. SNP MPs voted to have no confidence in the Government. We backed Labour in that attempt, but that did not pass. There is not going to be a general election right now. Therefore, the time is right and urgent and pressing for Jeremy Corbyn to say whether or not he backed a second EU referendum. I call on him today to do so without further delay, because the longer he prevaricates, the more he becomes just as responsible as the Tories for the disaster that the UK is now facing. Cancer touches us all. As the co-convener of the cross-party group on cancer, today I am pleased to be part of publishing the report into the implementation of the Scottish Government's cancer strategy. That was led by experts, professionals, charities and campaigners. That supports the ambition of the Government strategy, recognises where progress has been made but also highlights areas of concern, which will ultimately mean that the strategy will not be implemented in full by the end of the Parliament as promised. Does the First Minister recognise the impact of workforce planning issues and high vacancy rates on undermining the ability to diagnose early, to treat quickly and therefore improve survival rates? I welcome the implementation report that has been published by the cross-party group on cancer. It says that real progress has been made. The report, as Anna Sarwar has said, marks the halfway point in the strategy's five-year lifetime. It finds that 47 out of 54 of the strategies, actions and investments have been completed or are on track. It raises concerns around staffing. We recognise that there are challenges in recruiting the right specialist staff for some services, which is why the Scottish Cancer Task Force is already feeding into the development of our integrated workforce plan, which aims to address workforce needs right across Scotland. I would simply say in passing that the challenges of staffing will be exacerbated by the prospect of Brexit, and that is something that all of us should keep in mind. I know that the health secretary met the Cancer Coalition earlier today to discuss how we continue to drive forward the strategy, but the implementation report that has been published by the cross-party group will be a helpful contribution to making sure that we do exactly that. Gordon MacDonald The UK Government this week announced using Brexit as a smokescreen that pensioners living with a younger partner would be forced to move to universal credit rather than pension credit, costing couples up to £7,000 a year. Does the First Minister agree that this shameful approach to our pensioners should be ditched immediately and will she join me in once again demanding a halt to universal credit? The First Minister It is interesting whenever universal credit is raised to look across and see how many Conservative members are studiously looking at their phones rather than engaging in the discussion. This decision is absolutely shameful. Basically, it says to pensioners that in future, if one pensioner's partner is under pensionable age, they will require to apply for universal credit. That may not sound a particularly big thing until you consider that that will cost some of the poorest pensioners in the country up to £7,000 a year. It is absolutely disgraceful and yet another reason why universal credit should be halted in its track. I repeat again today the call that I have made many times for the UK Government to do just that, but I also repeat the call that I have made many times in the past for responsibility for these matters to come to the Scottish Parliament so that we can take our own decisions and not be at the mercy of the decisions taken by an uncaring, unfeeling Conservative Government. What progress is being made in reaching a deal over teacher pay? Negotiations are on-going and progress is being made. The Scottish Government has made an enhanced proposal to the EIS and has asked COSLA to also agree that. That proposal would mean that all teachers would receive a minimum 9 per cent increase between January 2018 and April 2019, with a further 3 per cent in April 2020. That is a clear indication of our commitment to recruit and retain teachers and it is the best offer in the public sector anywhere in the UK. I urge COSLA to adopt this proposal as a formal offer, a necessary step to resolving the dispute. If it does so, I also urge the teaching unions to consider that favourably so that we can bring discussions to a positive conclusion. I thank the First Minister for that answer. Can I ask her to confirm that the funding for the pay increase will come from government in addition to the enhanced local government settlement for the coming year and can also ask what timescales going ahead are for finding agreement with all parties involved in the process? First, I can confirm that any additional budget allocation to fund a negotiated agreement will be met by the Scottish Government and that that will be in addition to the enhanced local government settlement for the coming year. It will not come from the education budget. On timing, teachers pay negotiations are a matter for the Scottish negotiating committee for teachers. However, the next SNC pay meeting is scheduled for 28 January, where we hope that all parties can reach agreement on an offer that can be put to the teacher union's membership, hopefully for ratification. Why does the First Minister believe that teachers are contemplating strike action? Teachers want to see a good pay rise. I believe that they are being offered a good pay rise. I believe that they were being offered a good pay rise, but the enhanced offer underlines that fact. I stress that point again. If the enhanced offer that is made by the Scottish Government is firstly agreed to by COSLA and then agreed to by teachers, it will mean that in April this year, teachers' salaries will increase by 9 per cent compared to what a teacher will get in their pay packet this month. That will be the best pay rise for any public sector worker anywhere in the UK. It is a good offer and I really hope that we can, over the next few weeks, get to a point where it is accepted. It is fair to teachers, it is also affordable, and that is a key consideration for the Government. It means that we will resolve a dispute over pay, and that absolutely is in the interests of young people across the country. 5. Miles Briggs To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to a letter signed by all stroke clinicians in Scotland calling for urgent introduction of a thrombectomy service. The First Minister Thrombectomy for stroke is a relatively new clinical intervention. We recognise that it can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for people who have suffered an ischemic stroke. That is why the directors of planning thrombectomy advisory group have produced a national planning framework for the provision of this intervention for Scotland. The framework will be presented to the national planning board at its January meeting and will then provide the basis for the implementation and spread of thrombectomy provision in Scotland. Miles Briggs I raised the issue with the First Minister in September. I know that she is aware that the NHS England's long-term NHS plan makes a commitment to invest further in thrombectomy services in England. That is expected to not only improve care but also to deliver in long-term care costs reductions. As it stands, Scotland has no thrombectomy service whatsoever in NHS Lothian having withdrawn that service last year. Will she guarantee today that stroke patients in Scotland will be able to receive a thrombectomy this year? The First Minister What we are working towards is the provision of a service. Of course, as I understand it, similar work will be under way in England. That is a relatively new clinical intervention, so it is important to ensure that services are safe and that they deliver high quality to patients that the proper work in planning is undertaking. As I said in my initial answer, the advisory group has produced a national planning framework that will provide the basis for developing a service in Scotland. That framework will be presented to the national planning board this month. At that point, it will be able to take decisions about how we are going to roll that out. That is something that the health secretary will keep the chamber fully updated on. Monica Lennon Can the First Minister confirm whether the commitment to thrombectomy in NHS England's long-term plan comes with equivalent Barnett consequentials and by how much? Will she guarantee that any such consequentials will be invested in supporting the further development of thrombectomy to make sure that we do not fall behind the rest of the UK and Europe? The First Minister I will get back to the member on whether there is a specific provision in consequentials flowing from the decision in England. I suspect that that decision came after. The budget decisions are often rolled up and are not specific to what particular lines they flow from. However, as I have set out, we are determined to see a service rolled out in Scotland, but it is vital that that is done on the basis of proper clinical planning. That is why the process that I outlined in response to the previous question is so important. As I said earlier, decisions will be able to be taken after the national planning board this month, and Jeane Freeman will keep members who have an interest in that fully updated. 6. Alex Rowley To ask the First Minister what impact reduction to local government budgets could have on the national performance framework. First Minister Despite a reduction to the Scottish Government budget as a result of UK Government austerity, we have maintained the overall funding for local government as a share of overall spending at around 27 per cent. We have also provided a real-terms increase in both the revenue and capital support that we provide to them in our most recent budget. The national performance framework sets a clear purpose to create a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish. Providing local government with a real-terms funding increase reaffirms our commitment to a strong partnership with local government and will allow us to meet our shared ambitions for the people and the communities that we serve. Alex Rowley That is good and well, but the reality for the majority of people is real cuts to local services in communities up and down Scotland, and £5 million is being cut from front-line school budgets. In Clackmannanshire, a council on the brink of claps and Edinburgh, Binsline and Collector because of cuts. In Highlands and in the Borders, closing public toilets, closing leisure facilities, right across Scotland, libraries, music lessons, swimming pools, education, social care, cuts, cuts, cuts. When is the First Minister going to wake up to the reality of yes, failed to austerity, but also the failure of her government when it comes to protecting vital public services? Will she agree to personally meet council leaders and hear first hand the desperate situation that councils are in as a direct result of successive SNP budgets? I am sure that Alex Rowley would recognise that the Scottish Government's budget over this decade has been cut in real terms. That creates a significant problem for the Scottish Government. Notwithstanding that, the draft budget that Derek Mackay put forward before the end of the year offers a real-terms increase to local government. We do not suggest that that makes life easy. I come back to the point that I have made several times in this chamber. We have allocated every penny available to us in that budget. We have given £700 million more than £700 million extra to health services, a real-terms increase for local government. If Labour want to propose alterations to that budget, it is not enough to say where they want to spend more money. They have to also set out their suggestions from where that money comes from. Labour, thus far, unless the finance secretary is going to tell me that he has had something very recently, Labour has not yet made any budget proposals to the Scottish Government. Alex Rowley asked me about personally meeting people. If Labour want to come forward with suggestions for where we take money in the Scottish budget to give more money to local government, I will personally meet Richard Leonard and anybody else, but I am still waiting on those proposals. Maybe they will come this afternoon. Maybe they will come next week. Let's wait and see. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. The First Minister will be aware that in South Ayrshire there is a £17.1 million budget shortfall. On social care performance indicators, the First Minister should also be aware that around 60 hospital patients are awaiting discharge from hospital because South Ayrshire Council is unable to provide packages of care for those patients, as there is no funding. Will the Scottish Government consider further support to South Ayrshire Council to deal specifically with that problem? The First Minister Those are really important issues that John Scott is raising, but the lack of self-awareness of Tory MPs is quite staggering. He talks about shortage of resources. Can I remind the member that the Scottish Government's budget has been reduced in real terms by decisions taken by his party at Westminster over this period? I can also gently remind the member that if we were to follow the budget proposals that were put forward by his party in this chamber to give tax cuts to the highest earners in Scotland, we would be faced with taking an additional £550 million out of budgets for schools, hospitals and other public services. The Tories really have no shame at all for cutting our budget, calling for tax cuts that would cut our budget even further, and yet calling for more money. Maybe when the Tories get their own sums to add up, they will be taken seriously when they ask questions like that in this chamber. The First Minister Thank you. That concludes First Minister's questions. We are going to move on shortly to members' business in the name of Edward Mountain on fairer hospital TV charges. However, we are just going to have a short suspension while the public gallery has time to change and ministers and members to move seats. A short suspension.


The Broken Throne Brewing Company of Pipeville have announced plans for their New Year's Eve concert to be held at their Great Hall location in downtown. Recently we sat down with lead singer Julie Goff as well as guitarist Kevin Harmon of the band The Swag Tones for more information on their New Year's Eve event. The Swag Tones, which we think it should be Julie Goff in The Swag I don't know but you're the swag part of it. Well Julie is front in this band. First time ever. So she's got the guitar habit now that comes along with that. And we're both playing guitar and having a blast and then Mitch is playing bass and Jay is doing the drums. This is the first opportunity for Jay and I to play together because we've always been drummers so you know who has two drummers. Except a few cool groups. And we've actually gotten to play together and we've loved it. We really have. And I've loved playing with this guy. He's just amazing.  I get to play with Jules. She's the classic. Playing in this band, when you practice with Julie's band out of practice there's like 25 people there. Full spread dinner. There's more people at her practices than most shows I've played. It is awesome. It's the most fun you can have. And you can tell when you hit a good song because everybody storms the doors. It's like cameras. It's a lot of fun. It's rockin' our own. We get to rockin' our own. And have a good time. In 2012, Eastern Kentucky was devastated by tornadoes. Within days, people in Western Kentucky stepped up to help the people of our region. Pikeville Medical Center is a Christian organization committed to helping others. And that includes our neighbors in Western Kentucky. Our commitment goes far beyond those who come to our hospital for treatment. That sentiment is echoed from all of us at Double Quick. The need is great right now in Western Kentucky. And we know the people of Eastern Kentucky are ready and willing to help. During this season of giving, please consider donating to those who have found themselves with nothing just days before Christmas. In-person donations can be made to all Pikeville Medical Center facilities and the register at all Double Quick locations. To donate online, go to www.givetopmc.org. As one of two concerts that will be played on New Year's Eve in downtown Pikeville, the swag tones are excited to see how much the live music scene has been growing in our area. When asked for their opinion on the level of talent that exists locally, the pair express nothing but admiration for their fellow local musicians. Oh my gosh. That's unbelievable, really.  I think it's exciting. It's super exciting to get to... Well, this place is really helping out with that. Definitely. A stage where we can play. You see a lot of the same guys get to play together and it really is exciting. It's bubbling up and people are having fun and playing rock and roll and getting out and unbelievable. A lot of big fish and a little pond and it's awesome. It really is. In addition to wishing everyone a happy New Year, Harmon also wanted to remind viewers... Wherever you're at, whatever you're doing, make sure it's loud. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joshua Sloan.