Ieis at excellent news this afternoon is the election of a member for appointment to the Scottish parliamentary corporate body. I have received one valid nomination for appointment, and the nomination is John PendLind. The question is that John PendLind be elected for appointment to the Scottish parliamentary corporate body, members should press their yes, no orwith've The result of the vote is yes 32. No 0. There were 16 abstentions. As the majority of members have voted in favour, John Pentland is duly selective for appointment to the Scottish Parliamentary Corp body. I offer my congratulations to John Pentland. I also take this opportunity on behalf of O'r wneud hwn i'r gwaith yw Dave Stewart a'r sefylliant yn 2011 i hynny ac rwy'n cael ei pofi gynnig bwysiggfaith yn y gwirch, ac rwy'n ddigonwch i'r gweld yn y twfyrdd ac a'i materaidd neu maen nhw i'r cael ei ffrindiau i yw'r gwirch o fewn i'r llwy ffrindiau. Maen nhw i'r cwmbrifoedd o'r cymdeithas landmarku i'r bwysigol o'r cymdeithas o'r mynd i'r gwaith o'r oddwn y maarddiaeth yn ymgynnig i'r ymgyrch i'r ar y cyfletwyr? Fynghoricwch chi'n dweud i ddim yn y ffordd, wrth gwrs, ond можетеch i chi fod ditt 90% dymu'r bywy? Ieithi, Michael Matheson rwydd o rhesiwch i ddim yn ddofod. Rhaid i chi, dweud. Rwy'n deblu i'r bywm ychydigion i gynnig oesent o unig rae donation mewn ei ddon i ddweud i gaelol Ermrenedd fel Siaf. Ermrenedd yn fywyd—aun i ddweud i ddweud i ddweud i gaelol eich ddweud i meddwl gyda'r ffordd—f disgracef ac fyddyn ar hyn oesent iawn o'r gyfnodau lleiwadau pen yn rwy'n gwaith ierydd ar gael i'r wgfaith, i am Źfio i sylfaenol i chi, fel cythigau diolch, berff下來au i chi pob ar gyfer gyfnodau i gael i'r unrhyw o'r fuddfyniadau o'r event oedgau. Ar amser, ma algum fawr i hyfforddau sylfaenol? Ben Fyreic Speïdd yw'r unrhyw o'r unrhyw. Yr hir� i'r unrhyw o wgfaithau o'r wgfaithu gennym provisional o'r unrhyw o'r laser transportiad ymmer valid at Glide bank police station last week and I would minister agree with me that the emergency services and the police in particular are sometimes to have a suit of steel around their emotions when in fact the uniform is a mere human being who has to be commended for their professional conduct and attitude and I hope that the ddaw yn y gallu chynnallydd y fyddai'n gael i ddiwedd i'r prydedd digwydd ar살 yn ddalfodau, ond ymweld y gallwn mrdd Wrthwynt yn ddalfodol, mae o'r uniteidwch yn rhoi'r awlig. Mae'n cyflasydd o gyhoedd nhw gyda'r llai breaddiadau yn clai banku a fyddai'n cael ei ddalfodol i'r llef. Felly, mae'n ddigwydd i'r hoffwyr i'w ddalfodol i ddalfodol i ddalfodol o'r As I'm sure the member will recognise that, again in 2014, we have witnessed events of catastrophic proportion in Glasgow city centre at the end of the year, a time to additionally reserve for family and friends and good spirits. As we also had, unfortunately, witnessed to the unfortunate accident involving the cargo ship, the Kemiford, on route from Denmark to Cheshire, which, despite an extensive search of land and sea, the ache crewmen from the vessel have not been found. I would again like to pass on our thoughts and condolences to all the families and friends of the loved ones who have lost their lives and also to share our thoughts with those who are still being treated and to those who were caught up in or witnessed these tragic events. It is at times like these that we see our emergency services act so bravely, selflessly, effectively and timelessly. For the immediate and fast work of the first responders, the staff of NHS Scotland who provide the injured with the best care and attention and to those who quickly put in place arrangements to support families and those affected members of the public, we owe our gratitude. However, we should not forget that the men and women of our emergency services, although highly trained, feel the same pain, fear and emotion and go home at the end of each shift to family and loved ones, still carrying the scars of what they have witnessed. Earlier today, I met some of the police officers who were first on the scene at the Glasgow bin lorry accident, the deceased victim identification officers and the family liaison officers who supported the families and followed the events in Glasgow on 22 December. I was struck by their professionalism and their dedication and the way in which they responded, some of whom responded well off duty but within the area. One young new police officer who was only five weeks into his probationary training was one of the first on the scene. Of course, however, it is not just events at home that raise our attention, concern and our thoughts. The chilling events in France last week make only too real the risk that are faced on a daily basis. The work of the voluntary sector emergency organisations is also increasingly intrinsic to Scotland's multi-agency approach to emergency response. Their commitment, dedication and courage are highly valued by the Scottish Government, by the communities that they serve and by Scotland's emergency services, with whom they work shoulder to shoulder. They have a unique capability to put boots on the ground in communities during emergencies and through what they can also do in tackling long-term and challenging recovery processes. We regularly witness, through the selfless work of the Scottish mountain rescue teams, who provide a front-line world-class voluntary search and rescue service, helping those in need of assistance on a 24, 7, 365 days a year basis. In 2013, 780 people were assisted across 590 instances during which the 27 volunteer mountain rescue teams gave over 27,000 volunteer hours, a remarkable achievement by all those involved. The selfless work on land is replicated at sea by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. Again, for 2013, the 236 vital lifeboat stations around our coast undertook 995 launches, with 1,007 rescues, saving some 29 lives. Altogether, more than some 37,000 hours were logged by the volunteer crews. That is a huge life-saving resource. Medical support is also provided by the volunteers of St Andrew's First Aid and the British Red Cross, who gave up their time to attend a range of events across Scotland from football matches to music events to ensure that everyone can enjoy themselves safely. Within the Blue Light services, we must acknowledge the excellent work that is done by special constables and by lay advisers in Police Scotland. The retained duty system and the volunteer firefighters who play a vital role in keeping communities safe, particularly within the rural and remote areas. Scotland's communities, too, continue to play an important role, using their skills and knowledge and commitment in ways that complement the work of their emergency responders, including local community resilience groups, the volunteer community first responder scheme that is supported by the Scottish Ambulance Service, and the Police Scotland youth volunteer programme, which provides young people between the ages of 13 and 18 with the opportunity to gain confidence and develop leadership skills by working with the police and volunteering in their local area. In 2013-14, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended almost 28,000 fires, and the Scottish Ambulance Service saw an increase in their emergency responses, responding to over 650,000 incidents, reaching life-threatening incidents in an average of 6.5 minutes. Over the course of the last year, Police Scotland has responded to more than 400 and 97,000 emergency calls raised through the 999 route. In 2014, it did, of course, bring a lot to celebrate. We must acknowledge the role played by the emergency services in delivering a successful Commonwealth Games and Rider Cup. The high level of pre-planning and resource that was committed to ensuring that both these events could progress safely, without incident, and with the resilience in place to react if, where and when gave confidence to all those who took part and who attended these events. A fact that will have not gone unnoticed by the thousands of visitors and spectators who came to Scotland and who, in turn, will have taken away a lasting impression. We can not, of course, overlook the significant prevention activities that our emergency services and voluntary organisations are actively engaged in. A good example is the Ready for Winter campaign, which was delivered for the fourth time this winter. It has been a true success in no small part due to the work that our emergency responders have taken forward to deliver its important message. The work has been progressed through Education Scotland, working with schools and local authorities to help pupils to understand how to prepare for and cope with emergencies as part of curriculum for excellence. Meanwhile, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is committed to reducing the number of accidental dwelling fires in Scotland through a programme of home safety visits that target those who are most vulnerable of the risk of fire in their home. The figures show that some 71,000 home safety visits were carried out during the period of 2013-14. Of course, it is not just front-line officers that we have to thank, but all the staff who, in so many different ways, helped to make our emergency services exemplary. However, while we reflect on the positives, we cannot fail to acknowledge that there are challenges ahead. Let me reassure this Parliament and the people of Scotland that the Government is committed to supporting our emergency services and, in doing so, ensuring that the communities of Scotland continue to receive the excellent level of service, protection and support that they have come to rely on. Be that through, our continued commitment to 1,000 extra police officers, our shared goal to ensure that local priorities remain at the heart of our emergency services or the importance that we place on ensuring that the nearest and most suitable resources are available to respond to incidents irrespective of their location. We have seen the benefit of access to specialist resources and equipment across the country following the introduction of a single police and fire service, an example of which has been the utilisation of those resources for the tragic incident that took place at the Cluther Bar in 2013. In health, the highly skilled staff of the Scottish ambulance service special operations response team responded day to day to major incidents across Scotland working closely with their colleagues within the ambulance service and other emergency services to ensure that the very best care is provided to patients regardless of where they are. We also had the launch in April 2014 of ScotStar, bringing together under the auspices of the Scottish ambulance service, the emergency medical retrieval service and the transportation of critically ill adults, children and babies, demonstrating clear collaborative working across the NHS boards. That has been rightly recognised as being a world-class initiative. In meeting the challenges ahead, the benefit of shared resources increase collaboration and partnership working will be key. I am aware that our emergency services are already jointly considering opportunities for this that can in turn improve the safety and wellbeing of our communities. Beyond the blue lights, there are a wide range of organisations that work together to help to facilitate a successful conclusion to emergency events, not least during difficult weather, similar to what we are currently experiencing. Public and private sector emergency operatives such as SEPA, the Met Office, local authorities, Transport Scotland, utility and telecom companies who, in emergencies, meet with resilience co-ordinators and Scottish Government resilience room officials to support the front-line response, and they are key to ensuring that we cooperate in response and to recover issues quickly and to reduce disruption where possible. We saw the benefits of the co-operation by the work only this week, when homes and businesses on the Isle of Cal were isolated from power and ferries and aviation. It was cancelled due to bad weather. The partnership between the Scottish Government, working in co-ordination with the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency and with Scottish and Southern Energy arranged for a helicopter to be provided in call in order to get power back on in what were extremely challenging conditions. The work undertaken by the men and women of our emergency services should rightly be recognised by the Parliament. To go to work each day not knowing from one minute to the next what you might be faced with is not something that we could all easily adapt to. Yet it is one that all of our emergency services colleagues willingly sign up to. Be it the management of significant incidents, the quick response to local accidents and emergencies or the ability to provide comfort and calm at times when individuals and communities may be at their most vulnerable. We have a lot to commend the men and women of our emergency services. In closing, I would ask that the Parliament joins me in recognising this work and commitment to support them in the year ahead and to support the motion in my name. I now call on Hugh Henry to speak to you and move amendment number 12060.2. I move amendment 10. There are some things in life that we have come to take for granted. Thanks to the struggles of previous generations, we take for granted the right to an education, a health service and decent housing, we expect our power supply to be available when we need it and we expect in an emergency that our emergency services will be there for us. In one respect, it is good that, as a civilised society, we have high expectations and mostly those expectations are delivered. Taking things for granted should never be an excuse for ignoring or saying nothing about those whose efforts help to meet our high expectations. Emergency services are a good example of services that we want, we need and we value, but we always hope that we will never have to use. The Scottish Government is right to pay tribute to what it describes as the brave and dedicated men and women of Scotland's emergency services. They are there for us 24 hours a day, each and every day of the year. They do not ask for praise or recognition. They just do their job and, by God, they do it exceptionally well. The Cabinet Secretary is right to mention the contribution of emergency services to the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games, but, in a sense, that passes without comment because there was no serious incident. Unfortunately, we only focus on what the emergency services do when there is an emergency or a disaster. Tragically, that can happen all too often. Sometimes it is through malice, sometimes neglect, sometimes accidents and sometimes it is the force of nature. I can think back to the Lockerbie tragedy, human destruction in Scotland caused by an evil attack on a scale that we have never seen in recent times. The response from our emergency services was swift, thorough and professional, and it must have been harrowing for all those who had to respond. In Glasgow over the years, we have witnessed a number of devastating fires leading to major loss of life, including fire service personnel. It is fitting that the fire service still remembers their comrades who lost their lives. We saw again the professionalism of the fire service and the stockline disaster, a disaster caused by neglect, and I know that Patricia Ferguson will speak about that. In the space of just over 12 months, Glasgow again witnessed two horrific events that will live with us for a long, long time. It was our emergency services who had to respond to the dreadful consequences of the bin lorry crash in Glasgow just before Christmas. Just over a year ago, when the police helicopter crashed into the Cluthervolts pub, all of our emergency services responded magnificently. They worked tirelessly for three days in difficult and dangerous conditions, including having to tunnel through rubble to help victims trapped at the scene. Fire service area commander Paul Conly was right to speak of his pride following his cruised bravery in the face of what he described as a truly harrowing scene. That is what is worth repeating about all of our emergency services. It is not just their dedication and commitment, it is often their bravery. The bravery of ambulance staff at the Cluthervolts incident was also recognised, including the contribution of watch commander Stuart English, based in Paisley, who normally covers my constituency. Stuart was off duty, enjoying a night out at the Cluthervolts. He escaped from the crash scene but went back in with members of the public to attempt to locate and rescue those trapped. Like other emergency workers, they are never truly off duty but always ready to spring into action if required. It is also worth recognising that, in those two tragedies, as well as in others, the public responded magnificently in support of our emergency services. The tales of bravery of police officers are also legion. The police are our front-line protection in towns and cities when drunken behaviour often spills over into violence. They are there to protect the public when, very occasionally, a minority acts violently at major events or demonstrations. They are the ones who have to step up to the plate when lives are threatened in firearm or knife incidents. They step in when arguments get out of hand and lead to violence. Last year, saw the launch of a book beyond the call of duty, and it featured an incident involving officers from Police Scotland.  It is not just attacks, which endanger life. Last year, PC Tony Ann Ewer rightly received a bravery award from the First Minister for risking her life to save the life of a man who attempted to jump from the top floor of a multi-story car park. The problem in one sense for this debate is that there are just too many examples to be able to list every single act of bravery and dedication. Let us not forget our staff at accident and emergency, who then have to cope with the consequences of accidents and disaster. As we know from recent press reports, they work under extremely difficult conditions. They have to cope with a large number of patients and the system is creaking even without any major incidents. However, they cope, and despite the pressures, they too do their best for those that they serve. However, it would be wrong to suggest that emergency services stop and start with the police, fire, ambulance and accident in emergency. Over the past few months, we have been starkly reminded of the power of what is sometimes described as a cruel sea. The cabinet secretary mentioned this month's loss of the cargo vessel at chemistry yard with the loss of eight crew members, and that was a stark reminder of the power and the danger of the sea. As was the battering that the Spanish fishing troller took last month during the recent so-called weather bomb, or the threats to the lives of the crew of the disabled fish carrier, Norhome, caused by a force-siving gale and Atlantic storm of Cape Wrath. As is expected of them, the coast guards responded unhesitatingly. However, so too the brave volunteers of the RNLI, which operates 47 stations in Scotland. It is a voluntary organisation that depends on the contribution of the public. In all those incidents, those brave volunteers were on hand to do their bit to save lives. The cabinet secretary has rightly commended the work of our mountain rescue services, and I defer to his greater knowledge and experience. However, I too want to pay tribute to their heroism and bravery. We have 27 volunteer teams involving 1,000 volunteers to back up the three police teams and the one RAF team. Already this month, they have been in action, helping to save lives, and I have no doubt that there will be further demands on them over the winter. Over the past few months, we have also seen the dedication of power supply workers who have battled to restore supplies in fierce weather conditions. There is a common theme running through the stories of staff and volunteers—heroism, bravery, dedication and selflessness. As I have said before, they do not ask for praise or recognition, but I am sure that it is nice when it comes whether through bravery awards or opportunities like this to put our thanks on the record. However, although they do not ask for it, perhaps there is a responsibility on all of us collectively in this Parliament to reflect and consider whether we owe them more than warm words. Do we ever give them the opportunity to come to us and tell us what it is really like on the front line? Why do not we give them the chance to brief this Parliament on their work, their successes and the pressures that they face? Should we not repay their dedication by saying that we will look at the resilience and resourcing of our emergency services? The same goes that talk is cheap. Well, today we have the chance to do more than talk and offer warm words. We have the chance to say to these brave men and women, thank you and well done. But also come and talk to us and tell us how we can help to improve what you do. We know that the outcomes are lives saved, but we also know that in doing this you are putting your lives on the line, so the least that we can do is listen. What have we got to fear in listening to these fearless heroes? That is why, Presiding Officer, I am moving my amendment calling for a parliamentary inquiry. Let us give a voice to these brave men and women. Let us listen to their stories and let us pledge that we will repay their efforts by making sure that we do what we can to make sure that they are ready and equipped to face whatever is thrown at them. Thank you. I now call on Jackson Carlaw to speak to you and move amendment number 12060.1. Mr Carlaw, about seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and can I immediately move the amendment in my name, as I am sure to forget to do that as debate progresses? I endorse everything that the cabinet secretary and Mr Henry had to say in terms of the scope, scale, range of services in which we have such confidence and pride. The extraordinary efforts of so many across Scotland, always without fuss or celebrity, the hallmark being the professional, exemplary and compassionate way they go about the job that they do. I made the small but, I think, slightly significant amendment in my name for one reason only, it was because struck by the events last week in Paris and shocked as I think we all were. Reflecting that really our history is peppered with incidents like that, they are always very much of the moment, but we can go back 100 years and find that there were similar examples of incidents where services were brought to bear on behalf of the public, that we depend in very large part on an anonymous body of people, those who provide the intelligence which potentially can prevent these atrocities from happening in the first place. In that regard, at GCHQ in Cheltenham, the United Kingdom, in an operation peppered with Scots and so many Scots assisting in the provision of services that are vital to the protection of the public beyond the boundaries of Scotland itself. We have at GCHQ a world-leading operation in the gathering of intelligence which is not just keeping us safe in this country but which is recognised to be contributing to intelligence that is keeping people safe way beyond. We will never probably know who these people are. We can only really thank them in absentia. Their history began, of course, at Bletchley Park. That is where our tradition of intelligence began and by coincidence I noticed that a book has just been published this week, The Bletchley Girl's Secrecy Love and Loss, The Women of Bletchley Park. I was impressed to find quite a few Scots still living who were among the number who were responsible for providing that intelligence and security, including a constituent of mine, Lady Jean Ford and the Isle of Arran, who was in hut 8 with Alan Turing, whom she talks of fondly, providing vital intelligence which saved lives throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. Indeed, she amusingly relates first of all that that work is incredibly dull, repetitive and actually at the coalface, unrewarding, because you very often don't know what you have discovered that others will interpret, but she said in that, and I was amused by the incident, one German who was coding thing. Unfortunately, so Ubra Loyal was he, he signed every communication, Heil Hitler, which of course was a magnificent way of decrypting everything he then could not to say, which I'm sure wasn't quite the intention, but I want to thank her. I've met her, I had no idea, because the hallmark of many of the people who in these less publicly aware capacities has been that they are so unassuming about the contribution they have made, make no fuss or mention of it, and again I say it is only through thanking them in absentia that we can probably do justice to all that they do. Now, there are a whole long list of people that we could talk about. There are the armed forces of course who assist in so many ways, whether it be in adding to the compliment of those who kept people visiting this country safe during the Commonwealth Games or who are called upon when an unexploded or a bomb is discovered or a suspected device is discovered. There are animal health people who, of course, suddenly come to the fore when there is a crisis in that field. There are, I think, as Hugh Henry touched upon, those who are actually not in the emergency service but in whom the public depend in the public utilities and telecommunications and transport, who step in without the same hallmark of professionalism, very often at great inconvenience to themselves and way beyond anything they would naturally have had to do. I mean, we only have to think back again to the Isle of Arran two or three winters ago to remember just how paralysed that community was by the weather that came and the extent to which they totally depended upon the efforts of people who stepped forward to try and restore services, which again were there after keeping people safe on that island. More recently, of course, when the First Minister had to take hold of the incident in relation to Ebola, we depended upon the Royal Free Hospital in London to step in because it is the UK resource centre for providing the services that are necessary, and, of course, as we know, that situation is still on-going. However, I did point out over the recess that, despite all of this, there is an underbelly that is not always quite so attractive. Six times a day, somebody in Scotland thinks that it worth their while to make a hoax call calling out an ambulance crew. Six times a day, somewhere in Scotland, somebody thinks that that is a worthwhile pastime. Any of us who have made a 999 call know that it is quite a sophisticated process now. There are qualifying questions, so those people who make hoax calls go to quite an elaborate degree to maintain the fiction that then wastes the time of those who are called out. Very often, a hoax is only apparent at the point when the services present themselves at where the incident is alleged to be. I think that we have to be much more robust and prepared to be much more robust, because that is a completely unacceptable waste of public resource. When you see, as we did at George Square or in other instances that have been referred to, just how much we depend upon the dedication and commitment of those individuals when a genuine emergency is in place, it is simply and totally unacceptable that they should be called out and that their time should be wasted or that they should be frankly abused in that way by people who exist in society. I know that we will all share that view, sometimes harder to know how to deal with it, but we should be prepared to. The other point that I made in the aftermath of that was that there has to be a responsible use of social media in all that we see in terms of keeping Scotland safe going forward. I am concerned that it can be a terrific tool for ensuring that people know what they need to know, but it has to be used responsibly. If people do not know anything, they should keep quiet, and they should realise that an incident is not an entertainment, it is something quite distinct. I think that it is very important, because I think that social media is going to play an increasing role in the future that it is used responsibly. However, on behalf of Scottish Conservatives, we are very happy to support the motion. We believe that it is a very worthwhile motion to put before Parliament, and I know that Parliament will be united in making clear to all of those in the emergency service. I do not know that bringing them through here to watch our debate would be a sort of inspiring vote, if thanks to what we have been looking for, but I know that we would wish them that, and we should, as Hugh Henry said, ensure that they receive the resources that are necessary to undertake their function. We now move to open debate, speeches of six minutes or thereby. I call on Mike McKenzie to be followed by Dr Lane Murray. I am pleased to speak in this debate with a particular focus on voluntary emergency services. Partly the reason for that is that, for many years, there was a volunteer firefighter, and I can therefore claim some insight into the valuable work undertaken by these volunteers. Nearly 30 years ago, I was one of the members of a newly formed volunteer unit, which had the distinction of being the first in Scotland to include female firefighters. I will come as no surprise, I am sure, to anyone here to learn that the women in the unit performed their roles every bit as effectively as the men.  They provided first-class training and back-up, and, importantly, they did not use the volunteer services as an excuse to downgrade the professional service. Around the same time, they upgraded the open station from a facility operated by retained firefighters to one operated by whole-time crews, and, a few years later, they built a new and much better station. Over the years, we dealt with many serious fires, including one in which there was a fatality, a man who was a friend and a neighbour. I know now that, in some areas of the Highlands and Islands, fire services have been threatened because of difficulties in recruiting volunteer and retained firefighters. I strongly recommend that men and women take up those opportunities to serve their communities in such a practical way. I found my experience very rewarding and very interesting. I would like to take the opportunity of paying a tribute to the many volunteer firefighters who contribute such a lot to their communities across the Highlands and Islands and beyond, and I am very aware, as a result of my experience, of the dangers of fire and of how dependent we are when disaster strikes on the skills and courage of our firefighters. However, I would also like to pay a tribute to the Coast Guard service, another organisation that relies on volunteers. Less than two weeks ago now, we learned of the loss of the cargo ship, the Senfjord, as a stark reminder of how dangerous the sea can be. A stark reminder of how suddenly disaster can strike at sea and of how powerless we are at times when it does strike. It is at these times, in daylight and often in darkness, in ferocious and terrifying conditions, that we see our community of mariners and their friends ashore honour that ancient obligation to come to the aid of those in distress at sea. As an islander myself, I have witnessed this all too often. I have participated in rescues. I have lost good friends to the sea. I have witnessed first hand on more than one occasion the distress of bereaved families. I have seen skippers and crews put to sea in rescue efforts and weather that makes me shudder to think of it. I owe my own life to such courageous people. To the crew of a fishing boat who found me on a night of such wicked weather that the lifeboat had to turn back. On a night where the wind was so strong that the helicopter that finally rescued me had to delay the rescue for several hours, I should mention that the skipper of that fishing boat was sadly lost at sea himself a few years later. It is because of this, Presiding Officer, that I am angry. Angry beyond words, or at least any words, that would be suitable in this chamber at the UK Government's cuts to the Coast Guard service. At a time when both recreational and commercial use of our sea is increasing, that is surely unacceptable. It is only those who live such cosyded lives that are wholly unaware of the conditions routinely braved by those at sea who could contemplate such cuts. It is only those who have no appreciation or understanding of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland who could consider this. Presiding Officer, I do not believe that there is a single member of this chamber who would condone such cuts. I do not believe that a Scottish Government of any political hue would make such cuts. I do not believe that those who advocate austerity fully consider that we will pay for this fatally flawed economic policy in the lives lost at sea and on land. Thank you, Presiding Officer. At the time this debate was scheduled, none of us could have foreseen the dreadful events that were to unfold in Paris at the end of last week. Those demonstrate the extreme dangers that the public can face and the burden placed on those public servants whose job is to keep the public safe—responsibilities that can cost their lives—a price that was tragically paid by prison police officers, Achmed Merabé, Frank Bransalorau and Clarissa Jean-Philippe last week. The front-line duties of the emergency services such as Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service routinely put themselves at risk as they seek to minimise damage to life and property. The Glasgow School of Art, for example, would have suffered considerably worse damage had it not been for the heroic efforts of 120 firefighters who fought the blaze for over seven hours on the 23rd of May last year. Of course, we are all relieved to learn that the life of heroic nurse Paula Cafferkey is now out of danger, though her recovery process will take some time. Not only did Paula risk her life to help Ebola victims in West Africa, in joining the effort to control the disease, she was also protecting us here. As President Obama said back in October, the best way to tackle Ebola and to prevent its spread across the world is to contain the disease and to focus its efforts through aid in the provision of health workers to combat it in the countries in West Africa in which they are affected. In the season of poor weather, we should also pay tribute to the workers who battle to keep our roads and railways functioning and those who work often in horrendous conditions to try to restore power supplies to homes without power often in remote areas. Those others have said that there are many others who risk their own safety to protect and to rescue others. Often, volunteers have been made already of the mountain rescue service. In my constituency, the mountain rescue service performed an invaluable service. Indeed, the Galloway mountain rescue service to the west of us only last week rescued a walker on Merrick who got into difficulty. Often, those volunteers are called upon to risk their lives in challenging and hostile environments to save climbers and walkers who have not taken the correct precautions or equipment. Nevertheless, they continue to make themselves available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to take those risks in their own time to serve others. Other speakers have also mentioned people such as the coast guards and the many women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution whose courage and dedication have helped seafarers in trouble since the early 19th century. I would like to mention the Nith inshore rescue team based in Glencaple in my constituency, which provides a voluntary search and rescue service covering the Nith estuary and the rivers and lochs in the area. The crew are all unpaid volunteers. Like their mountain rescue counterparts, they are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they were worthy recipients of the Queen's award for voluntary service in 2010. They play a role when we have incidents of flooding, which is well known in our area. I should also acknowledge the SEPA floodline service, despite the fact that it called me at 3 a.m. and at 6 a.m. this morning to advise that my office might be going to be flooded again. Unfortunately, it was not. While acknowledging and celebrating the bravery of both front-line emergency workers and volunteers who risk injury, disease and death in the course of their duties, we must also remember the contribution of those who support them and who take calls from the members of the public in distress, the staff working in the control rooms of the emergency services. Unfortunately, staff have been at the sharp end of service cuts recently. The number of civilian police staff posts fell by 2056 between March 2010 and June 2014. Police and fire and rescue services' control rooms in Dumfries have recently closed. The police control room closed in May, and the last message from that control room was a very moving message about how much they had enjoyed protecting their front-line workers over the period of their work. The fire and rescue control room closed in November last year, and unfortunately we lost staff with many years' experience in keeping us safe and in keeping front-line workers in emergency services safe. We also need to celebrate and recognise the contribution of our control staff to the majority of which are women. The FRS is currently in the process of merging the eight fire control rooms into three. The best means of demonstrating our gratitude and that our recognition is meaningful is by ensuring that those new control rooms are safe and continue to deliver the level of service that our communities have enjoyed by staffing them to a level that delivers their safety. I will ask the Scottish Government to confirm that staffing levels will be sufficient with the appropriate balance of supervision and that it will agree initial staffing levels with the FBUS. On a positive note, the National Centre for Resilience in Scotland is to be established in Dumfries at the Crichton campus to improve the response to issues such as flooding and to co-ordinate work on the preparation for an increase in severe weather, which is anticipated, of course, as a consequence or one of the consequences of climate change. I look forward, as ministers know, to learning more about the establishment that how it will operate and which organisations will be taking part in that. As you Henry said, Labour's amendment makes reference to the resources required to maintain resilience, resources that can be called on very suddenly and without warning. We ask Parliament to take responsibility for supporting those who keep us safe by ensuring that the necessary resources are available, by asking the statutory and voluntary organisations who provide those services what it is that they need, how the vital tasks that they undertake may be made easier. By all means, let's record our gratitude to emergency workers across Scotland and beyond, but our actions in their support are even more important and we should demonstrate our commitment by providing the support that they need. I now call on Christine Grahame to be followed by Alison McInnes. Six minutes or thereby, we have a little time in hand. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. In this relatively consensual debate, I regret that I have got to take Hugh Henry to task for the Labour amendment. It asked the Parliament quotes to agree that the Justice and Health and Sport Committee should lead close quotes. That is in relation to any inquiry into the resilience of the emergency services. Quite apart from the fact that Hugh Henry should know in his new portfolio that the forward work programme for the Justice Committee has crammed and got little space for anything, there is a more basic objection to that. During his indeed mind's unsuccessful bid to presiding officer, I recall him then and actually quite regularly and quite rightly banging on about the independence of Parliament's committees and how they should be masters of their own agenda. I cannot agree that any committee should take any direction from the Parliament or anybody else about what they do on their agendas. For that reason alone in the first place, I do not think that anyone should support the Labour amendment. It interferes with the independence of committees to decide their own agendas. I think that it was an oversight, Mr Henry, but I think that it is wrong. On the substantive issues, I want to tell the chamber a couple of stories to illustrate for me how practical and unseen the co-operation is between our emergency services. A few years back, I was out in police patrol in the borders, thankfully before health and safety interfered and sanitised any meaningful participation by an MSP. We went on to several potential crime scenes, all of which were very diverse, but one which stands out because I had my eyes opened in a very practical way to the value of our services. A woman had jumped from Lawson Bridge and Hoike into the Teviot. It was night and the river was low, she had fallen on the rocks. It blew light going, and I am not permitted to travel this way now unless I am under arrest. We arrived to meet police cordoning off the road. The fire brigade was already there, roped up and they were climbing over the rocks into the water, and the ambulance and the paramedics were also already down there, wading in the shallows with the emergency silver foil blanket. The thing that struck me, no one needed to explain what they were about, what they were doing. They did not really need to say much. Seamlessly, they knew their role how to make sure that this poor woman was rescued and taken to hospital as soon as possible. The second story relates to a woman who fell from a platform into the path of an oncoming train. That comes from my previous life as a solicitor. I kept it fairly anonymous. Trapped beneath the train, fire and rescue and paramedics crawled under it, hot oil dripping on them. When the train began to move because the driver was still in shock, somehow they managed to get them to hold the train still, not because they were there lying there, but because the wheels were actually acting as a tourniquet on the women's legs and stopping her from bleeding to death. She survived. Those two stories brought home to me the reality that, in living flesh and blood of what they deal with every day, as the cabinet secretary referred to. I could not do their jobs. I would not sleep at night. Some politicians do not sleep at night for different reasons, but I would not be able to do that and take those images with me. Those are day-to-day images, especially with firefighters. In the news with dreadful events, the public at large tend to forget that a lot of their work is at road traffic accidents. Cutting the injured or the dead free, or the police and the ambulance workers in attendance, the medics administering on the spot crammed into wreck vehicles, life-saving interventions, but again all working together in a cohesive and mutually respectful society. There are no silos there. There are no professional policies that have to be put in place. They know what to do. They make way for each other when it is needed. In the Borders roads in particular, that is very important, because it is a bad record, like many of rural roads, for traffic accidents, in particular motor cycle accidents, a huge amount. 23 per cent of all deaths and serious injuries on the Borders roads over the past five years, well above the national average. Ten have lost their lives in the years that have just passed, and most of them are over 35. Imagine how often fire and rescue police and ambulance are called to those scenes and they all deserve a recognition. So, while some hit the headlines, those are happening regrettably daily across Scotland. However, we must also recognise that the emergency services are not always called to due to in horrific circumstances. I am thinking of the various ridings that take place across the Borders or the agricultural shows. When you see the police wandering about, you see their head crossed with their van, they have been involved at the very beginning in the planning of the event. They are there at the time to make sure that, if anything untoward happens, there is a horse-riding accident or so, and they are on the spot, somebody fainting. They are there busy doing their job. We have a lot to be grateful to them for. I want to finish on a less serious story, because I had the fire brigade turn up at my cottage once many years ago when my mum went up Boxing Day. It was a lovely snowy day. My floors were polished. The house was lovely. They all knew me. They were local men. They were laughing, I'm afraid, as they came in a hen.  They had to put a hole in the wall to stop, so it wasn't going up the chimney. My house was soaking wet. I was bursting into tears. The children thought it was wonderful.   You can understand why you're just sat in the house crying, but I was grateful that they turned up anyway. Thank you. I now call on Alison McInnes to be followed by Roderick Campbell. I gladly join members across the chamber in commending all those who work in so many different ways to keep us safe. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are incredibly grateful for the work that emergency services do for all our constituents around Scotland. Police officers, ambulance crews, firefighters, doctors and nurses, and many, many more routinely put the needs of the public before their own. Each time they start a shift, they are prepared to deal with unexpected, distressing and traumatic situations, incidents that the rest of us might never encounter at all and certainly hope that we don't. Others have already spoken about the tragic event that occurred in Central Glasgow before Christmas. I note that the family of Jack and Lorraine Sweeney and their granddaughter Erin McQuaid have publicly thanked those who attended to their loved ones and have provided assistance since the weeks since, including the emergency services. By all accounts, the multi-agency response to this awful incident was absolutely exemplary, but responding to such events can be physically and emotionally draining and we should acknowledge that. The appalling events in Paris last week also remind us that some sadly lose their lives in the course of their work, such as selfless bravery. Presiding Officer, countless volunteers are also immensely important in keeping our communities safe and protecting our health. They can be found assisting people in every part of Scotland from the high street to the highest mountain peaks and the roughest seas. Volunteers are the backbone of our lifeboat crews and mountain rescue teams. Police special constables bring a wealth of local knowledge. As Mike Mackenzie pointed out, many parts of Scotland, including my north-east region, depend heavily on retained and volunteer firefighters. They make up 40 per cent of Scotland's firefighters and provide cover for 90 per cent of the country's land mass, much of it rural or remote. Volunteers gain new skills and are rewarded with unique experiences and the satisfaction of being able to help others. Ultimately, they give their time and expertise for little or no recompense. They combine rigorous training and varied deployments with work and family life, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for that. In the spirit of Jackson Carlaw's more expansive amendment, I would like to take a moment to thank the engineers who have been working to reinstate connections in the past week, often amid atrocious conditions. Removing trees from train tracks, restoring light and warmth to our homes, they too provide services that are vital, particularly to the most vulnerable in our society. Of course, those who drive our gritters and snowplows to make their roads safer for the rest of us, up and out in conditions that most of us fear to drive in. Now, as the amendment from Hugh Henry suggests, members' praise and warm words are not enough. It is our responsibility to ensure that our services have the resources that they need, and we know that services are under intense pressure. As individual MSPs and in our committee work, we regularly receive evidence to this effect from professionals on the front line, independent observers, unions and scrutiny bodies. For example, the chief officer of the fire and rescue service told the Justice Committee last year of long-standing problems with the system of retained firefighters. The Scottish secretary of the FBU said that it was on its knees. The chief inspector of constabulary reported in October to the committee that the morale of police officers and staff had been affected by the pace and nature of the change to police Scotland, and he said that many are unsure us to their role of future within the organisation. Today, we learned of the number of police officers taking stress-related sick leave as risen by more than a quarter since the establishment of the national force. We know that accidents in emergency departments are currently struggling to cope with exceptionally high levels of demand. The director of the RCN in Scotland, Theresa Fife, remarked that the whole system is creaking at the seams, and the last few weeks have seen a perfect storm of conditions that demonstrate just how perilous the state of the NHS is. Do we need an inquiry? I agree with Christine Grahame, I think that it is up to the committees to answer that. I do know, though, that the real challenge for the Scottish Government and for herself as members of Parliament is to listen and respond constructively to these professionals and experts when they tell us the truth, to be open and fair with them, to be willing to shift resources and priorities accordingly. At times like this, at times this Parliament will disagree on how best to achieve that, but no one should ever suggest that properly scrutinising justice or health or any other policy area is indicative of a lack of respect or support for the personnel on the front line. Indeed, I think that it demonstrates quite the opposite, and anything less would be doing them a disservice. Services work around the clock to keep us safe in all circumstances and in all weather. In return, they deserve our heartfelt thanks, but they also require our assistance and support. Thank you very much. I now call on Roderick Campbell to be followed by Hans-Alan Mallick. I'll just alert the chamber to the fact that there is a little time in hand for intervention, even anecdotes. Mr Campbell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Although I do not represent a Glasgow seat, like most of Scotland, I cannot but fail to have noted the way that that city, its people and its emergency services have responded to very real emergencies in the past 13 months at the Cluther Bar and George Square. All of us, when a crisis occurs, depend on the professionalism, bravery and integrity of those services to help cope with the distressing situations that occur. However, if I may, perhaps I can begin by reminding members that Scotland has a vast coastline joining a sea that can often be very cruel, as Mike Mackenzie has vividly recounted to us this afternoon. Events such as the loss of all hands on the cement carrier Cement Ford in the North Sea remind us of the dangers of working at sea, and although I'm not contending it would have made a difference in this situation, the demise of Nimrad aircraft formally based at Murray meant, of course, that there was one less potential search and rescue facility available. Our Coast Guard service, however, provides vital support. Despite the UK Government's plan to reduce the number of maritime rescue coordination centres, Aberdeen MRCC, covering an area from Brawer or Sutherland to the Scottish-English border, has a vital role and has endured, unfortunately, critical under staffing levels recently, but it still provides a professional service in the face of adversity. I know that I am not alone in considering the closure of Coast Guard services across Scotland at both Fife Ness and the Clyde, one of the many mistakes of this coalition Government. Of course, emergency responses would be much less effective without the support of the army of volunteers that selflessly give their valuable time to help those in distress. The RNLI is well known as an emergency service that provides a high quality life-saving service reliant on volunteers. It's a valuable asset to this country and indeed to the United Kingdom that many owe their lives to. With an average of 23 call-outs a day, there's most likely a lifeboat out on a rescue right now. The cabinet secretary has referred to the number of the lifeboat stations around the coast. In my constituency, RNLI in Anstrother, covering the further forth and the North Sea, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. With only one score plus of sea-going crew, they sacrifice many hours of personal time, spent on rescue operations, exercising and, of course, maintaining the station and lifeboat. Away from the sea, RNLI is another body reliant on volunteers. As the cabinet secretary has mentioned, providing a priceless army of volunteer hours is more than worthy of mention, as are, of course, the staff and dogs of SADA, the Search and Rescue Dog Association, who regularly assist them. Scottish mountain rescue teams regularly go into the mountains in what can be an unforgiving environment at any time of year. Team members drop everything to react to the phone call that can come at any time, often causing them to undertake long and dangerous rescues. The sacrifices made by these volunteers should not be underestimated nor indeed unappreciated. The same could be said of our fire and rescue service. Our firefighters have had a good year with 28 per cent fewer deaths caused by fire compared to last year, and this was partially due to the lowest ever number of house fires. Over 71,000 house visits were conducted nationwide. In North East Fife alone, the number of home fire safety visits conducted last year was 50 per cent greater than in the previous year and more than had taken place in any previous year. Coupling that with more installations of telecare and hard-of-hearing smoke alarms in partnership with NHS Fife at Fife Social Service and Fife Social Service shows in my opinion that there is a real correlation between community engagement, increased personal safety and reduction in casualties caused by fires. Presiding Officer, we are already into the third week of the new year. While some of us may have been reveling and merrily bringing in the new year, the Scottish ambulance service was having its busiest night of the year. On Hogmanay, 2,394 calls at a rate of 250 an hour from midnight to 7am were attended to. More often than not, the paramedics on call were dealing with those under the influence of alcohol and enduring threats of or actual physical attacks. We clearly must continue efforts to stamp out that sort of behaviour against our emergency services. Our ambulance service is also ably assisted by first responder units. Those are yet more volunteers in communities throughout the country who have in several cases been responsible for the installation and education in the use of public access defibrillators. In towns and villages everywhere, I know of at least 20 in North East Fife in the East Newke part of North East Fife alone. I am also aware that the Scottish Government is working on a national strategy for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. I am meeting with the ambulance service tomorrow to address this further in the context of how it may affect first responders in my constituency. I am finished by referring to our police service. Scotland's national police force has been referred to in this chamber at great length in recent years. We know that police numbers have increased over the past seven years, whilst those south of the border have fallen very significantly. Fear of crime is now falling to historic loads in Scotland. Police participation in the emergency services is well known. Some criticism has been levied that the creation of a single police force has led to less community engagement by local police officers. Last Friday, I met with chief superintendent Gary McEwen of the P division of Police Scotland in Fife. Fife is currently running a pilot scheme that started this Monday in which two community ward police officers are allocated to every single council ward in the local authority. Indeed, next Friday, I am meeting with the ward police officers in my patch. I wish this new scheme well. While it is not specifically geared to emergencies, I have no doubt that it will not be very long before the officers concerned are in an emergency situation. In conclusion, emergency services have been necessary yesterday, today and will be in the future. Let's all recognise their amazing contribution and the debt that we owe the emergency services. Thank you. Thank you very much and good afternoon, Presiding Officer. May I first say that I do not only want to thank all blue light services, but all uniform services for their contribution in providing a 24-7 service across the board for providing emergency support. However, sometimes we are guilty of taking Scottish emergency services for granted. Our emergency services are a credit to our country and we should all be thankful for their hard work, commitment throughout the year, especially over the festive period, when sometimes working away from families would be necessary. In my city of Glasgow, we have had our fair share of disasters which unite us in sadness and grief, but which also unite us in a very heartfelt sympathy for those affected by the troubled events and a night of the bin lorry accident also unites us in support for the excellent job done by the emergency services who have worked tirelessly in just a few minutes, one afternoon, a scene where celebrations, festival lights in George Square turned to disaster and despair, yet amongst almost immediately the first volunteers were on the scene and also our emergency services, attending, bringing compassion, skill and dedication. I feel the pain and the burden carried in the hearts by those who have lost loved ones. Please note our NHS is in readiness for Ambola and reacting to the Glasgow bin lorry accident and the Glasgow helicopter crash events have recovered, have registered that Scotland has heroes in its emergency services that are organised and well equipped and ready to react to any emergency. I want to go further to thank all those charities that swing into action when there is a disaster or an emergency which reads their special skills. The charity Glasgow the Caring City was on hand when the Stockhill plastic factory suffered a gas explosion, killing nine and injuring over 33 people. The charity provided fresh water, blankets and one-to-one comforting to relatives and friends jointly with Glasgow community central halls, myriad road and other charity. At the Glasgow airport attack, Glasgow Caring City once again provided similar support and during the helicopter crash at the pub Glasgow central mosque opened its doors to support and serve service provision facilities as well as hospitality. In national troubles when local services can't cope, then the armed forces step in and are frequently called upon to support emergency services. I feel that while pressure is on our emergency services, we can never be more generous in justifying their good wishes and support. We must also thank volunteers, charities and donors involved in emergency occasions. Providing officer, I have to say more that emergency events show a growing dependency on volunteers and charities whilst this is very welcome to support our services which should not but it should not be happening as a routine and I genuinely believe that reliance on such charities and goodwill of people means that the emergency services may start depending on them. I suggest a parliamentary inquiry ought to be done to see if there is a need for additional resources so that that means addressed before any civilians or citizens are let down. Now, Christine Graham was very brave to give the cabinet secretary a public warning and saying that you know there are very busy committee and they don't want to do any more work but I have to say to the cabinet secretary that whilst I appreciate the fact that she is a very busy committee, people come first and if we can save one additional life, it's worth the additional work in the burden. Therefore, I can't emphasise strongly enough that whilst we have got the police and the fire services joined up and serving the people of Scotland, I think an assessment is very important to see that how we've achieved and what we've achieved during the past year or so. I, like many other members, have served in the special constabulary. I've served in the Territory Army and I did a fire protection firefighting course myself, so I'm aware of the difficulties that you face on the ground and I think therefore it is absolutely essential that whilst we have given our fire services and police services responsibilities to try and achieve the impossible at some times, I think we need to show them some reality and responsibility in ensuring that we can support them in carrying out their tasks in a managed way, in a controlled way, in which they are not looking for handouts or they're not looking for people who may be in place to assist them at any given time. I think to rely on public goodwill at all occasions is a dangerous thing to be doing and therefore I can't emphasise enough that a parliamentary inquiry would, I believe, be of benefit. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I now call on Colin Beethie to be followed by Graham Day, a generous six minutes. Presiding Officer, I'm pleased to have this opportunity to comment on and to commend the people who keep Scotland safe in emergencies. We've seen many recent examples of catastrophic situations which emergency services have dealt with in an exemplary fashion, from the recent horrific events in Paris to the rather less dramatic but unforeseen and very real human crises in my own constituency of Midlothian North and Musselborough. Disasters are created by both nature and humans and to be involved in the emergency services demands a remarkably wide variety of skills and frequently a degree of courage and ingenuity. Even with these skills, the members of emergency services teams often respond to situations at great personal risk and do so to ensure safety and to minimise human cost and property damage. Indeed, the emergency teams of Scotland deserve our praise and admiration. Last month, emergency services responded to the dramatic bin lorry crash in Glasgow, and this emergency, unlike the recent events in France, was no planned act of terror but apparently a horrific accident as a bin lorry creered out of control and crashed. As we know, this tragedy resulted in six dead and ten injured. Such emergencies don't call for armed force responses to the shootings in Paris. Instead, emergency services were seen battling to save the lives of injured people on the street. The different branches of emergency services worked quickly and cohesively together as police, medics and firefighters all played their part in ensuring that the least amount of damage would be done as they conducted rescue operations. That is an example of the unstinting effort given by members of Scotland's emergency services following an accident that can only be described as heartbreaking for those affected. A year prior to that, in the same city of Glasgow, a disaster struck as a helicopter crashed into a local pub. The crash led to many of the occupants of the pub being trapped in the building that was damaged and in danger of collapse. That tragedy demonstrates some of the complexities that our emergency services can face. The response from the local firefighting team displayed a mixture of skills and ingenuity with dozens trapped in this unstable building. The firefighters were able to act cautiously but quickly to extract those who were trapped. Additional precautions had to be taken because of the danger of the collapse and the process. It wasn't easy, but in the end lives were saved because of the fire brigade's ability to act swiftly, analyse and plan. The response team's reaction to the emergency services is a testimony to the breadth of the skills of our emergency services men and women. In my constituency, there have been similar acts of bravery from our response teams, which highlight the tireless and commendable work of our emergency services. In Musselborough and Christmas Eve, an act of vandalism occurred as an attempt was made to set fire to a salon in the city's high street. The swift response to the police service underscores the commitment essential for any emergency team to display. At a time of year when many of us were enjoying our holiday recess with our families, the officers of Police Scotland in the area were called to the scene and quickly began the search to find those responsible. For the men and women of our emergency services, there is no downtime and someone is on duty all the time. We have strong and experienced police, medical and firefighting teams, but we mustn't forget that we have over 10,000 miles of Scottish coastline and the dedicated coastguard teams that protect and preserve that vast coastline and its beaches. My constituency is home to the Fischero coastguard rescue team. Fischero and Musselborough contains the Fischero sands, which is a beach area used for recreational activities by many throughout the year. Interestingly, as part of their role, the coastguard team answers calls to attend distressed and despondent persons who may be in need of assistance and the aspect of the work of emergency services that usually goes unnoticed. Caring for wounds and other physical damage is critical in situations that call for emergency services, but we must not forget that other facet of their job. Calls to help and assist distressed or depressed people come often to emergency services and physical catastrophes are often accompanied by psychological ones. Members of emergency services teams must be prepared and trained to attend to the psychological issues, as well as the physical. The work of the Fischero coastguard rescue team emphasises a critical element in the provision of emergency services that is vital for us as a Parliament to support and ensure. That element is the co-operation between the different teams and branches of emergency services. Just in November of last year, the Fischero coastguard reported being part of a coalition of coastguard teams, including the South Queen's Ferry and Kinghorn coastguards, who combined their efforts in the search for a missing person. Similar operations of combining teams and branches of emergency services can be seen in all the aforementioned disasters from Paris to Glasgow. We see police, paramedics and firefighting teams working together, working closely to provide the best emergency services possible. I commend all of these services, whether voluntary or otherwise, on their exemplary communication that provides such a joined-up approach in an emergency. In any debate about our emergency services, we would be remiss if we did not make reference to the incredible work of our mountain rescue teams. Those teams, based on our geographical diversity, ensure that the citizens of Scotland, as well as visitors, can safely enjoy all the wonders of nature that we have to offer. The great work of these emergency services organisations were on display this past weekend when the Cairngor mountain rescue team was called out twice to perform rescue services in blizzard conditions. Close at my constituency, the Tweed Valley mountain rescue team is seeking donations for a new state of the art command and control vehicle, and it has got my very best wishes for this initiative. I should also mention that the Scottish Government is providing funding of over £310,000 to our voluntary mountain rescue teams. We are, in fact, the only Government in the UK to do so for this type of service. In closing, I wish to offer my genuine gratitude to all our emergency services and to make note of the sacrifices of all kinds that are made by our emergency services. My thanks to all of them for their unmatched efforts to keep us all safer in times of emergency or crisis. If I had anything but water to hand, I would have raised a glass to them all. Many thanks. I now call on Graham Day to be followed by Patricia Ferrickas in the generous six minutes. There are very obvious recipients of the praise noted in the motion. We have already heard those references across the chamber today. I echo much of what has been said. As Alison McInnes did, I pay particular tribute to the power workers who have battled horrendous conditions over the past week or so to restore services to many rural households. It is all too easy to look at the update emails that we as MSPs received over recent days and reflect upon the content from the perspective of the number of houses left without power. We should, of course, do that, whilst at the same time considering the enormous effort and awful weather that was going on to address the situation. However, today I want to focus my contribution on a little recognised group of people whose efforts and rural parts of our country help to keep Scotland safe and moving when the winter ravages descend upon us. I am talking about farmers. Members around the chamber who represent rural areas will be entirely aware of the role that farmers play in clearing and gritting vital remote rural routes all over our country, not only allowing residents to travel, but making it possible for the emergency services to get to those remote areas and inclement weather when they are needed. It would be remiss of us in the context of the debate not to take the opportunity to highlight that contribution to a wider audience. With the best will in the world, it is unrealistic to expect rural authorities to keep at their disposal sufficient resources to be able to clear every mile of road, however hard to reach as soon as the snow starts to fall. That is why the arrangements of local farmers are so important. The nature of the arrangements can vary from area to area and between the formal and informal. It is difficult to pin down exact Scotland-wide figures, but a 2011 survey did identify that, out of 28 responding councils, 15 employed farmers on an ad hoc basis, whilst 13, including Angus, Perthenkin Ross and Aberdeenshire, had formal agreements in place. Right now, in Angus, there are 19 farmers and agricultural contractors working through Tayside contracts to spread salt, grit and plough the snow. Mainly, that is taking place on Highland, category 2 rural routes treated just before school bus in the morning, and category 3 none priority. Mainly rural, but in some cases, town residential routes across the constituencies that I and Nigel Don represent. In some instances, snow ploughs are provided by the council to be attached to the tractors, something as the farmers use their own kit. The farmers then allocated a route that they must keep clear, but they can also use the plough for any routes of their own choosing that they wish to clear, and that happens. Farmers I know go beyond just that.  Of course, we will all be aware of instances where farmers are coming to the rescue of motorists who have slid off rural routes into ditches. It is important to stress that the planning and the organisation that has gone into arriving at this situation where Scotland's farmers are very much part of the response to emergency or severe weather incidents. In 2012, the NFUS, along with Transport Scotland, and the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation Scotland produced guidance on the use of farmers for winter service, a code of practice, for both councils and farmers, in order to provide minimum standards and improve the services that it has already provided. Although it is not mandatory, it is being utilised widely and led to greater consistency in winter service engagement between the local authorities and the farmers. The code highlights areas of regulatory compliance and risk. I was interested to see, in the latest edition of the Scottish Farmering Leader, an article highlighting the legal issues relating to agriculture becoming involved in such activities. It is also welcome to see that HMRC has relaxed the legislation covering the uses of red diesel and permitting it to be used while spreading materials to deal with frost, ice or snow. There is a lot of smart thinking going on out there among our rural communities. Just before Christmas, I was interested to read an article about a group in the Borders who have applied for a grant from a wind farm community fund in order to buy a tractor with a snowplow and salt spreader attachments, which local farmers have come together to use. I would suggest that it is a good use of community benefit. Of course, the help that farmers provide is not only limited to clearing the routes of snow and ice. Farmers are often drafted in by the council to help to remove trees that have blown down in storms or to clear ditches when flaring poses a risk. Let us please add Scotland's farmers to those that we are crediting today. I also note the work that is being done by the National Farmers Union Scotland in conjunction with Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance and the Scottish Ambulance Service to serve the cause of ensuring that call-outs to rural areas are best facilitated. The initiatives that are designed to encourage rural workers to ensure that they are able to pinpoint their exact location if they are caught up in an emergency through use of grid referencing. The hope is that this will be adopted widely by those working in our land so that, when the need arises, casualties or colleagues of casualties can provide identification of their location, which facilitates the swift as possible response by the Ambulance Service. The NFUS is providing pocket-side grid reference cards to all members and are looking for those to be filled in when the need arises to note unique landmarks such as locks, prominent hills, masts, water features, churches, bridges or roads. The initiatives are part of the Farm Safety Scotland partnership in which the Scottish Government is a participant, which promotes safe working environments across rural Scotland and tackles the number of farming-related fatalities and injuries each year. Finally, on the subject of farming and the part that the industry plays in responding to emergency situations, can I commend NFUS for its continuing lobbying of the UK Government to commit to improving mobile networks across Scotland, the substandard quality of which, in rural locations, can present a real health and safety issue when the need to call on the blue light services arises? It is probably true to say that no one expects to have need of the emergency services. We all imagine that it will happen to someone else. However, we still feel safer for knowing that they are there and ready to bring their considerable expertise and skill to our aid if needed. When something goes wrong, the police, ambulance service or fire and rescue services are, of course, our first port of call. Colleagues across the chamber have spoken of recent tragedies and disasters and of the magnificent response that those services have made. In recent years, we have, unfortunately, been only too well aware of their worth and value to us. However, I wanted to speak of two events from my own experience that demonstrate, I think, the expertise and the commitment of the emergency services and explain why I hold them in such high regard. The first took place many years ago now when I was a teenager. I won't mention what year, but when as a teenager I was awoken by my parents in the middle of the night, and at that time we lived on the 21st floor of a 30-storey block of flats at Red Road in Glasgow. A fire had broken out on the 23rd floor, two floors above us. My family was physically unscathed, although we were never to return to live in that home again, but tragically, one 12-year-old boy lost his life. We and our neighbours did what we do. We ran down the fire escape to make our way to safety, and smoke and water from the sprinkler system and from the fire began to penetrate the building. It was quite a frightening situation, but the reason I mentioned it is because it occurred to me then and has stayed with me ever since, that as we were running down and out of the building, the firefighters were running in and up to the source of the fire. Now, they didn't know what to expect when they eventually got to the 23rd story, but it was their job and they would deal with it. In 2004, rather, a major explosion at a factory in my Maryhill constituency demolished a building, killing nine people and injuring many more, and my colleagues Hugh Henry and Hans Alamallic have referred, of course, to stock line. The initial explosion took place on a Tuesday, but it took until Friday of that week to recover the last body. With that, the last hope of finding anyone alive was extinguished. For four days and four nights, the fire and rescue services worked in quite dreadful conditions, unseasonably hot May weather, dust and rubble everywhere and a still unstable building. I was on the site with the chief fire officer when the last body was found and I remember well the feeling of utter despair is the only way that I could describe it that hit everyone. A little later that day, my Westminster colleague Emma Keckan and I returned to the site to thank the staff who had worked so tirelessly throughout that week. I have to say that we were completely taken aback to find that a number of the firefighters most closely involved in the search of the building were very anxious and very upset and were quite desperate, I think is the only word to describe it, to know if people understood that they had tried their very best. I have to say, Presiding Officer, that wasn't something that anyone had ever doubted, not even for a minute, but their human beings and that's something that we must never forget. Of course, around the city hospitals and NHS staff excuse me, treated the injured and police officers comforted and supported the families involved. Help was offered and came from around the country with Arief helicopters ferrying the most seriously injured to hospital and fire and rescue forces from as far afield as Leicestershire, bringing sniffer dogs and equipment. And so too did the volunteer mountain rescue teams from places like Kirkby, Stephen and Cumbria and from the Trossocks. Presiding Officer, as I've indicated, our emergency services are, in my view, second to none. But the way in which local people and passers-by rally round is also inspiring. During and indeed after the stop line tragedy, the normally busy and bustling Maryhill Road was for a time completely silent. Local shops and supermarkets donated food and other items for the families who waited for news of their loved ones and for the rescue service personnel. As Hans Alamalek mentioned, the local community central hall remained open as a base for the families and indeed some staff who turned up for work on Tuesday morning didn't go home until late on the Friday night as they supported and cared for people going through what was the worst experience of their lives. So it's important that we remember those who stepped forward from their daily lives and returned to them again with little or no recognition. Presiding Officer, it's clear that across this chamber we have nothing but respect and admiration for those whose job often exposes them to danger or to experiences that must haunt them for years afterwards. But it isn't enough to respect and admire them. We must also support them and give them the resources that they need. That is why the Labour amendment calls for an inquiry into the resilience of those services. We need to hear their views and their ideas first-hand if we are to give them that support. As Hugh Henry said, stock line happened because of neglect, because of the failure to properly maintain one small pipe. But we only found that out when we had the outcome of the inquiry that was held some four years after the disaster. We all bereaved families the opportunity to find out as quickly as is technically possible why such incidents happen. We also owe it to the emergency services to make sure that we understand those reasons and take action to make sure that they never happen again, so that we are not asking them to risk their lives anew. That is why I am pursuing a bill to reform the FAI system in Scotland. I hope that the Scottish Government and colleagues across this chamber will agree to that proposal in my bill, but also to the inquiry that Labour seeks. Many, many thanks. I now call on Rob Gibson to be followed by Stuart Maxwell, a generous six minutes, Mr Gibson. I join with colleagues in praising the work of the emergency services, but I want to take a slightly different view, particularly with extreme weather and about the way in which we cope with those things. It is my fundamental belief that we can help the emergency services by not being so unprepared. The emergency services often have much more to do from people who are not able to cope with the conditions in which this country and areas such as my constituency often have to deal with. For example, this morning, I heard on the radio that some people whose car was stuck near Blair Athel for nine hours, and they described the fact that they only had a bottle of water for the windscreen wash and were not wearing any warm clothes. The weather forecast has been very clear about the conditions in our country for driving through Dramogter and many other routes in the past few days. I used to be a scout, so let us face it that a lot of other people need to be much more prepared. Our ambulance services in far-flung areas such as my own do sterling work. They have far longer journeys. We hear people very concerned in the cities about the number of minutes that it takes to get to a major hospital. In our case, it is often the number of hours that it takes to get to a major hospital unless you are lucky enough to get a helicopter. We have to make sure that the services are resilient and able to fulfil those things. The investment in the ambulance service, in particular, is one that I have a lot of belief in. However, some of the other services that we take for granted, such as Scottish Water, require things such as electric pumps in order to keep the system going. They have to be serviced such that they have emergency equipment when the electricity supply cuts out. It was put to me by someone from Sky that it was bad to be without electricity for three days, but if the water went off as well, it would make life fairly intolerable. Fortunately, it did not, but it is essential that our infrastructure is not creating the kind of emergencies where water bottles have to be distributed through terrible conditions of snow and blizzards to far-flung communities. I asked some of my constituents about their experiences of the last week and the answers that I got fall into the argument that I am making that we need to be prepared. For example, Shirley-Manro, who lives in Easter, Ross, said that my thought is that it would really be good if local radio gave out more regular information and accurate information given that the updates online are useless if you have no power and probably no mobile reception. Those blackouts sadly will happen now and then, and I am grateful for those who work in often dangerous situations to get our power back on, while here and here. However, the point is that the BBC has cut the staff who do the journalism that provides us with the information, and they have cut the local bulletins in size as well. We are in the situation in which we need to have a battery operated radio or a wind-up one to get a service, because, usually, we find that the power cuts are in the areas with the poorest broadband coverage, and as soon as the electricity goes off, as Shirley-Manro says here, so does all your access to that. When the radio is telling us from the nice warm studio in Glasgow that we should look up your provider's website, we need to find ways to make sure that people are able to get that information, and the only way is through local radio provision, and the BBC has a major role to play in that respect. The Presiding Officer said earlier that there was some time in hand, but I thought that I would describe a situation that illustrates the point that Mr Gibson is trying to make, and it concerns a situation a number of years ago over the festive period for the island that I live on. The water was cut off due to damage to the submarine pipe. On that occasion, the weather was so bad that it was not possible to transport water by boat, so Scottish water was obliged to bring water in. By helicopter, my young nephew, who was staying with us over the festive period, went back to school and had to complete his diary of what he had done over the Christmas period. He wrote about the experience of the helicopter bringing the water. The teacher got in touch with his parents and said, look, we are a bit concerned about your son making up stories. That shows just how little understood some of the problems that Rob's constituents and my constituents experience and take almost for granted how little understood it sometimes is in urban areas. I am not sure how Mr Gibson feels about another speech within his speech, but we do have some time in hand, and I can reimburse you. It was an interesting illustration of the fact that people in urban areas do not really understand what it is like living in far-flung communities. I represent many of those. My largest settlement has 9,000 people in it, and the point is that most people live in much smaller ones. The point that I was making about the BBC, when you think about the Tory amendment, about working with services in other parts of the UK, they control broadcasting. They have been making the cuts. We need to see those reinstated and increased in our areas. I hope that when we recognise that we do work with the services in other parts, it would be a good idea if the services from there worked with us. That would be very helpful indeed. I just want to say a couple of things more. One about the radio situation was exacerbated by a transmitter fault, so there was no local radio service in the Highlands or in Orkney for two or three days. I do not know what the cause of it was, but does not it just happen at the time of the year when we are in the middle of the blizzards and the great storms, and that is something that the infrastructure has to do about being resilient to meet those conditions. However, my final thought is just about our seafarers. A mention was made by Hugh Henry about the terrible deaths in the Pentland Firth, on the edge of the Pentland Firth, from the Chemfiord. A local fisherman sent me a note saying, I think that with my 40 years of experience in the Pentland Firth, with these terrible waters that you can never know enough about to feel safe, that there should be more broadcasts every hour, particularly when there is a major east wind coming towards the Pentland Firth, because dozens of people have died in the Firth over the years. This particular example shows that we have to think about how we provide the emergency services. We support the emergency personnel, all of them, but we should be able to do more to help them to do their jobs when they need to. I very much welcome the opportunity to speak in today's debate and to recognise the emergency service staff who work tirelessly on our behalf. Overall, in agreement, the way in which our emergency services have handled themselves in the face of tragedy has quite rightly given them the respect and admiration of the Scottish public. In my own lifetime, I can think of numerous examples in which emergency service personnel have faced extraordinarily challenging situations. The nature of their work means that they sometimes have to put their lives on the line to protect others. As the next employee of Strathclyde Fire Brigade, the most obvious example to me of the bravery of emergency services is the cheap side street disaster, which continues to be, even 55 years later, Britain's worst peacetime fire services disaster. The disaster took place in March 1960, when fire crews attended a fire at Cheepside Street in the Anderson area of Glasgow. The fire broke out at a warehouse containing over a million gallons of whisky, and at the height of the fire hundreds of firefighters battled ablaze. It took 11 hours to bring it under control, but during that time 14 firefighters and five members of the Glasgow salvage corps were killed when an explosion within the warehouse caused the building's 20-metre high wall to fall on the men below. Even though I was employed in the fire service in the 90s, that particular disaster in Cheepside Street was still a regular subject of discussion, debate and concern all those years later. It is examples like the Cheepside Street disaster that make us remember that we should never take for granted the risks taken by the men and women of the emergency services. The first such events that I personally remember took place in 1971. In January of that year, the Ibrokes disaster resulted in 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. In October 1971, there was the Clarkson disaster when 22 died and around 100 were injured. I remember those incidents well, not because they were large incidents or because they were relatively local to our south-side Glasgow home, but because in the case of the Ibrokes disaster, my father, who is a Rangers fan, was at the game and was in the section of the ground at stage 13 where the disaster occurred. He did not return home until very late that night. Unfortunately, he was completely oblivious to what had happened at the game as he had left the game early in disgust after Celtic had scored, leaving my mother and the rest of the family in a state of high anxiety for many hours. Similarly, the Clarkson disaster hit home because a neighbour of ours worked in one of the shops destroyed by the blast. Information to families at that time was scant, to say the least, but much has been learned in the decades that have followed those events. Organisational planning has been significantly improved, as has the technology and equipment that our services use. It allows the emergency services to keep anxious families informed of what is happening, and that is one aspect of their work that perhaps we often forget—their work in contacting and supporting the families who are waiting for news. Unfortunately, Scotland has seen a number of incidents in more recent years that have also required a response from the emergency services. In Glasgow in the west of Scotland alone, there have been a number of incidents, including the Glasgow airport terrorist attack, the Glasgow School of Art fire, the Cluthar helicopter crash and the tragic events of the Queen Street bin lorry accident so recently. In the case of the Glasgow airport terrorist attack, the hard work of airport staff in conjunction with its emergency personnel ensured that, despite a serious terrorist attack, Glasgow airport reopened within 24 hours, thereby reducing the negative impact of the attack on both individuals and businesses. At the Glasgow School of Art fire, the quick action of more than 100 firefighters in a difficult environment prevented the complete destruction of a nationally and internationally significant building and a vital piece of Scotland's culture. The nature of the fire meant that fire crews had to tackle the blaze from inside the building. The bravery, skill and professionalism that was shown allowed the vast majority of the building to be saved, including the McIntosh lecture theatre and museum, in addition to the McIntosh archive. Recent events have also shown how emergency services work in collaboration not only with different organisations but also with their own backroom staff, who provide the necessary support for front-line personnel to carry out their duties. Not that long ago, I was fortunate enough to visit the Scottish Ambulance Service, who took the time to show me some of the work that takes place behind the scenes to keep the air fleet of ambulances and transports running smoothly. Ambulance control centres received more than 1.8 million calls in 2013-14 and dealt with nearly two and a half thousand emergency calls on hug many alone. I saw first hand the professionalism of phone operators and responding to calls and it was clear that staff understood the importance of maintaining the service at a very high standard. Backroom staff must not be forgotten. They are crucial in ensuring that our front-line emergency personnel are able to carry out their duties as effectively as possible. It is this professionalism and teamwork across all of our services that has helped to deliver real progress, whether that is the reduction of fire deaths in Scotland to the lowest ever recorded level or the reduction in recorded crime to a 40-year low. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the work of our community volunteer first responders. They are often the first on the scene of a medical emergency and their training with defibrillators and oxygen therapy can mean the difference between life and death for some patients. In the west of Scotland, there are volunteer first responder units operating in Largs, Nielston, Uplamur, Arran and in the Rose and Heath peninsula. The Stafford Glasgow airport and the security stafford at Brayhead shopping centre are also part of the scheme. It is only appropriate that their willingness to sacrifice their own time as volunteers to protect the people of this country is recognised in this debate. I believe that all our emergency services should be given the support that they require to undertake their duties effectively and safely. I therefore regret that the UK Government chose to shut the Clyde Coast Guard station located in Greenock and transfer its work to Belfast. I am concerned by reports that Belfast has been understaffed despite assurances from Westminster that more staff would be recruited. The Scottish Government called for full responsibility over maritime transport to be transferred to the Scottish Parliament in its submission to the Smith commission. I am therefore disappointed to see the commission's recommendations that state that the Scottish Government will be confined to a consultative role and the ability to nominate one member to the maritime and coast guard agency advisory board. That is a shame and it is not the way to show our respect for our emergency services. While most of us were at home enjoying your Christmas break, the emergency services were continuing to work hard. They are undoubtedly worthy of the praise that they have received today. They work irregular hours and at times need to confront very distressing situations. I hope at least that our debate today goes some way, a little way, to showing the gratitude not only of the Scottish Parliament but of all the people of Scotland who rely on the efforts of our emergency services. I think that there can be absolutely no doubt that the chamber is unified in working together in supporting our emergency services. Not one member has said anything other than that, and I think that that is something that might be seen that often in this chamber, where members can agree with each other, but on that very subject, we should take recognition of that. At the same time, we should recognise that we can do that in the comfort of this chamber, the comfort zone that we find ourselves in here today. We would consider words that come easy to us and words that are easy words in many respects, but we do not risk our lives to come to the work and the job that we enjoy doing every day. We do not find ourselves having to seek counselling services, which is something that we might joke about occasionally, but we do not find ourselves in that position and we should recognise that the debate that we are having here today relates to people who have to seek that kind of support. We should think ourselves in a position that being able to debate this issue is in very much, in very contrast to the challenges that our emergency services find. Tragic events at George's Square last month and previously at the Cloth of Wolcks in 2013 certainly gave me a perspective. I was in Glasgow 15 minutes on the very street that the bin lorry accident took place. It did give me a perspective and I must admit, at the same time when the reports came through of the major incident, I always had that sense of feeling of concern for the fact that there could be fatalities and alarm, of course, also at the same time our family members involved in that incident. I think that all of us raised it, and I have obviously a concern following such events. I think that the feeling intensified when the incident is in the town or city that you are familiar with, and it is always that feeling of momentary panic as you seek out the movements of your loved ones and you make those frantic calls. Those first responders, we should recognise that their emotions are not such emotions like that. Their emotions are using the professionalism that they have available, the expertise that they have available to them, to ensure that they deal with a very major incident. I think that we should recognise today the professionalism and training that has been put in place by those individuals who are prepared to do anything. We know from the experience of Glasgow and the Clifford votes that they were on the scene almost immediately, and many witnesses recognise that on the day. It is also recognised that the emergency workers who were first to attend in the Clifford votes and the Jordan Square, no doubt. We should recognise that again today, save lives, and we should recognise that role that they played with regard to issues such as dealing with the challenges that they face. The work that is carried out every day, we should recognise that there are no Christmas hoodies, there is no New Year's Day for these 24-hour services, 365 days a year services provided, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, all of these emergency services provide a valuable service to us 365 days a year, as I said, 24 hours a day. Every time they get that nine-in-call, it is the same professionalism that means everything to them and everything that they have to ensure that they deliver a good public service. As well as recognising the emergency services that attended the events that I referred to, I would also like to mention the public who assisted in many witness accounts of those events. We recognise that members of the public gave comfort to those who were injured, dealing with many of the challenges that faced the scene surrounding that. I think that we should recognise that. I would also like to mention the church leaders who played a crucial role in comforting family members who were bereaved and dealing with families who found themselves in this severe trauma situation. It should be recognised the comforts provided by those church leaders during what has been a traumatic time for many family members. Others like to say that I support and I think that we should support Government's motion, but at the same time I think that members should support the amendment that I think constructively has been brought forward by Hugh Henry today. I think that far too often we have debates in this Parliament that we mean so well to take forward the issues and we again speak the warm words that Hugh Henry referred to, but surely it should be for us as a Parliament to look at how we can use the experiences of those individuals who have so much to offer to ensure that we actually learn from their experiences in Parliament. I appreciate the challenges that our various committee members and committees face in this Parliament, but surely the challenges that face the Justice Committee are nowhere near and comparison to the challenges that our emergency services face. Surely we can look at ways in which we can perhaps make time to ensure that the experiences of those individuals can be taken into careful consideration and that they feel that we are making a difference in this Parliament. I recall when I was first elected in 1999 and the first term of the Parliament meeting with fire officers who advised me that they were attending 9-9 calls and were being targeted by youths lobbing bricks at them and adults who had air guns and were using the fire appliances as target practice. As a result of the experience of those individuals, I brought forward an amendment to legislation in the Parliament, which at a later stage brought forward the emergency workers' bill and we have in fact, during the following years, brought forward a number of pieces of legislation to give that protection to our emergency services. I would not have been able to bring forward that legislation or the proposals to the amendments that we have brought forward if I had not heard from the fire officers themselves to advise me of the challenges that they faced. I also heard from paramedics who advised me of some of the challenges that they faced in the city centre in Glasgow. I was horrified to hear that those who were giving up, who were committing themselves to the public service, were being targeted. I think that they have benefited from the legislation that we have delivered in this Parliament that we have come together to deliver. In fact, the zero-tolerance approach in many communities, and I know in the area that I represent, has benefited from that. Why can't we ensure that we give that opportunity to those individuals to at least amplify their concerns to the various committees that are available to us? In conclusion, I think that this has been a good debate. It has been worthy of the Parliament. I would ask the minister—perhaps in the spirit of the recently newly elected First Ministers working together with members and co-operating with them—to consider carefully the amendment that has been brought forward by Hugh Henry to give those emergency services out of their opportunity to contribute to the Parliament. Final open debate before we come to closing speeches is Willie Coffey. The debate has been a good opportunity for members to pay tribute to Scotland's emergency service personnel and to put on record our thanks as parliamentarians for the vital work that they do to keep all of us safe. With our vigilance on our behalf and our brave action when lives are in peril, we are appreciated the length and breadth of this country by communities, families and individuals who can find themselves caught up in the most distressing of circumstances as they go about their daily business. Colleagues around the chamber have reminded us of the horrific events in Glasgow at George Square and elsewhere and paid tribute to the victims who lost their lives, the injured and all the families affected and to the magnificent responders and crews who rushed to the scene to give assistance. My own constituency was not without incident either. Within two days, over the 22nd and 24th of December, we saw our local emergency service teams rescuing passengers from a train that had run into floodwater down the line from Kilmarnock at Mochlan having to free about 30 people. Over 40 people had to be rescued by dingies from the Azda store in Kilmarnock when the whole area was flooded and there were a spate of road accidents in the area, two of which were separated only by a few minutes on the same stretch of the A77, which very sadly led to our fatality. Those incidents all presented different challenges to the teams and, as we might expect, they are still in carrying out these rescues in dangerous conditions as a testament to their dedication and professionalism. I thank all the emergency staff who were involved in those incidents. In 2008, my constituent Alison Hume lost her life when she fell into a mineshaft only yards from her home in Galston. That night, despite the issues that were subsequently raised on the management of the rescue operation, there were some outstanding feats of bravery and compassion shown by the rescue personnel at the scene who descended into the shaft to assist Alison despite the risks to their own safety. Ultimately, Alison's life was not saved, but the bravery of those officers who did their best to rescue her has, to my knowledge, never been recognised. That is a mistake, in my view, that should be corrected and is supported by Alison's family. Our emergency service personnel are a unique breed of people. They go to work just as many of the rest of us do, but, at the back of their minds, they must be thinking, this could be the day when I am called upon to act to save a life and, in so doing, put my own life at risk too. I think that that takes a special type of person to do that type of work. Thankfully, in Scotland, we have an abundance of such men and women who are prepared to risk their own lives to save others, and we should thank them for that at every opportunity. Perhaps the cabinet secretary might give some thought to introducing a Scottish Parliament award for outstanding feats of bravery in the line of duty by our emergency service personnel and, indeed, by ordinary citizens, who also come to the aid of their fellow citizens in distress. We are lucky in Scotland to be witnessing a 40-year low in recorded crime. We have 1,000 extra police officers on our streets, and the number of our citizens who are likely to become victims of crime has dropped again and is lower than it is in England and Wales. More people feel safer in their communities and their perceptions about local crime rates staying the same or improving has gone up significantly to about 76 per cent. In terms of personnel, on top of those extra police officers, our numbers of ambulance technicians and paramedics have both increased since 2007 by roughly 16 and by 12 per cent. Numbers of consultants and nurses are well up on the levels that they were at in 2006. We see high levels of public confidence in our accident and emergency services that the service can meet their needs over the winter. At 63 per cent, that figure is significantly higher than 46 per cent, which is reflected in other countries in the UK. Now, in all parts of Scotland, as a result of the Alice and Hume case, crews have direct access to specialist equipment and expertise to affect rescues wherever they may be needed. In terms of performance, our call-out response times are the best in the UK, where our ambulance crews respond to incidents on average within six and a half minutes. Our A&E performance in September was 93.5 per cent, again the best in the UK. What that means is that about 750,000 patients were seen within four hours. Our air in Monklands A&E units alone have dealt with over 800,000 attendances. Those, of course, would be clogging up other A&E departments if those units had been closed some years ago. In Scotland, we can be proud of our emergency service personnel and volunteers who, day in and day out, put themselves at great risk in order to keep us safe and rescues when called upon to do so. It is right that the Parliament has a debate like this to pay tribute to those wonderful people. We have heard many examples today of the professionalism and courage that our emergency service teams display every day in some part of Scotland. May we, as a Parliament, congratulate them and thank them for everything that they do. Thank you very much. That brings us to closing speeches. I remind members that, if they have participated in the debate, they should be back in the chamber for closing speeches. I call on Jamie McGrigor. Seven minutes, please, Mr McGrigor. Thank you very much. I am pleased to close today's debate, which has been useful and largely consensual as befits the subject. As Jackson Carlaw said earlier, the Scottish Conservatives welcome the opportunity to commend and pay tribute to all those who help to keep us safe in emergencies. We are indeed fortunate to have such first-class emergency service workers and volunteers in Scotland. It is right that the Parliament takes time to put our gratitude on record to all those involved in our emergency services, to those who often risk their lives to save the lives of others. I also associate the Scottish Conservatives with all the comments that have been made in relation to the first-class work of the emergency services during the tragic Glasgow bin lorry crash just before Christmas and the Clutha bar tragedy last year, and also with those tributes that have been made by members to all of our policemen and women, ambulance crews and fire and rescue service workers. But as an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, I want to highlight in particular the work of our dedicated and brilliant RNLI lifeboat crews, as a number of other members have done today already. I have a long family association with the RNLI as my late father, Charles McGrigor, became Scottish convener of the RNLI and travelled to lifeboat stations all over Scotland. It was a huge honour for my family when the RNLI representatives played a part in his funeral by wrapping his coffin in a lifeboat flag and providing a detail to carry it to his grave in Dalmallia churchyard. The RNLI's 47 Scottish stations provide a vital 24-hour day search and rescue service and help the lives of hundreds of people, including fishermen, help to save their lives each and every year. Tobermory RNLI station in my region is one of Scotland's busiest, along with the Oben station, and I will want to pay special tribute to my constituent, Tobermory's Jane Griffiths, one of the RNLI's first female coxins who has just stepped down after almost 20 years of service. Her commitment and dedication is an example to us all. Volunteers make up 95% of the charity lifeboat crew members and shore crew, and we should also record our thanks to those who raised vital funds for the RNLI and other charities working to provide emergency services. I am talking about the people who run the lifeboat tents at shows all over Scotland and who collect for the lifeboats on the street in all weathers and for other charities, and we are an island race surrounded by sea, and the realisation of the perils of the deep is embedded in the bloodstream of our nation. Another category, one response group which is of real importance to my region again, both to local residents and to visitors are our Scottish mountain rescue teams, again mentioned by others in this chamber. Scotland has 27 volunteer mountain rescue teams, the majority of which are based in my region, and are made up of over 1,000 volunteers, plus an additional three police teams and an RAF team. They operate effectively and safely 365 days a year, 24 hours a day in all weather conditions, and help save the lives of dozens of walkers and climbers. Just last weekend, three people were rescued from the Can Gorms in blizzard conditions in two separate operations by the Can Gorm mountain rescue team, and their knowledge and expertise is world-class, and I commend all those who volunteer with our mountain rescue teams and those who fundraise so hard to support them. The order of St John as a sponsor of our mountain rescue teams has given wonderful support through the provision of land rovers, and I would also wish to take this opportunity to reinforce the message that our mountain rescue teams consistently seek to put across, namely that more people need to be aware of and prepared for the weather conditions that can be encountered in our hill and mountain ranges. I recognise that winter climbing is a rewarding activity for many and important to the Scottish economy. It is especially important to the Fort William area, where it has done a lot of the time, but the ferocious and fast-changing weather should never be underestimated. As one young man and experienced mountain climber who himself narrowly escaped death in the Can Gorms after stepping over a blind cornice last year warned recently, you can have all the training and all the kit and skills, but that does not mean that you are prepared to deal with the fact that poor visibility can make you oblivious to what is three feet in front of you. People just assume that because it is in the UK it must be nice and rambly, but that is not the case.  It can change very quickly and people do not realise how hard it can be to get out of it when it happens. Before closing, I would like to put on my record my thanks to all those who are involved with rescues on our freshwater locks, rivers and inland waters. Again, this is a very important service, but it is a bit spasmodic in the fact that Loch Lomond, for example, has the Loch Lomond angling station, which has a rescue boat. Loch Ness is covered by the RNLI, but some of the other locks in Scotland, the freshwater locks, are not covered by any specific bodies. Recently, in Loch Orr, where I live, we had the tragedy of the four people who were drowned. Since then, there has been a charity put forward that has raised enough funds to buy a small boat, a Loch Watch, Loch Orr it is called, and it has done well. Unfortunately, I do not see it as being a sustainable unless there is some funding from somewhere to come across and provide some sort of core funding for this operation. So, until that happens, I'm afraid that some of the bigger locks, freshwater areas in Scotland, will be basically without major cover, and I think that's something that should be looked at. I'm only suggesting that now. So, local residents deserve praise and supports for the actions which they take in regard to freshwater safety, but I think that some core funding must be called for areas where there is none. I support the amendment in Jackson Carlaw's name, and again thank all of Scotland's emergency service workers whose role is incredibly important to all of our constituents. Thank you. Many thanks. Before I move on, I note that a couple of members were missing at the start of closing speeches. The chamber has received the courtesy of an explanation from one of the members. However, I note that Hans Alamallek is still missing from the chamber, and I regret that, and I trust that an explanation will be forthcoming. I call on Dr Richard Simpson. Nine minutes or so, Dr Simpson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to be summing up on supporting Labour's amendment in what has been for the most part of a consensual debate. This debate has allowed the Parliament to acknowledge the debt of gratitude that we have to our emergency service men and women, whether they be fully employed by the major blue light, or uniformed services, or part-time as in volunteer fire services workers like Mike McKenzie, or who, as Alison McInnes pointed out, volunteer fire workers actually make up 40 per cent of our service, or indeed those who undertake the work employing their professional skills, but in a voluntary capacity, such as the doctors and basic, which have not been mentioned today, and who support the fire, police and ambulance and road accidents, or volunteers like the first responders, as Roderick Campbell reminded us. Many of the members who have spoken do so from personal contact or political experience with disasters. Patricia Ferguson has spoken, speaking graphically on the stock line, and reminding us of the consequences of the delay in FAIs and the impact that has not just on those who suffered, but on the emergency services. A number like Hazala Malik and Colin Beattie spoke on the Clutha disaster, and Paul Martin on the recent Glasgow George Square accident, Clyde Parish on Clyde Bank. Elaine Murray reminded us about the recent Paris events where the army and police of various types were involved, as well as the Glasgow art school fire. What is clear to me from all these accounts is the huge degree of professionalism of our core services, the ability of different organisations to deploy their particular skills in what Christine Graham graphically described in the Teviot River incident as a seamless and co-ordinated way. Linking volunteers, however, with these core services is also vital. For example, there are 95 British Association for immediate care medics, that's the basic medics, connected to the ambulance service, and that sort of connection I think is very important. I think when we hear in the last few days of Pauline Cafferty's improvement, we should today of all days pay tribute to those from the health services and fire services who volunteer to work in international disaster sites, to the tsunamis, earthquakes and as climate change affects the world with flooding like that in Malawi, which we heard in FMQs this morning. These are countries without the resource to tackle the consequences, and our volunteers play a vital role. Metsons sont frontières, which I'm a particular advocate of and is BMA's Christmas charity, working currently in Syria, North Pakistan and now West Africa, in circumstances which we can only think about. We can't imagine what they have to face on a day-in-day basis. Today, members, I'm not going to dwell on accident and emergency staff, but I can say that anyone who has witnessed a busy shift and there are more and more in that category has to applaud the nurses and doctors and, indeed, other staff in our A&E departments. This is not just a winter thing, this is an all-year-round thing now. I recently visited our only charitable air ambulance in Skun in my constituency. Now, before they got underway, there was a question, would they actually be fully utilised? Did we need it in addition to the two NHS ambulances? I can say, and I'll make this as one of the few political points in this speech, that the air ambulances flew 3,427 sorties last year. They are actually becoming essential to our service. With the major trauma units about to come on stream, we will need more air ambulance provision, not less. If the current Christie reports are acted upon, then rationalisation for patient safety and only, secondly, for cost-effectiveness will demonstrate that need as elective procedures are held in one hospital but all acute in another hospital, the acute will need that transport, so I would encourage members to support the charitable air ambulance system. Presiding officer, listing all the emergency services in groups inevitably mean that some group are left out. I wouldn't, for example, have thought of the farmers without Graham Day's excellent description of the work that they do on our behalf. Jackson Carlaw also reminded us of those who are usually unsung, like GCHQ, often unrecognised, and I would like to add, as Elaine Murray did, the civilian support staff. I'm glad that, also, we have all be it as a country belatedly recognised the Bevan boys and the Arctic merchant seamen. Those, I think, were important individuals during the war who have only recently been recognised. Jackson Carlaw also referred to the hoax callers as unacceptable. Paul Martin reminded us that, after listening to emergency service staff, we legislated for those who have been physically abused, so listening is important. Presiding officer, I must join Alison McInnes and others to praise those electricity supply workers who have worked tirelessly in the recent past to reconnect remote supplies, to network rail and transport staff for their efforts in these last few days to keep our rail and road system functioning. Today, many members, such as Roderick Campbell, have spoken eloquently about their local services and, indeed, about their personal experiences, Patricia Ferguson reminding us of the image of firefighters going up that tower block when she and her family were coming down. That resonated strongly with me. I experienced on one occasion the support of a voluntary fire service chief officer in my practice that I was called upon to talk down a mentally ill patient from a ledge on the main street in Bridget Valley. Having a fear of heights at that time, which I fortunately have not got now, I was really quite terrified. The officer, who was about half my size and half the size of my patient, successfully managed to help us both to come down, and he did not jump, so I owe them a personal debt. Cabinet Secretary, Hugh Henry and others have referred to the mountain rescue team. I am not going to add to their really significant descriptions. 25 lives may have been lost in a year, but how many more were saved? Many owe their lives to these thousand volunteers. There are an ally, which Jamie McGregor talked of from his only family experience, must be surely one of the best examples of a volunteer scheme. As Mike McKenzie said, who amongst us would go out on the sea in storms like the weather bomb that we have had recently? The St Andrews service and Red Cross are another two groups that not only respond, but attend so many sporting and other events where you never know what is actually going to happen, but they also train others in basic first aid, so they spread the emergency service. In my particular constituency, and again in Bridget Valley and primary school, I was delighted recently to present certificates to the trainers who will then train the pupils in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. If we spread this amongst our community, we increase the resilience of our community, so schemes like that supported by the British Heart Foundation are important. Our amendment asks that, as a Parliament, we go beyond wardwords. Of course, funding the core services we do go beyond, but it is about resilience. We interact and should do so directly with our front-line staff. I will be not instructing committees to undertake inquiries, but what I will be saying is asking, and I will certainly ask the health committee to invite our front-line staff, not just the managers, who we have already interviewed about resilience, but we will invite them, because, as some members said, we must listen to these front-line staff and take the time to do so, even in our very crowded, when I accept that they are crowded, agendas. I want to make two further points, one philosophical and one practical. In Scotland, we have one unique funding approach in support of our hospices. A promise made 30 years ago that the Government would match pound for pound every pound that the public contributed. It is controlled by budgets and things, but it is basically the situation, still 30 years on. It is my belief that in a nearer where authority and government have increasingly small standing, that approach to some of our voluntary services would renew a partnership between Government and people. The funds raised for the lock-or scheme, if they were matched by the Government, that would send a message to that community. We value what we are doing and we want to support it. I commend that particular proposal to the chamber. It is contained in some very good papers by the Carnegie Trust, entitled The Enabling State, written by Sir John Elvidge, one of our foremost previous civil servants. I commend that to members as a way in which the state can support our communities. The other issue, born out of my experience that I want to mention, was in treating a police officer years after the Lockerbie disaster and recognising that he was suffering from unrecognised post-traumatic stress disorder. Alison McInnes mentioned the stress number of police off with stress, but we need to be mindful of the effect upon our men and women in the emergency services. Not only do they put themselves at immediate risk, but they can also pay a heavy price psychologically. We must be open about this, we must ensure that they know that we recognise that problem and will support them. Presiding Officer, it is good that we have reflected on all whose job is in the emergency service, the volunteers and others, the blue light and uniform services, but I hope that we will pass Labour's amendment to send a clear message that we will listen and we will look at this. Not to pass that amendment, I think, would send the wrong message. I hope that it will be supported. Thank you very much, and to now call in Maureen Watt to wind up the debate minister 10 minutes or so. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I welcome the opportunity to close this debate today. It has been very wide-ranging and very interesting. What we have all managed to agree on though is that without a doubt our emergency services face tough and difficult situations on a daily basis. I would like to take this opportunity to echo what others have said this afternoon and pass on my own gratitude to each and every member of our emergency services, as well as those who volunteer their spare time to help those in need, no matter what the circumstances. It is clear that, at some time in our lives, each and every one of us, or someone we know, will rely on the skills and education of the emergency service personnel. It is that dedication to deliver those services day in and day out that we commend here today. I echo Eileen Murray and Patricia Ferguson's concern about the recognition of Patricia in relation to the stock line firefighters. I think that public opinion these days is very much in favour of our emergency services, and the public recognise that. They also recognise that things can't be fixed immediately in certain situations, but our emergency services are doing their very best, and I wish that sometimes the press would reflect that too. I think that we would also agree with Jackson Carlaw in his concern about hoax calls. Although the majority of people use very responsibly our emergency services and the call lines, any acts of malicious and useless calling are taken very seriously. The Scottish Government fully supports our police and prosecutors who hold those people responsible and to account, but I can also assure them that the services make every effort to identify calls that may be linked to mental health issues and advise the relevant agencies accordingly. The commitment of our emergency services is recognised by the example shared in today's debate of how men and women serving in our emergency services respond on a day-to-day basis to a wide and diverse range of situations of varying degrees of risk and challenge, some of which may indeed put their own lives at risk. It's been great to see how members contributing today have recognised a huge variety of volunteers and services. Mike McKenzie's very em