:00:21. > :00:28.A very warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament. MSPs are in law making
:00:29. > :00:31.more this afternoon, looking at the higher education government's bill,
:00:32. > :00:36.it has been highly controversial. Looking also at the bill. But it is
:00:37. > :00:42.time for a bit of banter and exchange for stock questions for it
:00:43. > :00:44.First Minister. Let's cross to the chamber and they would have going
:00:45. > :00:52.on. Is provision for that improvement within the budget that
:00:53. > :00:58.two prominent in December. Question number one. What engagements does
:00:59. > :01:04.she have planned for the rest of the day? To take forward the
:01:05. > :01:10.government's programme for Scotland. At the age of just 29, Gordon was
:01:11. > :01:15.diagnosed with motoneuron disease and after years as a healthy
:01:16. > :01:19.athletic young man, he is now in a wheelchair and relies on visits from
:01:20. > :01:25.care workers three times a day. He is dying. I was in the room with the
:01:26. > :01:30.First Minister when she met with Gordon and promised to look at the
:01:31. > :01:36.lack of MND nurses in Scotland. I listened very closely last January
:01:37. > :01:41.when she announced plans to double the number of specialist MND nurses
:01:42. > :01:46.in Scotland. But we now know that that promise, that pledge, has not
:01:47. > :01:53.been met. Nicola Sturgeon has not kept the promise that she made
:01:54. > :01:58.directly to Gordon. And in her own words, for people living with MND,
:01:59. > :02:04.this is urgent. Time is not on their side. So can the First Minister
:02:05. > :02:09.please give a precise date for when she will deliver on her promise to
:02:10. > :02:19.double the number of specialist MND nurses working in our NHS. Firstly,
:02:20. > :02:26.can I say that my admiration for Gordon Aikman, for the way he has
:02:27. > :02:28.confronted the dreadful diagnosis that he was faced with, and the way
:02:29. > :02:33.in which he has conducted his campaign, knows no bounds. As I have
:02:34. > :02:38.done in past months, I continue to be very determined to work with him
:02:39. > :02:43.and let others to make sure that we fulfil their obligation to improve
:02:44. > :02:47.health care and indeed social care for people, not just with MND but
:02:48. > :02:55.with other devastating illnesses of its type. Secondly, I generally do
:02:56. > :02:58.not think it is fair of how to say that we are not fulfilling the
:02:59. > :03:02.commitment that we give to Gordon Aikman. The funding is being
:03:03. > :03:10.provided and health boards are in the process of recruiting additional
:03:11. > :03:13.nurse specialists. The delays are to do with difficulties in recruitment,
:03:14. > :03:19.in getting the right people with the right skills into posts. That is
:03:20. > :03:23.continuing and making progress and over the next few weeks, I would
:03:24. > :03:28.expect to see health boards do what they require to do to fulfil that
:03:29. > :03:32.commitment to double the number of MND nurses. The commitment was to
:03:33. > :03:40.double them but also to make sure that MND nurses were funded by the
:03:41. > :03:44.National health services, and these commitments but I remain committed
:03:45. > :03:46.to. I am sorry, Presiding Officer, but
:03:47. > :03:52.the First Minister promised that this would be in place by the end of
:03:53. > :03:58.October and it is now January. Ikea the First Minister talk about
:03:59. > :04:06.Gordon's courage. In fact, all of the party leaders in this chamber
:04:07. > :04:08.have stood and had a photo opportunity with Gordon and praised
:04:09. > :04:11.him for his bravery. But he does not want our admiration. He did not let
:04:12. > :04:17.the cameras into his life for the sake of celebrity. He did it to
:04:18. > :04:22.leave this world and to leave a legacy for those who come after him.
:04:23. > :04:25.Now, there are thousands of people across the country coming to the end
:04:26. > :04:36.of their lives who need support. And just yesterday, new figures were
:04:37. > :04:42.published which confirmed that at least 276 people died waiting on a
:04:43. > :04:51.social care package. It is a scandal that it took a dying man to put an
:04:52. > :04:57.FOI request into expose the scale of the social care crisis in this
:04:58. > :05:03.country. So can the First Minister tell me how her ?500 million cuts to
:05:04. > :05:11.cancel budgets will help solve this social care crisis? -- cancel
:05:12. > :05:15.budgets. Let me take those two issues in turn and firstly deal with
:05:16. > :05:23.the issue of MND nurse specialists. Today, this Government has invested
:05:24. > :05:27.?2.4 million of recurring funding in a new specialist nursing and care
:05:28. > :05:31.fund and that includes up to ?700,000 to fulfil the commitment
:05:32. > :05:36.that from the 1st of April 2015 or MND clinical nurse specialist will
:05:37. > :05:39.be paid for by public funds. That is now in place, fulfilling the first
:05:40. > :05:45.bite of that commitment I made to Gordon Aikman. As I said in my
:05:46. > :05:49.earlier and so, we remain committed to ensure that the number of nurses
:05:50. > :05:54.is doubled and that that happens as swiftly as possible. We are seeing
:05:55. > :05:57.progress. I outlined the fact that this is not about funding, it is
:05:58. > :06:01.about making sure that we and the health board recruit the right
:06:02. > :06:08.people with the right skills into these posts. We have already seen
:06:09. > :06:11.progress towards meeting the goal. The five health boards that employee
:06:12. > :06:17.MND nurses have already increased capacity. In NHS Greater Glasgow and
:06:18. > :06:19.Clyde, two new MND specialist nurses have been appointed and they will
:06:20. > :06:27.take up their posts later this month. All other NHS boards who
:06:28. > :06:30.employ MND specialist nurses are in the process of recruiting additional
:06:31. > :06:37.nurses. That is the commitment that was made and the commitment that
:06:38. > :06:39.will be delivered in full. Turning to the issue of social care, what
:06:40. > :06:44.she did not refer to in that question, perhaps not surprisingly,
:06:45. > :06:47.is that in the draft budget that the Deputy First Minister outlined to
:06:48. > :06:53.Parliament just before Christmas, we made a commitment to build on our
:06:54. > :06:56.work, to integrate Health and Social Care Act. The biggest reform of how
:06:57. > :07:00.we deliver health care that this country has seen since the
:07:01. > :07:04.establishment of the NHS. We committed to building on that with
:07:05. > :07:10.an additional ?250 million from the NHS into social care. That is of
:07:11. > :07:14.course in addition to the extra money we made available to support
:07:15. > :07:20.the integration of Health and Social Care Act. She talked about the
:07:21. > :07:24.number of hours of social care and as the population ages, as the needs
:07:25. > :07:29.of older people become more intensive and acute, we have got to
:07:30. > :07:33.expand social care, which is exactly the reason for the budget decision
:07:34. > :07:36.that was taken. But she might be interested to know, if she does not
:07:37. > :07:40.already, but over the past two years, we have been seeing an
:07:41. > :07:48.increase in the number of hours of social care that local councils
:07:49. > :07:53.provide. For example, in 2015, 706,000 hours per week of social
:07:54. > :07:58.care provided by councils. That was up 4% on the year before and up from
:07:59. > :08:03.607,000 at the start of this Parliament. We are also seen the
:08:04. > :08:10.average hours of home care received each week steadily increasing. In
:08:11. > :08:14.2007, that was 5.6... Sorry, in 2000, that was 5.6 hours, last year
:08:15. > :08:17.it was 11.5 hours. He intensity of social care is increasing, enabling
:08:18. > :08:23.more people with Indians needs to stay at home. This Government has
:08:24. > :08:26.taken the action and will continue to take the action to make sure we
:08:27. > :08:31.have quality Social Care Trust -- with intense needs. We will protect
:08:32. > :08:41.individuals but also the NHS as well. Presiding Officer, in that
:08:42. > :08:44.long and so there was one simple fact, the First Minister has put
:08:45. > :08:56.?250 million into the budget but taken away ?500 million. It is that
:08:57. > :09:02.classic sleight of hand of the SNP Government style. And in the last 24
:09:03. > :09:07.hours, we have seen a massive debate about the future of our council
:09:08. > :09:10.services open up. From Moray to Dundee, councils are taking tough
:09:11. > :09:16.choices because this Government has left them with no alternative. One
:09:17. > :09:21.of the most important services are councils providing full hooker. Last
:09:22. > :09:25.night on Reporting Scotland, the Health Secretary gives the game away
:09:26. > :09:33.by admitting there is a social care recruitment problem. -- are councils
:09:34. > :09:40.provide is social care. Low pay, poor conditions and insecure work.
:09:41. > :09:47.Paying a Living Wage would fix that. And it would improve the care... And
:09:48. > :09:52.it would improve the care that people receive. Before Christmas,
:09:53. > :09:59.the SNP Government voted against Labour's plans for a Living Wage for
:10:00. > :10:03.care workers. She could reverse that today. She can make a pledge to the
:10:04. > :10:06.39,000 care workers who would be guaranteed a Living Wage for the
:10:07. > :10:10.first time. She can make a pledge to the thousands of people waiting for
:10:11. > :10:16.a social care package and she could make a pledge to the 270 people and
:10:17. > :10:19.the families who died last year waiting for the support that they
:10:20. > :10:23.need. While the First Minister guarantee today that she will
:10:24. > :10:37.introduce a Living Wage for care workers? Firstly, in terms of...
:10:38. > :10:41.Order! Perhaps a fact that she is either not aware of or is aware of
:10:42. > :10:45.and chooses to ignore any questioning, this Government is
:10:46. > :10:50.investing this year ?12.5 million in partnership with local councils, as
:10:51. > :10:53.part of a ?25 million package to improve wages and conditions in the
:10:54. > :10:56.social care sector. We are determined to continue to make
:10:57. > :11:03.progress towards payment of the Living Wage in the social care
:11:04. > :11:06.sector. If she wants us to go faster on that then she is quite entitled
:11:07. > :11:10.to bring forward cost of proposals about how we do that in the context
:11:11. > :11:15.of next year's budget. Do they clearly were that money comes from.
:11:16. > :11:17.Let me return to the overall question of local government
:11:18. > :11:21.funding. The reduction of local government budgets proposed for the
:11:22. > :11:31.next financial year commenced to 2% of the total revenue expenditure.
:11:32. > :11:34.2%. That is before we take account of the additional ?250 million in
:11:35. > :11:39.social care. Of course, that ?250 million in social care is on top of
:11:40. > :11:44.the 500 name brands we are already investing over the years to support
:11:45. > :11:50.the integration of health and Social Care Trust in terms of the council
:11:51. > :11:55.tax freeze, it is fully funded. The Scottish Government gives councils
:11:56. > :11:58.money for not raising the council tax. -- compensate. A recent report
:11:59. > :12:10.said that it was possibly overfunded, with an estimated... It
:12:11. > :12:15.is a Spice report! Order! Labour are very keen to host these reports when
:12:16. > :12:20.it suits them, they might want to listen to this one. With 164.9
:12:21. > :12:22.million extra going to local government. These are the facts
:12:23. > :12:29.Presiding Officer. These are challenging times for everyone,
:12:30. > :12:32.because of the cuts being imposed in the Scottish Government's budget.
:12:33. > :12:36.There is here a question that Labour has to address. We are in a budget
:12:37. > :12:40.process right now. If Labour wants local government to get more money
:12:41. > :12:44.in next year's budget, because that is what we are talking about, then
:12:45. > :12:48.it has to set out where that money is coming from. If Labour going to
:12:49. > :12:52.break its own commitment to freeze the council tax or are they going to
:12:53. > :13:01.take money from other parts of the budget? Which is it and when on
:13:02. > :13:08.earth are they going to tell us? You can make this brief. The First
:13:09. > :13:12.Minister also. Let me give her some facts. We brought forward proposals
:13:13. > :13:19.for a Living Wage for care workers. You voted it down. I hear the First
:13:20. > :13:25.Minister make commitments on lots of things. She can promise a ?250
:13:26. > :13:32.million tax break to big airline companies but she cannot promise
:13:33. > :13:38.care workers a Living Wage?! Order! Order! It says a lot about the
:13:39. > :13:44.priorities of this SNP Government. The problem of council cuts is not
:13:45. > :13:49.going away. The social care crisis is not going away. Despite all of
:13:50. > :13:55.the waffle from the First Minister, people are dying waiting for
:13:56. > :14:03.support. Is that really the Scotland that the First Minister wants to
:14:04. > :14:11.live in? Here we have it, any last vestiges of credibility that she and
:14:12. > :14:15.the Scottish Labour Party had have just disappeared. We are back to the
:14:16. > :14:22.mythical APD money, and today we have the fourth thing that is going
:14:23. > :14:28.to be spent on. Firstly it was education. Then it was restoring tax
:14:29. > :14:33.credit cuts. Last week, in this very chamber, it was for first time
:14:34. > :14:37.buyers' grants and today it is for a Living Wage in the social care
:14:38. > :14:43.sector. It is absolutely dire. That lot over there clearly are our not
:14:44. > :14:51.fit to be in opposition, let alone an alternative government. Let me
:14:52. > :14:53.see quite clearly together yet ideal -- let me see quite clearly, because
:14:54. > :14:59.this is where it gets really matter of weeks away from an election, I
:15:00. > :15:00.know Labour did not think they have got any chance of winning the
:15:01. > :15:03.election and are still trying to scrabble on to second place over the
:15:04. > :15:09.Tories, but they do have a duty to put forward detail. I have outlined
:15:10. > :15:14.what our plans are on social care and stopped I have outlined how we
:15:15. > :15:18.are going to work towards the Living Wage and social care. If Labour
:15:19. > :15:25.wants to do it faster, they have to tell us how. I challenge her in the
:15:26. > :15:30.context of this budget process, over the next couple of weeks, bring
:15:31. > :15:33.forward costed proposals in this budget of how all of the plans and
:15:34. > :15:37.she brings forward are to be funded. If she does not do that, she does
:15:38. > :15:49.not deserve to be taken seriously by anybody.
:15:50. > :15:55.To ask the First Minister when she will next meet
:15:56. > :16:05.I have no plans at present. But can I take the opportunity to wish her
:16:06. > :16:14.all the best. The smaller, we learned that teaching unions are
:16:15. > :16:22.threatening strike action over the overworked the workload they are
:16:23. > :16:28.facing. Evidence that the attainment gap in schools is still growing. We
:16:29. > :16:32.need to act. Last week, we published our plans to support Scottish
:16:33. > :16:37.schools. In it, we called for the Scottish Government to introduce
:16:38. > :16:43.teacher first, an innovative scheme which is Britain's largest graduate
:16:44. > :16:47.recruiter, training the best graduates and putting them in the
:16:48. > :16:54.most challenging schools. Currently, the only go to schools south of the
:16:55. > :17:00.border. With teachers threatening strike action, and few graduates
:17:01. > :17:05.going into teaching, why does the First Minister not consider this? I
:17:06. > :17:12.disagree with that characterisation of our education system. I am
:17:13. > :17:16.serious about raising the standards of education in Scotland and closing
:17:17. > :17:23.the attainment gap. We see some signs of the narrowing in the upper
:17:24. > :17:26.levels of secondary school. We want to set measurable targets for
:17:27. > :17:36.closing it in primary and lower secondary school as well. In that
:17:37. > :17:41.context, I close my mind to nothing that can be proven to work in terms
:17:42. > :17:46.of raising standards and that remains my position. Last year,
:17:47. > :17:52.round about this time last year, I've visited a school in London to
:17:53. > :17:58.look in detail at the expedients of the London challenge. I accept that
:17:59. > :18:00.there will be different views to the one that I am about to express, but
:18:01. > :18:04.one of the things that somebody who was close to the implementation of
:18:05. > :18:11.the London challenge said to me was they would advertise caution over
:18:12. > :18:16.teacher first, it was not in their expedients the thing that had made
:18:17. > :18:22.the biggest difference. We will continue to look at the best
:18:23. > :18:28.evidence of what works. And that is the spirit in which we will move
:18:29. > :18:34.forward. As ever on the topic of education, we seem to have a lot of
:18:35. > :18:37.warm words but not much actual leadership. The consequences of the
:18:38. > :18:52.government's in action are beginning to damage children's attainment.
:18:53. > :18:57.Last year, 100 Scottish graduates joined the teach first programme.
:18:58. > :19:04.They could be preparing to work in our schools, but have been recruited
:19:05. > :19:08.by teach first and will teach disadvantaged children, but in
:19:09. > :19:13.England. This SNP government would rather export good teachers than
:19:14. > :19:20.enervate teacher training. We are losing some of our best graduates to
:19:21. > :19:24.size of the border. Graduates that could be teaching in our most
:19:25. > :19:30.disadvantaged schools. The First Minister has the power to change
:19:31. > :19:37.that, why doesn't she? We will do what ever we think works to improve
:19:38. > :19:41.Scottish education. Angela Constance has made announcements about this
:19:42. > :19:53.recently. We are increasing the target intakes for student teachers,
:19:54. > :19:54.for primary and secondary. Part of the focus that we put on raising
:19:55. > :19:58.attainment is actually on the quality of teacher is going into our
:19:59. > :20:03.schools, making sure that we are reforming how teachers are trained,
:20:04. > :20:08.the qualification for headship which we have announced recently, making
:20:09. > :20:11.sure we have the best graduates coming through, getting the best
:20:12. > :20:22.training going into schools to provide the best education. The
:20:23. > :20:29.framework will give us the tools to determine whether it is working or
:20:30. > :20:30.not. In the context of the election campaign that lies ahead, we will
:20:31. > :20:34.set out over the next few weeks further thoughts as to how we do
:20:35. > :20:43.this over the lifetime of the next Parliament. I continue to welcome
:20:44. > :20:47.views from all parts of the chamber. I'm sure all of our thoughts are
:20:48. > :20:55.with injured and family and friends of those who lost their lives on the
:20:56. > :21:13.streets of Jakarta. Can I echo those sentiments. Matters
:21:14. > :21:16.of importance to Scotland will be discussed at the next meeting of the
:21:17. > :21:27.parliament. The Conservative Party is proposing an 80% increase from
:21:28. > :21:29.Moray Council. Surely this shows the enormous pressure that councils
:21:30. > :21:36.across Scotland are under. The ?500 million his counsel budgets will hit
:21:37. > :21:41.schools, it is a choice of the SNP government. Will the First Minister
:21:42. > :21:47.review that decision today? As I have outlined in previous answers to
:21:48. > :21:53.other leaders, the council tax freeze, as he well knows, is fully
:21:54. > :21:57.funded. Every year that the council tax has been frozen, the Scottish
:21:58. > :22:03.Government has compensated councils for the they would have raised in
:22:04. > :22:06.revenue had the increased the council tax by the rate of
:22:07. > :22:10.inflation. A recent report produced by spice suggests that the council
:22:11. > :22:19.tax freeze may have been overfunded in the past few years. As a
:22:20. > :22:24.pretended of total revenue expenditure, production is 2%. I do
:22:25. > :22:27.not pretend that is easy for any council, but we live in challenging
:22:28. > :22:34.Financial Times. In that context, I think it is fair to say that local
:22:35. > :22:36.government has been treated reasonably and fairly. But none of
:22:37. > :22:40.that takes account of the additional investment in social care that we
:22:41. > :22:44.have just been talking about. We put forward our plans for how we take
:22:45. > :22:50.the country forward, how we invest in things that matter, how we build
:22:51. > :22:53.up social care, protect our National Health Service, improve education.
:22:54. > :23:02.It is incumbent on the parties to do likewise. I do so in an honest way,
:23:03. > :23:07.unlike the Tories are doing just though which is putting out leaflets
:23:08. > :23:11.opposing tax rises in Scotland on the same day that Moray Council are
:23:12. > :23:21.threatening to hit ratepayers with an increase of 18%. She has many
:23:22. > :23:26.choices. Even if Moray Council increased the council tax by just
:23:27. > :23:35.?1, the First Minister will hit them with a ?1 million penalty. That will
:23:36. > :23:38.hit schools, nurseries and council services. Will she commit today to
:23:39. > :23:50.lift the threat of that ?1 million fine? It will be a double hurt.
:23:51. > :23:56.Where is the fairness in that? That'll be the Tories that Willie
:23:57. > :24:01.Rennie's party propped up for the last five years in government. That
:24:02. > :24:06.will be the Tories that, helped by the Liberal Democrats, have imposed
:24:07. > :24:08.your term cuts to the budget of this Parliament. Willie Rennie's
:24:09. > :24:13.hypocrisy on this does know no bounds. On the question of council
:24:14. > :24:19.tax freeze, it is funded, it is fully funded. What Willie Rennie is
:24:20. > :24:22.wanting us to do is provide money to councils to freeze the council tax,
:24:23. > :24:30.but also give money to councils if they don't freeze the council tax.
:24:31. > :24:32.That does not seem fair on the councils that flees the council tax.
:24:33. > :24:37.We will put forward or proposals for now and for the longer term. Other
:24:38. > :24:40.parties have a duty to do likewise. If you want us to make different
:24:41. > :24:46.decisions in the context of our budget for the next financial year,
:24:47. > :24:52.come forward with costings. If you want more money in next's budget to
:24:53. > :24:59.go to local government, each of the parties are doing that case how to
:25:00. > :25:06.speak to John Swinney and see where they want the other cuts to come. It
:25:07. > :25:07.speaks volumes that none of these other parties seem to understand
:25:08. > :25:08.that. has had with the UK Government
:25:09. > :25:21.regarding the future of renewables. We have had numerous recent
:25:22. > :25:27.discussions with the UK Government on the future of renewable energy.
:25:28. > :25:35.We have set out our views on the impact of recent UK Government
:25:36. > :25:42.decisions. They are adversely impacting on potential employment in
:25:43. > :25:45.Scotland. Thank you. Given the continued in place of renewable
:25:46. > :25:56.output being reported in Scotland, does the First Minister, share my
:25:57. > :25:58.concerns that the Tories seem more intent on throttling the industry by
:25:59. > :26:03.giving it the support that they seem to reserve for the nuclear power
:26:04. > :26:08.industry? Yes, I do share that concern. I have already mentioned
:26:09. > :26:12.are concerns in general, particular concerns about the effect on the
:26:13. > :26:22.Hydro sector and onshore wind. The UK Government has badly damaged
:26:23. > :26:28.investor confidence in those areas. To add insult to injury, they have
:26:29. > :26:31.also cut the Peterhead Carbon capture and storage project.
:26:32. > :26:35.Scotland's huge energy potential is at risk of being switched off by the
:26:36. > :26:36.Tories, which would be an absolute disgrace and I urge them to think
:26:37. > :26:39.again on all of these issues. whether the Scottish Government's
:26:40. > :26:43.target for building affordable homes that she referred to during
:26:44. > :26:56.First Minister's Questions The Scottish Government is clear in
:26:57. > :27:00.our commitment to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes of the next
:27:01. > :27:04.five years, a commitment which has been warmly welcomed by the housing
:27:05. > :27:10.sector. This commitment will also support around 20,000 jobs per year
:27:11. > :27:13.and generate an excess of ?10 billion of economic activity. This
:27:14. > :27:17.will build on our achievements in this Parliament of delivering more
:27:18. > :27:21.than 30,000 affordable homes, including many for social bed. I
:27:22. > :27:33.would thank the member for his recent letter to be on Ritchie
:27:34. > :27:35.announced -- in which he announced Labour's housing policy. I look
:27:36. > :27:43.forward to hearing how this would be paid for and his commitment on
:27:44. > :27:50.social heating, something... Could I suggest that car boasts do not
:27:51. > :28:00.square with her confession last week that she has provided over --
:28:01. > :28:08.presided over a housing shortage. Just one aspect of that crisis is
:28:09. > :28:08.the fact that there are more than 1 million Scots living in fuel poverty
:28:09. > :28:12.in Scotland today, struggling to afford to heat their homes this
:28:13. > :28:17.winter. Can I ask, given those circumstances, could you explain to
:28:18. > :28:24.the chamber by her Cabinet Secretary of finance cut the fuel poverty
:28:25. > :28:29.budget and lost your's budget? Will she join Labour in pledging to
:28:30. > :28:36.legislate to introduce warm homes act for Scotland? We have maintained
:28:37. > :28:41.the budget, we have lost ?15 million from UK Government funded because
:28:42. > :28:45.the end of the project. That is the reality. That contribution on
:28:46. > :28:48.housing, let me just remind people across the chamber, comes from the
:28:49. > :28:55.member of our party that the last time they were in government built
:28:56. > :29:00.the grand total of six total houses. Six council houses was the shining
:29:01. > :29:09.record of the last Labour administration. By contrast, we have
:29:10. > :29:14.met or target of 30,000 affordable homes, including 20,000 for social
:29:15. > :29:20.rent. The next Parliament, if we are the elected, we will build 50,000
:29:21. > :29:27.affordable homes and that will be a substantial increase. 70% of these
:29:28. > :29:32.will be for social rent, 75% increase on the number of rented
:29:33. > :29:36.home we have built in this Parliament. Labour are still
:29:37. > :29:42.squirming in embarrassment. Passing great housing legislation, but
:29:43. > :29:44.forgetting to build the houses to implement it.
:29:45. > :29:49.what criteria the Scottish Government is using to allocate
:29:50. > :30:03.We use the index that is long for schools in deprived communities.
:30:04. > :30:05.We use the index that is long established set of indicators
:30:06. > :30:12.showing levels of deprivation across Scotland. We use that to identify
:30:13. > :30:15.the southern authorities with the greatest deprivation, living in the
:30:16. > :30:24.areas of greatest deprivation. We were those authorities -- we work
:30:25. > :30:29.with those authorities. They have been allocated money through the
:30:30. > :30:34.attainment fund, again identified by using this index. Does the First
:30:35. > :30:42.Minister I accept that the evidence produced by experts confirm that the
:30:43. > :30:52.majority of deprived pupils do not in fact... It only targets selected
:30:53. > :30:56.schools in selected local authorities of registering a high
:30:57. > :31:03.deprivation index as a limitation. There is a much better policy to
:31:04. > :31:07.target the available funds. We are looking to target this money as
:31:08. > :31:20.effectively as possible. Indeed, it is by listening to evidence, another
:31:21. > :31:27.57 schools across 14 local authority areas, we have some further
:31:28. > :31:30.substantial proposals to put forward to extend the approach we are taking
:31:31. > :31:34.as we get towards the Scottish elections. I could not be more clear
:31:35. > :31:38.on more serious about the commitment I am making and educational
:31:39. > :31:42.attainment. If we are the elected, if I am the elected by First
:31:43. > :31:48.Minister, I take nothing for granted, I will be judged on that
:31:49. > :31:50.month other things of the life of the next Parliament. It is my
:31:51. > :31:55.interest as well as interests of young people across our country that
:31:56. > :31:57.we will do what needs to be done to deliver on this commitment and I am
:31:58. > :32:05.determined that we do exactly that. Thank you. May I apologise to the
:32:06. > :32:11.many backbenchers who is supplementary questions I have been
:32:12. > :32:14.unable to take today. Some of those supplementary questions were very
:32:15. > :32:19.important from a constituency point of view. But when the leader's
:32:20. > :32:24.questions and answers take 20 minutes, that is clearly an
:32:25. > :32:28.acceptable. Can I appeal yet again to the party leaders to cut down on
:32:29. > :32:37.the amount of time that they are taking for questions and answers.
:32:38. > :32:42.And there we have it. Tricia Marrick making a point that she has made
:32:43. > :32:54.before. The frontbenchers are taking up for much -- far too much time.
:32:55. > :33:06.She was trying to move matters along during the exchanges. Discussions
:33:07. > :33:08.over cash, services. Time for B to say goodbye and hand you over.
:33:09. > :33:18.to know. Education at a young age, my generation need education. It is
:33:19. > :33:21.to know. Education at a young age, getting better, though. Young people
:33:22. > :33:26.and teenagers and people in their 20s are much more understanding. I
:33:27. > :33:31.talk at schools and it's fascinating the questions that the pupils ask
:33:32. > :33:35.you. And they are not frightened to ask? That's the great thing about
:33:36. > :33:42.it. Thanks very much. We welcome viewers from Scotland. You're now
:33:43. > :33:47.with the Daily Politics. Just when you thought you had of elections for
:33:48. > :33:47.a while it's time to think about them again, there will be one in
:33:48. > :33:49.Wales for example