:00:22. > :00:28.Cook very warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament where there is
:00:28. > :00:33.a pedigree of controversy before we even get moving. The presiding
:00:33. > :00:38.officer has announced that she was suspending for one day the Labour
:00:38. > :00:41.MSP Michael McMahon. There was a row over the altering of the
:00:41. > :00:50.parliamentary record by Alex Salmond over the question of cream
:00:50. > :00:55.shops. Objections were raised in those chamber. The ruling came from
:00:55. > :01:02.the presiding officer and Michael McMahon shouted, you are out of
:01:02. > :01:12.order! He apologised but she has suspended him. We can cross to the
:01:12. > :01:18.
:01:18. > :01:25.chamber. I thought the chamber would like an update on the severe
:01:25. > :01:33.weather facing many of our citizens. As off 12:30pm there were a number
:01:33. > :01:39.of flood alerts. Heavy rain this morning may lead to the river
:01:39. > :01:45.becoming... Initialled defences have been installed. Other areas
:01:45. > :01:51.which could be affected include the white sands of Dom freeze and parts
:01:51. > :02:01.of Air Show. The resilience unit has been active for most of this
:02:01. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:11.week. We would certainly hope that ministers were doing their job! In
:02:11. > :02:16.bed the 2011, the finance secretary made an announcement on college
:02:16. > :02:21.funding that was still have to be cut this year. On Tuesday, he said
:02:22. > :02:28.he was always on top of the figures. He confirmed that he knew at that
:02:28. > :02:32.time that the First Minister was giving the wrong figures on
:02:32. > :02:37.colleges. When fit John Swinney informed the First Minister that
:02:37. > :02:44.college funding was to be cut this year and how often did he update
:02:44. > :02:48.him? Ministers will attend to their job in doing their best to protect
:02:48. > :02:54.the people of Scotland from these severe and extreme weather
:02:54. > :03:01.conditions. The mistake for which I apologised last week was my mistake
:03:01. > :03:07.in terms of the briefing which I'd read out from, which suggested that
:03:07. > :03:11.college funding was increasing compared to last year and this, and
:03:11. > :03:17.a table which had forgotten to include the 11 million additional
:03:17. > :03:22.funding which had been devoted to colleges last here. I came to the
:03:23. > :03:27.chamber and apologised in full, and Mr Russell has also apologised. In
:03:27. > :03:34.any other parliamentary chamber I can possibly think of, ministers or
:03:34. > :03:38.anyone else coming to a chamber and giving an apology or explanation is
:03:38. > :03:43.accepted with good grace. In this chamber that should be the same
:03:43. > :03:49.thing to do. I have looked carefully at the mechanism which
:03:49. > :03:55.was introduced in this Parliament for all members, not just ministers,
:03:55. > :04:01.for correcting inadvertent errors. I note that it has been used six
:04:01. > :04:05.times by ministers and one SNP member. It has not been used by any
:04:05. > :04:10.other member. Is that, I wonder, because they have never made
:04:10. > :04:20.mistakes? Or is it perhaps because they have chosen not to correct the
:04:20. > :04:20.
:04:20. > :04:30.mistakes that they had made? What ever it that was, it was that he
:04:30. > :04:36.
:04:36. > :04:42.made. -- it was not a gracious acknowledgement of the mistake that
:04:42. > :04:46.he made. Last week we were able to hand the First Minister the
:04:46. > :04:51.document written by his own Cabinet Secretary which prove that we were
:04:51. > :04:56.correct and yet he chose not to be honest with us. He did not answer
:04:56. > :05:01.the question that I asked him. Are we to believe that this was not
:05:01. > :05:06.discussed at Cabinet? It cannot surely be right that levels of
:05:06. > :05:11.investment in Scotland's cabinets were not discussed at Cabinet. Did
:05:11. > :05:21.the discussion take place and it so can the First Minister spell out
:05:21. > :05:24.
:05:24. > :05:30.when they took place, and debated not, why not? I took the figure
:05:30. > :05:37.from a briefing paper, that is the explanation. Let us examine the
:05:37. > :05:41.conspiracy theory about this. Why it would I weed out the wrong
:05:41. > :05:48.number from a briefing paper it was aware of the various documents that
:05:48. > :05:51.had been presented? Why would the Education Secretary presented to
:05:52. > :05:56.the education committee in the explanation is not simply that I
:05:56. > :06:00.read out the wrong figure. The wrong figure is because week
:06:00. > :06:08.increased college funding and last year and that was not counted in
:06:08. > :06:13.the figure in the table but hype read out. I do hope that Johann
:06:13. > :06:19.Lamont has bothered to beat it. The explanation is that I made a
:06:19. > :06:23.mistake by beating out the wrong figure. Can be no move on to the
:06:23. > :06:29.substantive issue about college funding in Scotland and the
:06:29. > :06:32.evidence of this government to defend the education system in
:06:32. > :06:41.Scotland from cutbacks in Westminster, and the surrender in
:06:41. > :06:46.terms of policy from the Labour government? It does not take long
:06:46. > :06:55.to get to the alibi when you are under pressure. Please take
:06:55. > :06:58.responsibility for something. The question I would ask is when the
:06:58. > :07:04.First Minister accidentally read about the wrong figure from a
:07:04. > :07:10.briefing paper, why did his finance secretary and Education Secretary,
:07:10. > :07:15.he knew there was not true, start nodding in agreement with him? It
:07:15. > :07:19.goes to the heart of this Government's pretence of competence.
:07:19. > :07:24.Key people in the dark, a search the opposite of the truth and hope
:07:24. > :07:29.that nobody will notice. The worrying thing is not that the
:07:29. > :07:34.First Minister allegedly got one specific to go wrong. If we are to
:07:34. > :07:40.believe him, it is that he did not know whether spending in Scotland's
:07:40. > :07:44.colleges was going up or down. Which is worst? The First Minister
:07:44. > :07:54.is so incompetent that he does not know when spending is going up or
:07:54. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :07:59.down, or that he deliberately misled the people of Scotland?
:07:59. > :08:04.people want to be held responsible for their body language, then I
:08:04. > :08:09.think the Labour Party are on a very difficult ground indeed in
:08:09. > :08:15.terms of the body language which affects these benches. Can I
:08:15. > :08:19.introduce Johann Lamont to some of the substantial points. She says it
:08:19. > :08:24.is evading responsibility in order to point out that in Westminster
:08:24. > :08:29.there are severe cuts affecting the people of Scotland. It is not
:08:29. > :08:34.evading responsibility to point out that under the system of government
:08:34. > :08:39.that the people of Scotland have supported, that hour budget is
:08:39. > :08:44.related to that of Westminster. Therefore it is information that is
:08:44. > :08:49.relevant, to look for what is happening to budget funding in
:08:49. > :08:55.England and Wales. And Johann Lamont knows it is going down by
:08:55. > :09:03.1.7 % this year in relation to last. I wish it was otherwise, but that
:09:03. > :09:07.is the reality. South of the border, the figure is five %. Given that
:09:07. > :09:12.hour figure in his direct the related to that south of the border,
:09:12. > :09:16.that is relevant information. The second question I put to Johann
:09:16. > :09:26.Lamont, is to support the regionalisation programme. This got
:09:26. > :09:28.
:09:28. > :09:32.his government Hart supporting massive sums for Scottish colleges.
:09:32. > :09:36.That is the strategy, through the regionalisation concept and that
:09:36. > :09:41.investment, to bring about and protect the college infrastructure
:09:41. > :09:46.of Scotland so that it can serve its duty towards the servants of
:09:46. > :09:49.Scotland. That is not evading responsibility, that is living up
:09:49. > :09:54.to responsibility of doing the best that this government possibly can
:09:54. > :09:59.for that students and colleges of Scotland in the face of attacks
:09:59. > :10:08.from the government in Westminster, in a system which has been
:10:08. > :10:17.supported by Johann Lamont and her party. What on earth was all that
:10:17. > :10:22.about?! This is about his choices in education and his inability to
:10:22. > :10:27.be honest about what he is choosing to support and what he is choosing
:10:27. > :10:35.not to support. This is a man who committed the most exact answer
:10:35. > :10:40.ever given to a parliament any time, anywhere, at 12 o'clock, and by 5pm
:10:40. > :10:45.has to admit that his statement was the opposite of the truth, because
:10:45. > :10:49.we provided the information, not because he offered it. Whether
:10:49. > :10:53.we're talking about Europe, investment in Scotland, or the
:10:53. > :11:00.number of jobs in the renewable sector, the First Minister just
:11:00. > :11:04.makes it up. Does he honestly expect us to believe that he, his
:11:04. > :11:09.finance minister and Mike Russell did not agree College cuts in the
:11:09. > :11:12.months before they came to this chamber to deny them. What is worse,
:11:12. > :11:17.that he does not know what his government is doing to the colleges
:11:17. > :11:25.of the country, or that he is prepared knowingly to mislead the
:11:25. > :11:30.people of Scotland? Johann Lamont has never taken the facility of
:11:30. > :11:34.making a correction in this chamber. I have a full list of the number of
:11:34. > :11:44.times that the statements in this chamber had been at variance with
:11:44. > :11:45.
:11:45. > :11:49.the facts. For example, what she claimed on the night of February
:11:49. > :11:55.was the �800 million steel contract for the crossing, when impact of
:11:55. > :12:01.the steel contract is about 10 % of the contract. When she claimed the
:12:01. > :12:08.falling numbers for the health service, which is also not true.
:12:08. > :12:13.This apparent position of Johann mistakes is in Serbia variance with
:12:13. > :12:18.the facts that we can produce for the chamber. The difference is this,
:12:18. > :12:21.that when the mistake was made, both myself and the minister for
:12:21. > :12:25.education or apologise to the chamber and corrected the mistake.
:12:25. > :12:29.The Labour Party do not correct the mistakes that they make on a
:12:29. > :12:35.regular basis in this chamber, not to their correct or apologise for
:12:35. > :12:41.the great mistakes, like the war in Iraq put upon us by a Labour
:12:41. > :12:46.government. Like the PFI programme which is going to foist upon the
:12:46. > :12:53.finances of Scotland. Years and generations to come. And no apology
:12:53. > :12:59.from Johann Lamont about tearing up the SNP manifesto, but tearing up
:12:59. > :13:04.the Labour manifesto on tuition fees, on prescription charges, on
:13:04. > :13:08.transport for older people, on fair care for the elderly, each one of
:13:08. > :13:13.which was identified in the Labour manifesto last year, and each one
:13:13. > :13:19.of which has been consigned to the dustbin of history by haircuts
:13:19. > :13:25.Commission. That is why this government is trusted by the people
:13:25. > :13:28.of Scotland and the Labour Party is not. This goes to the heart of the
:13:28. > :13:33.problem with the Scottish government. The idea that that is
:13:33. > :13:37.an answer to the question I asked is complete nonsense. I asked him
:13:37. > :13:41.what was worse, to be so incompetent that you do not know
:13:41. > :13:46.that your choices on spending on leading to cuts in colleges, or
:13:46. > :13:50.that you think you can get away with misleading people? The fact of
:13:50. > :13:55.the matter is I have said we need to be honest not just about what we
:13:55. > :14:00.choose to spend money on, but what are the consequences. What you have
:14:00. > :14:03.done is to deny those consequences. By St to reflect again on the
:14:03. > :14:12.choices you are making to cut colleges at the very time when our
:14:12. > :14:18.young people need them most. question is that a mistake was made
:14:18. > :14:22.and apologised for. The point on the question of honesty is that as
:14:22. > :14:27.deputy leader of the Labour Party, Johann Lamont promised to freeze
:14:27. > :14:33.the council tax, retain the commitment to free personal care,
:14:33. > :14:39.retain the abolition for Scotland's students, retained a concessionary
:14:39. > :14:45.travel scheme, no charges for prescriptions, and protect
:14:45. > :14:49.frontline police numbers. Every single one of the solemn Labour
:14:49. > :14:55.commitments is in the process of being sacrificed and jeopardised.
:14:56. > :14:59.That is nothing like honesty and that is why the Labour Party will
:14:59. > :15:09.be a long time before they get anywhere near government in
:15:09. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:23.When will the First Minister next meet the Prime Minister. No plans
:15:23. > :15:29.in any future. We have all just seen in his answers to the Labour
:15:29. > :15:33.Party leader, but in one of his answers he said we must move on to
:15:33. > :15:38.the substantive issue of college funding and recognise the
:15:38. > :15:44.Government's efforts to defend the college budget. Last week the First
:15:44. > :15:54.Minister repeatedly told us that the further education budget for
:15:54. > :15:55.
:15:56. > :16:01.2012-13 was �546 million. Yet the draft budget for next year will be
:16:01. > :16:11.reduced to �511 million. Can he confirm this represents a �34
:16:11. > :16:12.
:16:12. > :16:17.million single year cash cut? That is more than 5%. It is actually
:16:17. > :16:27.�512 billion. That is on the figures that have been presented
:16:27. > :16:37.according to the table I have here. I presented with great care to this
:16:37. > :16:38.
:16:38. > :16:41.chamber. If you look at the decline in funding happening in the Budget
:16:42. > :16:45.to the English further education sector, a then the decline is far
:16:45. > :16:50.greater than the decline that has happened in Scotland or is
:16:50. > :16:54.projected in Scotland. Each year, the Education Secretary in
:16:54. > :17:00.conjunction with the finance secretary has managed to put in
:17:00. > :17:04.extra funding to the college budget. That is the process of protection.
:17:04. > :17:08.If Ruth Davidson would take a glance at what is happening to her
:17:08. > :17:14.colleagues south of the border she was the way we are protecting the
:17:14. > :17:19.colleges of Scotland. With Davidson supports the position where
:17:19. > :17:23.education budget is directly related to the education budget
:17:23. > :17:28.pursued by her colleagues in England and Wales. I support the
:17:28. > :17:34.position West Gatland will have its resources in order to dictate our
:17:34. > :17:38.own priorities -- where Scotland. If we are under the constraint from
:17:38. > :17:44.Westminster, we will do our best to defend our colleges and other
:17:44. > :17:47.public services, but it ill behoves the Conservative Party where
:17:47. > :17:52.budgets are collapsing south of the border to come to this chamber and
:17:52. > :17:56.suggest anything other than the -- that perception is being pursued
:17:56. > :18:00.for anything other than the people of Scotland. Still no
:18:00. > :18:04.acknowledgement that when you are in charge of budgets in this
:18:04. > :18:13.country and that your overall budget is reduced and you cut
:18:13. > :18:19.spending to colleges, then -- that any responsibility lies with the
:18:19. > :18:24.First Minister. Last Thursday, the First Minister told the chamber
:18:24. > :18:34.that the third Det -- further- education budget was �500 million
:18:34. > :18:44.plus and the budget for 2013 is for �436 million. -- �546 million, my
:18:44. > :18:56.
:18:56. > :19:04.apologies. Order! Order! In 2011-12, he stated one budget and the
:19:04. > :19:13.following year another. Yet today, the independent Information Service
:19:13. > :19:19.insists that the true figure for 11-12 was actually 576 million and
:19:19. > :19:26.the budget for the following year is 526 million. Can he explain this
:19:26. > :19:32.discrepancy either now or at 5 o'clock? Given that Ruth Davidson
:19:32. > :19:42.at no doubt inadvertently made and a set of 100 million in the first
:19:42. > :19:43.
:19:43. > :19:48.figure she quoted... Order! documents presented to the
:19:48. > :19:54.education committee which I have examined in great detail, in those
:19:55. > :19:58.she will find the explanation. The �15 million was allocated to help
:19:58. > :20:04.with the reorganisation in this financial year. It was given to the
:20:04. > :20:08.funding council and allocated to be spent in this financial year. She
:20:08. > :20:12.you will find that in detail in the explanation to the committee, which
:20:12. > :20:18.either means she has not read the print of the explanation or she
:20:18. > :20:25.chooses not to tell this chamber. When we come to accuracy in this
:20:25. > :20:32.chamber, Ruth Davidson may remember that, in terms of her contribution
:20:32. > :20:36.last week on college funding, she told this chamber she was giving
:20:36. > :20:46.examples of course he's no longer available under the Education
:20:46. > :20:48.
:20:48. > :20:54.stewardship. She put forward a list of courses. The eight N d technical
:20:54. > :21:00.support which she said was gone under Mike Russell's Stu chip is a
:21:00. > :21:07.available at Kilmarnock College, City of Glasgow College, North
:21:07. > :21:13.Glasgow College, Edinburgh College, West Lothian College, Aberdeen
:21:13. > :21:22.College and others. That goes for the other subjects she also said
:21:22. > :21:28.were no longer available. When she reads that from SPICE, will we get
:21:28. > :21:33.another apology? Or will the Conservative Party holder to the
:21:33. > :21:37.idea that opposition parties in this chamber never come with
:21:37. > :21:47.inaccuracies. They never Correct them and they never apologise, that
:21:47. > :21:52.is the any difference. -- only difference. I would be delighted to
:21:52. > :21:58.put into SPIES exactly which colleges have been cut under Mike
:21:58. > :22:03.Russell. But what I would ask the finest -- first minister it is, in
:22:03. > :22:06.that half answer, he tried to account for �15 million of
:22:06. > :22:12.discrepancy as the difference between what was put to the
:22:12. > :22:17.committee and what is available to SPICE. But he didn't mention the
:22:17. > :22:22.other amount of 5 million, did he? It was also in stage three of the
:22:22. > :22:26.Budget debate. There is a 30 million difference in the figures
:22:26. > :22:30.if it is allocated in the correct gear as the documents. I'm
:22:30. > :22:34.delighted that Ruth Davidson seems to acknowledge that the figure
:22:34. > :22:39.exists and that she forgot to tell us about it in her question a few
:22:40. > :22:44.minutes ago. Can I reminder of what she said in the chamber last week?
:22:44. > :22:49.She didn't say they weren't available in one College. I will
:22:49. > :22:52.give a few example of course is no longer available under the Segreti
:22:52. > :22:58.eight of education's stewardship and then she went through them and
:22:58. > :23:05.said they were gone. She told the chamber there were no longer
:23:05. > :23:07.available. They were gone. Unfortunate before her, they are
:23:08. > :23:17.steadying these courses across Scotland at the present moment.
:23:18. > :23:18.
:23:18. > :23:28.They are not gone. They are there. They are happening. I hope she will
:23:28. > :23:28.
:23:28. > :23:34.not give us the old Tory added, never apologise, never explain. --
:23:34. > :23:40.adage. To last the first minister what
:23:40. > :23:46.issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the camera that.
:23:46. > :23:50.Issues of importance for Scotland. -- the Cabinet. What does it take
:23:50. > :24:00.of the H -- for the education secretary to lose the confidence of
:24:00. > :24:09.
:24:09. > :24:13.A position when no student in Scotland pays student fees, not
:24:13. > :24:18.just for students at our universities but the 23,000
:24:18. > :24:24.students in our colleges who would be paying tuition fees if Willie
:24:24. > :24:29.Rennie and his colleagues had their way. As usual, he is an expert on
:24:29. > :24:35.every other government. The last thing he is is an expert on his own
:24:35. > :24:39.government. It is astonishing. It is astonishing that after all that
:24:39. > :24:44.has happened in recent weeks, the First Minister believes that Mike
:24:44. > :24:49.Russell should stay. It is rep wrong that the first minister puts
:24:49. > :24:54.his interests above those of the colleges. We know the relationship
:24:54. > :24:59.with college leaders has been wrecked. Principles will not speak
:24:59. > :25:06.out encase the colleges suffer and the Education Secretary has got his
:25:06. > :25:12.figures wrong again. Yet again, according to SPICE. Mike Russell is
:25:12. > :25:18.so out of control that he is even reporting his own government to the
:25:19. > :25:22.ombudsman. Doesn't he accept we need a change of approach? We need
:25:22. > :25:30.figures we can all agree and then Education Secretary that we can
:25:30. > :25:39.trust to deliver. When will they grasp the thistle? Well, I have a
:25:39. > :25:49.list here of major figures in the Scots' colleges who have supported
:25:49. > :25:52.
:25:52. > :25:56.Mr Russell. Mr Russell is pursuing a brief in an excellent manner. But
:25:56. > :26:01.Willie Rennie asked me a question. He asked under what circumstances
:26:01. > :26:05.would dilute confidence in one of my ministers? The circumstance
:26:05. > :26:10.under which people would be entitled to lose confidence would
:26:10. > :26:14.be if you took a firm, solid manifesto commitment, like no
:26:14. > :26:20.tuition fees for the students of this country, and you tour that up
:26:20. > :26:24.for a seat at the Cabinet table in Westminster. These would be the
:26:24. > :26:28.circumstances, when not just your colleagues would lose confidence,
:26:28. > :26:33.but the people would lose confidence in you. If Willie Rennie
:26:33. > :26:36.looks around to his diminished number of colleagues and say that
:26:36. > :26:39.the confidence the Liberal Democrats have lost is the
:26:39. > :26:44.confidence of the people of this country and the single biggest
:26:44. > :26:47.issue on which they lost that confidence was the decision to be
:26:47. > :26:51.introduced tuition fees and the demonstration that they would do
:26:51. > :26:55.anything to support the Conservative party in return for a
:26:55. > :27:00.share of power. When that realisation dawns on Willie Rennie
:27:00. > :27:05.and the extent of the loss of confidence they have been the
:27:05. > :27:09.people of Scotland, then they would have the entitlement to say give
:27:09. > :27:18.the people of Scotland will lose confidence in a government which
:27:18. > :27:22.maintains the principle of free education in this country. A to ask
:27:22. > :27:27.the First Minister what benefits will Scotland receive following the
:27:27. > :27:33.announcement that the French firm is to locate its UK turbine
:27:33. > :27:41.manufacturing site in Scotland? Earlier this week, I met with every
:27:42. > :27:46.there who will locate its turbine manufacturing site here. It is
:27:46. > :27:50.fantastic news for Scotland with the potential to create 750 jobs
:27:50. > :27:55.for manufacturing and the supporting supply chain. It is good
:27:55. > :27:59.news for the renewable sector which has seen a �2.8 billion investment
:27:59. > :28:06.in Scotland since 2009 which delivers economic benefits to
:28:06. > :28:10.communities the length and breadth of our country. I thank the first
:28:10. > :28:15.minister. It is encouraging that companies from overseas continued
:28:15. > :28:19.to look at Scotland as being a place to invest. Does the First
:28:19. > :28:23.Minister agree with me that it is hampered slightly by the UK
:28:23. > :28:28.government approach to energy policies given that it seems
:28:28. > :28:31.confused and divided. Would he agree that the any way to rectify
:28:31. > :28:38.this is to take the powers back to this Parliament in terms of energy
:28:38. > :28:46.and policy and everything else? there is a great deal of strength
:28:46. > :28:53.in that particular argument. The company was one of the fans who
:28:53. > :28:59.recently signed a letter expressing concern about aspects of UK
:28:59. > :29:05.government policy, energy policy. On Monday, I was delighted that
:29:05. > :29:09.amongst the many welcomes of this announcement, it want -- was one
:29:09. > :29:15.from a junior minister in Parliament he was recently involved
:29:15. > :29:22.in a speech which was going to site his opposition to wing technology
:29:22. > :29:26.which was then never delivered. I welcome John Hayes' salute for the
:29:27. > :29:32.intentions but can I point out to the Conservative Party that it is
:29:32. > :29:39.not possible to manufacture wind turbines if you do not believe in
:29:39. > :29:43.wind energy playing a role in winter -- in energy policy. What
:29:43. > :29:48.action the Scottish government will take in response to concerns that
:29:48. > :29:55.the out-of-hours paediatric services at any just Lucien, Fife
:29:55. > :30:03.and borders are at risk due to a shortage of trainee doctors. I have
:30:03. > :30:06.made it clear to the free NHS that it will support every effort to
:30:06. > :30:12.ensure paediatric services are available to children across the
:30:12. > :30:16.region. Following a meeting earlier this week, the Cabinet secretary
:30:16. > :30:23.for health allocated up to �100,000 in this financial year and another
:30:23. > :30:27.sample over the next two financial years to support clinical personnel
:30:27. > :30:34.which will be followed up with recruitment campaigns for permanent
:30:34. > :30:44.trained staff to maintain services at St Johnston's hospital in
:30:44. > :30:44.
:30:45. > :30:50.Livingston. I wonder what the families and children in five,
:30:50. > :30:56.Lucien and borders believe because in June, it was said that the
:30:56. > :31:00.closure of the paediatric ward in St John's was unsatisfactory and
:31:00. > :31:05.remedial actually -- action was well under way. But we now find the
:31:05. > :31:12.situation is very much worse with 13 staff down in the medical field.
:31:12. > :31:16.We know of the ward is under threat of closure and services across five
:31:16. > :31:20.and borders and Lothian are stretched to breaking point and
:31:20. > :31:28.remedial action has not yet taken place. Is this yet another broken
:31:28. > :31:32.promise? Is it another case of the public being misled? The first
:31:32. > :31:42.minister might say what he lacks in the chamber with no regard to what
:31:42. > :31:56.
:31:56. > :32:00.is actually happening in the real- world of the NHS? The Minister and
:32:00. > :32:04.secretary met the health board who suggested the action I have
:32:04. > :32:11.outlined which is designed to address the circumstances. We will
:32:11. > :32:16.also work with NHS education stop - - Scotland to develop programmes of
:32:16. > :32:21.study to support the development of nurse practitioners and specialist
:32:21. > :32:24.paediatric services across the country. Both Arie response to the
:32:24. > :32:27.immediate situation that has arisen and a longer term response to
:32:27. > :32:32.enable the position to be better across Scotland. I would have
:32:32. > :32:42.thought that is significant action in the face of a real problem and
:32:42. > :33:09.
:33:09. > :33:19.there would have thought it would Their themes for 2014 a to build on
:33:19. > :33:21.
:33:21. > :33:25.that success and the organisation is ongoing. The year of homecoming
:33:25. > :33:31.has been cancelled by Stirling Council for understandable reasons.
:33:31. > :33:35.He may be aware of reasons that North American visitors are less
:33:35. > :33:40.likely to come here in June to attend an event at Bannockburn then
:33:40. > :33:45.they would be to attend a planned gathering event in July or August.
:33:45. > :33:48.How well the agencies ensure we have enough attractive events in
:33:48. > :33:52.2014 to make up for the cancellation of the gathering so
:33:52. > :34:02.that a large number of American figures -- visitors will still come
:34:02. > :34:06.
:34:06. > :34:15.here? Susan McIntosh said we welcome the opportunity to work
:34:15. > :34:19.with the 2014 team. I should say that, in terms of seeing a
:34:19. > :34:24.significance of the 700th anniversary and an understanding of
:34:24. > :34:32.how it must play a part in the year of homecoming, we took advice from
:34:32. > :34:36.a variety of quarters. There was a press statement from 26th May 1920
:34:36. > :34:40.10 which said, "the Scottish Conservatives believe the 700
:34:40. > :34:46.battle -- anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn must be the
:34:46. > :34:54.centrepiece of these national celebrations. The fate of the
:34:54. > :35:04.battle was decided... And it must be the fatal -- focal point in
:35:04. > :35:09.
:35:09. > :35:14.2013". The author of that report Higham following the advice to the
:35:14. > :35:18.letter and I do hope it was not that advice that led to the
:35:18. > :35:25.disgraceful decision not to elect him as leader of the Conservative
:35:25. > :35:32.Party. A slightly satirical note to close, but very rumbustious
:35:32. > :35:35.exchanges earlier. You could see that Labour and other parties are
:35:35. > :35:42.concerned about the ways in which they can hold government ministers