:00:24. > :00:29.Parliament at Holyrood. As we go on air, some sad news. The MP for
:00:29. > :00:35.Aberdeen done site has died. My personal sympathies to his family.
:00:35. > :00:39.Let's cross to the chamber now. cue, Brian. This is an occasion
:00:39. > :00:43.where we expect Parliament to pause and reflect upon the death of a
:00:43. > :00:52.colleague. Politics will be put to one side. We are expecting the
:00:52. > :01:01.presiding officer to make an official announcement. Flags are
:01:01. > :01:06.flying at half side. It is understood Alex Salmond will make a
:01:06. > :01:14.tribute to Mr Adam. He went from being a counsellor to being elected
:01:14. > :01:21.to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. He then became a constituency MSP
:01:21. > :01:26.when he won the Aberdeen done side seat. He was also briefly and
:01:26. > :01:29.minister in the second MSP government at Holyrood. There will
:01:29. > :01:34.be a by-election in Aberdeen. That is a question for tomorrow but for
:01:34. > :01:41.today, the sympathies of MSPs and everyone in Hollywood will be with
:01:41. > :01:47.his family. General questions are just coming to a close here before
:01:47. > :01:51.that statement from the presiding officer. Mr Adam was someone who has
:01:51. > :02:01.been praised across the chamber for his personal manner. In particular,
:02:01. > :02:01.
:02:01. > :02:08.we heard from his Labour neighbour, and beg, who described him as
:02:08. > :02:15.hard-working and an ideal digital opponent. I am very sad to inform
:02:15. > :02:22.the chamber of our dear friend, Brian Adam. Our flags are being
:02:22. > :02:26.flown at half-mast. There will be a motion of condolence next week where
:02:26. > :02:32.we will have the opportunity to pay tribute. There will also be a book
:02:32. > :02:37.of condolence in the black and white corridor and I know members will
:02:37. > :02:47.wish to add their contribution to it. Today, however, our thoughts are
:02:47. > :03:01.
:03:01. > :03:07.with his family. Brian Adam was an exceptional MSP. The he sustained a
:03:07. > :03:12.minority government as a chief whip. His greatest service was to the
:03:12. > :03:18.people of Aberdeen over a quarter of a century. First as a counsellor
:03:18. > :03:23.then as an MSP. I am proud to say that I have known and admired him
:03:23. > :03:30.over that entire period as an outstanding politician, a fine human
:03:30. > :03:39.being and a dear friend. Our condolences go to his wife and his
:03:39. > :03:46.five children. This is a difficult time for them. We moved to First
:03:46. > :03:53.Minister's Questions. Thank you. Can I, on behalf of my party and my
:03:53. > :03:59.colleagues here, say we are deeply saddened by the news that he passed
:03:59. > :04:04.away. He was a man of strong conviction, of decency, of profound
:04:04. > :04:09.faith, a man who cared deeply for his family and his country. Our
:04:09. > :04:12.thoughts are with those who feel his loss most sorely. It is a sad day
:04:12. > :04:19.for those here. Not only those who worked with him as a colleague but
:04:19. > :04:23.those who love him as a friend. We share your sadness at the loss of a
:04:23. > :04:33.fine Scott. Can I ask the First Minister what engagements he has
:04:33. > :04:37.
:04:38. > :04:43.planned. Can I thank you for your sympathy. Thank you, presiding
:04:43. > :04:50.officer. If Scotland voted yes in the referendum, the first budget
:04:50. > :04:59.will be set in 2016. Who will be First Minister preferred to sign
:04:59. > :05:03.off? Ed Balls or Angela Merkel? must not pick the Cabinet in advance
:05:03. > :05:12.but if the Scottish people back the Scottish National Party, that first
:05:12. > :05:16.budget will be set by John Sweeney. We know that is not true. Given what
:05:16. > :05:22.has been said in the last week and despite the fact that you have
:05:22. > :05:26.deployed the First Minister, they have been unable to answer the very
:05:26. > :05:31.simple question about implications for Scotland being in a sterling
:05:31. > :05:35.zone. I agree with the First Minister that George Osborne is a
:05:35. > :05:40.trustworthy man. I just don't understand why he thinks that he is
:05:40. > :05:43.going to change after the referendum. I agree that George
:05:44. > :05:49.Osborne's fiscal monetary problems are wrong for Scotland and the whole
:05:49. > :05:53.of the UK, but it is Osborne he will do the deal with if he wins the
:05:53. > :05:57.referendum. That is the difference between Alex Salmond and me. I want
:05:57. > :06:03.to get rid of the Tories and keep the union. He wants rid of the union
:06:03. > :06:09.and keep the Tories in charge of the economy. Could the First Minister
:06:09. > :06:15.explained to me and his colleagues why that would be independence?
:06:15. > :06:17.I point out that somewhere in that question she conceded that the first
:06:17. > :06:25.elections for Scottish Parliament! If that is the case, I am delighted.
:06:25. > :06:28.Can I point out that the arguments for a sterling area was set out in
:06:29. > :06:34.detail by the fiscal commissioner some weeks ago. We can point out
:06:34. > :06:41.that on the basis of last year's figures, for example, the 4 billion
:06:41. > :06:46.relative surplus, the ample room for manoeuvre would mean we have the
:06:46. > :06:51.ability now to generate that income which Scotland has generated, and
:06:51. > :06:56.use it to benefit the people of Scotland. That is the flexibility on
:06:56. > :07:02.taxation that Scotland would have as an independent country. She is in an
:07:02. > :07:06.unfortunate position because even when she proposes these policies by
:07:07. > :07:11.controlling income tax, the members of Parliament at Westminster who she
:07:11. > :07:18.is led to control, describe it as being dead in the water. It doesn't
:07:18. > :07:21.even get discussed at the conference. It is not surprising
:07:21. > :07:28.that Johann Lamont is considering the first elections for a Scottish
:07:28. > :07:38.Parliament. I think she should try harder to unite with her own MPs
:07:38. > :07:38.
:07:38. > :07:45.instead of uniting with George Osborne, that slippery character.
:07:45. > :07:50.That is an infestation of squirrels, I have to say! We no longer cry
:07:50. > :07:54.freedom, we cry flexibility, whatever that might mean. The First
:07:54. > :07:59.Minister has yet to answer a simple question about implications of his
:07:59. > :08:05.choice with no plan for the currency. John Sweeney told the BBC
:08:05. > :08:09.that Scotland might leave the UK without paying any debts at all. It
:08:09. > :08:13.seems that an independent Scotland might end up like Greece. John
:08:13. > :08:22.Sweeney wants us to start off like Greece by defaulting on our debts.
:08:22. > :08:26.Four weeks ago... Four weeks ago, I asked the First Minister what his
:08:26. > :08:36.other plan was it we couldn't agree on a currency union. Like George
:08:36. > :08:38.
:08:38. > :08:42.Osborne, he said, there was and not another plan. If it fails wouldn't
:08:42. > :08:49.Scotland start off life like an international pariah without
:08:49. > :08:54.currency? Opposition is that Scotland is entitled to a share of
:08:54. > :09:00.the assets proportionally to the UK, and the liabilities of the UK. That
:09:00. > :09:04.is the responsible position we put forward. As Melvin King said in the
:09:04. > :09:10.House of Commons, the House of Commons is not just England, it is
:09:10. > :09:17.the bank of the UK. There is a realistic points to make. If George
:09:17. > :09:23.Osborne says that all of the monetary assets belong to him, then
:09:23. > :09:28.by definition, as night follows day, then so do the liabilities. People
:09:28. > :09:35.may have noticed that George Osborne and Alistair Darling between them
:09:35. > :09:41.have piled up an enormous number of liabilities over the last few years.
:09:41. > :09:45.Johann Lamont criticises the Tory party. Can I say that it is
:09:45. > :09:48.difficult to do that when you are in alliance with the Conservative
:09:48. > :09:53.Party. You can't say you don't like what George Osborne is doing and
:09:53. > :09:59.then campaign shoulder to shoulder in a campaign! We are in the
:09:59. > :10:02.remarkable position where Alistair Darling, the leader of the better to
:10:02. > :10:10.get their party, says you must not believe a single thing George
:10:10. > :10:16.Osborne says. Nothing he said had any credibility, he says. George
:10:16. > :10:26.Osborne says that anything Alistair says hasn't got any credibility.
:10:26. > :10:28.
:10:28. > :10:32.Literally, he is a dead man walking! We can be an independent country and
:10:32. > :10:41.control our resources and taxation, and that will make Scotland much
:10:41. > :10:44.better off than the better to get their campaign would ever manage.
:10:44. > :10:50.The First Minister talks about credibility. He changes his position
:10:50. > :10:54.on this more times than I change my shoes! The only consistency is that
:10:54. > :11:00.it is not consistent. He does not say the same thing from one week to
:11:00. > :11:05.another. He talks about yielding up liabilities. Yes, we remember the
:11:05. > :11:12.bank of Scotland, the bank that's the First Minister used to work for.
:11:12. > :11:18.If you don't have another plan, you can boil down the First Minister 's
:11:18. > :11:23.position to this. Please don't let that be in a currency union with no
:11:23. > :11:29.credibility about what you would take into that negotiation. Clearly,
:11:29. > :11:36.it in the last response, the First Minister does not understand why
:11:36. > :11:39.this matters. He thinks this is a bit of a game, but it matters to
:11:39. > :11:43.families worrying about what currency they will pay in and how
:11:43. > :11:46.they will put food on the table. It matters to pensioners who are
:11:46. > :11:51.entitled to know how their pension will be paid. It matters to the
:11:51. > :11:56.person who has saved all their lives and wonders whether there are
:11:56. > :12:00.savings are worth anything. It matters to anyone paying off a
:12:00. > :12:05.mortgage, anyone in a job, anyone with a business. The currency we
:12:05. > :12:10.have is the most basic question, and it is astonishing that the First
:12:10. > :12:16.Minister has been unable to answer this. What the First Minister is
:12:16. > :12:26.saying is that he wants a divorce. Isn't he gambling with Scotland's
:12:26. > :12:29.
:12:29. > :12:37.future. First Minister. When we publish the report to the fiscal
:12:37. > :12:42.commissioner, we put forwards plans. We said it was in the interest of
:12:42. > :12:45.the UK and that is a whole range of points about trade floors between
:12:45. > :12:52.Scotland and the rest of the UK but the most substantial point is that
:12:52. > :13:01.Scottish resources, which bankrolled the Stirling area, �50 billion. What
:13:01. > :13:05.would happen to sterling if that was outside the Stirling area? Just the
:13:05. > :13:15.obvious economic self interest. The overwhelming self interest of the
:13:15. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:22.rest of the UK. That's perhaps why I was asked for times... Danny
:13:22. > :13:25.Alexander was asked for times on the other programme and he refused to
:13:26. > :13:32.rule it out. Johann Lamont says she does not know the SNP's position. I
:13:33. > :13:39.just said it out. What is Labour's position? Never mind Alistair
:13:39. > :13:49.Darling. It was said to Gordon Brewer, remember the five tests for
:13:49. > :13:50.
:13:51. > :13:54.joining the euro? Five tests to join the euro. Certainly. Maybe she
:13:54. > :13:59.should bring her finance controller into line. And then of course, we
:13:59. > :14:05.have, perhaps, an independent adjudication of these matters so
:14:05. > :14:11.let's turn to David transfer, former member of the Labour policy
:14:11. > :14:14.committee. He was appointed by a Labour government. He said there are
:14:14. > :14:18.no major obstacles are all to a currency union if both sides acted
:14:18. > :14:25.with an open mind. The UK government have made it up. It is more
:14:25. > :14:28.political than economic. It is likely, given how disastrous George
:14:28. > :14:33.Osborne has been, that if Scotland had their own fiscal policy, they
:14:33. > :14:43.would do better. Osborne lecturing the Scots in economics is like a
:14:43. > :14:44.
:14:44. > :14:52.freshman who failed. I agree with David glance there. He is the
:14:52. > :14:56.eminent economist at the Labour Party appointed. Ruth Davidson.
:14:56. > :15:01.Thank you. I would like to associate myself with the tributes paid to
:15:01. > :15:06.Brian Adam. Too often, people only see the conflict in this Parliament
:15:06. > :15:10.and they don't see the camaraderie. He had friends on all sides of the
:15:10. > :15:15.chamber. He took great pride in serving the people of Aberdeen.
:15:15. > :15:20.First, as a counsellor and then as a parliamentarian. He did so with
:15:20. > :15:24.decency. The thought of everybody on this side of the chamber are with
:15:24. > :15:31.his friends and family at this time. I would like to ask the First
:15:31. > :15:37.Minister when he will meet the Prime Minister. That will be much
:15:37. > :15:41.appreciated by Brian 's family. I have no plans in the near future.
:15:41. > :15:46.The First Minister seemed very keen to use quotations to start a second
:15:47. > :15:52.ago. I would like to remind him of his own words in November 1999 when
:15:52. > :15:58.he said the pound sterling has been around Scotland's neck and cost them
:15:58. > :16:03.jobs Abbas parody. Ten years later, he said sterling is sinking like a
:16:03. > :16:09.stone. He has also said that we cannot allow ourselves to be held
:16:09. > :16:19.back by clinging on to sterling. Can I ask at what point the pound
:16:19. > :16:23.
:16:23. > :16:26.sterling stopped being a millstone and started being a life raft?
:16:26. > :16:31.point out that Ruth Davidson is an alliance with the person who was the
:16:31. > :16:36.leader of the pro-euro campaign. When I have been in Parliament, the
:16:36. > :16:40.Conservative Party when making plans to join the euro. I don't think Ken
:16:40. > :16:43.Clarke has ever revoked his support for the euro. She is an alliance
:16:43. > :16:49.with Alistair Darling, who was in support of the Google. -- of the
:16:49. > :16:53.euro. I am merely pointing out that the consistent thread of the SNP is
:16:53. > :16:59.that we put forward what is in the economic interests of Scotland. That
:16:59. > :17:04.is the basis of what was said and that is the basis of what the SNP
:17:04. > :17:09.and Scottish garden -- Government will always act on. The difficulty
:17:09. > :17:15.for the Westminster Government is that the interests of Scotland are
:17:15. > :17:21.very far from the top of the agenda. It is not likely First Minister to
:17:21. > :17:27.be shy in just telling us. It is when a more fiscally conservative
:17:27. > :17:31.Government came in in 2010, isn't it? Let's leave the last and Buster
:17:31. > :17:37.of whatever that answer was supposed to be aside. The First Minister,
:17:37. > :17:40.already this week, is already had the UK Chancellor, I Bank of England
:17:40. > :17:45.expert as well, telling him how difficult it would be to secure his
:17:45. > :17:49.preferred choice of a sterling zone. Yet even had his own former economic
:17:49. > :17:55.adviser saying he should expect to fail in his negotiations. Indeed,
:17:55. > :18:01.politically, his fellow separatists have all said independence should
:18:01. > :18:04.mean Scotland having its own currency. We know this First
:18:04. > :18:06.Minister is a gamble and is reckless, but is he honestly telling
:18:06. > :18:12.Scotland he would intermingle Haitians with no bargaining position
:18:12. > :18:20.and no back-up plan customer -- he would enter negotiations with no
:18:20. > :18:25.bargaining commission back-up plan? What is the plan B? Is it to use
:18:25. > :18:33.sterling anyway, I visit a separate policy, as his economic -- economic
:18:33. > :18:40.adviser suggests? The position is �50 billion of Scottish assets which
:18:40. > :18:44.underpin the UAE the economy. -- the UK economy. The Conservatives are
:18:44. > :18:50.celebrating because of the last six months, GDP has flat lined entirely.
:18:50. > :18:56.It Chancellor is paying -- who is playing with fire according to the
:18:56. > :18:59.International Monetary Fund. Who has been downgraded by two of the rating
:18:59. > :19:03.agencies, and yet, the Better Together campaign are still
:19:03. > :19:13.delivering leaflets saying you have to maintain triple-A status by
:19:13. > :19:14.
:19:14. > :19:20.voting for the union. When we publish a report, we have showed in
:19:20. > :19:22.the most enormous detail the arguments for a sterling area. We
:19:22. > :19:28.expect at the very least the Chief Secretary to the Treasury could have
:19:28. > :19:31.read the report. In the middle of his four times refusing to rule out
:19:31. > :19:36.the idea of a sterling zone, Danny Alexander said the arguments hadn't
:19:36. > :19:41.been put forward. The agonies were put forward in enormous detail in
:19:41. > :19:46.this report, and maybe it is high time that the Better Together
:19:46. > :19:54.campaign started reading and stopped delivering leaflets claiming
:19:54. > :20:02.triple-A status. Ruth Davidson is representative of the party...
:20:02. > :20:07.Order! I'm anticipating the next report. The earlier. The downgraded
:20:07. > :20:11.party in Scotland defending the downgraded Chancellor. We defended
:20:11. > :20:20.Scotland's interests in the knowledge that Scottish resources
:20:20. > :20:23.are our bargaining position. I have a constituency question. I would
:20:23. > :20:29.like to ask what help could be offered to 70 employees who risk
:20:29. > :20:39.route -- losing their jobs in the finesse this week after 40 years of
:20:39. > :20:42.
:20:42. > :20:45.production? I share the deep concern and respect of this development, and
:20:45. > :20:52.the outcome of the employees affected, the families and the whole
:20:52. > :20:56.area. We are doing everything possible to support the employees.
:20:56. > :21:04.We have acted immediately to organise a redundancy support event
:21:04. > :21:09.for Friday the 3rd of May in fossil. -- in fossil. All employees will be
:21:09. > :21:13.invited to this event and every out of support possible will be
:21:13. > :21:18.supplied. I will be delighted if a constituency member will meet with
:21:18. > :21:20.the finance secretary to discuss these matters. To ask the First
:21:20. > :21:28.Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on reports
:21:28. > :21:32.that nurses spend 279,000 hours a week on non-essential paperwork.
:21:32. > :21:38.We're working with health boards to ensure that front-line national
:21:38. > :21:40.health staff can focus on delivering high quality patient care. This
:21:40. > :21:45.includes working with the just paperwork requirements so that we
:21:45. > :21:51.can maximise their role as clinical leaders and guardians of patient
:21:51. > :21:57.safety. We have recognised this as a priority, which the RCN has
:21:57. > :22:00.welcomed. I thank you for your response. In the week that losses
:22:00. > :22:05.want about the dramatic increase in paperwork, taking them away from
:22:05. > :22:10.direct patient care, the Royal College of nurses and Unison warned
:22:10. > :22:15.the Scottish Government about on safe staffing levels, with 27% of
:22:15. > :22:22.losses seeing staffing levels are really only ever safe. -- hardly
:22:22. > :22:30.ever see. Would the First Minister agree that cutting staffing levels
:22:30. > :22:33.has had in a big -- in the April impact on patient care and will he
:22:33. > :22:39.consider reversing the cuts to ensure we provide a very based
:22:39. > :22:46.patient care? Is she well knows, the protection of the budget of the
:22:46. > :22:51.National Health Service in the 2011 election and the election after was
:22:51. > :22:55.one of the pledges made by this Government, which we kept two. That
:22:55. > :22:57.pledge was not made by the Labour Party, so we can get to the
:22:57. > :23:02.conclusion that the National Health Service is better funded than it
:23:02. > :23:07.would have been if the Scottish evil had voted otherwise. -- the Scottish
:23:07. > :23:15.people had voted otherwise. If we look at qualified losses and
:23:15. > :23:24.midwives, in September 2007, there were 37,549. September 2006, there
:23:25. > :23:28.was 41,026. There are now 41,745. She will also be aware that per 1000
:23:28. > :23:33.of the population, Scotland has the highest number of qualified losses
:23:33. > :23:36.in any of the countries in the Psion -- Islands. There are huge pressures
:23:36. > :23:42.on the National Health Service will stop of course that is. But in terms
:23:42. > :23:45.of the budget that has been committed to patient care, the
:23:45. > :23:52.National Health Service and the losses of Scotland are doing an
:23:52. > :24:02.outstanding job. -- the Nazis of Scotland. -- the North Seas of
:24:02. > :24:05.
:24:05. > :24:11.Scotland. By the UK Government to Scottish banknotes is ridiculous.
:24:11. > :24:15.The bogus claims ignore the fact that the Scottish banknote issue is
:24:16. > :24:21.not backed by the bank of -- the Bank of England, it is held only a
:24:21. > :24:29.one-to-one basis at the Bank of England. If I could quote again from
:24:29. > :24:33.a professor, I don't see it as a big problem. It is not a major
:24:33. > :24:43.president. I do think it is a great deal of scaremongering. There is not
:24:43. > :24:44.
:24:44. > :24:50.a great deal of economics going into this. Thank you for his reply. The
:24:50. > :24:54.optimum currency area seems to be at variance with the banking act of
:24:54. > :24:59.2009 which secures the distinct status of Scottish banknotes. Does
:24:59. > :25:04.the First Minister agree that George Osborne's blunder into this issue
:25:04. > :25:07.represents no more than scaremongering, and will he join
:25:07. > :25:12.with me in inviting the Chancellor to make many more visits to Scotland
:25:12. > :25:20.in the coming months, as this can only increase the prospects for a
:25:20. > :25:23.yes vote in September 2014? People will remember, I think 18 months
:25:23. > :25:26.ago, that George Osborne paid a visit to Scotland and said the
:25:26. > :25:31.constitutional debate was damaging inward investment. He said he
:25:31. > :25:37.thought about companies, but couldn't name them, that this was
:25:37. > :25:41.the case. Since then, Scotland has got the lead in a mod investment
:25:41. > :25:46.over the last years. Greater London in the last year. We have had his
:25:46. > :25:50.scaremongering before. In terms of the reaction, I think he is
:25:50. > :25:53.absolutely correct. A Tory Chancellor coming to Scotland and
:25:53. > :25:58.talking down the country and telling us what we can do is exactly the
:25:58. > :26:06.sort of stimulus that the yes campaign it needs. I agree in terms
:26:06. > :26:10.of the issue with James Scott, its -- former Scottish finance director,
:26:10. > :26:14.that this bogus claim by the Treasury should be treated with
:26:14. > :26:24.contempt. Therefore, we can make an offer to George Osborne. Let's pay
:26:24. > :26:27.
:26:27. > :26:30.his bus there incoming to Scotland to sink the No campaign. Securing
:26:30. > :26:37.the future of Scottish banknotes or any other favourable terms of a
:26:37. > :26:41.currency union with sterling might well be possible, might even be
:26:41. > :26:45.ending -- in Scotland and the rest of the UK's interests. But how can
:26:45. > :26:49.we be any strong position to negotiate those terms if the
:26:49. > :26:55.Government has closed down the other option of a generic west mac
:26:55. > :27:03.genuinely independent currency? put forward what we think is in the
:27:03. > :27:06.best interests of Scotland. Can I just point out that the note issue
:27:06. > :27:11.and scaremongering story was particularly extraordinary. The Isle
:27:11. > :27:18.of Man issues sterling notes banked -- backed by balances at the Bank of
:27:18. > :27:21.England. It is not even in the United Kingdom at present. The
:27:21. > :27:27.importance of this is that if you can identify behind any reasonable
:27:27. > :27:31.argument of the total scaremongering basis coming from the Chancellor of
:27:31. > :27:37.the Exchequer, it probably follows that Alistair Darling was correct in
:27:37. > :27:42.saying that nothing George Osborne says was -- has any credibility.
:27:42. > :27:46.What are the implications for scientific evidence in court
:27:46. > :27:53.following the appeal court ruling in the King -- in the Kimberley Hainey
:27:53. > :27:59.K scratch might -- the Kimberley Hainey case? The member will be
:27:59. > :28:05.aware of the incorrect reporting that the appeal court had revealed
:28:05. > :28:13.the these witnesses incorrectly. We have issued a statement connecting
:28:13. > :28:16.misinterpretation and have placed a copy of the statement out. I know
:28:16. > :28:26.that Professor Sue Black and Doctor Kate Cunningham are held in the
:28:26. > :28:28.
:28:28. > :28:35.highest regard. The work in very important scientific disciplines,
:28:35. > :28:39.which have important roles to play in criminal. -- in criminal case.
:28:40. > :28:45.Professor Sue Black said that the comments made by the appeal judge
:28:45. > :28:49.took signs in the law back 100 years in Scotland. Yesterday's apology was
:28:49. > :28:54.welcome, but it would be good if we could make some advances to better
:28:54. > :28:57.understanding between science and the law as a result of this appeal.
:28:57. > :29:00.Well the First Minister and ask the Cabinet Secretary to meet with the
:29:00. > :29:06.Law Society to take forward training for law students in the wider
:29:06. > :29:10.judiciary? Well he consider taking on the English Law commission
:29:10. > :29:13.proposals on the appointment of scientific advisers the courts? And
:29:13. > :29:17.will be First Minister meet with me, Professor Sue Black and her
:29:17. > :29:23.colleagues from the scientific unity in Scotland to discuss how our legal
:29:23. > :29:27.system may be see -- may be better served to improve understanding?
:29:28. > :29:34.think the statement made by the judiciary is very important indeed
:29:34. > :29:38.and should be taking full account of. That is exactly why I am doing
:29:38. > :29:45.this. Can I just say, in this wider issue, in terms of criminal
:29:45. > :29:51.procedures and expert evidence, the Act in 1995 contains the procedures
:29:51. > :29:53.for raising concerns from expert evidence. It is important that both
:29:53. > :29:58.the prosecution and defence have access to the best experts in the
:29:58. > :30:02.field. Expert evidence should be vigorously tested through the court
:30:02. > :30:08.process. The system is flexible enough to deliver this. That is
:30:08. > :30:12.within the system at the point -- the present moment. Given the appeal
:30:12. > :30:17.court's ruling that it is perfectly in order for the judiciary as a
:30:17. > :30:20.whole to consider what the appeal court has said to see if the rules
:30:20. > :30:26.of court needs to be altered in any way in terms of giving that
:30:26. > :30:31.provision which is already within the criminal law Scotland, the full
:30:31. > :30:34.emphasis and importance is there. In terms of the meetings after the
:30:34. > :30:41.statement of judiciary are necessary, I'm sure the Cabinet
:30:41. > :30:46.Secretary would be elected to meet the expert witnesses concerned.
:30:46. > :30:53.What's discussion has the Scottish Government had with Ofgem in
:30:53. > :30:58.regarding to the proposed new Tariff Comparison Rate? The Deputy First
:30:58. > :31:01.Minister has responded to Ofgem's consultation in December. The
:31:01. > :31:03.proposed Tariff Comparison Rate is one of the number of proposals aimed
:31:03. > :31:08.at providing clear and simple information for consumers. We
:31:08. > :31:11.recognise these proposals are step forward in promoting consumer
:31:11. > :31:18.engagement in the market, and we support the work of Ofgem to support
:31:18. > :31:22.-- simple fight Harris. To take this work forward, Ofgem must make sure
:31:22. > :31:29.these proposals are effective, particularly with ensuring consumers
:31:29. > :31:34.vulnerable to feel -- fuel poverty. Does he agree that far too many
:31:34. > :31:38.people in energy rich Scotland still live in fuel poverty, and the
:31:38. > :31:43.Government -- the public are right to expect regulation so that energy
:31:43. > :31:46.suppliers serve the needs of the people rather than shareholders?
:31:46. > :31:50.do agree that energy suppliers must meet the needs of the public. I also
:31:50. > :31:54.agree that it is in agony -- a disgrace that in energy rich
:31:54. > :31:58.Scotland, the country which has contributed above average in terms
:31:58. > :32:04.of conservation is to the UK Treasury for every single one of the
:32:04. > :32:08.last 32 years, that we still have fuel poverty. In terms of what
:32:09. > :32:10.discovered -- the Scottish comment is doing, we announced funding for
:32:10. > :32:15.local authorities to transform thousands of properties across
:32:16. > :32:19.Scotland. There was also a �32 million extension to the energy
:32:19. > :32:24.assistance package, which will help secure heating for more than 300,000
:32:24. > :32:30.households. These are steps forward in what is a very difficult
:32:30. > :32:36.situation facing many of our fellow citizens. That ends First Minister
:32:36. > :32:40.'s questions. Can I remind members that there is a book of condolence.
:32:40. > :32:46.There we have it. The presiding officer reminding us about the book
:32:46. > :32:52.of condolences to Brian Adam, the late MSP for Aberdeen onside.
:32:52. > :32:59.Parliament rose to the occasion today. It is quite fitting and
:32:59. > :33:04.proper. Equally, there were very warm we felt tributes to the late