Good afternoon, colleagues. We start today’s business with First Minister’s question time. As usual, I ask the First Minister to update us on Covid.

1. Last year, the First Minister promised the Parliament that she would fully co-operate with the Salmond inquiry. She said: “The inquiries will be able to request whatever material they...

2. The Crown Office is now leading operation koper, which is investigating care home deaths in Scotland. As part of the investigation, does the First Minister believe that she and her ministers...

3. I recognise that there were difficult judgments to make about relaxing the Covid rules over the holidays, especially after public expectations had been built up, but within a day of announcing...

4. In the answer to Richard Leonard, I still did not hear why it is taking so long to get families in to see their loved ones in care homes. Almost every family has a story about being denied...

5. To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the launch of the Scottish National Investment Bank. (S5F-04606)

6. To ask the First Minister for what reason crimes involving offensive weapons reportedly continue to be on the rise, and what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle this. (S5F-04595)

7. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address concerns that Covid-19 rates are higher in areas with greater poverty and deprivation. (S5F-04597)

The First Minister will be aware of the worrying outbreak of Covid at the Kepak McIntosh Donald plant in my constituency, where 78 cases have been detected. That is another example of an outbreak...

I have been contacted yet again by pharmacies in the Helensburgh and Lomond areas of my region. They are still unable to access supplies of the flu vaccine, despite assurances from the Scottish...

West Dunbartonshire was raised to tier 4 last Friday, despite a 35 per cent decrease in the number of positive cases in the preceding week. In the week before 20 November, the drop was a...

We learned yesterday that care workers of learning disabled people will not be tested until next year—perhaps not until spring, in some cases—even in regulated accommodation that is...

NFU Scotland has raised serious concerns regarding fly-tipping in rural communities during the pandemic, not just in my region but across the length and breadth of the country. It has received...

I have received an email from a constituent who is studying at the University of Edinburgh. Earlier this week, they spent seven hours trying to access the online system for booking the Covid test...

On the important issue of BiFab, aside from the failure of the majority shareholder, JV Driver, to step up to the plate with a financial guarantee, a key issue has been, of course, the lack of...

Last year, four in 10 council planning decisions that were appealed to Scottish National Party ministers were overturned, meaning that hundreds of developments went ahead against the wishes of...

I have received an email from a family who live in East Ayrshire, on the boundary with South Ayrshire. Although the kids can travel to their nearest school in South Ayrshire each day, they can no...

Yesterday, the Westminster Government announced that it proposes to freeze public sector pay for many workers on the front line and to scrap the proposed increase in the national minimum wage. It...

I have a constituent who, along with her disabled son, will be ejected from her home by sheriff officers next Wednesday. The local council is putting suitable facilities in place in a new home,...

The First Minister will be aware that arrangements for people to be with family at Christmas take account of the additional travel time that may be required by those needing to get to and from...

First Minister, Three UK is not renewing its contract with Capita at Skypark, in my constituency. That will result in 500 jobs lost over the next couple of months. Will the Scottish Government...

I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus, and I ask them to take care to observe those measures over the course of the...

1. To ask the Scottish Government what the impact on Scotland might be of the United Kingdom health secretary not ruling out mandatory Covid-19 vaccination, and to what extent it considers that...

2. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with amateur football organisations regarding the current Covid-19 restrictions. (S5O-04794)

3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce in NHS Dumfries and Galloway an equivalent of the Highlands and Islands travel scheme, which allows patients to receive full,...

4. To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to reports of increases in mental ill health as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions. (S5O-04796)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Forth Valley regarding capacity planning at the Forth Valley royal hospital intensive care unit, in light of the impact of...

6. To ask the Scottish Government how people with chronic health conditions are being supported to access general practitioner services, in light of the added pressures resulting from Covid-19....

7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects data on the settings where Covid-19 is being transmitted within each local authority and, if so, whether it will publish this. (S5O-04799)

8. To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the suppression of Covid-19 infection rates has been impacted by licensing restrictions. (S5O-04800)

The next item of business is a statement by Mairi Gougeon on the independent review of grouse moor management. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no...

The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-23481, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on making Scotland equally safe: marking the annual international day for the elimination of...

The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-23343, in the name of Neil Bibby, on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their...

The next item of business is consideration of Parliamentary Bureau motion S5M-23500, on committee membership. I call Miles Briggs to move the motion on behalf of the bureau. Motion moved, That...

We turn to decision time. The first question is, that amendment S5M-23481.2, in the name of Rachael Hamilton, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23481, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on...