Good afternoon and welcome to the Scottish Parliament. As you can see, our meeting this afternoon is entirely online. We begin with a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and...

We move on to portfolio questions. Our first portfolio brief this afternoon is social security and older people. I remind members that I have grouped questions 1 and 4 together. We will hear the...

1. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help older people to access essential requirements including food, medical attention and prescriptions, under the current Covid-19...

4. To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to assist older people in coping with the January Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. (S5O-04900)

2. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect older people in Glasgow from the impact of Covid-19. (S5O-04898)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that older people who are shielding receive appropriate support. (S5O-04899)

5. To ask the Scottish Government what issues regarding universal credit have been raised in recent discussions or correspondence with the United Kingdom Government. (S5O-04901)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to tackle loneliness and social isolation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-04902)

7. To ask the Scottish Government how best start foods has supported children and families who are living on a low income. (S5O-04903)

8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help alleviate loneliness in older people during the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-04904)

The next portfolio questions are on finance. I remind members that they should enter R in the chat function if they wish to ask a supplementary question.

1. To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance’s announcement on 9 December, how many businesses have received support from the £185 million funding...

2. To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Barnett consequentials announced for 2020-21 it has formally allocated. (S5O-04906)

3. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to provide financial support for businesses in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency that have been impacted by level 4 Covid-19...

5. To ask the Scottish Government how much it will allocate to support businesses experiencing difficulties due to Covid-19 that do not qualify for current schemes, or for which the assistance is...

6. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to support the construction and development industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-04910)

7. To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available to business throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. (S5O-04911)

8. To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an update from the United Kingdom Government on the UK shared prosperity fund and how it will impact on Scotland. (S5O-04912)

Our final portfolio this afternoon is environment, climate change and land reform. I remind members that questions 4, 6 and 8 are grouped together and questions 5 and 7 are grouped together. That...

1. To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that marine life is protected in the development of offshore wind farms. (S5O-04913)

2. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the design of new and innovative projects that can help to tackle climate change. (S5O-04914)

3. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support flood prevention measures in Lothian. (S5O-04915)

4. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in tackling fly-tipping. (S5O-04916)

6. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce levels of littering and fly-tipping. (S5O-04918)

8. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it is having with local authorities regarding fly-tipping. (S5O-04920)

5. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on preparations for COP26, scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November. (S5O-04917)

7. To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it is making for its participation in COP26. (S5O-04919)

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-23448, in the name of Linda Fabiani, on the y oung women lead report on how to increase employment opportunities for...

The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-23613, in the name of Monica Lennon, on Scotland’s drug deaths crisis. The debate will be concluded without any...

As has been indicated to members online, there are no questions to be put at decision time as a result of today’s business. I therefore close the meeting. Meeting closed at 16:29.