Thank you. That concludes general questions. The next item of business is First Minister's

questions. And at question number one, I call Douglas Ross.

Thank you, President. Yesterday, parents in Glasgow were protesting cuts to teacher numbers.

They say they're fighting for their kids' education because these cuts will make it, in their words, impossible

for schools to support pupils properly. In Glasgow, over 100 teachers have already gone,

and it's proposed that number will rise to 450. Across Scotland, teacher numbers have declined for two years running. A new Scottish

Government report published this week suggests that the SMP may abandon their manifesto pledge

to increase teacher numbers by 3,500. The First Minister made that promise when he was Education Secretary. So will he be honest

with pupils, parents and teachers today? Is he going to stick to his promise to increase

teacher numbers by 3,500 in this Parliament.

First Minister

The commitments that have been given by the Government in relation to teacher numbers are

commitments that have been given in good faith to strengthen the provision of education in Scotland.

I want the Government to work with our local authority partners to deliver on those commitments.

But of course the approach that we take is hugely dependent on the resources that we have available.

The Government has obviously taken steps to expand the resources that we have got available to us. If the government

had not taken the tax decisions, for example, it had taken, we would be over a billion

pounds worse off in relation to the funding that we have available. But I have to answer

directly Mr Ross's question about the challenges we face in the public finances due to the pressures

of inflation and the persistence of austerity that is framing public expenditure from the

United Kingdom Government.

But I assure Mr Ross and parents, most importantly in the City of Glasgow and around the

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