That brings this week's coverage of FMQs to a close. Here are the key lines that emerged this lunchtime:

• Before FMQs got fully under way, each party leader made a brief statement of support for the Ukraine marking the third anniversary of the Russian invasion
• The FM said: "Today as ever Scotland stands with Ukraine."
• Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay lambasted the number of public bodies in Scotland and said the "bloated SNP state" was out of control
• John Swinney said the number of public bodies had reduced by 68 since his party came to power
• Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar focused on the poverty-attainment gap in schools, saying the latest stats indicate it is getting wider and he said Swinney's record on education had been "woeful"
• The FM disputed these figures and said the overall gap had reduced by 60% since 2009-10
• Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, used his question this week to highlight the case of an 85-year-old woman who had two waits of more than 12 hours in A&E
• The FM apologised but insisted 12-hour waits in A&E were falling

Today's editor was Paul McLaren. The writers were Ashleigh Keenan-Bryce and Craig Hutchison. Thank you for joining us.

Was this just a case of going through the motions?published at 13:17 Greenwich Mean Time

13:17 GMT

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

If we’re honest about it, there weren’t really any spectacular fireworks at FMQs today.

The key thing in building an electoral platform is repetition; the idea is to craft a distinctive message which voters readily associate with you, but you might have to repeat it a hundred times in order to get it to stick.

That’s why every week now Russell Findlay finds a way to talk about “common sense” and the cosy left-wing consensus at Holyrood.

Anas Sarwar talks about a “new direction” away from the SNP’s lengthy period in charge, and indeed has started to cast himself as a first ministerial figure.

And John Swiney has familiar rebuttals - about Labour’s record of delivery at Westminster, and Russell Findlay’s courting of potential Reform voters.

If you watch every week, it can start to look like they’re going through familiar motions; there’s a danger it might even get boring.

But there is a political strategy at play. At this point it’s still a long game, with the election a year away, but things will only get more pointed as time goes on.

Another FMQs and another question about CalMac ferries, this week from SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson.

He highlights CalMac's reshuffle of timetables due to "exceptional issues" which caused a third of its large vessels fleet to be out of action and which could lead to a "summer of chaos".

"CalMac faces an incredibly congested set of circumstances as a consequence of issues in the ferry fleet," replies Swinney.

The FM says CalMac has undertaken planning work to ensure routes can be serviced - work which will be kept under constant review.

He points out the Glen Sannox is operational now between Troon and Arran and there are four other vessels due to join the fleet, along with the Glen Sannox's sister ship the Glen Rosa.

Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent

A livestock farmer has lost more than half his newborn lambs in one of the first Scottish cases of a deadly virus - and fears he could be wiped out if his farm is struck by any more diseases.

The Schmallenberg virus killed up to 92 of the 152 lambs that Michael Goldie was expecting to deliver last month at his farm in Dundonald near Troon in Ayrshire.

Scotland had remained largely free of the Schmallenberg virus until January but concern is growing after a spike in cases.

The country's chief vet, Sheila Voas, says the disease is just one of an unusually high number of threats being faced by farmers.

She believes it is inevitable that other diseases will spread to Scotland and is urging farmers to be extra vigilant for warning signs.

Read more here.

Tory MSP Brian Whittle asks what action the Scottish government is taking to support farmers responding to threats to livestock from disease.

The first minister replies: "There are an unusually high number of threats faced by farmers at the moment, including avian influenza, blue tongue, foot and mouth disease and Schmallenberg."

Swinney goes on to explain his government is working with the farming industry to address these threats.

He says he shares Whittle's concern about the sustainability of farming and the impact of the UK Labour government's changes to inheritance tax.

The FM says the government has put in place a financial settlement of over £600m for the farming sector which the Tory MSP did not back in Tuesday's budget vote.

To the backbenches, and SNP MSP Michael Matheson highlights the recent study by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit regarding the contribution of the net zero sector to the Scottish and UK economy.

Swinney says he welcomes the report which sets out the importance of the net zero sector to the country's economy.

He says the green economy is thriving, growing 20% in the last two years, generating over £9bn and supporting over 100,000 full time equivalent jobs.

The first minister says it is "absolutely imperative" to take climate action urgently and this report helps illustrate there is also economic opportunity in the transition to net zero.

The first minister replies: "I'm sorry to Winifred and to her family for the experience that they have had."

He goes on to highlight the "extraordinary pressures" the health service faces as a consequence of flu.

Swinney says 12-hour waits in A&E are completely unacceptable but are falling.

It's now the turn of the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader to ask his questions - and he focuses on NHS waiting times.

Alex Cole-Hamilton asks about 87-year-old Winifred who broke her hip and whose treatment left her family "aghast".

It included a 12-hour wait in A&E, an unsafe discharge, a nine-hour wait for an ambulance and yet another 12-hour wait in A&E, he says.

Cole-Hamilton tells the chamber more than 12,000 people aged over 85 waited longer than 12 hours in Scotland's A&E departments and he argues the SNP has failed Winifred and others like her.

A blizzard of education figures on both sidespublished at 12:39 Greenwich Mean Time

12:39 GMT

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Most weeks, Anas Sarwar uses health to illustrate his argument that the SNP has been in charge for too long and is letting services down.

But today he alighted on another key devolved portfolio - education.

The fact this was based on some statistics published this week meant the exchanges quickly turned into a blizzard of figures flying back and forth. There are, as ever, enough for both sides to pick some out which suit their own arguments.

John Swinney is a former education secretary, so it serves Mr Sarwar’s purpose to say he’s to blame for any issues – but it also means he knows them inside out, and has rebuttals to hand.

It was once again a case of Labour and the SNP seeking to compete on similar political territory.

And if Mr Sarwar closed with a familiar flourish about the SNP having “nobody else to blame”, Mr Swinney did too with his weekly refrain on “broken promises” from Labour at Westminster.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Sarwar says Swinney's record is "woeful" and says he, as first minister, would make sure every young Scot can reach their potential by introducing new education standards.

Sarwar asks the first minister whether their defining mission, of improving Scottish education, is now their defining failure.

says Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is expected to fall where it is expected to rise in the rest of the UK.

The first minister says he would encourage the people of Scotland to look at what the SNP government have done to support children in Scotland, compared to the Labour governments in England and Wales.

The first minister says says the percentage of young people in a "positive destination" three months after leaving school is 95.7% - the second highest since records began.

Swinney says he accepts work has to be done, but Sarwar must accept the improvements put on record as a result of investment by the SNP government.

Sarwar says Swinney was the person charged with improving Scottish education and he has "failed".

He says, last year, 42.6% of pupils left school without a single Higher or equivalent and 1,300 students left school without "the most basic of qualifications".

The Scottish Labour says "every one of these children should matter" and asks the first minister why the SNP government are "letting down" a generation of young people.

The first minister says the overall poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 60% since 2009-10.

Swinney says the gap in young people in the most deprived areas is at a record low in primary schools.

Turning to pupils with additional support learning needs, the attainment gap between those with additional support needs and those without has reduced by almost half since 2009-10, he says.

The FM adds: "I accept there is more that needs to be done but important and substantial progress has been made in closing the attainment gap and that is good for children and young people in our country."

Before FMQs began, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also paid tribute to the people of Ukraine.

He said for 1,999 days, they have felt the fear and heartbreak at the brunt of Russian aggression but still stand stronge.

Beginning his questions to the first minister, Sarwar turns to education.

He cites the latest figures indicating the attainment gap between Scotland's richest and poorest school pupils increased last year.

He asks the first minister if Scottish education is going the wrong direction under the SNP.

Swinney saw this Findlay attack comingpublished at 12:29 Greenwich Mean Time

12:29 GMT

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Russell Findlay has a real bee in his bonnet about the size of the public sector.

He actually delved back to a committee meeting from last week to make a point about the number of public bodies.

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, he will feel vindicated that Anas Sarwar has just pinched his idea for a Scottish version of Elon Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency.

But his problem today was that John Swinney had apparently seen his attack coming, and had a statistic ready to bat it away.

Ultimately these were fairly muted exchanges, but both leaders got their favourite lines in.

Russell Findlay got to badge his position as “basic common sense”, while John Swinney got to celebrate his budget passing earlier in the week – channelling funding towards frontline services.

There were few fireworks, but both of them will no doubt find a way of cutting a clip for their social media feeds.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Tory leader points to a "bloated SNP state" which he says is out of control.

Findlay asks if Swinney will bring in a credible business leader to sort this out.

The first minister insists he takes this issue very seriously.

He argues the Tories opposed the creation of Police Scotland which delivered £200m in savings and he accuses Findlay of hypocrisy.

On 1 December 2024 there were 131 public bodies in the country, replies Swinney.

He says in 2007 there were 199.

Back to Findlay, who says the information commissioner and the auditor general play a game called "public authority bingo" - hinting that they can only guess at figures.

The Scottish Tory leader calls on the FM to spell out the exact number of public bodies there are in Scotland.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

The first minister argues that his government has reduced the number of public bodies in Scotland and maintains a stringent approach to public expenditure.

John Swinney says it constantly strives to maximise value and those considerations underpinned the budget passed on Tuesday.

The Scottish Tory leader says there are hundreds or even thousands of public bodies in Scotland.

Findlay says the information commissioner describes a "hidden and complicated landscape across the public sector".

He says if the commissioner can't tell the size of the SNP state, what chance will the public have.