That's all from the live page team today. Thank you for joining us.

Image source, Getty Images

A leading trade body fears Scotland's deposit return scheme will not be ready to launch in August.

The flagship initiative is designed to boost recycling via a 20p deposit on single-use drinks bottles and cans.

But the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) said its members, who must sign up by 1 March, had yet to see an operational blueprint.

The Scottish government said it was working with the industry to deliver the scheme.

• Read more here
• Bottle return scheme will not start until 2023
• What's holding up Scotland's bottle deposit scheme?

Tory MSP Maurice Golden says "incredibly there is still no operational blueprint for deposit return despite the scheme launching in just a few months time",

Golden adds: "No wonder businesses are pulling their hair out."

He asks the FM to confirm if an operational blueprint for the scheme, designed to increase recycling of single-use bottles, will be ready by the end of the month.

Sturgeon insists Circularity Scotland continues to work with businesses as they finalise operational delivery plans ahead of the launch in August.

Scottish Conservative MSP Jeremy Balfour asks if the first minister agrees that rising energy costs are putting the health and human rights of disabled people at risk.

He says the energy costs of running life-saving and independent living equipment at home can amount to hundreds of pounds a month.

Mr Balfour asks if the government will commit to an urgent meeting to discuss action to support families.

Sturgeon says she is happy to ask the relevant minister to take part in a meeting and discuss what more the Scottish government can do.

She says the child winter heating assistance and carer’s allowance supplement provide financial support in Scotland, as well as the new winter heating payment which begins in a few weeks' time.

She says the government has also doubled the fuel insecurity fund to £20m and some patients using equipment at home are already accessing financial support.

But she says the UK government needs to deal with the root cause of rising prices and take action to help people.

Cole-Hamilton pivots to the teachers' strikes and asks the first minister what she can do to keep the school gates open.

Sturgeon replies that she does not want to see any further disruption to children and she hopes a resolution and pay agreement will be reached soon.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, SFRS

Alex Cole-Hamilton says firefighter Barry Martin "paid the ultimate price" and he pays tribute to him.

Barry Martin, 38, died on Friday at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and the Scottish Lib Dem leader calls for him to be awarded the George Cross posthumously.

The FM also conveys her "deepest condolences to the family, to the friends and the colleagues" of firefighter Barry Martin.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Anas Sarwar has broken his streak of asking about health every week at FMQs, in order to focus in on another squeezed area – local government.

The vast patchwork of pay disputes, funding shortfalls and industrial unrest came home for MSPs this week, with Labour members absent from Holyrood on Wednesday as they were unwilling to cross the picket lines of striking civil servants outside.

That sets a fresh context for what might seem like an annual row about how much cash councils are being allocated.

It’s also notable that this yearly dispute has continued despite the SNP now holding many key positions on the council umbrella body, Cosla – if anything the stand-off has escalated.

Nicola Sturgeon’s response is to throw down a challenge to her opponents – tell us exactly where you would find the cash to divert to councils.

If Mr Sarwar sees himself as a future first minister, he needs to present a realistic proposition for how he would carve up the budget.

It can be easy to heckle from the sidelines in opposition. But if Labour wants to pitch itself as a government in waiting at Westminster and indeed Holyrood, it needs to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

Image source, Getty Images

Sarwar asks the first minister why people are being asked to pay more for less from their councils.

He blames the Scottish government for the cuts local authorities are being forced to consider.

And he says a leaked Cosla document also estimates that more than 7,000 jobs could be lost in the public sector.

Sturgeon says the government has allocated all the resources at its disposal.

She urges councils to look carefully at how they balance their budgets while also fulfilling their priorities.

Image source, Getty Images

Council finance chiefs have warned that Scotland's local authorities are facing unprecedented financial pressures.

Glasgow's finance director said all councils were on a "knife edge", with inflation creating huge challenges.

MSPs were told "ring fencing" of central government funding meant services such as libraries, refuse and leisure services would be hit hardest.

The Scottish government said it had given councils an extra £570m for local services in its December budget.

• Read more here
• Councils face 'hardest spending choices in years'
• Budget could lead to service cuts, councils warn

Council cash - is it up or is it down?published at 12:31 Greenwich Mean Time 2 February 2023

12:31 GMT 2 February 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

According to Scottish Parliament researchers the allocation in the budget for local government in the next financial year is up £637m in cash terms, or £223m in real terms.

But councils say much of that money is ring-fenced for central government priorities, and what they are left with is a real terms reduction in their core revenue budget of 0.2%.

They’re having to consider job losses, cuts to services, and increasing fees for services like burials in order to balance the books.

Anas Sarwar is up next and he leads on the struggles facing local authorities across Scotland.

"For the past 15 years, this government has short-changed local councils," he says.

The Scottish Labour leader says they have had their budgets cut "whether the government budget went up or down."

He says two councils are being forced to consider cutting vital services and asks the first minster: "Are these councillors wrong?"

Sturgeon says the government budget for the coming financial year is proposing an increase of £570m of resources available to local government, which she says is a real terms increase of £170m.

She says if there is a proposition to give more money to local government, opposition parties are welcome to make that suggestion and tell the government where to take it from.

Ross seeks to catch Sturgeon in an awkward positionpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 2 February 2023

12:26 GMT 2 February 2023

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

With his questions about trans prisoners, Douglas Ross is seeking to catch Nicola Sturgeon in an awkward position about the broader issue of self-identification.

He knows he cannot make a direct link to the reforms passed at Holyrood in December, because the events of the past week have clearly happened under the existing system.

But it touches on a lot of the same issues which were debated, like single-sex spaces and safeguards against bad actors.

And given the timing – which really couldn’t have been any worse for the government – this could become one big row about self-identification in the minds of the public.

Ms Sturgeon is alive to that danger, and will also be very keen to underline the distinction between the specific row about prisons, and the reforms passed by MSPs.

Because if the Scottish government is to go to court to defend its self-ID legislation – currently blocked by UK ministers – it will want to be crystal clear with the public about exactly what it is defending.

Ministers will be desperate to underline that they would be going to bat for the wider trans community and for Holyrood’s power to legislate – and NOT for the likes of Isla Bryson.

Ross reiterates that Adam Graham is a woman, according to Scottish government policy, and he refers to newspaper reports in which 21-year-old Rachel Ferguson described how scared she was to have been on a beauty course with Graham.

The FM points out trans women are a tiny minority of society and an overwhelming majority of trans people never commit any offence.

Ross says under law a rapist has to be a man, while her justice secretary thinks this rapist is a woman.

He says one of Adam Graham's victims has said she did not believe a word said and Graham "was faking it".

Sturgeon insists the key factor in this case is that the individual has been convicted of rape and that should be the deciding factor as to how that prisoner is treated.

Ross agrees that trans people are not the problem, but he says when a man rapes two women "we don't think he should be considered a woman just because he says so".

The Scottish Conservative leader says Adam Graham, who wants to be known as Isla Bryson, raped two women.

"He is an abusive man seeking to exploit loopholes in the government's current policy."

He asks: "Is this double rapist a woman?"

The FM points out Isla Bryson claims to be a woman but what is relevant is that the individual is a rapist, which is why Bryson is in a male prison.

"I believe a double rapist, anyone who rapes a woman is a man, they cannot be considered anything else," Ross says.

Image source, PA MEDIA

Nicola Sturgeon has previously said her government has nothing to apologise for in its handling of the recent transgender prisoner controversy.

On Sunday, a "pause" was placed on the transfer to women's jails of trans inmates with a history of violence.

Asked if she would apologise, the first minister said: "I don't think there is anything for that."

She said ministers were dealing with "difficult issues" in an "appropriate" way.

Opposition parties say the government's handling of the row has been "botched", and characterised by "chaos, confusion and U-turns".

The controversy began last week when Isla Bryson, a trans woman, was convicted of two rapes committed prior to her gender change. She was initally remanded to a women's prison before being moved to a male wing of HMP Edinburgh.

• Read more here
• Movement of violent transgender prisoners paused
• Transgender rapist moved to men's prison

Douglas Ross asks if the first minister agrees with her justice secretary who, he says, said in an interview that Isla Bryson, a double rapist, could be identified as a woman.

Sturgeon replies: "I think that a rapist should be considered a rapist."

The FM says the Scottish Prison Service's arrangement for transgender prisoners has not changed.

She points out the overall majority of trans people have not committed any crime.

Nicola Sturgeon is poised in her seat and Douglas Ross gets to his feet as first minister's questions begins.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Our politics seems to be locked in an unending loop of crises at the moment, from an economic slump to healthcare pressures to pay disputes and intra-party squabbling.

Two out of the five parties at Holyrood didn’t attend business on Wednesday, unwilling to cross the picket line of striking parliament staff outside.

The sense of unrest couldn’t have come much closer to home for MSPs, so there’s no shortage of topics for them to discuss today.

It’s been an uncomfortable week for Nicola Sturgeon too, with the first minister coming under pressure about the handling of transgender prisoners.

Opposition leaders naturally delight in pressing on a sore point, and Douglas Ross may well seek to capitalise on this one - especially given the broader dispute between the Scottish and UK governments over the principle of self-identification.

Anas Sarwar generally likes to ask about healthcare, and there are still no shortage of issues to discuss on that front.

But there’s also an almighty row brewing with local government, with ministers finalising plans to block councils from cutting teacher numbers or classroom hours while seeking to balance the books.

That seems a likely bet to come up too, on the day MSPs are also set to debate the budget bill and all the “tough decisions” it represents.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of First Minister's Questions.

We'll bring you reports and analysis from the weekly political jousting as Nicola Sturgeon is quizzed by opposition party leaders and backbench MSPs.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings.