In December the Scottish Conservatives said more national parks should be created in Scotland in a bid to boost tourism.

Scotland currently has two national parks, in the Cairngorms and at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

The Conservatives said the estimated £7m cost of setting up a new national park would be outweighed by the potential economic benefits.

The party is to include a pledge to create more national parks in its 2016 election manifesto.

Scottish Conservative MSP Finlay Carson asks what progress the government has made on the creation of new national parks and what consideration it has given to creating one in Galloway.

SNP MSP Linda Fabiani asks how the government contributes to international development.

Social Security Secretary Angela Constance says it is unacceptable that in 21st Century Scotland people cannot afford to feed themselves.

Ms Constance says she wants to eradicate the need for food banks in Scotland. 

She says the Scottish government has long made its concerns about the implementation of Universal Credit known.

SNP MSP Stuart McMillan asks what the government's position is on the Trussell Trust opening its 50th foodbank in Scotland.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay says the reforms to council tax will protect household incomes and provide more money for schools.

The minister says the reforms are legally compliant.

Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie asks whether the government considers that its proposals on changes to council tax comply with its treaty obligations under the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

Image source, EPA

Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh  has written to MSPs setting out further changes he is making to first minister's questions. 

These include taking supplementary questions, without notice, on any topic after the final leaders’ question each week. 

In addition, he has proposed amending standing orders to enable FMQs to last up to 45 minutes permanently.  

Committee convener Sandra White gets the consideration of PE1571, external underway.

Labour MSP Mark Griffin ask to hear back from the government the level of demand there was for food banks.

Ms White agrees the committee should write to the cabinet secretary.

That concludes the Social Security Committee.

The committee will now consider the petition by John Beattie on food bank funding, external. 

It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish government to provide direct funding to food banks to ensure that demand for their services can be fully met.

Simon Hodson from Carer's Scotland says there needs to be a clear government led communication to advise of the timetable. 

He says people are aware of the changes but not sure how and when they will be implemented. 

He says this is causing some nervousness. 

Kayleigh Thorpe from Enable Scotland cites a parent who found claiming DLA "horrendous".

Ms Thorpe calls for more support with the application forms. 

SNP MSP George Adam says he is a carer for his wife and he knows from his own experience, and that of a lot of his constituents, that it can be distressing applying for benefits.

Simon Hodson from Carer's Scotland says there are a lot of people who do not apply for the benefits they are entitled to and it is not the role of the DWP to tell people what they are entitled to.

Mr Hodson says the system is failing and a different approach to helping people get more information about their entitlements would be one way forward.

The Scottish government made a commitment to work with people across Scotland to determine how best to use the new social security powers which will be devolved by the Scotland Act 2016. 

It believes that there should be opportunities for everyone to participate in the debates and decisions that matter to them, regardless of their circumstances or backgrounds. 

This consultation document , externaland the events and engagement sessions that it will hold after its publication represents the next step in facilitating this participation. 

"Holding an inclusive, informed and wide-ranging discussion will be essential to our successful implementation of our new social security powers."

Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins asks how CPAG measures poverty and why the Scottish government has not included topping up benefits in its consultation.

Green MSP Alison Johnstone says the parliament now has the means to mitigate forthcoming welfare cuts in April 2017 and asks if enough is being done.

John Dickie  says child poverty means families not having enough money to buy food, pay the bills and meet energy costs.

Mr Dickie says he does not know why topping up child benefit has been put in the Scottish government consultation.

Kayleigh Thorpe from Enable Scotland says specific medical assessments have not been a positive experience for many people with learning disabilities.

Ms Thorpe says evidence gathering is part of any social security system and she says there is an opportunity to look at information sharing.

She cautions it must be appropriate information only but calls for the creation of a more user friendly system. 

Conservative MSP Gordon Lindhurst raises the issue of the two child policy and asks what consequences the tax credit system limited to two children might mean.

John Dickie says the committee must scrutinise this policy.

He says if you remove financial support from larger families that will increase child poverty. 

"Removing financial support from the third child will increase child poverty."

SNP MSP George Adam asks about the use of medical assessments to determine disability awards.

Mr Adam says everyone has "horror stories" from their constituencies about the current set up.

Rob Gowans from Citizens Advice Scotland says the main problem is how information is obtained.

Mr Gowans says people who want to give more evidence or with to appeal, they may be charged by GPs.

He says there are too many cases at the DWP where medical evidence has gone missing.

Rob Gowans says sharing information is something that may be explored during the scrutiny of the bill.

Mr Gowans says it is complicated because the Citizens Advice Bureau would not necessarily share something with the DWP because the information is confidential.

He says the digital access question is an important one and that a recent survey showed only 36% of people on benefits were able to apply online and this dropped for disabled people.

Digital access is something that needs looked at because "this will start to affect more people", he says.

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Scottish Labour MSP Pauline McNeill says there is the opportunity to create something new but something the country is very good at is not sharing information.

Ms McNeill asks how a "one stop shop" for benefits can be created without agencies sharing information. 

The Labour MSP says most applicants are completely lost when they first enter the benefits system.

She also says there are still too many assumptions being made that people are online and in Glasgow the number of people actually online is probably below 50%.