Image source, Ewen Weatherspoon HIE

The chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise has insisted the body will continue to exist in its present form despite changes to how it is overseen.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney told MSPs that a new Scotland-wide group was to oversee and eventually "replace" individual agency boards.

Opposition MSPs said this could be the "death knell for HIE as we know it".

But chairman Prof Lorne Crerar said HIE would not be "in any way diminished" by the coming changes.

Conservative MSP John Lamont asks when the Scottish government will publish details of the proposed single national board to oversee economic development and skills funding.

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Mr Johnson asks, of the action points set out in the improvement plan, how many were new measures.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf says ScotRail said some measures in the improvement plan are already well underway and some were yet to be started.

Mr Yousaf says he wants to see improvement right away. 

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson asks the Scottish government what its priorities are for public transport.

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Transport Minister Humza Yousaf says he has instructed a performance improvement plan and the measures have been published on ScotRail's website.

Mr Kelly asks what steps the minister has taken to access an early termination of the Abellio contract if performance does not approve.

Mr Yousaf says passengers would not be grateful for discussions over "tearing up the contract".

He says passengers are looking for government to work with Abellio to achieve outcomes and improve performance.

Labour MSP James Kelly asks for an update on what steps the government is taking to improve the performance of ScotRail.

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Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser asks what deadlines have been given to ScotRail for improvements.

Mr Yousaf says work will start immediately and that, of the 249 measures, six of them are long term.

The minister says he is looking for immediate improvement and, if the performance dips, every option is on the table within the terms of the contract. 

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Transport Minister Humza Yousaf says he met with ScotRail this morning an discussed performance 

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar says rail fares are due to rise next year and asks if he will discuss Labour's proposal not to increase fares.

Mr Yousaf says every proposal will be considered but the fares are at their lowest since 2005.

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Nearly 50 trains a day are cancelled or "significantly" delayed on Scotland's railways, according to analysis by Scottish Labour.

It highlighted official data showing an average of 1,360 trains were cancelled or arrived more than 30 minutes late during every four-week period.

It said that equated to an average of 49 trains every day since Abellio took over the ScotRail franchise in 2015.

ScotRail said it was focused on delivering the best possible service.

Transport Scotland said that despite "recent challenges", the performance of rail services in Scotland was higher than the UK average.

Scottish Labour obtained the figures from the Office of Rail and Road, external (ORR).

ScotRail produced a performance improvement plan in September at the request of Transport Scotland after punctuality and reliability fell below target.

On Thursday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would consider freezing the country's train fares next year amid concern over the reliability of ScotRail services.

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Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has told MSPs that "ScotRail has learned lessons" following a series of problems on Scotland's railways.

In an emergency statement at Holyrood, he apologised to rail passengers who have been affected by disruption.

It came on the day commuters faced severe disruption after overhead wiring problems affected services in Glasgow.

ScotRail declared a major incident after finding a broken insulator between Partick and Glasgow Central.

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar asks the Scottish government when the Minister for Transport and the Islands last met ScotRail and what issues were discussed.  

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General questions is next and then we will bring you extensive coverage of first minister's questions, with all the social media reaction as it happens.

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Scottish Labour MSP Jenny Marra moves the committee into private session.

That ends the Public Audit Committee.

The Scottish government will lead a debate recognising 16 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women and Girls at 3pm.

Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith asks if there are is any concern over SAAS and fraudulent claims.

Owen Smith from Audit Scotland says SAAS work very hard to make sure that all claims are legitimate.

SNP MSP Colin Beattie asks if the outcomes are commensurate with the level of effort put in.

Russell Firth from Audit Scotland says he believes the outcomes are commensurate and Audit Scotland provides software to users.

Mr Beattie says there are expensive investigations and asks how big the deterrent is.

Mr Firth says some of the investigations are extremely short. 

Mr Frith says in Scotland Audit Scotland are keeping an eye on the new tax and social security powers.

He says the NFI continues to be a useful tool.

Russell Frith from Audit Scotland explains the data in the National Fraud Initiative in Scotland (NFI).

Mr Frith says there is limited information within the data sets and the matches must be investigated properly to discern if fraud has taken place.

He says Audit Scotland must facilitate the role of the NFI and produce reports on it.

Mr Frith says the deterrent effect of the NFI is important.

Here is Audit Scotland's report on the National Fraud Initiative in Scotland, external.

Image source, Audit Scotland