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Holyrood's education committee has called for more action to tackle teacher shortages in Scottish schools.

MSPs have taken evidence from hundreds of teachers about the challenges facing the profession, amid warnings of "acute shortages" in some areas.

The committee made more than 30 recommendations, including calls for action over pay rates and a reduction in teacher workload.

The Scottish government said it would consider the report carefully.

Members have taken evidence from more than 650 teachers and trainees about workforce planning in the education sector, and have heard concerns about training courses and the "overwhelming" strain on existing staff.

Read more here.

Tory MSP Oliver Mundell says concerns have been raised about the accuracy of data about teacher numbers.

Mr Mundell asks what the cabinet secretary will do about this.

Mr Swinney says it is for individual local authorities to manage their resources in terms of education.

The education secretary says of course the supply pool must be managed and he calls on MSPs to accept the progress being made.

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Education Secretary John Swinney says some local authorities are facing challenges in filling teacher vacancies, hence the actions the government has taken to meet these.

Mr Johnson says there are 500 teacher vacancies which the cabinet secretary failed to mention.

Mr Swinney says even if Mr Johnson's figure is taken at face value that is just 1% of the profession.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson asks how many teacher vacancies there are.

We now move to topical questions on teacher vacancies and NHS radiologists, before Nicola Sturgeon delivers a statement on her programme for government.

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Rabbi Mark L Solomon, Sukkat Shalom gives the time for reflection.

The rabbi represents the Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, and Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation.

Sarah Smith
Scotland Editor

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The opposition parties in Scotland frequently accuse the SNP, and Nicola Sturgeon in particular, of ignoring the "day job", saying she has neglected her domestic agenda whilst arguing for a second Scottish referendum.

Now that another vote on independence has been taken off the agenda for now, even Ms Sturgeon herself has adopted the vocabulary of the opposition and says she is getting on with the "day job".

After a bruising result in the general election which saw the SNP lose 21 MPs, Ms Sturgeon knows she has to steady the ship at Holyrood and be seen to energetically tackle problems in schools, hospitals and beyond.

That's why she will introduce 16 new pieces of legislation, in addition to the 11 bills currently in front of the Scottish Parliament. It will make for an extremely busy parliamentary session.

This is in contrast to last year when very little was passed - adding to the accusation that the SNP were more interested in arguing for constitutional change than governing Scotland with the powers the Scottish parliament already has.

Read more from Sarah

Gay men who were convicted of same-sex offences in Scotland before laws against homosexuality were dropped are to receive full pardons.

The BBC understands the Scottish government will announce a new bill, perhaps during the forthcoming statement from Nicola Sturgeon in her programme for government.

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If approved in parliament it would mean that all convicted gay men in Scotland would receive the formal pardon.

Men still living would also be able to apply for a "disregard" to remove convictions from their record.

This would need to applied for, in order to check that offences are not ones which are still illegal such as non-consensual sex and sex with someone under 16.

However, the Scottish bill will not require anyone to apply for a pardon.

Read more here.

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Nicola Sturgeon will scrap the 1% cap on public sector pay rises when she sets out her legislative plans for the coming year, it is understood.

The first minister will announce the measure when she reveals her 2017-18 programme for government on Tuesday.

The SNP had committed to lifting the pay cap for public sector workers earlier this year, describing it as "increasingly unsustainable".

Scottish Labour described the move as a "U-turn".

Labour's bid to scrap the cap for NHS nurses was defeated at Holyrood in May.

Read more here.

Scotland must be capable of designing and producing the products of the future if its economy is to thrive, the first minister told business leaders last Thursday.

Nicola Sturgeon was speaking as she set out her economic vision for the next decade at an event in Ayrshire.

She also announced an additional £45m to boost the research and development efforts of Scottish businesses.

And she pledged additional help for key industries and entrepreneurs.

Speaking at Spirit AeroSystems in Prestwick, Ms Sturgeon said she wanted the country to be at the forefront of technological and social innovations, including making Scotland an early adopter of electric and other low emission vehicles.

Read more here.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political reporter

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The first minister pledged to use her summer to "take stock and refresh". After 10 years in government, she said the SNP needed to set out "creative, imaginative, bold and radical policies".

The first look at this will be in the Programme for Government speech, expected on Tuesday. There have been hints - most recently in Ms Sturgeon's economic strategy speech on Thursday last week - but the meat of her plans will have been held over for parliament.

Her spokesman says the programme will be "very full and very thorough", and will continue to develop policies laid out in the manifesto which carried the SNP back into (minority) government in 2016. But expect some eye-catching new policies too.

One of them is understood to be a "Turing Law" bill to give full pardons to gay men convicted of same-sex offences before laws against homosexuality were dropped, while plans to scrap the 1% cap on public sector pay rises has also been mooted.

Could this refresh of government policy include a reshuffle of Nicola Sturgeon's top team?

So far, Ms Sturgeon has only been drawn to say "wait and see", external. It's possible she was just trolling journalists by being so coy: no goodbyes were said at the most recent meeting of her cabinet, and officials insist that "the first minister has confidence in all her ministers". But speculation, as ever, abounds.

Who might be in line for promotion and who might face the axe has provided solid pub gossip fodder for politicos all summer.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political reporter

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MSPs faced the charge of having not got much done in the first year of the fifth Scottish Parliament, with a handful of bills rushed through in the final few days of term after a lengthy period of pre-legislative scrutiny and consultations.

With much of that work complete, there should be a much different picture in the coming year. A number of bills remain outstanding from before the summer, and more legislative goals are sure to follow in the Programme for Government.

There are Child Poverty and Social Security bills in the works, as well as legislation to get the government's controversial Named Person scheme up and running.

A Domestic Abuse bill aiming to criminalise psychological abuse has also been tabled, as has one seeking to strengthen equal representation on public boards, externaland another aiming to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses.

Progress on all of these bills is expected in 2017, with more to follow in 2018 including legislation to create a sustainable future for Scotland's islands.

Some backbench and opposition MSPs will also hope to make progress with members' bills. The most prominent among them include James Kelly's bid to repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, Gillian Martin's call for seatbelts on school buses, Miles Briggs' move for expanded dementia care allowances, and Claudia Beamish's attempt to ban fracking.

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will set out her programme for government for the coming year at Holyrood this afternoon, from 2.20pm.

The SNP leader has promised her "most ambitious plan ever", with education expected to be the principal focus.

An Education Governance Bill is one of more than a dozen expected, with action on the economy, housing and the environment also planned.

A deposit return scheme to cut plastic waste is also expected to be announced.

Opposition parties will get a chance to outline their priorities in three days of debate following the speech.

Prior to the summer recess, the first minister indicated that she would use the break to "take stock and refresh" her government, aiming for "creative, imaginative, bold and radical policies".

Policies already trailed include an end to the 1% cap on public sector pay increases, which was the topic of heated debate at Holyrood earlier in the year, and legislation to pardon gay men convicted of same-sex offences before laws against homosexuality were dropped.

Read more here.

That concludes our coverage of the Health Committee.

Tory MSP Miles Briggs asks when Disclosure Scotland thinks the SYFA will have a watertight system

Disclosure Scotland chief executive Lorna Gibbs says: "There is nothing that makes me think they can't deliver on the timescale they are working on."

Ms Gibss says there has been an improvement in the working relationship between the SYFA and

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Labour MSP Neil Findlay asks how the PGV review is going.

Disclosure Scotland chief executive Lorna Gibbs says her organisation owns the review.

Her colleague Gerard Hart says the first phase of the review was around terms of reference which were published in February.

Mr Hart says a formal consultation will be published in December or January and the a bill will come forward in December 2018.

He says the review is going really well.