The Local Government Committee takes evidence from Housing Minister Kevin Stewart on building and fire regulations and then on homelessness
MSPs quiz education ministers during portfolio questions
The Scottish government gives a ministerial statement on air quality
MSPs debate Paisley's 2021 UK City of Culture and Dundee's 2023 European Capital of Culture bids
SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth leads a debate on the Levenmouth Rail Link
Environment Committee convener Graeme Dey asks if the government about an increased emphasis on green infrastructure.
Ms Cunningham says improving air quality in towns and cities would improve public health and make them more attractive places to live and work.
The environment secretary says it would also make them better places for businesses.
Image source, bbcThe environment secretary says when LEZs are brought into being they must be workable and manageable.
Ms Cunningham says it is very difficult to put figures on funding at this stage.
She says the government is in active conversation with all four cities.
Labour MSP David Stewart says Scotland has failed to meet European objectives in Glasgow.
Mr Stewart asks if the 2018 target is on track and if the 2020 target will be met.
Image source, Getty ImagesPlans to tackle air pollution in the devolved nations are "inadequate", the High Court in London was told in July.
Environmental group ClientEarth is taking legal action against the UK government.
It comes after the campaigners won a case forcing ministers to publish their draft clean air strategy.
The organisation now says there is no evidence of "concrete actions" for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ms Cunningham says the government is trying to empower local authorities to move ahead with what they believe to be best.
The minister says that may well include transport hubs.
Tory MSP Maurice Golden says his party broadly welcomes many of the proposals to reduce air pollution.
Mr Golden says the plans fall short of expectation and there is reason for them to go further.
The Tory MSP says he has already met with the transport minister over urban consolidation hubs.
He asks what is being done to find sites for urban consolidation hubs
Image source, bbcMs Cunningham says LEZs must delivered in an equitable manner, and consider equality issues, particularly for communities who rely on public transport to move around our towns and cities.
The minister says: "Costs associated with LEZs, such as enforcement and retrofitting grants, will depend on the type and scale of the LEZs, as decided by the local authorities."
She calls on MSPs to encourage constituents respond to the 'Building Scotland's Low Emission Zone' consultation.
Ms Cunningham says the public is a key partner in the government's work to promote air quality and will be the principal beneficiary.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe most polluting buses will be banned from Glasgow city centre under the plans
The most polluting buses will be banned from Glasgow city centre if plans to introduce a so-called low emission zone in the city are given the go ahead.
Councillors will put forward a proposal next week to ban all but the cleanest buses by the end of next year.
It follows claims that poor air quality leads to the deaths of about 300 Glaswegians each year.
Operators are warning that the plan could lead to a reduction in the services available and a rise in costs.
Earlier this month the Scottish government released a consultation on how to deal with traffic pollution in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
Quote MessageWe will shortly be announcing the winners of the seventh round of the Scottish Green Bus Fund, which will bring forward another 47 low emission buses.
Roseanna Cunningham, Environment Secretary
Ms Cunningham says: "We are proposing that local authorities identify specific vehicle types that would not be allowed to enter a LEZ.
"This would mean that such vehicles would be subject to a financial penalty if they illegally entered a zone."
The minister says: "A phased introduction of inclusion of vehicle types into a LEZ is expected."
Image source, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYIn May we reported that Edinburgh would bid to have Scotland's first Low Emission Zone to tackle air pollution.
Councillors have agreed to approach the Scottish government, which has said it will fund one pilot by 2018.
Lorries, vans and buses which did not meet emission standards could be fined for driving within the designated area.
Glasgow has already declared an interest in the idea. Friends of the Earth said it was the frontrunner to host the first one.
The minister says the government has engaged with Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils to establish LEZ delivery groups.
She says it has also contacted Aberdeen and Dundee City Councils to discuss how similar groups could be established for their cities.
Ms Cunningham says: "We will also create an LEZ Leadership Group across the 4 cities."
She says she looks forward to announcing shortly where the first LEZ.
Image source, ThinkstockThe number of pollution zones in Scotland has risen, according to figures from Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland published in January.
The group found that there are now 38 zones where safety standards for air quality are regularly broken - five more than last year.
The environmental campaigners warned the pollution levels were a "public health crisis".
The Scottish government said it was determined to improve air quality.
A spokeswoman said the government was working to ensure Scotland's first low emission zone was in place next year
The minister says the Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy sets out an ambitious work programme to deliver further air quality improvements. Earlier this year, the first National Clean Air Day was successfully staged.
She says the strategy sets out the ambition for Low Emission Zones (LEZs) to be in place by 2020.
Ms Cunningham says: "We have since stepped up that ambition significantly."
Image source, Getty ImagesEnvironmental campaigners claim air pollution is causing a public health crisis
In July MSPs launched an inquiry into how to stop the problems caused by air pollution.
This came after environmental campaigners said the issue was causing a public health crisis.
A Friends of the Earth report in January found Scotland's most polluted streets regularly breached the European limit for levels of nitrogen dioxide.
Recent evidence also suggests air pollution could be contributing to 15,000 early deaths in Scotland a year.
The top three Scottish streets most polluted with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2016 were Hope Street in Glasgow, St John's Road in Edinburgh and Wellington Road in Aberdeen.
NO2, which is produced by vehicle engines, has been linked to respiratory disease.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham says air pollution remains a significant health and social justice issue.
Ms Cunningham says there is no doubt improving air quality will improve health.;
She says: "Action is required."
Image source, ThinkstockScotland's draft climate change plan lacks credibility, according to an independent body.
The UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) found the plan focused too much on the rapid deployment of low carbon heating rather than addressing wider areas like transport emissions.
But it added that the Scottish government was still leading the UK on tackling greenhouse gas emissions.
The Scottish government said it showed "the strong progress being made".
Ministers met the 2015 target to reduce emissions and are on course to hit the interim aim of reducing emissions by 42% by 2020.
Environment and Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham will now give a statement on air quality entitled: 'Delivering Improvements for Public Health and the Environment'.
Higher Education Shirley-Anne Somerville says the government is committed to building a sustainable medical workforce for the future.
Ms Somerville says the government has invested £23m on increasing medical undergraduate places.
Mr Briggs says the number of Scottish domiciled students studying medicine has fallen and he calls on the government to ensure more Scottish students can study medicine.
Ms Somerville says selection and recruitment is for individual universities.
Image source, ThinkstockScotland's first graduate entry courses for medicine are to start at St Andrews and Dundee University in 2018.
They will be run by university medical schools, working with the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Current medical undergraduate degrees take five or six years but the new degree can be completed in four years for students who are already graduates.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the graduate programme earlier this year.
The courses require approval by the General Medical Council. The Scottish government said it would work closely with the medical schools and the regulator to gain this as soon as possible.
Teaching staff are to be appointed next year and the courses developed for applications in the spring of 2018. Classes would begin in the autumn of that year.