Image source, bbc

The first minister says the government will contact the trade union and has investigated the issue.

She again deprecates any agency that requires employees to pay to get their wages paid.

She moves on to the Waverley Station project saying it is a Network Rail project and she calls on Mr Leonard to back her call for Network Rail responsibility to be devolved to Holyrood.

Image source, bbc

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard asks what has been done since he raised the issue of umbrella companies working on the Aberdeen bypass project charging employees to recieve their wages last week.

Ms Sturgeon says Transport Scotland looked into this and said the pay cheque being discussed was through a sub-contractor through an agency.

The first minister says the contractor confirmed that more than 90% of employees are paid through PAYE.

She deprecates the agency's action.

Mr Leonard says nobody has contacted the trade union representing AWPR employees.

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Ms Davidson says she welcomes progress where and if it occurs.

However, the Scottish Conservative leader says there are more than 500 vacancies in secondary school training schemes.

She says the gap will not be closed if the money is not released and staff not recruited.

Ms Sturgeon acknowledges there are recruitment issues and cites a range of schemes to boost recruitment in schools.

She says 78% of headteachers say there has been improvements due to the attainment fund.

The Scottish government published its first evaluation of the attainment fund, external last week.

It concluded: "Overall, most Challenge Authorities and teachers who took part in the qualitative research welcomed the resources provided through the Attainment Scotland Fund, and found funding levels reasonable, fair and appropriate."

However, the evaluation also said: "In some cases, difficulties in recruiting staff to posts resulted in underspends for Challenge Authorities and schools. Out of the total £52 million allocation, around £37.3 million was spent during the first two years of the fund."

Image source, Scottish government

Image source, bbc

Ms Ruth Davidson says money for closing the attainment gap is being spent elsewhere in the education system.

Ms Sturgeon says: "Ruth Davidson is simply wrong about this."

She calls on Ms Davidson to bring her examples where attainment money is being misspent.

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Ms Davidson says million pounds of the attainment fund is still lying unspent due to difficulties in recruiting.

The first minister says Ms Davidson's claim displays a misunderstanding in the funding process.

Ms Sturgeon says in the early years of a programme there will be less money spent than in later years.

In the first year of the programme there was less than £10m spent, but in this financial year there will be £179m spent mostly through the Pupil Equity Fund.

Almost 2,400 schools across Scotland will share more than £120m as part of Scottish government efforts to close the attainment gap.

Education Secretary John Swinney confirmed 2,387 schools would receive money from the £750m Pupil Equity Funding scheme in 2018-19.

Schools in Glasgow will benefit from more than a sixth of the cash.

They will receive a total of almost £22m to help fund improvements at 191 schools.

The amount of money each school will get is linked to the number of pupils it has receiving free school meals, with the money going directly to head teachers, allowing them to choose how to use the resources.

Read more here.

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Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson says exam result data for secondary schools has been published highlighting the attainment gap between rich and poor areas.

Ms Davidson asks if progress is fast enough in closing the gap.

The first minister says: "No I want to see it accelerate."

Ms Sturgeon says the attainment gap is unacceptable, but there is evidence that it is closing.

In February 2017, Scotland's finance secretary moved to quell concerns over rapidly rising business rates by capping increases for 8,500 firms in the hospitality sector.

The 12.5% cap on any rise will also apply to more than 1,000 office premises in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

In a statement to Holyrood, Derek Mackay also outlined a package of relief for the renewables sector.

The Tories said the government had been "asleep at the wheel" over the issue.

Read more.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson asks how many businesses' non-domestic rates bill increased as a result of the 2017 revaluation.

Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt says mental health support can lead to reduced sickness leave and lower turnover.

The mental health strategy aims to improve uptake of and access to a range of support services, she adds.

There will also be efforts to train employers in appropriate support measures, Ms Watt states.

Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnson wonders about work to support business in island communities with mental health measures.

Ms Watt notes tools and training courses are available throughout Scotland.

Hayley Smith says her manager encouraged her to apply for other jobs when she told her she had depression.

The news about her illness spread across the office. "It was horrible - I felt really exposed," she says. After a few anxious, unhappy months, she left.

Hayley is one of up to 300,000 people with mental health problems who leave their jobs each year, a report says.

The report by mental health experts also says poor mental health costs the UK economy up to £99bn each year.

Paul Farmer, co-author ofthe Thriving At Work report, external, said mental health was a taboo subject in many workplaces.

• Can you talk about mental health at work?
• The illness that affects one in six of us
• Mental health staff on stress leave up 22%

The review makes 40 recommendations for how to support employees to remain at work, including creating an online wellbeing portal and using digital technology to support workers in the gig economy.

Companies are also being encouraged to include a section on employee mental health in their annual reports. Currently only 11% of companies do this, the report said.

Read more.