Image source, PA

Talks between Scottish and UK ministers ended again last week without a deal on the use of devolved powers post-Brexit.

The two governments are at odds over how powers currently exercised from Brussels will be built into UK-wide frameworks after the UK leaves the EU.

Welsh ministers have agreed a deal with UK counterparts, but no settlement with Scottish ministers has yet been found.

Both sides say they can still come to an agreement, but they have only a few weeks left to do so.

Read more here.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf notes HIAL operates 11 airports throughout the Highlands and islands, and all money it earns is reinvested back into the estate.

A consultation on the charges opened in March when they were first announced, the minister states.

He criticises the idea that there should have been a consultation prior to the announcement, suggesting no one wants to pay more parking and the proposals will be unpopular.

However the minister argues it is necessary in order to keep air travel sustainable.

Mr Yousaf notes other proposals such as increasing landing charges by 40p, but he notes Loganair has suggested this would result in two flights being withdrawn.

He agrees to look into Mr Scott's proposal regarding biomass but states HIAL is doing all is can to ensure it remains sustainable for the future.

Car parking charges are proportionate measures, the minister concludes.

Image source, bbc

Scottish Secretary David Mundell says this is an opportunity for him to hear the views of MSPs directly.

Mr Mundell says he is looking forward to hearing from the committee on the UK government's preparations for leaving the EU.

He argues that, through the JMC-EN, Scottish government engagement in the EU is progressing well.

The Scottish secretary wants to create clear mechanisms to ensure the devolved governments feed into the Brexit negotiations.

In a break from normal scheduling, the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee is meeting over lunchtime.

This is to allow Scottish Secretary David Mundell to provide an update on Article 50 negotiations.

He is also accompanied by UK Brexit Minister Robin Walker.

Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott's members' debate continues in the chamber though.

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Tory MSP Edward Mountain and Labour MSP Rhoda Grant agree with Tavish Scott and criticise the introduction of car parking charges at Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Stornoway airports.

Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur lends his backing to the cause too.

With that we must leave the chamber to join Scottish Secretary David Mundell at the Europe Committee.

For full coverage of the rest of this debate please click Scottish Parliament TV here, external.

We'll bring you Transport and Islands Minister Humza Yousaf's thoughts on this issue shortly.

Image source, bbc

The Lib Dem MSP raises a proposal put forward five years ago to change the heating of HIAL's buildings to biomass, suggesting the savings from this would equal more than the revenue from car parking changes.

To claim that there is no alternative saving options is simply not so, Mr Scott argues.

He urges the minister to instruct HIAL to undertake a proper assessment and, failing that, remove the board who have no idea about island life.

He warns that if members concede the charges at these airports, other airports will be next.

Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott criticises the fact that no consultation has taken place about the introduction of car parking charges at Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Stornoway airports.

He highlights most people drive to Sumburgh airport because there is no shuttle bus and a taxi can cost about £60.

I understand HIAL is under financial pressure but it has not published any savings options, the island MSP states.

Mr Scott also notes there has been no impact assessment.

Image source, Stuart Nicol

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) has reported a 7.4% increase in passenger numbers in the financial year 2017-18.

A total of 1,780,521 customers used Hial airports between April 2017 and March this year.

This was an increase of 112,098 passengers on the 2016-17 total of 1,658,423.

Hial said it handled more travellers than ever before over the last 12 months.

Read more.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) is to introduce parking charges this summer at Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Stornoway airports.

Parking for up to 24 hours will cost £3. A free one-hour pick up and drop-off period will be available.

There are already charges in place at two other of the company's sites - Inverness and Dundee.

But the Liberal Democrats have accused the Scottish ministers-owned Hial of imposing "a tax on islanders".

Read more here.

Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott's motion calls for a reversal of the plan to introduce car parking charges for Sumburgh, Kirkwall and Stornoway airports.

He argues the airports are a "lifeline" for islanders to access the mainland and they "already face... relatively high costs".

Mr Scott's motion also criticises the lack of public transport links to the airports.

Image source, Scottish parliament

Image source, Loganair

Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott is now leading a debate on HIAL car parking charges.

We'll stick with the opening speech and then bring you what the minister says thereafter.

Sadly Holyrood Live will be taking off from the chamber shortly and descending towards committee room 5 where the Europe Committee is meeting to discuss Article 50 negotiations with Scottish Secretary David Mundell.

For full coverage of the this debate please click Scottish Parliament TV here, external.

SNP MSP Graeme Day quotes former Labour minister Brian Wilson saying wind power is "pretty much dead".

He asks the first minister to get behind renewables to tackle climate change and bring in economic benefit.

The first minister agrees with the statements, highlighting the £6bn value of the Forth and Tay projects.

We will combine the efforts of our enterprsie and skills agencies, she adds.

Those who thought wind would not be beneficial have been proven wrong, the first minister concludes.

The first minister welomes the acquisition of the NNG project by EDF Energy.

Ms Sturgeon tells the chamber she met with the firm last Thursday afternoon, where she sought assurances about where the Scottish supply chain will benefit for the deal.

Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald asks about any benefit for BiFab.

The first minister agrees training is crucial going forward in this industry.

Althouth there are no guarantees, this is one of the contracts that gives ground for optimism for BiFab, she says.

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Anstruther was rarely noted for its use of Gaelic, but within five years - on a reasonably fine day - the village in the East Neuk of Fife will have a whole lot of Neart Nan Gaoithe on the horizon.

To Gaelic speakers, the name means "power of the wind". For the phonetic, it's something like "hee-irsht na goo-iya". In the industry, it's known more simply as NNG.

As little as 10 miles off the Fife coast, a vast array of turbines will have the capacity to power all the homes in a city the size of Edinburgh.

The project took a significant step forward this week, with the sale of the project by its developer.

Mainstream Energy, based in Dublin, had been reported as being interested in keeping a stake rather than handing it all over.

It might have been persuaded to hand over the whole project by the fact that EDF Renewables, a French company, was willing to pay somewhere north of £440m.

Read more of Douglas Fraser's analysis.

Image source, Getty Images

The EDF group has bought the Neart na Gaoithe, a wind farm project located in the Firth of Forth.

The company will invest £1.8bn into the project, with commissioning planned for 2023.

Up to 450MW will be generated by the wind farm - enough electricity for around 375,000 homes.

Grid connection agreements are already in place.

Image source, bbc

Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald asks what impact thew EDF Energy announcement on its acquisition of the Neart na Gaoithe project will have on renewables jobs and the supply chain in Scotland.

Image source, bbc

Ms Sturgeon replies that the government continues to support health boards to ensure all cancellations of procedures are kept to a minimum.

Ms Hamilton says Scottish Borders has recently had the highest or second highest level of cancelled operations and adds that bland statements of regret "simply is not good enough".

The first minister points out the cancellations are a very small percentage of the number of operations that take place.

Image source, ISD

More than one in ten planned operations were cancelled in March 2018, according to official statistics, external.

The number of cancelled operations totalled 3,646 - or 12.6% of planned operations. This is an increase from 9.1% in March 2017.

Of all planned procedures, 4.1% were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity of non-clinical reasons.

Patient cancellations were 3.9% of the total and 3.1% were cancelled for clinical reasons.

There was also considerable variation between health boards, with cancellation rates ranging from 5.6% to 22.1%.