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That's all from Holyrood Live on Thursday 22 November 2018.

Tory MSP John Scott called for a full review to be put in place to ensure the safety of staff working in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and elsewhere in Scotland

The call came during first minister's questions, following the stabbing of a community support worker at Ailsa Hospital in Ayr.

At first it was thought the victim was a nurse, but it has been confirmed she is a 42 year old community support worker and is being treated for serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

The first minister replied that, as the story was just breaking, she would look into it and have the health secretary to get back to Mr Scott.

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Scotland's economy could recover this year, but businesses are still hampered by uncertainty, experts said in June.

The Fraser of Allander Institute is forecasting a 1.2% increase in Scottish GDP in 2018 and 1.3% growth in 2019.

The figures are more optimistic than the government's official forecaster, the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Researchers cited a strengthening oil and gas sector and robust global economy, but warned Brexit remained the greatest risk to economic recovery.

Read more here.

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Official figures indicate the Scottish economy grew by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2018.

The figure is marginally above the equivalent UK GDP growth figure for the quarter, which was 0.1%

On a year-on-year basis, Scottish GDP grew by 0.8%. Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said the figure showed Scotland's economy remained "strong".

Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell welcomed the growth in manufacturing in June.

Read more here.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie says he can imagine the committee clerks' joy when they found out they would be producing a report on statistics.

More seriously, Mr Rennie highlights a number of economic targets were missed in the last decade.

He says we are now facing a decade of uncertainty due to both the impact of Brexit and the continuing independence debate.

The government has been "too slow and too late" on so many areas and that is why targets have been met, Mr Rennie insists.

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Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie warns those in the gallery that it is not always this exciting in the chamber on a Thursday afternoon, as this debate on economic statistics continues.

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Green MSP Andy Wightman welcomes the committee's report on the performance of the Scottish economy and the data inquiry.

Economic performance is only as good as the data that underpins it and the data is only good if it is measuring the right metric, he explains.

Mr Wightman says: "Our current economic model is destroying the very foundations on which the health of the planet and the health of humans and other organisms depend."

Green economics recognises climate change and says the majority of hydrocarbons must be kept in the ground, he explains.

He says the interests of the young are not being served by the current economic model and reiterates the opposition of the Greens to using GDP as an economic measure.

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In January, BBC Scotland reports that automation could cost Scotland 230,000 jobs over the next decade.

Jobs in Dundee are most at risk from the rise of robot labour, with Edinburgh and Aberdeen better placed to adapt to the changes ahead, a report said.

The Cities Outlook report, external is an annual health-check of city economies and this year highlighted the potential impact of automation and globalisation.

It said 1 in 5 posts in Scottish cities could be displaced by 2030.

Read more.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard says "there is no real plan from the SNP" to tackle the challenges of automation, nor cease opportunities.

Mr Leonard calls for increased investment in education and upskilling workers to prepare for automation.

We need a government that is prepared to do more than to correct market failure, he says.

He insists the government must be prepared to shape markets, use public procurement and change the balance of power to build a different economic future.

Mr Leonard criticses the delays to the Scottish National Investment Bank, but also says the funding on offer for it is short of what his party would provide.

He concludes by calling for a 50:50 gender balance on business boards.

Mr Lockhart says more must be done to capitlaise on Scotland's biggest market, the UK.

The Tory MSP tells the chamber every one of the strucutral failures in the economy can be fixed by the Scottish government and he calls for a "new coherent economic framework".

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart says pre-release access to data is against international best practice.

This allows the Scottish government 24 hours to spin them into a positive news story, he says.

Scotland's economy has strong potential, Mr Lockhart says, but says there have been "fundamental flaws" in the SNP's approach to it.

He points to concerns that the various economic strategies are not joined up and a lack of definition around the term "inclusive growth".

There is also no framework in place for monitoring the success of skills and enterprise policies, he adds.

Enterprise agencies seem to be able to set, measure and monitor their own targets without the input of the Scottish government, Mr Lockhart adds.

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The Scottish economy grew at a slightly faster rate than the UK as a whole during the spring months, according to official figures.

An initial estimate by Scotland's chief statistician showed onshore GDP grew by 0.5% in real terms between April and June.

The UK economy grew by just 0.4% over the same period.

Over the first half of 2018, Scotland's economy grew by 0.8% - compared with the UK figure of 0.6%.

Read more here.

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Mr Mackay says inclusive growth is important and it is about allowing more people to contribute to economic growth and to benefit from it.

The economy secretary insists Scotland is outperforming the rest of the UK in terms of delivering the real living wage, but he says more needs to be done.

Brexit is a significant challenge to the economy and we must get the least worst solution, he says.

Mr Mackay says he wants to get consensus in the chamber on investing in Scotland's economy.

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Finance and Economy Secretary Derek Mackay says he agrees with most of the committee's findings.

He also highlights the economic action plan which builds on these recommendations.

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart asks why the action plan does not set any new targets.

Is it because none of the previous seven ones had been met, he asks.

Mr Mackay says those targets were effected by things like the recession and downturn in oil and gas.

The action plan did however outline new actions to be taken on the economy he adds.

Labour MSP Johann Lamont suggests employment figures mask the number of those in precarious employment, with which the cabinet secretary agrees.

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Mr Lindhurst says the committee wanted to examine what had happened since 2007 and look at the future threats and opportunities for the next decade.

The economy committee convener insists a wide range of experts, economists and households were consulted by the committee.

The OECD and Skyscanner also connected with the MSP, he says.

"We sought a consistent definition of strategic growth."

He calls for more transparency around the targets of the enterprise agencies.

Scotland's public finances have continued to show some improvement over the past year, according to Scottish government statistics.

TheGovernment Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers), external report said the country spent £13.4bn more than it raised in taxes in the past financial year.

The deficit as a percentage of the country's GDP dropped from 8.9% to 7.9% - still four times higher than the UK.

The UK's spending deficit dropped by £6.4bn to £39.4bn in 2017/18.

This was the lowest figure since 2007, and the equivalent of 1.9% of the UK's GDP.

• Gers: One report, many interpretations
• What is Gers and how is it calculated?
• Read the Gers report, external
• Gers: Who's 'subsidy', and where?
• Read more here

Economy committee convener Gordon Lindhurst says as a society, our data literacy is poor.

The Bean Review, external was a starting point for the inquiry, which looked into UK economic statistics.

Mr Lindhurst says the committee recommended the Scottish Fiscal Commission set out its data needs on an annual basis.

We also recommended the Scottish government end the practice of pre-release he says, though he accepts a minority on the committee preferred a presumption against pre-release.