Mr Leonard says he does not want to see the future in the hands of the Tories, rather in the hands of a Labour government.

He pivots to the "growing crisis of mental health" in NHS workers and social workers.

The Scottish Labour leader argues the first minister has failed to deliver the investment required and he says the first minister has threatened to bring down a Labour government.

Ms Sturgeon accuses Mr Leonard of taking his party back to 1979.

She accuses him of preferring a Tory government at Westminster to self-government for Scotland.

The first minister insists her government is supporting public services right across the country instead of the "empty rhetoric" from Labour.

Mr Leonard says there are 3,000 fewer teachers now than when the SNP took office.

He pivots to a new Unison Scotland report indicating 90% of staff are considering walking out of their jobs in social work.

He cities pressures on staff to hit savings targets and extra hours without pay.

Ms Sturgeon says there are more teachers now than when she became first minister.

We have also seen a 5.4% increase in the number of practicising social workers, she adds.

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Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard says new figures from the charity Education Support , externalshow more than a third of those working in education have experienced mental health issues.

The health of our teachers is being harmed as are the life chances of our children, adds Mr Leonard.

We value our teachers and education funding is rising in Scotland Ms Sturgeon replies, citing the recent pay deal.

The first minister adds all of the evidence is that attainment is rising.

The Tory interim leader suggests the SNP will always come up with ideas for a "grievance rematch", leading to indyref3 and indyref4.

The Tories will never stand up for Scotland as demonstrated by them ignoring Scotland's vote to remain in the EU, replies the first minister.

I believe Scotland will back independence in indyref2 she adds.

Mr Carlaw says the priority for the first minister used to be education, now its independence.

The Scottish Conservative interim leader asks how Ms Sturgeon can form a "grand alliance" with the people she wants to walk out on.

The first minister says her priority to give the Scottish people the choice to choose independence.

Ms Sturgeon says yes she would like to form an alliance to lock the Tories out of Westminster.

Mr Carlaw says the first minister's track record shows she "always loses" referendums.

When will the referendums she is seeking happen, will they be on the same day or will one come first, he asks.

My priority is to give the people of Scotland the opportunity to choose independence next year, replies the first minister.

Ms Sturgeon says in the 2016 EU referendum she campaigned for Remain and Scotland voted to remain in the EU.

Why is Jackson Carlaw so willing to ignore this, she asks.

Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw begins saying the first minister has confirmed she wants two referendums next year.

Given she has ignored the results of the last two how can we trust the first minister to behave differently this time, he asks.

"Well I'm rumbled, because I want the people to escape a Tory Brexit," hits back Nicola Sturgeon.

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As we approach first minister's questions Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh beseeches MSPs to "try not to keep direct political election campaiging in their question or answer."

We shall see how successful this admonishment is shortly.

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You can read all the questions here., external

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Here's what's coming up in the chamber this afternoon:

11:40am: General Questions

12:00pm: First Minister's Questions

12:45pm: Members' Business: Ruth Maguire: Day of the Imprisoned Writer

Image source, Getty Images

2:30pm: Portfolio Questions: Government Business and Constitutional Relations

2:50-5:00pm: Scottish government debate: Implications of the Imposition of US Tariffs on Scottish Products

Mr Sarwar highlights NHS Highland locum fees have risen to £15.6m and wonders about the pay of individual locums.

Joanne Brown says reducing locum spend is a key part of their savings plans, with controls being put in place currently.

She says she will get the information about individuals' pay from the health board for the committee.

The public part of this meeting draws to a close and the committee moves into private session.

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar asks if the auditor general is picking up a theme of workforce issues across the NHS.

Yes, replies Ms Gardner, who highlights the pressure on staff in the NHS.

All health boards have been asked to address the general issues raised by the Sturrock review into NHS Highland.

Mr Sarwar asks how seriously all health boards are about carrying out their own reviews.

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The auditor general says she wouldn't say boards are not taking the reviews seriously but they are facing real pressures and tensions.

Should a Scotland wide review be carried out, taking health boards out of the equation, asks Mr Sarwar, to which Ms Gardner replies it is too soon to say.

She warns against immediately imposing things on health boars from the outside.

Image source, SPL

In February, BBC Scotland reported regulators had criticised an NHS charity after it used its funds to help plug a deficit at NHS Tayside.

It came after the Tayside Health Fund used £3.6m to help pay for new projects, including an IT system in 2014.

The charity temporarily changed its procedures to allow retrospective funding applications for the projects.

The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) said there was "mismanagement" over the decision, but no rules were broken.

Read more.

Tory MSP Bill Bowman notes the auditor general's report found the audit committee in NHS Highland was not as effective as it should be.

Joanne Brown explains there are a number of outstanding internal audit recommendations, and this list has continued to grow with many going past their due date.

The audit committee has been slow to hold the executive team to account on delivery, but the chief executive has made a committed to reduce the list as far as practicable, which will be looked at in 2019-20 audit she explains.

Ms Gardner says both boards are now at level four in terms of the intervention framework.

Leigh Johnson says there has been encouraging progress at NHS Tayside.

Fiona Mitchell-Knight says since the report was written a permanent chair has been appointed and there has been progress, but there are still significant vacancies.

SNP MSP Willie Coffey turns the discussion to overspends on prescriptions, noting this has been an issue for several years for many health boards.

The auditor general says drug cost inflation tends to be higher than general inflation due to things like patents.

We've seen some real improvements in bringing costs down as well, she says, pointing to GPs prescribing generic drugs.

The NHS does a lot of work nationwide to put procurement contracts in place so the real differences between health boards is to do with doctors having discretion over what is used, Ms Gardner tells the committee.

She says that prescribing has historically been more expensive in NHS Tayside than the rest of Scotland due to more items being prescribed and more expensive items being chosen.

Image source, MEGAFLOPP/THINKSTOCK

Mr Neil says one of the common themes between the two reports is that their performance is not that bad, although NHS Highland has performed badly in terms of the national waiting time guarantee.

The former health secretary says in other areas both boards are performing better than the average.

He argues a lot of the problems are not in the day-to-day delivery of healthcare, but are in non-frontline management.

Ms Gardner agrees the two boards are not doing badly at all against the national standards.

The auditor general says there has been concerns across the NHS with the focus being on financial performance, not clinical delivery.