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Labour MSP Mary Fee asks what assessment is begin done to ensure all looked-after children get access to treatement when they need it.

The minister says the so-called Coia taskforce, which is looking into young people's mental health, is looking into this.

Dame Denise Coia stood down as chair of the Scottish government and COSLA's £5m taskforce to improve CAMHS after an illness.

In her first recommendations, Dame Coia highlighted gaps between policy ambitions and service delivery on the ground, recommending a stronger focus on prevention and more community-based care.

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey says long waits are unacceptable.

There is no simple solution to the increased demand but we are undertaking work to monitor and drive performance in waiting times across Scotland, she adds.

The minister goes on to say a new CAMHS specification will be published and there is an aim to meeting waiting times standards by December 2020.

Tory MSP Maurice Corry asks about reports of worsening delays in the waiting times for children and young people to receive mental health treatment.

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Over a third of children were not seen within the 18 week target for mental health referrals, official figures have revealed.

In the three months ending September 2018, 3,901 children started treatment.

Only 64.5% of children were seen within 18 weeks, but of these half started treatment within 13 weeks.

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John Swinney says a new learning hub is one of the projects to benefit from the £1bn learning investment programme.

The education secretary explains the Scottish government supported the building of Garnock and Lanark campuses of over £44m, creating two world class education facilities.

This contrasts with the expensive system of PFI which is such a burden for local authorities across the country, he adds.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson asks about financial support for North Ayrshire Council in relation to the construction of a new Ardrossan Academy.

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Ministers announced the Scottish schools which will be rebuilt or refurbished in the first phase of a £1bn investment programme in September.

A total of 26 schools in 11 council areas will be replaced under the strategy.

The announcement coincided with the publication of the latest statistics on the condition of Scotland's schools, external.

The figures from the school estate survey suggested that 88.3% of schools were described as being in "good" or "satisfactory" condition in April 2019, while 11.4% were classed as "poor" and 0.2% were termed "bad".

Read more.

Education Secretary John Swinney says the government does not agree with this assertion.

The government has subscribed to PISA analysis and data on 50,000 pupils was published last week, he adds.

Tory MSP Alexander Burnett asks about reports that knowledge of changes in pupil performance is at a 70-year low.

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A lack of reliable data makes it difficult to tell whether standards in Scottish education is rising or falling, Reform Scotland has warned.

The paper, external said that, as a result of some measures being scrapped, knowledge of performance of schools is at the lowest it has been since the 1950s.

Education Secretary John Swinney has insisted data available now is better than previous measures, adding: "I firmly believe that we have a comprehensive dataset that enables all of us to judge the progress of Scottish education."

Image source, PA Media

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The gremlins are resolved.

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Our apologies, we are having some technical gremlins with our video stream.

You can watch the session on Scottish Parliament TV, external.

That's all from the committee this morning.

Chamber business begins earlier than usual, at 1.30pm, to fit in three slots of portfolio questions - health, education and local government.

This will be followed by a statement on the ScotRail franchise and Abellio.

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A second government statement will then follow this time on the two ferries under construction at Ferguson Marine.

Then MSPs debate the Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1.

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Finally, SNP MSP James Dornan leads a debate on the use of financial abuse as a means of controlling partners.

Image source, bbc

Celia Hodson says surely we need to look at sustainable, biodegradable and environmentally friendly period products.

Monica Lennon congratulates North Ayrshire Council for being a trail blazer.

The Labour MSP accepts localism is absolutely key and asks if partnership is the right approach.

Cllr Evison agrees wholeheartedly with this, saying it is crucial.

Ms Lennon asks if the panel believes the benefit of the bill is that these rights could be locked in for the future, to which Carolyn Hope and Ms Hodson concur.

Sheena Stewart says in higher education the average unit cost was 19p.

Rolling out to every toilet would also increase costs, she adds.

Cllr Evison says as areas work out what they need, costs will likely come down.

She adds increasing provision will have knock-on economic impacts in terms of things like productivity.

Gail Anderson says it is difficult to make a cost-benefit analysis of the scheme at this point because the information is not there yet.

Celia Hodson says people are put off using a vending machine as the products tend to be not good for the environment and the noise when getting a product can increase stigma.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson asks about uptake of free products in rural areas.

Ms Hope says there seems to be a slightly higher demand in Arran.

Gail Anderson from The Orkney Partnership says there has been repeat demands from the island communities.

The evaluation is just beginning, she explains, but as far as she is aware uptake is uniform.

Cllr Evison warns about the cost in setting up a system from scratch for posting the products out.

A school has found that a scheme to give girls free menstrual products has helped improve their attendance.

The Red Box project was set up to help solve the problem known as "period poverty".

Castle View Academy in Portsmouth said since the scheme was introduced it had helped increase attendance levels by nearly a third.

It is estimated about 137,000 girls will miss school in the UK each year because of a lack of access to sanitary products.

Cllr Evison says the bill estimates a cost of 9p per unit of product, but in the first year of the scheme the average unit price was 17.6p.

She says we must be realistic about the cost.

Carolyn Hope says North Ayrshire Council has invested £55,000 so far but she would be optimistic about costs going down in the future, particularly in the light of more people opting for reusable products.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson wonders about how many girls are using services in schools and Ms Hope explains there were big differences between schools.

However she adds low uptake may be a result of schools not offering the right products for pupils rather than less need.