🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on broadband roll-out in Dumfries and Galloway. (S5O-05106)
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I welcome the progress that will be made in the coming months, which will give more residents and businesses access to broadband. The minister is aware that mobile connectivity is also a challenge in Dumfries and Galloway. What is the Scottish Government doing to improve that, bearing in mind that both broadband and mobile connectivity, as part of the telecommunications sector, are matters...
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A YouGov poll for UN Women UK that was published this week found that nearly every young woman in the United Kingdom had suffered sexual harassment. Claire Barnett, executive director of UN Women UK, pointed out that it is a human rights issue. As Ms Barnett said, “It’s just not enough for us to keep saying, ‘this is too difficult a problem for us to solve’—it needs addressing...
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I welcome the cabinet secretary’s freedom of expression amendment and will of course support it. I also support amendment 1 in the name of Adam Tomkins. However, I do not think that either amendment goes far enough to protect people from vexatious complaints of hate crime. Adam Tomkins’s amendment might offer a defence in court, which is welcome, but it will not necessarily prevent...
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I recently met the Scottish Wedding Industry Alliance. The wedding industry is particularly important in Dumfries and Galloway. Although the sector is grateful for the support that it has received from the Scottish Government, it is asking for guidance on whether it can safely operate this summer. Many providers already have bookings, but guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority...
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The mobile testing units in Dumfries and Galloway have been doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances. However, I have been approached by a constituent who works in one who has told me that they are not classified as a front-line health worker and so are not in a priority group for the vaccine. Given that those workers—albeit with full personal protective equipment—are close to...
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I welcome the commitment to explore carers pay and look forward to the outcome of the talks that Kate Forbes is having with other parties on that matter. The issue will not be easy to deal with in the context of the UK’s public sector pay freeze, and it should be noted that the budget sets out a distinctive Scottish pay policy that, again, supports the lowest paid, charting a very different...
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I warmly welcome the Government’s announcement yesterday that all people with a learning disability will now be called for the vaccine in group 6. How will that information be conveyed to local health and social care partnerships, and are we confident that that group can all be identified through their NHS number?
More of Joan McAlpine's speeches and debates
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