Malcolm Chisholm: At stage 1, the minister said—and I totally agreed with her—that “In setting out what will happen after a pregnancy loss, the bill ensures that the woman who has experienced the loss is at the centre of the decision-making process.”—[Official Report, 11 February 2016; c 86.] In committee, I was concerned that the following words, which are in three of the amendments in this group,...
Malcolm Chisholm: I pay tribute to Nanette Milne for the massive contribution that she has made on health and other issues during her 13 years in the Parliament. I have enjoyed working with her for the several years that we have been joint conveners of the cross-party group on cancer. Since the bill is in effect a health bill, which I dealt with during my six months on the Health and Sport Committee, I take...
Malcolm Chisholm: I want to say just two things. First, I welcome the bill and the principle of considering consolidation bills. However, the real reason that I rise is because on this, my last day of legislating in the Parliament, I am reflecting on my first day of legislating, in 1992, when the United Kingdom Parliament was considering the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Bill. That bill amended the Bankruptcy...
Malcolm Chisholm: Thank you for those very kind words, Presiding Officer. Today’s bill is another step in the significant progress on action against violence against women that we have seen in the Parliament since 1999. I welcome the domestic abuse aggravator, the extension of non-harassment orders, the action against image-based sexual abuse and the measures on jury direction. I respect Margaret Mitchell...
Malcolm Chisholm: I do not want to fall out with the Presiding Officer on my second last day, but is not one of the great advantages of having the same committee carrying out inquiries and scrutinising legislation that the people looking at the bills have expert knowledge of that area of policy? That point is manifested in the committee’s excellent stage 1 report on the bill. It is a great strength of the...
Malcolm Chisholm: 5. To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that all cancer patients have timely access to diagnostic tests. (S4F-03303)
Malcolm Chisholm: I thank the First Minister for her very kind words. I was going to say as a preamble that I think that there has been great progress in cancer care during the years of the Scottish Parliament under this and the previous Administration. Today, I want to highlight Cancer Research UK’s campaign, Scotland vs cancer, and ask whether the First Minister agrees that it has been right to highlight...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Alison Johnstone on her motion and I congratulate all the local groups that are mentioned in it, especially those that are based in my constituency, which I will talk about shortly. I also congratulate the Scottish food coalition on its excellent report, which rightly emphasises the need to have the right to food in legislation. I hope that that will be taken on board in the...
Malcolm Chisholm: This is not my final speech, for which I am very grateful, given the number of distinguished final speeches that we have heard this morning. First of all, I pay tribute to my colleague Duncan McNeil, who not only has been an outstanding convener of the Health and Sport Committee—as I have found out over the past six months—but has made a massive contribution to the Parliament in many...
Malcolm Chisholm: I congratulate Linda Fabiani on once again lodging a motion in support of Marie Curie’s work. Like Linda Fabiani, I applaud the work of all the volunteers and staff who make such an indispensable and invaluable contribution in the care that they provide. In particular, I endorse and applaud the great daffodil appeal, which is in its 30th year. All over the country, volunteers and...
Malcolm Chisholm: One of the most terrible consequences of gender inequality is domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women. When the First Minister addresses the Scottish Women’s Aid conference this afternoon—she is due to do so imminently—will she respond to this week’s report by Scottish Women’s Aid on domestic abuse and homelessness? As the minister with ultimate responsibility for...
Malcolm Chisholm: I will be very brief. I am not now required for the open debate, which will be short. I support the bill, but when I looked at its detail, it struck me as rather odd that a grace period was not being allowed—in particular, because that was recommended by the Finance Committee and because the cabinet secretary took up, I think, most of the committee’s recommendations. It certainly seems to...
Malcolm Chisholm: The cabinet secretary is admitting that the legislation was introduced in response to the actions of the UK Government. How would the Scottish Government react if the UK Government either delayed or substantially changed its proposals?
Malcolm Chisholm: Amendments 3 and 4 relate to the provisions in the bill that deal with the duty of candour. As most members will know, the duty will arise if a person experiences unintended harm. In that situation, the organisation involved will have a duty to tell the person, support them, review the situation in order to learn lessons and apologise. I am strong supporter of the duty of candour. However,...
Malcolm Chisholm: I thank the minister very much for that, but I assure her that I am not parting yet. I have two and a half weeks’ worth of speeches left. Amendment 3 agreed to. Amendment 4 moved—[Malcolm Chisholm]—and agreed to. After section 28
Malcolm Chisholm: As Nanette Milne said, this is the fifth bill that the Health and Sport Committee has scrutinised recently—in the past five months, to be precise. I know that because I have been on the committee for only the past five months. Like Nanette Milne, I pay tribute to our clerks, who have been brilliant both with the bill and with all of our heavy workload. I also thank the people who drafted...
Malcolm Chisholm: 15. To ask the Scottish Government what progress NHS boards have made in recruiting extra specialist nurses and whether the resources allocated for that purpose have been fully spent. (S4O-05609)
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome the motor neurone disease nurses who we know about and I hope that additional specialist nurses have been recruited for relatively common conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. In the week when we marked rare disease day, will the cabinet secretary say whether any rare diseases have benefited from additional specialist nurses, using models such as that of the...
Malcolm Chisholm: I welcome this debate on encouraging fair trade in Scotland and congratulate Fiona McLeod on securing it. I join her in congratulating all the individuals and businesses who have endeavoured to support farmers and producers around the world and who have endorsed the fair trade ethos. That involves, of course, ensuring that the process of producing goods protects workers’ conditions and that...
Malcolm Chisholm: I apologise because I will have to leave for a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, but I want to congratulate Sandra White on her perseverance with the bill. From the many representations that I have received from constituents, I know that it is one of the most eagerly awaited members’ bills that I have ever come across.
