Alasdair Allan: 7. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent supporting communities affected by Covid-19 in the last year. (S5O-05160)
Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government dashboard shows that £6.9 million of the funding in the areas that the cabinet secretary mentioned has been spent in my local authority area. What will the Government do to ensure that such funding develops in line with the positive developments that I hope we will see as we come out of the final phases of the Covid pandemic in the months ahead?
Alasdair Allan: took the oath and repeated it in Gaelic.
Alasdair Allan: 1. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the on-going disruption to lifeline ferry routes served by CalMac. (S6T-00001)
Alasdair Allan: I welcome the minister to his new role, and thank him for his reply. As the minister will appreciate, the entire economy of any island depends on its ferry. In recent weeks, I have been deluged by emails from families who are desperate to visit relatives on the mainland, and whose long-booked tickets have been cancelled; from businesses that can no longer get building materials to the islands...
Alasdair Allan: I thank the minister and I appreciate the attention that he is giving to the matter. Although the issues with the MV Loch Seaforth are unprecedented, breakdowns of major vessels on lifeline routes are not, unfortunately. It is now obvious for all to see that CalMac at present does not have enough vessels to run its services with the necessary resilience. What will the Government do in the...
Alasdair Allan: I think the cabinet secretary for what she said about supporting students’ mental health at what she will acknowledge is a difficult time. How will that support be provided? Will mental health support be provided by schools or will the SQA itself take on part of that role?
Alasdair Allan: Last weekend saw major disruption to haulage—[ Inaudible .]—technical issue with MV Hebridean Isles led to a backlog of lorries, many of which contained perishable goods and had to be left behind. Although the return of MV Loch Seaforth to the route should help, the incident raises wider concerns about what will happen when the next CalMac Ferries vessel either goes into dry dock or...
Alasdair Allan: Can Finlay Carson clarify what he means by others striking fear into the hearts of Scottish farmers when it is Scottish farmers who are expressing fears through the NFUS?
Alasdair Allan: I thank Jim Fairlie for bringing a debate to Parliament about this important subject so early on in his time as an MSP. Crofters in the agriculturally least-favoured parts of Scotland, such as my island constituency, are very aware of the words of the former UK Tory Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Andrea Leadsom, who said: “It would make so much more sense if...
Alasdair Allan: I hate to be unoriginal, but Mr Fairlie’s example is the best one of all: the European Union and the European single market, which I just mentioned, were supported by us and inexplicably rejected by Stephen Kerr’s party. In those circumstances, we want to pursue good trading relationships with other countries, but it is significant that some of the countries that we are talking about...
Alasdair Allan: 4. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve support for victims of crime. (S6O-00044)
Alasdair Allan: Victims’ rights should, of course, be at the centre of our justice system, and the introduction of a victims commissioner provides Scotland with a real opportunity to lead the way globally on that. Does the cabinet secretary think that the Scottish victims commissioner could emulate the success of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland?
Alasdair Allan: Tha tòrr math air a bhith a’ tachairt ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig bhon àm ’s gun deach Achd na Gàidhlig (Alba) 2005 a stèidheachadh leis a’ Phàrlamaid seo. Tha BBC Alba againn; tha foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig air fàs; tha poileasaidhean Gàidhlig aig iomadach buidheann phoblach a-nis, agus tha àite na Gàidhlig ann an saoghal a’ chultair agus nan ealan nas làidire. Tha...
Alasdair Allan: The very important physical distancing measures that have been put in place on ferries to prevent importation of the virus to island communities have nonetheless brought serious challenges to island life. Ordinary passenger capacity on CalMac ferries is down to around 35 per cent, and it is currently nearly three weeks before a car can be booked on the Ullapool to Stornoway crossing, with a...
Alasdair Allan: Although the cut in Caledonian MacBrayne’s passenger carrying capacity to 39 per cent was obviously made for understandable health reasons, it has very seriously impacted every aspect of island life since ferry routes came under pressure at the beginning of the tourist season. Can the First Minister confirm whether passenger capacity will be returning to something more like normality as a...
Alasdair Allan: It has been more than a decade since national park designation for the isle of Harris had to be abandoned, despite more than 70 per cent of residents backing the move in a plebiscite that had a turnout that was higher than 70 per cent. There was limited support from the local authority, however, which contributed to the bid being rejected. The shared policy programme commits to at least one...
Alasdair Allan: Does the cabinet secretary agree that while we are coming out of the pandemic is the worst possible moment for many island businesses to have to cope with staff shortages caused by the Brexit deal? Does she agree with many island businesses that emergency Covid work visas for European Union citizens would at least alleviate some of the mess that Brexit has created?
Alasdair Allan: O ther members today, not least Bob Doris beside me, have spoken very powerfully about the tragic situation in Afghanistan and Scotland’s moral obligation to help some of those who are now fleeing for their lives. As we have heard, those people include many women and girls who have gone to school or done anything else to make them conspicuous in the eyes of their new Government. They also...
Alasdair Allan: Will the member give way?