Rhona Brankin: Is the member aware that at least twice in my speech I said that teachers throughout Scotland are working hard? We recognise the efforts of teachers. What the member said is simply wrong.
Rhona Brankin: I am grateful for the opportunity to join my Labour colleagues today in speaking up for concerned teachers, parents and children across Scotland in this debate. Let us not confuse concern for teachers with criticism of teachers. We, on this side of the chamber, are not criticising teachers; we are standing up for teachers, just as we stood up for teachers when we were in government, with...
Rhona Brankin: If Mr Russell does not know that, my goodness he damn well ought to know it by now.
Rhona Brankin: I will—absolutely. The five-to-14 curriculum was introduced because of a lack of continuity, progression and a rigorous assessment framework. I am old enough to remember schools prior to the five-to-14 curriculum. I worked in curriculum development alongside subject teachers who were implementing five to 14. It was challenging, but it introduced a structure and a framework. Over time,...
Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the mental wellbeing of older people in care homes is included in the qualification framework for nurses and care assistants.
Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that older people have a good quality of life.
Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding its decision to abolish Consumer Focus and what it considers the devolved implications to be for Scotland. (S3O-11819)
Rhona Brankin: Does the cabinet secretary share my concern that the decision by the Tory-Liberal UK Government to abolish Consumer Focus will undermine consumers' and citizens' rights? Does he agree that Citizens Advice Scotland might not have the resources that will be necessary to fill the gap in service provision that is brought about by the decision, especially bearing in mind its increased workload...
Rhona Brankin: I, too, welcome the Government's literacy action plan. There is little in it with which I disagree. I also welcome the establishment of a standing literacy commission. However, I am still concerned that the references to assessment are too woolly. I am sure that the cabinet secretary knows that the key feature of successful literacy plans such as that in West Dunbartonshire Council and those...
Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a precedent in which parties involved in local planning decisions have been found liable under the law of delict where a third party has been adversely affected.
Rhona Brankin: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth has met the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to discuss tackling youth unemployment. (S3O-11581)
Rhona Brankin: The cabinet secretary may be aware of recent Scottish Trades Union Congress analysis of unemployment figures that shows that the number of young people claiming jobseekers allowance for six months or more in Scotland has risen by 33 per cent in the past year. The same analysis shows a very worrying rise in my constituency of Midlothian of 95 per cent over the same period. Given that young...
Rhona Brankin: Is the minister aware of the serious human rights issue in the inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotic drugs to older people with dementia in care homes and hospitals? What steps is she taking to tackle that serious and sadly all-too-common practice?
Rhona Brankin: Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Rhona Brankin: I begin by thanking my Conservative colleagues for lodging the motion, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. We all agree that the higher education sector is vital to the Scottish economy. It contributes in the region of 38,000 jobs and accounts for an annual turnover of about £2.7 billion. The world-class research in Scotland's universities contributes both...
Rhona Brankin: Students in Scotland are well aware of who made and broke the promise to dump student debt. Another failure is that, in 2008-09, a lower number of young people in my constituency of Midlothian left school to go to higher education than the Scottish average and the level in all the surrounding local authority areas. Such failures leave massive employers in Midlothian—such as the Bush estate,...
Rhona Brankin: Will the member take an intervention?
Rhona Brankin: I am interested in the analogy between schools and higher education. Schools are a universal service but, as we have heard, higher education manifestly is not. There is surely a distinct difference between the two sectors, and that is the key.
Rhona Brankin: Will the member take an intervention?
Rhona Brankin: I am interested in what the member says about the number of young people at university. Is it Conservative policy to reduce the percentage of young people who go into university education?