Cathie Craigie: Presiding Officer, thank you for allowing me the privilege of speaking in the last debate in this session. I thank the people of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth for sending me here as their representative in the Parliament. I hope that, with their good will, it will not be the last time that I speak in this great Scottish Parliament. As other members have done this morning, I place on record my...
Cathie Craigie: What did I say? Members: Bill Butler. Oh, goodness. That’s Bill Butler got a promotion, although maybe he does not want it. As convener, Bill Aitken has always dealt fairly with the committee’s proceedings. He is a good parliamentarian, and we have all been able to look up to him. I am sure that Bill will find plenty to do with his time outside the Parliament, probably supporting that...
Cathie Craigie: College principals tell me that budgets for the coming year have been cut significantly and that, to maintain student numbers, they are having drastically to reduce the number of teaching hours that each student receives. Is that acceptable to the minister?
Cathie Craigie: I am sure that the minister agrees that the park-and-ride facilities at Croy and in Cumbernauld provide safe parking for people who use the train. However, the minister will be aware of my concerns about the unfortunate proposal to introduce parking charges at those park-and-ride facilities. Will the minister advise Parliament about the progress that has been made on through-ticketing? What...
Cathie Craigie: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I thank Mary Scanlon for bringing the subject to the chamber and I acknowledge her long involvement in the issue, which dates back to the first parliamentary session. I am grateful to her for reminding us of Dorothy-Grace Elder’s work on chronic pain. I thank both of them for their work. A great many people in Scotland suffer from...
Cathie Craigie: 4. To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of NHS Lanarkshire. (S3O-13338)
Cathie Craigie: At a public meeting in Kilsyth 10 days ago, I met representatives of NHS Lanarkshire, who were there because of the serious concerns that people have about lack of provision and withdrawal of local services. At the meeting, we were advised that NHS Lanarkshire has not had from the Government confirmation of its budget for the coming year. Has the Government advised the board what that...
Cathie Craigie: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sure that you would not want to preside over a meeting at which people were giving wrong information to this Parliament. Is it in order for a political party to confirm its position when a minister of this Government is spreading lies about an issue?
Cathie Craigie: I apologise, Presiding Officer and I withdraw the word “lies”. I will rephrase my point of order. Is it in order for a minister of this Government to mislead local people and put out information that is clearly wrong?
Cathie Craigie: I have listened with interest to the Liberal Democrats and, like other members, I am shaking my head in wonder. It seems that they have a face for every door and a different comment for every door. That is typical of the Liberals. Labour’s proposals for a single police service, a national fire and rescue service and a national care service would benefit vulnerable people in society, cut...
Cathie Craigie: I need to make progress. My constituency, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, falls within the jurisdiction of Strathclyde Police, and I whole-heartedly agree with Chief Constable Stephen House, who last month expressed his support for a single Scottish police force. He said: “We would not need a series of ad hoc mutual aid agreements. If a major incident happened, we would not need a series of...
Cathie Craigie: In this time of modern communications, I do not think that where the chief constable is located is important. The Liberal Democrats seem to think that there is a conspiracy against Grampian Police and Northern Constabulary and that a single force will focus on the central belt. I am pleased that Chief Constable House agrees with me that that is no more than scaremongering. A Liberal Democrat...
Cathie Craigie: No, I do not agree with that at all. People are far too professional to allow that to happen. The police have to respond to the needs of a community. Somebody mentioned Parkhead earlier, and I think that it was Jeremy Purvis who mentioned old firm games. Of course policing is required when there are tens of thousands of people gathering—more than are needed in a small town or village. Those...
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive whether an equality impact assessment has been carried out as part of the decision-making process that has led to the cessation of funding for the Scottish Sensory Centre as of 31 March 2011.
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers of deaf children are employed in each local authority area.
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers of deaf children are currently working toward attaining the mandatory qualification standards as specified by the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005.
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers of deaf children employed by local authorities wholly or mainly to support deaf children have completed the mandatory training as specified by the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005.
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities are offered to teachers of deaf children to access nationally accredited continuing professional development courses related to the education of deaf children.
Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring takes place of locally obtained competencies-based training, as specified by the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005.
Cathie Craigie: 5. To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the Scottish sensory centre at the University of Edinburgh. (S3F-2941)