Adam Ingram: I will speak to amendments 1 to 4. At the behest of Homeless Action Scotland, I sought to amend the bill at stage 2, so that a tenant need only tell the landlord about a person aged 16 or over residing in the property if that property was that person’s only or principal home. Paragraph 3 of the schedule is welcome, as it gives landlords the power to prevent overcrowding and sub-letting, but...
Adam Ingram: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. On behalf of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee, I am pleased to open the debate on the committee’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the Forth road bridge. It is clear that the bridge’s closure on 3 December last year caused widespread disruption and frustration for the travelling public and had a...
Adam Ingram: I thank the minister for that helpful intervention. As part of its inquiry, the committee was keen to establish whether the defect that led to the closure—a crack in part of the bridge mechanism that is known as the truss end link, which was subsequently found to have been caused by a seized pin—could have been identified earlier and the closure somehow prevented. We were advised that,...
Adam Ingram: 3. To ask the Scottish Government how many projects have been funded by the cashback for communities programme in Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley. (S4O-05206)
Adam Ingram: The minister has anticipated my follow-up question a little, but will he give more detail on the plans that the Scottish Government has to develop the fund further and to implement the recommendations of the evaluation report that was published in 2014? I am particularly concerned that any funding that is available is distributed in a fair and proportionate manner across the country, and I...
Adam Ingram: I congratulate Christine Grahame on securing the debate. As she rightly pointed out, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has been making an invaluable contribution—
Adam Ingram: Okay. Sorry. Oh—that is better. [Laughter.] As I was saying, the CRT has been making an invaluable contribution to economic development and wellbeing in former coalfield communities for many years now. In my constituency of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, some 138 funding awards have been made to 101 local organisations, totalling some £2.4 million since 2000. It is fair to say that the...
Adam Ingram: 8. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in ensuring that a Maybole bypass achieves the status of a shovel-ready project. (S4O-04861)
Adam Ingram: That is good news. Can we now expect a financial commitment for the project from the minister, and when might that be forthcoming?
Adam Ingram: 8. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Scotland’s Rural College on the deployment of veterinary surveillance centres. (S4O-04768)
Adam Ingram: The minister will be aware that Auchincruive in my constituency hosts one of the busiest disease surveillance centres in a livestock-intensive area. Can she give me any assurances that that centre will be retained in the national network?
Adam Ingram: Does the cabinet secretary understand my concern about the college’s lack of consultation of the community about the decision? The lack of transparency and openness compares unfavourably with, for example, the approach that is taken under the protocol for school closure proposals. What discussions have taken place between the Scottish Government and Ayrshire College? Can the cabinet...
Adam Ingram: 5. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government on the restoration of opencast coal sites. (S4O-04662)
Adam Ingram: Does the minister agree that the lack of action by the UK Government, in relation to the return of Coal Authority levies, which was an earlier proposal, and to proper consideration of the restoration coal proposals, shows that the UK Government has turned its back on coalfield communities including those in the Secretary of State for Scotland’s own constituency?
Adam Ingram: The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Auchincruive facility in my constituency is also under threat from SRUC’s proposals. That matter was also raised at the committee’s meeting. Can the cabinet secretary inform Parliament of any discussions that Government officials might have had with the University of Glasgow’s school of veterinary medicine? That is important because, in...
Adam Ingram: Does the cabinet secretary agree that the closure of Prestwick airport would have been devastating for Ayrshire and its economy? Does he maintain that the action that the Scottish Government took to purchase that airport was the right thing to do?
Adam Ingram: 1. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the restoration of abandoned opencast coal sites in East Ayrshire. (S4O-04354)
Adam Ingram: The minister will be aware from recent announcements by Hargreaves Services that it has had no feedback from the UK Government regarding its case for carbon price support exemption. One consequence of that is the closing down of operations at a site in East Ayrshire, at a cost of 57 jobs. Could the minister engage with Her Majesty’s Government on the issue as a matter of urgency?
Adam Ingram: I thank the member for his intervention—he got there in the end. That could well be the outcome. As I said, we need to see the draft agreement before we can make a proper assessment of it. The question remains about what will be in and what will be out of the scope of TTIP. For example, one of our potential winners could have been financial services. In times past, Scottish financial...
Adam Ingram: I commend the European and External Relations Committee’s report to Parliament. Having been a member of this place for some 16 years, I can safely say that this is one of the most important and wide-ranging pieces of work that I have been involved in as a committee member. That is evidenced not least by the substantial level of correspondence that I have had with concerned constituents over...
