Bill Kidd: I welcome you to your new post, Presiding Officer. I thank the minister for his clear statement and welcome him to his new role. Can the minister provide any further detail on measures that the Scottish Government is taking to provide certainty for our vital public services during this difficult time?
Bill Kidd: Welcome to your new role, Presiding Officer. I welcome the new cabinet secretary to her role, too, and I thank her—or, I assume that I will thank her—in that regard. It is clearly impressed on MSPs that it is our collective duty to use every means at our disposal to address poverty inequalities. With renewed ambition, I believe that the Scottish Government will tackle that pervasive and...
Bill Kidd: made a solemn affirmation.
Bill Kidd: In an interview with the BBC, Sir Keir Starmer has claimed that in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament election Trident is not on the ballot paper, because it is not a matter for Holyrood. However, in 2015, here at Holyrood, Labour voted to oppose nuclear weapons, which was brilliant. Does the First Minister agree that spending increasing billions on weapons of mass destruction is...
Bill Kidd: 8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage women and girls to participate in organised sport. (S5O-05153)
Bill Kidd: I welcome the action that the Scottish Government has taken to break down the barriers that many women and girls face in accessing organised sport. I believe that it is important that women and girls are well represented in the sporting community of Scotland. What action is the Scottish Government taking at a local level, particularly in schools, to encourage girls to participate in sports at...
Bill Kidd: This debate is on the first of four motions. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s report on private and hybrid bill procedures recommends a number of rule changes to make the rules easier to follow for those engaging with the procedures. The rule changes that have been proposed by the committee relate to the definition of a private bill and assessors, and they also...
Bill Kidd: T he Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s report on rule changes in relation to delegated powers memorandums and emergency bills proposes two changes to chapters 9 and 9C of the standing orders. First, it proposes to make the delegated powers memorandum an accompanying document that is required on the introduction of a public or hybrid bill. As delegated powers can be...
Bill Kidd: The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s report proposing rule changes relating to the financial scrutiny of bills responds to the increasing role of revenue from devolved taxation following the changes that were made to the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence by the Scotland Act 2016. The proposed changes primarily relate to rule 9.3.2 and require that a...
Bill Kidd: The report recommends that Parliament agree a change to the code of conduct for MSPs relating to the threshold for the registration of gifts. The gifts threshold is dictated by the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006, and is expressed as a percentage of a member’s salary at the start of each parliamentary session. Section 2 of the code of conduct contains detailed...
Bill Kidd: The first Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee report that I will speak to today recommends that a new rule should be added to standing orders to allow for urgent questions to be put to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. It is currently not possible under standing orders for urgent questions to be put to the SPCB in the way that urgent questions are put to the...
Bill Kidd: The second Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee report that I am speaking to today recommends changes to the rules in standing orders on the public petitions system. The Public Petitions Committee sought the changes to assist it in responding to increasing demand for petitioning the Scottish Parliament, and the proposed changes result from a review of the public petitions...
Bill Kidd: Thank you, Presiding Officer. We must stop meeting like this. The third report to which I am speaking today recommends a permanent change to rule 6.9 on the title and remit of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee in standing orders. During the current parliamentary session, human rights was added to the remit of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. The committee asked the...
Bill Kidd: On a point of order. I would have voted yes. I had a problem with the voting app.
Bill Kidd: Last September, the Parliament agreed to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s proposal for a committee bill that would allow the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland to investigate complaints of past sexual harassment made about members of the Parliament in respect of behaviour towards members of their own staff. The bill and its...
Bill Kidd: Do not worry—this will be a very short debate. Following the introduction of lockdown provisions almost a year ago, the Scottish Parliament adapted its practices and procedures to ensure that Parliament was able to meet. Since April last year, it has met in a mix of virtual, hybrid and socially distanced formats to ensure that parliamentary business can continue. Technology has been...
Bill Kidd: I thank the minister for his statement. Local authorities will need to make a range of changes to polling places to ensure that they are Covid safe. Can the minister provide further information about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to support local authorities with the costs of introducing safety measures?
Bill Kidd: The report “Code of Conduct Rule changes—Treatment of Others” and the proposals that are contained in it to revise the code of conduct for MSPs represent a concluding step in the considerable work that has been undertaken by my committee and the Parliament as a whole to address sexual harassment and sexist behaviour. The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee believes...
Bill Kidd: How will the £120 million in additional funding that the minister mentioned, which was announced by the finance secretary last week, improve access to medical health services for those with pre-existing mental health conditions?
Bill Kidd: 2. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it plans to have with colleges and universities regarding the grading process for students who have been adversely impacted by recurrent lockdowns in their final year of study. (S5O-05050)