Frank McAveety: 6. To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on how community payback orders are working. (S3O-13350)
Frank McAveety: Can the cabinet secretary justify the £10,000 expense to the taxpayer of keeping the individual who breached the first community payback order in prison due to his refusal to conform to the expectations of the CPO? What will he do if others who are issued with community payback orders exhibit the same pattern of conduct?
Frank McAveety: First, I tender my apologies. A prior commitment means that, after making this speech, I have to go and meet representatives of a significant organisation in my constituency. I echo what fellow members have said about the work that has been done behind the scenes, by the clerks and the support structure around the Public Audit Committee and by the staff of the Auditor General in compiling the...
Frank McAveety: That exemplifies the difficult nuances with which we are dealing. When we have, with that understanding, probed some of those folk who have appeared at committee in the past few months, we do not quite get those responses. However, that is a general issue in Scotland. As a small country, we still need to ensure that those who speak on our behalf—whether they are directed by ministers or...
Frank McAveety: I hope that the minister will reflect on those things in his response at the end of the debate.
Frank McAveety: 2. To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to Save the Children’s report, “Severe Child Poverty in Scotland”. (S3O-13140)
Frank McAveety: One of the key ways to tackle generational poverty is to invest increasingly in the early years and in the school estate at primary level. In the east end of Glasgow, our statistics are challenging to say the least. Irrespective of that, can the minister give any indication of when his Government will commit in a substantial way to such investment? Will he give a commitment that the...
Frank McAveety: Understandably, much of today’s debate has been about the past, because many of the communities that we represent have been shaped and defined by their history. Duncan McNeil made a passionate speech about how the private sector used to be a substantial contributor to the generation of wealth, opportunity and employment in Inverclyde. Because of a variety of issues that were exacerbated by...
Frank McAveety: Will the member give way?
Frank McAveety: Will the member give way?
Frank McAveety: That is obviously testament to the fantastic work of the local constituency MSP in generating that level of investment in the east end of Glasgow. The important question that I raised in my nuanced contribution was whether that can continue. Robert Crawford’s letter to the Government and Scottish Enterprise was about maintaining that level of commitment to provide the opportunity for the...
Frank McAveety: 4. To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reconsider establishing a community court in the east end of Glasgow. (S3O-13084)
Frank McAveety: I note that the minister’s response is not quite what was promised and committed to in the Scottish Government’s early years. That is disappointing for my constituents in the east end, who were supportive of the establishment of a community court for Glasgow, particularly to relieve them of some of the difficulties that are related to significant antisocial behaviour. If the minister is...
Frank McAveety: To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met representatives of Scottish Enterprise and what issues were discussed.
Frank McAveety: 4. To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it has made available to fund school estate investment in Glasgow since 2007. (S3O-12879)
Frank McAveety: Can the cabinet secretary name a school investment that has been commissioned and built from resources available from the Scottish Futures Trust in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency since 2007?
Frank McAveety: There has been broad consensus on the subject of the bill irrespective of the political affiliations of colleagues on the Public Petitions Committee. The reason for our visit to Govanhill was to try to understand more about the situation. I have more knowledge about Govanhill than most because of the nature of the issues in my constituency, but we have built consensus. Equally, the Labour...
Frank McAveety: I welcome the First Minister’s comments about jobs, economic growth and fairness. Does he think that it is right and fair to slash the budgets of urban regeneration companies across Scotland? Will he ask his enterprise minister to intervene to prevent the 46 per cent cut in the budget that is available to Clyde Gateway in the east end of Glasgow, which will jeopardise the opportunity to...
Frank McAveety: To ask the Scottish Executive what the Minister for Environment is doing to ensure that the carbon emissions impact of the 2014 Commonwealth Games is minimised.
Frank McAveety: I had not intended to speak in the debate—Anne McLaughlin prompted me to do so this morning, during a committee meeting—although I wanted to stay and hear the speeches. I want to reflect on some critically important themes. Joe FitzPatrick talked about the journeys of Irish people to Scotland, whether they came from the Republic of Ireland or the north of Ireland—after it was created in...
