Fiona McLeod: As we have said several times already, the money is there. It is being saved to buy votes in a year or two. Why not use it to secure children's future now?
Fiona McLeod: Does David Mundell agree that, although composite classes do not put children at an educational disadvantage, there is evidence that large classes, especially large composite classes, could?
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive why a decision on the award of a contract to provide a training programme for social work residential workers was delayed from August to October of this year.
Fiona McLeod: Is the £11 million for broad-band technology genuinely new money or is it part of the £144 million that has already been committed? Why has this money been committed ahead of any report from the digital Scotland network?
Fiona McLeod: Will Mr Raffan give way?
Fiona McLeod: Mary was at the meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee when Mr Galbraith made it clear that he would not provide more money to fund the teachers' pay settlement this year. Does she think that that will help our children's education?
Fiona McLeod: Mr Wilson rightly says that SCRO checks are not mandatory. However, I am sure that he will agree with me and with more learned people, such as Lord Cullen, that those checks are a vital component in ensuring safe and secure environments in which our young people can flourish. I am sure that he will ask the Government to ensure that we do not put our children at risk by levying those charges,...
Fiona McLeod: I echo other members in thanking Andrew for bringing this matter to Parliament and I thank you, Presiding Officer, for deciding to extend the debate. As a volunteer in youth clubs and drop-in cafes in my constituency I am pleased that Parliament has the chance to underline the importance of the issue. I hope that the minister will recognise the concerns of youth organisations and will fight...
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding and future operation of the Scottish Football Museum has been made secure by the rescue package on offer to Hampden Football Stadium.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the operation of Hampden Football Stadium is now financially and managerially secure.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish interim and full reports from the consultants employed by the co-funders of Hampden Football Stadium’s redevelopment.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how much is being paid by each of the co-funders to the rescue package on offer to Hampden Football Stadium, and to provide details of any conditions relating to the current or future operational arrangements which have been attached to the rescue package.
Fiona McLeod: On that point, does Mr Monteith agree that we need a separate Scottish university for industry in order to maintain our separate Scottish national vocational qualifications and so on? If we went for a UK- driven system, we would send folk off to do qualifications that are not relevant to the geographical area in which they live.
Fiona McLeod: In line with the spirit of the words on the first page of the document, I would like to impress upon Parliament the fact that, if Scotland is to become a knowledge-driven economy in the next century, it must first become a knowledge-driven society. I welcome the Scottish university for industry development if it will assist in contributing to that aim through the development of lifelong...
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question number S1W-553 by Susan Deacon on 29 July 1999, what constitutes a "significant change of use of a hospital".
Fiona McLeod: The evaluation report indicates that the escalation in rough sleeping was closely associated with retrenchment in welfare provision, particularly in relation to young people. One in four rough sleepers has been in local authority care and the minister has admitted this afternoon to having comprehensively failed those vulnerable young people. Will the Executive therefore make strenuous...
Fiona McLeod: That answer prompts me to ask about Glasgow City Council's millennium operating regime and business continuity planning. The problems that arose a week past Friday, when we had two hours with no access to telephones, make me wonder whether the millennium contingency plan, which I understood had been tested, failed on that occasion. I would like reassurance on that point. The other point...
Fiona McLeod: I appreciate that we should be debating the important issues raised by Miss Goldie, but Y2K is about the preparedness of all our services to meet the problems that they might face. More important, we need the debate today. As we have learned from the statement, and the questions and answers, there are still issues to be addressed—we need to be sure that the Executive takes them on board.
Fiona McLeod: Like Elaine, I was worried that people would think that we were a pair of anoraks, but I am glad that the contributions so far have shown that people have thought about the problem and realised that it affects everyday matters and so should be a high priority. I want to concentrate on the date discontinuity aspect of the problem. As John Swinney said, the so-called millennium bug is actually...
Fiona McLeod: This afternoon I rise wearing hats, rather than anoraks, as in last week's debate. As the shadow deputy minister for children, I welcome the fact that the Executive is giving child care its proper place. It is central to the life of every child and every carer. However, wearing my other hats—as a former committee member of my local mother and toddlers group, as a past convener of...
