Duncan McNeil: Between 2007-08 and 2012-13, the number of part-time students studying at James Watt College plummeted by more than 9,000. Does the cabinet secretary share my concern that that trend impacts negatively on our economy, and on the life chances of adult learners who rely on part-time courses for second-chance learning and career development? How will the merged college sector reverse that...
Duncan McNeil: Part-time—
Duncan McNeil: We are all agreed that we have an unprecedented opportunity, as someone said earlier, in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games and, indeed, a summer of sport with the Ryder cup and other events. It is only an opportunity and whether we take advantage of it we will know sometime in the future. There is no doubt that those events could inspire and motivate young and old to get involved and to...
Duncan McNeil: Does the minister agree that there are many figures and they can be interpreted in many ways? We need robust figures that we can rely on, so that we can start focusing on outcomes rather than inputs.
Duncan McNeil: Thank you for mentioning that, Presiding Officer, particularly as the minister mentioned the progress that has been made in Fife and other areas. Some of us who took time last week to meet the Infertility Network heard about the issue of the number of cycles, and we also heard that although very good progress is taking place across Scotland, progress is very slow in one of the biggest health...
Duncan McNeil: 7. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice last met the chief constable and what was discussed. (S4O-02803)
Duncan McNeil: The cabinet secretary will be aware of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland’s review of incident and crime recording, which was published in December 2013. It recommended that Police Scotland, in co-operation with the Scottish Government and others, review the definition of serious assault, which can, as it stands, lead to serious assaults being recorded as common assaults. Does the...
Duncan McNeil: I am conscious of time, so I will be very quick. First, I thank Kezia Dugdale not only for giving us the opportunity to have the debate but for all her good work in bringing forward the debtbusters campaign and the general debate on the issue. As has been mentioned, that has brought some success, but it has been limited because although we have set out a plan to prevent more people from...
Duncan McNeil: No; I will not take an intervention because I am running out of time.
Duncan McNeil: Payday loans will be an issue irrespective of the constitution. It is not good enough to say to the poor that they should wait until we get independence, as has crept into the debate. That is not acceptable. How do we address the issue? How do we use the powers of local government and the Scottish Government with the procurement pound and the public pound? How do we engage with employers? It...
Duncan McNeil: How do we engage those people to deal with the problem that we have here and now?
Duncan McNeil: Will the minister take an intervention?
Duncan McNeil: “Trust us.” That is the plea to adult survivors of sexual and physical abuse. “Trust us.” That is what we ask of them, in asking them to participate in the national confidential forum. However, trust is the most fragile of emotions; it is hard earned, easily lost and difficult to win back. Survivors have heard it all before, of course. Trust was taken from them as children in the most...
Duncan McNeil: Given the involvement of Mary Scanlon and me on the Health and Sport Committee it is not surprising that we focus on this subject as a health issue. There was a shocking headline this week about 20 people a week dying as a result of alcohol. The last time that we had a debate on this subject, the minister reminded us that 50 people a week die from inactivity and lack of exercise and that the...
Duncan McNeil: It is also a question of what people make of it—in terms of money, and also the enthusiasm for the particular sport. Young people want to participate in that sport and it is really important that the strategy has been developed by young people, listening to young people. We have spoken about the quality of teaching and coaching. We had PE teachers in my day, although PE was not very...
Duncan McNeil: Does the minister recognise that the hubs have many positive aspects and are a good model, but that we should also acknowledge what the sports clubs bring to our local communities—the sense of wellbeing and solidarity—and that they should not be forced into a hub model if they do not want to be in one?
Duncan McNeil: 7. Please accept my apologies, Presiding Officer, for not being here at the start of question time. I had a very interesting meeting with Patient Opinion Scotland. As usual, I talked too much, which is why I was late. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment last met the chief executives of Zero Waste Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful...
Duncan McNeil: I welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement with regard to proposed Scottish Government legislation to tackle fly-tipping and all other forms of antisocial behaviour that blight the Inverclyde area and other areas throughout Scotland. In the past five years, 19,000 fly-tipping incidents were reported in Inverclyde; 4,000 of them in the past year. When can we expect the proposed legislation...
Duncan McNeil: I would like to do that—
Duncan McNeil: Right—okay.
