Tavish Scott: I will happily give way, but I would like to finish my point.
Tavish Scott: There must be a happy balance somewhere when it comes to the necessity of auditing the use of public money and dealing with the range of reporting that is now being required, often of businesses that have very few people indeed.
Tavish Scott: In the design of the procurement exercise that the minister has described, can he ensure that areas that are most in need, such as the outer and northern isles of Shetland, are first in the queue to achieve the fibre that homes and businesses so badly require?
Tavish Scott: I thank the Deputy First Minister for his statement. The review that the Deputy First Minister has mentioned previously was steered by Education Scotland—by those who were the unequivocal backers of testing four and five-year-old boys and girls in primary 1. What will be different this time? In the meantime, tens of thousands of four and five-year-old girls and boys in primary 1 will...
Tavish Scott: I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement. First, does the cabinet secretary accept the principle of extending the transition period, which the European Union proposed last week? Secondly, if and when there is no deal in March next year, salmon, whitefish and mussels will be on the high seas between Lerwick and Aberdeen, due to be in France by the following morning....
Tavish Scott: I, too, want to reflect the Deputy First Minister’s tone and the substance of his remarks and I associate my party with the recognition of the factors that led to where we are today and the shame that we all feel, as Iain Gray rightly recognised. The Deputy First Minister’s remarks are ones that I entirely hold to. I have two brief questions. The first relates to John Finnie’s question...
Tavish Scott: Like Andy Wightman, I will try to have a beginning, a middle and an end to my speech. The beginning involves a Swedish couple whom I met walking down the road to the shop in Bressay, where I live, and who said to me, “Where did the murder take place?” I looked at the couple somewhat aghast and thought about phoning the local constabulary; I then realised that they were looking for one of...
Tavish Scott: 1. To ask the Scottish Government whether an islands impact assessment was carried out when it removed the water and sewerage charges exemption for charitable bodies, such as public community halls. (S5O-02439)
Tavish Scott: Does the minister accept that community public halls are run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis, their bar income is reinvested in a facility for nursery classes, youth clubs and community events, and they do not compete with pubs? Does she therefore understand that removing water relief is costing some Shetland halls £2,000 a year and could close the doors of these essential community...
Tavish Scott: Will the member take an intervention?
Tavish Scott: Many speeches are being made in Blackpool today, but the speech that will probably lead the news tonight is the one that President Trump is making in New York at the General Assembly of the United Nations. My concern about the debate on trade—in Scotland and in the broader sense—is that we face yet another binary choice, as we do in so many areas of public policy; that is, the choice...
Tavish Scott: I thank Liz Smith for bringing this debate to the chamber today. If the Scottish Government had been sure of its ground, it could have introduced the debate at any point in the past weeks and then Mr Swinney would not have had to miss the learning festival this afternoon. Ministers may want to reflect on the benefits of leading a debate if they are so confident of their arguments. A retired...
Tavish Scott: Mr Mason would do well to read the curriculum for excellence guidelines for the three to six-year-old programme and he would understand the answer to that question without needing to ask it. Nursery teachers assess all the time—that is the point, and, frankly, I do not understand why members on the Government benches do not get it. What is the reality of testing? Rather than go to a civil...
Tavish Scott: We will see—we will all cast a close eye on that. I think that the word used was “average”, but we will be happy to look at the evidence on that. All that I am saying is that plenty of teachers, not just from Shetland but from all over the country, have told me time and again that it takes more than an hour per pupil. The point is not just about the time that it takes the pupil; it is...
Tavish Scott: 7. To ask the First Minister, in light of the comment by the Educational Institute of Scotland that the recent review’s recommendations “will do little to allay the very serious concerns held by many teachers”, whether the Scottish Government plans further changes to the Scottish national standardised assessments. (S5F-02550)
Tavish Scott: When the Parliament votes to stop the testing of four and five-year-olds in primary 1 classes across Scotland, will the Government accept that decision?
Tavish Scott: I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of his statement. I must say that I profoundly disagree with the contention that testing five-year-old boys and girls is consistent with play-based learning. Far more important than my view is the fact that many educationists, experts and—more to the point—teachers do not agree. I therefore disagree with the assessment that Mr...
Tavish Scott: 6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd’s decision not to consult regarding car parking charges at some island airports is consistent with the provisions of the Islands (Scotland) Bill. (S5O-02294)
Tavish Scott: I welcome the minister to his new position of responsibility for the islands and forgive him for not answering the question. Will he bring an open mind to the issue and accept that there has not been any proper consultation on the matter, nor what the councils and community councils have asked for, which is a full impact assessment? Will he use his considerable abilities to tackle the problem...
Tavish Scott: If education is the First Minister’s number 1 priority, why is she not here? Is the ministerial reshuffle more important than Scotland’s schools? If the proposed bill is so important, why is the cabinet secretary ditching it, yet holding it as a sword of Damocles over our councils? Is it really collaboration to say, “Do as I say, or I’ll be after you”?