Tavish Scott: I will offer Mr Russell a couple of reasons as to why there is a better way to handle the situation. I am sure that he is true to the point that he made in his opening remarks about accepting a different way to approach the issue, so I hope that he will accept these points. First, with section 13, Michael Russell is encouraging Parliament to accept EU regulations post-March 2019 without...
Tavish Scott: I, too, thank the minister for early sight of her statement. I met apprentices in Lerwick and Scalloway yesterday—no doubt, many other colleagues have met apprentices this week too. I ask the minister to recognise, in this apprenticeship week, that vocational routes into work are every bit as important as a university education. Can I have a further go on the line of questioning that Iain...
Tavish Scott: I am grateful to the minister for setting out the process that he plans to follow. Does he accept that one of the main arguments is about adequate scrutiny of the measures that we are considering? Particularly in relation to stage 2, would it not be better that those deliberations were heard in committee rather than in a plenary session of the whole Parliament?
Tavish Scott: Next week’s stage 1 debate will be on Brexit, the Tory Government at Westminster and the powers of this Parliament. Today is about the process, the legislation and the scrutiny of that legislation. However, I will make just one point on Brexit. I say to Mr Tomkins that, for many of us, leaving the EU is an emergency. For many of us, the issue is also about pressure on the UK Government. We...
Tavish Scott: I ask the Lord Advocate to consider the third possible route that is described on page 5 of the bill’s policy memorandum, under which the Scottish Parliament passes the bill and the UK Government does as the Scottish Government expects and deletes the devolved aspects from its withdrawal bill. Does the Lord Advocate accept that the only continuity legislation will be the Scottish act? If...
Tavish Scott: I take Alison Johnstone’s point about childminding. Edinburgh schools will be closed tomorrow, as she will well know, so I have been doing some childminding arrangements by text in the past half hour or so. That is probably not allowed, but hey ho: these things have to be done. At the moment, the choice seems to be between sledging down Arthur’s Seat and organising five-a-side football in...
Tavish Scott: As I am sure Mr Swinney will accept, that might show the difference that exists between individual local authorities and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities as a whole—[ Interruption .] The cabinet secretary can wave his hands around as much as he likes: I am not criticising the Government. I can never understand why John Swinney gets so worked up when he is on the front bench....
Tavish Scott: I thank the minister for the courtesy of early sight of his statement. It is certainly unfortunate that the Governments of the UK have not agreed. That is not good. This is a sensitive and delicate process, which strikes at the heart of government, not just in Scotland but throughout the entire UK. It is also not satisfactory that we have no legal agreement on the UK Withdrawal from the...
Tavish Scott: Instead of agreeing with Ruth Davidson, I encourage the cabinet secretary to agree with the Shetland Fishermen’s Association, which has submitted a catching policy proposal to his office. When the cabinet secretary gets the chance to visit Shetland, maybe he will meet the association to discuss that, particularly the proposals on reducing discarding, which involve fishermen and scientists...
Tavish Scott: Will the minister give way?
Tavish Scott: Having been beautifully pre-empted, I had better think of something else to ask. The Minister for Transport and the Islands will be well aware of the arrangements for inter-island ferries and of the need to resolve issues related to capital expenditure and revenue expenditure—indeed, he plans to have a working group with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution on those...
Tavish Scott: Gillian Martin’s thought-provoking and, indeed, challenging remarks reminded me of the significance of three things: first, mental health; secondly, relationships; and, thirdly, and maybe above all, the resilience of young people. I know that it seems a long time ago for many of us, but we all went through childhood, and developing the resilience to deal with what was going on in the...
Tavish Scott: I agree with the Government’s proposals to support students from neighbouring EU countries in the 2019-20 academic year and for their period of study. Will the minister set out the likely costs of that proposal, given the situation in previous and current financial years? Does the minister agree that it is important to take students out of the UK immigration figures? Students are part of...
Tavish Scott: 7. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to increase, and improve diversity in, the early learning and childcare workforce. (S5F-01939)
Tavish Scott: This week, the First Minister’s own skills agency said that the work that is going on in recruitment is not enough and that a more diverse workforce is needed. Does she therefore accept that nursery and childcare take-up by two-year-olds is way below expectations and that many organisations doubt that the Scottish Government can meet its recruitment target? Is recruitment of the 11,000 new...
Tavish Scott: James Kelly’s most reasonable point, among many reasonable points that he made, was about money. If we had been debating £70 million, would the chamber have been so full? If we had been debating £7 million, would so many members from across the parties have supported his motion? We are debating £70,000. It is inconceivable to me that the Government cannot find some way to resolve the...
Tavish Scott: The merits of Scotland’s developing the young workforce programme are considerable—Liz Smith, Iain Gray and the minister have rightly set them out—both to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment and to revolutionise how we help young people prepare for work and life. Sir Ian Wood’s report was and remains fundamentally right, but the world has moved on since 2014 and artificial...
Tavish Scott: I can very much agree with the Deputy First Minister’s sentiments and with his suggestions about how the programme is working. What I am arguing for today is a further development and enhancement of the service, for two reasons. First, I have always believed that the strategic purpose of Skills Development Scotland could be subsumed into the enterprise agencies and the Scottish Further and...
Tavish Scott: I am grateful for that. It is very fair. I think that I will always seek to argue for a decentralisation model, but he is in government and he has every right to look at the matter. I certainly recognise and applaud a commitment to tackle systems that are not helpful in delivering the kind of services that we all want to see. I want to make one other observation on SDS. The SDS online careers...
Tavish Scott: I suggest that Graeme Dey should never copy my style of speech making as he has a glittering career in Parliament in front of him—although he is at the back of the chamber at the moment, for which I can hardly blame him. He raised a significant issue and proposed a positive idea for a principle of parliamentary procedure, which I commend to every member. Debates are here for the formation...