Thursday, 21 May 2009
Scottish Parliament Thursday 21 May 2009 [THE PRESIDING OFFICER opened the meeting at 09:15]
Good morning. The first item of business is a Labour Party debate on motion S3M-4188, in the name of Claire Baker, on student hardship. We have little flexibility on time—I stress the word...
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-4187, in the name of John Park, on supporting employment in Scotland.
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend the national concessionary travel scheme to include demand-responsive community transport schemes such as Dial-a-Journey in Forth valley,...
To ask the Scottish Government which areas of the public sector are not covered by its commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies. (S3O-6976)
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice's decision not to proceed with plans for a pilot community court in the east end of Glasgow and the vote on motion...
. James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to review the rules and procedures governing pharmacy applications. (S3O-7006)
. Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Transport Scotland plans to quantify baseline noise and air quality indicators at individual residences that are...
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to manage registered sex offenders. (S3O-7010)
. David Whitton (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons the Scottish Futures Trust has not put any projects out to tender. (S3O-7028)
To ask the First Minister what engagements he has planned for the rest of the day. (S3F-1708)
. Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the First Minister when he will next meet the Secretary of State for Scotland. (S3F-1709)
To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet. (S3F-1710)
. Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the First Minister what resources the Scottish Government has allocated to develop and support the curriculum for excellence. (S3F-1719)
. Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the First Minister what options will be available for young people not in education, employment or training in the next 12 months. (S3F-1711)
. Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to address the recent comments made at the Scottish Secondary Teachers'...
To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to Ofcom regarding the local broadcast spectrum to be made available for auction in Scotland. (S3O-7066)
. John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its relationship is with the National Trust for Scotland and what meetings the Scottish Government has had with it about its current...
John Scott and I must be telepathic. To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings it has had with the chair of the National Trust for Scotland and what was discussed. (S3O-6999)
. Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises the importance of Scottish Screen in supporting the screen industries. (S3O-6992)
. Mr Frank McAveety (Glasgow Shettleston) (Lab): I hope that the new Dr Kildare will be gentle with me. To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Slovakian diplomatic...
. John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to retain the cultural role of newspapers in local communities. (S3O-6973)
To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the benefits will be of the recently announced changes to individual learning accounts. (S3O-7048)
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the benefits of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill will be to island communities. (S3O-7045)
. Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning last met the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and...
. Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Government how successful Careers Scotland's the path is green programme has been. (S3O-7054)
. Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the reform of the children's hearings system. (S3O-7020)
. Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been any recent Scottish developments from the Bologna process. (S3O-7073)
. Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding mechanisms it has in place to facilitate the refurbishment or reconstruction of schools in urgent need of repair...
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-4186, in the name of Roseanna Cunningham, on the importance of aquaculture to the Scottish economy. I remind members that we are tight for...
The next item of business is a debate on legislative consent motion S3M-4124, in the name of Kenny MacAskill, on the Coroners and Justice Bill, which is United Kingdom legislation.
The next item of business is consideration of a Parliamentary Bureau motion. I ask Bruce Crawford to move motion S3M-4180, on the approval of the draft Community Right to Buy (Definition of...
There are 14 questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first question is, that amendment S3M-4188.2, in the name of Fiona Hyslop, which seeks to amendment motion S3M-4188, in the...
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-3563, in the name of John Wilson, on the Strathclyde Police prolific offender programme. The debate will be concluded...
The Scottish Parliament is the national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh. The Parliament consists of 129 members known as MSPs, elected for four-year terms; 73 represent individual geographical constituencies, and 56 are regional representatives.