Decision Time

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 2 December 2020.

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Photo of Kenneth Macintosh Kenneth Macintosh Labour

The first question is, that amendment S5M-23537.2, in the name of Fiona Hyslop, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, on BiFab, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

The Presiding Officer:

There will be a division. I will suspend proceedings briefly to allow members to access the voting app.

18:17 Meeting suspended.

18:23 On resuming—

Thank you, colleagues. We will go straight to the vote on amendment S5M-23537.2, which will be a one-minute division.

Photo of Alasdair Allan Alasdair Allan Scottish National Party

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app showed an error message that suggests that my vote was not counted.

The Presiding Officer:

I assure Mr Allan that his vote was counted.

Division number 1 Decision Time

Aye: 60 MSPs

No: 61 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the vote on amendment S5M-23537.2, in the name of Fiona Hyslop, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, on BiFab, is: For 60, Against 61, Abstentions 0.

Amendment disagreed to.

The next question is, that amendment S5M-23537.1, in the name of Liz Smith, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, on BiFab, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

Photo of Kevin Stewart Kevin Stewart Scottish National Party

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I have the weirdest screen ever on my phone, so I think that my vote might not have been counted. I would have abstained.

The Presiding Officer:

Your vote was counted, Mr Stewart.

Photo of Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Smith Conservative

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted yes.

The Presiding Officer:

I will add your vote to the voting roll.

Photo of Angela Constance Angela Constance Scottish National Party

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sorry to say that the app on my phone would not allow me to vote. I would have abstained.

The Presiding Officer:

I will make sure that your vote is added to the voting roll.

Division number 2 Decision Time

Aye: 61 MSPs

No: 2 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

Abstained: 58 MSPs

Abstained: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the vote on amendment S5M-23537.1, in the name of Liz Smith, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, on BiFab, is: For 61, Against 2, Abstentions 58.

Amendment agreed to.

The next question is, that motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, on BiFab, as amended, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No

The Presiding Officer:

There will be a division. This will be a one-minute division.

Division number 3 Decision Time

Aye: 61 MSPs

No: 60 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the division on motion S5M-23537, in the name of Alex Rowley, as amended, on BiFab, is: For 61, Against 60, Abstentions 0.

Motion, as amended, agreed to,

That the Parliament believes that Scotland has the potential to lead Europe’s green energy revolution over the coming decades; further believes that, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and job losses, green jobs will be central to creating new employment and training opportunities across Scotland; considers that, with the support of the workforce and their trades unions, the maximum effort has to be made to secure wind farm contracts for Scottish manufacturing companies; notes that, in open competition, BiFab won a £30 million contract to build turbine jackets for the NnG North Sea wind farm, work that could have started in January 2021, but has been prevented from going ahead with this; condemns the Scottish Government’s decision to withdraw the financial guarantee that was needed to enable this work to go ahead, thus risking Scotland’s reputation as a new green investment hub, and further condemns the Scottish Government’s failure to produce any legal opinion to justify its claim that support for BiFab was against the law; calls on it to act now to secure the future of the Burntisland Methil and Arnish yards, and the jobs that depend on them; further calls on it to talk to the workforce’s representatives and to ask for the help of the UK Government through the joint working party to urgently negotiate with EDF and Saipem to find a solution that ensures that the NnG contract for eight wind turbine platforms is carried out in the yards, and, with Glasgow being the venue of the COP26 summit in December 2021, calls for a concrete plan to be published in January by the Scottish Government that ensures that future work on renewables comes to Scottish yards, and further calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that these policy commitments on renewables are part of a coherent industrial strategy for the post-COVID-19 era.

I remind members that, if the amendment in the name of Kate Forbes is agreed to, the amendment in the name of Maurice Golden will fall.

The question is, that amendment S5M-23536.2, in the name of Kate Forbes, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23536, in the name of Richard Leonard, on business support, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

The Presiding Officer:

There will be a division. Again, this will be a one-minute division.

Division number 4 Decision Time

Aye: 65 MSPs

No: 56 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the division on amendment S5M-23536.2, in the name of Kate Forbes, which seeks to amend motion S5M-23536, in the name of Richard Leonard, on business support, is: For 65, Against 56, Abstentions 0.

Amendment agreed to.

The amendment in the name of Maurice Golden is pre-empted. Therefore, the next question is, that motion S5M-23536, in the name of Richard Leonard, on business support, as amended, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

Division number 5 Decision Time

Aye: 96 MSPs

No: 23 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

Abstained: 1 MSP

Abstained: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the division on motion S5M-23536, in the name of Richard Leonard, as amended, is: For 96, Against 23, Abstentions 1.

Motion, as amended, agreed to,

That the Parliament notes that 5 December 2020 is Small Business Saturday and that small businesses, including those in the hospitality sector, are an irreplaceable source of jobs and community across Scotland and should be celebrated and supported; recognises that many businesses are at risk because of the wider economic impacts of COVID-19 despite more than £2.3 billion of financial support allocated by the Scottish Government, including the Strategic Framework Business Fund, the £15 million second phase of the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund and the £30 million Local Authority Discretionary Fund; welcomes the use of Barnett consequentials to provide this support and save businesses and jobs, alongside other forms of support from the UK Government such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support; recognises the ongoing work with businesses, local government and trade unions to do everything possible to support and sustain businesses of all sizes in all sectors, and agrees that the finance secretary should provide additional detail to the Finance and Constitution Committee in December 2020 with an update on the allocation of consequentials to date.

The next question is, that motion S5M-23563, in the name of Graeme Dey, on approval of the draft Valuation (Postponement of Revaluation) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Order 2020, be agreed to. Are we agreed?

Members:

No.

Division number 6 Decision Time

Aye: 65 MSPs

No: 34 MSPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

No: A-Z by last name

Abstained: 22 MSPs

Abstained: A-Z by last name

The Presiding Officer:

The result of the division on motion S5M-23563, in the name of Graeme Dey, on the draft Valuation (Postponement of Revaluation) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Order 2020, is: For 65, Against 34, Abstentions 22.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that the Valuation (Postponement of Revaluation) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] be approved.

The next question is, that motion S5M-23557, in the name of Graeme Dey, on approval of the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2020, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (SSI 2020/374) be approved.

If no member objects, I propose to ask a single question on six Parliamentary Bureau motions.

There being no objections, the question is, that motions S5M-23561, S5M-23558, S5M-23560, S5M-23562, S5M-23555 and S5M-23556, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, be agreed.

Motions agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2020 [draft] be approved.

That the Parliament agrees that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 23) Regulations 2020 (SSI 2020/378) be approved.

That the Parliament agrees that the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Revocation Order 2021 [draft] be approved.

That the Parliament agrees that the UEFA European Championship (Trading and Advertising) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] be approved.

That the Parliament, under rule 12.1A.6, agrees that the time period specified in motion S5M-21129 be further varied to 7 December 2020.

That the Parliament agrees that Rhoda Grant be appointed to replace James Kelly as a member of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing.

That concludes decision time. We will move shortly to members’ business; there will be a short pause while members change seats. I encourage all members to wear their masks and observe social distancing and one-way systems around the building when they leave the chamber.

18:39 Members' business will be published tomorrow, Thursday 3 December 2020, as soon as the text is available.