Parliament Live from Holyrood – 29/01/2020
Parliament Live from Holyrood with the Recognising Scotland in Europe and Scotland’s Future debates.
1:30pm Scottish Government Debate
Fiona Hyslop S5M-20625 – Recognising Scotland in Europe
That the Parliament notes that the European flag has been flown at Holyrood since 2004 as a symbol of membership of the family of European nations; recognises that Scotland and the UK will continue to be represented within the Council of Europe, and that the UK’s exit from the European Union will not change this; notes that the European flag was originally the flag of the Council of Europe and affirms Scotland’s commitment to the aims of the Council of Europe to build peace and prosperity together, while respecting common values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law and diversity; recognises the importance of continuing to fly the European flag as a sign of support and solidarity with those EU nationals who have made Scotland their home, and directs the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to ensure that the European flag continues to fly daily at the Parliament building.
Liz Smith S5M-20625.2 – Recognising Scotland in Europe
As an amendment to motion S5M-20625 in the name of Fiona Hyslop (Recognising Scotland in Europe), leave out from “the importance of continuing” to end and insert “that decisions about flag protocol on the parliamentary estate are rightly reserved to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB); recognises that the SPCB has already made a decision on this matter; believes such action to be unprecedented and deleterious to the norms of this Parliament, and regrets that parliamentary time is being used to debate flag protocol when such time is limited and could, more rightly, be spent on debating issues such as health, justice and education.”
Claire Baker S5M-20625.1 – Recognising Scotland in Europe
As an amendment to motion S5M-20625 in the name of Fiona Hyslop (Recognising Scotland in Europe), leave out from “as a symbol of membership” to end and insert “in recognition of membership of the European Union; continues to welcome and value EU citizens who have made their home in Scotland and the huge contribution that they make; recognises the importance of the future relationship within the family of European nations and the important role that the Scottish Parliament has in fostering that; notes the explanation brought forward by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) as to why it took the decision to stop flying the flag of the European Union, and recognises that such decisions are best made by the SPCB operating on a non-partisan basis.”
2:00pm Portfolio Questions – Health and Sport
Ruth Maguire S5O-04053
1. To ask the Scottish Government how many take-home naloxone kits have been supplied by the Scottish Ambulance Service since 2011.
Alison Harris S5O-04054
2. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce child and adolescent mental health services waiting times.
Maureen Watt S5O-04055
3. To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is providing for community-led sports in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency.
Angus MacDonald S5O-04056
4. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest data linkage project report.
James Kelly S5O-04057
5. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce delays at A&E departments.
Mark Griffin S5O-04058
6. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on delivering a soft opt-out organ donation system, following the passing of the Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019.
Claudia Beamish S5O-04059
7. To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to third sector organisations that offer social prescribing solutions in rural South Scotland.
Alex Cole-Hamilton S5O-04060
8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect standards in publicly-owned care homes.
Portfolio Questions – Communities and Local Government
Sarah Boyack
1. [Not Lodged]
Alison Johnstone S5O-04062
2. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to record the loss of greenspace in Scotland.
Miles Briggs S5O-04063
3. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of children across Edinburgh who are living in temporary accommodation.
Annabelle Ewing S5O-04064
4. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on an amendment to the UK Government’s Withdrawal Agreement that would allow unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the UK.
Tom Arthur S5O-04065
5. To ask the Scottish Government how it supports regeneration in communities in the Renfrewshire South constituency.
Gail Ross S5O-04066
6. To ask the Scottish Government when the last review of local government was carried out.
Colin Smyth S5O-04067
7. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the decision by Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership to enter into partnership with the Wheatley Group.
Mark Ruskell S5O-04068
8. To ask the Scottish Government how its planning policy is guiding the siting of thermal electricity generating capacity under 50MW.
followed by Scottish Government Debate
Jackson Carlaw S5M-20615.1 – Scotland’s Future
As an amendment to motion S5M-20615 in the name of Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland’s Future), leave out from “the sovereign right” to end and insert “that the sovereign right of the people of Scotland was exercised in 2014 when more than two million people voted to reject independence; agrees with the cross-party Smith Commission report published after the 2014 referendum and backed by the UK Government that ‘nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose’; recognises, however, that the 2014 referendum was rightly described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that it is incumbent on all parties to abide by its result; calls on the Scottish Government to abandon its obsession with a second independence referendum; expects the Scottish Ministers to devote their energies to, and to use their parliamentary time to debate, matters of devolved competence, such as health, education, transport and the economy in Scotland, and regrets that yet again the Scottish Government has chosen to debate the constitution instead of the failures in Scottish public services for which it is responsible.”
Richard Leonard S5M-20615.3 – Scotland’s Future
As an amendment to motion S5M-20615 in the name of Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland’s Future), leave out from “and that a referendum should be held” to end and insert “with the UK, including Scotland, due to leave the EU on 31 January; believes that a period of uncertainty for individuals, communities and businesses will follow; recognises that the majority of the people of Scotland do not want a further referendum at this time; calls on the Scottish Government to focus all of its efforts and energies on minimising the impact of the Prime Minister’s disastrous Brexit deal and, as such, does not believe that a further independence referendum in the near future is in the best interests of Scotland; proposes instead the pursuance of ‘Home Rule’, which fully utilises the substantial powers that are already devolved, and urges the UK Government to ensure that devolved powers are repatriated to Scotland following Brexit and that the Scottish Parliament gains the further devolved powers needed to create a fairer and more equal Scotland.”
Willie Rennie S5M-20615.2 – Scotland’s Future
As an amendment to motion S5M-20615 in the name of Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland’s Future), leave out from “; agrees” to end and insert “, and believes that the people of Scotland want the Scottish Government to focus on tackling the slipping education standards in Scotland’s schools, reduce long waiting times in the health service, take mental health more seriously, address the crisis in social care, repair the damage to police services caused by centralisation, reverse the rise in fuel poverty, and take consistent and determined action on the climate emergency, all of which are currently being given secondary status to the issue of independence.”
Nicola Sturgeon S5M-20615 – Scotland’s Future
That the Parliament recognises the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine the form of government best suited to their needs; agrees with the cross-party Smith Commission report published after the 2014 referendum and backed by the UK Government that “nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose”; recognises that there has been a material change in circumstances since 2014 and that a referendum should be held so that the people of Scotland can decide whether they wish it to become an independent country, and calls on the UK Government to reach an agreement with the Scottish Government on such a referendum taking place on a date and in a manner determined by the Scottish Parliament, which the Scottish Government proposes should take place in 2020.
5:00pm Decision Time