The next item of business is consideration of business motion S4M-13421, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a revision to today’s business programme. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press their request-to-speak button now.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament agrees to the following revision to the programme of business for Tuesday 9 June 2015—
delete
followed by Ministerial Statement: Publication of the 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
followed by Scottish Government Debate: EU Referendum
and insert
followed by Scottish Government Debate: EU Referendum
followed by Ministerial Statement: Publication of the 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory—[Joe FitzPatrick.]
Patrick Harvie has indicated that he wishes to speak against the motion. Mr Harvie, you have up to five minutes.
14:04
Thank you, Presiding Officer—I will need nothing like five minutes. I simply question why we are being asked to change business by moving the ministerial statement on publication of the greenhouse gas inventory to later in the afternoon.
Opposition parties were initially approached on the basis that the move was necessary to allow the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee to return from a visit to Orkney. I see that several members of that committee are in the chamber at the moment and would have been able to ask questions on the ministerial statement.
Given today’s events, it seems more likely that the change is to allow the Government to make policy announcements to the media, as happened over lunch time—[Interruption.] The Minister for Parliamentary Business is shaking his head. He will have an opportunity to respond in a moment.
We are very aware that policy announcements have been made to the media over lunch time. The announcements were embargoed, which meant that members were not able to be aware of them before the media. The Government wants to change the timing of the statement in order to spend the day managing the press presentation of the issue rather than answering difficult questions on an important topic after yet another failed climate change target.
14:05
First of all, to be absolutely clear, the Government would have been delighted for the statement to be made as was originally proposed. However, a request came in from Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee members. The first request came from the Scottish National Party’s Graeme Dey; the second request came from James Kelly, on behalf of Sarah Boyack, a Labour committee member; and the third request came from Alison McInnes, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat committee member.
The issue is not just about whether people could physically be here in the chamber, because we were aware that the timings would just about allow people to be here for 2 o’clock. It is about making sure that parties’ spokespeople to whom, as a courtesy, the Government gives a copy of the statement an hour in advance, would not be able to process it properly prior to coming into the chamber to ask questions about it.
On the point about the statistics, the statistics, which were published at 9.30 this morning, are produced independently. The code of practice for official statistics states:
“Issue statistical releases at the standard time of 9.30am on a weekday, to maintain consistency and to permit time for users to understand and respond to the information during normal working hours.”
The Government press release on the statistics was issued at 9.51 am—[Interruption.]
I did not ask anything about statistics.
Mr Harvie!
—and referred only to the statistics that had been published. The Green Party issued a press statement based on the same statistical release.
When the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform makes her statement this afternoon, as well as updating Parliament on the statistics and the progress being made, she will announce details of the Government’s further measures to tackle emissions.
I call on Patrick Harvie to reconsider his opposition to the business motion, which changes only the timing of the statement and nothing else.
I understand that some of the RACCE Committee members would have been able to be here to ask questions, but I am not convinced that all the parties’ spokespeople would have had the time to fully consider the statement in advance, which is something that we always try to allow for as a matter of courtesy. I hope that the chamber will support the business change, which was supported this morning by the Parliamentary Bureau.
The question is, that motion S4M-13421, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, be agreed to. Are we agreed?
Members: No.
There will be a division. I suspend the meeting for five minutes to allow the division bell to be rung and members to return to the chamber.
14:08 Meeting suspended.
We now move to the vote on motion S4M-13421.
For
Adam, George (Paisley) (SNP)
Adamson, Clare (Central Scotland) (SNP)
Allard, Christian (North East Scotland) (SNP)
Baillie, Jackie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Baker, Claire (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Baker, Richard (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Baxter, Jayne (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Beamish, Claudia (South Scotland) (Lab)
Biagi, Marco (Edinburgh Central) (SNP)
Bibby, Neil (West Scotland) (Lab)
Boyack, Sarah (Lothian) (Lab)
Brodie, Chic (South Scotland) (SNP)
Brown, Gavin (Lothian) (Con)
Brown, Keith (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) (SNP)
Buchanan, Cameron (Lothian) (Con)
Burgess, Margaret (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
Campbell, Roderick (North East Fife) (SNP)
Carlaw, Jackson (West Scotland) (Con)
Chisholm, Malcolm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab)
Coffey, Willie (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
Constance, Angela (Almond Valley) (SNP)
Crawford, Bruce (Stirling) (SNP)
Cunningham, Roseanna (Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
Davidson, Ruth (Glasgow) (Con)
Dey, Graeme (Angus South) (SNP)
Don, Nigel (Angus North and Mearns) (SNP)
Doris, Bob (Glasgow) (SNP)
Dornan, James (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
Dugdale, Kezia (Lothian) (Lab)
Eadie, Jim (Edinburgh Southern) (SNP)
Ewing, Annabelle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
Fabiani, Linda (East Kilbride) (SNP)
Fee, Mary (West Scotland) (Lab)
Ferguson, Patricia (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab)
FitzPatrick, Joe (Dundee City West) (SNP)
Fraser, Murdo (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Gibson, Rob (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP)
Goldie, Annabel (West Scotland) (Con)
Grahame, Christine (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
Grant, Rhoda (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Gray, Iain (East Lothian) (Lab)
Griffin, Mark (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Henry, Hugh (Renfrewshire South) (Lab)
Hepburn, Jamie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP)
Hume, Jim (South Scotland) (LD)
Hyslop, Fiona (Linlithgow) (SNP)
Ingram, Adam (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP)
Johnstone, Alex (North East Scotland) (Con)
Keir, Colin (Edinburgh Western) (SNP)
Kelly, James (Rutherglen) (Lab)
Kidd, Bill (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP)
Lamont, Johann (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab)
Lamont, John (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Lochhead, Richard (Moray) (SNP)
Lyle, Richard (Central Scotland) (SNP)
MacAskill, Kenny (Edinburgh Eastern) (SNP)
MacDonald, Angus (Falkirk East) (SNP)
MacDonald, Gordon (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP)
MacKenzie, Mike (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
Malik, Hanzala (Glasgow) (Lab)
Marra, Jenny (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Martin, Paul (Glasgow Provan) (Lab)
Mason, John (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
Matheson, Michael (Falkirk West) (SNP)
Maxwell, Stewart (West Scotland) (SNP)
McAlpine, Joan (South Scotland) (SNP)
McArthur, Liam (Orkney Islands) (LD)
McCulloch, Margaret (Central Scotland) (Lab)
McDonald, Mark (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
McDougall, Margaret (West Scotland) (Lab)
McGrigor, Jamie (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
McInnes, Alison (North East Scotland) (LD)
McKelvie, Christina (Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse) (SNP)
McLeod, Aileen (South Scotland) (SNP)
McLeod, Fiona (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
McMahon, Siobhan (Central Scotland) (Lab)
McTaggart, Anne (Glasgow) (Lab)
Milne, Nanette (North East Scotland) (Con)
Murray, Elaine (Dumfriesshire) (Lab)
Paterson, Gil (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP)
Pearson, Graeme (South Scotland) (Lab)
Rennie, Willie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
Rowley, Alex (Cowdenbeath) (Lab)
Scanlon, Mary (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Scott, John (Ayr) (Con)
Simpson, Dr Richard (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Smith, Drew (Glasgow) (Lab)
Smith, Elaine (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab)
Stevenson, Stewart (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
Stewart, David (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Stewart, Kevin (Aberdeen Central) (SNP)
Swinney, John (Perthshire North) (SNP)
Torrance, David (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
Urquhart, Jean (Highlands and Islands) (Ind)
Wheelhouse, Paul (South Scotland) (SNP)
White, Sandra (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
Yousaf, Humza (Glasgow) (SNP)
Against
Finnie, John (Highlands and Islands) (Ind)
Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green)
Johnstone, Alison (Lothian) (Green)
Wilson, John (Central Scotland) (Ind)
The result of the division is: For 97, Against 4, Abstentions 0.
Motion agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees to the following revision to the programme of business for Tuesday 9 June 2015—
delete
followed by Ministerial Statement: Publication of the 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
followed by Scottish Government Debate: EU Referendum
and insert
followed by Scottish Government Debate: EU Referendum
followed by Ministerial Statement: Publication of the 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
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