Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Official Report
732KB pdf
Decision Time
There are three questions to be put as a result of today’s business.
The first question is, that amendment S4M-04886.2, in the name of Ken Macintosh, which seeks to amend motion S4M-04886, in the name of Fergus Ewing, on business tourism, be agreed to.
Amendment agreed to.
The next question is, that motion S4M-04886, in the name of Fergus Ewing, on business tourism, as amended, be agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament recognises that the Scottish tourism industry delivers over £2.9 billion annually to the Scottish gross value added; welcomes the contribution made to this achievement by the business tourism sector; acknowledges the efforts made by the VisitScotland’s Ambassador Programme to boost Scotland’s profile across the world; notes that, in addition to the direct economic impact from conferences and events, they also enhance Scotland’s credentials as a place to invest, study, live, work and visit again; further notes the successes to date in winning additional events with the Conference Bid Fund; encourages stakeholders of all sizes to make greater use of the match-funding available from the Conference Bid Fund to win even further business for Scotland; notes the value of business tourism in terms of promoting growth and dealing with issues of seasonality; recognises the key role of Scotland’s cities in developing business tourism, for example in Glasgow, where the city council has worked hard to achieve the position of largest destination for business tourism in the UK outside London, and in Aberdeen, where the city council has, in 2012, paid off the accumulated £26.2 million debt of the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in order to continue to grow international conference business in the city; notes the importance of good transport links in helping to sustain and build on this success, and calls on the Scottish Government and local authorities to continue to work together positively to replicate this success across Scotland.
The next question is, that motions S4M-04903, S4M-04904 and S4M-04905, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, on approval of Scottish statutory instruments, be agreed to.
Motions agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 (Premiums) Regulations 2012 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Homelessness (Abolition of Priority Need Test) (Scotland) Order 2012 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Housing Support Services (Homelessness) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 [draft] be approved.
Before we move on to members’ business, I say that I would appreciate it if Mr McMahon would come and see me in my office immediately after decision time.