Chamber and committees

As the Deputy First Minister highlighted, young people between the ages of 18 and 24 have been at the sharp end of the pandemic, but they are the most likely to have experienced extended worklessness during it, especially if they shielded and gave up their jobs. Youth unemployment in Glasgow sits at 9 per cent, which is almost three times the national average, and young people who return to work are more likely than the average person to be in insecure work and not to be in a union.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that more needs to be done to protect young people who are in work, as there are some scandalous stories of their poor treatment, not just in Glasgow but across the country? How is the Scottish Government ensuring that young people in Glasgow and across the country can access decent and secure jobs that provide them with the ability to develop good-quality careers?

Presiding Officer, Labour will support the amendment to the business motion. I would like it to be noted, however, that that is no reflection whatsoever on the hard work of the committee members.

As Jamie Greene set out, the Criminal Justice Committee was asked to scrutinise the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill using a fast-tracked timetable so that we could bring in the new much-needed offence of supplying fireworks to a person who is under the age of 18 in enough time for the November bonfire season. I agreed, while not fully realising that other aspects of the bill would require much deeper scrutiny than was first thought, including aspects in the stage 1 report that was signed off today around the complexities in the creation of a new licensing scheme, which will require close consideration.

Had I known that the Government would not allow for the usual five days prior to the stage 1 debate, as is required under standing orders, I would have made more objections in the first place against a shortened timetable for completion of the stage 1 report. It does not set a good precedent not to comply with standing order rule 9.6.3A.

As Jamie Greene has done for his party, I place on the record that we support the intentions of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill, and commend the work of the Government and stakeholders. However, we must be prepared to uphold the integrity of the scrutiny process, and it should not be squeezed into a stage 1 debate on Tuesday when stakeholders will not have had time to respond, and we only have the Government’s promise that we will see what it has to say before we have that debate. It is quite unprecedented that the committee report will be published tomorrow afternoon, as the May day holiday is a potential barrier to many who will want to brief members of Parliament who might want to take part in the debate. It is completely unsatisfactory.

The debate could be held on Wednesday; I am not clear why it cannot be. This is one of the first pieces of legislation that has been made in session 6 of the Parliament, and we should be seen to be treating it with respect.

The committee struggled to get data on the crime of fireworks misuse—on which I think the Parliament is unanimous—so that it can understand the picture across Scotland. The data came so late that we cannot influence the stage 1 reports.

Members can see that many factors are making it difficult for the committee to properly scrutinise this important bill. It is therefore unhelpful that, at the end of the process, the Government has chosen to give us no time to consider our response to the report. I hope that there is a way of saying how we intend to go forward in this parliamentary session, which is still in its early stages, and that we will do the right thing and oppose the business motion. Let us let stakeholders give a proper response to the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill. Let us scrutinise it properly. I ask all members, please, not to make an assumption that, just because there is a stage 1 report, the Government has got everything right. I assure members that they will want to discuss quite a number of things when they see the report.

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across government will support young people living in Glasgow to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00996)

Some victims of sexual assault have said that they feel like criminals in the trial process. I welcome the commitment in “The Vision for Justice” to improve communication with complainers through having a single trauma-informed source of contact. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that that will be treated with some urgency by the Scottish Government? Would he also consider the inclusion of some legal representation in that process? One thing that concerns me is that a person needs to have an understanding of the legal system when they talk to victims and complainers. Katy Clark and I have been proposing that measure.

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies across government will support people living in Glasgow to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. (S6O-00901)

A report that was published last week by PWC said that Glasgow had slower growth than Aberdeen and Edinburgh in 2021, and that that would continue this year. The United Kingdom average growth across 50 cities that were measured in the report was 7.4 per cent, but, worryingly, Glasgow is at only 4.4. per cent.

Yesterday, the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee published an excellent report. It highlighted that the bosses of AGS Airports, which own Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, have said that the pandemic

“has ... set us back decades”,

not just because of

“loss of passengers”,

but because of

“loss of connectivity”

to the whole of Glasgow and its city region.

What more evidence does the Government need that Glasgow is in trouble and needs more assistance and special attention? Will the Government elaborate on what intervention it would make to help the Glasgow city region?

The case of Scott Storey, who was out on licence after committing murder, and who had changed his name, is a prime example of the need to constantly review our law. The cabinet secretary mentioned Clare’s law and the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which requires women to make an inquiry.

Could the cabinet secretary clarify today, or in writing to me, whether it is an offence not to disclose a new relationship? There is a requirement for people to tell their social worker, but is it an offence not to do so? Should that be reviewed? Should there also, perhaps, be a review of Clare’s law to consider whether to allow police officers to directly inform women who find themselves in a relationship with an ex-offender?

Roads in Glasgow city centre were closed early this year ahead of the filming of the new “Batgirl” movie. That filming is said to have decimated trade for many businesses, which, as the cabinet secretary will be aware, struggled after lockdown and the quite severe restrictions that were in place over Christmas. One owner of a bar and restaurant said that they had lost up to £10,000-worth of business. Another business—a clothing shop—closed for a week as a result of the low footfall because of the road closures. Those businesses were offered £30 a day from Warner Bros.

The city council offered an incentive to the production company of £150,000. Does the cabinet secretary agree that it is wrong to offer financial incentives to production companies without making that conditional on ensuring that businesses are adequately compensated for losses in trade? Surely that will be a very important principle as we try to recover from the pandemic, in order to ensure that those businesses have a chance to recover.

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it provides to Glasgow businesses that have been impacted by a loss of earnings as a result of street closures due to a variety of recent projects. (S6O-00874)

Public service broadcasting matters, and I am an enthusiastic supporter of its place in the dissemination of important stories and information. I agree with Jenni Minto about the importance of BBC Alba. In fact, I campaigned for it, because I believe that Gaelic broadcasting is very important, and it is an excellent channel.

As other speakers have said, we value public broadcasting now more than ever when we see the Russian state and other dictatorships control the freedom of their media. As Alex Cole-Hamilton said, the BBC World Service changed its frequency to the less used short wave, to let ordinary Russians hear the truth of the dangerous war in Ukraine, so it has indeed done the world a service.

In the UK, 91 per cent of adults use BBC television, radio or online services every week, and the BBC reaches half a billion people outside the UK every week, which is quite staggering. Many tune into the World Service and BBC World News, and the BBC operates in 42 languages, from Korean to Punjabi. I love the BBC Asian Network and Radio 6 Music. There is plenty of innovation, and it never stops. The BBC sets the bar internationally, and I believe that its existence means that, across the world, broadcasting overall is of a much higher standard.

With the growth of misinformation and the present huge propaganda war being waged by Russia, trustworthy news sources matter now more than ever. As Donald Cameron said earlier, the BBC Russian language news site has tripled its audience.

I agree with the First Minister when she said this week that journalists, such as Clive Myrie, who have been playing such an important role from Ukraine, are “unsung heroes”. That has always been the case for journalists across the stations. Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, has covered every conflict zone that I have ever followed.

Many years ago, along with Sarah Boyack, I had the privilege of meeting Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in Gaza in the mid-2000s. I also had the opportunity to meet Rageh Omaar in Gaza, when he bravely replaced Alan Johnston. He now works for ITV.

It is also worth remembering that the BBC’s values are to inform, educate and entertain, and it has being doing just that during the pandemic. The BBC Scotland channel offered a daily range of programmes for primary and secondary learners, which focused on the curriculum for excellence.

I am proud of the work that BBC Scotland does and I am proud that it is based in Glasgow, the city that I represent. I agree with Jenni Minto on the importance of radio output. I take this opportunity to applaud the work of journalists Fiona Stalker and John Beattie for their incredible coverage of the current issues of violence and harassment against women. In my view, Sam Poling’s eight-part series “Disclosure” on BBC Scotland led to the arrest of a man who is believed to have murdered Emma Caldwell. Our broadcasting, including our drama and documentaries, is crucially important.

One thing on which I agree with Stephen Kerr is that BBC Scotland’s current affairs output and coverage of Parliament could be better. As Christine Grahame alluded to earlier, at one time, we had much better coverage. I would like to go back to those days.

At the start of the year, Nadine Dorries, the UK culture secretary, announced cuts to the BBC’s funding, as previous culture secretaries have done. She said that the current licence fee agreement between the UK Government and the corporation “will be the last”. I would really call on the Tories and the UK Government to settle their position on the BBC, instead of threatening it every time that they take office.

Let us not forget the UK Government’s recent attack on Channel 4, which is another publicly owned, non-profit organisation that invests in commissioning programmes. Last year, the UK Government launched a consultation into the ownership of Channel 4 and made it clear that it wants the station to be privatised. I believe that the flagship news programme at 7 pm on Channel 4 has the best news coverage—