This search includes all content on the Scottish Parliament website, except for Votes and Motions. All Official Reports (what has been said in Parliament) and Questions and Answers are available from 1999. You can refine your search by adding and removing filters.
There is a huge feeling of betrayal in Fife about the plans, but then Tony Blair, Geoff Hoon and Alistair Darling would know nothing of that, because they sent our young men to fight and die and did not bother to come to their funerals.
That is my concern—that the great written and singing culture that exists in Scotland, in spite of the fact that it is preserved in books, may ultimately die because there is no one to understand it.
According to "Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Scotland: A Skills and Aspirations Audit"—a piece of research that the Executive conducted in 2004—although 21 per cent of the refugees and asylum seekers who live in Scotland are university educated, only 7 per cent of them are able to work, in jobs that in no way match up to their skills and qualifications.
It is sad that the figure for recycling in Scotland is only 7 per cent. The SNP welcomes the fairly ambitious national waste plan that was launched earlier this year.
Perhaps the most exciting initiative was a cars-for-work programme in Fife, whereby young people were given money for driving lessons and to buy a car so that they could get to work.
Influencing creditor behaviour to take account of the individual circumstances of debtors is the other side of the coin. We are keen to hear views on how that might be achieved.Convener, we are happy to assist the committee with consideration of those issues and any others that the committee may want to raise with us.
Normally, we would assume a much more cautious 5 to 7 per cent increase in business, as had been the case until the financial year 2005-06.Of the petitions that form the 51 per cent rise in the financial year 2005-06, 60 per cent are creditor petitions that relate to local authorities and council tax.