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.
The stage 1 debate in the chamber took place on 15 November and concerns were expressed again on that day, when the Executive continued to defend its position.
The unit in Alloa Academy takes youngsters who have perhaps arrived in the morning tired and without breakfast—perhaps having supported a difficult family situation in which they have acted as the carer—and negotiates on their behalf what they will do within the school that day. The unit provides them with breakfast, if that is the first thing they need.
The local enterprise companies and the Executive have done well, however, and unemployment has fallen considerably since the dark days when the yards closed. Why, though, should it be left to the public purse to pick up the pieces?
I do not think that my position or Kenny's position has carried the day at any point. There is a simplicity about the system that the Executive is proposing, whereby we use the threshold that is currently in place for collecting student loans, which works in practice and under which there is a good collection rate.
There must be a balancing act between having turgid bills that are 50 pages long, which slow down the Executive because it cannot get through its legislative programme while Parliament meets for days on end to discuss matters, and the right of Opposition and other members of Parliament to scrutinise proposed legislation and follow-up procedures.
I apologise to those members who listened to the previous debate and are staying for this debate—it was not my choice to debate two motions in my name in one day. I apologise if my dulcet tones are not kind to the ears of those members who remain.In July 1996, the Earl of Mar and Kellie reported to the then Secretary of State for Scotland on behalf of the f...
We are aware that local authorities would not like any system that would add to their administrative burdens. However, at the end of the day, we are concerned with creating a system that is fair, not necessarily one that is administratively simple.
When we interpret whether someone is liable, non-liable or qualifies for exemption as a student, the regulations stipulate how many hours of study their course requires and how many hours they do each day and each week. The majority of students in Glasgow, for example, study full time.