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Perhaps demanding that the will of Parliament be accepted is not always Mr Whitton’s strongest ground.We will publish the numbers after the Christmas recess. I confirm to Mr Whitton that they will be published before the stage 1 debate on the budget bill, which will take place in late January.
Subjectively, I believe that the main purchasers are primarily consumers on lower incomes. During the recession, there has been an overall shift in the purchase of fast-moving consumer goods towards lower retail priced goods, whether alcohol or other products.
I am happy, however, to bring forward the terms of a debate after the summer recess. There will, throughout the legislative process, be plenty of opportunity to discuss the matter, for ample scrutiny and to debate many of the issues.
In Norway, Sweden and Finland, growth has fluctuated wildly; both Finland and Sweden have had three years of recession. Against that picture, what has the devolution dividend been for Scotland?
It is clear that the legal profession has taken a bit of a battering through the recession. Many local firms that in the past might not have dealt with some aspects of legal aid work are now prepared to do so.We want to ensure that we provide for those who suffer from mental health problems and who must have their rights protected, regardless of where in Sc...
The challenge that we will all face will increase.We are looking at the various actions that a Government should be considering in managing the pressures that will come over the next decade. We have had recessions before, which have lasted two or maybe three years and then the money tree has continued.
We are just beginning to emerge from the recession—there were some positive figures this morning—and we must be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past and end up again with communities that are overreliant on a small number of large employers.
The first of those concerns is on the timing of the publication, which proved to be a problem in that not only did the 60-day statutory period for parliamentary scrutiny include a parliamentary recess, which made the timescale tight, but it took place at the same time as scrutiny of the Scottish budget.
I think that it is largely a consequence of the recession, which means that people are having more problems and that solicitors are making less money out of other business, with the result that legal aid has become slightly more attractive to them.