Section F – Motions and Amendments

Motions and amendments are normally only printed the day after the day on which they are lodged and then with the complete list of motions and amendments lodged the previous week which is published in this section of the Bulletin every Monday. That list also contains any motions lodged for debate in the forthcoming week.

Where the text of a motion or amendment is altered, the motion or amendment is re-printed with the changes marked by asterisks in the text.

Where a motion or amendment attracts additional support after it is first published, that additional support is shown separately at the end of this section.

Motions eligible for consideration for debate as members’ business in the Parliament are marked with a hash symbol (#).

Motions submitted for members’ business in the Parliament but which have not yet received the requisite cross-party support are marked with a diamond symbol (♦).

Motions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an "R".

An indication is also provided where motions and amendments have been withdrawn.

A full list of current motions is available to view each Monday in paper copy at the Chamber Desk or alternatively on the Scottish Parliament web site at Current Motions

(http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/motionsAndAmendments/motions.htm). A search facility is also available on the Scottish Parliament web site at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/motionsAndAmendments/index.htm

New and altered motions and amendments

*S3M-883 John Swinney: Scottish Government’s Economic Strategy—That the Parliament recognises the importance of creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish and notes the publication of The Government Economic Strategy, which sets out the Scottish Government’s approach to aligning the public, private and voluntary sectors to achieve this objective.

Supported by: Fiona Hyslop*

*S3M-882 Hugh O’Donnell: North Lanarkshire Young People’s Panel—That the Parliament commends the work of the North Lanarkshire Young People’s Panel, whose 12 active members have met continually over the past 18 months to assess applications made to the Big Lottery Fund’s young people’s projects in Scotland and who have helped to gain approximately £736,000 in funding for youngsters across North Lanarkshire over that period; congratulates both the panel members and the Volunteer Centre North Lanarkshire, which organised and supported the panel for the North Lanarkshire area, on its achievement, and believes that such success should encourage the Big Lottery Fund to continue and develop the scheme after the end of January 2008 when it is currently due to end.

*S3M-881 Cathy Jamieson: 50th Anniversary of the Kames Colliery Disaster—That the Parliament notes the 50th anniversary of the disaster at Kames Colliery, Muirkirk, which occurred on Tuesday 19 November 1957 when 17 men were killed and 12 injured; recognises the continuing significance of this event to the people of Muirkirk; commends the local community for the dignity and respect that they have shown to the memory of the victims and their families during the recent events to commemorate the disaster, and pays its respects to the men who lost their lives 50 years ago at Kames Colliery and those who have lost their lives in all Scotland’s coal mines.

*S3M-880 David Whitton: Nursery Education—That the Parliament welcomes the increase in funding entitlement to free nursery education for Scotland’s three and four-year-olds from 33 weeks to 38 weeks but is concerned that this funding, under the guidance from the Scottish Government, is available in many local authorities only from the start of the term following the third birthday of the child and leaves many parents in the position of not being able to provide a suitable nursery place for their three-year-old child until the start of the following term, and calls on the Scottish Government to review the guidance provided to local authorities to encourage funding to be available from the child’s third birthday and ensure that adequate funding is provided to all local authorities for early years education to be available from the day of a child’s third birthday.

Supported by: Charlie Gordon*, Bill Butler*, Elaine Murray*, Paul Martin*, James Kelly*, David Stewart*, Claire Baker*

*S3M-879 Robert Brown: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child—That the Parliament notes the 18th birthday of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantees the rights of all children and young people in Scotland to fulfil their potential; believes that all children and young people in our society, but particularly children with a disability or additional support needs, face a number of barriers in realising these rights, for example to be included, to achieve their promise and to access leisure and recreational activities as well as other core services; supports the work done by the Cross Party Group on Children and Young People to raise awareness and consensus in the Parliament around this issue; urges the Scottish Government to listen to, and actively involve, children and young people in the development and delivery of educational, social, leisure and health services, and believes that it is the Scottish Government’s responsibility to research the extent and reasons for such barriers and that the voices of children and young people with additional support needs should form a central part of the inspection processes that these services undergo.

*S3M-878 Bill Kidd: Anti-Bullying Week 2007—That the Parliament welcomes Anti-Bullying Week 2007, the theme of which is "Cyberbullying, schools and the community"; notes that Anti-Bullying Week has in the past few years had great success in raising awareness of this issue and looked at practical solutions under the themes of "Bystander" and "children and young people’s participation - involving children and young people in tackling bullying"; believes that these events are of great importance in helping to tackle a problem that affects a great number of people not only in schools but also in the wider community; hopes that as organisations such as Respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, become more widely known the vision set out by Respectme of a respecting, just, equal and inclusive Scotland in which all children and young people can live free from bullying and harassment and are encouraged to reach their full potential will be achieved, and wishes it every success in this endeavour.

*S3M-877 Alex Neil: Liberal Democrat Plans for Scottish Water—That the Parliament notes with concern the suggestion by the leader of the Liberal Democrats that he intends to amend the Scottish budget to mutualise Scottish Water; considers that this proposal has not been thought through; notes that Scottish Water cannot be mutualised or privatised through the budget process and that any reduction by the Liberal Democrat or Labour party in the funding allocated by the Scottish Government to Scottish Water will lead to increased water charges for all Scottish taxpayers, including pensioners, and urges the Liberal Democrats and other opposition parties to state clearly which public services they intend to cut in any attack on the Scottish budget.

Supported by: Bashir Ahmad*, Joe FitzPatrick*, Stuart McMillan*, Michael Matheson*, Sandra White*, Robin Harper*, Bob Doris*, Brian Adam*, Bill Kidd*, Kenneth Gibson*

*S3M-876# Sandra White: Democratic Deficit—That the Parliament expresses serious concern for the rights of democratically elected members of Glasgow City Council and the residents they represent as a result of Glasgow City Council’s ruling Labour administration preventing open and democratic debate of important issues to Glasgow at the special Glasgow City Council meeting on 15 November 2007, called to discuss business that was curtailed at the previous meeting, by voting to end the meeting before the first motion had even been debated in the face of opposition from SNP, Green and Conservative councillors and before important issues concerning services for young people, the impact of the 2012 Olympics on lottery funding and housing for asylum seekers and refugees could be debated; notes that such actions do nothing to foster political co-operation to the detriment of both the council and, more importantly, the people of Glasgow, and believes that, as a means to creating an effective working environment in which the interests of the people of Glasgow are put first, such petty and juvenile actions should be seriously reviewed before more valuable time is used up without real debate being able to take place.

Supported by: Christina McKelvie*, Ian McKee*, Bill Kidd*, Bashir Ahmad*, Stuart McMillan*, Keith Brown*, Brian Adam*, Kenneth Gibson*

*S3M-875 Helen Eadie: Queen Margaret University Honorary Doctorates—That the Parliament congratulates all graduates of Queen Margaret University in 2007; particularly pays tribute to the conferring of honorary degree of Doctor of the University on Baron Kinnock of Bedwelty and the award of honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration to Dr Ken McCulloch FHCIMA, and notes that Principal, Professor Cohen, described Baron Kinnock as a towering political figure of our time and Dr McCulloch as personifying the values and skills that we seek to inculcate in the people of our nation and who is a role model of entrepreneurial flair and imagination.

*S3M-874 Sarah Boyack: Moose in the Hoose—That the Parliament welcomes the "Moose In The Hoose" project aimed at introducing the benefits of computers and the internet to those living in care homes and sheltered housing in Edinburgh using retired and senior volunteers; congratulates the City of Edinburgh Council’s Department of Health and Social Care, Community Service Volunteer’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) and Age Concern’s Edinburgh Information Technology (ACE IT) based in the Gorgie and Dalry area on jointly bringing this project to fruition; believes that it is vital that no section of society is left behind by technological developments, and further believes that this important social inclusion project is an example of good practice to the rest of Scotland and beyond.

Supported by: Christine Grahame*, Jamie Stone*, Karen Gillon*, Mary Mulligan*, Robin Harper*, Marilyn Livingstone*, James Kelly*, Kenneth Gibson*

*S3M-873 Sarah Boyack: Threatened Closure of the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh—That the Parliament notes with concern that the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh faces closure following a decision by the City of Edinburgh Council not to fund a refurbishment plan until at least 2010; notes the comments of the Chief Executive of the Festival City Theatres Trust which runs the venue on the council’s behalf that such a delay threatens the King’s Theatre with closure on health and safety grounds within two years; recognises the important contribution that the Tollcross venue has made in its 101-year history to the cultural life of Edinburgh, the Lothians and the east of Scotland and which continues today, including its role in Edinburgh’s festivals; believes that funding for refurbishment should be prioritised accordingly, and calls on the City of Edinburgh Council to enter into funding negotiations with the Scottish Government and the Festival City Theatres Trust with a view to securing a viable future for the King’s Theatre.

Supported by: Malcolm Chisholm*, Karen Gillon*, Bill Kidd*, Patricia Ferguson*, Robin Harper*, Marilyn Livingstone*

*S3M-872 Kenneth Gibson: United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative—That the Parliament supports the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative on its work to ensure that by 2015 all girls worldwide complete primary school; acknowledges that educated girls have greater choice and more opportunities in life and are much less likely to suffer from poverty, ill-health and forced marriage, and believes that securing equality of access to education is a fundamental human right.

Supported by: Christine Grahame*

S3M-871*#* Cathy Peattie: Carers’ Respite and Short Breaks—That the Parliament notes that 7 December 2007 is Carers’ Rights Day; applauds the huge contribution made to society by more than 600,000 unpaid carers in Scotland; welcomes the work done by organisations such as Grangemouth Carers and the Falkirk Carers Centre; recognises the enormous benefit that the provision of respite and short break services can make to both the carer and the cared for; notes with concern the inequalities of access to respite provision recently highlighted by the Scottish Society for Autism; believes that regular updates should be made available, detailing progress towards the provision of an additional 10,000 weeks respite per year, as well as a guaranteed annual entitlement to breaks from caring by 2011; welcomes the Scottish Government’s consultation on its new respite care guidance; is concerned, however, that this guidance does not contain a duty on local authorities to develop specific respite strategies; believes that such a duty is vital to strengthen the development of respite services and to achieve equality of access across Scotland, and believes that, in the absence of a duty on local authorities, measures should be taken to ensure that the impact of any additional resources for respite services is not undermined by weaknesses in local respite planning.

Supported by: Christine Grahame*, Elaine Murray*, Bill Kidd*, James Kelly*, Marilyn Livingstone*, Bill Butler*, David Stewart*, Helen Eadie*, Robin Harper*

S3M-868*#* Bashir Ahmad: Standing United with Glasgow’s Pakistani Community—That the Parliament is united with members of the Glasgow Pakistani community who protested outside the Pakistan Vice-Consulate’s office in Glasgow in November 2007; shares their concerns over the emergency rule imposed by General Musharraf in Pakistan; joins in their calls demanding that the rule of law is adhered to, the judiciary is reinstated and free and fair elections are held as scheduled in January 2008, and considers that representations should be made to Westminster on their behalf and that appropriate pressure be applied to General Musharraf to comply with the democratic wishes of the Pakistani community.

Supported by: Alasdair Allan*, Kenneth Gibson*, Ross Finnie*, Rob Gibson*, Joe FitzPatrick*, Keith Brown*, Christine Grahame*, Brian Adam*, Bill Wilson*, Jackson Carlaw*, Alex Neil*, Bill Kidd*, Robin Harper*, Aileen Campbell*, Sandra White*, Tavish Scott*

Motions and amendments which have attracted additional support

S3M-869 Discrimination Against Women in Saudi Arabia (lodged on 16 November 2007) Christine Grahame*, Bashir Ahmad*, Sandra White*, Alasdair Allan*, Bill Kidd*, Stuart McMillan*, Robin Harper*, Bob Doris*, Kenneth Gibson*

S3M-867 The HELIX Project (lodged on 15 November 2007) Christine Grahame*

S3M-865 Children in Need (lodged on 15 November 2007) Pauline McNeill*

S3M-864 Congratulations to NHS Fife for Eye Diagnosis Pilot (lodged on 15 November 2007) Robin Harper*, Marilyn Livingstone*, Jamie Stone*

S3M-862 Yeah Butt No Butts in Maryhill (lodged on 15 November 2007) James Kelly*, Jackie Baillie*, Marilyn Livingstone*

S3M-861# 18 Years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (lodged on 15 November 2007) Robin Harper*, Alex Neil*, Christine Grahame*, Ian McKee*, Michael Matheson*

S3M-860 Biggar Café is Fish and Chip Shop of the Year (lodged on 15 November 2007) Bill Kidd*, Bashir Ahmad*, Keith Brown*, Alasdair Allan*

S3M-859 Welcoming Siphiwe Hlophe of SWAPOL to the Scottish Parliament (lodged on 15 November 2007) Cathy Peattie*

S3M-858♦ Government Powers to Ensure Terrestrial Broadcast of Sport (lodged on 15 November 2007) Alex Neil*, Ian McKee*, Michael Matheson*

S3M-857 Equal Rights for Agency Workers (lodged on 15 November 2007) Michael Matheson*

S3M-856 Return of Darfuri Asylum Seekers to Sudan (lodged on 15 November 2007) Michael Matheson*

S3M-851 Lothian Buses are the Best (lodged on 14 November 2007) Marilyn Livingstone*

S3M-849 Non-Compliance with Minimum Wage Legislation (lodged on 14 November 2007) Robin Harper*

S3M-849.1 Non-Compliance with Minimum Wage Legislation (lodged on 15 November 2007) Marilyn Livingstone*

S3M-848 CAB Service in Edinburgh (lodged on 14 November 2007) Robin Harper*, Alex Neil*, Christine Grahame*, Jamie Stone*, Margaret Smith*

S3M-845 Congratulations to Marks & Spencer on Plastic Bag Ban (lodged on 13 November 2007) Joe FitzPatrick*, Jamie Stone*

S3M-835 Rural Fuel Prices (lodged on 13 November 2007) Jamie Stone*

S3M-832 Free Central Heating Scheme (lodged on 13 November 2007) Jamie Stone*

S3M-830 Diabetes UK Scotland World Diabetes Day Report 2007 (lodged on 13 November 2007) Marilyn Livingstone*

S3M-829♦ Changes to the National Concessionary Travel Scheme (lodged on 13 November 2007) Elaine Murray*, Robin Harper*, Bill Butler*, Marilyn Livingstone*, Mary Mulligan*, Paul Martin*, James Kelly*, Pauline McNeill*, David Stewart*, Claire Baker*

S3M-826 Samaritans’ Winter Campaign - Dr Chad Varah (lodged on 12 November 2007) Jamie Stone*

S3M-814# Moratorium on Post Office Closures (lodged on 9 November 2007) Keith Brown*, Alasdair Allan*

S3M-805 1,000 Parliamentarian Signatures for Amnesty Petition (lodged on 8 November 2007) Stuart McMillan*

S3M-774 Congratulations to Hannah Frank (lodged on 5 November 2007) Jamie Stone*

S3M-768# Science and the Parliament, Wednesday 28 November 2007 (lodged on 2 November 2007) Margo MacDonald*

S3M-721.1 Social Work Cuts Force Frail Fife Pensioners to Stay in Hospital (lodged on 6 November 2007) Jamie Stone*

S3M-534 Iraq - Genocide (lodged on 24 September 2007) Robin Harper*