Note: (DT) signifies a decision taken at Decision Time.
The meeting opened at 2.30 pm.
1. Time for Reflection: Rev Frank Campbell, Ale & Teviot United Church, Roxburgh, led Time for Reflection.
2. Business Motion: Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S3M-3843—That the Parliament agrees the following revision to the programme of business for Wednesday 1 April 2009—
delete
followed by Finance Committee Debate: Inquiry into Methods of Funding Capital Investment Projects
and insert
followed by Ministerial Statement: Dunfermline Building Society
followed by Finance Committee Debate: Inquiry into Methods of Funding Capital Investment Projects
followed by Ministerial Statement: The Scottish Government’s Response to Audit Scotland’s Report on Drug/Alcohol Services
The motion was agreed to.
3. Appointment of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner: Tricia Marwick moved S3M-3832—That the Parliament agrees, under section 1(2) of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002, to appoint Stuart Allan as the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
After debate, the motion was agreed to (DT).
4. First Minister’s Statement: The First Minister (Alex Salmond) made a statement and answered questions on the Dunfermline Building Society.
5. Inquiry into Methods of Funding Capital Investment Projects: Andrew Welsh moved S3M-3822—That the Parliament notes the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Finance Committee’s 8th Report, 2008 (Session 3): Inquiry into methods of funding capital investment projects (SP Paper 182).
After debate, the motion was agreed to (DT).
6. Ministerial Statement: The Minister for Community Safety (Fergus Ewing) made a statement and answered questions on the Scottish Government’s Response to Audit Scotland’s report on Drug/Alcohol Services.
7. Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill - UK Legislation: The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Fiona Hyslop) moved S3M-3753—That the Parliament agrees that the relevant provisions of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 4 February 2008, relating to the management of Career Development Loans and the Managing Information Across Partners programme, so far as these matters fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament or alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers, should be considered by the UK Parliament.
The motion was agreed to (DT).
8. Business Motion: Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S3M-3844—That the Parliament agrees the following programme of business—
Wednesday 22 April 2009
2.30 pm Time for Reflection
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Debate: 3rd Report 2009
followed by Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Debate: 1st Report 2009
followed by Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Debate: 4th Report 2009
followed by Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee Debate: Inquiry into the Potential Benefits of High-speed Rail Services
followed by Business Motion
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Thursday 23 April 2009
9.15 am Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Scottish Labour Party Business
11.40 am General Question Time
12 noon First Minister's Question Time
2.15 pm Themed Question Time
Education and Lifelong Learning;
Europe, External Affairs and Culture
2.55 pm Scottish Government Debate: Glasgow 2014 Legacy Plan
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Wednesday 29 April 2009
2.30 pm Time for Reflection
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Scottish Government Business
followed by Business Motion
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Thursday 30 April 2009
9.15 am Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Scottish Government Business
11.40 am General Question Time
12 noon First Minister’s Question Time
2.15 pm Themed Question Time
Health and Wellbeing
2.55 pm Scottish Government Business
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
The motion was agreed to.
9. Business Motion: Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S3M-3845—That the Parliament agrees that consideration of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill at Stage 2 be extended to 1 May 2009.
The motion was agreed to.
10. Business Motion: Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S3M-3846—That the Parliament agrees that consideration of the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill at Stage 2 be completed by 1 May 2009.
The motion was agreed to.
11. Decision Time: The Parliament took decisions on items 3, 5 and 7 as noted above.
12. Supporting Conventional Plant Breeding: The Parliament debated S3M-3205 in the name of Rob Gibson—That the Parliament welcomes a growing body of evidence that Scottish farmers, crofters and growers can benefit from the results of successful experiments to produce home-grown food for both animals and humans that does not rely on transgenic modification of plant material; also welcomes the recent work of the Scottish Crop Research Institute in producing highly nutritious purple-pigmented potatoes; applauds the Sárvári Research Trust based at Bangor University that confirms that blight-resistant Sárpo potatoes, which were successfully trialed in the Black Isle, are suitable for Scottish conditions; recalls that the Scottish Agricultural College has backed an international research collaboration on the Green Pig project, which plans to use home-grown legume varieties to reduce reliance on imported and expensive soya bean meal and so reduce costs for Scottish livestock producers; notes the scientific analysis of Dr John Fagan of Global ID Group, which shows that, although non-GM pig feed costs a bit more than GM feed because of feed-to-meat conversion efficiency, when using non-GM feed the actual cost per animal is lower, and therefore believes that a conventional plant breeding policy is an essential basis for the Scottish national food and drink policy, which itself dovetails with the conclusions of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development that small-scale farming and ecological methods provide the way forward to avert the current world food crisis.
The meeting closed at 5.34 pm.
P E Grice
Clerk of the Parliament
1 April 2009
Appendix
(Note: this Appendix does not form part of the Minutes)
Subordinate Legislation
Affirmative Instruments
The following instrument was laid in draft before the Parliament on 1 April 2009 for approval by resolution
The Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 4) Order 2009 (SI 2009/draft)
laid under section 115 of, and paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 7 to the Scotland Act 1998
Negative Instruments
The following instrument was laid before the Parliament on 27 March 2009 and is subject to annulment
The Diligence against Earnings (Variation) (Scotland) Revocation Regulations 2009 (SSI 2009/133)
laid under section 104 of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987
Other Documents
The following documents were laid before the Parliament on 30 March 2009 and are not subject to any parliamentary procedure—
Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) (SG/2009/57)—
Feed Law Enforcement Code of Practice (Great Britain) (SG/2009/58)—
laid under section 7 of the Official Feed and Food Controls (Scotland) Regulations 2007
Committee Reports
The following report was published on 27 March 2009
Subordinate Legislation Committee, 20th Report, 2009 (Session 3):
Subordinate Legislation (SP Paper 245)
The following report was published on 30 March 2009
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee, 4th Report 2009 (Session 3): Review of equal opportunities in the work of committees (SP Paper 244)