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Showing 60 of 2,095,827 contributions. Latest 30 days: 2,655. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 09 Jun 2026.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

Could the clerks draft something based on the discussion that we have had and e-mail it to us?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

And it will be copied to all members.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

We have to make a decision.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

To be honest, if the matter is discussed in the chamber at decision time—when there are never any members of the press there—it will not be any more on the public record than it is now. Nobody pays much attention to what happens then, either.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

We could include a copy of the Official Report of today's meeting.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

Could we not write to the bureau and copy the letter to all members?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

Have certain committee reports not been debated because the bureau did not like their content? I cannot think of any precedent for that.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

That would be 10 votes, then.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

Are you suggesting that we have that debate and not push the matter to a vote?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I have a further point on something that the bureau said. If one of the criteria for getting items debated in the chamber was that members had read the relevant report or knew anything at all about what other committees were discussing, we would have a paucity of business in t...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

It is the same with any committee.

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

To a certain extent, I am fairly ambivalent about whether the report goes ahead or not, because I have not been involved in the tortuous process of compiling it, as other committee members have. However, if the bureau is talking about precedents, it is unprecedented that a com...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

There is no reason why we should not do both things separately. We could report simply that we decided not to proceed with the bill because of lack of time. I do not see why the member's bill has to be linked to the round-table meeting that we held. That would look like we had...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I assume that Fife Council is in the minority on the topic. The COSLA submission says:"Councils opposed to a reduction … feel that … they themselves might have to ensure that the current minimum frequency of inspections is maintained".In other words, the councils feel that if ...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Subordinate Legislation

That information is in paragraph 6 on page 11 of paper HC/S2/07/03/05, which mentions the proportionate model of inspection. The date of the next visit is determined on the basis of the inspection report, so it might be decided that an inspection will be made a year or two yea...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Smoking Ban <br />(Public Health Impacts)

Cleaning would send the levels in the opposite direction.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Smoking Ban <br />(Public Health Impacts)

I am looking for clarification following Stewart Maxwell's first question about other factors. How do you know that there were no changes in those other factors? After the smoking ban, when the smell of smoke went away from the pubs, other smells started to emerge. Perhaps pub...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Smoking Ban <br />(Public Health Impacts)

In the post-ban visits, the level of micrograms per cubic metre ranged from 6 to 104. What accounts for that difference?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

Is that the status quo?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

We should leave it for committees to decide.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

It is not a question of how many committee rooms should be fitted up. Before we decide on that, we need to arrive at a view on what should happen. If we are of a mind that electronic voting should happen only on rare occasions and that the decision to proceed should be made by...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

Paragraph 10 states:"given the short term nature of the pilot, it was agreed that this work should not be carried out and a method of transmitting the results to the Official Report in an alternative format was identified and used successfully."A pilot exercise was conducted a...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

The software is not.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Electronic Voting

Paragraph 10 on page 4 of paper PR/S2/07/1/3 states that the software that was used to electronically transmit voting records to the official report from the chamber did not work and that no way was found to deal with that problem during the pilot exercise. The paragraph state...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Every change has made things worse.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Question times were better at the start of the first session of Parliament. Perhaps we were all more bright eyed and bushy tailed then, and more inclined to stay for questions. However, it definitely worked better to have general questions—mixed rather than themed—followed by ...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

That raises the issue of members voting in the chamber. During stage 3 proceedings, I, along with most other members, end up running back and forward from the coffee room and asking people what we are voting for. If we are going to say that everybody has to be present for ever...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

The clerks would not know whether the absence was permanent, unless the member said that they were leaving early.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

It would have to say when members arrived, too.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

That would be fun.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

We made a decision and we should not ask our successor committee to re-examine it.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

As long as the legacy paper states the committee's view clearly, I think that it can cover both issues that we have not had time to consider and issues that we have considered but not resolved for lack of time. However, the legacy paper should not include issues that have been...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Alex Johnstone's point would be relevant if members themselves were given positions on committees. However, the committee convenerships are distributed using the d'Hondt method, so if a convener leaves a certain political party, that party no longer has the number of conveners...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Treatment of Drug Users

Do you think that it is not necessary for every drug misuser to have the aim of being completely drug or methadone free and that, for some people, being able to maintain a normal lifestyle using methadone is sufficient? Alternatively, do you feel that the aim for everybody sho...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Treatment of Drug Users

I do not disagree with what Dr Watson said about maintenance and about regarding certain addictions as conditions that have to be treated. It is obviously important to keep people well and to keep them able to function in their families and at their place of employment.Dr Wats...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Treatment of Drug Users

I am a member of the committee.

Kate Maclean: Lab Chamber

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Healthy Food (Dundee)

Does the minister agree that making healthy food available in deprived communities does not in itself change the culture of unhealthy eating? Is he aware of the great work that the Dundee healthy living initiative is doing to teach people basic cooking skills on a budget and t...

5. Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Chamber

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Healthy Food (Dundee)

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to encourage convenience stores and retailers in Dundee to promote healthy food. (S2O-11696)

Kate Maclean: Lab Chamber

Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

No, I am not happy with the guidance. Two wrongs do not make a right. The anti-discrimination legislation that will come into force next year will take care of that and will probably make the provision that amendment 86 would insert obsolete anyway. If any organisation feels t...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Chamber

Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I speak strongly against amendment 86. If we insert the provision that it proposes into the bill, we will give a green light to adoption agencies to discriminate. The main priority of any adoption agency, faith-based or otherwise, should be the good of the children with whom t...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill

The issue was considered before I was a member of the committee, so I do not have a view one way or the other.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Journal of the Scottish Parliament

That is a relief. People will be able to look back at the minutes of the Procedures Committee nostalgically.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Journal of the Scottish Parliament

To be perfectly honest, it would be a waste of money to do anything else. As nobody even knew what the journal is, it is obvious that we do not all spend our time looking at it.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Journal of the Scottish Parliament

We should go for the option of making a consequential change to rule 16.5 to correct the anomaly. We should not deal with the matter any further, because there is no point.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

It very much depends on the bill and the committee's work programme, so we really have to factor in a little bit of extra time. Rosemary Byrne's bill was lodged towards the end of September, but the Parliament first had to agree which would be the lead committee. The first opp...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

As a member of the Health Committee, I took part in the consideration of Rosemary Byrne's member's bill. You might be right to suggest that the matter be flagged up in our legacy paper, but any MSP who has sat on a committee has a general idea of how long it takes a bill—even ...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Items in Private

The timescale is a bit longer than Karen Gillon says. After a member's bill has been lodged, it must be referred to Parliament to decide which committee will be the lead committee before it can be referred to that committee. By the time that the Health Committee came to consid...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I think that we should agree to proceed without Bruce McFee's caveat.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

We should pursue it, but extending the lodging deadline to 6 pm would be unacceptable, because it would cause many problems, particularly for staff, who might have to stay until quite late at night to finalise the Business Bulletin for publication the following day. However, a...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I am concerned that SPICe is being asked to produce something that, realistically, would create a huge additional workload but would not be read by most members. It is fine for us to say that SPICe could produce all these briefings but, from experience, I know that members are...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I agree with Richard Baker. We have discussed the issue already and have factual evidence that an extension has been used on four occasions. Richard is probably right to suggest that an extension of half an hour or an hour might not be enough—on some occasions, all members who...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I do not think that that is a good idea. We would be saying that the scheduled debate that could be bumped was not important, which would bring into question what we do in Parliament. If that debate interested members of the public, they might make arrangements to attend it or...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Parliamentary Time

I do not understand your suggestion. Are you suggesting that a debate is scheduled that, if necessary, can be cancelled so that stage 3 discussion can continue into a further meeting?

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Health Board Elections (Scotland) Bill

I have looked at the piece in the press and it is just a speculative piece about what may be discussed in the Labour Party and what may be suggested for the manifesto. There is not enough strength in the article to write to the minister. We have taken evidence from various wit...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab Committee

Health Board Elections (Scotland) Bill

I have not seen what was in the press, but I disagree with Shona Robison. We have to consider the bill and the evidence that we have taken from the minister, the member in charge of the bill and other witnesses. I do not think that we can allow reports in the press to determin...

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Work Programme 2006-07

I would like to consider the smoking ban.

Kate Maclean: Lab Committee

Work Programme 2006-07

The issue is not just to do with members' time; I am sure that every member of the committee would be quite happy to have extra sessions, as we have done at times over the past three and a half years. Even if we were to complete stage 1, it would be the time for consultation t...

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Committee

Procedures Committee, 06 Mar 2007

06 Mar 2007 · S2 · Procedures Committee

Item of business

Parliamentary Time

Maclean, Kate Lab Dundee West Watch on SPTV

Could the clerks draft something based on the discussion that we have had and e-mail it to us?

In the same item of business

The Convener: LD

The next item is our review of parliamentary time. Members have a paper that contains the correspondence on the subject between the committee and the Parliam...

Chris Ballance: Green

Feel free. I have no desire for privacy.

The Convener: LD

Chris Ballance spoke up and some others in the bureau expressed some support for us, but it was clear to me and to Andrew Mylne, who came to the meeting as a...

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): Lab

To a certain extent, I am fairly ambivalent about whether the report goes ahead or not, because I have not been involved in the tortuous process of compiling...

The Convener: LD

Chris Ballance has two angles, as it were, on the issue.

Chris Ballance: Green

Again, without breaching any of the confidences of a bureau meeting, a particular business manager argued on the one hand that MSPs hate parts of the report ...

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): Lab

I am perhaps more sanguine about the situation. The committee has been here before. The previous committee, of which I was not a member, held a massive inqui...

Kate Maclean: Lab

It is the same with any committee.

Richard Baker: Lab

Yes, that is right. Although colleagues did not grasp our report, it would have been worse had we gone to the floor of the chamber with it and found out that...

Karen Gillon: Lab

Richard Baker is right that the previous Procedures Committee dealt with the subject before. Reports by other committees have also not been debated—it happen...

Kate Maclean: Lab

I have a further point on something that the bureau said. If one of the criteria for getting items debated in the chamber was that members had read the relev...

Chris Ballance: Green

I should add that there is substantial opposition from more than one business manager to the concept of giving more notice of motions. That is deeply depress...

The Convener: LD

It is helpful to get colleagues' views. We come from slightly different angles, but we all agree that we are disappointed.The only opportunity to mention the...

Kate Maclean: Lab

Are you suggesting that we have that debate and not push the matter to a vote?

The Convener: LD

Whatever colleagues think. I have challenged the business motion several times in the past. Occasionally, the vote in favour of my challenge has got into dou...

Kate Maclean: Lab

That would be 10 votes, then.

The Convener: LD

It is, nevertheless, an opportunity for setting out a case on which members of the committee have strong feelings. I presume that the Minister for Parliament...

Chris Ballance: Green

That is quite a good idea. The advantage of challenging the business motion is that the convener would get three minutes in which to tell the entire chamber ...

Karen Gillon: Lab

I would be cautious about that approach, convener. It might look as though we had had a fight, lost it and were taking our ball away in a big huff. Some othe...

Kate Maclean: Lab

Have certain committee reports not been debated because the bureau did not like their content? I cannot think of any precedent for that.

Karen Gillon: Lab

They were never scheduled for debate by the Conveners Group, so we do not know whether it was because the bureau did not like their content. Committee busine...

The Convener: LD

You are right to say that it would not be something to do lightly or inadvisedly. Nevertheless, if there was a brief debate and the subject was aired, that w...

Richard Baker: Lab

It would be good to put on the record the fact that we have looked into the issues in some depth and that they should not just go away. However, I am torn as...

The Convener: LD

If we wrote to the bureau, is there any means by which the letter could become a public paper and the figures would be on the record?

Kate Maclean: Lab

Could we not write to the bureau and copy the letter to all members?

Richard Baker: Lab

Why do we not do that? That would be sensible.

Kate Maclean: Lab

We could include a copy of the Official Report of today's meeting.

Chris Ballance: Green

It would not be on the public record in the same way.

Karen Gillon: Lab

It is on the public record as a result of this meeting.

Kate Maclean: Lab

To be honest, if the matter is discussed in the chamber at decision time—when there are never any members of the press there—it will not be any more on the p...