Hansard

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

22 Mar 2007

First Minister's Question Time · Budget

I thank the First Minister for his reply.Yesterday's budget provides the lowest basic rate of income tax in 75 years, which of course will be of benefit to many of my constituents in Kilmarnock and Loudon. Does the First Minister agree that pensioners and hard-working families...

4. Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

22 Mar 2007

First Minister's Question Time · Budget

To ask the First Minister what impact the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget will have on Scotland. (S2F-2794)

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

15 Mar 2007

Scottish Commission for Public Audit

Keep going.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

15 Mar 2007

Scottish Commission for Public Audit

I apologise for getting a bit excited about the possibility of being unable to speak in the debate.We are debating an important issue. Many people think that only anoraks look at accounts and audits. As the convener of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit, I assure members...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

15 Mar 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · National Health Service (Best Value and Efficient Government)

Will the minister investigate Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board's current proposals to build modular office accommodation for non-patient interface staff at a cost of £2 million without considering the facilities that are being made available by local authorities, which are pursuin...

7. Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

15 Mar 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · National Health Service (Best Value and Efficient Government)

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to NHS boards to take account of co-location and dispersal of non-patient interface services to meet best value and efficient government objectives. (S2O-12370)

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

08 Mar 2007

Complaint

Will the member take an intervention?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

08 Mar 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Challenge 21

Does the minister agree that licensees in the on-sales and off-sales trade who operate challenge 21 should be congratulated on their contribution to combating underage drinking in our communities? Does he further agree that licensing boards should do more to encourage those wh...

5. Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

08 Mar 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Challenge 21

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote challenge 21 to eradicate underage purchasing of alcohol. (S2O-12285)

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

27 Feb 2007

Accounts Commission

So, the situation it is not quite as rigid as it is made out to be.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

27 Feb 2007

Accounts Commission

There is a correlation between people being off sick and the information that is provided on assaults on teaching staff, to use teachers as an example. It would be helpful to see that correlation.I note that you have made no comment on the impact that the procurement process h...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

27 Feb 2007

Accounts Commission

The report does not say whether you consider sickness absences that have resulted from people sustaining injuries at work. We hear anecdotal evidence about teachers and police officers sustaining injuries and about other workers being involved in industrial accidents. Will any...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

21 Feb 2007

Community Safety

I welcome this opportunity to debate community safety. Our approach as a Labour-led Executive has been generally welcomed by my constituents. However, we still have some work to do to meet the needs of all communities.I conducted surveys in my constituency last summer, and I h...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Audit Scotland<br />(Work Programme)

I welcome the comments on FEDD. However, my concern, which I think is shared by other committee members, is that it was perhaps not quick enough to act in relation to Inverness College. We all hoped that Inverness College would be the wake-up call to it. However, from the repo...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Audit Scotland<br />(Work Programme)

That would be welcome.I have a question about a report that is not in the book. Earlier, you spoke about having to undertake reports at the request of the Executive, the committee and others. I notice that for further and higher education you will look only at estate assets. R...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Audit Scotland<br />(Work Programme)

My other question is about the study on strategic procurement. My interest lies in some of the issues that have been raised with me by small and medium-sized enterprises in my constituency. They can understand the procurement reforms that are contained in the McClelland report...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Audit Scotland<br />(Work Programme)

Obviously, the prisoner population rises and falls and that is all down to the determination of the courts. Will the study brief include sentencing by courts and individual sheriffs and judges? Will it also examine the change in policy towards putting greater emphasis on the r...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Teaching Profession

It is the end bit that I am interested in.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

Teaching Profession

Andrew Welsh forgets that the agreement exists between the employers, the Scottish Executive and the trade unions. Even though we are held in high esteem, nothing will get in the way of the agreement.I return to the evidence that we have. The Scottish Executive expresses conce...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

We will await that with interest.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

So, the study did not take into account whether such changes had had an impact.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

Has the change in shift patterns had any impact?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

My genuine concern is that, because intensive care and theatre nursing require further qualifications, it is not easy to top up nursing levels for those areas by using the nurse bank. In saying that, I do not denigrate any of the work that takes place in care of the elderly—wh...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

I am aware that there are persistently high vacancy rates for posts in intensive care, theatres and care of the elderly. Given that intensive care and theatre settings require highly skilled nurses, is there perhaps a lack of adequate training places for such roles? Also, care...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

My question was whether vacancies are greater in areas where the existing skills mix is poor and where the workload is complicated because of patient dependency levels.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

13 Feb 2007

“Planning ward nursing”

I welcome the report. Having read the initial study, I am aware of some of the issues surrounding ward nursing and am encouraged that so many of the initial report's recommendations have been implemented. However, will a timeframe be set for implementing the recommendations an...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

01 Feb 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Fireworks Ban

I thank the minister for his somewhat belated response.The minister's answer gives me cause for concern. A number of my constituents have written to him in the last month, but letters that were addressed to him have been passed to the Department of Trade and Industry by his of...

8. Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

01 Feb 2007

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Fireworks Ban

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion it is having with the United Kingdom Government regarding the possibility of implementing a ban on personal use of fireworks. (S2O-11869)

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

31 Jan 2007

New Petitions

Yes. I want to ensure that colleagues have a broad understanding of the situation. I have worked with Niall Campbell since 1999 in trying to broker a passage—I think that that is the best way of describing what we have been doing—between what he wants to do and what Historic S...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

“Implementing the NHS consultant contract in Scotland”

Andrew Welsh commented on the accuracy of data. Forgive me for focusing on the Executive's comment on the health board in my area but, under the heading "NHS Ayrshire and Arran", the response states:"The consultant contract has underpinned the development of a one stop catarac...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

“Implementing the NHS consultant contract in Scotland”

Other health boards did it.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

“Implementing the NHS consultant contract in Scotland”

As well as there being a high number of instances of "Noted", there is also a mixture of "Not agreed" and "Disagree". To me, those alternative wordings indicate that a number of different people have compiled the response.I have a comment on the future of the consultant contra...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

“Implementing the NHS consultant contract in Scotland”

If I may just get to this; I am not going to go through—

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

“Implementing the NHS consultant contract in Scotland”

That raises a question. The difficulty is that the contract does not talk about outcomes. Perhaps that is a problem that some of us feel should have been overcome in the contract and perhaps we want to flag that up.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

23 Jan 2007

Transport in Scotland

My point is about the relationship that is being struck with the Office of Rail Regulation to benchmark new Scottish rail infrastructure projects. Given that a significant number of those projects exist—some of us have been involved in committees to ensure that those projects ...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

18 Jan 2007

Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Will Margaret Mitchell tell Parliament what her proposal would mean for the victims of crime who were waiting for the trial?

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

11 Jan 2007

North-west Kilmarnock Primary Care Neighbourhood Services Centre

The opening for business last month of the £9.4 million north-west Kilmarnock centre, which is in my constituency, is a further example of the development of neighbourhood services centres in East Ayrshire. The north-west Kilmarnock centre is the third such centre to have been...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

11 Jan 2007

Accident and Emergency Units

The decision to make £150,000 available over two years to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to enable infrastructure to be established is very much welcomed.The minister's decision also provides for £30 million to be made available to NHS Ayrshire and Arran over four years from 2009. Tha...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

11 Jan 2007

Accident and Emergency Units

Our health service is more than buildings. It is about meeting the needs of patients. That means delivering the highest quality care in the most appropriate facility, which is not always a hospital building.I correct Shona Robison in relation to the consultation that was under...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

11 Jan 2007

Accident and Emergency Units

The review of emergency and unscheduled health provision in Ayrshire and Arran has not been an easy process. As we all know, it is never easy when hard decisions must be made.It is unacceptable that some members, in particular John Scott, refuse to see or even consider the big...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

09 Jan 2007

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

So what was the point in expending that time, effort and public money?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

09 Jan 2007

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

Yes, but it was making a recommendation.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

09 Jan 2007

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

Surely DTZ's assessment and your final decision were based on different sets of criteria.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

09 Jan 2007

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

I seek clarification of the statement that the "profile and nature" of SNH meant that it was suitable for relocation to Inverness, which causes me a difficulty. In the initial terms of reference for DTZ , did you express a view on its considering suitable areas for the relocat...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Accountability and Governance

Was that at a public meeting?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Accountability and Governance

Does the member agree that there is no process for that to happen within the Parliament, other than if the corporate body can fit it in?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Accountability and Governance

I would like to move on a wee bit.There is an opportunity for us to drill down into the work of commissioners, and I agree with the Scottish parliamentary standards commissioner, who said to the Finance Committee that the SCPA could be charged with undertaking that work on beh...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Accountability and Governance

John Scott's point is different from mine, which is that the overall function of a commissioner is to demonstrate that the funding that has been approved by the corporate body is actually delivering what the commissioner set out to deliver. That is an audit-based trail. I am s...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Accountability and Governance

The Finance Committee inquiry into accountability and governance is the starting point for me: it examines inputs, but does not look back at what has been delivered. The current system for funding commissioners and ombudsmen does not provide the level of openness, transparency...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

In certain instances, you are specific on the relocation of organisations. Forgive me if I focus on local matters. The decision has been taken to locate Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education regional offices in Livingston, Clydebank and Ayrshire. Why, two years down the line...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

In terms of the current review, will other factors be included—for example, Executive priorities such as regeneration inside and outside town centres—that could allay some fears of the organisations that relocate from Edinburgh about whether it will make a huge impact on the c...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

Given that ministers would have the option to override, would such a decision be as transparent as the current system? I am not saying that the current system is all that it should be, but at least there is a tracking mechanism and a rationale behind it. It is not so transpare...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

Is there a possibility that certain areas will continue to be ahead of other areas because account is not taken of relocation decisions for a considerable time? For instance, of four relocations, three could go to one area while a second area never gets near that because the p...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Relocation of Scottish Executive departments, agencies and NDPBs”

Can you tell us why certain locations continually appear on shortlists, and the extent to which that might be altered through your review? I ask that not from an Edinburgh-centric point of view, like that of my colleagues, but from a west of Scotland point of view.

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“The Efficient Government Initiative: a progress report”

My question is about the standardisation of reporting systems. They need to dovetail centrally and locally, yet we find in the report that some efficiencies—particularly those that ACPOS identified—cannot be drilled down into. That is a concern. Under the justice portfolio, sa...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Overview of the financial performance of the NHS in Scotland 2005/06”

Surely the board should have a better handle on the matter. The issue has again been identified, so the Health Department should assist the board to ensure that the slippage is reduced as much as possible. Is it doing so?

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Overview of the financial performance of the NHS in Scotland 2005/06”

Forgive me, but I also want to ask about NHS Ayrshire and Arran. That board's ability to achieve its spending forecasts has been challenged. I represent the area in question and am concerned that the board will not meet its forecasts. Has there been a further update on the sit...

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Committee

19 Dec 2006

“Overview of the financial performance of the NHS in Scotland 2005/06”

I want to ask about the impact of national contracts on achieving savings. The big issue is the impact of those contracts on small to medium-sized businesses in local areas. Has any work been done on whether small businesses have ceased trading because of national contracts? T...

Margaret Jamieson: Lab Chamber

14 Dec 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Central Heating Programme

I am somewhat disappointed by the minister's response. Like many members, I have a constituent who, from 5 October, required a new central heating system. I make no apologies for deliberately pestering Scottish Gas to ensure that Mrs Charnock of Kilmaurs received appropriate h...

3. Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): Lab Chamber

14 Dec 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Central Heating Programme

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to introducing a priority medical list for the central heating programme. (S2O-11471)