Hansard

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Chamber

17 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Stroke Patients (NHS Fife)

On a recent visit to the Victoria hospital stroke unit, I was very impressed by and cannot praise highly enough the dedicated and highly trained nursing staff, who make such a difference to the recovery and quality of life of stroke victims in Fife. However, I was informed dur...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

17 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · Stroke Patients (NHS Fife)

6. To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving NHS Fife to meet its target of putting stroke patients into a designated stroke ward within one day of being admitted to Victoria hospital. (S3O-13349)

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2011

Scottish Executive Question Time · College Students (Work Placements)

What assessment has the Government made of the impact of the withdrawal of funding for school-college partnerships, particularly on the most vulnerable students who will not be able to access college placements?

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

09 Mar 2011

“Financial Resolutions and scrutiny of revised Financial Memoranda”

I, too, thank the clerks and the lawyers who have given us immense support on these very complex and technical changes, to which we have given substantial consideration.I highlight an issue that is distinct from those that were outlined by the convener—the role of the Presidin...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

Subordinate Legislation

Will members join me in giving the convener a vote of thanks on behalf of the committee? Applause. Meeting closed at 12:34.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

Legacy Paper

I was thinking about skills—or the lack of them—which have been one of the major issues in every inquiry that we have undertaken. We have heard, for example, how cluttered the landscape is and, given how big an issue they are for the economy, I would like skills to be included...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

Legacy Paper

I have certainly questioned how effective Co-operative Development Scotland has been. Because that agency is combined with Scottish Enterprise, it is sometimes hard to find out what impact it is having on the sector that Christopher Harvie mentions. I totally support that sugg...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

Legacy Paper

For me, that is key. I agree with Gavin Brown that it was ludicrous that we were trying to scrutinise the budget when we did not have the information. Sorting that out has got to be key.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

International Trade (Scottish Development International)

Have you had to make any reductions to staff or cut back any projects because of budget reductions?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

International Trade (Scottish Development International)

As the convener outlined, partnership working obviously goes on outside your organisation throughout the whole enterprise network. It has to be a team event. I presume that the budget cuts will hurt. Even though your organisation may have fared better, the cuts have implicatio...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

02 Mar 2011

International Trade (Scottish Development International)

I have a question about operating budgets. The committee understands that the Government has cut next year’s grant-in-aid budget by 7 per cent for SE, by 18 per cent for HIE and by 12 per cent for VisitScotland. It is hard for us to ascertain what SDI’s budget is, because it i...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

I would like the minister to withdraw that statement, as I raised the issue at stage 2.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

Will the minister take an intervention?

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

I am pleased to contribute to the debate and to outline the importance of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, which gave us the opportunity to ban snaring of Scotland’s wildlife. Significantly, there is a difference between the protection that the law offers ...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

Maureen Watt summed up the debate on banning snaring when she said “I hope that”. For animal welfare’s sake, I hope that it is more than a hope.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

02 Mar 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I rise to support the amendments in the name of Irene Oldfather and Elaine Murray. As members will be aware, I lodged an amendment at stage 2 calling for an outright ban on the use of snares. I withdrew the amendment to allow for further public and parliamentary debate. At tha...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Chamber

10 Feb 2011

Delayed Discharges

Will the cabinet secretary and the Minister for Public Health and Sport urgently ask Fife Council to work in co-operation with NHS Fife to sort out the problem now, which is affecting people in my constituency today?

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Feb 2011

Delayed Discharges

The cabinet secretary outlined the issues that relate to delayed discharges in Fife. As she said, I have met Shona Robison and NHS Fife’s medical director and acute services chair to discuss delayed discharges and the wider community care agenda. I hope that the cabinet secret...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

09 Feb 2011

Project Transmit

It will be important to keep us up to date with those deliberations. Transmission charges seem to discriminate against renewable energy, which is a huge issue for Scotland.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

09 Feb 2011

Project Transmit

I have just one question. In its report of 23 February 2010, the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee said:“We are concerned that the current system appears to charge wind generators disproportionately more than conventional generators for grid usage.”Will you ...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

08 Feb 2011

Annual Report

I am happy with it, too.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

Do you feel that the reforms of SDS went far enough? Do you believe that further consideration should be given to the rationalisation of workforce development responsibilities?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

I am impressed by the enthusiasm of SDS staff, so that is not what I am criticising. However, we heard in evidence last week that the recession will impact most profoundly on young people. None of us around this table wants to see the reoccurrence of a lost generation, but we ...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

The cabinet secretary has been very kind to provide me with an example, and I might be able to do so, too. You asked whether I know of things that are not working in a joined-up way. We visited OPITO, the oil and gas academy, in Aberdeen, and the people there spoke to us about...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

SDS noted that a number of bodies retain a role and responsibilities in relation to aspects of skills training and development, including local authorities, the business gateway, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, the sector skills councils and so on. T...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

Good afternoon, cabinet secretary. I will ask about the role of Skills Development Scotland because, as you have pointed out, the reorganisation has certainly had an impact on it. I am aware that a lot of hard work has gone into Skills Development Scotland and that it has many...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Energy Bill

We heard in evidence last week that the full impact of the recession will be felt by young people. Those of us who were around during the collapse of the mining industry spoke about lost generations. That might be a cliché, but we do not want it to happen again in any way.It h...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Energy Bill

I will be a bit parochial for a moment. The Greener Kirkcaldy initiative has a shopfront on the High Street where it promotes green initiatives and healthy eating. Like other groups, the initiative lives year to year. I would not like the green deal to replace proactive groups...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Energy Bill

You speak about the green deal being monitored. Will that be independent monitoring?

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

02 Feb 2011

Energy Bill

My questions are on the green deal and fuel poverty. The minister will have looked at the evidence that the committee has taken. We have heard a lot of concern about the onus being on individuals to apply for the green deal. We have been told that energy companies and advice c...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

Where is Scottish Gas setting up the skills academies?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

We heard from the previous panel about the impact of the recession on young people and how we could utilise that resource to look at energy. Are we doing enough training and skills development to enable us to progress measures such as retrofits?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

As you know, there is in my constituency the greener Kirkcaldy initiative, which is doing an amazing job. I am sure that the same is true of projects in Ayrshire and other areas that have been mentioned. We would like those projects to be kept going, because we want in no way ...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

You have covered the issue broadly, but I have a specific question. We know that local authorities’ budgets are tight at the moment and that they are looking to make cuts. If the 1995 act is repealed, will they be able to lower their commitment to energy efficiency?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

I guessed that you would agree with the forum’s statement. I am really concerned about the situation and I agree with what you said. What do the other panel members think?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

I thought that you might.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Energy Bill

I will start with a question on fuel poverty. Does the panel agree with the Scottish fuel poverty forum that the Scottish Government should not pass responsibility for fuel poverty to the energy companies?

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

You talked about getting young people to engage with community activities because, after all, we do not want to lose a generation. It is, as you say, easy to use such phrases but, as convener of the cross-party group on construction, I have been told by the industry that it is...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

26 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

I want to pick up on Dr Wall’s point about the recession’s impact on young people. I represent what was previously a mining community, so I do not think that we have to rehearse what happens to young people in my constituency.I share your concerns, because I see the same thing...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2011

Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 and Code of Conduct

As deputy convener of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee, I am pleased to contribute to this afternoon’s debate. I echo the convener’s endorsement of the committee’s proposals. The recommendations will ensure both that there is a simplified system and ...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

We have heard a lot about HIE’s success, both today and from other witnesses at previous evidence sessions. We will be compiling our report soon—in fact, we are just about there. If we could tell the Government that there are one or two things that would help and improve HIE’s...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

It is a difficult question for you to answer, but do you believe that the same support is available now that part of the support function has moved to local authorities? You say that you are working together and that the provision of public sector support needs to be joined up...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

Okay. It would be good to have the details of that.Your submission says that, since the restructuring of Scottish Enterprise and the move of local economic development and local regeneration to councils, it is difficult and“unrealistic to draw a specific comparison between cur...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

Yes.

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

I would like somebody to track what we are doing versus what our competitors are doing. I have never had an answer to my questions about that. There is anecdotal evidence that other European companies are getting more support, which is giving them the edge. Is that actually th...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

I used BiFab as an example because it is based in my constituency, but the same question is being asked across the renewables sector. Are you looking at what other countries are doing? We are hearing that there is support for renewables companies from other home countries. Are...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

19 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

I will follow on from what my colleague Rob Gibson asked about equity investment and the need for more investment funding. I have raised BiFab as an example. It has had RSA investment and has doubled in size, but John Robertson of the company says exactly what Lena Wilson is s...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

19 Jan 2011

“Report on the public sector’s support for exporters, international trade and the attraction of inward investment”

In November 2007, in one of the new Administration’s first policy documents, the First Minister stated that the purpose of the Scottish Government was to create“a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable econom...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

18 Jan 2011

Cross-party Groups

If my memory serves me right, CPGs get 90 days to re-register in the new parliamentary session without coming back to the committee. Existing groups can carry on if they do that, but new groups will have to put their case to the successor committee.I would not be as harsh as S...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

18 Jan 2011

Cross-party Groups

So no groups have had a reminder that they have not sent in the returns. It is the responsibility of the group to submit returns.

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

18 Jan 2011

Cross-party Groups

I think that everybody is aware that I chair the cross-party group on construction and the cross-party group on survivors of childhood sexual abuse. I hope that I put my returns in—I think that I did. I also attend the cross-party group on Alzheimer’s. The two groups with whic...

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Chamber

13 Jan 2011

Electricity Market Reform

I am pleased to take part in the debate. I will talk about the importance to Scotland and to my constituency of Scotland’s low-carbon potential and the renewable energy sector and I will set out why the issue must be addressed in proposals for electricity market reform.Given i...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Okay.I do not believe that snares are tethering devices. They are cruel and indiscriminate, and it is important that we have a debate on them. Because of that, I am prepared not to move amendment 26, but I reserve the right to bring the matter back at stage 3. There is enough ...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I listened to what the committee and the minister said, but I still believe that, against what John Scott—

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab) Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I will concentrate my comments on amendment 26, which calls for the replacement of section 13, which regulates snaring, with an outright ban on the manufacture, sale, possession and use of all snares. The amendment allows limited exceptions to the ban for reasonable purposes s...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

My point was that BiFab is successful and innovative and is already a world leader. For it to keep that position, it must look 10 years down the line. The Government’s role is to support successful companies such as BiFab through the next 10 years; otherwise, it is argued that...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

That was not what I asked. I was asking about—

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

No; I was talking about the removal of the responsibility for local economic development from Scottish Enterprise and the demise of the local enterprise network in Fife and across the country. Those functions were given to local government. What effect has that had on economic...

Marilyn Livingstone Lab Committee

12 Jan 2011

Enterprise Network Inquiry

BiFab was raising the general issue that there will be no reward for 10 years on some of the investment that is currently needed. How does the country support such a company to ensure that it remains a world leader? BiFab is not facing issues at the moment. The question is, ho...