Hansard

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

23 Mar 2016

Portfolio Question Time · Anti-Poverty Initiatives (Glasgow)

I had thought that Mr Doris might declare an interest, given the recent happy birth of his son Cameron. I congratulate him and Mrs Doris on that. Does the cabinet secretary acknowledge that the good work that Glasgow City Council does in tackling poverty in the city will be v...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Yes. Absolutely.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Okay. Fair enough.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

I have a question. The “Engagement and innovation” section states that “a leaflet was produced which summarised” the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill. It states: “The leaflet was distributed to members of the public who visited the Parliament. An electronic version was also distrib...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Did he?

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Paragraph 10, on the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill, states: “A number of amendments were agreed to.” I cannot remember the number, but there did not seem to me to be that many on the day. I would quite like the report to say that a number of Government amendments were agreed to, ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

I will be slightly pedantic—surprise, surprise.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

That would be fine.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Yes.

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Committee

10 Mar 2016

Annual Report 2015-16

Given that a complaint against a member is mentioned, I wonder whether, under the heading “Cross-Party Groups”, we should also mention that we looked at complaints about cross-party groups.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

The minister’s amendment 18, to include the permanent secretary, is welcome. However, the permanent secretary is only one of many civil servants and officials who have responsibility and who, as the minister admitted, receive communications that may well be registrable lobbyin...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill

I rise to speak in the debate with a feeling of dismay about the bill that we are passing today. I say that as someone who was not initially a supporter of the idea of a lobbying bill—in fact, as some colleagues know, because I have told them so, I was one of those who sat on ...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill

I understand what the minister is saying, and none of us would disagree with where he is trying to get to. However, the amendment that was agreed to today means that, under the bill, a person will be exempt if they speak to someone who represents the area in which they work, t...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I had not planned to speak on amendment 22. However, in the course of the discussion, and looking at all the things that the minister is trying to do in the amendment, I began to wonder whether the original text of the bill, which talked about lobbyists specifically as people ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Labour members are pleased that Patrick Harvie lodged amendment 17, which highlights an area that had not been thought of in the context of the bill. I suspect that he is right that the issue need not and should not be decided on today. When the review takes place, as we hope ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

We know—and if they have read the bill and the amendments, members of the Parliament know—that communication with one’s constituents is not covered by the bill. The point that I was making—Mr FitzPatrick must know this well—is that the way in which people of all kinds choose ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am really surprised that after all these months Mr FitzPatrick thinks that I need to be told that. Interruption.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Well, I will take an intervention, minister. Interruption.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I definitely intend to press my amendment. I am struggling to know how to react to the contribution made by Stewart Stevenson. I think that he knows that I very much respect the way in which he convenes the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee and I very muc...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I rise to move amendment 12, speak to amendments 15 and 14, and support George Adam’s amendment 23. The Government bill that the Parliament has before it suggests that only communications made orally, that is, face-to-face communication, videoconference or the like, should be...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Mar 2016

General Question Time · Sex Offenders (Monitoring)

I think that the cabinet secretary is aware of my particular concern about the rehousing of sex offenders in multistorey flats and other properties with communal entrances and exits. Has any consideration been given to the dangers that such situations pose to young people who ...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

09 Mar 2016

Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal

I, too, congratulate my colleague Linda Fabiani on securing the debate, which is an annual event. The Marie Curie Glasgow hospice is based in my constituency and I feel honoured and humbled to have had the opportunity to visit it on a great many occasions. It is one of those p...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Mar 2016

Families Affected by Murder and Culpable Homicide

I add my thanks to Graeme Pearson for securing today’s debate on a very difficult, but important, subject. I, too, praise the work of the Moira Fund and Petal Support. The support that those organisations give to people affected by murder and culpable homicide is vital and sho...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

03 Mar 2016

General Question Time · North Glasgow Suburban Railway Line (Electrification)

The cabinet secretary will be aware that passengers who travel on that line have recently suffered severe disruption from a number of causes, including the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvement project and the problems with the Forth road bridge. All that disruption is, perhaps, un...

9. Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Mar 2016

General Question Time · North Glasgow Suburban Railway Line (Electrification)

To ask the Scottish Government when it will make a decision regarding the possible electrification of the north Glasgow suburban railway line. (S4O-05623)

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Delegated Powers Procedures (Correspondence)

I just want to say for Dave Thompson’s benefit that I was trying to change as little as possible of the Government’s version, so that is why I took the phrase “made and laid”. If those words are wrong, though, they should obviously be changed.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Delegated Powers Procedures (Correspondence)

The issue is a wee bit more than what Dave Thompson has suggested. His point is right, but originally our objection to there being nothing on the record was that it meant that we were in limbo and that there was no clear explanation for Parliament or anyone outside about what ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Delegated Powers Procedures (Correspondence)

I have no problem with that word.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Delegated Powers Procedures (Correspondence)

My comment is not about the letter but about the proposed notice, paragraph 1 of which states that the “above Order was purportedly made”. It was not “purportedly made”—it was made. Paragraph 4 also refers to the order being “purportedly made” when it states: “Accordingly t...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Delegated Powers Procedures (Correspondence)

I wish to ask a question and then make some comments, convener. First of all, is what is stated in the second paragraph of the minister’s letter absolutely correct? My understanding is that the problem arose because an instrument was laid under the negative procedure when it ...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Committee

11 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

I will address John Scott’s point first. I do not think that there would have to be a reaction, as he put it. The fact of the matter is that Westminster can legislate for us but we cannot legislate for Westminster—it is a one-way street in that sense. I do not have a problem ...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

09 Feb 2016

Colleges

I, too, thank the Auditor General for illuminating the entire saga, and I thank the Parliament’s Public Audit Committee for the thorough and analytical report that it has produced on a very sorry chapter in further education in Scotland. My colleague Jackie Baillie was quite ...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

09 Feb 2016

Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Will the member take an intervention?

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

09 Feb 2016

Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Will the minister take an intervention?

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

09 Feb 2016

Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Will the minister take an intervention?

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

09 Feb 2016

Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Will the minister take an intervention?

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

I just want to make one small point. Last week, we agreed not to dispose of the item concerning Mary Fee’s letter and the consequences thereof, and that we would get a paper and do that this week. Now, however, we seem to be saying that we are going to do that next week. I res...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

Convener, in your summary, before John Scott’s contribution, you mentioned that Fiona McLeod’s suggestion was an alternative to the proposal. I do not see it as an alternative; I see it as a different workstream. However, I think that the two things have to be kept separate. W...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

Yes, but my fear is that we are losing our focus.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

For the avoidance of doubt, I am not accusing anyone of being in favour of the Trade Union Bill—quite frankly, I do not see how any right-thinking person could be in favour of it—and I do not feel the need to rehearse my trade union credentials in order to back up what I am sa...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

I think that we are. The paper that we have in front of us refers specifically to the situation that applies in relation to chapter 9B of standing orders and the Trade Union Bill. We either want to do something about the Trade Union Bill—as far as we possibly can—or we do not....

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

Paper 1 is before us on the basis of the letter that we had from Mary Fee and people’s anxiety about not rushing into making a change without considering what is before us. However, we are now proposing that we should rush into something else without having a paper to consider.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

It strikes me that we are in danger of getting sidetracked into a completely separate and different debate. EVEL and the Smith commission are very important subjects and I do not say that they should not be the subject of work by the committee—it would be interesting to look a...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Standing Orders

We have to remember why we are looking at this paper today. We are looking at it because Mary Fee sent a letter to the committee asking that it consider a rule change. That was also part of an amendment that was agreed to by the majority of parliamentarians in the debate on th...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Convener, I crave your indulgence while the minister is still with us. Minister, has a date been established for stage 3? Colleagues around the table should have the opportunity to think about the framing of amendments for that stage.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I am sympathetic to the Government’s amendment that seeks to reduce the review period, as that is absolutely necessary. I do not have a problem with a review taking place two years after the bill comes into force. However, I sympathise to some extent with Cameron Buchanan’s am...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I am very supportive of the idea of information being provided that allows lobbyists to understand the system and how they should comport themselves in relation to it. Therefore, I support amendment 31, in Neil Findlay’s name, and amendments 29 and 30, in Cameron Buchanan’s na...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

These amendments recognise that ministers and MSPs are not the only people who might be lobbied. During the committee’s deliberations, we looked at that issue and took evidence that showed that, in other jurisdictions, the list of those who might be lobbied goes further than t...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I intend to press the amendment. I am sorry that the minister feels that the evidence that the committee took did not result in an amendment that he can support. I do not want to take too much of the committee’s time, because we have a very full agenda. However, I will point ...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Committee

04 Feb 2016

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

The genesis of amendments 15 and 18 is the evidence that was presented to the committee by a number of witnesses. The idea that the bill should cover only oral communication was described as “clearly insufficient” by ASH Scotland and as “ludicrous” by Dr Dinan of Spinwatch. Pr...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Chamber

04 Feb 2016

First Minister’s Question Time · Breast Cancer

The First Minister will be aware of the 2050 challenge campaign that was launched this week by Breast Cancer Now. As a breast cancer survivor myself, I know how crucial that campaign is. However, I am one of the lucky ones. The First Minister will have seen earlier this week C...

5. Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab) Lab Chamber

04 Feb 2016

First Minister’s Question Time · Breast Cancer

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to stop deaths from breast cancer. (S4F-03218)

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

That is just disappointing.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

Indeed. Any mechanism would do it.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

It has always struck me that the Minister for Parliamentary Business plays a very interesting role, given that he or she has a toe in both camps: the parliamentary and the political or governmental. If the minister were to make a simple statement, at least something would be o...

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

Presiding Officer—I have done it again. Perhaps I am seeing into the future, convener.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

I understand that.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

Although we might consider a process and include a recommendation in our legacy paper for the future committee, there is nothing to stop the Government doing something about it in the meantime. I think that it should, just in the sense of making everything tidy.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

My point, Presiding Officer— I am sorry—I mean convener. I am promoting you.

Patricia Ferguson Lab Committee

28 Jan 2016

Work Programme

Yes—although, without wishing to prejudge the matter in any way, I hope that the Government is considering ways in which it might effect a change. It seems to be untidy at best to leave the provisions lying in the current situation. I do not know whether the Minister for Parli...