Hansard

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Question Time · Scottish Borders (Economy)

Does the minister agree that none of those things—apart perhaps from the railway—seems to interest Ms Grahame, who prefers to launch lightning raids on the Borders, looking for trouble and fanning the flames before beetling back to Edinburgh to issue inflammatory press release...

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Question Time · Scottish Borders (Economy)

Does the minister agree that, although there are real problems in the Borders economy, there are also real grounds for optimism? The population of the Borders is increasing; the railway is on track; broadband is coming; the Scottish Public Pensions Agency has been established ...

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

I think that Christine Grahame does that well already.

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

There is a sense that pensions and benefits are a Westminster matter, but Scottish ministers must be interested in them and make their views known. There is a loss of faith in the whole pensions apparatus that will affect many people who are currently in work, but who will bec...

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

No, the member did not say that.The substantial policies that I described affect the fabric of the way in which many people live their lives.It is important to improve information for the elderly. One of the briefing documents says that, in implementing the heating policy, the...

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

I will find the document later. I do not want to stop right now, but I assure the member that the words are there. Mary Scanlon refers to Westminster pension policy, but I am talking about the Scottish Parliament.

Ian Jenkins: LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

I will give way to young Mary.

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Chamber

27 Mar 2003

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Older People

I welcome the minister's speech, especially the references to rural deprivation and rural exclusion. After all, transport and access to facilities are of massive importance to older people and the need is especially acute in rural areas. Before I go any further, I should decla...

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Chamber

26 Mar 2003

Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill

I intend to be kind to the younger people, as every other member of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee is younger than I am.I am grateful to the minister for his kind remarks and endorse the comments that all my colleagues have made. I do not intend to keep the chamber...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Since Adam was a lad.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Our committee could not function without Margaret and we should put on record that that is so. We lean heavily on her. We have done so from the beginning and our successor committee will do so again. I dread to think what would have happened if Margaret had had a serious absen...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Convener, may we express our tremendous thanks to our legal adviser, Margaret Macdonald, and her team?

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Instruments not Laid <br />Before the Parliament

Yes, we follow that forensic analysis.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Instruments not Laid <br />Before the Parliament

Aha!

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Instruments not Laid <br />Before the Parliament

It certainly seems odd to regulate the movement of something to a place once it is already there.

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Instruments not Laid <br />Before the Parliament

I think that it is an excellent move.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Sport 21

It has been a pleasure and an honour to serve on the committee. I am delighted that we will be able to end the four years of the parliamentary session by dealing with the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, which is our committee bill and will stand as ...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Sport 21

You will be able to work with me somehow.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Sport 21

This is a strategy document, so I do not want to get into detail. I will mention a couple of points that were raised this morning in discussions before the launch. First, in drawing together all the strands—which is a good thing—by talking about social inclusion, health promot...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Reporters' Inquiries

Yes, I was.I hoped that the subject would be taken on by the committee and that we would appoint a reporter and so on, but that has not happened. When I was asked to do the report myself, I thought that I would try, but I have failed miserably to get down to it—largely because...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

Reporters' Inquiries

Members will remember that I brought this subject up a long time ago.

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Committee

25 Mar 2003

School Closures

I concur with what has been said, broadly. National guidelines would serve everyone better. Parents would be better able to recognise the procedures that were followed and local authorities would be able to say that they had conformed to a procedure that had been laid down. If...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Legacy Paper

Having dealt with such a long agenda, I want to say that it is not fair on our legal advisers that there should be such a traffic jam at the end of the session. The processing of a large number of instruments that have been brought forward at the last minute has greatly added ...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instrument Not Subject to Parliamentary Control

The order was mentioned in the submission that I mentioned earlier. I have been advised that the lead committee should examine the details.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

Yes. We will make it go through D'Hoops.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

I am sorry—I meant under Community law. We need to make that clear to the lead committee and point out that there is serious doubt about the vires and justice of the order.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

We gave the Executive informal notice of the kind of questions that we had to raise. However, the Executive's response fails to address the main issues concerning the application of the regulations and the discounts to students from other countries who are living here and to S...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

There are questions about convention rights and defective drafting. We should draw the matter to the attention of the lead committee.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

We think that the comments apply largely to the policy and should not necessarily detain this committee long.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

Is this the regulation that was drawn to our attention in an e-mail from a fishermen's organisation?

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

It is a mistake.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

No points arise.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

The committee asked the Executive some questions informally, before the meeting. The Executive has had a chance to reply, as Murdo Fraser said.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

We could raise a wee point by informal letter.

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Committee

18 Mar 2003

Executive Responses

Is that corruption in the court?

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

I heard Gaelic at my mother's knee when I was taken to Stornoway at the age of one. When we came back, my dad taught me several Gaelic phrases. Indeed, it might have made all the difference; in a way, I became interested in languages just because I could say a few Gaelic words.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

I am always interested in dual signage. What bothers me personally—it is not a big political point—is that although there is dual signage in the Parliament, I have no idea how to pronounce the words. If you know how to pronounce a few words of Gaelic, it generates interest in ...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

It was a lucky chance.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

Discussions such as those that we have had about this matter ought to comfort people who are worried about the myths.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

Some authorities are still reluctant to accept the principle that the bill should apply to them at all. We have spoken about the unique place of Gaelic and the fact that we have a particular responsibility for it. However, would it have seemed wrong if the Executive had introd...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

We all recognise that the supply of Gaelic speakers and Gaelic teachers is one of the factors that might hold back the development of the language—quite apart from the terms of the bill. Mike Russell is making an effort to recognise that and is not taking an authoritarian appr...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

I was glad that you were pleased to hear what we had to say earlier in the meeting. Michael Russell painted a scenario of a potential 1 per cent threshold of Gaelic speakers. Is that a reasonable starting point for ensuring that a local authority with a small Gaelic-speaking p...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

That is what we learned during the earlier evidence-taking sessions. We hope to move forward in that way because there is resistance to the idea of a heavy hand. I simply wanted to put the matter before you.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

Perhaps I took that phrase out of context, but it sounded ever so slightly authoritarian.

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

Paragraph (7) of your submission says that you want the board to have"powers to take decisions on Gaelic planning by public organisations."What kind of decisions would you take?

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

I am simply exploring the idea because you are speaking as if there is some ambiguity about your position because you have met only a couple of times. Someone who did not want the bill to pass could say that we are rushing it and should wait. Do you agreed that we should move ...

Ian Jenkins: LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

But Michael Russell has proposed a sort of halfway house where we would encourage the minister to give the board a role that is not wholly statutory but is embodied in some kind of advice or guidance. Do you accept that that is better than nothing?

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Committee

17 Mar 2003

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill

At the end of your submission, you state that you want to draw three matters to our attention. First, you say:"The Bill should relate to the whole of Scotland."I take it that, after discussing the matter with Michael Russell, you have accepted the way in which it will apply to...

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): LD Chamber

13 Mar 2003

Question Time · Borders Rail

Does the minister recall Parliament's unanimous view that the Borders rail link should be restored? Does he acknowledge that there is widespread support throughout the Parliament for the rail link? I acknowledge that a continuing process is involved and I welcome his support f...

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Timing of Secondary Legislation

With that judgment on life, love and the pursuit of happiness, I shall close the meeting.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Timing of Secondary Legislation

Your lack of surprise is already on the record, Brian. In a sense, I am inclined to agree with you, but if a letter makes the Executive pay attention to these issues—

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Timing of Secondary Legislation

Back in the real world, we move on to consider a letter to the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Patricia Ferguson, from our beloved and much-missed convener, which draws attention to the proliferation of instruments ahead of dissolution. The build-up has caused difficultie...

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Annual Report

No, that is right, but we could put a nice cover on it and it might attract a few people to glance at it. Their lives might be changed when they open the covers—you never know.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Annual Report

We have a couple of other items on the agenda, the first of which is consideration of the annual report, which members received in their papers. The report is a factual account of what we have done, including the number of meetings that we have had, the scrutiny of bills, the ...

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

No points have been identified in relation to the order.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and we know that you look at these things with great interest.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

No points have been identified.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

No points arise on the order.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

That is right. We will ask those questions.

The Deputy Convener: LD Committee

11 Mar 2003

Instruments Not Laid Before the Parliament

So a gap would be left—