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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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Showing 60 of 2,096,833 contributions. Latest 30 days: 2,655. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 09 Jun 2026.
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
16 Mar 2011
Higher Education Funding
Given that the level of discontent is such that there are threats of strikes at two Edinburgh universities and there have been sit-ins in Glasgow, does the cabinet secretary consider that his advice to principals to be aggressive in pursuing efficiencies and to be pragmatic ha...
Robin Harper Green Chamber
10 Mar 2011
Scottish Executive Question Time · Fish Discards (European Commission Proposals)
Given the cheerfully piratical disregard for any or most regulations designed to conserve our fish stocks that is exhibited by a substantial minority of Scottish skippers, is the minister confident that anything other than an overall reduction in the catching power of the Euro...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
10 Mar 2011
Scottish Executive Question Time · Fish Discards (European Commission Proposals)
9. To ask the Scottish Executive what its response will be to the European Commission proposals to stop fish discards. (S3O-13209)
Robin Harper Green Chamber
09 Mar 2011
Employment Services (Edinburgh)
Will the minister take an intervention?
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
09 Mar 2011
Employment Services (Edinburgh)
I thank Sarah Boyack for bringing the topic to the chamber for debate.I ask the Government to think carefully about what will happen about four years down the line. The young people who are already at college and university will, year on year, begin to benefit—I hope—from the ...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
I am happy to close the petition, under rule 15.7. The Scottish Government has indicated that it has no plans to repeal the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980. It has responded to the question that was raised about the resignation of John McGovern. The repeal of the act is not sup...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
The Government has confirmed that it is working with NHS Health Scotland and health boards to develop various pilot projects to progress remote interpreting for British Sign Language users, and that it will do an evaluation project. A literature review is also being carried ou...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
We should continue the petition and include it in our legacy paper.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
That is well within the sight lines of most children who would be walking around with their parents in a shop.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
Sorry—I should not have phrased my question in that way.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
I am afraid that I am displaying a degree of ignorance. Is there no definition in the guidelines about what a child’s height is? Has that deliberately been left out so that people can interpret it in any way that they like?
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
Like others here, I have been campaigning for a ban on snares and it is worth noting that in the recent legislation the Parliament agreed that the issue must be considered again in, I think, 2014. To many people, that will seem a long time away; the review might come up with s...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
I declare an interest, in that I have signed several documents saying that I am very much for the opening of Blackford railway station. However, the petition cannot be a petition to open Blackford railway station; it is, in fact, about national and regional transport strategie...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
Absolutely.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
The committee has considered the petition fully 12 times in three years. It has considered 43 submissions and has heard from local members on nine occasions. If we are to continue the petition and include it in our legacy paper, we should make it clear that we expect the probl...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
I will meet you halfway.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
In Jersey there are 15mph limits.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
The minister talked about the likelihood that drivers would not observe the fact that they should not overtake buses. Of course, it is not only buses that stop outside schools—it is mainly cars. Too few children walk to school, which would be the safest form of transport for t...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
May I ask Jamie McGrigor a very quick question?
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Committee
08 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
Sorry, but I disagree with Bill Butler. The petition is fairly narrow in that it asks the Government to“accept that individual dairy farmers have human rights and that these have been breached by the operating rules of the ring fencing mechanism”.The Government has clearly tol...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill
I thank the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee for all its hard work on the bill, which is a welcome measure. It will improve and modernise a range of statutes on wildlife and the natural environment, especially as they relate to game species, wildlife crime and invasive ...
Robin Harper Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
The intention of amendment 37, which I would have thought was obvious, is to ensure that, across the board, Government departments raise their heads above the silos and talk to each other about biodiversity strategy—quite the opposite to the compartmentalisation that the minis...
Robin Harper Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was agreed at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 2004, Scotland’s commitment to such objectives was made in the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, which introduced a general biodiversity duty and the concept of a biodiversity...
Robin Harper Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I have tried for the past 12 years, at various stages of various pieces of legislation, to introduce some kind of vision into the legislation. Amendment 28 represents my penultimate attempt to do so, and I intend to press it.
Robin Harper Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
I am not privy to the details of that particular incident. I must declare an interest here, which is my election to the board of the National Trust for Scotland. Applause.The view is shared by all the non-governmental organisations involved in deer management including the Joh...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
02 Mar 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Red deer numbers are a major factor determining the nature, quality and extent of many of Scotland’s most important habitats and iconic species and the economic benefits, such as tourism, that they support. In the absence of natural predators, red deer numbers are determined b...
Robin Harper Green Committee
01 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
I declare an interest in that I have been involved in campaigning against the building of large-scale incinerators for some years. I would like this petition to be included in the legacy paper for our successor committee. As members will be aware, there is considerable concern...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Committee
01 Mar 2011
Current Petitions
We could ask the Scottish Legal Aid Board what advice it has given the Scottish Government on the impact of regulation 15 on environmental legal aid applications in view of the Scottish Government’s obligations regarding access to environmental justice and whether the Governme...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
23 Feb 2011
Public Petitions Committee
In the first session of Parliament, I was on the Transport and the Environment Committee, in which we were concerned with making legislation. I was on the Audit Committee after that, in which we asked the questions. In the past four years, I have been on the Public Petitions C...
Robin Harper Green Chamber
10 Feb 2011
Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployed Young People (Edinburgh)
I will stop there.
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
10 Feb 2011
Scottish Executive Question Time · Unemployed Young People (Edinburgh)
I share Sarah Boyack’s concerns. Is the minister aware of the recent report from Citizens Advice Scotland, which shows that young people are now three times more likely to be unemployed compared with the rest of the working-age population? Given the urgency of the situation, h...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
For the record, NHS Highland’s response is interesting. It says that it“would support serious consideration of including specifications for food additives as well as nutrients. Given increasing rates of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
Irrespective of the very real concerns of the petitioners, it is clear that the banning of the importation of kangaroo meat or other kangaroo products into Scotland or the European Union on animal welfare grounds would be illegal under World Trade Organisation rules. We may no...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
A number of interesting judgments are going through the Scottish courts at the moment on the Aarhus convention, so I suggest that we continue the petition.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
I just suggested that we close the petition.
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
I have two points. First, it would be appropriate for us to commend Quarriers for the work that it has been doing for young people and children. Secondly, following on from Anne McLaughlin’s remarks, we might like to recommend to our future Government that, if it enters into o...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
I recommend very strongly that the petition be suspended and put on the legacy paper for the next committee to consider.The issue of the safety of wild salmon and trout is dynamic: it is changing all the time. Quite a lot of the related problems are dynamic. In the development...
Robin Harper Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
I declare an interest. I have been involved in the airfield issue.It is immensely important that we pursue the issue. The petition must go before a subject committee; the issue is not one that the Public Petitions Committee can take on on its own. The best approach would be to...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Committee
08 Feb 2011
Current Petitions
Given that the Scottish Government has confirmed that the current law provides for family members to take care of children who might be at risk; given that new guidance on looked-after children has been issued; given that, despite a “favourable” report on the protection of chi...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
I should declare an interest as a member of the EIS, but I do not think that it will be happy with what I am about to say.The Government’s response clearly says that it has given sufficient resources to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities through the budget agreement ...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
Not for us.
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
Considering that the petition is extremely limited—it asks us“to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry”—and that we have been told at least twice that the Government has no intention of so doing, we have every right to close the petition. However, I have ...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
The fact is that the Scottish Government cannot apologise on behalf of other Governments and public bodies. That is just the way things work. However, it recognises that Gypsy Travellers are among the most disfranchised and discriminated against people in Scotland. We have bee...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
New Petitions
I indicate my enthusiastic support for the petition. Static gear only fisheries can have huge benefits for local communities and, even more important, for biodiversity, which the extension of such areas will increase. In the long term, they will result in a knock-on increase i...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
New Petitions
School nurses occupy a special place in schools and I know of many who do wonderful work. However, it might be worth drawing the Government’s attention to the fact that there are no mandatory qualifications to practise as a school nurse. I am sure that school nurses are all qu...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
New Petitions
It is appropriate to pay tribute to the work that Kim Hartley has done on behalf of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists during the three sessions of the Parliament from 1999 to date.
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
New Petitions
I am happy to say that I support the suggestions that have been made.
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
New Petitions
I am a member of the John Muir Trust, so I should not contribute.
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
My question is mainly for Neil McDonald of DB Schenker, but I would love to have the view of Ron McAulay of Network Rail on this, too. It came to our attention earlier in our investigation that the noise comes from old-fashioned bogies with old-fashioned braking systems and bo...
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
I want to pursue that, as you have not answered the question whether it is possible to improve the system. Is a different system available or is it possible to improve the system? Would you be able to find money to invest in an improved system?
Robin Harper Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
Would it be possible to decrease that turnaround time? Do other power stations have faster turnaround times for trains of a similar size? If so, have you worked out how much that would cost? Has decreasing the turnaround time been considered?
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Committee
25 Jan 2011
Current Petitions
Yes, it is. There seems to be a bottleneck in terms of the turnaround time for the trains, which you said is two hours—is that correct?
Robin Harper Green Chamber
20 Jan 2011
Young People (Opportunities)
I thank everyone for their agreement. I will vote for all the amendments and my motion. I thank members for a very nice debate.
Robin Harper Green Chamber
20 Jan 2011
Young People (Opportunities)
This has been a good debate. I will try to say a few words about everything that members have said.I thank Jim Mather for giving us a comprehensive introduction to everything that is happening at present, especially at the Government’s behest. However, if we add up the sums th...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green Chamber
20 Jan 2011
Young People (Opportunities)
It gives me great pleasure, in my last Green party debate in this chamber, to focus on opportunities for young people, although I have to say that it is a matter of regret that, nearly 12 years after this Parliament was established, so many young people are still living in pov...
Robin Harper Green Committee
19 Jan 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
I listened very carefully to the minister and I will not press the amendment.Amendment 157, by agreement, withdrawn.Section 32—SSSI offences: civil enforcement
Robin Harper Green Committee
19 Jan 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
SSSIs are the crown jewels of our natural environment—a series of sites that are given special protection because of the special qualities of their wildlife. As such, they represent a very special part of Scotland’s natural capital, the environmental assets on which the qualit...
Robin Harper Green Committee
19 Jan 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Unfortunately, Scotland, in common with all other EU countries, failed to meet the Rio commitments on biodiversity for 2010. It is widely felt that part of the reason for that was foreseen in 2004 when, during stage 2 proceedings on the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill, Ros...
Robin Harper Green Committee
19 Jan 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Thank you. I was going to concede that point. Having listened to the responses, I am clear that amendment 151 needs to be given more thought, even if it is brought back at stage 3, so I will withdraw it. Amendment 151, by agreement, withdrawn.Section 22—Deer management etc10:15
Robin Harper Green Committee
19 Jan 2011
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Yes.
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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2011

16 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Higher Education Funding
Harper, Robin Green Lothians Watch on SPTV
Given that the level of discontent is such that there are threats of strikes at two Edinburgh universities and there have been sit-ins in Glasgow, does the cabinet secretary consider that his advice to principals to be aggressive in pursuing efficiencies and to be pragmatic has been overenthusiastically interpreted?

In the same item of business

The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson) NPA
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is a statement by Michael Russell on higher education funding. The cabinet secretary will take ques...
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Michael Russell) SNP
In December, I launched the higher education green paper, “Building a Smarter Future”. The debate that followed has attracted interest from almost 2,000 peop...
The Presiding Officer NPA
The cabinet secretary will take questions on issues raised in his statement. We have just under 20 minutes for questions, after which we must move on to the ...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab) Lab
I am pleased that the cabinet secretary now recognises that there is a funding gap as a result of the actions of the Con-Dem Government at Westminster in rai...
Michael Russell SNP
It is almost impossible to deal with a question of that nature, which has no basis in fact. The world in which Mr McNulty lives is entirely mythical. Let me ...
Des McNulty Lab
Answer the question, cabinet secretary.
Michael Russell SNP
Given those circumstances, it would be better if there was a moment of silence from Mr McNulty, rather than the smokescreen that we have had.Let me deal with...
Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con
The cabinet secretary has been at great pains to say that the SNP’s policy is based on the ability to learn rather than the ability to pay. In his announceme...
Michael Russell SNP
It is up to the Conservatives to justify their policy of imposing student fees. If they wish to do so, they must do that. Last night, on the BBC television p...
Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD) LD
I welcome and share the cabinet secretary’s commitment to free education with no fees and no graduate contribution. Our position builds on our record of scra...
Michael Russell SNP
I certainly agree that there is a need for a new system of student support and that we need to simplify the system. We have had many reviews over the past fe...
Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP) SNP
The education secretary’s commitment to maintaining free higher education is to be warmly welcomed. Is he able to say what effect free education, compared wi...
Michael Russell SNP
Yes. I notice that the Conservatives south of the border—indeed, Elizabeth Smith mentioned it last night in her contribution to the TV debate—believe that, b...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con
The evidence shows it. Read the evidence.
Michael Russell SNP
The Conservative party has not tackled some interesting research from the other side of the Atlantic, which shows without doubt that part of the fragmentatio...
Elizabeth Smith Con
It happened in England.
Murdo Fraser Con
It happened in England.
The Presiding Officer NPA
Order. I call Claire Baker.
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Lab
Universities agreed to compensate for a 10 per cent cut in funded places in 2011-12 with an increase in fees-only places. What discussions has the cabinet se...
Michael Russell SNP
There is an agreement—it is a one-year-only deal. That is the agreement that we reached and which university principals are honouring. That is why we need to...
Murdo Fraser Con
If fees are introduced for EU students studying at Scottish universities, as the cabinet secretary has proposed, what does that mean for Scottish students st...
Michael Russell SNP
There is no proposal to introduce fees because we are not able to do that—I have made that absolutely clear. However, there is an issue about whether it is p...
Hugh O’Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD) LD
The cabinet secretary referred to articulation. Does he recognise that departments of adult education are critical to the prospect of articulation? How will ...
Michael Russell SNP
I indicated in my statement that there is a balance between autonomy of organisations and public funding. I discussed these matters with Professor Muscatelli...
Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP
I welcome the reaffirmation of the Scottish Government’s support for free education, but I want to ask the cabinet secretary a question about governance. One...
Michael Russell SNP
That is an interesting proposal. Among the many fascinating pieces of material that we received as part of the green paper process were the comprehensive and...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab) Lab
I was pleased to hear that the minister has had discussions with the principal of the University of Glasgow, but he did not say whether he believes that it i...
Michael Russell SNP
If there were a proposal so to do, quite clearly, I would comment on it. As I understand, there is a consultation going on. My concern is that those who, qui...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green) Green
Given that the level of discontent is such that there are threats of strikes at two Edinburgh universities and there have been sit-ins in Glasgow, does the c...
Michael Russell SNP
We are dealing with intelligent, skilled and passionate people in every part of the university structure. It is clear that there will be contending ideas and...