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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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Bill Walker SNP Chamber

Will the member give way?

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

As a member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, I was pleased to take part in the inquiry into the living wage in December and January. I wholly support the committee report, and I would like to address both the wider economics and the morality of the living-wa...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I will ask a question that is similar to the one that I put to the police. I am pleased to say that in Fife, or certainly in west Fife, which is my part of the world, there is a pretty good relationship between the fire and rescue service and the communities, although in recen...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I hope that David O’Connor will remember that I said to the previous panel that superintendents are all very nice people.I am very much in favour of the whole thing, but its success on the ground will revolve around the local commander. In Fife, we have good relationships thro...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

This might be the final question. I was heartened to hear Kevin Smith mention earlier that an inspector or chief inspector would be the local commander to look after Clackmannanshire. I live near there, and that is good.The position of local commander will be at the heart of t...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I will have another go—you heard us discussing this with the previous panel—at the idea of local commanders. In Fife, we have a good relationship at the lower levels—by which I mean wards, area committees and so on—between communities and the police. That works very well and i...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

As I have said, in Fife we have a pretty good relationship with all ranks in the matrix structure, from that of chief constable downwards, and I am sure that the same is true in Dumfries and Galloway. A look at those relationships might be worth while. I should say also that I...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Good afternoon. I want to follow that up at a local level. In Fife, we have a pretty good relationship between Fife Council and the police, especially at local level. We have wards, area committees and so on, and as a councillor I regularly meet constables, sergeants, inspecto...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private

I declare an interest as an elected member of Fife Council.

Bill Walker SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Dairy Farmers (Support)

Recently, two farmers in my west Fife constituency of Dunfermline stopped milk production for economic reasons. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, for Scottish farmers to get a fair go at European import markets, a Scottish voice must be heard at all European Union negotia...

6. Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Dairy Farmers (Support)

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to support dairy farmers. (S4O-00684)

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I will follow that up on a practical level. I am still a local councillor in Fife and we have a pretty good relationship with the police. For example, at ward level we work with constables and sergeants; at area committee level, we work with chief inspectors; and at Fife Counc...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

I understand the concept of independence once those people are in place, but do you see the Scottish Government or the Parliament appointing them? How will it work, to get at the independence concept?

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Good morning, Mr Muir. I am very interested in this subject. You want the Government to carry out“an independent ‘fit for purpose’ review”because the SPSO is set up by the Parliament. How do you see an investigative body being selected, bearing it in mind that you are asking t...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Building Repairs (Scotland) Bill

Constituents who knew that you were working on the matter have asked whether, if the bill progresses through the member’s bill route, you have any idea of the timescale involved. Do you get the feeling that it will get nods along the way?

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Building Repairs (Scotland) Bill

Good morning, Mr Stewart. My question goes back to the consultation that you have done so far, particularly with the Scottish Government, which has history in this regard, so I reckon that there is quite a lot of information. I am not asking you to praise the Scottish Governme...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private

I declare an interest as an elected member of Fife Council.

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

Budget (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I hear what Claudia Beamish says about wanting more money for certain things and reducing the cuts. I do not like the word “cuts”, but sometimes that is what they are. If we are not to implement the cuts that she mentions, will she and her colleagues please tell us which budge...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I support that. Until recently, I was not aware how many people call NHS 24 from mobile phones, which is pretty expensive. People phone when there is a serious matter that does not merit a 999 call. I hope that consideration of the 111 number will be concluded soon, so that we...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I did not realise that there have been 13 discussions on the petition—that is an unfortunate number. During my short time as a member of the committee, I have learned that petitions can go on and on unless a decision is made. Gil Paterson asked members to continue their consid...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

To supplement what colleagues have said, I think that we should not consider the petition at present. There is a wonderful further education college in my constituency, and I want to support it in every way. However, the petition is a bit too narrow and we should refer it to t...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petition

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petition

I will pursue that a little bit. I am not in favour of a national social work agency by any means, and of course we do not want to increase administrative costs, but I am glad that you have touched on inspections. That approach will be quite difficult, with 32 local authoritie...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Current Petition

Perhaps I should declare an interest. I am still a member of Fife Council.My question leads on from what colleagues have said. In the complex situation that we are in, unfortunately, with child sexual exploitation, how does the Scottish Government hold the 32 councils to accou...

Bill Walker SNP Chamber

I know that we are getting very technical, but does the member agree that the problem with copper wires and the distance from the exchange can arise almost anywhere? There are places throughout the central belt, such as Cumbernauld, my area of west Fife and Kirkliston—which we...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

Everyone else is getting a geographical mention. I am one of the poor souls in the constituency of Dunfermline in West Fife who does not have broadband in his house. I have petitioned the cabinet secretary, but to no avail.Does the cabinet secretary agree that the tremendous c...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Proposed High Hedges (Scotland) Bill

Do you agree that the evidence from England not only supports your proposal but shows that the existence of legislation will act as a deterrent and encourage people to behave properly in the first place, such that there will be no need to go down another route? If we had such ...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Proposed High Hedges (Scotland) Bill

A tree can be a barrier not just to light coming in, but to a view. We all like a view from a garden and do not want to be fenced in—that is why I raised the issue. It is difficult to see through trees for most of the year.

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Proposed High Hedges (Scotland) Bill

Good morning, Mark. I have two follow-up points. In my mailbag, I have had lots of correspondence on the issue in Fife. Unfortunately, trees are often part of the problem, because they can form a neat barrier. The issue is not just shadow, but the views that people should be a...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I think that I understand Robson rotation, but when I talked to people about the issue, one thing that I discovered was that they are used to looking at things alphabetically. With a name like Walker, I am always up against it. There might be an issue within parties when they ...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I am quite happy with representatives making those inquiries. Glasgow is not too far to go, but I would volunteer to go to the Western Isles, as I have not been there for at least 10 years. This is not a big committee, but it makes economic sense for only two or three members ...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I agree with what has just been said. I hate the phrase “postcode lottery”—I think that you used the word “passport” just now, convener—but, when the petitioners spoke to us, I was shocked by the idea that the availability of insulin pumps is so variable. That just seemed wron...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

Are there working groups for other breeds? That relates to the point that I made earlier.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I agree with what has just been said. The problem is that such steps could apply to other breeds. We are talking about Staffies, but all sorts of other dogs—I could probably list six or seven breeds—should be included in the action. From my purchasing and rehoming of dogs over...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I declare an interest as a long-serving, longsuffering fan of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.Sandra White put it well, and I am all for helping to develop football, too. There are many positive aspects, despite some of the negative stuff—I am thinking about recent behaviour...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Current Petitions

I hear everything that Claire Baker says and agree with much of the feeling behind it. I am the local member at the Dunfermline end of the road but, unfortunately, I do not see what more we can do with the petition. Things are happening, albeit too slowly, and I do not know wh...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

We do not know what the Scottish Government will decide to do, if anything, so it would be appropriate to consider the petition at a later stage. We are not not considering it; it is just that the timing is not quite right. That is why I support what the convener has said.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

I wish that John Wilson would not steal my speeches. I support what he said. This is a valid matter, but it has been subject to a very heavy consultation and the Scottish Government is considering it. It is a question of timing, and I do not think that now is the right time. W...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

I declare that I remain an elected member of Fife Council.

Bill Walker SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Year of Homecoming 2014

I thank the cabinet secretary for her helpful response. Does she agree that the city of Dunfermline—as Scotland’s ancient capital, the burial place of King Robert the Bruce, the location of the highly successful annual Bruce festival and the birthplace of Scotland’s greatest p...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Year of Homecoming 2014

7. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made regarding the programme for the year of homecoming 2014. (S4O-00585)

Bill Walker SNP Committee

I am content to support your view, convener. Sorry, Margaret.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Dangerous Buildings and Building MOTs

As I understand it, the building MOT will have to be self-financing through charges and so on. As someone who is wary of duplication, I wonder whether, with the great amount of local authority expertise that you have, you think that such an approach could be extended to ensure...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Dangerous Buildings and Building MOTs

My question is probably for Alastair Mackenzie. I am a councillor in Fife, and I know that local authorities get involved only when a building is found to be dangerous, which is sometimes a bit late.I listened to what Margaret Mitchell said to the previous panel about the duti...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Dangerous Buildings and Building MOTs

Very good, Kevin.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Dangerous Buildings and Building MOTs

I guess that the issue is about having a good body of information about buildings, as all our buildings are pretty old. However, most of the existing buildings do not have such a body of information about them, detailing where the cables and pipes are, et cetera. I realise tha...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Dangerous Buildings and Building MOTs

Some of my questions have been answered in the responses to Anne McTaggart. I agree with David Gibbon that a great deal of work on buildings is reactive. To some extent, it is the same with cars, but I remind John McKinney that at least cars must have MOT tests when we are req...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

The issue comes up in my area of Fife. We have what are loosely called foreign contractors operating in Fife, and they seem to be able to undercut local businesses. I know that, to its credit, Fife Council organises courses and so on to help companies to make the best bids. Of...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

I am interested in what you have said, and would be interested to hear your comments on one thing that you did not touch on. Most people agree that, broadly speaking, the living wage is a good idea; it is just a matter of how, when, how much and so on. You did not mention comp...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

I declare an interest as an elected member of Fife Council.

Bill Walker SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Radioactive Contamination (Dalgety Bay)

Given the concern expressed by many of my constituents in adjacent Dunfermline and throughout west Fife, is the cabinet secretary confident that the MOD will properly address the matter, especially in light of the fact that, at a recent meeting in Dalgety Bay that was attended...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Chamber

Scottish Executive Question Time · Radioactive Contamination (Dalgety Bay)

3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the radioactive contamination detected at Dalgety Bay. (S4O-00521)

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

When the possibility of a living wage unit was mentioned to us some time ago, I thought that it was a good idea to have someone pull everything together, look after things and possibly try a bit of enforcement and so on. Some witnesses even told us that it would not be particu...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

You gave an absolute amount for the cost of implementing the living wage, but what is that as a percentage of the total Government wage bill? I imagine that the figure is tiny.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

I am very much in favour of the living wage—either now, or as an aspiration in some areas. It is to be welcomed.The Scottish Government has experience of the issue, so I will ask two questions about the cost of the living wage. Cabinet secretary, you are known as a master of n...

Bill Walker (Dunfermline) (SNP) SNP Committee

Decision on Taking Business in Private

I should do the same: I am a member of Fife Council.

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

I come back to Margaret Mitchell’s question and to Kay McVeigh’s explanation about packaging the living wage into what the council gets out of it.I should perhaps have declared an interest at the beginning, as I am still a councillor in Fife. I was shocked when I learned a few...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

I have the same question that I asked the London Olympics people earlier on the differential. I accept and am pleased to hear that once people join an organisation, whether private or public, work improves, absenteeism is lower and all that sort of thing, which is great. Howev...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

I thank Loraine Martins for her comprehensive answer. I am pleased that the project is so prestigious that people have wanted to be involved in it. It is good to know about the high level of staff retention, the quality of the work and the fact that the project was finished on...

Bill Walker SNP Committee

Living Wage Inquiry

Never, convener.I have a devil’s-advocate question about the level of the living wage. I do not know quite how you established the London living wage. Have you discovered that, in terms of differentials, the amount that is paid is enough to attract applicants for the work? You...

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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2012

01 Mar 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Living Wage

Walker, Bill SNP Dunfermline Watch on SPTV

Will the member give way?

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab

The next item of business is a debate on the living wage in Scotland. I call on Joe FitzPatrick to open the debate on behalf of the Local Government and Rege...

Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West) (SNP) SNP

I start by thanking the committee clerks for their diligent work during the inquiry, which resulted in the important report—“Report on the Living Wage in Sco...

John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) SNP

Does the member agree that there was also a lot of scaremongering before the national minimum wage was introduced, which has been shown to be largely false?

Joe FitzPatrick SNP

That is exactly the point that I was going to make. At the time of the introduction of the minimum wage, the CBI stated that “even a low minimum wage would ...

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

I am sure that the member is old enough to recall the CBI making similar comments when we stopped sending children up chimneys to sweep them.

Joe FitzPatrick SNP

I cannot remember that far back. I defer to the member. In fact, in the five years following the introduction of the minimum wage, the unemployment level in...

Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP) SNP

A number of councils have established arm’s-length organisations. Those organisations deliver council services but the staff are not directly employed by the...

Joe FitzPatrick SNP

We questioned local authorities that have introduced the living wage, the most notable of which is Glasgow, about that issue. We received confirmation from t...

The Minister for Local Government and Planning (Derek Mackay) SNP

I am pleased to open the debate on behalf of the Government. The bad news is that I will also close on behalf of the Government. I am pleased to see that th...

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Has the minister just given a commitment to a living wage for all employees in an independent Scotland?

Derek Mackay SNP

I am sure that that could be part of our considerations for an independent Scotland. Access to this country’s full resources would give us many choices about...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con

Further to Kezia Dugdale’s point, the powers for the national minimum wage may rest with Westminster, but it would be in the gift of the Scottish Government ...

Derek Mackay SNP

Such decision making is a matter for local government discretion. We do not have to create funds to achieve a policy objective, and I announced last week tha...

Gavin Brown Con

The report states that seven local authorities have implemented the living wage. The minister has said that a majority have implemented it, so, for the sake ...

Derek Mackay SNP

Six councils have agreed to implement the living wage for the financial year 2012-13: Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Moray, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross,...

Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

I, too, welcome the debate. I read the committee’s report with interest and would like to congratulate the committee, the clerks and all those who gave evide...

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP

I remind Ms Boyack that, when the Labour Party was in government in the UK, it had control over the national minimum wage but that, despite the campaign to i...

Sarah Boyack Lab

The Labour Government increased the national minimum wage repeatedly to ensure that it kept up. The fact that we are discussing the living wage now is testam...

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con

You should close now, please.

Sarah Boyack Lab

That is why we would support the implementation of the living wage. I hope that the Scottish Government will listen to us today, as we need that political wi...

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

I call Margaret Mitchell. You have six minutes. 15:23

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con) Con

The committee took evidence from a variety of witnesses, whom I thank for their valuable contribution to the inquiry. I pay tribute to the committee clerks f...

Kezia Dugdale Lab

I was at the committee when the member argued that that money would be better spent on potholes. Does she regret her comments on the living wage somehow repr...

Margaret Mitchell Con

I regret anything that takes away from service provision. The raison d’être for any local authority is service provision, and that must come first. The hars...

John Mason SNP

Will the member give way?

Margaret Mitchell Con

I am sorry, but I have only six minutes, and I have a particular view to put over. It is more worrying that, in its written submission, CBI Scotland stated ...

Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland) (SNP) SNP

Will the member take an intervention?

Margaret Mitchell Con

I have already explained that I have only six minutes. I am sorry that I cannot take an intervention; normally, I would do so. In essence, the Scottish Cham...

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP

I declare an interest. Prior to coming into the Parliament in May 2007, I was the director of the Scottish Low Pay Unit. I also served on the Trades Union Co...

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) Lab

I welcome the committee report and the general level of debate that we have had so far. I am pleased that, under our new arrangements, we will look at the is...