Hansard

The Convener (Margaret Mitchell) Con

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the third meeting in 2011 of the Equal Opportunities Committee. I remind everyone present that mobile phones and BlackB...

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab) Lab

Overall, the response to our report is quite encouraging. Do you plan to go through each section of the response, or would you prefer more general comments?

The Convener Con

It would take a pretty long time to go through each section, so it would be easier if you were to highlight the bits that you think are worth noting.

Elaine Smith Lab

At the bottom of page 3, on the subject of the UK Border Agency’s accommodation contract with Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government says:“steps must ...

The Convener Con

There will be an opportunity to raise that directly with ministers in tomorrow’s debate. Failing that, the only other option would be to write directly. Howe...

Elaine Smith Lab

The debate will be short, so it might be difficult to include all the points. It might therefore be helpful to put some of them on the record today.

The Convener Con

Yes.

Elaine Smith Lab

I do not want to hog the discussion, but I have some further points to go through.

The Convener Con

Keep going; other members can contribute later if they wish.

Elaine Smith Lab

My next point concerns page 12. I express some regret that there is“no available funding to take forward an awareness raising campaign.”When we were writing ...

The Convener Con

We will take a note of that point and if it is not covered in tomorrow’s debate, perhaps we can seek an immediate response.

Elaine Smith Lab

On page 15, in the section about the migration policy toolkit, the response states:“The Scottish Government has provided COSLA with two year’s funding ... to...

The Convener Con

Yes.

Elaine Smith Lab

On page 18, in the section on the national health service, the Government states that it“continues to emphasise to Boards, through its partnership arrangemen...

The Convener Con

Thank you for those observations. We will take note of them, and we can write to the Government on any specific point that is not covered in the debate tomor...

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP

I have not managed to catch up with this and examine the response in any detail. However, some changes were made last week in relation to migrants in certain...

The Convener Con

Even if it is a footnote, I am sure that we can cover that point.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

I agree with the comments that have been made: it has been a worthwhile response. Do we have time to come back to it after the debate tomorrow if necessary? ...

The Convener Con

If there is a particular issue, I am sure that we could find time to cover it at a future meeting.

Marlyn Glen Lab

Secondly, do we have a direct response to the report from the police or the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland? I felt that the Government was ...

The Convener Con

We did not seek such a response. We can either put that in our legacy paper, or try to get a response in the limited timeframe that we have.

Marlyn Glen Lab

It would be worth while to follow that up.

The Convener Con

OkayOn page 38, in response to our concerns about 24-hour residential services for victims of trafficking, the Government advocates a more flexible system. W...

Christina McKelvie SNP

On the same page, I picked out a point that was not clear when we were taking evidence, which is that“The Scottish Government hopes to agree a funding packag...

The Convener Con

Again, that can go on the list of things on which, if they are not covered properly tomorrow, we will write to the Government in the hope of a speedy reply. ...