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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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1999–2026
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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
John Pentland Lab Chamber
22 Mar 2016
Topical Question Time · Dalzell and Clydebridge Steel Plants (Update on Negotiations)
No. I am quite happy with that answer—especially considering that the minister might be running out of breath.
John Pentland Lab Chamber
22 Mar 2016
Topical Question Time · Dalzell and Clydebridge Steel Plants (Update on Negotiations)
I thank the minister for that reply. I am sure that he will not be surprised to hear that I consider that getting people back into their jobs is the priority. Can he assure me that everything possible has been done to ensure that the election does not delay a deal in any way a...
2. John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
22 Mar 2016
Topical Question Time · Dalzell and Clydebridge Steel Plants (Update on Negotiations)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on negotiations to save the steel plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge. (S4T-01367)
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
17 Mar 2016
General Question Time · Steel Industry (Support)
Although that is appreciated, the key question is not what the Scottish Government has done but where it is going. It is now more than five months since Tata Steel made its announcement. For the workers, all that has happened is a phased decline with mothballing, and support t...
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
Everyone else has taken the opportunity to plug something, so I will plug Motherwell concert hall and theatre, which has some terrific star attractions over the next two or three weeks. I invite you all to come along. We talked about how the national companies measure success...
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
Chris Hampson mentioned the close relationship of the companies now that they are working under a national portfolio. That being the case, do you think that perhaps somewhere down the line we could be moving towards a national performing company rather than national performing...
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
Might you be able to provide us with a figure on how much of your core funding goes into staff wages?
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
I ask the same question of Alex Reedijk, so that he can also provide a figure. What about Roy McEwan?
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
How much of your core funding goes into staff wages?
John Pentland Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
During the period of austerity, has Scottish Opera made any staff cuts?
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Committee
08 Mar 2016
National Performing Companies
Over the past year or two, most public bodies have had to make efficiency savings and meet demands for cuts. What staff structures do the five national performing companies have in place, in relation to the funding they receive?
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
08 Mar 2016
Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill
As we have heard, the passage of the bill has not been a great advert for the Scottish Government’s competence and grasp of educational matters, but then again, what is? Matters that should have been thrashed out in co-operation with institutions’ staff and students have been ...
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
Finally, you have said that the budget for 2013 to 2016 has flatlined. If you are going to give money for additional student support, where will that money come from?
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
No—of course. Sorry, convener.
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
We would like to track that, if you are giving additional—
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
Can you tell us what the drop-out figure is?
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
My question follows on from Liam McArthur’s question on student support, which is an issue that we have asked previous witnesses at committee about. In fact, NUS Scotland raised concerns about student support, saying that it was not fit for purpose. I am, in a way, relieved th...
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
Can the witnesses advise us of what the drop-out percentage is?
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
Can I ask one further question, convener?
John Pentland Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
I have a further question, which is for those in the college sector. The reform is a giant step forward for a lot of people, and a lot of people are buying into it, but there is still some criticism. For example, the NUS has said that student support is not fit for purpose. Th...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Committee
01 Mar 2016
College Reform
Most of the answers that I was seeking have been given in response to George Adam’s questions. It is good to have reassurance that the consultation, or rather co-operation, is now working for businesses. It is a giant step forward for the people you are involved with among loc...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
01 Mar 2016
Work, Wages and Wellbeing
In general, I welcome the recommendations of this report, which back up many of the things that Scottish Labour has been saying for some time. The Scottish Government has also made supportive noises but has not always taken opportunities when they are presented. I hope that th...
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
We have already said how we would fund it.
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
Would you therefore concede that Scottish Labour’s fair start fund would close the attainment gap quicker than the Scottish Government’s attainment challenge fund?
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
You said that there are deprived children in every school. Obviously, those kids need help, and schools need help to close the attainment gap. My question to you is this: when will the schools that are not part of everything that you just talked about receive financial help to...
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
Do you not think that you are being unfair to schools that are not eligible for any support whatsoever? How are you going to improve things for them in closing the attainment gap? Why are those schools having to wait? You said that you have a universal approach. If that is the...
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
Cabinet secretary, I am sure that you are aware of Labour’s fair start fund, under which, if it were to be implemented, every primary school in the country would receive an extra £1,000 for each pupil from a deprived background. For example, my North Lanarkshire authority woul...
John Pentland Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
I thank the witnesses for giving us specific answers and for referring to peripheral services. Will the cutback in the budget have an impact on the attainment gap? In particular, we have to keep up teacher numbers, but will the budget reduction have an impact on the support th...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Committee
23 Feb 2016
School Spending and Educational Attainment
Over the past couple of months, we have seen a fierce reaction to the local government settlement, especially in relation to its likely impact on education. Perhaps much of the protest has come from Labour-controlled authorities. COSLA’s submission accepts that the process of ...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
23 Feb 2016
BBC Charter Renewal
Being politicians, it is natural that a lot of what we think about the BBC is determined by its political output. After all, what could be more important than what we have to say here in the Scottish Parliament? UK and international news should get a look-in, but preferably fr...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
02 Feb 2016
Education (Scotland) Bill
Some aspects of the legislation are okay as far as they go; with some, it is for the best that they do not go further; and with others, it is a pity that the legislation lacks ambition. The most important point, however, is that successful legislation is more than just a bill....
John Pentland Lab Chamber
27 Jan 2016
Education (Attainment Gap)
United Kingdom cuts have been multiplied fivefold, with devastating consequences for council services such as schools and childcare. That severely undermines any good that is being done by the attainment fund. How much good that fund will do is highly questionable when it igno...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
27 Jan 2016
Education (Attainment Gap)
For some reason, the Scottish National Party still wants us to judge it on its record, so let us do that. After nine years of nationalist decline, the cabinet secretary’s coat ought to be on a shoogly peg. Does she or anybody in the SNP think that it is acceptable that young p...
John Pentland Lab Chamber
27 Jan 2016
Portfolio Question Time · European Union Students
What does the Scottish Government estimate are the costs and benefits of that, and has it made any progress towards implementing management fees?
5. John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
27 Jan 2016
Portfolio Question Time · European Union Students
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many non-United Kingdom undergraduate European Union students are studying in Scotland. (S4O-05478)
John Pentland Lab Committee
12 Jan 2016
BBC Charter Renewal
Finally, given the amount of money that Scotland pays into the pot overall, do we get enough back, proportionately, to train apprentices?
John Pentland Lab Committee
12 Jan 2016
BBC Charter Renewal
Are any of them apprentice journalists or anything like that?
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Committee
12 Jan 2016
BBC Charter Renewal
I am not sure whether I picked you up wrong. You take on 10 apprenticeships every year. Are they trained in London? If that is the case, have any apprentice journalists been based in Scotland?
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
12 Jan 2016
Education
I believe that we are having this debate today not through the Scottish Government’s choice but as a reaction to criticisms of its education policy. It is easy to see why the SNP is under attack. Young people from wealthier families are twice as likely to go to university as t...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab Chamber
16 Dec 2015
Portfolio Question Time · Apprenticeship Levy (Discussions)
What discussions has the Scottish Government had with industry bodies based here in Scotland and in the rest of the UK, and with others who provide apprenticeship training, on the levy’s impact on their current apprenticeship schemes?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Just in general.
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
I want to go back to the first question on the fee strategy. I think that there was an assumption that the review would have been completed and in our hands by now. “Assume” and “assumption” are among the most common words in the budget proposal. We know that that means that ...
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
When you hire somebody from the private sector, how do you negotiate the contract? Do you say to the private sector firm, “Here is £20,000; now go away and do the job,” or is the figure arrived at by negotiation?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
This is a point that we have emphasised on a number of occasions. If you are using a private company’s work as a benchmark, are you able to achieve that benchmark in-house or are you taking longer to do the same job?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Yes, but surely the private company is bound by the same criteria and has to deliver the same quality.
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Do you have any examples of that?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
I am not talking about the cost; I am talking about the time that it takes. We have already gauged that £20,000 is set aside. It is the time that I am trying to establish. Would it take the in-house team a week to do the job for the same cost or would the in-house team take ei...
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
No, I am trying to say that it should be like for like. Do you have that comparability?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Yes. We are talking about money and time. There is a £20,000 fee and the private firm is able to do the job in a week. If you get an in-house team to do the same job and you give the team £20,000 for that, will that team do the job within a week?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
No, I am asking whether the in-house team would do it in the same time that it took the private company—a week.
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
If a private firm is given a fee of £20,000, for example, and it is able to do that job in a week, there will be profit in that. If you are then giving the same sort of task to an in-house team, would you expect the team, given the £20,000, to do a comparable job? Would you ex...
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
By way of benchmarking it?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Although private firms might have that incentive to work to their fee, how is that efficiency delivered in-house?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
The commission is aware that Audit Scotland pays private sector firms a set fee for an audit appointment, and it is for the firms to plan and deliver their work within that fee. That creates an incentive for those firms to be as efficient as possible in order to maximise their...
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Can you make any in-house savings by not travelling?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
How does that balance with you sending people out to firms?
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
So it is not down to audit work; it is down to efficiencies that have been achieved elsewhere, one of which you identify as travel.
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Appendix 1, which concerns operating cost trends, shows that Audit Scotland’s expenditure on private firms has decreased marginally year on year from 2013-14’s actual expenditure to 2016-17’s proposed budget. In the same period, Audit Scotland’s gross administrative costs have...
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Do you think that Audit Scotland has a legitimate role in that process? Obviously, a lot of money will be collected through those different powers.
John Pentland Lab Committee
10 Dec 2015
Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2016/17
Given that HMRC is currently subject to audit by the National Audit Office, does Audit Scotland envisage any scope to pursue a resource transfer from the National Audit Office to Audit Scotland? One might assume that the extent of the NAO’s input might decrease for the taxes t...
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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2016

01 Mar 2016 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Work, Wages and Wellbeing
Allard, Christian SNP North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

I was talking about taxation and the high road and the low road, and I gave some European Union examples. Does Gavin Brown not agree that whereas France has given Google a bill for £1.3 billion for unpaid taxes, the UK Government has settled for a fraction of that: £130 million for the same period? That is exactly why we are talking about a low road and a high road.

In the same item of business

The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick) NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-15760, in the name of Murdo Fraser, on work, wages and wellbeing in the Scottish labour market. I call Mu...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con
On behalf of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, I express our gratitude for the opportunity to debate what for us has been an extensive, exciting and...
The Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training (Roseanna Cunningham) SNP
I, too, thank the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee for the report and for inviting me to give evidence for the inquiry. I listened with interest to Murd...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (Ind) Ind
The minister mentioned inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts. Will she define the fair use of zero-hours contracts?
Roseanna Cunningham SNP
There has been quite a discussion about that. I am not quite sure, because I am not up on my football, but I think that I have seen Ann Budge from Hearts mak...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith) Lab
I can give you an extra minute.
Roseanna Cunningham SNP
Thank you, Presiding Officer. We do not yet have Scotland-specific figures, but the Equality and Human Rights Commission has reported that, across Britain, ...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) Lab
I thank the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee for an important and timely report that builds on the work that the committee did previously on underemploy...
Roseanna Cunningham SNP
I hope that Iain Gray will acknowledge that the data that comes out is UK-wide data that is broken down for Scotland. The statistics are official statistics ...
Iain Gray Lab
I accept that, but I will make two points. First, the report makes it clear that the Scottish Government pays the Office for National Statistics to do additi...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con
The Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee has produced a pretty comprehensive and effective report. The committee took a huge amount of evidence, with 11 pan...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
We turn to the open debate. I am afraid that there is not much time in hand, and speeches should be of four minutes. 14:50
Gordon MacDonald (Edinburgh Pentlands) (SNP) SNP
The overall employment situation in Scotland continues to improve. The latest figures highlight that we have record levels of employment and that those level...
Gavin Brown Con
Will the member give way?
Gordon MacDonald SNP
No—I have only four minutes. The Poverty Alliance continued: “It is also difficult to imagine how anyone is meant to manage their finances week to week wit...
Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab) Lab
I welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate on an important report. Regardless of the previous speaker’s characterisation of it, the report was ma...
Christian Allard (North East Scotland) (SNP) SNP
I wanted to congratulate the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee and its convener on their choice of title for their report, but Gavin Brown has prevented ...
John Pentland (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab) Lab
In general, I welcome the recommendations of this report, which back up many of the things that Scottish Labour has been saying for some time. The Scottish G...
Richard Lyle (Central Scotland) (SNP) SNP
As a member of the Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, I am delighted to speak in this debate on work, wages and wellbeing in the Scottish la...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
I call John Wilson. I ask you to keep to your four minutes please, Mr Wilson. 15:12
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (Ind) Ind
First, I declare an interest as a member of Unite the union and as a former director of the Scottish Low Pay Unit. I commend the Economy, Energy and Tourism ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
We turn to closing speeches. I remind members who participated in the debate that they should be here for closing speeches. 15:16
Gavin Brown Con
This has been an interesting debate. I will return to some of the excellent contributions that were made, but before I do that I will pick up on two points. ...
Christian Allard SNP
I was talking about taxation and the high road and the low road, and I gave some European Union examples. Does Gavin Brown not agree that whereas France has ...
Gavin Brown Con
In all honesty, I genuinely do not understand the point that Christian Allard is making. I point out a host of areas in which successive UK Governments of di...
Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab
As members have said, work, wages and wellbeing matter to us all. What people do when they get to work, how much and how they are paid, how they are treated ...
Roseanna Cunningham SNP
I thank the committee again for its valuable piece of work, and I thank all the people who took the time to give evidence. I will send the committee my respo...
The Deputy Presiding Officer Lab
I call Joan McAlpine to wind up the debate on behalf of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. 15:30
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP) SNP
This has been a worthwhile debate on a worthwhile committee report, and that is important given the issues at stake and the level of engagement that the comm...