Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2019
05 Jun 2019 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Teachers Pay Agreement (Implications for Public Sector Pay Policy)
Finance, Economy and Fair Work
As the minister will be aware, exactly the same circumstances apply to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd with regard to the pending air traffic controllers strike, which has been suspended for next Wednesday but is still threatened for the future. Will she bring the same flexibility to those pay negotiations? Of course, ministers directly intervened in the teachers’ strike. We could do with some intervention in the ATC strike, too, because lifeline air services depend on those people.
In the same item of business
5. Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are for its public sector pay policy of the agreement reached with the teaching profession. (S5O-03328)
The Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy (Kate Forbes)
SNP
The public sector pay policy sets a framework for pay negotiations, and balances delivery of a fair deal for employees with affordability and investment in h...
Tavish Scott
LD
As the minister will be aware, exactly the same circumstances apply to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd with regard to the pending air traffic controllers ...
Kate Forbes
SNP
As Tavish Scott does, I recognise that it has, with the disruption, been a difficult time for travellers. I welcome the suspension of the industrial action t...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
Does the Scottish Government still have a public sector pay policy that is worth the paper that it is printed on? From the latest deals that have been struck...
Kate Forbes
SNP
We do, indeed, have a pay policy that ensures affordability of and investment in high-quality public services. However, as I have said, the policy acts as a ...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I commend the Educational Institute of Scotland for securing a deal for its members, but I note that when the Scottish Government gave some prison officers a...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
For a moment, I thought that we were drifting away from the subject of teaching, but the question is about the public sector pay policy.
Kate Forbes
SNP
Again, I reiterate that the pay policy does not apply directly to all workforces. Instead, it acts as a benchmark for pay awards in other sectors, and sets t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Question 6 has been withdrawn, and questions 7 and 8 have been grouped together.