Hansard

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

29 Mar 2007

The Future of Scotland

An election is coming up. It must be inspirational for any pensioner who is tuned in to today's debate to hear how much all the parties are going to do for senior citizens. The Tories talked about taking 50 per cent off council tax. The SNP will take a number of pensioners out...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

28 Mar 2007

Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill

I think that everyone agrees that the bill is excellent, but the missing link that no one has mentioned is the 20 per cent of the population who will not be able to afford to use the facility. Will the minister look into free off-peak travel for pensioners and ensure that the ...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

22 Mar 2007

Scotland in the United Kingdom

Will the minister give way?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

21 Mar 2007

Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I think that it was not so much that the employers did not know, as that they did not care. That is the difference.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

21 Mar 2007

Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

By the law of averages, I have no right to be standing here, because I worked in the shipyards. In 1947—60 years ago now—I worked in the city of Johannesburg as a young apprentice marine engineer. I worked in an area roughly the size of the chamber with scaffolding up either s...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

I am happy at that.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

Thank you, convener. My statement will be even shorter than I thought it would be.The strategy is strong on volunteering, because that involves people doing good work at no cost to the state. Because there are insufficient nursery and pre-school places, some parents have to le...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

You talked about older people starting up in business. One of the main reasons for their doing so is the obvious fact that, in the five years prior to retirement, 40 per cent of men and women find themselves unemployed. The ones with a bit of initiative go and do something abo...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

Can I also point out that the pensions are not carried on after the age of 75? Be warned: after the election, there will be older people than me in here. There are some very good older candidates.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

But it is ageism. I am sorry, convener—we are talking about ageism, and that is an agist policy. I am asking the minister to take it up with the relevant minister.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

I appreciate your sincerity on ageism and everything that you have said, which you did so lucidly. As an older person, can I give you a bit of advice? Could you get your own house in order? Parliament is agist—MSPs who are 75 or over do not enjoy the same pension facilities as...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

The member asked a question.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

My answer to that is—

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

The Scottish Pensioners Forum receives funding from the Government on the condition that the forum is not political. That is a one-sided approach if the Executive then seeks opinions on political action that it may carry out.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Age Strategy

Does the minister think that it was remiss to have a consultation on elderly people without approaching the only elected member in the UK who represents older people, or his party, for a contribution? I add that the consultation was before Rhona Brankin's time as Minister for ...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Disability Inquiry

It is not all gloom and doom, and the Executive is making its point in many areas. For the first time, I have been invited to a disabled hustings—something I had never heard of before. It seems as though a fair number of young people are involved. We are making an impact.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Disability Inquiry

You have virtually answered my next question, which relates to recommendation 83. The committee seeks assurances from you that funding for the active schools programme will be reviewed to allow all young disabled people in Scotland—not just those who live in the council areas ...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Disability Inquiry

My question relates to access to leisure. Recommendation 82 asks that the active schools programme be reviewed, with a view to making it sustainable and funded in the long term. The Scottish Executive's response does not mention whether such a review will be carried out. Can y...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Committee

20 Mar 2007

Disability Inquiry

I have a young constituent who went right through to the final stages of training at the Scottish Police College before it was discovered that she was mildly dyslexic. Surely a mechanism should exist for all cadets who enter the police or for people who enter other branches of...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

07 Mar 2007

Football (Sectarianism)

Does the minister agree with me that the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, which banned alcohol from football grounds, was a gigantic step forward in controlling sectarianism?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Mar 2007

Football (Sectarianism)

I thank Alasdair Morrison for securing today's debate. People do not realise how much progress has been made. When I went to Ibrox and Parkhead just after the war, there were problems with sectarianism. I started working in the Glasgow shipyards in 1947. One day, this little r...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

07 Mar 2007

Alcohol Misuse

Does the minister agree that a total ban on advertising alcohol would be a gigantic step in the right direction?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Mar 2007

Alcohol Misuse

Will the member take an intervention?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Mar 2007

Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Bill:<br />Stage 3

Does Karen Whitefield agree that everyone who votes for ordinary working people going to work on new year's day should be prepared to come in here on the same day for a plenary session and a full day's work?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

15 Feb 2007

Education

It is more a point of information than a point of order. What would the procedure be if none of the Presiding Officers was able to fill the chair?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

15 Feb 2007

Education

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

07 Feb 2007

Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007

That is an interesting observation, but it is of little interest to the honest pensioners who do not contribute to the 7 per cent of uncollected council tax. By and large, my generation pays its dues and does not contribute to the uncollected tax. The council tax is supposedly...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Feb 2007

Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007

Bristow Muldoon was the first person in the debate to mention pensioners. Yesterday, I spoke with a pensioner who was in full-time employment three years ago, when he paid 3 per cent of his income in council tax. Three years into retirement, he pays 22 per cent of his pension ...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Feb 2007

Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007

Will the member give way?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Feb 2007

Tartan

Does the member agree that, unless protection is built into the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill such that the only tartan that matters is that produced in Scotland, tartan will go into cyberspace and then out to China and the sweatshops of the far east, where it will be prod...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

25 Jan 2007

First Minister's Question Time · Senior Citizens (Poverty)

My final question is on a positive note. Will the First Minister consider fast-tracking a bill to means test prisoners? Senior citizens are currently means tested and regularly lose their homes to pay for residential care. If prisoners were means tested and they were awarded £...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

25 Jan 2007

First Minister's Question Time · Senior Citizens (Poverty)

Does the First Minister agree that fuel poverty among the elderly is a national disgrace? Fuel bills have doubled over the past three years. Since June 2006, wholesale prices of gas have dropped by more than 60 per cent, but no reduction has been offered to the consumer. Fuel ...

3. John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

25 Jan 2007

First Minister's Question Time · Senior Citizens (Poverty)

To ask the First Minister what further action the Scottish Executive will take to address the essential needs of senior citizens who are currently living below Government-defined poverty levels despite previous initiatives which provided free bus travel, free central heating a...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities

Will the minister acknowledge the grand work that is being done by the people in the gallery who are using sign language? Their conveying of what is being said to the people in the gallery is admirable.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

20 Dec 2006

Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities

I will concentrate on the problems that many disabled people face with regard to physical access. The main obstacle to be overcome is complacency among people who do not have daily to overcome access problems. Until such time as we or one of our family or friends are confronte...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

13 Dec 2006

Local Government Finance Settlement

I apologise for my late arrival, which was due to a school visit to which I was committed.Will the minister recognise people's ability to pay and the situation in which the poorest pensioners, who have been means tested, find themselves? He has already done so in reducing wate...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Participation (Widening Access)

Is there any legislation that we can enforce?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Public Petitions Committee (Equalities Report)

Eight members' bills were passed in the first four years of the Parliament, but in this session only one has been successful. Do you think that the Public Petitions Committee could become a vehicle for members' bills?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Public Petitions Committee (Equalities Report)

Do you agree that the fact that there are no MSPs from ethnic minority backgrounds is a failure not on the part of the Public Petitions Committee, but on the part of the Parliament? Do you also agree that, until we achieve that, there will always be an imbalance when it comes ...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Public Petitions Committee (Equalities Report)

Have you given any thought to inviting comment from a wider range of equality-related organisations?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Public Petitions Committee (Equalities Report)

I was privileged to represent a constituent at the Public Petitions Committee. The person was concerned about having to sell their parent's home to pay for care. I compliment the committee on its excellent service. How the meeting was laid out and the way in which we were ques...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Committee

12 Dec 2006

Public Petitions Committee (Equalities Report)

Feedback from the Disability Rights Commission suggested that the Public Petitions Committee has been successful in attracting a high level of participation from disabled people. Have you analysed why that is the case? If so, what implications might there be for your work on t...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

07 Dec 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Care Homes (Highlands)

What steps are being taken to accelerate the implementation of Professor Kerr's report relative to care in the community for elderly people in the Highlands?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

06 Dec 2006

Rural Post Offices

Does the member agree that it is not only rural post offices that are at risk, but the whole network of post offices across the country, which is under intense pressure from the Government? Does he agree that we cannot afford to lose any post offices?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

06 Dec 2006

Council Tax

In an answer to a parliamentary question that I asked, I was told that qualifying pensioner households can get a 25 per cent reduction in their water services charges, if they know how to apply for it. That is a little step in the right direction.

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

06 Dec 2006

Council Tax

Sorry.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

06 Dec 2006

Council Tax

I have never heard, in any debating chamber, so many people try to defend the indefensible. Indeed, I find it incomprehensible that any intelligent person can argue for the retention of a totally regressive taxation system. In response to Tommy Sheridan, Charlie Gordon said th...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

30 Nov 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Swimming Pool Charges (Senior Citizens)

Does the minister agree that swimming, particularly by elderly people, should be encouraged by councils? Will the minister join me in deploring the 320 per cent increase in charges to senior citizens for access to swimming baths in North Lanarkshire? Charges have been increase...

1. John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

30 Nov 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Swimming Pool Charges (Senior Citizens)

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to prevent local authorities from increasing swimming pool charges for senior citizens to an unaffordable level. (S2O-11242)

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

30 Nov 2006

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE · Central Heating Programme

In the event that someone's heating breaks down and they are told that it will be many months before it can be repaired under the programme, will they be reimbursed if they pay to have it repaired themselves?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

23 Nov 2006

Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Is the main driver of the bill the medical profession, social workers, the legal profession or society in general? In the past 50 years or so there has been legislation—possibly flawed—that has dealt adequately with the problem in the majority of cases. In what way will the bi...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

22 Nov 2006

Christmas Day and New Year's Day Trading (Scotland) Bill: <br />Stage 1

Back in 1947, when I first started work, I was amazed to find that Christmas day was not a public holiday. Strangely enough, new year's day was a public holiday. With hindsight, I realise that employers throughout the country at that time must have acknowledged that there was ...

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

16 Nov 2006

National Bed Assessment

I thank Jean Turner for bringing the matter to the Parliament today. I will read out an e-mail that I recently received, because it is relevant to the debate. It states:"Dear John, … I'm wondering how typical my 85 year old mother's experience has been of the non-provision of ...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

09 Nov 2006

Violence Against Women

Does the minister agree that it is surprising that the issue of alcohol has not been raised during today's debate as, often, the pathetic excuses for men who carry out these acts of violence are fuelled by alcohol and—in modern times—some other substances?

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

09 Nov 2006

Violence Against Women

Does the member agree that we insult men by accusing them of such abuse? The people who commit such crimes—they are crimes—against women are less than men and should be portrayed as such.

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

08 Nov 2006

Transition from School to Work

Will the minister give way?

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

02 Nov 2006

First Minister's Question Time · Winter-related Deaths

Will the First Minister take advantage of a simple method of emulating Gordon Brown's excellent social experiment? The suggestion complies with the Scotland Act 1998. Will he exempt every pensioner household from paying the water charges element of council tax? On the basis of...

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

02 Nov 2006

First Minister's Question Time · Winter-related Deaths

Will the First Minister join me in congratulating the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, on the success of his excellent social experiment whereby, prior to last winter, when he was faced with the stark reality of more than 8,000 winter-related deaths among pensioners ...

3. John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): SSCUP Chamber

02 Nov 2006

First Minister's Question Time · Winter-related Deaths

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Executive will take this winter to reduce the number of cold-related deaths among senior citizens. (S2F-2510)

John Swinburne: SSCUP Chamber

02 Nov 2006

Financial Powers <br />(Scottish Parliament)

Well—whatever we want to call it. We could draw up a contract with the department: it could do what it liked on the military side of things and we could settle our share of the bill by demanding an exorbitant rent for the use of Faslane. That would balance things out.When West...