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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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Hansard contributions

1999–2026

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Official Report

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Showing 22 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.

Mike Watson: Lab Committee

Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I accept that. The ombudsman would obviously be a court of last resort to be used when internal procedures failed. Do you know of any past or recent cases in which students who wanted to take a matter further were frustrated simply because there was no measure in place or beca...

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Chamber

Executive Accountability to Parliament

It has now been confirmed that Fergus Ewing has developed hyperbole to an art form; he illustrated that conclusively in his speech.It is unfortunate that the debate has, perhaps not surprisingly, centred on the SQA. The motion in the business bulletin, which is being debated t...

Mike Watson: Lab Committee

Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Like members of other parties, I am involved in discussions with colleagues on our manifesto. I have argued the case that there should be a Gaelic language act in the next session. I will not be so presumptuous as to suggest that my party will form part of the Administration, ...

Mike Watson: Lab Committee

Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I understand that. The point about referring only five cases is interesting. I questioned civil servants a month ago about the basis of the financial memorandum and the cost of the bill's implementation. They said that, based on a notional 30 cases a year, the cost would be ab...

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Ind Committee

BBC (Internal Reviews)

I have little to add, other than that when, in the near future, the controller of BBC Scotland and his senior staff make announcements on the BBC reviews and their impact on Scotland, which is one of the main areas that concerns the committee, it is only proper that they make ...

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

In the opening paragraph of its submission, BECTU makes a rather apocalyptic prediction:"The BBC's slogan for charter renewal is ‘Building Public Value' these proposals appear to be destroying public value and making it likely that there will be no charter renewal in 2016 beca...

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

You mention a figure of 50 per cent and the same figure appears in the NUJ submission. Is that some kind of cut-off point or magic figure? If in-house production were to fall below 50 per cent, could we still justify continuing to fund the BBC through the licence fee?

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

Will Mr Dear or Mr Parker comment on that point, particularly in the context of the charter that will follow the one that is currently under review?

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

I have one final point to make. Mr Crawley said earlier that, under Greg Dyke, things seemed to be going reasonably well. By your assessment, there would have been no need for the cuts if Greg Dyke had stayed, but Mark Thompson took over and we know about the events that inter...

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

How do you gauge the voice of the listener and viewer, not necessarily on this matter but in general?

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

I am a Radio 4 listener and I have never been asked for my view. I note that your submission does not differ greatly from those of the trade unions. You said that you do not want to be partisan but, regardless of whether or not you have travelled the same route or used the sam...

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

I will come to a question on Gaelic later. In section 5 of your submission, you say:"It is also the case that, without experienced and thus often more expensive staff, the Corporation runs the very real risk of repeating the experience of Hutton/Gilligan/Kelly."Will you explai...

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

Yes, although I am not sure quite how. I suppose it leads us into a discussion about what happened in the Hutton-Gilligan case, but that is not what we are here for.

Mike Watson: Ind Committee

BBC Internal Reviews

I will not push that point any further, but I will push my luck a little, as you mentioned Gaelic broadcasting. Although it is not central—in fact, it is peripheral—to the discussion that we are having today, I notice that both Ofcom and the Scottish Media Group mention in the...

The Convener: Lab Committee

Scottish Executive (Written Agreements)

I think that that refers to internal departmental controls.

The Convener: Lab Committee

Scottish Executive (Written Agreements)

We do not have a locus in terms of the internal transfers. Our interest should be to decide whether 15 per cent and £50 million are appropriate figures.

The Convener: Lab Committee

Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) (No 2) Bill

At the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee's meeting on 12 December, Nicol Stephen said:"By 2003-04—the final year of the CSR—the scheme will still cost about £50 million. We now believe that full implementation of the scheme"—that must be in its initial year—"will cost...

The Convener: Lab Committee

Budget Process 2002-03

I take it that there is no Treasury influence over the 25 per cent-75 per cent split. Is that an internal decision for Scottish Executive finance?

Mike Watson: Lab Committee

I want to highlight a couple of procedural issues. On both petitions, under the options for action, we are asked to consider that the Parliament has no remit in relation to the internal workings of the Executive. If that is the case, I wonder why the two petitions were not rul...

Mike Watson: Lab Chamber

Committee Restructuring

I have very little time. It is a fact that the SNP position has changed and Mr MacAskill can address that in his summing-up. I understand that the SNP has had internal difficulties. However, the irony is that the SNP is causing division when everyone else has sought to avoid i...

The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (Mike Watson): Lab Chamber

National Galleries of Scotland Bill: Preliminary Stage

The Executive welcomes and supports the private bill and I am pleased to see from the committee's report that the committee supports the bill, too. I thank Rhona Brankin, who is the committee's convener, and her colleagues John Young, Maureen Macmillan, Alasdair Morgan and Mar...

The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (Mike Watson): Lab Chamber

National Galleries of Scotland Bill

We have now reached the final stage of the private bill that is needed to disapply legislation restricting building in Princes Street gardens. The bill is an important integral part of the Playfair project and the Scottish Executive strongly supports the bill as amended. We ar...

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Committee

Enterprise and Culture Committee, 09 Nov 2004

09 Nov 2004 · S2 · Enterprise and Culture Committee

Item of business

Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Watson, Mike Lab Glasgow Cathcart Watch on SPTV

I accept that. The ombudsman would obviously be a court of last resort to be used when internal procedures failed. Do you know of any past or recent cases in which students who wanted to take a matter further were frustrated simply because there was no measure in place or because they felt that their institution's internal procedures were not dealing with things effectively?

In the same item of business

The Convener: SNP

Item 2 is divided into three parts, the first of which is oral evidence from the National Union of Students Scotland. I welcome Melanie Ward, president of NU...

Melanie Ward (National Union of Students Scotland):

We are grateful for the opportunity to come before the committee to give oral evidence and, I hope, to answer members' questions.We welcome the Further and H...

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): Lab

I welcome the NUS, which was one of the first organisations to propose a merged funding council, and which informed the position that the then Enterprise and...

Keith Robson (National Union of Students Scotland):

We disagree with that. We would like, and have long campaigned for, the ombudsman to have a role in relation to students. The present Universities Scotland s...

Melanie Ward:

One of the most important aspects of the proposal is that the ombudsman is completely independent and has no links to any institutions or to bodies that have...

Richard Baker: Lab

Both those answers are helpful; they raise interesting issues that we should pursue.My next questions are on fees, an issue that features prominently in your...

Melanie Ward:

We have a copy of our alternative proposals with us. As I am sure the committee is aware, the Executive has carried out a separate consultation on the specif...

Richard Baker: Lab

That would be helpful, because the charging of fees to medical students is a vexed issue. I am certainly of the opinion that there is no easy answer. You mad...

Melanie Ward:

Our policy on the issue is clear: we have a clear stance against any form of differential or top-up fees, whether the fees vary by institution or by course. ...

Richard Baker: Lab

The Scottish students would not be paying any more than they would previously have paid.

Melanie Ward:

They would not at the moment, but we are the National Union of Students, so we would worry about that for any group of students, no matter where in the UK th...

Richard Baker: Lab

On the last issue, I agree to some extent. I understand that the Executive said that it could not be sure that the accompanying documents would be legally bi...

The Convener: SNP

We will have the minister in front of us in two weeks, so perhaps we can clarify that point with him.I have two points. First, we should take up Richard Bake...

Melanie Ward:

We would be extremely concerned if Scottish students were, in effect, squeezed out of places on any course, medicine or otherwise. The differential fees meas...

The Convener: SNP

That would be extremely helpful.

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): Lab

I want to talk about differential fees, which I discussed with Melanie Ward when she came to see me some time ago. Richard Baker accurately drew from her the...

Melanie Ward:

Our ideal would be for the measure to be removed completely so that the minister would not have a power to set differential fees for any course. There are a ...

Christine May: Lab

In the event that ministers were not minded to do that and Parliament supported them, would you seek clarification in the bill about the degree of variabilit...

Melanie Ward:

That is a difficult question to answer. We have a clear policy on the matter. The question is this: If ministers and the Executive intended to charge only no...

Christine May: Lab

You said that you would provide the committee with the note of the incentive ideas that you have given to ministers. Did that note take account of the very c...

Melanie Ward:

That issue does not form part of our current proposals, but we could certainly consider it. Obviously, it is difficult for the NUS to get complex information...

Christine May: Lab

I was not trying to put you on the spot on the matter. I became aware only recently of how it complicates the issue of availability of qualified doctors to t...

Melanie Ward:

Since we made our submission, we have become aware of other issues. For example, some Scottish universities send their medical students to placements in Engl...

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab

I have a couple of questions before I get on to the subject of variable fees. In your submission, you say that you"believe that the extension of the Ombudsma...

Keith Robson:

At the moment, further and higher education students are not covered by the Scottish public sector ombudsman's remit. As a result, such an extension would gi...

Mike Watson: Lab

I accept that. The ombudsman would obviously be a court of last resort to be used when internal procedures failed. Do you know of any past or recent cases in...

Melanie Ward:

Before the Universities Scotland system was introduced, students could take such cases only to the courts. Because that was extremely difficult, the average ...

Mike Watson: Lab

Most of what needs to be said about differential fees has been covered by previous questions. However, in paragraph 6 of your submission you say that that yo...

Melanie Ward:

We talk about a lack of imagination because ministers told us that they did not consider other solutions to issues about cross-border flows or in relation to...

Mike Watson: Lab

I have a couple of further points. I compared the NUS submission with those of the Association of University Teachers Scotland and the Educational Institute ...