Hansard

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

23 Mar 2016

General Question Time · Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Engagement with Survivors)

Since the meeting on Monday, survivors and our representatives have told me of their profound disappointment and anger because they do not feel that they are being listened to. They want an inquiry that covers all survivors, regardless of where the abuse took place, and a syst...

6. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

23 Mar 2016

General Question Time · Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (Engagement with Survivors)

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to engage with survivors on contested issues relating to the Scottish child abuse inquiry. (S4O-05711)

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Mar 2016

Families Affected by Murder and Culpable Homicide

I am grateful to the Parliament for giving me the opportunity to speak to the motion in support of families who are affected by murder and culpable homicide. I thank colleagues from all parties in the Parliament who supported the motion, which gives us a worthwhile opportunity...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

I presume that those remedial plans to deal with the threat that you mentioned of systems failure will have a cost for the service. Will those additional costs be borne in mind when it comes to dealing with whatever the future is for i6?

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

Everything that we have discussed so far is very important. I want to come back to a quote from two years ago, when the chief constable said: “It is worth emphasising that i6 will cover 80 per cent of the current operational police activity, so it is absolutely massive as far...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

I know that you have been giving full updates.

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

You said that it was a fast turnaround, but I will go back to the commitment that was given to the committee, in June 2013, that the system would start operating at the beginning of 2015. Back then, we were given the indication that it would begin to be launched just after Chr...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

I just want to say one thing.

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

I will just make this comment and then let you go on—

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

I can see that the governance has been strict.

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

As I said at the outset, I do not think that there is any need for Mr Macpherson to defend himself. I think that he is the tail-end Charlie in the whole process of delivering the i6 project. We made a big play about the performance platform regime and the lessons to be learne...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

When was the contract awarded to Accenture? When did it start the actual work? 14:00

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

When did that—

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

When did they—

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

It was still a single system for the whole country.

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

The chief constable reported to this committee that in June 2013 the team had been led by Alec Hipman for perhaps four years, so we are almost seven years into the police family’s iteration of it—albeit that Accenture came to the project later in those seven years. By the time...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

There was a degree of brightness in your presentation this morning, and I hope that the system can be delivered. However, I note what you have subsequently said, and your apparent lack of confidence in some of the people concerned. I do not want to go through the quotation...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Committee

25 Feb 2016

Information and Communication Technology

On the point that Kevin Stewart made about expertise, I personally led the teams that delivered the national intelligence database for Scotland, which is still in existence. Thereafter, for my sins, I delivered the criminal histories system, which also still runs right across ...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

25 Feb 2016

Criminal Verdicts (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

As is evident from this afternoon’s debate, changes to elements of criminal justice procedure are famously difficult to achieve and sometimes take decades—and, on occasion, centuries—of debate. The cabinet secretary’s commitment to maintain an open mind on the matter is welcom...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

24 Feb 2016

Portfolio Question Time · Prison Estate Improvement Plans

The cabinet secretary has set out his general plans for improving the estate. What will the impact on his plans be of the Government’s continued commitment to reducing the prison population, which has stayed stubbornly at the same level over the past five years? What is the ti...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

23 Feb 2016

"SNAP: Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights—Year Two Report"

I acknowledge what the member has said. The lead from Government not only in saying those things but in ensuring that they are delivered will give the individual public servant the confidence to know that they will not be blamed for their openness and will not feel any pressur...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

23 Feb 2016

"SNAP: Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights—Year Two Report"

I am pleased to close on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party. I am also pleased to recognise the tone of the contributions from all sides of the chamber. This is one of those debates where there is nothing to argue about. Human rights lie at the very heart of who we are and wh...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

23 Feb 2016

"SNAP: Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights—Year Two Report"

I thank Christine Grahame for introducing this afternoon’s debate. I identify entirely with the comments of the cabinet secretary and of the convener of the Justice Committee. The work on human rights as they impact on Scotland lies at the very heart of all that the Parliamen...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

11 Feb 2016

Community Justice (Scotland) Bill

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. First of all, I will allude to a number of the key points that were raised during the earlier stage 3 amendments debate. Alison McInnes, Elaine Murray and others made the important point that dealing with offending...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

04 Feb 2016

Alcohol (Licensing, Public Health and Criminal Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I would like to think that, by the end of the debate—short as it is—there will be support for the general principles of the bill at stage 1 so that it can be examined further at stages 2 and 3. 17:41

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

04 Feb 2016

Alcohol (Licensing, Public Health and Criminal Justice) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I speak on behalf of the Scottish Labour Party and in support of the Alcohol (Licensing, Public Health and Criminal Justice) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I acknowledge the significant effort of Dr Richard Simpson to develop the bill, and his commitment over the years to using h...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

03 Feb 2016

Portfolio Question Time · Climate Change Targets (Fuel Poverty and Housing)

The Government’s Scottish house condition survey has just reported. Between 2012 and 2014, it records a 3 per cent rise in people in East Ayrshire, my area, reporting that they are living in fuel poverty, and a 1 per cent rise in Dumfries and Galloway. Has the minister conside...

3. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Feb 2016

Portfolio Question Time · Climate Change Targets (Fuel Poverty and Housing)

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the effect of the reduction in fuel poverty and energy efficiency funding in the “Draft Budget 2016-17” on its ability to meet its statutory fuel poverty and housing climate change targets. (S4O-05506)

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

02 Feb 2016

Topical Question Time · Single Farm Payment Applications

For completeness, only this week I was approached by farmers in Ayrshire who intend to raise the matter of the payments at the next NFU Scotland meeting. They left me in no doubt that they are in great financial difficulties not only because of the delay in the payments, but b...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

28 Jan 2016

Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I misspoke or Christine Grahame misheard. I do not imagine that a judge would tell the jury how to weigh the evidence but that they would at least explain the context so that the jurors could make that appraisal for themselves. It is to be welcomed that sexual offences that a...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

28 Jan 2016

Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

On behalf of Scottish Labour, I support the general principles of the bill. I have found the debate to be most edifying and educational. Much has been said about what the bill seeks to achieve. It is fair to say that, in many minds, there is confusion about exactly what we are...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

28 Jan 2016

Succession (Scotland) Bill

It is my pleasure to speak on behalf of Scottish Labour in support of the Government’s approach to the Succession (Scotland) Bill and the amendments that have been presented today. It is right that I should thank Nigel Don and the other members of the Delegated Powers and Law ...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

The point that we have made during this debate is that the fire service has taken a disproportionate amount of cuts. Had there been cuts across the board at a similar level, the service would not face the cutbacks that it currently does.

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

Will the minister take an intervention?

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

The shortfall in the number of firefighters that we are talking about here depends on the date that one measures the various establishments. Would the member accept that the key issue is that it was always known in the business plan, for what it was worth, that £10 million wou...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

Would the member give way?

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

I do not enjoy the notion of blaming. The point is who is responsible, and the person who is responsible—or, rather, the entity that is responsible—is very firmly the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has brought about a 20 per cent cut in the budget for the Scot...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

20 Jan 2016

Fire and Rescue Services

I begin by acknowledging that the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs was not in his post at the time when much of the arrangements for the reform of the service came into play. It therefore might be helpful for me to share some of my experience of that time. Ther...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

19 Jan 2016

Apologies (Scotland) Bill

Many members around the chamber have quite properly acknowledged Margaret Mitchell’s hard work and persistence in following through with the bill: introducing it, shepherding it through committee and having negotiations on it with the Government. Her compromise at key moments ...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

14 Jan 2016

Protecting Children from Harmful Online Content

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I agree wholeheartedly with what has been said. I am not suggesting for a moment that it is not a matter for us, and I hope that I did not give the impression that that was the case. It is important, but we need to listen to those in the Youth Par...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

14 Jan 2016

Protecting Children from Harmful Online Content

I stand in support of the motion by Stewart Maxwell and congratulate him on bringing this important issue to the attention of Parliament. The issue of protecting children from harmful content is easily manipulated in terms of questions about whether we are being nanny statish ...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

12 Jan 2016

New Petitions

In addition to all the things that have been said about the possibility of a review and what it might satisfy, would it be helpful for a review to analyse, as far as possible through public opinion, the impact that the legislation has had on the relationship between fans and p...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

12 Jan 2016

New Petitions

You talked about the impact on the relationship between the public—in this case the fans, as they are described on days of matches—and the police. Have you been able to determine what that impact actually means? Have you been able to gather statistics on the impact that the le...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

12 Jan 2016

New Petitions

Since then, there has been on-going controversy about the existence of the legislation. From your experience of feeding into the system of government—if I can describe it in that fashion—do you feel that there is a process whereby your views can be properly recorded and respon...

Graeme Pearson Lab Committee

12 Jan 2016

New Petitions

Did you find that the period that led up to the process of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill going through Parliament was sufficient to allow consideration of the various views of the general population?

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Committee

12 Jan 2016

New Petitions

I am grateful, convener. I do not intend to re-rehearse the arguments that have been made this morning. It is a matter of record that I have been against the legislation from the outset, and I think that much of the evidence that we have heard this morning shows why I had rese...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

10 Dec 2015

Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Bill

The absence of rancour in the debate and the support that exists across the chamber for the bill reflect well on the work that has been done by the members of the Justice Committee, my colleague Patricia Ferguson and those who gave evidence to the committee at stages 1 and 2. ...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

09 Dec 2015

National Strategy for Survivors of Childhood Abuse

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak in tonight’s debate, Presiding Officer. I congratulate Johann Lamont on securing the debate and acknowledge Margaret Mitchell’s convenership of the cross-party group on the adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Th...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Dec 2015

Fisheries Negotiations

It is pleasing to hear the cabinet secretary comment on the many positive developments in this area of activity. In reply to Stewart Stevenson’s observations about the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, as a novice, I have to say that I made contact with Bertie Armstrong, who i...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

03 Dec 2015

Sex Offenders

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am grateful for the cabinet secretary’s response. I have visited the monitoring centre and was advised that people there are very confident about the ability of the GPS system to monitor dangerous offenders, whether sex offenders or others, mor...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

03 Dec 2015

Sex Offenders

First, I thank my colleague Paul Martin for raising a difficult and challenging issue. It is one that we repeatedly struggle with and find difficult to resolve. Secondly, I thank Margaret Ann Cummings for maintaining a positive role on behalf of all victims and survivors o...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

01 Dec 2015

Topical Question Time · Police Scotland (Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office Review)

I accept that IOCCO has done its job thoroughly. For years, in this Parliament, I have asked the cabinet secretary to ensure that proper governance, accountability and oversight are in place for the new national police force. However, that has been rebutted by the Government w...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

01 Dec 2015

Topical Question Time · Police Scotland (Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office Review)

In his statement on spying in September, the cabinet secretary told the chamber that he had “no idea” who the police in Scotland were spying on. That is unlike the First Minister, who knew about claims that the police had recklessly used illegal surveillance on repeated occasi...

2. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

01 Dec 2015

Topical Question Time · Police Scotland (Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office Review)

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take in response to the recent report on Police Scotland by the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office. (S4T-01191)

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

24 Nov 2015

Violence Against Women

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I am pleased that there is general support for the Government motion, as amended by my colleague Elaine Murray. Equally, I support the Government’s publication, in conjunction with COSLA, of “Equally Safe: Scotland...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

19 Nov 2015

Community Justice (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I accept that. Certainly, when I was a Justice Committee member, we met men and women in prison who had suffered the experience of becoming institutionalised and, because of that, were frightened to return to general society. A way forward would be a commitment from the minis...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

19 Nov 2015

Community Justice (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

I am pleased to contribute to this stage 1 debate and I am happy to reiterate Labour members’ support for the principles that lie behind the stage 1 report. Much has been said around the chamber to suggest that members have reservations about some issues; I hope to visit some...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

11 Nov 2015

Succession (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Indeed. I accept Stewart Stevenson’s point. The Parricide Act was enacted in 1594, so it has taken us a while to reconsider the circumstances, but the decision is no less valuable for that fact. Making laws certain and allowing clarity should always be the Scottish Government...

Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab Chamber

11 Nov 2015

Succession (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Labour supports the approach that has been taken at stage 1. Wills and inheritance are an important issue and I am grateful to Nigel Don and the DPLR Committee for taking on an undoubtedly daunting task in dealing with complex—and, in some areas, controversial—issues. The fac...

Graeme Pearson Lab Chamber

10 Nov 2015

Policing

Will he now apologise to the Bell and Yuill families—