15/11/2012 Politics Scotland


15/11/2012

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A very warm welcome to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. Good news

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that the independence referendum, in a committee of MSPs, that was

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endorsed dramatically. It also has to get to the House of Commons and

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the House of Lords. The main substance of this programme,

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questions to be First Minister. Let's cross to the chamber for that.

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We are a few moments away from that. Guests are being welcomed into the

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chamber. Before we actually get the main event itself. All the main

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ministers are lined up. To ask the First Minister, what engagements

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are planned for the rest of the day? I am sure the whole chamber

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will join me in offering severe condolences to the family of

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Captain Walter Reed Barry from the 1st Battalion Royal Regiment

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Scotland. He was killed in Afghanistan on Remembrance Sunday.

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It is clear from the many heartfelt tributes there he was a popular,

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dedicated and well respected soldier he will be remembered as a

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fine example of a Scottish soldier. Our thoughts are with his family.

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Of course, as the First Minister so eloquently put it, we send our

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condolences to the family at the saddest of times. The Cabinet

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Secretary of Education told this chamber, there is no reduction in

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funding for colleges in the financial year 2012 to 2013. He

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repeated to applause from the SNP benches, Presiding Officer, there

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is no reduction in funding to colleges for the financial year

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2012 to 2013. Was he right? Yes, he was correct. The resource funding

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is 545 million in 2011/2012, in 2012/2013, it is 546 million.

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Russell perhaps notoriously was grasping for the Thistle. It seems

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that First Minister was grasping for an answer. Unfortunately, that

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is not a correct one. As we have found out from the auditor general

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and the Scottish parliament's own Information Centre, the Cabinet

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Secretary was in fact wrong. College budgets have been cut this

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year. In the light of these independently resourced facts, was

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Mike Russell Wright or was he misleading Parliament? I think 545

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million resource budget to 546 million is, by definition, an

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increase in funding. That is about as an exact an answer as I knew a

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Hakkinen in Parliament. I cannot imagine why something was read out

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which was pre-prepared. As Johann Lamont may or may not be aware, it

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did not take account of the increases in funding which will be

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announced after the provisional budget. The Audit Scotland report

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was out of date. If it did not take account of announcements that had

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been made, by definition, it is out of date. It might well be that

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audit Scotland is not responsible for that. Surely the Labour benches

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must be aware of it. They have devoted a great deal of time and

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attention to this. The Budget has increased to �546 million. At a

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time when declines in the business budget for further education

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colleges south of the border have been declining dramatically -

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absolutely dramatically. That does represent in these extraordinarily

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difficult times, an increase of funding between these two financial

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years. I have to say to the First Minister, in his pre-prepared but

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ill-advised defence of his minister, in weeks past we have seen the

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credibility of his backbenchers burnt in defending him, he is ill-

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advised to burn his credibility in defending his education. No matter

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how big the briefing in front of him, I have to tell him that not

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even Mike Russell believes Mike Russell any more. In June of this

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year, in the official report of this Parliament, Mike Russell said

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there is no reduction in funding for colleges in the financial year

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2012/2013. Yet yesterday he denied it. He told this chamber, I take

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the opportunity to say that I have never said there were no cuts. So,

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Mike Russell is saying, I never said what I said. Thank goodness it

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has been recorded on both occasions. Of course, both the station --

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statements by Mike Russell cannot be right. The reality is that

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college budgets are being slashed. It is no longer a question of if

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Mike Russell misled Parliament, the question is, when? Isn't that the

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kind of offence which should cost a minister his job? Can I point out

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the two quotes? The first referred to 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. Revenue

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funding for colleges is expected projected to go to 512 million in

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2013/2014. That is the absolute reason why he has backed lira

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ported the situation to Parliament. -- factually reported. If you look

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at resource and capital over that period, the Budget goes from 590

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million to of 516 million. That is the investment that members will be

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where and see across Scotland in the Glasgow colleges, the Inverness

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colleges, which a transforming the infrastructure of the college

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sector in Scotland. Given she now has these figures and they are

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perfectly compatible with what Mr Russell said in the chamber,

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perhaps Johann Lamont will prepare to withdraw one of her many, many

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resignation calls. In the world of the SNP, when you can say whatever

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you like, whenever you like, and regardless of what you said

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yesterday and what you will say tomorrow, presumably that qualifies

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as a credible answer. In the rest of the world, it makes no sense

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whatsoever. Just to remind the First Minister, Mr Russell said,

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there were no cuts in 2012/2013. I will repeat it. He said, there will

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be no cuts in 2012/2013. Yesterday, he said, I never said there were

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not going to beat any cuts. These two things do much -- do not match.

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On the question of regionalisation, the First Minister is well aware

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the Auditor-General has said no case has been made for it

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whatsoever. It is not just this Parliament. It is not just this

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Parliament that Mike Russell has misled. It is the people of

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Scotland, including the 100,000 young people who are out of work,

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who would benefit from a college sector being funded and invested in,

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rather than being cut. This week, we find out that Mike Russell told

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a college chair, we know if the backbenchers are noisy it is

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because they do not like hearing what is being said to them. It

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would suit them but to ask the hard questions themselves from time to

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time rather than being background noise. This week, Mike Russell told

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a college chair he should resign because he no longer had any trust

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in him. Well, Presiding Officer, no one can have any trust in Mike

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Russell after this week. This week we found it he told a college chair

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he would sack him if he had the power. But Mike Russell has misled

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this Parliament and the First Minister has the power to sack him.

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Why will he not sack a minister who is denying our young people an

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opportunity to go to college and when challenged about it, he

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misleads the parliament? When Johann Lamont has reached the stage

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of appealing for SMP benches to do her job for her, I think we have to

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ask the questions on her behalf, I think we have got to the situation

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which reveals the full extent -- extent of her willingness or the

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facts. It is not a cut in funding. Projections for the future to 512

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million is but, luckily, investment in capital is hope to be colleagues

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-- colleges in terms of the Re- utilisation process. They are being

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extraordinarily well funded. That is obvious. It should be a matter

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of some celebration for this chamber that we have a record

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number - a record number - a Scottish full-time students at

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college and university this year in Scotland, despite the

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extraordinarily difficult financial circumstances. I was rather

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expecting, I am afraid, the questioning by Johann Lamont.

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Unfortunately, I had already been tweeted the call for the

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resignation of Mr Russell this morning. He has now been exposed

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and he should quit. It was not the greatest surprise on earth that

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this should be repeated puppet like a few hours later by Johann Lamont.

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This adds to the long list of litany of resignation calls from

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the Labour Party to the Government. There have been calls for Nicola

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Sturgeon and Kenny MacAskill. The only person they have not called

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for is my resignation. A totally extraordinary situation! We will

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wait for next week. No doubt Johann Lamont will be set right. About

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turning the Labour Party into an extended version of Twitter, other

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people tweet as well. A prominent Labour blogger and former President

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of the Law Society wrote - and this is from a Labour source - if there

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is a more stupid, possibly Fifth columnist political adviser than

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Paul Sinclair, I have got to meet him. It is little wonder that this

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extension of Labour into one massive tweet does nothing for

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politics in this country. The First Minister is responsible for

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addressing the needs of the unemployed young people in this

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country. The idea that the juvenile trawl through the tweets of this

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world is any kind of response is the complete disgrace to anyone in

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this place or anywhere else, who believes themselves bit to

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represent the people of Scotland. am not responsible for the juvenile

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tweets of Paul Sinclair. That is her responsibility. Our

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responsibility is to invest in the Scottish economy through the

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capital investment programme. Our responsibility is The Record number

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of apprenticeships - 26,000. Our responsibility is the small

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business bonus, which is helping small companies survive. Our

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responsibility is to get for this Parliament the economic powers that

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will allow us to take the country I would also like to associate

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myself and the entire Scottish Conservative Party with the remarks

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of the Scottish First Minister and pass on our condolences to the

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family of Captain Barrie I thank Ruth Davidson for making it clear

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the whole of parliament endorses the remarks. I have no plans to

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meet with the Secretary of State. Deputy presiding Officer, yesterday,

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we heard the Education Secretary ignored the impact of S N P

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politics on Scotland's colleges. Simply getting rid of what he

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arrogantly dismissed as hobby courses. Here are a whole list of

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the courses. HMC in diagnostic imaging - gone. HND in human

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resource management - gone. H 10 D in technical support - gone. HND in

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network computing - gone. Qualifications in health care and

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in nursing - gone. Mike Russell has labelled these subjects hobbies and

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they are anything but. Will there Health Minister instruct his

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Education Secretary to apologise to the thousands of ordinary people

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who are doing nothing but their best to improve their lives?

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Ruth Davidson should know, the reason for the commitment in terms

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of full-time courses in colleges is to make sure that these courses -

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the courses that she has mentioned - we have maintained the number of

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students, indeed increased it from 2006/ 2007. The reason for

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measuring the full-time equivalent courses is quite simple. The

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courses she has mentioned are managed in a proper way. It is not

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the same thing as having a three- month course or a two month course.

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That is why this figure is incredibly important. In terms of

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full-time equivalents, Perez, the sheer, a record number of Scottish

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students at Scottish colleges and universities. -- their is, at this

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year. She will see a dramatic decline in the number of students

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and universities in England. If she were coming here with a programme

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and saying, we are going to invest in colleges and universities, and

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look at the tremendous effort of our colleges south of the border,

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she would have credibility. She would -- she is not in a position

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to challenge where we have managed under extreme financial pressure to

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secured a record number of Scottish students in full-time courses at

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college and university in Scotland. That is an achievement and the

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commitment to the ENG people of This is a harsh reality, part of

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the choice that the Minister's government is making. He says he is

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delivering under, I called, severe financial pressure. We accept there

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has been a real cut in the Budget, we accept that. We accept 6% in

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real terms. What he must accept is a 24% cut in budget comes directly

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from Hermann not Westminster, that is his responsibility. -- comes

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from him. They are much less opportunities for ordinary people

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to learn skills and get on. The unemployment gap is growing. These

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people need more opportunities, not less. The truth is, this First

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Minister is raising college budgets to fund the electoral bribe for

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free university places. It is little more than educational

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arrogance and snobbery. University, good, college, bad. When will the

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First Minister finally admit that his priorities are damaging the

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chances of thousands of ordinary Scots? I do not think snobbery is

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the strongest ground for the Conservatives... Can we get back to

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the fact? Let's do a direct comparison, as Ruth Davidson knows,

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the position in Scotland in terms of finances for the time being is

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controlled by the budgets south of the border. Over the last few years,

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the projections of the budget for colleges in England is going to

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decline from �4.4 billion to �2.2 billion. An extraordinary Cup, in

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real terms. The position she quoted in terms of the projection in

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Scotland was before John Swinney was wisely able to find more funds

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on a revised budget for the college sector. The revenue budget in terms

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of resource or colleges goes from �545 million to �546 million.

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Compared to the situation south of the border, that is an

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extraordinary achievement. The intention to concentrate on full-

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time courses is because we are looking to secure employment for

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these youngsters, and the fact that we have a record number of

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youngsters in full-time courses in Scotland against the dramatic

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decline is taking place from her government south of the border, to

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me, represents a substantial investment in our young people and

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a substantial achievement for this government under the most difficult

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circumstances. Ruth Davidson's answer to this, as I understand it,

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her answer to looking for extra funding for the colleges of

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Scotland, is to cut income tax in Scotland and offer another �8

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billion reduction in the budget of Scotland. That is what she said in

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her anniversary address. If she can reconcile what is happening in

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London at the present moment for English colleges with her ambition

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to slash the revenue budget even further with calls for investment

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in the college sector, then she shall come to this chamber with a

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degree of credibility. If she ever does, the degree of credibility, I

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will not hear of the Conservative Party are snobbish or not. Very

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brief constituency question. First Minister will be aware of the

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details are emerging about the merger between eg bar and Britvic.

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500 jobs could be lost. Does the First Minister agree that it is

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incumbent on them to agree and confirm as a matter of urgency what

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this means for the workforce? constituency Member raises an

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understandable and important concern, and I hope the company as

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the merger process goes through are able to explain in more detail the

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consequences for the workforce. The company is extremely successful,

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there is every reason to believe it will continue to be extremely

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successful, and I think everybody in Scotland once that success to be

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shared by the workforce. -- hopes that success. What is the position

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of the job losses at BBC Scotland? This is a very important time for

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Scotland, it is vital that BBC's, maintains a high standards of

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quality. The Scottish Government holds grave concerns over the

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ability of them to achieve this in the face of the job losses coming

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and the ones that have already happened. We have expressed our

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concerns to the BBC regarding the risk to their news and current

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affairs output. I hope the BBC are able to heed these warnings. Can I

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thank the First Minister for that answer? The First Minister will be

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aware of the Newsnight report and the subsequent events, including

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the �450,000 pay-off. Does he believe it is appropriate for the

:22:55.:22:57.

BBC to continue with it's disproportionate cuts to staff in

:22:58.:23:05.

Scotland, particularly as this will harm their ability to deal with

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events in Scotland? The crisis currently engulfing the BBC must

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not obscure the underlying issues, which relate to serious issues of

:23:14.:23:19.

abuse and exploitation of children. Although they date back a number of

:23:19.:23:24.

years they must be properly investigated. This situation

:23:24.:23:26.

underlies serious institutional failures of leadership at the BBC

:23:26.:23:30.

which must in my opinion be immediately addressed. I expressed

:23:30.:23:35.

my views in public but Greg Dyke is someone the public would have

:23:35.:23:38.

confidence in when it comes to take forward the inquiries into that

:23:38.:23:43.

issue. More than that, he was somebody who I think the

:23:43.:23:46.

journalists at the BBC had great confidence in, as we remember, the

:23:46.:23:51.

demonstrations which took place when he was unfairly evicted from

:23:51.:23:55.

the BBC some years ago. And appointments such as that would be

:23:55.:24:02.

a good start in both restoring the reputation of the BBC and, I can

:24:02.:24:06.

speak from personal experience, the most recent Director General

:24:06.:24:13.

understood the commitment are National Park after had to

:24:14.:24:21.

expressing the range of issues in Scotland. -- national broadcaster.

:24:21.:24:27.

We will see programmes driven from Pacific Quay. Does the First

:24:28.:24:33.

Minister share my view that the BBC's objective should be to

:24:33.:24:41.

reports from all over Scotland? agree with that. I arranged a

:24:41.:24:49.

meeting with the new director- general to discuss that.

:24:49.:24:52.

unfortunately, that will have to take place with somebody else. But

:24:53.:24:58.

the important point behind, as the national broadcaster, it must serve

:24:58.:25:08.
:25:08.:25:08.

the whole country. What is the Scottish Government's SS of the

:25:08.:25:15.

economic impact in Scotland of the planned increase in fuel duty? --

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government estimate. It represents a tax rise for Houses and

:25:22.:25:30.

businesses. This will undermine economic recovery. Recent research

:25:31.:25:34.

shows that as well as presenting a tax rise on households and

:25:34.:25:40.

businesses, it could cost 50,000 jobs across the United Kingdom.

:25:40.:25:48.

Thank you for that response. The FSB has warned that the fuel prices

:25:48.:25:52.

are having a damaging effect on their businesses, and 50% are going

:25:52.:25:56.

to need to increase their prices as a result. In a week when inflation

:25:56.:26:00.

has risen again, with the First Minister agree that the Chancellor

:26:00.:26:04.

should listen to households and businesses, cancel the three pence

:26:04.:26:14.
:26:14.:26:14.

rise and put the fuel prices on a stable footing? It should be noted

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that the pre- tax prices are among the lowest in Europe but among the

:26:17.:26:26.

highest in Europe at the pump. The Treasury takes 81p per litre. They

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are threatening damage to the economy. The Chancellor needs to

:26:31.:26:36.

take key steps in a few days' time in the autumn Budget. He needs to

:26:36.:26:41.

invest in growth, support recovery, and another step would be to cancel

:26:41.:26:51.
:26:51.:26:51.

the fuel duty rise. What is the purpose of the change to legal-aid?

:26:51.:26:58.

The purpose is set out in the Bell, increase contributions to solicitor

:26:58.:27:08.
:27:08.:27:09.

fees, where the client can afford to pay contributions. It will

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deliver access to justice in what are difficult times, up

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economically. Given the contributions are collected

:27:17.:27:21.

centrally by the Legal Aid Board, will the First Minister undertake

:27:21.:27:27.

to establish the full costs to the board of doing the same for

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contributions under criminal legal- aid and instruct the board to

:27:34.:27:44.
:27:44.:27:44.

discuss this? It would cost an estimated �600,000 to collect

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contributions for the solicitors. That would be a significant sum

:27:48.:27:54.

when we face a situation where the budget is being cut by 7.3%, which

:27:54.:28:00.

compares to a decline in England and Wales have 17%. The effort has

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been to maintain and stop these budget restrictions having a

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damaging impact, with adverse consequences for other aspects of

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the justice system. There is no doubt the proposals would lead to

:28:15.:28:25.

more efficient collection of the contributions. There we come to the

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close of first Minister's Questions coverage. There is a controversy

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about legal aid. Earlier there was the issue of the education

:28:31.:28:35.

secretary and the colleges budget. Alex Salmond making a clear

:28:35.:28:38.

distinction between the budget for the current year, and the budget

:28:38.:28:43.

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