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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 26 November 2024
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Displaying 1587 contributions

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Education, Children and Young People Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny: Early Learning and Childcare

Meeting date: 26 October 2022

Bob Doris

I would like to check something. How do those providers know that they are financially viable if they do not know what the uplift in the hourly rate is going to be before they submit to work in partnership with you? Surely that has to be co-produced.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny: Early Learning and Childcare

Meeting date: 26 October 2022

Bob Doris

It sounds as though there is quite substantive and meaningful dialogue going on. The sector might not be getting everything that it wants and it might still be dissatisfied, but there seems to be on-going meaningful dialogue. Are all three local authorities committed to closing the pay differentials between the local authority sector and the PVI sector? I appreciate that all the evidence suggests that, financially, it will not be possible to completely close the gap, but is there a commitment year in, year out to narrow it? If so, how will you monitor that and, if not, why not?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny: Early Learning and Childcare

Meeting date: 26 October 2022

Bob Doris

Do you have that discussion ahead of setting the hourly rates?

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Cross-Party Group

Meeting date: 6 October 2022

Bob Doris

I share Mr Mountain’s sentiments, which would be put on record irrespective of which cross-party group was seeking approval this morning.

We normally ask questions about duplication and overlap. We did not really do that this morning, which tells us that there is a clear gap in the Scottish cross-parliamentary group landscape for this particular CPG. On other occasions, we have said, “Yes, we will approve this CPG, but it should work closely with this CPG and that CPG.” We did not do that this morning. I wish Jackie Dunbar, Emma Harper and other members of the cross-party group the very best in filling that identifiable gap dynamically and positively—I am sure that they will do that, should we approve the CPG this morning.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Cross-Party Group

Meeting date: 6 October 2022

Bob Doris

That is helpful.

I was quite staggered by the number of individual members of the cross-party group. Sometimes, we are asking the opposite question: “You’ve not got very many individual members. How are you engaging with wider society?” I am staggered by the number of individual members and the number of associate organisations that want to be key partners of the group. How you engage with that wider membership presents a challenge—a welcome one, but a challenge nonetheless. There is no requirement for them all to be active, but how many of them do you think will be active and dynamic in the cross-party group? It is quite something to see—I think that you have 120 or 130 individual members. That is to be commended, but it will also be a challenge to keep them engaged.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Cross-Party Group

Meeting date: 6 October 2022

Bob Doris

I have a few questions. One of the purposes of the cross-party group is

“to preserve, promote and encourage the use of the Scots Language amongst MSPs, the wider Scottish Parliament and Scottish Society.”

When this kind of matter is raised, we all start thinking about wir own background and upbringing, and about wir own language, dialect, slang, Scots—whatever. I am thinking about that now, and I wonder whether we are using Scots in everyday conversational exchanges in this place and beyond and do not even know that we are doing it. It is sometimes about raising awareness.

It would be very contrived to give examples, so I will not do that. Is there a need for awareness raising among people who stay in Scotland who use everyday Scots? Would this help to identify that? It is not about educating people in how to use Scots, because many people use it anyway but simply are not aware that they do.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Cross-Party Group

Meeting date: 6 October 2022

Bob Doris

The sheer extent of the potential membership is very encouraging. I have no more questions.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Colleges Regionalisation Inquiry

Meeting date: 5 October 2022

Bob Doris

Will Glasgow MSPs know by Christmas what the outcome is?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Colleges Regionalisation Inquiry

Meeting date: 5 October 2022

Bob Doris

Yes, convener. Going back to what Mr Witty, I think, said about the disparity of funding between colleges and universities, I note that the discussion has focused on a real-terms cut to the colleges budget, but there is a projected flat cash settlement across the entire further and higher education sector. Universities Scotland came to the committee last week and asked for an additional £171 million, but Mr Witty has already said that he thinks that the funding landscape is not equitable between colleges and universities, particularly with regard to the early years of a university degree, which for 43 per cent of all young people from a deprived background are often spent in a college environment.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Colleges Regionalisation Inquiry

Meeting date: 5 October 2022

Bob Doris

This is really important, convener. Those young people who are in universities are going through the college sector, but they are getting less funding for it. Does Karen Watt from the funding council—or, indeed, Shona Struthers or Andrew Witty—want to say more about that? If Universities Scotland are coming here, saying, “Give us £171 million more,” without having any clue where the cash is coming from, and colleges are saying, “We’ll just do our best in a tight financial environment,” should you not be standing up for colleges?