Meeting of the Parliament [Draft] Business until 18:23

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Official Report 1065KB pdf

Business Motion

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-18001, in the name of Jamie Hepburn, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on changes to business. Any member who wishes to speak to the motion should press their request-to-speak button now.

Motion moved,

—That the Parliament agrees to the following revisions to the programme of business for—

(a) Tuesday 17 June 2025—

delete

6.00 pm Decision Time

and insert

7.00 pm Decision Time

(b) Thursday 19 June 2025—

delete

2.15 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions

2.15 pm Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Questions

and insert

2.00 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions

2.00 pm Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Questions

after

followed by Scottish Government Debate: Progressing NACWG Recommendations on Equality

insert

followed by Ministerial Statement: Alexander Dennis Limited

delete

5.00 pm Decision Time

and insert

5.15 pm Decision Time—[Jamie Hepburn]

I am pleased to see included in our business programme a ministerial statement on the situation affecting the Alexander Dennis company in my Central Scotland constituency.

Through you, Presiding Officer, I make a plea to the minister also to include an early ministerial statement in response to this morning’s release of two documents that contain guidance on behaviour in schools and guidance on conducting risk assessments on violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour there.

In the chamber and elsewhere in the Parliament, there has been much discussion of the issues of school violence, classroom disruption and pupil-on-staff aggression; they feature regularly in our debates and questions. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills had promised to deliver those documents, and they have now been published, which I welcome. However, it is vital that, before the summer recess, we parliamentarians have an adequate opportunity to properly scrutinise their contents by asking questions of the cabinet secretary and other ministers.

I ask the Minister for Parliamentary Business to consider this additional request on my part—and on the part of many other members, I am sure—so that we can have an adequate opportunity to respond in a timely way to those important publications.

I suggest that Mr Kerr, and I urge all his party colleagues, perhaps to think through the internal dialogue of their group, because we have already received such a request from their business manager, which is being considered in the usual way.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your clarification. In responding to the motion, I did not mention that—of course, I am aware of the dialogue. However, I am also aware that, at the Parliamentary Bureau meeting earlier today, the minister was not able to give a firm commitment that members would have the opportunity to scrutinise those publications. That is why I did not reference it, although of course I am aware that there is an internal dialogue. I ask the minister to bear in mind those discussions, my comments and a letter that I wrote directly to him this morning as he decides how we will use the remaining parliamentary time before the recess.

Thank you, Mr Kerr. Both of those points are on the record, although the latter was not a point of order.

Motion agreed to.