Skip to main content
Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

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 24 August 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 1654 contributions

|

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 9 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

May I explore that point a little more? In our evidence gathering in previous weeks, we have heard about the relationship that councils have to have with the third sector and about the support and other things—it is not just about support; it is about having things to do—that you mentioned. Is there a challenge, particularly for local authorities that are not in the central belt and do not have the same access to the broader ecology of support and activities as those in the central belt do? Is there something particular there that we need to be thinking about when we have Scotland-wide dispersal systems?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 9 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

Good morning, panel. Thank you for joining us and for what you have said so far. I am sorry that I cannot be with you in person today.

I want to explore a couple of issues about the use of hotels and how they support or do not support you in your important, necessary work. I will, if I may, come to Bronagh Andrew first. Bronagh, you mentioned in your opening remarks that one of TARA’s concerns is that hotels provide ready-made places where traffickers can go to target vulnerable people. Can you tell us more about how you have seen that sort of thing function, if you have seen that in Scotland? Given that we are likely to see more hotel use across Scotland, how do you see it changing the nature of your work?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 9 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

Thanks, Thomas.

Gayle Findlay, from your experience of working in COSLA and seeing what is happening across different local authorities, what should we be thinking about doing better or differently to ensure that we get integration between the asylum seekers who are being supported—hopefully—in hotels, and the immediate local communities and the wider local authority area? What are the key challenges or asks that you have?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

I have other questions, but I am conscious of time.

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

My next question is for Savan Qadir. We talk about the importance of integration, and I agree with Pinar Aksu’s point that integration cannot happen if we essentially lock people up in hotels for months on end. In your experience, what capacity has there been to have community discussions that are not forced and controlled but take place in safe spaces where people can come together in a way that allows local residents to engage and work with those who are in hotels? Is that something that you see happening? Does it happen well in some places? Does it happen at all in others?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

I want to explore that point a little further. Mears has the Home Office contract to run the hotels. I am thinking back to one scheme that I am familiar with, which is the Syrian refugee resettlement programme that started in 2015 and involved what seemed to be an attempt at genuine partnership working between local authorities, the national health service and the third sector, certainly in some parts of Scotland. Do you think that one of the fundamental problems with the situation that we have at the moment is services being contracted out to a private company that has no interest and no need to properly engage with local authorities, the charity sector or with other support organisations? Is that one of the structural systemic issues that you were talking about?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for joining us. I share their fury and rage about what is happening—in relation to both the Illegal Migration Bill and the constant undermining of human beings.

I take Selina Hales’s point about the language that we use very much to heart. When we are functioning in a system that is so dehumanising and marginalising, everything that we say and do matters.

I often ask about the use of institutional accommodation, because that is what we are talking about when we talk about hotels. Pinar Aksu talked about the normalisation of not having community. That is, in essence, what we are doing. I want to explore a few issues, particularly issues around who gets access. Selina Hales spoke about charities not being let in. I know that she wants to come back in, and I am sure that she will be able to later.

First, though, I want to ask María José Pavez about her work with the Grampian Regional Equality Council. I am aware of issues at a particular hotel in Aberdeen, which I will not name. People from the local community wanted to go in—indeed, they were going in—to provide help and support, to befriend the asylum seekers and to just be human beings, but they were banned from the hotel. In your view, how widespread an issue is that? Given the control that Mears has over access, how can we unpick the situation to allow the community in, even if we cannot build the proper community that we want?

Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee

Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Meeting date: 2 May 2023

Maggie Chapman

I take the point that was made earlier about some things being easier in some parts of the country than in others. From the conversations that you have, what particular challenges are there in Aberdeen in relation to the ecology of support organisations? You specifically mentioned issues with accessing legal support, but are there other challenges that we need to address?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Electricity Infrastructure Inquiry

Meeting date: 27 April 2023

Maggie Chapman

Thank you for that.

Jeremy Allen, you mentioned two avenues: the regulatory frameworks and the consultations. There are opportunities for communities to respond to and influence consultations. Does either of you see any likelihood of a need to adjust the regulatory frameworks? If so, in what directions should they be adjusted?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Electricity Infrastructure Inquiry

Meeting date: 27 April 2023

Maggie Chapman

Thank you very much, convener, and thank you for letting me come to this afternoon’s meeting. Good afternoon to the panel and thank you for being here.

I appreciate what Andrew Bowie has already said about the UK Energy Bill that is going through Parliament and the several reviews that are on-going and have yet to report. I know that the timescales are various and things are forthcoming, so there will be some limit to what you can say in some of your answers to these questions.

You referenced the Scottish Government’s draft energy strategy and just transition plan. You will be aware of the very clear commitment to maximising community benefit within that, in relation not only to renewable energy developments but also—as we have heard—to localising transmission and distribution, connectivity, shared ownership and all of that. Given what you have already said this afternoon, and following on from Fiona Hyslop’s questions around the FSO, how do you see the FSO’s role in facilitating those kinds of community benefits in a material way, particularly for rural communities?