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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 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 30 December 2025
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Displaying 1344 contributions

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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 31 October 2023

Carol Mochan

So, the key message is that action can happen now.

I have another question, which is for Dave Moxham. I am interested in the minister’s observation that only 19 per cent of the workforce is unionised. Is there anything that might help to increase union membership in the sector, which we know is dominated by female workers? We want to make the maximum improvement to terms and conditions, because we know that that would change social care for the good in the longer term.

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 26 October 2023

Carol Mochan

This new partnership is welcome. We must do all that we can to eliminate new transmissions of HIV. I therefore ask the First Minister for a progress update on commitments made by the Scottish Government on world AIDS day 2022, including the pilot of an ePrEP clinic, which would act as an important and significant step towards ending stigma and giving people greater control over their own healthcare.

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 26 October 2023

Carol Mochan

We know that the colourful packaging, cheap price and easy accessibility of vaping products confirms that they are targeted at our younger population, almost one in 10 of those who vape are thought to be under the age of 16, and the health implications are still not known. Urgent action is required. Will the cabinet secretary update members on any discussions that have been had with schools and local authorities about stores that sell those products within the vicinity of schools, to work towards ensuring that youth vaping, particularly in the school setting, is reduced and eradicated?

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 5 October 2023

Carol Mochan

Yesterday, Educational Institute of Scotland members attended the Scottish Parliament with a letter for the First Minister. It read:

“Compulsory redundancies are already a reality in Scotland’s college sector ... To continue to allow the abandonment of the Scottish Government’s own ‘no public sector redundancy’ policy in the Further Education sector is nothing short of a betrayal of hard-working staff.”

Will the First Minister accept that compulsory redundancies are now a reality on his watch and, in challenge poverty week, can he explain how treating the college sector with such disdain is compatible with supporting it to continue being a route out of poverty for people living in our most vulnerable communities?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

Can the minister provide an update on the progress of the joint programme with NHS Education for Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which is aimed at encouraging more students to consider careers in pharmacy? Specifically, given the challenges that rural pharmacies face, what cross-portfolio discussions has the minister had within Government to ensure that the appropriate choices are in place for young people in education in rural regions, such as my own, so that they can embark on a path towards pharmacy from school age?

Meeting of the Parliament

Two-child Benefit Cap

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

My first point is that we are debating the fact that the rape clause is absolutely not fair—that is a given. I, personally, am not aware of the level at which the party has had such discussions, but I have made my position absolutely clear. The rape clause should go. When a Labour Government comes to power—a Labour Government is coming—we will make changes that make people’s lives easier.

I turn to the SNP Government and its motion. As other members have been, I am keen to outline some of the context for today’s debate. Just this week, we learned from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that one in 10 Scots live in very deep poverty and that they make up almost half of those who live in poverty. The same report, which is rightly critical of the UK Government, maintains that the Scottish Government “could go much further”, and I agree. The focus of today’s debate should be on asking what this Parliament can do right here, right now, but the Government has chosen not to take that approach.

Labour members do not think that the current UK Government is setting a bar against which anyone should seek to compare themselves. Do SNP back benchers think that? I hope that they do not. We should be far exceeding the performance of a Conservative Government that has imposed austerity on our communities, wrecked the economy and hindered growth. The prominence of poverty—especially child poverty—in Scotland is devastating. I hear SNP members talking about that, yet it remains extremely prominent on the SNP Government’s watch. I have often asked myself why the back benchers do not challenge their leadership to go further. My ask is that they do so. A good Government comes from the pressure of those behind it. Is the Scottish Government merely doing a bit better than the Tories? Is that enough for SNP back benchers?

Meeting of the Parliament

Two-child Benefit Cap

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

Of course. I meant the SNP group that the member sits on.

Meeting of the Parliament

Stoma Care

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

That was an excellent intervention from the nurse among us. I also had a career in the health service and I believe that we need to ensure that people see all the career avenues that are available to them in the NHS. It is a wonderful workforce to be part of. The Scottish Government has a responsibility to make nursing an appealing avenue for students.

I recognise that I need to conclude, Presiding Officer. I again thank Edward Mountain for bringing this debate to the chamber and I thank all the hard-working staff and teams who are around people who receive stoma care in our hospitals and our communities. I am sure that people also want me to thank the families for their support. It is good that we have had the opportunity to discuss the issue tonight, and I commit to ensuring that, if I am able, I will ask anywhere that has a disabled toilet to please place a shelf in it.

18:03  

Meeting of the Parliament

Two-child Benefit Cap

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

I will make progress, if Mr Swinney and Ms Somerville do not mind, as I have only six minutes.

I am glad that the SNP will support our amendment.

In this challenge poverty week, I want to make one last point. Children in East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire, in my region, are growing up in a Scotland where one in four children are in poverty because of inaction and poor decision making from the Governments north and south of the border.

Meeting of the Parliament

Two-child Benefit Cap

Meeting date: 4 October 2023

Carol Mochan

I will not.

I say to members that it is our responsibility to take action. Experts are saying that we are not going far enough. Communities are saying that we are not going far enough. It is time for the SNP and the Tories to listen and to act. Otherwise, they should immediately make way and give other parties the chance to deliver—rather than just saying that they will deliver—on policies that will change poverty in this country.

16:00