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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 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 2 May 2025
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Displaying 1343 contributions

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Finance and Public Administration Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2022-23: Public Finances and Impact of Covid-19

Meeting date: 5 October 2021

Ross Greer

Excellent. That is appreciated.

You mentioned the regular requests that are made for additional rates relief. That is absolutely the case, but recently there have been more requests than I have noticed in previous years for additional conditions to be placed on rates relief. For example, in its evidence to the committee, the Scottish Trades Union Congress proposed conditions on fair work and the living wage, and Alcohol Focus Scotland has proposed that a public health condition be levied on licensed premises. Without necessarily commenting on any specific proposals—you are, of course, welcome to do so, if you wish to—will you comment on the principle of additional conditionality on rates relief, particularly given the challenging overall fiscal situation in the coming years?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2022-23: Public Finances and Impact of Covid-19

Meeting date: 5 October 2021

Ross Greer

That is useful.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Act 2020 included conditions on awarding Covid relief grants to businesses, specifically in relation to tax avoidance. That is timely this week, given the revelations in the Pandora papers. I accept that it is particularly challenging to review the effectiveness of such a measure because we would hope that the net effect would be that businesses that would be caught by it would not bother trying to apply in the first place. However, has any attempt been made to evaluate the impact of attaching a tax-avoidance condition to Government grants?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2022-23: Public Finances and Impact of Covid-19

Meeting date: 5 October 2021

Ross Greer

When is the Fraser of Allander Institute review due to report?

Finance and Public Administration Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2022-23: Public Finances and Impact of Covid-19

Meeting date: 5 October 2021

Ross Greer

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I was keen to discuss with you the effect of the arbitrary cash-terms limits on the fiscal framework, but you covered that with Mr Mason. Therefore, I will move on to non-domestic rates, which you touched on in your answer to Liz Smith.

The total value of non-domestic rates relief through the various schemes that are on offer in Scotland comes to somewhere in the region of £700 million. That was expanded during the pandemic—for example, to the newspaper industry—for obvious reasons. I think that the decision was twice unanimously supported by Parliament. There is a range of options for non-domestic rates relief; what evaluation has the Government done of the effectiveness of the various schemes?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

I appreciate that, and I entirely understand that there is no easy answer to the question. However, given the comments of the children’s commissioner, I would expect you to engage with his office and with others to understand those concerns. I know that Dr Tracy Kirk has engaged with you on those issues.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

I would like to explore the functioning of the NQ21 group, and specifically the level of participation of those involved. You will be aware that, on the day that the appeals process was confirmed, Cameron Garrett, who was the member of the Scottish Youth Parliament on the group, said:

“As the only young person who sits on”

the SQA’s NQ21 group

“and the only member representing young people, I have not had an equal input into discussions around the appeals process this year at NQ group meetings.

Young people have been let down and ignored by this process.”

He went on to say that organisations such as the Children and Young People’s Commissioner and the people who are involved in the SQA: Where’s Our Say? campaign, as well as the Scottish Youth Parliament,

“have been calling for a no-detriment policy and exceptional circumstances to be taken into consideration as substantive points. Neither have been considered in this process.”

Subsequent to those comments being made, did you reach out to Mr Garrett to better understand why he felt that way about his experience? Could you talk a bit about what you believe you have learned from those discussions and how subsequent processes to this one can more effectively involve the voices of young people?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

I accept that.

I am conscious of the time, and I am probably intruding on the time of other members. If I could come back in at the end, that would be appreciated, but I understand if I cannot.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

I am sorry to jump in. I do not particularly want to pursue the specifics of the appeals process, but, given that you have raised the issue and that we have had exchanges about it in the past, I note that there was not a particularly large number of appeals this year. Did any of those appeals result in a downgrade?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

Thank you. In a similar vein, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland made some pretty scathing comments about the concept of co-production. Dr Stewart said that that is an area of learning from the process over the past year. Bruce Adamson, the commissioner, made the same point that Cameron Garrett made. He said:

“Some very strange examples of ‘co-production’ being discussed at the moment. If you have very limited involvement of young people and then ignore their views, you can’t call it co-production just because they were in the room.”

My question is similar to my question about Cameron. Have you met the commissioner subsequent to those comments being made to discuss his concerns about the concept of co-production?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 29 September 2021

Ross Greer

I will explore that issue in a little more detail. Dr Stewart, you mentioned learning around co-production. What did you mean by that? Have you taken into account the concerns that have been raised about co-production and participation not just by the commissioner but by a range of other experts in the field of children’s rights?