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Official Report MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Tuesday 8 December 2015 Session 4 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Information on the Scottish Parliament’s copyright policy can be found on the website - www.scottish.parliament.uk or by contacting Public Information on 0131 348 5000 Tuesday 8 December 2015 CONTENTS Col. TIME FOR REFLECTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 BUSINESS MOTIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Motions moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]—and agreed to. TOPICAL QUESTION TIME ................................................................................................................................... 4 Storms and Flooding (Help for Communities) .............................................................................................. 4 Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash (Fatal Accident Inquiry) ....................................................................................... 7 FORTH ROAD BRIDGE ...................................................................................................................................... 10 Statement—[Derek Mackay]. The Minister for Transport and Islands (Derek Mackay) ............................................................................ 10 CRIMINAL JUSTICE (SCOTLAND) BILL: STAGE 3 ................................................................................................ 27 CRIMINAL JUSTICE (SCOTLAND) BILL ............................................................................................................... 82 Motion moved—[Michael Matheson]. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Michael Matheson) ............................................................................. 82 Elaine Murray (Dumfriesshire) (Lab) .......................................................................................................... 86 Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con) ................................................................................................ 89 Roderick Campbell (North East Fife) (SNP) ............................................................................................... 91 Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 93 Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP) .............................................. 94 Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD) ................................................................................................ 96 Alex Salmond (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP) ............................................................................................... 98 John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Ind) .................................................................................................. 99 Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) .................................................................................................................... 101 Elaine Murray ............................................................................................................................................ 102 Michael Matheson..................................................................................................................................... 104 MOTION WITHOUT NOTICE .............................................................................................................................. 108 Motion moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]—and agreed to. DECISION TIME .............................................................................................................................................. 109 MARISCHAL SQUARE ..................................................................................................................................... 110 Motion debated—[Kevin Stewart]. Kevin Stewart (Aberdeen Central) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 110 Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab) ......................................................................................... 113 Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP) ............................................................................................ 115 Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con) .............................................................................................. 117 Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD) .............................................................................................. 119 Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) .......................................................................................................... 120 Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab) .............................................................................................. 122 The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment (Marco Biagi) ................................. 124 1 8 DECEMBER 2015 2 communities and our lives. This is why Jesus Scottish Parliament came. Tuesday 8 December 2015 I hope that you all have a great Christmas and that you celebrate and rejoice, and eat and drink too much. Be assured that you have the prayers of [The Presiding Officer opened the meeting at the Church. We ask for God’s blessing on your 14:00] work here in the Scottish Parliament. Time for Reflection The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick): Good afternoon. The first item of business today is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev George Fiddes of St Nicholas parish church in Prestwick. The Rev George R Fiddes (St Nicholas Parish Church, Prestwick): Good afternoon. It is a delight to be here with you this afternoon. We are well into the season of Advent, when we look forward with anticipation to the celebration of Christmas. At the heart of Christmas is the nativity story of how Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. The story stands up just as a good story, at the very least, but it is more than that: it is the coming of the Saviour into the world—God incarnate, God wrapped up in flesh. There are a lot of similarities between faith and politics and our political views: we look for something better—a better world and a fair and just society in which to live—and we have our plans and our vision of how we might bring that about. We ask people to believe that we can deliver on the promise that we can bring to fruition the plans and the promises—the vision that we have—but sometimes, no matter how much we believe or work and struggle, we cannot bring about what we want. In Jesus Christ, we have the promise of God being fulfilled. The promise, of course, was that God would send a deliverer—a saviour or redeemer who would deliver his people. For all that it has been 2,000 years since the coming of Jesus into our world, there does not seem to have been a great improvement in things. Our world has changed. Our morality is based on the Judaeo- Christian tradition, but things move on and our society is different. A story is told of two friends. One was a pastor and the other was a manufacturer of soap, and they had long discussions about the Christian faith and a need to believe. The common criticism of the pastor was that Christianity did not work. As they walked down the street, they spotted a dirty child. The minister turned to the soap manufacturer and said, “Your soap doesn’t work.” In his defence, the soap manufacturer said, “The soap has to be applied—it has to be used.” The Christian faith has to be applied. We cannot leave it in a book or in a building. It must be part of our 3 8 DECEMBER 2015 4 Business Motions Topical Question Time 14:03 14:04 The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick): The Storms and Flooding (Help for Communities) next item of business is consideration of business motion S4M-15100, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, 1. Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP): To on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out ask the Scottish Government what action it is a revision to the business programme for today. taking to help communities affected by storms and flooding. (S4T-01209) Motion moved, That the Parliament agrees to the following revision to The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet the programme of business for Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy (John Swinney): Storm Desmond over Tuesday 8 December 2015— the weekend impacted on a number of areas—in after particular, Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders followed by Topical Questions and Tayside. I chaired meetings of the Scottish Government’s resilience committee during the insert course of that event to ensure that all appropriate followed by Ministerial Statement: Forth Road Bridge support was in place to mitigate potential damage. I am sure that Parliament will echo my thanks to delete public servants and volunteers who worked 6.00 pm Decision Time tirelessly to protect the communities that were at and insert risk. The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform visited Hawick this 6.45 pm Decision Time—[Joe FitzPatrick.] morning to see some of the impacts and to meet Motion agreed to. some of those who are involved in the response. I have activated the Bellwin scheme to provide The Presiding Officer: The next item of support to local authorities to assist with the business is consideration of business motion S4M- immediate and the unforeseen costs of dealing
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