Meeting of the Parliament Wednesday 6 December 2017 Session 5 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Information on the Scottish Parliament’s copyright policy can be found on the website - www.parliament.scot or by contacting Public Information on 0131 348 5000 Wednesday 6 December 2017 CONTENTS Col. PORTFOLIO QUESTION TIME ............................................................................................................................... 1 COMMUNITIES, SOCIAL SECURITY AND EQUALITIES ............................................................................................. 1 Child Poverty ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Sustainability of Council Services (Discussions) .......................................................................................... 3 Planning Law (Protection for Live Music Venues) ........................................................................................ 5 Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group ...................................................................................... 6 Aluminium Composite Material Cladding (Guidance)................................................................................... 8 “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” (Support) ............................................................... 9 Child Poverty .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Rough Sleeping .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Personal Independence Payments Assessment Centres (Moray) ............................................................. 14 POLICE SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTTISH POLICE AUTHORITY .............................................................................. 16 Motion moved—[Liam McArthur]. Amendment moved—[Michael Matheson]. Amendment moved—[Liam Kerr]. Amendment moved—[Claire Baker]. Amendment moved—[John Finnie]. Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 16 The Cabinet Secretary for Justice (Michael Matheson) ............................................................................. 19 Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)....................................................................................................... 21 Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) ................................................................................................ 24 John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green) ............................................................................................. 26 Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD) .......................................................................................... 28 Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP) .................................................................................... 29 Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Con) ........................................................................................................ 31 Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 32 Fulton MacGregor (Coatbridge and Chryston) (SNP) ................................................................................ 34 John Finnie ................................................................................................................................................. 35 Claire Baker ................................................................................................................................................ 37 Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con) ................................................................................................ 38 Michael Matheson....................................................................................................................................... 40 Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) ........................................................................................................... 42 FERRY SERVICES (FARES AND FUNDING) .......................................................................................................... 45 Motion moved—[Liam McArthur]. Amendment moved—[Humza Yousaf]. Amendment moved—[Jamie Halcro Johnston]. Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 45 The Minister for Transport and the Islands (Humza Yousaf) ..................................................................... 48 Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) .............................................................................. 51 Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab) ............................................................................................................... 53 Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD) ................................................................................................. 55 Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP) ................................................................................ 57 Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Con) ................................................................................................... 58 Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) ............................................................................................... 59 John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green) ............................................................................................. 61 John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 63 James Kelly (Glasgow) (Lab) ..................................................................................................................... 64 Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con) ........................................................................................................ 65 Humza Yousaf ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) .......................................................................................................... 69 BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................... 72 Motion moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]—and agreed to. PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTIONS ................................................................................................................. 74 Motions moved—[Joe FitzPatrick]. DECISION TIME ................................................................................................................................................ 75 PARCEL DELIVERY CHARGES ........................................................................................................................... 89 Motion debated—[Richard Lochhead]. Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP) .............................................................................................................. 89 Gail Ross (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP) .................................................................................. 92 Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) .............................................................................. 94 Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP) ........................................................................................... 96 Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab) ............................................................................................... 98 Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 99 John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green) ........................................................................................... 101 Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ....................................................................................................... 103 Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP) ...................................................................... 104 Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ..................................................................................... 105 Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP) .............................................................................. 107 The Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy (Paul Wheelhouse) ................................................... 108 1 6 DECEMBER 2017 2 key finding reinforces the position of the Scottish Scottish Parliament Conservatives that one of the important elements in combating child poverty is reduction of the Wednesday 6 December 2017 number of workless households. Action that has been taken by the UK Government has caused the [The Presiding Officer opened the meeting at percentage of workless households across the UK 14:00] to fall to a record low level, but progress remains persistently slow in Scotland. Will the minister Portfolio Question Time acknowledge that the Scottish Government should be targeting its resources on reducing the number