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20 Most Recent Speeches
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Wed 10th Feb 2010
Councils deliver valued services to our communities, week in and week out. However, as we have heard during the debate, all councils face significant pressures this year and next. The total allocation declines in real terms for 11 local authorities this year. We have heard about cuts to valued services and a significant reduction in workforces. Of course, the loss of a great deal of experience and knowledge goes with that.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 28th Jan 2010
I, too, congratulate Richard Baker for securing tonight's debate on an important matter, and I pay tribute to the tenacity and resilience of the Glencraft workers. I am very pleased that the private sector has rallied round to help and that Aberdeen City Council will continue to lend support by offering a rent waiver for the next year.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament on Thu 10th Dec 2009
I thank the minister for bringing to the chamber this timely debate on climate change. I imagined that after countless committee appearances and numerous debates on the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill during the first half of the year, he might have become rather fed up at the sight of me and my committee colleagues, but he is back for more. I reassure him that although we may have had our differences over certain aspects of the bill, we are singing from the same sheet today, and I am pleased at the outward-looking nature of the Government's motion.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament on Thu 10th Dec 2009
We all agree that the national concessionary travel scheme, which was introduced by the previous Executive, has been a resounding success. We also agree that the objectives of promoting social inclusion by allowing older and disabled people-especially those who are on low incomes-improved access to services, facilities and social networks through free use of scheduled bus services, and of improving health by promoting a more active lifestyle for the elderly and disabled are, largely, being met. However, they are not totally being met, as the scheme is not completely fair and equitable.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament on Thu 3rd Dec 2009
"Dithering, drifting - whatever you call it - the lack of focus" from the Government
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to The Chamber, Holyrood on Wed 2nd Dec 2009
Like other members, I am pleased to support the 16 days of activism against gender violence campaign and to pledge my continuing support for the elimination of violence against women. Women and children have the right to live free from the threat of violence.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 12th Nov 2009
The designation of the central Scotland green network as a national project is to be welcomed and will, I hope, presage a significant and sustained emphasis on improving the natural environment of the 3 million or so people who live within the 19 local authority areas that will be covered by the network. Substantial increases in woodland cover and improvements to green space and outdoor recreation are proposed, with the aim of improving landscape settings for towns and cities, including bringing back to life areas that face the post-industrial legacy of derelict and vacant land.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 1st Oct 2009
I think it is fair to say that everyone in the chamber recognises the role that our colleges must play on Scotland's road to economic recovery. The training and teaching that they provide, and the opportunities that they give to young people-school leavers-to further the skills that they need to successfully enter employment for the first time are important tools at any time, but in a time of economic downturn, when unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, rises, they become even more vital.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 1st Oct 2009
I thank the Local Government and Communities Committee and its convener for the work that they have done on the matter. The committee's report is a stark reminder of just how far councils still have to go to implement equal pay.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament on Thu 10th Sep 2009
I, too, thank Jeremy Purvis for securing the debate and I welcome the guiding community to the gallery. I congratulate Girlguiding Scotland on reaching its first centenary. I had a very pleasant break this afternoon when, with some of my colleagues, I popped out to meet the representatives who had rallied outside Parliament. The dancing and the festive feeling to the afternoon were really pleasant. As Maureen Watt mentioned, last weekend 1,500 rainbows, brownies, girl guides, adult volunteers and former members marched through Inverurie-one of my local towns-to celebrate the centenary. There was a real carnival atmosphere to the procession, with banners and a steel band. Those numbers are, in themselves, enough to show how vibrant the girlguiding movement still is.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament on Thu 10th Sep 2009
The debate has been constructive and many useful points have been raised that I hope the minister will address in his summing-up speech. We have had significant contributions, such as that from Paul Martin, who raised valid points about fairness and the need to tackle the currently fragmented approach to discipline and grievance procedures in the employing services. Robert Brown stated that we need greater clarity on the division of responsibility. He and Stewart Maxwell mentioned the inspection requirements under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. I would particularly appreciate the minister's response on that. Stewart Maxwell spoke well about his campaign to ensure that only RIP cigarettes are sold in Scotland. I will certainly pay more heed to his campaigning from now on. Peter Peacock, who was, as ever, succinct and to the point, asked for more detail on water rescue and on the training and resources that will be needed for the implementation of the Tomkins report. Cathie Craigie spoke about the need for continuous training to a national standard. She and Angela Constance talked about the need to maintain front-line services. I hope that the minister will pick up on those points.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Wed 24th Jun 2009
Although passing the bill has been a long process, all too often over the past few weeks it has also seemed like a hectic rush. That may be a typical experience-I do not know-as I said in the stage 1 debate, this is the first substantive bill that I have led on for our group since I was elected to the Parliament.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 14th May 2009
This interesting debate has highlighted a number of issues that need to be addressed. First of all, though, I thank the Local Government and Communities Committee for its report.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Wed 6th May 2009
I look forward to the bill progressing to stage 2 following this week's debate but, through my amendment, I want to highlight some of the key changes that are needed to make it fit for purpose. It needs tougher targets, a greater depth and a robust reporting mechanism so that successive Governments can be held accountable for the rate of progress in this most pressing matter.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament Chamber on Wed 22nd Apr 2009
I thank the convener of the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee, fellow committee members and the committee clerks for their work on the inquiry.
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Speech by Alison McInnes MSP delivered to Scottish Parliament on Wed 25th Mar 2009
I recognise that, in the current economic climate, many people will welcome a council tax freeze. Who does not like a cut in tax? However, as my colleague Jeremy Purvis said, the tax freeze locks in the unfairness of the discredited council tax for another year. The council tax freeze was supposed to be a temporary measure, easing difficulties while a fairer local income tax system was developed. In that light, we did not oppose it. In the same way, it has been tholed by councils across the country on the understanding that it heralded a major reform of how local services are funded. However, of course, that is no longer the case. The situation changed when the Government announced that it would not take forward any such reform in the current session of Parliament.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Chamber, The Scottish Parliament on Thu 19th Mar 2009
The number of women who are employed in science, engineering and technology is half the number of men who are employed in the same industries. The Greenfield report identified that the UK economy was losing considerable talent because women who were qualified in science, engineering and technology were not working in those sectors. Half a million women in the UK are qualified in science, engineering and technology, but less than one third of them work in the sectors.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Scottish Parliament Chamber on Thu 12th Mar 2009
Thank you Presiding Officer, and let me start by formally moving the motion in my name. I must say that it is nice to come to the chamber being able to anticipate cross-party backing in support of my motion.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to chamber, Sottish Parliament on Wed 11th Feb 2009
Whether we have too many councils has been debated recently, but that question is less important than asking whether our local government is truly free to govern locally. Local government should have sufficient autonomy and resources to be free to respond to local needs while recognising that it has a key role in helping to address urgent national agendas. A tension between those aspects always exists, but achieving the right balance is important for our communities.
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Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to Parliament Transport Debate on Thu 29th Jan 2009
The strategic transport projects review process has been a long haul. It has taken 20 months, which is about the same length of time as the gestation period for an elephant. Of course, an elephant has a lot more substance than the STPR. The longer we waited for an outcome, the more we thought that there was bound to be clarity. Why else was it taking so long? However, those of us who were hoping for a coherent, costed and timed transport investment programme were disappointed.
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Archive of earlier Speeches
 Speech Feed(v1.0).
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