Skip to main content

Language: English / Gàidhlig

Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Criathragan Hide all filters

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 26 April 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 2643 contributions

|

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

United Kingdom Internal Market

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I want to ask about engagement and, in particular, about how you engage with different groups. With the EU there is very deep engagement at policy and implementation level, which stakeholders have been used to up until now. In terms of your role, how are you engaging in particular with businesses but also with other stakeholders, such as those representing consumers and perhaps even regulators? What does the programme of work look like? How are you ensuring that your work is transparent and that you are able to take on the views of, and communicate effectively with, those groups of stakeholders? Some detail on that would be most useful.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

United Kingdom Internal Market

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I was watching the little video that introduces the role, which is useful particularly for consumers and others. You talk in that video about the health of the internal market. What do you define that as? What are the top health indicators?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

Scottish Government’s International Work

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I found some of David Hope-Jones’s comments about Malawi to be particularly sobering. I was there in 2005 and you could see back then what the climate impacts were, particularly in relation to the variability of rain. It is terrifying to think about what things might look like in years ahead.

David Hope-Jones mentioned the small grants programme in his submission. One thing that has stuck in my mind from going to Malawi is the impact of community-based organisations, which were doing a lot of work with very small amounts of money.

You said in your submission that the Scottish Government stopping the small grants programme was a “misstep”, and you point to some of the difficulties in the evaluation of the scheme. Can you say a bit more about that? How can the evaluation of small grants schemes be improved? Accounting for public money for development is really important, so how can we continue to do such work while building confidence that the money is going to the right places and achieving its objective?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

United Kingdom Internal Market

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I have a brief follow-up question for the OIM. I am thinking about the common frameworks that have been established—there is one, for example, around waste and the circular economy. Some regulations are in place already—regulations that, in effect, made the cut and are emerging, such as deposit return schemes—and new regulations are coming forward that will come more fully into the remit of post-Brexit consideration of EU alignment or otherwise. How do you work with those? Is there, in effect, a firewall? You would not consider the deposit return scheme, for example, because that existed previously, although regulations can be updated over time. However, the common frameworks span all three areas and I am interested in where you draw the line, because some of them have contexts that affect each other.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

United Kingdom Internal Market

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

What does that look like practically? Can you give us a worked example of engagement on a particular issue? That might be useful.

Meeting of the Parliament

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

This week, we have seen tens of thousands of young people successfully applying for national entitlement cards, which will open the door to free bus travel across Scotland at the end of this month. We have also seen some schools and libraries help those who are the hardest to reach to apply for the card. What more guidance can the Government give to councils to ensure that those who could benefit most from the scheme successfully get their cards by the end of the month?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I, too, have had some technical difficulties.

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands last met Marine Scotland to discuss Scotland’s marine assessment 2020. (S6O-00609)

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I thank the cabinet secretary for that reassurance. The Bute house agreement includes a whole suite of commitments to strengthen protections for the marine environment by supporting sustainable management of our fisheries. I am encouraged by the news today that the protection for cod spawning in the Firth of Clyde will be reintroduced this year—critically, with no exemptions. Will the cabinet secretary comment on the action’s objectives and the benefits that it aims to deliver?

Meeting of the Parliament

Car Travel

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I welcome the route map, which represents a really big step towards bringing about a green transport revolution. I also welcome the fact that the minister has recognised the role of demand management measures such as workplace parking levies. Does he agree that, where appropriate—I emphasise the phrase “where appropriate”—workplace parking levies or even congestion charging schemes can also raise substantial finance to invest in affordable, reliable and attractive alternatives to the private car that will end up benefiting the most disadvantaged?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 12 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

Will the cabinet secretary update the chamber on how the cost of nuclear energy currently compares with that of renewables?