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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 21 April 2025
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Displaying 693 contributions

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Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 27 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Good morning. Thank you for being here. I have been listening intently to the answers that you have given to my colleagues. I want to ask about the mental health moratorium working group’s recommendation that a mental health moratorium would be applied for via a money adviser.

It struck me that what we do not talk about is the creditor, and, in certain circumstances, the creditor may be the one who is perhaps being hard done by. In the scenario that Mr Macpherson set out, about somebody sitting with £1 million in the bank and a tradesperson looking for £500, which happens often, it strikes me that it is hugely unlikely that that person would seek a money adviser. I am not quite sure that that scenario would arise.

My concern is around the fact that the moratorium has to be applied for through a money adviser. Does the money adviser sector have the capacity to deal with that? Do the advisers have the necessary skill set? Are they trained with the ability to recognise people in a poor mental health situation and to access mental health services?

We are making laws and regulations based on ideal situations, and this is far from an ideal situation. Cheryl Hynd, in practical terms, does the sector have that capacity?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 27 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Thank you; that is helpful. My concern is that mental health is on such a sliding scale. We have a significant rise in poor mental health. In my experience, people with poor mental health can be good at hiding it. People go to college or university for three or four years to be able to recognise people with poor mental health. My concern is that we are saying that money advisers will be charged with recognising that—that is the point that I am trying to push here. Should they have the ability to call in mental health experts? Where do we sit with comfort on that particular issue?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Skills Delivery Landscape

Meeting date: 27 September 2023

Brian Whittle

To follow on from Maggie Chapman talking about the green economy, I will also throw in the blue economy, if you do not mind. We all recognise the massive opportunity in skills development for the blue economy in Scotland, but I am concerned that we are not weaving those skills and that potential for our pupils into our schools. For example, the construction industry needs an extra 22,500 tradespeople and engineers by 2028 if we are to hit the Government’s 2030 targets. In reality, that will not happen.

I believe that, when we talk about green skills, we are speaking to a lot of people who think we are talking about people planting trees rather than software engineers and what not.

I am also pleased to hear you talk about the further education sector in the way that you do, but our FE sector has unfilled apprenticeship places and our engineering companies are screaming for engineers. We do not bring the two together. That is where I am going. Did you look at how we can weave future needs into our education system at the earliest possible opportunity?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Skills Delivery Landscape

Meeting date: 27 September 2023

Brian Whittle

I am at a loss with the idea of how a national framework devolves down into the local economy. The obvious one is the transition from oil and gas to a green economy, although I imagine that that will be predominantly in the north-east, where the decisions on that will be made.

On Monday, I was with a group that works with children who were disenfranchised from school but who now go to school two days a week and go to the group three days a week. It is a complex landscape out there. How do we create a national framework that allows all that good work still to happen?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 27 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Yes. I have a quick one, if I could. The financial memorandum to the bill argues that there will be no significant costs to local authorities as a result of a mental health moratorium. I can see hidden costs there. I wonder what your consideration is of the bill’s potential cost to councils.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Thank you. That was helpful.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

“The economic contribution of the Pharmaceuticals Sector in Scotland”

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Good morning. I have an interest in how clinical trials are conducted. Treatments of rare conditions in particular require clinical trials to be drawn from beyond our borders. It is to the benefit of any new drug that we draw from as diverse a population as we possibly can, surely. Are we aligned with the rest of the world on that, and can we pool clinical trials to determine the efficacy of new medicine?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

“The economic contribution of the Pharmaceuticals Sector in Scotland”

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Brian Whittle

In relation to the gathering of data, it sounds like there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur.

I have a question for Sir Michael Ferguson, who raised the issue of spin-off companies from new businesses—that sort of growth in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Brian Whittle

That was a really helpful answer.

Let me just put together a scenario from the perspective of practicalities. If a debt adviser recognises a potential issue with a client and contacts mental health services, and there is a delay, as there often is, in accessing that kind of help, what happens in the interim? How do we deal with the period between the recognition that there could be a problem and the diagnosis of that problem?

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Bankruptcy and Diligence (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 20 September 2023

Brian Whittle

Thank you.

I will bring in Becca Stacey now. My concern is whether money advisers will be able to take this work on. It seems to me that the system is set up in such a way that, if you are on a compulsory mental health treatment order, this will kick in. However, as we have discussed, mental health does not work in a linear fashion. What if the money adviser has concerns about the client with whom they are working? Are we suggesting here that money advisers should have the capability to contact mental health services to ask for advice?