SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1087 Title : Scottish Parliament: Chamber Minutes Vol 3, no 26 Author(s): Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Copyright holder(s): Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body: © Scottish Parliamentary copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Queen's Printer for Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Text MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS Meeting of the Parliament Vol 3, No 26 Wednesday 31 October 2001 The meeting opened at 2.30 pm. 1. Time for Reflection: Mrs Ravinder Kaur Nijjar, Member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Inter-faith Council, Primary School Teacher and Voluntary Community Worker in Glasgow, led Time for Reflection 2. Asylum Seekers and Refugee Integration: The Minister for Social Justice moved S1M-2377—That the Parliament welcomes the Scottish Executive’s commitment to work in partnership with the public, private and voluntary sectors to welcome and integrate asylum seekers and refugees to Scotland and further welcomes the Executive’s commitment to build improved dialogue with asylum seekers and refugees and host communities and, through partnership working, enable the provision of more accessible, co-ordinated and good quality services, protection from the threat of racist attacks and harassment, and the sharing of good practice to assist the integration of refugees. Linda Fabiani moved amendment S1M-2377.2 to motion S1M-2377— Leave out from "and further welcomes" to end and insert— "; congratulates the host communities and Scotland’s civic society on the steps taken so far to enable integration; welcomes the appointment of a Scottish Minister with responsibilities in this area; notes that the statement by the Home Secretary in the Westminster Parliament on 29 October 2001 indicates a move by Her Majesty's Government contrary to the current direction of the Scottish Executive, particularly in the establishment of "accommodation centres" as opposed to sensitive dispersal and the imposition of "Smart Cards" as a form of electronic voucher for asylum seekers, and calls for the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive to welcome asylum seekers and refugees into our communities and to have the power to provide appropriate services to promote true integration." After debate, the amendment was disagreed to ((DT) by division: For 31, Against 79, Abstentions 1). Lord James Douglas-Hamilton moved amendment S1M-2377.1 to motion S1M-2377— Leave out from first "welcomes" to end and insert— "reaffirms the historic commitment of both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole to provide a safe haven for those who have been persecuted or are under threat of persecution by oppressive regimes overseas; notes, however, with concern that our ability to provide refuge for the genuinely oppressed is severely hampered by the problems associated with our asylum system, and welcomes the movement of Her Majesty’s Government towards the policy of the Conservative Party, which will speed up the process of establishing which claims are well-founded and subsequently enable every possible step to be taken to welcome and integrate asylum seekers and refugees to Scotland and grant them the same rights of citizenship as enjoyed by the rest of the community." After debate, the amendment was disagreed to ((DT) by division: For 18, Against 93, Abstentions 1). The motion was then agreed to (DT). 3. Electronic Voting: Euan Robson, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S1M-2383—That the Parliament directs that under Rule 11.8.3 any decision at Stage 2 of the Police and Fire Services (Finance) (Scotland) Bill shall be conducted using the electronic voting system. The motion was agreed to (DT). 4. Suspension of Standing Orders: Euan Robson, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S1M-2384—That the Parliament agrees that Rules 9.5.3B and 9.7.9 of the Standing Orders be suspended for the purposes of the Police and Fire Services (Finance) (Scotland) Bill. The motion was agreed to (DT). 5. Decision Time: The Parliament took decisions on Items 2, 3, and 4 as noted above. 6. World Alzheimer's Day: The Parliament debated S1M-2187 in the name of Cathie Craigie—That the Parliament expresses its support for World Alzheimer’s Day, held on 21 September every year; recognises its aim of raising global awareness of dementia and its impact on families; notes that around 58,000 people suffer from dementia in Scotland, and further recognises the importance of the work of organisations such as Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia in supporting sufferers and their families. The meeting closed at 5.59 pm. P E Grice Clerk of the Parliament 31 October 2001 This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Document source: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/mop-01/mop-10-31.htm Information about document and author: Text Text audience General public: Audience size: 1000+ Text details Method of composition: Wordprocessed Year of composition: 2001 Word count: 701 General description: Chamber Minutes. See http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/journalMinutes/Minutes.htm Text medium Web (webpages, discussion boards, newsgroups, chat rooms): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Publication year: 2001 Place of publication: www.scottish.parliament.uk Text setting Government/politics: Text type Written record of speech (e.g. hansard, legal proceedings, minutes of meetings): Author Author details Author id: 908 Surname: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body