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Meeting of the Parliament Thursday 1 March 2007 Note: (DT) signifies a decision taken at Decision Time. The meeting opened at 9.15 am. 1. Dealing with Illegal Money Lenders: The Deputy Minister for Communities (Des McNulty) moved S2M-5669—That the Parliament condemns the activities of illegal money lenders who prey on and exploit vulnerable individuals and communities; welcomes the Scottish Executive’s determination to work in partnership with the UK Government to tackle illegal lending through enforcement and by developing new approaches, such as the successful illegal money lending task force pilots, and supports the Executive’s activity to help affected individuals by increasing affordable credit from credit unions, by improving the availability of money advice, through citizens’ advice, local authority trading standards departments and other organisations which provide invaluable help to those with unmanageable debt, and by extending financial education in schools and in other settings such as the workplace and the community. Mr Kenny MacAskill moved amendment S2M-5669.1 to motion S2M-5669— Leave out from “welcomes” to end and insert—
After debate, the amendment was disagreed to ((DT) by division: For 36, Against 76, Abstentions 0). Margaret Mitchell moved amendment S2M-5669.2 to motion S2M-5669— Insert at end—
After debate, the amendment was disagreed to ((DT) by division: For 15, Against 96, Abstentions 1). The motion was then agreed to (DT). 2. General Question Time: Questions were answered by Scottish Ministers and junior Scottish Ministers. 3. First Minister’s Question Time: Questions were answered by the First Minister (Mr Jack McConnell). 4. Themed Question Time: Questions on Justice and Law Officers and on Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, were answered by Scottish Law Officers and by Scottish Ministers and junior Scottish Ministers. 5. Business Motion: Margaret Curran, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S2M-5666—That the Parliament agrees that, during Stage 3 of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill, debate on groups of amendments shall, subject to Rule 9.8.4A, be brought to a conclusion by the time limit indicated, each time limit being calculated from when the Stage begins and excluding any periods when other business is under consideration or when a meeting of the Parliament is suspended (other than a suspension following the first division in the Stage being called) or otherwise not in progress: Groups 1 and 2: 35 minutes The motion was agreed to. 6. Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill – Stage 3: The Bill was considered at Stage 3. Amendment 13 was agreed to without division. The following amendments were disagreed to (by division)—
The following amendments were not moved: 10, 11 and 9. The Presiding Officer extended the time-limits under Rules 9.8.4A(c) and 9.8.4A(a). 7. Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill – Stage 3: The Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Ross Finnie) moved S2M-5630—That the Parliament agrees that the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill be passed. After debate, the motion was agreed to (DT). 9. Decision Time: The Parliament took decisions on items 1 and 7 as noted above. 10. Tysabri for People with MS: The Parliament debated S2M-5305 in the name of Tricia Marwick—That the Parliament deplores the decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium not to recommend that Tysabri be prescribed to people with multiple sclerosis (MS); notes that, for a small number of those with the most aggressive form of relapsing-remitting MS for whom existing treatments do not work, Tysabri represents the only treatment available; believes that Tysabri has the potential to alleviate suffering for MS patients in Fife and across Scotland; notes that Tysabri is prescribed in Germany, Ireland and the United States of America but not in Scotland, which has the highest rate of MS in the world, and considers that NHS boards in Scotland should prescribe Tysabri which had been described by Dr Gavin Giovannoni, of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, as the most significant advance in MS treatment for nearly a decade. The meeting closed at 5.50 pm. P E Grice Appendix Subordinate Legislation Negative Instruments The following instruments were laid before the Parliament on 1 March 2007 and are subject to annulment—
Committee Reports The following reports were published on 1 March 2007—
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