Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Official Report 1021KB pdf

Business Motion

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S5M-22515, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a stage 3 timetable for the Children (Scotland) Bill.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that, during stage 3 of the Children (Scotland) Bill, debate on groups of amendments shall, subject to Rule 9.8.4A, be brought to a conclusion by the time limits indicated, those time limits 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 to 4: 1 hour 10 minutes

Groups 5 to 7: 2 hours 5 minutes

Groups 8 to 11: 2 hours 40 minutes.—[Graeme Dey].

Motion agreed to.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I fully recognise that we have been discussing very important matters in the last moments. However, for the purposes of understanding what the likely conclusion time will be this evening, I note that business is now running over 30 minutes behind what the expected timings were. Can I take it that we will not now conclude business before 19:00?

Mr Crawford, it is difficult to know at what time we will conclude. I allowed topical questions to run on today, both because there was a huge amount of interest and also partly to resolve the need for a statement on the subject of care homes. I am sure that members will appreciate that.

Although we were timetabled for an 18:30 decision time, our expectation was that we would run slightly under. Therefore, although we are now behind schedule, there is still a prospect of finishing at 18:30. I will be honest with you—it is up to members and ministers, because how long this item of business lasts depends on the length of their contributions. We should still aim for a 18:30 decision time, rather than 19:00.