John Mason: To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on unpaid internships that last longer than one month.

That the Parliament welcomes the most recent Office for National Statistics figures, which find that employment in Scotland reached an all-time high between October and December 2015; notes that this is the second record-setting quarter in a row, with September to November previously being the highest on record; further notes the finding that there were 22,000 more Scots in employment, leading to an employment rate of 74.8%, which was above the UK average of 74.1%; considers that this is good news for the Scottish economy, however, believes that more work needs to be done to ensure that employers pay the living wage as set by the Living Wage Foundation.

That the Parliament deplores the handling of junior doctors’ contracts in England by the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt; further deplores what it considers the lack of proper engagement shown by the UK Government in what it sees as the latest in a long line of politically motivated attacks on the NHS south of the border; congratulates the junior doctors and the British Medical Association (BMA) on what it sees as their positive and organised opposition to what it considers these unfair changes; welcomes confirmation from the Scottish Government that what it considers these fundamentally unfair contracts will not be imposed on junior doctors in Scotland, and welcomes those seeking fairer contracts to look for jobs in the NHS in Scotland.

February Edition 2016 – Parliamentary Patter

• John Calls For Regulation on Bellgrove Hotel
• John Engages With Schools
• Homelessness Increase
• Finance Committee in Pitlochry
• Celtic Connections
• Motions lodged in Parliament