Parliament Workbench
Data: Official Report to 12 Nov 2026

Official Report · Committee

Current Petitions

Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (PE1139)

Tuesday 8 September 2009 Public Petitions Committee Petitions 6 contributions · 4 speakers

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The record

6 contributions
Frank McAveety Lab The Convener · Glasgow Shettleston
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PE1139, by John Quigley, on behalf of Unite, calls on Parliament to urge the Government to retain the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board as a separate body and to expand its remit to cover all workers in the agricultural sector, including those who work in private and ornamental gardens and in all types of fish farming.Members have a copy of the correspondence, and a news release from the Scottish Government on the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. Are there any comments?

John Wilson SNP Central Scotland
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As a member of Unite—I want that on the record—I welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth's decision, which was announced on Thursday afternoon in response to a parliamentary question from John Park, that the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board will be retained for another two years and reviewed in 2011. The petition has been very successful.I stress that the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board deals not only with wages, but with the conditions of agricultural workers. It is important that we make that point, because many people forget that the board was established also to deal with agricultural workers' conditions.

Nigel Don SNP North East Scotland
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Can anyone—perhaps John Wilson—tell me whether the decision covers everything in the petition? The retention of the board hit the headlines, but the petition also mentions the expansion of the board's remit to cover all workers in various other areas. Has that been achieved, or should we still be considering it?

John Wilson SNP Central Scotland
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I asked on Thursday afternoon about the board's role and remit and whether that remit had been extended, but I did not get a clear answer from the cabinet secretary. On the basis of the press release, I assume that the full text of the petition was not taken on board when the cabinet secretary made his decision.

Bill Butler Lab Glasgow Anniesland
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As a member of the GMB, I congratulate colleagues in Unite on their campaign to retain the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board, which is essential. I also thank the Government for seeing the irrefutable case for its retention.We should write to the minister on Nigel Don's question. It has been said somewhere, although not in the press release, that the board's remit has been extended. If it has been extended, we should congratulate the Government for that; if it has not, we should ask why not.

Frank McAveety Lab The Convener · Glasgow Shettleston
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Okay. We will continue the petition, explore those issues and try to satisfy the petitioner's ambition.Just in case, I declare that I am also a member of Unite.

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