Cost of Living

As an amendment to motion S4M-05504 in the name of Kezia Dugdale (Cost of Living), leave out from first "recognises" to end and insert “notes that the UK still faces a very difficult economic situation and welcomes the action that the UK Government has taken to protect incomes and reduce the cost of living by increasing the personal allowance, which will help 2.2 million people in Scotland and mean that, in 2013, someone working full time on the minimum wage will see their income tax bill cut in half compared with what they were paying under a Labour administration; notes also that cancelling the 3p rise in fuel duty planned from January 2013 will mean that there has been no increase in fuel duty for nearly two and a half years; further notes with concern the problems that some people are having with payday lending and welcomes the action that the UK Government is taking to tackle the problems associated with high-cost credit, including giving financial regulators the power to impose restrictions on the total cost of credit and giving the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) a new power to suspend consumer credit licences immediately where there is an urgent need to protect consumers; notes that the OFT has launched formal investigations into several payday lenders, and calls on the Scottish Government to liaise with the OFT to identify and take action against problem payday lenders in Scotland and to boost the role that credit unions can play in providing a viable alternative.”