Labour MSP Mary Fee says having agreed a structure, various measures were considered for the transfer of the trust.

Ms Fee says the committee was satisfied that the documents were fit for purpose and the Bill should proceed as a private Bill.

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Tom Arthur leads this debate on the Edinburgh Baker's Widows' Bill and says the trustees were left with considerable funds.

In 2013 the scheme was formally closed to new applicants, says Mr Arthur.

He says there are two wives who could have still qualified if they were widowed and they have accepted an annuity.

Mr Arthur says the new trust will advance education in baking and providing public information on the history of the baking trade.

Image source, bbc magazine

The Edinburgh Bakers' Widows' Bill deals with a fund for widows set up by the Incorporation of Bakers of the City of Edinburgh.

The fund was established by Act of Parliament in 1813. It has become increasingly difficult to distribute funds in line with the original requirements set out in legislation.

The trustees of the fund wish to transfer the funds to a more modern, flexible and relevant scheme and have established a new charity for this purpose.

The Bill would enable the assets of the current trust to be transferred to the new charity. It would also empower the trustees to make payments to potential beneficiaries to replace their contingent right to make a claim in the future.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

MSPs debate the Edinburgh Baker's Widows Fund Bill, external at the preliminary stage.

The Private Bill will allow the Trustees of the Widows’ Scheme of the Incorporation of Bakers of the City of Edinburgh to make capital payments to certain persons who might otherwise have been entitled to annuity payments from the Widows’ Fund for the Incorporation of Bakers within the City of Edinburgh.

It will transfer the remaining property, rights, interests and liabilities of the Widows’ Fund to a successor charitable trust; to dissolve the Widows’ Fund; and for connected purposes.

This Private Bill was introduced by the Trustees of the Widows’ Scheme of the Incorporation of Bakers of the City of Edinburgh on 20 March 2017.

Mr Brown says he would like to see telecom providers do more.

The economy secretary says he would also like to see a ban on cold-calling for pensions in particular.

He says there is only so far the Scottish government can go and he does not accept it is not going far enough.

Image source, bbc

Economy Secretary Keith Brown says he chaired the Nuisance Calls Commission, external and has worked very closely with Which?.

On 11 September 2017 the Scotland's Response to Nuisance Calls Commission – Action Plan, external was published by the commission.

Recent research by consumer body Which? suggested cities in Scotland have the highest rates of nuisance calls in the UK.

Glasgow ranked top out of 18 cities across the UK, with Edinburgh second and Aberdeen fourth.

Mr Brown says nuisance calls are a very serious issue.

He says Mike Rumbles' press release was puerile and it is important to recognise where power lies.

Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur thanks James Dornan for bringing this debate and assures him he will be removed from Mike Rumbles mailing list.

Mr McArthur says boiler schemes appear to be the source of many of the problems at the moment.

Image source, bbc

Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston says nuisance calls cause distress and "for many they can feel like an intrusion into there home".

Mr Halcro Johnston says some people are being forced to become almost uncontactable to avoid nuisance calls.

The Tory MSP welcomes the action the action taken on cold calling to combat cold calling.

SNP MSP Bruce Crawford says nuisance callers continue to harass and abuse.

Mr Crawford says one of his constituents was recently the victim of a fraudulent call claiming to be HMRC but thankfully that person questioned this and contacted the police.

He says there will be some who give their details out and it is clear the older and more vulnerable a person is the more profitable they are for these fraudulent companies and "vile sharks'.

Image source, bbc

Labour MSP James Kelly praises the work of Which? in trying to tackle nuisance calls.

Mr Kelly says it it is the impact on vulnerable people like pensioners that is of most concern.

He says there should be a more of a responsibility put on companies and there has to be an onus on them to ensure their activities don't interfere with people's personal freedoms.

Tory MSP Maurice Corry says Which? have conducted a great campaign on this issue.

The Tory MSP says the majority of members will have been on the receiving end of these calls.

Mr Corry says there are far more sinister calls in society relating to fraud and it is important to make sure people are protected from those.

He says the Scottish government can raise awareness at to what constitutes a nuisance call and that PPI information could be given in a less intrusive way such as television and radio adverts.

Image source, bbc

A Glasgow building restoration firm has been fined £80,000 for making nuisance phone calls, following an investigation by the information watchdog.

Xternal Property Renovations made more than 109,000 unlawful marketing calls.

The case centred on calls made to people registered with Telephone Preference Service, external, which meant they had opted not to receive sales calls.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said nuisance marketing would not be tolerated.

Example of complaints from people who had received calls included:

• "I get these calls from early in the morning until late at night. I'm disabled and I worry about these calls."
• "I was concerned about how this company got my details - particularly my name. My number is TPS-registered and has been ex-directory for more than 30 years."

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Graeme Dey says this is the third such debate he has taken part in.

Mr Dey says some progress has been made but the fact this debate is back in the chamber show there is a long way to go.

He says it is frankly unacceptable that some people are forced into a situation where they won't answer the phone.

SNP MSP James Dornan says he was delighted to see the investment in call blocking for nuisance calls.

Mr Dornan says he thought everyone would welcome the funding from the government but he forgot about Mike Rumbles.

He says it seems Mike Rumbles waits for government funding on something then claims it was his idea.

The SNP MSP says there is the role for governments across the UK to stop these types of calls.

He says directors should be responsible for ensuring these practices are not used and that there are currently fines but companies can be dissolved and reformed.

Mr Dornan says he calls on everyone to play their part in ending this scourge.

Image source, bbc

Last November we reported cities in Scotland had the highest rates of nuisance calls in the UK, according to a new study.

Glasgow ranked top out of 18 cities across the UK, with Edinburgh second and Aberdeen fourth.

The number of nuisance calls was also found to be increasing, with vulnerable users experiencing the greatest rise.

Consumer body Which? and call-blocking provider trueCall analysed over nine million phone calls made between January 2013 and September 2016.

They found that more than half (51.5%) of calls in Glasgow were classified as a nuisance, as were 47.8% in Edinburgh and 45.6% in Aberdeen.

Read more here.