Parliament News
issue 15 / february 2002
Institute of Governance > Parliament News, issue 15 / february 2002 |
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Parliament Newsissue 15 / february 2002 |
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Events5 February: Proposals for the redrawing of Scotland's political map were presented to the House of Commons. The Boundaries Commission suggested reducing the number of Scottish MPs from 72 to 59 to bring Scottish representation in line with English representation at Westminster. The changes are expected to come into force at the next UK General Election. They will not affect the Scottish Parliament elections in May next year but could have implications for future elections. The Commission's proposals are published in local newspapers and displayed in libraries and council offices and are also available on the Boundary Commission website. The Scotland Office has a consultation document (link to document) on the subject of the size of the Scottish Parliament inviting the views of groups and individuals on the case for retaining or ending the linking of Westminster and Holyrood constituency boundaries as provided in the Scotland Act. Responses are to be sent by 29 March to the Scotland Office email: sizeofscottishparliament@scotland.gsi.gov.uk. 12 February: Wendy Alexander, Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, announced the creation of a new £20 million Venture Capital investment fund, aimed at helping Scottish firms facing difficulties in obtaining small scale, early stage equity in the current market. 12 February: Hugh Henry, Deputy Minister for Health & Community Care announced the launch of the Older People's Consultative Forum which is intended to give older people and their organisations greater say in the development of Executive policy. The Forum will help ensure that older people are fully involved in the development and creation of policies which affect them. 12 February: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, announced the launch of the Scottish International Forum. The Forum was created in order to bring together the main organisations and agencies involved in maximising and improving the promotion of Scotland overseas. 13 February: Jack McConnell, First Minister, John Swinney (SNP), David McLetchie (Con) and Jim Wallace (LibDem) all addressed condolence speeches in Parliament to members of the Royal Family on the death of Princess Margaret. 14 February: Following publication of the consultation paper by the Scotland Office on the size of the Scottish Parliament, the Centre for Scottish Public Policy convened a meeting bringing together a group of interested individuals and organisations to seek a consensus view on this important issue. Membership of the Group was drawn from a wide range of Scottish civic society and included members and representatives of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP), Institute of Governance, University of Edinburgh, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), Scottish Civic Forum, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), UNISON, Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and individual members of the Consultative Steering Group (CSG). The Group met under the convenership of Neil McIntosh, head of the recent Commission on the relationship between Local Government and the Parliament in Scotland. The Group published a report stating that reduction in the number of MSPs amongst other things would undermine the committee structure and other accessibility mechanisms of the Parliament (link to report). 14 February: the Executive issued a consultation paper inviting views on proposals for a Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments which will form part of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies (Scotland) Bill to be introduced in Parliament as soon as possible. The closing date for comments is April 11, 2002. 14 February: His Excellency Jorge Sampaio, President of the Portuguese Republic, addressed MSPs in the Parliament. 14 February: Conveners of the Parliament's Committees met with MPs from the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee to discuss primarily the innovative ways in which the Scottish Parliament involves the public in the work of Committees when scrutinising legislation and investigating and holding to account the government of the day. 18 February: Jack McConnell, the First Minister, addressed an environmental conference at the Dynamic Earth exhibition in Edinburgh, telling delegates that a new mechanism would be introduced this year to consider the environmental impact of all spending decisions taken by the Scottish government. Mr McConnell also stated his intention to increase the amount of Scotland's electricity which comes from renewable sources. Appointments7 February: The Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, appointed Brian McConnachie to be an Advocate Depute with effect from February 11, 2002. 18 February: Lord Wilson of Tillyorn has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland. 26 February: the First Minister made the following Ministerial Parliamentary Aide appointments:
System Three poll (for The Herald)(995 people in 39 constituencies surveyed between February 21-27, 2002) The System Three poll, carried out at the end of February, noted voting intentions for both the Scottish Parliament (two votes) and the House of Commons.
Bills6 February: the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The principles of the Bill include implementation of free nursing care for older people, free personal care and regulation of charging for non-residential social care. 7 February: the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1 was defeated in Parliament. The objectives of the Bill were to increase the accountability of certain specified agencies and non-departmental public bodies to the Parliament. 13 February: the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The aims of the Bill are to ban mounted fox hunting, hare coursing and fox baiting. The Bill and its numerous amendments were passed after seven hours of legislative debate. 14 February: the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The Bill provides for the restructuring of the water industry to combine the three existing authorities into one, Scotland-wide authority, to be called Scottish Water. It will ensure that the views of customers are properly represented by established Water Customer Consultation Panels under an independent convener and it will safeguard public health by creating the post of Drinking Water Quality Regulator. 14 February: the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The Bill authorises expenditure through the departments of the Scottish Executive of resources that total just over £19 billion. It also authorises local authority capita consent up to a further £632 million. 27 February: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, requested that the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill be treated as an Emergency Bill and stages 1, 2 and 3 were all passed on the same day. This Bill will provide that the issue of a warrant following the failure of an accused to appear at an intermediate diet will automatically discharge the trial diet, unless otherwise ordered by the court. The Bill is retrospective in effect. 27 February: the Marriage (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed. The main aims of the Bill are to permit civil marriage to be solemnised at locations other than a Registration Office and to authorise local authorities to license locations and to charge fees to meet related costs. 28 February: the principles of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commission Bill: Stage 1 (introduced as the Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman Bill) were agreed in Parliament. The key objective of the Bill is to establish a one-stop shop headed by a new Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman to deal with complaints currently dealt with by the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (SPCA), the Health Service Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman and the Housing Association Ombudsman for Scotland 28 February: the principles of the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupil Records) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1 were agreed in Parliament. The purpose of the Bill is to parallel in Scotland the provisions of section 14 and 15 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 which apply only in England and Wales. These provisions require local authorities, independent and grant-aided schools in Scotland to prepare a strategy to plan to improve access to both the school environment and the curriculum for children with a disability and to improve communication to pupils with disabilities.
Committees1 February: the Education Committee issued a call for evidence seeking views on the general principles of the Scottish Qualifications Authority Bill which was introduced to the Parliament on 31 January 2002. The purpose of the Bill is to make provision for a smaller Scottish Qualifications Authority Board of between 7-9 members including a chair, and a Chief Executive. The Bill also proposes to establish an Advisory Council to work with the SQA. 1 February: the Transport and Environment Committee issued a call for written evidence as part of its aquaculture inquiry. The inquiry aims to ensure that work by the Executive and other relevant bodies in developing a strategy for a sustainable aquaculture industry is subject to public scrutiny. It also seeks to ensure that the process of policy development and review is open, transparent and responsive to the views of relevant stakeholders. 1 February: the Local Government Committee published a report agreeing by division to recommend that the Parliament should not approve the general principles of the Public Appointments (Scotland) Bill. The Committee agreed that greater scrutiny of public appointments is required and that this Bill as it currently stands is not the most appropriate vehicle to provide such scrutiny. 5 February: the Standards Committee published a Bill to establish a Standards Commissioner with independent powers to investigate complaints against MSPs' conduct. The Bill sets out details of a fully transparent appointment process and arrangements which will ensure that the Commissioner has security of tenure to protect his or her independence. 6 February: the Rural Development Committee recommended, on a vote, that the general principles of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill be agreed to. The Committee recommended, however, that Section 9(2)(a) of the Bill be removed. This section provides that conducting a business or other activity that is operated commercially or for profit should be excluded from access rights. 8 February: seven major recommendations made by the Audit Committee on management and accountability at Moray College were accepted by the Scottish Executive. Ministers have also undertaken to carry out a review of the further education sector within the next year. 8 February: the Standards Committee published a report on Lobbying. This marks the end of an eighteen month inquiry process and recommends that the Parliament's code of conduct for members be revised to provide enhanced guidance to MSPs when dealing with lobbyists. The report also calls for the introduction of a statutory registration scheme for commercial lobbyists in the Scottish Parliament. 14 February: the Education, Culture and Sport Committee issued a report calling for a Children's Commissioner in Scotland to co-ordinate, monitor and promote issues affecting children's rights and interests in Scotland. 18 February: the Rural Development Committee launched an inquiry into Integrated Rural Development (IRD) for assessing the factors that make for successful IRD and to identify the barriers that militate against it. 19 February: the Standards Committee published proposals for new legislation governing the declaration of Members' Interests and is seeking views on these proposals from MSPs and from individuals and organisations outside of Parliament. 25 February: the Education Committee published a report stating that a £3.9 million overspend on the education budget in Scottish Borders Council indicated an inexcusable lack of financial control within the Council. Research opportunitiesThe Scottish Parliament has a budget for commissioning research for Parliamentary committees and holds a database of researchers interested in tendering for committee research. Anyone wishing to be included in the database should complete the on-line form on the Parliament website at www.scottish.parliament.uk/whats_happening/research/ext-res-form.html PublicationsScottish Executive publications can be accessed on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.asp Some of those published in the last month include: Scotland's Budget Documents 2001-02: Spring Budget Revision: 5.02.02 The Future for Scotland's Waters - Proposals for Legislation: paper setting out firm legislative intentions for the environment component of the Water Environment and Water Services Bill and asking for comments. 7.02.02 Scottish Qualifications - Delivering Success: report of Consultation on the Scottish Qualifications Authority Bill. 7.02.02 Scotland's Economic Future: document setting out the Executive's strategy for Scotland's economic success. 12.2.02 Public Appointments and Public Bodies (Scotland) Bill: consultation document providing proposals for part of the forthcoming Public Appointments and Public Bodies (Scotland) Bill. 14.2.02 Appointments to Non-Departmental Public Bodies in Scotland: report listing all appointments made by the Scottish Ministers to Executive and Advisory (NDPBs) Nationalised Industries, Public Corporations and Scottish NHS bodies at 1 December 2002. 14.02.02 Countryside and Natural Heritage Research programme Research findings No 19. Biodiversity in Scotland: Progress Report: report summarising Scotland's progress in terms of meeting international obligations on biodiversity. 26.02.02 Scottish Ministerial Code: a code of conduct and guidance on procedures for Members of the Scottish Executive and Junior Scottish Ministers. 26.02.02
Links to other issues of Parliament NewsContactShould you have any comments or enquiries please do not hesitate to contact Margaret MacPherson at the Institute of Governance. |
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