IOG: Parliament News, issue 17/april 2002

Scottish Affairs web site

Parliament was in recess from 29 March to 15 April for the Easter break.

Events

2 April: Parliament was recalled for tributes to the Queen Mother and a motion of condolence was expressed by the First Minister, Jack McConnell.

2 April: Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public Services, announced the launch of the Executive's Annual Expenditure Report (£22bn budget for 2003-04) and urged the public to take part in the budget process by giving their views, alongside politicians and academics.

5 April: Glasgow council tenants voted in favour of the transfer of the council's housing stock to the Glasgow Housing Association. The Electoral Reform Ballot Services, the independent organisation commissioned to undertake the ballot, stated that 58% of the tenants who had returned their ballot papers voted in favour of transfer. A total of 50,082 votes were cast by post, a turnout of 64.4%.

6 April: First Minister Jack McConnell, Mike Watson, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, and Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Parliamentary Business, attended National Tartan Day celebrations in New York. A delegation from the Scottish Parliament was led by Presiding Officer, Sir David Steel. Wendy Alexander, Minister for Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning, who launched the first meeting of the Globalscot network in California, attended related events in Washington.

9 April: First Minister, Jack McConnell, attended the funeral of the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey.

10 April: Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Parliamentary Business, laid a wreath on behalf of First Minister, Jack McConnell, at the Lockerbie Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Washinton D.C. Patricia Ferguson was accompanied by a cross-party delegation from the Parliament that included David McLetchie (Con), Roseanna Cunningham (SNP), Sylvia Jackson (Labour) and Margaret Smith (LibDem).

12 April: First Minister, Jack McConnell, officially opened the Ravenscraig Parkway. This is a new 2.3km road which substantially improves access to the site of the old steelworks and is needed to take forward plans to construct a major commercial and residential centre. It is estimated that 8,000 jobs will eventually be created under a 20-year plan costing over £860 million.

15 April: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, launched a consultation exercise on the proposals for a European Environmental Liability Directive. The Directive aims to make provisions across the European Community for the prevention and restoration of environmental damage.

15 April: First Minister Jack McConnell and STUC President David Bleiman signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing both parties to work in partnership across a wide range of public policy issues.

17 April: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, announced that current scientific evidence does not provide grounds for halting the trial planting of GM crops in Scotland. Mr Finnie's announcement came after the Parliament's Transport and Environment Committee called for the Executive to stop the farm-scale trials.

17 April: After Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the Budget at Westminster, First Minister, Jack McConnell, informed the Parliament that Scotland will receive substantial increases, adding up to a cumulative extra £8 billion over the next five years.

18 April: First Minister, Jack McConnell, announced that health is one of the top priorities for expenditure commitments and that the Executive intends to set out detailed allocations in September.

18 April: Justice Minister, Jim Wallace, told Parliament that the prison population was forecast to rise significantly over the next decade and that the Executive proposed to modernise existing facilities while using the private sector to build three new prisons.

22 April: Iain Gray, Minister for Social Justice, launched a £3.2 million Executive initiative to create a network of 1,000 new internet access points in venues such as hairdressing salons, shops, pubs, doctors' surgeries and bus stations. Up to four computers per venue, complete with line rental and internet service provision for two years, will be fully funded by the Executive.

24 April: Scotland and Ireland presented their joint bid to host the 2008 European Football Championships at the UEFA Congress in Stockholm. There are 7 bidders in all and the final decision on who is to be the host will be announced in December this year.

24 April: Malcolm Harper, Director of the United Nations Association, presented the Parliament with the flag of the United Nations. The flag will be flown each year on United Nations Day (October 24).

26 April: First Minister, Jack McConnell, was given responsibility for drafting and presenting the final Opinion to the Committee of the Regions on delivering more accountability, transparency and effectiveness in the EU, at a meeting of the Committee's Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance in Brussels. Mr McConnell will be the Rapporteur on a major Opinion that will be submitted to the Convention which is examining the future of Europe.

Appointments

8 April: Sir Neil McIntosh was appointed the first Chair of the new Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

8 April: Corrie McChord was appointed a non-executive director of Communities Scotland.

23 April: Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Health, announced the board membership of the new Special Health Board: NHS Education for Scotland:

Dr Lindsay Burley
Prof John Fairley
Mr Tesfu Gessesse
Prof Valerie Maehle
Prof John Rae
Dr Sue Whyte

25 April: Deputy Transport Minister Lewis Macdonald announced the appointment of Margaret Hickish as first Convener of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS).

System Three poll (for The Herald)

(990 people in 39 constituencies surveyed between April 25 - May 1, 2002)

The System Three poll, carried out at the end of April, noted voting intentions for both the Scottish Parliament (two votes) and the House of Commons.

	Holyrood 1st vote	Holyrood 2nd vote	Westminster
Lab	40%	31%	47%
SNP	27%	28%	21%
LibDem	13%	16%	14%
Con	12%	11%	14%
SSP	4%	6%	2%
Green	2%	5%	} 2%
Others	1%	2%	} 2%

Bills

24 April: the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The main aims of the Bill are to establish a legal right of access to information held by a broad range of Scottish public authorities; to balance this right with provisions protecting sensitive information; to establish a fully independent Scottish Information Commissioner to promote and enforce the Freedom of Information regime; to encourage the proactive disclosure of information by Scottish public authorities through a requirement to maintain a publication scheme; and to make provision for the application of the Freedom of Information regime to historical records.

Committees

15 April: the Enterprise Committee organised a conference attended by 150 representatives across the lifelong learning sector to test the Committee's proposals for introducing a lifelong entitlement to learning for every Scottish citizen.

17 April: the Transport Committee announced the remit of its inquiry into the rail industry in Scotland. The inquiry will examine issues such as the structure and funding of the rail industry in Scotland, Scotland's rail priorities, and the proposed new Scottish rail passenger franchise.

30 April: the European Committee hosted a three-way videoconference with the European Committees from the Flemish and Catalan Parliaments. This is the first time such an event has been held. It aims to build links between the three bodies and improve understanding of the European issues that affect devolved Parliaments.

Research opportunities

The 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

Publications

Scottish 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:

Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002: Electoral Pilot Schemes: information regarding proposals for Electoral Pilot schemes. 2.4.02

The Scottish Budget 2003-04: Summary: document detailing the Annual Expenditure Report. 2.4.02

European Committee 1st Report 2002: report on the enlargement of the European Union and the challenges and opportunities facing Scotland: Scottish Executive response. 13.4.02

Memorandum of Understanding: the Scottish Executive and the STUC working together: Executive's commitment to work with the STUC across a wide range of public policy issues. 15.4.02

Draft Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill: integral component of the land reform programme. 16.4.02.

Enforcement of Civil Obligations in Scotland: Consultation Paper: paper seeking views on proposal for reform of the law of diligence and organisation of the enforcement system. 22.4.02

Scottish Higher Education Review: second consultation paper: Shaping our Future. 26.4.02.

New Laws for Race Equality in Scotland: leaflet explaining new changes to the Race Relations Act 1976. 29.4.02.

Links to other issues of Parliament News

Contact

Should you have any comments or enquiries please do not hesitate to contact Margaret MacPherson at the Institute of Governance.

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