IOG: Parliament News, issue 23/december 2002

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

3 December: Iain Gray, Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, announced that the Scottish Further Education Unit and the University of Edinburgh have received a £100,000 contract to design and develop an adult literacy and numeracy curriculum, stating that more than 800,000 adults in Scotland have low levels of literacy and numeracy.

3 December: The Parliament issued a call for evidence seeking views from all interested parties on the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to consolidate (with amendments recommended by the Scottish Law Commission) the law relating to salmon and freshwater fisheries in Scotland.

4 December: the Executive delivered its response to the first major public review of PPP (Public Private Partnership) and Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public Services, said that the executive is already taking action on many of the recommendations made by the Finance Committee and will end the two-tier workforce on all future PPP contracts.

4 December: the three-year funding settlement for all Scottish local authorities was announced. Over the next three years, local authorities will receive: £7.4 billion in 2003-04 £7.7 billion in 2004-05 £8.1 billion in 2005-06 This should allow the councils to deliver the level of services people expect without having to raise council tax above previously-announced figures.

5 December: Iain Gray, Minister for Transport, said the decision to set a seven year passenger rail franchise, with a possibility of a three year extension, reflects the SRA's (Strategic Rail Authority) preference for shorter franchises. Mr Gray also said that progress has been made in securing considerable resources for transport through the recent Scottish budget. Key projects are planned such as the Glasgow and Edinburgh airport rail links, development work on Waverley station and the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link.

6 December: Parliament debated the Future of Europe and Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, stated that the Executive's policy proposals to the Convention on the Future of Europe will stress the importance of decisions being taken at a regional and local level where possible. The Executive has worked with other EU Sub Member State Administrations and Jack McConnell, First Minister, has acted as rapporteur for a Committee of the Regions Opinion on Future of Europe issues.

9 December: representatives from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency and Customs and Excise held a joint seminar with European prosecutors to discuss better co-operation and co-ordination between Scotland and Europe over serious crime.

12 December: Scotland and Ireland failed in their bid to host Euro 2008 the European football championships. Austria and Switzerland were announced as the winners.

12 December: the Parliamentary Corporate Body informed Parliament's Finance Committee that the latest target completion date for the new Holyrood Parliament building is around the end of August 2003.

16 December: Jim Wallace, Justice Minister, announced the creation of a new body to regulate and support charities in Scotland. This one-door regulator, provisionally entitled the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR), is to provide better support and will also give greater protection for the public from bogus charities.

16 December: Traveline Scotland's website was officially launched (www.traveline.org.uk) providing information about bus, coach, rail, ferry and internal air services. The website operates alongside the Traveline telephone service 0870 608 2608 which provides timetable information for all public transport services across Scotland.

17 December: Nicol Stephen, Deputy Education Minister, launched the publication of a report Determined to Succeed: A Review of Enterprise in Education which makes 20 recommendations aimed at transforming the level of business involvement in schools. The report is the result of 12 months' work by a review group led by Mr Stephen.

18 December: Helen Liddell, Scottish Secretary, announced in the House of Commons that the Scottish Parliament will remain at its current size of 129 MSPs.

18 December: Iain Gray, Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning announced plans for a third tram line for Edinburgh which will run from the city centre towards the South East Wedge past the New Royal Infirmary. This will complement the development currently in progress for the North and West Edinburgh tram lines.

18 December: the Executive published a report Building a Sustainable Scotland which details its spending plans toward sustainable development.

19 December: publication of the report on the review of Scottish Screen. The report states that there is a continuing role for Scottish Screen as a non-departmental public body and makes recommendations for improvements which include focus, balance between cultural and economic functions, partnership with other agencies and performance management.

19 December: Iain Gray, Minister for Lifelong Learning, outlined his five main priorities for higher education for 2003: closing the opportunity gap, continued modernisation, enhancing quality, maintaining excellence in research and improving knowledge transfer.

20 December: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, speaking from Brussels, announced that Scottish fishermen (in all cod related fisheries) will be permitted to fish for fifteen days per month, starting from 1 February 2003, as part of a package of measures to reduce fishing mortality. Mr Finnie expressed frustration that it had not been possible to obtain a more favourable deal for the Scottish fishing industry because of insufficient support from other delegations in the Council.

Appointments

3 December: Neil MacGowan was appointed to the Board of the Scottish Qualifications Authority. The appointment was made to fulfil the requirement that one member of the SQA Board will be a person who appears to Scottish Ministers to have a special knowledge of the interests of the employees of SQA.

12 December: Parliament approved the nomination of Kevin Dunion as the first ever Scottish Information Commissioner. The role of the Scottish Information Commissioner will be to ensure compliance with freedom of information legislation.

18 December: John Whitehead was appointed as the New Deputy Chairman of the Sea Fish Industry Authority (SIFA) by the UK Fisheries Ministers.

System Three poll (for The Herald)

(1030 people in 50 constituencies surveyed between January 3-9, 2003)

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

	Holyrood 1st vote	Holyrood 2nd vote	Westminster
Lab	40%	29%	45%
SNP	30%	31%	24%
LibDem	13%	15%	14%
Con	10%	10%	12%
SSP	4%	7%	3%
Green	2%	5%	} 3%
Others	1%	3%	} 3%

Bills

5 December: Parliament agreed the general principles of the Building (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1. The Bill replaces the Building (Scotland) Act 1959. The new Bill retains the general framework of the 1959 Act, though some of the procedures involved in the building standards process are changed to make them simpler and to reflect existing practice, and the hierarchy of building regulations is amended to simplify compliance with European obligations.

11 December: Parliament agreed the general principles of the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1. The main objectives of the Bill are to update and clarify the rules on the compulsory detention and treatment of people with mental disorders, to provide people with mental disorders with rights and safeguards, and to make provision in the criminal law for mentally disordered people.

18 December: Parliament agreed the general principles of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1. This Bill amends existing homelessness legislation and makes changes to repossession proceedings for houses let on assured tenancies and primarily affects local authorities in the carrying out of their homelessness functions.

19 December: Parliament agreed the general principles of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1. The main objectives of the Bill are to modernise agricultural holdings legislation and free up farm tenants and landowners from existing constraints on their business.

Committees

4 December: the Health Committee endorsed the principles of the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill but expressed concern that the cost of implementing the Bill may have been underestimated and asked the Executive to review the Bill's Financial Memorandum.

4 December: the European Committee published a report calling for a new European Constitutional Treaty to clarify the respective roles and powers of the European Union, Member States and Øregions' and nations, such as Scotland. The report is being submitted to the Future of Europe Convention, Westminster and Scottish Ministers, as well as all national and regional Parliaments across Europe.

5 December: the Parliament's Education, Culture and Sport Committee presented the first published copies of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill to the young people in Edinburgh who had helped to influence its legal provision. The Bill proposes the establishment of an independent Children's Commissioner to promote awareness and understanding of the rights of children and young people.

6 December: the Rural Development Committee endorsed the general principles of Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill but reserves judgement on the absolute right-to-buy for secure tenants until it scrutinises Stage 2 promised amendments.

7 December: the Procedures Committee published a report stating that MSPs considered the overall time spent in the Chamber to be too short and that more time should be spent in the Debating Chamber on Wednesdays.

10 December: the Finance Committee published a report calling for greater clarity in the Executive's draft budget when new monies are announced and has recommended that spending proposals in relation to new money should be set out as a clear and separate section within each departmental section of the Draft Budget.

11 December: the Health and Community Care Committee urged the Executive to make progress on implementing the recommendations for hepatitis C sufferers made by the ØExpert Group on financial and other support for NHS injury'.

13 December: the Social Justice Committee published its Stage 1 Report on the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Bill. The Committee welcomes the general principles of the Bill but expressed concern about the resource implications of the Bill.

19 December: the Parliament's first ever Private Bill Committee recommended that the full Parliament should support proposals to restrict navigation and fishing in the area proposed for the United Kingdom's largest offshore wind farm.

19 December: the Local Government Committee rejected a Member's Bill to bring forward proportional representation to local government election in time for the 2003 council elections. The Committee felt that there was a danger that political parties could be either advantaged or disadvantaged in certain areas because of the variable number of councillors in a ward.

20 December: the Justice 1 Committee endorsed the general principles of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland Bill. The Bill is aimed at speeding up the process of handling complaints against solicitors and will provide for lay involvement in that process.

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

Scottish Executive 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:

Connecting Scotland: our broadband future: Making it Happen: update to the Executive's Broadband Strategy. 2.12.02

Tackling Religious Hatred: Report of Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred: consultation document on action to tackle religious hatred. 5.12.02

Scotland's Budget Documents 2002-03 Autumn Budget Revision: support documentation for the Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Act (Amendment) Order 2002. 10.12.0

Improving Practice - The 2002 Review of the Practices and Procedure of the High Court of Justiciary by the Honourable Lord Bonomy: Lord Bonomy Review of High Court. 11.12.02

Recording Our Achievements - Summary: summary of report of performance against Programme for Government commitments. 16.12.02

Determined to Succeed: A Review of Enterprise in Education: Recommendations Report from the Review Group on Education for Work and Enterprise. 17.12.02

Building a Sustainable Scotland: document explaining how the Scottish Executive incorporated sustainable development into the Spending Review 2002. 18.12.02

Scottish Screen: a Review by the Scottish Executive: report of the Review of Scottish Screen requested by Ministers following their review of NDPBs in 2001. 19.12.02

Report by the Auditor General for Scotland - Scottish Executive Core Departments' Resource Accounts. 30.12.02

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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