IOG: Parliament News, issue 32/december 2003

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

1 December: Jim Wallace, Minister for Enterprise, told a Scotland Europa debate on the future of the European Union that the EU enlargement of 10 new member states in May 2004 would bring 100 million new consumers into the single European market. Mr Wallace encouraged everybody to make the most of the opportunities that would arise. Scotland Europa is an alliance of public, private and civil society bodies networking Scotland in Europe and its aim is to promote Scotland's interest.

1 December: first meeting of the Scottish National Criminal Justice Board. The Board was established in response to the report which Andrew Normand, the former Crown Agent, produced early in the year on better integration of aims and targets in the Scottish criminal justice system.

3 December: a new National Intellectual Assets Centre in Glasgow was set up to help Scottish firms protect and exploit business knowledge and expertise. Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Enterprise, said the Centre would help to build Scotland's competitiveness in a modern knowledge economy.

3 December: launch of a national consultation seeking the views of people about the future of Scotland's forests. The consultation document Review of Land Managed by Forestry Commission Scotland - Consultation Paper, summarises current forestry policy, the current uses of the national forests, and key facts and figures about them. Responses to the consultation should be received by February 27, 2004.

3 December: Cathy Jamieson, Minister for Justice, said that Scotland's £150 million legal aid system must address public unease that it does not support enough people with genuine legal problems. Speaking ahead of a debate in Parliament Ms Jamieson said reform was needed to provide people with a fair, transparent and efficient legal advice service that gives people support at crisis points in their lives.

4 December: publication of the fourth Annual Report of the Parliamentary Corporate Body which contains details of the Parliament's expenditure for the financial year 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003.

4 December: first meeting of the shadow board of the improvement service for local government. Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public Services, said that by working in close partnership with local government through COSLA and SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives & Service Managers) to put the service in place, the Executive will provide help to local authorities and their partners.

4 December: Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public Services, speaking in advance of a debate on the financial powers of the Scottish Parliament, stated that financial independence or fiscal autonomy would cut Scotland adrift from the rest of the UK and destabilise the sound macro-economic environment of Scotland as well as putting economic growth at risk with businesses facing different fiscal arrangements from their main trading partners.

8 December: launch of a consultation on proposed legislation which would give emergency workers statutory protection. The proposed legislation would make it an offence to assault, obstruct or hinder emergency workers or anyone helping them in an emergency situation. It would also apply to hoax emergency calls. The Executive is seeking views on the detail of the legislation.

9 December: a report by the Auditor General on Scottish Enterprise was put before Parliament. Jim Wallace, Minister for Enterprise, noted that the report made clear that a number of allegations aimed at Scottish Enterprise earlier in the year were unfounded. In March 2003, the Executive asked the Auditor General to investigate specific allegations about Scottish Enterprise concerning the agency's performance against targets, management of major projects, alleged failure to claim European funding, use of consultants, and the numbers employed in customer relations.

10 December: publication of the Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) 2001-02 report compiled by Executive economists and statisticians.

15 December: publication of proposals by the Executive to phase-in over three years a move to set the fees paid by care providers to the Care Commission at levels which reflect the full cost of regulation. The intention of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Bill in 2001 was that fees would be introduced at full cost recovery levels in 2004-05. The proposals, issued for comment, suggest that full recovery is introduced over three years in order to spread the burden.

16 December: Nicol Stephen, Minister for Transport, commented on the UK's Future of Air Transport: White Paper and welcomed the UK Government's recognition of the importance of regional access to the South East of England. Mr Stephen added that access to airports in the South East of England is crucial for Scotland's economy and the Executive is keen to see slots for Scottish air services at South East English airports maintained now and in the future.

16 December: publication of a report showing a comprehensive picture of how the education system in Scotland is performing. The inaugural National Priorities Performance Report includes detailed national and local information and also shows how Scotland compares with other countries.

16 December: the new Lifelong Learning Forum held its first meeting in Glasgow. The Forum will meet annually and will be chaired by Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. The remit of the Forum is to review progress of the Executive's Lifelong Learning strategy, contribute to new policy initiative and encourage partnership across the private, public and voluntary sectors.

16 December: launch of a consultation paper Reducing Landfill: A Landfill Allowance Scheme on measures aimed at reducing the level of waste Scotland sends to landfill. The proposed scheme will help Scotland meet its National Waste Plan targets to reduce the level of biodegradable waste sent to landfill by 65% by 2020 by allocating allowances to local authorities in Scotland.

16 December: the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) became operational at its offices in Dundee. OSCR will take over investigations into charities currently undertaken by the Scottish Charities Office with the Crown Office; will publish a Framework document which spells out in detail the respective roles of OSCR and the Executive; and will launch a website at www.oscr.org.uk, containing advice and information for charities and members of the public.

16 December: launch of a consultation on measures to bring forward the new crofting community right to buy arrangements which form part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. These draft regulations set out the procedures and forms to be used in conducting ballots, specify the form of applications, set out arrangements for claiming compensation and make arrangements to pay grants towards compensation liabilities.

17 December: publication of a report Social Justice, Indicators of Progress 2003 highlighting 29 milestones towards tackling poverty and disadvantage experienced by children, families and working age people, older people and communities.

17 December: George Reid, Presiding Officer, welcomed to the Parliament representatives from the Parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The visit was organised as part of a programme of events for the ''South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative'. Mr Reid said the three Parliaments had come from a difficult past to a point in time where they are now starting to work together for the good of their people, and had come to Scotland together to learn about how the Scottish Parliament was established and hear about its founding principles.

19 December: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, announced a deal worth over £20 million to Scotland's fishing industry following three days of negotiations in Brussels, The deal agreed includes a 53% increase in North Sea haddock Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and a 30% increase in North Sea prawns.

22 December: Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development, and Margaret Curran, Minister for Communities, approved a proposal that the Commission and Communities Scotland should look at the potential for releasing national forest land to increase the supply of affordable housing. Communities Scotland is the Executive's housing and regeneration agency and the Commission serves as the Executive's forestry department.

30 December: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, announced proposals to extend the remit of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to cover further and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Students will have the opportunity to refer complaints not satisfactorily dealt with at local level to the Ombudsman, to help them resolve difficulties which may exist.

Appointments

2 December: Richard Findlay was appointed as Chair of the National Theatre of Scotland.

11 December: Mr Andrew Brown, CBE QPM, currently Chief Constable with Grampian Police, was appointed HM Chief Inspect of Constabulary for Scotland in succession to Sir Roy Cameron QPM. Mr Brown will take up his appointment in March 2004.

11 December: Professor Peter Donnelly was appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Scottish Executive. Prof Donnelly succeeds Dr Andrew Fraser who has moved to a new post as Head of Health for the Scottish Prison Service.

15 December: Mr Tony Amor was appointed as Chief Executive of the new Intermediary Technology Institute (ITI) for Energy.

System Three poll (for The Herald)

The System Three poll, usually carried out for The Herald, was not published in December 2003.

Bills

17 December: the Parliament agreed to the general principles of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway & Linked Improvement Bill and that the Bill should proceed as a Private Bill.

18 December: the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The purpose of the Bill is to make the necessary legislative changes to allow implementation of the new general medical services contract for providers of primary medical services. These changes involve restructuring the existing regime under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 and the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997.

A summary of the Bills passed by the Parliament in the 1999-2003 session can be found on the Parliament website at www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl_bus/bills/bill%20summaries.pdf

Committees

5 December: the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway & Linked Improvements Bill Committee backed the general principles of the first post-devolution Private Bill concerning the promotion and construction of railways.

16 December: the Environment and Rural Development Committee endorsed the general principles of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill. The Bill provides improved measures for tackling wildlife crime and species protection. It also aims to enhance the system of protection for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and places a new general duty on public bodies for the conservation of biodiversity.

18 December: publication of a report by the Enterprise and Culture Committee into the implementation of proposals in England to raise tuition fees for higher education. The report states that if the proposals in the UK government's White Paper are implemented in their current form, it would have an adverse effect on Scottish higher education, particularly on its research sector.

22 December: the Procedures Committee published proposals for a new format for Question Time. The Committee recommended extending Question Time to one hour and possibly an earlier start to the afternoon's business.

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/contracts/contract02-01.htm

Scottish Executive Publications

Scottish Executive publications can be accessed on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.aspx

Some of those published in the last month include:

Briefing Note for the Strategic Group on Women: Women in Scotland Consultative Forum: supporting paper for Strategic Group on Women's report. 1.12.2003

Expenditure on School Education in Scotland, 2003: document detailing local authority actual spend on school education, and budgeted school running costs.

National Survey of Local Government Candidates, 2003: report outlining the findings of a survey of candidates standing at the 2003 local elections. 5.12.1003

Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 2001-2002: annual research exercise on expenditure and revenue flows in Scotland. 10.12.2003

National Priorities in Education: Performance Report 2003 - Education Authority Information: report giving detailed information about each education authority in Scotland.

Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care: Proposal for Maximum Fees 2004-05: Consultation paper. 16.12.03

A New Complaints Landscape for Further and Higher Education in Scotland: Consultation paper on extending the remit of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to further and higher education establishments. 30.12.03

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.

Institute of Governance > Parliament News, issue 32 / december 2003	Enter keyword(s) to search the site