Parliament News
issue 46 / may 2005
Institute of Governance > Parliament News, issue 46 / may 2005 |
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Parliament Newsissue 46 / may 2005 |
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Events4 May: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education, announced that the two bodies responsible for Scotland's curriculum and qualifications are to move to shared premises in Glasgow. Learning and Teaching Scotland (LT Scotland) and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will leave their existing Glasgow office and move to shared premises in the city. 5 May: the UK General Election saw a reduction in the number of Scottish MPs from 72 to 59 in response to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. 6 May: Tony Blair won a third term in government for Labour but with a reduced majority of 66: Results were:
The Scottish results were:
6 May: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Services Reform, signed the Scottish-Bavarian Action Plan, together with the Bavarian Minister for European Affairs and Regional Relations, Eberhard Sinnerat, at a formal ceremony in Munich. The Action Plan follows on from a Co-operation Agreement signed in 2003 and sets out a strategic programme of action and future development. 8 May: Jack McConnell, First Minister, laid a wreath in St Andrew's Cathedral as a tribute to those who lost their lives during the second World War, marking the 60th anniversary of VE day. 9 May: Euan Robson, Deputy Minister for Education and Young People, announced the start of a major Executive funded study. The Growing Up in Scotland study will track 8,000 Scottish families' attitudes towards children's services including birth, childcare, parenting, health and education. The first interviews with parents start soon and parents will be contacted annually until their child reaches five. Follow up interviews with children will track them into their teens. 9 May: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, announced his resignation as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats who are partners with the Scottish Labour Party in the coalition that forms the Scottish government. The Partnership Agreement between the parties states that the Liberal Democrat leader will be appointed Deputy First Minister. Mr Wallace, the MSP for Orkney, who is also Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, will stand down once a successor is elected later in the summer. Mr Wallace also said he will relinquish his role as an MSP at the next election in 2007. 10 May: the Scottish Parliament website published a briefing on the Scottish component of the 2005 UK General Election which analyses the campaign, provides the results and looks at their impact on the country from a Scottish perspective, available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-05/pa05-032.htm 10 May: giving evidence at the Parliament's Procedures Committee inquiry into the operation of the Sewel Convention, Margaret Curran, Minister for Parliamentary Business, stated that the Sewel motions have been a practical way to get more legislative value in Scotland and emphasised that every proposal (set out in a 'Sewel' motion) was scrutinised and could be vetoed by Holyrood. This gives the Scottish Parliament the chance and a choice, either to copy those laws in Scotland, with a consequential impact on the legislative programme, or to coordinate with Westminster to incorporate Scottish provisions into their Bills. 11 May: Cathy Jamieson, Minister for Justice, launched a consultation for new proposals from Scottish Ministers to improve arrangements for handling complaints against lawyers in Scotland. These proposals are built on recommendations made by the Justice 1 Committee in the first session of Parliament. The Committee favoured retaining the current system of self-regulation of complaints handling by the professions but recommended a number of measures to make the system more accountable and subject to a greater degree of independent oversight. 12 May: Jack McConnell, First Minister, and George Reid, Presiding Officer, hosted a joint reception in the Garden Lobby of the Parliament in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. 12 May: Cathy Jamieson, Minister for Justice, announced changes to the law that will enable more people to stay in their homes if their partner dies without making a will, and financial limits are to be increased to £30,000 where a sheriff clerk can prepare an inventory and declaration to finalise an estate without the need for a solicitor. 12 May: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education, announced details of Lifelong Partners, the school-college partnership strategy, which includes a commitment to enable 14-16 year olds to develop vocational skills and improve their employment prospects by allowing them to undertake courses in further education colleges as part of the school-based curriculum. This partnership strategy is backed by an extra £41.5 million investment. 13 May: publication of a report by the Cambridge Economic Policy, summarising the result of a research project commissioned by the Executive to provide an initial assessment of the relative costs and benefits of Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement in comparison to conventional procurement. The main findings showed that the majority of authorities considered PPP to represent good or excellent value for money and were happy with design quality. Some concerns were raised about the flexibility of PPP contracts. 16 May: Sir Bob Geldof spoke at a special Executive-sponsored conference in the Parliament saying that G8 leaders should stay away from Scotland in July if they are not prepared to actively tackle poverty in Africa. Other speakers included Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General and Chief Executive of CIVICUS, Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Development Goals Campaign, and Omar Kabbaj, President of the African Development Bank. Bob Geldof was one of 17 commissioners appointed by the UK government in 2004 to take a fresh look at the African continent and its problems and the international community's role in helping its development path. 16 May: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, published legislative proposals to protect pets and livestock by placing a duty on all owners to care for their animals properly. The main provision in the draft bill will introduce a Duty of Care on animal keepers, allow animals to be taken into care before they start to suffer, raise the age for buying animals from 12 to 16 and ban the giving of animals as prizes. 17 May: HM the Queen set out the UK's policies and proposed legislative programme for the new UK parliamentary session. Margaret Curran, Minister for Parliamentary Business, stated that the UK Government and the Scottish Executive each have their distinctive agendas, but in certain areas they also share priorities, including building safer communities and creating excellent public services. Margaret Curran added that where Westminster Bills touch on devolved areas, and where they can deliver clear benefits for Scotland, it is common sense to consider whether to let Westminster legislate on Scotland's behalf. 17 May: during a conference in Edinburgh aimed at discussing the implications of the Infrastructure Investment Plan published in February, Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, set out the main aims of the Plan:
19 May: publication of the Accounts Commission report Improving Customer Service Through Better Customer Contact. Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, said that the Executive has shown its commitment to customer focused services through supporting the Customer First strategy and by investing substantial resources in local authority service improvements through the Modernising Government Fund. Mr McCabe added that it supported the Executive's pledge to deliver more convenient and responsive public services, encourage the take-up of online access to services and ensure that at least 75% of core service requests can be dealt with at the first point of contact. 19 May: Jack McConnell, First Minister, hosted a reception for football writers and broadcasters to consider the next steps in the national drive to end sectarianism. 20 May: Andy Kerr, Minister for Health, addressed senior representatives at the British-Irish Council (BIC) meeting on the Isle of Man, saying the potential of telemedicine to modernise the delivery of healthcare across Scotland and other countries is only just beginning to be realised and that he looked forward to continuing to work with BIC colleagues to develop further systems to improve the delivery of services to patients. 20 May: Jim Wallace, Minister for Lifelong Learning, stated that the publication of in-depth research from the pilot areas shows that Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) encourage more young people to stay at school and also helps them to improve their grades. 24 May: George Reid, Presiding Officer, laid a wreath in Auschwitz on behalf of the Scottish Parliament in a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 21 May: Cathy Jamieson, Minister for Justice, announced the establishment of a new agency, the Co-operative Development Agency for Scotland, to deliver advice and information to new and growing co-operative businesses. The CDA will be a subsidiary of Scottish Enterprise and will operate with an advisory board, incorporating representatives from the co-operative sector. 23 May: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, speaking at the World Renewable Energy congress in Aberdeen, stated that developing all sources of clean energy would help create jobs and cut harmful emissions causing global warming. Mr Wallace said that the Executive is not relying solely on wind energy and that power from biomass, rivers, the tide and sunlight can all make a valuable contribution to Scotland's renewable future. 23 May: Jack McConnell, First Minister, began a five day visit to Malawi to build on the existing connections between the two countries and to establish an even stronger friendship. 24 May: publication of limits on carbon dioxide emissions for installations across Scotland. The National Allocation Plan places limits on nearly 120 of Scotland's larges emitters, covering over 40% of Scotland's carbon dioxide levels. Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment, announced plans, forming part of the UE Emissions Trading Scheme, which allows organisations to trade in the emerging European carbon market. 25 May: publication of research on the impact of negative and positive environmental features, such as industrial sites, derelict land and greenspace, to communities. The research will provide an opportunity for community groups and those who work with them to contribute to the development of the new Scottish Sustainable Development Strategy. 26 May: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education, announced that more flexible access to teacher training, using part-time and distance learning course, is being planned for trainee teachers in Scotland as part of the Initial Teacher Education review. 27 May: the Parliament building was named the Best Publicly Funded Building and also won the main prize, the Architecture Grand Prix, at the Scottish Design Awards ceremony in Glasgow. 31 May: Tavish Scott, Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business, announced that a Census Test is to be carried out across Scotland on April 23, 2006. The test is designed to help decide exactly how the 2011 Census will be carried out. About 52,000 households will be asked to complete a Census form in parts of Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire, Highland, Stirling, Perth & Kinross and Argyll& Bute Council areas.
Appointments10 May: Susan Torrace and Andrew Rogers were re-appointed to the Board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. 27 May: Keith Geddes was appointed as Deputy Chair of Scottish Natural Heritage.
Bills26 May: the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The objective of the Bill is to strengthen the existing legal protection again female genital mutilation in Scotland. 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
Committees10 May: the Equal Opportunities Committee held a consultation event in Thurso to discuss issues surrounding barriers to participation faced by disabled people. 12 May: publication of a report by the Audit Committee stating that steps have been taken to ensure that funds earmarked for buying works of art will no longer be used to support the National Galleries for Scotland's running costs. 13 May: the Environment and Rural Development Committee announced an open call for evidence for its inquiry into rural development. The inquiry will examine how effective the Executive's development policies are in ensuring the economic prosperity of accessible rural areas. 16 May: the European and External Relations Committee published its report, on line at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/europe/reports-05/eur05-02-01.htm into the Executive's Preparations for the G8 Summit at Gleneagles and the UK Presidency of the EU, examining the contribution Scotland can make to these events. 17 May: the Health Committee issued a call for evidence seeking views on the legislation that provides for free personal care for Scotland's older people and that seeks to ensure high quality care across all care services. The closing date for written evidence is Monday 1 August 2005. 18 May: the Environment and Rural Development Committee urged the Executive to take radical action to help address climate change, as Scotland lags behind the rest of the UK in reducing its emissions levels. The Committee's report urges the Executive to consider its wide-ranging recommendations to cut emission of greenhouse gases, and to adapt to the impacts of the changing climate. 31 May: the Equal Opportunities Committee held a consultation in Dundee to discuss issues surrounding the barriers to participation faced by disabled people.
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
Scottish Executive PublicationsScottish 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: Funding for Learners Review: Funding Available to Learners in Tertiary Education: An International Comparison: report providing an overview of how financial support systems for tertiary education students operate in different countries. 09/05/2005 School/College Review: Working Group's Report on Qualifications: a report from the working group on the qualifications of FE staff to teach school pupils. 12/05/2005 Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment Consultation Paper: consultation on the Executive's proposals for implementing Article 3 of European Directive 2003/35/EC. 12/05/2005 Standing up to Antisocial Behaviour: general public leaflet on antisocial behaviour. 13/05/2005 Review of First Impressions of Scotland: Report to Ministers. 13/05/2005 Public Private Partnerships in Scotland: Evaluation of Performance - Final Report. 13/05/2005 Draft Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill Consultation: 16/05/2005 Strategic Funding Review. 20/05/2005 Scottish Executive Education Department Communications Strategy Research Final Report: research examining how Education Department information is communicated to stakeholders (teachers, local authorities & parents) and describing possible improvements. 23/05/2005 Building a Health Service Fit for the Future Summary: a report on the future of the NHS in Scotland. 25/05/2005
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ContactShould you have any comments or enquiries please do not hesitate to contact Margaret MacPherson at the Institute of Governance. |
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