IOG: Parliament News, issue 49/september 2005

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

2 September: Ross Finnie, Minister for Fisheries, announced the creation of an Advisory Group which will work to identify key actions to take forward under the Executive's Sustainable Framework for Scottish Sea Fisheries and set indicators to measure the industry's progress.

5 September: Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Communities, launched a consultation on whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone to marry. There is currently no specific criminal offence relating to forced marriage within the UK and the consultation looks at the arguments for and against creating a specific offence and how legislating in this way might work.

6 September: Jack McConnell, First Minister, announced the Executive's Legislative Programme for the next 19 months: (full text available on line at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/News-Extras/legprog2005)

Adoption Bill
Children's Hearings and Integrated Services Bill
Health Promotion, Nutrition and Schools (Scotland) Bill
Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill
Local Government (Electoral Administration and Registration services) Bill
Summary Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill
Sentencing Bill
Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill
Legal Assistance and Legal Profession (Scotland) Bill
Judicial Appointments and Removal (Scotland) Bill
Scottish Human Rights Commission Bill
Planning (Scotland) Bill
Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill
Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill
Crofting Reform Bill
Vulnerable Adults Bill
Bankruptcy and Diligence Etc (Scotland) Bill
Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill
Tourism (Scotland) Bill

9 September: Jack McConnell, First Minister, announced that the percentage of Scots graduates who opt to live and work in Scotland has risen by 10% over the last six years, from 79% in 1999 to 89% in 2005.

12 September: Rhona Brankin, Deputy Minister for Rural Development, announced the consultation for new legislation to ensure that croft houses, built or improved with the aid of grants, continue to be used for crofting purposes.

12 September: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, announced the publication of research which examines public perceptions of post-devolution Scotland. The research was carried out by Scottish Centre for Social Research and was based on interviews with 1600, focusing in particular on public attitudes towards devolution and public services.

16 September: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, announced that 22 students from six countries are ready to begin their studies in Scotland as part of the Executive-funded Scottish International Scholarship Programme.

20 September: following a meeting with the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels, Ross Finnie, Minister for Fisheries, stated that European Member States must do more to meet their existing cod recover targets before Scottish fishermen are asked to take further stock recovery measures.

21 September: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education, awarded ICT specialists RM a five-year £37.5 million contract to develop a national schools intranet, digitally linking Scotland's 800,000 teachers and pupils.

22 September: over 22 delegates from 34 countries across Europe attended a key education conference in Glasgow as part of the UK Presidency of the European Union. The Qualifications Frameworks in Europe: Learning Across Boundaries conference was about the European Commission's proposal for a European Qualifications Framework, which aims to support the mobility of learners and workers across the continent.

27 September: publication of the Executive's Social Focus on Deprived Areas. This publication is the first to analyse statistics from across a range of policy areas on the official measure of area deprivation.

29 September: the Lord Advocate for Scotland, Colin Boyd QC, signed a formal accession document entering Scotland into the Academy of European Law (ERA). The UK is already a member of ERA but this move recognises Scotland as a unique and distinctive jurisdiction in Europe.

29 September: two Scottish by-elections:

the by-election for the Westminster seat of Livingston following the death of former foreign secretary Robin Cook who died while hillwalking in August;
the by-election for the Holyrood seat of Glasgow Cathcart following Mike Watson's resignation after conviction for wilful fire-raising.

30 September: Jim Devine retained the seat for Labour at the Livingston by-election for Westminster, with a reduced majority of 2,600 compared to 13,000 at the general election. Charlie Gordon retained the seat for Labour at the Cathcart by-election for Holyrood, with a reduced majority of 2,405 compared to 5,112 at the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2003.

Appointments

1 September: John McClelland was appointed Chair of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFHEFC), the new single body for Scotland's colleges and universities.

2 September: John Leighton was appointed new Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland to replace Sir Timothy Clifford who resigned the post.

9 September: Professor Alexander Cameron was appointed new Chair of the Parole Board for Scotland.

Bills

21 September: the general principles of the Family Law (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1, were agreed by Parliament. The Bill makes a range or provisions designed to address the legal vulnerabilities experienced by family members in Scotland today and to ensure that family law protects the best interest of children regardless of the type of family to which they belong.

28 September: the general principles of the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Bill were agreed by Parliament and that the Bill should proceed as a Private Bill. The principal purpose of the Bill is to give statutory authority to the Council and its successors for the construction of a railway from a point immediately South of Newcraighall to Tweedbank.

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

12 September: the Standards and Public Appointments Committee introduced the Registration of Members' Interests Bill to the Parliament. MSPs currently only have to register financial interest but the Bill proposes the use of an objective 'influence' test to help MSPs determine when to register certain non-financial interests.

29 September: the Enterprise and Culture Committee published a report unanimously supporting the general principles of MSP Dennis Canavan's bill to create a bank holiday to mark St Andrew's day

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
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/recruitment/extResearcher/index.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:

Forced Marriage - A Wrong Not a Right: a consultation paper on the criminalisation of forced marriage. 01/09/2005

Scottish Executive: Draft Budget: the Scottish Executive's Draft Budget for 2006-07 06/09/2005

Responses to Draft Crofting Reform (Scotland) Bill: responses received following the consultation of the Draft Crofting Reform Bill. 08/09/2005

Seas the Opportunity: A Strategy for the Long Term Sustainability of Scotland's Coasts and Seas. 12/09/2005

Scotland's Renewable Energy Potential: Realising the 2020 Target - Future Generation Group Report. 12/09/2005

Public Perceptions of Scotland After Devolution: Findings from the 2004 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey: report presenting the main findings from a core module of questions included in the 2004 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, funded by the Scottish Executive in order to inform policy development and evaluation. 12/09/2005

Analysis of Responses to the Draft Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill Consultation. 14/09/2005

"Our Next Major Enterprise" Final Report of the Cultural Commission: June 2005. 14/09/2005

Mapping Social Science Research Provision in the Higher Education Sector in Scotland: report detailing the outcomes of a mapping exercise to identify current (2004) social research capacity in Scottish Universities. 20/09/2005

Development Department Research Programme 2005 - 2006: details of projects likely to be commissioned in year 2005-2006. 23/09/2005

Bail and Remand - The Scottish Executive Action Plan: document providing details of the Executive's proposals on bail and remand, following the Sentencing Commission's report on the issue. 26/09/2005

New Directions for Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Brokerage in Scotland: briefing paper reporting on the health-focused Scottish Academy for Health Policy and Management pilot project which tested the theory and practice of knowledge transfer and knowledge brokerage at a Corporate and Department level in the Scottish Executive. 30/09/2005

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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