IOG: Parliament News, issue 55/march 2006

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

2 March: Sir Menzies Campbell, MP, was elected leader of the Liberal Democrat party.

2 March: Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation, addressed the Futures Forum in Holyrood's debating chamber on the subject of social change, how it happens and how Scotland can better position itself when competing with other countries.

3 March: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, announced the recommendations contained in the publication 'A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture - Next Steps', available on-line at http://www.Scotland.gov.uk/publications/2006/03/01142456.

7 March: Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Tourism, and Peter Taylor, Chair of the Scottish Tourism Forum, outlined an action plan to achieve a 50% growth of tourism in Scotland by 2015. (The ten year plan is available on-line at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/03/03145848.

7 March: full sessions of Parliament were transferred from Holyrood to The Hub at the top of the Royal Mile after a large ceiling beam came loose from its mounting in the chamber. Committee business continued as usual at Holyrood.

7 March: Jack McConnell, First Minister, announced that the Executive had worked closely with the Home Office to produce a new migration system to attract and retain the talented people who want to live and work in Scotland. The system includes:

a Shortage Occupation List which will provide sufficient points to enter the UK for those with a job offer in an occupation covered by the list;
a special fast track to allow certain migrants to stay in Scotland indefinitely if they have lived and worked in Scotland;
the 'Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland' scheme will be incorporated into the new top tier of the managed migration system which provides the greatest flexibility and access to the labour market.

8 March: Ross Finnie, Minister for Rural Development, announced that European veterinary experts voted to resume exports of Scotch beef that have been banned since 1996.

8 March: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister, launched the Interface programme which will match companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, with the skills and expertise of Scotland's higher education research institutions. 'Interface - the knowledge connection for business' is a small team of experts based at the University of Edinburgh who will work with all of Scotland's universities and will act as a single access point for industry to Scotland's university research base.

8 March: Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Communities, announced the allocation of funding to 86 projects for services to tackle violence against women. Last year the Executive announced that a new national £6 million Violence Against Women Fund would run from April 2006 to March 2008.

10 March: Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, announced a new initiative 'Experience Counts' which aims to help older workers develop and improve their employability skills. Through Experience Counts, older people will be offered courses in areas like communication, team working and customer care.

11 March: Jack McConnell, First Minister, was in Melbourne to present Scotland's case for hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

13 March: Malcolm Chisholm, Minister for Communities, announced the start of a consultation for views to feed into a 'Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population' which will be published later this year.

14 March: Jack McConnell, First Minister, during his visit to Australia launched a new interactive electronic newsletter 'e-zine'. The newsletter that promotes Scotland is available on-line at http://www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk/scotlandnow/index.html and will be distributed through channels such as graduate associations, Scottish societies and embassies.

14 March: George Reid, Presiding Officer, together with a cross-party group of MSPs welcomed a group of Iraqi lawyers who visited Holyrood to find out about the Parliament's role in promoting human rights.

17 March: Tavish Scott, Minister for Transport, announced that the new regional transport partnerships (RTPs) are to take on extended responsibilities for encouraging people, organisations and businesses to consider alternatives to the car when possible. The RTP's additional remit is aimed at promoting practical advice on transport alternatives throughout the country.

21 March: Jack McConnell, First Minister, announced that the Chinese Government has approved the creation of a Confucius Institute in Scotland following talks between himself and Professor Zhou Ji, the Minister for Education of China. The Scottish Confucius Institute, will be located at Edinburgh University and will be part of a network promoting Chinese language and culture. Phase 1 of the project (2006) will involve establishing the institute and initiating language teaching. Phase 2 (2007 onwards) will address increasing and enhancing language teaching and establish and maintaining a programme of cultural activities.

26 March: the ban on smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland came into effect, making it illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, theatres, bingo halls, church halls, sports centres, shopping centres, public transport, schools, hospitals, clubs, and workplaces, including lorries and vans.

27 Match: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education and Young People, welcomed Home Office measures to review and change procedures surrounding the removal of asylum seekers. The package was agreed by the Home Office following discussions with the Executive and will mean that children's needs are taken into account earlier and throughout the asylum process.

29 March: Jack McConnell, First Minister, greeted the 2006 Commonwealth Games team at Glasgow airport on their return home with a record 29 medals, including 11 golds.

30 March: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister, spoke about the University of Edinburgh's new £42 million Informatics Forum to be built in Crichton Street in Edinburgh, stating that it will act as a hub for academic and commercial developments and advance Scotland's position as a world leader in informatics. The Executive has provided £14 million through Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian towards the £42 million construction costs of the Forum.

31 March: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Sector Reform, announced the Executive's approval of local authorities' spending plans involving a share of £100 million Quality of Life funding. Mr McCabe said that over the past three years this funding was used by local authorities and their partners to help community regeneration, tackle anti-social behaviour, increases opportunities for children and young people, improve joint heath services and services for older people and make great environmental improvements.

Appointments

22 March: Peter Peacock, Minister for Education and Young People, announced the appointment of John Mulgrew as the new Chair of Learning and Teaching Scotland.

Bills

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/business/bills/billsPassed/billsum-s1.htm

29 March: the Edinburgh Tram (Line) One Bill: Final Stage was passed by Parliament. The principle objective of the Bill is to authorise the construction and operation of a tram line in Edinburgh. The line will form a loop from St Andrews Square, along Leith Walk to Leith, west to Granton, south to Haymarket and back to St Andrew Square along Princes Street.

Committees

1 March: the Finance Committee launched an inquiry into the accountability and associated costs of Scotland's ombudsman and commissioners.

9 March: the Environment and Rural Development Committee asked for views from individual crofters and interested organisations on the general principles of the Crofting Reform Bill.

13 March: the Justice 2 Committee asked for views on the general principles of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill. The bill has two main purposes:

to reform the system for handling complaints against lawyers by the creation of a new statutory body, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission;
to improve the delivery of all forms of publicly funded legal assistance.

14 March: the Enterprise and Culture Committee published a report on sustainable business growth, stating that Scotland's economy needs an additional £8.5 billion of private and public sector investment to match competitors elsewhere.

23 March: the Finance Committee published a report that criticises local authorities for failing to deal with the issue of equal pay. The Committee found that despite the fact that agreement on Single Status was reached between local authorities and unions in 1999, Single Status has only been implemented in one of the 32 local authorities.

29 March: the Environment and Rural Development Committee published a report stating that a comprehensive strategy to harness energy from biomass must be developed to help meet Scotland's energy needs and calls on the Executive to take urgent action to develop energy from wood fuel.

29 March: the Justice 1 Committee launched an inquiry into the various aspects of family support services.

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 March 2006 include:

1 March: A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture: Next Steps.

8 March: Helping you meet the costs of learning: What support is available for young Scottish students in Higher Education in 2006-2007.

13 March: Age and Experience: Consultation on the Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population.

27 March: A Curriculum for Excellence: Progress and Proposals: an education publication.

29 March: Free Personal and Nursing Care Scotland 2002-2005: publication showing the latest figures on Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland.

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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