IOG: Parliament News, issue 59/september 2006

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

4 September: Jack McConnell, First Minister, briefed the media at a special On the Record session available on video http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/09/04171959/Q/Video/363. In the briefing Mr McConnell commented on the 7 months ahead and the key legislation in front of Parliament.

4 September: Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, announced that September had been chosen as the month to focus on education and learning in Scotland. The Executive, learndirect Scotland and Scotland’s learning community have arranged a series of events throughout the month to highlight their focus on engaging Scots in lifelong learning and education.

5 September: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister, announced that a new £6 million fund has been set up to support renewable energy developments in the East of Scotland. The Sigma Sustainable Energies Fund is financed by a range of partners including the Executive and Scottish and Southern Energy. The fund will consider energy related projects in a range of fields including wind, solar, hydro-electric, biomass (including biofuels), ocean, hydrogen, and geo-thermal.

5 September: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, announced an additional £200,000 funding to the Fresh Talent: Supporting International Students Challenge Fund. The Challenge Fund support projects that bring international students together with domestic students and their local communities.

6 September: Jack McConnell, First Minister, opened a debate on Scotland’s Future, stating that knowledge and skills are the best way to enhance Scotland’s competitive advantage over the next 20 years.

6 September: a Saltire which is normally flying at Holyrood was presented by Alex Blackwood, Head of Enterprise in Education for Careers Scotland, on behalf of the Parliament to Mr Nick Patrick at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas. Mr Patrick will carry the flag into space on a round trip space mission in recognition of his support for the Careers Scotland Space School.

7 September: Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard University gave a seminar at the Parliament based on his ‘Good Work’ project in an event jointly organised with learndirect Scotland and Tapestry. Mr Howard describes ‘Good Work’ as work that is high quality and is socially responsible.

11 September: Robert Brown, Deputy Minister for Education, unveiled more anti-sectarian teaching tools for teachers and youth works: a training DVD, Challenging Sectarianism: anti-sectarian education in practice, and a revamped website designed to be more user-friendly and now including a section on Islam and Islamaphobia.

13 September: Andy Kerr, Minister for Health, stated that the Executive is investing £1.25 million over the next two years to provide practical help for internationally qualified nurses from outside Europe who have qualifications from their home countries but are currently unable to take up nursing posts in the UK.

14 September: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, said that a total of 21 students from six countries are about to begin their studies in Scotland through the second year of the Executive-funded Scottish International Scholarship Programme. These 21 students are outstanding graduates in their fields and Scotland will give them the opportunity to develop their talents further.

19 September: The Rt. Hon. Lord Macfadyen, Chairman of the Sentencing Commission for Scotland, launched the Commission’s latest report which recommends the creation of a statutory body – the Advisory Panel on Sentencing in Scotland (APSS) – which would be responsible for the preparation of draft sentencing guidelines for consideration by the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary. This is the Commission’s fourth and final report. The Commission is an independent, judicially led body that was set up by the Executive under its policy statement A Partnership for a Better Scotland.

20 September: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, announced a new initiative to encourage a broader range of people to participate in local government. The initiative includes a new website www.votescotland.com which offers information on standing for election as a local councillor as well as highlighting the positive aspects of working to improve peoples’ lives in local communities.

20 September: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister and Enterprise Minister, unveiled the Executive’s new proposals to support marine energy development projects. These proposals aim to provide increased financial returns to wave and tidal generators, giving incentive to Scotland’s renewable energy ambitions.

26 September: the Parliament hosted an award ceremony for innovative language projects on this day nominated as European Day of Languages. This is the first time the awards, which are co-ordinated in the UK by CILT (the National Centre for Languages) and supported by the European Commission, have been held in Scotland.

27 September: publication of the Parliament’s Annual Report 2005-2006 covering in-depth information on each parliamentary committee, as well as key Chamber debates and legislation.

Appointments

1 September: Wendy Goldstraw was appointed as new Convener of the Standards Commission for Scotland for a period of three years. Mrs Goldstraw replaces Professor Lorne Crerar who was Convener of the Commission for the past three years. Prof Crerar will now Chair the Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland.

Bills

No Bills were passed by Parliament in the month of September.

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

Committees

15 September: the Finance Committee published a report calling for a stronger governance framework for commissioners and ombudsman to ensure they are more accountable to Parliament for their spending. The report on the Committee’s inquiry into Accountability and Governance also calls for the Executive to delay the establishment of five new bodies until work to remove duplication of effort between existing bodies has been completed.

15 September: the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) Bill Committee agreed by a majority to the general principles of the Bill and recommended that it should proceed as a private Bill.

21 September: the Enterprise and Culture Committee endorsed the Bill to create a bank holiday on or near St Andrew’s Day.

21 September: following a ‘code of conduct’ complaint against Mike Pringle MSP the Parliament’s Standards and Public Appointments Committee recommended that he be excluded from all meetings of Parliament for one week. This sanction follows a complaint that Mr Pringle leaked committee documents to a member of the press.

27 September: the Environment and Rural Development Committee published a report recommending that charging a levy on plastic bags issued at checkouts, as proposed by Mike Pringle MSP in his Environmental Levy on Plastic Bags (Scotland) Bill, should only be used as part of a comprehensive package of waste prevention measures. The Committee therefore agreed unanimously that the Parliament should not agree to the general principles of the Bill.

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 September 2006 include:

8 September: Using Evidence in the Policy Cycle: Report on the Work of the Social Research Leadership Group Knowledge Transfer Working Group.

8 September: Draft Budget 2007-08: Scottish Executive Draft Budget 2007-08.

25 September: Consultation with Primary School Children on Food at School: consultation undertaken as part of the wider consultation on the proposed Schools (Nutrition and Health Promotion) (Scotland) Bill.

25 September: Review of Greenhouse Gas Life Cycle Emissions, Air Pollution Impacts and Economics of Biomass Production and Consumption in Scotland.

25 September: A sustainable Framework for Scottish Sea Fisheries: progress Report and Action Plan 2006.

29 September: Helping you Meet the Costs of Learning: Adult Learners in Scotland 2006-2007.

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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