IOG: Parliament News, issue 64/february 2007

Scottish Affairs web site

Events

1 February: Jack McConnell, First Minister, met with Scotland's Muslim community at Bute House. Mr McConnell said that it was a chance to listen to the concerns and issues that are most pressing for the Muslim community in Scotland, including how high profile events around the world impact on community relations in Scotland.

5 February: Jack McConnell, First Minister, gave a speech at Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens to mark the start of Scottish Environment Week saying that Scotland can become an example to the rest of the world when it comes to environmental attitudes and behaviour. Mr McConnell stated that research shows that over 80% of Scots agree that they will have to start making changes to their lifestyles to ensure a better quality of life for future generations.

5 February: Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Culture, announced that views are being sought on a new strategy to raise the profile of the diverse languages spoken in Scotland. The strategy emphasises the need to equip all Scots with fluent English language skills, as well as promoting linguistic diversity and multilingualism including British Sign Language and ethnic community languages. The document also proposes the protection and promotion of the Gaelic language, as well as a pledge that the Scots language will be treated with pride and respect.

6 February: several university principals met with the Financial Services Advisory Board, chaired by First Minister, Jack McConnell, and agreed that closer working between the industry and universities could provide significant rewards. The First Minister said that work would now be taken forward and indicated that areas being looked at would include:

ensuring universities produce graduates with the right skills for the financial services sector;
positioning Scotland as a financial services centre of expertise and innovation;
looking at the opportunities in emerging markets such as China.

7 February: Tom McCabe, Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, said that local authorities will receive more than £8.7 billion in core funding for the financial year 2007-08. Mr McCabe said this should enable all local authorities to improve the standard of frontline services while keeping council tax increases down.

8 February: the Executive and the Scottish Arts Council pledged £350,000 funding support for the Edinburgh International Festival in recognition of their commitment to the event.

9 February: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister, announced a substantial rise in the number of Scottish students studying science degrees at Scottish universities over the last decade. Mr Stephen stated it was good news for Scotland's prospects of maintaining a place at the forefront of global scientific discovery, growing the economy and raising quality of life.

9 February: Hugh Henry, Minister for Education, announced an extra £6 million of Executive funding for Scottish schools. The £6 million is being allocated to councils for distribution to schools in their areas under the Grant for Improvements in School Education (Scotland) Regulations 1998. Mr Henry said that councils would distribute this money to the schools they think need it most.

12 February: Cathy Jamieson, Minister for Justice, announced that the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill will head a wide-ranging review of Scotland's civil courts and the way they work. The review will provide a detailed examination of a number of areas including:

making sure that cases are dealt with at the right level of the court system;
the way civil cases are handled and the time it takes to resolve them, particularly those cases where small sums are involved;
the current assumption that criminal cases get priority over civil cases;
how civil cases progress through the courts and who should be in control of the process.

12 February: Nicol Stephen, Minister for Enterprise, announced additional funding of £40 million to be made available to Scottish Enterprise to support a range of capital projects. Two of the project to be allocated additional funding are:

early-stage plans to create an Advanced Forming Research Centre, which will develop new technologies to improve and speed-up high-precision manufacturing processes, particularly for engineering companies making high quality metal components;
a new energy development centre in Aberdeen providing high-quality business units in response to demand within the energy sector. These units will be made available on flexible leases to technology companies working on research, design and development.

12 February: Jack McConnell, First Minister, announced that all 12 Scottish Premier League clubs have teamed up with the Executive to 'Kick Start' a new initiative to help young Scots who are not in employment, education or training. Mr McConnell said that football clubs have a credibility and connection with Scotland's young people that is hard to replicate.

19 February: in a speech to business leaders as part of CBI Scotland's China Challenge Conference in Edinburgh Jack McConnell, First Minister, said that Scotland must step up its involvement in China if it is to make the most of the opportunities offered by one of the world's fastest growing economies. Mr McConnell stated that Scotland needs more young Scots learning Mandarin, more Chinese students studying for Scottish degrees, more companies seizing the opportunities, and more partnerships to encourage the massive Chinese tourist market to visit Scotland.

20 February: speaking at the Environment Council in Brussels, Sarah Boyack, Deputy Minister for Environment, said that Scotland takes climate change seriously and that the Executive would shortly be announcing ambitious plans on waste management, an energy efficiency and microgeneration strategy and a biomass action plan. Sarah Boyack, Deputy Minister for Environment, welcomed the agreement reached at the Environment Council in Brussels by all European Union Member States to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.

20 February: Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister, announced that grants worth more than £13 million were awarded for marine energy projects in Scottish waters, mostly in Orkney where the world's largest commercial wave power farm is being developed. It was also confirmed that the Executive has reached its target to have 18% of Scotland's electricity generated from renewable sources years ahead of schedule.

21 February: George Reid, Presiding Officer, announced to Members of the Parliament that:

the final cost of Holyrood has been reduced by £16.1m. The cost of the taxpayer therefore will fall from an estimated £430.5m to £414.4m;
the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), after extensive investigation, has decided not to litigate on issues during the construction phase of the Holyrood project;
but, post-construction, the SPBC has instructed action for recovery of the costs arising from the collapse of the strut in the Chamber on 2 March 2006.

27 February: publication of a plan to cut the amount of household waste by a quarter of a million tonnes. Key points from the Household Waste Prevention Action Plan include:

reducing food waste through better awareness, packaging and marketing;
cutting unwanted mail by 10%
reusing more of the products we throw away;
reducing excess packaging and developing lighter packaging;
encouraging home composting;
building sustainable design into products and giving better information on the lifespan of key household products.

28 February: publication of the Executive's report on progress on the Organic Action Plan which states that Scottish farmers now produce enough to meet 70% of the demand for organic food.

28 February: publication of an independent evaluation of the Free Personal and Nursing Care policy. The report finds that the vast majority of recipients received their payments or personal care services without undue delay or complication. It also makes a number of recommendations to ensure that implementation of the policy is further improved.

Appointments

9 February: Ian Marchant, Scottish and Southern Energy Chief Executive, was announced as the Chair of a new group to get business to think about climate change. The Climate change Business Delivery Group, will consist of high level representatives from the business world and will act as vehicle for Scottish businesses by sharing best practice.

12 February: Colin Malcolm Campbell, QC, was appointed to be a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland.

Bills

8 February: the Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The Bill takes forward the Scottish Ministers' commitment of 4 May 2005 to the Scottish Parliament to place the Scottish Ministers at the heart of an order-making process and thereby avoid the need for private Bills for transport-related developments.

14 February: the Budget (Scotland) (No. 4) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament.

15 February: the Adult Support And Protection (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The Bill seeks to protect and benefit adults at risk of being abused. It will do so by introducing investigative rights and duties as well as a range of post-assessment interventions.

28 February: the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The Bill provides that it shall be an offence for a person to solicit or loiter in a relevant place for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, or for the purpose of obtaining the services of someone engaged in prostitution, in such a manner as to be likely to cause nuisance, alarm or offence to a reasonable person.

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

2 February: the Parliament's European and External Relations Committee published a report stating that the Executive could do more to support the private sector to increase its investment in research and development but also states that the Executive is performing well in relation to some targets, such as education and employment. The report follows the Committee's inquiry into the European Commission's strategy for growth and jobs.

14 February: publication of a report commissioned by the Parliament's Health Committee stating that the proportion of funds invested in mental health services has fallen over the past six years. The research will be used to inform scrutiny of future policies on mental health service provision across Scotland.

15 February: publication of the Parliament's Justice 1 Committee on its inquiry into the Scottish Criminal Record Office and the Scottish Fingerprint Service. The year-long inquiry is considered to be one of the most complex to be undertaken by any committee in the history of the Parliament. The Committee concluded that management must take action to address fundamental weaknesses that have seriously impaired the efficiency and effectiveness of the Scottish Fingerprint Services as a whole.

23 February: publication of a report by the Parliament's Subordinate Legislation Committee following a three year inquiry into the regulatory framework in Scotland. The report includes recommendations for all secondary legislation to be considered in the same way rather than through one of eight levels of scrutiny currently in use.

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

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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