Issue 16 - March 2002
Events
6 March: the Parliament's women MSPs gathered in the Parliament Main Chamber for a photocall to mark International Women's Day. This is the first time all 48 women MSPs have been photographed together formally.
7 March: Wendy Alexander, Transport Minister, announced a £70 million deal to stabilise the ScotRail franchise in order to preserve service levels that were in doubt after the company reported recent losses.
13 March: Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, announced changes to legal aid eligibility stating that the capital limit for advice and assistance would rise from £1,000 to £1,300 and the lower capital limit for civil legal aid would rise for £3,000 to £6,000 and upper limit would rise from £8,560 to £10,000.
14 March: Ross Finnie, Minister for the Environment and Rural Development, announced that the Executive has approved the release of a GM oilseed rape crop in a further three sites in Scotland (two in Aberdeenshire and one in Fife). There are currently 12 other Scottish sites which have grown GM Oilseed rape as part of the farm scale evaluation programme.
14 March: Ballot papers on the proposed transfer of Glasgow's council housing to the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) were posted to around 80,000 council tenants. Iain Gray, Minister for Social Justice, urged tenants to say 'yes' to the transfer.
18 March: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, launched the publication of a consultation paper on proposed changes to agri-environment schemes. The consultation document has been sent to key organisations and individuals who have previously expressed an interest in agri-environment issues. 10 June 2002 is the deadline for the receipt of responses.
19 March: the Parliament's website hosted a public discussion on the future of Scotland's 1800-plus sub-Post Office and their possible use of "Your Guide", an online information resource for customers.
21 March: MSPs voted for a 13.5% pay increase over two years. The increase was recommended last December by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) to address the widening pay gap between politicians at Westminster and Holyrood. The decision to increase MSPs' pay attracted significant opposition across the parties. Under the legal terms of the new pay resolution this will be the last time that MSPs will be required to vote on their own salary conditions.
26 March: the Parliament celebrated its first 1000 days.
26 March: Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Parliament, speaking in advance of a debate on the size of the Scottish Parliament and the publication of the Executive response to the Scotland Office consultation stated there is a very strong case for the parliament to remain at its current size because Parliament and its Committees would be unable to function as well as it does with 106 Members instead of 129.
27 March: Andy Kerr, Minister for Finance and Public Services, announced the publication of a White Paper taking forward the principles of the Kerley report into the future of local government. The document includes consideration of issues such as future governance, councillors' remuneration and options for electoral reform. There will be a four-month consultation period on the options set out in the document and after parliament reconvenes in September 2002 the Executive will set out the next steps.
28 March: Ross Finnie, Minister for Environment and Rural Development, announced that all the functions and assets of the three existing Scottish Water Authorities will pass to the new company known as Scottish Water which has its headquarters in Dunfermline.
4 April: Robert Black, Auditor General for Scotland, gave a keynote address The Scottish Parliament Three Years On: A Personal Perspective at the CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) Scottish Conference in Glasgow (paper available to download at www.audit-scotland.gov.uk ).
back
to topAppointments
5 March: Robert Gordon was appointed Chief Executive of the Crown Office. This is a new post following a management review. Mr Gordon was previously Head of the Finance and Central Services Department of the Scottish Executive. He retains responsibility for constitutional matters as Head of Legal and Parliamentary Services. As part of the same management review Norman McFadyen, the Regional Procurator Fiscal for Lothian and Borders, was appointed Crown Agent Designate.
20 March: Douglas Campbell was appointed as marketing expert to assist the First Minister with political communications. This brings the Executive's total number of special advisers to nine, three short of the maximum allowed. Mr Campbell is currently Director of Health Policy on the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board.
21 March: Mr Michael Ewart was appointed Head of the Scottish Executive Education Department and will be responsible for Pre-School and School Education and a wide range of matters affecting young people up to age 18. He will also have responsibility for Tourism, Culture and Sport.
System Three poll (for The Herald)
(994 people in 41 constituencies surveyed between March 21-27, 2002)
The System Three poll, carried out at the end of March, noted voting intentions for both the Scottish Parliament (two votes) and the House of Commons.
|
Holyrood |
Holyrood |
Westminster |
|
|
Lab |
36% |
28% |
41% |
|
SNP |
32% |
30% |
26% |
|
LibDem |
15% |
19% |
15% |
|
Con |
12% |
9% |
14% |
|
SSP |
3% |
6% |
2% |
|
Green |
2% |
5% |
} 1% |
|
Others |
2% |
2% |
Bills
6 March: the Sexual Offences (Procedures and Evidence) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The Bill will ban an accused in a sexual offence case from conducting his or her own defence, it will strengthen the existing law regulating the use of evidence about the complainer's character and past behaviour, and it will require any defence of consent or belief in consent to be notified before the trial.
6 March: the Fur Farming (Prohibition) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The aim of the Bill is to prohibit the practice of fur farming and to prevent fur farmers in England and Wales from using the absence of a prohibition in Scotland as a loophole and so relocate to Scotland. At present there are no known fur farms in Scotland.
14 March: the general principles of the Scottish Qualifications Authority Bill: Stage 1 were agreed to in Parliament. The Bill aims to introduce a smaller, more streamlined SQA Board to focus on the strategic management of the organisation, create a new Advisory Council to ensure that stakeholders have a say in the SQA's decision making and introduce other measures to ensure that Ministers will be able to maintain close communications with the SQA in future.
20 March: the general principles of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1 were agreed to in Parliament. The main aims of the Bill are to provide wider access to the countryside, and for rural communities to have a greater say in their futures.
21 March: the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Bill: stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The main aim of the Bill is to establish a one-stop shop headed by a new Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman to deal with complaints currently dealt with by the Scottish Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Health Service Ombudsman, the Local Government Ombudsman and the Housing Association Ombudsman for Scotland.
28 March: the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils' Records) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 was passed in Parliament. The purpose of the Bill is to parallel in Scotland the provisions of section 14 and 15 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 which apply only in England and Wales. These provisions require local authorities, independent and grant-aided schools in Scotland to prepare a strategy to plan to improve access to both the school environment and the curriculum for children with a disability and to improve communication to pupils with disabilities.
Committees
7 March: work done by The Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee in respect of Gypsy Travellers was highlighted in the US State Department's annual Human Rights Report.
7 March: the Social Justice Committee published a report on its inquiry into the voluntary sector in Scotland and made a series of recommendations to be addressed by the Scottish Executive and key players in the voluntary sector.
7 March: the Environment Committee backed a petition from Blairingone in Kinross-shire for changes to the regulations governing the spreading of waste on land near residential housing. The Committee published a report expressing surprise and concern that the law currently permits individuals to spread waste products such as blood and guts from animals and sewerage sludge without proper regards for health and environmental factors.
11 March: the Justice 1 Committee published a report on the findings of a NFO System Three Social Research Study which provides an insight into Scottish people's views on sentencing. The Justice 1 Committee intends to use the research to inform the remit of its forthcoming inquiry into alternatives to custody.
12 March: the Rural Development Committee issued a call for Galloway people to come and speak to their Committee on 19 March in St John's town of Dalry. The Committee is gathering oral evidence for its inquiry into 'Integrated Rural Development' and the meeting will include a slot where members of the public will be invited to put questions or make points to the Committee.
14 March: the Transport and the Environment Committee published a report calling for a more integrated management of Aquaculture. The Committee made a number of recommendations but specifically believes that there are certain locations in which there should be no further development of the industry and recommends a selective moratorium in these areas.
15 March: the Justice 2 Committee published a report in which it broadly welcomed the general principles of the Land Reform Bill in its stage 1. While agreeing with the general principles of all three parts of the Bill the Committee made a long list of recommendations.
19 March: the Enterprise Committee published an interim report on Lifelong Learning which reached radical conclusions, including a proposal for a whole new post-school framework, where every citizen will have an entitlement to lifelong learning.
20 March: the Local Government Committee published a report stating that new council tax bands should be added to the upper and lower ends of the Council Tax scale. The inquiry findings also call for the return of non-domestic rates to local authority control in order to establish a 50:50 balance to the proportion of central to local government funding.
20 March: the Education Committee unveiled the terms of a new discussion paper, designed to stimulate a nation-wide discussion on developing a practical vision for Scottish education over the next decade. The Committee's inquiry into the 'Purposes of Scottish Education' will run in parallel to a Scottish Executive debate also announced the same day, on educational policy and a long-term strategy for education in Scotland.
20 March: the Community Care Committee agreed to suspend consideration of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Scotland) Bill which aims to ban tobacco advertising and promotion in Scotland. This decision was taken after the announcement by the UK Government on 15 March that it would support and provide Parliamentary time for the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill which aims to outlaw tobacco advertising throughout the UK.
21 March: the Social Justice Committee published a report on its approach to monitoring the impact of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. The report is significant in that it details, for the first time, the role of a Parliamentary Committee in the post-enactment scrutiny of legislation in the Parliament.
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
www.scottish.parliament.uk/whats_happening/research/ext-res-form.html
Publications
Scottish Executive publications can be accessed on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.asp
Some of those published in the last month include:
Draft: Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland: draft guidance on free personal and nursing care prepared by the Implementation Steering Group working with local authorities and through established groups within ADSW. 7.3.02
Committing to Race Equality: the Executive's initial response to the Race Equality Advisory Forum's recommendations. 12.3.02
Proposal For Improvements to the Operation of Agri-environment Schemes in Scotland: consultation paper. 18.3.02
Responses to the draft Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill: Consultation Paper and Draft Bill. 20.3.02
The National Debate on Education: the best for ALL our children: Briefing Pack: formal launch of the National Debate on Education and invitation to participate in the debate. 20.3.02
Scottish Economic Statistics 2002: document focusing on the programme of statistical development in the economic field and setting out agendas of issues to be pursued throughout 2002. 27.3.02
Renewing Local Democracy: The Next Steps: document looking at who councillors are, how they are elected and how they provide community leadership with invitation to comment. 27.3.02
Contact
Should you have any comments or enquiries please do not hesitate to contact Margaret MacPherson at the Institute of Governance.
This page was published on 29 October 2008