2 September: launch of a twelve-week consultation aimed at improving energy performance. Stewart Stevenson, Climate Change Minister, said Scottish Government is seeking views on how to reduce emissions from existing non-domestic buildings and stated that the government is committed to reducing emissions by 80% by 2050, ensuring Scotland is at the forefront of the global effort to tackle climate change.
3 September: Linda Fabiani, Culture Minister, stated that the amalgamation of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, and their transformation into Creative Scotland, is in line with the Governments commitment to reduce the size and simplify the organisational landscape of public services in Scotland. Ms Fabiani said it is expected that the new board of directors and chief executive of Creative Scotland will be in place by April 2009.
3 September: Alex Salmond, First Minister, officially opened the University of Edinburghs new Informatic Forum research facility, stating that the £42 million building reinforces Scotlands position as a world leader in informatics research. The research facility will bring together around 500 scientists whose interests include virtual reality, robotics, artificial learning and intelligent systems. The Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, provided £14 million towards construction of the six-floor facility.
3 September: Alex Salmond, First Minister, in a statement to the Scottish Parliament set out the priorities, both legislative and non-legislative, for the year ahead contained in a document Moving Scotland Forward (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/09/01093322/0).
The full list of proposed bills is:
• Additional Support for Learning (Amendment) Bill
• Arbitration Bill
• Budget Bill
• Children's Hearings Bill
• Scottish Climate Change Bill
• Council Tax Abolition Bill
• Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill
• Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill
• Health Bill
• Legislative Reform Bill
• Legal Profession Bill
• Marine Bill
• Public Services Reform Bill
• Rural Schools Bill
• Scottish Parliament and Local Government Elections Bill
8 September: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, welcomed Eamon Ó Cuív T.D., the Irish Government Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, to the second meeting of the Rural Development Council (RDC) where they discussed key issues, including those relating to rural and island development.
8 September: publication of the final report of Scottish Broadcasting Commission. The main recommendations are:
• creation of a new Scottish Network: a digital public service television channel, funded out of the new UK settlement for Public Service Broadcasting plurality and licensed and given full regulatory support by Ofcom;
• the BBC should secure 8.6 per cent of network TV production from Scotland (in line with share of population) and maintain a substantial network commissioning presence in Scotland and transfer the management of one of its four national TV services to Scotland;
• Channel 4 should have a mandatory target for production from Scotland of 8.6 per cent and should base one of its commissioning departments in Scotland;
• all broadcasters in the UK should review the performance of their news services in reporting the four nations in a manner that is accurate and relevant for all;
• the Scottish Parliament should take an active role in considering the broadcasting industry and services audiences receive, with Scottish Ministers having greater responsibility, within the UK framework, for those operational functions directly affecting Scotland;
• the influence and responsibilities of Ofcom Scotland should be strengthened and there should be specific representation for Scotland on the Ofcom Board at UK level.
9 September: Jim Mather, Minister for Energy, speaking at the SCDIs conference on Scotlands Energy Future, said that Scotland is set to exceed its renewable energy target for 2011. Mr Mather said that Scotlands renewable resources have been estimated at more than 60GW, ten times its peak electricity consumption. He revealed that the total amount of renewable electricity schemes, either already operating or with planning permission, is now 5.5GW and that this figure is enough to take Scotland past the target of generating 31% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2011.
10 September: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was switched on in Geneva; it is the largest machine in the world and will collide protons together at the highest energies ever achieved, recreating the conditions that existed a faction of a second after the Big Bang at the start of the universe. The University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh have made significant contributions to the project with their expertise in particle physics.
11 September: under the Rural Priorities scheme eighty-one proposals were awarded funding totalling £5.9 million for projects ranging from new entrants to farming, renewable energy, forestry and farm business. Rural Priorities is part of the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP), the aims of which include the sustainable economic development of Scotlands rural communities.
13 September: Iain Gray was elected as the new Scottish Labour leader. Mr Gray, the MSP for East Lothian, takes over from Wendy Alexander, who resigned from the leadership in June. The two other candidates for the leadership were Cathy Jamieson and Andy Kerr.
15 September: Richard Lochhead, Fisheries Secretary, announced that the new European Fisheries Fund (EFF) is now open for business. The EFF of £43 million will support investment in sustainable fisheries for the next six years in Scotland, including vessel owners, aquaculture business, port operators and processors in Scotland.
15 September: members of the public are now able to gain instant access to information released by the Parliament to other people under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. The enhanced disclosure log includes electronic links that take the online user to the actual information and documents released by the Parliament. The new FOI pages can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/FOI.
16 September: the Scottish Government published its draft budget for 2009-10. The budget largely reflected decisions taken in the 2007 spending review, with some adjustments taking into account decisions made in the last twelve months, these included:
• the £40 million expansion of free personal care in line with the Sutherland recommendations for next year;
• the decision to bring forward up to £100 million of spending through the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, as announced by the First Minister in August;
• extra money for the Climate Challenge Fund (£4.3m);
• £13 million in 2009-10 for additional police officers, as part of the Government's commitment to deliver an additional 1,000 police officers by the end of this Parliament - announced at the time of amendments to last year's budget bill.
18 September: launch of a public consultation on options for modernising Scotlands jury system. The consultation document outlines Scottish Government plans to:
• allow Scots aged 65-70 to serve on trial juries;
• reduce jury service exemption period from 5 to 2 years for those called to attend court as potential jurors but are not subsequently balloted to serve on a trial jury;
The consultation document also seeks views on longer term options for reform, including:
• whether the current jury size of 15 for criminal trials should be maintained or reduced;
• whether existing rules on exemptions from jury service, for example for certain categories of profession, remain appropriate or should be changed;
• options for administrative changes to the scope and operation of juror allowances, aimed at minimising hardship whilst recognising overall constraints on public expenditure;
• options around the possible use of tribunals of judges or substitute jurors.
18 September: Alex Salmond, First Minister, promised to protect bank jobs and decision-making functions within the Scottish economy following news of the takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) by Lloyds TSB. Mr Salmond said he had spoken to both unions and banks and had called an emergency meeting of the Finance Services Industry Advisory Board for the following week to discuss the situation.
19 September: Jim Mather, Enterprise Minister, speaking ahead of his four day visit to the US with a series of engagements in Kentucky and Chicago, said his visits would provide opportunities to present Scotland as a competitive business destination, a leader in the development of renewable technologies and the home of golf.
19 September: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, addressed the first GlobalScot Conference during his visit to Hong Kong, urging an international network of senior business leaders to help Scotland beat the global economic downturn. The conference was organised by Scottish Enterprise to bring together GlobalScots from the Asia and Pacific markets with Scottish companies looking to do business in the Far East.
23 September: Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, announced a review of Architecture and Design Scotland. The review will involve assessment of its impact with key decision makers and the public, drawing on stakeholder, customer and staff views on the strengths and weakness of the current structural and delivery arrangements, and determining whether changes in structure and behaviour are required. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that each public body is subject to a policy and financial management review (PFMR) at least once every five years.
23 September: Jim Mather, Enterprise Minister, began VisitScotlands biggest-ever US direct mail initiative during his visit to Chicago. The US census now allows people to identify themselves as Scots; previously the category was Scots-Irish, and VisitScotland are using this information as part of their efforts to encourage visitors to Scotland for next years Homecoming celebrations.
24 September: Alex Salmond, First Minister, chaired Scotlands first Supermarket Summit, attended by top retailers from across the UK to discuss how they can work with the Scottish Government to achieve sustainable economic growth. These particular measures were agreed:
• to join a retail forum to take forward the national food and drink policy, to achieve the freshest, finest future for Scottish produce;
• to work towards reducing waste, including a new target to reduce carrier bag use by 50 per cent by Spring 2009;
• to consider how to support 2009 Year of Homecoming.
25 September: Stewart Maxwell, Communities Minister, backed recommendations in the report published by the Office of Fair Trading to increase consumer protection for those buying a new-build house and the introduction of an effective industry code of conduct. Mr Maxwell also called for more action from the UK Government to help Scotlands house building industry.
26 September: Alex Salmond, First Minister, invited leaders representing the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man to come to Scotland for Homecoming 2009, which is a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotlands national poet Robert Burns.
26 September: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, opened a meeting of seventy specialists in Aberdeen to devise a programme of research on how to make best use of Scotlands rural land. This Rural Land Use Study will examine a number of key issues including:
• how Scotland's rural land can best contribute to sustainable economic growth;
• the role Scotland's rural land can play in tackling climate change;
• how land use can best facilitate sustainable rural community development;
• how Government can facilitate the effective use of Scotland's rural land.
30 September: on his return from the EU Fisheries Council in Brussels, Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said that he had been able to raise the issue of £40 million worth of marketable fish being thrown back into the North Sea every year. Mr Lochhead said there was broad support from the EU Commission and others who see the importance of this matter.
Appointments
10 September: Sir Angus Grossart was appointed Chairman of the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). SFT has been established as a limited company to develop the expertise and investment models for a range of public infrastructure projects including new schools, hospital and transport projects for Scotland at better value to the public purse.
21 September: Peter Robertson, Vice Chairman of Chevron Corporations board, was appointed as a new member of Scottish Enterprises International Advisory Board (IAB).
Bills
25 September: the Judiciary And Courts (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3, was passed by Parliament. The overarching objective of the Bill is to modernise and improve the court system through strengthening the role of Scotlands judiciary.
A summary of the Bills passed by the Parliament in the 1999-2003 and 2003-2007 sessions can be found on the Parliament website at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billsPassed/billsum-s1.htm
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billsnotInProgress-s2/index.htm
Committees
4 September: the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee launched an inquiry into high-speed rail links from Scotland to the rest of the UK and Europe. The Committee will look at the cost implications, the technology which would be required and also how much work would need to be carried out to improve Scotlands existing rail infrastructure to ensure the whole of Scotland can be connected effectively to a high-speed network.
5 September: the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee held a round-table discussion to look at food policy and the issues surrounding it, from Scotlands role in the global food security crisis to what makes good and bad environmental food practice. The discussion will link into a future inquiry into Scottish food policy.
24 September: the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee met with representative from the construction, house-building, property, banking and financial services sectors for a round-table discussion on the current economic climate in Scotland and then consideration of ways to improve conditions in the future.
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
Publications
Scottish Executive publications can be accessed on the Scottish Executive website at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/recent.aspx
Some of those published in the last month include:
1 September: Rural Scotland Key Facts 2008: People and Communities, Services and Lifestyle, Economy and Enterprise: summary comparing remote rural, accessible rural and the rest of Scotland.
3 September: Moving Scotland Forward: The Government's Programme for Scotland 2008-09.
8 September: Draft Environmental Noise Action Plan for Edinburgh: consultation responses.
12 September: Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme: an Evidence Review: report reviewing the evidence in relation to three aspects of the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme.
16 September: Scottish Budget: Draft Budget 2009-10.
30 September: The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2008.
This page was published on 5 February 2009