1 October: Michael Russell, Environment Minister, responded to the final report of the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting, by announcing proposals aimed at developing crofting communities. Some of these are:
• reconstituting the Crofters Commission with up to six area committees that will include crofters elected by crofters;
• making Highlands and Islands Enterprise the lead organisation for the development of crofting communities;
• giving the Registers of Scotland responsibility for establishing a new Register of Crofts;
• giving consideration to an occupancy condition on housing built on land taken out of crofting tenure to address speculation on croft land for second homes;
• undertaking a review of support for croft housing and support for croft agriculture with an emphasis on supporting new entrants to crofting;
• Encouraging the creation of new crofts, especially on public land;
• A new crofting bill and a consolidation of crofting law.
1 October: introduction of a new system for reimbursing MSPs for costs they incur in carrying out their parliamentary duties following an independent review and a parliamentary debate. The terms of the new system are:
• an end to mortgage interest payments on Edinburgh accommodation;
• a new register for declaring the employment of relatives;
• a separate provision to meet the salary costs of staff who support Members in carrying out their duties.
3 October: regarding the proposed take-over of HBOS by Lloyds TSB, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) issued a statement giving its support to the alliance that is being led by the Scottish Government and that is supported by the other political parties, the business community, trade unions and civic groups, to maximise the benefit of the merger and minimise any potential negative impacts to Scotland.
6 October: Alex Salmond, First Minister, launched the Renewable Energy Framework which includes proposals for a tenfold increase in the levels of renewable energy used for heat and transport in Scotland. Mr Salmond said he was confident of meeting the interim target of 31% of Scotlands electricity from renewables by 2011.
7 October: the Scottish Government and COSLA reached an agreement on the extra funding needed to offset the pressures on the police service and the fire and rescue service caused by a record number of retirals. Under the deal the Scottish Government will provide an extra £20 million and the Local Government will also provide an extra £20 million.
8 October: Alex Salmond, First Minister, welcomed the announcement by the Chancellor to introduce a recovery package aimed at stabilising and securing the financial sector. Mr Salmond said he particularly welcomed the action to release term lending into the system, in order to set in motion inter-bank lending and ensure that banks get back to their business of supporting the real economy in order to stave off economic downturn.
8 October: Alex Salmond, First Minister, outlined the Scottish Governments response to the Scottish Broadcasting Commissions recommendations. Mr Salmond said the response will focus on three central aspects:
• delivering a fair share of network production for Scotland;
• creating a new Scottish public service network, as a focal point for the long-term development of Scottish broadcasting;
• strengthening accountability and diversity in broadcasting, to ensure that Scottish interests are fully represented.
10 October: publication of a report by the Scottish Commission for Public Audit on a review of Audit Scotlands corporate governance arrangements. The Commissions recommendations include:
• that the Audit Scotland board should review its role and focus. Legislation on its membership, and methods of appointing the members, should be revised to allow for a clear, independent, non-executive majority, with the Scottish Parliament to manage the appointment of non-executive members;
• that responsibilities in the current public audit structure are not clear or widely understood. The Scottish Government and the Parliament should consider together how a more thorough review could be accommodated within forthcoming legislation.
14 October: Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, announced that five projects are to receive a share of £941,000 from the Scottish Governments new International fund to promote Scotlands colleges and universities to the world. Ms Hyslop said the new fund will support the Governments work to promote international lifelong learning by increasing the capacity of Scotlands colleges and universities to attract and retain students and high calibre staff from across the globe, while improving opportunities for students and staff from Scotland to develop their skills and experience overseas.
17 October: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, stated his intention for Scotland to have a Climate Change Bill able to lead international action. Mr Swinney said the Government will demonstrate that they have listened to the mood of the people of Scotland on the vital issues of emission reduction targets, on the inclusion of international air travel and shipping and on the inclusion of all six greenhouse gases.
21 October: the following joint statement was issued after a meeting between the First Minister, Secretary of State for Scotland, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and CBI Scotland:
This was a very useful and constructive meeting, which included an update on the actions being taken by the UK Government to address difficult economic times, the delivery of the Scottish Government's six-point plan to help business and families, and discussion on areas of flexibility which could increase aggregate demand in Scotland.
It indicates the willingness of both tiers of government to work together and have good channels of communication, and develop initiatives with business, unions, social and other partners including local government, in order to bring forward spending and other measures to stimulate economic activity.
It was agreed that regular contact would be maintained as these initiatives are developed and taken forward.
22 October: new GDP figures show that Scottish GDP rose by 0.1% over the quarter and by 1.8% over the year. John Swinney, Finance Secretary, said that these figures show that Scotlands economy, during huge global uncertainty, was still growing, and at a marginally greater rate than the UK.
26 October: Linda Fabiani, Culture Minister, announced that funding of £190,000 is to be made available to support a series of events planned for next years Homecoming celebrations. Ms Fabiani made the announcement during a visit to New York for promoting Homecoming 2009 to the North American market.
29 October: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, launched Public Contracts Scotland (http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/), which is a free service for suppliers to have easy access to all essential information on public sector business opportunities.
30 October: Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning announced that an additional 51 scholarships of £2,000 will be awarded to students from the US this year to allow them to study at universities in Scotland. The cost of the bursary is shared between the Scottish Government and the host universities, and the overall scheme is managed by Education UK Scotland.
31 October: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, announced that the final outturn report for the 2005-08 Efficient Government programme shows savings of more £1.7 billion against a target of £1.5 billion. Mr Swinney said that money freed up by these savings across the public sector had already been reinvested in public services priorities.
31 October: Linda Fabiani, Culture Minister, announced a programme of events in the run up to Homecoming Scotland for cities and towns across Scotland. One of the main events will be The St Andrews DO taking place in Edinburgh, with free entertainment activities for families, teenagers and adults over the entire St Andrews Day weekend on November 29-30.
Appointments
N/A
Bills
9 October: the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill: Stage 3 was passed by Parliament. The Bill provides for establishing a Scottish Register of Tartans, a Keeper of the Register of Tartans to maintain and oversee the new registrations, and the process for registering new tartan designs in the Register.
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
3 October: the Equal Opportunities Committee invited academics, retailers, trade unions, consumer bodies and childrens organisations to a roundtable to discuss what can be done about the ever-increasing range of goods in stores which contain sexual images and which appear to be directly aimed at children.
3 October: publication of a report by the Justice Committee which concludes that despite good work being done in Scotland, the majority of Scottish police forces do not have clear community policing strategies. The Committee recommends that community police officers are in post for at least two years and are not regularly called away from their duties to support other police operations.
10 October: the Health and Sport Committee launched the second phase of its inquiry on Pathways Into Sport with a call for written evidence regarding children and sport, community facilities and coaching.
13 October: the Justice Committee recommended support for the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Bill. However, the Committee however raised concerns that the figures provided by the Scottish Government in the Financial Memorandum might not accurately reflect the full costs of the bill.
31 October: publication of a report by the Health and Sport Committee in response to the Scottish governments publication Equally Well. The Committees report states that the current funding allocation formula for GP practices needs to be revised if deep-rooted health inequalities are to be addressed.
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 October: Committee of Inquiry on Crofting: Government Response.
3 October: Consultation on Commission Directive 2008/62/EC on Conservation Varieties.
23 October: Scotland's Budget Documents: The 2008-09 Autumn Budget Revision to the Budget (Scotland) Act for the year ending 31 March 2009.
27 October: Climate Change Consultation on Proposals for a Scottish Climate Change - Scottish Government Response.
29 October: Public Procurement Reform Programme: Tendering for Public Contracts: A short guide for businesses: an overview of how to sell to the public sector in Scotland, the rest of the UK and in Europe.
This page was published on 3 February 2009