Issue 73 - March 2008
Events
4 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, had a meeting in Oslo with Ms Helga Pedersen, Norwegian Fisheries Minister. They discussed alternatives to the Common Fisheries Policy, sustainable fishing practices and how the two Governments can work together in the future.
5 March: Kenny MacAskill, Justice Secretary, unveiled a new scheme of Work Orders where alleged offenders who are too poor to be considered for a fine could be offered community-based reparation work as an alternative.
5 March: Alex Salmond, First Minister, said he was happy that the UK Government agreed with the Scottish Government's wish to reinvigorate the inter-governmental Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) aimed at establishing a formal framework for structured relations between Westminster and the UK's devolved administrations. It was agreed to start with a JMC in May chaired by Paul Murphy.
9 March: Fiona Hislop, Education and Lifelong Learning Secretary, announced a package of measures to support the higher and further education sectors. The package includes £10 million for universities to assist them meet current pressures and £10 million for colleges to allow further strategic investment in key priority areas.
10 March: reforms to Scotland's summary system came into force. The new measures, passed by the Scottish Parliament last year will:
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reduce in summary (non-jury) courts, enabling many victims and witnesses to see cases dealt with more quickly and efficiently;
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lead to more effective disposal of cases and a reduced burden on the courts and other criminal justice agencies;
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provide a more immediate link between offence and punishment.
10 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced funding of £57.7 million to grow local economies, improve rural facilities and conserve the environment. The funding, under the LEADER programme, is divided into two main allocations: £38.5 million for the whole of rural Scotland and an additional £19.2 million for the Highlands and Islands.
11 March: publication of the findings of an independent panel appointed by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) to carry out a full-scale review of the Parliament's Allowances Scheme. The report sets out 68 recommendations, including abolition of mortgage interest and better provision for MSPs' staff.
11 March: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, announced the start of a
four month consultation for the introduction of a local income tax instead
of the council tax.
The consultation proposes:
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a 3% rate of tax applied to the income that is already subject to basic and higher rates of UK income tax;
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a tax free personal allowance that matches the UK personal allowance levels;
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collection that complements the existing national system through Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and self-assessment;
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exemptions for savings and investment income;
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a tax for second homes, subject to local requirements and with flexibility for councils to determine the rate of tax. It is proposed this will be collected by councils.
11 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced that the Government is making £2.5 million a year available over the next three years to support community recycling projects.
12 March: publication of a report on a study into economic impacts of wind farms on Scottish tourism. The report states that harnessing Scotland's renewables potential will have minimal impact on the growth of Scotland's tourism industry. It takes into account both positive and negative effects of wind farms on tourism to model the impact on tourism revenues and the economy if all onshore wind farms are consented and built.
12 March: John Swinney, Finance Secretary, announced that the UK's Budget Statement damages Scotland's Scotch whisky industry with the 9% tax rise. Mr Swinney added that the Budget also signals that public spending will continue to be tighter over the next Comprehensive Spending Review period beginning in 2011, and with pubic spending increases significantly constrained, said is was clear that Scotland must expect a tight spending settlement for the next six years, at a time when North Sea revenues are making a massive contribution to UK finances.
17 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced the opening a new £60 million scheme to help develop and promote Scottish food. The scheme offers support to help food businesses access the supply chain, they must however also demonstrate their environmental credentials and show they are making efforts to develop healthier food.
18 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment had a private meeting with Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel to ensure changes to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) recognise Scotland's unique farming industry. Mr Lochhead said that in principle the Commissioner and some other member states are close to Scotland's position on a number of issues but await the Commission's formal proposal to be published in May.
19 March: publication of the Scottish Government's response to the Gould Report: Independent Review of the Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections. Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliamentary Business, said that Ron Gould's report on the administrative fiasco of the election in May 2007 described in detail the complicated systems and structures that have been created over the years to manage the elections. Mr Crawford said that the Government agrees with Ron Gould's view, that the responsibility be assigned to 'one jurisdictional entity' and that the Scottish Government be 'the logical institution'. Mr Crawford said that as well as this important recommendation, the Government plans to take forward the other recommendations of the Gould report.
26 March: Alex Salmond, First Minister, challenged the recently formed constitutional commission to put forward the proposals they develop to be included in a referendum on Scotland's constitutional future. Mr Salmond stated that this Government believes that independence of Scotland offers the best prospects for growing prosperity but added that he recognised there is a range of other views in our country, and represented in the Parliament, and believes that these should continue to be debated as part of the National Conversation. He explained that this is his reason for challenging the constitutional review to develop their proposals so they can be included in a referendum.
27 March: publication of the second Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) setting out the Scottish Government's proposals for sustainable capital investment. John Swinney, Finance Secretary, said the IIP includes for the first time local authority capital plans over the next five years as well as web links to many policy and investment strategies in the public section which support the Plan.
28 March: Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, announced a new £17 million Climate Challenge Fund to be made available over the next three years and would give communities across Scotland an opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint. Mr Lochhead said the application process will be kept as simple as possible and support will be provided throughout.
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Appointments
7 March: the Queen, on the recommendation of the First Minister, appointed Mr William David Hamilton Sellar, Solicitor, to be Lord Lyon King of Arms. The Lord Lyon has both administrative and judicial functions. The administrative functions include the granting of armorial bearings and the judicial functions include ruling who has the right to bear an existing coat of arms.
Bills
No Bills were passed by Parliament in March.
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
6 March: launch of an inquiry by the Public Petitions Committee on the availability of cancer treatment drugs on the NHS.
13 March: publication of a report by the Local Government and Communities Committee containing their conclusions and recommendations on the handling of the calling-in process by the Scottish Government over the application for outline planning permission for a proposed development at the Menie Estate near Balmedie submitted to Aberdeenshire Council on behalf of Trump International Golf Links (Scotland). The Committee considered that the actions of the Scottish Government in relation to this application had been driven by their reaction to a decision properly taken by Aberdeenshire Council rather than good planning reasons.
18 March: publication of a report by the Parliament's Subordinate Legislation Committee calling for a Scottish Government bill to streamline and improve the scrutiny of secondary legislation.
18 March: launch of an inquiry by the Parliament's Justice Committee on the effectiveness of community policing in Scotland. The Committee will try to establish a clear definition of community policing and consider the structure and priority given to it by Scottish police forces.
20 March: the Parliament's Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee called for evidence on the general principles of the Creative Scotland bill. The bill aims to establish a new national cultural development body called Creative Scotland. The new body will inherit the resources and general purposes of two current public bodies, the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, both of which will cease to operate.
26 March: the Parliament's Local Government Committee held an event with Save the Children, Bernardo's Scotland, One Parent Families and Scotland's Disabled children to discuss child poverty.
27 March: the Finance Committee launched a review of the Parliament's process for scrutinising the Scottish Government's budget.
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 March 2008 include:
11 March: Evaluation of the Scottish Executive-led Programme During Tartan Week 2007: findings from a study commissioned by the Scottish Executive to evaluate Tartan Week 2007.
11 March: A Fairer Local Tax for Scotland: consultation document on abolishing the council tax and replacing it with a local income tax.
14 March: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child (UNCRC) Explained: a report on children's rights in Scotland
19 March: Scottish Elections 2007: Scottish Government Response to the Independent Review of The Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 3 May 2007.
19 March: Decoupling the Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections: Consultation Paper.
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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.
This page was published on 29 October 2008