Scottish Parliament Committee News
Issue 118,
Communities Committee
Last week, the Committee
continued its evidence sessions on the Antisocial
Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill, hearing from the National Autistic
Society and Age Concern
Education Committee
The Committee noted the
petition from the UNISON Scotland Nursery
Nurses Working Group and considered a response from the Executive thereon.
It was agreed to seek further information from the Minister on the timetable
for policy development and review of pre-school education. Members also agreed
to ask the Minister to keep them informed of progress.
The Committee then
considered a response from the Executive on the revised school transport guidelines. It was agreed that Rhona
Brankin (LAB) would be appointed as reporter to the Committee and that it was
necessary to write to the Minister and relevant Committees on the need for
greater integration in this area.
Finally, the Committee
considered a draft Stage 1 report on the Education
(Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill.
Enterprise & Culture Committee
The Committee
heard from three communities opposing windfarm developments
as part of the Inquiry into renewable
energy: North Argyll, Moray and Minoch Moor. The general thrust of the petitions these
groups have brought before Parliament is that wind farms should not be sited in
their area due to the impact they would have on scenery, tourism and, in some
cases, wildlife. Christine Grahame (SNP)
presented the petition relating to Minoch Moor and
sought to claim that the petition was not NIMBY-ish,
simply that the wind farms were proposed in “the wrong place at the wrong
time…”
The Committee also took
evidence from CoSLA, who said that
Environment and Rural Development Committee
Last week’s
meeting considered a negative instrument relating to the End-of-Life Vehicles (Storage and Treatment) (
Members also considered
their forward work programme and
agreed to: i) seek an informal briefing from Scottish
Executive and Scottish Water officials, prior to undertaking formal Stage 1
scrutiny of the proposed Water Services (Scotland) Bill; ii) to seek an
oral briefing from the consultants who are undertaking external research into
sustainable development on behalf of the Committee, once the initial findings
of this research are available; iii) to
appoint a reporter, Rob Gibson (SNP), to attend the Enterprise and Culture
Committee during its consideration of a Sewel Motion on the UK Energy Bill;
iv) to seek further information regarding the Enterprise and Culture
Committee’s Inquiry into Renewable Energy; v) to invite the Minister for
Environment and Rural Development to give evidence to the Committee on the
implementation of CAP Reform and the review of the Rural Development Plan in
Scotland; and vi) to seek evidence from the Minister for Environment and Rural
Development, together with Scottish Executive and Scottish Water officials, in
relation to the Annual Report to Parliament on the implementation of the Water
Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.
The Committee then took
evidence from the Minister and Deputy Minister on the proposed new regulatory regime for chemicals (REACH); the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive; and the outcome of the December Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
Finance Committee
The Committee met on
Tuesday in the Main Chamber and took evidence for its investigation into the Scottish Executive's Relocation Policy from
- Deputy Minister for
Finance and Public Services, Tavish Scott, along with
a number of officials from the relocation Unit in the Scottish Executive. The Committee also considered a petition from
Rob Willox on behalf of “Bo'ness
means Business” regarding Scottish
Water charges to businesses, before considering a paper by the Clerk on the
procedure for handling Stage 2 of the Budget
(
Health
Committee
The Committee
considered 15 petitions on various
health-related issues last week. The Committee also considered papers on the Budget Process and the Work Programme.
Justice 1 Committee
The Committee considered a draft
Stage 1 report into the Criminal
Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill and took evidence from experts
from the
Justice 2 Committee
Last week’s evidence on the Antisocial
Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill came from the Law Society, Deputy
Justice Minister, Hugh Henry and Executive officials.
Local Government and
Transport Committee
Evidence taking on the Local Governance
(Scotland) Bill continues.
Last week’s witnesses were the Association of Electoral
Administrators and the Local Government Boundary Commission for
Procedures Committee
The Committee took evidence
from Paul Grice, Chief Executive of the SPCB and
former MSPs Mike Russell (ex-SNP) and Keith Harding (ex-CON) as part of their
consideration of Non-Executive Bills.
The Committee also reviewed the new arrangements for First Minister’s Question Time and agreed that it should
remain at
Applications to
establish Cross Party groups on
Affordable Housing and
Subordinate Legislation Committee
The meeting last Tuesday
considered delegated powers provision for the Local Governance
(Scotland) Bill. They also
considered a number of Statutory Instruments under the negative procedure.
Other Committee
Homepages:
Audit Committee
Equal Opportunities Committee
European
and External Relations Committee
Public
Petitions Committee
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