Scottish Parliament Committee News
Communities Committee
The Committee met on
Wednesday and Deputy Communities Minister, Mary Mulligan, moved a motion on the
Draft Town and Country Planning (Fees
for Applications & Deemed Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2004,
which concerns whether organisations should pay fees when they submit a
planning application. Stewart Stevenson
(SNP) moved against the motion, claiming that no fees should be paid for
applications. After some discussion, a vote
was taken. The SNP voted against, but
the motion was nevertheless approved.
The Committee then
considered the Antisocial
Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill at stage 2. The
for some members controversial issue of dispersal powers was finally
passed after a great deal of discussion.
Donald Gorrie (LIB DEM) had put forward a
number of amendments on this matter, but agreed to vote for the powers. The
substantive motion to remove the dispersal powers from the Bill was put forward
by Bill Aitken (Con).
It was supported by the Mike Rumbles (LIB DEM), but fell by 5 votes to
4. An amendment from Elaine Smith (LAB)
on Short Scottish Secure Tenancies, which would mean that ASBOs
attached to tenancies would not apply to under 16 year olds, was carried by the
Committee.
Education Committee
The Committee took evidence
from the Executive and the Care Commission on the School Education
(Ministerial Powers and Independent Schools) (Scotland) Bill. Members also discussed the budget in private.
Enterprise & Culture Committee
Deputy Minister for
Equal Opportunities Committee
Communities Minister,
Margaret Curran, gives evidence on the Budget
Process. It also heard from Rowena Arshad and Susan Love, both from Widening Access to Council Membership Progress Group.
Finance Committee
Deputy Minister for
Finance and Public Services, Tavish Scott, gave
evidence to the Committee on its inquiry into the relocation of public sector jobs.
Health
Committee
The issue of Hepatitis C was raised again at the
Committee with reference to the Irish compensation scheme. Once again, the Minister stated that the
Irish experience could not be compared to the Scottish experience and that the
Executive’s decision on ex-gratia payments remained the same.
The Minister also stated
that a working group had been established to examine the Framework for Service Change in the NHS.
Justice 1 Committee & Justice 2 Committee
Justice
Committees 1 & 2 met jointly on Tuesday when they took evidence from Lord
Advocate, Colin Boyd QC; a number of other members of the legal fraternity;
Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson; and officials from the Scottish Executive
Justice Department on the Budget Process
for 2005-06. The Committees then met
in private to consider their approach to the draft report on the Budget Process.
Justice 1 Committee
Justice 1 members
also met on Wednesday when they took evidence from a number of sources,
including the Bill Team, on the Emergency Workers
(Scotland) Bill.
Local Government and
Transport Committee
The Local Governance
(Scotland) Bill was being considered at Stage 2. The SNP and SSP
tabled an amendment for 5 member wards which was defeated in a vote. John Farquhar Munro
(LIB DEM) proposed an amendment calling for 2 member wards in the Highlands
& Islands. Exactly how proportional
his party colleagues would consider this to be is a moot point, since the
amendment was defeated. The
Conservatives moved an amendment to scrap an election if 3% of the ballots were
spoilt – this was also defeated.
There was also a discussion on ward boundaries. The debate centred on
whether to base new wards on existing wards or redraw the boundaries
completely. The Boundary Commission has
suggested a complete redraw, which has the support of the majority of the
Committee. As a result, the Executive
withdrew its amendment to work from existing boundaries and will return to the
issue at a later date.
Subordinate Legislation Committee
The Committee met on Tuesday
and considered issues of Delegated
powers Scrutiny, Instruments Subject to Annulment, Instruments Laid before the Parliament and Executive Responses. There were no particularly controversial
issues raised at the meeting, but under Delegated
Powers Scrutiny, the Committee considered the Emergency
Workers (Scotland) Bill. After a wide discussion it was agreed that
the Committee may wish to consider probing the Executive further on its
thinking behind the provisions in the Bill before passing comment on the Bill
as drafted.
Other Committee
Homepages:
Audit Committee
Environment and Rural Development Committee
European
and External Relations Committee
Justice 2 Committee
Public
Petitions Committee
Procedures Committee
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