Scottish Parliament Committee News
Environment and Rural Development Committee
The Committee
considered the principles of the Water
Services (Scotland) Bill, taking evidence from the business
community. There was a clear political
divergence between the Conservatives on the Committee who favoured opening the
water industry up to full competition and the rest of the Committee who did
not. Issues discussed included the
competition proposals, the consultation on the future regime and the need to
ensure that sustainable development is considered in the new framework.
Finance Committee
The first item on the agenda was discussion on the upcoming debate on the relocation of public sector jobs. Committee members expressed concern and anger
that the Committee had not received a response to concerns raised with the Deputy
Minister for Finance and Public Services and Parliamentary Business, Tavish Scott. There was a call from some members for a
ruling on the time a Minister should be expected to take to respond to requests
from Committees. The matter was eventually resolved by the Minister for
Parliament, Patricia Ferguson, promising to put into place procedures which
would ensure such a situation does not arise again.
The Committee also took
evidence on the financial memoranda of the Fire
(Scotland) Bill and the Water
Services (Scotland) Bill. On the
latter, the Committee is to consider, among other things, the parts of the Bill
covering water pricing and the charge determination regime; and competition in
the water industry.
Health
Committee
Evidence on the
major workforce planning inquiry began
with a lively session which saw members question Professor Sir John Temple,
Chair of the Short Life Working Group on “Securing Future Practice:
Shaping the New Medical Workforce for Scotland”; Dr Robin Cairncross, Senior Medical Officer at the Scottish
Executive; Professor David Kerr, Chair of the Advisory Group on the National
Framework for Service Change; and Derek Feeley, Head
of National Planning at the Scottish Executive’s Health Department.
Justice 1 Committee
The Committee
considered the draft Stage 1 report of the Emergency
Workers (Scotland) Bill in private.
Justice 2 Committee
There was
discussion of the Prisoner Escort and
Court Custody Services contract and the consideration of a paper by the
clerk. The Committee agreed to defer the matter until after the publication of
the report by the Auditor General when a decision would be taken on whether to
pursue the issue with the Minister for Justice.
Evidence was also taken
on the Fire
(Scotland) Bill. Some concerns
were raised on the issue of Fire Brigade Control Rooms centring on what
progress had been made. There was also an issue surrounding the employment and
training of Police Officers for fire duties. On the matter of the relationship
with other legislation, it was mentioned that there might be some duplication
in areas such as licensing etc. Concern was expressed about who carry licensing
responsibility and whether it would fall to the Fire Authority. Other issues
raised included local training centres; community safety and risk assessment;
and the duty of ministers to consult.
Other Committee
Homepages:
Audit Committee
Education Committee
Communities Committee
Enterprise & Culture Committee
European
and External Relations Committee
Equal Opportunities Committee
Local Government and
Transport Committee
Public
Petitions Committee
Subordinate Legislation Committee
Procedures Committee
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