Scottish Parliament Committee News
Issue
156, 19th April
Audit
Committee
The Committee considered both a paper on the National
Galleries and an Auditor General report on NHS financial performance in
private.
Communities
Committee
The Bill Team gave evidence on the Housing
(Scotland) Bill. The team
outlined the key objectives of the Bill, which centre on encouragement for
owners of rental property in the private rented sector to take responsibility
for the upkeep and maintenance of their properties. The Bill will contain
sections on tolerable standards changes and will pave the way for single seller
surveys. The Bill will also contain additional rights for disabled people
in the form of maintenance repair and aids and adaptations installations.
Landlords will be encouraged to address this aspect of their properties when
putting them up for rental.
Finance
Committee
The Committee considered written
submissions from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland; CoSLA;
the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; the Scottish Prison Service; and
Strathclyde Joint Police Board to its inquiry into the Financial Memorandum
for the Management
of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill.
Discussion was focused on whether criminal justice authorities will be good
value for money and whether a more efficient and consistent system might deliver
cost savings.
In 2001, the Committee commissioned a research report entitled "The Real Scope for Change: Appraising the extent to which the Parliament can suggest changes to programme expenditure". The original report’s remit was to "appraise the extent to which the parliament can suggest changes to programme expenditure," by distinguishing those "elements of the budget which are non-discretionary from those which are discretionary." The report (Midwinter and Stevens 2001) found that 20% of the Scottish Budget is committed through ring-fencing; contractual agreement; or demand-led programmes whose expenditure is determined mainly by uptake of entitlements, leaving 80% of the budget for which expenditure is discretionary. The Committee agreed that it was appropriate to update the report - to quantify the extent to which the discretionary / non-discretionary programme split has altered in the years of growth; to identify the cost of new policy developments within the period; and to asses whether any redistribution within the base budget has taken place.
Health
Committee
The Health
Committee agreed a number of pieces of subordinate legislation, before
moving into private session. The Committee also held an extremely successful
public event last Monday on ‘Reshaping the NHS in Scotland’. The
feedback from the event has been extremely positive and it is expected that the
Committee will go forward with similar events in the future.
Justice
1 Committee and Justice
2 Committee
The
two Committees held a joint meeting where
further evidence was taken from Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, on Justice
and Home Affairs in Europe.
Justice
1 Committee
The Committee considered correspondence
from Deputy Minister for Justice, Hugh Henry, on the Protection
of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill.
Justice
2 Committee
A number of items surrounding the Management
of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill
were taken in private.
Local
Government and Transport Committee
The Committee continued gathering evidence
on the Licensing
(Scotland) Bill last week, questioning,
amongst others, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA); and the British
Retail Consortium. A range of issues were raised, including a call from
the SLTA to reduce the over-provision of licences and increase the range of
licences available. The SLTA claimed that overprovision has led to heavily
discounted promotions, which can contribute to irresponsible drinking. They also
highlighted the need for both on and off sale trades to play an equal role in
reducing irresponsible drinks promotions. The BRC stated that many traders were
already implementing good practice with regards to off-sales, and there were a
number of probing questions a by Committee members on this issue.
Procedures
Committee
The
Committee continued evidence taking for its inquiry into the Sewel Convention,
questioning Bill Aitken (CON), Mark Ballard (GRN), George Lyon (LD) and Margo
MacDonald (IND).
Subordinate
Legislation Committee
The main issue considered was Subordinate
Legislation surrounding the
Smoking,
Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill. The
Committee looked at the information provided by the Executive on what
constituted a "smoking" and "no-smoking" premises.
Other Committee Homepages:
Education
Committee
Enterprise
& Culture Committee
Environment
and Rural Development Committee
Equal
Opportunities Committee
European
and External Relations Committee
Public
Petitions Committee
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Report to the People ] [ Interact ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ Directgov ] [ Scottish Parliament ]