Scottish Parliament Committee News
Issue
168, 8th
Audit
Committee
The Committee met last week to discuss
the Auditor General's reports on The Overview of the Water Industry and
the Section 22 reports on four health boards.
The AGS' report on Scottish Water showed that it has made good progress with the merger of the three previous water authorities; it met its statutory financial targets in its first three years; and has reduced its operating costs significantly. It also noted that Scottish Water has met most of its customer service performance measures, but the Water Commissioner still considers that its performance is below that of England and Wales. The AGS concluded that there is scope for further improvements in Scottish Water's efficiency and performance.
The health boards being reported on were: Argyll and Clyde, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Western Isles. They were all subject to section 22 reports because of budgetary overspend, although NHS Highland's was due to a discrepancy in accounting of a PFI contract. NHS Western Isles also breached EC procurement regulations.
Communities
Committee
The Committee completed Stage 2 of the Housing
(Scotland) Bill and heard from the
Minster for Communities on a number of amendments. The only amendments
accepted by the Executive were tabled by Cathie Craigie (LAB) and covered the
issue of the licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
Enterprise
& Culture Committee
Last week's meeting heard from Culture
Minister, Patricia Ferguson, on the Sewel Motion relating to the London
Olympics Bill. The Sewel essentially deals with the arrangements
to safeguard merchandising and ticketing arrangements as well as lighting and
litter during events to be held in Glasgow. Unexpectedly, SNP members did
not cause a fuss, although it remains to be seen what position they will adopt
when the motion comes before the full Parliament later this week. The
Committee was reassured by the Minister that any budgetary matters will be met
by the Olympic Development Agency (ODA) and that the ODA will not interfere in
devolved matters.
The Committee also dealt with the Scottish Executive's budget, again hearing from Patricia Ferguson and also the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Nicol Stephen. Ms Ferguson reassured members that there will be a continuation of the investment which has seen positive outcomes in tourism and the arts - examples include visitscotland's successful marketing strategy which has increased the number of American visitors to Scotland at a time when there has been a prevailing downward trend in the number of US visitors visiting the UK.
The enterprise agencies were also questioned about the budget and the issue of research and development was again raised.
Environment
and Rural Development Committee
The Committee continued
taking evidence on Mike Pringles' (LD) proposed plastic bag tax.
Last week, the Irish experience was shared via videolink. In their
evidence, the Irish Office of the Revenue Commissioners said that their levy on
plastic bags had been a success, mainly in reducing the visible litter caused by
the bags. However, the amount raised by the levy remains buoyant, which
suggests that it is not making people move away from using plastic bags.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government's evidence
supports this conclusion, noting that the primary purpose of the levy in Ireland
was as a litter control measure rather than to discourage plastic waste going to
landfill. It states that the levy has not reduced the levels of plastic
bags going to landfill, but has had a huge impact on visible litter.
The Committee also discussed the Executive's proposed Crofting Bill and received assurances from Deputy Environment Minister, Rhona Brankin, on the future of crofting, modernising the rights of crofting tenants, the role of the crofting commission and the relationship between crofting and new housing developments. These issues will be discussed in further detail when the Bill comes before the Committee at Stage 1.
Equal
Opportunities Committee
The Committee took evidence from Deputy
Communities Minister, Johann Lamont, on the Budget Process 2006/07 regarding
targets. It is drafting a report which members will consider at their next
meeting.
The Committee also took written evidence from the Commission for Racial Equality and the on the independent review into policing and race relations in Scotland. The written evidence from the commission made a number of recommendations and the Committee agreed that they will keep an eye on this issue.
Finance
Committee
For its cross-cutting Inquiry into
deprivation, the Finance Committee took evidence from the Glasgow,
West Dunbartonshire and Fife Community Planning Partnerships, Scottish
Enterprise Glasgow, the Greater Glasgow and Fife Health Boards, along with West
Dunbartonshire Council and Fife Council. The Glasgow City Council Leader
said that more government funding is required to tackle unemployment and drug
addiction in Glasgow. The Council’s written submission argues that efforts to
eradicate deprivation were being hindered by too much cash being ring-fenced by
the Executive. The Executive has established an independent Budget Review
Group, with a remit to examine whether the Executive has delivered on its
priorities in the Partnership Agreement and to propose a realignment of
spending, such as recommendations for savings. Given the short timescale
for the Review Group to report (by February 2006), the budget adviser, Professor
Arthur Midwinter, prepared a draft submission to the Group which covers the
Committee’s ongoing concerns that monitoring spending against priorities is
difficult because problems remain over transparency. The Committee
discussed the paper and agreed to discuss a further draft at its next meeting.
Health
Committee
Members
took evidence on the Abolition
of NHS Prescription Charges (Scotland) Bill from a panel of 14
witnesses. James Semple of the Scottish Pharmaceutical Federation (SPF)
expressed his dissatisfaction with the Bill. Mr. Semple felt that
prescription charges are an essential barrier to frivolous prescription use and
waste. He also said that only 9% of prescriptions are paid for and that
this low percentage indicates that those who have to pay only buy what they
need. The Scottish Campaign to Remove All Prescription Charges (SCRAP)
claimed that there were 75,000 who don’t get prescriptions because of the
cost. The figure, though, was disputed by the SPF and the SCRAP
representative admitted to not knowing where the figure was taken from.
Dr. Benison of the Royal College of General Practitioners felt that no one would buy over the counter medications if prescription charges were abolished. She also felt this would put extra workload on GPs because people who could take care of minor ailments with over the counter products would fill a GP waiting room to get prescriptions, hindering GPs from helping those who truly need to see a doctor. Mr. Semple shared her concerns.
Very little was accomplished and nothing was agreed upon, except that currently the status quo prescription plan is ineffective.
Justice
1 Committee
The Committee met to consider
the Family
Law (Scotland) Bill
at Stage 2. The main area of discussion over a two hour period was that of
divorce timing. Proposals to reduce the separation period for divorce from
two years to one year were narrowly defeated. The Executive had also
wanted the time reduced from five years to two in cases where there was no
consent. Deputy Justice Minister, Hugh Henry, had argued that by imposing
long time limits denied people the opportunity to move on with their lives.
However the Committee decided by four votes to three that couples should be
separated for a compromise position of 18 months before divorce. Ken McIntosh
(LAB) also put forward an amendment on Jewish marriage. Marlyn Glen (LAB)
had some concerns with the amendment but after prolonged discussion his
amendment was agreed.
Justice
2 Committee
Last week's meeting took more evidence on the Police,
Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill. Those giving
evidence included representatives from the Faculty of Advocates, the Law Society
of Scotland and the Crown Office. There was nothing contentious
during the meeting. The meeting also agreed that Annabel Goldie
(CON), Bill Butler (LAB) and Stewart Maxwell (SNP) should attend the Old Firm
game on 9th November as guests of Strathclyde Police to witness policing methods
at the match.
Local
Government and Transport Committee
The Committee concentrated on the Budget
Process this week and took evidence from two panels concerning the
achievability of efficiencies in Local Government. In his evidence, Deputy
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, George Lyon, was reluctant to
endorse that it was expected, as announced by the Minister for Finance and
Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe, that Council Tax rises would sit at about
2.5%. He did concede, however, that "Councils should keep it [rises]
as near to this figure as they can".
Standards
Committee
The Committee agreed to review sections of the
Code of Conduct for MSPs - Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act and
considered and agreed, subject to minor amendments, a draft response to a call
for evidence from the Justice 1 Committee on the Scottish
Commissioner for Human Rights Bill.
Subordinate
Legislation Committee
A busy meeting began by considering a legal
briefing on the delegated powers in the Management
of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill,
as amended at Stage 2. On the transfer of functions to Community Justice
Authorities, the Committee noted that the Bill had been amended at Stage 2 to
include a duty on Ministers to consult with the relevant local authorities and
with the CJA before laying a draft order before the Parliament. The
Committee recalled that this issue had been discussed at Stage 1 and at that
time the Executive had indicated that it did not consider it was necessary to
include specific duties to consult on the Bill. The Committee was interested to
know why the Executive had changed its position on this matter. The
Executive's reply stated that, in the circumstances of this case, the measures
proposed are appropriate even though they represent a departure from the
Executive's normal practice. The Committee noted the Executive's response.
The Committee also sought clarification from the Executive on issues concerning the release of Sexual Offenders contained in the new section 1AA of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings Act. The Committee considered the Executive response and it is thought that this now appears to relate to policy rather than delegated powers and is therefore not part of the Committee’s remit.
Other Committee Homepages:
Education Committee
European and External Relations Committee
Procedures Committee
Public Petitions Committee
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