Committee News
Issue 19, 10th January 2001
This week sees the implementation of the new structure for Committees agreed by the Parliament in December. See the Committees’ home page for details.
The Committee will receive a briefing from the Auditor General for Scotland on the Overview of the NHS in Scotland 1999/2000.
Education, Culture & Sport Committee
Wednesday’s meeting is a gentle welcome back for the Committee after the rigours of SQA. They will be considering three petitions: ongoing consideration of the Save Wemyss Ancient Caves Society petition; a petition from the Technology Teachers Association asking for technical / technology education to be a national priority in secondary schools; and the Scottish Traditional Music Lobbying Group calling for increased funding and support.
Finally, in private, the Committee will consider a future work programme which is likely to include a conclusion to the Special Educational Needs inquiry.
Before the recess, the Committee took evidence from the Scottish Refugee Council on the Housing Bill. The Council welcomed the extension of rights to those experiencing homelessness, but did express concerns over whether those measures are made available to refugees, other minorities and people who speak limited or no English.
The Committee also discussed a paper from Michael McMahon (LAB) on the Surjit Singh Chhokar case, outlining the options for the Committee to pursue the matter. It was agreed to await the outcome of the two inquiries set up by the Lord Advocate, after which, if the Committee were not satisfied, they could undertake their own inquiry or call for a public inquiry.
Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Committee
The Enterprise Committee meets on Wednesday to discuss their important report on the Graduate Endowment. This meeting is in private. Given their previous considerations of the report, however, it is likely there will still be debate along party lines on the principle of the endowment and specifically on the threshold where former students would have to start paying their endowment (currently £10,000 p/a).
Health & Community Care Committee
Amongst a large agenda this week, are a few noteworthy items.
First, Deputy Health Minister, Malcolm Chisholm, will answer questions on the UK-wide Tobacco Advertising & Promotion Bill. This bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, will:
The Scottish Parliament passed a Sewel motion in December, inviting Westminster to legislate for us on these devolved matters. Wales and Northern Ireland have also agreed that, given the UK-wide circulation of the media, a common approach is sensible.
Also, an extensive response from the Executive to the Committee’s report on flu vaccination has been tabled. In most cases the response is positive, but the Executive have rejected the proposal for a central or state-owned production facility for vaccine.
The Committee will finalise its response to the Joint Future Group report. This was the group charged by the Executive with improving the implementation of existing community care policy.
Discussions will continue on a single Public Sector Ombudsman, where the Committee has received additional information regarding the impact on the Mental Welfare Commission.
This week, the Committee began taking evidence on the Regulation of Care Bill from the British Association of Social Workers and the Association of Directors of Social Work. Issues raised include the need for a clear definition of a social worker and the argument for one regulatory body rather than the proposed council and commission. The Committee will report their findings to Health as the lead Committee.
In private, the Committee also considered its final response to the Ombudsmen consultation.
The usual heavy Procedures agenda before Christmas covered the timetabling of bills, the use of Gaelic, questions to the Corporate Body, and the operation of Committees, but all of these matters have again been deferred.
The issue of substitutes on Committees is still under consideration and a questionnaire is due to be distributed to MSPs. This has come to the fore with the reduction in Committee size in the new structure. Labour members have been concerned that, if substitutes are to be allowed:
Some members of other parties have talked vaguely of any member with an interest in a particular matter substituting, which Labour members have not found acceptable.
Having already taken preparatory evidence, the Committee begins stage 1 of the Housing Bill by taking evidence from the Scottish Warm Homes Campaign.
Committee members also return to the question of how to proceed with the petition by Action of Churches Together in Scotland, the Scottish Refugee Council and Amnesty International which calls for the Scottish Parliament to give asylum seekers rights of access to various support services and to amend legislation to restore the entitlement to accommodation and cash based support.
The Committee has already taken evidence on the petition, and made clear that while powers over immigration and asylum are reserved to Westminster, they wish to pursue the issue of support services which are devolved.
At its meeting before Christmas, the Committee considered responses to its questionnaire on lobbying. This was a preliminary discussion, with substantive decisions deferred to this month.
The appointment of a permanent Standards Commissioner will require an act of Parliament. It has been agreed to progress this by means of a Committee Bill.
Subordinate Legislation Committee
This week’s meeting took evidence from Executive officials on the Graduate Endowment Bill. Committee members are raising concerns that the Bill is too brief, leaving too much detail to be enacted by ministers in subordinate legislation. These concerns have been reported to Enterprise & Lifelong Learning as the lead Committee.
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