Committee News
Issue 87, 3rd December 2002
Audit Committee
The Committee took evidence last week from a range of SEPA
officials on the Follow Up Report on Performance Measurement
in SEPA. The Committee expressed concern that, in terms of
performance, SEPA was too often in effect being able to audit
itself, and felt there should be more scrutiny of its performance
from the Executive.
The Committee then took evidence from the Scottish Executive’s Principal Finance Officer and its Head of Public Body and Executive Agency Policy Unit on the report How Government Works in Scotland. The Committee agreed this had been a very worthwhile baseline exercise for the Auditor General to have undertaken.
Education, Culture & Sport Committee
Last week’s meeting saw the Committee taking evidence from
SportScotland. This week the Committee will begin its
consideration of the Protection of Children Bill
at Stage 2 and will discuss correspondence with the Scottish
Media Group. The Committee has written to SMG asking for an
update on the proposed sale of its publishing arm, but has yet to
receive a reply.
Enterprise & Lifelong Learning
Committee
Last week, the Committee met in private and considered its
draft report on its Inquiry into tourism and agreed a
number of changes. The same item continues this week.
Equal Opportunities Committee
Last week Cathy Peattie (LAB)
circulated a report on her meeting with the Equality Network
and Michael McMahon (LAB) reported that the Committee will hold a
special meeting with the Chhokhar family and
representatives of the Chhokhar campaign on 16th
December. The rest of the meeting was held in private.
This week the Committee will hear from the Scottish Steering Group for the European Year of Disabled People 2003, which is intended to raise the profile of disability issues in Scotland, the UK and across Europe. In private, the Committee will consider its approach to the Criminal Justice Bill at Stage 2.
European Committee
As has been mentioned before, European Committee papers are now a
large bundle of reports on EU meetings, which are of interest to
the specialist but have to be sifted for any items of general
interest. This week, there are concerns about the transposition
of directives on GM and waste incineration. There will
also be evidence for the Committee’s Inquiry into corporate
social responsibility from an academic and CoSLA.
Finance Committee
This week the Committee will meet to elect a new
Convener. The Committee will also consider a paper on
the handling of cross-cutting expenditure reviews.
The two current reviews are on Children and Poverty and
Regeneration as delivered through the voluntary sector, and they
are nearing completion. The report recommends that the successor
Committee should be encouraged to conduct such a review in the
next financial year, but that in future reviews should take place
one at a time.
The Committee will also consider an invitation to attend the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees in February. In private, the Committee will consider a draft report at Stage 2 of the Budget process 2003-04.
Health & Community Care Committee
The Committee took further evidence last week for its Inquiry
on GM crops, from an academic from Liverpool University,
as well as from the Scottish Executive, the Food Standards
Agency, the Scottish Crop Research Institute and Bayer
CropScience. Issues raised included the fact that all the
information on the issue appears to be in publications from
toxicoloigists rather than medical journals. Nicola Sturgeon
(SNP) challenged the Chief Medical Officer on his current
position on GM Crops, as it is distanced from the critical report
published by the BMA while he was its secretary.
In private, the Committee considered a draft Stage 1 Report on the Mental Health Bill. The completed Stage 1 Report will be available on Wednesday.
This week, the Committee will consider a progress report on petitions and a draft report on its Inquiry into GM crops.
Justice 1 Committee
Last week, the Committee started taking evidence for its
Inquiry into alternatives to custody. The Association of
Directors of Social Work, somewhat unsurprisingly, asked for
extra resources. An interesting paper discussed other European
approaches: for example, Finland has dramatically reduced its
prison population, but does not have a philosophy of
rehabilitation.
Evidence also began on Margo Macdonald’s (SNP) Prostitution Tolerance Zones (Scotland) Bill. Submissions from police organisations uniformly said that such zones would be a magnet for crime and that the Bill has many difficulties: the Police Federation is particularly hostile to ‘setting aside the law of the land’ and argues that we must ‘challenge the notion that prostitution is inevitable’.
Yet another Committee report has been leaked, this time on the regulation of the legal profession. The Committee is asking Standards to reconsider the whole matter.
This week sees a discussion on prisons, with evidence from Clive Fairweather amongst others.
Justice 2 Committee
Last week there were two more meetings on the Criminal
Justice Bill at stage 2. The sections of the Bill covered
were those on the release of prisoners on licence and those on
children. Conservative attempts to increase the portion of a
sentence which must be served in custody were defeated. As well
as amendments, there was evidence on human trafficking.
The Bill continues at two meetings this week, including evidence on sectarianism from the Association of Chief Police Officers and Nil by Mouth.
Local Government Committee
The Committee has now considered the Local Government
Bill at Stage 2 for the final time. An Executive
amendment at last week's meeting to deal with the housing debt of
local authorities which transfer their housing into community
ownership was rejected. The amendment would have allowed Scottish
Ministers to make direct payments to funding providers; there was
some confusion however over whether this would apply only in
cases where stock transfer had taken place or could be used in
other circumstances. Amendments passed included Executive
measures to increase the flexibility for local authority
investment and to place a duty on local authorities to improve
private water supplies. An amendment lodged by Sylvia Jackson
(LAB) to allow councils to charge parents who live within walking
distance of schools for places on school buses was also passed.
The Committee then turned to Tricia Marwick’s (SNP) PR Bill, with evidence from the Deputy Finance and Public Services Minister, Peter Peacock, Professor Bill Miller and Tricia Marwick herself. Peter Peacock reiterated the Executive’s view that the Bill is ‘unnecessary and ill-conceived’. The minister also reiterated the Executive’s commitment to publishing a Bill to include STV before the next election but stated that this would be merely one of a range of measures needed to renew local democracy. Professor Miller argued that for PR to be introduced there should be substantial evidence of the need for change; he suggested that this was not yet established and that other measures, such as compulsory voting, would better improve turnout. Tricia Marwick suggested that her Bill was introduced due to lack of action by the Executive and that the main issue for the Committee when deciding on it was simply whether or not they were in favour of STV.
This week the Committee will turn to Stage 2 consideration of the Public Appointments & Public Bodies Bill, before taking evidence for its Inquiry into allotments from the Executive. Members will then be considering draft Stage 1 reports on Dog Fouling and PR. They also have a piece of subordinate legislation to consider on the Scottish Local Government Elections Regulations 2002 (Draft); the subordinate legislation Committee has pointed out that this is defectively drafted in some respects.
Procedures Committee
The Committee continued its Consultative Steering
Group Inquiry last week, completing consideration of the paper on
Accountability and beginning consideration of a
paper on Power Sharing.
The Committee agreed unanimously that non-MSPs should not be allowed to address parliament during plenary debates on legislation. However, following a recommendation from the CSG and the Equal Opportunities Committee, it is still being considered whether non-MSPs should be allowed to be members of Committees. The Committee will continue discussions on the paper at its next meeting.
The Committee also agreed a change in Standing Orders to allow the Audit Committee to consider certain reports of the Auditor General for Scotland, and will report on this to the Parliament.
Social Justice Committee
This week the Committee will be taking evidence on the Homelessness
Bill from Des McNulty, in his new role as Deputy Minister
for Social Justice. Discussion is likely to surround the
resources available to support the Bill’s provisions, the
effects of the termination of local connection arrangements and
the timing of the phasing out of the intentionality category as a
means of assessing a person’s entitlement to support.
Standards Committee
This week the Committee will consider its review of Cross-Party
Groups. The papers raise issues around the Code of Conduct
for CPGs with a view to amending it. It covers areas such as the
rules on establishing a group, the finances of groups, and what
happens on dissolution of groups.
The Committee will receive an update on the recruitment process for the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner from the Convener.
The Committee will consider a report from the Standards Adviser on a complaint about an MSP.
Transport & the Environment
Committee
Last week the Water Environment & Water Services
Bill continued at stage 2. Amendments to make sub-basin
planning mandatory were rejected, but the Executive will
introduce other provisions later in the Bill. The Executive also
accepted amendments from members on strengthening consultation.
There was also subordinate legislation authorising the release of genetically modified organisms. This essentially continued with existing policy: Robin Harper (GRN) moved then withdrew an amendment that would have passed the order but expressed concern about doing so, and the order was passed by five votes to four.
This week, the Water Bill continues, and there will be evidence and discussion on the highly controversial designation order for the Cairngorms National Park. Rural Development is the lead Committee and that is where the vote will be taken: but Transport and the Environment will comment on the contentious hybrid planning powers, where local councils and the park authority will share responsibility.
Other Committee Homepages:
Public Petitions Committee
Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farm Committee
Rural Development Committee
Subordinate Legislation Committee
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