Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 105, 11^th March 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE

The main items of business in the Committee Rooms this week are:

• Procedures takes evidence on Parliamentary Questions from the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Patricia Ferguson.
• Education begins stage 2 of the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupil’s Records) (Scotland) Bill.
• Health takes evidence from the tobacco industry on Nicola Sturgeon's Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Scotland) Bill.
• Standards considers complaints against Alex Johnstone.
• Social Justice considers its response to the Executive’s consultation on Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 – Draft Guidance and Orders for the Implementation of Scottish Secure Tenancy and Right to Buy.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

CARE STANDARDS SET FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
National standards published today aim to improve the quality of life for children and young people using care services across Scotland.

Early education and childcare, care homes and residential schools are covered by the three new sets of care standards.

Under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, Ministers have a duty to prepare and publish a set of national care standards covering a wide range of services. These will be taken into account by the new Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission), which becomes operational in April 2002. The Care Commission will take over responsibility for registration and inspection of care services across Scotland. A new Scottish Social Services Council will regulate the social care workforce.

The National Care Standards Committee (NCSC) was set up in September 1999 to develop draft national care standards. The NCSC carried out this work with the help of a number of working groups, consisting of service providers, experts in particular fields, as well as people who use services and carers. To date, 12 sets of standards have been published.

Full Story

TOURISM BLUEPRINT PUBLISHED
A working blueprint designed to reinvigorate the tourism industry, to out-class competitors and make Scotland a ‘must-visit’ destination has been launched today.

The Tourism Framework for Action develops and takes forward the actions contained in the National Tourism Strategy which was published in February 2000. The document identifies three priorities for the development of tourism in Scotland. These are:

• Market Position – To develop a better and stronger position with clearly defined brands and products to appeal to and meet customer needs;
• Consumer Focus – To drive up standards of quality, develop new and enhanced products and services, improve customer research and skills in the industry; and
• Enhanced Status of Tourism – To ensure the importance of tourism to the Scottish economy is recognised.

More than 20,000 businesses depend on tourism for their success and profitability. Tourism supports approximately 193,000 jobs, 8% of the workforce.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY is largely dominated by a series of Committee debates.

The first is a short debate from the Procedures Committee on its report on Substitution on Committees of the Scottish Parliament.

While hardly the talk of the wash house, this is an idea which has been discussed for some time among those concerned with business management in the Parliament. It would allow an MSP who is not a member of a Committee to stand in for a member on that committee who, for urgent reasons, cannot attend a meeting. It is envisaged that this would only be permissible in very limited circumstances, such as the Committee member being required to attend another Committee; very pressing personal reasons; or emergency constituency business.

The Procedures Committee, therefore, undertook an investigation into the issue and concluded:

• The nomination of substitutes was a matter for the parties;
• There should only be one substitution per party per committee;
• Single individuals or single-member parties would not be permitted to appoint a substitute to a committee;
• There should be a system of named substitutes;
• The clerk should be notified of the name of the substitute;
• Substitutes should take a full part in committee proceedings, including voting;
• A substitute can attend in place of the convenor or deputy convenor, but will act as an ordinary member;
• Substitutes should not be reporters (except in exceptional circumstances where the substitute is due to serve for an extended period, because, for example, of the long term illness of the regular member);
• It would not be permitted for substitute members to attend only part of a meeting. To limit disruption and preserve continuity there should be no part–substitutes.

Click here to read the report in full

This is followed by an equally brief debate from the Standards Committee on its report on Investigation of Unauthorised Disclosures.

Following a number of leaks of confidential drafts of Committee reports, the Standards Committee carried out an investigation and concluded that amendments to Standing Orders are required. The Committee, therefore, is proposing:

• An amendment ensuring that the provisions on confidentiality apply to confidential material or information as well as draft Committee reports;
• A provision prohibiting Members from giving "off the record" briefings on the general contents or "line" of draft Committee reports or other confidential material or information; and
• A prohibition on Members who dissent from Committee reports from disclosing their contents whilst they remain confidential.

Click here to read the report in full

The last of the afternoon's Committee debates is a lengthier discussion of the Justice 1 Committee's report on its Legal Aid Inquiry.

The main recommendation of the report is that the lower capital limit for qualifying for legal aid should be up-rated in line with inflation dating back to 1983 and up-rated on an annual basis thereafter.

The Committee was also concerned that a member of the public has no means of knowing how much experience or expertise a solicitor will have in a particular area of law. The number of actions undertaken by a firm, it was argued, does not necessarily equate to the quality of service that will be provided. The committee therefore recommends that the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland work together to develop and implement proposals to help people find out who has expertise in specific areas of law.

Click here to read the report in full

The day concludes with a Private Member's Debate on Commonwealth Day 2002 from Lord James Douglas Hamilton (CON).

THURSDAY morning is dedicated to two SNP debates on Nuclear Power Stations and the NHS.

Again, as neither motion has been published, the precise focus of the debates is unclear.

However, the Nuclear Power Stations debate may be similar to last week's SNP debate on the issue at Westminster. This focussed on whether the issue was the responsiblility of the Scottish or Westminster Parliament. The SNP argued that there was confusion on the issue. The government, though, countered that it was perfectly clear: Westminster is responsible for UK energy policy and Holyrood is responsible for granting planning permission to any new nuclear power station.

Click here to last Tuesday's Westminster debate

There is, however, no indication of on what the NHS debate will concentrate and no further information is available at this stage.

The full text of both motions will appear in the Business Bulletin in due course. The full transcript of the debates will be available in the Official Report from 08:00 on Friday.

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there is the Stage 1 debate of the Scottish Qualifications Authority Bill.

This Bill seeks to reform the structure of the SQA, changing its Management Committee while leaving it as a Non-Departmental Public Body.

Currently, the Education (Scotland) Act 1996 provides that the SQA board must comprise between 16 and 25 members (including the chair and the chief executive). In its report into the failings of the SQA in Summer 2000, the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee commented that a board of this size was large and unwieldy and that a board of seven to nine, plus a chief executive, would be more appropriate and would allow more focus. The Executive agrees that a smaller board should be introduced and that the focus of the board should be on the governance and management of the SQA.

The Bill also confers a power on Ministers to make regulations on issues relating to the proceedings of the board, such as the frequency of board meetings, if the board is seen to be failing to manage its own proceedings effectively.

Ministers will also be able to make regulations for a Ministerial representative to participate in board meetings. That representative would provide a direct channel for the Scottish Ministers’ views to be passed to the SQA board and for the board’s views to be relayed to the Scottish Ministers.

To promote close participation between the various stakeholders, a new Advisory Council is also proposed. The Advisory Council will have a remit to provide advice on the SQA’s functions as laid down in the 1996 Act, and to consider issues such as standards and assessment in relation to the SQA’s own qualifications and awards. The Bill places a statutory duty on the SQA and the Advisory Council to consult each other on all relevant matters.

Click here to read the Bill as introduced
Click here to read the Explanatory Notes
Click here to read the Policy Memorandum

The week's Parliamentary Business closes with a Private Member's Debate on the Continuing Presence of BSE and New Variant CJD from Ken Macintosh (LAB).

[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Articles ] [ Calendar ] [ Contacts ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]

[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]

Previous Page