Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 111, 22^nd April 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE

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

• Procedures takes further evidence for the CSG Inquiry;
• Finance hears from Finance Minister, Andy Kerr, as part of its PFI/PPP Inquiry;
• Public Petitions considers a petition from Peterhead prisoners calling for Peterhead to remain open;
• Rural Development takes evidence for the Integrated Rural Development Inquiry;
• European returns to the issue of the Water Framework Directive;
• Justice 1 takes evidence from the Prison Officers Association for the Prison Estates Review Inquiry;
• Education returns to considering its approach to a petition on health education resources in schools;
• Local Government takes evidence on the 2003-04 Budget from, among others, CoSLA and the STUC.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

PUBLIC ACCESS PROMISE TO INTERNET
Surfing the net on a visit to the local pub, shop, hairdresser or church will soon be possible thanks to a £3.2 million Executive initiative to create a network of 1,000 new Internet access points in areas where current public provision is poor.

Launched today by Social Justice Minister, Iain Gray, the plan says access points should be commonplace in venues such as hairdressing salons, shops, pubs, doctors’ surgeries and bus stations across Scotland by the end of the year.

Up to 4 computers per venue, complete with line rental and Internet service provision for two years, will be fully funded by the Executive. Any service provider who can guarantee public access for at least 40 hours a week can apply to be a host. Successful applicants can charge members of the public no more than one pound per hour to surf.

Further details and an application pack for people wishing to be hosts are available by calling 0845 270 1043.

Full Story

RECORD POLICE NUMBERS
Extra funding provided by the Scottish Executive has resulted in police numbers rising to a new record level. Police strengths have increased from 15,149 in March 2001 to 15,251 in March 2002.

Justice Minister, Jim Wallace, said:

"Police strengths in Scotland reached a record level last year. Today’s figures show that we are sustaining police numbers at that record level.

"The Executive invests over £900 million each year in our police forces. This money is having a direct impact on our streets. Undoubtedly, these numbers will fluctuate over time, but the simple fact is that there are more than 100 extra police officers in Scotland than this time last year."

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

The main business on WEDNESDAY afternoon is the third and final stage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced on 27^th September 2001, the bill aims:

• To establish a legal right of access to information held by a broad range of Scottish public authorities;
• To balance this right with provisions protecting sensitive information;
• To establish a fully independent Scottish Information Commissioner to promote and enforce the Freedom of Information regime;
• To encourage the proactive disclosure of information by Scottish public authorities through a requirement to maintain a publication scheme; and
• To make provision for the application of the Freedom of Information regime to historical records.

Part 1 of the Bill confers a general right of access to information held by Scottish public authorities. It also includes the conditions which need to be fulfilled in order to access the information.

Part 2 lists the categories of information which are exempt from Freedom of Information. These are either absolute exemptions, never to be disclosed (such as the health records of a deceased person); class exemptions, automatically excluded (for example, information concerned with national security); or content exemptions, where exclusion depends on the particular information (an example is law enforcement.)

Part 3 creates the post of Scottish Information Commissioner. The Commissioner will promote good practice, but also, under Part 4, enforce the Freedom of Information regime by mediating between an applicant and an authority in cases where information has been withheld.

The amendments to be considered at stage 3 on Wednesday are to be found in Section G of the Business Bulletin.

Click here to read the Bill as amended at Stage 2
Click here for other related documents

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate from the SNP's Fiona McLeod on UN Children's Summit, 8^th - 10^th May 2002.

THURSDAY morning is devoted to an Executive debate on Modernising Primary Care. (In other words, the services provided by health professionals in clinics and in people’s own homes. It includes GPs, nurses, health visitors, dentists, optometrists, pharmacists and other specialists. 90% of patient contact is handled at this level.)

At the time of writing, however, the motion has not been published and so the precise focus of the debate and whether any announcement will be made, is not known.

It will, though, be published in the Business Bulletin shortly and the full transcript will be available from the Official Report at 08:00 on Friday morning.

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there is an Executive debate on Scotland's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries.

As with the primary care debate, the motion has not yet been published. However, it is likely that it will concentrate on safeguarding the future of the fisheries.

Again, though, the motion will be published in the Business Bulletin shortly and the full transcript will be available from the Official Report at 08:00 on Friday morning.

Rounding off the day is a Member's Business debate from Cathy Peattie (LAB) on International Workers' Memorial Day.

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