Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 115, 20^th May 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

With the Chamber being converted to house the Church of Scotland's General Assembly next week, no Chamber business is taking place.

IN COMMITTEE

Instead, there will be 3 days of Committee meetings, including:

• Procedures is still on the principles of the CSG – evidence this week comes from political journalists (Robbie Dinwoodie and Kenny Farquharson), the STUC and representatives from the voluntary sector.
• Finance hears from the CBI and the Scottish Civic Forum on the budget.
• Public Petitions has various potentially interesting items: high hedges, the Skye Bridge, crooked lawyers, and Robbie the Pict on the stone of destiny.
• Justice 1 continues looking at the Prison Estates Review, hearing from staff at Peterhead.
• European considers structural funds in peripheral regions of the EU.
• Local Government talks about electoral reform with the pro-reformers, including Labour’s Cllr. Andrew Burns.
• Education will consider evidence to date on the School Meals Bill.
• Transport & Environment talks about fish farming with Tesco and Deputy Environment and Rural Development Minister, Allan Wilson; devolves some extra powers to the Scottish Parliament; and considers yet another petition on mobile phone masts.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND
NHS Education for Scotland - a new body which will promote multi-disciplinary training and education for healthcare professions across the country - was launched on Friday.

The new body brings together the three existing bodies - the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, the Post Qualification Education Board for Pharmacists, and the National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland - under a new umbrella forum.

It hopes to build on the experience of these organisations and extend their expertise to support professionals allied to medicine (PAMS) and healthcare scientists, while continuing to address the needs of the staff covered at present.

It is intended to help deliver a more strategic approach to staff development, making the necessary links between different professional groups and helping to underpin new ways of working to support the reform of NHSScotland.

It also seeks to deliver better patient care by investing in staff and deploying them in the most effective way.

NHS Education for Scotland was established on 1st April, 2002, as a new Special Health Board. It will play a pivotal role in the continued development of a highly motivated workforce with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to respond flexibly to changing service needs.

Full Story

SCOTLAND - BELGIUM FERRY LINK LAUNCHED
First Minister Jack McConnell has launched a ferry service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge.

Superfast Ferries will operate two ferry services on a daily basis, shuttling between the Fife terminal and the Belgian port. A one-way crossing takes 17 hours and the ferries will carry a mixture of freight transport and car passengers.

An £11 million Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) was made to Forth Ports by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions, and financed by the Executive, in order to help with the necessary infrastructure at Rosyth and get the new service up and running. FFGs are available under the Transport Act 2000 and the Transport Act (Scotland) 2001 to assist companies with the capital costs of providing facilities to handle freight by rail and water rather than by road. Grants are made in recognition of the environmental and other benefits which rail and water transportation can bring.

The ferry service is expected to remove 2.4 million lorry miles from Scotland’s roads each year by allowing Scottish road hauliers to avoid the long journeys to Teeside, Hull and Dover.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

As mentioned above, all business takes place in the Committees this week. More detail will follow in tomorrow's Committee News. 

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

[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]

Previous Page