Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 116, 27^th May 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER
With the Church of Scotland's General Assembly meeting on the Mound this week, the Parliament relocates to Aberdeen for three days of plenary sessions.

IN COMMITTEE
No Committees are meeting this week. 

SECTION 2 - NEWS

FALKIRK WHEEL READY TO ROLL
The Falkirk Wheel, the world’s only rotating boatlift, was officially inaugurated on Friday by the Queen during her Golden Jubilee tour of Scotland.

The Queen, accompanied by First Minister Jack McConnell watched as it slowly swung into action, reconnecting the canal link between west and east coasts after a gap of 35 years.

The Falkirk Wheel, dominant symbol of the £78 million Millennium Link project, is an exceptional feat of modern engineering. It is part of the largest restoration of a UK waterway which reconnected the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals.

Situated in a natural open amphitheatre at Rough Castle in Falkirk on land reclaimed from a former open cast mine, the Wheel is able to carry eight or more boats at a time. It is the height of eight double-decker buses and can lift loads of up to 600 tons.

A single trip takes about 15 minutes and there is also a distinctive new visitor centre which provides a platform from which to view the Wheel in action.

Full Story

HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOLS TO BE CREATED
The creation of a new expert unit to champion the establishment of health promoting schools (HPSs) throughout Scotland to improve the health of children and young people, has been announced.

The new HPSs - a commitment in the Scottish Health Plan - will be led by Margaret McGhie, a former teacher who has considerable experience in the field of health education.

The Unit, created in partnership with the Health Education Board for Scotland, Learning and Teaching Scotland and CoSLA, is intended to:

• Provide leadership and support to local authorities, schools, development advisers and NHS Boards, in the creation of health promoting schools throughout Scotland;
• Provide guidance on measuring the impact and effectiveness of HPSs; and
• Work with partner organisations to ensure the Unit's work complements that of existing initiatives, for example the National Priorities for Education, Education for Citizenship, New Community Schools, HEBS programmes and Starting Well.

All schools are required to provide health education. Within HPSs, health education is integral to the curriculum, school ethos, policies, services and extra-curricular activities.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

The first of three plenary days in Aberdeen begins on TUESDAY with an Executive Debate on Modernising Government. 

Essentially, this debate is about how the Modernising Government Fund should help deliver changes to integrate government, exploit the benefits of information and communications technology and put people at the centre of public service delivery. Central to the modernising government agenda are the principles of making government open, accountable and inclusive and making sure government works in partnership, delivers on its commitments and delivers what people really want.

The Modernising Government Fund invests in a range of local projects designed to modernise and improve service delivery. The total award under the second round of the Executive's Modernising Government Fund, is £30 million.

Under the first round of the Modernising Government Fund, £26 million was put into 32 innovative projects across Scotland, most of which involve groups of public service providers getting together to deliver joined-up services.

In addition, action is being taken by the Scottish Executive's 21^st Century Government Unit to fulfil the main objectives of "21^st Century Government", as set out by Ministers. An Action Plan for each Ministerial portfolio has also been produced, showing the action and initiatives specific to that portfolio.

Click Here to read the 21st Century Government Action Plan in Full

This is followed at 12:00 by HM Queen's Address, part of the Scottish leg of her Golden Jubilee Tour.

In the afternoon, MSPs debate an Executive Motion on on Alternatives to Custody.

As the title of the debate suggests, this will focus on the role of non-custodial sentences in reducing crime.

One point which is likely to be emphasised by the Executive is that, although public money can be saved though alternatives to custody, this is not the main consideration in deploying them. As long as there is no risk to public safety, alternatives to custody can be effective in delivering reparation for the victim and the community, as well as reducing re-offending rates, often stabilising chaotic lives. A range of the measures available include:

Community Service: this is unpaid work in the community. Community Service Orders (CSOs) can only be used for people 'convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment'. The orders operate for a minimum of 80 hours up to a maximum of 240 hours (summary procedure) or 300 hours (solemn procedure). They must be completed within 12 months.

Restriction of Liberty Orders: a Restriction of Liberty Order requires an offender to be restricted to a specific place for a maximum period of 12 hours per day up to a maximum of 12 months, and/or from a specified place or places for up to 12 months. The restriction is done through the use of electronic tagging. Outwith the periods of restriction, the offender is free to go where he or she chooses (though they wear the tag all the time). The Criminal Justice Bill, currently proceeding through the Justice 2 Committee, provides for wider use of supervised attendance orders and restriction of liberty orders.

Deferred Sentences: at present, courts can defer a sentence for whatever period and with whatever conditions the court chooses. Typically, the condition imposed is that the offender must be of 'good behaviour' for the period of the deferment. Alternatively, deferment might be used to allow an offender a chance to respond to a period of supervision, treatment or other intervention. At the end of the period of deferment, the Court may defer the sentence again or may proceed to sentence, usually guided by information as to the offender's conduct during the deferment period.

Supervised Attendance Orders: a Supervised Attendance Order can be used to require an offender who has failed to pay a fine to undertake a programme of designated activities for between 10 and 100 hours. The orders constitute a time penalty which provides constructive activity.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: although more commonly seen as a diversion from prosecution measures, DTTOs can be used in combination with other measures. DTTOs mean that offenders are placed by court order on specialist treatment programmes which last between 6 months and 3 years. Treatment is a mixture of programmes ranging from detoxification, methadone substitution through to intensive day programmes offering help with life skills. Random but regular drug testing is carried out throughout the duration of the order to provide a means of monitoring progress, but a failed test does not necessarily preclude continuation of treatment and of the order.

The day closes with a Member's Business Debate on Drug Misuse in North East Scotland from Richard Lochhead (SNP).

WEDNESDAY begins with an appropriate Executive debate for the North East - Potential Benefits to the Scottish Economy of the Planned Energy Research Institute and of the Diversification of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry.

While the motion has not yet been published, it is likely that recent reports surrounding the effects on the oil industry of the Westminster Budget will be raised. It is also expected that MSPs representing seats with the potential to provide renewable energy will also contribute.

The text of the motion, however, will appear in the Business Bulletin shortly. The full transcript of the debate will be available online from 08:00 on Thursday.

The afternoon is largely concentrates on two SNP Debates. One on Scotland's Air Links and other on GM Crops.

Again, at the time of writing, neither motion has been published. However, on the former, services in the North of Scotland and the Islands may dominate.

As regards the latter, this is likely to concern the Munlochy vigil in the Black Isle. Here a local community is very concerned about the health implications of GM, and feel that they were not adequately consulted prior to a test planting of GM oilseed rape near their village. They have maintained a vigil at the site. Their cause is now being promoted by the SNP.

Should this indeed be the case, the Executive may counter that the variety of oilseed being grown has already been cleared for human health and commercial planting. However, new fears have been raised regarding the ingestion of pollen and, in response to a public petition from the vigil, the Transport & Environment Committee has invited the Health & Community Care Committee to investigate.

The text of the motion, as always, will appear in the Business Bulletin shortly. The full transcript of the debate will be available online from 08:00 on Thursday.

This is followed by a Member's Business Debate on Transport Strategy for Aberdeen and North East Scotland from Labour's Elaine Thomson.

THURSDAY morning is devoted to a Statement and Executive Debate on the Scottish Executive's Programme - the annual setting out of the Executive's plans for the coming year.

Like all Statements of this nature, the contents must be disclosed first to the Parliament. There is, therefore, no additional information available at this time.

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there is an Executive Debate on Implementing the Cancer Strategy.

The strategy document – Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change - was launched on Tuesday 3^rd July 2001. Launching the strategy, then Health Minister, Susan Deacon, announced:

• New investment of £40 million to form a dedicated fund to support the implementation of the strategy, on top of existing national and local investment plans;
• A new approach to decision-making and planning, bringing frontline staff and patients around the table in a strengthened Scottish Cancer Group to give them more say in determining priorities for investment and change; and
• Three regional cancer advisory groups will be created (North, South East, and West) to improve the planning and design of local services and to advise the Scottish Cancer Group on ending the postcode lottery of care in Scotland.

Other key features of the strategy include:

• "Managed clinical networks" in place for all cancers by 2002, backed by new initiatives to share knowledge and new working practices to speed the patient’s journey of care;
• All NHS Boards were asked to review local palliative care needs and services by March 2002; and
• Maximum waiting time from urgent referral to treatment for all cancers will be 2 months by 2005, with an expectation that most patients will be treated much faster than that.

The debate, clearly, will focus on how the implementation of the strategy is progressing.

Click here to read the Cancer Strategy in Full

The Parliament's stay in Aberdeen ends with a Member's Business Debate from the Conservative, Alex Ferguson, on the Timber Industry.

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