Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 137, 4^th November 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE
The likely highlights in the Committee Rooms this week include:

• Finance will take evidence on the Budget Process 2003-04 from CBI Scotland and the Scottish Executive; and on the Homelessness Bill Financial Memorandum from CoSLA, SFHA and the Scottish Executive.
• Public Petitions will consider current and new petitions, including one on tolls on the Erskine Bridge.
• Justice 1 will take evidence on the Mental Health Bill from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Enable.
• European will consider a number of post-council briefings, including one from the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in October. The reporters also report back on an Inquiry into Scotland’s representation in the EU.
• Local Government takes evidence on the Dog Fouling Bill from the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, The Scottish Kennel Club and the City of Edinburgh Council.
• Rural Development will take evidence on the Agricultural Holdings Bill.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT COMES INTO FORCE
The victims of sexual offences will receive extra protection in the courts following the introduction of the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002 on November 1^st.

The Act provides the courts with new powers, giving greater protection to victims of rape and sexual offences. It modernises the law of evidence in these trials and will prevent the complainer being subjected to intense personal questioning by the accused.

The main objectives of the Bill are:

• To prevent the accused in trials for rape and all other sexual offence cases from personally cross-examining the complainer by requiring the accused to be legally represented throughout the whole trial; and
• To strengthen existing provisions restricting the extent to which evidence can be led about the sexual history and character of the victim.

The Bill was a result of a wide-ranging consultation following the publication in November 2000 of the consultation paper ‘Redressing the Balance: Cross Examination in Rape and Sexual Offence Trials’.

The Bill was introduced in June 2001. The Act was passed on 6^th March 2002 and received Royal Assent on 11^th April 2002.

Full Story

MEN URGED TO OPT FOR CHILDCARE CAREERS
A career in childcare can be the right choice for men and women, Education Minister Cathy Jamieson has told the Men in Childcare’s "When Men Become Carers" Conference. Children would benefit, she said, if care settings were more representative of society.

She said:

"I want to see the best possible quality of care for children throughout Scotland. To allow for further expansion and development of the early years workforce, I am making available an additional £2.4 million to local authorities from 2004 onwards. This means the money available for workforce training will rise to £6 million per year.

"I can also announce that we have exceeded our target to train 5,000 new childcare workers by 2002 – more than 6,000 qualifications have been awarded since 1999. Our goal is to have all those working in the sector holding a qualification, or working towards one."

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with a Ministerial Statement, the subject of which is to be announced.

Details will be available in Section B of the Business Bulletin in due course.

This is followed by an Executive debate on Flexibility and Innovation in Schools.

At the time of writing, however, the motion has not yet been published and the focus of the debate remains unclear.

The full text of the motion will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and a transcript of the debate will be available from the Official Report from 08:00 on Thursday.

The day concludes with a Member’s Business debate on Science and the Parliament from Labour's Sylvia Jackson.

THURSDAY morning is devoted an Executive debate on the Scottish Executive Response to Foot and Mouth Disease Inquiries.

While the motion has not yet been published, this debate is likely to focus on the Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry and the Anderson Lessons Learned Inquiry.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh's Inquiry - the report of which was Published in July this year - was the only major inquiry focussing on the Scottish experience.

The inquiry recommended:

• That vaccination should be used to combat any further foot-and-mouth outbreak in order to avoid mass slaughter;
• That Scotland should have its own chief veterinary officer;
• That Scotland should also have its own laboratory capable of testing for the disease;
• Steps be taken to allow on-farm diagnosis; and
• That a team of vets should be trained to act as a "quick-response unit" in the event of a future outbreak.

The independent expert committee, chaired by Professor Ian Cunningham, was set up to investigate the control procedures employed in the epidemic and the impact that it has had on the Scottish economy and on tourism and identify lessons for the future. Professor Cunningham has said the outbreak had cost Scottish agriculture and tourism £481m.

The Anderson Lessons Learned Inquiry, also published in July, was commissioned by the Prime Minister in August 2001. It officially commenced in December 2001.

The key findings included:

• Contingency plans for the future in case of another outbreak are important;
• The military should be contacted at "the earliest appropriate, opportunity" to provide advice and support when an outbreak occurs;
• A comprehensive animal health strategy needs to be developed;
• Vaccination should form part of a future strategy for containing the disease and that should be vaccination to live rather than vaccination to kill;
• The livestock industry should promote good practice and tackle poor standards of farming; and
• Burning animals on mass pyres should not be used as a strategy in future for disposing of slaughtered cattle.

The Scottish Executive undertook to respond to both by the end of the year.

The full text of the motion will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and a transcript of the debate will be available from the Official Report from 08:00 on Friday.

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there will be an Executive debate on the Quality of Life.

Again the motion has not yet been published. However, the debate is likely to develop the announcement made by the First Minister when setting out the Scottish Executive's legislative programme in May that new laws to address major nuisances such as vandalism, litter and dog fouling are to be brought forward. The First Minister has expressed a willingness to collaborate with MSPs from all sides of the Chamber in bringing this legislation to pass.

The full text of the motion will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and a transcript of the debate will be available from the Official Report from 08:00 on Friday.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Nuisance to Communities Caused by Seagulls from the Conservatives' David Mundell.

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