Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 143, 16^th December 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

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

• Equal Opportunities hears evidence on the report into the Inquiry into the Chhokar case from members of the Chhokar family and those involved in their campaign and from Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd and Justice Minister, Jim Wallace.
• Public petitions considers petitions on landfill sites, a Commissioner for bullying, and accountability in Further Education.
• Procedures continues consideration of the draft of its report on the Consultative Steering Group Inquiry.
• Finance takes evidence from the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body and Holyrood Project Team on The Holyrood Project - Financial Position Report and from Education Committee Convenor, Karen Gillon, on the Financial Memorandum on the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Bill.
• Justice 1 considers the Title Conditions Bill at Stage 2.
• European takes evidence on Europe’s Employment Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility.
• Local Government considers the Public Appointments and Public Bodies Bill at Stage 2 and a draft Stage 1 report on the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) Bill.
• Rural Development takes evidence from Robin Harper on the Organic Farming Targets Bill.
• Health will consider a draft Report on its Inquiry into GM Crops .
• The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) Bill Committee meets for the first time.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

FINANCIAL AID FOR SCHOOL DISCIPLINE
An additional £30 million is to be made available from the Scottish Budget over the next three years - £10 million per year - to support local authorities in implementing the recommendations of the Discipline Task Group, it was announced today.

Education Minister Cathy Jamieson said the long-term funding framework would promote positive behaviour and help create the right environment for learning in every school in Scotland.

This year, £173,722 has been made available to Inverclyde Council.

The Discipline Task Group (DTG) report Better Behaviour - Better Learning was published on 19^th June 2001. It contained 36 recommendations for schools, local authorities, and the Executive.

A Joint Action Plan from the Executive, CoSLA, Association of Directors of Education and Association of Directors of Social Work was launched by Cathy Jamieson on 12^th December 2001.

This included £10m to kick-start the expansion of pupil support bases, and £3m to support authorities in reviewing their discipline policies.

Ms Jamieson announced a further £10m funding on 26^th August 2002 to help take forward two key DTG recommendations - providing additional auxiliary staff to supervise pupils between lessons and during lunch breaks; and providing home-school links workers to ease the transition back to education for those truanting or excluded from school.

Local authorities will have flexibility in allocating the resources announced today for DTG implementation.

Full Story

OLDER PEOPLE'S BOOKLET NOW AVAILABLE
A booklet aimed at Scotland’s 1.7 million over 50s will be available in Post Offices from today.

The booklet includes a range of information, from where to find your nearest Internet access point, to taking up volunteering or lifelong learning opportunities. It aims to highlight the breadth of support and opportunities available to Scotland’s older people.

For a copy of the booklet freephone 0800 783 4183. The booklet will also be available from post offices and libraries and in large print, Braille, audio tape, Gaelic, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Gudjhurati, Arabic and Cantonese.

The publication of the booklet has been welcomed by the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum and the Scottish Pensions Association.

The Scottish Centre for the Promotion of the Older Person’s Agenda is located at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh. It has this year been running a course called "Education for Participation: The Voices of Older People". The aim of this course has been to work with older people to enable them to feel more confident about participating in and influencing the development of services.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with Stage 1 of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced to Parliament on 16^th September by Social Justice Minister, Margaret Curran, the Bill aims to:

• Expand the definition of those in priority need by 2012 until it is widened to include everyone, effectively abolishing the priority need category;
• Replace the duty of local authorities to investigate whether a homeless applicant is intentionally homeless with a power to do so. The Bill would require that local authorities offer a short Scottish secure tenancy (SSST) to those who have been found to be intentionally homeless;
• Suspend the local connection criteria which enables one local authority to refer a homeless applicant to another while enabling Scottish Ministers to re-activate the local connection criteria as required; and
• Change provisions relating to repossession to ensure that courts, when deciding whether to grant an eviction order to a private landlord, take into account that rent may be in arrears due to a delay or failure in the payment of Housing Benefit.

In its stage 1 report on the Bill, the Parliament's Social Justice Committee recognised that there is broad support for the general principles of the Bill and welcomed the Executive's commitment to carry out the Homelessness Task Force's recommendations in their entirety in due course.

However, while the Committee regards the general principles of the Bill as being highly laudable in their intention, it remains concerned that the Bill has not been adequately costed and that, unless the Scottish Executive provides adequate financial provision, key aspects of the Bill could be aspirational.

Key findings and recommendations in the Committee's report include:

• The greatest concern that emerged from the evidence relates to the resource implications of the Bill, including the financial costs, housing demand, support, guidance and training;
• A Scottish Executive amendment should be brought forward stating there is no automatic right to a short Scottish secure tenancy in cases where there is a history of anti-social behaviour; and
• The Committee would welcome a broad definition of 'last resort accommodation' but also seeks assurances that this will not simply be hard to let accommodation, resulting in concentrated areas of former homeless people.

Click here to read the Stage 1 Report
Click here to read the Bill as introduced
Click here to read the Explanatory Notes
Click here to read the Policy Memorandum

The day closes with a Member's Business debate on Solvent Abuse from Labour's, Marilyn Livingstone.

THURSDAY morning sees a Finance Committee Debate on Stage 2 of the 2003/04 Budget Process.

The Committee, which is responsible for co-ordinating the Parliament’s scrutiny of the £23billion annual Executive budget, recommended that spending proposals in relation to new money should be set out as a clear and separate section within each departmental section of the Draft Budget.

Conclusions within the report include:

• Praise on the substantial real terms increase in the Scottish Budget for public expenditure in Scotland in the period to 2005-06;
• The recommendation that the Executive pursues value for money in the use of the additional resources;
• Stopping the practice of cumulative counting of budget increases, making the actual cash increases in the budget more obvious;
• The recommendation that the Executive should offer assurances to the business community that rate bills will not increase by more than the rate of inflation; and
• Against a background of the priorities set by the Executive, regard should be given to the concern expressed by the Justice Committees on the decrease in the Executive’s Justice Department’s budget.

This debate will conclude Stage 2 of the annual Budget cycle. This, as regular readers will know, comprises:

Stage 1

• 31^st March – publication of the Annual Expenditure Report.
• Consultation follows with and through the Scottish Parliament’s subject committees.
• Finance Committee produces report, debated in Parliament in June.

Stage 2

• 20^th September – Executive publishes draft Budget.
• Scrutinised by Subject Committees.
• Finance Committee produces report, debated in Parliament in November / December.

Stage 3

• Executive prepares Budget (Scotland) Bill.
• Parliament debates general principles of the Bill at stage 1. If the Parliament disagrees with the general principles, the Bill fails. If the Parliament agrees with them, the Bill begins its Parliamentary passage.
• Finance Committee considers the Bill.
• Stage 3 debate in Parliament to accept or reject the Bill.

Once the Bill is passed and receives Royal Assent, the Executive is authorised to make the expenditure payments set out in the Act.

Click here to read the report
Click here to read the evidence

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there will be another Stage 1 debate, this time on the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Bill.

In essence, the Bill seeks to modernise the law on agricultural tenancies. It proposes to do this by:

• Proposing new types of tenancy;
• Providing a pre-emptive right to secure tenants to buy their land;
• Providing a system of quicker, cheaper and simpler resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants; and
• Providing new opportunities for diversification.

The Parliament's Rural Development Committee's Stage 1 report on the Bill endorsed its general principles. It particularly welcomed the proposals for new tenancy options, and urged the Executive to ensure that the benefits of these proposals cannot be circumvented in the way security of tenure has been under the current law.

A majority of Committee members also supported the pre-emptive right-to-buy proposed in the Bill. The majority of members are also sympathetic to the absolute right-to-buy for secure tenants. However, the Committee has reserved judgement on this issue until it scrutinises Stage 2 amendments promised by the Minister to address grievances with the current system.

Click here to read the Stage 1 Report
Click here to read the Bill as introduced
Click here to read the Explanatory Notes
Click here to read the Policy Memorandum

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Fire-fighters and Fire Control Staff from the SNP's Alex Neil.

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