Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 145, 13^th January 2003

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

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

• Equal Opportunities takes evidence on Mainstreaming Equality in the Work of Parliamentary Committees and considers evidence from the Chhokhar case Inquiry.
• Education takes evidence on Mike Russell’s (SNP) Gaelic Language Bill and considers reviewing the implementation of the McCrone agreement.
• Finance considers cross-cutting reviews on Regeneration.
• European takes evidence on Europe's Employment Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility: an Inquiry into the Scottish Model; and receives briefings on a range of Councils, including Agriculture and Fisheries.
• Local Government takes evidence on the Prostitution Tolerance Zones Bill.
• Rural Development considers the Agricultural Holdings Bill at Stage 2.
• Justice 2 considers a draft report on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Inquiry.
• Enterprise considers a draft report on its Tourism Inquiry, in private.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

FIRST CHAPTER OF HOME READING CAMPAIGN
The first chapter of a radio and press campaign which aims to encourage more parents to read to their children was opened today.

The Scottish Executive Home Reading Initiative is a three year campaign aimed at encouraging children to read more out of the classroom. It is also targeting parents / carers to take a more active role in their child’s education and to start reading with them from an early age.

The initiative was launched by Cathy Jamieson on 10^th August 2002 and, as well as the advertising campaign, comprises of:

• A leaflet for parents, published on 10^th August 2002, which gives guidance to parents of children between under eight on the benefits of home reading and some techniques to make it a more valuable experience;
• The Appointment of Reading Champions to encourage parents, carers and children to develop the skills of reading at home;
• A small grants scheme which will make funds available from April this year to support small local projects such as book sharing clubs;
• Home Reading Co-ordinators, Fraser Ross Associates appointed 11 December 2002, will drive forward this Initiative; and
• A web site which will contain more information to help parents and ideas on how to develop local projects to support home reading that will be created by the co-ordinators and will launch early this year.

The Home Reading Initiative small grants scheme has been established with funds being made available from the beginning of April. £300,000 will be made available for the purpose of setting up new projects. The aim of the scheme is to assist early-learning centres, community organisations and groups and schools in setting up projects and schemes that will help to develop the objectives of the Home Reading Initiative. Bids will be invited for start-up projects which aim to develop the awareness of parents/carers; to increase access to Home Reading facilities such as libraries; to develop schemes such as book-sharing clubs; or any for use in other innovative ideas.

Full Story

SOLICITOR GENERAL OUTLINES CHANGE FOR PROSECUTION SERVICE
The Solicitor General, Elish Angiolini QC, has set out progress on a number of initiatives designed to have a wide-ranging impact on the modernisation of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

In her speech entitled "A prosecution service for the new millennium" the Solicitor General described how the department has emerged from a period of intense scrutiny and review with a clear vision of the radical change required to meet the challenges of crime in the 21^st century.

COPFS is embarked on a significant programme of modernisation and reform. This involves a range of structural, managerial and cultural changes.

Key changes made so far include:

• Restructuring of the Department into 11 areas, matching police force boundaries. This has included the appointment of Area Business Managers, to focus on the efficient management of the business;
• Investing in modernisation by increasing the departmental budget from £63 million to £92 million by 2005/06;
• Increasing the numbers of front-line staff. Over 40 new Depute Fiscals have been appointed since Summer 2002. In addition, 21 lawyers started a COPFS traineeship in 2002, the largest number ever. Also increasing the numbers of administrative staff, supporting the efficient prosecution of crime;
• Extending support for vulnerable victims and witnesses of crime by expanding the coverage of the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service across Scotland;
• Strengthening vital corporate services - finance, personnel and IT support to support a modern efficient business, including the appointment of Directors of Finance and Human Resources; and
• Improving the prosecution of serious crime by revising the systems in place and widening the pool of prosecutors available to deal with cases in the High Court.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY gets underway with Stage 1 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.

A Committee Bill brought forward by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, the Bill proposes the establishment of an independent Children's Commissioner to promote awareness and understanding of the rights of children and young people.

The Commissioner will:

• Promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people;
• Involve children and young people in his or her work;
• Carry out investigation into how rights are taken into account by service providers; and
• Report annually to Parliament.

Click here to read a detailed Q&A on the Bill
Click here to read the Bill as introduced
Click here to read the Accompanying Documents

This is followed by a Transport and the Environment Committee Debate on the report of its Inquiry into the Rail Industry.

Published last October, the report calls for a clear overarching strategy for the development of rail in Scotland. It recommends that a new, robust concordat be established between the Scottish Executive and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) - the Committee says it wants to see a more coherent vision of rail priorities and clear lines of responsibility and leadership to aid the delivery of rail projects in Scotland.

The concordat, the Committee says, should:

• Establish a substantial SRA office in Scotland;
• Set out funding levels for rail spending to 2007-08, through the Scottish Executive and the SRA; and
• Publish of a list of Scottish Executive and SRA projects, with timeframes, for delivery over the next five years.

Asides from the Concordat, other key recommendations include:

• The Scottish Executive should act to ensure Scottish interests are fully represented by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA);
• Initiatives should be implemented to remove barriers to short-term rail delivery;
• The Scottish Executive should pay the majority of passenger track access charges directly to Network Rail to aid transparency;
• A transparent and accountable Scottish division of Network Rail should be established with a requirement to prepare annual reports and business plans;
• A higher rail passenger target should be adopted for the period between 2002 and 2006 and that a rail freight growth target should be set for 2003 to 2006;
• The Scottish Executive should issue consultations or commission research on:

• The potential merits of implementing the Glasgow Crossrail project and a Scottish express rail network;
• The advantages and disadvantages of extending Strathclyde Passenger Transport or creating other Passenger Transport Executives in Scotland;
• Whether public transport fares, including rail and multi-modal tickets, reflect the objectives of the Transport Delivery Report; and
• The implications of the conclusions of the current study of north-south high-speed rail services being conducted for the SRA.

Click here to read the report in full

The day closes with a Member's Business debate on Glasgow to Barra Air Link Public Service Obligation from the SNP's Duncan Hamilton.

THURSDAY morning is devoted to an SNP debate on The Current International Situation.

Although foreign affairs are reserved to Westminster, it is permissible for the Scottish Parliament to discuss issues over which it has no power. Despite the title of the motion, which unusually for an opposition debate has already been tabled, it focuses on Iraq.

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, the Parliament debates the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1.

The two principal aims of the Bill are:

• To amend the offence of dog fouling so that the offence consists of failing to clear up after a dog rather than of allowing a dog to foul; and
• To establish new enforcement provisions, enabling local authorities and police constables to issue fixed penalty notices to persons suspected of committing the offence of dog fouling.

This is a Member's Bill from Keith Harding (CON). In principle, however, it has Executive support. At a meeting of the Local Government Committee (the lead Committee) in November, Deputy Finance and Public Services Minister, Peter Peacock, reaffirmed the Executive’s position that, were it to be passed, the Executive would commit £100,000 for a publicity and educational campaign on the issue.

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 is rounded off with a Member's Business debate on the Private Rented Housing Sector from Labour's Johann Lamont.

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