Scottish Parliament e-Brief 

Issue 156, 27^th May 2003

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE
Membership of Committees are likely to be agreed shortly, after which Committee business will resume.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT AVAILABLE ONLINE
The partnership agreement between Labour and Liberal Democrat MSPs which proposes policies for the Executive over the next four years is now available online at: https://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/pfbs-00.asp

Details of the Ministerial team charged with implementing the document are also online at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/05/SENW516.aspx. 

CALL TO CUT THROUGH ANTI-TERROR BUREAUCRACY
Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, this weekend called for the bureaucracy of international co-operation to be reduced to help domestic courts prosecute terrorists and those who commit other crimes against humanity.

Speaking at the 6th International Bar Association conference in Brussels, Belgium, he said:

“The aim should be to reduce the formality and bureaucracy that are associated with international treaties and conventions that govern mutual legal assistance. They should facilitate the investigation of major international crime by allowing a more flexible approach.

“Ideally they should allow investigators of one country access to another state for the purpose of interviewing witnesses under appropriate supervision and subject to safeguards.”

His call for better support was part of his address to the conference session examining the prosecution and defence of international crime and recent innovations in the investigation and trial of these cases.

The Lord Advocate also presented lessons that can be drawn from the Lockerbie trial to benefit the international community.

The International Bar Association (IBA) comprises of 16,000 individual lawyers and 180 Bar Associations and Law Societies. The IBA influences the development of international law reform and helps shape the future of the legal profession.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

The second term’s first week of normal Chamber business begins with a statement from the First Minister on the Programme of the Scottish Executive.

This will focus on the terms of the partnership agreement, which sets out the Executive’s legislative priorities for the coming session. The main points are:

• Parental orders will be introduced as part of the crackdown on youth crime;
• The sale of spray paint to the under-16s will be banned;
• Fast-track youth courts will be introduced;
• The traditional first-part-the-post system will be replaced in time for the next council elections in 2007;
• Class sizes will be reduced to 20 for maths and English in S1 and S2;
• Less formal teaching methods will be introduced in primary one;
• A total of 200 schools will be built or refurbished by 2006, rising to 300 by 2009;
• Teacher numbers will rise to 53,000 by 2007;
• Free eye and dental checks for all will be introduced before 2007;
• 12,000 new NHS nurses will be recruited by 2007;
• Health trusts will be scrapped;
• The number of households living in fuel poverty will be reduced by 30% by 2006; and
• Local authorities will be given a target of recycling 25% of waste by 2006.

Click here to read the partnership agreement in full.

This is followed by a short debate on some statutory instruments – the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (Scotland) Orders -  relating to the ongoing situation surrounding the threat of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning to the Scottish scallop industry.

The day is rounded off by a Member's Business Debate on Dental Services in Grampian from newly elected Labour MSP, Richard Baker.

THURSDAY is dominated by a lengthy debate on Wednesday’s statement on the Executive’s Programme (see above), with the first part of the debate taking up the morning session.

In the afternoon, following Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, the debate on the Executive’s Programme concludes.

The week in the Chamber concludes with a Member’s Business Debate on the Scottish Agricultural College from Adam Ingram (SNP).

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